Prologue
Ostagar was fine as it was so far. It would take three months for the bulk of the horde to come. Two months was all Duncan required to gather recruits. For the meantime, a group of Grey Wardens would stay at Ostagar and a few--perhaps two or three--would accompany their leader. Duncan had the honorable position as leader of the Grey Wardens of Ferelden. As such, he had connections. A few of those connections had informed him of potential recruits.
One such connection was in the Circle of Magi--First Enchanter Irving. Irving had sent Duncan a letter of a gifted and young apprentice mage who had caught Irving's eye. Irving had even considered that she become one of the First Enchanters after Irving's retirement, aside from becoming a Grey Warden, too.
Another letter came from Highever, Duncan's former home--from Teyrn Bryce Cousland. His son Fergus would leave soon for Ostagar. But Fergus was not the potential recruit. Teyrn Cousland wrote of Ser Gilmore, one of his knights, and how skilled his younger son was. He did not, however, directly recommend his son, most likely frightened at the prospect of losing his youngest of his flesh and blood.
The hahren of Denerim's alienage, Valendrian, welcomed Duncan to the Alienage whenever he would stop by. Duncan was a man who believed that potential could pop up in the most unexpected place. Valendrian believed he might have found that potential within his alienage, despite its rule that elves cannot handle a weapon. He had watched one of the inhabitants closely since she was a child. Her mother, a rogue, had trained her with daggers and the bow and arrow. Her mother had passed on when she was only a child, but the skill had stayed.
The dwarves offered Duncan a Proving held in his honor. The winner would become a Grey Warden recruit. To top it off, King Endrin invited Duncan to a feast during which his middle son would be declared commander of the dwarven army.
Further west, Duncan hoped to find a Dalish clan in the Dales. He didn't know whether he would find a recruit amongst them, but he had a feeling that said "yes". He did not usually ignore those feelings.
The Grey Warden leader prepared a route. First, he would leave for Lothering and then Redcliffe to check on Arl Eamon's troops. After, a hike over the Frostback Mountains would take him to the green forests of the Dales. From there, he would depart to the east again and head for Orzammar, then Highever, and finally Denerim. Hopefully, the return to Ostagar would be accompanied by a handful of new recruits.
He double-checked the supplies and equipment he and his group needed to bring. He ended up having three Grey Wardens travel with him. Each offered to carry bags of equipment and Duncan courteously thanked them. Duncan soon decided to depart as soon as the staying Grey Wardens said their 'goodbye's, including the newest member of the order, Alistair. Alistair had grown close to Duncan, the latter acting as a father figure to the former.
"Maker watch over you, Duncan," said Alistair. Duncan returned the expression. The feeling he had about the horde could have been wrong; maybe the darkspawn would arrive earlier. If so, he did not know if these few Grey Wardens would survive. With that thought in mind, he hoped more than ever that his feeling was correct.