A Barbarian in Thedas
Book 1: Origins of a barbarian.
Chapter 1: Old enemies and new worlds.
Let me tell you a story, one that involves a clash of worlds, of heroes rising to save them, mighty beasts that soar the skies and breath fire, ice and thunder; of powerful magic, the people that use it and the many dangers that comes with such power. And in the middle of it all, either because destiny demanted it or just bad luck, there was a barbarian.
This story starts in the continent known as Hyperboria, especifically in an ancient ruin in the sun scorched kingdom of Stygia, a land ruled by priests of dark gods and equally dark magic.
The reason for why these ruins are so important is because one of, lets say ´´heroes´´ is on a quest to rescue those he cares about. In the darkness of these poorly lit halls, the figure of our hero could be made: a tall muscular man with bronze skin and a mane of straight but scrambled black hair over his head; his face had a rugged yet plain face and piercing blue eyes.
What´s important about how his face is not his looks, but the emotions he is showing: anger, worry, determination. Those were only the most noticibles, because he was feeling a lot more emotions that are harder to describe one by one.
The reson for his current condition was that a few days ago, Conan was leading a small yet skillful group of mercenaries, men and women he trusted with his life, and they were missing, kidnapped with foul magic and taken away to the ruins where the barabarian was right now.
The halls of the ruin were poorly lit, only a few torches being the only source of light in this dark place. Conan looked around, in a stance prepared to fight off any enemy that apeared or to defend himself from the dangers of this place. His body bruised and cut from the fights he had in this place, besieged by cultists that followed whoever was doing this, and undead guardians raised with the purpose to kill anyone that dared to enter the ruins.
After what seemed hours exploring this darkened place, Conan finally heard what sounded like chanting, and so he walked towards the noise. What he saw barely surprised him, if it wasnt for the fact that his companions were there.
What the barbarian saw was a enourmous ziggurat, surrounded by dozens of cultists chanting, all around the construction, in all but the top level, were his arch-rival Thot-Amon, not that they were actually rivals, but the people talked rumors and stories about their encounters.
Many of Conan companions were already dead, but a few of them were still alive, yet heavily wounded from being tortured. The sight made the barbarian even more furious than he was before. Before Conan could move, shadowy tendrils suddenly appeared from the floor and coiled around him and trapped him on the spot.
Soon after, a group of the undeads under control of Thot Amon charge against the cimmerian, but Conan was able to free his hand that was holding his sword, and slicied enough of the tendrils that had him trapped, giving him the opportunity to free himself and avoid the attack of the wretched undead.
He fought his way up on the pyramyd, slicing and wrecking the undead warriors that the evil priest of Set sended against him, receiving but few scratches from their attacks.
But by the time he reached the end of the pyramid, he was too late for the rest of his surviving companions have been sacrificed already, their blood joining thatof the cultists that suddenly, one by one as they chanted, stabbed themselves with curved daggers, their blood flowing down underneath the apparatus, which together with Thot Amon incantation, and his own artifact, ancient runes started to glow a bright green, and magical energies started to appear and crackle like lightning, and some sort of portal appeared at the top of the pyramid.
The death of his companions in front of his eyes makes Conan fall to his knees, feeling defeated for people that were under his command lay now dead. But the despair suddenly became anger and rage, and if he were to die today, he was going to make sure to avenge his friends.
He stanted up, and not caring the consequences of his action, only vengeance, he lifted his sword and with a loud roar that it could be confused for that of a lion, he sliced and hit the artifact that Thot Amon was using to channel the magic.
The priest of Set was shocked by the action of the Cimmerian ´´NOOOOOO! What have you done?! You doomed us both! ´´ He yelled. But Conan only looked at him with a smile, which a smile ´´If I die, you will die with me sorcerer´´ And with that, the magical energies of the pyramid and the artifact started to go crazy, green lightning shooting everywhere, destroying the área inside the ruins, everything falling down, and the portal that Thot Amon had created, exploded, and a flash of light was the last thing that Conan saw.
Or so he thougth. He woke up in pain in a lush green grass field, he could hear the sound of animals and the wind. He but he also felt pain, all over his body. He could barely stay awake, trying his hardest to live –So this i show I die. Well at least its a nice place, quiet, in nature and with a nice breeze, this is a good way to die- he thought.
But then he heard voices, that of people, ´´What is that? ´´ Said a young feminine voice. Another one said ´´I think is a body´´ a male voice this time, kind of annoying though. And then another male voice, this one was older ´´And I think he is still alive! Bethany, go get help! Quickly! Carver, help me take him home´´
Hello everyone that has read this first chapter. I would like to say this is my first time writing, so any sort of constructive criticism would be thanked. Also, english is not my native language,so I might have some words wrong.
Now to explain the story. Many must be asking yourself exactly what was Thot Amon doing with the ritual. Well, he was trying to enter the Fade and go to the Black City, maybe to meet his god Set, or become a god himself like the ancient Tevinter magisters, thats why the magical energy that appeared was green. Of course since magic in the world of Conan is not as flashy than in Thedas, and harder to use since most spells are rituals, he used the pyramid magical power to amplify the artifact own (which is similar to the one Corypheus had) and combined with blood sacrifice and his own power (the dude is scary powerful. Apparently in a story or comic he killed and entire army with some sort of plague) he was able to open a portal to the fade. And then Conan goes and smah it up.
So what happens is that Conan (and maybe someone else) are transported throgh the Fade into Thedas. Now many must think that I combined both worlds, but I didnt. At first I did thougth about Thedas being another continent far away from Hyperboria, but the issue was the magic. Cultures not so much,but it was so obvious that both world have different ways of doing magic. So essentialy they are different dimensions, or planets, both kind of work.
Also, for anyone interested Im planning to write all 3 of the games, starting with Origins, then 2 and finally Inquisition. Its going to be hard and a lot of work, but also interesting. Also also the main characters from the games will be the ones from my playthrough of the games just so you know. Also also also Conan here is between his 25 and 30 years old, essentially after Belit dead (I hate that I cant find the exact age so if anyone knows, I would be grateful to be told)
Finally, I want to make this a early as possible so I have time to think and write the interactions: Love interest, because is still based on Dragon age. Every book, everyone of the love interests and maybe other will be available to romance, but I dont know who Conan would choose, so Im going to let you all vote for who the Cimmerian will (try) to romance. The options are: Morrigan, Leiliana, Zevran, and Garret, my character from the game. (The reason of why Im also adding gay options is because, well, why not, I honestly have no reason but to see if they get voted. I would actually be surprised if they were chosen, but it might happen) So say in the comments who do you want and I will start planning the scene.
