Sigurd: a broad, muscular dwarf with thick bushy brown hair and beard left stained with dust from Dust Town, he bares the mark of the casteless as well as a number of scars from years of fighting but his blue eyes are said to hold a kindness not often found in carta dwarves. You can find his drawing on my tumblr account RhoKio though its not the best.
Being casteless was a bad deal, no respect, harsh rules, no chance at bettering yourself while the rest of the world spits on your very existence. At least it had consistency, wake up to a crumbling home, work in a crummy barely maintained district beating people up, punching Leske for another lewd comment about Rica, then sleeping in a barely usable bed. That had been Sigurd's routine for some time now, though he was starting to get sick of it. Beraht was scum, scum who had no problem ordering hits, beatings, robberies or whoring Sigurd's sister out as a noble hunter. But there was little choice of work for the casteless, and Beraht was the leader of the Carta so no one got out of his service alive; or they were left to rot once they got too swing a sword.
Supposedly this was meant to be an extremely rare day off for Sigurd, he'd planned on using that time to spend some time with his sister but he could hear Beraht's voice coming from the main room. As much as he wanted to avoid Beraht he wasn't letting the bastard talk to his sister alone, he swung his legs off the bed getting up to storm into the main room.
"Ah there's your dear brother, I was wondering why you weren't working"
"Day off" Sigurd grunted, moving to stand beside his sister. Compared to the higher classes Sigurd still considered his sister to be a beautiful woman it still stuck him strange seeing her dressed in the finery Beraht provided and her hair done the same style as the nobles. It just didn't look right in Dust Town, she deserved better than this life.
"You know I was kidding, right? Or did you finally get too many hits to the head?"
"Fine. What do you want?"
"You need to watch your tone. Remember I'm the only chance you got at making a living in this dump, and I can replace you very easily" he threatened "Find Leske, he'll fill you in on the details"
"Fine. I'll head out once I'm dressed. You can close the door on your way out" they glared at each other for several tense seconds before Beraht get fed up and left, slamming the door as he went almost knocking it off the hinges.
"You really need to stop testing him so much" Rica warned, slumping on one of the few pieces of furniture the house had. They both new Beraht would have a fit seeing her sit so informally but as far as Sigurd knew he'd kept her out all night at some party to find some drunk noble she could bed.
"As long as it keeps him off your back" Sigurd argued, moving to the trunk by the door where he stored his armour. Second hand junk that it was, it was better than nothing and better than what other casteless had. Guess it was one of the few, extremely few, perks that came from being in Beraht's employment.
"I'm the big sister here, it's my job to look after you" Rica said half joking half sincere. She leaned forward, taking Sigurd's calloused hand in hers, giving is a reassuring squeeze.
"And I'm the one with the axe. I'll go show a few folks who's boss and when I get back we'll have dinner together, been a while since we done that"
"We haven't exactly had enough money to get both of us something to eat" Rica pointed out "I, um. I've been meaning to tell you, I have a suitor. I mean I think he's interested, he's been seeing me without going straight for a tumble. He's gifted me some money when I told him we were running short. I was saving for something special, maybe tonight can be that?"
"I'd like that. I made a bit of side coin myself, it's in a bag under my bed so use that too. Have you told Beraht?"
"No, I wanted you to be the first to know. And even then, I don't want to tell you who in case I'm just getting my hopes up" Rica admitted, Sigurd went and sat his hand on her shoulder squeezing it.
"Any man would be lucky to have you. Stay safe today alright?" he grabbed his axe from where is was tucked in under the table, balancing it on his shoulders.
"Make sure you come home alright? It's lonely enough since mum passed, even if was mostly just drunk rants or sobbing" it had been a few months since their mother died, they went to wake her one morning and she just didn't wake up.
"Have a good day sis" he said as he passed through the front door. The stench of Dust Town never faded it was so bad. Some days Sigurd wanted to just take what little he owned and head up to the surface, not like he had a caste or title to lose, but he knew Beraht would never allow both him and his sister to leave; and Sigurd would never leave Rica alone in Beraht's care.
The inappropriate jokester merc that was Leske wasn't too far from Sigurd's home, he was leaning against the wall of a cheap bar not even attempting to hide the fact he was eyeing up some of the female residents of Dust Town.
"Respect Leske. Learn it"
"You know the women here, they love a rough man for a tumble or two" Leske leered as another woman walked past. With a grunt, Sigurd punched his friend straight in the face.
"This is why I don't let you near my sister. What's the job?"
"Testy today, aren't we? Beraht's made a bet on today's proving, we need to ensure it goes his way. You need to make sure it goes his way, he still suspects you stole from him"
"He gave us papers?" Leske nodded, pulling the stamped passes out from his pocket "Good. If I heard right this proving's for the king's daughter, they wouldn't want our sort anywhere near the proving even on less important circumstances"
Sigurd turned to leave Dust Town, he could hear Leske's heavy irregular footsteps behind him; his work mate had dislocated his knee some time ago. He claimed it healed properly but Sigurd knew otherwise, if Beraht found ever found out then Leske would be out of the job so Sigurd said nothing.
With the proving happening the streets of Orzammar were bustling even more than usual, people were drinking, some were dancing and others were excitedly talking about the matches. They made mention of the princess Brynja, supposedly she was one of the most beautiful noble ladies but her heart belonged to her second; who because of his caste was forbidden from marrying. Word also had it she was favoured by the assembly, and the people over her older brother the next in line in be king. One of the rumours going around the people was the younger prince had taken up with a suspected noble hunter. And something about a grey warden supposedly attending today's proving but that was about as much information as Sigurd could make out. As soon as he and Leske wandered too close they would clam up and swiftly moved away. Always fast to react a guard came up to them as they approached the entrance to the proving hall.
"Get lost casteless. We don't need your kind defiling the provings" he snarled
"We got papers, we're here to clean up after you" Sigurd snarled back as Leske handed the guard their papers.
"These seem to be in order. Fine" the guard stepped out the way letting them enter.
Members of the warrior caste were roaming around, bearing armour and weapons Sigurd could only imagine holding. They looked at the pair with complete disgust, Sigurd wouldn't be too surprised if they tried to attack them; considering their presence an unforgivable affront to the proving. There was a human man in armour standing in the middle of the hall, he stood tall and proud. He must have sensed Sigurd staring and turned his head. There was no judgement on the man's face, meaning he either had little grasp of the caste system, he didn't care or was good at masking his emotions well. If the gossip was true then this must have been a grey warden. There was a sharp jab to his side as Leske was getting impatient to get moving.
"We gotta find a guy named Mainar, Beraht put a bet on Everd to win against him but the guys like a trained veteran the kids got no chance without us slipping a little something in Mainar's drink; just enough to take his edge off" Leske explained as he lead the way around "We just gotta find the kid first, see when he's fighting Mainar" they rounded a corner and into one of the rooms reserved for the fighters to rest before their fights. On the ground was a barely conscious drunk out of his mind dwarf. "Shit"
Sigurd lightly kicked the unconscious man getting only a garbled grumble in return, other than that the man showed no sign of waking anytime soon. Grabbing the young man's arms Sigurd dragged the inert body so it was hidden behind the door to the room, so at least it wouldn't be so easy to notice by wandering guards and competitors.
"Watch the door. I'm going to put on his armour"
"You're going to what?"
"Put on his armour. Even with that potion he's not going to beat Mainar in this state. So I'm going to fight in his place" Sigurd explained as he started swapping out his battered down armour for the well maintained armour of Everd.
"Why should you get the pleasure of beating the stone out the warrior caste?"
"I know about your knee Leske. These are warrior caste, you can't beat them. Least I have a chance, I just need to beat Mainar and that'll keep Beraht off our asses" Leske took a moment to stare at him, in one of those few moments that he actually let himself look a little vulnerable. It was only for a moment though before the walls in his eyes came back up.
"Guards heading our way, I'll distract them" he said as he left the room. A moment passed and the sounds of people faded from outside as Sigurd finished dressing. The helmet was a little loose, Everd must have an unusually big head, but it was enough to cover nearly all of his face and head.
The armour felt strange to wear as Sigurd walked back out Everd's room, closing the door behind him. As he went about his way he noticed a woman standing in one of the alcoves in the wall, she was clearly of a high class considering the condition of her armour though her hair wasn't styled in a noble fashion. The woman moved her head and noticed Sigurd watching her, she lifted a hand and gestured for him to approach which he did.
"Your helmet's ill fitting, it's not good for combat if you're wanting to win" she said in a pleasing voice
"It's too give the others a fighting chance, or it'd be too easy" Sigurd retorted, it occurred to him it probably wasn't the best idea to converse with someone when he had no idea how Everd acted.
"Ha-ha, someone's a little too confident perhaps?" she said in a light-hearted manner, at which point Sigurd guessed who he was talking with.
"You'll see for yourself soon enough princess"
"Please, call me Brynja. If you're as good as you claim to be maybe I'll challenge you to a fight"
"It'd be an honour, Brynja" Sigurd heard a dwarf calling for the fighters to take their places, he called out for Everd and Mainar specifically. He bowed to Brynja "The proving calls, enjoy the fights" Sigurd bid her farewell before heading for the entrance into the proving arena.
Instantly Sigurd was hit by an enormous wall of sound, as crowds of dwarves were shouting and cheering in the seats surrounding the arena. The arena itself was huge, they could fit several homes in the space alone if they didn't believe the space more useful as a fighting ring. Looking up to the seats Sigurd spotted the human man from earlier, sitting with the fight announcer some nobles and Brynja. The man next to her he assumed to be her second and believed lover. At the opposite side of the arena his opponent Mainar waltzed in. He bowed his head and said something about the best man winning, Sigurd was partially deaf in one ear and he was finding it difficult to hear properly over the sounds of the crowds so just bowed back, readying his axe. From overheard conversation Sigurd at least knew the rules of provings, it wasn't a to the death these fights just to surrender.
Mainar charged forward, sword and shield at the ready, he swung the sword horizontally towards Sigurd's head. He ducked stepping backwards at the same time, he hefted his axe lunging forward driving the butt of the axe's pole into Mainar's gut. A sharp gasp came out of the dwarf as the air was knocked out of him, he stumbled back his non-sword arm clutching at his abdomen. A boo resounded from the crowd. Bringing the axe above his head Sigurd brought it down towards his opponent, forcing the man to let go of his stomach to raise his shield to stop the axe. Despite the supposed better quality of warrior caste weapons the shield splintered with the force of Sigurd's strike, Mainar had a look of surprise on his face. He was meant to be fighting a young man, guess Sigurd's own strength from years of fighting for his life was catching the veteran off guard.
The dwarf pushed off the ground knocking Sigurd back trying to hit him with the sword again, once, twice, three strikes each one blocked by the handle of Sigurd's axe. On the third strike Mainar's sword got stuck in one of the ridges of the axe handle, he feebly attempted to dislodge his weapon but he wasn't successful. Sigurd sharply pulled his axe backwards, wrenching the sword from the man's grip; before swinging the axe around dislodging the sword sending it flying across the arena. Raising the axe again Sigurd aimed for Mainar's shield arm, hitting it hard enough for the shield to shatter; so much for superior craftsmanship. He stopped the attack just before it would cut the man's hand off but enough for the blade to slice into the skin enough to hit bone so he wouldn't be able to hold a shield for a while. With a final move Sigurd placed the blade of his axe right against Mainar's neck, helped he wasn't wearing a helmet giving easy access to what would have been an easy kill strike. He had to admit, it was an interesting change of pace not having to end a fight with death.
"The winner of this bout is Everd" the announcer yelled to the cheering crowds, Sigurd withdrew his axe backing away from his opponent. Looking up to where Brynja and the grey warden were standing, the grey warden was looking at him intently, appraising him almost. He turned back to Mainar, who was holding his now bloodied hand to his chest.
"Good fight" he said
"And you" Sigurd replied as the dwarf left the arena, cleaners coming in quickly to grab the man's weapons before the next opponent walked on. It was another man, a fellow axe wielder. The announcer called out the fighter's names, Adalbo gave the traditional pre-fight words and hefted his axe in front of him.
He swung out, shifting his full momentum into the swings. They were wide though and easy to step out of the way of. Sigurd jumped to the side dodging another attack, jamming the butt of the axe handle into hinge gap between the man's greaves and foot. He stumbled forward and Sigurd rammed the flat side of his axe hard into his face, he could hear an audible crack as the nose broke. Sigurd pulled his weapon back as Adalbo stumbled back, blood running down his face, his lips pulled back as he snarled menacingly. He let out a roar and charged, swinging his axe over his head with one hand. These were harder to get out of the way of, a hit got its mark hitting his hip.
Sigurd's lack of reaction to the hit seemingly snapped Adalbo out of his rage attack, years fighting for Beraht had given Sigurd a bit of a resistance to pain and an inch or so into his hip wasn't the worse injury he'd ever had. Letting go of his axe with one hand he punched Adalbo in the face, to his credit the dwarf didn't let go of his weapon; it did still sting having it ripped out of his flesh though. The dwarf tried swinging again but he moved clumsily as though dazed, Sigurd raised his axe catching the attack. He twisted forcing his opponents weapon and by extension him, towards the ground; he rammed his shoulder into Adalbo's side knocking the man down onto his back. Sigurd moved so he could hover his axe over the man's face while the announcer declared him the next winner. When the announcer finished speaking Sigurd reached down and helped pull the man back to his feet.
Adalbo left the arena to be replaced by a woman, it occurred to Sigurd it was slightly unfair that he was expected to keep fighting round after round.
"We've reached our third round. Everd versus Lenka, this is her last fight before her blooding to join the Silent Sisters so this'll be a fight to the death folks"
The woman wasted no time starting the fight, two swords drawn. She was much faster than the last two fighters, Sigurd barely moved in time to avoid having his gut sliced open. The swords moved so fast they were practically a blur, though the restriction on his vision caused by the helmet certainly didn't help matters. One of the slashes managed to cut into his hand almost deep enough to cut his fingers off but not quite, Sigurd swung his axe low aiming for her legs. As expected she jumped into the air, leaving her exposed for him to spin the axe around and jab the handle into her gut sending her backwards.
He quickly stepped towards her lifting his axe above his head aiming to bring it slamming straight back into the ground but the woman managed to roll out of the way just in time, jumping straight back to her feet. Lenka did a lunging strike, keeping low to the ground; he deflected the strike with the handle of his axe and when she was just past him Sigurd drove his elbow into the space between her shoulders. She dropped to her knees but swung her sword around cutting into the back of Sigurd's leg, again not the worst injury he'd ever sustained but in a fight against such a fast enemy it wasn't one to take lightly. In response Sigurd raised his good leg driving it down on Lenka's hard enough he heard the bone snap, this would've been when someone would scream but despite the pain clearly painting her face she made no sound.
Backing off a few steps Sigurd watched as the warrior forced herself to stand, somehow managing to support her weight even on a broken leg. Sigurd swung his axe towards her head, she ducked her legs almost giving way in the process. She tried attacking again but she stumbled giving Sigurd plenty of time to dodge, and with his free hand he back handed her, gravity shifted her to her bad leg and she instantly fell to the ground. For a brief moment, Sigurd looked up towards the grey warden and Brynja's seats, it didn't bring him any joy to kill someone but according to the rules Lenka wouldn't stop until one of them was dead. Even as he hesitated he could hear Lenka trying to get up, with a sigh he went to stand above her, and swung his axe cleaning cutting her head from her body. It slumped to the ground, blood pooling around the body spreading across the floor.
Cheers resounded throughout the arena, Sigurd was sure it could be heard all the way in dust town.
"Our running champion everyone, EVERD!" the announcer yelled over the roar of the crowd, Sigurd saw Brynja lean over and whisper something in the man's ear, he got the impression that she had just asked to face him in the final round. Before the announcer said anything more a gasp rang through the arenas the real Everd drunkenly stumbled into view.
"Dammit Leske, could you seriously not keep an eye on him" Sigurd muttered to himself, knowing that there was no way out of this. He hadn't left the arena since he first walked on, they would know they'd been facing an imposter this whole time. The crowd were exclaiming unintelligibly as the announcer and Mainar and probably others demanded he reveal his identity.
Calmly and carefully as guards moved to surround him, Sigurd placed his axe on the ground beside Lenka's body. He raised his arms and slid the helmet off his head, dropping it to the ground. Almost instantly boo's, yells of indignation and vile hatred was shouted down at Sigurd.
"See now, the casteless that has bested your proving. You think of us as nothing but dust but we are not beneath you! I submit only so you must acknowledge my existence instead of killing me now to be done with it" Sigurd proclaimed to the chagrin of every higher caste present, willing if begrudgingly allowing himself to be taken away by the guards.
Sometime later Sigurd woke to a pounding headache, in a prison cell that he recognised. Somewhere along the way to the nobles holding cells Beraht's men must've intercepted them and claimed Sigurd as their own prisoner. He sat up on the bloodstained stone floor, looking at the rusted bars, he knew one of them was a little looser than the others. He knew because he was the one that broke it in the first place when he was ordered to clean up after the last inmate died, so he was the only one who knew about it. There was shuffling in the cell next to him meaning he wasn't the only prisoner, meaning the only person it could be was.
"Leske" Sigurd said as a matter of factly.
"Ah you're awake, good. Now they can have us killed"
"You lost track of a drunk and unconscious dwarf" Sigurd grumbled pulling himself to his feet, wincing at the pain in his hip. It needed bandaging sooner rather than later though Sigurd got the impression that Beraht wouldn't be so inclined to provide.
"You're blaming me for this? It was your idea"
"My job was to win the fights. And I did. Did you have a better idea?"
"No. Still how in the stone are we going to get out of this? The proving was discounted, Beraht lost a lot of gold on this screw up"
"You won't like it"
"Try me"
"Get out the cell and kill Beraht"
"Shit they did a number on that skull of yours, how do you plan on doing that? We have no weapons" near the prison door entrance Sigurd could see his armour and axe against the wall, almost as though they put them there just to taught him; their mistake.
"Better to die trying then wait until they decide when I die. Hey, hey guard!" Sigurd shouted, sure enough one of Beraht's men waddled into the room.
"What's going on, what's with all the noise?" he demanded, at that Sigurd reached forward and yanked the metal bar off the cell wall.
"Give me the key to the cell" without hesitation the man grabbed the keys off his belt and passed then to Sigurd. "Now get out. And don't even think of warning Beraht" Sigurd warned, he waited until the man left and then a few minutes more to check for an alarm but it didn't sound. He unlocked the cell door, handed the key over to Leske and quickly threw on his armour. The cell clicked and he listened as Leske looked around for a weapon that he could use.
Scouting ahead, Leske quietly walking behind him, he could hear thugs patrolling the halls. Easy enough to avoid, and with Leske's bad knee and Sigurd's own untreated injuries it was probably the best course of action in this circumstance; especially if they wanted a decent attempt at taking down Beraht himself. It was slow progress, the strain of keeping so low to the ground while sneaking around the base was starting to hurt his leg. Blood had started seeping down the back of his leg from where Lenka had cut him as the wound must have reopened. They continued progressing through the base until they came to a door at the end of the hallway. Through which they could hear Beraht's voice as he was talking to two of his men, about Rica. At the mention of her name Sigurd felt his blood boil but he forced himself to remain calm.
"Hey I've no use for her with her brother dead, feel free to have her if you want" Beraht said, causing the men to laughing in a creepy fashion that sent shivers down Sigurd's spine. He threw the door open, abandoning all subtlety as he and Leske walked into the room.
"You really think I'm going to let you bastards touch my sister?! We're not your property to discard Beraht, and you're not leaving here alive"
"Funny, I was about to say the same thing to you, come on men!" behind him, he heard Leske shut and lock the door as Beraht and his men drew their swords. The first charged, Sigurd stuck his axe handle low side stepping, letting the man trip going head first into the wall.
Stepping forward Sigurd blocked a side strike from the second, behind him he heard Leske attacking the first man so he focused on the one in front of him. He jumped back, ignoring the now flaring pain in his leg, the second man stumbled forward leaving him open to a low strike as the axe was swung into the gap by his ankle. It severed his tendon rendering the foot useless. Sigurd felt a pang of guilt for this considering his opponent looked younger than him but the man appeared to have no such qualms as before he could react Sigurd found a sword being driven through his left shoulder forcing him to drop his grip on the axe at least with that hand. He let out a groan of pain, before swinging his left arm around wrapping it around the young dwarf's neck as he had moved into arm range with that move. The man feebly battered at his arm but was too close to even use his sword, Sigurd squeeze and harshly jolted his arm breaking the man's neck. The body dropped, landing next to the one Leske killed.
Sigurd turned to face his former employer, and for the first time he saw fear in the man's eyes. For so long Sigurd had underplayed his skills, had let Beraht believe that he was no more skilled than the rest of his thugs knowing that Beraht would have him eliminated if he even suspected Sigurd was a risk to himself. He'd been saving this secret for a day such as this when he'd be forced to eliminate the carta boss.
"I've been working for you for ten years, come back from battles and injuries that would kill others and won a proving against the warrior caste. Did you really believe you could just get rid of me? Or that I'd ever let you bring harm to my sister?" Sigurd said, slowly walking towards Beraht.
"Look, Sigurd, I underestimated you. You're too valuable to just cut loose, so how about a deal?" Beraht started saying but Sigurd kept walking "How about I forgive your families debt? Give you a share in my shop business?" Sigurd was nearly right in front of him "I'll make you second in command, you're a much better fighter than Jarvia. You'd never have to worry about going hungry, I'll leave your sister alone" Sigurd was standing right in front of him now "Oh sod it" Beraht breathed out going for his sword but too late. As Sigurd lifted his axe with one hand and cut Beraht's head in half on a vertical axis. The axe pulled out with a horribly squelching sound as it dripped with blood and brain matter, Beraht to his stubbornness stayed standing for a few seconds before crumpling limply to the ground. Behind him Leske threw up, at least he kept it in until after they finished. Sigurd himself was starting to feel light headed though he put that down to blood loss, he stumbled onwards towards the door at the other end of the room. When he almost collapsed Leske grabbed his arm bringing it over his shoulder, helping supporting his weight.
"I got you. Remind me never to cross you" Leske mumbled as they limped out, the shopkeeper of Beraht's shop passed out when he saw them leading no resistance as they left the building.
The second they stepped out though the announcer of the proving accompanied by armed guards surrounded the entrance to the shop. Letting out a sigh Sigurd prepared to give himself up when he spotted the grey warden also approaching.
"Sigurd Brosca you are under arrest for impersonating a higher class, touching a smith caste weapon and armour, defiling the provings" he started listing reasons for Sigurd's imprisonment and probably death.
"Sir if I may. I came to Orzammar to find someone I believed worthy of being recruited into the ranks of grey warden. In this dwarf, I have seen a level of skill, intelligence, honour and raw power that doesn't come by often" was this man about to ask him to join the grey wardens? Sigurd wondered.
"But this man is a criminal, we can't just let him go unpunished!"
"As a grey warden it is my right to recruit whoever I deem worthy regardless of their history, and I have chosen to recruit this dwarf if he accepts" all eyes turned to Sigurd, he looked around at all the faces that wanted to see him punished, the face of his friend that he would be leaving and thought of his sister who either way would be left alone.
"I accept your offer" Sigurd said, taking the chance that if he was a grey warden he could at least make sure his sister would be alright. Then as if summoned by magic Rica came running through the market square, eyes darting in every direction looking for him.
"It's settled then, this dwarf will become a grey warden and is now under my protection"
"Fine. As is your right grey warden" the announcer gritted through his teeth, as he gestured for the guards to disperse. "Just have him gone as soon as possible" they left the area.
"Sigurd!" Rica exclaimed running over to her brother throwing her arms over him, he winced at the pain it caused but hugged her back just as tightly. "You're hurt" she said when she backed up and noticed the blood.
"Nothing serious, just need some bandages" Sigurd said reassuringly.
"We have one in my ranks that can tend to your wounds, but we'll need to get moving in a few days we don't have much time to get everything ready" the grey warden informed them
"Rica I'm sorry I have to leave, Leske. Promise me you'll protect my sister" he said insistently
"Don't worry about me little brother, the noble I told you about. He's moving me into a house out of Dust Town, can you believe it? He's a good man, he'll keep me safe" Rica told him but he still wanted the extra insurance as he stared intently at Leske.
"Yeah you got it, I'll make sure no one touches her" he promised, as he eased Sigurd's arm off his shoulder letting the man stand by himself.
"I'll return when I'm able and write when I can. I promise you I'll always be here for you Rica, and you Leske. Don't get into any trouble" Sigurd said giving his sister one last hug, he turned to the grey warden and nodded, saying he was ready to leave. The grey warden started walking in the directing of the deep roads entrance, Sigurd gave one last look to his family, smiled and limped after the grey warden.
"Sigurd Brosca by the way" he eventually said
"Duncan of the Grey Wardens"
"Surprised you weren't more interested in the princess, here she's a legend with a blade"
"Maybe in another life Sigurd, now let's get your wounds tended to"