His father had called him to the Grand Hall no doubt to tell him he was staying at the castle while he and Fergus were heading out to Ostagar whilst he was staying at the castle Aedan had been expecting this, of course, his father was a practical man and thought hard before making any form of decision and there was no way he would allow all 3 of the Cousland men to go to war against the dark spawn "-though we both had less grey hair and we were fighting Orlesians not – monsters". He heard this through the closed side entry before entering to see his father with his arm wrapped around arl Howe and say "At least the smell shall be the same ". His father noticed him "Ah pup there you are, Howe you remember Aedan my youngest son? ". "Of course my lord I know it has been a while but how could anyone forget the legendary Aedan Cousland the Dragon son no doubt he's grown into quite the fine young man though I doubt it'd be possible with a mother such as Eleanor ". "Ha, you speak the truth Uncle Howe mother always has been the most driving influence to my demeanor". "Ha, yes true, oh my daughter Delilah was asking about you shall I say anything back to her for you? " "Ah I appreciate the offer uncle but I'm afraid she may be a bit young for me ". "That's my son for you Howe I'm afraid he rarely listens to anyone besides his mother ". "Ha, a temperament to match his tremendous fighting skill, well done your lordship ". "Now pup no doubt you know why I called you here yes? " "To tell me I am staying here whilst you and Fergus leave for Ostagar? " "Quite, no doubt you wish to come too but your mother would have my hide if I even so much as thought of bringing both you and Fergus with me, it took all my courage just to get Fergus to come, Maker knows she would've reacted to my trying to bring you both to war. " "It's fine father I think we all know how mother would've reacted if it means you won't die here rather than fighting against darkspawn for your country. " "Thank you pup that means a lot that you understand. " "Forgive me my lord "Howe interjected "But why do you bring Fergus to war when he is the one with wife and child here, especially when Aedan is the one with the far superior fighting skill? " "I would hope it obvious Howe, true Aedan does have the superior fighting skill and Fergus is the one with family I bring him because he is my heir the eldest son and because it shows he is willing to die for his country rather than stay home with his family that and Aedan is only 19, besides one soldier being replaced by a better one won't make too great a difference in this war". "Fair point your lordship ". "Now pup there was something else I wanted you here for. " He told one of the guardsmen on the front door to "show Duncan in". The guard nodded and opened the door along with the guard beside him allowing a man through wearing a white half plated type of leather armor "Your hospitality is most appreciated Teryn Cousland. " "Pup this is Duncan a Grey Warden, I trust brother Aldous told you who the grey wardens are yes? " "Of course, they are an ancient order who combat the blight and the darkspawn even when there isn't a blight. " "Yes quite true though our numbers aren't what they once were so deep roads excursions are rare for us, unfortunately. " "Your lordship you did not mention there would be a grey warden present. " "Duncan showed up unannounced looking for recruits, is there a problem?. "No of course not it just that there are certain formalities one must follow in the presence of a grey warden " "I assure Arl Howe those are not necessary " "Pup Duncan came here for recruits as I said but he has his eye on sir Gilmore. " "if I might be so bold you're son would make an excellent recruit". "A great honor that may be but this is one of my son's we're talking about here. " "Oh come now your lordship aren't the grey wardens heroes that every parent tells their sons and daughters about I mean if it hadn't been for these wardens we would have no clue as to the dark spawn rising in the south and didn't you tell me earlier that we could've lost most of the south before having time to react and prepare our arms? " "I've not so many children that I'll send them off to battle unless you intend to invoke the rite of conscription Sir Duncan? " "Have no fear, while we are in need of new recruits it's not so desperate I would have the need for that. " "That is new to me father, what is the rite of conscription? " "Nothing you need to worry about Pup, now while we're gone I trust you to take care of Duncan and any needs he may have yes? " "As you wish father anything else while I'm here? " He said whilst crossing his arm's " Yes actually there is could you find Fergus and tell him to leave with the troops for Ostagar tonight I'll leave with Howe in the morning when his troops arrive. " "Alright I'll see to it father, Arl Howe, Sir Duncan. "With that, he left in search of his elder brother. After leaving the great hall he was met by his good friend Sir Gilmore who informed him his mother had instructed him to sort out his mabari hound Xavier "Your mother insisted it be done immediately, my lord. " "Very well I'm in no mood to deal with mother pissed off, you said he was in the kitchens yes? " "Yes my lord he's giving old nan a couple more grey hairs and wrinkles from the sound of it. " As they headed to the kitchens Sir Gilmore inquired as to whether or not the rumors he had heard of Duncan seeking him out for the wardens to be true. "It's true alright my friend. " "Me, a grey warden I can hardly believe it but to be fair if I were the warden on recruitment I'd try to get you to join my lord. " "Me? I'm not that impressive. " "Surely you jest my lord, I know you are not one for bragging and like to play the average nothing too special about me I'm just a noble, act but you surely must be aware of how great a warden someone like you would become you have superior skill in battle to those twice your age with even greater strength, your cunning and trickery could put even Orlesians to shame not to mention that silver tongue of yours which could convince a dragon it's a pixie. " "Don't be ridiculous, I can't convince something It doesn't exist ha ha ha. " "Well we'll never know unless you try. " "Ha, and where pray tell am I going to find a dragon? " "Where else if not guarding some valuable treasure. " "Well to find a treasure such as that I'd need to leave the castle and that never happens unless it's for politics. " "Yes true I suppose, but my lord, pray tell what do you seek in this life? What's you're endgame just to be a second son to a noble or do you intend to roam thedas as a mercenary or just marry someone like lady Delilah to further your noble status? " "Father put you up to this, didn't he? " "No my lord – " "Oh mother then. " He said giving sir Gilmore a knowing look whereas sir Gilmore simply looked away as if he'd seen a bird flying overhead "To answer mothers question, I honestly don't know true I have a knack for politics but it's all too boring for me if I could I would say join the wardens or the army perhaps or maybe try for the shield of Maric, truthfully just having a sword in hand makes me feel alive that thrill of drawing blood striking down my foes for the sake of family country people and home, that adrenaline flow that comes with battle, the blur of sword and body becoming one that's what I seek, probably sounds a little bloodthirsty but-that's simply it, I'm a warrior yet there's no way father would ever allow me to join the wardens or put my self in harms way such as in the army possibly marics shield but, while it is an honorable position its one that most of the time is simply ceremonial, and I'd never disown my heritage or position just to join the army as it would be a disgrace to mother and father so I guess I'll just go with the flow till something comes around. " "What about having a family? " "I'll admit it is tempting and I'd be fine with having kids but I don't know if I'd be able to give then enough attention because I doubt even starting a family would be enough to put my warriors soul at peace, but enough about the future I hear nan going ballistic and I'd rather not have tomatoes mixed into my dinner again." After finding Xavier and getting his shoes covered in rats guts he left Xavier to clean up the mess and went to find Fergus after apologizing to Nan. He ran into his mother on his way to the family living quarters along with an elf women and a man similar to his own age. "Ah there you are dear, I trust sir Gilmore told you about that dog of yours yes? " "He did, fear not mother he's just busy cleaning the rat guts we left on the kitchen floor. " "Ugh Aedan please don't mention having rats in the kitchen when we have guests especially not when we have a grey warden present, on to another subject, please. "She said as her guest clearly were getting nauseous "Aedan this is lady Landra, Bann Loren's wife, I believe you met at his last soirée. " "Ah yes I remember, you were quite drunk if memory serves me right. " "Ugh Aedan where is your social grace when I need it? "She said face-palming "Oh Eleanor relax it's my fault anyway I couldn't stop flirting with him the whole night, I was so hammered poor Dairen here had to lug me into my room with a guardsman. " "Even so Landra it's times like these where I wonder whether all that training and practicing with myself and brother Aldous was wasted on him, nonetheless Aedan I trust you remember Dairen if I remember right you two fought in the last tourney. " "Yes where you beat me quite handily my lord. " "Ah yes last tourney, ah…. ". "Its fi e my lord I wouldn't expect you to remember me anyhow I didn't last very long in our fight ". "Ha, sounds like most people opponents your boys gone up against Eleanor ". "Elandra don't make such fun at your boy." "Oh don't act like you don't do it too Eleanor, oh I completely forgot, this is my lady in waiting Iona, go on dear say something ". She was a timid looking elf no doubt she rarely met with other nobility let alone nobility like themselves not to brag of course. "It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance Lord Cousland. "She said curtseying "Ha forgive me but I'm afraid lord Cousland is my father lady Iona I'm simply Aedan Maric Cousland ". She said nothing but simply looked down while lady Elandra "Oh don't look now Eleanor but I think she has a crush on your boy(giggle). " "Hush now Elandra, you'll turn the poor thing scarlet. " Seeing only further discomfort Dairen carted Iona off with a "We'll head to the library till dinner thank you both. " Lady Elandra went off to saying something about getting boozed up for another night of politics. "Before you head off Aedan what's this I hear about a grey warden trying to recruit you? " "Maker news travels fast around here, you don't need to worry mother father told him I was off the table and he has no interest of using the rite of conscription, whatever that is. "She breathed a sigh of relief "Good, maker knows I can barely stand the fact both Fergus and your father are going off to war, I'd probably burst a vein if you went as well and as a warden no less not on the front line but more likely beyond it, I'm sorry I shouldn't be saying this since I know how you like fighting, but you are needed here Aedan far more than you are at Ostagar to look after the Terynir as well as Oren and Oriana. " "I know mother, it's just I feel, useless having my skills yet I'll be staying here, but I will respect yours and fathers wish nonetheless. " "Thank you Aedan, I take it you remember one if the chief principles of war? " "Yes not all wars are fought on battlefields even when there is one. "She gave him a hug which he returned "Seems those lessons weren't a waste of time now you're looking for Fergus yes? I think I saw him in his room saying farewell, I'll see you at dinner then. " With that Aedan continued to his brother's room. Upon reaching it he found his brother and sister in law giving each other a kiss goodbye no doubt. "Ugh, Maker's breath poor Oren's right there Fergus thinks about him too. "His brother broke the kiss and laughed and turned to his younger brother with a laugh and said "One-day little brother I swear you'll meet a woman who can tame you, then you'll change your tune. "He smiled at his brothers remark doubting that such even if such a woman existed he'd ever meet her stuck here in the castle all the time. "Father wants you to take the troops to Ostagar ahead of him while he goes with Howe's troops tomorrow when they arrive. " "So the Arl's men are delayed Maker's breath if I didn't know Howe so well I'd say he just wanted me to head to Ostagar first so I'll be the one to have to put up with Cailains speech (sigh) no matter I'll get going now love" he said giving his wife another kiss while Aedan and Oren retched. "Now Oren I want you to keep an eye on your uncle and mother for me because you know what he'll get up to while me and your grandparents are gone OK? "He nodded and smiled saying "YEAH he'll teach me how to sword fight with my sword of truthiness, take that dire bunny ". He started swinging around a pretend sword. Where his mother interrupted him saying "No he most certainly will not thank you. "Aedan simply shrugged and said he had no clue what Oren was talking about, all I ever do with him is just tell him stories about the grey wardens and heroes of old. "Both parents just gave him the- call bullshit on that one look. "If you want to learn sword play so bad Oren how about I bring you back your very own sword from Ostagar and we'll train till you're ready for it eh? How does that sound? "Oren just pouted and asked why he could not use it once he got it to which Fergus explained he was too young and weak to properly wield a blade. Then he asked Aedan if a grey warden really was in the castle. "Oh yes his names Duncan and by the look of him he's seen more than his fair share of fighting." "Did he ride in on a Griffin? The stories say they do. "His mother told him unfortunately that the Griffins were all extinct now, just then He and Fergus's parents the Teryn and Teryna walked in. "I hope you weren't planning to leave without saying goodbye Fergus. "They're mother said rather coldly to which he nervously explained no and told them how they were getting into a no doubt long conversation about the grey wardens. Eleanor hugged her eldest son who promised to come back safely "You'll look after them all won't you baby brother? "Aedan twitched at his old nickname Fergus called him "Of course I'll look after them all not that mother needs protecting though. " "Ha you're right they should be sending her not me to Ostagar, she'd probably scold the dark spawn back into the deep roads. "The Cousland men all laughed while the women just rolled their eyes. "Maker watch over our son's and father's our brothers and sisters mothers, aunts and uncles return our families and loved ones to us, please. "Fergus hugged his wife after her prayer as Aedan replied, "A good shield would probably do more to protect him than a prayer". His mother just gave him a watch it sort of look and he kept his mouth shut. "Huh and bring us some ale and wenches while you're at it (realizing his mistake he added) For the men of course". "You'd better get going soon Fergus while there's still light out ". "Ah yes, of course, well I'd best be off father I'll see you at Ostagar everyone else when the both of us return victorious". Once he left everyone else parted till dinner which was the usual and predictable except Oren trying to grab one of Duncan's swords which ended the night quite quickly after that. Aedan decided to have a little drink on top of the grand Hall looking at the vastness of the terynir that was Highever. "Your father told me to look for you here seems this must be a getaway spot for you I guess. "Aedan looked towards the source of the voice and bolted up once he saw it was Duncan. "Sir Duncan shit, sorry about the mess I wanted to get a little fun in before I have to take the position of regent teryn tomorrow or whenever mother leaves. " He simply laughed and picked up a bottle and began drinking and picked up a bottle and began to skull most of it down. "Ah, maker it's been a long time since I've been able to just pick up a drink and unwind." He took another swig "I never would've taken you for a drunker young Cousland. " "Yeah well I don't too often mainly to unwind or when it's a men's night out, but tonight, well my sword arm just won't stop twitching, the fact that Fergus is going to war and not me seems to have upset it, so I'm drinking to try and quieten it down. "He replied taking a swill himself "Well what's say we ease up that twitch with a little sparring match, eh? "Aedan was a little shocked to be Frank he didn't expect Duncan to want to waste time with something like a spar, but he was right in saying it would ease his arms annoyance, he stood up but accidentally knocked the ret of the booze off the roof with a shattering 'SMASH '. After a servant on his way to the kitchens cleaned up the glass, Aedan apologized but he waved him off saying it was fine. Duncan led him off to a secluded part of the castle near the outer door to the lower level of the castle where he tossed him a wooden sword saying they'll make less noise than real one's, not that it matter Duncan easily disarmed Aedan after a few strikes. "Are you that drunk milord? Id heard you once were praised by King Maric himself for your skill. " "It's not the drink it takes a lot for me to get smashed, it's just using a wooden sword puts me off, the weight the strength, the feel – there all wrong, that and I haven't used one since I was a lad so I'd rather not try to break them to avoid any sort of lash out from mother, sorry. " "There's no need for an apology, I understand where you're coming from truth be told I also don't recall having ever used one so I'm afraid I too probably would've broken mine thus making the spar a little impractical. "He picked up a sword from a nearby guardsmen for Aedan and drew his own one "Let's make this a fair fight no different from one you'd expect from tourney. "Aedan nodded and made his stance, the two began to circle each other. From what his father and other residents of the castle had told him Aedan's strength was in tourney, where there were no low blows or cheap tricks and he could easily anticipate his opponents next move, and based on how hard he was pushing him back, this was true as Duncan did have a tendency to use such tricks in a pickle, after several more blows Duncan found the young man's blade at his throat. "It seems what I heard is right you are quite formidable with the blade – however. "Fast as thought Duncan slapped Aedan's sword hand away, kicked his legs out from under him, sending him falling into his back whilst Duncan drew his dagger and held it tight against his throat. "Like most knights who have not known true combat outside of the tourneys you're susceptible to tricks and unfair moves which would earn disqualification at a tourney. "He sheathed his knife and helped the younger man up. "You have the skill to be a great warrior and from what I hear in scraps on the streets you can use more than a fair deal of tricks one would see on a battlefield but as I just demonstrated, you're poor at anticipating them against someone who isn't just some common street thug. " "Aye you're right Duncan, no doubt its my inexperience and age at work since I've never had to kill someone with skills like mine against someone like you where its all or nothing fight to the death. "
Duncan said with small grin "Well against darks pawn you'd have a bit of difficulty since they are like my self, except they fight on nothing but pure carnal instinct and rage in order to fight on, so I'm afraid you'd need quite a fair modicum of mental training in order to forgo your knightly honor in order to be of great use to the wardens, but it wouldn't take too long since I be heard you're quite the quick learner. " "Oh? Pray tell who exactly would give me this training and why would I need it if I am to stay away from the war? "He said with a most inquisitive look. Duncan merely smiled in return and said "Well if your parents allowed it, I most certainly could, give it a go as the young people are saying it nowadays. "Aedan chuckled and informed Duncan he wouldn't mind becoming a warden, however he would do his duty as a Cousland and hold the Terynir in the stead of his parents. "Unfortunate, however I commend your honor to do your duty, but it's a shame we could've used a recruit with your potential, however as I told you and your father I have no intention of forcing the issue, goodnight milord. "Aedan bid him good night as well and went to his own quarters, he was so energetic after that spar he had trouble falling asleep however once he did, after what felt like a minute he was woken by the sound of Xavier barking at the door to the hall "Ugh, what is it boy? I'm trying to sleep here, bad enough my arms itching like crazy after that match with Duncan, I don't need you going off like you're in heat. "He didn't know it at the time, but the moment he spoke those words left his lips his life would be forever more changed beyond return, for a servant burst through his door covered in blood panting heavily, before he could say anything an arrow erupted from his throat bring forth a torrent of blood, his body thinking for itself Aedan grabbed Xavier and pulled him over to the sue of his bed away from the door whilst then pulling his bed over to make a cover while two armor clad men came charging in after the servant, no doubt they intended to rush him whilst he was drowsy and slow, but thanks to Xavier he was awake and ready, when the first man ran over to his side if the bed Xavier leaped on him bringing him down underneath his weight tearing out his throat while Aedan took the deco e man's sword arm whilst he was busy looking at his friends still living body as Xavier munched on his throat and broke it, he then proceeded to snap the man's neck, picking up the dead man's shield he told Xavier to dig in while he threw the shield from around the corner at the archer causing him to fire off the arrow he had strung wildly, allowing Aedan to charge him before he could ready another arrow, tackling him to the ground, before the man could react he drew back his fist and punched him right in the face with all his might, shattering his nose and sending the broken shards killing him instantly. Unfortunately he had drawn the attention of another group of the same invaders trying to get into his mother's room, there were four of them, one with a bow two with sword and shield the other with a battle axe, no doubt to force his way through the locked door, knowing he had only enough time for a single shot he grabbed the fallen man's bow and aimed an arrow at the other archer and prayed to the maker he wouldn't miss at this range as he was usually terrible at archery. He let the arrow fly and it struck true killing the archer instantly as it pierced straight through his right eye, the two with shields were now too close to him to launch another arrow, so he cast aside the bow and picked the shield he threw earlier and used it to bat the first man's blade away on the right whilst at the same time thrusting his foot into the other man's groin, bringing him to the ground, while the man on the left was still on the ground Aedan disarmed him and took his blade and cut his throat open, while the intruder on the left tried to get to his feet Aedan just plunged the blade through his back severing his spine leaving him paralyzed before he bled to death, they're friend with the axe still hacked away at the door knit having realized his allies had failed, as he approached him his blood was almost on fire, he had never felt this way before in any tourney against any opponent, not only were these his first kills, they were also the first opponents he'd fought with to the death to the bitter end, and not only that, but the anger in his heart thinking about what was happening to his family near blurred his vision with pure bloodlust, in a tourney he never would've thrown his shield or tackled his opponent outside of wrestling, and he most certainly never would've used a nut shot, thankfully these men's armor was budget and cheap so there was no padding down there, if this was it was like to fight for your life, how different was it to fight in a battle or war, the burning fury of combat driving you forth to survive at any means like a beast, if so he was afraid he might like it too much. He decapitated the axe man and called out to his parents and his mother replied to him, she opened the door and checked him over, he insisted he was fine and that she should stay in her room, but her response was fierce "I am no Orlesian wallflower, hand me a blade and I shall fight, but first we must find you father, Oriana and Oren; you're father did not come to bed tonight so no doubt he was still with Howe, I'd recognizer these crests anywhere, these are Howe's men, which means you're father may already be – "She caught herself not wishing to continue her thought as Aedan checked on Fergus's room, Xavier came out from his room and plodded over to Oren's corpse and nudged him gently, whimpering as if trying to wake him up. Aedan could feel his blood further boil in rage at the sight before him Oriana was posed as if she'd tried to shield her son with her body until help came, but it didn't, he couldn't stop the tears from flowing down his face, he had promised his brother he would protect them and yet they were – dead, and he hadn't even known they were in peril till it was too late. "Oh maker no… Let me see. "He tried to stop her, but she simply pushed him aside and collapsed to her knees as soon as she entered "Maker no, my sweet little Oren, what kind of monster butchers innocents? How doesn't intend to take us alive at all he's killing us all no doubt the servants and staff suffer even now too, we must go and save as many of them as we can, come. "She kissed Oren and Oriana farewell and left with Aedan as they headed outside. They found corpses, soldiers of both the Cousland and Howe's and as mother said, the servants and staff too such as brother Aldous, as they cleaved through the enemy soldiers the found several of their men still alive and they fought alongside against Howe's men, despite being only in his noble garments Aedan fought like a beast cleaving hacking and cutting his foes till they lay in bloody heaps on the floor. Before they entered the grand Hall his mother pulled him to the treasury whilst the men checked the rooms they passed for any other survivors, they found 3 of Howe's men trying to pick the lock no doubt trying to get a little extra loot from the castle off the books the mother and son dispatched the cretins easily, while his mother opened the door to dent Howe as much loot as possible Aedan bid farewell to the guards who'd fallen defending the treasury, they always played poker and said the treasury would be fine if they had a little fun every now and then and Aedan always enabled them, but at least they did they're job when the time fell upon them. "Help me grab as much of this as you can, I refuse to let Howe take any more from us than he already has. "He grabbed the family sword and shield along with a few pouches of gold as well as the family signet ring, which his father only wore to special occasions like the coronation of King Cailain or when he married mother, while Aedan took what he could fit, his mother set up a few trips from some bombs' she'd had stored maker knee where as a surprise for whoever next came in after she relocked the door. They regrouped with the men they'd found who unfortunately had found no other survivors, and so headed forth towards the great Hall. What they found when entered was a battle already ensuing between whatever guardsmen remained and a large number of Amaranthine soldiers, the Cousland guards were outnumbered two to one, as if that weren't bad enough, Aedan saw a mage with Howe's men casting spells and further weakening the already depleted Cousland men, Aedan gave a shout of encouragement as he and his men charged into Howe's men with their reinforcements buffering their offense and increasing their morale as Aedan cut through the invaders towards the mage, Aedan had never fought a mage before, but he knew the basics of needing to distract and rush them before they could use any spells, thinking on his feet as the mage turned towards him, he drew back his shield and spun around, releasing it like a discuss as the mage launched a dagger of ice at him, the mage quickly knocked the shield aside with a gust of wind, expecting something as that Aedan then threw his sword like a throwing knife, digging in to her skull like a knife through a cake, with their mage dead and with the arrival of the Cousland reinforcements, Howe's soldiers quickly fell under their onslaught of rage and fury, but their victory was short lived for even as the last invader fell the great doors shuddered and cracked, the rest of Howe's army would soon be upon them, Aedan tried to get the men to follow him and his mother, but they all insisted it was their duty to defend the castle and ensure the remaining Cousland line survived, Aedan teared up a bit and gave each of them a farewell swearing he would do right by their families. They found more dead and a few more stragglers of Howe's men the two quickly dispatched, when they made to the larder where the old secret passage lay, Aedan's blade lay sheathed until he suddenly drew on a whim and found it countered by another in the dark of the kitchen, the two blades clashed and Aedan felt his sword arm twist as his blade fell out of his hand, but that didn't stop him, he kicked towards where he guessed the assailant to be, he felt his foot collide with armor with a satisfying 'Oof', it sounded familiar, but he paid it no heed as he drew back his fist to land a punch when someone called out "Pup! ". He looked towards the larder and his eyes quickly adjusted to the dark where he saw his father leaning against the doorframe, his mother rushed to his side, but Aedan could see the damage was done, his father didn't have long left to live, and his mother knew it. He looked to whom he had scuffed with it was Duncan, they both apologized to each other while his father called them both over. "Thank the Maker you're both alright, I feared the worst may have befallen you, I take it, Oriana and Oren….. "He had no need to finish from the looks on their faces. "I am quite surprised the two of you managed to make it here alone. "Duncan remarked, "We had some guardsmen who stayed behind to hold the grand door, but it was mostly thanks to Aedan we made it unscathed". "I am not surprised ". "Duncan, you are in no way indebted to me, but I beg you, please take my wife and son to safety, I beg you. " "This I can do milord, but I'm afraid I must ask a price in return". "Anything! ", "The evil here pales in comparison to the darkness that spreads from the south, I came here to find a recruit for the wardens, and I'm afraid I cannot leave without one". "You mean me, right? "Aedan said ad he realized what Duncan was getting at. "Yes, I shall not lie, in truth I came here in hopes of recruiting you young Cousland, and the fact you have survived thus far and made it here to me can be nothing less than either testament to your skill or the will of the maker, I offer you a place amongst the grey wardens, join us". He said extending his hand to him, Aedan took a second to process what was happening, not that there was much to ponder, either join the wardens for life or more than likely die here, he took the outstretched hand with a bit of reluctance and shook it as Duncan brought him to his feet. "The castle Is surrounded all around escape shall be difficult, but not impossible, it seems they have not discovered this passage yet but we must hurry, I will take your son and the Teryna to Ostagar to inform the king and Fergus of what has happened, after that, your son shall become one of us". "But what of Howe? I can't just sit by and let him get away " "Pup, you now have a duty to end the blight, our family always puts their duty first, even above family, Howe no doubt intends to use the chaos of the blight to advance his position, prove him wrong, survive the see the blight end and Howe's hubris come crashing down on him, for our sake and Ferledens. " " Bryce, are you sure? " "Yes my love, our son will not die of Howe's treachery, he will live and make his mark on the world ". "Darling, go with Duncan, you have a better chance of escaping without me" "MOTHER! " "Eleanor, are you sure? " "Hush Bryce, ill kill every bastard that comes through that door to buy them time, but I will not abandon you, till death do us part, those were our wedding vows we took on that battlefield so long ago, my place is with you Bryce, even I'd it means my end. "Aedan wanted to say something, to stop her, but he knew it was pointless, she was his and Fergus's mother after all, she was twice as stubborn as the two of them combined, he gave his parents one final hug farewell swearing to unseam Howe from Prick to sternum with the family blade as well as keeping it, the family sword and signet ring safe, Eleanor gave all the valuables she had to Duncan before sending them off with an I love you as she closed the door shut to the secret tunnel, Aedan teared up at what he had just done, but his father was right, the king had to know of Howe's betrayal, so no matter what, Howe would suffer, but not only that, he had to fulfill his promise to survive the blight and do his family proud as a Grey Warden. As fate would have it, the Teryna spoke true, had she gone with them, she would've gotten them killed, for unbeknownst to Aedan, the mage from the Grand Hall had hit her with her icicle shard, damaging her leg to the degree where it took everything she had not to let Aedan know, for if he did, he would've blamed himself for her death and she would not further burden her son more so than he already was. As Aedan saddled the horse Duncan had found for him, he took one last look at his home as the flames of chaos and greed consumed his house and family, while he rode away to safety free from its clutches while this fire would spread across Highever and like his home too would it be consumed while he rode far away from it, this sentiment left a bad taste in his mouth, but it was one he would have to bear, to atone for this he also swore to aid as many innocent people he could, to kill only out of necessity, not for the simple purpose of it or because it was easy, he would give as many lives as he could the chance to survive this blight too, no matter how difficult it made his own path. In another time far from this moment someone dear to Aedan would tell him about change, about how it was needed to be freed, no matter how much they may oppose it, he would never admit it to her but she was right, for that night, a hero was born, a hero who would one day, far too soon, be reborn a legend.
It was clear to Duncan that Aedan would need time to adjust and cope with what had just happened only two nights prior, truthfully Duncan had no idea what to do about the boy, he would exercise and train whenever he could, almost to the point of dropping, Duncan would stop him before he hurt himself, though he understood the feeling of failure, he was sure he wouldn't appreciate being told failure can only make one stronger and wiser, after what said failure coat him. They rose straight for Ostagar, but not before stopping at Redcliffe to resupply after taking the Western route from Highever, relying solely on wood animals so as to avoid the chance of one of Bowes men ambushing them in a village, Aedan stayed outside the castle, too energetic to be staying still and standing on ceremony, he wanted to get to Ostagar and find Fergus before it was too late in case Howe had placed an assassin amongst the men Fergus took with him. Just before they reached Ostagar the two encountered a small darks pawn hunting party, two Hurlock's and four genlocks, they both took on half the group, Aedan was fine against his Hurlock, but the genlocks where a bit hard to adjust to quickly given their diminutive size, it was no doubt like fighting a dwarf, so he remembered the basics his mentor had taught him about fighting the other races, watched his midsection and the reach of their weapons and quickly dispatched them. Duncan commended his adaptability with fighting darkspawn for the first time as well as changing his fighting style to may his opponents different stature, as they continued onward Aedan realized Duncan was right about the dark spawn fighting like caged beasts but yet still retaining a slight modicum of predictability, Duncan was also right about how fighting knightly would get him killed. The two kept going till they reached the ancient stronghold of Ostagar where they were greeted by a familiar face. "Ho there Duncan", "King Cailain, I did not expect – ", "A royal welcome? I heard you were on your way so I thought I'd welcome you back, and I take it this is your new-hold on Aedan? Is that you? Good to se you again my friend, tell me is your father and Arl Howe close behind or are they further delayed? "Aedan and Duncan shared a look, "Forgive me for having to be the one to deliver this news so late my king, but I'm afraid my father, will not be arriving, for he and my mother are dead and castle Cousland has fallen". The king looked to Duncan as if to clarify that this was true and not a joke, Duncan nodded, "He speaks the truth king Cailain, Teryn Cousland, and his wife are dead, Highever has been taken by force – by Arl Howe, had we not escaped no doubt he would've told you any tale he wished". The Kings expression, changed from confused to concerned to bewilderment as Duncan explained the situation, "I… can scarcely believe this, how could he possibly believe that he could get away with such treachery? I swear my friend I will march my army north once the darkspawn are dealt with, this I swear, no doubt you'll want to speak to Fergus, unfortunately he left on a scouting expedition this morning and has not returned, I'm sorry I can be of no further assistance my friend, for now, I must return to my tent where Loghain no doubt intends to bore me with strategies for the upcoming battle". "You sound disappointed your majesty? " "I was hoping for a grand battle like in the legends', the king and the Grey Wardens charging out into battle against the archdemon, but we've yet to see any sign of one, so it looks as though this could just be a large excursion to the surface rather than a true blight, ah well I'd best get moving and deliver the news of Highever, again I am sorry for your loss my friend. " After that Duncan told Aedan to try and meet the other warden recruits. (I'm going to assume everyone else is as bored of this part as much as I am so I'm just going to move to Alistair). "Oh, you must be the new recruit from Highever Aedan, right? The captain of the Cousland guardsmen right? "Aedan figured this guy must've gotten him and Sir Gilmore confused, not that it mattered, in fact, it would probably be the best for him to just be seen as an average soldier rather than the son of fallen nobility. "So, hope you don't mind my asking but, have you ever killed a darkspawn before?". "Yes but only a Hurlock and two genlocks so not much of an achievement really ". "Hey don't sell yourself short, that's far more than what most of the men here can claim, have you met the other recruits yet? "He nodded "Alright then, let's go see Duncan then and start the joining". Aedan wanted to ask more about this joining, but he knew better than it was probably best to not ask since it was obviously a secret. As the four of them marched through the Korcari Wilds, Aedan couldn't help but feel a little unnerved at the thought of drinking an undiluted form of darkspawn blood infused with lyrium and some crazy ass magic, but it did explain why Grey wardens were so strong and powerful, Duncan was a perfect example, despite being well past his prime he can still fight twice as hard as a man half his age. After finding a wounded man from a scouting party the group encountered darkspawn, there were far more than there were from that little group he and Duncan found on the way here, there was at least 10 Hurlock's but only maybe 6 of the genlocks, without thinking he told daveth to shoot the genlocks from a nearby tree so the three of them wouldn't have to keep below there line of soft in case they got close without their noticing, once he was up and picking off the slow short targets, the three warriors, Alistair on the left, Aedan on the right and set Jory in the middle, once more Aedan felt that boiling in his blood as he reveled in the slaughter he brought forth, earning himself the spare kill so he had one more than Jory and Alistair, once they collected sufficient amounts of darkspawn blood, they followed Alistair to where Duncan said the old tower should've been. Once they reached the tower Aedan encountered his first Hurlock alpha, it was tougher faster and stronger than the normal Hurlock, but its armor was still trash, so when it swung its axe at him, he simply brought it right down into the ground, placed a foot on it then ran his sword through its chest killing it. Alistair praised him for taking down an alpha on his first try, they then moved into the tower and right before them was a massive chest with a bunch of engravings all over the surface they could see through the foliage, the chest also had a massive split down the middle as if it'd been cracked open by an axe. Just to be sure Aedan checked it, but no surprise he found it empty, suddenly he felt a chill down the back of his nape, sun around to what he believed the source and saw a raven-haired women, scantily dressed in robes and rags that left very little to imagination, with piercing golden eyes like a hawk, when she spoke the other 3 noticed her too as well and placed their hands on the hilts of their blades while Aedan left his well alone. "Well, well, what do we have here, are you vultures? Seeking to pick whatever flesh may remain, or are you, intruders, coming into these darkspawn filled woods of mine in search of easy prey, well which are you, scavenger or intruder? "She spoke to Aedan, no doubt because he was the only one who did not immediately treat her as a threat. He stood slowly, made eye contact and spoke with his best political tone "We are neither, we are grey warden's, this tower once belonged to us and we simply came to reclaim something left behind here, we had no intention of offending you by coming here without your say so", His father once told him how his ancestors had negotiated with the avvar and chasind, the main point of not provoking them was to stroke their ego and make them look superior whilst still negotiating, he hoped he'd paid enough attention to those lessons. "Hmm, shall I guess that whatever you seek was in that chest, something that is no longer there? " Alistair's Templar training no doubt kicked in about here "Don't answer her, she looks chasind and that means more could be nearby "She seemed to think it quite funny and responded "Oh you fear barbarians will swoop down from above? " "Yes swooping is bad and I bet you stole the documents we're after, you will give them back to us now " "I will not and cannot, for twas, not I who took them" Aedan swooped in to try and stop this downward spiral but then daveth had to cry "She's a witch of the wilds she is, she'll turn us into toads". She simply rolled her eyes at his claim "Witch of the wilds, such idle fancies those legends, have you no minds of your own, you there handsome one, tell me your name and I shall tell you mine, let us be civil, it is proper manners to tell one's name is it not?" Once again Daveth to the rescue "Aedan, don't do it, my mum always told me if a witch learned your name she'd be able to do anything she wants with ya". Alistair facepalmed at daveths stupidity "Well whether or not what you said is true she knows my name thanks to you "Daveth then realized his mistake and shut up. "Forgive my friends' interruption milady, but yes my name is Aedan, a pleasure to meet you ". Morrigan had seemed rather amused by Daveth but then responded to Aedan's manners "Now that is a proper greeting even here in the wilds, you may call me Morrigan". "Morrigan, a beautiful name, now that we have exchanged names I hope you will not mind my asking, but if you did not remove the documents we seek, do you know who did? " "Why thank you for asking so nicely, unlike your friend there, "She said flitting a hand at Alistair, who simply gave her the evil eye which she returned twice over "To answer your question twas my mother who took your documents" "Could you take us to her to get them back? " "Now there is a sensible request, (giggle) I like you" "I'd be careful if I was you, first it's 'I like you', then 'ZAP' frog time". "Feel free to go back without me but I for one happen to trust magic whether wielded by an apostate or a circle mage" He said heading towards Morrigan who then turned and led them away from the tower, Daveth and Ser Jory looked to Alistair who simply shrugged, followed Aedan and prayed he wouldn't have to use what little Templar knowledge he had in case things went south. As they walked Morrigan decided to chat with this most curious young man as the rest of his party came following from behind. "Most curious, "He asked what was curious and she said, "The fact that you are not the leader yet the others follow you almost blindly and without debate, it appears to me and to any sane person no doubt that you are a leader whilst they are sheep". He merely chuckled and said he was no leader, also the reason they followed him was because they can't leave until they have the documents and they could only get them by following her, and Aedan simply had no fear of magic so he didn't need time to realize they didn't have a choice but to follow her. She took a moment to process what he had just said, while he did no doubt speak the truth, he did also avoid the fact that he was a natural leader and that the three fools had complete faith in his decision-making skills, she let it slide as they continued to her shack. Morrigan seemed to breathe a sigh of relief when they arrived at her – abode which told Aedan she was probably sick of them or at least of Alistair, Daveth, and Jory. "Mother I have brought these Grey Wardens – "Her mother who seemed to appear out of nowhere giving him a little fright "Yes, yes girl I see them, much as I expected " "Umm are we supposed to believe you were expecting us? "Alistair inquired "You are expected to do nothing, least of all believe shut one's eyes tight or open one's arms wide, either way, one's a fool ". "She's a witch I tell you we should leave" "Quiet Daveth if she really is a witch do you want to piss her off? " "Now there is a smart lad, sadly irrelevant to the larger scheme of things I am not the one decides such things believe what you will, but what of you, do you possess a different viewpoint, or do you believe as the others do? "She asked Aedan "Truthfully? I have no idea what to think" "A statement that possess more wisdom than it implies, always be aware, or is it oblivious, I can never remember, so much about you is uncertain and yet I believe – do I, ha I believe I do, that mark on your face, it makes me curious, wherever did you get it? " Aedan felt a wave of confusion and curiosity wash over him, no one ever really talked about his tattoo, it was uncommon for nobility to possess such marks and face markings, but this witch was saying it was a mark? "It's just a tattoo I got from my swordmaster, "He said rubbing it half conscious of what he was doing "Ah well if its nothing it's nothing, must be these old eyes playing tricks". "So this is a dreaded witch of the wilds? "He said trying to keep a straight face "Witch of the wilds eh? Did Morrigan tell you that? She fancies such tales, oh how she dances under the moon (dry cackle while Morrigan just held her hand in her head)". "They did not come for your wild tales mother " "True, they came for their treaties and before you start barking, your precious seal wore off some time back, I have protected these". She said handing them to Alistair "Oh, you protected them? Thank you ". "Now take those back to your leaders and tell them this blight is far greater a threat than what they think ". Aedan wanted to find out what she meant by that but figured he'd get something like women's intuition or I've gotta keep some secrets to myself. Instead of going through that BS he simply thanked them and bid them farewell, yet he would not be seeing the end of Morrigan just yet as her mother insisted she escort them back to ensure the treaties actually left the woods, Aedan probably should've felt insulted, yet he knew that Morrigan would no doubt know ways around the darkspawn and the natural hazards, as they got closer to the camp he could feel the tension between Morrigan and the others grow to a worrying degree, but finally the camp came into view and Morrigan stopped no doubt to get rid of them as soon as possible "There is your precious camp, I trust you do not need me to hold your hand all the way as I would rather not have to bother with your almighty Templars hunting me and my abomination mother down as we practice our blood magic "She said turning away as the rest of the group passed her towards the camp while Aedan simply said to her before she vanished "Just for the record I don't believe all apostates practice blood magic, or that they deserve to have their lives decided by the chantry just because they have magic" She didn't respond she simply just vanished once she was far enough into the woods. Once they got back to Duncan and after he left to prepare the joining ritual, Aedan spent the time in between sparring with Alistair and just spending some time with his dog, it turned out the man they helped in the woods was apart of Fergus's scouting party, he was one of the last ones killed before the man passed out, so now he and Xavier were the only survivors of castle Cousland, he took what little comfort he could in the fact he wasn't all alone, but no matter what now, he would not allow any harm to come to his dog, he would keep one resident of the castle safe even if it was just his mabari, he and the smug bastard and he had been through far too much, he was the first thing he had received from his battle master Kieran when he first started learning to fight as a warrior, not necessarily as a Knight though as he got older those jagged instincts became dull as tourneys took precedence over life threatening situations, He would have to work much harder in order to sharpen his skills back up along with his battle instincts, before the joining Aedan decided to give his family sword and shield to the King to keep safe along with his own father's sword since it was several centuries old and not meant for front line battlefields, he'd left the gold and riches with Arl Eamon since there was no point bringing that to a war zone. The sun, set and Duncan called for the three recruits, the atmosphere was gloomy as the three approached the spot for the joining was away from all the other areas of the camp, he guessed this really was dangerous. Dead Ser Jory and Daveth, both aspiring recruits, were dead, Daveth by whatever exactly that chalice contained, Jory by Duncan's own hand for refusing to drink for the sake of his child and wife, as Jory's corpse fell to the ground, Aedan wondered, if he had come willingly and Howe had not killed the rest of his family, would he do as Jory did? Or would he still drink as he would now? "You have been called upon to give yourself over to the taint for the future of the world, from this moment onward, you are a Grey Warden ". Aedan gulped before eyeing the nearly overflowing chalice, and chugging the whole thing down, once the last dreg had passed his lips he felt an immense burn pass throughout his body burning his senses until nothing but black remained, then suddenly that black was filled with a mind shattering roar that nearly deafened him, an image came In to view, a massive flesh rotten dragon so large it filled the whole space in his head. Words slowly began to trickle into his mind to join, serve, submit assimilate, die. As more of these words began to fill his head, they got louder, his mind began to darken once more as the words got even louder seeming to split his mind in two, just before the last ounce of his consciousness faded to black, a single thought came to his mind, rather not a thought, simply a memory "Pup, swear to us you will survive this blight, become a Grey Warden and bring justice to Howe ". In that moment Aedan felt his will surge, his stubbornness arise and his Cousland pride push him, now he felt a strange yet somewhat familiar warmth across the right side of his face that flowed through his body, soothing it and returning his mind the shattering words of the archdemon faded and the darkness receded, his vision seemed to take on a blue tint. Before the image of the archdemon faded he called out to it "I WILL KILL YOU! DO YOU HEAR ME BEAST? I WILL END YOU EVEN IF IT'S THE LAST THING I DO! ".
Then he woke up panting heavily, finding himself falling for some reason coupled with the sound of Alistair screaming, he didn't he anytime to ponder further before his head smashed against what felt like stairs, then he rolled, another set of stairs then, again and again, this repeated several times all the while Aedan's head got even worse until he stopped rolling and felt like someone had taken a war hammer to the back of his head "OOOOOWWWWWWW!MAKER'S BREATH WHAT THE HELL ALISTAIR?! "He just fell on his ass and looked at him like he was a ghost "Duncan! "Before Aedan could yell at him for leaving him like this and sitting there like an idiot. Duncan rushed over and gazed at Aedan like he couldn't believe what he was seeing, Duncan helped him up and explained Alistair gave him Ser Jory's and his own batch of the joining elixir and they took him for dead as it was supposed to be an instant death in such a dosage Alistair apologized several times while Duncan took him to see a mage about getting his head looked at by a friend of his. The mages name was Wynne and after a thorough examination and sow healing magic and potions she told Duncan it would be some time before he could fight on the front lines, hearing this Duncan decided to take Aedan with him to the strategy Council to see if there was anything he could do instead. While Duncan and Aedan went to the strategy meeting, Alistair was left alone at the Grey Warden camp with Aedan's dog Xavier his name was if he remembered right, Aedan was the first person he'd ever met beside the Ash warriors who had there own Mabari, he wondered where and how he got him, he wanted to pet him, but he just kept growling at him like he knew he almost got his master killed, not that he could blame him though. It was strange though that he managed to survive if Duncan was so sure he would've died, hang on, didn't that witch say something about that tattoo? Could that have something to do with it? It looks like a normal tattoo, but if that witch brought it up, could there be something about it like magic, rune or curse or something? And if so, could Aedan himself not know it if it's true? He slumped his head into his hands having exerted his brain too much with all that thinking, a moment later though he heard Duncan and Aedan approach, no doubt with his punishment for taking Aedan out of the fight. Aedan could see Alistair slowly die on the inside as Duncan told him to light the signal fire with Aedan since it was his fault he couldn't participate in the fight and to ensure it was done Alistair would go with him. As the battle started Aedan and Alistair bid Duncan farewell as they headed to the tower, as they moved Aedan looked towards the battlefield and found himself captivated by the massive horde bearing down on the ferelden army, it was so massive, so immense he could hardly take it all in, before he had time to further take in the extent of the horde, Alistair called him to hurry up and get moving. "Hey Aedan, we've got trouble", "What do you mean? "he said catching up to him, then he could see what the problem was as he caught up to him, darkspawn had somehow made it into the camp and were, in fact, poring out of the tower they were supposed to get to the top of "Well looks like we'll get to have a bit of fun, let's just hope your head stays intact till we get to the top ". "Oh, worried about me are you? Well, then why don't we have a little competition then, one who kills the most darkspawn gets to have the losers bedding as well as their own while the loser only gets a single blanket and sleeps on the ground "Alistair chuckled and agreed. "Alright but I hope you like fighting with a stiff back " "Ha, don't get too cocky, you still have to survive Mr. senior Warden" "Oh I am so gonna make you eat those words Mr. jr warden". The two wardens quickly charged the darkspawn helping the soldiers clear off the 10 or so outside the tower, once they were dealt with Alistair had them stay outside to deal with any stragglers while they dealt with the darkspawn still inside if there were any still there. "Oh for fuck sakes" The two synced together once they saw just how many darkspawn there were still in tower, at least two dozen staring at them right now half of them munching on the men who'd failed to flee in time, just staring at the two as if wondering if they were really all they were going to have to fight. "I'll take the left, Alistair you take the right, the bet is over and tallied when we make it to the top of the tower and have light the signal, agreed? ". " Agreed" As Aedan began charging his group of darkspawn he noticed Alistair had already killed one, so he moved quickly and cut the first ones head while it was still eating, the rest quickly armed themselves, but not before he sliced another one's heart, 3 charged at him all Hurlock's, he countered the 2 on the left with his shield and sword staggering them while he stepped back and sliced the throat of the third one, then as the two came back at him he lopped off their heads in between their neck plates, there were seven left and now they tried to encircle him, before they could though Aedan shield bashed the rightmost into its allies causing them to falter and one to fall, then he began hacking, slashing and stabbing, parrying kicking blocking, and grabbing blade arms and breaking them, all the while feeling that familiar boil return to his blood from the castle. As Alistair finished off his last darkspawn he counted 13, which must've meant he'd gotten an extra one than Aedan because he was sure there had to be at least 24,but as he turned to where Aedan was to make sure he was alright, he saw a major pile of darkspawn corpses with Aedan sitting on top of the wiping his sword clean while his shield adorned his back, his jaw dropped as he counted at least 18 of the fuckers. Aedan saw him and no doubt smiled under his helmet "19,im off to a good start, some more came through that door" He said standing up and pointing to an open door in the side that no doubt led to the stairs upwards, he drew his shield back and headed in with Alistair in tow determined to win the bet. Including the ground floor, they had now cleared 3 floors with an estimated 2 left including the top, though they had no idea if all of them were actually occupied or not, but for now the two wardens were taking a break to see if there was anyone still alive in hiding on any of their floor as there were several rooms as well as a couple of cages, but their search proved fruitless "Alright let's get going, the king will need loghain to move in soon " "Agreed, besides Id hate for you to think you can beat me so I'll kill the rest of the dark spawn from here On Mr. Sr Warden" Aedan said running off. Alistair cursed him and ran after him. They stopped joking after they reached the top of the tower, their scores were tied, but neither one of them was exactly prepared for what was before them, an ogre a massive beast capable of slaughtering massive companies of men on its own with its immense strength supposedly the only match to these things were dwarven golems in terms of strength and durability, but with golems being a rarity after they lost the means of making more they're mainly seen with nobility in tevinter and in Orzammar for emergencies, they'd need to take this thing down on their own using nothing but their own skill and ingenuity, it hadn't noticed them but no doubt it would soon "I don't know how that fucker got up here, but we need a plan to take it down, you ever gone up against one before? "He shook his head "No I've only been a warden a couple of months 5 max, I've never even seen one before " "OK then, I might have a plan, but its probably a little crazy-" "Sometimes to beat an insane situation you need an insane plan, what've you got? " "One of us distracts it, while the other one sneaks up behind it and slices its thighs, depending on the situation we could get lucky and slice its arteries and wait for it to bleed, or we manage to cut its tendons and hopefully it'll be stuck with only its arms, worst case we blow it and it kills us both " "I'll distract it, your sword is newer and sharper than mine is and ogre hide is thick, also I have experience running away in this sort of gear if I need to" "Alright be careful "He nodded and moved up to the stairs,, then ran drawing the beast away from Aedan while he crept up on it, moving as quietly as possible whilst still staying out of its sight as Alistair ran away from it, after what seemed like an eternity Aedan drew back his blade with all his might and sliced the beasts left inner thigh with both hands, but much to his surprise his attack barely gave it more than of a flesh wound hardly any blood spewed forth and he had no doubt it would kill him now that he'd pissed it off, before it could turn around to attack him he drew the blade back behind his head and, fast as he could drive it into the spot he'd made earlier, he was disappointed it only went in enough so the tip barely came back out through the other side, but it was enough to drop it to a knee, but not before it slapped him aside, mere inches from going through a window to the ground below, his head hurt even worse than it did before he went to see Wynne and his vision and sight were blurry, he could hear Alistair calling out to him as the ogre roared in pain, suddenly the roaring stopped and there seemed to be a massive thud, but that could've been just his hearing worsening. Suddenly he was being shaken by something and his sight returned to s degree along with his hearing, his hearing being the better of the two, everything was visible, but almost as if in low quality. "Hey, you alright? "Aedan whispered something that Alistair had to lean closer in order to hear "Half point each "Alistair couldn't help but laugh, here he was worried that his new friend had kicked the bucket and it was his fault, but he has the time and energy to worry about a stupid bet" Hang on I've gotta light the signal fire, once that was done he gave Aedan a couple of health poultices after taking off his chest plate and helmet since the chest plate had taken most of the damage from the strike, as Alistair helped Aedan get back to his feet, unbeknownst to both the junior wardens while they laughed and tended to their wounds, the battle down below took a drastic turn as the ferelden army was massacred by the darkspawn, it was only when one of the catapults collapsed and fired at part of the fortress collapsing a small tower, they moved to a broken window and looked down below at the carnage below, both men grey pale once they realized their army was gone, replaced by nothing but a flood of darkspawn spanning as far as they could see, they lost the battle, but they'd had no idea, shocked by this sudden realization both men failed to notice the sound of the darkspawn charging through the tower, Aedan shook off his stupor and grabbed his sword from the ogre as well as Alistair's still lodged deep in the beats throat "Alistair come on, we cant stay here, we need to move! " "Duncan, the king.. …." Was the only response he got, his hearing was still damaged so he didn't notice the incoming darkspawn till Alistair turned around and yelled out "BEHIND YOU! ",but it was too late, the darkspawn unleashed their arrows several of them piercing Aedan's chest protected by only his chain mail and shirt tearing through him easily, dropping him to the floor, Alistair rushed to try and do something without thinking of drawing his shield, soon after he met the same fate as Aedan, pincushioned with arrows, though nowhere near as many or as deeply as the ones Aedan suffered, Alistair too fell arrows taking his legs from him as he ran the shock of the arrows coupled with the blood loss caused his mind to go blank, but not before hearing a loud screech-like one from a bird, but this was far greater and louder than a normal bird, his eyes dropped and everything went black.
Aedan had no idea what happened to him, all he knew as his eyes opened was that he was in a saggy, yet sweet smelling bed, he felt strangely well rested, yet he could only open his eyes a little bit, he heard voices that sounded familiar "-no that's not true, there's no way loghain would do something like that" "Deny what you will, believe what you wish, but that does not make it true or make you right boy ". His eyes fell and he drifted off into sleep. Again his eyes opened ever slightly and he heard the same voice from before talking to another "How is he? " There was a heavy sigh "Since you clearly know nothing about injuries it seems I shall have to fill you in on how lucky he is to still be breathing after taking 5 arrows to the chest narrowly avoiding his organs and vitals and another two in one of his arms and another one in one leg, if you truly believe he'll be up and moving anytime soon even with my mother's magic you are either hopelessly idiotic which is likely or you have a ridiculous amount of optimism either way no matter how you put it he'll be there awhile and believe you me I'd like him to be up as soon as possible as well after all its my bed he is currently occupying and if he stays any longer I shall move him to the attic with you or simply shove him to the side and take my territory back, so let my mother do her work and get away from me Templar " "I used to be-"Before he could hear the end of the debate his eyes closed once more. The third time he came to he was finally able to open his eyes fully he inked them a couple of times to properly adjust to the lighting and slowly rose his midsection out of bed so he was upright whilst still on bed, it was then that he saw someone in another corner of the room browsing a bookshelf, then as if by instinct she turned around and saw him as he saw her "Ah you're finally awake, mother shall be pleased as I am no doubt though for different reasons as I simply get my bed back " "Umm sorry about that, your Morrigan right the women from the forest right? " "You remember, how kind of you, though your friend says I leave a lasting impression on people though why I cannot say, if I recall correctly your name is Aedan yes? " "Yeah it is, hey I hope you don't mind YT-could I ask you a couple questions if you don't mind? " "I don't, ask away " "Umm, what happened? All I remember is the tower of ishal, but I am certain I left you and the woods well before that "" Yes tis true, the man who was to respond to your signal quit the field and the darkspawn won and, what remand of the army fled North " "How long have I been here and did you say Alistair was here too? " "Unfortunately, yes he, like you is still alive and you have been asleep for only two days, though you have beyond even the devil's luck to have survived that many arrows in your chest, the fool only needed a few minutes of mothers magic to heal, but you were a difficult job to be certain" Aedan ran his hand over his chest seeing several arrow scars now adorning his chest, though they were quite faint all things considering "Thank you for saving me especially if I was that much of a problem ". This comment seemed to take her by surprise as her response was a little half baked "You-are welcome-though mother did most of the work, I am no healer ". "regardless thank you, I hope you do not take offense at this next question, but why did you save us? " "Oh I haven't the foggiest, sometimes I doubt even mother truly knows what she was doing, personally I would've saved your King, he would've paid a much greater ransom than you" Aedan was probably supposed to take offense at that, but It was true "What use would you have for gold out here? " "Tsk I spoke not of gold, there are other valuable things in this world besides shiny metal, such as peace and tranquility or a pardon so I need not worry about annoying Templars coming by to slay me every damn week". "Oh, sorry, I didn't think of that " "Well obviously not as your clearly not a mage, anything else you wished to ask me? " "Umm yeah, do you have any clothing for me to put on, cause while I am grateful for being saved, I don't think I could just flash myself so openly for you, sorry" She burst out giggling so hard she had to lean against the shelf "Calm yourself, while I personally expect compensation for having to be the one to check you for other injuries and infections I didn't have to go that far and I have no need for such a form of repayment, one moment please ". As she walked over to a chest Aedan thought about how different this Morrigan was to the one back from the woods with Daveth, Jory and Alistair, like a completely different side to her, maybe because he saw her as a regular person who deserved the same rights as anyone, or maybe she really did just like him, whatever the case, it was nice to see she did have a nice side. She headed upstairs to fetch something while he got changed and headed to see her mother. As he opened the door he realized, that he'd left Xavier back at the kennels at Ostagar, he hadn't even thought of him, he'd lost the last part of his fam-, his thought was interrupted as a great bug hairy shape pounced on him, knocking him to the ground and started licking him with a thick slobbering tongue, he held up the shape and much to his surprise he saw "Xavier? Ha Haa you're alive, I can't believe you loyal dog, I'm so happy to see you again, I thought I'd lost you too, can't catch a break can we? "He barked a couple of times and Morrigans mother who was standing nearby said "He wanted to see you sooner, but I have a no pets inside rule as Morrigan will tell you, quite the resourceful hound you have there, he said that he realized what was happening and before the darkspawn reached him he ran after you at the tower but by then I had already taken you, so he followed your scent from whence you came to the wilds earlier and managed to pick up your new one after some searching "Him and Alistair both said "You can speak to animals? " "Yes of course I can I've certainly spent enough time out here, or maybe I'm just old and crazy and think I can ha ha ha " Alistair looked relieved to see him alright and awake "I'm so glad to see you alive, I thought… if it hadn't been for Morrigans mother-" "Do not speak of me as if I am not here boy" "Oh sorry, but, what exactly should we call you? We never got your name " "I have many names, but most call me Flemeth". Both men felt their blood go cold at the name of the ancient ferelden legend they were told as children to scare them with "The Flemeth? From the legends? " "So what of it? I know a few spells and live in a forest yes, I don't know why you're complaining, I'm the only reason you're alive no? " "We're not being ungrateful, but why did you save us? Duncan... He was our leader or the king ANYONE, really why save us? " "The two of you were the only ones I could reach, the rest were all gone by the time I arrived and we can hardly have all the grey wardens dying now can? Someone has to stop this blight " "I still can't believe Loghain would betray the king, he was marics son, his best friend, why would he do this? " "Now there is a good question, men's hearts hold shadows darker than any tainted creature" "But what can the two of us do against the darkspawn horde? We have no armies, no other wardens no back up, loghains doing maker only knows what with the throne, it's hopeless – "He was cut off as Aedan socked him in the jaw sending him to the Marsh "Standing here bitching won't do us any good, you still have those treatises right? We can go to the other races for aid, and we still have Arl Eamon right? He wasn't at Ostagar, I don't know him but – " "yes you're right, I'm sorry I know Arl Eamon, I can talk to him and yeah Duncan left the treaties with me, he couldn't find anywhere to put them" "I may be old but elves, dwarves, mages this Arl Eamon, sounds like an army and allies to me, it has always been the duty of the grey wardens to end the blights, and it is good to see at least one of you has the resolve of one even if he is only a fresh recruit " "My father always told me our family always put our duty first above even our family itself, so there's no point in complaining about it, if you get bad hand in a game instead of giving up what you do is use other means to win, even if you have to cheat, but in the case I think a cheat or two is owed to us wouldn't you say so, Alistair? " "Yeah I reckon, well I guess we'd better be going thank you Flemeth, for everything " "Hold on a minute you two, before you leave, there is one more thing I can offer you " "The stew is finished mother, shall we have tow guests for the eve or none? " "The wardens are leaving girl and you are going with them " "Such a shame-WHAT?! " "You heard me girl, the last I checked you still had ears ha ha ha" "Thank you for the offer but if Morrigan doesn't wish to join us… ". "Her magic will be useful to you and what's more, she knows the wilds far better than either of you and she can help you slip past the hoard as they can sense you as you can sense them ". Aedan looked to Alistair for confirmation and he nodded. "Have I no say in this? " "You have been itching to get out of the wilds almost your entire life girl, here is your chance as for you wardens consider this payment for your lives" "not to look a gift horse in the mouth, but outside the wilds she's an apostate" "Well if you do not wish us illegal mages help the perhaps I should've left you atop that tower " "Fair enough "" But mother, this is not how I wanted this I am not even ready" "You'll need to be girl, alone these two must unite the whole of Ferelden and stop the blight and the darkspawn, they'll need you Morrigan without you they will surely fail and all things shall perish, even I" "I – understand" "And you wardens, do you understand, I give you that which I value most in this world I do this because you must succeed" "I swear I shan't allow any harm to befall your daughter, though I cannot promise she won't come to harm by her won mistakes in a land she may not fully know". Aedan meant it seriously, but Morrigan just gave him the death stare while Flemeth laughed "That's all I ask warden" " allow me to get my things if you will"." I am at your disposal grey wardens, I suggest a village north of the wilds as our first destination, tis not far and you will find much you need there, or especially as only one of you is properly equipped to fight or if you prefer I shall simply be your silent guide "Ah no thank you I'd appreciate if you spoke your mind " "HA, you shall soon regret saying that " "Dear sweet mother, how kind you are to cast me out like this how fondly I shall remember this moment ". "Well, it's like I always said, if you want something done do it yourself or hear about it for a decade or two afterward" "Bow hang on a second, do you really want to take her along just because her mother says so? " "You want to owe her something else for saving our lives? " "Fair point and I guess the grey wardens have always taken allies where they could find them " "I am so pleased to have your approval, farewell mother do not forget about the stew, I would hate to return to a burned down hut" "Bah, tis more likely you shall return to see this entire area along with my hut swallowed up by the blight " "I-I, a-all I meant was-" "Yes I know dear now do try to have fun ". "Well I guess we're off, thank you again Flemeth if you're hut I'd gone I trust Morrigan will know where to find you once this is over? " "Such confidence despite the task ahead, I admire that, and don't you worry about me, ill find Morrigan once this is done ". With that they headed off towards the village Morrigan spoke of. Aedan talked with Morrigan about her shape-shifting and was disappointed only mages could learn how to do it, she told him it was actually considered blood magic such as other ancient magic's that the chantry would see erased, when he agreed that such magic's should be protected, she seemed to like that he wasn't a narrow-minded servant of the maker.
After about an hour of walking they finally saw Lothering, however, their path was soon blocked by a group of bandits claiming to be tax collectors "Hold up there folks, there's a toll on this here, road, if you want to pass you'll have to pay 10 silvers "He said singling out Aedan as the leader just because he was in front, Xavier growled Alistair grasped his sword and Morrigan tapped her fingers as if waiting for a signal, counting Xavier they were outnumbered 2:1, Aedan saw a dead Templar beside him, slaughtered like a beast, his sword was by his side, Aedan picked it up and examined the edge "Hey pal if you're trying to intimidate us it's not going to work, you're outnumbered and we have no problem taking all your coin by force if you wont – "He never finished the sentence as Aedan threw the blade at his unprotected throat, it didn't slice his head off cleanly as he figured, but it did slice through his carotid artery, dropping him to his feet, in that instant Aedan pounced forward, drew the dying bandits greats word stepped in between the group of bandits, something like this would've Ben easy for a Qunari, but with his strength and that of being a warden, he had little doubt this would fail, grasping the blade with both hands he spun in a circle, decapitating all of them with that single strike, or at least that's what he thought, he looked down and saw the last man had only be half decapitated, he was still dead, but he'd need more practice if he was to do something like that properly and against stronger foes than bandits. After they collected all the loot the bandits had, they were suddenly met by a family, a mother two sons and a daughter, they asked to trade the bandirs5weaoons and armor for what coin they had, seeing no problem with this they let the family take the best gear while they got gold jewels and a couple coin pouches, Aedan bid them farewell as they headed east to Gwaren. "Hey Aedan I hope you don't mind my asking, but do you actually have a plan for what we should do first? " "We'll go to Orzammar first, the dwarves have always been allies of the wardens right? We'll see if we can't get some form of gift from the king, then the circle, then Arl Eamon, then the dalish, sound like a plan? " "Better than anything the fool could think of, come let's go ". Alistair just gave her a look of displeasure while Aedan led them to the tavern. "Going to drown your sorrows with why little coin we have? Here I was thinking you not that sort of man" "Relax Morrigan I'm not, a tavern is the best place to get information, we'll want to know what exactly the situation is with the darkspawn and whether or not Loghain handed himself in or if he just pulled off a tactical retreat". They nodded in agreement and went inside, what they found was a nightmare the place wasn't just packed it was crowded beyond belief, people were cramped up against each other, some were sitting on the floor, it was chaotic to say the least, they shuffled to the bar and Aedan managed to get the bar keeps attention, but before he could a dagger sank into place In the bar right in front of him, the dagger belonged to a man well past a few drinks by the look and smell of him "What have we here gents, everyone in tow said they had t seen either of them, yet here they both are "As he spoke 5 other men all rose up from varying areas of the barn, their crest was blatantly obvious, the wyvern of Gwaren, these were Loghains men. "Alright traitors, your coming with us" "Traitors? Us? What are you talking about man? Loghains the traitor, he's the one who abandoned the King " "Do not try to sully the good teryns name, I was there when he pulled us from your trap, he realized too late for the king the extent of your trap " " This is ridiculous why would the warden's set a trap for the army? " "So Orlais could swoop in and take Ferelden back but we won't let your kind help the Orlesians, not while the teryn still draws breath ". Suddenly a new voice piped in as a lay sister wriggled in between them "Gentlemen please, there is no need for violence, I am certain these are simple travelers on there way north " "Stay out of this sister, you side with these traitors, you'll get the same as them". That was the last straw, Aedan had to admit that his faith in the maker was lacking given recent events, however, threatening a lay sister was something he wouldn't abide by. The man who spoke was facing the lay sister, so Aedan drew back his left arm and swung it at his head, before the joining Aedan probably would've been able to just smack him and send him back a step or two, now once his arm connected he fell to the ground with an intense ringing in his ears and a headache to go along with it, Alistair socked the man dropping him down unconscious, Morrigan electrocuted the man that charged her no doubt since she was a mage, he didn't know if he was alive or not but right know he had to worry about the lay sister-who was completely unharmed with the last two men unconscious at her feet, the leader Aedan had knocked to the ground stumbled to his feet, clutching his head "We surrender, makers breath we give up, please spare us" "good, now we can stop fighting " "Surely you jest, these men attempted to kill us, they deserve death "Aedan was hardly surprised that was Morrigans response, the lay sister had another idea though "No! You can't kill them, they've given up and surrendered, you cannot kill them " "You say this yet they would have no problem killing us had we been the ones to surrender " "That may be true but – " " But nothing, the moment they drew blades against us they forfeited any form of mercy that they would have denied us, do you understand girl? ". Now both women looked to Aedan, while Alistair was occupied with his peculiar looking boots "Has the blight not taken enough lives all ready? Surely you cannot condemn these men simply because they follow orders " "These men would either have us dead or in chains were we in their situation, you cannot show kindness when it shan't be returned, this much is obvious to even a blind man ". Aedan had to think for a second, he knew nothing about this sister other than she was skilled in combat to some degree, Morrigan was a part of the party so if he pissed her off he'd have to deal with it for maker knows how long, both of them were right of course, however that didn't mean Aedan had to agree with either of them, so instead he came up with his own idea, moving past both women he knocked the leader out, found some rope on him tied the group up and tossed them into a pig pen with some help from Alistair. Both of them had followed to see what he was planning and stood a little astounded at his choice "I decided to make my own choice, we neither kill them but don't let them go either, no matter the choice Loghain will know we're alive as he no doubt had a spy of sorts hidden somewhere with such rowdy obviously placed men, also" He said holding up a large coin purse "I don't have to worry about stealing from those I've killed, at least those who only attacked us because they were following orders from a man they believe to be right ",. Morrigan just shrugged while the sister smiled brightly. "I see you're quite the clever thinker, my name is Leliana, a pleasure to meet you " " Aedan,I'm afraid I'll have to cut this short we're on a tight schedule and must be going " "Oh of course, so where are we going? " "We're heading to Orzammar-, ha hang on a second, did you just say we? " "Well yes I am coming with you" The group shared a look of confusion "Umm, what makes you think that? " "The Maker told me too " "Ook, we're just back going to go this way – " "I-I know it sounds crazy, but you have to believe me, he truly did, look at the people here, they all suffer at the hands of the darkspawn, the maker does not wish this, I am positive he wishes for me to join you, after all our encounter here cannot be a simple coincidence as I actually intended to head north to the denerim chantry "" I'm sorry Leliana, but I need more than prayers if you're to join us ". "More crazy? And I thought we were all full" "I can fight and not just that but 8 have certain skills that could be of use to you " "Such as? " "I was not always a lay sister, let us leave it at that shall we? ". It was obvious that she and Morrigan would be at each others throats even worse than she was with Alistair as the two would no doubt get religious all the time and Maker knows for damn sure she sure as shit wasn't an Andrastian, however they could use all the help they could get on this quest. "She seems earnest, and who knows maybe she really did get a message from the maker, besides I'd rather her than Morrigan if we could swap" "How strange, I too would prefer to swap Alistair for the dog if I had the choice as he smells far better". "He does not "Xavier just growled at Alistair while Morrigan laughed with a "Twould appear he agrees with me" "No offense, but she's one Archdemon short of a Blight Alistair "Leliana just pouted while the two warden's talked in front of her "Yeah but she's more; ohh pretty color's, rather than;Mwahaha I'm Princess stabitty, stab kill kill" "Fine if you insist she can come along ". And like a puppy given a bone she cheered right up "Thank you, I swear you won't regret this, just let me get my things" Aedan called out to her they'd be a little while doing odd jobs and getting supplies and information, she quickly ran back to her sleeping quarter back in the chantry, she had none of her professional gear from her time with Marjolaine, but hopefully these basics would serve her well till she could get better equipment, she packed her sister robes and gave them back to the revered mother, thanking her for everything she'd done for her, as she moved her body tried to remember how to move underneath such garments as this leather armor, her bow rattled on her back along with her quiver and arrows, the daggers on her chest and hip tried to fit into the old groves she'd made from wearing this getup for so long, she was excited to finally be able to put her skills to use for the greater good in service to the maker rather than for her own selfish ends. She found Aedan talking to the Qunari , he then asked her to convince the revered mother to release it into his care, she was tempted to mention the fact that he was a murderer, however a Qunari was rare in the southern lands and they were formidable warriors, and none the less she wasn't s different, they thought she was crazy, understandable unfortunately, but as Aedan had said they'd need all the help they could get in order to triumph against the blight, she spoke with the revered mother alone with Aedan as Morrigan was an apostate and waltzing into a chantry probably wasn't smart and Alistair had enough of them after being raised to be a Templar Aedan claimed that he wished to visit a friend of his to take the Qunari back to face proper punishment for his crime as well as for losing his sword which he explained was a crime punishable by death for the Qunari and he wished to avoid any further Qunari arriving in Ferelden lest they do the same as him, Leliana hadn't heard such a silver tongue in quite some time, he spoke like a noble with such an aura of confidence and faith, it was like he didn't even need her at all, could he have brought her simply to make his words seem credible? If so he was far too cunning for the average warden surely. While Aedan got the Qunari set up with some gear, she wanted to have as little contact with that Witch, what was her name? Morrigan that was it, she was certain they'd do nothing but fight, until she got to know her better at least, so she went to properly introduce herself to the other member Alistair. She found him finishing off a couple of giant spiders and taking their heads, no doubt as proof to whomever put out the contract. "Hello again, I thought it best to introduce myself properly, I am Leliana, a pleasure to travel with you, I hope we can get along well" "Likewise, I'm Alistair and let me tell you that you are a welcome gift compared to our other companion, maker knows it would be nice to have someone not bitching at us all the time, uh no offense " "None taken, so what's it like travelling with a grey warden? How did Aedan meet you and Morrigan? Were you all survivors from Ostagar? "Alistair just slumped over like he'd been socked in the gut, he then moaned and before she could say anything he groaned "I'm a Grey Warden too you know " "Oh, oh I'm so sorry, maker please forgive me, I didn't think-" "It's fine, I know Aedan looks the part pretty damn well, despite the fact that I've been a grey warden the longest and he's not even been a warden a week, ah well I guess this is my fate for letting Aedan be the one in charge rather than me "."Wait why did you let Aedan be the one in charge if you're his superior? ". He shrugged "Thomas e main point was since Aedan got along with both me and Morrigan it'd best if he was in charge, also he seems like a way better leader than me just from the way he carries himself, also he is a better fighter than me, more confident than me, more persuasive than me, more handsome than me and, well just better than me in general ". She had no idea what to say so she told him the Maker must've given Aedan these gifts for a reason and left. Morrigan watched the girl from afar after talking to the fool and she had finished making poisons and traps, diluting the poisons as she went as to keep some for herself on the warden's orders since poison had little effect on them anyway so it wouldn't matter how strong the concoction was, she didn't like that there was another women in the party, she would have to watch her to ensure she did not get in the way of her task, if she did it would be difficult to get what she wanted, and if that wasn't bad enough she was a preachy priest, no doubt she and the fool would make great friends fast, or perhaps they'd do it to spite her and make an alliance to try and kick her from the group, she wouldn't be too surprised if they did, but now wasn't the time to worry about any of that now, she could see Aedan and the Qunari moving to the windmill for their rendezvous. She wasn't too surprised the fool was intimidated, he and Aedan hadn't been able to find any armor for him, though no one was surprised given his size but they did give him the great sword from the bandits which seemed a modest fit, they had done everything this village had to offer and gotten what they needed, it was time to go, though she was worried whether or not the tent the girl and fool had gotten for her would be laced with ticks or lice, not that she didn't know how to deal with them,it was rather whether or not she'd need to repay them. She was somewhat surprised when a group of men came out from around the mill armed with pitchforks and torches, the fool nudged her arm and said "I think they're here for you ". He seemed somewhat serious, though she just rolled her eyes. One of the men came forward saying they wished the bounty on Aedan and Alistair's head, before they could charge in for their foolish attempt for gold Aedan simply called out "Hold! "The villagers stopped and waited "If you want to fight and throw away your lives suit yourself, but I ask you to think of your families first ". He said slowly walking forward "If you fight us, you will die, there is no denying that fact, your families will have more to mourn and their survival against this blight will further fall, you are free men who may do as you wish, however truthfully I have not the time nor patience to deal with you, should you continue to bear your blades against us I will not show mercy and kill you all here and now ". He had now walked halfway through the mob, they were trembling like crazy now "No doubt you will have heard about we grey wardens and the odds we face everyday against darkspawn, so those of you who think our low grade weapons and armor will give you some chance, think again and not only that but we have a mage as well as a Qunari, the giants of the North, make your choice ". He had now walked through the mob, leaving a path in between them, he looked back at them and the mob "Well? ". It was unclear who he spoke to, to the mob to lay down their weapons or to them to follow him, no matter who he spoke to the mob dropped their weapons while Morrigan and the others moved after Aedan, she was so stunned by that display as the fools ran for their lives, he'd spoken like a mere mercenary, yet with the cunning of a politician with the influence of a king behind him, when he spoke they listened, his voice alone was enough to make them tremble even more so than they already were, though they were but common peasants, he had such confidence in his voice, Twould seem mother spoke the truth when she said that a man's most deadly weapon was even more dangerous than a women's, for there are those who can withstand the thralls of sex be they man or women, but there are so few who are deaf to the flickering of a silver tongue, she'd had to be careful she didn't fall under its spell whilst on this voyage.( But if only she knew she'd fall to its power, in more ways than one hehe). As they left Lothering they heard a cry for help Aedan rushed, ahead to find the source a pair if dwarves cowering behind a wagon trying to avoid a small party of Darkspawn, without thinking he and the rest of the group also moved to engage the darkspawn, as they fought Aedan got a chance to analyze their fighting and how well they'd work together, Sten seemed to prefer solo, with that great sword it wasn't too much of a worry, however, if they were hard pressed with enemies on all sides, it would be difficult for them if Sten did his own thing, Leliana was the tricky one, he had fought and seen very few rogue's, but from what he could tell, she was quite skilled, or at least skilled enough to not let the darkspawn lay a hit on her at all using her bow and throwing daggers to deal with them at a distance, one darkspawn got close but she used two long daggers on the side of her hip to parry and kill it, he'd already seen Alistair and Morrigan fight so he knew what they needed in order to function properly as a team. When it was over the older looking Dwarf of the two came up to them from hiding "Thank you for that timely assist friends I'm much obliged ". Aedan shook the dwarves hand as the other one came out to greet them. "Oh, where are my manners, the names Bodahn Feddic, merchant and entrepreneur, this here is my son, Sandal, say thank you to the nice people " "Thank you ". "Roads been mighty dangerous these days, mind my asking where your heading? Perhaps we're going the same way, if so I'd be willing to pay for a little extra protection " "It's a bit complicated, we have several destinations and have no clue as to how long we may be there ". "Ha, complicated eh sounds like that's only the half of it, I appreciate the offer, but I get the feeling there may be a bit more excitement on your trip than we can handle, so good day and good fortune my friend, oh and here take this as thanks "He said giving him a small coin purse, he thanked him and the party left the two Dwarves to tend to their cart. Some time after Lothering Alistair asked him where the hell that bravado came from with the villagers, Aedan told him it was his business attitude for dealing with annoying situations like that one or when dealing with cunts and nobility, so he may act like that a lot more often, he aid it to the whole group just to avoid them thinking he was schizophrenic. As the sun began to set Aedan called for them to stop and make camp while there was still daylight out, Sten grunted mumbling something about pushing forward, but it seems he kept it to himself for the most part, they unloaded the tents, one for everyone, they all set them up in a somewhat form of circle, however Morrigan set hers up away from everyone else's, once his was up and they had a fire going, Aedan went over to see what exactly she had in mind doing this. "What exactly drove you to set up your tent so far away from the rest of us? We won't tie you to a spit while you're asleep if that's what you're afraid of ". She rolled her eyes with a 'tch' "I see not the problem in my staying here and frankly I wonder why it is so important to be together in a group as you are, besides as I am I need not worry about my countermeasures being triggered while one of you fools seeks to relieve them self during the middle of the night and before you ask no I cannot extend it to the whole campsite, at least not as I am right now, I could cover perhaps one more tent, but that would be it " "What type of countermeasures are we talking about here? " "Let's leave it at It would not be good for your health to wake me beyond shouting beyond this line "She said snapping her fingers bringing a faint blue line into view around her tent area "Fear not for now, I only activate the offensive measures when I plan to sleep so for now tis safe to approach " "Alright I'll let Alistair know before he tries to prank you, well good night Morrigan". He didn't see as he'd already turned around, but Morrigan was left with nothing to say, she had no idea as to how to respond to such a comment, to him it was something that came naturally, but to her it was unknown, she had never before been wished a good sleep, her mother always told twas bedtime, never wishing her a good sleep, she simply sat there with naught to say in return. Aedan then went to talk to Leliana about Orlais and her step mother then to Alistair about the other wardens and finally to Sten about why he was here, he reluctantly told him he had been apart of a Qunari expedition to investigate the blight and its cause, Aedan told him about the Archdemon, the taint and all the grey warden lore Alistair had told him, he couldn't tell whether he was grateful or not, but he did honor the other wardens for standing their ground after Loghains betrayal, once that was done he headed to his tent, took off his armor, gave Xavier a pat and went to sleep, or at least he tried to, for once he drifted to sleep his mind was left to the clutches of the taint and the Archdemon, unprotected by Flemeths magic as it had been in her hut, as with the joining he heard the call of the dragon as it came into view in his head, once again it called to him, demanding servitude and his death, but this time he did not allow it to dominate his mind, he felt as if he pushed the taint away from his mind, giving him clarity and silencing the beast, the dream ended, but his body still ached in pain from the condensed taint trying to poison his mind once again. He then woke up with Alistair at the opening of his tent, the firelight streaming in behind him forcing him to close his eyes quickly "Bad dreams? " "Yeah, that happen often? " "Duncan told me they were rare for new recruits, but once the blight sets in they become uncommon not rare, it's supposed to be harder on new members who join during one, sorry, the older wardens claimed they could actually understand the Archdemon if its in their dreams " "I can understand it, is that a bad thing? " "I have no clue sorry, if I had to guess it's because you received a double dose as well as joining during a blight, but let's not talk about that, we have a visitor ". Aedan groaned and followed him to the edge of the camp where he saw a familiar cart and pair of Dwarves "Sorry to disturb you kind sir, but I saw you and your party came through this way and hoped if we could take you up on your offer of safety for the nights while we sleep if you don't mind, I'm happy to offer you a sizeable discount on my wares as well as my sons enchanting talents for free, he's a, what was it? Ah yes a savant with enchantments, so feel free to ask and we wont trouble you or your companion's we'll keep to ourselves I promise". Aedan could tell he was nervous, no doubt if he said no they'd have to risk the night alone, where they'd be easy pickings for anyone. "Of course, it's no problem, however we do have limited food so I'm afraid we won't be able to help in that regard " "Oh its no problem friend, we can manage that by ourselves in that matter, now Sandal say thank you to the nice people " "Thank you sir ". Aedan went back to sleep after giving everyone the heads up about the Dwarves. The next day as they travelled to Orzammar they encountered a distressed merchant, when enquiring about this merchants trouble he told them that he'd lost his mule, he told then in exchange for finding his mule he would give them a golem control rod and password in exchange for it was useless to him as the village was likely overrun with darkspawn they found the mule and got the rod, then headed for the village the merchant spoke of. Unfortunately the merchant spoke the truth when he said the village was probably overrun, there looked to be at least 20 darkspawn here, eating and burning what was left of the villages people and buildings, Aedan gathered them into the formation he had developed for them a line with Sten in the middle with his greatsword, Alistair and Aedan to his right and left with their swords and shields a few steps ahead of him to try and draw some of the darkspawn into his waiting blade with the ones they couldn't handle, Morrigan and Leliana the same distance back from Sten but further away than Aedan and Alistair were from him to use their ranged abilities on any that should try to come at them from the side or around Aedan and Alistair and Xavier watching their rear (Much to his displeasure ) where should there be any enemies, he'll bark drawing Leliana and Morrigans attention, they chose to make their point of battle at the entrance to the village, that way there was less of a chance of some of them coming from behind, but not necessarily guaranteeing it however, they made noise enough to draw the Darkspawns attention and prepared themselves, unfortunately the plan did not go fully to plan, Morrigan and Leliana just started taking pots hits at the Darkspawn as they came, Aedan tried to tell them to stop, Leliana and Morrigan both believed it better for them to take them out from afar to minimize any damage or casualties, Aedan countered saying they should reserve their arrows and magic fro if they actually needed them or if incase they were flanked, Morrigan ignored him casting a massive spell incinerating most of the incoming Darkspawn "Please Warden, do not underestimate my power in future". She said reaching into her satchel to grab a lyrium potion, she wouldn't admit it, but that spell used up a lot of magic, but before she could down it the dog barked and Aedan who was just in front of her charged towards her for some reason, then out of the corner of her eye she saw something appear out of nowhere, it was no doubt a darkspawn, but unlike any she had seen before, then she remembered her mother telling her of a darkspawn that could conceal its presence from even grey wardens to a certain range, which is why she told her to stay close to the wardens in combat, but in her pride she had forgotten or rather ignored her mothers advice, the creature was to close, and her magic was too low to use a spell that could save her, the girl readied an arrow, but Morrigan was right in front of her and she could not take any action for a fancy trick to kill it before it got to Morrigan, just then Aedan pushed Morrigan down to the ground opening the way for Lelianas killing shot, but not before it landed a blow on Aedan's back carving through his cheap armor. After ensuring the village was clear at least above ground and Aedan's back had been treated to they finally went to activate the golem, only to find it didn't do anything so either the rod was broken, the code was wrong or the golem was dead, or broken or rundown? He didn't really know what the term was since it wasn't alive, but since it wasn't working that meant he had been cheated, or maybe the merchant had been cheated, regardless since the golem had been here for however long that meant the owner who sold the rod either had to be here somewhere hopefully alive or at least have left a journal with the real password somewhere if that was the problem, which he hoped meaning it may be an easyish fix like maybe something Morrigan could do, Alistair sensed more Darkspawn underneath a tower, so they figured there had to be people alive there somewhere or else they would've left for them with the rest for them. Now Aedan and Alistair took point given the small quarters with Leliana behind them, this time only shooting when he told her too, with Sten and Morrigan watching the door they came through with Xavier as they wouldn't be much use in these small spaces, Sten with his Greatsword and Morrigan with her risky magic. They cleared out the Darkspawn on their way and arrived at a large chamber, with just as many Darkspawn as above trying to get through a magic field, ow Aedan called the others as they waited they stayed in the corridor forcing the darkspawn to file in one by one, he and Alistair took care of them while Leliana killed the two emissaries that would've made things difficult for the two of them. When Sten and Morrigan arrived they'd already killed most of the Darkspawn barring two, but Aedan let Xavier take them so he didn't feel left out, he knocked one down while jumping and tearing the other's throat out, then he finished the first one off, Aedan was glad Flemeth gave him that tonic that made him immune to the taint, unfortunately it only lasted permanently with Mabari and had to be applied daily for any of the other races, it was a good thing Morrigan knew how to make it in surplus otherwise they couldn't have been able to take Leliana and Sten since the taint would've killed them. They spoke to the man operating the magic field and he told them he knew the true golems activation code, but would only tell them if he returned his daughter who had run off Into the dangerous area of his father's old workshop, Aedan had no choice but to agree to his demand and they moved into the deeper section of the workshop. They encountered a couple of demon's, shades and wraiths, but thanks to Morrigan's help they weren't too much of a problem to them in such a small number, they reached a final barrier which Morrigan said was designed to imprison demons, yet any human could enter and leave freely, hence why the girl was inside it. Aedan didn't know what to feel as he and his friends left the demons corpse to rot, did demons rot? Was it only when they possessed a host? Or would it just dissipate into energy? He didn't know why such questions bothered him, but nonetheless he just wanted to leave this place already and get to Orzammar. Now that they finally had the damn control code, after using it along with the rod it began to shake and tremble, then it shook its body as if it had gotten numb from sleeping on them, which for all he knew it technically did "I always knew the day would come when someone would find the control rod, not even a mage this time, I know not whether to be glad or disappointed " "I didn't expect you to be able to talk " "Did it expect me to be no more than a stone servant who did only as ordered? Well you have the control rod, so I suppose so" "How did you know I wasn't a mage though? " "It doesn't see the crystals all over me that allow me to sense the magical energies? I have been waiting here for so long I had hoped whoever it was that awakened me would at least know a thing or two about golems before rushing to claim me, tell me, are all the villagers dead? " "No some still live" "So some of them scurried away? Pity " "I take it they weren't fond of you? "" That barely begins to sum it up, as if it wasn't bad enough to play on me as if I were a tree, they encouraged those damned pigeons to flock to me dropping their feces all over me, thank goodness one of them had the decency to clean me now and then or I'd be filthy " "How could these humans treat such a magnificent weapon like yourself so poorly? It is disgraceful " "So you've been stuck like that for years? That must've been terribly boring" "So you've been watching these villagers all these years? That's a little creepy" "Then one would expect you to be grateful to the one who allowed you to stretch your legs golem" "Oh so there is a mage, fabulous " "So do you have a name? " "Do I? My former master called me nothing but golem, so I can't truly remember as of now. Hmm, hang on a minute, you said you have the control rod yes? " "Yeah it's how I woke you up, why so you ask? " "It's just something feels different, go on order me to do something " "Uum, OK kick Alistair in the balls" "HEY! " "And, nothing I feel no compulsion to carry out your command, does that mean the control rod is – broken? " "Well isn't that a good thing? " "Well yes, because it means I never have to listen to anyone's blasted orders ever again, because this means I have free will yes? It's just, what do I do with this free will? I have no memories beyond this place, what would I even do? " "You could come with us mighty stone warrior, I have every confidence we could use you in our battles against the darkspawn " Sten bellowed almost begging "What do you think it? You are the one who awakened me so I guess even if I don't have to follow your orders it wouldn't too terrible agreeing to follow your orders, that is unless you end up treating me like my former master then ill squish your puny skull, so what do you say? "" I agree, welcome aboard, uh, what do you want to be called? " "Oh I just remembered now, my name is Shale, thank you for having me and don't make any jokes about my name I just realized it's a type of rock and I am made of rock so yes it's a bit funny, but I will hear no further on the matter yes? " "Alright then let's go ". With that the group returned on the path to Orzammar. That night they met up with Bodahn again, they'd established the routes they would take with him so when night began to fall he would set up a smoke sign for them to follow after he'd finished trading with whomever, the smoke signal was only a little trek away so they quickly picked up the pace so they could put the smoke out quickly and just have a simple fire, we'll two of them since Morrigan liked to have her own called him over saying he had something for him, he had gotten a set of slightly damaged but still usable Qunari sized armor for Sten as well as a new chest plate for himself to replace the old one though he suspected this would happened a lot so he denied the armor and told him to sell it, while buying Morrigan a new necklace, some cheese for Alistair a bone for Xavier and a lute for leliana since she said she was a bard, supposedly. Everyone except Sten was pleased with their gifts though Alistair felt scammed out on, but Sten was cared more for where the armor came from, when he said he didn't know he demanded he find out, Aedan snapped a little about Sten giving him orders before he confessed the armor belonged to one of his fellow scouts before they died, Aedan thanked him for telling him and asked Bodahn about it and he in return told Sten what Bodahn told him, that he got it from another merchant heading towards Orzammar from Redcliffe, Sten requested that he be allowed to inquire about where he got the armor from and whether or not he has his sword, which he explained was like his own soul, without which he could not return home. He then talked to Morrigan about her life growing up in the wilds and of a gold mirror she had stolen as a girl, Leliana told him of her uprising with an Orlesian noblewoman and Alistair told him of growing up with Arl Eamon. Before he left ahead of them Bodahn gave them all cloaks for the harsh mountain weather on the way to the entrance to Orzammar, though Shale didn't need one, as they walked Aedan asked about Shale and whether any of her memories had begun to return after being freed from the control rod, Shale said the only things that were clear were Wilhelm and the time spent with him for the time being, other than that, staring into an eternal darkness. As they got closer to the entrance to the Dwarven kingdom the temperature began to drop quite quickly, though he, Alistair, Morrigan, Xavier and obviously Shale were unaffected too greatly by it much to Leliana and Sten's distaste "Makers breath, I can understand shale being immune to this damnable cold, but why are the rest of you(Sneeze) seem unaffected by this? " "You do remember I grew up in a Swamp yes girl? With far less to keep me warm than the average commoner especially since fire and smoke would lure the oh so mighty Templars " " I may have grown up in the chantry where it was moderate in Denerim, but I was raised in less than adequate conditions in Redcliffe, so I got used to it" "And you Aedan? (Sneeze) ". "I grew up in Highever, if you think this is cold you have no idea just how cold Ferelden can get, also being a Ferledener helps, sorry you two " "But I'm Ferledener too, why am I still so cold? " "You may be Ferelden born, but you were Orlesian raised, so you kind of lost your cold resistance birth privilege seeing as Orlais is a pretty humid country ". She just pouted and said something about the cold ruining her lute. Before heading to the gateway Aedan and Sten went to find the Merchant who had the Qunari armor, but before they began their search they heard one of the merchants gasp and make a noise at one of the stands, the two headed towards it, they found a scrappy looking redhead lying on the ground trying to pick himself up, but not before Sten picked Jim up by the collar. "I take it you are the one who stole from the bodies of my fallen kith? " "I swear I thought all of you lot were dead-" "Is that supposed to make me feel better? My Asala, where is it? Tell me before I rip your limbs off human " "Ripping off his limbs probably wouldn't help our search, especially if he blacked out or bled to death because you over did it, let me talk to him" "Very well, but do not dally, my patience grows thin" Sten placed the man back down on the ground where Aedan stood before him "As you can see my friend here wants his sword back, his Asala as he called it, it's a greatsword, I suggest you tell us where it is incase he gets a little grumpy, you see a Qunari sword is made for them to be used by them and no one else, so the fact that he's lost it is kind of an insult to his people, so unless he gets it back he's pretty much exiled, now you're going to tell me where it is or things are going to get bloody here really quick " "Alright I swear I'll tell you just promise me that giant ain't going to kill me afterwards " "You're in no position to negotiate or make demands, now tell me or we'll se if any if the other merchants happen to have seen you sell it" "OK OK, I sold one of them to this Dwarf another merchant, names Bodahn – ". He was interrupted when Aedan's sword was at his throat in an instant "Bodahn? As in Bodahn Feddic? He happens to be a good friend of mine and I know for a fact he only bought that set of armor off you, or did you not recognize it beyond the gold it got you, now tell me the truth " "Maker's breath I'm sorry, its just the guy I sold one of them too is really scary – " "Scarier than me? ". He just gulped at his calm yet fear-inspiring face "I sold one of them to the Lord Piotin Aeducan, the dead Kings nephew, he's the scary one, the other I sold to a dwarf in Redcliffe with the name of Dwyn I think it was " "If you're lying I shouldn't need to tell you a fate worse than being torn apart by darkspawn awaits you " " Yes milord, I swear this is the truth " " Good" He said before punching him in the face, knocking him out before tying him up and placing him in the back of his shack and giving one of the beggars enough coin to last a couple of days so he wouldn't run off until they found out if he was telling the truth. "Thank you warden, I appreciate this " "Not a problem Sten now come on let's get going ". After dealing with a small group of Mercenaries, they moved towards the gate where an argument was brewing, Morrigan asked why they killed these Mercs and not those men back in Lothering, he explained that the Mercs simply wanted to get paid whether they believed Loghain or not, his men were loyal to him and believed him, he would not kill good men following bad orders, not yet at least without a warning. "Vieta,this land is held in sovereign for the Dwarven Lords of the deep, I cannot allow you entrance "." This is the order of King Loghain, he demands the allegiance of the deshyrs or assembly, I am his messenger "." I don't care if you're the Kings wiper, you're not gaining entrance ". Aedan decided to make his entrance to the gatekeeper. "I have a message for the king of Orzammar ". "Blessed stone, another one? " "Hang on, your no messenger to Loghain, who are you? ". He handed the treaty to the gatekeeper "The Grey Warden's seek the aid of their old Dwarven allies "" The Grey Warden's betrayed King Cailain, they're sworn enemies of King Loghain ". "Well that is the Royal seal, but I'm afraid that King endrin returned to the stone about a week ago, I'm afraid you'll have to seek the aid of the assembly, though I don't know what kind of help you will find, Grey Warden, you may pass along with your party ". "This is illegal, in the name of King Loghain I order you to execute this stain on Ferelden honor, so it, or I will ". "HOLD YOUR TONGUE Knave, your false king has no authority here, now run along with your tail between your legs like the good little bitch you are and I won't hurt you, NOW RUN, JUST LIKE YOUR PRECIOUS KING DID AT OSTAGAR! ". "King Loghain will hear of this mark my words ". He said scampering off with his escort. "Ancestors bless you Warden, that messenger was driving me crazier than a Lyrium miner, thank you and feel free to enter ". He said ordering his men to open the great gates. As they entered the great Dwarven kingdom Aedan could not help but be awed by the magnificent architecture, far surpassing that of anything he'd ever seen in Ferelden or even in Orlais for the brief time he was there, once the entered the main street he assumed he saw an argument breaking out between two groups of dwarves , he only heard a little from their conversation as it seemed mostly over, something like blood not deciding who rules and the other Dwarf saying something about his father's last words and usurper, before he could hear anymore a guard stepped in between the two groups, but was near cut in two by a dwarf on the side accused of not being worthy simply by blood, the two groups dispersed after that leaving the poor guard while others came to his corpse. Aedan spoke to one of the guards who appeared in charge and he told him of the two competitors for the throne, the accused of foul play Prince Bhelen and the old duty bound lord Harrowmont, the assembly, basically a landsmeet, was deadlocked between the two, the guard pointed him in the direction to the assembly chamber, when they reached it, Aedan wished for a Landsmeet, it was beyond chaotic, threats were flying everywhere, guards were having to hold spokesmen and women back, he was actually pretty sure he saw mace go flying around somewhere, this all the while happening while a spokesmen tried to bring order, no doubt the neutral party in charge of guardsmen and the military for the time being. "Maker's breath give me a landsmeet, I don't even care if its one where mother and Teryn Loghain are against each other ". "What was that? "Leliana asked him, he realized he'd been speaking aloud, he silently cursed himself and just said he hated politics was all, she seemed to believe him thankfully, the spokesmen called for an extended recess on the matter of the throne, he stormed off right towards them at the doorway. "Oh greetings there, forgive me but I'm said the assembly is closed to those not if the assembly " "Oh forgive me we were just leaving " Stone, you must be the grey warden, I completely forgot about the Gate guards message, my apologies " "It's fine, I take it you also know why we're here? "" Ah yes the treaty, but I'm afraid the treaty only compels our King to aid the warden's, so without one – " "How long until there is a king? " "Oh ancestors how often do I pray for the answer to that question, forgive me warden, but without the ancestor's own intervention I'm afraid we'll never have a king " "I see, would you mind telling me where I may find Piotin Aeducan? " "The prince's cousin? Why would you seek him out? For an audience with Bhelen? " "Nay, my Qunari friend here lost his Asala to Darkspawn and we believe the young Lord may have bought it and I'd lie to try and return it ". "Why not just get another sword? If its so important you shouldn't have lost it, far safer to get a new one in my opinion than dealing with the young lord ". Before Sten could kill the old Dwarf Aedan told how a Qunari losing their blade was like a Dwarf leaving Orzammar for the surface, the old dwarf understood just what was at stake thanks to his comparison "Very well, if you're sure, you'll find him at the proving grounds, but be warned, he is one of the best fighters Orzammar has seen in decades, he is also quite the hothead unlike his cousin, be warned in case he tries to fight ". Aedan thanked him for the advice and took Morrigan and Sten to the proving grounds while leaving the others some coin to find them some long term accommodation ASAP before too many people started ogling shale. Finding Piotin had been harder than he'd thought first they had to enter the proving as their own competitor, simply the wardens then he had to fight contenders from both the Harrowmont and Aeducan houses, it was tiring having almost no breaks, Sten offered to take his place, but Aedan turned him down saying he was the leader so he'd have to represent the group of outsiders as best he could, until they wanted him to fight a mage, then he let Morrigan take over after she claimed to be a master of the Arcane far superior to that of any mage, she answered his request with a "Oh my pleasure Warden ". The opponent mage literally just flung a couple ice spears at her, bored with such a pitiful attack, Morrigan simply snapped her fingers melting the ice and burning off her hair and clothes but leaving no lasting damage. She gave a humph and left the rest of the battles to Aedan. Finally he dealt with the Harrowmont champion and was now face to face with the Dwarven warrior Prince, even though he wasn't actually a Prince as he came to meet him he called out to Sten seeing he was carrying a large and definitely exotic looking greatsword "Sten! Is that your one? " "Nay, it belonged to my kith, this means the coward spoke the truth, to an extent, I shall release him nonetheless ". Piotin asked what they were talking about and Aedan just told him he was going to return his sword to those whom it belongs to "That so? Well I like this blade so I'm not giving it up oh, and I thought you should know, that mage friend of yours from before? Yeah if you don't throw this match she's going to die, in case you don't believe me, take a look ". He said pointing to her Aedan took a quick look and saw a sketchy looking elf flash a knife at him when he saw he was looking, all the other dwarves around her seemed to be more interested in looking every direction apart from where they could see her, he didn't know if they'd been bribed or simply intimidated. "They been paid off or are they just afraid of your cousin? " " Ha, Bhelen doesn't know about this little stuff on the side, I run Orzammars underground, not him or the Carta". "Shouldn't it be just, the ground since your already underground? But nonetheless this means Bhelen may not be such a bad guy, so I'll kick your sorry ass and find out more about him ". He said drawing his blade forcing Piotin to do the same without time to signal his Elf. He was good with a blade, of that there was no doubt, but the Qunari blade was off balance for him, no doubt he only cared the strength and power the blade delivered, which was quite intense, however it was clear he hadn't had much practice against someone like Aedan with or without the massive blade , as he kept toying with him easily, kicking and punching him, making a game out of it, after another few strikes and easy dodges Piotin finally managed to signal his man, but Aedan wasn't worried about it and the scream and sound of electricity cracking confirmed his confidence, Morrigan had already been aware of how such things as tourneys went when it was with such high stakes against unknown opponents, so shed kept a spell of rock armor active, the crappy blade pinged off her skin, she then turned around and electrocuted the elf to death and asked if there was anyone else, when there was no reply she returned her attention to the fight to see Aedan disarm the champion and proceed to pound his skull into the ground repeatedly, before throwing him into the arena wall, he then picked up, the blade of Sten's companion from his expedition and left the arena after being declared the winner and asking where he could get a drink "Spoken like a true warrior" the arena master said, she had to agree that twas apparent the custom for warriors to drink, though Aedan did not seem the type to drink, especially since they had little coin to waste on drink, she wondered if he simply did not drink, not likely, mother claimed twas a rite of passage for men to drink once they are of age. Aedan gave the sword to Sten who then dumped it in one of the lava rivers saying it was not meant for anyone else. Aedan saw Leliana holding a couple of those subterranean creatures, what were they called? Ah yes Nugs, he asked her what she was doing and where shake Alistair and Xavier were and she said she'd left Alistair in charge of them while she helped a merchant round up the 'Cute little bunny pigs '. Aedan then sighed "So you left Alistair the clueless to roam around the city while there's a political war going on over the throne and it just so happens that grey wardens are greatly valued allies especially when it comes to dealing with the darkspawn, the dwarves main problem? "Morrigan and Sten both shook their heads while his words suddenly dawned on Leliana. "Oh maker how could I be so foolish, you gather the rest of them and I'll find them, she said shoving the two she had into his arms while dashing off after them, Aedan returned the Nugs and collected the coin he'd promised Leliana, or at least he hoped it was and he hadn't been swindled. They followed Leliana and found her scolding Alistair in front of what appeared to be the Royal Palace, looks as though they'd arrived too late, Aedan took a deep breath and headed in to meet the Prince who was no doubt waiting for him. Aedan tried his best to look surprised when he saw the Prince casually walk in to the same room as him and greet him, since his hands had been politically tied thanks to Alistair accepting the invitation to stay here. Leliana explained to Alistair that he'd jeopardized their neutrality to sum it up for them and now they had no choice but to stay with Bhelen lest he try to spin It like Harrowmont bribed them with promises of more troops or something like that. Reluctantly Aedan agreed to help the Prince, first off they would take care of the local Carta, he debated with the rest of the group about whether or not to simply kill them all or just spare those who accepted their offer to step down and let them take down their leader, however Leliana claimed the dust Town commoners were strictly loyal to her so surrender may not be a option, everyone else seemed to agree, though Morrigan, Sten and shale didn't really care, he decided to bring Leliana, shale and Alistair, he left Morrigan some gold to buy herself some lyrium potions and healing salves and he left Xavier in Sten's care, the two seemed to have a connection, so he figured he wouldn't attack the Qunari, not that he ever did without Aedan's go ahead. As they approached dust Town, Leliana started chatting with a Dwarf in a chanters outfit, while she did that he and Alistair checked the merchant stands while shake shooed away passersby. Suddenly Aedan saw something that caught his eye, it was a silver mirror that matched the description of the one Morrigan told him of the one she had as a child, he asked the merchant whether they had a golden version of it, but said that it had been found in the deep roads, so if he wished for a gold one he'd have to have it made from scratch. He asked for any recommended smiths that could do it fairly quickly, he gave him the name of a fairly well known Smith in the diamond district who should be able to do it for a reasonable price. After they finished they continued to the Carta hideout. It was as they figured, once shale tore the door down the dwarves refused to stand down and let them kill jarvia, so they had no choice but to kill the more violent ones and just break a couple bones which shale was fine with. They collected some jewels and valuables along the way from the stolen goods and imports from outside Orzammar they helped themselves since, as Fergus loved to say, it ain't stealing if its from thieves, not that he wholly believed it but it was better they have it when Ferelden, if not the whole of Thedas depended on their success. Jarvia wasn't to great a threat to them, she was skilled, but nowhere near skilled enough to take down someone of Aedan's level. As they left dust Town he saw a dwarf give another dwarf a Nug, he asked how much for one, paid for it and he got a nice healthy spare the dwarf had been holding. He'd told the others to go ahead without him, after getting the Nug, he went to the jeweler to see about making a new mirror, he actually gave him a discount for getting rid of the Carta, so it was quite cheap, then he got a grey warden action figure for Alistair and once the mirror was down, with remarkable time, he went back to the Palace. Once again Alistair felt cheated, however he did get a bigger meal ration, than the others except Aedan so he understood why he'd treat the others every now and then. Leliana squealed in delight when he gave her the Nug, she thanked him so many times he felt as if he'd just let her see the urn of sacred ashes, he hadn't found anything for Sten, but he didn't care since he'd gotten to lay his comrades blade to rest along with him, Shale had a different gift, the Smith thought him mad for wanting to ruin something such as a control rod, but he didn't care, so he had it melted down into a necklace fit for shale's massive neck, the golem knew not what to make of the gift, at first she believed it was an insult, but he explained it was to prove Shale had no master and had to follow no orders, for she was her own master now, though it would be nice if she agreed to follow his lead and not crush things when she felt like it, she reluctantly agreed and donned the necklace, with what could've been a smile. Finally he went to Morrigan's room where she was checking every inch of her bed almost as if searching for traps. "First time seeing a bed besides that puffed up rug you had back at your hut? " She wasn't surprised because he'd snuck up on her, she simply was more frustrated at the fact she'd be caught checking the bed out because she was so foreign to such Comforts "Well excuse me for growing up in a swamp warden, but no I am simply checking for more dwarven surprises especially after that incident at the arena – " "Proving ground ". He coughed "What was that Warden? " "Nothing and could you please stop calling me Warden? I've told you my name is Aedan I don't know many times " "True, but perhaps I simply deem to call you so because, that is what you are, no? Just another warden doing his job to end the blight, so I shall call you such for the time being ". "Fine, then for the time being…. ". He said stepping towards her bed "You can learn how to make a bed from scratch "He said ripping the sheets and blankets off her bed tossing them into the air, she stared at him like she couldn't believe he'd just done that, she looked ready to cast a spell so he grabbed her hand and tried to lift it upwards, but she socked him in the gut at that same moment anticipating his move, Aedan buckled, despite wearing armor she had no trouble buckling him over, no doubt using magic, he fell over backwards, still grasping her hand pulling her down as he fell backwards onto the bed, just then the blankets and sheets fell on top of them, the sheets and Aedan's armor made it difficult to move as they got caught and stuck in the folds, she tried to roll over, but she got stuck and fell down beside him, he tried to get up but just fell on top of her, hands grabbed at whatever they could on the other to try to get up and out, but they only made things worse, Morrigan tried to roll with all her might, but only ended up hitting her head on his flailing gauntlet dropping her head down right into a kiss. During this entanglement they both had made several groans grunts and gasps as hands and legs moved and touched other places drawing the attention of a nearby Alistair, whose fear for his friend and curiosity got the better of him, he looked in the room the sounds were coming from and his face turned pale at the sight before him "OH SWEET MAKER! MY EYES, MY EYES! Help me please ". He said covering his eyes and running from the room, despite not actually seeing any parts of either of them exposed, having enough and not caring if she made trouble for them, Morrigan set the sheeting alight, along with a large part of the room, she got up from on top of Aedan unaffected while he patted himself down to stop and smoldering embers, Morrigan then put out the rest of the flames and surveyed the damage she'd caused. "Maker's breath Morrigan I could've cut the sheeting if it had to come to that, you didn't need to set the damn place on fire, now half the rooms gone up in smoke " "Well perhaps if you had not been the fool with my bed this wouldn't have happened ". He looked away realizing she was right "Well anyway, I came here to give this to you ". He said handing her the mirror, wrapped in packaging. "Oh, what's this? "She said unwrapping it "A mirror? ". Then she took in the full design of the mirror "Tis – just the same as the one Flemeth smashed so long ago, you must wish something in return yes? ". He raised an eyebrow at her "It's a gift Morrigan you don't pay a gift back ". "Tis just, I have never received a gift before at least not one that had a price to , I have no idea what to do, I suppose I should say thank you but please I cannot allow myself to be in debt to you " "It's simply a gift for a beautiful women Morrigan, you're not indebted to me" "Then thank you, truly". He left to go inform their host about the room, while Morrigan merely pondered his words, wondering if what he said was genuine or whether or not this was apart of some plot, she could feel her opinion towards the warden alter forcefully in synch to the giving of the mirror, she began to wonder how he managed to get his hands on an identical replica of that mirror, was that the purpose of his talks? To lower their guards and exploit weaknesses he found in them? If so she had been careless thus far allowing him such a place in her heart because of this gift, mother had not lied when she told her of men and their words, she needed to take control of the situation and she knew just how to do it. It was night time, at least he thought when he brought Morrigan new bedding for her, he'd show her how to do it just so she wouldn't spend a half an hour trying to figure out how it worked. When he knocked and was let in. She sat on her bed looking at him with an almost malicious look on her face that he could swear he'd seen before "Tis cold here in this dark stone castle". Not realizing what she meant he replied "Well you've got blankets now so it won't be so cold ". She laughed "I was thinking a warm body next to mine would be far better, wouldn't you agree? ". When he realized what she wanted he was a little confused, but at the same time he remembered where he'd seen that look on her face, it was always on the face of almost every women after he'd ever met after they found out he was the son of Teryn Bryce Cousland, yet Morrigan had no clue who he was, none of them did, could she have been spying on him from before the wilds and heard him with King Cailain and Duncan? If so she probably would've Ben spying on the king, or maybe her mother had some sort of spell that let her monitor the whole of the camp for any juicy secrets, if she truly was the Flemeth it wouldn't be too hard to believe, he decided the fact he was once a noble shouldn't mean much to either mother or daughter since he couldn't inherit his lands as a warden no doubt, also no one would be willing to believe he'd knocked up an apostate, besides what would she stand to gain? He figured the more likely was he intrigued her, and letting off a little steam every now and then wouldn't be too bad a thing. "Well if that's what you want… " "So you shall join me here in bed, but what shall we do whilst we wait for it to warm up? "" I'll leave that to you " "Well then let's us waste no more time with foolish talk , tis most frigid here already ".
20 minutes later
As the two were lying in bed both more than a little worn out "I see the tales they tell of Grey Wardens stamina are more than just that "." Do you really need to talk? " "Oh finished with me already are you? Well you shan't get away that easily ". She said pinning him down on the bed "I shall have my way with you till I am satisfied, out of a sense of fairness if nothing else ". "You have a sense of Fairness? ". "True, tis more a sense of perversity, just know that I have no desire over your independence and should you wish to, discontinue this little adventure of ours, then so be it ". "I can live with that ". "Then we should get along swimmingly, but for now off with you ". "Beg pardon? ". "You heard me ". She said moving back to lie beside him "What about warming up the cold stone room? ". "Hmm, tis warm enough for me, now out". She said flicking her hand at him throwing him out of the bed with a strong gust of wind, but not before he latched onto the sheets and dragged them with him revealing Morrigans naked visage "Well someone's certainly ballsy, if you wished another round you need only ask, or are you too tired to keep up with me? Shame, here I was thinking you had more to offer me". The taunt was obvious, but Aedan wouldn't allow his pride to be so easily wounded "You're right I have not very little to offer you, but I have much, much more to- give you, don't you worry about that ". He said leaping towards her flinging the sheets in her face, Morrigan easily sent the sheets flying with a gust of wind, however Aedan had expected this and had altered his jump so the moved sheets would further conceal him, leaving Morrigan left side exposed as she expected him to come from in front of her, he tackled her from the side, almost pinning her to the bed, but at the last moment she'd been able to grab him and roll so she was on top of him, pinned "Tsk tsk tsk, Oh dear Warden, how very disappointing after that little speech I thought you might actually have been able to satisfy me, ah well, I suppose – ". She was cut off as Aedan caught her hips with his knees and moved her forward whilst shimmying downwards, getting ready to test out the last words of drunken wisdom Fergus had given him after heading to a tavern for the last time, Aedan was up till this night with Morrigan inexperienced with women in this manner and something he used with Oriana when she was mad "Aedan, if you're ever in bed with a real women and not some wench or strumpet, and she's mad or not feeling festive enough, know this (Belch)when in doubt, tongue out, guaranteed to fix whatever the problem may be, besides the death of a loved one or such ".' Let's see if you actually knew a thing or two about women big bro'. He said moving in for the execution of his families secret technique, according to Fergus at least whilst drunk and the thought of his father passing along said technique seemed, sketchy at best, unless their grandfather taught Fergus it when he was a bit too young to be thinking of such things since he died when Fergus was Dwarves of Orzammar had fought the darkspawn more times than any other in Thedas, with the exception of the Grey Wardens obviously, the moment they heard the call of a genlock that appeared to be dying, the household guards of the Palace readied themselves and ran to the source of the shrieks, not bothering with questions such as how did one get in here, why was it here or how many there could be, they merely charged to protect the Palace as was their duty, what they found in the room the cries were coming from, was definitely not what they were expecting, and with Alistair and Leliana having tagged along after seeing the guards rush ahead, things only got more embarrassing, they two party members and guards found a buck naked Grey Warden trying to clean his eyes as if he'd gotten a bad potion in them and an equally naked witch lying in the bed beside him panting heavily looking like she'd just done a hit of powdered Lyrium up the nose , dazed as hell. Alistair once again covered his eyes and started to smash his head into a wall crying "Maker why do you do this to me, anything but her ". The guards just turned and walked away while Leliana bite her lip almost like she wanted to ask to join, but she probably figured enough had happened for today and just led Alistair away while Aedan covered the two of them up with a blanket. Once he'd closed the door he made Morrigan bed and put her to rest, he didn't know if she slept in the nude or not, but he didn't want to disturb her right now as she was, half asleep and delirious, he bade her goodnight and went it his own room, praying Morrigan wouldn't kill him tomorrow. Prince Bhelen summoned him to his study the next day to discuss the assembly and the coronation and his plan to ensure victory. "So hang on a second, you're telling me a Dwarven Paragon is practically a god amongst your people and has power over even the king and the assembly? ". "No, not exactly, a paragons vote can count against any number of votes in the assembly and yes challenge the authority of the King, but only on vital decisions, a paragon can't just decide to one day force everyone to give them their coin and wealth for example, so on this matter of succession, she has complete control, which is why I need you and your friends to track her down and bring her vote with you ". "Somehow I get the feeling there's a really annoying and difficult reason as to why you and you're men haven't been able to track her down ". "You're right there's a very troublesome reason, she marched her whole house off into the deep roads in search of something, though what I'm afraid only her husband no doubt knows for sure, however it'd be easier trying to talk to a bronto than him". "Why? Is he a cunt? And why would his wife leave him behind if she's searching for the mystic whatever it is ". "I wish that were the case but I'm afraid he's just a drunk, a very drunk drunkard, you'd be luckier to stumble onto a still active golem than understand a damn thing he says, as to why she left him here, his being a drunkard wasn't actually as bad back then, he was one of Orzammars greatest warrior's, so if I had to guess, she couldn't stand him any longer, at least that's as much as my people have been able to find out ". "So how exactly am I supposed to find her if you're men have failed to? ". "Well this is why I ask you Warden, I need you to travel deeper into the deep roads than any successful expedition in Dwarven history since the fall of the old kingdom and convince her to put me on the throne ". "What if I can't convince or find her or if she's dead? ". "Then we can say the ancestors guided us to her corpse. "He gave no further instruction on the matter, but he understood perfectly clear either get her to side with him, or get her to come to their side, he didn't like it, but hopefully she was long dead and he'd just need to find something of hers to prove she was dead and the ancestors favored Bhelen over Harrowmont. Bhelen had them outfitted in new gear, the best the Prince of Orzammar could give, Silverite for the warriors including a remodel for Sten, chain mail of Leliana as well as new weapons. They bid the Prince farewell as they approached the tunnel to the Deep. Before they could enter however they were greeted by a half asleep, smelly redhead dwarf "Stranger, you haven't seen a Grey Warden by chance anywhere have you? ". He didn't know who this dwarf was or why he wanted to talk to him, but he wasn't going to turn him aside just in case he had important information for them. "No I have not sorry, why do ask? ". "I heard a Grey Warden was heading to the Deep Roads to look for Paragon Branka , names Oghren Kondrat, her husband, I've been trying for the past two years to get an expedition together to look for her, with a warden I won't need one, besides I know what she was looking for and where we might find her, hey wait a minute, the only surfacers allowed down here while this shit going on with the throne are the warden and his allies, does that mean you're him? ". "Why yes I am, so you're Oghren? ". "Yeah I'll bet those sodding nobles told you all about me, well it's probably all true, but what they like to leave out is the fact that I'm the only one who cares who actually cares about finding our only sodding Paragon, please take me with you, I've more darkspawn skulls crushed under my boot than any other sodding warrior in Orzammar and I know what Branka was looking for and where she will have gone to look for it". "Ugh, as if I didn't have enough nut jobs following me already"."Perfect,what's one more? ". "Welcome aboard Oghren, so what exactly was this wife of yours looking for? ". He asked as they started back to get Oghren some gear from their supplies back at the castle since he was forbidden from bearing them in the city, but once in the deep they'd be fine. "The Anvil of the void, the very tool with which we dwarves created our golems just like your one"." I have a name you know Dwarf". "By the hairy sacks of my ancestors, it can talk? And freely without you giving it a command to do so? ". "Yep Shale's a one of a kind, does whatever she wants whenever she wants "." Huh, bet the shaperate would trade their beards for he chance to dissect your pretty stone face up". "Oh they were, but I told them Shale isn't my property and therefore I can't sell her, anyhow what can you tell me about this anvil? ". Oghren told the party of the anvil, the golems and Cairidin, the smith who created it and was made a Paragon same as Branka, Aedan shared what info Bhelen and his men had on Brankas whereabouts. "Cairidins cross, eh? Alright then let's get a sodding move on already ". Aedan and Morrigan had not spoken to each other since their escapade the night before, he was worried she might do something to him as payback for letting them get caught in such states, yet she seemed no different than usual, he figured he'd probably find out for sure what was on her mind when they stopped to rest for the 'night '. Cairidins cross was far enough away that they agreed to camp there, they had a week at most to find Branka and make it back to Orzammar, Oghren told them the deep roads would be emptier than usual with a blight going on, but that didn't mean much as the deeper they went the thicker the spawn would get, blight or no, it just meant it would be easier getting in deep, not necessarily going all the way to Ortan Thaig their first location, the home of Cairidin, they'd hopefully find some clue as to Branka or the anvil there. They probably didn't think that he could hear, but he could and very clearly, Leliana and Alistair were talking about him and Morrigan, they seemed to think that they were in an actual relationship, not just friends with benefits, or maybe they did and they still thought it was a bad idea, also chatting it up was Sten and Shale, talking about mages in the Qun and what it would be like for Shale if she moved to par vollen, Oghren also succeeded in pissing off Morrigan without even trying to by ruining her handkerchief, it wasn't the best way to spend their time but it was better than just moving like a bunch of randos put together on an near suicidal quest. Once they got to Cairidins Cross both he and Alistair stopped moving, frozen, the others didn't know what was wrong with them, they didn't respond, Morrigan took a guess and said that the taint in the tunnels was trying their wills trying to overwhelm them. "All we can do is wait and see – ". She was cut off when both Warden's suddenly stumbled but caught themselves before falling, they both clutched their heads like they had hangovers and someone just made a loud ass noise, but without the groaning or moaning to go with it,. "Maker's breath, what was that? ". "The song of the old gods, I didn't think it would affect us that badly, I suppose I shouldn't be surprised though since we both still have the nightmares, I should've thought of that, sorry everyone that's my fault ". "Nightmares? Calling what are you talking about Alistair and what does this have to do with the Deep Roads? ". "Umm, basically in exchange for being able to sense darkspawn, we can sometimes see into the mind of the Archdemon, either when the call is strong enough, like here where the other Archdemons sleep or when we're asleep, nothing to worry about too much, especially not when in combat, we just must've let our minds be unprotected is all since we're only walking and sort of bored ".Aedan quickly bullshitted so they wouldn't tell them about the taint and how being here was actually slowly diminishing their remaining life span, Alistair told him about the calling and the 10 to 30 max life expectancy assuming they survived the blight let alone ended it. "Be sure to keep you minds strong the both of you, for a weak one is far more dangerous than any other flaw". "Thank you Sten, we will ". They set up camp in one of the darkspawn made tunnels in the crossroads where they could set up traps and have an escape route too if the worst should happen. He and Alistair were on guard duty first, they talked about ways to strengthen their minds as well as how to hone their darkspawn sense so it worked down in the depths rather than just telling them the taint was all around. "Do you think it'll get harder the deeper we go in? ", "Probably to be honest, I just pray it is just a matter of staying alert, I'd hate for us to pass out at a vital moment and we lose some of them, I don't think I could handle it, losing anyone else after Duncan". Aedan nodded understanding what he meant. "Hey, I hope you don't mind, but where are you from? What did you do before you became a warden? ". "Long story short, my parents and family died left with nothing and no one an old swordsman found me, trained me and you can probably guess the rest, not really all that important ". "What happened to the swordsman? I take it he's the one who trained you to fight? ". "He taught me how to refine my skills, but he didn't teach me much beyond that really, most I just picked up myself "." Sorry for bringing that up for you – ", "It's fine, I ask you guys stuff like that all the time anyhow, it's only fair, anyhow I need to figure out where in the hell I'm gonna take a shit, I'll try and find a hole or something nearby so keep an ear out incase something besides Morrigan tries to ambush me while my draws are down literally ". Alistair just laughed and said sure. Once out of sight he took a minute to calm his burning blood for so easily discarding what happened at the castle 'Duty before family '. He kept repeating those words over and over in his head until it quietened down, now he said just the once, your grief must wait in the shadows before vengeance, for Duty comes first, he liked that, it was actually pretty helpful, he just prayed when they dealt with Loghain he could keep his mind clear of thoughts of vengeance upon Howe, though if he could officially reclaim the Terynir that would help them, because the only hope they had was to take him down in, a landsmeet which hopefully Eamon would arrange because they couldn't risk the loss of men taking him on the field. Once everyone had gotten a fair sleep they moved onwards towards Ortan Thaig. To say there was a lot of Darkspawn on the way their was an understatement like no other, they practically had to carve their way through dozens and dozens of darkspawn at every damn corner through the tunnels, taking breaks every two or three battles because that's what they felt like, they exhausted 2/8 of their potion and boost supplies once they got halfway between Cairidins Cross and Ortan Thaig. Aedan decided to try and see if he could get a little help. "Hey Oghren, you're a berserker right? ". "Yeah, (Belch), so? "."I was hoping you could teach us that talent too if you didn't mind ". "Sure, why not, but it'd only be good fer (Belch) warriors like you or me, not that emotionless horn dude or the magic lady or the little assassin or whatever she is". "Alright, Alistair you wanna join me? ". "Umm, as much as I'd want to help out some more, I don't think I can really manage getting so angry like a berserker, sorry its just not really like me, at least not yet sorry ". He said it was fine and went with Oghren to train. The gist of it was just to get angry, but at the same time channel that anger into a presence you can feel within yourself, then allow it to spread and fill every part of your body, Oghren applauded his success and increase saying something must've been ticking him off for a long time, and boy was he right, he imagined Howe that day at Highever, laughing and drinking with his father, and how quickly those smiles turned to sneers no doubt once his men arrived and began to lay siege to his home, the death of his family and friends, the servants and aids, then he extended it to King Cailain and the forces of Ostagar whom Loghain abandoned, he didn't know Cailain that well, he was more Fergus's friend, but nonetheless he swore to avenge his family whereas Loghain had handed Howe the legal rights to his home free of charge or investigation, Orlesian allies, how dare he stoop so low as to call his family traitors, his vision got red as his anger continued to grow the more he thought about it, till Oghren actually had to calm him down in, case he went ale shit here and now, he apologized and headed back to the others to continue on to the Thaig. Now filled with the strength of a Berserker he had much greater ease dealing with the masses of Darkspawn, his stamina did seem to fall faster, however now that he was a warden, he had plenty to spare, they made faster time through the deep now that Aedan could carve his way through the spawn far faster than before. When his stamina finally did give out, it was when they reached the home of the great Smith. "By all the tits of my Ancestor's, Ortan Thaig, I never thought I'd actually get to see the place "." See any trace of Branka? ". "No and yes, she's not here, but she most definitely was, stone and soil samples have been taken from various places around here, come on let's get going ". As they headed out further into the Thaig, Aedan felt as if he'd done the right thing in ending Rucks life, he suffered and merely survived, he did not live by any means, he would tell his mother he died valiantly however, she deserved to believe that her son died a warrior's death. Upon leaving the main cavern they were in, they spotted something ahead of them, two golems, far bigger than Shale, before they could get too close they both jumped to life and charged them, unthinking the group also moved to attack, except Oghren who called them to fall back and reminded these were being of stone not flesh, their blades would just bounce off them, Aedan's mind came back to him and he quickly formulated a plan "Morrigan, I need you to get your most powerful spell ready, we'll keep them in one place ". Shale wouldn't admit it, but with her smaller size she'd be at a disadvantage against just one, but there was two, so he had her try to hold one at bay while he Sten and Oghren tried to get it to lose its balance with her help while Alistair and Leliana had the second one chase them away from Morrigan, when she called out she was ready they got the first golem off its feet and had leliana lead theirs back to the first one and jump over it, they did this over the bridge so the second golem could not get around the first one on the ground trying to get up, once they were out of the way Morrigan unleashed the spell just as the two golems almost were free to chase them again, a massive storm of electricity and lecherous magic erupted around the two stone golems frying the magic that sustained them and at the same time replenishing Morrigans mana and healing her injuries, they both dropped to the floor, the flowing runes that signaled their life force dark and gone, no one saw it but Morrigan cast a look at Shale as if to say the same could happen to her if she wished it, Shale had no organs, yet felt as If a heart that wasn't there froze in fear. They took another rest in case they had to go through anything like that again anytime soon, thankfully neither Oghren nor Sten complained, no doubt because they agreed. After finding Brankas journal they headed to Bownamar the fortress of the legion of the dead, or at least it was back when Cairidin built it, now it was nothing more than a Darkspawn nesting ground. The party grew worried as they got closer to the fortress and found it lacking in Darkspawn unlike earlier in the tunnels, they came upon a cliff overlooking a canyon and they found out why there was less darkspawn than earlier and why they had not met further spawn the further in they got, below them was the Darkspawn horde, massive and unending, the horde extended far beyond their sight in all directions, the amount of darkspawn they'd seen moving past them in a few seconds was so large he feared not even the armies of Orlais, Tevinter, Fereldens former, antivas the Ander fells the free marches and par vollen combined could hope to stop it, as if things could not get worse, on a bridge below extending between the canyon above the horde , something landed, shaking the whole cavern, from deeper into the tunnels, it was the Archdemon, he recognized it from his dreams, he looked to Alistair for confirmation who nodded in return saying it was indeed the Archdemon, before they could get close enough to try to attack it, it flew off after crying again, this time different, like it had hurt itself, he looked closer and saw it had landed on a rock spire and injured itself, but it was so big he wouldn't have been surprised if it did minimal damage to it, the thing was massive, the bridge was at least the width of three Cousland grand halls and this was easily that wide, but it had landed front first do he couldn't be 100% sure and length wise its front and back legs were on the edge of the bridge with its head and tail at least another two grand halls each. He had Morrigan gather the blood up in a magic vessel she made in case they ever found a use for it later. After paying their respects to the legion of the dead they continued onward, Aedan asked Alistair why they didn't feel anything when they were so close to the Archdemon, he said probably because the Archdemon didn't notice, elsewise he had no clue. After finding proof the legion had a noble background they found something else interesting, what Oghren called a brood mother. They all had different reactions to seeing the beast and then vomit forth a group of genlocks . Aedan :Sweet maker that's the most fucked up thing I've ever seen and I've pictured Alistair In a dress dancing to the marigold. Leliana :Oh Andraste bless me, for I fear I shall be sick, she said holding her stomach. Alistair just threw up. Oghren :Stone she really let herself go didn't she. Sten: So this is where darkspawn come from, I must say, I am rather nauseated at the thought of how many of these things there must be. Shale :It's times like this I am fortunate to be made of stone, firstly I shall never be turned into one of those things, secondly I have no stomach with which to lose its contents like the frail fail warden over there. Alistair just flipped the golem off with a finger still in the process of losing his lunch. And finally Morrigan :And here I was thinking mothers naked visage would be the most disgusting thing I ever saw, oh how this world can surprise you. Their horror abated they charged the genlocks and quickly cut them down and stayed back awaiting Aedan's command, as far as he could see this thing had tentacles that could burrow through the fleshy ground and reappear wherever it wanted them to, it also spat out balls of the taint, so everyone besides him, Alistair and shale would have to stay back, he had Oghren and Sten stay back and watch their rear while Leliana and Morrigan used their ranged moves on it, while he, Alistair and shale attacked it head on, as expected its tentacles tried to grab them,it managed to pick shale up just, but her weight was more than expected so it almost let her go, from the draw back of trying to lift more weight than expected, Shale used that moment to wrap her hands around it and crushed it causing a bout of pain allowing Alistair and Aedan a chance to rush forward without having to worry about more coming after them, they began slicing off the tentacles at its sides so they couldn't come at the 6, when it's shock wore off from the pain Shale punched it in the gut causing another bout of pain while the two warden's finished off the tentacles, deprived of it limbs it bellowed, no doubt for reinforcements, before they could arrive, Aedan called shale for a boost, the golem understood and Aedan ran towards her as she put her hands together, Aedan leaped onto them as she hurled him upward towards its ugly misshapen head, but the toss was too hard, he flew up past its head and ended up smashing his own one on the cavern wall above them, he fell unconscious to the ground below, they called out his name, but he was out like a light, seeing his friend was in trouble, Alistair quickly leaped and sliced the beasts gut open, as they figured it didn't kill it, if anything he just pissed it off, it it was distracted and not lobbing those taint balls at them, Shale proceeded to try and tear at the exposed intestines, before he could reach Aedan though Morrigan called out to him, he turned and saw thy were having trouble with the reinforcements the brood mother called, he reluctantly went to aid them as Morrigan and Leliana had both had to attack them rather than the broodmother, he called to shale to watch out for Aedan while he helped the others. When Aedan opened his eyes his head was killing him like someone was ringing a bell in his head, he sat up and found Morrigan standing over him "So our daring leader finally awakes after knocking himself out cold, joy". He remembered his epic combo move fail "Oh yeah, right. What happened, where is everyone? ". "They're out looking for any spare supplies nearby we might've missed earlier, they're worried, with good reason I might add, that we may not have enough to ensure a supplied return trip especially given how much more dangerous things are getting now that there are less darkspawn being immediately pulled into the horde". He tried to get up, but Morrigan stood over top of him now. "You are going back to sleep, you're not finished healing". "What happened to, I am no healer? ". "Compared to mother certainly, to the rest of these fools I am the one with the most expertise, now to bed". "I told you I'm fine ". He said trying to get up from under her, but now she stood on his palms, stopping him in his tracks "Need I turn into a bear to keep you from moving?". "No thank you I'm not into that weird swamp witch stuff". He tried to wiggle out, but she just pushed down harder on his hands "Oh, but you are into this aren't you? ". She said with a devious smile, he was confused by what she meant, then he looked down at his lower section, then he realized he was only in his small clothes and he was being betrayed by his own ever so slightly , before he could do anything Morrigan spoke. "How about this, a turn in the hay or in this case Stone, first one to climax loses and gets their way in regard to you going back to bed? What say you? ". She said with a somewhat sadistic smile. "Here? Really? Are you sure that's even a good idea? ". "Oh? What's this? You're not backing down are you? Afraid you'll lose? ". She said leaning down and whisperi9in his ear with remarkable flexibility. Once again falling into the witches trap he relented and they proceeded, throughout the course of their struggle, Aedan could feel his strength leave him slowly, not enough that he paid it much attention, it was only after they both climaxed that he realized she must've sipped him something while he was distracted, because he then fell fast asleep. As Morrigan got changed the doors to the hall of the dead opened suddenly revealing Oghren and Shale, panting as if they'd run there. "Ah sod, you tow were bashing boots? Shit I missed it, sod it all ". "Heh, you speak as if I'd let you watch Dwarf when in truth I would rather bed the girl than let you watch". "Double women wammy? Heh, Heh, Heh that's hot". "The swamp witch and it were – being intimate then I take it? ". "Yes and so what I'd w were? Twas not for pleasure but for getting him to continue his rest, which he ever so needs, now is there a problem or can we continue searching? ". Neither Dwarf nor Golem said anything, they just went back to what they were doing. When Aedan next awoke this time for good he rose and got armed and dressed before Morrigan could stop him, no doubt they'd only have a few days left till the election and they still had to leave the deep after finding Branka. He found the others eating breakfast or at least what he assumed was breakfast since he had no idea what time it was. He joined them for the meal and asked if they found any supplies, Oghren and shale found a little with some of the dead from his house, Alistair and Sten went back to see the Legion of the Dead and got what supplies they could spare and Leliana just did some scouting ahead down the only way forward they had, nothing of interest as far as she'd been. Aedan thought about Xavier and how he was doing, he prayed the maker would leave him something of his old life, though he knew the chances of ever going back to it were slim to none, it would be nice to have something to remind him of the old day's. Once they'd finished eating they headed back through the brood mothers cavern and found its remains to be naught but char, no, doubt Morrigans work. After exiting the tunnel they were currently in with Shale, Morrigan and Oghren right behind him, there was a loud crash and a bang, followed by a loud high pitched scream "Alistair are you alright? ". There was a laugh that sounded like Leliana, before Alistair answered "Yes I'm fine, we're fine, the door just blocked us from moving forward and backwards is all, so at least we don't have to worry about darkspawn cornering us". Before anyone could say anything Oghren brought up the fact that the door was made of highly enchanted Dwarven steel, neither mage nor golem would be getting through it anytime soon, so the four of them reluctantly continued forward looking for a release switch of some sort lest that space be airtight. They kept moving forward finding both dwarven and darkspawn bodies littering the path forward, O]ghren was able to identify the dwarves, the ones mostly intact as members of his house, which meant Branka had to be close. After turning a corner they found a makeshift camp made from scrap metal for walls surrounding a hill, as they approached the hill someone came up from behind it into view. "Oh, visitors, you must forgive me but after two years down here, my patience for formalities has long since gone". "Well shave my ass and call me an elf, Branka is that you? By the stone I barely recognized you".