I do not really know what brought me to Ferelden in the first place. Most likely, it was my fool-heartiness and my desire to make something of myself. But no matter the reason, I had left my home with only a horse and what I could strap to the beast's back, boarding the first available ship west to Thedas. I eventually arrived in Antiva, and began to make my way through the provinces without any real goal in mind.

After many months of aimless travelling, I arrived in the province of Ferelden. It was a land that had just been freed from foreign occupation, and so it was a land of instability. For that reason, it was also a land of endless opportunity.

Arriving in Ferelden I came to the conclusion that the province would provide me with the three things I had been searching for: an escape from my homeland, noble quests to undertake, and endless excitement.

It provided all three very quickly, in the form of an order known as the Grey Wardens.


The stallion cantered beneath me, the scenery rushing by. It would not be long before I reached Ostagar now. I am a little nervous to meet with the Grey Wardens, and I wonder what will they think of me. Will they accept my role in their order? I knew, at the least, that I could help them, and that they were a noble order. I am sure I can prove myself to them.

I slowed my mount to a walk as we reached the ruins. It was truly beautiful here. The white stone structures, I could guess, had once been a great fortress. Now they were broken ruins, surrounded by trees and flowers. A long stone bridge led to the main part of Ostagar and smoke rose in the distance. That was where the Grey Wardens were, along with their new recruits.

"That'a boy, Cael. Not much farther." I gave the horse a pat on the neck, than urged him across the bridge and towards the source of the smoke.

As I arrived at the Warden camp I saw five armoured men covered in dark blood, their backs turned to me. Another two, clean of blood, stood off to the side, holding vials of dark liquid. Immediately I knew that they had already gone through a step of the 'Joining': a ritual wherein they had to collect darkspawn blood... and then drink it. It was what made them Wardens.

With a deep breath I nudged my horse into camp.

"Good afternoon, Wardens," they turned to me, and I bowed my head respectfully.

Of all the men there, I knew one. Duncan – the dark bearded dual wielder – was the current commander of the Ferelden Wardens. He himself was one of the five covered in blood. He bowed his head in a greeting, and I quickly dismounted. The other four bloody men, the recruits, looked perplexed at my arrival. They were all young, probably about my age or a little older, and had their swords strapped to their backs.

Duncan came towards me, offering a hand. I took it without hesitation, making sure my grip was strong as I shook it.

"Good to see you again, Ryda," he paused, turning to his recruits. "Excellent timing. We were just about to continue with the Joining. Follow us please."

Nodding, I pushed my horse on the shoulder. "Stand, Cael." He did what he was told.

I followed along behind the Wardens and recruits as they made their way to a back area. It was a temple; that I could plainly see. Duncan and his two Wardens went about preparing the mixture of darkspawn blood, and I stood with the recruits as we waited. I could feel their eyes on me. I shifted my weight a bit when I felt the eyes of the man behind me on my backside, but I ignored it. I had to be respectful, no matter how uncomfortable – or annoyed – I felt.

The man beside me looked at my face, than coughed. He was nervous, and I could not blame him. None of the recruits knew anything of the Joining, and of the repercussions what they were about to do. They did not realize that they were about to undertake in what would probably be the most dangerous ritual of their lives.

"Soo..." he began, scratching his neck, the dark blood smearing there. "You're not a Warden, are you?"

I shook my head, not really looking at him. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw dirty blond hair and a chin featuring short stubble. Normally, I would greet the man properly and look him in the eye, but these were abnormal circumstances. In a couple of moments, it was a possibility that he could be dead – and I knew it was best not to make acquaintances if I could.

"Okay... you're the Warden 'Consort' then?"

I nodded again. It is a good thing that Duncan had informed them of my presence. I didn't want them thinking I was intruding on their Joining ritual without invitation.

The Warden Consort, as seemed to be my official title, had an interesting role. In the history of the Wardens, no one knew of their rituals and interworkings except for the Wardens themselves. But by a series of events that had occurred in my travels through Orlais, I had come into contact with this knowledge. After some convincing Duncan had agreed to allow me to help them without becoming one of them. Truly, I was honoured.

Thus, on the commander's request, I am observing my first Joining today.

The other men stayed silent – not curious enough to talk to me or too busy shuffling in place. Or were too busy staring at my backside, as I could sense the man behind me was still doing. However, this blond fellow was deciding to occupy himself by asking me questions.

"You don't talk much, do you?"

I blinked, a bit perplexed. Oh, I talked, just not in this situation. Still looking forward, I replied: "It's not really my place to speak here. I'm just an observer."

"True..." he nodded, and from that point on, stopped asking questions.

I watched the Joining in both horror and amazement. It went exactly as I had been informed: each man took his turn at the goblet, drinking the darkspawn blood, and collapsing to the ground. Most of them stood afterwards, obviously disoriented and in pain. To my sadness one of them collapsed to the ground and did not move again. Duncan murmured apologies as he leaned down and closed the dead recruit's eyes. They buried him shortly after.

As Duncan was addressing the new Wardens back to camp, I busied myself with staying out of the way. Going to my horse, I checked the saddle bags; making sure each was securely fastened, and feeding the stallion an apple after tying the bags shut. Duncan called me over as the new Wardens scattered, off to clean their armour and themselves, and to think about what they now were. Bowing my head respectfully, I stood in front of the commander. I don't know when he had time to clean, but now he was free of any blood or muck.

"So, the Joining is complete..."

I nodded, making sure to keep strong eye contact.

He looked around at our surroundings. I could see it in his eyes: the death of the recruit weighed heavily on him. "You are the first Warden Consort in existence, Ryda," he breathed in deeply. "The first to be but an observer of a Joining, and more importantly, to know what it means. I trust you milady, but your role is a new one. The others may not be so trusting."

He paused, and I realized he wanted me to respond. "Trust is extremely important to me, commander." I recited the code as my taskmaster back home had done so many times before. " 'My honour is my life, and my word is my honour'."

He nodded, and I saw his features soften slightly. "Spoken like a true knight." He placed his hand on my shoulder. "You shall be a valuable asset, Ryda. Give the others time to accept that."

I bowed my head again. "I am truly grateful that you have faith in me, commander."

"I see no reason not to, milady."


The Warden commander suggested I rest in the camp. I kept to myself after speaking to the two seasoned Wardens. They seemed genuine enough, and I decided that they were fine with my presence. The men who had survived the Joining sat around the fire, eating their lunch quietly. I wondering how long it would be before they started to dream of the darkspawn horde, and I was silently glad that I did not have to deal with such nightmares.

I had taken off Cael's saddle and was brushing the warhorse when I heard a ruffling of metal on metal.

"Nice horse you have there."

I looked over my shoulder, and there stood the blond-haired man, armour and face now cleaned. Really looking at him for the first time, I saw he was quite a good looking man.

"Thank you." I patted Cael on the neck as his nostrils flared. He did not play well with others.

"So uh, can you talk now?"

I raised an eyebrow and gave a half-smile. He was an insistent fellow, wasn't he? "I guess so, if you want."

He grinned, cocky, and nodded his head. "Oh, I do."

I could hear the wolf whistle from the fire-side. Not surprisingly, it was the man who had been staring at my rump before the Joining. I rolled my eyes.

"Just ignore them," the man suggested, waving a hand. "They don't know how to treat a pretty lady such as yourself."

This time, both my eyebrows rose. He coughed.

"Anyway..." he took a step forward. "I'm Alistair. New Warden, by the way, so I don't have a last name anymore. Nice to meet you."

I nodded in understanding. To be a Warden was to have no family name or noble title.

"Ryda. Don't use my last name. I seem to be called the Warden Consort. Before that, I was just a traveller."

"Traveller, eh? What a title you've got." I couldn't help but laugh a bit. His eyes lit up. "There must be more than that."

I shrugged. "I'm from far, far away. Had to travel over two oceans to get here, so I think 'traveller' is a perfectly suitable title."

"Not just a traveller, but a big traveller then! So what, not a princess? Or an arena fighter? Or an assassin in disguise?"

Again, I chuckled. "Knight, perhaps. The armour and warhorse seems to say so. 'Foreign travelling knight' seems to be a good description."

"So a lady knight is it? That is a much better title than 'traveller'." He paused. "We don't have many women in the wardens. I wonder why that is."

"I can handle myself better than most." I crossed my arms and shifted my weight. I had learned at an early age that to be a warrior, I had to show that my sex did not mean I could be pushed around.

"Well, yes, I can see that. That horse is pretty big." He motioned to my stallion.

I came to the sudden conclusion that he was a light-hearted man, and that I had no reason to prove my ability to him. I dared to ask him the same question, and to jest with him. "So what about you, Alistair? What was your past title before becoming a Warden? Baker, perhaps? Chef?"

His hand touched his chest, seemingly gripping his heart. "That cuts me deep, milady," I could tell he was obviously joking, but the puppy dog eyes were a bit much. "I'm an ex-Templar. Well, ex-Templar-trainee to be precise."

This surprised me. This man was a mage hunter?

"Impressive."

He shrugged. "But that doesn't matter anymore," he almost seemed... ashamed at the fact. "Now, I'm a Warden."

I un-crossed my arms. "Hey, don't worry, I'm no mage."

This made him smile.

"Why don't you join us by the fire, Lady Ryda?" He motioned behind him. "You look like you could use a good meal and some rest."

I thought about it for a second. I had spent enough time eating meals alone during my travels. Eh, why not, some company would be nice. But when I opened my mouth to reply, Duncan's voice cut in.

"Ryda," he walked to my side, a parchment in his hand. "I need you to do something for me."

I looked to Duncan, then to Alistair. "Commander? Of course, what is it?"

The Warden handed me the parchment. "Read it."

I opened the paper and quickly skimmed its contents. At the very bottom was the royal seal. King Cailan's seal.

I had known that there had been an unnatural number of darkspawn – ugly, evil creatures – appearing on the surface as of late, but this parchment claimed that they were amassing. The king wanted the Wardens to assemble to him. He wanted to build an army to face the current darkspawn before they became a threat.

"He wants the Wardens to fight..." I gently rolled the paper back up.

Duncan nodded. "Cailan wants the Wardens of Ferelden to gather. He wants us to join him on the front and challenge the darkspawn appearing in the south."

I wondered if this was necessary. I had not heard great things of King Cailan. He had come to power in a time of peace, but that was not the life he desired. I had heard tales that he wanted glory and excitement, and that he was inexperienced and somewhat reckless. There was truly no real reason to gather all the Wardens unless...

"Commander... could this darkspawn movement be the beginning of a Blight?"

Blight. A word I had not been privy to until I had arrived in Thedas. I had first heard of it from a minstrel I had encountered during my travels. Her song had revealed to me that a Blight occurred when an Archdemon – a powerful spirit tainted by evil – had been manifested and was calling the darkspawn to the surface. A Blight was the beginning to the end of the world. I felt a shiver down my spine at the thought of it.

I saw Alistair's eyes widen as he stood to the side. He stayed silent.

Duncan shook his head. "I don't know... but if the king wants us to gather, we have no choice." He looked me directly in the eyes. "Ryda, I trust you with this task. Gather the other Wardens. Show them this parchment. Tell them to ride to Ostagar immediately. I will go to King Cailan personally, to escort him here."

I was slightly shocked. Collecting the Wardens was an extremely important duty. And Duncan was entrusting me.

I felt pride. A pride that I had not felt in a long time.

"I will do just that, Duncan."

He nodded. "Thank you, Ryda. I think this is a good first task for you. If you are willing, I would like you to leave immediately. We will give you food and some money to make your way."

I bowed my head. "Of course, commander."

And then the man was off, and I was left standing with the blond Warden and my 'slightly' overprotective warhorse.

I looked at him, and frowned a bit. "Sorry. It looks like I'll have to decline your offer…"

Alistair shrugged, seemingly unfazed. "Ah well. Next time, I guess."

I couldn't help but smile crookedly.


An hour later I had re-saddled my horse and was preparing to leave. The Wardens had provided me with provisions, some coin, and a map indicating where the other Ferelden Wardens could be found. My helm and hunting bow was strapped to the saddle, and my sword and shield were firmly attached to my back. Duncan had given me precise instructions: I was to return to Ostagar when I had found the few other scattered Wardens spread about the province.

I had said my farewell and had mounted my horse when blond hair appeared from behind a tent.

"My, you look quite regal. Grey iron armour on a black warhorse is quite nice on the eyes."

I chuckled and tightened the reins. He came up beside my warhorse, but not too close.

"It was nice to meet you, milady. I hope we meet again."

I smiled, warmed to hear such a thing from an almost perfect stranger. "I'm sure we will, Alistair. We'll have a spar or two when we get a chance."

His own smile was large, beaming. "A spar? Are you challenging me, Lady Ryda?"

I nodded my head. "I am indeed, so be prepared. I hope you are good with a shield." I looked to the path ahead. "Best of luck to you, Ser Warden."

Alistair bowed slightly. "To you as well, my lady. Best of luck."

With one last look at him, I nudged my horse forward into a canter.

So my trip began, my duty to the Wardens unwavering.

This was not such a terrible start to a new life.