A/N: chapter 2 is here! read the title if you want an explanation of what this chapter is about ;)
the first few years of ruling were uneventful but by no means boring, we read for hours on end, collecting knowledge, learning mathematics, other languages, cultures, until one day a brother approached me
"I want to find the Golden City" he stated more than said
"what?" I asked, looking up from a book I was reading
"yeah, I want to find it as well as the Maker himself, we need answers and he will be the one to give them"
"I see but, how will you?"
"I will open a portal to it, similar to a tear but less demonic and this isle's magic means it will be natural and we won't be defiling anything"
"are you sure?"
"yes, I am sure"
so he opened a portal and stepped through with a few others and a few hours later they emerged in hooded robes, I also felt the magic on this isle get stronger, incredibly stronger
"what did you find?" I asked the brother who opened the portal
"blackness...black, black, blackness, unending black..." he repeated
"brother!" I exclaimed
he quickly turned to me, his skin looked to be peeling off
"we opened the portal to somewhere else, I... I don't know f it was the Golden city turned bad, or just some disease area of the Fade, it was just... Maker, it was black, just pure black, others, others had been there before, they entered by unnatural means and... and... I, have to go..." he said and took off into the forest
I stared blankly
if the city truly had turned black then... what of the Maker? the Golden City? or maybe he was right and they had contracted a disease of the Fade
this was very troubling
a few weeks later I decided to see if I could open trade between us and the mainland
so me, the ruling council and a few brothers and sisters came with us, I sensed it was 889 TE and almost 890 TE (you know what that year was!)
as our boat reached the docks of the mainland I saw a horrific sight
there were mutilated bodies everywhere, some were hung from trees other left slumped against objects with their guts torn out, and others just lay there... dead
"inform the Glendúran warriors at once, we need them" I said and the brothers and sisters took off for our island once again
we, the high brothers got our weapons out and moved forwards
I saw what looked like a person in armour, standing at the foot of the docks, my skin also began to glow as did my eyes as we got closer
then he turned around, and his face, Maker, his face... my skin glowed brighter
it looked like someone had took a potato peeler and used it on his face
"err, are you ok?" I asked
then he got a sword out and ran at us savagely
with every step he took my skin and eyes got brighter
I pulled out my greatsword and swung at his torso effortlessly, slicing him in half, he had a twisted sadistic smile on his face
I crouched down and put my greatsword blade down like a walking stick, the blade in the ground and I held the hilt so I could use it to get up
"what are these things?" I asked out loud
then even more came, like a horde they just ran at us all our skin was glowing now, the others were blue, but mine a pure white
I used my greatsword to get up
first we used our magic, hurling fireballs, firestorms, electric storms and blizzards at them and we felled trees in their path to slow them, nothing worked to halt them but it thinned their numbers
eventually they reached us and I swung at the legs of one, he fell and I impaled him
then I withdrew my sword from his corpse and swung up, my sword practically singing as I did so
it cut one in half
I sprinted forwards swinging left and right, cleaving flesh from bone with every swing
the I spun behind one and swung, slicing him from the chest down
I turned and swung up at another, cleaving an arm off, I then took off his, or its head
I impaled another who jumped at me by sticking my blade in the air diagonally and he landed on it his face getting close to mine
I yanked my sword out and left him to fall to the floor, dead
I got to the end of the horde and looked back at my handiwork
about 4 dozen creatures lay dead in my path, all chopped up
I went to the others and saw that they had sustained minimal injury
we heard a roar then a sudden stop to it
we spun around and a man with a crossbow came out of the woods, pointing it at us as he yanked the bolt out of the beast that was in mid-roar
"who are you?" he asked
"I am Jasper of Glendúra, an island on the water these are my brothers, who are you?"
"I am Deran, a Ranger of these woods, and veteran warrior against these beasts" as he said that a bear came up next to him and brushed up to him and he stroked it
"its not safe to be out here, come on"
we followed him to a fortress
"hey Garun let me in!" he shouted
"sure, who's that?"
"these are the ruling council of an ancient isle on the water! by the way good job dealing with those creatures, I've never seen a display like that you are truly warriors to be reckoned with, the boss'll want to meet you" he addressed us
the gate raised and we saw a few hundred men and a few women
"what happened here?"
"the Darkspawn, that's what! those creatures you cut down, they appeared out of nowhere and attacked, we are nearing annihilation! they also spread an incurable disease, we call it the Taint or the Blight, many of our men die just from fighting them, our children are sick and some deformed, out crops are dying out, the water is tainted, our animals are turning vicious and violent, there are random storms and the sky goes black, when they are near, its hell on Thedas!"
"we can help, but you must learn to defend yourselves, you can't just rely on us for protection!" I said
"we are best conferring in the war council" he whispered, people were starting to stare
"agreed" I said
all the warriors and us Glendúrans gathered there
"we must take back our lands!" said the leader, slamming his fist on the table
"I know, but how?" said another, also slamming his fist, declaring his part in the conversation
then a young Glendúran walked next to me, they had returned
"we could try and immune ourselves by drinking the blood of those creatures" said Nakiri a young man, who also slammed his fist
"what?!" exclaimed someone else, repeating the slamming
"we could use certain magic to help reduce the effects" I said, almost breaking the table
"we actually have collected blood to see if a cure can be made, but our efforts have been unsuccessful" said Nakiri
"bring me the blood and a chalice" I said
they did as asked I used ancient magic to take away some of the negatives of the Taint and I thought of something to say
"join us, brothers and sisters, join us in the shadows where we stand vigilant, join us as we carry the duty that can not be forsworn, and should you perish, know that your sacrifice will not be forgotten, and that one day we shall join you, step forward Carinus"
he did
"you are called upon to submit yourself to the Taint for the greater good..." we did it with everyone, some perishing, others surviving but passing out
then it was our turn
all our warriors and the brothers and sisters and the high brothers, we all took part in it
none of us fainted in fact we felt stronger
when the ones who survived woke up a scribe was there to record what happened, this was rare, but this was also a moment to mark in history
they all reported nightmares of a dragon in the sky, it seemed to be the leader
we, on the other hand could hear it talking, giving orders to the horde, and see it with our waking eyes
"we need a name for our organisation"
"how about the Blighters?" asked one
"or the Taint Takers?" asked another
"The Wardens!" called Deran
"I heard Wardens!" shouted Carinus
"the...Grey Wardens?" I asked
"sounds fitting, the Wardens for short" said Carinus
"we will need armour and animals to ride" said Deran
"Brother Garin" I said and gestured him over
"go back to Glendúra and ask the Griffons if they will help, give them whatever they wish in return"
"of course" he said and returned to the boats
we discussed the ranks, only me and Deran who suggested the Wardens were real war thinkers, Carinus was also a war thinker but he wanted us to name them
we took it in turns
"First Warden, err, high Warden?" I called
"I like First Warden!" said Carinus, as it was his rank
"High Grey, High Warden, High Constable, High Chief?" called Deran
"High Constable I think" I said, as this was my rank
"Chamberlain of the Grey, Chamber Man of the Grey, Low Constable" I called
"Chamberlain will suit me" said Deran
then they just went with the first thing we said;
"Commander of the Grey"
"Constable of the Grey"
"Senior Warden "
"Warden-Ensign"
"Warden-Recruit"
we had our ranks and our task was set; stop the Blight
then Garin returned on Griffon back with about 500+ other Griffons
the leader set down in front of me
only we could understand the Griffons which comes from years of learning the language
"we require a deal, we ride with you in battle, in exchange we are treated as equals, we are to be groomed and we choose our riders
I translated
the First Warden nodded
"deal" I said, Griffons could understand 'english'/ human or whatever its called in Thedas
it took about 2 hours but everyone had a Griffon and we were more than happy
I rode the leader Mirabile or Mira (Wonderful in Latin)
we waited for another Darkspawn attack to show ourselves
we had special metal brought over and we fashioned armour(white steel) with a Griffon symbol on it for the Wardens, me and the high brothers had shining golden Starmetal armour and swords (better than Volcanic Aurum) we get comets on Glendúra a lot but we have got a magic ward that bursts it in the sky and removes all the metal from it and places it in a chest and the rock is put in a separate chest and used for building materials, which is why our walls, buildings, armour and weapons are so strong, our warriors/brothers and sisters get Volcanic Aurum armour
we heard an attack was commencing at Nordbotten
we mounted our Griffons and rode to the 'battle' it wasn't to be much of a battle because everyone would be fleeing so it was more a 'hostile takeover'
we would change that
and then the true fight began...
time to show these beasts that we will not lay down and die!
A/N: I said what I though had to happen at Weisshaupt at the first war meeting of the veterans of the Blight to form the Wardens