It took him a couple days but he finally got to where he needed: New Lothering. the sun has just set when he got to the outskirts of the town.
Standing on the railing of the bridge that marked the end of the Imperial Highway Letholin began to reminisce about the short time that he spent in the small town. Letholin looked over to his left where he remembered there being a group of bandits looking to take his money.
"A simple ten silvers and you're free to move on."
He chuckled to himself at how long ago that was, he seemed to young then-he was young back then.
"Things have changed..." He muttered before stepping off of the railing of the stone bridge, he didn't want to space out for too long and accidentally fall off.
As he neared the town he began to notice how much it truly changed. The blight almost seemed to...help the situation for the town in some twisted way. The land was still moderately scarred, but the town looked completely healed. It was a rather poor looking village the last time he was there, now it seemed to actually be a rather flourishing town in the makings to become a small city.
As he entered through the front gates Letholin was suddenly stopped by a couple guards standing watch.
"Halt!" The one on the left said before raising his spear towards Letholin's direction.
"State your name please." The guard on the right demanded.
Letholin was shocked, he did not expect to be demanded some sort of identification by guard of Lothering, even if they were growing rapidly. However after a couple seconds of awkward silence he realized that he had to say something-the guards were looking a little jumpy. Leaning forward a bit he spoke up. "Letholin Mahariel." He said rather loudly.
The two guards at the gate didn't seem all that calm about hearing his name, quickly the two glanced over to each other each other for a moment. "The Warden Commander...?" The guard on the left asked while he returned his gaze over to the elf.
Almost on queue rain began to poor seemingly out of nowhere, Letholin found it ironic that it had to begin to rain at that exact moment. A few moments instantly began to feel like hours as Letholin stood as still as a statue in front of the two guards. He was hessitant in telling the truth, he worried that if he did then the guards would act rashly. However he eventually nodded before holding his hands up, he was prepared for an arrest. Instead he heard a voice coming from behind the guards.
"Lower your weapons. Maker, I said lower your damn weapons!"
Suddenly a man of medium height came barreling down towards the three. By the markings on his armor Letholin quickly concluded that he was another guard, most likely of higher ranking.
This was confirmed when the two other guards in front of him did what they were told and instantly lowered their spears. Letholin did the same with his arms.
Once the man came closer Letholin identified him as a human in his forties. He seemed rather built for his age, but it made sense when he noticed the multiple scars that ran along his head. He had next to no hair on it except for a rather impressive looking mustache on his upper lip.
"Warden Commander Mahariel, if you would please come with me." The man commanded before motioning for him to follow. Letholin made no hesitation to make his way over to the man. However the two guards protested as he started to pass through the front gate.
"But sir..."
"He's a Warden!"
The words stung Letholin more than he cared to admit. He knew that Grey Wardens were not in good standing with the world at the current moment, but was it truly that bad?
"Yeah but he is also the Hero of Ferelden. You lot wouldn't have been old enough to even comprehend what that even means if it wasn't for this elf. Pay a little respect." The man retorted as Letholin walked past the guards.
Once Letholin was by the man's side his arm was grabbed and he practically felt dragged as the man briskly walked them away from the guards. For a few minutes the two were silent as they walked through Lothering. It wasn't until they were at the town's center that the man even spoke up. "As you can probably tell Wardens are. It exactly popular as of late. Even one of your stature is still looked poorly upon." The man explained.
Letholin couldn't help but chuckle and nod. "You don't say. I'm not so caught up on current events, could you possibly fill me in on why everyone holds such prejudice towards Wardens as of late?"
The man glanced over to Letholin for a moment. His face was filled with more surprise than he expected. But after a couple moments he nodded before looking back forward. Eventually the two stood right in the middle of the town. The man let go of his hold on Letholin and took a step back. "Meet me at the tavern on the other side of town in an hour. You'll recognize the name." He said plainly before he began to walk away.
But after a couple steps he stopped and turned back around. "Here." The man said before pulling something out of his pack. "Take this." The man threw Letholin a rather bulky cloak, he caught it with ease. "It's for both the rain and the armor." He explained. "You might want to cover that up while you in these parts." He recommended before turning. Back around once more and walking off.
Letholin just stood there dumbfounded for a moment. He certainly did not expect some guard to come to his rescue, let alone take him to safety and donate a cloak to stay out of sight. "Thanks." He finally said out loud. He knew that the man was long gone, but he still felt the need to at least say it.
After Letholin fully registered what just happened he quickly took off his pack in order to pull on his new cloak. It was a terrible shade of dark green and he was disappointed to see that it came down a little bit short, just down past the lower part of his knee's. This would make things a bit harder for others to realize just who he was and what he belonged to, but at least most of his armor was covered up. 'At least it will keep me dry and make it that much harder for others to recognize me.' He concluded before pulling his pack back on.
Once his he had his hood pulled up and over his face he felt satisfied enough to carry on in the rain. By that time it was absolutely pouring, because of this he was especially grateful for the cloak that the man lent him. He would have to repay him in some way at the tavern.
Letholin began to make his way over towards the other side of the town. While it was significantly different compared to what it was like the last time he was there, he still was able to get the general idea of what direction he needed to go. After all if he had the right idea on which tavern the man told him to go to, then he knew exactly where to.
As he cross the bridge to the other side of the town he suddenly stopped at the sight of two large statues. It was in the middle of a rather large looking town square, the second one that he had come across. For the longest time his mouth was open wide. This was because he recognized the statue on the left.
"That's a statue of me...!" He said out loud.
The statue depicted him with his Grey Warden armor on, a long sword in one hand, and the head of a Hurlock in the other. The statue was holding the head out proudly, the level of detail was surprisingly astounding. Slowly he walked up closer towards the statue of himself. "The likeness is uncanny." He noted to himself before touching the statue once he was close enough. Part of him was a bit creeped out at the idea that the town erected a statue in his name, but also another part of him felt honored. Only if he knew about it sooner. There was no doubt that he would have come to visit it publicly if the Wardens weren't so negatively viewed at the moment.
As he further inspected it he noticed some writing etched on a metal plate on the base of the statue. "The Hero of Ferelden - Letholin Mahariel fought to push back the blight and save all of Thedas His hard work and sacrifice will never be forgotten." He read out loud as his fingers traced the words. He smiled at the thought that he was being appreciated in such a creative way. Many times were parties, books, and children were all commemorated in his name, but only a few times did he ever come across any statues.
'I'm surprised that they didn't vandalize it.' He thought before taking a step back.
Looking over he noticed a statue of the Champion of Kirkwall. For a moment he was curious as to why Hawke had a statue in Lothering, but suddenly he remembered her being a former resident of the town. But she was more noted for being the Champion, not a citizen of Lothering.
Eventually Letholin got tired of staring at the statues. Granted they were nice to look at he began to feel the rain seeping through his cloak and he felt the distinct need to have a drink. With one final smile he passed the statues and resumed to walk to the tavern.
A little while later Letholin eventually crossed a second bridge that led to the last portion of the town. Instantly he was greeted with the familiar sight of the entrance of the very tavern that he met Leliana. At the other end of the bridge he paused and stared at it for a moment. He felt like that he went back in time. He could even hear Alistair's voice from behind him.
"So Morrigan, let's talk about your mother..." He smiled warmly at the memory.
Out of all things to look the same it was the tavern. He found some kind of irony in that.
As he went through the front door he relived yet another moment. All eyes were on him, except the bartenders. For a moment he felt the distinct feeling that some of Loghian's men were going to jump him, but instead the sounds of someone whistling assaulted him.
Letholin looked over to his right to see the familiar guard that saved him from earlier. Quickly he walked over to the table that the man was sitting at. Once he sat down the tavern went back to normal. The gossip was whispering off in the corner, the drunks were passed out at their tables, and everyone else seemingly oh forgot about him as they continued whatever conversations they were holding before he walked in.
"You're late." The man said once Letholin sat down and set his pack down at his side.
"You're early." Letholin replied with a small grin.
"Therefor that makes you late."
The man waved over a waitress and she came instantly. He was obviously an important man, there was no way a normal guard would be able to save down a waitress that quickly.
"What can I get for you two?" The woman asked. Letholin looked up to notice the waitress had red hair, his heart stung for a moment. However he quickly gave an answer. "Something cheap, I don't care what."
But the man had other plans. "Sod that, get us a bottle of the Western Hill Brandy, put it on my tab." The man said warmly before handing her a small coin pouch. The waitress nodded, curtsied, and walked to the back in order to get him their drinks.
Letholin looked over to the man questioningly. "Western Hill? That's pricey, especially for a guard."
"Guard captain." The man corrected.
Letholin nodded. "Guard captain, my apologies." He said before giving him a small how in his chair.
Letholin had a load of questions to ask, however most of them were not exactly the best ice breakers. So instead of sounding rude he started off simple. "You know I never got your name Guard Captain...?"
"Deacon." The man said plainly.
"First name or last?" Letholin asked.
"I'll let you figure that one out." Deacon said with a large smile on his face.
Suddenly the waitress came back with a tray in hand that had a bottle and two cups. "Here you go boys are, don't forget to savor it." She said cheerily before placing the bottle in the middle of the table and the cups on each end.
For a moment the two just sat there in silence. It wasn't until the waitress walked away that Deacon even reached over to grab the bottle and fill up their cups. Once Letholin's cup was filled with the amber liquid he nodded as his form of thanks. As he picked up the cup he took a moment to smell it. He didn't much have a nose for brandy but he could certainly notice the quality of it. He began to understand why it was so expensive when he bought it for Oghren all those years ago.
"What brings you to New Lothering?" Deacon asked after taking a sip from his cup.
Letholin took a sip of his own before answering. "Multiple reasons."
"Like...?"
Letholin opened his mouth to say something like "none of your business." But he realized that would not be the smartest idea. "I'm going...to see a friend."
Deacon looked at him with a small grin. "A friend huh?" He asked. It was obvious that he had a decent idea on what he meant.
"So why did you save me back there?" Letholin asked before taking another sip from his cup.
"What do you mean?"
"With the guards...? They surely would have arrested me because of who I am."
Deacon shrugged. "I'm not so sure myself." He said honestly.
Quickly Deacon downed the cup of Brandy before continuing. "Maybe it's because I remember who you were and what you stood for before the Wardens screwed that up." He poured himself another drink. "Maybe it's because I owe you for warning the town about the incoming Blight all those years ago." He downed half of the cup before speaking once again.
"Maybe-Maybe it's because I owe you for saving me and my family's lives."
Sort of an abrupt cut off, but I don't want to put too much in one chapter. :P
