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Duncan watched his newest recruit out of the corner of his eyes as they made their way to Ostagar. The lyrium made the boy's eyes seem cold, but he could see the sadness in them. "Tell me of yourself, lad", he inquired. "There isnt much to tell ser. I am a Hunter of the Chantry. I exist to capture or kill blood mages or mages that have turned away from the Maker." said Xander in a monotone practiced cadence. Duncan raised an eyebrow as he surveyed him. "And the lyrium? I thought it killed mages to be exposed to that." Xander absently tranced one of the markings on his left arm with his finger. "It usually does. This isnt pure lyrium, its lyrium that has been magically treated so that it could be branded into my flesh. It enhances my spells and helps me detect magic." Duncan nodded, impressed at the power that Xander possessed. He knew of the dangers that darkspawn emmisaries represented, he himself had recently gotten over a grevious injury from an emissary curse. He hoped that his spells would be equally effective against darkspawn as it was against mages.
They made camp about a day's journey away from Ostagar outside of a small village that had already been abandoned in fear of the advancing horde. Xander twirled his new mahogany Hunter stave that had been fitted with a lyrium enchanted blade on one end of it, and a lyrium crystal on the other end. The staff fired bolts of pure sprit energy, which suited him just fine. He could use his lyrium in his gloves and his skin to increase their power if he needed an extra boost, and the blade was enchanted to block magic attacks just like his sword was, he saw familiar runes carved into the face of the blade, and the edge was serrated. The staff was called MageBinder, because the magical blade secreted a form of Magebane poison, which drained a mage of their mana when it was introduced to their system. Xander found himself liking MageBinder more and more as he swung it around, testing its power. It was perfectly balanced, which suited his preferred up close and personal fluid fighting style. As he twirled it around his head, he slammed it on the ground and sent a wave of Spirit energy along the ground. The wave slammed into a tree and destroyed it, bits of leaves of wood flew about as Xander smiled for what felt like the first time in ages. The darkspawn would never even know what hit them.
They arrived in Ostagar as the sun was at the highest point in the sky the next day. Duncan had been listening to Xander tell him about his life in the tower as they walked down the Imperial Highway, when they looked up and saw a tall man in glistening golden armor, accompanied by two heavily armored guards with the royal crest on their shields. Duncan's eyes widened as he walked up to the man and bowed. "Your Majesty, I wasnt expecting a.." "A royal welcome?"asked the man in golden armor with a warm boyish smile on his face. "Really, I was beginning to think you'd miss all the fun." "Not if I could help it your majesty" said Duncan. "Glorious!" said the King. "I trust this is your new recruit?" "Yes your majesty. King Caillan, this is." "Now Duncan, no need to be formal, we'll be shedding blood together after all. Ho there friend, might I know your name?" Xander looked up into the young King's face. He bowed deeply. "I am Xander your majesty." "Well met! I understand you hail from the Circle. I trust you have some spells to help us in the upcoming battle?" "I will do all I can, of course." "Excellent excellent! Well with all the Grey Wardens at our side, we shall probably beat this Blight today! Now Loghain wishes to bore me with endless talk of strategy. Not sure why we need strategy, with the Wardens at our side! It'll be just like in the tales!" Caillan bounded away towards the royal tents. Duncan watched him walk away, a grim look on his face. "You seem concerned, Commander Duncan." noted Xander. "Do you not share the king's enthusiasm?" "I do not. I fear the king thinks our presence alone makes him invulnerable. At any rate we must proceed with the joining without delay. Find Alistair and the other recruits in the camp and meet me at the Warden tent." Duncan strode away, his sword and dagger clinking gently against his armor as he walked. Although they had only spent three days together, Xander had grown to respect Duncan a great deal. He walked through the camp, taking note of all the people in it. He saw some mages, his senses instantly telling him they were in the fade. He saw one of the Senior Enchanters, an older human woman with her gray hair in a tight bun. She made his gaze and glared coldly for a few seconds before she turned her attention elsewhere. He sighed as he made his way towards the rear of the camp, where he saw one another one of the Senior Enchanters, a transplant from the Circle in Antiva, arguing with a young man with curly brown hair. "Tell the revered mother I will not be harassed in such a manner!" the Enchanter hissed. "Yes, I was harassing you by simply delivering a message." "ENOUGH! I shall speak to the woman if its what she wants." The Enchanter stormed away and his eyes fell on Xander. "Ugh, as if my day couldnt get any worse, they brought the filthy traitor here. Out of my way fool!" His robes whipped behind him as he walked away.
"You know, one thing I like about the Blight is how it brings people together" quipped the young man. Xander chuckled. "As long as they let me know when we gather around a fire and sing friendship and harmony songs so I can stop vomiting long enough to join in" he said. The young man threw his head back and laughed loudly. Xander felt a surge of triumph, no one had ever laughed at his jokes before. The young man was now staring curiously at the long blue glowing lines that decorated Xander's skin. He smiled grimly "Yes, thats lyrium in my skin in case you were wondering Templar" The man's eyes widened "How did you know?" Xander looked meaningfully at the mans hand that was twitching slightly. "Still havent kicked the habit, huh?" The man smiled knowingly. "Duncan said our new recruit was from the Circle, but he never said he was a Hunter. Pleased to meet you, Im Alistair."