Ostagar, the White… well, Slightly Grayish City
Note from Posting Writer: Oh! Ahaha! I missed a chapter. Oops? Here ya go.
The closest Edana had ever come to seeing anything like Ostagar was her visits to the Alamo and the mission-slash-fort in Goliad. Comparing a pair of primitive rural Texas limestone buildings to this place was rather like comparing a set of roller skates to a Learjet, as much as that felt vaguely like blasphemy to acknowledge.
But then, this wasn't just a fort. This was a full walled city, with a proper castle. By medieval standards it was more than impressive. She was aware she was gawking like a bumpkin in New York City, but figured as long as her feet kept moving and she didn't fall behind, nobody would care.
Shai resisted the urge to lick the architecture. She'd grown up touring every ruin in the continental United States and Ostagar outshone even Canyon de Chelly in sheer beauty.
"Ho there, Duncan!" A new voice pulled her from her admiration of the ruins. Her eyes snapped down to a young, richly armored man approaching them with an escort of two guards.
"King Cailan!" Duncan greeted the man with a grasp of forearms. "I didn't expect a-"
"A royal welcome?" The king finished. "I was beginning to worry you'd miss all the fun."
Fun? Shai mouthed to Edana.
Duncan looked grim as he reassured Cailan. "Not if I could help it, your majesty."
"Then I'll have the mighty Duncan at my side in battle after all. Glorious!" He turned with Duncan to face what she assumed was to be the field of battle. "The other wardens told me you'd found some promising recruits. I take it this is they?"
Duncan inclined his head. "Allow me to introduce you, your majesty."
Promising? Edana mouthed back at Shai, her eyebrows raised dubiously. They exchanged a shrug.
"This is Ser Jory, once of Redcliff, late of Highever, and Daveth of Denerim. The ladies call themselves Edana and Shai." He gestured at each in turn. "We happened upon them quite unexpectedly, but they acquitted themselves quite well in unusual circumstances."
Shai bowed awkwardly, looking incredibly uncomfortable. Edana stopped halfway through an instinctive curtsy when she realized how stupid it looked in trousers, hastily rearranged her feet and bowed as well.
"This is King Cailan Theirin, ruler of Ferelden," Duncan said, largely for their benefit it seemed.
"Ah!" the King said, looking interested. "You're not from Ferelden, then? Your names don't sound Orlesian. Anderfels? Perhaps the Free Marshes?"
"From Texas, your Majesty," Edana said, very aware that it wouldn't actually tell him anything. "I lived in Dallas, and Shai was in Kileen. Our coming here was... unanticipated."
"That sounds like a tale," Cailan said. "After the battle, you'll have to tell me all about it. For now, I'm afraid that I must return to my tent. Loghain waits eagerly to bore me with his strategies." His voice bore the affectionate resignation of a boy forced to attend his spelling lessons with a favorite tutor when he'd rather be out playing.
"Your Uncle sends his greetings, and reminds you that the Redcliffe forces could be here in less than a week," Duncan said with just the faintest hint of disapproval.
"Ha! Eamon just wants in on the glory. We've won three battles against these monsters, and tomorrow should be no different," Cailan said, pacing carelessly.
"So... things are going well, then?" Shai asked, sounding like she was trying very hard not to sound dubious. Duncan and Cailan seemed to miss it, though Daveth looked at her a bit oddly. Cailan laughed.
"Well, some would say I'm being a bit overconfident. Right, Duncan?"
"Your Majesty, I'm not certain this Blight can be ended quite as... quickly as you might wish," Duncan said carefully.
"I'm not even sure this is a true Blight," Cailan said, a hint of petulance in his voice. "There are plenty of darkspawn on the field, but alas, we've seen no sign of an archdemon."
Edana looked at Shai, eyes wide. Archdemon? Nobody had said anything about anything called an archdemon.
"Disappointed, your majesty?" Even Shai could hear the gentle admonishment in Duncan's words.
Cailan, apparently, was even more dense than a soldier-girl. He sighed, "I'd hoped for a war like in the tales! A king riding out with the fabled Grey Wardens to stem the tide of evil and battle a tainted god! But I suppose this will have to do." One of his bodyguards whispered something in his ear. "It seems I really must go. Farewell, Grey Wardens."
Awkward attempts at bows were made again, this time the women looking to the other members of the party for a bit of guidance. As the king left, Shai and Edana exchanged another worried, doubtful look.
"What the king said is true," Duncan turned to them once the king was out of earshot. "They have won several battles against the darkspawn."
Another exchanged look. "You don't sound very confident."
Duncan motioned for her to continue toward the camp. "Despite the victories so far, the darkspawn horde has grown larger since I was last here. By now, they look to out number us. I know there is an archdemon behind this, but we can't expect to act on our word alone."
"Why is that? The king seems to value your word quite highly."
Duncan frowned, "Yet not highly enough to wait for the wardens of Orlais. We should proceed with the Joining as soon as possible."
"How do we begin?" Shai asked uncertainly. Everything here seemed just as complicated as back in Kuwait. Apparently, war was war.
"Seek out Alistair. He is a fellow Grey Warden and should be somewhere in the King's camp. Feel free to explore the camp as well and gather whatever supplies you might need." With one last unreadable look at all of them, Duncan proceeded down the stone steps.
"Right," Edana said, keeping a wary half-an-eye on Duncan as he walked away. "Step one? I need a comb." She waved the end of the half-matted braid that hung down her back. "Maybe some clothes that fit a little better to go under the armor. We've got some money from those darkspawn things at the farm. Ser Jory made sure I got a share."
She crinkled her nose and looked at Shai. "Maybe we should find this Alistair guy first, though? We have no idea what the money's even worth around here. I don't want to get rooked."
Shai jiggled the coins in her pocket. It was sort of like being broke in Canada again. "We definitely need a handle on the money before we go trying to spend it. Shall we wander until we find him?"
"Sounds like a plan. Maybe a little sight-seeing will help us get some kind of grip on the... the local culture. Thing." Edana flapped her hands a little in frustration at her own lack of expressiveness, then frowned. "Also? I don't know about you, but my contacts are not going to last forever. We really really need to hope that they've got something here, or we're kinda fucked."
"Excuse me, young ones, but I couldn't help but overhear, even if I did not quite understand." Shai pulled up short as an older woman addressed them. "I am Wynne, and I might be able to help."
Once again, the younger women shared a look. Shai took a step forward. "You're not in armor, ma'am, are you some type of magic user?" She asked.
The older woman looked shocked for a moment. Her expression settled into something puzzled, yet serene. "That would be correct, young one. I am a mage of the Circle of Magi, I specialize in Spirit Healing."
Shai perked. "Do you know anything about eye malformation that makes it difficult to see clearly?"
Edana perked, too. "Magic? There really is magic here? I mean I'd kind of hoped but I wasn't really sure that I wasn't being sorta stupid. Is it something that can be learned?" She bounced slightly on her toes, looking hopeful, and more animated than she had since they found themselves in this world.
Wynne laughed. "I'm afraid not," she said. "It requires an inborn gift, and it generally manifests in childhood." Edana drooped. Wynne tilted her head, looking at them curiously. "You are unfamiliar with magic?"
"There are legends about it, in... where we're from," Edana said. "But whatever we had seems to have died out." She sighed. "Anyway, can you help us? I'm a little nearsighted, but Shai's kind of a lot worse off." She dug her toe into the ground sheepishly. "And we don't have a lot of money, I'm afraid."
"If there is actually any where we are, it's much... subtler than the old stories tell us," Shai tried to explain. "But from idle talk, I would guess that it's different here?"
Wynne nodded with a thoughtful look. "I would be happy to see what I could do to heal your eyes. No exchange is required, it's always a joy to help out potential Gray Wardens, but would you mind sharing some of your story with me?" she asked.
A quick shared glance showed that neither had any reasons why they shouldn't. "Sure," Edana said. "Though I bet you won't believe half of it." Or have the context to understand it.
Wynne's lips thinned as she tried to suppress a smile. "It sounds quite fascinating. Well, follow me, delaying would only make your lives more difficult." She led the way into into the Mages' Enclave, passed disapproving but silent men in heavy plate armor.
Even more disapproving were the other people dressed in robes, carrying staves. The ones without seemed curiously placid, had no reaction at all to the two badly dressed, unkempt women in their midst.
Edana watched the placid ones with a frown, something niggling at the back of her mind, but shrugged it off as Wynne lead them to a sturdy-looking tent at one side of the enclave.
"You may wish to sit down," Wynne said, gesturing at some folding camp stools. "You may experience a little dizziness while your sight adjusts." A kind smile. "Which of you would like to go first?"
"I'll do it," Edana offered. Might as well be the guinea pig, just in case.
Wynne's hands hovered for a moment on either side of her face, blue light cascading from her fingertips. The world went abruptly eyestrain-y.
"Ow ow ow, hold on," she said, and quickly peeled the contacts out of her eyes, wincing and blinking the sting of sweat-salt and god-knew-what-might-be-on-her-fingers-ew away to see Wynne's half fascinated, half appalled expression.
Shai tried to suppress her giggle, she really did. It slipped out anyway. She looked to Wynne. "Do you have washing water? So I can take mine out first?"
With minimal fuss, Shai's eyes were fixed as well and it was time for questions. She found herself wishing for a chair, table, any of the comforts that gave her something to lean against. Wynne's curious gaze felt heavy.
"So," Wynne said, sitting down on her own little folding chair. "Tell me about this place you come from."
"Well," Edana started, looking at Shai a little uncertainly. "It's... between six and nine hundred years ahead of yours, technologically. At an estimate. I mean, if what we've seen so far is representative. Crossbows, ballistas, the architecture..."
The explaining took a while, even with both of them chiming in. Some things needed to be broken down four or five times before there was a close enough analogy for Wynne to get it, but she was quite intelligent and seemed to believe them.
"That's... very interesting," Wynne said thoughtfully. "And you say there's virtually no objectively observable magic, on your world. Yet, you are here."
Edana shrugged uncomfortably. "We both serve trickster gods, though they come vastly different cultures. I swear I can feel the Old Bastard laughing in the back of my head." She paused thoughtfully. "Stronger now than I ever could before, in fact. Back home, I could just... mistake it for my own thoughts, sometimes. If I tried. I can't here."
Shai lifted a shoulder. "Honestly, I wasn't even sure I truly believed." She shuddered. "But she's right, I can hear him laughing. When he stops, I get scared." She winced and clutched her belly. "Then I get first-hand experience in this world's disbelief in vegetarianism." She groaned as another pain twisted her stomach.
Wynne reached into a chest and pulled out a small pouch. "Here, some fireflower root, powdered. Put it on your food and it should ease your belly pain. But where are you off to now? I assume you have business?"
Shai nodded, taking the powder gratefully. "We have to get some armor that actually fits. Perhaps decent weapons."
"And toiletries. If we're really ambitious, maybe even some decent boots," Edana half-moaned, wiggling her feet. "And we need to track down Alistair. I hope he's not too much of a Guy, and won't mind taking us to the market."
"Alistair?" Wynne asked. "Gray Warden Alistair? That's who Duncan sent you to find?" She scoffed. "He wouldn't know how to get a woman properly outfitted if you tied a note to his wrist, and a string to his finger to remind him to read the note." She laughed a little, shaking her head. "He's a nice young man, if a little irreverent. Just... sometimes impractical."
"Are you volunteering?" Shai asked tentatively. She pulled The money she had from a pouch. "I don't even know what these mean."
Wynne pursed her lips as she looked at the money in the blonde woman's hand. She stood with a grunt, feeling every year of her age. "Fine, follow me."
Edana sighed in relief. Okay, this? This could work. Shopping with an older woman was probably going to get them fairly conservative gear, but that was probably actually good, all things considered. A guy was just as likely to have them in the local equivalents of miniskirts and bustiers, and they'd never know the difference.
After they were done shopping, it was time to find this Alistair guy. At least Wynne sounded like she knew what he looked like. Maybe the day wouldn't be such a disaster after all.
The cackling in the back of her head went up a notch, and she cringed.
