So I recently managed to get my ps3 connected to the internet long enough to download Stone prisoner, Warden's keep and Return to Ostagar (YAY!) thus I've been playing through them cause I'm going to include two of them in the next few chapters. That's where I've been, enjoy!
Atarah pov
Atarah woke the following morning in a cold sweat, the dream had felt so real. She had seen the archdemon and didn't like it one bit, and the darkspawn so many of them. Atarah sat up groggily to see Mahalath already awake in the foetal position on closer inspection Atarah could see she was shaking. Mahalath snapped out of her daze when Atarah set her hand on her shoulder.
"Are you alright?" Atarah asked her companion
"You saw it to didn't you. They were so loud, I couldn't get back to sleep" strange Atarah couldn't hear the darkspawn in her dreams or at least they weren't loud enough to rouse her. Atarah was about to say something when Mahalath's head jerked up. "There's a cart approaching"
"I can't hear anything"
"Give it five minutes and you will" Mahalath kicked of her blankets strapping on her arm guards and flat shoes, she had kept her armour on during the night but Mahalath explained that her gear had been designed for comfort. She had told Atarah that as a hunter she could spend days pursing the same prey so restrictive armour was of no use, however armour that didn't cover your midsection seemed a little risky for Atarah's taste. The elves flipped open their tent and leaned out. No one else had gotten up yet though the sun was only just rising.
"Um, what?" Mahalath said looking over to their left with a confused expression "It gets very cold at night, is he really that much of a moron?" Atarah turned to see what Mahalath was referring to, she found Alistair still clad in heavy armour sleeping in a ball outside of Rhiannon's tent.
"Oh, I heard he grew up in a Chantry maybe he feels it improper to share a tent with a woman. Bit silly if you ask me" Honestly if you have the option to share a tent with an attractive person, take it. Then faintly in the distance Atarah heard a cart, Mahalath gave her a smug look before climbing out of the tent and lighting the fire. A few short minutes later Bodhan and Sandal arrived at their camp with a cart full of supplies.
"Hello Bodhan, I thought we were too much excitement for you" Atarah teased the pair
"It's good to see you again, me and my son were just making our way up the road and I spotted your camp. And I thought to myself what would be a safer place to set up then with the grey warden's; I can sell you my wares for a healthy discount for the inconvenience of our presence" Bodhan offered
"Well in that case you are more than welcome to stay" Atarah said with a smile, having a vendor so close at hand would prove very useful she thought. "Is it just weapons armour and the like that you sell or do you provide any other services?"
"Ha you here that my boy, say thank you to the kind lady" Bodhan said with obvious glee
"Thank you kind lady" Sandal said
"And as for your question my lady, my boy here is mighty skilled in enchantments just bring whatever you need enchanted and the appropriate materials and let him work wonders"
"Enchantment" Sandal said eyes full of joy at the prospect, so cute Atarah thought. Mahalath came up behind and tapped Atarah's shoulder indicating breakfast was ready. By this point everyone had gotten out of their tents, Atarah noticed that Leliana had undergone a change of outfit during the night. She now wore a black and pink leather cuirass and black leather boots which exposed her upper thighs, maybe that made it easier to move?, along with a black metal gauntlet on her right arm and left forearm (Sacred ashes trailer, I loved Leliana's armour from that). Atarah made a mental note that Sten needed armour and a weapon, he wouldn't be much without them.
"Hey Bodhan, you wouldn't by any chance have gear that would fit that guy" Atarah asked the dwarf, he thought for a moment before he started rummaging through his cart. He pulled out a set made of white steel with red paint along with a simple greatsword.
"This here is Dragon Armour, real strong stuff ideal for your guy. First purchase on free, just for you" Bodhan said passing over the heavy equipment. Sigurd jogged over on seeing Atarah struggling and helped her carry it over to Sten.
"Morning Sten how are you feeling?" Atarah asked
"Why do you ask?" Sten looked at her passively
"You were in a cage for a few weeks, and yeah I get that humans and the like are weaker than the qunari but still"
"You are concerned? I am in perfect condition to fight if need be"
"Good. Then stick this awesome armour before I steal it" Sigurd said thrusting the armour at Sten. The qunari took the armour changing into them, discarding the commoners' clothes they had found him in. He didn't seem as content with the sword though.
"Since everyone's up, I think it might be a good idea for some of us to head into Denerim to pick up some supplies and maybe some information along the way. Who wants to …" Atarah started
"I'll go, Gorim's staying there." Brynja interrupted, "He said he had befriended a blacksmith who he's selling goods for"
"Alright so Brynja's going, I'll accompany you. We probably shouldn't risk anymore then that since it's a city, guards and stuff which just ruin your day" when no one complained Atarah, with Adaia at her heels, and Brynja quickly got some of their stuff together ready to leave. "We shouldn't be long, probably by the end of the day. Don't kill each other while we're gone that would be rather inconvenient" She called out as her, Adaia and Brynja walked back onto the main road.
Cadfael pov
"Right well I can't do with lazin' about here waitin' for them three to get back. Any you lot feel like going off to stretch our legs?" Sigurd asked, Cadfael guessed that even if no one wanted to go the dwarf would still leave camp.
"Might as well" Cadfael said getting to his feet, he turned to Morrigan who shrugged before getting up herself along with Sten. Thankfully no one else seemed overly eager to leave camp, and so the four of them joined the main road.
So far Cadfael had observed some key points of interaction within the current team; Atarah gave off an aura that commandeered a certain respect where ever she went Cadfael could admire such a quality it made her seem like the obvious choice as team leader. Rhiannon, the noble, was set to be second in command which was strange when in comparison she came across as being more serious than the elf. The only other noteworthy point of interest was Mahalath, she seemed very against close proximity to any of the humans. Cadfael noticed that Mahalath, since Atarah had left, had sat next to either Dinah or Sigurd. Unless the issue was resolved it could cause problems at a later date.
After walking for roughly an hour they encountered what Cadfael could only assume to be a merchant, however Cadfael doubted he had anything of worth. Sigurd walked forward shoulders swaying in an arrogant manner, the man shuffled nervously.
"Good morning sir, how you doin?'" the dwarf asked him
"You'll have to pardon me if my behaviour's a bit off, not many people come through this part. That's half my problem though ain't it, mule got scared off by a wisp haven't seen him in hours" the man said, Cadfael briefly wondered why the man deemed it acceptable to rant about his day to them it certainly wasn't welcome.
"We're not going to look for your mule I don't advise you try asking" Cadfael snapped, Morrigan who was standing to his right let out chuckle. Cadfael found the witch pleasant enough strange considering he had found all but one of the mages in the circle intolerable, though neither she nor the group members seemed comfortable around one another Cadfael put that down to Morrigan growing up in a forest.
"Oh no I wouldn't dream of sending a stranger to find my mule, I sent my elf a while ago." Good thing Mahalath wasn't here, she would have taken offence at the suggesting this man had an elven servant.
"Do you have anything worth buying or are we just wasting our time here?" Cadfael asked both the merchant and the group.
"Well actually I do have something, it's a control rod for a golem." He said taking a black and silver rod out of his bag, "I had hoped it would be a stroke of luck but this trip has been one disaster after another, I have no use for it but it could be just the thing for adventurer types like yourselves."
"A golem? That would be great to fight with" Sigurd said excitedly
"What good is a control rod without a golem" Cadfael said turning away from the merchant
"Wait, I know where the golem is. It's in the village Honnleath I would have gone there myself but last I heard the place had been overrun with darkspawn but I'm sure that won't be a problem for you." The man was very anxious to get rid of the rod, "All you need is to hold the control rod at the golem and say dulath gar." Cadfael flicked his wrist and the rod flew out of the merchants hand into his. He tossed over two silvers he had with him.
"Pleasure doing business" Cadfael turned on his heels leaving the passage, he heard Sigurd get the directions for Honnleath before the others jogged up and matched Cadfael's step. Today might prove more interesting than Cadfael originally thought.