Chapter 21: Oghren the Family Man

Vigil's Keep

"Felsi…it's been a long time" Jenra said nervously. Felsi was a member of the Merchant caste whom Oghren fell in love with in his youth, but was unable to get in a relationship because of his engagement with Branka. After Paragon Branka left to the Deep Roads with all of her House, Oghren tracked down Felsi and began a relationship with her. However it didn't last long because he was no longer the man she fell in love with. After Oghren made a scene at her father's funeral Felsi broke things off with him, and left for the surface to care for her mother. During their journey to stop the Fifth Blight, Oghren went to see her as way to tie up loose ends before the final battles. Felsi was less than pleased to see him again but either by Oghren's charm or lack thereof or the Maker's pity, the dwarf was able to rekindle that love. Until now, it would seem…

Felsi narrowed her eyes at Jenra. "Don't Felsi me, Warden. Where is he? I know he's here" she said angrily. "Cough him up!"

"Felsi, perhaps we should calm down and talk this over before we do something we're going to regret" The woman was on the warpath, she wasn't even a warrior and Felsi struck fear into the solders, the same soldiers that stood up to darkspawn. Whatever Oghren did, Jenra could only pray that his death was swift. Felsi kicked opened the door to the barracks and looked around until she left for the other rooms.

"I'll calm down when a wring that son of a nug's whore neck" she said. "Oghren, you get your hairy ass down here…"

"Hang on to your beard, woman" Oghren said. "Is this a conjugal visit?" He snickers which caused Felsi to stare daggers into the man. A lesser man would fall dead to such a glare. "Looking for Oghren to grease the old wheel?"

"Oghren, this is really a bad time to be yourself right now" Jenra said trying to hold Felsi back from killing him. "Maker's breath, this woman is as strong as an ox"

"You've done a lot of stupid things on a whim, but joining the Wardens takes it"

Oghren laughed. "Didn't you say it would be…hot?"

"We were role-playing, you absolute idiot!" Jenra shook head in disbelief; Oghren joined the order dedicated to fighting darkspawn and was condemned to die a brutal death in the Deep Roads because of foreplay. Now that Jenra thought about it, this is something the dwarf would totally do.

"Look, I didn't sign up on a whim, all right? You kicked me out"

"You were just looking for an excuse!" Felsi said. "You always do this when you want to avoid responsibility!"

"You kept trying to make me into something I'm not. I can't play house like you want me to" Oghren said. "I'm only good at one thing, Fels, and it's killing" Jenra got between before passions started to ignite, he had enough stress on his hands he didn't need two lovers killing each other.

"Maybe you two should calm down and talk this over"

"You're right about the killing part and making absolutely nug-brained decisions" Felsi said. "You had a good thing in the army, they respected you" After the Blight, Oghren settled down in Wutherford, a village near Lake Calenhad. They were happy for a time but to Felsi's dismay, he returned to the ale soon again, unable to forget his insecurities and faults. Felsi suggested Oghren join Bann Ceorlic's army and protect the Southern Bannorn. When the commanders heard that Oghren travel and battled alongside the Hero of Ferelden, they were happy to allow the dwarf into their ranks. It was strange, back in Orzammar Oghren was a laughingstock even among his own family…being a part of Bann Ceorliic's army would have given him the respect he wanted, so why would he give that up to be a warden?

Oghren sighed. "Felsi, I finally got the ol' conker on straight and I don't belong anywhere but here" Felsi took a deep breath, she wasn't angry anymore but it was replaced with something much worse…disappointment.

"Fine, Oghren, if that's what you want" she said without emotion. "The baby and I will just have to get by without you" Felsi walked and Oghren just shook his head and grumbled.

"A child? You never told me you had a child" Jenra said. Oghren grumbled. "Aren't you going to go after her?"

"I'd just end up being hit…for a tiny thing she packs a surprising wallop and in this mood she'd go straight for my danglers"

Jenra crossed his arms. "Honestly, I wouldn't blame her…you are an arse"

"I'm going to hit the sack, wake me up when we get to kill some darkspawn" Oghren walked away to his room. He fell asleep, maybe a good night's rest would clear the head. Later that night the dwarf shuffled in his sleep…he was dreaming. This should be impossible; unlike other races dwarves do not naturally enter the Fade as they do not dream and lack magical ability. In fact there is no recorded exception to their inability to learn spellcasting however they are not completely barred and may enter the Fade in exceptional circumstances. This is reflected in their resistance to magic, and accounts for their high tolerance to lyrium exposure. The world was a sickly green and in a dark miasma that prevented the dwarf from seeing. In the shadows was something large and moved like a slithering worm…it got closer and closer. Oghren had his weapon ready for the swing and stopped in horror when he found the creature had the face of Felsi. All of the sudden, he was without his axe…the Felsi-creature grabbed him and its face fell off to reveal a mass of tendrils.

Oghren woke up in a cold sweat and looked around to find he was back in his quarters. The next day, Oghren was in the mess hall with breakfast but couldn't eat. The dreams put off his appetite; he moved the plate to the side and left the mess hall. The dwarf went to the throne room where Jenra was talking to Voldrik on his status in the basement. "We should be done by this afternoon, Warden"

"Very good, any trouble while you were down there?"

"All quiet but that probably won't last long…" Voldrik said. "When you're done with the darkspawn, I would like to discuss the repairs for the keep"

"Very well, you are dismissed" Jenra sat back in his throne rubbing his forehead; he had a feeling that talk with the stonemason will be very expensive. Jenra then notices Oghren, his face was white as a ghost and it wasn't from his drinking. "You look like shite"

"I feel like it" the dwarf said. "Hey, Commander. We need to talk"

"Of course, what is troubling you?"

"Dreams…you get them?" Jenra tilted his head, why would he ask him a question he already know the answer to. "This is a Grey Warden think? Why didn't anyone tell me?"

"Wait, you had dreams…how?"

"The hell if I know…I just got it one day" Oghren said. "This particular dream put me off breakfast" In his dream, he saw one of the broodmothers and it had Felsi's face. "She grabbed me and long tendrils came from her mouth. I was thrown to the ground then Felsi screamed and a thousand darkspawn burst from her…"

"The darkspawn surrounded me and started talking…asking me if I would like lemon in my tea…" he said. "And could I please teach them to read and write, and one of them kept repeat: "Where's the baby?"

"That's when I woke up"

"That's…some dream, kind of wish I that back during the Blight instead of the darkspawn" Jenra said. "It sounds like you had Felsi on the mind…maybe you're starting to feel some regret" Oghren was silent for a while; the dwarven berserker was not used to having such feelings. Usually he would drink it away.

"Sod it" he said with a growl. "So its going to be one of those days…I hate those days"

"Days?"

"This isn't going to make you think any less of me, is it?" Oghren then grunts and shrugs. "Ah, who cares" he said. "When I'm not fighting or passed out drunk somewhere…I sometimes get these thoughts…thoughts I rather not have"

"Felsi and the nugget…I didn't do right by them, did I?"

"If you have to ask…"

Oghren smirked. "Blunt to the point, like a sock to the gut. I like that about you" he said. "Felsi…I think she knew even if she didn't like it that I could never settle down again"

"I did once and…well you were there" Oghren said. "Felsi's a tough old flop; she'll survive without me but the nugget…well, that's got me torn up inside. The little one won't understand"

"You know, Alistair told me of warden that have made time for their families" Jenra said. "No reason you can be a part of your child's life"

"Hmm, maybe I can visit once in a while, write some letters. That's the least I could do…as a father" The dwarf then chuckled a little. "And hey, perhaps the little on will grow up thinking daddy's a great hero"

Jenra smiled. "I'll even vouch for you"

"Oh, you…get going before I get misty eyed. Go on"

Vigil's Keep-Basement

Later into the afternoon, Jenra received word that the path was clear to deal with the darkspawn. The rubble was moved out of the way and in its place was constructs of wood that went straight down into the Deep Roads. To the side was Voldrik's exhausted team…they had been clearing up the rubble and constructing ladders all through the night without any rest…they looked like they were going to fall over any moment. Voldrik on the other hand looked at the handiwork with a source of pride. "Here we are. Look at her"

"Is it safe?" the sergeant said.

"Of course it is, I don't slouch when comes to building, lass"

"I'll take your word for it, good luck Commander" The party went down the ladder; Jenra brought everyone with him just in case they were met with a large horde. Captain Elias was ordered to have the Keep on high alert if the darkspawn went past them. The party went in deeper, Nathaniel held up his hand to stop the party. Trapdoors were in their way, one wrong step and they would fall into a bed of spikes. The young Howe examined the walls and doors closely to find the mechanism to the trap. He found it and disarmed the trapdoor and party went on. Along the way they fought off darkspawn but nothing more serious than scout parties.

To the left was a tunnel full of several gem clusters, with gems valuable enough to fund some of the repairs and upgrades to the Keep. Jenra made a mental note to tell Varel of this place….the party went in further to find some sort of shrine. It was not dwaven but Avvar, what the wildmen of the mountains did here was unknown to them. The walls burst open and the Avvar undead attack. Velanna froze the area and Anders shattered the undead with a crushing force of magic.

After the battle, the party came face to face with large door all the way open which lead into a larger room with a strange contraption here. "Caution Jenra, there is something weird about this room" Anders said. "The Veil is thin here….but only here, huh"

"Sure is a lot a Avvar items here, Oghren did your people have a lot of contact with the Avvar"

"Who knows, the Shaperate would know of such things" The door they came in soon closed behind them and the golden contraption in the center of the room started to spin. A greater shade appeared and attacked the party.

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