Ostagar

Entrance

9:30

"And that's why I need access to the Arl's camp, right away, Your Majesty."

Cailan turned away from Elissa, fuming.

"How could Rendon think he could get away with such a thing?!"

There was nothing for it. He never much liked Arl Howe anyway, though Loghain seemed to listen to him on occasion. It didn't matter now; he was King, and Loghain would just have to accept that the man had to die.

"You've full access to the camp, Lady Cousland. I'll send word to my men-"

"Forgive me, your Majesty…" she interrupted him, but softly "I regret to interrupt you so impertinently, but…" her voice dropped to a whisper "if you can, try to do so quietly. I don't want to alert any assassins he may have here. They could try to kill my lord brother."

Fergus. He'd nearly forgotten about the man! Cailan sagely nodded.

"Yes. I'll try to be quiet about this. I suspect you'll want to find him as well. He's scouting out in the Wilds, but you've arrived earlier than expected. If you're quick about finding what you need in Rendon's camp, you could catch him."

—-

A pair of hands were scouring the various desks and lecterns inside each tent marked with the Bear of the Amaranthine.

Suddenly, her mabari barked with excitement, beckoning his mistress towards a partially burned piece of parchment.

Elissa immediately picked it out of a long deceased campfire, and carefully smoothed it out on a table nearby.

"...inside …. find a vial ….Quiet Death…"

"Must not …Ostagar alive….No witnesses…"

"...Bring me Highever Sigil….100 sovereigns….as agreed…."

"R…..Arl of Amaranthine…."

An envelope was nearby. Elissa picked it up, and could see that the seal, while broken, was clearly the Arl's.

"Rendon, you sloppy fool."

She had him. Now she needed to hurry before the assassins had Fergus.

—

Korcari Wilds

An hour later

Daveth was behind the two younger companions, enjoying the view in front of him, when Tristan growled at him.

"What? I'm not allowed to look?"

Tristan barked at him aggressively.

"Alright! Alright! But don't tell her."

"And that's what I told him." Elissa explained to Alistair, oblivious to the conversation behind her. "Maker forbid anything happens to Cailan, but should the worst happen, the entire country could tear itself apart. Duncan seems to understand how fragile the political situation is right now. So with this context in mind, it would be a very bad idea to induct me into the Grey Wardens. My Lord Father was nearly convinced to take the throne, but stood aside for our true King. If he falls, my Father may have to act quickly to maintain peace. That may involve taking the throne, and the last thing Duncan needs is a monarch that bears ill will towards your Order. Instead, it would be far more beneficial if he has a high ranking Lord or Lady in his back pocket who is willing to give shelter and offer up recruits and supplies when needed."

"So…" Alistair had mostly focused on the one tidbit of information that concerned him, the rest racing out of his ears like so much wind "If something were to happen to my- to King Cailan, your Father would take the throne? He would be King?"

"If the Landsmeet wills it so, yes." Elissa beamed at him, then remembered herself and smothered her pride. "Again, I would not want it to happen. Cailan is our King, and the Theirin bloodline must survive. But the Couslands have ruled the lands of the North for 600 years. Our claim would be the best."

The young Grey Warden felt an immense burden leave his shoulders, and he blew out a heavy sigh. He must have been grinning like an idiot again, because Elissa was staring at him.

"You all right?"

"Oh I'm just peachy!" Alistair's moment of joy was broken by a reminder "But I guess that means you won't become one of us after all."

"No, I'm afraid not." She smiled back sadly. "But I do abide by my word, and I'll do everything to help the Grey Wardens out as long as I am here." She tilted her head at him "Besides, didn't Duncan recruit six other candidates to be a Warden?"

"Eight." Alistair corrected her. "You've met Ser Jory and Daveth. There's the two mages from Kinloch Hold, and that scowling Dalish ranger. The other elven woman is from the Denerim Alienage. Finally, there's 2 dwarves from Orzammar-"

"I get it." Elissa rolled her eyes. "The point is, Duncan already has plenty of recruits to fill his ranks right now, and I'll help make my case to the King and to Teyrn Loghain-"

Her eyes immediately shot to some figures in the distance. Past the gnarled ancient trees and sunken mud pools were a dozen men. She immediately recognized the banners of Highever hoisted by her brother's men.

"Fergus!" Elissa shouted, sprinting towards the young man in silverite armor. A moment's hesitation, and her companions were in hot pursuit.

He looked up from his map, and squinted at a strange assortment of warriors. They must be auxiliaries from-

Could that be? That voice…

"Elissa?"

Elissa willed every muscle in her body to be faster, looking closely at the group before her as she closed the distance. Most of the men had Highever colors-

Something moved behind a tree in the distance.

"Fergus! LOOK OUT! GET DOWN!"

—

Lol, I know it's a cheap way to end things.

Yes, all of the other origins survived their stories. But since this story is focusing on the Couslands surviving, you'll only get a vague understanding of their characters.

If I ever get up to writing a proper Origins main canon story, I'll expand on them there.