Chapter 48: Tales
The owner of The Spoiled Princess was very grateful to the wardens and their allies; he had lived in fear of the reavers for weeks. They had threatened to kill his wife and son if he said anything to warn any of the travelers they sought.
They were all offered a room for the night for free, as well as meals.
Considering the wardens' appetites, that might have been a mistake on his part.
Alim used the time to question the two new arrivals, though in the knight's case anyway, it was unnecessary.
The man's name was Ser Donal, a knight from Castle Redcliffe, and Alistair had already known him. The man had apparently been on the road for several months now. He had been dispatched by the Arlessa on a special mission.
The Arl of Redcliffe had fallen deathly ill.
Alistair paled at the news.
It had all started shortly after the battle of Ostagar. The Arl had begun to feel weak, he had put it off the best he could, but one day he collapsed in the main hall. The Arlessa had been forced to assume the duties of Redcliffe for her son who was still too young to do it himself. Bann Teagan, the Arl's brother had been in Denerim at the time, meeting with the other nobles.
Not that he would have been able to help, this strange illness had the best minds in Redcliffe baffled.
Ser Donal said they had tried everything to heal the Arl, but even magic proved useless against the mysterious illness.
Alim's ears lowered slightly, what was the chance that the one man who might be able to oppose Loghain would fall ill so soon after the events of Ostagar.
He did not believe in coincidence.
The Arlessa had grown desperate, she had dispatched the knights on a quest to locate the Legendary Urn of Sacred Ashes, their healing powers were said to be able to cure any ailment.
Donal's journey had led him here, into a trap set by these men.
Alistair wanted to make for Redcliffe immediately, but Alim overrode that decision, he would likely need Alistair in the tower, and having a former Templar with him might go a long way to convincing Greagoir that they had a chance to stop the Blight.
Alistair nodded morosely, he did not like it, but he had decided to follow Alim as their leader.
He would obey.
Donal intended to return to Redcliffe in the morning, to tell her this path of his quest had led to a dead end.
That left only their newest warden to deal with, the Dalish.
Alim found himself very curious how the elf had survived this long, and so did Leliana…
Which for some reason he did not understand, irked the warden mage for some reason.
He did not like the Dalish, and he certainly did not like the fact that he was so friendly to Leliana.
No…he did not like it one little bit.
IOI
"We were hunting in the forest one day, Tamlen and I,' the elf began, "We came across some shemlen who had wondered too close to our camp. They said they had found a cave full of strange artifacts. Tamlen recognized one as having elvhen writing on it. After we…scared them off, we went to investigate."
Theron shivered, what came next still haunted him, the moment that his entire world fell apart.
"I was the strangest thing," he continued, "The ruins looked like human construction, but contained artifacts of our people. That and walking corpses and a…thing…it looked like a bear, but it was covered in spines. We killed it, but not without some effort."
"A Bereskarn," Alistair said, "The taint has a strange effect on animals, turns them into monsters, especially during a Blight."
The elf nodded.
"In the bear's den…we found a mirror, it was strange, elvhen writing on it, but more as well. We should have known better…I…I should have known better, but we were curious. We…thought we could bring back something for our clan, something that would change our fortunes forever."
The boy shivered, he rubbed his chest as if cold.
Leliana put a hand on his shoulder.
"It is alright," she soothed, "You're among friends now, please continue."
He gave her a grateful smile.
Alim's scowl grew.
"Tamlen touched it, something strange happened then. He said he saw a vast city underground, and that…that there was something watching, that it had seen us! The mirror…it…it flashed with a strange white light. I was knocked back, I…I don't know what happened to Tamlen, I just don't know."
"The object must have been tainted," Alim said.
The Dalish did not respond, merely twitched his ears at the memory.
I awoke to find myself in camp, over a week had passed. Some of our hunters had found me in the woods, near death. Our keeper saved me, but it was very close. Merrill was in tears when I awoke."
"Merrill?" Leliana asked.
Theron blushed slightly.
"She…she is my…friend, we have grown up together. She always said I needed to be more dutiful," he shrugged sadly.
"I never listened. We never found Tamlen, even when I led a party myself to the ruins. Merrill and I, we found the mirror, but it had been smashed, likely when it sickened us. Merrill thought she might be able to use a shard of the glass to locate Tamlen, but the Keeper overruled her. Merrill…her pride as one of the people gets in the way sometimes, but she has a good heart."
Theron's hand drifted to his belt, a short braid of raven colored hair was secured there.
He smiled at the memento.
IOI
Alim took keen notice of how the Dalish said the girl's name; part of him breathed a sigh of relief, though he did not understand why.
Why should he care if the boy had a girl back home, and why should he care that Leliana seem intrigued by his story?
He had no reason to.
None at all.
IOI
"The Keeper sensed something dark in the forest," Theron continued, "We fled north. She said we would need to cross the sea, that we would be safer outside of our old forest. The sickness would not leave me; the Keeper was exhausting herself pushing it back time and time again. I… was becoming a burden to my clan…to my family."
The boy swallowed hard.
"I left, better that I should die in the forest then risk infecting them with my illness. Merrill tried to talk me out of it, but I…managed to make her see sense. She cried when I left, but…but we both knew it was for the best."
The elf rubbed his eyes, remembering the pain in his ma vhenan's eyes hurt. He had kissed her before he had fled, though he did not tell these shems and flat ears that.
Something's needed to remain personal.
"I do not know how long I wandered in the forest, but I kept getting weaker by the day. The horrible song in my head got louder as my fever rose. I saw things…heard things, then one morning I remember people standing over me, saying words I could not understand. The shadows took me; I remember…I remember smelling incense and oil. Someone poured something foul down my throat. It was horrible, the visions that haunted me grew, I thought…thought I would never awaken again, but when I did there were two shems standing over me, they called themselves Duncan and Riordan.
"They…they said they had saved my life…that I was now a grey warden."
IOI
Alistair nodded, it did sound like something that Duncan would do.
He was always willing to at least try to save someone.
The mirror must have tainted the elf. Then Duncan and this Riordan must have found him near the road from Denerim. Duncan had said he needed to stop in the city before he headed for the Circle of Magi.
Theron had survived the joining, though he was surprised the boy had not been sent directly to Ostagar?
IOI
"I was still very weak," Theron continued, "The Commander shem had me accompany Riordan back to the Denerim. There was some kind of war brewing in the south. As a warden, Riordan told me, I would be expected to fight, that was the price of my cure."
The elf shook his head, what would Merrill have said if she had seen that place, the shem city. It stank, and there were so many people.
Poor Merrill would have been horrified at the conditions that the flat ears lived in.
"Riordan took me to the warden compound to recover; he needed to meet with some noble. There had been some problems with the Alienage; troops had to be sent in. What was the noble's name…Lowell, Howell?"
"Howe?" the shem calling himself Gus offered.
Theron grinned.
"That is him," Riordan left to meet with him, he told me to remain and get some rest."
The elf shivered at the next part.
"The night…the compound was attacked," Theron said, "I don't know why, the shem warriors attacking did not even try to take prisoners, they killed everyone servant, guard, none were spared."
IOI
Alistair felt cold hate burn in his belly.
He had lived in the Denerim compound, had made friends there.
Loghain must have ordered them all butchered.
The Teyrn's bird-like face sprang to his mind.
His hand drifted to the hilt of his sword.
You will pay for that! You will pay dearly!
Morrigan laid her hand on his shoulder, she seemed uncomfortable doing so.
He smiled and touched it lightly.
She withdrew it, refusing to look at him.
He smiled.
So…she did care.
IOI
"One of the guards helped me escape the compound," Theron said, "He wanted me to head to Ostagar, warn the wardens. There was no reason for the Howe shem to attack us, it must have been treason he had said."
"What became of him?" Alim asked.
"Died," the elf said, his ears lowering slightly, "He had been wounded when we fled the compound. My…my understanding of the healing arts are not good, and he refused to be taken to a healer. I do not matter he kept saying, you are a warden…you are all that matters now."
Theron shook his head; he did not feel that special.
"I wandered south as the man said," It was from some travelers heading north that I heard about the death of the wardens at Ostagar. I…I felt fear, here I was a solitary elf alone among the shems, and the grey wardens who had taken me in were now dead. They offered to let me follow as far as the Highever."
"I nearly gave up; thought about making my way north, try to catch up with my clan."
Catch up to Merrill.
"That night a darkspawn raiding party attacked the travelers I had met, I managed to slay them, but not before they took the lives of the people that tried to help me. They may have been shems, but they did not deserve that fate."
You poor dear," Leliana cooed, "So much death around you."
He gave her a grateful look, it was nothing to get some sympathy, and he had not seen much compassion since leaving his clan.
He remembered those poor travelers, the look of horror on their faces, faces frozen in death.
Theron's eyes turned cold.
"That is when I realized I could not leave; I felt it…in my blood. I could face the creatures and not get sick. I owed it to Duncan and Riordan, and besides, the monsters would not leave the Dalish in peace, one day, they would come for us as well. I would not let that happen. I…I was a grey warden; it is my duty to stop this evil. Riordan taught me that."
"I started to hear rumors that some wardens had survived. I was hoping to link up with them…with you. I remember the Commander Shem saying something about going to the circle of magi. I thought to start my search there…here."
He smiled shyly.
"And so here I am."
IOI
Alim nodded. The boy's story sounded plausible he supposed.
The Dalish definitely had some stones on him, making this deep into Ferelden without getting caught by Loghain's bounty hunters or the darkspawn.
He would be a welcome addition to the group.
Provided he stay away from Leliana.
Alim's ears twitched.
Where had that thought come from?
"Welcome back to the order Ron," he said.
"Mas Serannas," he grinned, "But it is Theron."
"Of course it is," he smirked, if the new boy did not think that he would give him a little trouble, he was wrong. Alim leaned back in his chair.
"We shall take rest of this night to rest and recover, if you have any injuries Morrigan and I will attend to them. In the morning, we make for the tower." He looked at Alistair.
"I want you at my side in there, the rest of you can decide if you want to come or not, those who followed me into the deep roads can sit this one out of they like."
"I'll go," Seri offered, "I have always wanted to meet the people that buy our lyrium."
"As will I," Zevran offered, "Someone needs to watch your back my dear," he said grinning at Seri.
The dwarf rolled her eyes.
"I shall go as well," Morrigan said, "Let the cattle and the zealots see what a true mage looks like."
"You sure?" Alistair asked her.
"Tis heartwarming that you worry about me Alistair," she sneered.
"Not you…the circle," he said dryly.
She playfully jabbed him with her staff.
"I'll come. I'll come," Theron said excitedly, "I want to help. I'm tired of running."
Alim nodded; let their new warden win his spurs.
"I shall go as well," Leliana offered.
Alim gave her a concerned look.
"Things got pretty bad in the deep roads, you sure you do not want to take some time to rest in camp."
She shook her head no.
The look in her blue eyes troubled him; he suspected that their pretty little bard was not telling him everything.
He would speak with her tomorrow.
"Very well then," he sighed, "Looks like we have our group. We will meet down by the docks at sunrise, hopefully we can catch the First Enchanter and the Knight-Commander early enough to be granted a quick audience. So get some rest."
Alim gave them a slight smile.
"This trip has not been easy on us, I would like to say that this once it will be, but luck has not been on our side. So be ready tomorrow, and expect trouble."
The rest of the party nodded.
Alim was right about that.
IOI
They broke up then, either heading to their rooms or back to get their things from the cart.
In the morning they would enter the circle of magi.
Maker protect them from what was waiting for them there.