Their was an incident along the road. A bunch of refugees starving had heard that we were Grey Wardens and decided that the bounty on our heads could feed their families. We prevailed of course. Dam fate, dam the Blight, and dam Teyrn Logain for brining us to this.
Leliana said a few prayers for the dead. Morrigan bluntly told me that those men knew what they were getting into and that I should not feel bad about defending myself. She's right, but I can't help but feel like a butcher.
On a more heroic note we rescued two Dwarven merchants from a group of Darkspawn. Their following us now, apparently the safest place to ride out a blight is on a Grey Warden's coattails. Who knew? The Merchant's name is Bodan, and the real interesting one is his son, Sandal. The poor lad's simple, but he has the skills of a master enchanter. They'll serve us well, though Bodan has an annoying predilection towards charging me money for the use of his wares.
We are headed down to Redcliffe, since the Arl is the man both Alistair and I know the best. Back in Loathering, we chanced upon one of Redcliffe's knights, a man by the name of Donall. Arl Eamon has fallen gravely ill, awfully convenient for Logain. Issolde's lost her dam mind and sent the knights on a mad quest to find the Urn of Sacred Ashes. I can sympathize with her plight, but the reality is that if the Urn of Sacred Ashes is what is required to heal her husband, than he is a dead man. She should ether send her knights out to confront Logain or keep them home to protect her lands and her son. Scatering them to the wind in a vain quest does nothing for anybody, least of all the Arl.
The first night away from Lothering, I had terrible dreams. I saw the Archdemon, in the Deep roads I think. Their was an army of Darkspawn gathered in what? Celebrating? Worship? It called to me, almost like it wanted me to join the party. Alistair saw me thrashing in my sleep and woke me up. He explained that us Grey Wardens can hear the Dkarpsawn. In our dreams. When the Archdemon talks to the horde he talks to us. That's how Duncan knew their was a blight.
I've been talking to everyone in my little army, trying to gage they mettle as it were. Alistiar's the one I know best, and the only one I really trust at present.
Sten has acquitted himself well in those last few clashes. He is surprised that I am a woman. It is something to do with Quari culture. Roles are very strictly defined their. Ether you are a woman or you are a Grey Warden you cannot be both. He regards it as physically impossible. He seems mildly perturbed by my existences contradiction of his dogma. For some reason I decided to care enough about what this murderer thinks of me to give him one of my sugar cubes. That seemed to make him a bit less grumpy. Maker how I love those things.
Morrigan I take pity on, though that's probably the worse insult I can do her. Flemth used her as Templar bait when she was a kid. In the Wilds that counts as fun and games. We compared notes on Flemeth's legend, since it pertains to my family's origins. Apparently Olsen and Flemth were married first, Flemth came to Conobar on her own volition, Conobar broke their agreement and slew her husband, and Flemeth never led an army in any invasion. She is still an abomination though, her own daughter does not believe her to be fully human.
Leliana and I talked more about her vision. It sounds pretty vivid. She defiantly has a past. Bardic training it looks like. Also her accent is Orlesian. She admits to being a "traveling minstrel", otherwise known as a bard. I doubt she's still in the service. But if she is still loyal to the Empress I will be more than happy to have her help. I love my country, but it is doing a good job of embarrassing me. I don't know of anyone who was stupid enough to start a civl war in the middle of a Blight.