Author's notes: This is a Human commoner Origin and subsequent story. My main character is Edward Lennox (I used lists of popular surnames from medieval Ireland for the surname). I have mentioned a place called Alamar, which is marked on the DA:O map on an island northeast of Denerim.
There is also a Dalish elf in this story, however I have not really developed her character much as the main focus is the soldier. Her name was Náriel but I changed it to Nereid because Náriel is too similar to Mathariel for my liking.
Apart from that, R and R if you like. There will be subsequent chapters I believe, and I will pick up the pace as the story covers more familiar scenes from the game.

As usual, disclaimer: Bioware owns all the Dragon Age Origins stuff except for the names of my characters etc etc.

Part 1

The sun shone down brightly on the overgrown country road, baking off the moisture from the rain earlier in the day. Edward was pleased, as the fine weather meant that he would reach his farm before dark. If possible he didn't want to be out on the road at night. He felt the weight of his sword, a faithful friend during his army days, against his back. He had heard rumours of bandits, highwaymen and more sinister creatures with greater frequency of late. Better safe than sorry, he thought. He looked over his shoulder to the horse he had just collected from Maven's stud. This mare would foal in the spring, and with a good crop already cut and loaded at home, things were finally looking up for Edward. He had kept himself busy since his wife was taken from him, finding hard work a theraputic kind of grieving. His thoughts still wandered to her, especially at night, but even that wound was slowly healing.

As he reached the crest of the next hill, he noticed a pair of figures off in the distance ahead. One was tall, one shorter. An occasional glint of reflected sunlight showed that one of them was wearing armour. Wary of bandits, Edward clicked his tongue to quicken the pace of his mount, while also pulling the mare alongside. As he approached, he was able to make out some more details of the travellers. The taller one had very light coloured armour and a pair of swords strapped to his back. He (Edward was pretty sure it was a he, despite his robes) had dark hair pulled back into a pony tail and his skin was swarthy. The shorter one of the two was a blonde woman - he could see her bare midriff and her figure, and her ears indicated elven blood. They must have heard him approach, as they stopped and turned towards him as he drew closer.

Edward did not think these were bandits. There was something about the man he could not quite put his finger on. He looked at the woman closely - there were complex markings on her face and neck. "Is she a Dalish?" he thought.

He pulled the horse up alongside the travellers. "Greetings, strangers, and well met" he said. "What brings you to the Bannorn on this fine afternoon?" he added.

"Greetings to you, friend. My name is Duncan, a Grey Warden. My companion is Nereid, a recruit from the Dalish tribes" said the taller traveller.

"Grey Wardens? Truly?"

"Yes indeed."

"So the rumours we have been hearing are true? There are darkspawn again?"

"I'm afraid so. We are heading to Ostagar, there to join the King. A darkspawn horde has risen in the Kocari Wilds."

Edward unslung a water skin and tossed it down to Duncan, who deftly caught it. He nodded his thanks, and passed it to Nereid. She opened the stopper and took a deep draught, then passed it back to Duncan. Edwards' brow furrowed as he looked at the Dalish elf.

"Duncan, I am taking these two horses back to my farm, they're going to be pulling my harvest down to Lothering tomorrow. It would seem that our roads lie together for at least that far. Can I offer you some assistance? You can both share my mare, you won't need a saddle, she has a very sweet disposition. I can offer you shelter for the night in my farm and a ride to Lothering in the morning."

Duncan smiled "that is a most generous offer indeed! But who am I to thank for such generosity?"

"My name is Edward" said Edward. "Former soldier turned farmer" he added after a short pause.

He hopped down from his horse and led the mare over towards Duncan and Nereid. Edward was a full head higher than Duncan, and towered over Nereid. His curly black hair and neatly trimmed beard framed a tanned, kindly looking face with piercing light blue eyes. He bent down towards the elf. "Nereid, this mare is named Zora, which means dawn. She's big, but gentle, and if you give her a pat she'll get to know you."

Nereid nodded "these horses are so much bigger than the halla." Nereid began patting Zora's neck with a smile on her face.

"Yes - well in this case, Zora and Rhombus over there are pack horses, bred for bulk and strength. Have you ridden a horse before, Nereid?" asked Edward.

"No, not a horse. Sometimes one of the halla would let me ride them in the corral, but that was a few seasons ago" she replied.

"Duncan, you first - here" said Edward, forming a stirrup with his fingers for Duncan to clamber up onto Zora. Once Duncan was up, Edward turned to Nereid. "Nereid, you'll need to step on my shoulder to swing up in front of Duncan, who should be able to pull you up." The Dalish stepped into Edwards' finger stirrup, then onto his shoulder, and Duncan hefted her up in front.

Edward re mounted his horse and clicked his tongue, bringing the pair of horses into line and heading towards his farm, some distance along the road. Duncan passed back his water skin with a nod of thanks.

After a few minutes of listening to the steady rhythym of the horses hoofbeats, Duncan asked "Edward, you mentioned that you were a soldier before?"

"Yes, I was in Maric's eastern division for twelve years or so. I was one of the soldiers who fought at Alamar when the Tevinters tried to take it six or seven years ago."

"Ahh yes, a long campaign if I recall correctly" remarked Duncan.

"Eighteen months of guerilla warfare. I was lucky though, my company made it through with fairly light losses."

"Where is Al.. Alamar?" asked Nereid.

"It's on an island northeast of Denerim - a nice place to visit except for the bloody Tevinters."

"So you served there, how did you come to be a farmer, if you don't mind my asking?" said Duncan.

"Well, I was a captain by the end of the siege, and they were cycling troops back to Denerim, so I was in the city when good King Cailan was crowned about 5 years ago. The king put out this proclamation that the victorious and stalwart defenders of Alamar should be allowed to take early retirement from the army. I had always wanted some time off to raise a family, so I took it. And a few years later, here I am."

"It seems to me that you have earned your retirement, friend. A siege could not have been easy to survive" commented Duncan.

"Thank you, Duncan. The retirement did have a catch, I can be recalled to service if necessary. I'm a bit surprised I haven't had the call yet if things are stirring in the south as you say."

"Perhaps the Arl here is still raising his troops."

"I expect so. The West Hills bannorn isn't very large. We're sort of sandwiched in between Highever and the templars over at the lake. I do expect the recall though, and you'll see when we get to the farm that I've already begun storing things and moving stock off to other farms" said Edward. "There's still plenty to eat there. Hmm that reminds me," he mumbled, reaching down into his saddle bag. He pulled out a small wooden box, slid open the lid and exracted a couple of pieces of a dark brown, leathery looking substance. He closed the box and passed it over to Duncan and Nereid. "Try some of this, Duncan - it's spicy smoked beef strips. Great for chewing on while on the road" said Edward.

Duncan slid open the box and held it for Nereid. The elf sniffed the box and raised her eyebrows. She grabbed a couple of pieces, and Duncan followed suit, sliding the lid back on the box and passing it back to Edward.

"Ma serannas" said Nereid with a smile, chewing on her strips happily. Duncan took a bite and grinned. "You make these yourself, I take it?" he asked.

"Yes - they're easy to make, store well and taste pretty decent" said Edward.

After another half an hour or so of steady travel, the farm came into view as the travellers crested a hill. It was a neat farmhouse flanked by a barn and a couple of smaller sheds, surrounded by golden, freshly harvested fields of wheat and oats. A small orchard stretched out behind the barn, with apple, pear, apricot and plum trees in neat rows. The travellers made their way up a well worn track to a clearing in front of the house and dismounted from the pack horses.

"Welcome home, Grey Wardens" said Edward. "I'll unlock and get a fire started, and show you where you can freshen up. I still have a few things to do before joining you, but I should only be an hour or so. There's some books and maps inside that might amuse you while I am busy."

Duncan looked at Nereid and said "we do not wish to impose - if there is anything we can do to assist you, please allow us to help."

"Thanks Duncan, but I have to clean up and feed these two," Edward nodded towards the pack horses "then get some things for supper. It's no trouble. If you can keep an eye on the fires inside that would be fine and maybe grab some water from the pump? Just make yourself at home."

Edward unlocked the front door and led them inside. He led them upstairs to a pair of rooms, grabbing a couple of towels from a cupboard at the bottom of the stairs on the way up. Passing a towel to each of the Wardens, Edward said "these rooms should be alright for the night. It shouldn't be too cold tonight but if you need extra blankets there's some in the box at the end of the bed," indicating one of the rooms. With a grin, he went back downstairs to start the main kitchen fire. After that Edward went outside and fetched a bucket of water from the pump, then took it back inside and plonked it on the kitchen table. "Wardens, there's some water down here for you to wash up with, I'll be outside if you need me," he yelled. Edward left to attend to his horses and collect some fresh fruit and vegetables. Meanwhile Duncan and Nereid cleaned themselves up and collected a few buckets of water for their host.

Not much time had passed when Edward came back inside with a basket of fruit and vegetables and a slab of cured meat. Duncan and Nereid were in the kitchen looking at a map on the table. Edward put the food on the bench beside the sink, and proceeded to grab a pitcher from an overhead hook. He went to the corner and drew off a pitcher of ale from the barrel there.

"Highever dark ale" Edward remarked, "will you share a pint?"

Duncan looked at Nereid "certainly" he said. Nereid looked back at Duncan and nodded her head.

"I haven't had ale before, but I have had wine and mead" she commented.

"So tell me, how did you become a Grey Warden recruit?" asked Edward, sitting down and pouring out three pints from the pitcher.

"It's a long story" Nereid replied.

"We have time, we're here overnight" answered Edward.

Nereid sighed and with Duncan filling in some gaps, she told the story of the mirror, the taint and her clan mate Tamlen. After she had finished speaking, Edward nodded and said "you have my sympathies for the loss of your clanmate. I know what it is like to lose someone close to you."

"Indeed? How would you know?" said Nereid bitterly.

"Isn't it obvious? Why do you think there are two empty rooms upstairs? Why am I here alone, when I told you I left the army to raise a family five years ago?"

"Your wife..." began Duncan.

"... died eighteen months ago" completed Edward. "She was in labour with our first child, and the midwife could not reach her in time. I couldn't do anything except make her comfortable until she slipped away. My son was stillborn. So yeah, I do have an idea what it's like to lose someone" he said, focusing his gaze somewhere off in the distance. Nereid's eyes were wide with surprise.

A silence descended in the room before Edward touched the back of Nereid's hand with one finger, just enough to get her attention. "Believe me when I say this, Nereid, try not to think about your loss too much. You'll go mad if you do."

Nereid looked up at Edward, not saying anything. He could read the sadness in her eyes as he was sure she could see his own melancholy.

Duncan finished his ale and reached for the pitcher, helping himself to another drink.

Edward blinked and looked over at Duncan. "Ahh hell, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to sour the mood like that" said Edward.

"Apologies are not necessary. All of us have had events in our past that require time to heal. Some more recent than others" said Duncan, looking at Nereid pointedly.

Edward stood up and went to the kitchen bench and began to slice slivers of the cured meat from the speck. Nereid took this as a cue to offer some help, and in a couple of minutes she was slicing and buttering thick pieces of bread. Duncan moved the map away from the table and put out some platters and knives.

After a satisfying meal and light conversation, Edward pulled back the map which Duncan and Nereid had been perusing earlier. "Which part were you looking at, Duncan?" asked Edward.

"I was showing Nereid the way to Ostagar here," he said, indicating the ruined fortress on the map.

"Not much is known about the land further south of there really. It becomes permanently frozen if you go far enough, they say" said Edward, looking at the bottom edge of the map. "I think I have one with more detail, but I drew it a long time ago so it's not as precise as this one" said Edward, going to a cabinet and rifling through a drawer.

He returned with a yellowed roll of parchment and put it down on the table, using salt and pepper shakers to weigh down the scroll while he unrolled it. "Yes, this is the one. It's centred on Lothering and the bottom of the lake, but it does go down to Ostagar as you can see" indicated Edward, pointing at the map.

"Where are we on this map?" asked Nereid.

"We'd be about... here" said Edward, pointing to a spot on the map.

"And tomorrow we are travelling to here?" she asked, pointing to Lothering.

"Yes" said Duncan. "And from there to here" he said, indicating Ostagar.

Nereid let out a yawn. "I think I'll get some sleep then" she said, heading upstairs to her room.

"Not a bad idea. I'll turn in too I believe, Edward. Good night to you" said Duncan, and he followed the elf upstairs.

Edward pondered the maps for a few more minutes, before stacking the platters and going to his own bed.

Duncan rose the next morning and came downstairs to see Nereid and Edward sitting beside each other at the kitchen table. Nereid was eating a bowl of porridge, and Edward was sharpening an axe. There was a half finished bowl in front of Edward from which he would grab a spoonful every so often.

"Ah! Good morning Duncan" said Edward. He pointed at a pot of porridge and indicated for Duncan to help himself. "It will probably be a long day so eat your fill" said Edward.

Duncan grinned and filled a bowl, sitting opposite Edward. He gave the axe a questioning look as he began eating.

"Oh this is for protection on the road. You said it yourself, with darkspawn you can't be too careful. I'd rather take an axe there and back and not need it, than leave it here and find myself wishing I had it" said Edward.

"Do you still practice your fighting skills?" asked Duncan.

"Sometimes, but I do a lot of physical work here. I'm not rusty if that's what you're asking" said Edward.

Duncan looked at the axe and saw that it was indeed well maintained. He noticed that beside the door he had entered there were some pieces of armour and a shield. The shield had a white face with a red bull's head on it.

Edward followed his gaze and said "that's my armour and shield. The shield charge is the West Hills bannorn".

"You fought with blade and shield all the time?" asked Duncan.

"Most of the time, yes. Sometimes with a pike, sometimes with two blades. I also used crossbows often. Nereid and I were talking about Dalish bows before you came down here" said Edward.

"I was trying to explain about Ironbark shaping, but I really don't know how it's done by our craftsmen" said Nereid.

"I just found it hard to believe that a wood could be strong enough to use as a blade without shattering after a few blows" said Edward.

Duncan topped up his bowl and said "believe it, my friend. The Dalish know a great deal about Ironbark and use it for bows and armour as well as swords."

Edward nodded and thoughtfully munched on his breakfast while finishing up his axe sharpening.

While Duncan was finishing the remaining porridge as well as a couple of slices of bread, three apricots and a cured sausage (and amazed Edward in the process) Edward packed some provisions into the cart. He fed the horses and hitched them up ready to go. After a quick run through of the farm to make sure all the fires were out and everything was cleaned and locked up, the travellers hopped up onto the front of the cart and set off.

The morning trip south was uneventful. Nereid curled up on a couple of sacks of wheat and managed to get some sleep. Duncan and Edward talked about the battles that had ocurred at Ostagar already. Edward asked about the nature of darkspawn, and Duncan told him what he knew of the various kinds, their methods of attack and weaponry. Duncan asked about Edwards' military experience and found out about the siege of Alamar. Evidently Edward and his soldiers had mounted a guerilla campaign against the Tevinters and progressively weakened the Imperium while waiting for support from Denerim. During the conversation Duncan formed the opinion that Edward was a solid tactician and a good leader. He mulled over this line of thinking while they stopped for lunch, about three hours from Lothering.

As they were packing up the lunch things, Duncan was hit by a familiar unpleasant sensation. Darkspawn. Many darkspawn. Edward saw his grimace and said "I told you not to eat so many dried fruits, Duncan..."

Duncan grinned and said "ready yourself Edward, it seems I will get to see you fight first hand very soon."

"What's this? Something is coming?" asked Edward.

Nereid gaped and scrambled up onto the cart to grab her bow and arrows.

"There's a large number of darkspawn coming from that direction" said Duncan, pointing to the west, where the forest was quite thick.

Edward looked at the forest and made a quick calculation. He jumped onto the cart and grabbed his shield and a saddle bag which he lowered to the ground carefully. He dropped into the back of the cart beside Nereid and pulled up two sacks, putting one in front of Nereid and one behind, giving her a sort of makeshift fox hole. "Stay up here and give us cover, Nereid. Hold your fire until there is a few of them visible" said Edward, in a steely tone. He dropped down beside his saddle bag and picked it up, slinging his shield onto his back.

"You can sense these things then, Duncan? How close are they?" he asked, moving closer to the Warden.

"Quite close. Be ready" said Duncan.

"I have smoke bombs here which should give us cover against their archers. Aim for the second line of trees and try to hit them about head height. The smoke will drop to the ground and spread better that way" said Edward, motioning to Duncan with the saddle bag.

Edward and Duncan threw smoke bombs to the west and readied themselves for an attack.

The first of the darkspawn cleared the smoke and charged towards Edward. Edward dropped the top of his shield forwards and clipped the darkspawn under the chin, then smashed his axe into the creature's exposed throat, severing its' head. More darkspawn followed and Edward and Duncan found themselves fighting back to back, a whirlwind of steel fury that shredded the mindless darkspawn. Nereid was taking opportunistic shots at any darkspawn, finding chinks in armour, skewering eye sockets and slicing achilles tendons. The smoke bombs appeared to be doing the job of preventing darkspawn archers firing at the trio. Eventually the darkspawn stopped coming and Edward finished off the last one by snapping its neck with the edge of his shield, as it tried to crawl back into the forest.

"Andraste's arse, they fucking stink!" said Edward, covering his nose and mouth.

"That they do my friend. Are you hit at all? Nereid, are you hurt?" said Duncan.

Nereid shook her head and hopped down from the cart. She looked a little pale but was otherwise unharmed. Edward had a lot of thick darkspawn blood on his left side where his shield could not prevent the splatter. Edward coughed and spat, making sure his spit was clear and not red. He didn't want any of that foul shit in his mouth. "I'm not hit, which is a minor miracle, Duncan. How about you?" asked Edward.

"I'm uninjured. This blood isn't mine."

Edward took a minute to survey the scene. "Can you sense any more, Duncan? Are we safe for now?" he asked.

"I can't sense any at present, we seem to have killed off this patrol" said Duncan.

Edward did a rapid count of heads on the ground while he grabbed a pair of water skins from the back of the cart. "Twenty seven that I can see here, Duncan. That's a pretty big patrol" said Edward. He passed a water skin to Duncan and gave the other one to Nereid. Duncan nodded "there are many darkspawn in the horde. They seem to be organised in a similar way to people, except with each unit double the size."

"In other words if you were going just on numbers, you would need two divisions for every one of theirs, correct?" asked Edward.

"Something like that. But bear in mind they use weight of numbers to swarm and overwhelm. Subtelty and tactics are not their strong suit" said Duncan, taking a deep drink from the water skin, before washing the darkspawn mess off his face.

Nereid took a drink and then passed the skin back to Edward, who began cleaning himself up.

Duncan looked at Edward thoughtfully. He cleared his throat and said "Edward, you've now seen the darkspawn and you handled yourself well against them. Would you consider joining the Grey Wardens? I would be pleased to offer you a place with us."

Edward looked at Duncan thoughtfully. He looked at Nereid, who shrugged her shoulders.

"Let me think about it until we get to Lothering. I will have made my decision by then" said Edward.

The travellers put the cart back in order and set off for Lothering again. Nereid had the reins, nestled in between Duncan and Edward, each of whom were cleaning the darkspawn blood and guts from their armour. Occasionally Edward would look up to make sure the horses were behaving themselves. He sometimes whispered a quick command for Nereid to say to the horses to make them speed up or slow down. He was amazed that they were not spooked by the short battle, and attributed it to clever writing.

As he went through the automatic procedure of cleaning his armour, his mind wandered to Duncan's offer. The Grey Wardens. They were heroes. Surely he was not cut from the same cloth as these legends. He thought back to his farm, how it was finally profitable and back to working order. Then he thought of the blight. If the blight isn't stopped then his farm may as well be underwater for all the good it would be.

After a couple of hours they reached the crossroads to Lothering. Duncan and Nereid looked at Edward questioningly. Edward sighed. "I'm sorry Duncan, Nereid" he said. They looked downcast. "I can't take you to Lothering. I'm going to Ostagar instead to become a Grey Warden!" he grinned. Duncan beamed and reached over to shake his hand. Nereid grinned and clapped his shoulder.

"I can sell my crop to the army I believe, and arrange to get my cart transported to Barlin in Lothering, so I should still make something for the season" said Edward.

"Well they say an army marches on its' stomach. You can put that to the test" said Duncan.

"We can make Ostagar by tomorrow afternoon if we aren't attacked again" said Edward.

End of part 1