The sound of footsteps right next to him awoke the tall Warden, and he stood up quickly. One of the Warden recruits stood before him, a slightly apologetic look on his face. "Sorry to disturb you, Commander, but we have news from the Wilds."

"What's the situation?"

The man pointed over his shoulder. "One of the guards at the gate thought he heard noises, so he sent me to tell you."

"What sort of noises?"

"A growling noise, he said. He's never heard darkspawn before, so he wasn't sure, but he thought it might be one."

Anthatal walked towards the wooden gates that marked the southern extremity of the camp, saying to the recruit as he went: "Gather the other recruits and the newer Wardens and come with me. Make sure you're fully armed."

"Right away, Commander."

The tall man brushed a lock of hair out of his eyes and pulled on his helm, undoing one of the two straps that held his blade in its sheath just afterwards. He approached the guards at the gates, both of whom looked rather nervous, and one started babbling right away. "Good to see you Commander. I heard a darkspawn out there, I swear I did. He must've been huge the way he growled an' all was so bloody awful. Please tell me you've come to kill him."

"Calm yourself, man. You'll be facing the horde soon enough, so you'd better get used to darkspawn."

The guard straightened himself. "Right. Sorry, Commander, I just...panicked."

Anthatal resisted the urge to reply sarcastically and instead nodded in acknowledgement. After a minute, the recruit returned with the new Wardens. The tall man addressed them in a somber tone. "I understand that for most of you, this is your first time fighting darkspawn. Remember that even though they may be hideously ugly, they're just as stupid. They have no fighting technique, so if you keep your heads, you'll be fine. Take this as an introduction to being a Grey Warden." Then he turned to the recruits. "Run and get some small vials from the mages. You'll need to collect blood, one vial each, for your Joining. This is the first of your ritual tests. You'll have one senior Warden assigned to each pair of you, and he'll lead you as we hunt down the darkspawn."

As the recruits went to ask for vials from the mages, Anthatal turned to the "senior" Wardens. "Each of you take your recruits and hunt down at least ten darkspawn each. Split up and cover the area thoroughly. Alistair and I will remain here to maintain security." The six remaining Wardens nodded their understanding and readied their weapons as Anthatal walked off to tell Cailan of the situation, Alistair trailing him.