First off, let me say that this chapter wouldn't be possible without the help of my dear friend, Apollo Wings, who has helped me with the Avvars and was the one who suggested this in the first place! Apollo Wings has written an AWESOME fic called 'Daughter of the Mountain'. Since I tried putting up her link her last time, but you know what FF is like when it comes to links, please visit my profile and check my favorite stories page! Her story is doubly awesome because she created the Avvar Origin and her warden is Avvar! :D Be sure to read it if you can – it's very good!
A huge thanks to all my lovely reviewers: anesor, eboncat, Pintsizedpsycho, Violet Enigma, Apollo Wings and kogouma! You guys have no idea how much your reviews mean to me! Thanks so much for all the love! :D I also want to thank my lovely betas Eynla and CouslandSpitFire. I really appreciate all your help! :D
A note here for all the readers: Although often referred to as a single entity, the Avvars are actually groups of small tribes who operate independently of each other. The only unifying concepts that the Avvars share are their beliefs and culture.
Also would like to add something about their names. The Avvar are like the Vikings in more ways than one, so their names are 'Viking-ish'. I used a Viking name generator for all the names of my Avvar characters. The link was generously provided by Apollo Wings.
Also, the Avvars are matrilineal, so their byname is used to show who an Avvar's mother is. 'An' would indicate 'daughter of' and 'Ar' would indicate 'son of'. The byname is followed by the letter 'O', and then the name of the clan. For example, Signy An Ingigeror O Oss would be 'Signy, the daughter of Ingigeror from the Clan of Oss.
We will be seeing a bit more of the Avvar in the following chapter, too! :D
My disclaimer as usual: Bioware owns! :D
Chapter 24
The group trekked through the mountains for days, often braving snowstorms and stopping only to rest and eat some of the food they hunted – their rations having dwindled considerably. On the morning of the fifth day, Anders approached Rhianna, who was sitting in front of a makeshift fire, chatting to Varric and Fenris.
"Supplies are low, love. If we continue with this, what will we do if we climb one of the mountains where there are no animals to kill for food?"
"A sensible question," Fenris murmured, eliciting a look of surprise from Anders.
"Come on, Blondie!" Varric chuckled. "There are mountain goats and they're very large! One of them could last us a week."
"They're also very fast," Anders pointed out with a frown. "We haven't managed to successfully hunt and kill one so far."
"Whatever happened to your sunny disposition, Anders?" Rhianna asked him with a smile. "You used to make jokes and I miss your witty one-liners."
"Sunny disposition is frozen," Anders shot back, looking a bit nettled. "It's so cold here, everything is frozen."
"I could remedy that," Rhianna purred.
Anders chuckled, shaking his head. "I bet you could…"
"We should get going before the weather changes again," Fenris said in a monotone. "I don't want to be caught in another snowstorm."
"Remember that plateau we saw from a distance?" Rhianna commented. "I think that we should look there."
"You mean climb some more," Anders sighed. "Suuure. Why not? It's not like we'll get too tired."
Rhianna stood and place a kiss on his cheek, then leaned over to whisper in Anders's ear. "I'll make it up to you when we get home."
Anders captured her lips hungrily in a passionate kiss. "You'd better," he murmured back when he pulled away.
…
As they climbed the mountain to where they thought the plateau was, it started to snow. Anders pulled his woolen coat around him and continued to climb, his teeth chattering. Rhianna had taken the lead, but Fenris and Varric were not far behind.
As soon as they reached the plateau, Anders pulled Rhianna back with a frown. "Wait! I can…sense something!"
"What is it, my love?" Rhianna turned to him, her hands reaching for her daggers.
The plateau was heavily forested, but they heard a scream up ahead and Fenris unsheathed his greatsword, while Varric stood at the ready, already aiming Bianca at the general direction the scream had come from.
"I can't believe it!" Anders cried, his frown deepening. "Darkspawn up ahead!"
Rhianna let out a half-growl of annoyance and turned to Fenris who nodded at her, knowing exactly what she wanted. The elven warrior ran up to the tree line, with Rhianna and Anders close behind, and Varric in the rear. They could hear several screams now, accompanied by growls and snarls presumably made by the darkspawn. As they ran through the forest, they could see the trees beginning to thin and finally arrived in an area dotted with wooden cabins. However, they did not focus on that because there were people – whom they assumed were the Avvars – fighting the darkspawn and they looked desperate because they were clearly fighting a losing battle.
As Fenris sprinted forward to help, he reached some kind of invisible wall and was flung back with a force that knocked him off his feet. Rhianna skidded to a stop and ran back to where he was lying. Anders was already kneeling beside him to see if he was seriously hurt.
"I'm fine," snarled the white-haired elf as he sat up, breathing heavily. "I just need to catch my breath."
Rhianna stood up and gazed upon the fight with dismay while Anders inspected the area using magic.
"They've put up magical wards against predators," he soon informed the group. "Unfortunately for them, the darkspawn appear from under the ground, so unless one of their mages comes to disable the ward, we can't do much to help!"
A short while later, a young redhead girl who could not been more than thirteen approached them, the fear in her blue eyes unmistakable.
"Are you here to help us? We have lost several of our brethren and our Jarl has fallen! If you would fight with us against these foul creatures, I will disable the wards!"
"We are here to help," Rhianna assured her. "You can trust us!"
"I am scared and we have lost some of our more powerful warriors. Those creatures took them!" the girl replied, her eyes on Anders. "I can sense you are a shaman and your magic would be helpful!"
Fenris stepped into the girl's line of vision. "A child of Shartan as well! This is good!" the girl cried out as soon as she saw the elven warrior. Fenris's eyebrows flew upwards, unable to comprehend why he had just been called 'a child of Shartan', but meaning to ask as soon as the opportunity presented itself. With a flick of her hand, the redhead girl closed her eyes for a few minutes. Anders could feel the ward lifting, even from where he was standing.
Rhianna ran forward, eager to join the fray, with Fenris at her heels. Anders immediately focused on the darkspawn emissary – freezing it in place as Fenris brought his greatsword down crushing its skull. The blow knocked some of the darkspawn off their feet and he quickly advanced to kill the ones on the ground. Rhianna sprinted to reach a hurlock that was behind Fenris, stabbing it before it could do any harm. The creature gurgled as it went down.
The redhead girl urged them onwards, flinging an electric bolt at a group of genlocks, while Fenris rushed in swinging his weapon and Rhianna jumped from creature to creature, slashing and hacking at the monsters. Varric's rain of arrows slowed the majority of the tainted monsters down, and most of the Avvar warriors that were still fighting found the battle grow easier as the number of darkspawn gradually decreased.
A short time afterwards, Rhianna smiled as soon as she realized that they were now clearly winning the battle. When the last darkspawn had fallen, one of the warriors holding a broad-axe turned to scowl at Rhianna and her companions, his brown eyes flashing angrily.
"Who are you lowlanders? Why are you here?"
"They like us!" Anders smirked.
The young redhead mage that had disabled the wards stepped forward, her hand outstretched. "Please, Bothvar. Stay your hand. I disabled the wards so that they could help us in battle!"
"Help us? We do not need the help of lowlanders! We can take care of ourselves!" the man practically growled.
A woman with dark brown hair and kind brown eyes stepped forward. "Stand down, Bothvar Ar Astrid O Oss!" she said in a commanding tone. "You would have these outsiders think us all barbarians, such as the tales they tell of us? We shall be grateful for we did not ask for their help, and yet they have helped us."
"You will get us all in trouble for this," Bothvar replied, his brow furrowed. "We should not converse with the lowlanders. They do nothing but destroy our lands and steal our crops. They mock us when they speak of us. I will have nothing to do with this, but I respect your words because you are the sister of our Jarl." The man turned and walked away, his shoulders hunched.
"I beg you to forgive Bothvar," the woman said to Hawke, her beautiful face a mask of worry. "Our Jarl, my brother, nearly died in the battle you helped us fight. My name is Ingigeror An Thorarna O Oss and I would give you a better welcome, but I only came looking for my daughter. She is an experienced shaman and we need her to heal my brother."
"My name is Anders and I'm a healer, too," Anders spoke quickly. "If I can and you allow me to do so, I would like to help with the healing." The blond mage smiled and nodded at Ingigeror, then looked down at the redhead girl who was looking up at him.
"I think my daughter can take care of it, but you are welcome to come with us," Ingigeror replied with a nod. "Follow me."
…
The group stood around as the redhead mage girl and Anders scanned the fallen Jarl for any fatal wounds. Most of the Avvar villagers were sullen and cast angry looks at Rhianna and her team, but the girl's mother asked them to be calm. Even though her words did not stop the angry looks, the people remained silent and did not make any threatening moves towards Rhianna and her friends.
"I can sense something black and dark in his blood," the redhead girl said after a while, her brow furrowed. "What is that?"
She turned to Anders and before he could reply, her eyes widened slightly with surprise.
"What do you mean, Signy?" Ingigeror hurried to ask, a worried look on her face.
"He knows, mother," the girl replied. "He carries it, too!"
"The darkspawn are foul creatures that carry tainted blood. I am a Grey Warden," Anders said quietly. "My purpose in life should be to hunt these creatures down and kill them."
"The tainted blood…Is this is the disease the creatures carry?" Signy asked.
"You are a Grey Warden? Do you mean you are one of the grey warriors that go into the Deep Roads in Orzammar?" Ingigeror hurried to ask as well. "It is said that long ago, one of our own was a Grey Warden. We greatly respect your order, Grey Warden."
"Yes to all your questions and thank you kindly," Anders replied with a smile. His face grew serious again as he spoke. "I'm afraid your brother now carries the Taint. I am truly sorry…"
"My brother is in grave danger, then? Is this what you are saying?" Ingigeror asked.
"Yes, he is. The Taint in his blood will kill him or…turn him into what we call 'ghouls' – a tainted creature himself," Anders responded sadly with a shake of his head. "There is no cure for the Taint."
Signy smiled at this, her eyes fixed on Anders. "You are forgetting we are shamans, Anders."
"There is no magic that I know of that can cure this sickness, Signy. He will die," Anders commented sadly. But Signy's smile had widened into a grin and when he turned to look at Ingigeror, he was slightly surprised to discover she was smiling as well.
"I think you underestimate my daughter's abilities, Shaman Anders," Ingigeror responded, her smile widening slightly. "Our gods will aid her. She is a special girl and her powers are also special. She will find a way to save his life. I am sorry. I must greet your companions." The kind lady now turned to face Rhianna.
"My name is Rhianna Hawke, Ingigeror. I thank you for letting us be here."
"You come with good company," Ingigeror said softly. "I bid you welcome as well.
"I guess all the stories were true, then?" Varric interrupted with a grin. "Looks like we're in the right place, Blondie!"
"I am sorry I did not welcome you before, dwarf," Ingigeror inclined her head respectfully. "Your people and ours share deep ties."
"My name is Varric Tethras, Ingigeror. Thank you for your welcome," Varric said respectfully with a grin.
"And your other companion is a child of Shartan," Ingigeror smiled back, her eyes now on Fenris. "Welcome."
"My name is Fenris," the elven warrior replied with a small smile. "May I ask why you call me 'a child of Shartan'?"
"The elves helped Andraste and fought against the Tevinter, of course. Shartan is one of our heroes," Signy smiled up at the elf. The girl then turned back to the fallen Jarl, a worried look on her face. "We must hurry if we want to help him, mother."
"I will help you prepare everything for the Ritual, my daughter," Ingigeror nodded, then turned to Rhianna and her companions once again. "Please make yourselves comfortable."
…
The four friends sat on the sweet grassy knoll in front of an altar-like stone while Signy and her mother rushed about gathering ingredients for the Ritual. The rest of the Avvar had left the group alone. The darkspawn had taken two Avvar warriors back into the hole they had made in order to attack the villagers, so they had no dead bodies to mourn, but they were sullen and two of the women were crying. They busied themselves with shovels, filling in the gaping hole and did not talk to Hawke or her companions. Then two of the villagers suddenly appeared before the quiet body of the Jarl and carried him off.
Ingigeror turned to Hawke and her companions.
"We will take you with us to our brother's home, so that we can prepare you for the Ritual and anoint you," she solemnly told them. "Please follow me."
Rhianna and the rest stood up and silently followed Ingigeror into one of the cabins, which they could clearly see was the largest in the area. The unconscious Jarl had been laid in the center of the room, and they sat on the floor where Ingigeror instructed.
"You will now be anointed with special herbs and oils. Please sit still," Ingigeror said softly as she took a bowl and walked amongst the group, carefully applying scented oils and herbs on their faces, which dried and formed distinct tattoo-liked patterns. Signy gestured towards Anders so that he could sit beside her. As soon as he had, he felt a soft touch on his right cheek and his eyes flickered towards Signy, open wide in alarm.
"Do not be afraid. Our god, Sigfrost, favors you," the young girl smiled.
"You have all helped us without thinking of your own demise in our battle against the darkspawn. Would you ask anything of us?" Ingigeror asked graciously.
"Please, Ingigeror," Rhianna began. "If you are preforming a ritual to help your Jarl, we would like you to help Anders with the Taint as well."
"Sigfrost has already favored him," Signy replied. "The gods will help him also."
"Let us begin!" Ingigeror said in a loud voice. Signy grew silent, her brow furrowed in deep concentration, while her mother knelt in front of her brother, raising her arms. The girl fell into a trance and began to chant.
"Imhar the cunning! Imhar the fox! Patron of trickery and wit! Cast your eyes upon this Avvar Jarl and our visiting Grey Warden shaman. See that the spume of the Tevinters does not implant in his bones, does not taint his blood! Trick the poison of the Tevinters into letting this fine warrior and this fine shaman be!"
A few moments of strained silence followed, while Signy repeated the Chant once again. At that moment, a white-blue glow burst forth from Signy that was so bright, Rhianna, Varric and Fenris looked away, covering their eyes. Anders, however, willed himself to stare into the girl's hands and saw a wisp materialize in the center of a glowing orb, slowly taking the form of a fox. The glowing animal sniffed at Anders first and pawed at his hand, its mouth opening in a grin as its tongue lolled out. It turned and walked to the Jarl's fallen body and sniffed, then placed a paw on his forehead.
Anders felt a tremble throughout his body, the Taint suddenly shrinking from the fox, but not fully disappearing. He also felt a deep exhaustion overtake him and had to force himself to keep his eyes open.
The fox turned back to Anders and went up to him, so that Anders was looking directly into its glowing blue eyes. Its mouth opened wide in another grin as it walked back towards Signy, entering the bluish ball of light that was now pulsating above her hands. Anders felt a dizziness overcome him and he struggled to stay conscious. Why am I feeling so weak? Maker's breath!
Jarl Geirhildr Ar Thorarna O Oss abruptly sat up and looked around, blinking rapidly as he tried to make sense of where he was. His sister smiled at him happily.
"What happened, sister?" He touched his forehead with his right hand then groaned once. "I feel strange."
"It is good to see you are hale, brother," Ingigeror said brightly. "Signy, through the favor of Sigfrost, has managed to cure you from the disease those monsters infected you with."
The Jarl turned abruptly to smile at his niece, who was laughing and clapping her hands happily and his eyes fell on Hawke and her group. His brow furrowed and his hazel eyes flashed angrily.
"Lowlanders in my home? What is the meaning of this?"
At that moment, Anders groaned and fell onto the floor in a dead faint.
…
Author's SECOND note: Yes, I know! That's quite the cliffhanger! Please don't kill me! :P