Warden Gothic – Ostagar Again
"So you return from the Wilds" said Duncan as the group came into the small part of the army camp that had been put aside for the Wardens "Have you been successful?"
"We have" I informed him
"Good" he replied "I have had the circle mages preparing. With the blood you have retrieved we can begin the Joining immediately".
"I'm ready" I said with all the confidence I could muster,
There wasn't more I needed to say as I didn't want to bring up Morrigan and her mother so it was best to get on with things.
"Excellent" remarked the old Warden "You will need that courage soon enough".
"Courage" asked a voice from behind me "How much danger are we in?".
I will not lie: we Grey Wardens pay a heavy price to become what we are. Fate my decree that you pay your price sooner rather than later".
"I've come this far" was all I said.
The sooner it was over with the better in my books.
"I agree" said Ser Jory "let's have it done"
"Then let us begin" declared Duncan "Alistair take them to the old temple".
For a while now, or at least it seemed like a while. I had been listening to Daveth and Jory argue back and fourth about the necessity of the ritual.
Daveth's view was that any sacrifice would be worth stopping the Darkspawn, while Jory thought that drinking Darkspawn blood would be too high a price to pay.
For my part I said nothing I had other things on my mind, and I didn't much see the point of trying to assure Jory he would be dead soon away.
"It is time," Duncan said. "We only say a few words, but since the first, these words have been spoken at the ceremony."
I also didn't really listen to the words Duncan was now saying as he started the ceremony that was transform me into a Grey Warden. I was too worried to listen. A thousand bad thoughts were running through my head.
It was possible that this ritual could kill me. How would taking in the Taint react with the spirit within me? Would it cleanse me and therefore make it impossible for me to become a Warden and thus expose its presence with the bright light?
I'd touched that dog which had been infected and it healed even before I'd gotten the Kennel Master the special flower. When I'd returned the animal looked as if it had been ill at all.
This meant that I could end up glowing and then things would really... well it would be bad.
"Join us, brothers and sisters. Join us in the shadows, where we stand vigilant. Join us as we carry the duty that can not be forsworn. And should you perish, know that your sacrifice will not be forgotten. And that, one day, we shall join you."
My trail of thoughts ended when the rouge, whose name I thankfully hadn't remembered, took a sip from the chalice and then dropped dead.
I didn't react, as I wasn't remotely surprised but the knight didn't keep his cool. He drew his big sword but he didn't last long.
This time I did react but I only took a few steps back.
Then the chalice was presented to me and I knew that while I could beat Alistair I wouldn't get past Duncan and even if I did I was in an army camp. They would hang me for murder because there was no way I could take the experienced Warden down without killing him.
So I drank
Alistair carefully watched Duncan as he added a drop of the blood from the chalice into a small amulet. The blood itself didn't do anything but the amulet was enchanted.
Every Warden had one just like the one that would soon belong to Gothic. They were keepsakes, reminders of what they done to become Grey Wardens.
Slowly Alistair turned his head and looked at the man on the floor.
"Does he really come from another world?" the bastard prince asked of his mentor.
"So he says".
Duncan knew far more than he was saying. He knew that Gothic was in fact from another world but given that the conformation had come from 'The Witch of the Wilds' he wasn't sure if that was a good thing.
"But how is that possible?"
"I don't know"
Gothic didn't know either he'd been asleep with the transportation hadn't taken place.
"Is he an apostate, maybe?"
Duncan looked at his young ward and said.
"Assuming he didn't lie when telling me about his world then no. They do not have mages where he is from".
Duncan didn't know how but he knew there was something magical about the unconscious man, but he wasn't a mage he was clearly a warrior. Veterans like himself had a way of sensing someone with potential.
"I don't know, it seems to me that the whole glowing thing was a bit magical" Alistair remarked.
"What is really bothering you, Alistair?"
"You mean other than the obvious?"
"Yes" replied the senior warden with a sighn.
"What happened at his joining. I'm sorry but that just wasn't natural".
"The Joining is not natural. But that was something unusual I admit".
"Unusual! He glowed! People don't glow".
The more experienced Warden was wise enough to know that his young friend simply wouldn't let this matter drop. He had to try and reassure the king's half brother because like it or not he and Gothic were going to be working together. Which meant that they would also have to trust each other with their lives.
"I do not believe he is a mage."
"Perhaps he's not, but he could still be possessed by a demon".
"I doubt that" said the older man "I have seen demons and abominations. They are evil things and hardly subtle. They can be cunning but such a creature would be unable to fool all of us for very long".
Alistair seemed to think over. Demons had been known to trick people but they enjoyed being able to torment mortals. If Gothic was possessed it was highly that the demon would have been able to withstand the temptations of being in the real world had to offer for this length of time.
Maybe it was something else.
"Perhaps it happened because he is not from this world" suggested Duncan "unless another of his people come here and undergo the Joining we have nothing to compare Gothic's Joining with.
Alistair stared at the newest Grey Warden for a long moment, before finally asking what he had been leading up to.
"Is he..."
Duncan knew it was time to end this talk his charge would soon awaken and they were short on time in any case.
"He is a Grey Warden, and he is your brother. Nothing else matters".
When I woke up it wasn't the afterlife and I wasn't surrounded by Templars so I must of not glowed or anything. Still all in all it was not a fun experience to wake up with what seemed to be Alistair looking as if he was going to perform CCPR.
"How do you feel?" asked Duncan.
"Like I have the world's biggest hangover" I replied.
The illegitimate heir to the throned snorted and said.
"I know exactly what you mean".
Duncan seemed to know now that I would be okay so he helped me and supported me until he was sure my legs could hold me up.
"Did you have any dreams?" inquired my fellow junior Warden.
They were vague and already fading but I remembered a few things.
"An army marching underground. Big, scary dragon. And something involving Dwarves. Maybe a battle".
Judging by their expressions this wasn't news to them or maybe it was but they weren't concerned about it. It was so hard to tell with Duncan.
"The dreams are part of what it means to be a Grey Warden" explained the senior member of the group "In the months to come you will come to understand the rest".
I better do as their wasn't anyone who could explain it to me. Even Alistair didn't know what much.
"For now we have other concerns. The battle will begin soon and the king has requested your presence as well as mine".
I wondered if Alistair had been invited as well. If not then the king likely knew of his half brother and if he didn't then Duncan would want to keep them apart as much as possible.
"Give me a moment or two and I'll join you" I told my superior who along with his junior soon left me to recover on my own.
I just needed to sit down for a few seconds or maybe I needed to washed my mouth out. Darkspawn blood was not a tasty treat.
"You risk too much! The darkspawn horde is too dangerous for you to be playing hero on the front lines".
Wow. I never thought I'd agree with anything Lorgian would ever say, at least not this early in the game, but amazingly I was. In fact if not for the fact that it wasn't really may place to speak I would of verbally supported the king's father in law. But I doubted anyone wanted to hear anything I had to say right now. This was meeting of leaders and I was the most junior Grey Warden about.
"If that's the case, perhaps we should wait for the orlesian forces after all."
Again I would support that idea, but I kept my mouth shut and looked over the maps on the table before me in the hopes that I would at least understand the battle plan.
"I must protest to your fool notion that we need the Orlesians to defend ourselves."
"It is not a 'fool notion'. Our arguments with the Orlesians are a thing of the past… and you will remember who is king!"
"How fortunate Maric did not live to see his son ready to hand Ferelden over to those who enslaved us for a century."
"Then our current forces will have to suffice, won't they?"
I was again tempted to speak but there was no need. My respect for the monarch went up upon realising that he'd brought up the Orlesians to divert from the fact that he would be risking his life on the front lines.
"Duncan, are your men ready for battle?"
"They are, your majesty." the senior Grey Warden replied. "Shall we go through the battle strategy again?"
"Fine. The Grey Wardens and I draw the darkspawn into charging our lines
and then…?"
With a heavy sigh, Loghain surrendered and started to go along with things. It was all an act of course, in more ways than one.
"You will alert the tower to light the beacon, signaling my men to charge from cover."
The king then jumped in
"To flank the darkspawn, I remember"
The monarch then pointed to the map.
"This is the tower of Ishal in the ruins, yes? Who shall light this beacon?"
This time Teyrn Loghain answered without delay.
"I have a few men stationed there. It is not a dangerous task, but it is a vital one."
KingCailan then spoke to the Wardens .
"Then we should send our best. Send Alistair and the new Grey Warden with him."
Before the soon to be traitor could say anything I took the chance to finally say something.
"I'm happy to help your Majesty, but may I suggest..."
"It is not your place to suggest anything" Loghain half snarled..
I had to wonder how the Wardens had offended him. It couldn't be anything I'd done as we'd just met but he really didn't like me and I'd like to know why. But this wasn't the time or the place. When I had him at my mercy then I would get my answers.
"Let the Warden speak" commanded the king.
Despite the fact that any action I took now could altar the future I had just had to try.
"It just struck me that the Darkspawn might be able to err flank us".
I didn't really know the right terms for this sort of thing but I had to try.
"They can use the Deep Roads and if the Arch-Demon is smart enough to led an army he might be marching one beneath our feet. The spawn here could be a distraction so I think it might be a good idea to have a couple of Wardens backed by some troops spread out a bit so they can at least warn us if some of the monsters appear".
If they agreed to that, and I hoped they did, Alistair and I wouldn't be left to carry the burden of battling the Blight. I didn't think they'd go for it but still I had to try.
"As far as I am aware there are no passages into the Deep Roads anywhere nearby" informed Duncan "and small bands of Darkspawn in the area will be found by our scouts so there is nothing to be concerned about".
Damn it.
"I must admit, that I to don't feel concered about a second army of Darkspawn. There are tens of thousands of them here to deal with, they can't have more" the king added.
Knowing that no one would listen to me now I backed off until the discussion was over and then headed back to the Grey Warden camp so that the senior Grey Warden could give us our updated orders and a quick pep talk before sending us off to nearly die.
"You both know the plan" said Duncan "you will wait here and ensure that the beckon is lit".
"What I won't be at the battle!"
Alistair was half way to outraged about this turn of events.
"This is by the king's personal request, Alistair "explained Duncan "If the beckon is not lit Teryn Logahins men won't known when to charge".
"So he needs two Grey Wardens standing up their holding the torch. Just in case right?".
The grumpyness was strong in this one.
I took the time to ask where the tower was acting as if I didn't know.
"The tower is on the other side of the gorge across from the king's camp" answered the old Warden "the way we came when we arrived".
I'd seen it so I knew that but I was really just trying to distract my new brother.
"You'll need to cross the gorge and head through the gate and up to the tower entrance. From the top you will overlook the entire valley".
"Making it easy to see the signal" I realised.
"We will send the signal when the time is right" informed Duncan "Alistair knows what to look for".
"Okay I'm ready to go" I said to my surperior.
"Then I must join the others" declared Duncan "From here you two are on your own. Remember that you are both Grey Wardens. I expect you to live up to the title".
"May the Maker watch over you" requested Alistair as Duncan started to walk away.
"May he watch over us all" were the last words either of us would ever hear him say.
"If you say as much as 'I told you so', I'll do to you what Sisters at the Chantry used to do to me" Alistair threatened.
All I could smile as the two of us, plus a tag along mage and a couple of guardsmen, looked down into a large hole that clearly led down into the Deep Roads. When Alistair had asked how the Darkspawn could be here I had told him what I had suspected and that I had even shared my concerns. Alistair also didn't think I'd been right but now I had proof/
"Kinky but your not my type and I'd much rather be the one to give the spankings".
Daylen, the tag along mage, started to laugh as Alistair tried to hide the fact that he was blushing.
"The girls charge extra for that at the Pearl" informed a guard
Sadly our light hearted banter was badly timed as it turned out that not all of the Darkspawn had yet finished making us of new and expanded basement.
Once more I got to show off my fighting skills but killing more than my fair share of monsters. In fact I was getting so many that if notched my weapon for every kill I'd be working with stumps before too long.
Knowing me well enough to figure that I was going to make some sort of commented Alistair decided to half push me towards the big doors.
"Come on, we have to go. There's still a beacon to be lit!"
"Did you remember to bring the matches?" I asked.
After a lot more fighting, which I let the Spirit Within handle we managed to make it to the top floor. Somehow we'd gathered a small army by organising the survivors and for a reason I couldn't imagine they all thought it was a good idea for me to led them.
The final set of doors opened with a painfully long creak and gave way to the sight of an ogre even bigger than the one I'd seen before. The massive monster was chowing down on some poor sod and the sight made me want to vomit.
Upon hearing the doors open and the shocked cries of protest from some of the soldiers the creature turned its head and roared. An action which had the effect of splattering its dinner all over the room.
Backing away I said
"I think I'm going to need a bigger sword"
Well actually an anti-armour rocket would be the most help right now or failing that at the very least a belt fed machine gun of some sort.
Thankfully the mage Daylen stepped up and provided a little magical aid.
He waved his hands in the air and began to summon fire. Meanwhile the guards fired a couple of arrows so that beast would be distracted.
The fireball wasn't long in coming but it didn't slay the demon so I rushed forward along aside the bastard prince. Alistair cut low taking out a knee while I jumped and forced my two handed sword right into the creature's neck. It was effective but rather messy.
"Okay so I didn't need a bigger sword" I admitted.
There was no time for more witty remarks as Alistair decided to take charge and ordered the mage to lit the signal fire.
That was when things got really bad.