The Hero named Villan
Its a desire demon not a lust demon, that said lust and desire are closely linked. Also no as Gothic isn't a Mage so he can't enter the Fade and even if he could the spirit within in would be in charge.
davycrockett100 & Maben00
Glad you like it.
Warden Gothic – Redcliffe Town
With the morning sun behind us my group reached a place high enough that were able to overlooked the entire town of Redcliffe. Upon seeing the settlement I realized that the last time we had set up camp we had actually been closer to the town than I had thought.
It was amazing that we hadn't been attacked by the undead. I could only assume that demon controlling the dead monsters had ordered them not to stray to far from the castle.
Soon enough I saw someone running from the village up the path toward us. He just about reached the bridge before we did and he had to look us all up and down twice over before he accepted the fact that we were real.
"I... I thought I saw travellers coming down the road," explained the very out of breathe man, "Though I could scarcely believe it. Have you come to help us?"
Did I have the word 'hero' stamped on my forehead or something? Everyone I encountered seemed to have some problem that only could solve and often it involved giving people money.
Well at least this time these people wouldn't want money, they'd just want to kill things and I was getting very good at that.
"Actually we came to see Arl Eamon" I answered.
I knew that he was too ill to speak to anyone, in fact he was pretty much in a coma, but there was no way I should of known that so as normal I just went with the flow of events.
"The arl? Then... you don't know? Has nobody out there heard?"
"Heard what, exactly?" I asked "I mean I know the Arl is ill we met one of his knights in Lothering, but is he too sick to receive visitors?".
Hopefully that sounded as if I was truly concerned and that I didn't know more about what was going on than I should.
"He could be dead, for all we know!" the greeter replied. "Nobody's heard anything from the castle in days."
The welcoming committee took a few moments to calm down. Clearly he was highly stressed and who could blame him the undead weren't exactly known for being friendly creatures.
"We're under attack. Monsters come out of the castle every night and attack us non stop until dawn. Everyone's been fighting... and dying."
This news was not taken well by anyone in my group.
"Apparently everyone seems to agree that a Blight is the perfect time to start killing each other." Morrigan said in her normal warm and friendly manner.
Thankfully she was ignored by everyone and hopefully that would remain the case.
"We've no army to defend us, no arl and no king to send us help. So many are dead, and those left are terrified. They all think that they will be the next to die".
Finally Alistair could no longer remain silent.
"Hold on. What is this evil that's attacking you?"
There was a lot of worry in his voice but that wasn't shocking as this place had been his home once upon a time.
"I... I don't rightly know; I'm sorry. Nobody does".
Not very helpful really.
"I should take you to Bann Teagan. He's all that's holding us together. He'll want to see you."
"Bann Teagan?" Alistair asked "Arl Eamon's brother? He's here?"
With that it was decided that we all enter the town, I might be leader but it appeared that Alistair was taking charge at the least for the moment.
Despite the fact that the town of Redcliff had become something of fort recently we found it rather easy to get in. That mostly had to do with the fact that the people in charge of this settlement under siege seemed to be on a first name bases with Alistair.
Which was wasn't surprisingly really as he had grown up here I reminded myself once more.
It seemed that most of the adults had either played with Alistair as children or had at some point fallen victim to one of his pranks. It was hard to imagine it but judging by what I had overheard so far my Grey Warden had been the local equivalent of Dennis the Menace or Bart Simpson. He'd even had a partner in crime in the from a small dog. I had to wonder if had been called Gnasher.
Sadly there was little time for story telling so I wouldn't be gathering much in the way of blackmail material.
"Tomas, yes?" asked the Bann. "Who are these people with you? They're obviously not simple travellers."
"No, my lord. They just arrived, and I thought you would want to see them".
"Greetings, friends. My name is Teagan, Bann of Rainesfere, brother to the Arl" the Bann said by way of greeting.
I guessed that Bann was the local version of Baron which would make tht title of Arl the same as a either a Duke or a Earl.
"I remember you, Bann Teagan," Alistair said, "Though the last time we met I was a lot younger and... covered in mud."
"Covered in mud? ... Alistair?"
The eyes brightened at what was no doubt a pleasant memory of better times.
"It's is you, isn't it? You're alive! This is wonderful news!"
"Were you expecting him not to be?" I inquired.
"Indeed. Loghain would have us believe all Grey Wardens died along with my nephew, amongst other things."
Ah yes enemy propaganda. I really hated propaganda.
"Why?" I questioned, once more acting as if I didn't know exactly what was going on "What has Loghain been saying about us?"
Actually everyone in my group knew part of what the usurper was saying due to that bar fight in Lothering, but I wanted to get all the information I could just in case things were different than in the game.
"Loghain, has informed everyone who will listen that Grey Wardens are traitors and that they also murdered the king." Teagan said.
I felt my body tense and my hands went to the weapons on my belt. There were a lot of scared people with weapons around me and they might not react well to more bad news.
"I don't believe it. It is an act of a desperate man" the tired noble assured us "I think that Loghain quit the battle in order to preserve his army so that he could use to enforce his rule".
My body noticeably eased. Teagan was no friend of my enemy and that made him a potential ally.
"So I assume that you are a Grey Warden as well" said the Bann now addressing me formally "A pleasure to meet you. I wish it were under better circumstances. No doubt you are here to see my brother?"
"Yes, sir" I replied, unsure how to address nobles in the this land "the Blight is upon us so Alistair and I are attempting to gather an army to face the Darkspawn".
"That might be a problem" confessed the Bann "Eamon is still alive. At least I hope he is, but when last I saw him she was gravely ill".
Not that most encouraging thing my group could of heard.
"No one has heard from the castle in days. No guards patrol the walls and no one has responded to my calls. The attacks started a few nights ago. These evil things come out from the castle. We drove them back, but many perished during the last assault and I fear that tonight's attack will be worse".
"What evil things?" asked Alistair again.
Teagan began to pace. Clearly he needed to talk about what was going on here but not just so he could convince us of the danger. He needed to convince himself that it was all true, as well.
"Some call them the walking dead." Teagan informed my fellow Warden "Decomposing corpses returning to life with a hunger for human flesh... They attack each night and every night they come in greater numbers than ever before".
The noble took a deep breath and calmed himself down.
"With Cailan dead and Loghain having started this war over the throne, no one has responded to my urgent calls for help. We are alone, and we are running low on supplies. I fear that we won't last night".
He stopped pacing and looked my fellow Warden in the eyes.
"Alistair, I hate to ask, but I desperately need the help of you and your friends."
I was tempted to just get this guy's special ring and to head right into the castle. We still had more than a few hours of day light it would be possible for us to...
Actually coming to think on the matter. What would I do?
Kill Conner?
It was certainly an option, but not a very good one and I wasn't sure that I actually could kill him. He was after all only a child, and the only thing he was actually guilty of was wanting to keep his father alive.
It was the demon that was the problem.
The thought of some poor kid being used as a puppet by a demon made me feel very angry. There really should be some sort of rule against demons possessing children. A child shouldn't be able to give consent to such a thing, they were unable to understand what such a deal actually meant. No wonder the Templars dragged young mages off to the Circle, they really didn't have a choice if kids were easy pray for demons.
Mentally I shook my head and drove those thoughts away. I had to focus on the here and now.
Saving the town was the right thing to do. Saving these people was the right thing to do.
I was telling myself that because my sense of right and wrong needed me to think it, but it was also the logical thing to. If I saved all these people I'd have more allies and it was more likely that the Arl would come to my aid against Longhair if I found a way to save both his son and people he ruled.
Plus this went beyond Redcliff. What was happening here threatened everyone in the kingdom. The demon had an army of the dead and there were lots of more defenceless villages close to the castle. Worse if the demon could control its armies even from a great distance it could have the monsters march at night and hide in any number of ruins during the day.
"It isn't just up to me" Alistair replied "The Wardens have a duty to stop the Blight. That said we don't stand much chance against Loghain without the help of the Arl".
"We should help" I said to the whole group.
Alistair was pleased to hear me say that but not everyone else was.
"One would think we had enough to contend with elsewhere" argued Morrigan
"We need the Arl's support" I pointed out "without him to challenge Loghain we will never get the support we need".
"Why do we simply not go after the Arch-Demon" Sten demanded to know.
I'd been expecting this to come up.
"Because the Arch-Demon is a dragon that is marching.. well flying at the head an a massive army of Darkspawn" I told the giant of a man "working together we might and I do might, be able to kill the Arch-Demon but we won't be able to get to it unless the horde its leading are kept busy. To do that we need an army of our own and army requires more than warriors, we'll need weapons, allies, supplies, horses to transport those supplies, money, food. The Arl can help us with that".
My statement seemed to convince Sten of the wisdom of my chosen course of action. At least for now.
"There is some wisdom in that" admitted Morrigan.
Neither of them seemed to understand just how hard it was to built an army in a feudal setting, but Sten came a society that was very different that what humans knew and Morrigan had grown up in the wilderness with only a batty old witch for company so she could hardly be expected to understand much about logistics and warfare.
"There is much to do before night falls" said the Bann once I had spoken to my team mates "I've put two men in charge of the defenses outside. Murdock, who is the village's mayor, is just outside the chantry. Ser Perth, one of Arl Eamon's knights, is just up at the windmill. You can discuss with them the preparations for the coming battle and plan the defence".
"Why do people keep putting me in charge of things" I muttered to myself.
As the day started to end it was impossible not to notice the increasing feelings of worry and dread within the hearts of the townspeople.
We'd done all we could, but we'd had little to work with.
Still I wasn't too worried. Everyone was ready to fight and I'd bribed or threatened anyone who hadn't wanted to help so even they were willing to stand with us, if only because they knew that I would kill them they didn't fight were as if they did stand with me they might survive and they would make a money.
Also the drunken blacksmith had worked to ensure that everyone had at least some armour, better than that my habit of collecting weapons had paid off as everyone was now armed. I owed him a favour for that but it was that I would pay as I had intention of leaving that castle unless his daughter was at my side.
Even the people who would be staying inside the Chantry had something to defend themselves with. Thinking on that it would soon be time for the women and children to start gathering up what little supplies they and to lock themselves inside the Chantry. I planned to send my war hound Oggy in with them, he would protect the little ones I knew it and if nothing else his presence might distract the children from their parent's worries.
I spent a moment wondering if the undead would even be able to enter the holy place as they were the minions of a demon after all and in some old stories its said the demons can't stand upon holy ground.
While that was an interesting thing to think about I wasn't willing to risk the lives of all those innocents by suggesting that we all barricade inside what past for the local church.
Besides that wouldn't solve the problem as even if we could safely spend the night somewhere then when we finally did enter the castle we'd have to fight even more undead to get to Conner.
Dealing with one threat at a time was the only sensible way of dealing with all of these problems.
"The sun is setting" informed the mayor "its time for us all to take our places. May the Maker watch over us".
Hours later I woke up with someone shaking my very sore body. I'd only gotten about fours sleep according to my mostly useless watch. but since we needed to enter the castle during the day we had no choice but to get moving despite the lack of a proper amount of rest.
"Bann Teagan is about to make an announcement" informed Leliana.
Ah yes it was time for the hero of the hour to be praised. I wondered if they would put a monument or something. I hoped so as fighting zombies on and off all night was well hell of a thing for a man to do.
"Dawn arrives, and we survived the night." Teagan said as he addressed the gathering crowd "We are victorious".
I didn't feel very victorious because while none of my team mates had even been hurt that much, we had lost of a few of the town's folk. I hadn't known of them but still it was hard not to feel their lose as I had led the defence and part of me was wondering if I could of done better.
"And though this victory came at a great cost, we must remember none of us would be here were it not for the heroism of these good folk besides me".
I really didn't like being the centre of this much attention but I managed to keep a neutral expression on my face as the Bann spoke directly to me.
"I thank you, good ser. Truly, the Maker smiled on us when he sent you here in our darkest hour".
Indeed, I was glad that I had listened to Alistair and come here first. This wasn't a video game after all events wouldn't of waited for me. Had I gone to the elves or the dwarves first then all I would of found here was a ghost town ruled over by a demon, or perhaps something worse.
Thinking of the demon I realised that time was of the essence here.
"It isn't over yet" I reminded "we still have to get inside the castle and find the source of this nightmare".
I knew that the Bann agreed with me, but there was no need to worry the townspeople about this matter as there wasn't anything they could do. Also if they didn't feel that the danger had passed then they might make it hard for my team to leave.
"Surely these people deserve some small celebration, don't you think? There is time yet."
"Of course" I said now talking to the crowd "and there should be time to morn as well but sadly I won't be here for that, but don't fear I will return, I promise".
They seemed to believe me. I just wished I did as well.
Everyone remained silent as the local high priestess reminded everyone to thank the Maker for watching over us, and given how many undead we'd defeated even I had to admit we might of gotten some help from upstairs.
My group and I stayed for the whole ceremony, even Morrigan and Sten had their heads respectfully bowed, but soon it was time to leave.
We didn't have long to prepare and when we were ready it would be time to go to the mill and then to enter the castle, to enter the lair of a demon.
Suddenly spending another night of endlessly hacking apart zombies didn't seem like such a bad thing after all.