Author Note
This chapter was guest written by Takao-kun with some minor editing by done my me.
You might remember that a long time ago I attempted to write a story called Adventurer Gothic, that involved many self inserts. Sadly this proved to be beyond my talents as a writer but I did plan for four characters to win the game and become gods.
The character of Alexander the Dragon God is one of the winners.
Warden Gothic
Part 19
Shrine of Andraste's Ashes. Frostback Mountains. Thedas.
I cast the Portal spell connecting my main Temple to this location, it served as the signal for my followers to come through as well as their method of their arrival. Most of them were humans that had flocked to my banner, but some were Dragonkin.
"Most of you will follow me to where the eggs were kept, the rest of you guard the Portal and make sure we aren't interrupted. After every eggs has been take through, we will collect all the the Dragonlings and Drakes. Leave none behind" I ordered "If anyone attempts to stop you, then kill them".
Predictably Alistair did not react well to what was happening.
"Gothic he has summoned demons! I told you we cant trust him!" he yelled while picking up his sword and shield.
Wynne raised the staff I had just made for her in preparation for battle, or perhaps just to defend the group. Morrigan moved off to the side, probably hoping I would have Alistair brutally killed. Leliana simply looked conflicted. As for Gothic he looked to be at the end of his patience. He knew that Alistair's antagonizing of me was putting them all at risk.
My Dragonkin followers did not take kindly to being called demons, they growled and hisses at Alistair, how they held their ground. However they would not attack unless I gave the order. My words were as laws set in stone.
Two Drakonid, either one of them could have gone toe to toe with an Ogre and walked away the victor, then stepped out of the Portal, and this signalled that all of my followers that were coming through the Portal had now arrived.
Which meant they were ready to get started. However they couldn't act yet as my attention was too focused on Alistair to worry about giving out any orders.
"That is it! I give up! You are officially too stupid to live! shehad shiviri thesek nomenoi hofibai vur xurwk jaunus astahii tir ti lemeb udoka!" I yelled at Alistair before directing the Drakonid to watch the party while I called for Gothic to come with me.
Moments later I was stomping down the tunnels toward where the eggs were located and my followers were right behind me.
There was only time I could spend dealing with fools before I was overcome with the urge to kill them, and since I didn't want to deprive the Warden of one of his warriors I'd had leave before I ripped that bastard prince in two.
There was some arguing that echoed down the tunnel, but I wasn't listening. Then finally after some yelling there was a set of running footsteps as Gothic caught up with me. I had no doubt that his friends had tried to stop him from following me, and it was good thing they hadn't.
By now the cultists had noticed something was going on. They'd not attacked upon seeing their 'returned prophets' dead body and by the sounds of things there wasn't much fight left in them all. Those that were willing to spill blood would end up losing their own.
Once we were in the egg chamber my followers set to work. They carefully and tenderly pickrf up the eggs to make them ready for transport.
Gothic watched my followers work, especially the Dragonkin, for a few minutes before asking
"What did you want to talk about?"
Now that was a loaded question.
"Things that we could not speak of in front of the rest of your party." I stated while keeping watch over the operation "I honestly did not expect to meet you here. This was suppose to be a quick in and out, a pick up run really. I was expecting a Cousland or Aeducan Warden. Not another Gothic . . . . you are the third version of you I have encountered".
He had trouble believing that, at least for a short time, and if he hadn't just met a Dragon God he would have required longer to process it.
"You are Warden Gothic, my ally back on world of D&D I come from was Adventurer called Gothic who became a god. Side by side we fought and defeated Necromancer Gothic".
I'd just summarised a very long tale into a handful of words.
"Given who our benefactor is I don't he insured that I would met you here and now"
He had a contemplation on his face as he took in all that said, before questioning me again.
Our benefactor?" he asked.
That he to inquire surprised me. The Necromancer had known and all of us who had been sent to that D&D world knew, yet for some reason he didn't.
"So you don't know who sent you here? How is your knowledge of Cthulhu mythos?" I asked of him.
I could now see the worry in his eyes.
"Come on I will show you who has sent you here"
Working quickly I picked up a piece of parchment from the table nearby and wrote down three names. I then showed the parchment to Gothic and pointed to one name
"This is who sent you here, he did something like this to me and the other Gothics, and many other adventurers that competed to become gods. Do not say His name or focus on it unless you want His attention. He had another name, but I'd rather not use that one unless I have to".
I then pointed to a different name
"This is His father, pray that you never meet Him." I pointed to the last name "This is probably His mother, but we are not 100% sure its just the most likely candidate"
Gothic was as pale as the grave now and I incinerated the parchment in my hand, would be a very bad idea to leave such names just lying around. Even looking at them had made the Warden feel ill.
"I am helping you because the Gothic I know is my ally, and I doubt this meeting was by chance. All that I have done is the best I can do with out breaking certain rules of the higher realms".
Just because the Maker was gone that didn't mean he couldn't come back, and the creator of this world didn't seem to have much love for dragons.
"Before you ask, no I can not stay here and help you defeat the Archdemon or end the Blight, nor can any of my followers under me. We are not of this world and I have no worshippers here. If I stayed to help the universal balance would allow something of equal power, but opposite alignment to set up here too. Would you want to fight Darkspawn empowered by an Evil God?"
Oddly when I said that he looked as if he knew something even I didn't but sadly there was no time for me to question him as I wanted to get the worst part this over. I had always hated Ascended Beings that refused to goddamn use the power they had, and here I was on the opposite side of the situation, but at least I was doing the best I could.
"Besides the armor and weapon I had provided I can also give knowledge. Fereldan has enemies within and without that want to see it fall to the Blight. The Orlesians on the Western borders are not there to offer aid as they know Loghain will never take, but to Quarantine Fereldan so they don't have to fight the Darkspawn in their territory".
I was sure that he would have figured that if he'd actually had time to sit down and view the political situation.
"Leliana's previous Bard Master has been living in Denerim for years, when you confront her find her papers and see for yourself the discord she has sown across the country".
I was sure he would get that chance if he was shagging the red headed spy.
"There is a convent of Tevinter Magistars slavers operating secretly in Denerim also. They may be responsible for why some nobles have lost their minds." I listed as my followers transported eggs out of the chamber to the Portal and came back.
I was sure that he knew some of this, as there wasn't a lot of surprise on this face at this point, but I would keep talking as I might know things he didn't. Very important things.
"Wait so the real reason Loghain betrayed the King and army at Ostagar was Blood Mages messing with his head?" Gothic voiced with much sarcasm and scepticism.
I took a deep breath as I tried not to face palm, I had to remember that this was not the Gothic I knew. There were differences due to experiences they'd been through and he Would have biased views the one I knew did not. After all he'd lived through Loghain's betrayal and he had an apocalypse to deal with. Still this was frustrating as I did not have time to carefully explain.
"If you are ANYTHING like the Gothic I know you should have some IMPRESSIVE critical thinking skill, so stop repeating what the script tells you! Remember that Loghain told Cailan not to go stand on the front lines, because he knew Cailan would try to be a big goddamn hero Cailan had his army charge INTO the Darkspawn horde after firing ONE volley of arrows and zerg rushing the Mabaris at the Darkspawn".
Hopefully at least some of this would sink in.
"Loghain was resigned to the fact that Cailan was going to get himself killed during this campaign, unfortunately he took half the army with him in his quest to in a battle worthy of the bards! The signal was late and Cailan army was already in free for all with the Darkspawn horde, there were no ranks, or discipline, or even a clear path to the enemy!"
I was yelling at Gothic now, but I had to as I couldn't allow him to blindly follow the path set before him and just let the currents of destiny carry him to his end. This could not be allowed.
"What would you have done in his place? Risk what was left of the army in an attempt to save the foolish boy, praying that there were no more Darkspawns to ambush you from behind!?"
I knew he never would have done such a thing, because if he was that dumb he'd already of gotten himself killed yet I really wanted to drive my points home.
"Think Gothic" I urged "Who told about what happened at the battle. Morrigan? What experience does she have on battlefield strategy, remember who her mother is!. What about Wynne? if she had not burst into that meeting at the Circle and declare that Loghain had killed the King the disaster at the Mage Circle may have been avoided".
I had to get him thinking.
"From the game itself? Remember that the designers wanted you to focus on Loghain as a major antagonist to give you someone to focus on as the Big Bad beside the Darkspawn its really hard to hate soulless monsters the same way you can another human being".
Then I drew back away from Gothic and paced while taking deep breaths and letting them out through my nose, they came out as burst of steam.
"I apologize Gothic, part of being a Dragon is that your belief are set in stone and anyone that challenges them usually ends up as a snack or ash. I can not order you get along with Loghain, but remember that he is head of the Fereldan Army and to them he is The General" I uttered, now having calmed down enough to ready to continue this conversation like a civilized being.
"Let me explained why Loghain hates the Grey Warden so much and why he has charged you as traitors." I expressed while moving back towards Warden Gothic.
This was also important.
"Twenty years ago when the Grey Warden were allowed by King Maric to return to Fereldan they asked Loghain for assistance on a mission into the Deep Roads, he having the most recent knowledge of the Deep Roads under Fereldan besides the dwarves. Loghain refused to help but Maric having grown bored of sitting on the throne decided to go without telling Loghain or taking any guards".
Which had been bloody stupid to say the least.
"The Orlesian Grey Warden Commander, Bregan, had recent heard the Calling and he embarked into the Deeps Roads. But he had been captured by a talking, thinking darkspawn emissary, that called itself the Architect".
Which he should know about.
"The Grey Warden Commander of Fereldan was Genevieve, sister of Bregan who mounted a rescue mission to recover Bregan and put him out of his misery" I then said "Bregan while under the influence of the Architect revealed, among other things, the locations of the sleeping Old Gods. The Architect at the time planned to bring peace between the darkspawn and all other inhabitants of Thedas by forcing the Joining on every man, woman, and child of every race. Some of Grey Warden sent on the mission were actually converted to the Architect side".
He was listening now, which was good.
"The Architect also had the aid of the then Orlesian First Enchanter of Fereldan Circle, Remille, who wanted to see Fereldan destroyed by the Architect's mad plan. The Grey Wardens Duncan and Fiona were the only ones to resist the Architect power. Then Loghain shows up at the Mage Circle with the Fereldan army to rescue Maric from the Orlesian Mages and Templars that are aiding Remille."
There was still more for me to say.
"Maric never told Loghain what all went on and takes the Grey Warden secrets he learned with him to his grave when his ship was lost at sea. Loghain blames the Grey Wardens for endangering Maric and the plot that allowed Orlesians to nearly kill Maric. Fiona the Orlesian Elf Mage Grey Warden that travelled with Maric on the mission become pregnant and gave birth to a son, Alistair".
Now that did surprise the Warden, who was no doubt under the impression that Alistair's mother had been a servant girl.
"Alistair is the son of Maric and an Orlesian . . . Elf . . . Mage . . ., anyone one of which would likely disqualify him from gaining the throne, all three of them together and he doesn't have a chance if any of it is found out. Made worse by the fact that Maric never acknowledge him as his son, there is no written proof anywhere, and the way he was raised has destroyed all sense of self worth he had"
Which meant that he would a terrible king if allowed to rule alone.
"With half the army slaughtered at Ostagar there had to be a scapegoat for the disaster and he couldn't exactly blame the King for being such a fool so Loghain shifts the blame to those that convinced Cailan to stand on the frontlines and those who were charge with lighting the signal. The Grey Wardens".
Knowing this didn't exactly help Gothic very much, as Loghain was still going to try and kill them, but it was important that he understand his foe's motivations if he was going to end the civil war.
"Half the problems you are having right now is the Grey Wardens are so secretive that they refuse to share CRITICAL NEED TO KNOW INFORMATION! Duncan may have been a great guy, but was a horrible commander. It is rather important that you tell the leaders of the army you are with that the reason the Grey Wardens are need for a Blight is they are the only ones that can kill the Archdemon and make sure it stays dead. Middle of a Blight and Duncan cant take one moment to tell Cailan or Loghain this, he was suppouse to have told them and Anora this back when Maric was declared dead. All the other leaders of the countries know why the Grey Wardens are necessary".
By now the egg chamber had been emptied as I spoke trying to cram as much information as I could in his head while I was here.
"My Lord all the eggs have been taken through the Portal." hissed one my Dragonkin while approaching me.
I nodded at him and then made some orders.
"Take the Dragonlings and the Drakes through the Portal, then take any human still alive that are willing to come. They will learn how to serve dragon kind correctly".
Gothic was watching the Dragonkin walk away, he seemed fascinated by them so I decided to tell him about them as we did have a little time left.
"The four legged Dragonkin you have been seeing are cursed with that form, all that are like that committed a grave transgression against Dragons. They now serve a life sentence of servitude to Dragons. The two legged Dragonkin like the ones watching your party were humans that proved their dedicated to serving Dragon and were uplifted for it." I stated as if to answer any questions he may have on them.
"What did you considered 'grave transgression against Dragons' to do that to them?" He asked while staring at the Dragonkin's from.
Given that he had commit such a crime he was no doubt wondering if that would ever be his fate, but he had no need to be.
"The first two males I did it to had stalked a mating pair of dragon. Killed the male with a deer loaded with shrapnel that explode when he picked it up in his mouth. Waited until the female was starving and passed out from exhaustion, snuck in and shattered all, but one of her eggs which they used to lure her to where they had set several traps. Shattered the last egg in front of her after she was caught, killed her. Harvested her, her children, and mate for materials. Sold most of it while walking around town with trophies made from the children." I listed off before turning to Gothic
There was something else I needed to mention.
"Speaking of Dragons you should know that Morrigan is Dragon Blooded and considered that she was raised by Flemeth it explains why she is so screw up. Dragons are born knowing that they are superior to every other form of life that exist. Combine that with the arrogance of the human spirit and you have a recipe for disaster. Also dragons take very long time to mature, Morrigan despite looking like she is in her mid 20s is still a teenager in mental growth" I explained.
"The bad part where she refuses any help, thinks she know best, you know pretty much all the worst part of a belligerent teenager. Its the reason she is such a bitch all the time, got screwed over by genetics and nurturing. Remember it is the eyes that give it away, those yellow dragon eyes." I muttered while heading down the tunnel to check on the progress.
Now that I thought about it there was actually something else I had wanted to mention.
"You might want to look into recruiting allies outside of what you are offered cause you know that as soon as the Blight is over your current allies will all scatter to the four winds" I advised before switching topic
"Oh the current Queen, Anora, has no claim to the throne other than she is currently sitting on it. Has no royal blood, Cailan didn't leave her the throne since he was planning to divorce her and marry the Empress, Anora can manage the kingdom on paper, but cant actually enforce the laws, since you have seen for yourself that the kingdom has practically collapsed over night after the battle was lost." I said while heading back toward where the Portal was.
I walked out of the cave Gothic and party following, Alistair had been muttering about abomination, demons, and maleficar. It was time to shut the fool up. I transformed into my largest dragon form and spoke.
"I AM A DRAGON FOOLISH BOY!" I shouted.
"I KILL WHEN I WISH!" I roared at him.
"MY ARMOR IS LIKE TENFOLD SHIELDS!" while letting the moonlight reflect off my scales.
"MY TEETH ARE SWORDS!" I snapped at him letting him get a close view of them.
"MY CLAWS SPEARS!" as I dragged them across the ground making trenches.
"THE SHOCK OF MY TAIL A THUNDERBOLT!" my tail stuck the ground and knock them over with shock wave.
"MY WINGS A HURRICANE!" I gave my wings a single flap and it threaten to blow them down the mountain.
"AND MY BREATH DEATH!" I breathe fire on the mountain shrine melting stone, snow, and ice.
I took flight and flew down to Haven, in order to take villagers through a Portal back to my main temple, so I could have sex with every priestess I had in order to relieve stress, then I would go find a large dragoness if previous partners don't work
After all that I would get around to telling Gothic all I knew about his Warden counterpart that I'd encountered.