The next two weeks passed by in a blur. New soldiers and believers flocked in by the day. They barely had enough supplies to care for them all, so much so that Pyrrha and Cassandra personally went out and gathered supplies, whether it was hunting, marking locations for logging and mining, and clearing out a sparse few rifts in the fade. In the meantime, Cassandra tried to get Pyrrha up to speed on the basics, at least, of what she needed to know.
They resided in the continent of Thedas, which was made up of five major parts. The two largest were Empire of Orlais, and the Kingdom of Ferelden. Haven resided on the Frostback Mountain Range, which separated the two, but was still technically part of Orlais. There was also the Free Marches, which was separated from the mainland. The last two were of particular interest to Pyrrha, because those were ones Cassandra told her the least about. Nevarra was Cassandra's homeland, and was largely desert land. That was all she could get out of her. The Quinari lands to the north were a mystery to most humans. Tervinter, on the other hand, Cassandra was a subject Cassandra covered as if it left a bad taste in her mouth.
"They used to rule most of Thedas. They probably ruled all of it, but who really keeps track after several thousand years? Anyway, they eventually fell apart and were forced to retreat back to the land they reside in know. More important is how they fell. According to the Chantry, they are the ones who started the Blight, which is a magical sickness that corrupts human flesh and turns them into darkspawn. This usually occurs when one of the "old gods" appears on the surface in the form of the dragon."
"Combine that with a propensity towards blood magic, the practice of slavery, and the looming threat of invasion, and you can see why most people don't like them much."
Cassandra had been lecturing without taking a breath for about thirty minutes. "I realize that I've been talking your ear off, but it's important that you know these things. "
"I understand, but it feels like there are so many factions and political groups. I'm curious how you all keep it straight."
"We don't. Sometimes I think we fight just to fight." A scout arrived with a note for Lady Cassandra. The ambassador had finally arrived from Antiva. With the general arriving yesterday, the new leadership of the Inquisition could finally meet.
"Come, I will tell you of the Mage-Templar war later, and then I wish to hear about your homeland."
The walk back into camp was a pleasant one. Things were beginning to take shape. While Pyrrha thought the Inquisition looked a bit small for its goals, she knew that she should never doubt a group dedicated to its purpose. She had seen the commander while she was passing through in the morning. He had scarcely been in haven for twenty-four hours, and already he was putting the soldiers through rigorous training and having trebuchets built around the camp for defense.
She couldn't imagine ever having to defend such a small place from a siege, but she imagined the mountains would make excellent natural defenses. It reminded her somewhat of Vale, actually, and how the mountain ranges protected it from Grimm attacks for so long. She did not know if the kingdom had fallen when she disappeared, but with a Grimm dragon on the loose, and her fellow huntsman and huntresses being overrun, things did not look positive.
For better or worse, there was nothing she could do about it now. There was another world that needed saving. What was it that Ren told her once? "The more things change, the more they stay the same"? There was a sadness in his eyes when he said that. She hoped her friends had made it out safely.
She walked into the back room of the chantry, where she was greeted by Cassandra, Leliana, the commander, and the person she could only assume to be the ambassador. The commander introduced himself first.
"My name is Cullen Rutherford. I am a former Knight-Commander of the templars and have been serving since I turned of age. I've been told that I am to act as Commander of the inquisition."
The ambassador went second, looking up briefly from her candle-lit clipboard. "My name is Josephine Montilyet. I was previously the chief ambassador from Antiva to Orlais. I am pleased to make your acquaintance."
Pyrrha was briefly reminded of the meet-n-greet in her first class at Beacon. "Alright everyone," Ozpin would say. "State your name, and something interesting about yourself."
She was briefly tempted to laugh, but did not want to appear immature. It did not escape her that everyone in the room -strike that- everyone in Haven was a good deal older than her. She cleared her throat, and then spoke. "Hello, my name is Pyrrha Nikos. I've been training to fight since I could stand. Though I was technically still in training, I was at the top of my class in my combat school."
At this the commander frowned. "Combat school? I don't mean to be rude, but how old are you?"
"I'm seventeen years old."
Even Leliana seemed flabbergasted at this statement. Pyrrha thought that she was the kind of person who noticed everything.
"I realize that I am a bit younger than the rest of you, but that does not make me any less committed to this cause. Believe me; it would have been irregular for someone as young as I to take such a position at my age. But as I said before, I have been training for this my entire life. I don't know if Cassandra or Leliana has told you, but I am not from here. Where I came from, youth did not make you immune to responsibility."
"The city and school I trained in when I was transported here is probably overrun by demons. My friends, who were all my age or younger, were all that stood between the city and destruction. Where was I, you ask? I was about to give my life for them. My last memory of that place is the face of the woman who shot me in the chest. I should be dead. For all anyone there knows, I am dead."
"But for them, I would do it again. And for you all, for the people of Thedas, I would do it again. Did the people of Remnant like the fact that their children were their line line of defense? No, but they didn't have a choice. Unless you can find another way to seal the Breach, we don't have one either."
The room was silent for a full minute. Josephine recovered first, but instead of speaking, she began writing furiously on her clipboard. Leliana had a faraway look on her face, as if she was hit with a wave of nostalgia. Cassandra's face was hard to read, but somehow she did not seem angry. Cullen was the first to speak.
"Well, I guess that's that. A girl not even old enough to be recruited into the army is the world's best hope for peace. So, what's our first move?"
Leliana opened up a report. "Solas speculates that the mark can close the breach if given more power. This most likely means contacting the rebel mages for help."
"Sure," Cullen replied. "What harm could there be in powering up something we barely understand? I still say we should go to the templars. They could weaken the Breach itself, which has to be the safer option."
"Either way, we face at least two more issues before we even get to that point. The Inquisition doesn't have the influence to meet with either group yet." Josephine briefly looked up from her clipboard. "Secondly, we must deal with the fact that the chantry has denounced us, and you."
Pyrrha was confused. "What have I done wrong? Is trying to save the world against your religion here?"
Cullen chuckled. "Sometimes, that's what it feels like. But no, they are responding to the fact that some have begun calling you the Herald of Andraste. They've labeled you a false prophet, and us heretics for harboring you."
"What does that mean specifically?"
Cassandra finally decided to speak. "It means three things actually. First, that people believe the woman you saw inside the fade rift was Andraste, and that she sent you to us personally. Second, it means that the Chantry views you as a threat. Thirdly, it means that garnering support for the Inquisition will be even harder than anticipated."
"But was the woman actually Andraste?"
"No one knows, indeed you are the only one who could have known. Until we know more, I suggest that we encourage these rumors, or at least not oppose them. That our purpose seems ordained will encourage others to join us, and we have no real reason to believe it isn't true."
The others seemed to be in agreement on this, but Pyrrha was uneasy. She was already uncomfortable with the display outside her room when she awoke in Haven after closing the rift, and now she could only imagine it on a global scale. She forced these feelings aside. She couldn't afford to look fearful now.
"So our first goal should be to try to get the Chantry back on our side, correct? How would we go about that?"
Leliana opened up another report. "Not everyone in the chantry is against us. There is a sister, Mother Giselle, in the Hinterlands willing to meet us. She is aiding refugees in a camp, south of Redcliffe. Apparently the Earl thought it was a better idea to build a wall around his village and leave them to fend for themselves in the middle of a war."
"That sounds needlessly cruel and stupid."
"It is. I hope I'm not overstepping, but I've already dispatched my scouts to help protect the camp and Mother Giselle. She says she will not leave until the refugees are safe."
Cullen looked at the map, and scowled. "I've heard reports of what was happening there. The fighting between mages and templars is even worse there than it was everywhere else. Redcliffe is housing the mages, technically, but I've heard that the Templar leadership has been trying to pull their forces out of there for some time. It's as if they gone insane and stopped taking orders completely. If you're going, then I'd leave sooner rather than later."
They all nodded in agreement, and went their separate ways prepare for the mission. Cullen went back to training the soldiers, Josephine retreated to her office to write letters, and Leliana went to read more reports. Cassandra introduced Pyrrha to the blacksmith to repair her armor, as well as to build new weapons.
Harritt, the smith, was surprised at her knowledge of how to use a forge. She was no master, but she had drawn up a simple, yet incredibly sturdy design for a shield and short sword in no time at all. They would have a smooth aerodynamic pattern that would allow them to be thrown with ease and accuracy.
"These designs are so nice I almost regret having to build them in such a crappy forge. It's like giving birth to a king inside of a manger (that's the second allusion I've made in this chapter, because I'm an artsy degenerate). You must tell me, where did you get these?"
"They are mine, though I'd be lying if I said I came up with them alone. My father was a smith, like you, and he helped me make a crude and simple design into something actually usable. Where I'm from, our weapons are as much a part of ourselves as our limbs. It's part of why we name them. Someone helps us build them when we are young, and we spend much of our training becoming one with the weapon."
"He taught you well. I won't have these done before you leave, but I'll be damned if I let something like this sit around waiting to be used. As soon as it's finished, I'll have a messenger send it out to you."
Pyrrha thanked the man and left. It was shaping up to be a long day tomorrow, and she needed her rest. She was told that it was a day and a half's journey to arrive in the Hinterlands. And then she would have to start doing things. This seemed like less of a big deal when the mission was to slow down a few beowolves outside of a village, and the worst that could happen is a few nicks and a bad grade. Now, she's wading into a war, and she might have to kill actual living people.
She never thought she would miss homework.
A/N: Yay! We're finally done with the exposition chapters… until we get to Val Royeaux, but that shouldn't be for another 2-3 chapters… maybe.
A/N2: This chapter's shout out goes to AgentDrakkis, because even I am not a big enough degenerate to pair a currently underage girl with someone at least twice her age. It's why I was never promoted to DeGeneral Degenerate. All joking aside, I have no idea what I'm doing to do with the relationships between any of the characters yet, especially Pyrrha. I mean look at my profile picture, do I really look like a guy who isn't just making this up as he goes along?
A/N3: Speaking of making things up as I go along, I have no idea how I'm going to reconcile things like distance, travel, and the passage of time. The game itself doesn't really do much to help me in this respect, and I have no idea how big Thedas is relative to earth or Remnant. I'll do my best to avoid time continuity errors.
A/N4: Speaking of continuity, I'll be sticking with the default world state for the game. While there are certain things from the other world states that would be really interesting, I haven't played the other Dragon Age games, so trying to add alternate plotlines from those games, just based on having read about them, while I'm already making this an alternate universe/retelling, would almost guarantee that I make some sort of continuity error and confusing everybody, including myself. So King Alistair it is (he actually has, like, zero actual influence on the plot, but you know, examples, and i.e.'s and etc.'s and stuff).