(As many of you noticed, there was a chapter yesterday, but ffnet decided not to show it, along with 80% of other updates site-wide. It seems to be fixed now, so head back to chapter 53 for plot and things.)
54. Rumors and Overheard Conversations
When the whispers started rippling through Orzarmmar, Oghren didn't pay them much mind. What did he care if another sodding Grey Warden had wandered into the city? One had been in a couple months back, and Oghren had been sick of the brouhaha then too.
Still, at least it made better listening over his cups than all this lamentation about the various tragedies that had recently befallen House Aeducan. He much preferred brooding in a corner while listening to rumors about some lucky sod of a casteless who had returned to the city as a Warden, than brooding in a corner listening to rumors that Lord Harrowmont had killed the king, or that Prince Bhelen had killed his entire sodding family. At least the rumors of the ascended casteless came with supposed accounts of the Warden's amazing prowess at the Proving, and his courage and valor in the Deep Roads.
Whole bunch of nug piss, as far as Oghren was concerned, but at least it was decent entertainment.
Thus, he wasn't sure how to feel when the Warden walked into Tapster's and parked his legendary keister at the table right next to Oghren's.
It was a busy evening at Tapster's, the usual bustle of the front room more lively than it had been since they'd closed the great doors to the surface. Everyone just seemed to want to talk, lately. Talk and get drunk… Oghren was on board with the second one, at least, though he'd have preferred it if he had a buxom beauty or two to have a 'conversation' with himself. Not many ladies seemed to want to associate with the local laughingstock these days. Not since Felsi left.
He sat alone at a table in an alcove at the back of the tavern, nursing his fifth (Seventh? Twelfth?) mug. The warmth in his belly was hitting him just right, everything just fuzzy enough to be fun without dulling his awareness too much. Thus, he picked up on it quickly as the murmur in the front room suddenly changed in volume and tone. This sound was excited and loud, and Oghren was tempted to peek out to see what all the fuss was about. Nah, too much work.
Soon enough, though, the source of the hubbub stepped up into the back room, scowling at something behind him and telling a waitress who was dogging at his heels in a rumbling bass that he didn't want to be disturbed. Obediently, the army of gawking locals behind the dwarf and his strange companions was batted away, and the trio dropped into the table next to Oghren's.
The leader let out a sigh of relief and leaned his head back against the wall behind him, and Oghren only had to catch a glimpse of the brand on the man's right cheek to guess who this was. Honestly, the stories had been every bit as much bull as he'd thought. Some noble, humbled warrior of a man this was. The fabled casteless Grey Warden looked… annoyed. Like a cook who'd found a nug in her larder.
The human woman with the Warden let herself into her seat more gracefully… and what a woman she was. She was dark and formidable, though Oghren would have been hard-pressed, in his current state, to say what exactly made her so dangerous-looking. Her lips were quirked in a reserved sort of amusement as she eyed her dwarven companion.
The third companion was far taller than the human, and broader than the dwarf. A Qunari, Oghren realized, and one who didn't seem to be showing much expression at all.
"Sodding Stone," the Warden rumbled tiredly, his eyes still closed. "I have never needed a drink this badly, and I once fell into a crevice for two days without any water."
"Oh, certainly it can't be so bad to be lauded as a hero," the woman said silkily, amused.
"For what? Kicking the crap out of a couple Warriors? I don't remember everyone being so happy about it at the time."
Oghren chuckled into his mug, remembering the fuss some time ago about the casteless upstart who had trounced the best Warriors on the Proving grounds. Way to go, kid.
The Qunari's head turned to stare at Oghren, and the dwarf raised his mug in toast to the large man. The Qunari turned away.
"Tis not the homecoming you expected, I take it?" the woman said, leaning back in her seat.
"Oh, I expected the bowing and the hilariously ironic awe, and I wasn't disappointed about that. But by the Stone did his royal pain-in-the-ass-ship choose a bad time to die. We have a Blight to settle, and I'm stuck having to prove my loyalties to a pair of yes-men? I used to get paid to knock around guys like those ankle-biters. You'd think bein' a Warden in the middle of a Blight would at least grant me a sodding audience with one of the blighters who can do something about it."
Oghren snorted a laugh. So that part of the rumors was true, then… the two contenders for the crown were fighting over the Warden. Oghren didn't envy to guy; he'd had his fill of politics back when Branka had been rubbing elbows with everyone in the Assembly. He couldn't imagine how much a headache being thrust into the middle of this mess would cause.
A waitress came by with a tray, plunking another mug in front of Oghren, then setting the tray of three cups in front of the trio. The Warden grabbed up one and downed it with a swig that gave Oghren a dose of respect for the guy.
"I used to stare up at the Diamond Quarter, you know, just wishing I could spend a single day there," the Warden said wistfully after he'd set the empty mug back on the table. "Now that I have, I can say that I miss Dust Town. The vermin there are much smaller, and they don't talk."
"Perhaps you could kill the both of them and take the crown yourself," the woman suggested with a sly smile. "That would solve the impasse, one way or another."
"Yeah, right. Doesn't work that way, more's the pity." He rumbled a sigh, his voice going so low that Oghren had to lean over in his chair a bit to hear. "I wonder if she could make a difference here. Sod it, I should have dragged her along, even if it meant weathering her glares the whole way."
"Why do you keep her secret, I wonder? And so very well that the rest of us do not suspect it until we stumble upon broken carvings of her?" The woman arched a brow at him. "Could it be that you truly never intended to tell it?"
The Warden shrugged, but took a pull from a second mug instead of answering properly.
For the first time, the Qunari spoke, his voice flat and business-like. "You said the 'Paragon' the Shaper spoke of might be able to end this quickly?"
Oghren nearly choked on his ale, suddenly feeling much more invested in the strangers' conversation. The beast of a man could only be talking about Branka.
"Maybe…" The Warden sighed, setting his mug back down. "Paragons are like sodding gods here, Sten. The Shapers would have you believe they shit gold and live forever in the stone, or some claptrap like that. All she'd have to do is point a single finger, and this whole damn fuss would be done with.
"Problem is, she left Orzammar a couple years back and took her entire House with her… I don't remember why, only that it caused a lot of chaos among the upper castes, and that trickled down to the lower."
The woman arched a brow. "Good for business, I take it?"
"Sodding right it was. Point is, unless we want to wander the Deep Roads, looking for someone who's most likely already dead, that idea's probably not going to amount to much other than wasting our time."
The Qunari made a sound not unlike a growl. "You, a Grey Warden, think fighting darkspawn is a waste of time?"
"No, I think fighting random darkspawn is a waste of time, when I should be working toward getting that army to take out the archdemon. There's no army to collect in the Deep Roads, unless you count the Legion of the Dead."
The woman hummed. "Then it seems we must suffer the machinations of these nobles until we have satisfied one of them enough to gain their audience." She paused. "At such a time, my suggestion to simply kill one of them will likely resurface."
"Honestly, Morrigan, yeah. I'm keeping it on the table."
The woman smiled her approval. "I always did like you."
The Grey Warden tilted his head back and drained the rest of the mug.
From that point on, Oghren paid a great deal more attention to the rumors of what the Grey Warden was doing.