Chapter 11 – The Would-Be Templar
Serena headed up the platform Wynne had pointed to, looking around. Duncan had told her Ostagar was originally built by magisters from the Tevinter Imperium to prevent the "Wilders" from invading the northern lowlands. The area was barely more than ruins now, though, from the looks of it.
She moved up the steps of what she assumed was an old temple. The Grey Warden camp was just beyond it; she could see the tents with their symbol, the griffon, set up.
"What is it now? Haven't the Grey Wardens asked more than enough of the Circle?"
Serena ducked behind a ruined pillar quickly at the sound of a man's angry voice. She hadn't been with the Grey Wardens a day and already it seemed like everyone had a problem with them. Except King Cailan, of course.
As much as Serena felt grateful for his promise to avenge her family, the man did seem a bit... over-eager... in regards to the darkspawn threat. She hoped his zealousness worked to their advantage in battle.
"I simply came to deliver a message from the revered mother, ser mage," another voice replied, his tone mocking. "She desires your presence."
"What her Reverence desires is of no concern to me!" the haughty mage replied, his hands on his hips. He was the picture of indignation. "I am busy helping the Grey Wardens-" he spat the order's name out angrily. "By the king's orders, I might add!"
"Should I have asked her to write a note?"
Serena peeked around the pillar and noticed the young man who was speaking was none other than the elusive Alistair. He didn't appear more than a year or two older than her at first glance and Serena giggled as she realized Wynne's impression of his sandy hair was dead accurate.
She saw his eyes briefly flick over in her direction at the sound of her laugh and she slipped further down the pillar in embarrassment, although she saw the man wink at her while the mage stomped angrily in front of him.
"Tell her I will not be harassed in this manner!" shouted the mage, his dark hair flipping into his eyes as he jerked his head in frustration.
"Yes... I was harassing you by delivering a simple message," Alistair replied, flippant. "I think someone is just having a bad day."
The mage frowned, his arms crossing in front of his chest. "Your glibness does you no credit, young man."
Alistair threw up his hands in mock exasperation, shooting a quick grin at Serena, who blushed. "And here I thought we were getting along so well." He turned to the mage, grinning broadly. "I was even going to name one of my children after you... the grumpy one."
"Enough!" roared the mage. Obviously his patience with Alistair was spent. "I will speak to the woman if I must! Get out of my way, fool!" He threw a hand up and stalked off, his robes billowing behind him.
Serena slid out from the pillar; she could feel her lips twist into a smile at the sight of the young man. She had been expecting someone much older, and found herself glad there was at least one person her age.
"Well, that looked like it went well," she remarked lightly, strolling towards the grinning Alistair. He looked her up and down quickly, his eyes stopping briefly on the silverite daggers hanging from her belt.
"You know, one good thing about the Blight is how it brings people together." From his tone, Serena thought you might not even know the entire area was supposedly swarming with darkspawn. He didn't appear to have a care in the world.
"It's like a party," Alistair continued, his eyes twinkling. "We could all stand in a circle and hold hands." He put out a gloved hand and Serena felt herself take it gingerly. "See? That would give the darkspawn something to think about." He gripped her hand quickly and she could sense his strength.
"We... haven't met, have we?" He searched her face, and his hazel eyes were equal parts gentle and intense, as if he was trying to memorize her features. "I would have remembered a face like yours."
"Hideous, isn't it?" Serena replied, grinning. "I get that all the time... it's unfortunate, really. My mother was quite the beauty in her youth." She sighed dramatically. "You know, they used to call me "the ugly Cousland" as a child?"
She saw Alistair's eyes widened in recognition at the name. "I highly doubt anyone has ever called you ugly, my lady," he said, putting emphasis on the last two words.
"Ah, no, no, none of that," Serena said, shaking her head.
"None of what?"
"None of that 'my lady' business. I shouldn't have mentioned it..." Serena stuck out her hand to him. "Hello. My name is Serena. Just Serena."
"Why hello, just Serena. I'm Alistair." His smile broadened. "But I think you knew that already?"
"Maaaybe," Serena replied allusively. "Perhaps a mage in the camp mentioned to me what you looked like."
"Oh, really?" Alistair sounded genuinely intrigued. "Let me guess... Superbly handsome, but with a terrible sense of humor?"
Serena laughed. "Actually, she said you were blonde, and your hair sort of..." She stepped forward and ruffled his hair gently. "... Did this funny spiky bit at the front here."
Alistair grinned, catching her hand near his face. Serena felt herself blush again at his touch as she realized how close she was standing to him. She could even smell the soap he used, something musky, with a touch of pine. She looked up and saw his eyes were locked on hers, an intense look on his face. She blinked, and just as quickly it was gone. He dropped her hand and stepped back.
"Right..." Alistair ran a hand through his hair, but the bit in the front was as unruly as ever. "So, I don't know about you, but I'm famished. I missed breakfast this morning. Care to join me?"
At the mention of food, Serena's earlier hunger returned with a vengeance. "Would I ever... I'm starving."
Alistair led her to one of the large blue colored tents beyond the temple. Holding the flap back for her, she stepped inside. A long table with various sized pots was set up to her immediate left, with a few rough wooden tables for eating scattered through the rest of the space.
"It's not much, but at least it's always open," Alistair said, picking up an empty bowl from the end of the long buffet table. "With so many people in camp, there's no way we could all eat at once." He motioned to one of the steaming pots. "What is this?"
An attendant behind the table glanced into the pot and shrugged. "Ryott porridge, I think, ser. There's some fruit down there, if you'd like to add it. We've no honey left, I'm afraid."
Alistair turned to Serena, shrugging his shoulders as if to say it was better than nothing. He ladled some into both of their bowls and headed down the line, pulling some crusts of bread and adding bits of fruit to his porridge.
"It's not the best in the world, but it's certainly hardy," he said, plopping down on a bench as Serena settled down across from him. "And seeing as we'll be going out into the Wilds today-"
"Wait, what?" Serena nearly choked on her spoon.
Alistair flushed. "Ah, I guess they didn't mention that then. Hmm." He pulled a bit of bread apart and scooped some of the porridge onto it, popping it into his mouth. "There are preparations that have to be made, before you all can go through your Joining. Duncan will probably explain better than I can, but don't worry. As the junior member of the order, I'll be accompanying you."
"Into the Wilds," Serena repeated. "Where there's darkspawn..."
"Yes, well, there's other things in that forest than just darkspawn," Alistair said darkly. "You traveled here all the way from Highever, though, didn't you?" He grinned. "You're still in one piece... more or less."
Serena nodded vaguely, trying hard to concentrate on her bowl of ryott. Memories of her home were still so close to the surface.
"Did you encounter any darkspawn along the way?"
"No... I've seen pictures of them, though. My tutor had a book with drawings of them." Serena paused, thinking about her journal. Had she packed it in her knapsack? She couldn't remember.
"When I fought my first one, I wasn't prepared for how... monstrous it was." Alistair looked down at the table, his hazel eyes unreadable to Serena. "I can't say I'm looking forward to encountering another."
"Duncan mentioned other recruits. Have you met them?" Serena was curious if she was the only female. Other than a few elven servants and Wynne, she hadn't really seen a lot of women around the camp so far.
"Yes, briefly. Daveth and Ser Jory. Nice fellows." Alistair popped another bit of bread in his mouth. "Ser Jory is from Redcliffe, not that I knew him before, or anything."
"Oh, are you from Redcliffe?" Serena found herself curious despite all her admonitions to Oren about being nosy.
"You could say that," replied Alistair. "I grew up in the Chantry though, mostly. I was actually training to become a templar when Duncan conscripted me. Not that I didn't want to join the Wardens, of course," he added hastily. "That was about... six months ago? The Grand Cleric wouldn't have let me go if Duncan hadn't forced the issue, though."
"A templar, hmm?" Serena considered this for a moment. "Those are the armored fellows that hunt mages, right?"
"The very same, although I didn't take my vows, so I'm not technically a templar." Alistair shrugged. "I suppose Duncan thought my skills would work doubly so against the darkspawn... I'll always be grateful to him."
"You didn't like training as a templar?"
"Duncan saw I wasn't happy... I... didn't choose to live within the Chantry. That was decided for me long ago. I spent years there, hopelessly resigned to my fate." Alistair sighed, his past unhappiness etching lines near his eyes when he frowned. "Duncan was the first person who cared about what I wanted. He... risked a lot of trouble with the Grand Cleric to get me out."
"It seems to be a habit of his," Serena muttered, a small smile on her face.
"How do you mean?" Alistair asked.
"I owe him as well," Serena said softly. "He... he saved me." She looked into Alistair's kind eyes and smiled. "It's a long story. I'll tell you about it later." She stood up, stretching. "We should probably go get ready for this big trip to the Wilds, huh?"
"I imagine Duncan's eager to get things started, anyhow," Alistair said, dropping the subject. He took her bowl from her and placed them in a washing bin near the back of the tent. "Ready?"
They left the meal tent and headed back into the main camp, Alistair pointing out some of the more interesting areas to Serena.
"That's King Cailan's personal tent," he said, pointing to a large tent in the distance. "Although I'm surprised he didn't want to bunk with Duncan, the way he spends so much time in our camp." They headed into a field of tents, most of which bared the Gray Warden griffon.
"I don't know if you have a tent of your own?" he asked questioningly. Serena shook her head. She only had a bedroll along with her knapsack and some other personal possessions. "Maybe we could ask Ser Jory and Daveth to bunk up together and you could use one of their tents." He shrugged, leading her down a makeshift path to the back. "This one is mine, you can keep your things here for now."
Serena dropped to her knees and pulled the tent flap back.
"Don't judge me, I'm not the neatest man alive," Alistair murmured beside her as he squatted down. Serena smiled at him and placed her knapsack on a small crate near the entrance. The tent had the same smell as earlier, musky with a hint of pine, a scent she was coming to realize was just... Alistair.
"I appreciate it, regardless. I was sleeping on a bedroll in the forest, using my mabari as a pillow," said Serena, backing out and straightening. "Not the most comfortable, as you might imagine." They wound their way back through the camp and Serena realized they were headed towards a large bonfire near the front.
"Duncan should be just up the way," Alistair explained. A minute later they saw the large Grey Warden raise an arm up and beckon to them.
"I see you found Alistair without any trouble," Duncan called. "Excellent. I assume you're ready to begin the preparations. Ser Jory and Daveth are right over here." He motioned to two men standing nearby, one looking nervous, the other bored, as both came over to stand by Serena.
"Hi there," said the younger of two, extending a hand. "I'm Daveth." His face was covered in dark stubble. "This here is Ser Jory," he said, pointing to the other man.
"'Ello." Jory's hair was shaved close to his head and he was much stockier and well-muscled than Daveth. Both seemed pleasant enough to Serena.
"I'm Serena," she said mildly. "Pleasure to meet you both."
"Since you're all here, we can begin. You four will be going into the Korcari Wilds to perform two tasks." Duncan handed each of the three recruits a small empty vial. "The first is to fill these vials with darkspawn blood, one for each of you."
"What do we need darkspawn blood for?" Daveth asked quickly.
"And how are we supposed to get it?" Jory added. Serena thought she could hear a hint of fear in his voice.
"Well, you have to kill one, of course," Alistair said helpfully.
"I'll explain why you need it once you've returned," Duncan replied, raising a hand to silence them all. "Second, there is a Grey Warden archive in the Wilds. It was abandoned long ago when we could... no longer maintain such remote outposts." He turned to Alistair. "It has recently come to our attention some scrolls have been left behind, and I'll need you to retrieve them if you can."
"What are the scrolls for?" Serena asked.
"Old treaties, if you're curious," Duncan responded. "Promises of support made to the Grey Wardens long ago. If this battle does not go as easily as the king hopes, they may come in handy soon." He put a hand on Alistair's shoulder. "Look after your charges, Alistair, and return quickly, and safely. May the Maker watch over you all."
Serena exchanged nervous glances with Daveth and pocketed the vial in her hand, hoping the small ball of tension in her stomach worked its way out by the time they spotted their first darkspawn.
Author's Note: Ryott is a crop grown in the southern parts of Ferelden near the Korcari Wilds, much like barley or wheat. It's a rich protein source valued all over Ferelden, but is notoriously hard to grow. It can also be converted into a base for ale. (I devour codex entries and manuals from the table top version of the game like reading is going out of style, so a lot of the town names coming up that don't appear in the game come from there.) source: Dragon Age Table Top Manual/ Blood of Ferelden.