Interlude 15: The Calling of William Ward
A Legend of the Chantry
The Templars: Maurice Herenden, Aubrey Chowring, Herlewin Payne, Savaric Kynton and Giles Nash, called to bind six rogue spirits by the Divine Hortensia III had lost their brother, Shamas Goodson, to the wiles of the fifth spirit, turning him into a Revenant. In the ensuing battle, both Savaric and Herlewin were injured. Savaric travelled with his brethren on a litter being dragged behind a horse, girdled with bandages to staunch his bleeding. Herlewin had dislocated his hip and would limp for the rest of his days. Even in the face of injury and hardship, this brotherhood of Templars had to continue on their quest to locate and seal away one final spirit that had escaped from the Veil into the living world.
Along with the vials of the sealed spirits, the Templars carried with them the shield of their fallen brother, bearing the crest of his ancestors. It became a symbol of their grief and as a reminder never to be swayed, never to give in to weakness in the face of their great destiny.
However, Savaric was facing the twilight of life, cursed with wounds that seeped and never completely healed. He had been the party's guide, a recipient of visions bestowed by the Holy Bride, guiding them to the spirits each in turn in order to protect the faithful from their corrupting influence. Unable to stir from his litter, he moaned in pain, praying for clarity to help his brothers and end the torment wrought by the final spirit that eluded them.
After weeks of wandering the Planasene Forest and the brethren headed for Cumberland, Savaric finally had a vision. He saw a golden wyvern stalking the shores of a rocky beach, gray waves crashing against the shore and a deep forest stretching beyond. The sky was gray to match the water as it roiled and the air caused the wyverns breath to float in ghostly tendrils into the wind. Savaric on waking shares this vision and insists that they find a way to locate this place.
The five leave via a ship from Cumberland and follow the Coastland, heading to the west, reaching the cape of the land and continuing to follow it south for many weeks. Finally, on the morning of a dark day, Maurice heard the puffing of a great beast. Looking to the shore he spied a serpentine wyvern, walking along the rocky shore just as the beams of morning caressed the beasts hide, making it a beacon for the wandering band. They put ashore to find the beach deserted once more and no other clues of how to proceed.
That night, Maurice dreams of first a house of cedar wood surrounded by fir trees and then he sees a door of stone flanked by large statuesque sentries at the foot of a mountain. At the entrance of the stone doorway stands a tall man with silver hair. He sees them gesturing welcome and offering succor before he awakens the following morning. He speaks of his vision to the others and they decide to move inland from the beach to discover where these landmarks exist.
Travelling north, dragging Savaric's litter behind them, the Templars encounter rough terrain, but continue on. After two nights, they come to a village and are brought before the chieftain. The chieftain offers them lodgings in his own wooden hut and asks to hear their tale. It is related to him and Maurice describes his vision, and the chieftain nods.
The chieftain knew of the house and doorway that they seek. A day's journey to the east, near the shore there is the entrance of what was once the dwarven city of Gwaren. At its entrance is the house of Anton Wither, the elder of the village that housed both humans and dwarves that had forsaken the earth in fear of the darkspawn that have taken over their homeland. The chieftain promised to have the men guided to Gwaren.
The following morning the chieftain sends a man to guide the Templars to their destination, following the coastline. By evening of that day they arrived at the wooden house that Maurice had seen. The fishing village at the edge of the Frozen Sea was small, but they are warmly welcomed. Anton Wither's wife eagerly saw to the needs of the guests, she made healing poultices for Savaric, giving him new strength and enabling him to amble about, but he was still weak and his wounds still seeped. However, Anton looked at the Templars askance, weighing them carefully in his own mind, as if considering something but the Templars did not notice. The Templars related their tale to Anton and he offered them hospitality in return, promising to see if there is anything the village could offer to help them on their quest and to seek out any possible sources of corruption that might be a sign of the rogue spirit.
The Templars were well cared for and that night, Giles had a dream. He saw a small boy in tattered rags and skinned knees on the shores of the beach, under a weeping sky amid the ruins of a boat. The boy reached out to him and Giles sensed that the boy was touched by the Maker and had a role to play in their quest. He shared his dream with his brethren the following morning, all puzzled by what the dream portended and wondered about the boy.
That day a storm blew up from the Frozen Sea. The wind wailed and shook the walls of the village houses. Everyone stayed indoors, but Aubrey Chowring could find no peace near the fire. He went out in the rain and turned his eyes to the sea, watching it in all its swelled fury. It reminded him of the hardships he had faced with his brethren and prayed that they might find what they sought.
Amid the thrashing waves, not far off shore, he thought he spied a boat and ran to the shoreline. The hulking skeleton of a fishing boat was being pushed onto the shore, forced into the rocks. As the waves drove it forward, Aubrey met it at the edge of the beach, the place between land and sea. Once the hull of the ship hushed against the gravel, a small figure crawled out of the wreck, falling to the rocks as he did so, scraping his knees. The Templar spied the small boy, no more than six winters old, weeping, calling for parents who were no longer of that world.
The Templar was moved with pity and picked the boy up in his arms, soothing the lad before bringing him to his brethren. The boy, once he is able to speak, stated that his name is William Ward. The men are filled with wonder at the young orphan and realized that he had been called from the sea to serve the Maker. Each of them swear to protect the boy and help to raise him in fear of the Maker and in reverence of the Holy Bride.
The following day, Anton shared with the Templars that he had not been made aware of any spirits or evil haunting the land surrounding the village. All had been peaceful, except that the village had been plagued by the golden wyvern that had stalked the beaches and frightened the fish, causing the yield of the sea to be sparse, forcing the fishermen to have to go farther and farther out into dangerous waters.
The Templars reluctantly conferred amongst themselves. Their mission was clear, they were to focus on finding the final spirit that escaped through the Veil, but the holy bride had led them to this place. They reasoned that perhaps the final spirit was inexplicably tied to the wyvern and resolved that they would help the village to rid themselves of the beast.
Long before the dawn's light, the Templars raised a group of twelve men from the village, among them was Anton Wither, and the Templars brought Will to serve as page for the ailing Savaric, carrying the injured man's shield. They followed the shore until they reached the nest of the wyvern, surrounded by jutting rocks and broken purple mollusk shells. Stealing closer to the creature, the Templars signaled the villagers to help them flank the creature as they drew it out of its lair. Stationing themselves at the mouth of the outcropping, the Templars raised a mighty din, causing the wyvern to lash out in confusion, slithering forth and breathing fire. The men raised shields in response and parried the creatures blows, all fought valiantly, but when they called for the aid of the village men, they did not come forth. The golden creature coiled and wrapped around the rocks, protecting its nest.
After a battle that seemed near impossible due to the size of the beast, the Templars slayed the wyvern. Giles, Maurice and Aubrey were wounded and bled upon the rocky beach, kneeling and praying for succor from the Maker. Finally Anton Wither came forward from behind a large rock that he had been concealed behind. The man smiled sympathetically toward the Templars and informed the wounded brethren, "Seeing the size of the beast and believing the battle hopeless, the men of Gwaren ran. They could not keep faith with you. Mortal men are fragile beings in the face of such a brutal beast. Mere men were never made for such hardship. Look at yourselves; you bleed in place of the men who are lesser than you. You are left at the brink of death. See where your devotion has brought you?"
The men were gravely distressed, pained by the man's words. They could not see beyond their own doubt and sorrow.
Then the boy, William Ward, stepped forward, and in a clear voice that belied his years, "Speak no more demon! You preyed on the villagers fears, assuming that the wyvern would destroy the men sent by the Maker to imprison you. You have hidden here so long that none even suspected, eclipsing the soul of the man, Anton Wither. No more shall you roam free."
As the lad spoke, the light of dawn set the beach awash with a holy glow, causing the specter to cower, revealing its true shape. The Templars took their arms up and vanquished the final rogue spirit. They bound the demon to a black vial with a solemnly intoned prayer and a scrap of paper, sealed with their life blood and William Ward was among them, having taken upon himself the mantle of the fallen Shamas Goodson in the face of battle.
After their task was completed, the wounds of the men were too great to withstand and they succumbed to death. William ran back to the village to call for aid from the frightened men that had abandoned them, and they came forward but they were too late. The only one not mortally wounded was Herlewin and he would allow none of the faithless to touch the hallowed dead. As he stood over his fallen brethren, he spoke these words to the men of Gwaren, "You have shamed your fathers and your sons. This village will ever after be robbed of peace, so easily do you run. You will betray those who rely on you for aid because you embrace being afraid. Faithless fools and fallen friends, one of your number will be unable to defend the golden king from the demons that you fear. Eternal shame lies on all who were not here!"
Rather than allow the villagers' craven fingers to sully the valorous dead with their traitorous hands, Herlewin burned the remains of his brethren as the men of Gwaren watched; the pyres casting flames into the night sky like enlightened hymns to the Maker. Then, the Templar Herlewin Payne, guardian of the black vials, took the boy, William Ward, in hand. They left behind the men who had abandoned them and wandered the wilderness.
It was revealed to both Herlewin and William in a dream from the Holy Bride that the black vials could never be destroyed. Rather than return to Val Royeaux where the vials might taint the Divine and cause further devastation, the pair remained in the wilds, discerning safe resting places where the vials could not be disturbed and would remain distant from one another, lessening the chance of them being freed.
Once they had discharged their duty to the Maker, they did not return to the Divine, so overwrought with punishing the transgressions of the Tevinters that she had quite forgotten the men she had sent out to save Thedas from rogue spirits. The limping Templar and the young boy explored what would later be Ferelden, giving aid to the needy and praising the Maker until the end of their days.
Where their bodies finally rested, no one knows, but it is believed that the light of the Maker shines softly there.