Chapter 14: Welcome Reinforcements

King Maric, Allen, and I remained at the Circle Tower for three weeks discussing the details of converting the Circle in a college, and allowing the mages freedom to live life normally. We also went over the plans to allow mages to become village protectors with a stipend from the crown. This encouraged a focus on battle magic , but it didn't exclude the study of other magic. Maric also offered preferential posts to any mage who volunteered to help with the Blight. Allen offered positions as professors to the mages who helped with the Blight and wished to stay at the Circle to train younger mages.

With the option to be able to visit family, or leave when they chose to, a surprising number of mages decided to stay at the Circle. It seemed like they developed a more familial social system in the tower since they didn't have anyone else they could really interact with. The news about the change from a Chantry controlled Circle to a state funded college. It would take some time for them to figure out when students would be able to leave and see their families, but it was agreed that until that time came around, student's families would be able to come and visit them.

By the time we were done, letters had already been sent out to families with the news. I saw Veron at the tower's shore with a crew of dwarves setting up a new pier. While King Maric was focused on the state policies of the college and its mages, Allen and I focused on the ancillary aspects like transportation, supplies, and infrastructure. Allen signed an exclusive contract with Veron to build and manage the new dock and harbor, as well as to deliver lyrium to the college. This meant that Veron and Rica would have a ridiculous amount of gold coming in, and as their patron House, I would get a solid percentage of that coin.

We returned to Ostagar with nearly two dozen mages ready and willing to unleash their full potential against the darkspawn. I wasn't sure how much good two dozen mages would do, but could think of ways they could be put to good use if we managed them tactically. The mages could deal a lot of damage if given the room to really let loose. I had a pretty good idea.

Over the next few months I had some extra materials delivered from Orzammar. To my very welcome surprise, Orta had come along with the materials, bringing with her four hundred warriors of House Ortan. I made sure to ensure that she hadn't brought too many warriors that the Thaig was left undefended, but she assured me that things we handled. She also hinted that these were not the only reinforcements coming from Orzammar.

That intrigued me.

We feasted that evening, bringing together all the dwarves in a massive hall that had been prepared as a command station for the dwarven forces. I expected Frandlin to have a happier reaction to Orta'a arrival than he did, but he seemed rather neutral about it all. Still, his reaction didn't seem to affect the mood of any other dwarves, and Orta seemed to have expected that sort of reaction.

House Ortan was added to the battle plans. They would assist the cavalry in the flanking maneuvers so that the dwarves could stick together. However, this would require Ortan soldiers to be first out of the ramp gates. They wouldn't be able to keep up with the bronto charge down the ramps. The drawback was that House Ortan would be facing the darkspawn alone for about a minute before the cavalry arrived to break the flanks up into more manageable pockets of resistance. It was dangerous, but they were willing to accept the risks since it would also give the cavalry time to be as effective as possible.

Two months after House Ortan arrived, we received the Orlasian Grey Wardens. Nearly fifty Wardens arrived on horseback. They were an impressive lot, and there were a lso wo dwarves sprinkled among them. It was heartening to see my own kind with them, but it was exciting to meet Duncan, Riordan, and Clarel.

The arrival of the Wardens lifted everyone's spirits. We feasted their arrival and met with them afterwards.

Warden Clarel looked around the large table in the meeting hall, seeming to appraise us, "Your Graces, Lords and Ladies, as you know I have been sent here by Divine Beatrix to assist you in preparing for an upcoming Blight. However, we have seen no signs of a Blight on our journey here from Orlais, nor have we seen any signs of a Blight since our arrival. What I do see, however, is a large set of armies that have gathered together in a large fort preparing for something that we Wardens should know is coming."

She paused before asking, "May I ask how you know there is a Blight coming when the Grey Wardens have seen no sign of one."

King Maric leaned forward, "I believe Princess Merida will best be able to answer that question, Warden Clarel." He looked at me and gave me a nod to explain.

I returned the nod then smiled and bowed my head to Clarel, "Ferelden has had six Fated individuals born roughly twenty years ago. These Fated were gifted with vast knowledge of Thedas' past and limited information on events that will happen in the future. In the next year or so, a Blight will begin forming in the Kocari Wilds."

"'Fated' individuals?" Clarel almost scoffed. She'd held the mockery in her tone likely because her time in Orlais had driven home how you could, and should, speak to royalty and nobles. "How do you know that these individuals are even speaking the truth and aren't spinning some fanciful tale in order to curry favor and seem more important than they are?"

"Because I don't lie," I replied with a cool voice, but shot a glare at the Warden that would melt stone.

Clarel looked like she was trying to process what I just said, "Forgive me, Princess, but are you saying that you are one of the six Fated individuals?"

Maric answered for me, "Princess Merida is indeed one of the fated. I can attest to her knowledge. When we first met, she told me about a journey that Tyrn Loghain and I had gone on years before she was even born. We've never spoken of the journey to anyone. Yet somehow she knew."

"Each of the Fated have the same general knowledge of the world," I added. "But each Fated also has knowledge that others do not. That is how each of us has managed to improve the lives of our people and work to improve things in Ferelden in general."

The Warden considered the information for some time, "If what you say is true, can you tell me what I did before joining the Wardens?"

I smirked, "You were a mage in the Orlasian Circle; more specifically, you were an Enchanter. As I understand it, it was your talent as an enchanter that the wardens recruited you for."

Clarel stared at me as if she couldn' believe what she'd heard. She took a deep breath then sighed in resignation, "You're correct. I don't know how you know, but you're correct."

"Is that proof enough?" King Maric asked. "I doubt anyone here other than some of your fellow Wardens knew the answer to that question, let alone a young dwarf."

"It's proof enough," Clarel conceded. "So if you believe there is a Blight coming, the Wardens will aid you. How long do we have till the darkspawn arrive?"

"Approximately one year," Serea answered. "We're not sure of the exact day, but we have seen the start of some darkspawn activity deep in the Kocari Wilds. They're just small raiding bands right now, but as the year progresses we expect to see more and more."

"And we know we'll need the Wardens to kill the Archdemon," Trianna added.

"Bringing down the archdemon will be no easy task," Clarel mused. "We have to get it to land if it shows itself. And wherever it lands, it's going to cause a massive amount of destruction."

"Over the next year we're going to be setting up trebuchets around the fort," Loghain offered. "Dozens of them. As many as we can manage."

"They'll fire flechette ammunition," I clarified. "Our engineers have designed them to slice through anything they hit, and they'll fly in a group so that each shot will cover a wide area in the air."

"I've seen the human and dwarves forces, but what about the Daylish?" Clarel asked, looking at Trianna specifically since she was the only elf in the hall and the Daylish representative.

"The Daylish will arrive for the battle," Trianna responded with confidence. "I can at least tell you that the Dalish will be blocking the darkspawn's retreat. We'll be behind them, harassing them forward into your formation."

"What if the back line decides to turn and fight you instead of continuing forward?" Loghain asked.

"Then we'll fight them," Trianna said decisively. "If nothing else, it will separate their forces and make things easier on everyone."

"I would think that would be the best possibility," I suggested eagerly. "That would mean the cavalry would be about to harass the back lines of the split forces with more impunity."

Ser Michel de Chevin, the leader of the Orlasian chevaliers that Divine Beatrix left with us nodded, "Princess Orodoom makes a fine point. The cavalry will do its duty no matter what, but we will be more effective the more disorganized the enemy is."

"There are ways to disrupt the enemy's position without troops," Maric mused. "We could use the trebuchets on the horde with standard stone ammunition until the archdemon makes itself known."

"Continuous fire into the battlefield could endanger the cavalry and infantry we have out there," Clarel countered. "We don't want to fire onto our troops."

"Perhaps we could practice our timing so that one volley from all of the trebuchets cuts through the middle of the horde just before the cavalry and infantry exit the gates," Faren tapped the table. "A volley like that would likely cut a large swathe through the horde that the cavalry could take advantage of. We can force one half towards the fort, and the other half back towards the elves."

Ser Michel de Chevin nodded in approval, "The terrain will be pock-marked after the volley, so the cavalry will need to take care, but that would be an effective tactic."

"And there will be multiple mages with the elves," Trianna built on the strategy being put together. "Princess Orodum will be with the cavalry. So there will be magic front, back, and center. Splitting the horde will crush both sides between blades and magic on one side, and cavalry and magic on the other."

"House Aeducan will gladly join House Ortan to back up the cavalry," Trian said as the door opened suddenly.

"Trian?" I gasped. "Trian!" I shoved myself back in my chair, and ran down the length of the meeting hall to the shock and surprise of everyone, leaping up and hugging my brother's neck, laughing excitedly. "You didn't send a messenger! Why didn't you tell us you were coming?"

"Sister…" Trian cleared his throat, giving me a gentle hug in return. "You've forgotten your decorum.

I looked up at Trian with confusion before his words clicked. I looked behind me and everyone was staring at me, smiling warmly and others chuckling softly. I turned back to Trian and just hugged him tighter, "I don't care! I haven't seen you in years and you just showed up out of the blue! How can I not be excited?"

Trian sighed, giving in to me once again, "Yes, well… It's wonderful to see you as well, Sister. We can speak personally after the meeting. For now, we have plans to make."

"You're sitting with me," I demanded as I took his hand and pulled him along to my seat at the head of the table. One of the dwarven nobles quickly brought his chair over so that Trian could use it.

Warden Clarel chuckled at the commotion, "It's always nice to see family reunited. You're the Princess' brother?"

Trian bowed his head, "I am Prince Trian Aeducan, eldest son to King Endrin Aeducan. I govern Aeducan Thaig and have the great honor to be Paragon Orodum's elder brother as well."

"It's good to have the reinforcements, my Lord," Clarel bowed. "May I ask how many men you've brought?"

"I came with five hundred Aeducan warriors," Trian explained, "as well as four hundred warriors from House Cadash, and two regiments of the Legion of the Dead."

"Nearly three thousand ?" King Maric asked with an approving tone. "Impressive. You've essentially doubled the dwarven presence in the fort. I hope those tunnels have enough room for all of you."

"We'll make room in no time, won't we?" I asked, looking at some of the other dwarven nobles who quickly excused themselves to relay the need for the construction to begin.

"I should also mention that we brought Lady Cadash with us well," Trian added.

The other Fated gasped with excitement. They had been wanting to meet her for a while now.

"House Branka has also arrived," Trian continued. "Branka and Ohgren decided to head to the tower to begin setting up camp. "They came with another five hundred warriors."

The other Fated squealed with excitement once again at the prospect of meeting Branka and Ohgren.

The meeting continued well into the evening, with dinner and other food being served as needed. We discussed tactics and the expansion of the underground tunnel systems. With the amount of additional forces, we also had to start plans on the expansion of the fort at the top level, as well as planning on what we would do to expand the base level below the chasm to accommodate the elves when they made their appearance.

Tactics were laid out for several scenarios on how the battle could go and for where the archdemon would land. Typically, the archdemon would just fly around the battlefield as it augmented the darkspawn by attacking us with its flame weapons. It wouldn't engage directly unless it was forced to the ground. We decided that by spreading out the mages, a specific arcane bolt would be sent into the air to signal where the archdemon went down.

Next was the establishment of the chain of command. We decided to divide the forces up into three sections; the main infantry, the cavalry, and the Dalish. The main infantry would be under the command of King Maric; with Serena, Cailan, and Loghain as his primary officers. They would control the ballista and the main defensive force.

Trianna would command the Dalish. Her officers would be Aelfric, Allen, and one of the Dalish Keepers. They would command the Dalish and work to break the back line of the darkspawn. Trianna assured us that she had some additional surprises in store for the enemy. That made me curious, and no matter how much I asked about it over the coming months, Trianna would only ever smirk and say 'you'll see'.

I was in command of the cavalry unit. The cavalry would be backed up by House Aeducan, House Ortan, House Branka, and Legion of the Dead warriors. Because were going to have the Orlasian chevaliers augmenting our bronto cavalry, I named Ser Michel de Chevin one of my officers. Trian and Branka would command supporting infantry. House Aeducan and House Branka would focus on pressing the darkspawn back into the Dalish assault, while House Ortan and House Orodoom would press against the darkspawn still capable of marching on Ostagar. The cavalry would harass the backlines and keep those ranks broken and incapable of forming a proper defense.

The Grey Wardens would be spread out in pairs around the battlefield wthe the main three forces so that they could respond quickly to the archdemon's vulnerability when it went down. They would also be able to help suggest strategies wherever they were in response to their connection with the darkspawn. We would depend on them to direct more precise, impromptu troop movements.

It was close to midnight by the time the meeting concluded, with other smaller meetings being scheduled over the course of the next few months. The next day I escorted Trian, Branka, Ohgren, and Shale around the fort. The other Fated tagged along so that they could meet them. We caught up on everything that had happened over the past few years and just enjoyed the day.

The next few months were filled with expanding the tunnels, practicing different battle scenarios, and building more accommodations for everyone. We also began to see more and more signs of darkspawn, which put everyone on edge. It wouldn't be too long until we would be facing the horde and the archdemon along with it.