Chapter 15: The Hunter (Theron)
In the Korcari Wilds, near Ostagar, a real hunt was going on in the late afternoon. A dark-skinned elf with long dreadlocks carefully walked with a bow at the ready, looking for a future dinner. This elf's name is Theron Mahariel. In his head he repeated the three pillars of Dalish culture: Vir Assan, Vir Bor'assan and Vir Adahlen - the Way of the Arrow, the Way of the Bow and the Way of the Forest. But these tenets could not silence his sense of guilt.
- Lethallin! I... can't look away! This mirror... Help me, lethallin! - Theron heard heart-rending cries from his past.
A month has passed, but Theron remembers these events as if they were yesterday. Theron and Tamlen had known each other since childhood, and it just so happened that by the time they came of age, they both realized that they were much more than friends. With the Dalish elves dying out, the clan was expecting them both to find wives and have children. But Theron and Tamlen knew what they wanted from life, and were sure that nothing would separate them, until one bad day ruined everything.
Having learned from the frightened shemlen hunters that somewhere in the forest was a cave with strange ruins, Tamlen ran to explore it. He was very interested in the history of the elves, and Theron went with him. After killing the spiders that lived in the cave, they found a weird magic mirror. Tamlen touched it and could not move away. Theron tried to pull him out, but lost consciousness.
The Dalish hunter woke up in his clan. Keeper Marethari said that a human had saved him. Theron immediately ran into the cave, accompanied by the First of the clan, Merrill, to find Tamlen. But Tamlen was no longer there. Duncan, the Grey Warden who saved Theron, said that they could no longer save him. Theron and Merrill had to leave empty-handed. At the clan camp, Duncan said that Theron was blighted, and the only way for him to survive was to become a Grey Warden. Theron reluctantly agreed and said goodbye to his clan.
On the way to Ostagar, Theron's health became even worse, he periodically lost consciousness, but Duncan cheered him up. For some reason, the Grey Warden believed in the elf, but it seemed to Theron that Duncan decided to help him out of pity. At the end of the journey, the Warden-Commander had to carry the Dalish in his arms. As soon as they arrived, Theron immediately went through the Joining ritual - he had to drink a solution of the darkspawn blood. Duncan and his apprentice Alistair said that not everyone can survive the Joining, especially with so much Blight in their blood, but Theron survived, and now he makes trips to the Wilds to get meat for the soldiers from the camp and return to his native wild conditions.
Theron killed several fennecs with a bow and collected their bodies. Not a big deal, but it's better than nothing. He also found that swamp flower that the local kennel master was looking for. One of the mabari in the kennel had become infected with the taint, and Theron couldn't pass by the animal in distress.
Returning to the camp, the first thing the Dalish did was to go to the sick mabari.
- Here. I hope this will help, - he said to the kennel master.
- Very nice, how can I thank you?
- I don't need anything for helping a noble animal.
The black mabari looked at Theron as if he understood everything. Perhaps the people of Ferelden worship this breed for a reason.
- Perhaps after the final battle you can become its master, - the kennel master suggested.
- Is it possible? I'm not his owner. And not a human.
- Mabari is a smart breed. You helped this boy and he won't forget it.
Then Theron went to the tent of the Grey Wardens. Duncan recruited eight men in a couple of months: two knights, a grumpy templar, a Chasind woman, two dwarves, and two Circle mages. Alistair is constantly with them in the camp, Duncan instructed him to look after the recruits, and this is a rather difficult task. Theron also wanted to help his future brothers and sisters and therefore brought them some fennecs. Although Theron is not in the Dalish clan anymore, now the Grey Wardens are his clan. And Theron followed the tenet of Vir Adahlen - "together we are stronger than one by one."
- You've hunted for a long time, - said the mage Daylen, who saw him first.
- Sorry, my mage friend. Not everyone here knows how to throw fireballs. Archery is harder than that.
- And it's even harder to run through the swamps with a two-handed sword, especially with my short legs, - added the branded dwarf Faren. - So thank you, Theron. Have you found any nugs by chance?
- I'm afraid there aren't any.
Rahta, a Chasind woman with dark skin, approached them.
- I will cook. Thank you.
The woman took the fennecs and went to the fire.
- Don't take it personally, friend, - said the second mage, the elf named Neria. - She is so talkative with anyone.
Ser Graham, a templar recruit, gazed at Neria and Daylen. Theron didn't like him. The templars sometimes stumbled upon their clan, seeking to take Marethari and Merrill into their Circle. The Dalish have always resisted them.
- Now I'll remember that, lethallan, thank you. By the way, where are the rest of the recruits, I mean, Sereda and the knights?
- Jory and Mhairi have decided to spar, - Faren said. - Well, Sereda decided to join them. They are strange, these no... these notable dwarves, notable for our order.
Alistair, a fair-haired man of medium height in a blue-silver armor with a griffin, approached the recruits. Theron considered him strange but capable. And Duncan somehow valued him more than all the other Wardens combined.
- Theron, a word.
Alistair and Theron moved away from the Wardens' tent.
- Duncan hasn't returned yet. And there is a task for you.
- Finally.
- In the evening, warriors from Highever will arrive at the fortress. The new squad of scouts needs someone who knows the area... and can sense the darkspawn. None of us have been to the Wilds more often than you and Rahta. But Duncan forbade to release the recruits from the fortress until his return, so you'll go with them.
- Got it, I'll do it.
- The squad leader's name is Fergus Cousland. Find him in the morning.
Theron went to the main camp and met an old enchantress in a red robe. For some reason she reminded him of Marethari.
- Greetings, Grey Warden! Do you know where your recruits' tent is? I've just found out that there are Circle mages, - she said.
- Yes, the tent is not far, you just need to go down the stairs and turn right. The mages' names are Daylen and Neria, by the way.
- Oh, it's them! I'm very happy! In the Circle, Neria was my student. I'm sorry, I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Wynne.
- Well, I'm Theron, and I'm glad to meet you. See you later!
Wynne moved on. Theron's clanmates would say that he was too kind to humans and forgot what they had done to his people a long time ago: first, the Tevinter Imperium conquered their first homeland, Elvhenan, and then the Chantry took away the Dales, to which the elves moved after the conquest of Elvhenan. But Theron did not divide those around him into elves and everyone else. In his worldview, there were only those who threatened his existence and everyone else. Wynne seemed to Theron one of the latter, and if she were a Dalish, she could become an excellent Keeper for her clan.
The Dalish found his tent and began to prepare for a campaign with the scouts. Finally, he'll have something to do.
Author note: TBH, the Dalish Elf origin is my least favourite one. That's why I decided to make Theron the more experienced Warden and use the origin as his backstory.