"Just admit it, you were lost a few times" William said as they emerged from the system of caves to look at Soldier's Peak.
"Fine, fine I was nearly lost, but I got us there in the end didn't I?" Levi said.
"She's magnificent." Olorin said, setting eyes on the giant castle for the first time. To say the peak was seven hundred years old, and had been abandoned for over two hundred years it was in magnificent condition.
"It looks a lot better than I expected" Alistair said.
It was Wynne who answered rather than Olorin.
"There is powerful magic here. I have no doubt that is keeping the fortress in such good condition."
Moving forward they encountered a vision of men who were assaulting the keep withdrawing and starving the keep's inhabitants out, on the Kings advice.
"The veil is thin here." Olorin asked at Levi's quizzical look. It allows us to see some of the past, but also allows demons and spirits to come through."
"That doesn't sound good." Levi said, just as corpses started rising around them, clearly being possessed by minor demons.
The group split into two on Williams orders. William, Zevran, Sten and Morrigan headed towards the doors, taking on some melee fighters and some archers. Olorin, Alistair Leliana and Wynne went to deal with the possessed corpse of a mage, with some supporting archers and less melee fighters.
The two groups were soon dispatched, with William having a minor injury from a crossbow fired by one of the corpses that Wynne soon healed.
Moving into the guardroom they heard a rousing speech by Levi's several times great grandmother. Moving into a room to the left they were again set upon by corpses which were soon burned to a crisp by Olorin and Morrigan. They figured this was a room used by guards to rest between shifts. To the Wardens who knew how small the Order was now in Ferelden it was shocking for them that they once had such a force in Ferelden that could staff the castle.
They carried on moving through the castle, burning or decapitating any corpses that got in their way, until they came to what appeared to be archives, where they were stopped by another vision of the past. This time it appeared to be a discussion between the Archivist and another Warden, where rebellion was mentioned. Before it could be discussed more corpses arose. In the tight confines of the room magic was impractical, so William ordered the mages out back the way they had came, apart from Olorin who drew his sword.
He parried one blow from the Archivist, who was also fighting with a shield as well as the sword. He attempted to behead the corpses, but was blocked by the shield. He moved his staff as if to launch a flame spell at the corpse as a distraction, before managing to get his blade past the shield and managed to chop the arm of the corpse off, before decapitating it at the neck.
The fight was soon over after that, with Zevran, William, Alistair, Leliana and Sten all being much more skilled with blades than Olorin is, despite him becoming more and more proficient each day. Morrigan and Wynne were called back into the room.
"Rebellion? Thats against everything the Wardens stand for?" Olorin questioned.
"How is that different from what you're doing with Teryn Loghain?" Levi asked, with genuine interest.
"The blight changes everything." William said. "We must do whatever we can do end the blight."
"You make tougher decisions than I could Wardens" Levi said.
They carried on moving through the castle, clearing corpses on the way, until they got to the Warden-Commanders office. There they were met by something that they none of them had experienced before, a walking corpse.
"This one is The Dryden. Stop. This one would speak with you."
"Levi, I'm afraid your grandmother has really let herself go." Olorin commented, as Morrigan shot a ball of fire at the corpse, which it dodged, summoning up more demons to possess other corpses.
The fight was short and quite simple. Though the demon possessing Sophia must have been powerful for it to have retained the corpses form, the ones possessing the corpses were not powerful, and soon fell to the blades of William, Alistair, Sten and Zevran. Sophia was soon burned to a crisp inside the enchanted armour by Olorin.
"Sorry we had to do it Levi, but we can't exactly let a demon walk around." Olorin said.
"I understand Warden. That was no longer my grandmother. My grandmother died a long time ago."
As they moved into the main hall they were stopped by another vision, a battle between the Warden's and the Kings men. Levi was shocked to see his grandmother order a mage, Avernus, to summon demons. However Olorin, nor Morrigan was not paying attention to the vision. They were paying attention to the summoning circle. Olorin had little knowledge on summoning demons, but he could see the flaw in the circle, nearly as fast as Morrigan could.
"This circle is not safe. The structure of the runes is wrong, likely drawn in a panic. It will continue to draw demons to it and let them through. We cannot use this as a base." Olorin explained.
"Could we not just remove the circle?" William asked.
"After all this time? Doing so could create a huge magical backlash that would kill us all as all the magic stored in it was released. The original mage who drew them could undo them, but they would be long dead."
Resigned to the fact, they killed the rage demon that appeared after the vision had finished before moving onto the tower. There were five vials of blood, with some alchemical drawings and notes on the table. After some deciphering, Olorin, Wynne and Morrigan managed to work out these blood vials, if drunk, would be able to greatly enhance a Grey Wardens abilities. Now the Grey Wardens were faced with a dilemma. Do they drink the vials or not? In the end they decided not. Although the mages thought the alchemical notes and drawings were correct, there was no way of knowing for sure that they wouldn't just drop dead. Better safe than sorry they moved through to the final room of the tower.
"I hear you. Don't disrupt my concentration! Even now the demons seek to replenish their numbers. Are you to thank for this temporary reprieve?"
"The old warden mage?" Levi questioned. "How are you still alive?"
"Blood magic probably." Olorin said with distaste. "You can sustain your spirit for a long time with blood magic, and your body for a limited time. See how he has no hair and his skin is discoloured in places? The blood magic is starting to fail isn't it Avernus?"
"Your friend is right, the blood magic is starting to fail. But I must ask who are you all? I sense Grey Wardens among you, though the taint is not strong enough for you to be all Wardens, but too strong for none of you to be Wardens."
"Three of us are Wardens." William spoke. "The last Grey Wardens in Ferelden."
"You mean to say there is a Blight happening and there are only three Grey Wardens in the country?" Avernus said, slightly horrified.
"How do you know there is a blight if you've been cut away from society so long?" Zevran queried.
Alistair answered, "We Grey Wardens can sense the Archdemon. It's not common knowledge but is hardly a secret like some of the things of our order."
"Speaking of order secrets…" Avernus interrupted "How long have you been Grey Wardens?"
If Avernus was horrified at only three Grey Wardens in Ferelden during a blight, the fact the most experienced had only been in the order for six months utterly terrified him. It was soon explained how the other wardens had been betrayed by Teryn Loghain and the throne was now empty.
"Then, it falls to me to tell you the secrets of our order, but we must deal with the demons as well, for they will soon reform."
"What if you fall during the battle?" Olorin asked. "Should we not learn the secrets from you before we go into battle?"
"There is no time, they are already knocking on the door, and I sense a powerful pride demon is amongst them. We must unravel the summoning circle while only weaker demons are able to get through. Besides, all the orders secrets are in books scattered around the place. It will take longer to learn them, but you can learn them without me."
Plan decided, they headed back to the summoning circle. As Avernus started unravelling the circles, demons did indeed appear. The weaker ones were no match for the party though, Sten and Alistair seemed particularly intent on killing as many as possible. The only demon to give them pause was a tricky Desire Demon which commanded some lesser Rage Demons. The mages soon took care of the Rage Demons, before Alistair used a Wrath of Heaven against the Desire Demon, allowing William to kill it and send it back to the fade.
Summoning circle undone, William issued orders. Morrigan and Wynne were to study some tomes in the library to work out their uses, Leliana and Zevran were to clear the rest of the castle and then along with Sten, inspect the fortifications. The three wardens were soon with Avernus in his tower.
"I regret it falls to me to tell you these secrets. They are not traditionally told until you have been in the order for two years, but in a Blight Warden Commanders have discretion to relax this rules. I suppose your Warden Commander could not have predicted betrayal and assumed at least some senior wardens would survive. First of all, the joining ritual. Do any you know the recipe?"
"No we don't, we just know it involves Darkspawn Blood." Olorin said, shuddering as he remembered the taste."
"Well, there's more to it than that. And it's a good job you are a mage, Olorin, as magic is involved. In your test you will have been told to fill a vial with Darkspawn blood, yes?"
All nodded.
"For every vial of Darkspawn Blood you must add a quarter vial of crushed lyrium, two handfuls of dried Royal Elfroot and a handful of crushed Embrium and a handful of crushed Dawn Lotus and then imbue it with magical energy."
Olorin interrupted. "That is a lot of powerful healing herbs. I guess that is to protect us from the taint from the Darkspawn Blood?"
Avernus nodded before adding "And the Archdemon Blood. The final ingredient is a single drop of Archdemon blood per vial of Darkspawn blood."
All three wardens mouths dropped open at this. They had actually ingested Archdemon blood? None of them could believe it. William was first to recover and asked for Avernus to repeat it, for which he did.
"That is unbelievable. But why Archdemon blood?" Olorin asked.
"Have you not wondered why a Grey Warden is necessary to defeat the Archdemon?"
"I know the taint makes us stronger and gives us an advantage over the Darkspawn. But I assumed 'necessary' and 'essential' was a stretch and hyperbole." William said.
"No its not." Olorin said. 'I never thought why, but I knew we were essential, as I had no doubt the Tevinter Magisters could slay an Archdemon before the Grey Wardens arrived?"
"You are correct Olorin. Indeed Dumat was slain four times by Tevinter Magisters, but did not stay dead until he was slain by the Grey Wardens. It is essential because when the Archdemon is slain its soul seeks out the nearest blighted body to inhibit."
"NO!" Olorin cried, much to the surprise of all. Alistair and William, not being mages, had no idea why Olorin was so upset, and Avernus was impressed Olorin had figured it out so quickly.
"I'm afraid so Olorin. A Darkspawn is a soulless creature, so simply transforms into the new Archdemon. However a Grey Warden has a soul. As a body can be inhabited by two souls, the Grey Warden who slays the Archdemon dies."
At this, William and Alistair went deathly pale.
"I am sorry it is I who tells you this." Avernus said.
After gaining his composure it was William who spoke first.
"I will do what must be done. If it falls to me to kill it, I will do so. It will mean I can see mother and father again at the Makers side at least."
Avernus kept silent, not believing in the Maker himself, but knowing that belief had allowed other Wardens the courage to do their duty.
"Well, what do we do now?" Olorin asked.
"Even though there are only three of you, I suggest you sort out a command structure." Avernus said. "This is because the command structure dictates who takes the killing blow. Traditionally, if it is possible, the Warden-Commander takes the killing blow, then the Warden-Constable, then it goes in length of service. This is because the longer you have been a Grey Warden, the closer you are to your calling.
"Does that mean Alistair is the default Warden-Commander?" Olorin asked.
"Maker no, I don't want to be Warden-Commander! I don't even want to be King and I'm actually entitled to that!"
Avernus just raised an eyebrow at Alistair being heir to the throne before speaking.
"No, it's done on suitability of service, not length of service. If Alistair doesn't want it, I would not suggest forcing it on him when there are other options."
"I vote for Willam." Alistair quickly said.
"I second that." Olorin joined in.
William looked briefly torn, before nodding his head, an expression of determination on his face.
"May my first act as Warden-Commander be to point Olorin as my Warden-Constable."
Olorin was proud of this, and knew it was the best course. They needed to get Alistair onto the throne if possible, and recruit new Grey Wardens. Alistair was Ferelden's best chance for long term peace.
"Now what of your companions?" Avernus asked. "Would you make any of them join Warden-Commander?"
William thought for a second before answering.
"I will offer them the chance, but not force the RIte of Conscription on them. We owe them too much to force them, when there are other opportunities. If we get to the final battle and only us three are left, I will reconsider the rite."
Avernus disagreed but kept his council.
After showing them where the Archdemon blood was, they had to decide what to do with Avernus, who admitted he did not have more than two years left to live, even with blood magic. It was soon decided he would live, but his experiments would be ethical, with no blood magic. He admitted the Wardens were too short staffed to warrant blood magic experiments anyway.
Leaving Avernus's tower, they met their group at the great hall and received the reports.
"There are a lot of books in the library, some on magic, some on politics and lots on tactics against the Darkspawn." Wynne said, to which Olorin nodded, eager to get a look at the magical books.
Leliana, Zevran and Sten reported that the castle was now clear, with a few remaining undead the group had missed being cleared out. They also reported the defences were in good repair, supported by magic.
Finally Levi reported it would take months to clean the castle, but not long to repair the parts of the inner castle that had been damaged, and offered to become Seneschal of Warden's Keep, which William quickly approved. Then it was the Wardens time to speak.
"On Avernus's advice we have created a rank structure. William is now Warden-Commander of Ferelden, and I am Warden-Constable." Olorin spoke, as Zevran, Wynne and Leliana congratulated them both.
The wardens had argued long over what William would say next. Alistair wanted the warden's secrets respected, William wanted to tell the companions the risks of the joining, and Olorin fell somewhere in the middle. In the end William as Warden-Commander had partially won.
"Avernus has both told us why Grey Warden's are necessary to end the Blight, and how to make the joining recipe. We have all the ingredients. I offer you all the chance to join the Wardens, but will not use the Rite of Conscription against you. And I warn you, the joining ritual can kill you." William spoke.
"So that is why there are only two new recruits when Duncan had four?" Wynne enquirer, to which Olorin nodded.
"Yes. Daveth died due to the ritual, Ser Jory lost his nerve and drew his sword on Duncan and was killed. William and I survived."
"I have no desire to be a Grey Warden." Morrigan said.
"Nor do I." agreed Leliana.
"My duty is to the Arishok." Sten intoned.
"If I was younger, I may have taken you up on that offer, but I am happy with my place in the circle." Wynne said.
The final person to answer was Zevran who looked to be considering it.
"I must admit, since leaving the Crows I feel my life has lacked purpose, but the prospect of death hardly fills me with enthusiasm. Is this a one time offer?"
"It is not." William confirmed.
"In that case I shall think about it."
At that point Levi came through the door, confirming he had tidied up some bedrooms and they each had their own room, to which all were ecstatic. Not long after, they all headed to bed, ready to go out the next day in search of the Black Wolf.