Fandom Dragon Age: Rise of the Wardens

[ShalRavenne]

12:4 Awakened.

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The darkspawn have been a lot more active in the last few months, the raids more dangerous and the Dwarves are reporting that the darkspawn there are gathering but they aren't seeing an increase in fighting down in the Deep Roads. The reclaimed Thaigs are also not as harried as frequently or in as large groups as of late. The Wardens stir and gather more recruits, they are training them hard and start gathering toward Ostagar.


All the signs are there, it is the beginning of the 6th Blight. The old god, Razikale has been found but the Archedemon has yet to show itself in any form. So why are the Wardens preparing for war, the common folk can never find out the secret that all Wardens share. That secret that the next recruits will discover for themselves or die in the attempt.


Their tale begins...

 

[ShalRavenne]

Ostagar, it has been a fort, a ruined last stand, a graveyard and has now had many decades of rebuilding. It is now home to a prominent trade town, one of two bases for the Wardens of Ferelden and a Memorial Ground of the 5th Blight's massacre.


Aralyen was seeing it for the first time, such a lively place. She held tight to her bowstring that lay against her chest from her bow across her back. She was Dalish, she was called forth to honor the treaties, it was her honor to serve. But it didn't make her any less nervous.


She took a deep breath and continued following her guide, the Grey Warden who had chosen her from her clan and asked her to come with her to join the order. She hadn't even looked to the Keeper to know she would do this, she was always ready for adventure and experience in the world. They made their way through the fair sized town to the Tower and the buildings around it. The Warden's fort, walled off from the rest of the town, separating the Wilds and the town.


They entered, passed two sentries and a group of training Wardens before entering one building that she supposed housed the gathering recruits.


"I will leave you here for now, Aralyen. I will come for you when you are to prove your tasks. The others shall be arriving soon, please don't stir up trouble." She grinned and bowed slightly.


"Of course, Seral." She learned to forgo the typical Dalish greeting and farewells when it came to the other races around Ferelden, it meant nothing to them. She watched him leave and settled her meager belongings on the cot. She took off her studded leather armor and stretched her stiff body. "It is almost time to see if I'll make it here with the shemlens."


She let down her long red hair and closed her striking green eyes.

 

[Lucya Kunzenov]

Cai Jiao unstrung her bow as she entered the fort of Ostagar, a common custom of courtesy among her people. As she clamped the end of the bow between her ankles and leaned upon it's length to bend it enough to loosen the string she glanced about, taking the string in her small, low teeth and pulling it out of the securing groove. Cai Jiao stuck the now almost straight bowshaft into a pair of loops on the outside of her quiver, tightening them so it wouldn't slip out. She carefully wound the string into a tight circle, tying the ends together and folding the resulting coil into her belt pouch.


Once finished with her disarmament ritual, Cai Jiao slowly made her way to a thick oaken door, which barricaded the entryway to a building that a Grey Warden had recently exited, supposing that she could find where she was supposed to be inside. Cai Jiao timidly knocked on the door, rapping her small knuckles onto the door three times. She took a step back from the door, as custom dictated, and waited for an answer, loathe to enter a strange place without being invited.


As Cai Jiao waited for an answer, she shifted her slight weight from foot to foot, her tiny soles both bruised and blistered from the long walk. She kept her expression neutral, however, and her eyes forward.

 

[Luxii]

The looming towers of Ostigar did nothing to uplift Skylar's foul mood. For weeks she had traveled with her Warden recruiter - on foot no less - picking up a few more unfortunate souls along the way, but finally they reached their destination.


According to the stories, Ostigar had an exciting past, but now was just a bustling trade city, like hundreds of others in the country. The other three recruits with her marveled at all there was to see, not surprisingly since their recruiter had plucked them out of some backwater towns in the middle of nowhere. Skylar rolled her eyes and kept pace with the recruiter. Her broadsword was slung across both shoulders, and it was long enough that she could rest both of her wrists over the pommel and the very tip to keep it in place. A tiny human with such a large weapon always attracted stares.


As the group moved through the city, the came to a post with two sentries. After speaking briefly with the recruiter they were allowed to pass. The Warden's fort was secluded from the rest of the town, which was just as well, Skylar supposed. They passed a group of what had to have been more recruits practicing sword drills - some of these recruits were barely adults. Several looked as though they had never held a weapon in their life.


"Idiots..." she muttered under her breath.


The recruiter motioned for the four to enter a large building off to the side. Skylar had to adjust her grip on her sword, holding it just by the pommel so that it rested down the length of her back, just to fit through the door. It was darker in here. As her eyes adjusted, she saw there were several cots set up along the walls. This must be where all the new recruits would be gathering.


There was already a Dalish elf waiting. Skylar caught sight of the bow on the cot behind the red-head. Wonder if she knows how to use that thing.





After a few words to let them know to wait here for further instruction, the recruiter left them. Skylar wasted no time making herself at home. She claimed the cot farthest away from the door, gently setting her sword down on it. It was nearly the length of the whole cot. Then she untied her boots and lifted them off her feet, turning them over and shaking out the dust and rocks. What she wouldn't give for a bath right now. She had never traveled this long without one, but the recruiter had been insistent that time was of the essence. She was sure if someone patted her on the back, a cloud of dust would poof out of her. How attractive...





But now there was nothing to do but wait. The other three from her group stood off to the side, speaking in low whispers between them. Skylar wanted to tell them to shut up, but decided it wasn't worth the effort. The rest of these recruiters needed to hurry the hell up and get here with the rest of the new initiates...

 

[ShalRavenne]

"Come in?" She wasn't used to a public barracks being knocked on before, this all was so new to her. Was she supposed to have knocked before coming in? She sighed inwardly thanking that she had been the first to enter. "Hello."


Not a few moments later a group of recruits entered and started to settle in. Looks like everyone else was rushed here like she.


Aralyen eyed the newcomers. They didn't look like much but the end training will tell her what stuff they were made of. The one in the back made her curious, however. She gave a slight nod and looked around. "Is this everyone? Was there anyone else out there?" She called to the group talking amongst themselves.


She got the same disdainful looks she always received, "Really? You'll lower yourself to give me those looks without even knowing a single thing about me? Heh, shows how well you'll handle being a Grey Warden then. That is if you manage to succeed the Joining." She turned to the solitary woman, "Have you heard any news recently? Has it gotten worse up north with the panic among the common folk?"

 

[ShalRavenne]

Aralyen looked over at the new arrival, "The newest recruits in any case, find a cot I suppose. I don't know if anyone else is coming. We are just waiting on new orders, or at least I am. I am Aralyen, I was just asking a few questions about what the state of the people is out in the cities."


She looked back to the new recruits hoping that she would get to start her more intensive training soon, and that she would survive her joining. She knew not all succeeded in becoming a Warden, many lost secrets had been recovered since the last blight. Even the rumors of griffons making a return was circling about in different areas, but she didn't have high hopes for that being a reality. At least her being chosen as a rider in any case.


She moved her pack and bow off her bed and shoved the first under her cot and the second she leaned against the small table next to her sleeping area, well within reach. She sat on her cot and picked stones from the leather treads in her boots with a small throwing dagger. She was content to be silent, if no one wanted to answer her. She had decided long ago to not let the ignorance of others about her race bother her.