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peopleofthedas2011-05-11 07:48 am
Blood Wound Chapter 16
Title: So you've decided to trust me now, have you?
Words: 1700
Rating: T+ for potty mouth Oghren
Summary: Alim still has too much to do. Like, SOO MUCH. I'm amazed our Wardens don't drop dead of stress during Awakenings....
OH, and by the way, my title image is by the gorgeous
cave_fatuam , in case people didn't know! IT ROCKS, AND SO DOES SHE!
Mistress Woolsey was yelling at him about the state of the caravans. But the Dark Wolf had specifically told him that the conspirators would be meeting in two days - he simply didn't have time to get to the Wending Wood and back before then and he couldn't trust someone else with this, not when he wasn't entirely certain if he could trust anyone at all.
So he sat in the throne of the Arl of Denerim and heard court again and wished with all his heart he could be buried back in the deep roads killing broodmothers. Andraste's arse, when did he start preferring the deep roads to anything?
When he shut his eyes, trying to block out the noise and the tedium, he heard things.
Mi amore where are you?
He shook his head and clenched his scarred hand.
When he'd finished with the nobles he made his way back to his rooms and dug the warden book out of his pack again. He wasn't stupid. The dreams, the whispering, he knew what was happening, and he knew if he wasn't careful - or even if he was - there was a very real possibility he was in danger of becoming possessed.
The book didn't even have a title. It was a compendium of notes from mage wardens through the centuries - he wasn't surprised to see that Avernus had a chapter or two, although they were obviously written a long time before Alim's meeting with the man. He leafed through it in increasing trepidation, reading a page here, a paragraph there. Some of the chapters were disturbingly fragmented, obviously written by men and women at the limits of their endurance, and Alim shuddered.
The consensus was, though, that he'd gone about things exactly the wrong way.
He slammed the book shut and pinched the bridge of his nose. There was a knock on the door a few moments later and he took a deep breath before getting up to open it.
"Commander," Oghren entered, holding a sheaf of papers.
"Since when do they trust you with correspondence?" Alim said, grinning slightly.
"I was coming up to see you anyway," Oghren said, frowning. "That Woolsey woman made me bring these with me." He glanced down at them. "Sodding bills from what I can make out. I suggest burning them. You can do that, right? With a little.." he wiggled his fingers.
"Put them on my desk. I suspect I'm going to get into trouble for ignoring them, but I'll probably get into more for burning them."
"Huh. Never did manage to get good at accounts. Lucky for me Branka always handled that end of things."
"So… when we took you from Orzammar…"
"Let's just say when I go for my Calling I'd probably better go incognito," Oghren grinned. "Otherwise they'll try to get me to pay my bar bills before I get killed."
Alim grinned. "You won't have to go back to Orzammar if you don't want to Oghren," he said, pointing down. "Deep roads entrance right here."
"You're sodding right!" Oghren brightened. "Well, every rock has a hidden ore vein after all." The dwarf looked at his feet for a few minutes.
"What did you want to see me for, Oghren?"
"Oh. I… sod it," Oghren sighed. "I got a letter from Felsi. She's coming here."
"That's good news. When?"
"She'll be here in two days,"
Alim pursed his lips. "I see."
"I know you're going to break up that conspiracy… "
Alim shook his head. "You can stay here and keep an eye on Varel," Alim said.
"Commander… what do I say to her?"
He laughed. "Oghren, you're asking me?"
"Well, I'm hardly going to ask the Howe, am I? And if I ask sodding sparklefingers he'll just… I don't know… flash his junk at me or something. Were you really friends with him?"
"Some of the time."
"Huh. Takes all sorts. If you know what I mean."
Alim stood up and motioned for Oghren to join him by the fire, but the dwarf shook his head. Alim sighed and shook his head as he looked at his friend. "Oghren this is something you'll have to sort out yourself, you do know that, right?"
"Of course I do," he said. "I suppose I only came here because it was either that or get shitfaced… and that's not going to help anything."
"I can give you something to help you sleep if you want."
Oghren shook his head. "Nah. I'll go for a walk, clear the head, then hit something in the practice yard until I can't see straight. Just… pick up my pieces and give them to the stone if Fels decides to chop me up, will you?"
"I promise, Oghren."
The dwarf stood for a moment, looking at him. "You're a good man, Commander," Oghren said. "You don't deserve this shit."
Alim laughed. "I love you too Oghren."
He took Anders, Justice and Nathaniel with him to break up the conspiracy. He trusted Anders, he didn't think the fade spirit was able to betray him - that wouldn't be just, would it? - and he didn't want the Howe out of his sight. He also suspected that if Sigrun was around she might be able to calm Felsi when the inevitable fight happened between her and Oghren. Sigrun groaned pretty much whenever Oghren opened his mouth, but he got the impression she respected the dwarf - a legion member had to make judgements on more than just personality after all.
"Why am I going with you?" Nathaniel asked him as they neared their destination. The holding was less than a day away, but Alim knew enough from Zevran to understand that the earlier they got there the more likely they'd be able to take the conspirators by surprise.
"Crows stake out their meeting places for three days," Zevran had said. "There is no limit to their paranoia, caro mio. Most nobles are not so cautious."
He had no reason to believe these nobles were any better at intrigue than average. Considering the Dark Wolf had managed to uncover so much about them already, and the general contempt both Zev and Leliana had for Ferelden levels of court intrigue.
Like children, uomo magico. What can one expect from a country that worships dogs?
"Frank answer, Ser Howe?" Alim replied. "I don't trust you yet, and I'd rather have you somewhere I can kill you if you decide to betray me."
Nathaniel looked at him with one eyebrow raised for a moment, before his lips twitched in what could almost be described in a grin.
"Fair enough, Commander," he said.
Anders whistled. "You made him smile Commander. Next thing you know he'll be picking out curtains for your quarters."
"Shut up, mage," Nathaniel said mildly.
Anders grinned, but the expression was lost on the archer, who was looking at the ground with a distracted expression.
"What is it, Nathaniel?" he asked.
"You said the meeting wasn't meant to take place until tomorrow, correct?"
Alim nodded.
The archer moved ahead a few paces and crouched down, examining the earth ahead of them. It was moist and fragrant, in this part of the Arling. Rain had fallen the night before. "Well, there are fresh booted tracks here, Commander," he said. "And the boots are definitely better quality than your average Amaranthine farmer's."
Alim found his hand had moved to grip Wintersbreath instinctively. "So… you're saying they're already here?"
Nathaniel nodded. "Staking out the meeting place, I'd guess," he said. Alim nodded. "It's what I'd do."
"It's what the Crows do," Alim said softly.
"Sorry, Commander?"
"Nothing."
They'd stopped in the middle of the road. It was nearing midday, the autumn sun barely managing to warm them any longer. "Any chance they'd be this far away from the steading?" Alim asked. He was suddenly very, very interested in finding out what was at the farm.
"I doubt it," Nathaniel said, standing up and narrowing his eyes. "We're at least two hours away. Unless they have an army up there they'd have to spread their people too thinly to cover the road this far."
Anders was looking a little apprehensive. "How do we know they don't have an army up there?" he said.
"If it's a trap we need to find out," Alim said. "Nathaniel can you scout ahead without being seen?"
"Decided to trust me now, have you?"
Alim grinned, then shrugged. "I'm going to assume it's a trap even if you tell me it isn't," he said.
"What does that accomplish?" Anders squeaked.
"It means we'll all die," he glanced at Justice, who's helm was off. For some reason his blank look made Alim shudder. "Insofar as we can, any way. But I'll make damned sure Nathaniel will die first."
Anders rolled his eyes and shrugged. "I should have let Rylock take me," he muttered.
Nathaniel grinned, then headed off, blending into the landscape so effectively that he was out of sight within moments.
"What do we do now Commander?" Justice said.
"We wait," he replied, moving to the side of the road to set up a rough camp. The others followed, Anders muttering about Templars and Wardens, Justice calmly taking up a watch position without being asked. Alim took a deep breath, trying to control a sudden surge of hope.
If they're Crows, he thought, watching Anders manipulating a log to sit on and chafing his hands against the chill, so help me Andraste, we'll take one of them alive.
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And the interesting way of dealing with a rogue who tried to kill you! While making them respect you along the way...
Given all the running around you end up doing in Awakening, it is definitely a wonder the PC warden doesn't keel over of stress. This being right after the Blight and all... And picking up new specialisations, while quick in game.. in lore, as you show, likely has a lot more work to be done.. and a whole lot of unforeseen complications..
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And indeed - I always was a bit funny about being able to unlock blood magic with a book in awakenings when you had to make a deal with a demon to do it in origins. "warden knowledge" seemed to make it a bit more realistic.
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