Ask DA: The Best of a Bad Situation

Phoenix

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Three days since the fall of Wycome​
It was nearly two years since Aris had been recruited into the Grey Wardens. Formerly a hunter for her Dalish Clan, when the Grey Wardens had invoked the rite of conscription, she had been one of those selected. She could barely even remember what it was like to be home anymore. In the two years since she'd left, she had seen nothing but war and the road. She'd witnessed the fall of Antiva City months earlier, and had just now witnessed the fall of Wycome. Only three days past, she and her new partner had spent that time gathering up whatever survivors they could before the darkspawn horde moved on.

In that time, the duo had managed to bring together a small camp of people complete with three other wardens, a handful of local soldiers, and no less than twenty-five civilians ranging from the young to the elderly.

As the sun went down, she could still make out the glow of Wycome over the horizon. She could still smell the smoke in the air despite being several miles away.

She made her way across the small "camp" they had assembled. They'd not been allowed fires for fear that the Shriekers or something similar might find them. A cold chill ran down her spine thinking about those creatures. Born of an "elven" broodmother, the sounds they make haunted her nightmares. No, she didn't want to run into any more of those.

She made her way over to her partner, plopping down heavily, back resting against a tree as she realized once again just how exhausted she was.

I don't think we can stay here another day, she said, voice hushed. We could send them on and try to catch up later, but we need to get them moving toward Starkhaven, she said. It was where most of the other refugees and the remainder of the Wardens had gone, but they'd traveled by airship and griffon. Their ever-growing party was traveling by foot, and they needed to stay ahead of the horde. As it was, they had probably stayed too long.
 

Sreeya

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Darvon was not pleased in the least to have a Dalish partner. He could never let go of the fact that he more or less lost the man he had considered his brother back in Antiva City. The chaos flashed behind his eyes whenever he closed them, robbing him of the ability to truly sleep. One by one he watched their numbers dwindle. He heard the screams of those dying, and he recalled the news of the King’s death. He remembered the rumors and whispers suggesting the death hadn’t been from Darkspawn. None of it mattered in the end because the Darkspawn were always a mere few steps behind them.

Wycome had been another ray of hope, and he had failed to save everyone there too. Darvon couldn’t help but dwell on his failures and his purpose as a Grey Warden. What could men do against such evil? He looked over at his heathen ‘partner’, but he realized he no longer had the luxury of choice in his companions. She was a Grey Warden in the end, and she underwent the trials just as he had. However, he would not set aside his judgments so easily.

His eyes narrowed at her as she plopped down against the tree, her words causing his jaw to tighten. After a moment, the human rose to his feet and grabbed his sword, “I suggested not stopping to begin with,” He stated gruffly. He preferred to waste as little time camping as possible, and the walking helped occupy his thoughts away from Anitva City. They had to camp only because their current group of refugees.

Darvon walked over to put out the small fire they built, “We leave now,” He said curtly, not looking back at her as he looked over the horizon, “Sending them ahead is foolish. We haven’t had any intelligence on darkspawn movement for days,” He looked back over at the civilians before turning to Aris, “You are quicker than I am,” He admitted with some difficulty, “Can you scout ahead and see if there are any free horses or mounts we can capture? I will get the party moving.”
 

Phoenix

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Yeah, she said as he brought up the fact that he hadn't wanted to stop in the first place. It hearkened back to what she was told was the age old debate within the Wardens about what the true job of the Grey Wardens was. There were always two camps, and she'd seen them argue time and again during this Blight: did Wardens exit to save people from darkspawn or to destroy darkspawn. Sometimes they were one and the same, but more often than not, Aris found that the two were somehow mutually exclusive in some people's minds.

She wanted to object about moving out now. She was exhausted from spending the entire day out looking for survivors, but rest wasn't something that was an option now. She knew she couldn't be the one to hold everyone up, and the civilians had almost certainly gotten their rest during the day.

I wouldn't hold your breath, she said, pushing herself back to her feet and grabbing her bow once more. The animals don't like the darkspawn or the blight anymore than humans. They're all dead or they've fled, she said.

I'll look. Just be careful. I doubt most of them - particularly the old people - are used to traveling in the dark, she said. Traveling at night had its advantages, but also presented a host of its own problems.

With one hand reaching up to scratch at her neck, she headed back out into the dusky forest, closer toward the city and by extension the horde.

Though she could sense them nearby, she was glad for the fact that she didn't sense any close. The connection to the blight had been a source of many nightmares as well, but it did help in scouting to be able to feel your enemy's presence.

As Darvon started getting the people together and ready to move, the other three wardens assisted him, though one was clearly quite badly wounded. Of the local soldiers, they did their best, perhaps more comfortable herding civilians than they had ever been actually in combat against the darkspawn.

One of the men had a nasty gash in his right arm, but that wasn't what Darvon would notice. As he looked at the man's face, he would see dark lines beginning to set in in his veins, and his eyes looked almost bruised and sunken. It was something Darvon would recognize well as an indication that the man had contracted the blight's taint, at serious risk for spreading among the others within the camp with terrifying speed.
 

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Darvon tilted his head slightly to regard her when she asked him to be careful. There was almost a trace of genuine concern there. It felt almost foreign to him. Was concern or compassion a luxury they could afford nowadays? There had been so much loss and despair that he found himself growing desensitized to a lot of it. It no longer tore him apart when he watched civilians fall from Darkspawn. But did that slowly bring him closer to what Darkspawn were? Was he truly any different if he lost his humanity?

“Hm,” He simply huffed in response, realizing he was looking her way in deep thought for too long. Darvon glanced back and gestured for the group to follow. There were no real complaints as everyone knew the danger of lingering too long. His long strides carried him down the path and he raised a torch to light the way.

He looked around at the other Grey Wardens as he barked a few orders to position them to cover the civilians from all sides. Darkspawn or not, there were still other predators that would prowl the regions. While a lot of animals may have fled, starving wolves and other creatures could have been left behind and a slow moving group of civilians looked appetizing.

It was then that he noticed one of the soldier’s state of being. He recognized the tell-tale signs and he gritted his teeth. Darvon sighed to himself, “Soldier,” He called out to the man, “Will you accompany me to walk towards the cliffs to see what lies beyond?”

Meanwhile, Aris would find nothing but emptiness ahead of her in her immediate vicinity. However, her sharp eyes would allow her to see what appeared to be flickering light far in the distance. It almost looked like a farmland of some sort, but it was difficult to make out without venturing closer.
 
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Phoenix

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Aris had that scout's instinct, a sixth sense for when someone was watching her, and so it was impossible for her not to notice him staring at her even as she started gathering her things and moving away. What she didn't know was what he was thinking and why he was looking at her for so long. The possibilities ranged from the sweet to the malevolent.

He seemed to snap out of it after a moment and she reached up to rub her face slightly, trying not to think about it any more as she headed for the darkness.

She snuck through the darkness, no signs of any life out here. The forest was eerily silent with even animals having fled, just as she had said. She moved through the brush near the road, that creeping feeling of darkspawn nearby growing stronger.

She was just about to turn back when she saw the glint of light in the distance. She frowned and squinted into the darkness, but to no avail. She couldn't make out what was going on inside from this distance and crept closer, gripping her bow more tightly and reaching over her shoulder for one of her arrows... just in case.

Back at the camp, the soldier followed the Warden, his steps stumbling slightly as he nodded. Of course, Warden, he said, grabbing his sword in a shaky hand. He followed compliantly, the others watching as they disappeared in the direction of the cliffs.

The night was dark and the moon half-hidden behind the clouds. The torch kept some of it at bay, but Darvon would be able to sense the darkspawn closer than before. A nagging, terrible singing in the back of his mind produced by their near-hivemind under the archdemon. It was unsettling.
 
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That sense of dread, that feeling of Darkspawn knowing his moves, all of it felt entirely too familiar. At this point it was difficult to decipher what was a horde and what was just from being in proximity of the soldier. He saw the black veins pulse along the sides of the man’s face. Either he was truly oblivious or he had been purposely hiding it. The fact that he eagerly and dutifully followed suggested the former, and that reality jabbed more painfully at Darvon.

The view from the edge of the cliff offered a panorama of the valley ahead. The spires of Starkhaven cut an imposing figure far in the distance, but at least it confirmed they were going the right way. Darvon turned to look at the soldier, “What do you suggest is the best path forward?” He asked the soldier as he looked out towards the valley.

While the man answered, the Warden looked behind him before moving around the other man. It would seem like nothing more than surveying the cliff edge. Without warning, a blade would jam into the back of the man’s neck. He wouldn’t know what happened before his senses and life left him. Darvon gently nudged the soldier forward, letting the body topple off the edge and out of sight.

The Warden gazed out towards Starkhaven once more as he cleaned off the knife. There could be no mistakes, no room for compassion when such a threat could wipe out every single refugee and the Wardens. Darvon turned and walked back towards the others to continue marching.

Meanwhile, as Aris ventured closer, she would see a band of dwarves around a fire. Upon spotting her, they quickly grabbed their weapons, pointing them to survey whether or not she was a threat. From the looks of it, the dwarves were traveling blacksmiths and enchanters.
 

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The man looked out at the valley, squinting into the darkness in an attempt to see anything. He was woefully oblivious to the danger until it was too late.

Maybe if w... and then the blade was thrust through. There was a sickening gurgling sound as the man clutched up at where the knife protruded out of his throat. He went down to the ground, his body convulsing in a grotesque display as the life slowly left his body, waves of fear and panic washing over him as he came to a violent and horrific end. And then it was done. The stillness of the night air returned, but the sense of impending danger was still present.

By the time he returned to the camp, people had largely packed up their things and begun moving along the road. One of the other Wardens had moved to the front with soldiers mixed in throughout. It was immediately evident that this was going to be very slow going at this point if they couldn't find a way to speed things up.

Aris was... well, she was shocked to find the dwarves around the fire. She'd expected to find no one else out here and thought it was more likely to be darkspawn than anything else. Did they know what was going on? Were they from the Legion of the Dead? What in Thedas were they doing?!

She was wary, and so were they. She made a point of not pointing her bow at them as she approached, making herself plenty visible but keeping a cautious distance.

I'm a Grey Warden, she said. Identifying herself as such usually helped to put people's minds at ease these days... usually. Wycome's fallen. It's not safe here, you should come with me, she said, and then paused. Oh, it was probably good to know who they were and what they were doing too.

What are you doing out here? she asked, her tone still hushed. As she looked at their wares, it occurred to her that smiths and enchanters could be really useful to her, the band, and Starkhaven. Was this the jackpot she'd hit?!
 
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