Ask DA: Tip of the Spear

Phoenix

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The Blight had been everything that Aris had heard and worse. She'd almost lost track of how many months it had been since she'd joined the Wardens. Every day flowed one into the next, exhaustion was a constant companion, and death was constantly in the air.

Dunwall was one of the lesser cities in the Free Marches, and Aris had a small contingent of Wardens had been sent here in preparation for the coming horde. Their orders had been clear: evacuate civilians and slow down the horde if they could, but this was a tactical withdrawal. They were not here to win a decisive military battle.

The horde was approaching, all the Wardens could sense it, but where exactly they were was the business of a good scout pair. In this case that scouting pair was Aris and her new partner. The duo had bumped into one another before, but there wasn't much else that she knew about her Warden partner.

They'd stumbled upon a set of old elven ruins in the forest, and had hunkered down for a quick meal before moving on. She stuffed the final bite of jerky into her mouth, but it was clear from her eyes that her mind was not on the food. It was on the wilds and the eerie sense creeping over her mind.

They're close. I think we're going to hit their first scouts soon, she said. How do you feel about harassing attacks? Hit and withdraw? she asked, having a feeling they were going to be fighting some quick, slow down skirmishes more than any true conflict.
 
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Altaris

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Truth be told, Varith could hardly remember a time before the onset of the Blight. Barely over a year had passed since the Dalish mage had been conscripted into the Wardens, and yet the images of home - of an idyllic, peaceful life amongst his clan - were but a faded picture in his mind. A picture that seemed to grow all the more smudged and faded with each battle and war one he trudged through.

Each day since joining the Wardens seemed to mirror the last - filled with the same scenes and scents of death that hung on the air, and the sensations of exhaustion that never quite left them. From province to province, it felt like a constant struggle to keep their head above water against the Darkspawn Horde.

Today would be no different. Even before arriving, Varith knew that they wouldn’t be able to decisively beat back the coming horde. He knew that there would be no resounding victory, or any cause for celebration when the day was day.

Perhaps the only thing they could hope for - the thing that kept Varith going and encouraged him to press on - was the prospect of being able to slow them down. To save as many lives as possible, regardless of whether or not Dunwell fell.

Accompanied by his fellow Warden, Varith sat down within the elven ruins - rear planted onto the ground while his back pressed against a broken pillar. The Dalish Mage finished his meal quickly enough, swallowing down the last bit of jerky that was washed down with water from his cantina. While Atris finished her own meal, Varith allowed his gaze to wander around the ruined settlement - indigo eyes flicking across the ancient, elegant stonework and inscriptions that lined the wall.

There was an unmistakable look of fascination that burned in the Dalish’s eyes as he took in the ruined architecture, and yet the expression on his lips was equally somber. For all the ways their ancient history intrigued and filled him with wonder, it was nevertheless a sad reminder of the prosperity that their people had only known eons ago, and how far they had fallen over the millennia since.

Varith attention finally snapped back to the present when Atris spoke, indigo eyes flicking from the ruins and back to his fellow Dalish. He considered her words for a moment before giving a brief nod. “Probably our best method of approach. Slow them down - maybe even draw them off course if only briefly.” He said, rising up from where he was sitting on the ground. The mage picked up his staff from where it was propped against a wall, adjusting the satchel slung around his shoulder. “Buy more time to evacuate the civilians.”
 

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Aris watched as he looked around the ruins, the way his eyes seemed to light up. She wished she could feel that enthusiasm, but she felt beaten down, struggling to put one foot in front of the other these days.

She nodded as he agreed with her suggestion. Both of them were better at range anyway than up close, or so she assumed about him. Most mages she'd met weren't big fans of wading into the thick of combat, but she remembered hearing stories of their people in days past and mages of those days who specialized in the up close and personal type of combat.

Yeah, she said with a nod. Her eyes kept drifting away from him, her attention drawn constantly to the wilds beyond for fear that the enemy would be upon them in the moment's reprieve.

Were you a First, then? she asked. Most Dalish clans only allowed two mages, the First and the Keeper, and he seemed too young to be a Keeper yet. If he survived this war he likely would be someday. If, if, if.

Clan Lavellan, she said. Nice to be fighting alongside another Dalish, she said. While many from the Clans had either joined or assisted in the war effort, their numbers in the Wardens was still strongly outweighed by the average shemlen... humans.

Did they teach you combat magic? Your Keeper? she asked, curious about how other Clans handled things. She knew that her own First and Keeper were trained how to defend themselves, but she seldom saw them need to. She and the other hunters had always been the Clans first line of defense.
 

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Varith gave the ruins of his predecessors one last look - a chance to soak it all in. He memorized every little detail and ruined inscription, the glint of intrigue in his eyes dimmed with the knowledge that it might very well be the last time he would ever see them. The young mage took in a breath, allowing his eyes to linger for a moment more before fixing his indigo gaze onto Aris.

He didn’t miss the way Aris’ attention seemed to drift away, cautiously scanning the forests for any signs of movement. Varith couldn’t blame her - not when they could practically feel the Darkspawn closing in all around them. That sense of unease that hung palpably in the air, and the sensations of dread that never quite left their stomach.

“We shouldn’t linger here,”
He said grimly, his fingers curling a bit tighter around the wooden length of his staff. With that, Varith began to cautiously begin to make his way forward - leaving their makeshift camp and deeper into the forest. And thus, likely closer to where the horde lingered.

“I was,” He replied with a nod, glancing back towards her as he walked. “I was the First of Clan Alerion. Been teaching since I was a boy.” As difficult as his magical training was, those memories amongst his clan - perfecting the very skills that made him valuable as a Warden now - were ones that he held onto fondly.

“Agreed.” He admitted with the faintest traces of a smile, nodding in agreement with her sentiment that it was nice to be back amongst their own people. The Blight and Grey Wardens had a way of breaking down the racial barriers to a degree, if only out of necessity. But Varith still found himself far more comfortable amongst a fellow Dalish than any elitist shemlen. “A shame we weren’t able to meet under better circumstances.”

When the topic turned to combat magic, Varith paused for a moment in his tracks and turned to face her completely. Without a word, the young mage raised his hand loosely in the air - palm facing upwards. He muttered quietly under his breath, the words of incantation echoing as whispers as he drew upon the Veil. With a split second, fire erupted as a small inferno in his hands - the flames dancing and curling within his palms and snaking around his fingers without ever burning him. “They did.” He said with a grin, closing his fist to extinguish the flames.

“Though..” He sighed. “This isn’t how I imagined having to use it.” Even if the young mage had been taught to adequately defend himself and his clan, fighting on the front lines of the Blight wasn’t something he had ever considered as a possibility.

Varith turned to continue walking, only to stop after taking a single step - eyes widening. The sound coming from beyond the treeline was something that he easily picked up on and Aris would’ve been able to as well, the weight of its steps and quick pace indicating it more than likely wasn’t wildlife. He gave Aris a single glance before facing ahead, pointing the tip of his staff in the direction of the noise. And whatever was approaching.


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They were up and moving in short order, her bow in hand as they started making their way through the forest. For whatever else they may have had to deal with, her money was on herself over any darkspawn when it came to navigating a forest. She could ambush with much greater skill than any mindless horde and she could evade capture just as well.

As he stopped and flashed his inferno in his hand she snickered slightly. Show off, she said, shaking her head and continuing on.

What do they always say? Life rarely turns out the way you imagined, she said. It was true enough in this case as well. She hadn't expected to be in a war, fighting darkspawn, but that's precisely where she was. Likely to die in a violent way before the end. "In death sacrifice" was as much a promise as a motto.

When the noise reached her ears, she was already crouching down and reaching for an arrow. She was quite well aware of the approach, and she knew the sounds of virtually every animal of the forest. No, this was absolutely not anything natural.

She nodded silently, but she was already moving. Her footsteps were deathly silent, moving through the trees and coming to a small ledge overlooking a path below. It was perhaps twenty feet down, but there were no less than twenty darkspawn below. A mix of genlock and hurlocks, they were armed with a variety of weapons from ranged to melee.

She glanced back in the direction of her partner, making a claw motion with one of her hands that she hoped would mean "hey, do a big fireball."

Either way, she turned away from him, back to the darkspawn, and pulled back her bow, loosing an arrow into the throat of one of the archers. Sure, they were outnumbered, but they didn't need to kill all of them. Pick a few off, fallback, repeat. Easy. Right?
 

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Varith couldn’t help but flash Aris a toothy grin when she referred to him as a show-off, looking entirely too pleased with himself. The Dalish mage took pride in his abilities, and hey - they had managed to get a laugh out of the Huntress. “Maybe just a bit.” He chuckled, his smile lingering for a few seconds before he forged on ahead.

The Dalish mage merely nodded his head and responded with a simple ‘mhm’ when Aris things didn’t always turn out they way people imagined. He supposed that she wasn’t necessarily wrong, but Varith couldn’t help but sulk ever-so-slightly. This wasn’t the life he intended for himself. He doubted anyone amongst their ranks thought differently.

Such thoughts were quickly set aside as the pair’s attention was drawn to the noises coming up from ahead. Varith kept close to Aris, weaving through the trees before eventually coming up on the ledge - eyes fixated onto the Darkspawn below.

“Shit..” He muttered very quietly, his voice a whisper that Aris would barely register. He didn’t dare speak any louder and chance their position until they were prepared.

He glanced back to Aris when she made the claw motion with her hand, unable to keep the grin from slowly spreading across his lips. Entertaining as her magic charades were, Varith luckily caught on to what she meant.

Without another word, Varith planted the end of his staff into the ground and extended his hand out in front of himself - once more drawing upon the Energies of the Veil and bending them to his command. Motes of orange began to swirl and collect within his palms, growing bright before erupting into a blazing sphere of flames. Timed with Aris’ first arrows, Varith swiped his hand downward and sent the large fireball crashing down into the Horde of Darkspawn - the brunt of the blast slamming into a hurlock and scorching the better part of his body beyond recognition, while the residual flames spread and caught against the skin of two additional genlocks.

Naturally, their combined attacked results in the unison cries of agony and rage from the Horde below - their attention now well and truly on the two Dalish.


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