As well rested as could be, considering the constant nightmares of darkspawn that lingered whenever Caelyra closed her eyes, and well dressed thanks to the new armour she had acquired, she was ready and raring to go.
After securing the Mage Tower and the mages' (and the Templars') assistance for the blight, they still needed to secure help from the dwarves, elves, and the men of Redcliffe. Since Alistair's "dream" in the Fade was of a family he didn't know, and he'd said the Arl of Redcliffe had raised him before the Arlessa sent him to the chantry, and the Arl was apparently on death's bed at the moment... Caelyra thought it wise to go there next. Even if they couldn't secure Redcliffe's aid, Alistair could say his goodbyes to the Arl.
As they were travelling south, towards Redcliffe, a lady ran towards them screaming for help. Her caravan was under attack, could they please help her? She would take them straight to the bad guys, right now!
It seemed a little suspicious. The woman almost had a hint of a smile as she was screaming. Clearly, not a good actress.
Caelya's suspicions were soon founded as they rounded the corner, only to be met by a group of archers, assassins, and the woman herself, a mage.
At last, an opportunity to use her new armour! Caelyra leapt into battle, zig-zagging around with ease, unwiring traps as swift as she came across them, which was very swift.
She took the mage down first. She was quite over magic at the moment, especially after the mage tower. She didn't need any of that right now. Once the mage was down, she took out the archers then focussed on the head assassin.
She didn't kill him, not right away. She wanted answers. Who was he? Why was he sent to assassinate them?
It was soon learnt that his name was Zevran and he had been sent by Loghain to "remove" any Grey Wardens. Loghain. Again. Caelyra clenched her fists and demanded why she shouldn't just kill this assassin too. He was charismatic, a smooth talker, and managed to convince her that she would be in no danger from him, to allow him to fight by her side instead of killing him in cold blood.
Caelyra supposed that a trained assassin could be useful, and perhaps she would sic him on Loghain herself, in retaliation.
Alistair didn't agree. He was shocked that she would even consider allowing the assassin to come with them. Morrigan didn't agree either. It was definitely strange when they both agreed on something considering they outwardly hated each other so.
Finally though, Caelyra managed to convince them both. The assassin would be useful, and if need be, if he proved more trouble, they would just deal with it then.
She sent Zevran back to camp under the watchful eye of Xander, and the group continued on to Redcliffe.
It took several days but they soon arrived, this time with no assassination attempts, and Alistair pulled her aside. Before they entered Redcliffe, there was something she must be aware of.
Apparently Alistair was no mere bastard. The reason the Arl had bothered to look after him in the first place was because... his father had been King Maric. He was half-brother to King Cailan. He didn't want her to know because everyone who found out ended up either despising him or coddling him.
Caelyra patted his shoulder, winked, called him a royal bastard and not to worry, she wouldn't think of him any differently, and they descended down the pathway to Redcliffe.
As they approached the bridge, a villager came running for them. He asked if they were there to help them, that monsters were attacking every night and everyone was dying and not many villagers were left. That they had heard nothing of the Arl or anything and didn't know what to do anymore.
This did not bode well. Caelyra asked to be taken to the village to speak with the man leading the remaining villagers.
The villager led them to the town's chantry where women, children, and wounded were cowering, and introduced them to Bann Teagan, the Arl's brother.
Teagan recognised Alistair and also herself as Teyrn Cousland's daughter and begged them to stay, to help fight against the evil. The evil that was the walking dead that came out of the castle each night and gained strength each night thereafter. He felt in his bones that this night would be the most dangerous of nights and he desperately needed their aid.
Morrigan couldn't believe they were even considering wasting time with this, that there were more pressing issues to attend to rather than helping a village fight against the undead, but Caelyra felt something was wrong overall, and that this was linked to everything else wrong in the world at the moment.
They would stay, they would help, and they would find out what was happening to Redcliffe and to the Arl.
Teagan suggested they speak to several people out in the village who were preparing the defence for that night. As they were leaving, however, Caelyra saw a young woman crying. The woman had lost her mother to the monsters in the castle and now her brother had runaway; she didn't know what to do.
Caelyra promised to look out for the girl's brother while they were out and about. It was the least she could do.
Before exiting the chantry, Wynne tapped Caelyra's shoulder and wanted to speak with her. After their little chat with Teagan, Wynne was now curious about Caelyra's past and was surprised to find out that she was a Cousland. They chatted for a bit about how Caelyra joined the wardens and the treachery of Howe who had killed her family.
Wynne tried to reassure her by stating that perhaps it had been fated she become a warden. That everything will turn out alright in the end.
Since Caelyra was obviously in the mood for chatting, Alistair grabbed her next. He had been thinking. When he had first joined the Wardens, he did some digging on his unknown family and had discovered he had a sister. Goldanna. And she lived in Denerim.
That certainly explained the "dream" Alistair had been put in back in the mage tower.
Alistair wanted to find her, perhaps offer her some assistance before the blight came. If nothing else, he just wanted to see her. Caelyra promised that if they found themselves in Denerim, they would look her up.
Heading outside, they found the mayor of the village, Murdock, and asked what they could do to help before night fell.
He needed his men's gear repaired, but the blacksmith had locked himself in the smithy and was refusing to work. If they could deal with that, the whole village would be very grateful.
That seemed like an easy enough task, and important too since armour and weapons would definitely be needed. Caelyra waltzed over to the smithy and knocked at the door.
A drunken voice yelled at them to go away, but she refused, instead, she talked to him through the door and persuaded him to let them in to chat face-to-face. All those diplomacy lessons her mother had forced her to undertake were proving fruitful.
The blacksmith leant against a post and refused to perform any work for the village, monsters or no, until he had discovered what had happened to his daughter. She was his only surviving family and was a maid for the Arlessa, trapped in the castle. He wanted her rescued or at least to know what had become of her, but Murdock refused to send anyone.
Regardless of what happened in Redcliffe this night, Caelyra was going to find her way into that castle anyway so she promised the blacksmith that she'd look for his daughter.
Appeased, he got back to work on the much needed repairs.
With that sorted, next she had to speak to one of the Arl's men, Ser Perth, who was standing with the few knights available up by the windmills. First, though, Caelyra investigated the village, looking to see if there was anything of use for the battle later.
She found barrels of oil which they could use for a flaming defence, a dwarf who looked more than capable of joining the fight, and an elf who had been tasked with watching the castle and reporting back to Howe what was happening. Just the mention of Howe made her blood boil. It all seemed to come back to Loghain and Howe. The happenings here were definitely important.
Last of all, she found the girl at the chantry's brother. He had been trying to find a sword that had once belonged to his grandfather. Caelyra convinced him to allow them the sword so they could better fight the monsters that night and promised to return it to him after the battle.
Certain she had found everything of use in the village, Caelyra finally spoke with Ser Perth. He didn't really need anything, but requested they speak to the Mother in the chantry for some holy aid and affirmation.
An easy ask.
Before night fell, she spoke with the knights for a bit and asked about the quest for the Urn of Sacred Ashes the knights had been sent on. Apparently the Arl had fallen ill and nothing would help, they even hired a mage and he couldn't help either. Finally, the Arlessa sought but a miracle and sent the knights on this fool quest. Of course it hadn't been found.
More and more interested to gain access to the castle and find out what was going on in there, Caelyra impatiently awaited nightfall and the incoming monsters.
It didn't take long.
Once the sun set and darkness overcame the world, a great noise echoed from the castle and plumes of dust arose from the path in a fell sweep. The evil was coming.
Until next time! ⚔️🐲
All screenshots in this post are courtesy of me, 