Caelyra had visited Denerim to find Genitivi and his research and instead found notes suggesting the man had gone to Haven. Haven was located in the Frostback Mountains on the other side of the country. They were literally traversing the entirety of Ferelden in search of aid for Arl Eamon's sickness.
Before travelling that far, Caelyra wanted to tie up some things she hadn't completed yet. Namely, Sten the qunari had spoken to her of his missing sword and that he had lost it around Lake Calenhad. And, so long ago now, she had promised Morrigan that she would confront Flemeth.
She didn't particularly want to confront Flemeth, being that she was the all-powerful witch of the wilds, but perhaps they could talk and work out an arrangement instead of blindly murdering her per Morrigan's instruction.
First they travelled to Lake Calenhad where they found a man scavenging about dead bodies and bones. Caelyra confronted him and asked if he had seen had large qunari blades around the dead.
The man had been given the coordinates to this spot by another, and it had already been picked clean before he got there. He directed her to Orzammar to a man named Feryn. He had been there before him and it was likely he who had the blade she sought.
She didn't want to go to Orzammar, not yet. While it was in the Frostback Mountains too, she would go there after they had first investigated Haven and Genitivi's research.
After apologising to Sten for not finding his weapon yet, they travelled South, towards Flemeth's hut in the wilds... and to Ostagar.
As they travelled, they came across a man who looked suspiciously like one of the men at Ostagar, who had stood alongside the King. He was under attack and so they jumped in to save him.
They weren't in time. Whilst they killed the man's attackers, they had stabbed him before they could reach him in time. But he spoke about how he had been taken prisoner by one of Loghain's supporters and had only just broken free, little good that did.
He'd had a key that the King had entrusted to him, but he hid it back at Ostagar. Which was lucky considering he had been taken prisoner. Apparently the contents that the key unlocked were for the Grey Wardens and he pleaded with Caelyra for her to return to Ostagar and retrieve what the King had hidden away for them. And, if possible, to put the King's remains to rest. With that, the man passed away.
Alistair and Wynne both wanted to return to Ostagar, and they had business down that way with Morrigan's mother, and so it was decided. They would be returning to Ostagar.
They stopped by Flemeth's hut in the Wilds. It was as though she were expecting them. She spoke of how she had expected Morrigan would send the Wardens after her and she had a counter-offer.
Give Morrigan Flemeth's grimoire and let Flemeth be.
Caelyra had absolutely no desire to kill Flemeth, so agreed to those terms. Wynne disapproved, but Alistair was most certainly happy about the thought of tricking Morrigan.
Back at camp, Caelyra handed Morrigan Flemeth's Grimoire which resulted in the most unexpected... Morrigan took a hold of her hands, tears in her eyes, and declared her a friend.
Now, feeling guilty that she had tricked Morrigan into believing her mother was dead, Caelyra turned away, grabbed her people, and set forth for Ostagar.
In the time they had been gone, Winter had well truly settled in. Snow covered the grounds, a cool breeze chilled their bones, and the stink of darkspawn was heavy in the air.
They killed a few of the creatures as they first entered the Ostagar Ruins, but it was clear that they were going to have a lot more to fight. While winter had well and truly settled in, so had the beasts.
They fought their way through the darkspawn, memories of the past ever at the periphery of their thoughts as they continued through the old ruins and were faced with the desecration of what they had known.
Several of the beasts were wearing King Cailan's armour. They slaughtered all of them and retrieved the armour. No foul creature should claim it.
Finally they found the key that the King's advisor had spoken of and found Cailan's royal chest. Inside was King Maric's sword and some correspondence Cailan had been sharing with the Orlesians...
The Orlesians, their old enemy, were willing to fight side by side with them. To help against the blight and the darkspawn. They were only awaiting Cailan's next word... a word that would never come thanks to Loghain's treachery. Ferelden was on its own.
Determined to eradicate every darkspawn creature from Ostagar, they continued exploring the ruins.
Halfway across the bridge, they stopped, stunned. There was King Cailan's body. Frozen from the weather, not decomposing thanks to some foul magic, and strung up by a hundred spears.
Caelyra lowered her eyes. She hadn't realised how much he and Alistair looked alike. It was almost as though Alistair were strung up via a hundred spears. It was an awful thought.
Once they were done dealing with the darkspawn, they would retrieve the King's body and put him to rest.
Slaying pack after pack of the creatures, they soon found themselves outside the Tower of Ishal... again. This is where it had all ended the last time they were here. They had lit the beacon, Loghain left the field, and everyone was left to die.
They would clear out the brutes from the cursed place and get back to the King's body. Allow him a proper send-off.
Fighting through the tower, they came upon the hole they had near stumbled into when they had first come through. The hole that the darkspawn had stormed through and taken over the tower, changing their plans so long ago.
There was no where else to go. They jumped into the hole.
The hole led to the ancient tunnels deep beneath Ostagar. Spiderwebs coated the walls and giant spiders hissed from above. With almost every step they took, a spider the size of a man would drop from above and try to overwhelm the group, seeking their human flesh for supper.
The spiders were almost as bad as the darkspawn. Finally they fought through the tunnels and emerged into the fresh air of the outside world.
Outside was a darkspawn necromancer, raising the dead to fight against them. It also rose a great ogre that had Duncan's swords embedded in its chest. It must die.
After felling the necromancer, the undead, and the ogre, Caelyra retrieved Duncan's sword and dagger and kept them safe in her pack. They were just as important as Cailan's gear and could not be kept by the despicable darkspawn.
Those creatures were the last darkspawn in the area. Ostagar was darkspawn-free once more, little good that did. The group returned to King Cailan's body and decided what they should do.
He had been a King, their King, and deserved a proper funerary pyre. They carefully extracted his body from its gruesome display and prepared to send him off respectfully.
As Cailan's body burned upon the pyre, Caelyra swore to herself that she would do everything in her power to bring Loghain to judgement. She already sought vengeance against Howe and already considered Loghain a despicable man, but now, after this, the man must pay.
They would see him pay.
Until next time! ⚔️🐲