Yesterday we met Caelyra Cousland and watched as, through the treachery of a fellow noble, her castle fell and her family died. Duncan the Grey Warden escorted her to safety as her parents lay together, near death upon the kitchen floors, and promised to inform the King of what had happened, providing Caelyra accepted the burden of becoming a Grey Warden.
It was a burden she readily accepted, providing she would one day get her vengeance upon the man who had done this to her family.
She, Duncan, and her trusty dog, Xander, travelled through the wilds, avoiding all unnecessary conflict, and soon found themselves at the ruins of Ostagar where the King was preparing for a great battle against the evil darkspawn.
The King greeted them as they arrived, eager to swap stories with Duncan and get him and his Grey Wardens back on the battlefield and onwards to glorious battle.
Duncan and Caelyra quickly broke his cheer with the news from Highever: that Howe had turned traitor and had taken over their castle, and killed Bryce Cousland and his wife.
Her brother, Fergus was apparently already at Ostagar after leaving Highever before the treachery was to occur, but was currently in the wilds scouting and so she couldn't see him and tell him what had happened, not yet.
King Cailan promised justice would be served and would turn his great army to Highever and liberate the Cousland castle once the darkspawn threat was over.
Cailan offered her his condolences once more then took his leave. Duncan told Caelyra that he'd look after Xander for her while she got acquainted with the camp. She should meet up with another Grey Warden, Alistair, and begin to make preparations for a ritual all Grey Warden recruits must undertaken in order to become a fully fledged Grey Warden.
Eager to dive into some action to get her mind off of recent events, Caelyra wandered into the camp and searched for Alistair.
While searching through the camp, Caelyra happened upon an older woman, a mage named Wynne. She congratulated Caelyra on having the prowess and ability to have impressed one such as Duncan, spoke a little about the darkspawn and what to expect in the upcoming fight, then shoo'd her away.
The old lady needed her rest, Caelyra supposed.
Wandering around the camp some more, Caelyra came across two men who had also been recruited by Duncan to become Grey Wardens. One a commoner, a thief, and the other a brave knight of Redcliffe. It seemed the Wardens recruited all sorts of people to join their cause.
After bartering with the local quartermaster and buying a larger backpack, Caelyra continued her search for Alistair.
Approaching the back of the camp, Caelyra heard arguing. There were two men, one clearly a mage and the other a Grey Warden. She guessed that she had found Alistair.
She walked up to introduce herself, and instead got to witness the end of their argument. As the mage stalked away, she learnt that Alistair had once been a Templar before he became a Grey Warden, one who keeps watch over mages, and this particular mage had been quite insulted by his presence.
With that sorted though, Alistair explained that he would be accompanying her and the other two recruits into the wilds to prepare for the ritual and they should go speak to Duncan.
On their way back to Duncan, a prisoner in a cage called out to Caelyra, begging for food and water. He had been arrested for deserting, but he wasn't deserting! He was stealing. Like that made things better. He promised her a key though, a key to a mage chest, if only she'd get him one last meal before he was hanged.
A magical chest of treasures did sound intriguing. She persuaded a nearby guard for his food and then gave it to the prisoner. The prisoner then pooped out the key he had swallowed and handed it to her.
Disgusting. The treasures had better be worth it. She couldn't open the chest yet as it was under guard, but she'd be back later.
Finally they made it back to Duncan and he gave them instructions to go out into the wilds and gather some darkspawn blood for the ritual that night. Yes. Finally. Something to do so she wouldn't have to think any longer.
They were also tasked with finding some long lost scrolls that would help the Grey Wardens in coming days.
The second they left the camp and entered the wilds, they were accosted by a roaming pack of wolves. Wolves that were quickly taken care of.
Past the wolves were a pile of corpses. One of them was still alive. Instructing Alistair to bandage the man up, he informed them that he was a scout and needed to get back to camp to warn everyone of the great horde he had witnessed.
Thankfully none of the corpses around the man looked like Fergus; it must've been another scouting party.
Jory, one of the other recruits, was suddenly worried. An entire platoon had been taken down by the darkspawn, what chance did a mere group of four have? Alistair put him at ease, however, letting them all know that as a proper full-fledged Grey Warden he could sense the darkspawn and would keep them safe. They still needed the creatures' blood, however, so not toooo safe.
Deeper into the Wilds they went, fighting all the darkspawn they came across. Soon they had enough blood for the ritual and all they needed were the scrolls Duncan had asked for.
In the search for these scrolls, Caelyra uncovered a secret cache where a nearby note asked for it to be delivered to Redcliffe. Caelyra chose to honour that wish and pocketed it to give to its rightful owner at a later date. They fought more wolves, more darkspawn, and even an evil revenant!
Before night fell, they at last found the old Grey Warden tower and the chest that once housed the scrolls. The scrolls were no longer there, but a strange woman came out of hiding and accosted them. Her name was Morrigan, she had been watching them ever since they came into the Wilds, wondering what they were up to, and now that she knew, she would take them to her mother who had been looking after the scrolls, protecting them.
The men Caelyra travelled with were unnerved, scared of this possible witch, but Caelyra took it all in her stride and followed the woman.
Leading the group to a hidden hut in the woods, Caelyra met Morrigan's mother who had, indeed, been looking after the scrolls. The old woman spoke in riddles and was hard to converse with, but Caelyra remained as polite as possible, secured the scrolls, and then Morrigan led them back to the camp, vanishing into thin air before any of the soldiers saw her.
Very strange, indeed.
Caelyra stopped thinking about the women once they returned to camp, though. Duncan was pleased that the scrolls had been returned and now it was time to perform The Joining — the ritual that all Grey Warden recruits undertake to become fully fledged Grey Wardens. Her parents, may they rest in peace, be proud.
Alistair took her and the others up into a secluded area of the camp while Duncan performed the last preparations for the ritual. Jory was worried about what was to come, but Daveth the thief told him off. Caelyra thought to herself how shamed Jory must feel, knowing that a city thief was braver than him, a ser knight.
Duncan soon arrived and warned them of what was to come. They had gone out into the Wilds, to retrieve darkspawn blood, because they were to drink the blood in order to become Grey Wardens. Some people did not survive, and those who did would be forever changed.
Brave Daveth went first and drank the blood. He died, near instantly.
Horrified at the possibility he could die, Jory decided to fight Duncan rather than drink the blood. Duncan swiftly killed the man himself.
Caelyra would not fight like Jory had, it was pointless. She had promised Duncan that she would become a Grey Warden, she sought vengeance for what Howe had done to her family, and her will would be more than enough to overcome the darkspawn blood.
She had unfinished business.
Drowning within the depths of the blood as it swarmed through her system and overtook all that she knew, tainted her as one of them, she fought body and soul to retain herself and survive this madness...
...and awoke a Grey Warden.
Until next time! ⚔️🐲