hadriel | [Voice]

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[Voice]

So, I can't be the only one who's been smacked in the face with culture shock, right? Or technology-shock, because a lot of the shit that's here I've never seen or heard of and have no idea how it works. I've figured out a couple of things through trial and error, but I'm not too proud to admit most of my reaction is still 'no fucking clue'. For those in the same boat, how long did it take you to adjust? What's the craziest discovery you've made? And for those that aren't, care to lend some advice? I'll pay you in drinks or other stuff; if you've the patience to endure all my questions, you've earned it.

I've said it elsewhere, but just repeating myself now: if you're on that hit list and not that great at defending yourself, let me know. I'm pretty damn good at that, and so is the large war dog at my side. [Said war dog lets out an eager bark.]

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You can, but it's honestly hard to explain to someone who isn't a Grey Warden, and Grey Wardens don't really need to explain it to each other. If you become one of us, it can take a while to kick in, but you'll get there sooner or later. And your dreams will be about the darkspawn and their movements. Which, for someone who couldn't dream, was a weird-ass introduction, let me tell you.

That sounds unpleasant. But why couldn't you dream?

Probably because we're not connected to the Fade. That's the place where human and elves -and probably qunari- go when they dream, and for those that were born that way, that connection is how they can do magic. No dreams or magic for us, but you won't hear me complaining. I was pretty happy before nightmares were part of my life. And being a mage is like having a 'possess me' sign for demons, so I'll pass.

Oh? So the Fade is a place? An actual, tangible place you go to when you dream? I've never heard of such a thing.

A sloth demon sent me there once and it was the most confusing, frustrating, weirdass place ever. I would've been happy never seeing it again, but the same thing happened with this darkspawn and a magic orb. They're dead, though, and so is the next asshole who thinks I need a Fade field-trip.

The Fade doesn't sound like it would be conducive to good dreams. Was it hard on you recently, sharing dreams with other people?

Oh, it was great. You know, it's always been my dream to share my worst and most private moments with total strangers.

...sorry, it's not you. I just hate they made it happen.

While the Null are the most clear danger, it's a good idea to not mistake the creatures known as gods for our friends. They need something from us and are willing to do whatever it takes to obtain it.

Oh, yeah, definitely. I tend to have a dim view of people that kidnap me, and it irks me that they're breaking my streak of my kidnappers all being dead.

[that gets a raised eyebrow]

You've been kidnapped often?

Often enough I can say it's happened more than once. The life of a Grey Warden is surprisingly not very safe.

That's the second time you've used that term, Grey Warden. What does a Grey Warden do, exactly?

We fight darkspawn. They're humanoid, tainted beings that only exist to fuck everything up. They live underground and keep digging until they find an archdemon, then it leads them to the surface and starts a new Blight. When that happens, everything suffers.

Oh! We have a similar organization, the Night's Watch. They, too, are tasked with killing creatures known as Wights or the Others. Although, in the case of the Night's Watch, no one has seen an Other in a thousand years. I take it your Grey Wardens are far more active.

Yeah, the Fifth Blight just ended. The fourth one was ages before that, though even then there's always darkspawn activity between Blights. They're just not organized without an archdemon, so it doesn't go anywhere.

What are the Wights like? Or supposed to be like?

An archdemon. That sounds--very dangerous.

Wights are supposed to be moving corpses that are unstoppable unless you have the right tools. But what are the right tools? It's been so long since we've seen them, the information has been lost. Perhaps even to the Night's Watch.

...moving corpses, huh. Mages told me that's what happens when a demon inhabits one, that's why the humans burn their dead, so they don't come back.

Maybe you guys need runes that target their weakness. My swords have runes that make them more powerful against darkspawn and undead. I don't know how to make them, though.

We don't know how or why they return from death, though there are old, dark stories about White Walkers and the Night's King and his Queen. Most of those tales are from the North. Superstition still runs deep there and they don't follow the Faith of the Seven.

Perhaps? But I'm no fighter and all the tales have them mainly in the North, not the Reach where I'm from.

It sounds like you've had your own Blight, in a sense. For your sake, I hope it's over and done with...but after the Fourth Blight, so many darkspawn were killed that we thought it to be the last one. We were wrong, and letting our guard down made things worse.

We do have one defense other than the Night's Watch. It's called the Wall which was built in the far North, hundreds upon hundreds of feet of ice. Supposedly, it has magic built into it to keep the Wights from going any farther.

If the Wights did return, it would be to a splintered Westeros. Half of the country has been at war with the other half for the past five years.

[There's a sad chuckle at that.]

Civil war in a time of crisis? That's pretty much my story, right there. I needed people to fight the Blight, but the only way I could do that was to wade into politics. Like I was told, if you want something done right, do it yourself...or hear about it for a decade or two afterward.

...huh. I'd like to meet these Night Watch people, they sound a lot like Grey Wardens. Maybe we have more in common, but if they're anything like us, trade secrets aren't parted with so easily.

Were politics something you weren't experienced with, then?

No, likely not. There aren't as many as there used to be, in any case. According to stories, the Night's Watch used to number in the thousands, all warriors dedicated to the protection of the Realm. Now, there are only a couple of hundreds, mostly taken from the dungeons to avoid a death sentence.

[She snorts in amusement. A duster, involved in politics. Ha, that's a good one.]

Fuck, no, but I threw myself into it because otherwise the assholes would have been tearing each other apart just as the darkspawn killed everything. I enjoy living, and I wasn't about to get blamed if everything went to shit.

Huh, more and more in common. The Grey Wardens are practical like that, too. They don't care where you're from, only your potential. There weren't that many left at the beginning of the Fifth Blight, but I'm working on bringing their numbers up again.

Can't the Night Watch conscript people, too?

It seems that you were successful, though. That's the important thing about politics--whether or not you win.

Oh? How were you doing that? The Night's Watch apparently took heavy losses when the Wildlings attacked. They could use more men to take their place.

If you mean, being given a choice between having your hand chopped off for being a thief or joining the Night's Watch, then yes. But most choose to lose the hand.

Huh, seems like a waste of a good hand, to me. And yeah, sometimes Grey Wardens recruit criminals, but they can just as likely recruit a promising noble, if that person has a skillset that could help in the fight against darkspawn. If they want someone, they can conscript them and treaties say that we have to be obeyed. In practice, we try not to do that too much, because you don't want to risk pissing off leadership when a Blight kicks in.

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