The First Blight: Curse of Dumat [RP/Closed]

[duckflesh]

Trajan smiled down. "Don't mind him; your ways are new to us. I think that we will all learn to get along splendi... good. Get along good."

He glanced over and saw a pair of guards returning form the chapel; it was ready, then. He called down to Alric.

"Let's start the joining. I can't take any more theatrics."

Alric gave Ghil a final look before turning away. He grabbed the nearest elf at hand--Sulahn'nehn-- and began pushing her toward the chapel, gesturing that all the others should line up behind her.

Trajan made his way to the chapel as well. He would have preferred to simply do the joining here, but that would have required hauling out buckets full of darkspawn blood, and that somehow seemed in poor taste to him. This was a joining, not a punch social. An intimate setting was called for.

He made his way to the altar, filled the goblet, and then turned his eyes back to the entrance, awaiting the first initiate.

"Haul the corpses out quickly," he remarked to Alric. "The less they know about the risk, the better."

 

[Cinnonym]

Thaedrin kept close to his commanding officer, lest the slaves gathered forget his station. Though those that stood in the chapel had already chosen this path over death, he would not have hesitated to make another display of his powers if it was needed.

Ghil followed the other recruits into the chapel, tense with apprehension. The sight of the altar and the wall of dragons behind it caused her to take a step back in revulsion. "What is this..."

 

[ShadowFolk]

Had she a weaker heart, she might have collapsed as soon as Trajan touched her. If she was frightened before, she didn't know what she felt now that she was being edged into the chapel. She looked behind her to see there was a queue lining up behind her and then back to see an altar with not much between her and it. It was what she chose, but she was not particularly eager to be the first at it. On second thought, perhaps first was best. She had wanted the ordeal over and having to anticipate anything further seemed more than she could take.

Fiddling with her fingers, Sulahn'nehn took two tiny steps forward with her eyes cemented to the floor.

 

[duckflesh]

Trajan began to speak, loudly enough for all inside the chapel to hear.

"Join us, brothers and sisters. Join us in the shadows where we stand vigilant. Join us as we carry the duty that can not be forsworn. And should you perish, know that your sacrifice will not be forgotten. And that one day we shall join you."

He held the goblet out to Sulahn'nehn.

"Drink, elf sister."

The fluid inside, a viscous purple-black, sloshed up and down the sides of the cup.

 

[FortyThree]

"Just.. Thought someone should tell her."

Diocles followed solemnly into the chapel, eyeing the carved dragons with disgust. After so much lawful service.. Did Dumat truly betray his people, even his mages? Such a being was no god. The darkspawn were the true demons, whatever 'fade' creatures the mages blathered about, and any price would be worth destroying them. It would have to be.

The sacrifice of hundreds of elves and humans, slaves and soldiers, mothers and fathers.. It will be worth it, won't it?

He watched on with a dour and uncharacteristically serious expression as the first volunteer was presented with the goblet-It would be the shapely young elf he'd noticed earlier.

 

[ShadowFolk]

She tensed at the command, taking the offering from Trajan. The cup was heavy and ornate, nice. It might have been something she would admire if it were not for the questionable, dark fluid inside it. An uneasy feeling dropped from her chest to her stomach as she brought the cup closer to her lips. There was hesitation and she could barely keep the thing steady. A brief question of what it actually was crossed her mind, but had she known what it was, would she actually drink it?

Her eyes closed and she took the plunge, allowing herself to drink it's contents. Within the very first second she knew something was wrong. It was more than foul and seemed to worsen by the second. Was it possible to have something so cold melt away your insides? She certainly thought that was the case. Sulahn'nehn stumbled backwards, dropping the cup she grabbed at her throat, each couch making it seem harder and harder to breathe. When had she actually met the floor? She couldn't recall the exact moment she touched it though it couldn't have been more than a few seconds before. And the pain. The pain was excruciating, she screamed and seized, something within her was fighting. It thrashed and roared just as she did but was silent to all but her. It encased her in a faint light that burst forward as quickly as it had shown. Then there was blackness in her mind, it took her over until there was nothing.

 

[Cinnonym]

?Fasta vass!? Thaedrin recoiled from the energy that burst forth from the elf girl in alarm, ?She?s a maleficar! ?Someone put a sword through her, before she wakes!?

On the other end of the group, across a floor of writhing, agonized bodies, Ghil struck the stone goblet out of the hands of the man who offered it to her. ?Get that blood magic away from me!? The barbarian woman pressed herself against the door, eyes wild. The tightness of the space, and the threat of what appeared to be a vicious poison was driving her to panic. A hilt in the corner of her gaze seemed a lifeline. She lunged for it with a howl of rage.

 

[duckflesh]

Everything began to fall apart at once.

"Don't overreact" Trajan growled at Thaedrin. "She's just reacting to the joining. If a shade explodes out of her body, you have my permission to strike it down. Otherwise, stay your tongue!"

He was still watching the contorting elf, wondering if she would survive, when he saw the bare-chested barbarian making her move.

"Alrik! Stop her!"

The man beside him reacted with lightning speed, bull-rushing down the aisle toward Ghil, intending to tackle her to the ground.

Trajan followed after at a slower pace, a full goblet cradled in one hand.

"Hobble anyone who tries to flee without drinking," he growled to Diocles as he passed. "And put an arrow in that *****'s throat if she puts any Wardens in danger."

"And proceed with the joining!" he shouted to any Warden close enough to listen.

 

[duckflesh]

(double post)

 

[Cinnonym]

Ghil swung her arm wide to strike the Warden down before she found herself on the marble floor with her head reeling and half the wind knocked out of her. She was all elbows and knees then, seeking out jaw and ribs and groin as she bucked under the weight of the large man. Her eyes widened and her fight renewed tenfold when she saw the commander approaching with another goblet.

?No!? The woman twisted under the warrior, attempting to find the leverage to throw him off, ?No! I was made for battle! I will not die like this!? She thrashed and screamed her hate, cursing Alrik in their tribal tongues.

 

[FortyThree]

Diocles did not verbally acknowledge the order-He was already wheeling around, putting an arrow through the calf of a slave who had thought to escape during the confusion. Striking down deserters was one dirty task to which he was well-accustomed, and he quickly drew and nocked another arrow.

The archer had had no real reaction to the elf's display, though he was glad she seemed to survive. Thaedrin's reaction was amusing though. Whatever kind of magic upset the sensibilities of the bloody mage was fine by him, and he decided to try to get closer to that one-If they both survived the barbarian's rampage. Best to focus on that danger for now.

"Hold you cowards!"

 

[duckflesh]

Alrik took Ghil's knee to his groin and emitted a low grunt, the loudest sound the man had emitted all day. Trajan pushed him aside and kneeled on Ghil's chest, grabbing her chin in his gauntlet, attempting to contort her mouth open. He began slopping the hideous fluid from the goblet onto her lips, trying to force it down her throat.

"Drink, you filthy savage, or are you too afraid!?"

 

[Cinnonym]

The concoction gargled from her lips as she tried to yell; if she?d been sitting upright, she would?ve spat the blood into his face. Instead she choked on it. Her fingernails clawed at the plate on the man?s thighs, hands clenching into fists as her eyes rolled back. The convulsions began, wracking her nerves in such a foreign way that she cried out more in surprise than pain. Soon, her fight left her, and she lay staring blankly at the stone beneath her head, twitching.

Thaedrin shuddered with relief when all the recruits had settled into their nightmares. His heart was still pounding with anxiety. ?Some of these are not worth the trouble they have caused. I had less trouble with the ones who wanted to die!?

 

[duckflesh]

Ghil's consciousness surrenders itself to the black dreams just experienced by Sulahn'nehn and Ulrin. Deep beneath the earth, a massive tunnel, scrawled with runes she cannot read, teems with Darkspawn; there are so many that they crawl atop and over each other, a great surging mass, pushing through the tunnel like a swarm of insects, their jagged, ruinous weapons clutched in their hands.

She flies over and through them. Their legions descend far, so far, miles into the earth, tunnel after tunnel; who might have known that there was so much room beneath the world? And all of it seems to be filled.

Somewhere deeper, much deeper, in a chamber so large that she can barely comprehend it, she sees the beast. A dragon beyond doubt, but big, so big; she might recognize it from an engraving in the chapel, as the elves may have known it form the master's homes; it is a god, and it turns its head to face her. Its eyes gleam with awareness of her presence. She can see it-- and it can see her.

Its roar is as much a greeting as a warning.

Then, blackness takes her.

 

[Cinnonym]

With a wave of his hand, Constable Davinius signaled to his men to begin checking for pulses. The dead were removed from the chapel. This time, it was nearly two thirds of the gathered. The Soporati had had better luck than this, however, they were also military men. With this many lost, he had a feeling he would not be reprimanded for salvaging the few that had expected death and lived.

?The maleficar still breathes? As does the brigand. Place these two under careful watch until they wake.? One Warden was able to sling Sulahn'nehn over a shoulder to take her to a cell. Ghil took two sets of arms.

His men moved the living next, laying them out in the Great Hall on bedrolls. A handful remained behind for a casual patrol of the new Wardens, though the threat was small enough. They had survived, as well, and knew of the disorientation involved.

 

[ShadowFolk]

Consciousness slowly returned to the elf, darkness slipping away. There was a dull achiness throughout her body still. Something was returning to her mind, flashes of darkspawn and a fearsome dragon. Sulahn'nehn gasped, shooting forward with a start. The first thing she saw were the Wardens watching her. That put as much fear in her as the darkspawn did. She scooted backwards with one hand forward to suggest keeping their distance. Soon, she remembered where she was, but not quite what took place. Still cold, still hurting, and with more hunger than she'd ever known.

"W-What...What has happened?"

 

[Rosen2012]

When Ulrin's consciousness returned the only thing on his mind was the pain he had endured. His body and mind were in shock not to feel the crippling agony any more, as if such hell was at some point natural. It was certainly more natural to feel pain than to be plagued by those terrible nightmares. The images of Darkspawn and their master were still vivid in his mind. He felt that if he let his eyes close again he would surly wake up in that hell next time. And so Ulrin forced his eyes open and tried to concentrate on what has happened. The elf wearily reached up to touch his face, he did still ache, but not like before. He could at least move of his own free will. The longer he lay looking up at the ceiling over head the more he recalled what had happened.

He was supposed to die. Yet, here he was. That blood mage cast a spell upon him and the others. He'd been robbed of his freedom and his choice to die.

Slowly, Ulrin pushed himself up into a sitting position. He leaned forward and hunched over taking a few deep breaths.

 

[FortyThree]

Diocles did not trust the tact of any men Thaedrin favored, and so he made to address the new recruits himself as the elves awoke.

"You have drank of the darkspawn taint, and overcome it. It is one with you now, as are we.. As are the darkspawn. We are joined. This is how we sense them, and how we fight them. You are Wardens now.. It isn't an easy life, but it is rewarding. And you are equals now, as Warden, though still fresh and junior. It.. It is preferable to death."

He frowned slowly, pulling himself off the wall to approach his elven fellows, an almost apologetic frown coming over his face. He had unstrung his bow during the interim, anticipating no more combat for a time, and he came to them empty handed and unthreatening.

"If it helps any, you can get away with telling Tevinters to go screw themselves."

 

[ShadowFolk]

There were a lot of things coming out of Diocles' mouth, most of which she was sure were supposed to make more sense to her. What she gathered from it that she was a Warden and that somehow tied her to the darkspawn. She was not entirely certain about how the drink connected her to them, but his words had to have been true or that nightmare was a very convenient coincidence. If there was a plus side to any of this, it was this one Warden did not seem particularly oppressive.

Sulahn'nehn looked shocked. What was it he said about Tevinters? "O-Oh, no, I would never!" she spoke as if there were a magister just behind her listening to her every word. And did she just address this man improperly? "S-Ser!", she added quickly. "Forgive my manners, Ser." If it were at all possible to curtsy while sitting, she would have tried it.

 

[FortyThree]

Diocles' frown turned wry, as if it was trying to imitate a drawing of a smile he had once seen. This one would make a powerful warrior indeed, smiting darkspawn enmasse while squeaking apologies from underneath her bedcovers. He leaned forward, offering the quaint thing a hand up.

"You wouldn't? So you haven't met Constable Thaedrin, how delightful for you. My name is Diocles Komnenos, and you may address me as such. Welcome to the Grey Wardens, sister."