Mustering an Army (Open)

[Arcill]

In the rotten and the barren wastelands of the Korcari Wilds, Arcill now found himself building an army of warriors. Ever since he had been exiled from the Frostback Mountains, he had come to live among the Chasind people, a people torn and ruined after the Fifth Blight ravaged their homes. Forever angered at the Ferelden`s in the north, Arcill had manage to unite them as a strong and a merciless leader, one whom had given them hope for a better future and whom had promised them a new home to live. As he had stumbled in the Korcari Wilds, Arcill had gained many friends, Rashka being the first as she had tended and cared to him and presented him to her father`s tribe. Arcill had grown strong feelings for the woman, but he had not forgotten the death of his wife, who had been murdered by the rival clan in the Frostbacks. The second one Arcill had got to know was a female Tal Vashoth, Muire whom he had met when she came and fought a wild Ogre with him. Since then they all have been in the same conflict and they had assisted each other, mostly in achieving the dreams and wishes Arcill always have wanted to see fulfilled.

Thousands of Chasind wilders were flocking to the tribe of Rashka and her father, and as one could see men, women and children all storming in from all over the Korcari Wilds, Arcill watched as he stood on top of a hill nearby, clad in his typical leather clothes with a bare chest and a sword and axe in his belt. It was good to see them all uniting themselves behind him, but he feared that it would be a greater challenge to distribute resources to those who needed it as the land around them was mostly unfruitful. If they were to survive they would need to act quickly, and Arcill had plans, wanting to raid the northern Ferelden villages from food, water and equipment such that they could manage to unite themselves with the Avvarian people before they would take on a larger enemy.

In the far horizon the sun was rising and it was early morning, the spot where the people were gathering was located perfectly near a clean water source, bringing clean water in from the mountains in the east. Around the camp below one could see a dark and a ruined land, where bushes, trees and grass had almost grown instinct, along with the animals who once had lived there. The only animal`s which was known to wander the lands was the birds and the tainted creatures, not much if one was to survive.

Oh how Arcill wanted to take revenge on those who had done him harm, all of them would suffer and as he looked down upon all below he grew angrier by the thought of what had happened. Looking across the land, Arcill watched as the families were placing up their own huts and he noticed they were all untrained to fight, only fitted for survival and nothing else. If Arcill was to get them battle ready, he would need to teach them how to fight and how they should defend themselves when in battle. After having been in accouters many times with other Avvarian tribes and the Fereldens, Arcill knew that fighting skills was essential if they were to win the war. Arcill sneered to himself, thinking they were pathetic, but still useful.

[Muire]

The men were good hunters sure enough, but soldiers they were not. Muire crossed her arms, casting a disdainful look on the group gathered before her. Willing, brave fools. They needed training, the lot of them, but they stubbornly insisted they knew all they needed to go to war. Idiots. But useful idiots.

Loping silently up the side of the hill, she moved to stand just behind and to the right of Arcill. A strange man, equal parts strong and mad, but worth following. And he had given her a name. Where before she was nothing, no one, without even a purpose by which she might be known, she was now an individual person with a right to her own decisions. He had made her such, given her a name and a purpose, and it was then that she'd pledged herself to his cause. Stranger still, he had since become her... friend. If he ordered her to take untrained fools to raid Ferelden, she would trust him and do as he said.

"The raiding party is ready."

As ready as they were going to be at any rate. Their stealth was excellent however, and she thought at least most of their men would survive. From where they stood she could see the Chasind gathering, a vast swarm of humans, some of them weak, more of them strong, all of them stubborn to the point of self-destruction. That was a weakness too, but a brave weakness. A tolerable one, that might be beaten out of them with a few harsh losses.

[Arcill]

Looking down upon the camp below the hill where the Chasind`s were gathering, Arcill thought on how he were supposed to change the group into brutal warriors that could stand a fight against Ferelden soldiers. It would be a difficult task, but he would try and train them none the less. He knew many of them had fought the Fereldens in the past, just as his people had fought them, but if they were to conquer the Ferelden army itself, they would need to get better somehow. Hearing a presence approaching from behind, Arcill listened to the words Muire spoke before he turned his focus on her and with a sneer he replied in a deep and dark voice. “Good, let us head out; let us show the Fereldens what happens when they forget their true enemy.” He said with a fixed look on Muire and then went to walk passed her with a cold shoulder, boiling of anger and hate for the Fereldens.

Then as he stepped toward the group who had been gathered, he looked upon them and he could see they were all savage and eager to do some destruction. And as Arcill drew his sword and held it high and pointed it in the direction he wanted them to go, the group shouted united a war cry and Arcill turned to run, leading them north where they together would gain experience and where they would gather supplies from sacking villages and slaughtering the people. As Arcill lead, Muire followed as the second in command for the group of savage warriors which followed in all their brutality, carrying weapons made out of wood.

Traveling to the far north, Arcill and the band of savages arrived the land that had been given the Dalish Elves, near the ruins of Ostagar. For two days they had ran through the tainted wild lands, and now as they finally arrived their destination, it was evening and the sun was about to set in the horizon. It would be the perfect opportunity to strike, and Arcill had ordered the savages to surround the Dalish encampment. Sneaking upon them, Arcill remained close to Muire who was at this side and as they could see the Dalish Elves preparing themselves to sleep for the night, he could see there was still some who remained awake and on guard. Arcill had now two choices, either he could launch a surprise attack on them, or he could go to them and try and gain their support. Looking upon Muire, he hoped she would give some advice, but turned back to focus at the matter hand, thinking hard on what to do as they remained silent in the tall grass, observing the activity of the elves, waiting for the savages to get in their posistion.

[Muire]

Muire had to lay flat to avoid being seen, big as she was, but she was well trained in stealth and as good as invisible even to sharp elven eyes. The Dalish were vigilant, their vision at night near as good as in daylight. And very strong and brave as well - Muire had heard that they fought the Blight soon after they had fallen prey to some disease. And elves were very fast. Qunari elves often became tallis, like she had been. They would make either powerful allies or powerful enemies, and Muire flicked her gaze to Arcill.

"We would do well to have them join us." She kept her vioce quiet, leaning close to whisper in Arcill's ear.

But Arcill was not a subtle man and for all that he was very strong and skilled, he would likely have the Dalish clans rise against him now. That would be nothing short of disaster - however willing and gifted the Chasind might be, the Dalish were superior soldiers with superior numbers. Making enemies of them before their war was even started could well stop it ever happening, and Muire wasn't about to risk their cause.

Standing abruptly, she spread her arms wide with her palms out and took a short step forward. "Peace. I have something to discuss with you about your freedom."

[Arcill]

As Muire whispered into Arcill`s ear, suggesting the elves should join their cause, Arcill nodded in agreement, but was not sure if they should trust the Elves as his people had rarely ever been in contact with their kin. He had however heard stories and legends about them, when his people in the old days used to interact with the Elves who lived on the other side of the Frostback Mountains, during the time when the Elves lived in the Dales. When Muire suddenly stood up from their hiding position, Arcill became a bit upset that she revealed her presence, but in return he simply glared as she went to approach the Elves who stood guard. Some of the Chasind`s wanted to attack the elves when Muire walked down the small hill, but Arcil told them to remain silent and close, in case it was needed for them to step in.

In the great camp below, there stood thousands of wagons gathered called aravels, all which were the homes to the Elves. Since Alistair had given the Elves the land in the Korcari Wilds, all free elves had come to live there, but what seemed to have been a great gift quickly turned into a nightmare. The land that was given them had been tainted by the blight and still in its most southern regions there lived many of the barbarian people. It had caused a conflict between the Elves and Humans, and even though the Elves had been given a place to live, they complained much about its conditions and the nobles of Ferelden argued that they should not get any more than what already had been offered. Alistair had left the act undone, and now the Elves were growing restless. Had it not been for their lead keeper Lanaya, then most of the Elves would have attacked the humans to gain their attention. More war was not the solution, Lanaya firmly believed and she had told the Elves to remain patient, but for each day that passed it grew more and more difficult.

Most Elves had already gone to bed when the Elven guards noticed a presence in the distance, someone was approaching, a person who for sure was not a human, elf or dwarf, but more like one of the giant people, a Kossith. Quickly the Elves drew their bows and aimed at the stranger, not allowing the person to pass without further explanation on who she was or what she wanted. At the same moment another elf went to their lead keeper to warn about what was happening, and the Elves who remained stood weary, knowing that there was someone surrounding them as they could clearly hear it. “Hold! Who goes there?” The one of the elven guard shouted out to the stranger as he tightened his grip on the bow string, pulling the arrow more back, aiming as steady he could as he waited for a response. “You speak words of our freedom, but what is that to you?” An another female elf spoke another question, also pulling the string of her bow more back as she aimed from another position.