A Sisters Determination (Honovi)

[Elissa Vuronia]

Frostback Mountain lived up to its name quite literally as the chilly weather gave a frosty reception for Elissa and Honovi as they moved onwards to their destination. It was a quiet journey but luckily danger didn’t rear its ugly head, all was well and good however getting to Orzammar and out of the frost bitten weather was going to be even better. Young Elissa didn’t mind yet she was thinking about her dear friend Amity and how he fared against the cold, soon she smiled underneath the hood of her velvet green cloak as her eyes caught glimpses of a set of stairs leading upwards. Slowly she headed up the stairs alongside Amity who was actually faring quite well!

There her grin grew as she came upon a small encampment which sat just to the left and right of another group of stairs. Just above them was a large stone door while two dwarf guards was to the left and right of each other, as the weather eased a little Elissa pulled back her hood and sighed in relief. With a nod to Honovi she marched onwards past some more dwarfs and finally up the staircase to stand before the entrance to the home of the Dwarfs. Mixed feelings coursed in her mind as she looked forwards at the stone door, the teenage girl felt excited and curious at the same time.

Upon standing still one of the dwarfs scanned Elissa and Honovi with his beady eyes, while the other gripped his weapon tightly. But the one who looked at them spoke first in their traditional voice of focus and confidence. "Halt surface dwellers! None may enter the great city of Orzammar, especially you two. Begone from here!" Elissa simply couldn’t go back on her word and if she wanted to do something then she would do it, well almost.

With a look of respect to the dwarven guards she stood up straight, sighed and spoke out loud. "I am Elissa daughter to Bann Lenard and Bann Sophie of the Vuronia family in Amarathine! I seek to enter Orzammar to observe and understand Dwarven Culture and learn its proud history. This here is my friend and guard Honovi" She said as her eyes pointed over to Honovi.

Both dwarfs looked slightly stunned and quickly talked amongst themselves. This lasted only for a few minutes before they went back over to their guard positions and the spokes person or dwarf replied in a rather surprising. "You have travelled a long way and your words speak truly, however we must first ask. Do you have the sign of your family?" Elissa immediately nodded and gently took just a few steps up towards the guards.

There she pulled her arm out from underneath the folds of her velvet green velvet cloak and showed them a golden ring which clearly revealed the insignia of the Vuronia family. The dwarfs nodded to each other and once again spoke. "You are welcome to enter the great halls of Orzammar, your brother had set word that you were coming. Enter now" Slowly the doors opened widely revealing a square hallway leading into her destination.

Elissa pulled her arm back underneath her cloak and immediately looked towards Honovi and spoke in a rather disappointed and sad tone. "I guess this means your mission is complete".

[Honovi]

Honovi had known rather a large number of dwarves in her years as a mercenary, and every one of them had told her that their Orzammar brethren were completely insufferable. Now that she was finally meeting an actual Orzammar dwarf, she found she rather had to agree. The guards were impudent fools - cutting off visitors was no way to foster good will and it would cripple trade, though she supposed that was by fault of their king. Even worse, they changed their minds quickly enough when they learned who Elissa was, proving that their idiocy didn't even stem from any genuine but misguided belief.

At least they had permission to enter now, but it seemed Elissa wasn't aware of the terms of her contract. Honovi shook her head at the girl's question.

"I will stay with you until you leave the mountains. Come."

Stepping through the doors was like stepping into a tomb. Unknown miles of stone above, tunnels reaching to vast depths below, all surrounded by identical walls carved smooth by skilled hands. There was no telling one from another, no sun or moon or stars to guide her way, the only light coming from the eerie orange glow of lava flowing through cleverly crafted channels in the stone. There was nothing natural about this place, and it made Honovi's skin crawl.

No matter. Honovi's face remained a mask, her posture no more rigid than usual, and she turned to Elissa.

"You are sure you want to do this? I have known dwarves, and their stories of Orzammar are not pleasant."

To say the least. Strict, caste-based prejudice, filthy slums, legal abuse of the casteless that bordered on - sometimes even included - torture. The lucky ones joined the Legion of the Dead and vowed to die at the hands of darkspawn or managed to escape through the commons to the alien world of the surface without being captured and killed. Somehow she didn't think sweet young Elissa would handle the harsher realities of the world well.

Very well. Honovi resolved to keep Elissa well away from Dust Town, and hoped that would be enough.

[Elissa Vuronia]

Life has its ups and its downs, but now Elissa finds herself with the great hall which showed some beautifully made stone statues of former paragons that now only live in tales, and history told by the great library. But she found some good news when Honovi mention she would remain with Honovi at least until she left Orzammar, with a nod to the mercenary she gently took Amity's reigns and guided him as she slowly headed deeper into Orzammar. She would even stop and may her respect to the former Paragons, kings and queens of Orzammar.

Finally she opened the door outwards and gasped as she found herself within the very core and heart of the dwarven community. It was so beautiful! The stone formations and a rather strong smell of ale and hammers slamming down upon steel, so far everything was going well and even a few dwarfs came over and offered to take care of her horse. Amity was scared though but he calmed down after Elissa gently hugged her friend and slowly she again closed her cloak completely and watched her dear friend march off.

Then Honovi asked her a really important question. It was a pretty good one at that, but Elissa's heart had been made up ever since deciding to learn about life itself. Gently she turned around to gaze at her friend and spoke in a completely honest way, while at the same time she showed her respect. "I appreciate your concern Honovi but my heart has been made up ever since I started my journey. But what about you? Are you ok by being here?"

[Honovi]

There was precious little left that could truly surprise Honovi after the life she'd lived, but being mothered by a teenager still managed it. What an... interesting sensation to have someone young enough to be her child fussing over her. Especially when she was supposed to be guarding the girl. No matter - she offered a curt nod and continued on.

Exactly where they were supposed to be going, however, Honovi wasn't sure, and the walls all looked the same to her. Well, Elissa had said she wanted to explore, so Honovi took a turn at random hoping the road would lead somewhere. Now would be a good time to have one of her dwarven acquaintances around, but those that had been to Orzammar weren't actually allowed to go back.

Ornate wall, oversized door, ornate wall... For such a small people the dwarves seemed to have an odd fascination with big things, and they all looked the same. Exactly what was so pretty about gaudy rocks and lava? Orzammar was a stuffy, over-heated, poorly lit tomb and she'd be happier when they were back under the sun.

Especially since the streets just seemed to be getting progressively dirtier the further they went. It seemed they'd taken a wrong turn somewhere, and Honovi began to turn back the way they came when the sounds of fighting drifted through the streets.

"I didn't steal anything, it's mine!

"Fine words for a criminal!"

"Why? Because I was born? Ancestors spit on you, I didn't do anything!"

Must be a guard and a casteless. Honovi had heard more of the casteless than she cared to know from those dwarves she'd met from Orzammar. The casteless had no rights to speak of, and there was nothing legal she or Elissa could do but kill the casteless quickly.

"We should go," she told the girl softly, "There is nothing we can do here."

[Elissa Vuronia]

The sure size of Orzammer was just overwhelming for young Elissa as she gasped at the craftsmanship which made this beautiful stone city within the mountain itself. There was just so much for the teenage girl to learn as she gazed at her surroundings of stone, from history of the ancestors, to their beliefs and their traditional ways. At least her dear friend Amity was safe and being cared for with shelter, food and water and comfort. But Elissa had no idea where to begin her side quest of knowledge about the Dwarfs, so quietly she began walking right into Orzammar and headed up towards the door.

The pure stone door opened outwards revealing the main city centre of Orzammar itself. It was a sight to behold! All around her she saw many dwarfs going about their lives while more beautiful craftsmanship of stone stood before her. Soon she headed downwards and proceeded deeper into the magnificent city of Orzammar, on the way she looked at various stalls which was mostly had weapons and armour of various qualities.

Some stalls had various items and bric a brac, each owner of the stalls where surprised to see two surface dwellers within their home. But Elissa couldn’t help but express her true feelings as she told them that she respected their people and simply wanted to learn more about Orzammar itself and its history, not to mention understand the ways of the Dwarf.

And of course she had to get some kind of souvenirs for her family. Soon however the young Elissa moved onwards and was too busy to examine the various stone formations that she headed into an unknown part of Orzammar. With each step onwards her eyes could tell that the floor beneath her feet was getting from completely clean to dirty, until finally she stopped and looked in amazement.

Just in front of her was a slope which went downwards. And just barely in view was a place that was just like a ghost town which was filled with old ruins, a sign said that it was called "Dust town". But she snapped out of her mind and heard a commotion nearby. It sounded like trouble, And Honovi was quite eager to ignore it and leave.

But Elissa was very stubborn so she looked towards Honovi and replied in complete focus. "I am really sorry Honovi but I must find out what’s happening!". Quickly she undid her long velvet cloak and folded over the left arm and ran towards the voices, sure enough she came across a girl dressed in old rags, and an angry guard holding her. Gasping she made her presence known by running over to them and called out in confidence. "Let her go!"

The guard turned to look at thee young Elissa and soon replied in pure anger. "By the tits of my ancestors! Stay out of this surface dweller this doesn’t concern you! I caught this filth stealing my coins!" the girl shook her head and tried to get out of the guard’s grip, she denied stealing from the guardsman who looked pretty well armed.

Elissa however refused to back down and gripped her fists tightly and said. "You have no right to treat her this way! Stand down!!", the guard shoved the female dwarf to the floor and growled in anger as he turned to face the two companions, just then another guard came into view and stood in front of Elissa. He spoke in sure determination and said. "That’s enough, Barkly return to your post". With a gruff the thug like guard marched away from the teenage noblewoman.

With a nod of respect, the second guard marched off leaving Elissa and Honovi. The female dwarf bowed her head in respect and soon headed back where she came from, giving out a gentle sigh the teenage girl said to Honovi. "Perhaps we better ask for directions, I wouldnt mind visiting their library if they had one"

[Honovi]

Lips pursed and bow in hand, Honovi looked on in disapproval as Elissa confronted the guards. It was amazing how differently nobles were treated then commoners - Elissa was completely unaware that the guard had every right to treat the little casteless girl however he wanted, and the guard seemed perfectly content to let it stay that way. Best not to jeopardize the dwarven trade agreements with Elissa's family, she supposed. Certainly Honovi would have gotten a more honest reaction than someone as important young Lady Vuronia. She shook her head.

"You know they only let the girl go because you are important."

Honovi watched Elissa quietly from the corner of her eyes. Perhaps it was cruel of her to point out, but she wouldn't be doing anyone any favours by helping to hide the truth. But the girl was right, they should find the library. A few quiet questions and hard looks were more than enough to get them there, albeit amongst a great deal of grumbling about surfacers.

"This place is called the shaperate," she told Elissa softly, drawing on the knowledge she'd gleaned from surface dwarves before making a beeline for the shaper. "Tell us of the casteless."

Again, perhaps she was cruel to force a girl so sheltered and innocent to face the harsh truths of the world, but it was necessary. No noble would ever see anything but what others wanted them to see unless they were dishonest themselves, and Elissa was just so... pure. The harshest lessons were the most necessary to survive, and Honovi listened to the shaper coldly with her arms crossed as he ranted on about the casteless. Criminals, and the children of criminals, whose children were criminals before they could even walk. Cursed by the Ancestors. Unfit to walk the Stone.

Honovi narrowed her eyes. Perhaps the dwarves she'd known on the surface had been right to leave Orzammar.