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In good times and in bad	By : kruemel Category: +A through F > Dragon Age (all) > Dragon Age (all) Views: 14749 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: Dragon Age and the characters of the game do not belong to me. This is a no profit fanfiction

Chapter List
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Note: Satinalia is a holiday in Thedas in Firstfall (November).
As we're already in that area, we travel farther north until we arrive above Orzammar. Sten doesn't like this at all and his usual grumpiness reaches a point where he even unnerves Barkley. Above Orzammar, a settlement has been built, mostly tents and wagons but also some houses made of wood or stone.
"What are we doing here?" Sten grumbles after he has trudged behind Rori for a while.
"We are looking for that merchant over there." Rori points at a man with a face like a rat.
"Is that another way to deceive the archdemon?" Sten asks icily.
"No, it's for deceiving a grumpy Qunari," Rori laughs. "I'm hoping to lure him into believing I'm not as incompetent as he thinks." She strolls towards the man she's been seeking out. "Hello, you happen to be Fayrn? The guy that stole from the Qunari back at Lake Calenhad?"
Fayrn squirms, looking even more like a rat, as he tries to talk his way out of this unsuccessfully. "You'd better give his sword to him, Fayrn. I would if I was you. Life is so short. You don't want it to become any shorter, do you?" Rori says ever so sweetly. In moments like that you just have to be scared of her.
"I... I don't have it any more..."
"Well, where is it?" Rori says impatiently, tapping her foot.
Fayrn isn't the brightest crayon in the box as he still thinks he could possibly bargain when Sten, standing right behind Rori, is towering over him and piercing him with glares that could scare the archdemon away. Rori listens to him for a while, then she says ever so nonchalantly: "Just tear his arms out, Sten."
Sten doesn't have to tear at anything. The moment he as much as moves a little finger, Fayrn starts spilling the news to us. Sten's sword is in Redcliffe. "Now, isn't that great," Rori chirps cheerfully and claps her hands. "We have to go there anyway. So no further delay on our mission of slaying the archdemon!" Rubbing it in now, isn't she?
"Let's not waste anymore time then. I cannot wait for being reunited with my sword."
I guess that's the Qunari way of saying thanks.
We manage to sell most of the bulky stuff from the dragon's treasure to the merchants - and are still loaded with so much gold we scream for being robbed. Not that I would advise this to anybody. Rori - after persuading Zevran to share - allows Shale to keep the sapphire. The golem is so fond of it, I swear it actually smiles. The golem, not the sapphire. We all get some pocket money for ourselves and Leliana at once darts off to find a shoemaker.
Barkley and I follow Rori when she looks at the stalls. Rori gets everybody a present. Zevran in exchange for giving up the sapphire. gets dressed in soft but strong Antivan leather from head to toe. As he's always freezing, Rori finds him a fine fur-lined coat. He's as happy as a child on Satinalia and smacks a kiss to Rori's cheek. Morrigan gets all excited about a golden framed mirror Rori chooses for her. She keeps staring at her reflection, adjusting the tiara on her head. She even practices different expression that range from icy to hostile. She really should try with friendly for a change.
For Wynne Rori finds a bottle of fine red wine. Seems we're getting to hear more stories about Wynne's adventures tonight at the campfire. Wine makes her rather talkative. At the baker's Rori buys the stickiest, sweetest sugar-frosted cake she can possibly find. It's adorned with marzipan roses. I get sick only by looking at it but I guess Sten will be delighted.
At the butcher's Barkley is rewarded with a steak, although he, too,wouldn't have minded the cake. For Leliana Rori finds a pair of boots that don't look as if they are made for walking. Rori wears soft leather jackboots with low wedge heels. It certainly makes her hips sway more when she walks but its not a hindrance in battle. These shoes here for the bard... the heels are thin and high, forcing a woman to balance on her toes. The leather is shiny and adorned with a series of little gems. I think they are horrendous but I just know Leliana will love them.
I keep myself busy at another market stall selling little stone carvings while Rori is at the shoemaker's. One statuette catches my interest, it's a small stone dragon. It's a fine piece of art, capturing the terrifying beauty of a dragon. I pick it up a few times only to put it back down again. In the end I decide I should save my money for something I really need. The more am I surprised to find Rori presenting it to me when we have already left that area of the market. She must have seen me admiring it.
In the end she has spent all her pocket money - and she has not bought a single thing for herself.
At the same time nobody else has been thinking about giving her anything. I watch her hand out the gifts, watch the others get excited. And when it's my turn I can't really enjoy her giving the stone dragon to me.
"I thought you liked it," Rori says, seeing my expression.
"I do. It is beautiful. But... you shouldn't have... It's not necessary to give me any presents." She looks at me with her big blue eyes, seeming rather confused. I smile softly. "Thank you, kitten. It's lovely." Then I kiss her and she smiles back at me. Now, I really feel like a complete jerk. While Leliana drags Rori away to the tailor - she needs a dress matching her new shoes -, I hurry back to a market stall I've seen earlier. I would have gone there but Rori seemed to avoid it, so I didn't have a chance as I didn't want to leave her alone.
The luthier looks up from the lute he's working at when I approach. "Can I help you?" he asks. I have no clue about instruments. My singing voice is not that bad. In the Chantry I was a choirboy. But when it comes to instruments I am glad to be able to tell the difference between a lute and a bagpipe. So yes, he can help me.
When I return to our meeting point, I have to wait an hour for Leliana and Rori to return. The bard looks giddy, Rori tired and exasperated.
"What's in the parcel?" Rori asks but I only shrug.
"Nothing important," I lie. I'm not going to give this to her while everybody else is watching. This calls for a private moment. I want Rori all for myself when I give her my gift. In addition I don't really know how she will react first seeing what I got for her. My gift will bring back memories to her. I still feel it's exactly what she needs.
Things we want to keep but don't need at the moment, we drop with Inga Dryden, one of Levi's cousins. She looks totally like Levi without a beard but a pair of very large breasts instead. She promises she'll take the things back to Warden's Peak. Seems Levi and his clan are busy rebuilding the fortress. For now I guess, that's the place coming closest to what I'd call home. At least we got somewhere to go to. And it's quite defendable.
Rori relieves us of some more coins, making a deal with Inga that allows the merchant to buy more goods - with our gold - and gives us a credit with the Drydens and a discount for anything we buy from them.
"I got a letter for you from that crazy old mage," Inga Dryden infroms Rori when business talk is over.
"Is he much of a problem?" Rori frowns while she opens the letter. I peek over her shoulder, reading along. Avernus has used one of the Grey Warden's cyphers Rori isn't yet used to, so she needs me to read the letter anyway. I at least recall enough letters to finally make sense of the message.
"He wants the permission to use... rats for his research," I summarise the information. Then there follows a long rant of Avernus complaining how he cannot possibly find out anything without any more tests. "Says he needs lyrium. And he wants some darkspawn. Alive. And then there's a long, long list of books."
"That's quite some wish list," Rori groans, leaning against me. "What should I do? I don't want to come back to a fortress crammed with rat abominations. If anything goes wrong we could have sealed the veil for nothing."
"We have quite a rat problem. Nobody would miss them," Inga Dryden comments.
"What in the name of the Maker does he need darkspawn for?" I know Rori thinks this is important. She gets excited whenever she talks about the possibilities Avernus' researches offer - if he is successful. "Rori, you shouldn't decide this right away. I know how you feel about this. But Avernus has proven to be ruthless when it comes to his studies. There is nobody there to watch him but the Drydens - and they are not prepared for what can happen when a mage loses control."
I got to know. The templar training was all about fighting mages. Even after joining the Grey Wardens I've not stopped training on my own - although I don't taking lyrium anymore, I still can use my templar skills. That's why I doubt the lyrium was actually necessary to learn them. I suspect it's just the Chantry keeping the templars under control. Duncan thankfully didn't insist I keep taking lyrium. The withdrawal was equally unpleasant as the Joining. But I managed and now I'm fine.
"Alright, then lets see if we can find someone to babysit him. Until then I'll tell him I have to think about it. Inga, can the Drydens get Avernus his books? I will pay for them."
I'm glad Rori listened to me. It makes me feel a lot better about the matter that she doesn't take this lightly, that, no matter what benefit she believes will come of this, she won't reach for it at any cost. It makes me proud of her. She might not think of herself as someone special, someone able to do something great. I do. I can see it in her but I also see she's not larger than life. This is part of why I love her.
"Do you want to talk to Wynne about Avernus?" I ask. Maybe the granny mage can offer some advice.
"No. This is Grey Warden business. And I already know exactly what she will say." Rori sighs. Then she does a rather good imitation of that look on Wynne's face when she's lecturing her. "Rori, dear, you have to accept the things you cannot change. This is your duty, the sacrifice you have to make as you serve the people you seek to protect and blablablabla."
I chuckle. "Wynne really gets on your nerves sometimes, doesn't she?"
"No kidding," Rori groans. "She's sweet. I adore her. But sometimes... sometimes I just wish she'd... shut the fuck up." I laugh at her exasperated expression and the forcefulness of her words.
"And what about the rats?" Inga asks after Rori decided Avernus would not get to use them for his tests for now.
"How about cats?" Rori points at where Sten sits on a rock with a little kitten at his feet. He has tied a string to a stick and fastened a piece of dried meat at the other end of the twine, waving it in front of the kitten. The little fur ball paws at the meat and tries to catch it. A rather silly grin is plastered across Sten's usually stern face.
"Awww, now look at that," Leliana giggles. "He's such a big softie!"
"You going to rub that in, right?" I grin.
"Of course I will. I'm already looking forward to it. Maybe I write a song about Sten the Softie," the bard muses.
"Just don't get yourself killed," Rori laughs.
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In good times and in bad