Our motley crew arrived in Redcliffe Village to face several surprises. First of all, it appears Alistair carries noble blood within his veins! I can scarce believe it but the fool claims to be the bastard son of the King! The King in question being King Maric and not that fool Cailan obviously. Being an unwanted son, Alistair had been taken in by Arl Eamon before joining the templars.
Well, at least it explains why the Arl would take him into his household.
Regardless, the noble blood in his veins must be thin. Much as I like the man, he clearly has no aptitude for leadership and it was just lucky happenstance that I joined the Grey Wardens when I did.
The second surprise was that we found the road to the Arls castle blocked by some peasant villagers. They took us to Bann Teagan who told us that the village was under attack by undead creatures coming from the castle. It was a good thing the Bann was there otherwise I would have taken the story to be some superstitious nonsense of the local peasants.
The problem the Bann finds himself in is that the village is under siege but he has only a handful of knights to help defend the village with. It appears that the Arl is suffering some kind of sickness that none of their herbalists have been able to heal. The affliction struck down the Arl suddenly and the Arlessa suspected poison which is why most of the knights have been sent out on a fools errand to find the ashes of Andraste (apparently, even a pinch of Andraste's ashes can cure any poison).
Since the knights left, some other affliction has hit the castle. Not long after, the villagers lost contact with the castle and at night, they have been attacked by the undead horde which I just mentioned. With night rapidly approaching, I decided to stay and see this horde for myself. Good thing too as sure enough, upon nightfall, the gates to the castle opened and an army of undead swarmed out of the gates.
The undead horde descends on Redcliffe Village
However, with our assistance, the Village was well poised to defend itself. Together with Ser Perth, one of Arl Eamons knights, and his troop of well armed knights, we formed a defensive line at the entrance to the village. Together, we held firm as countless numbers of undead crashed against the barriers we erected. It was a mighty battle as the horde crashed against our makeshift barriers and despite what the horde threw at us, we managed to hold firm!
Holding the line!
Alas, the horde may be undead but it was not without intelligence. Although we were able to hold the line, a group of undead had attacked the village directly by approaching from the lake! If a runner from the village hadn't alerted us, we would never have known.
Leaving Ser Perth to defend the front line, I took my group and charged back down to the village.
The village is attacked from the lake!
Unfortunately, the attack had caught the villagers completely by surprise. Instead of holding a defensive line, the stupid mudwalkers had joined in a mad melee in the village square. Fools!
I charged into the frey and for a while, I have to admit it was touch and go. There were moments where we were completely surrounded by the horde and all we could do was keep swinging and pray for the morning. There was no respite in the fighting as the horde just kept coming. To stop, or even slow down, would have meant death. Even so, even my arms were tiring by the time the last of the undead had been cut down.
Our "successful" defence of Redcliffe Village
In the end, we managed to keep the horde out of the Chantry where the older villagers and children had holed up. Unfortunately, none of the defending militia survived.
The heroes of Redcliffe Village
Despite the losses, the village was saved. Bann Teagan and the surviving villagers were grateful enough as well for our help.
hehe - this pretty young lass was particularly grateful to me for saving her and her brother
Our next stop will be to assault Redcliffe Castle itself. Bann Teagan has promised us aid in this endeavor, and well he should for it is his brother that we go to save. Although the group is tired from the battle and really needs a day to rest, I have decided that we shall set off immediately. Morrigan in particular was vocal about her opinion of my decision. Her beauty may be enchanting but I will have to keep an eye on her to make sure her dissent goes no further. The woman clearly needs to learn her place.
Regardless, I stand by my decision. While on the road, I have heard rumors that Orzammar has been closed to visitors due to King Endrin having fallen sick. I doubt these rumors be true for father was always as strong as an ox. Still, a part of me is worried none the less. I need to wrap up matters here quickly so that I can travel to Orzammar and see for myself what has happened.
