The journey of Warden Commander Drako Amell, The Hero of Ferelden: (DA:O, DA:A, and Witch hunt)
The Chronicles of Tyros Hawke, Champion of Kirkwall:
Over the course of the last year, Carver and I have done several jobs for the Red Irons. Made a bit of a name for ourselves among some of Kirkwall's less reputable citizens. It's not the life I wanted for Carver. He wants to prove himself, but the longer we stayed with the company the more likely it was he would end up either dead or in prison. I was relieved when we finally worked off our debt to the Irons. We were forced to resort to doing odd jobs for them from time to time though for the coin to make ends meet. We were barely getting by week to week. Sometimes even day to day was questionable. One bit of hope came when we heard about a Deep Roads expedition forming by one of the Merchant guild members. We're meeting him in the morning... well... more like lurking outside the guild until he shows up and then trying to sell him on taking us along. Same difference...
...The "meeting" went poorly. This Bartrand is every bit as asinine as his reputation. I tried being charming, but Carvers aggressiveness exposed out desperation. We still made a good case, couldn't figure out why he wouldn't at least entertain the idea... a moment of contemplation that a cut-purse took advantage of. Barely had anything in there to begin with. Carver and I took after him, but he didn't get very far. When we rounded the corner he was pinned to the wall by an arrow. The archer was a stubby dwarf with a rather unique crossbow. Never seen anything like it before. A work of art. The dwarf retrieved my coin purse and introduced himself. This Varric, brother to Bartrand if you can believe it, was a charmer to be sure. A city dwarf through and through. He revealed that the reason the expedition hadn't set out yet was because Bartrand couldn't fund this little field trip on his own. So the smooth talking younger brother tried pressing us for fifty sovereigns. If we had that we wouldn't need this blighted expedition. The offer he made was one we couldn't pass up though.
With Varrics contacts we should be able to pick up plenty of odd, if illegal, jobs around the city. Carver remarked that Aveline might have some bounties we could go after. She joined the City Guard not long after we settled in. She's done quite well actually. One of the best guards in the city by all accounts. She's climbing the ranks rather quickly. If there is any legitimate work to be had, she will know about it...
...Met with Aveline. She discovered an ambush being planned and asked for us to back her up. Not sure what the bandits were expecting, but it clearly wasn't us. They were hardly a match. Upon returning to the keep, the Guard Captain was less than pleased with our efforts. So that was 4 hours wasted... or so it seemed. We learned that a lone guard was supposed to be traveling that route... with a satchel. Because of our fight, the scheduled drop of that satchel was changed and handed off to another guardsman. Suspicious satchels, only one guard for a patrol, and the Captains reaction... It was too much for Aveline. We set out to follow Guardsman Donnic on his patrol and see if he too would be met by an ambush...
...It was dark by the time we caught up with Donnic. We were almost too late. He was being attacked by the time we got to him. We quickly dispatch the bandits and tend to the Guardsman. While Aveline gives him a healing potice, I check to see why these highway men are so eager for this satchel. Their eagerness is not without cause. Various official documents, patrol routes, and information on city accounts were packed inside. Useless to a guardsman, but highly valued by those who skirt the law. We begin a straight march up to the Keep and to the Viscounts office to expose this conspiracy. I admit the sight of that man being dragged off by his own guards brought a smile to my face. An even bigger smile came when Aveline was named as his replacement. She seemed shocked, but to me she was the obvious choice. This city got a lot safer today...
... Time to head back to Uncle Gamlen's house. We've been out all night. Mother will be worried. I made a several silvers off some of the gear I picked off the bandits. They weren't going to be needing them anymore. It's not much, but it's enough for us to eat tonight and have a few left over... assuming Gamlen doesn't find it. The money will disappear into the local brothel in a heart beat if he finds it.
I complain about Uncle Gamlen, but he did take us in when we needed him most. Despite that, I just can't trust him. What little money we have, we have because I've hidden it from him. IF we can buy our way into this expedition, will could be set for life with the relics we find down there... Got a lot of work to find and do before that happens though. I'll meet with Varric tomorrow in the Hanged Man to discuss things further.