Chapter 1
It all started after he awakened from his Uthenera, he tried to teach the Dalish, to tell them what they knew was wrong, he was horrified when he saw elves with the slave mark on their faces, he tried, truly he did, but they frowned upon his attempt to teach them and cast him aside, these people would never accept his teachings.
He walked and walked, he knew of a Elluvian that could transport him to civilization, he needed somewhere to rest, his mind was a mess right now, everything he knew was gone, his people gone, the elves of this age wearing slave marks on their faces, humans governing over the other races, a new race called Qunari.
It was too much, besides, he was very weak at the moment, he had yet to reach his orb to come back to his full power, but for now he needed time to recover, he hasn’t eaten since he has awakened, the cultural shock of this new age made him lose his appetite, he wander through the fade to learn about the current state of the world, learning quickly in weeks about everything.
He walked through the mirror and found himself in ruins of what was once one of the Elvhen civilizations, it hurts his heart to see it like this. He leaves it only to find himself somewhere with snow, he recognizes it from the places he learned in the fade.
Solas was surprised to find out one of the Eluvians was located in Avvar territory now. He worried, thinking them nothing more than savages.
Solas was weak, he needs his orb, he needs to find it, but not before regaining his strength.
“Hey there, pretty one” A man called him from the top of a tree startling the elf. “You don’t look so well, need help, stranger?”
“I…yes, I seem to be lost and without anything on my person except my staff…” He lies easily.
“Ah, a strange situation you found yourself in, aye?” The Avvar jumped off the tree landing in front of Solas with a thud.
Solas was startled by how the man approached his personal space without hesitation, he didn’t let it show his surprise, of course, the Avvar in front of him was handsome, with honey skin, long brown hair braided behind his ears, a not so long beard with small braids and his eyes were a light blue that had the elf hypnotized for a moment, and oh he was tall, very tall indeed.
“You look, tired, stranger, come to my clan, my Thane would be more than fine with your presence” The stranger offers kindly.
The elf had to suppress his shock from showing on his face, this man was Avvar, and he was inviting him to his hold? Why? He is an elf… “I’d appreciate it, thank you” He tilted his head forward in a show of respect despite his wariness.
Solas was thinking of changing his appearance, shaving his long hair to look like he wasn’t much, though now he pushes that thought away, for the time being, the Avvar were used to people with long hair so he would leave his hair as it is for now.
“Aye, thank me when you are rested and healthy my friend” Said the Avvar with a big smile. “Name’s Gunnar Bjørnson” He introduced himself and then motioned for the elf to follow him.
“I am Solas”
The Avvar man led him to his hold, his people eyeing Solas with strangely, at first he thought they were looking at him with disdain for being an elf, which had him suppressing his anger.
"Who is this you bring to our hold, Gunnar?" Asked a woman with red-hair, she eyed him with the same look as the other Avvars.
"Ah, found him wandering about, lost and without anything but his staff, lad looks weary, aye? Thought he would need a place to recover" The man explained simply.
"Ah" She says with understanding, she bows to the elf who looks startled at the action. "Welcome to our hold stranger, we hope we can bring you back to health with what he have"
Solas feels the eyes of the other Avvars who also bow their head towards him, was he wrong about his assumptions? Were they merely curious about him? He felt no hostility from them now that he pays more attention to their auras.
"I...thank you, I'm certain I will be good in your care" He manages to say.
"Polite this one, uh?" She smiled amicably at him before turning to the man at his side. "Svarah Sun-Hair just finished a meeting, got to her about our new visitor"
"Aye, m'am!" The man leads Solas to a cave where a woman is sitting on a throne.
"Come closer Gunnar, you bring us a visitor?" The woman says calmly looking at the elf with a bit of caution. "What has you in our lands, stranger?"
"I awoke in your lands...I do not know how I came to be here, I only have my staff in my person, I feel weak since I have awakened, if you give me permission, I would like to stay for a while to recover"
The woman watches him cautiously for a moment, then nods satisfied with his answer. "Stay as much as you like, I only ask you not to interfere with our beliefs and culture, many come to try teaching us 'savages' to be more like the low landers, we have no interest in converting to the Chantry of theirs"
Ah, of course, he didn't think other people would try converting them, he feels a bit ashamed, he himself called them savages in his mind, and until now they have been nothing but courteous towards him.
Gunnar takes him to a small home where he lives offering his bed for him to rest, Solas tries to refuse the offer but the man insists on him resting as soon as possible.
He relents after a whole thirty minutes of going back and forward with the discussion.
The Avvar man brings him food which he accepts hesitantly, he is surprised to find it very apetating.
"What do your people use on the meat to make it so..."
"Tasty?" Gunnar finishes for him.
Solas holds himself from making a face at the word. "Yes"
"Mostly seasonings we find in the wild that we know it's safe to use, yeah? Here let me show you"
The elf listens carefully as the man shows him several plants and what each one is used for, none of these plants were known to him, it makes sense that after centuries, new fauna would eventually grow.
Solas is surprised to learn that the Avvar respects the spirits, so far as calling some of them of Gods, he didn't try to correct them not wanting to interfere just like Svarah Sun-Hair had asked of him.
"So you bond yourselves to spirits?" He asks Gunnar one day, curiosity getting the best of him.
"Aye! When I was a little one and magic came to be, I was approached by the elders, to learn how to control my magic I bonded with a spirit of Valor, we usually separate from them when we reach adulthood or proven to be apt to deal with our magic alone, but...some of form a bond too strong to break" The man says the last part a bit ashamed.
The elf eyes the Avvar man curious. "It is understandable, to be bonded for years to a spirit, who you may call a friend, it would be hard to be separated from them" He rationalizes, he is still a bit wary of people bonding with spirits, but from what Gunnar explained they only bond with willing spirits.
Gunna gives him a grateful smile. "Aye! Valor has been such a good friend...a sister to me, I know I can seek her in the fade once we are separated, but...it would not feel the same, it would be like losing a part of myself...the elders disapprove of me and Valor keeping our bond, but they came to accept that we would not sever our bond. We actually are the reason many others are still accepted in the hold despite not wanting to sever their bonds as well"
Solas was captivated by the story, listening without interrupting, he learned much more of the Avvar as time passed by. Gunnar is always patient and ready to answer his questions.
The elf once ended up discussing with some of the Avvars about their beliefs but apologized when it distressed Gunnar, what made him feel even worse about the event was that the Avvar didn't react violently at him trying to teach them, they actually listened to what he had to say, gave his words a thought, but politely asked him to no try to change their views but that was allowed to believe in what he said that they would not treat him any different.
At least their beliefs weren't that of marking their faces with slaves marked as the Dalish....
It was odd, he stayed to recover from his cultural shock and weak state, but he started to feel...like he was part of the hold, like he belonged. No, he shook his head, he had to leave, he needed his orb, he knew where it was though the Eluvian was far away from its location,, he just needed to go back to the Eluvian in the ruins to transport himself to the closest location to it.
Yet he felt his heart clench at the thought of leaving, he has been with the Avvar from the last five months, he has grown fond of Gunnar as well, the man always at his side making sure he was eating well and to give him his attention.
But he had to leave...right? He had to bring his people back...
He spent the night in the hut thinking, soft snores coming from Gunnar from the floor, the man still insisted on the elf taking his bed. Solas has to leave, this morning he will leave...he looks at the bearded Avvar on the floor, feeling his chest tighten at the thought of not seeing him anymore...maybe he could keep the Avvar intact from his plans...
The next day he awoke not very well rested, his thought keeping him awake most of the night, he was making his way towards Svarah Sun-Hair to let her know that he would leave soon when it happened.
A strong force tore the sky open, this power, he knew it very well, someone has used his orb, he felt dread take over him, how? Anyone who wasn't he would die using it, and why would they do such a thing?
The people of the hold eyed the sky in horror along him, Gunnar taking his hand on his squeezing it lightly in comfort for both of them.
He had to fix this, he had to get back his orb.
The night came, the people of the hold were all exhausted from fighting off demons from their lands, there were a few rifts spitting out demons from it around the Frostback Basin.
Gunnar saw the look on his face and turned the elf to look at him, a comforting hand on his shoulder which had the elf feel something he couldn't tell what it was.
"What are you thinking, pretty one?"
"I...maybe I can help end this madness" He says weakly.
Gunnar nods, he doesn't understand why the elf would feel like he needed to hel but..
"I heard from scouts that the Conclave was the center of this mess, aye? It's close to a place called Haven, if you want to help we should go there"
Solas arches a brow at the end. "We?"
Gunnar smirks. "You ain't going alone, can't let your pretty face be scarred"
The elf holds himself from chuckling, for some reason he felt relieved that the man was coming along with him.
For now he has the breach to worry about first, until it was closed he couldn't progress with his plans.
Deep down, part of him was glad that he had more time to think about it.