Wardens
Protectorates of Ferelden
The Wardens are an order of mostly Ferelden warriors who show exceptional ability. They are also dedicated to protecting their nation from monstrous creatures as well as aggressive outsiders. They started as their own regiment but have grown to become a legion unto their own. The organization has close ties to the king of Ferelden and has served as a powerful to both King Calenhad and King Flume throughout their nation's short history.
Despite their small numbers, they were instrumental in ending Orlais' occupation over Ferelden. They have continued to prove their worth by staving off the Jrid, a strange group of creatures that patrol Ferelden's Southern border.
The Wardens are known for ignoring a recruit's racial, social, national, and even criminal background if they deem the person valuable in terms of character, ability, or skill. Some people see this as a stain on an otherwise inspirational group, but they can't deny that the group needs everyone it can get.
Public Agenda
The Wardens, when not in times of war, serve as a regiment that operates closely with Ferelden's king. While doing this, they stay vigilant as they strongly believe that the Jrid will be back, and that when that day comes they need to be ready since the world will refuse to be.
Their constant struggle with the Jrid is one of attrition both when Jrid are on the surface and when they are not. When Jrid were invading Ferelden, it would take four of Ferelden's best soldiers to even get one close to death. Knowing this, the Wardens use whatever tactics they can devise, no matter how unorthodox. Wardens know that they must do whatever they can to get an upper hand of their enemy.
While it is easy to assume all those who willingly join the Wardens want nothing more than to protect their land, some individual Wardens fight merely for the sake of fighting. Due to the rising concern over the Jrid, Wardens have come to be split in their beliefs: whether their highest priority should be destroying the Jrid or protecting Ferelden.
Recruitment
Following the end of Orlais' occupation over Ferelden, the Wardens opened up their organization to men and women from every race. As such, they offer formal invitations to join to anyone they see fit to be a member of the order, regardless of who they are. Many families are honored to claim a Warden as one of their own, though few encourage their firstborn to walk that path. Wardens are also known to recruit criminals, giving them a chance to redeem themselves by pledging to a good cause. They also accept volunteers as well, and elves in particular tend to be eager to join the ranks of the Wardenss, as the organization recruits regardless of social standing and serving is considered by many an honor.Right of Conscription
The Right of Conscription is a governmental power given solely to Wardens. This allows a Warden to demand that any Ferelden individual from king to criminal be drafted into their ranks, instantly and irrevocably. The conscript cannot refuse being recruited once the Right is invoked. They are given this power with the assumption they will not abuse it. At any time, the king of Ferelden could revoke this power but none has ever done so. An interesting note is that this right can even been invoked on mages from the Circle of Magi. It's been done some few times, though more recently for they have proven useful in fighting Jrid.Jrid
One of the primary reasons for the Wardens existing is to oppose Jrid. Few outside of Ferelden know the true horror that manifests within a Jrid, but tall tales have spread speaking of these beings as black and grey construct-like creatures that have an unrelenting drive to fight. It does not seem that to be that they sleep, eat, or think about anything other than fighting. According to the public's understanding, members of the Wardens are the only people who can kill a Jrid. Even the strongest and most skilled from Thedas will not be able to kill a Jrid unless they are a member of the organization. It's a strange reality that few outside the organization understand. Since it is such a bold claim, some have challenged it and pointed to the Wardens using this statement as a platform for fear-mongering. However, there is an undeniable mass of accounts from battles during the Ferelden Civil War that attest to the inability to kill Jrid, no matter what. Jrid have played an integral role in the history of Ferelden, particularly during the Ferelden Civil War. They were known to be along Ferelden's southern border even during the periods prior to Ferelden's initial unification. During this time, the Jrid mostly acted as silent watchers. However, they became much more violent around the time Ferelden's civil war began. They began invading Ferelden and when the Warden force tried to stop the Jrid at the Battle of Dur Themriel, the Jrid annihilated every single member of the Warden force (or so it was thought at the time).Belief Regarding Origin
Proclamations made by the Wardens state that the Jrid are not as simple as they once seemed. After information was unearthed during secret expeditions done by the organization, they have made several bold claims. First, the Jrid are remnants of the Tevinter Imperium. The Wardens will be the first to admit that there is still a lot of information that remains unknown, but they confidently believe that the Jrid came were once people of the Tevinter Imperium though these "people" do not think or interact as they once did. The Wardens even went as far to claim that what caused the people of the Tevinter Imperium to become what they are now is related to what wiped out the entirety of the Imperium's nation, burying it under mounds of desert. They claimed that at one point in history, there were seven magisters who were the most powerful mages in the Imperium. They brought two-thirds of the entire world's lyrium and the blood of ten-thousand slaves to a single spot, then attempted to physically breach the Fade in the name of their gods. If these statements are to be believed, these magisters achieved the impossible and walked the Fade in physical form, a task that is commonly referred to as impossible. Some god, or perhaps the Fade itself, saw these magisters' actions as an affront and banished them. But whatever did that did not stop there, it continued by looking at all that they had wrought and banished every single Tevinter to the far-flung corners of the world where they were to become Jrid. These so-called "revelations" exist mostly on anecdotal evidence from prominent Warden figures, so its reception has been mixed. The second bold claim was much more horrifying if the first one is given credence: despite the Wardens killing all the Jrid in Ferelden, the Jrid are not done. They linger in the Deep Roads looking for their gods and when they believe they found one they go mad. When this madness sets in, the Jrid return to the surface to bring about the destruction of everything. The Wardens confidently, yet also fearfully, state that the Jrid will return to the surface again someday. When it happens, the world has to be ready to accept the reality the Wardens put forth.The Calling
The rites of initiation for becoming a Warden are kept secret. The one thing that is spoken of amongst Wardens is their expert ability to fight Jrid. It seems to have become a sixth sense that members have honed. They can feel Jrid within a mile's radius, a strange power that no one outside the group knows exactly where it came from. Spoiler: Campaign 1A Warden-Recruit rises to the rank of Warden and thus considered an actual member of the organization once they undergo a secret ritual known as the Joining. The Joining involves drinking a concoction made of Jrid blood, lyrium, and elf root. Drinking this infuses Jrid blood with their own blood, allowing the Warden the ability to sense and kill Jrid. There are two major downsides to the Joining: the death rate of those who have undergone the Joining rests at about 59% and something somehow even worse, called the Calling.
Jrid blood, whatever it really is, was never meant to rest in the bodies of any man. The Calling is an affliction such that somewhere between two to twenty years after the Joining is completed, a Warden will irreversibly turn into a Jrid. No cure has ever been found. There are tell-tale signs that indicate someone is turning: muddled eyes, cracks in skin, and fraying hair are a few. When the signs of the Calling become apparent but before the full turning, a Warden is sent to Orzammar where they then go into the Deep Roads to help fight alongside the Legion of the Dead. The hope is that the Warden will kill as many monstrosities, or even possibly Jrid, before they eventually die in battle.
This is an undeniable truth for Wardens and it doesn't even end there. While in life, Wardens will occasionally be wracked by terrible nightmares of powerful entities wreaking havoc in the Deep Roads. These nightmares can be crippling, but rarely mean more than a sleepless night.
History
The Wardens started as a small regiment that was created by Malcolinus Flume during the Ferelden Rebellion. In many fights against Orlesians, these warriors were known to be fearless and nigh-unstoppable. Malcolinus hand-selected each fighter so they were a powerful, but small, group. As the rebellions came to a close, Malcolinus suggested to the new king, Calenhad Theirin, that another force threatened Ferelden and its future. He easily convinced Calenhad of the danger the Jrid posed and internally Malcolinus transformed the organization from general freedom fighters to a group whose sole purpose was to watch and protect others from the Jrid. During the Battle of Dur Themriel, which arguably sparked the Ferelden Civil War, Warden-Commander Malcolinus led the entirety of the Warden force against the Jrid since the Jrid were beginning to aggressively invade Ferelden's southern territory. At the time, the organization had approximately seven hundred members. All of them died at this fight, including Malcolinus. At least that was what was believed for several months until one of Malcolinus' sons, Gregory Flume, revealed that he had been at the battle and he had managed to escape. However, he did admit that the rest of the order had indeed died. Throughout Ferelden's civil war, Gregory regrew the organization and helped use his power to unify the nation that had devolved into chaos. At the Warden's peak, Gregory had convinced ten of the arls, banns, and teyrns to aid the organization in their efforts against the Jrid. His most public ally was Arl Eamon Vuerrin of Redcliffe. Along with those Fereldens, Gregory had also managed to secure alliances with the Dalish. Under his and his close allies' guidance, the Warden organization was able to regrow and eventually they picked the devastated Ferelden up from the brink of defeat and took the fight to the Jrid. Together, the Wardens were able to kill all the Jrid that were in Ferelden, though the organization took a large hit with respect to numbers alive.
Type
Military Order
Training Level
Professional
Veterancy Level
Experienced
Parent Organization
Notable Members
Related Ethnicities
Headquarters: Amaranthine (Ferelden)
Ranks:
- Warden-Commander
- Marshal
- General
- Warden-Captain
- Warden-Officer
- Senior Warden
- Warden
- Warden-Recruit
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