Balgair MacAonhais

<span style="color: rgb(220, 221, 222); font-family: Whitney, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: pre-wrap; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial; display: inline !important; float: none;">"Good mornin' sir. Ah've come ta join te Grey Wardens. Who da Ah needs speak wit, an where woold Ah find tem?" He looked as if he hadn't eaten in a couple of days, and his armor was fairly shabby looking, which he had realized upon reaching the keep. He was still sure he could make the best of it, though. - Balgair upon entering Vigil's keep the first time.



Before the Joining
Balgair was born in a small village, named Iona, South West of Red Cliff Village. He grew up on his parent's farm outside of the village, one of three. Their farm is rather large, capable of growing both crops and cattle. Balgair, as a child, always believed that a part of that farm would one day be his, until a couple of months after his seventh birthday. One day, his oldest brother Somerled, who was ten at the time, came to Balgair, who was the child most eager to become a good farmer, like their father, and bragged about how he'd just been given his first reading lesson. At first Balgair paid his older brother no mind, though Somerled told him that the reading lesson was the first step in preparing him to take over the farm when he was grown. He made it a point to tell his younger brother that he would never inherit the farm, and that he was nothing more than an extra child, who's only purpose was to work in the field. He told Balgair that he might as well be an elven slave.

Balgair argued with his brother, telling him that he was lieing, though his brother's greed showed itself at a young age, and after insult after insult Balgair finally snapped and tackled his brother to the ground. Somerled was unable to defend himself when his brother pinned him down and began to pound his small fists down as hard as he could on his face. Somerled screamed out for help, a call that took several minutes for somebody to respond to, given their location on the edge of the forest. By the time someone got there to pull Balgair off of Somerled the older boy's nose was broken, and several of his teeth were crooked. Somerled was already unconcious, so one of those that came to help rolled him over onto his side so that he wouldn't drown on his own blood. === After they had Somerled back on his feet again their father took both boys out behind the shed with a heavy leather strap, so that nobody else would see them, and beat both boys viciously. Balgair for beating his brother so severely, and Somerled for being too prideful for his own good.Somerled never forgave Balgair for beating nearly to death, nor for the beating he recieved from their father, blaming balgair for both. Both boys were unable to get out of bed for two days.

A few days after he was able to get out of bed the village story teller told a tale of the Grey Wardens during the third blight. He asked the story teller if the Wardens still existed and decided that he would join the Wardens himself when he was old enough to make the trip.

Over the course of the next ten years Balgair saved every piece of money he could. When he had saved enough he visited the stand of a merchant that was passing through the village and purchased a ragged old suit of chain mail, and a haphazardly sharpened bastard-sword.

His parents gave him a few days worth of food for the journey to Vigil's keep, which was where the merchant had told him the Wardens were gathering at in Ferelden now, and gave the boy directions to make the trip. Along the way a traveler gave him a few pointers for the sword, and a bit of soup that he'd cooked for the night. When he woke the next morning the traveler was already gone. His own food supplies ran out that day, a little over a day and a half before he arrived at vigil's keep where he promptly met Conner. Conner took him to the keep's kitchen to feed him, and discuss his joining. In the days leading up to the trip to the deep-roads Conner gave Balgair some tips for training with his sword, and training his body to become stronger, and stretches to limber him up before training sessions.

Deep Roads
A few days after Balgair arrived at Vigil's he was given the option to join a party venturing into the Deep Roads to gather the necessary vials of blood for the joining ritual. During this trip Balgair discovered that he possessed a great fear of the dark, jumping at every sound and shadow while there. He found himself to be so scared, in fact, the he even jumped at sounds that didn't exist. During this trip he was introduced to the Templar Sethorvin, along with several other recruits, and the young Warden Javier, with whom he became fast friends with. During this adventure Javier killed a few giant spiders, then fell down a ledge and broke his ankle. At the ledge just above where Javier landed on a shelf was a narrow bridge leading to a landing outside of the mouth of a cave where the three wardens accompanying the group could sense darkspawn.

Balgair deferred to Seth for the plan of attack. His plan was for the rest of the recruits to take to the shadows around the cave mouth while he taunted the creatures. Once the first group of darkspawn had passed Balgair stepped out and attacked the back of the party, quickly killing two of the hurlocks before one of them attacked him. His own attacks were more out of survival instinct than any skill, or so he thought at the time. When the third attacked him he used his sword to try to keep the genlock away, impaling the darkspawn with his sword. He used his foot to push it off of his sword, and quickly slashed at it's throat to finish off the creature. Using this opportunity he sheathed his sword and took out the vial he'd been given before venturing down into the deep roads, uncorked it, and quickly filled it with the darkspawn's blood before corking it and putting it back away.