#Cayden Surana

[jayietheriverwarrior]

I recently learned that there are actually three possible ways to recruit a Mabari companion in DAO - play a Cousland and bring along the Cousland family dog, heal and recruit the wounded Mabari from Ostagar pre-battle, or return to Ostagar after the battle and feed and recruit an abandoned Mabari you find there. Since I used the previous two routes for acquiring a Mabari as an excuse to have two Mabaris in my multiple Wardens world, I decided this third route was the perfect excuse to add a third Mabari to the group!

This pup right here is a young (7 months old) female Mabari named Isseya. She was still in training to be a proper war hound when the Darkspawn attacked Ostagar, and through sheer luck was one of the few to survive the assault. Scared and confused and with nowhere else to go, she remained in the ruins of Ostagar, scrounging for food and scrapping with other scavengers, bandits, and the occasional Darkspawn, to keep her meals. It was a harrowing existence, and the pup lived in fear. Her hind leg was wounded in one of these scraps, leaving her even more fearful and timid than ever.

That was when the last of the Grey Wardens finally returned to Ostagar. The young Mabari was still wounded and very wary of all other animals, people included, at this point, so she bared her teeth at the Wardens and tried to hide her injury from them. But one of them, a quiet elf with kind eyes, approached the Mabari. He offered her food, he offered his kind words and magical healing from his gentle hands, even as she growled and threatened to snap. He waited, patient, respectful of her space, until she had calmed down enough to let him work. His magic was able to heal her leg completely, leaving only a scar behind, and no trace of the limp the injury had been causing since she'd gotten it.

The Wardens left, and after a brief hesitation, the Mabari followed. She was still scared, but Ostagar was too dangerous to stay, and the elf had been kind, and really, what other choice did she have? It took some time, but Cayden Surana was able to forge an unbreakable bond with the untrusting young dog. After a lifetime of abuse and fear in the Circle, and living under suspicion from his fellow traveling companions on account of his blood magic, Cayden knew all too well the feeling of fear and mistrust the young dog felt. Over time, he was able to calm her fears and rebuild her trust, and the dog became a strong, confident war hound, a match for any Darkspawn. Cayden named her Isseya after something Duncan had said to him after recruiting him - a brief anecdote he'd related about another elven blood mage who'd managed to do great things for the Wardens, despite the mistrust of others. (I haven't read The Last Flight, so I don't know how accurate it would be for Duncan to know about Isseya, but I like the name and the reasoning behind it so I'm running with it).

Overall, I'm really happy with how this turned out. :D I based it really heavily on this photo: www.pinterest.com/pin/27563443…