VK - Tamassran. Kassina, Cestrah, Dartmoor, Kestrel and Maghai

She grinned as she turned to the Tamassran, "Tamassran. Kassina, Cestrah, Dartmoor, Kestrel and Maghai are with you."

Kassina was happy to be travelling with her friends. She bounced again on the balls of her feet in excitement. "Dartmoor! We travel with Mag and Cesta!"

Then she turned her eyes and nose nervously to the two strangers in their group. The tall blond man smelled like a human with some elf mixed in although he didn't look like an elf. And the other stranger, well he was tall and had horns. He had a distinct scent that she wasn't used to as she hadn't really met any Qunari before. She had met Guremi yesterday, but she was only half.

"Hello," she said shyly to the two newcomers, unconsiously grabbing Dartmoor's hand for support. "I Kassina. Some... some time? I wolf. Please no scared. No hurt warden pack." She looked to Dartmoor to see if she had made sense.

"We need stop on way, pick up wolf pack. They come too. Bring meat for burn for warden pack."

Cestrah was happy to be with Dartmoor, Kassina and of course, Maghai, but even happier to finally be leaving Denerim. It wasn't a dream, she wouldve been woken up by now... However she was still happy to be with her friends. The young girl shuttered to imagine if she had to travel with only strangers. Speaking of which... She looked at the other two people, in particular the qunari. She had never seen any qunari before, and due to his size and appearance, she couldn't help but be a little bit scared... She had a little bit of herself behind Maghai, covering almost half of herself and holding his arm. She hoped she could warm up to the others eventually... However, for now, she was scared out of her mind.

The Tamassran nodded to Nygozy, acquiescing to her decision to place him in a group of children. This would suit him fine. The massive Qunari wore no weapons, nor was he tethered like a Saarebas. Golden eyes looked down at his charges. "I am called Tamassran. Do not fear me, as I abhor violence." He introduced himself to them. He then peered down at the odd girl who smelled of the wild. "Pack? Were you raised by wolves, bas? You needn't worry. I shall teach you. That is what I do. I am to bring the Qun to you and others."

He then turned down to Maghai, the curious elf poking and prodding him. This caused Tamassran some discomfort as he was wary his horns were undersized compared to the majority of his race. He grunted. "I am Qunari. I was born with horns. I was taught the Qun, and now I teach it in turn. I educate children to find their place in the world."

Kassina paused in her excited bouncing as the blond man glared at her and then walked away. She could smell the contempt and hatred coming from him, but she didn't know what was causing it. But then her attention was drawn back to the others and she forgot all about him.

Kassina could smell the discomfort and fear coming from Cestrah and went to comfort her. She put her hand on the girl's shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze. "No worry Cesta, we no let grumpy one hurt you."

When the strange horned man spoke Kassina gave him her full attention. "Yes, Kassina wolf. You teach? Kassina need learn much. Tam.. Tamas.. name too long. Know any stories? Tell stories at camp time?"

"Oh yes, pack now! Kassina back soon!" She gave Dartmoor's hand a squeeze, then took a step away and shifted to wolf from and ran off towards the woods.

"I am called Tamassran. Do not fear me, as I abhor violence. Pack? Were you raised by wolves, bas? You needn't worry. I shall teach you. That is what I do. I am to bring the Qun to you and others. I am Qunari. I was born with horns. I was taught the Qun, and now I teach it in turn. I educate children to find their place in the world."

Maghai jumped about even more, trying to touch the horns but couldn't quite reach them. He pouted at not being able to reach them and stood with his arms over his chest looking despondent until he noticed a word the Tamassran used, "You have bass? We can have bass for lunch or supper then? I really like bass cooked over a fire with some butter. Oh that is so good but ... hey, where is this Qun who taught you then? He must be around here somewhere if you brought him. I hope you told Nygozy. She would be rather upset if she didn't know about another one of you big dudes hanging around. I still want to touch your horns though. Hey, maybe I can touch Qun's horns! Qun! Qun where are you, Qun? I want to see what your horns feel like. Qun!!"

Dartmoor chuckled and looked at Cestrah, giving her a wink to make her not worry so much then smiled as Kassina asked her questions as well. He stood back with Cestrah and waited, "It seems that this Tamassran is going to have his hands full with those two so we can avoid much of the talk. It seems fun though. I want to hear his answers to their questions. Especially about where Qun is." He chuckled.

The wolf pack had a tough decision ahead of them and three options. They could try to go back south to the forests they had occupied before the blight. They could stay were they were close to the big human city. Or they could go to this new place in the north that Kassina had told them about.

Finally near dawn a decision was reached. The pack had grown large enough to split. A stubborn older male alpha was taking his smaller part of the pack and returning to their old home. The majority of the pack, however, had agreed to go with Kassina. She was an oddity to the pack, but she had never steered them wrong before. The elf-wolf was always respectful and vigilant and did more than her share of the hunting and guarding duties. The forest here was unbalanced and unsafe and they were willing to take the risk of moving north for the good of their pups.

At dawn the pack did one final headcount and headed for the meeting place. Moments after arriving at the point on the edge of the forest the elf-wolf came bounding out of the plains toward them. Greetings were made and news was exchanged and then the pack was on the move. They would shadow the warden pack as they moved north, sticking to the forests as much as possible. The two pack brothers that had guarded Kassina the day before, and two pack sisters, would accompany Kassina back to the warden pack to act as messengers.

Tamassran's lips twisted in annoyance at Maghai's endless questions. But he was a patient man and he let the boy rant and rave. He looked down at Kassina first. "Tamassran. You will learn this word as one day you may also be teaching children if I see that teaching is your destined path." He said and inhaled deeply. "I will indeed tell stories at camp." He said and then turned to Maghai. "The Qun is not a person, it is a belief. A belief that everyone works together as a collective whole. The Qun also wastes no resources or person, everyone has a place in Qunari society." He started.

Cestrah felt slightly more comfortable when Kassina and Dartmoor helped her, then Dartmoor specifically talked to her. “I-I guess… To be honest… I’m really not sure about anything to do with those… qunari… And… Yes, I’m not really the kind of person who likes being in the middle of conversation… It’ll probably give me a lot of time to talk to you though.” She had been warming up to Dartmoor actually fairly quickly, maybe because she knew she’d be traveling with him, but so far only Maghai, Kassina, and Dartmoor had become the people she didn’t feel at all uncomfortable around. Well, Maybe Jezarine and Nygozy as well… But she hadn’t really talked to either lately. She was startled a bit when Kassina shifted and ran off. That transformation was still a little jarring… She was also listening quite closely when Tamassran spoke of the Qun... She didn't say anything, but she was very interested...

As Kassina and the four wolves moved across the plains toward the travellers there was a disturbance in the air above them. All the wildlife suddenly went still and the wolves all lay down in the grass. Finally they spotted the problem, a bright red object in the sky. While the wolves thought it some strange bird Kassina knew better, it was a dragon.

Her sharp ears picked up the unusual hawk calls, and then she saw Drake in the sky and knew all was well. It took a moment to convince the wolves to move again, but move they did, and at great speed. She knew Dartmoor and Cestrah were uncomfortable out here and must be afraid and she wanted to comfort them.

She reached her group just as one dragon transformed into a hawk. She barely slowed to transform and almost barreled into Dartmoor. "Dartmoor! Is fine. Dragon not dragon. White dragon is good smell not-girl. Small alpha know." Her words came out in a bit of a jumbled rush as she was excited and anxious. She hoped no one would accidently hurt the dragons in the sky. She contemplated joining them, but decided she could only make the situation worse. She was better off here with her friends.

When the shock had worn off a bit Kassina turned to the wolves skulking in the grass near the group and let out a series of barks. "These is Kassina brothers and sisters. They travel us. Rest pack in forest, shadow." Kassina let out several more barks and one of the four wolves ran off down the travel line.

Kai approached the last group cautiously. There were several wolves in this group and he did not wish to frighten them. He let himself be visable on his approach and moved more slowly. It also gave him time to contemplate who to approach as this group was mostly young and new recruits. He picked the Qunari as the most likely leader of this ragtag group and approached him.

"Tamassran I bring a message from the commander, though it seems you probably know it already. The dragon situation is under control and the commander has signaled the move out. The rest of the party has been informed of the prescence of Kassina's wolf pack and no action will be taken against them. They will also have help if it is needed.

Kai eyed the young blond elven mage curiously. He envied the stealth advantages of being able to transform. A shifter would make an excellent assassin if trained correctly. Oh well, he had other duties to attend to, and dissapeared once more.

The Tamassran grunted a greeting at the one-eyed elf who shadowed the Warden-Commander. "I am to lead these children then? Very well. Inform the Commander we will be moving at once." He said and then started moving his horse onward. It was odd, because he was bigger than the horse he rode, the Qunari standing at nine feet unmounted. He whispered words of encouragement to the beast in his native tongue. Then Maghai listened to his lecture and it brought a smile to the Qunari. "Precisely. You will always have a place in society, and you are expected to do your job for the Qun." He continued his lecture as they traveled, mostly instructing Kassina, Maghai and Cestrah since Dartmoor was older and probably had his mind full. "You need to empty your mind like a cup, Dartmoor. Only then can enlightenment be obtained."

Kassina was happy that Dartmoor had understood her jumbled message. She watched as the small alpha's guard approached and delivered his message and was glad the wolves would be safe. She looked at the other wolves and barked the information to them.

"Yes. He guard small alpha. Most no see him, but can't hide smell. Ride?" She asked as she glanced curiously at the horses the others had. She had seen other people ride horses of course, but had never ridden one herself. When you spent most of your life as an animal it seemed strange to think of riding on the back of another. "Not know how ride. Want run but want talk. Need teach Dartmoor wolf talk. Try ride?"

She went to Dartmoor's horse and had a short conversation with it. Horses it seemed weren't actually very intelligent and it didn't have much to say, but it did tell her about riding from its perspective. A minute later she climbed onto the horse infront of Dartmoor and settled herself.

As they began to move out she listened to what the giant horned man had to say, but she didn't understand most of it. He used a lot of words she didn't understand. She had also had no exposure to religions or faiths of any sort and the concept was totally forgien to her. She had heard humans talk of the Maker and elves talk of their gods but had never understood. She leaned against Dartmoor and looked up at him. "Horned man no make sense." She whispered to him with a giggle.

Cestrah looked at Tamassran curiously when he talked about the Qun, as it was very odd to her. She then saw the Qunari get on his horse, and then also Kassina and Dartmoor. She turned to Maghai, still holding his arm. "So…. Are we sharing a horse then? I've uhhh… never ridden one, so I don't know what to do… Can I… Have some help?" She asked nervously. She didn't like having to rely on people like this, it made her feel useless… As if the Wardens were just taking her out of charity… Wait… they were. What could she really contribute? She kind of looked down sadly upon realizing it, but tried to get rid of it before anyone saw.

"We ride together Cestrah and I will teach you to ride too. Uh, Tammy you said it is like that and that sounds kinda like ants and the Qun the queen which means it is like scary, deadly bugs! The Qunari arelike ants!Ants re scary!" Maghai then started running around in circles screaming the last part over and over as he ran around waving his arms in the air.

Dartmoor laughed and looked at Kassina, "Yes you ride with me, Kassina. I think horned man just learned rule one of dealing with Mag. Be careful with words around him and always ask him what he thinks something means before answering. Hey we should get going."

Dartmoor ignored Maghai's running about and walked along carefully while getting to his horse then offered a hand up for Kassina.

The Tamassran merely shook his head. They were young, but they'd learn in time. The wolf girl especially, she was as good as an empty vessel. She could learn the Qun well, Saarebas or not. The Tamassran seemed to clench his jaw a bit from Maghai's twisting his words. "Tamassran is what you will call me, nothing else." He growled at the blonde elf before moving his horse onward ahead of them. "I am going to be assigning each of you duties to perform while you are under my tutelage. I expect you to perform these tasks without question or complaint. That goes for you too, Maghai. Kassina, you will, when you are feeling rested enough, scout the surrounding area, or have your pack do so. Cestrah, if you know anything about medicines or herbs, we could use that for first aid in case of an attack. Dartmoor, you will be our Vanguard, assuming you know how to fight." He directed. "Maghai, you will protect Cestrah."

Kassina laughed as Maghai ran around in circles. "Mag no like bugs." she whispered in Dartmoor's ear.

Kassina rode with Dartmoor and listened as the Qunari gave orders. She sat with a frown on her face for a moment trying to puzzle through is words. She had understood that he said not to ask questions but she didn't understand what he had said. How was she supposed to understand if she wasn't allowed to ask questions. Maybe Dartmoor would know. She hoped she was allowed to ask him questions.

She leaned back again so she could whisper in Dartmoor's ear, hoping the horned giant would not hear her. "Kassina no know what horned man say, but he say no questions. How Kassina to learn new things if no questions?" She began with a bit of a pout and a wounded look on her face.

"What mean toot... tootlidge? What mean van... van... vanguild?"

Scouting she understood and had intended on doing so anyway so that wasn't a problem. Kassina let out a series of barks and two of the four wolves around them dissapeared into the grass. "How Cesta know plants? Cesta never city leave before."

Cestrah laughed a little to herself at Maghai acting so silly, then her smile faded when Tamassran gave her the job of herbalist. "U-umm… I… Really don't…. know anything about herbs… or medicines… I'm sorry…" She then started trying to get onto the horse. It was awkward to try, because she'd barely even seen horses, much less ridden one.

Trying to get on, she threw her leg up, but didn't get it high enough due to her small size and fell with a small shriek. "EEK!" She screamed as she fell, quickly standing up and dusting herself off with a heavy blush.

As Maghai was running about he wasn't paying attention to the Tamassran at all then he heard a shriek from Cestrah and the sound of her falling. He immediately stopped and ran over to her, helping her up and brushing her off.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I should have been taking care of you instead of being scared of the nasty Qunari insectal society." He said as he helped her up into the saddle then got up behind her and held her with one hand as he took the reigns with the other, "See. You just hold onto the reigns and she follows the others."

He continued to help her to learn how to ride when his mind played back what the Tamassran said. He frowned while he tried to figure out what was with that person.

"I am going to be assigning each of you duties to perform while you are under my tutelage. I expect you to perform these tasks without question or complaint. That goes for you too, Maghai. Kassina, you will, when you are feeling rested enough, scout the surrounding area, or have your pack do so. Cestrah, if you know anything about medicines or herbs, we could use that for first aid in case of an attack. Dartmoor, you will be our Vanguard, assuming you know how to fight. Maghai, you will protect Cestrah."

"Of course I will protect Cestrah! What kind of protector did you think I was if you have to tell me I have to protect her while I already protect her cause I promised she will never be hurt again so I'm her protector which means that I will protect her." Maghai snorted then rolled his eyes, "Cestrah has lived in the city all her life. She is not a gardener, y'know. Hey ... Tammy ... how long do you think it will take for us to get to Virgil's Keep?"

As soon as he realized that Cestrah was holding the reigns and the pony was nicely walking along behind the others, Maghai's eyes closed and he fell asleep.

((Sorta mind hijacked here: https://dragonageafter.forumotion.com/t324-maghai-s-dream))

All at once The Tamassran was assailed with statements that his decisions were wrong. He rubbed his temples irritatedly. "A Vanguard is someone who guards from the front. They are the frontline fighters. Cestrah, I will teach you some basic herbalism so you may actually be of some use to the group." He sighed, his golden eyes watching them disapprovingly. "When I said no questions, I meant no 'why's. You may ask me other things but do not question my methods. I am trying to find out what skills each of you are good at before I decide where to place you all in Qunari society."

Kassina listened as Dartmoor explained things to her. If nothing else she was learning plenty of new words today.

Kassina furrowed her brows once more as the horned man mentioned placing them in Qunari society. She didn't know they were going to such a place. "Where Qun... qunari? We go there? Kassina thought go Virgil den?" Then Kassina shrugged her shoulders. Obviously she wasn't going to understand this horned man anytime soon, so she decided to go with what she did know and do some scouting.

She let out a few quick barks and the two remaining wolves moved in closer. One moved to trot along side Maghai and Cestrah while the other moved beside Dartmoor's horse. "Kassina scout now. Wolf sisters protect friends. Sisters no have human names, but friends can give names if want."

Suddenly Kassina stood up on the back of the moving horse and then jumped. In mid air the elf girl seemed to simply dissapear and in her place was a large eagle flapping its wings to gain altitute. As she gained height she let out a screech and circled the group twice before winging off into the distance.

((Gone here: https://dragonageafter.forumotion.com/t301p60-vk-nygozy-kai-wolfram-griffinhart-alistair-and-zevran))

Cestrah was somewhat discouraged by Tamassran’s comment. ‘Actually be of some use’? It was disheartening to know that right now, she was useless to the group... “O-okay... I could probably learn about it fine...” She said in a small voice. Cestrah was also a little sad when Kassina left, and even more when Maghai fell asleep behind her. She could only really talk to Dartmoor now. After a few minutes, she found herself very bored and looked around. With a small shy smile, she turned to Dartmoor. This horse thing wasn’t all that hard... “Hey Dartmoor... I spy, with my little eye... Something that is white.” She beamed, as she had seen other children play this game, but never gotten the chance herself.

A little while later an eagle glided over the group before landing gracefully near Dartmoor's horse and turning into the blond elven woman. "Camp soon! Small Alpha find spot." She ran along beside her friend's horses so she could talk with them as they covered the final distance to the camp.

((OOC: trying to wrap up the travel threads since camp is already well underway - Anyone have anything else to add here?))

Tamassran rubbed his temples at the growing headache. He then decided to answer Cestrah first. "That is good that you wish to learn. You would be helping many people, especially if these barbarians get injured in combat." he indicated the other groups, not his own. The Kassina went off to scout for a bit before coming back. Dartmoor then asked what Qunari children were like. "Children are children, but you are all adults, which makes my teaching you more difficult. Your minds are already full of ideas. But I have had worse trials. Qunari children know that the Qun demands their obedience. They are still permitted to play when necessary."