VK - Bowen, Caterina, Marcus, Guremi and Devin

''As you say, Commander'' The enormous Nevarran nodded, and then looked at his group. ''Let's get moving, my good friends''

Bowen just had time to hug Calliara briefly and shake Gunnar and Drake's hands, ruffled Sinjan's and Ianto's hair and then waved a hand for the rest.

''Good luck everyone!''

Marcus nodded his approval of the groups. "Aaaand you guys are stuck with me, your favorite smart mouthed, suave elf." He bowed dramatically, then winced as he wasn't fully recovered yet. "At this moment, I am not in a condition to be of much use in combat. Everything is sore."

Guremi stood beside Marcus, quietly looking at the others in the group. Both horns were back in order and she felt much better due to the healing. She couldn't understand how the Tal-Vashoth could cut their horns and keep going so easily but then again hers had also cracked her skull.

Da'Vhenan shuffled her paws, watching an insect trundle across the ground the looked up at Guremi with a concerned expression, wondering what was going to happen next.

The half qunari looked down at the wolf and patted her head, "Soon Da'Vhenan. We will be away soon. Right Marcus?" She looked him over, "What happened to you?"

The Grey Wardens certainly attract some interesting members, he thought to himself, with fascination. He'd never seen an elf with that much apparent strength. He held nothing against elves or any other races, as long as they did not kill innocents or commit crimes. He was sure that he would get along with the others, as long as they weren't blood mages. He had not yet met Marghaid, and he was still looking forward to that. He glanced his new companions over. "It's nice to meet you all. I'm Devin. A templar, as you probably know, so I'm good against anything magical.' That much was pretty obvious. He followed the group, as he was instructed.

He glanced to Marcus, wondering why Nygozy had had him come along if he was sore and unable to fight. It sounded recklessly dangerous. "What happened? It's not something healing can mend, right?" he asked, concerned. He noticed that one of the women had horns; he was reminded of the Tamassran, but she seemed...different. What a strange group they were, indeed. These were to be his new friends and comrades.

''Well met, Devin, and be welcomed'' The Nevarran smiled wide. ''I am Bowen Pentaghast, veteran Grey Warden, from the Grey Wardens before Ostagar... Me, I'm nothing but a warrior. It's good to have you here, I hope you'll feel welcomed and content among your new brothers and sisters''

''And I am Caterina Caelestis'' The pretty girl riding beside the Nevarran smiled, her Antivan accent being obvious. ''Nice to meet you, guapo''

''I'll let our companions to introduce themselves, but please. get on your horses. We have to get going'' Bowen winked, and then waited for them

Marcus nodded to Devin. "Well, let's see. Where to begin... I was shot in the shoulder with an arrow some weeks back, still hurts to move that arm. Then I got a good chunk of my thigh bitten off by a Mabari or two... and another arrow through my foot. The wounds have healed, but the pain remains until they truly recover." He explained to the human templar.

Guremi got up onto Tempest, her quarter horse mare and listened as Marcus announced who he was. She waited while patting Tempest's shoulder to calm her. She wanted to get moving and was tapping one hoof anxiously.

"Guremi Darslan, former member of King Theirin's personal guard." She knew others had noticed her horns so she felt it best to explain, "I am a half qunari half elf but this only came to light when I went through my joining. I used to wear a wig of red, curly hair to cover my horns. If you have any questions regarding this you may ask if you wish. The red wolf is ..." The qunari mix looked down at the wolf then back up, "My wolf sister, Da'Vhenan."

With that she waited to see if anyone wished to say anything to her.

Kai continued down the line for his fourth stop and appeared close to Bowen. "Message from the hero. The dragon situation is under control and everyone shoudl move out. Additionally there will be a pack of wolves travelling with us. They are allies and not to be harmed. If needed they are to be protected from any threat. They are the pack of the shifter mage Kassina."

Kai was getting tired of repeating himself and quickly moved off once more to complete his task.

Well, the introductions seem to have gone smoothly, she noted with a smile. Bosco huffed silently beneath her, and she absently lowered a hand to pat at his neck. Denerim had provided a much-needed reprieve, but it was nice to be back on the road again, doing her job. As much as she liked some rest and relaxation, she'd felt a little . . . useless in Denerim. At least her leg had been given time to heal after the bandit attack that had cost her her long hair - that good had come of all that waiting around.

Her eyes wandered across her traveling companions as Bowen spoke to the lithe elf that always followed Nygozy around. Marcus and Guremi were familiar to her, and she had seen Devin once or twice around the castle. Good - she liked knowing the people she'd be fighting with. It was still a shock to see the unmistakable Qunari horns on top of Guremi's head, but the woman was still the unshakably moral knight she'd always been, so discovering that she was half-Qunari didn't change Caterina's opinion of her much. Marcus, of course, was the same as ever, and it looked like she'd be able to work with Devin.

With a smile to herself, Caterina moved Bosco so that he stood beside Goliath, and she smiled up at Bowen, standing a little in her stirrups to give the Nevvaran man a quick kiss. "Are we off now, precioso, or shall we offer our companions tea and cakes, perhaps some wine, before we go onto the road?" She asked with an amused smile.

((Edited. I forgot to include Devin's reaction to the DM post. The DemonDM's announcement reminded me)).

Devin winced at the thought, then climbed onto his horse. "That must hurt. My sympathies," he said. Not only did he feel sympathy for him for being in pain, he was sure the strong man was disappointed that he'd been unable to fight. Devin had seen, during the attack on the tower, people who were in such a state. And why was he coming? Why wasn't he resting? He didn't ask, though...there must have been a reason.

He could understand why Guremi would cover her horns. Most people weren't accepting of people who were different -- just look at how elves were treated. She was amongst people though, now, that would not judge her. At least, most of them. Devin certainly would not judge a person because of something they could not help. They were skilled people with good morals, and that was the kind of people Nygozy wanted, from what he could tell.

Dragons? He hadn't seen any dragons, but it seemed whatever was going on with them was under control. It was a shame though -- he'd always wanted to see a dragon. He noted the wolves. He would not attack them. And a shifter mage was among them? They certainly had a lot of interesting people in this group. He'd heard Margaid was a shapeshifter too, though he had yet to meet the girl.

Caterina was apparently from Antiva, judging by the accent. He smiled back at her when she cracked a joke, waiting for the others to get on their horses. This was going to be interesting.

''Alright Kai, thank you'' Bowen smiled at the assassin, patting his shoulder in a friendly way before he could disappear. Being Calliara's realtive, it was impossible for him to not like the young Dalish.

"Are we off now, precioso, or shall we offer our companions tea and cakes, perhaps some wine, before we go onto the road?"

Bowen laughed hard and then nodded, kissing her back and smiling. ''You're right, my heart. Devin, ride with me and Caterina. Marcus, Guremi, both of you are still hurt, so right behind us. We're one of the groups in the middle, so it's not likely we'll have problems''

''So, Devin'' the enormous Nevarran grinned for the Templar. ''I see you're not grumpy as our friendly Kestrel is. I hope that means you don't have racist problems and such, because I won't tolerate them, if I'm leading or even in camp. Because you're the other former Templar, I must tell you that I'll beat Kestrel's grumpy ass if he tries anything, says anything or just scowls in a way I don't like, directed to any of the elves or the mages. I'm just saying, and I'd hate to have a misunderstanding with you, you look like a nice guy and Calliara told me you made quite the impression with Nygozy. I tell you this just in case you feel obligued to... defend your Templar fellow''

Whistling merrily, Bowen looked at the front, then to the back and smiled brightly for Guremi and Marcus, and then he tried to see anything further than them, but couldn't. Looking to the front again, he added absently. ''I wonder what would happen if Kestrel and Kraven meet each other. Maybe they'll have some tea? After burning the whole country, I mean...I won't tolerate any act against any elf or mage. And yes, I'm ranting... I don't like silence, so please folks, a bit of chit chat is welcomed''

Devin rode his horse over to the couple, noting how affectionate they were toward one-another. He'd never had a lover in his life. And since he was going to be a Warden, he didn't see a reason for himself to try to find a girl. After all, a Warden's life was a risky one. Regardless, he was happy for the two of them.

'[color=firebrick]So, Devin. 'I see you're not grumpy as our friendly Kestrel is....tell you this just in case you feel obligued to... defend your Templar fellow.[/colo]''

"I'm a reasonable person," Devin replied. "I don't judge people before I meet them. If I have a problem with anyone, it's someone who treats a person badly because of something that person cannot help. You don't know how infuriating it was, seeing templars treating mages like worse than dirt. I'd like it if you keep this between you and me, but I've never liked Kestral. If you have to teach him a lesson, I might even cheer you on. Heck, I might even join you."

Nygozy had told her he was probably a spy for the Chantry, but she'd told him that was just between the two of them. If Nygozy wanted Bowen to know, she would be the one to tell him. "I do have problems with blood mages, and mages that abuse their powers. And don't worry about Margaid -- I know about her. I'm hoping to help her. I'm a protector of mages, not a jailer, and I still feel that as one of my duties."

''I wonder what would happen if Kestrel and Kraven meet each other...I don't like silence, so please folks, a bit of chit chat is welcomed'."

"Or dwarves, Qunari, mabari, or whoever else, right?" Devin asked. He added, jokingly, "darkspawn would be a different story altogether." He chuckled. "Who is Kraven, by the way? I haven't met all the Wardens. While you're at it, I'm curious about the mages in the Wardens." There was so much he still needed to know, and he didn't really know what to talk about casually. The weather?

((LOL I'm on a roll today! ))

The others were talking about some interesting things but Guremi did not feel like getting involved in the discussion. She was considering all that had gone on since meeting the wardens and how she was feeling about actually being out in the open about who and what she was. No one was reacting badly to her which was surprising to her. She had been told for most of her life that people would treat her badly and it had happened so it wasn't denied that there were those who were not willing to accept others.

So this Bowen and Devin were both of the same mind about treating others as equals. That was good to know and she smiled about that then turned to Marcus. The half Qunari looked at him sadly, "So tell me, what exactly happened while I was away? Am I going to have to tie you down to keep you out of trouble?" She teased with a big smile.

Marcus came out of his funk when Bowen started asking for some conversation to get going. He had been carving into a block of wood, but mindful of his sore body as some movements caused him to twinge in pain. He then looked over to Guremi who addressed him. He grinned at her. "Well, we were looking for the source of a serial killer, and then stumbled upon a pack of feral mabari. We fought em, one of them took a big chunk out of my leg. And almost immediately afterwards, we were attacked by guards who wouldn't listen to my generous attempts at diplomacy." He said, scratching the back of his head briefly. "I also got shot a couple times, including my foot. You have no idea how much that hurt when the blood haze lifted."

Caterina smiled as she rode alongside Devin and Bowen, listening to their oh-so-manly conversation about protection and fighting - she couldn't help a small laugh at the thought of Bowen standing on the side-lines of a battle, placing bets with all the others on who he thought would win. Caterina, for one, was very good with such gambling.

"Well boy, as long as you remember that Nygozy's mages are just as free as anyone else, you'll be fine," Bowen said with a sage nod that sent Caterina into another little fit of giggles. He glanced at her with her favorite 'pouting' expres​sion(though he insisted it was nothing of the kind), and she had to look away to keep from laughing again.

"I have not met this 'Kestrel' man you're speaking of, Devin? It seems I have not yet had the dubious pleasure of meeting him," she said, letting Bosco lead their walk for a minute while she paid more attention to Bowen and Devin.