Traveling about the arling of Amaranthine's lands

Kilik sighed in his templar armor. He knew he would have to find someone to get some information about where Amaranthine was. As the templar walked on the path with what visibility he had with his helmet on. the armor grew heavier as he traveled on. The thought of the city of Amaranthine being farther away than expected mortified him. Though Kilik kept on marching forward.

It was not difficult to scout around the area the wardens were now making into a lavish, ok not so much lavish as an enclosed fortress until they knew what was going on. It seemed to Pendra that it was going to take some time before their leader allowed them to go into Vigil's Keep. That would be the best concept as far as the weapons master was concerned. There was something wrong here and this dwarf was not sure as to what exactly it was.

There was nothing too close but Pendra became concerned that the one she'd been sent with was not in sight. She smirked. The poor boy had been avoiding her since the evening the tents were sent flying. She didn't blame the youth but it was fun to see his reactions.

"Robert Schwarzer." Pendra said calmly, "We cannot work together if you keep lagging away and trying to hide. There is a reason we are sent in teams."

Pendra listened for a moment then looked about, "There is someone else here." She announced calmly while looking to see whoever was marching along.

Kilik looked around and thought he saw someone but he didn't pay too much attention to it. Then after a bit of marching the young Templar decided to go torwards it. As he came closer to he realized it was a person. Though his helmet was making his face burn he kept it on. He hoped the person was friendly.

Why? Was it karma? What did he do to deserve this? Robert questioned himself as he leaned against a tree with his forearm. He knew he should have joined the group heading to the city. He could have gotten new equipment, perhaps some West Hill brandy and actually be able to drink it this time.

But no. Instead he is on a patrol. Patrols were one of several reasons he ended his training in Redcliffe castle. At the very least, being with the wardens is interesting, to say the least, which means patrols are anything but routine. But the problem was who he was paired up with. Pendra Dragoncoal. An early teacher of his, who he never expected to see within five miles of the Gray Wardens, who has been brought on as the weapons master. What made it worse was a few days ago. It was something best left forgotten.

"Robert Schwarzer. We cannot work together if you keep lagging away and trying to hide. There is a reason we are sent in teams. There is someone else here."

He quickly nocked his bow and came out from behind the tree, ready to fire, but not looking like it was meant to be an aggressive move. "If someone goes and attacks you, I can surprise them from back there."

"If someone goes and attacks you, I can surprise them from back there."

Pendra turned her head enough to give Robert a look that said he wasn't fooling her but she would let it go anyway, so as not to embarrass him ... at least not about that, "So you did pick up on strategy. Here I thought you were daydreaming about that little red haired girl all the time."

She turned back to the meager trail and saw the person coming towards them. A full blown templar? Didn't that beat all when their group was full of warden mages and apostates? Time to play the game. The dwarf flicked a finger down to show that there was one person then she opened her palm to show for him to stay. If she'd drilled that into his head well enough while he was a child he would realize what she meant and would be ready just in case.

"Good day, Ser Templar. This is a ruddy track for one such as yourself to traverse on a hot day alone. Are you looking for Darkspawn to kill you?"

And that was her style. Direct, to the point and all with a "don't screw with me buddy" smile.

"If only that was why I travel for for Amaranthine." He said with a sad sigh. He hoped that whoever this woman was would at least tell him where the city was. He grew increasingly tired but remained vigilant. His body seemed strained from all the traveling.

Robert's eyes narrowed at that comment. It's as if she doesn't know that he was, briefly, a squire in service to Redcliffe and that he fought to protect Redcliffe and even joined the Ferelden forces to save Ferelden. Hearing the mention of the 'red haired girl' was an obvious nod to Bella. If it wasn't for the fact she'd probably be able to dodge it, and the consequences of what would happen if she didn't, he'd shoot the arrow right at her for that. It was hard for him to be so far from Redcliffe, but the only reason he was able to leave was because of her.

He saw the handsigns and rolled his eyes at them. He only complied because he was going to do that anyway. It was odd to see a lone templar out here on his own.

"Amaranthine? You were headed in the basic direction. It is too bad you were not here earlier or you could have gone with some of our people but it is getting dark." Pendra looked to the sky and then back at the man standing there before saying anything more, "What is a Templar doing looking for Amaranthine anyway?"

The dwarf glanced back at Robert and motioned with her head that he could come forward and noticed the look he was giving her. He never was one to take jokes well.

"Officially I'm giving chase to a group of Maleficarum that were fleeing to the city. I am also to report to the city's chantry as my next posting." He told her as he removed his helmet. His hair flowed out onto his back as he stared at her.

He wasn't sure if he should put the arrow back in its quiver or just keep it as is, but he complied. He slowly walked over to the pair, looking around as he did so. There was the possibility that someone just stole the templar armor and was actually trying to fool them into a false sense of security.

"Officially I'm giving chase to a group of Maleficarum that were fleeing to the city. I am also to report to the city's chantry as my next posting."

"How about unofficially?" Robert asked as he approached. He came to a stop right behind Pendra. "I've only seen one maleficar around here and he seems more of a danger to himself than others."

"Unofficially.....is Templar buisness and I can't disclose that to you." He said rather sternly at the person that came out. His red and blue eyes seeming to stare into him as he scowled a bit before sighing. His white hair shining in the enchrouching darkness.

Pendra smiled as Robert spoke up, proud of his reasoning. She couldn't help it as it was a pleasure to know one of your students had grown up into someone who could think and react on their toes.

"I'm sure Knight-Captain Greagoir has his reasons for sending you out this way but if you were after a few maleficarum then going after them with one person could be difficult."

"There were others with me but they have fallen to an ambush by the Maleficarum a while back." He said as he returnedd his attention to the woman. His face was still stern as he seemed preoccupied.

Robert was a bit surprised by that response, but hearing that he was the sole survivor of his group did put a hamper on things. There must have been more malificarum than templar for them to be ambushed. "Were these malificar part of the Circle? I thought Templars were able to track down any mage provided they had been in the Circle."

"There was only one Circle mage among them. We managed to dispose of him after the Maleficars turned him into an abomination. They seem to have some allies hidden in the Grey Wardens as I am led to believe but I disagree with that idea." He said as he divided his attention between the two. His face seeming to glow with hatred for the maleficarum. Even his voice seemed to show his hatred.

"It seems even more imperative that you do not go after these maleficarum alone as then there would be none to tell the Knight-Captain of the events which had happened. As for where they have allies: that is a mighty leading accusation to the Grey Wardens. What kind of evidence points the finger in their direction?"

What could it be this time? It could be Howe supporters even though the man was dead. It could be that hawk group with the tattoos in which matter they would be dead as soon as Pendra found them. Others may have taken oaths to withhold justice. She had taken oaths to train and protect, but not to avoid killing those who required killing.

"There were several letters to the circle mage we slayed from a anonymous source but it detailed that several apostates have joined the wardens and they seem to send letters to circle mages that encourage them becoming maleficar and running off to the wardens. The Knight Commander however seems to believe that the letters are fake or are supposed to be sent to someone else. Also some nobles from Amaranthine claimed that the wardens were hiding Maleficarum in their order though we have dismissed those claims." He told the woman as he started to sigh. He seemed to have returned to a neutral tone.

"I've, um, heard that they take in mages regardless if their apostates or not, but I've never heard of them actually encouraging mages to do that. They wouldn't need to. Even in a blight, they are able to just go to the various Circles and request volunteers," Robert replied. Something was definitely fishy here. If it wasn't for the fact that he might withhold information, he'd come out and say he was a Grey Warden.

"Well, I've heard from a friend of mine that some of the nobles are angry at the Wardens for the death of the Arl and the fact that the whole arling was given to the Wardens. I don't think you should trust them farther than you than throw them."

"We don't agree with this source of information and you may be right about the nobles sir." kilik said as he looks at them. Then he started to wonder about who they were. His eyes seemed to glare at them as he asked, "Why are you out here anyways?"

This one tended to not speak much which was a good thing for a Templar. Being wary tended to keep them alive in their type of work, especially when on the road. For all he knew they were apostates looking for weaknesses before trying to take a piece out of him.

"Our group is taking up fortifications until our leader checks out Vigil's Keep to see what is going on. The two of us are scouting. You are the first being we've seen on our circuit."

Pendra rubbed a finger across the jawline, "You still have a few leagues to go to get to Amaranthine. In fact, it would take you more than a day to get there on foot. Maybe 2 depending on how fast you walk."

"And that's if you aren't accosted by anyone. Brigands love to prey on the unwary or the outnumbered. And I've sure the malificar would have no problem waiting for their sole pursuer to fall into a trap of some kind."

Robert took a few steps and knelt down. He called over a squirrel that he noticed nearby. He gave it an acorn, and asked it to look around for anyone who wasn't him, Pendra, or the templar. He nodded the squirrel off as he stood back up. While they were distracted with conversation, they were neglecting to continue surveying their surroundings. He hoped the squirrel would return to him in time if there is trouble.

"Templar, if you don't mind me asking, is your name confidential as well? I don't see any harm that could come from knowing who we are talking to. If it helps the process any, you can call me Robert."

"My name is Kilik. If that's suitable enough." He told the boy. Kilik seemed to be wary but stayed focused on Robert. He occasionally eyed the woman. He had his suspicions of them but kept quiet about it.

Pendra was not sure about the templar but she knew that he was just as cautious about them as they were about him, "We're doing rounds so cannot stay in one spot for too long. If you wish to come with us you may. If not, your destination is to the north so just look for mushrooms and go in the direction of the side of the tree they are on."

The weapons master waited to see what this young man would do.

"I shall go with you if only for a short while." He told her as he put his helmet back on. Heis eyes shined from the darkness through the eye opening. He wondered what the woman would say to his answer.

(OOC: Skip Robert this time. Considering how the convo went down, Robert would rather wait for a reply to Kilik's response instead of butting in himself.)