On the Move

OOC: Im RPing as Rakot Hemlin
Italicized text denotes thought

IC:

....Should I join the Ferelden army perhaps? Nah, I had my fill of taking orders I think....Should I go to Orzammar? Always sodding hordes of Darkspawn in the Deep Roads I hear, though the Dwarves are not likely to just let me storm in there, and to be honest I've crushed enough of the buggers to deserve a short break....To Denerim it is than, I could use a few dozen pints of ale and some cooked food after eating bugs and snakes in this sodding swamp for a year. Fill my stomach, maybe find me a wench, live the good life for a bit, then I'll be able to decide what to do next...

Rakot was walking along the path north towards Ostagar, there was one last thing he had to do in the old fortress before he could go anywhere else. And so just a few days later he stood silent just outside the walls, gazing down onto remains of a Dwarven corpse.

"Romek...I'm here to pay my last respects to you....you were a sodding drunk bastard with less sense than the rocks that birthed you, but you're as close to family as I've ever had. We are on the surface, and you are still an exile even in death so I can not take your remains to Orzommar, but knowing you, you've already fought your way back to the Stone and rejoined your ancestors. Regardless, I am going to do what I can, I will bury your remains here, no Dwarf should be left to stare at the sky for all eternity."

Rakot carefully picked up and lowered the bones into a freshly dug grave, than used his shovel to fill it with soil. Tossing his instrument of labor aside he took a second to wipe the sweat off his forehead.

"Well, Romek, see you in the next life, maybe you'll be sober for a change."

Rakot grinned to himself, and then looked up at the walls of Ostagar.

That life that was before I came here...has it really only been a year? Feels like its been so much longer....maybe I should take one last look inside, doubtful I'll ever have reason to come back here again.

Stretching his shoulders he began walking towards the fortress gate.

The moon rose clear in the sky, a blue sight which took one's breath away as you watched the swirling clouds making patterns over the pock marked face of the lunar body. It hung just right as if set upon a wall with tacks to make sure it did not move but without seeing the items which kept it mobile. The roundness. The roundness was complete, as sure as a spinning wheel, which it now changed into going round and round on whatever road it traveled. People spoke then screamed as some died upon the land, blood spilled into patterns just like the clouds had taken over the moon only moments before. No person could be seen but the fighting was heard with loud clangs, voices and ripping sounds like a knife flowing through canvas yet it was no canvas these items ran through. It was people. Humans, Elves, Dwarves, men and women, children of all races as well as ages. Then there was an image of a pattern. A stylized bird. One black. One red.

With a yelp of despair the Dalish sat up from the ground, his blankets falling onto the dirt as he gasped while holding his knees. He could not stop the shaking which took his body for the fear of what his dream had brought to his mind.

Bodies. Bodies again. Dead oh dead people.

At least he did not see bodies this time. Maghai was unsure if he could handle that. Then again, he had before. Ok so he had not handled it well but he had handled it.

He stood and shook his blankets then rolled them before setting them upon his pack and putting it upon his back. There was places to go. People to meet and things to do. Uh. What sort of things again? OH YES! Find her. That's what he had to do.

Maghai took a few steps and realized it felt like his leg was itchy. He went to scratch it when he noticed a huge beetle on his knee and now screamed. The Elven man ran around in circles, yelling at the top of his lungs, "Get it off! Get it off! Aaaaahhhhhhhh! It's killing me!!!"

As he ran about in a circle a Hurlock noticed the action and came about to take a look at what was going on. Maghai didn't even notice the Darkspawn, running it over in his fear, screeching like a little girl then taking off outside the walls of Ostagar whereupon he fell on his back and started rolling about like a dog with an itch. There was a man but he did not notice him either as he ripped his leggings off and started slamming them onto a tree, "It's gross! Ewwwww! Get off you beast!!!!"

As the Dalish was doing this, the Hurlock he'd run over was coming out from the walls, moving towards this strange Elf derisively, his swords out for the kill.

The hell?

Was all that Rakot could manage to think as he spotted the elf rolling around and screaming like a stuck pig. He quickly dropped the puzzled expression on his face however as a Hurlock entered the scene mere moments later. Rakot's eyes lit up in anticipation of the kill, reaching for his maul his hands squeezed the handle tightly as his legs propelled him forward, gradually increasing the speed of movement as he went. The Darkspawn immediately switched its attention to the three hundred pounds of gruesome death charging towards it. It only had a few breaths worth of time to react, the Hurlock attempted to parry Rakot's swing only to have its sword tossed aside by the great spiked maul. The movement of Rakot's weapon only slowed by a hair, but enough to let the Hurlock stumble backwards and away from its death. Right after the maul cut the air infront of it, the Hurlock seized the moment of Rakot's vulnerability and jumped forward pushing Rakot to the ground and landing on top of him. The fiend then tried to choke the warrior, but was stopped by a heavy handed punch to the nose which caused it to fall over backwards. Rakot didn't waste any more time, he grabbed his maul from the ground as he jumped to his feet, raised his weapon above his head and with a thundering roar delivered a mighty blow to his downed enemy's chestplate. The spiked end of a dwarven great maul cut through Darkspawn leather like a hot knife through butter, and nailed the beast to the ground as the shockwave from the strike shattered its rib cage into a million pieces. Rakot then lifted his weapon out of the corpse and looked over his handy work.

"Must have missed this one during my sweep of the area...heh, tis one of 'em stronger ones too, otherwise it wouldn't have the guts to be all the way out here by itself, what with the Archdemon dead and all...."

He said, speaking to no one in particular, then he suddenly remembered the elf and turned to face him.

"Oi, knife-ears, the sodding hell you're doing here? You don't look like an Alienage type, too much meat on your bones....and what does a Dalish tree-huger do all the way out here in the Kokari Wilds? The woods in these parts don't like to cuddle, uahahaha!"

He loudly laughed at his own joke for a few minutes, then cleared his throat and let his gaze return to the elf, awaiting an answer.

"Must have missed this one during my sweep of the area...heh, tis one of 'em stronger ones too, otherwise it wouldn't have the guts to be all the way out here by itself, what with the Archdemon dead and all...."

Gasping felt like the right thing to do as the big bug fell off his pants, smooshed from being whapped into the tree so hard and so many times. It seemed like someone was talking though. What was this? Someone missed someone? Archdemon?

Maghai turned his head to see the Human standing there, pulling his weapon from the corpse of a Hurlock. Well, that was helpful. It was ... right? His blue eyes lifted to look at this strange man.

"Oi, knife-ears, the sodding hell you're doing here? You don't look like an Alienage type, too much meat on your bones....and what does a Dalish tree-huger do all the way out here in the Kokari Wilds? The woods in these parts don't like to cuddle, uahahaha!"

"'Knife ears'?" He touched his ears then chuckled, "Oh. Yeh I'm a Dalish from way up north but I was ... well looking for someone and got turned around. Kokari Wilds?" He looked north and put a hand to the back of his head, "I went right past Denerim then. Well whaddaya know? Thank you for killing that Hurlock and OH do you have any lyrium? I clean fresh out and really need the hit."

"You're telling me you have just realized that you're in the Kokari Wilds? The signs of the Blight all around you haven't tipped you off? And lyrium? That might explain it, I heard stories of addicts being easily disoriented....In any case, last time I checked lyrium was in short supply, and the only ones wanting it topside were the Mage Circle and the Templars. The sodding Chantry handles all the legal distribution channels, but I had a good gig going with this contact back in Orzammar a couple of years back. Beraht was his name, shady character, never liked him much but he was good for business, he used to supply me with the stuff to sell to some disgruntled Circle Mages that were never getting enough of it from the Chantry. They paid good coin for it too...but back to the matter at hand, how does a sodding Dalish get addicted to lyrium? You're one of em apostate mages then? Now, I'm curious."

Rakot's hands gripped the handle of his maul just a bit tighter.

I'm no fan of the sodding Chantry, and I certainly don't care about their business with the Mages...but apostates are dangerous, especially all the way out here in the woods. Need to be ready to put this one down if the need arises.

Maghai cocked his head to the side like a curious puppy as the Human spoke and blinked while trying to figure out what exactly he was getting at, "Well, yes I don't have a map so it's not surprising that I got lost but there was a war. Bones and Darkspawn are not unusual anywhere in this land. Normally I'm ok at hiding from them."

He shrugged as he put his pants back on, "Oh that bit with lyrium was a while back." He waved his hand at Rakot but forgot that he was still putting on his clothes and fell on his side. He blew some hair out of his face then sat up, "Some Dwarf chickie opened up more avenues for lyrium ... uh ... mining? Gathering? Meh whatever you do to get the stuff. Anyway, that was in those Dark Roads. Dank Roads? Dim Roads? Something like that. I've seen it. It's powerful stuff they're getting nowadays right from some area a paragon took to find some weird hammer. You'd probably like that hammer. It was cool."

The strange Dalish stood and looked Rakot in the eyes, "Apostate? Chantry mage? Oh no no! I'm not a mage. I just like lyrium. Oh! What about Felroot powder with some Deathroot leaves? That helps the shakes. I think I can find some around here but I'm not sure I want to wander about alone anymore. The Darkspawn know I'm here now and you're a big, tough guy! Are you going to Denerim? I'd like to come with if that's ok. I'll share my stash and food with you. Uhm ... and the wine I found. They left good wine here. Can you believe that? Good wine and no one took it with them."

What in the world was he getting all mad at? A brow rose curiously at the tone and expressions the man wore, "Deep Roads. That's it awright! I never remember that name." He hugged himself and shivered, "It's scary down there and lots of those dead warrior Dwarves die there but they kill lots of Darkspawn, that's fer sure."

He nodded as he rushed off, grabbing his pack and supplies. Maghai then gathered some herbs, plunked them into his pack and rushed on back with a smile on his face as he settled it onto his shoulders and adjusted his straps, "Well I couldn't find any ale. That would have been better you know but wine does help a bit to make you not notice those disgusting things all over the woods. They're all over the place then there's those Darkspawn too. Can't fathom why there's so much ... ick ... just ick around." He noticed a centipede, yipped and jumped around it, "Ok time for a swig."

Maghai pulled a water flask from his hip and drank some down fast, a smile creeping across his lips as soon as he'd drunk some down.

"Now if you're done wasting time, we need to start moving. As I am sure you have noticed these woods aren't exactly safe. Lucky for you, I've spent some time in these parts, and know my way around. Don't know how you managed to get this far without getting your hide full of arrows, but there is a path that the darkspawn seldom go near. I hope you don't mind getting neck deep in snake infested swamp water. Let's go."

Rakot put his maul on his back, and strolled towards the trees.

"Hmm." He smiled even wider as he started to walk, "Swamp? Oh ..." He drank some more, "No problem. We can go through a swamp. I'm fine now."

Maghai chuckled and kept a steady pace, "Oh arrows don't bother me. I hide you know. I do that very well except when big, nasty bugs try to eat my legs off or when I've gotten something to bolster me for the haul. No ... usually I'm not even noticed like I'm invisible."

He drank once more then put the flask away, "What are you doing here anyway? All but Darkspawn here for a fighter like you but they're all over the place. You can find them almost anywhere."

Rakot spoke without turning around, moving through the trees.

"What am I doing here? Its a long story, but since we're traveling together I might as well tell it....I was a traveling merchant at Ostagar then King Cailan fell to the Darkspawn. After the battle was lost, the Darkspawn swarmed over Ostagar, I lost someone important to me that night and got very, very angry as a result. So then I spent the following year in these swamps, hunting darkspawn, as this is there they were most concentrated. What we have here now is nothing compared to what was before the Archdemon fell, there were more Darkspawn here than trees, and more coming out of the ground every day. I ambushed patrol groups, though sometimes I'd go hit and run on their main army. Made it my goal to kill at least 20 of them a day, and I got good at it quick. Can't really tell you how I managed to survive alone out here, had a fair share of brushes with death, but was lucky enough to escape each time. In any case, after the Darkspawn got their main forces moving towards Denerim, I followed them. Then I joined in the defense of the city for a bit, and then the Grey Warden killed the Archdemon and the Darkspawn began their retreat. I wasn't quite done killing them, so I followed them as they ran back into the wilds. Slaughtered all I could until I made it to the rift....they literally do come out of the ground, you see, and if you go deep enough into the woods you're going to start seeing big gaping holes in the soil. So....once I got to the chasm, I looked into it and decided that I've killed enough, so I turned around and headed north. I decided to stop by at Ostagar before I left the wilds, to put some old memories to rest. So here I am....what about you elf? Not many of your Dalish kind ever travel alone, I thought you had that pack-mentality thing going for you."

Wow. How do humans get so burly?

Maghai cocked his head to the side, walking calmly and looking at the fighter at an angle as the man spoke. Fight fight, travel travel, help, fight, travel, fight, travel, fight. Ok so this guy moved about a lot and hated Darkspawn. It seemed to be a lifestyle for him. All the better to have others after those creatures but he still couldn't understand the compulsion to willingly run after those beasts. Then again if they ... if they ... could have Darkspawn taken his life away? Could have they removed the one thing that kept him relatively ... grounded?

"Me? Oh I've been trying to find someone but she wouldn't be here. I don't believe she would anyway. You see my people were killed. I don't know from what but they died. I had gone into a shem ... uh ... human village to ..." He looked about then shrugged, "Grab a few things and when I came back it was all quiet. I was hung over and tired so I took a nap and woke up in a mass ... mass ... mass grave." Maghai shook his head, "There were bugs, lots of bugs, and the smell was horrid. I could hear the bugs munching on the flesh and the ..."

His chest heaved making Maghai turn and hold onto a tree as he fought off the bile which was attempting to escape his body. It took a couple minutes to gain control of his rebellious stomach and start walking again.

"I searched the bodies. I had to find her. Really I did. My twin ... you see my twin could be there. I didn't want her to be there but she could have been! So I dug ... and I dug ... I tried so hard to find her but the bodies were many, the stench horrible and those bugs: all of those damned, filthy bugs!" By now he was shaking from the memories, his mouth set in a scowl and his eyes showing fear, revulsion and anger, "They died and I don't know from what! My sister. She can't be dead. I'd feel if she were dead, wouldn't I? But ... I couldn't stay there so help me I had to leave. I don't remember much for a long while. I kept stoned out of my head but I think another clan took me in for some time but I left. I left because I have to find her."

He took a deep breath, "When I started searching I heard rumours of my sister. I followed the trail and ... well ... it seems that she was taken. These people took her from my clan and from what I have heard she was in Denerim. But ... well ... I got lost you see. Maybe that mixture of felweed and moss mushroom went wrong cause I don't remember getting here."

Rakot stopped for a second and looked up, getting lost in thought for a second, then turned around and faced his companion.

"Hmm...about your story, don't get your hopes up, I could be wrong but I know of at least one group that could have done what you told me about. Tevinter Imperium sends out special slaving parties, though usually Ferelden isn't a place there they can conduct business. I only know of this because of some trading me and my business partner did in Antiva....as we were making our way on the road to Antiva city we caught up with a caravan column heading in the same direction. Antiva isn't the safest of places for a foreign merchant to travel, we got a bit tired of squatting bandits by ourselves, so we paid the fee and joined the caravan. Its a common practice among traders throughout Thedas, safety in numbers, that's the idea. Well, people in charge of the caravan were part of a Tevinter slaving party going to Antiva city to purchase some 'cattle' as they called it. I only trust a Tevinter as far as I can sodding throw one to begin with, but these blokes were something else, they gave ME the creeps. It seemed like from the moment they met us they were sizing us up, contemplating if it was worth a try to make us part of their herd. Though I guess we looked like too much trouble for them and they never made the move. They had cages full of elves and humans, the elves were mostly of the alienage variety, though some were tattooed like your Dalish kind. Chatted with the slavers a bit around the campfire, they told us about their operation, didn't have a reason to hide anything we were in Antiva after all. Then we reached Antiva city and went our separate ways."

Rakot took a second to clear his throat.

"One of the slavers told me that they don't hunt in Ferelden because the law is too strict and there are plenty of product to be found in other places. But I'm thinking with the way the country has been during the Blight, with the civil war and the darkspawn coming out of the woodwork, it might have given the Tevinters free reign to do as they wished. Slaver groups are small enough that they can move through out the land without attracting attention, and the Dalish would be their primary targets, since no one really cares about their fate. They could have attacked that clan of yours, and slaughtered most of em in the battle, then claimed the few survivors as slaves. I know a bloke in Denerim that might know more, it won't be a bother for me to look him up for you before we go our separate ways. You might not find anything, as I'm just speculating, but its worth a try. Oh and don't be surprised that I'm willing to help you, I might not like elves....and humans, and most dwarves, and don't get me started on the Qunari....but I value family just as much as any one else and you're trying to find yours."

Strangely the Dalish listened carefully as Rakot spoke. His eyes narrowed and there was a gleam which said he had considered some of this but did not know the whole side of the information. It came to reason that there would be much more slavers now with all the confusion, lost people, families split up, and general mayhem that has been going on since the start of this thing he kept hearing about as a Blight. This land was torn and ravaged and Maghai was unsure of when these people could get their kingdom back to it's rightful order.

"I know my quest may never obtain results but I must try. Our clan was traveling through Orlais when this happened. I believe there were slavers there as well but I am unsure of why she would be taken north to the Anderfels then south to Denerim. It's ... strange for slavers." He shook his head, "You would think they would avoid a more structured land. But it could have been anyone to be honest. Slavers. People who just wanted a 'pet.' It's not so strange for humans to take Dalish Elves as toys."

For once he sounded normal, his speech pattern more understandable and not as jittery. He was determined and maybe the subject of his sister made him steadier, or whatever he had taken made his nerves better. Even Maghai did not know which it was.

As they walked about he took a deep breath, his shoulders raising and lowering with the intake-outtake of air then he threw a knife towards what had seemed like a clear spot between the trees but a Genlock fell making the Elf smile, "They always try to hide. Not good enough." He said as he swirled, slashing towards another assailant which just appeared. Assassin Genlocks were never known for arriving singly.

Rakot looked back to see the Genlok's corpse lying on the ground with the elf standing over it, dagger in hand. Reaching for the handle of his maul and pulling it from the straps on his back Rakot grinned.

"Heh, so you CAN do more than just run your mouth. Not a bad kill, knife ears...."

He was interrupted mid-sentence, as a short, stocky figure emerged from the shadow in the corner of his eye. With the grin still on his face, he turned around, swinging the maul above his head and brought the full weight of his weapon sideways on the attacker's head. The darkspawn's skull exploded from the force of the impact, sending a fountain of blood into the air as the body slowly fell to its knees, and then collapsed to the side.

"That's not all of em', keep alert, elf. And don't forget what I told you about not getting near me than I'm swinging."

Rakot whispered loudly through clenched teeth. Adrenaline was coursing through his veins, finding its way to his heart, he was on the edge of going into berserker rage.

Maghai grinned back at Rakot as he made his exclamation about the ability he had just shown. The elf moved swiftly then seemed to disappear even as another Genlock fell after being stabbed several times in quick succession. He reshowed up a few feet from Rakot.

"I would never presume to get too close to a berserker." He laughed as he moved quickly away from Rakot's circle of reach and went after his own prey.

Whatever made him more focused now kept him going quite well. He didn't dispatch the enemy as fast as Rakot did but he certainly made it difficult for them and was good at hitting vital spots. He knew his tricks, moving from one opponent to the next and tricking them into hitting each other at times.

Once he was done killing he stood checking the area then watching the berserker in action. It wasn't hard to realize that many of the Darkspawn would gravitate towards the other man as he seemed that much more dangerous. Maghai wiped his short blades as Rakot downed the last one then waited for him to calm a bit.

"Well that was fun. By and by ... my name is Maghai." He smirked at his silly rhyme.

His rage took him, a rush of blood and adrenaline tinting his vision red. The darkspawn were now coming at him from all sides, as he swung his maul in a circle of death, crashing bones, and piercing flesh. The ground became wet with blood, and littered with entrails. Then only two genloks were left, they attempted to retreat. Rakot lifted his maul above his head, and tossed it with both hands, it span slowly through the air, reaching its target and bringing the darkspawn down to the ground with a broken spine. Rakot then sprinted after the other fiend, grabbed it by the neck, lifted it in the air and threw it to the ground. He then jumped on top and continued to punch away on the darkspawn until its face turned into a bloody mush and it stopped twitching. Upon getting up he walked over and picked up his maul, driving his boot into the back of the skull of the genlok those spine he broke moments prior. He then walked around the battlefield, checking the bodies, and finishing off those that were still twitching. After being satisfied he turned to the elf, his eyes no longer filled with rage.

"Very well, Maghai, you can call me Rakot. We better get a move on quick, this was an assassin squad, that means we've been spotted by their scouts without us noticing it. There will be more coming unless we lose em. The trail I spoke off is near by, but it won't do us much good if they're already following us."

As soon as Rakot said his name Maghai was on the move, walking swiftly towards a swamp, "It is this swamp you spoke of, I assume?" He continued on, ducking branches and other obstacles as if he'd been doing this kind of thing for quite a long while, "I know a trail we can use which is not as wet but makes it so the Darkspawn cannot just pop up underneath us. Have to love gross swamps for that."

He drank some more from his water skin and shook his head, "I'm ..." A bird swooped past them and he smiled, "Pretty birdy." The smile grew as he watched the bird, almost hypnotized as it swooped and dived catching prey, "Pretty birdy hunt. Get the crawlies birdy. Take them away. Take them away."

"Stay focused elf, I certainly do hope you're not still high on something. If you're going to lead the way than do so, the faster we're out of this sodding shithole, the better."

Out of all the sodding knife ears in Ferelden I had to get stuck with a lyrium addict of all things. And one with a bird fetish...

"Oh. Oh yes. Must travel to Denerim." He stated slowly then took off, slinking almost out of sight but making sure that his partner would be able to see him. He moved swiftly and seemed to be a tricky person, being able to keep out of the line of sight of whatever was near that could hurt him. His eyes were glazed but he seemed to move better that way.

In time he noticed it getting dark so found a quiet spot for them to spend the night, "Here's good. I know of shortcuts we can use tomorrow." He announced as he yawned, "I can take first watch if you like."

Throughout their travels to Denerim, the Dalish seemed to switch between completely lost and silly to smart and adventurous. Sometimes he would completely freak out about insects being near him or a snake being too close but for the most part seemed ok with the wilds. He was certainly knowledgeable but the man definitely had some form of strange reactions to things.

Finally, the two came to Denerim and Maghai stood at the front doors with a smile, "So this is Denerim, eh? I'm surprised it took this long but I guess you couldn't help but kill any Darkspawn you saw. Have quite the gripe with them do ya?"

He noticed a red headed lady walking about, keeping in shadows more than the rest and whistled, "Now that's a pretty one."

Fremelda Dragonis was prowling the streets of Denerim for a mark she was contracted to kill. It had been a long day at the office, so to speak. What with that Cousland lady she met at the party the night before, and then there was the undignified late night spent with the previous mark... and now this one. This is gonna be one of those days... she mentally sighed.

As she walked, she was whistled at. That was nothing new to her, she was used to being leered at by men. "Now that's a pretty one." said the man. Fremelda offered a small smile but with a cold stare behind it. The steel blue eyes made it quite clear that she was busy at the moment.

She walked on till she found the mark's house at long last. Knocking on the door, after adjusting her top to show much more cleavage, she waited for the door to be answered. The mark answered the door, scratching his port belly. "Yeah?" He grunted to the assassin. The Queen of Thorns was disgusted by the man as soon as she laid eyes on him and smelled his fetid breath. "I'm your birthday present from Mister John Reils." She smiled brightly, puffing out her chest to accentuate her assets.

The man took a generous eyeful of her, and then let her in. After he closed the front door, she smiled and walked up close to him, embraced him and planted a hand on his mouth, the other reached for her hidden dagger and plunged it into his gut and twisted, killing him.

Her work done, she withdrew her knife, and sheathed it in her boot, then walked back out in the street, acting as if all was normal.

((Sorry Uncle Vanya but insanity hits))

Maghai grinned, a sharp tooth showing at the top of his lower lip as the sides of his eyes crinkled with amusement, "I found one, Rakot." He said as if the other man knew what he was saying while he watched the pretty woman carefully, his smile getting larger and larger as the lady got herself into the house.

He slipped away into the shadows, like a fox he stealthily moved along the walls and to the door. The sounds were distinctive then the woman had come out as if nothing had happened. She walked away and he followed until they were away from the street where the house had been and looked around her side while keeping her gait, "You know that blood isn't good on a blade. You should really clean that. Hey you are really really good! I wish I were that good at that but I'm much better at picking things up ... hey, my friend Rakot and I ..."

The strange Dalish's eyes got wide and he suddenly flung himself to the ground, rolling back and forth and yelling, "Get it off! Get it off!" Then suddenly, without warning he stopped rolling about and stared at her boots, "Hey those are really nice. Where'd you get them? I need a good pair myself."

As Fremelda walked, she was ambushed by the elf that spoke of her before. Her eyes narrowed. "You know that blood isn't good on a blade. You should really clean that. Hey you are really really good! I wish I were that good at that but I'm much better at picking things up ... hey, my friend Rakot and I ..." He had ranted on. Fremelda knew she had cleaned the blade and hidden it before she left, and yet he knew. She couldn't allow him to live so he would compromise her.

Suddenly he fell on the ground as if touched in the head, flailing madly, then stared at her boots. This only unsettled the Queen of Thorns. A madman was hardly a credible witness, so she let him live. Instead she just disgustedly kicked him in the ribs. "What are you ranting on about, knife ears? Get away from me!" she cried out.

Where the sodding hell did that stone damned knife ears run off to now?

Rakot thought to himself as the elf vanished into shadows.

...wait...that means I am free! No longer do I have to fight myself from strangling that crazy sodding nug! No more having to be around him! Hooray!

With a pleasant grin on his face Rakot strolled down the street towards the Denerim marketplace.

Gonna head over to the docks and visit the Pearl, its a time to celebrate.