Vigil for Vigil's Keep

"No laying down on the job Hero,"

"Wouldn't think of it." Nygozy smirked as she got up then limped over to the others as the last Darkspawn fell where they were, "Caterina. You stay here and watch for any Darkspawn escaping the grounds and help any people who escape. Griffinhart. You take point and rip into anything that is Darkspawn. Bowen. You take back. Everyone stay close and work together. Let's get to it."

Nygozy started off, her limp getting better as she walked. She sliced out at a Darkspawn that came towards her from the side, cutting out the jugular and sighing, "Damn Darkspawn assassins. I can feel them in the shadows." She glanced at Kai, "Don't worry, love. The magic on my leg is wearing off. It hardly hurts at all anymore."

Griffinhart grunted in acknowledgment of Nygozy's order, drawing his sword from the cooling Genlock corpse, whipping off the coat of black blood from the blade. With barely another thought or sound, the Warden moved on ahead, swords trailing a ghostly Fade-shadow as he held them off to his sides, wind whipping through his white mane of hair.

He could not feel the darkspawn, but he had no need to. The feel was a Warden thing, a Warden sense, that only Wardens had - that Wardens came to rely on for foreknowledge of darkspawn arrival. But Griffinhart had more senses than what the Joining had given him; terrible, natural senses the drew him to screams and blood and killing like a vulture to carrion.

The warrior's feet followed his senses, his swords trailing the path he trod into the corridors of Vigil's Keep, every so often disappearing into darkness as they cut down and through darkspawn appearing from out of the shadows, trusting that his fellow Wardens were there behind him; trusting that they had not abandoned him to kill his way through the Keep all on his lonesome.

Caterina didn't need Nygozy's order to know that she should probably stay put. The deafening of her ability to sense the darkspawn was a blow, of course, but she was not so reliant on any one sense that going without would cause her too much distress. Mostly she was overwhelmed by the sheer number of the grotesque things that were coming at them. When they'd arrived, it had appeared as if they'd come upon the remainder of a straggling party, but as mages and assassins began to crash upon them, it looked more and more like things had only just gotten started. The screams from inside the Keep only served to cement that feeling in her mind.

"Does anyone want to tell me what they think is going on?" she shouted into the general fray, cutting at an Assassin that tried to sneak up on her. She snorted - her senses might have been dulled, but it would take a lot more than that for a darkspawn to get a leg up on her.

She glaned around as she saw that the others were preparing to storm the Keep, and she prepared herself mentally to be on her own for a little while. She could manage, especially since now that Nygozy, Kai, Griffinhart and Bowen would be going in to stop the flow of darkspawn from coming out. A brief pang of regret flit through her, knowing that she wouldn't be there to help inside, but perhaps it was for the best. Getting people out of the Keep was just as important as killing the darkspawn.

Fremelda was joining the battle deeper towards the Keep. She had retrieved the throwing knife from the Darkspawn that was attacking Nygozy and placed it back in her boot, while keeping Thorn out and at the ready. She charged up the stairs outside the Keep towards the great doors, looking for a way around. No need, a boulder crashed through the gates, collapsing them with a deafening crack. The sound of splintering oak was dizzying but the assassin remained steadfast, following Griffinhart towards the Keep.

He was somehow one with the Fade. He felt like the spirits that her parents taught her of when she was a little girl- No. Don't think about that. You hate them she scolded herself and plunged Thorn into the belly of a Hurlock who had raised its axe over its head. It fell back with a sickening thud and she moved on.

----------------

"This be wrong. These not be my father's." came the harsh whispering voice of The Shadow, who seemingly materialized beside Caterina. He had his bow at the ready, his featureless white mask hiding his grotesque Darkspawn face. Only those bloodshot golden eyes that peered out beneath his hood were exposed. He had been watching and sensing. Sensing. The Wardens were blind to his bretheren but he was not. He could feel each of them, just like he could feel the Wardens.

He also knew that the Wardens had even less reason to trust him now with all of this going wrong. Where was The Architect?

Nygozy stopped in her tracks and thought for a moment, "On second thought, Bowen stay with Caterina. You never know if there will be more coming around from this side and we cannot risk anyone being alone."

The dwarven woman then started off after Griffinhart, watching his back as they went. They should be able to get through this bout of Darkspawn without too much trouble but she was concerned about the people who were being attacked. She stopped one sword from hitting a maiden who seemed to be running from the garden, looking like she had been working there considering the placement of dirt and because she still held a plant. A grin formed on her lips as the creature looked down at her then her mace came down into its ribs. Kai's turn for this one.

"Make sure the residents get out but stick close together. Don't get singled out." She probably did not have to say that but she never worked with Fremelda before and they all needed to care for each other. There were too many to go after alone.

[OOC: Sorry everyone, I've been kinda lost lately, a new job, my mother in england and having to deal with my lazy father and more lazy and whiny brother makes me mentally exhausted. My love I shall protect you nao]

''As you say, Commander'' Bowen seriously said, face covered by his helmet and already protecting Caterina with his shield. He had Griffinhart's helmet hanging from his belt and his cloak hanging from his shoulder, but the big Nevarran didn't look uncomfortable. At least, he said nothing about it.

''Stay behind me. If something or someone charges against us, I want to be the one to stop it'' He continued, talking to Caterina this time while keeping an eye on Griffinhart, Fremelda and Nygozy stepping into the big mess that the keep's situation was. The Nevarran motioned to the survivors to get them reunited with him, hoping that Caterina would check if they were hurt or not while he watched.

The situation was not good, not good at all, and he wondered what the hell was going on in the keep.

A smile twitched up at her lips before she could stop it. Going it alone would have been fine, but if she had Bowen here to help, too, then at least she would have one less thing to worry uselessly about - her nerves had already been set on edge at the thought of not being around to see if he was well (not that she would ever tell him that - it was embarrassing for her to worry, and she knew he could take care of himself, she just couldn't help it).

As she lost sight of the rest of the group, signalling that they were already heading deeper and deeper into the keep, she let herself relax a fraction of her tension. It wouldn't do to become careless, but now that no more darkspawn were rushing at them, it wasn't really necessary to be so on guard. She did flinch on reflex a little, though, when a young woman ran out the castle doors. She looked frightened out of her wits, but seemed unharmed - Caterina had to assume that she'd been saved by the rest of the group.

The woman all but collapsed at their feet, and Caterina cast a quick look up at Bowen before she knelt down in front of the wide-eyed girl, laying a gentle hand on her shoulder. "Chica, child, calm down," she said with a small frown, hushing the hysterical girl. Others were coming out after her, the sort of people who looked like servants or workers, and not many people who looked like guards or fighters, but the woman (a gardener or something, by the look of her) was the closest to Caterina, and she looked so young that Caterina couldn't help but feel bad for her. "What is going on in there? Did you see?"

The girl's mouth started moving almost more quickly than words could come out, crying over her sentences until she was nearly incomprehensible. Caterina only made a soft 'shh'ing sound and patted the girl's head close to her chest before sending her off with the other survivors to find help at the camp. It was obvious she wouldn't be getting anything from any of them, not in their current state.

Few of the surviver fleeing for their lives saw their shadowy saviour. Never more than a few paces from Nygozy the blond elf dealt swift death to all darkspawn that came into he reach. He paid little mind to those he saved, leaving them to find their own way, or to Nygozy to deal with. All of his focus was on the battle and protecting his love.

The chaos and slaughter the group passed was almost unbelievable. He hadn't seen such brutality and bloodshed since th end of the blight. But he pushed these thoughs to the back of his mind. They were unimportant right now, and not really his concern anyway. He was a theif turned bodyguard, not a strategist or general.

[OOC: I'm stealing this next post because I'm bored, I don't know whose turn it is, and I haven't posted for this page yet and that is a tragedy.]

"Don't get singled out."

Well, that was going to be a difficult task for Griffinhart, the lone spear-tip of the group of Wardens piercing their blood-stained way into the heart of the Keep. It wasn't so much that he was being singled out as he kept trying to draw more and more of the darkspawn to him, tearing into the next available abomination even as his blades only began to cut down the first four or seven or two that he fought. The others may not have understood it, but this was his way of protecting the ones that needed protecting; for the best defense was an inexorable offense, and his swords were their shields.

Griffinhart led the party - not by choice, but by chance, for he was the spearhead - through the halls, which were more like twisting tunnels, the way that corpses and barricades laid; and where he saw an innocent fleeing darkspawn, he would supplant them with preternatural speed - bordering on teleportation, and easily mistaken as such if one weren't being observant - his swords flashing in the gloom with the Fade, not so much turning aside blows as he did shatter them with his own; and somehow, through the chaos of the battle, pushing the unarmed and the wounded back towards the other Wardens, always with only a single order:

"Leave."

(Or was it "live"? With the screams of the dead and dying echoing in the halls, it wasn't so easy to tell.)

Finally, with a swiftness borne of the harrow of battle, they arrived in the heart of the Keep, the grand hall (though not so grand as to be ostentatious, as was the grand hall of Denerim's castle's keep - at least, in Griffinhart's opinion).

[OOC: Nygozy, feel free to edit my post and crop that out if you had other plans for plot advancement.]
{OOC: Nope but I will add this:}

The hall was a literal mess with dead, dying burned Darkspawn upon the ground in pools of water. The walls were charred from fire and there was blood all over. Whatever had happened here had happened a couple hours before.

Fremelda was lost in the carnage of battle as she helped Griffinhart and Nygozy fight their way inside the Keep. Fremelda was not used to big battles like this, and it showed in her attacks, with her choosing single targets rather than groups. Still, the way she danced around blades swung at her denoted she had some measure of experience fighting groups, but not much. Slamming Thorn into the belly of a Darkspawn, its blade now covered in gore and foul-smelling blood, Fremelda elected on using her dirk in her off-hand as a parrying weapon as well as for killing anything charging her from that side.

And then the spear hit her.

She hadn't seen it coming, but looking down, she saw the six foot long pole sticking out of the left side of her abdomen. Why didn't it hurt? Shouldn't she be writhing in pain? She sank to her knees as the Darkspawn pressed the attack. Her steel blue eyes watched the scene around her in mute shock. Her hand moved on its own to stick Thorn in the skull of the Darkspawn that had skewered her. But she couldn't move after that.

((Hello, everyone. It's been a while. If you don't want me, feel free to tell me, but otherwise... can I join in on the fun? <3))

Stories tended to ebb and flow, like dreams: if there were many threads within a single story, then what about stories elsewhere? The Smiling Princess had other tales to tell, despite her sworn servitude, and it wasn't as if she particularly mattered in the current scheme of things. So long as the Shadow behaved himself, so long as the Mistress stayed alive, then all was well. But at the climax of their journey, how could she not work her way back through the Fade to join them? The Griffin with his thawing heart, her pretty Thief and her hulking thain, White Wolf wasting, drawn and pained, and the red-haired dragon from which she could never truly part...

... now, inside the Keep, it was becoming difficult to stay unnoticed. Darkspawn melted soundlessly from every shadow, their howls of anger abruptly snapping into screams of pain as Sophia's fists broke bones, tore muscles, flattened noses. Sophia giggled. Each injury had its own special sound... musical instruments hidden in flesh and bone. A broken elbow sounded like an snare drum. The gargle of a crushed windpipe bore some resemblance to a clarinet, if struck with just the right amount of force. Sophia dropped from the rafters, landing squarely on the back of a half-dead Emissary who was struggling to coax a spell from the Fade. Sophia plucked it from his fingers, shivering as the magic slipped through her... a shimmering, chiming sound... a bell tree? A flute? Sophia shrugged a shoulder, taking care to stamp on the creature's neck as she trotted up the hall after her companions, towards the centre of the Keep. If she stayed here for long enough, she might be able to come up with an entire orchestra.

As it was, she slipped through the door just in time see the spear slam through Fremelda's midriff. The Queen Of Thorns had dispatched her attacker, but another was thundering in from behind her, axe raised to split its hapless target in two. The beast never got that far. Instead, it froze, confused, as its legs buckled underneath it, screaming as its arms began twisting in their sockets, and eventually collapsing in a bloody, gurgling heap as the foul black ichor inside it rebelled. Sophia only released it from her control once she had twisted its head around in one, vertebrate-crunching circle. Crimson eyes smiled down at the injured assassin as Sophia knelt to inspect the damage.

"Really now, is this what you do to yourself when I'm not here to watch you?"

A nearby hurlock lifted its head to stare at them: Aria screamed from Sophia's wrist, decapitating it before it could lift its sword.

"One little jab, and you're almost broken... but we can't pull this out of you yet." Sophia stood, ribbons wailing in a protective circle around herself and her ward. "After all you've been through, letting you bleed out would be a pitiful end to your story, wouldn't it?"

Well there went the idea of everyone sticking together but to be honest Griffinhart was not made to stick close to others. He was made to be a beacon and killing machine. There were few left from his destructive wake and those did not live long past the footsteps of Femelda, Kai and Nygozy.

Their run was bloody, gory and rough but Nygozy revelled in the play of weaponry. With her new abilities she was able to step in and out of shadows without a sound but she was also in the thick of it. Griffinhard did swathe a path of death but there were still many others to come out of side doors and that pleased the Dwarven woman to no end.

Finally they came to the grand hall and the party was able to dismiss the rest of the Darkspawn but Nygozy noticed Fremelda go down. Before she could get to her though, Sophia was in the thick of the fight, killing off almost the rest of the enemy as Nygozy took on the rest knowing she would not be alone.

"Frem?" She dropped to her knees and tried to see if she could help but knew she could not, "Sophia? Can you get her to Jezarine?"

((Not a problem, Sophia. Welcome back!! ))

After a time the whirl and dance of his blades became a bit of a blur as Kai fought his way through the mass of darkspawn. Everyone in the group were experienced fighters and moved swiftly though thw foul masses. Kai sustained a few cuts and plenty of buises, but he barely noticed them as he focused on keeping Nygozy safe. He let some through as he knew she could hold her own and would hate to be coddled, but there was no way he was going to let her get surroundes or overwhelmed.

Everything wss going smoothly, and the he saw the loud mouthed red head go down. Before anyoe could react the strange phantomlike mage appeared on the scene. He left Nygozy to tend to the matter while he went to survey and secure the area.

"All clear in this area Hero. What next? Can you sensd any more that need killing nearby?" The elf asked as he returned from his survey.

There was no need to turn around. He felt her presence, her heels chased by a lull in the combat. She was quick, she was deadly, she was effective. She was terrifying.

But she wasn't the point. Griffinhart turned, circled, surveyed the hall they stood in. It was a mess, a literal-

The thought cut short as the warrior's eyes passed over her-

And Fremelda, struck through by a rough-hewn spear, on the ground, obscured by her ribbons. Griffinhart's eyes flickered from Fremelda to Sophia to the carnage that laid around them, back to Fremelda. Actions that would have been obscured by his impassive helm, but the helm was in Bowen's possession. Griffinhart made a mental note to relieve the Neverran man of the weight as soon as possible; this was no longer a reconnaissance mission.

Not more than a second had elapsed since the swordsman had first caught glimpse of the wounded; he continued his turn, watching for signs of movement, signs of life. There were none.

Even as he completed his observations, Griffinhart continued turning, to face Sophia and Fremelda once again. "Clear," barked the cold-eyed Anders man as he marched over to the downed Ferelden Warden. Once more, his eyes flickered up to Sophia - just for the sliver of a moment - before coming to settle on Fremelda's wound through the veil of ribbons.

An eternity chugged by as Griffinhart considered the right words to say. There was no delicate way to approach this; there were few things in combat that were delicate by any reasonable measurement of the word. But something compelled him to speak delicately; it wasn't the wound, or the woman - the Grey were fair in who they took in, and the warrior thought no differently of women than of men - it was... perhaps it was the Storyteller?

A second had passed in silence. Barely a moment for some. Griffinhart knew he had to speak, or things would get... awkward.

(Why did he care about akwardness at a time like this?)

"Can you help her?" His eyes - those dead, aqua orbs - rested on Sophia. A green vein coursed down his right arm, stopping at his fingertips - still wrapped around a sword - and pulsed weakly. "I do not heal as well as I kill." It was a failing of his that he did not care to voice too loudly, but it was a failing that would get him killed one day: devoting himself to the acts of killing had left Griffinhart deficient - nearly crippled - in the acts of healing. He knew his way around combat medicine and most anatomies well enough to survive the light wounds - the cuts, the scrapes, even the broken extremities - but a deep puncture like the spear that had studded with Fremelda was well beyond his expertise. Still, it wasn't like hadn't dealt with such a situation before.

Blades and axes and hammers splintered before the storm, the whirlwind coming from nowhere. It had starved, sleepless, for days, exhausted, bitter with battle, and stood its ground at the cavemouth. The dark ones pressed forward, but to no avail: first weapons were lost, then limbs. And then, from out of the dawn, a silver shaft sailed, swift and sinister, into the heart of the hurricane. And then, four more, mere insults that preceded the injury. Something long, and hard, and sharp pierced the tempest thoroughly.

Bown stood silently while Caterina tried to calm the terrified and sobbing girl, listening to each sound around them and motioning for the others that were escaping the keep to reunite with him. Some did so, others did not and kept running.

''I can't feel more of them close to us, sunshine'' He huffed under his helmet, without looking at the Antivan, but knowing she could hear him just as well. ''The only ones I feel are still inside. And the feeling is weak and... ''

Both of them could feel when there was no more darkspawn inside. The Warden senses fell silent, and Bowen's stiff muscles relaxed a bit, just a bit, still protecting Caterina and the girl with his enormous shield.

''It's not over''

Bowen turned to see Calliara just behind him. Damned sneaky woman.

''What do you mean?'' He asked, still worried for her, and noticing with horror that her tattoos were glowing. It was a faint glow, but it was there. And she looked horribly sick and pale. And her eyes were more icy and dead than he had seen in months.

''It's never over. Take the survivors to camp. Gunnar, Macha and Sinjan are in charge there. I have to go''

Bowen sighed, looking at Caterina and shrugging, defeated, then looked back at Calliara and handed her Griffinhart's helmet. ''Give this back to our brother, sis''

The Wolf took the helmet, nodding, and brushed Caterina's shoulder while she continued. The Nevarran followed her until she entered the keep, then turned to Caterina and took off his own helmet.

''Let's take these people to somewhere safe, don't you agree?''

Things seemed to move painfully slow. Her head was throbbing as was the spear wound through her abdomen. She watched distantly as her comrades fought the Darkspawn around her. I have to help. Why can't I? Her mind screamed at herself. Then, a flash of white ribbons as the Storyteller stepped out of the Fade to join the fray. She saw the quiet fury in those eyes. Sophia Nider was coming to her aid.

She almost laughed out loud. And why not? The woman had been chronicling her life since she was first abandoned in the streets of Denerim as a child. She saw Fremelda be sold into prostitution at ten and watched that bitter flame of hatred for her own family grow over the years. Fremelda was her investment. Of course she would come to the Queen of Thorns' aid.

She suddenly realized that Sophia was lecturing her. Steel blue eyes blinked and looked up into those of the Storyteller.

"One little jab, and you're almost broken... but we can't pull this out of you yet." she chided. Fremelda's ears burned red at her shame. "After all you've been through, letting you bleed out would be a pitiful end to your story, wouldn't it?" she had asked. Fremelda's mouth opened to speak but talking involved flexing her abdominal muscles and with the spear through her, it was difficult to speak in anything louder than a whisper. "This is only the second worst hole I've had stabbed into me. It's going to take a million mommy kisses to make better. Too bad I hate my mother's guts." She managed before coughing violently, some blood leaking out of her mouth.

Nygozy was there. Kai was not. Of course not. He didn't care about anyone but Nygozy, not even his comrades. Even the stoic Griffinhart seemed (mildly) concerned. That caused the Queen of Thorns to lift an eyebrow. Genuine concern for someone's well-being? She tried to stand up again, but her legs wouldn't work. There was a tingling sensation in them, they felt numb. "I feel useless... But it will take more... than some filthy Darkspawn to kill me..." she sputtered before passing out into blissful unconsciousness.

((Dragonis, i don't recall Sophie ever telling Fremelda that she had been watching her for so long... unless Fremmy did some investigative work while I've been absent. Her last name is Nider, too: don't get the two mixed up, okay? ^_^))

"No. It would take far more than that to kill you. Wouldn't it?"

The ribbons halted in mid-wail, faltered, then retreated, snaking back up Sophia's arms in less time then it took her smile to return to her lips. The air stilled. Over in a far corner of the hall, a mangled Darkspawn slumped to the floor, as if swooning at the fading tension in the air. Sophia closed her misty eyes as they faded back to sapphire, drinking in the moment.
For one brief, blessed moment, there was nothing but silence.

But then there was her broken doll to worry about. And she wasn't the only one. The Mistress's concern was understandable, a commander's desire to protect her men (or a mother's desire to protect her chicks,) but Griffinhart... the way he stood, the way his eyes flickered, back and forth between the wounded Fremelda and... her? He was concerned, for Fremelda, that he couldn't heal her as easily as he could have struck her down -perhaps some impromptu lessons were in order- but that wasn't all. Something about his stance (the set of his shoulders perhaps? The way he clutched at his sword?) thrummed with an almost inaudible note of perplexity at something within him, at the way he was speaking, at what he had admitted-

"I do not heal as well as I kill."

- hesitant, almost... awkward.

Awkward.

Awkward because of her...?

The perpetual smile twitched.

"... I can close her wound. I can staunch her bleeding. I add an extra paragraph or two to her story, certainly... but if the spear has punctured any internal organs, then I won't be able to heal her completely. Rewriting my own story is a simple matter, but making such intimate alterations to another is more difficult." She knelt, resting one delicate hand on the edge of the wound. "... if one of you were to pull out the spear, I will do what I can before taking her home. Hopefully she will strong enough for the type of travel I have in mind."

"Clear."

"All clear in this area Hero. What next? Can you sense any more that need killing nearby?"

Nygozy's attention was never focussed on one thing, even if someone were injured she was always at the ready. Her breath came out raggedly as she concentrated on sensing the Darkspawn, "Good work, Griffinhart. Kai. We took out all the ones on the way here and most of the ones within this hall have been decimated. I don't think there are more at the moment." Which basically meant to be on guard but since when was either of these men not on guard?

"Can you help her? I do not heal as well as I kill."

Something in Griffinhart's manner made Nygozy look to the side at him, wondering why these words would make her curious upon what he was saying. It was his normal tone and a normal question but there was something ... something not quite right. It was enough to make her almost miss what Sophia was saying and she had to snap her head and mind back to the storyteller.

"... I can close her wound. I can staunch her bleeding. I add an extra paragraph or two to her story, certainly... but if the spear has punctured any internal organs, then I won't be able to heal her completely. Rewriting my own story is a simple matter, but making such intimate alterations to another is more difficult ... if one of you were to pull out the spear, I will do what I can before taking her home. Hopefully she will strong enough for the type of travel I have in mind."

Nygozy looked at the spear and shook her head, "If you cannot heal internal injuries then it would be best to leave the weapon inside her until Jezarine does the healing. Removing the weapon will only allow the blood to flow outside and inside so if you only heal the outside she could bleed to death within moments or, by the way this is located, her lungs could deflate ... there are too many possibilities. Go through the Fade or whatever you do to get from one place to another, Sophia, but do it fast and do it now."

The little woman touched Fremelda's face with the palm of her hand, "You will be alright. Just hold on Frem. We need to have another dagger throwing contest. We still have to break the tie. That's a dare now gal pal." She smirked before standing, knowing the woman would fight for a contest.

The elven assassin silently observed all, including the various reactions to Fremelda's injury and the stange mage's appearance. The tall warrior's reaction was particularily interesting and Kai made a mental note to aske Nygozy about it later. He knew the dwarf's observation skills were as keen as his own and he bouted she had missed it.

"What about those darkspawn bodies we passed earlier? No ordinary warrior did that. Should we investigate?" Kai asked quietly after Nygozy finished adressing Sophia and Fremelda. "We're not likely to find many more survivors."

Griffinhart listened as the Warden Commander took control of the situation - far better than he would have done had their places been swapped - and returned to a combat-ready position as he heard Nygozy request Sophia to evacuate Fremelda from the fight. That was the second-worst solution to the problem at hand, as far as Griffinhart could tell; they were now short two capable combatants, but at least Fremelda would be in better hands. But, judging from the state of the chamber the Wardens stood in, whoever - whatever? - had worked over the darkspawn would more than make up for the loss of the Storyteller and the Queen of Thorns.

Assuming that whatever had done this was still around... and wasn't hostile towards the Wardens.

[OOC: Buh. Sorry for the crap post, I don't really know how to advance things here.]

Sophia sighed, but flowed easily to her feet, scooping Fremelda up in her arms as gently as she could. The Queen of Thorns was all sinew and whipcord, but still light enough to carry easily... As light as a child. How apt. The image of the Mistress's camp was clear enough in her mind for an easy journey, but part of Sophia's mind dug in its heels, unwilling to leave while so many mysteries remained unanswered. Kai's whispered comment... something else attacking darkspawn... perhaps something else that had also put the Wardens here to flight. Sophia's smile flickered, thoughtful. Like the tattoos of the red-black birds, there was more then one story at work here. A shame that she wouldn't be allowed to witness it.

But Fremelda came first.

"As you wish." Sophia curtsied as best she could given her burden. "Be safe." The Fade opened like a flower, swallowing the Princess and the Queen as if they had never been.

((Short post is short... should we start up a 'coming home' thread for Soph and Frem? Or is this their exit for now?))

Caterina thought it might be a testament to the bond between Bowen and his elven sister that he noticed her approach before she ever did. If it had been anyone else than Calliara, Caterina would have been unnerved - as rogue, very few people were every able to sneak up on her. But this was Calliara, a woman who could be like her own sister, and her nerves calmed as soon as she laid eyes on her.

But not for long, it would seem. No sooner had the Antivan assassin noticed the elf approaching them than she noticed the ill state that Calliara was in. Her eyes widened in shock as she noted the glowing and scarred tattoos, the way she carried herself, like she'd just gotten up off of her own sick bed, and her gaze stopped to linger on the deadened, chilled look in the sharp blue eyes. She couldn't help the sudden shiver that ran along her spine.

It seemed, though, that the elven archer was only passing by them to reach Nygozy and the other party. She spared only a moment to trade words with Bowen, and then she brushed past them like a frozen wind. Caterina's heart was only eased a bit when Calliara paused, just brief enough to brush a comforting hand down her shoulder before continuing on into the Keep.

She swallowed hard. Mysterious bands of darkspawn, Nygozy's condition, Calliara's sudden illness - Caterina was not used to such complexities in her work. She shook it all out of her head and turned, her eyes locking on Bowen's, her personal island in the stormy sea that her world had seemed to become without her noticing.

"Yes." She nodded again, confirming it in her own mind. "Yes, we should take these people back to the camp, to make sure that none of them have contracted the Taint. The nearest town s far from here - we should provide for them all to reach it safely."

With the commotion in their room stilled by the wispy disappearance of the mage and wounded rogue, a pained roar from several rooms down through the dilapidated hall seemed all the louder in the ears of the remaining party. A moment later, the walls shook, and there was a boom that rattled a cracked and broken chandelier that hung from the ceiling on a nearly broken chain.

Nygozy rubbed her forehead as Sophia left with Fremelda but pushed back her concerns. They still had a job to do and Kai had made a good point but she had not wanted to answer until she was sure that Sophia did what she had requested. The woman had never done anything against her word before but there was always a chance that she would question the warden commander's orders. She felt a bit better when the woman left with her wounded colleague and turned to the team she had left with her.

"This definitely was not a normal fight, Kai. I agree with you and believe we should inv..." The walls shook and Nygozy braced herself for possible falling building but when that did not happen she rushed forward, towards whatever had made that sound. She knew that both Kai and Griffinhart were likely to give her trouble for her actions but that's how she was and it was how she had gotten through all her trials before. The little woman was not about to change her nature.

Once she came to the room the noise had come from she gazed through a newly smoking, gaping hole that had been a doorway and grinned as she saw a blond haired human standing there dropping a Darkspawn to the ground.

"It would seem that you two had a misunderstanding?" She joked then grinned at the man. There were dead Darkspawn around him and a few unconscious Templars to boot, "And let me guess ... you took umbrage to the Templars teasing you about your robes being a dress?"

Calliara walked like a ghost among the keep, focused in finding the Commander, but still checking if there were survivors hiding somewhere. She found two servants in the kitchens and another one in the barracks, and sent them out to Bowen and Caterina.

Finally, she found Nygozy, Kai and Griffinhart. Fremelda and Sophia were nowhere to be seen, and that worried her for a second. Nygozy was speaking with an unknown mage, or that the Dalish suppossed he was for the templars on the floor and his robe. Not wanting to interrupt, the Wolf waited patiently in the doorway, leaning her shoulder against it lightly to balance herself.


[EDIT: Started the thread. Vigil for returning to fortifications. Feel free to change the title or whatever!]