UnseenShade said
The Kossith woman focused upon the now drunk dwarf. "Do you know why people hate magic so much anymore? You seemed academically versed, so I figured you would know if anyone." She scooted her chair closer as she returned to her normal sitting position and took another healthy drink from her flask. She kept an eye on some of the drunker patrons as they were beginning to move about as someone shouted about danger. She was not too fond of involving herself or her magic, but if her current companions felt the need, she would follow along and end the conflict.

Gavlan
Gavlan took time to put the question together just in case he might of gotten the information wrong at first he didn't blurt out something entirely different."Let me think for a second, could of waited until tomorrow for this question though?" Gavlan said in a grumble thinking on what he might know on the matter. Having to sell items, be them legal or not, let him get his hands on a lot of information that he might of skimmed over. After all he might as well know what he is selling before actually selling it, especially with certain items. He might of been a smuggler but even he had his limits on what he would smuggle into a city.
"I remember reading something on the Neverran Accord. Basically the start of the Templars and the Seeker's of Truth," he said as he racked his brain on any info he might of had on the subject ",From my recollection there is really no main reason on why the Chantry has a strong distaste for magic. Perhaps it has to do with the whole story of the magisters who supposedly entered the Golden City in the Fade, the place where the Maker lived and tainted it. Thus they became the first Darkspawn as the Chantry tells it. Also could of been because of the Tevinter Imperium as a whole. They embraced magic quite a lot, still do even if I remember right but that place is to human infested and not for your type of mages. They like to keep qunari or kossith as slaves and have a long war going on with them. Doesn't matter if you are with the Qun or not, they won't care. I don't know where it stems from honestly but my guess it has something to do with the magisters and the Tevinter Imperium. In any case the reasons why it started doesn't matter. The Chantry came to light after your suspended animation began so it happen shortly after the first Blight was stopped. Other then that I can't give you much else. The Chantry has no place to us dwarves, we prefer our own religion."
"How come this is the first time I've learn about such news you know so much on magic?" Zeynep asked, impressed by what the dwarf actually knew.
"Simple you never asked," Gavlan said which made Zeynep lightly slap the back of his head ",Please don't do that again, the room barely stays still as is. I shouldn't of taken that bet."

The Dalish elf, almost unbeknownst to him, took a deep breath of fresh air once they had gone a decent distant past the city limits on proper roads. These areas were heavily populated, but there was still a crisper air in the less disturbed places such as an underpopulated road. Once they entered the forest, he moved to the front of their traveling party and little past them to not only act as a guide but a scout, weaving in and around foliage with the grace that was innate to all elves. The more obvious trail that began a mile down the road was the one their missing herbalist had no doubt used, and this path through brush Airthel was leading his new companions was over rougher terrain that constantly changed elevation, but it took a much more direct route to the grove where Airthel assumed to find the young deathroot.

Airthel knew most people would have trouble keeping up, but the men following him had all shown that they were more experienced than the normal man. Corriach, the barbaric man who probably spoke the least out of all of them, was becoming less mysterious to the world-traveled Dalish. In his time in Fereldan, Airthel had come across information and legends on the Chasind when he was studying the Korcari Wilds. Although his main focus of research was his people, the Dalish was, predictably, interested in all masses of nature and things of the like. He didn't spare a worrying though for him in this situation because he knew the Chasind man was at least as comfortable out here as Airthel was himself. The other elf packed light and moved fast, so the Dalish just hoped he held the stamina to make it through the trek; but that was because he did not know Angelo, and had no idea of his capability. He had a similar worry about the Warden's armor, but figured the man had probably been traveling in it for quite some time.

Airthel was sweaty, but far from exhausted, when he finally reached the grove of possible deathroot. He went back and signaled the group, though they were all alert either way, and they quickly found a blood trail. As the armored man inspected it, and tasted it which Airthel found to be quite strange, the elf looked around. There were plenty of places for deathroot to sprout, but he saw no evidence of the plant from his position. He looked on as the party fanned out, and was about to warn them that the scent might have attracted something when the Warden cried out in alarm.

Airthel, in a smooth practiced movement, hastily drew his bow as the sound of vicious snarling echoed from down the path. He knew charging wolves, who probably arrived to inspect the area like the adventurers, would see this as a challenge, and unfortunately would only let them go in they retreated. He knew this would end in a fight, and so he slid a Dalish arrow from his quiver. Moving quickly into view to see what was happening, he watched as several arrows, almost identical to the one in his hands, embedded themselves into three wolves, taking them down. Briefly, he wondered if that was where the deathroot sprouts had gone. He drew his bow and focused on the charging wolves. The Dalish loosed his first arrow at one of the three trying to run down Angelo, but it was down by the time the arrow made it. Two wolves pelted past the bottleneck, back into the grove. Airthel held his bow aloft, another arrow within his grasp, and let fly on the one closest to him. The wolf staggered, then tumbled into a heap, its momentum still carrying it forward. The elf pranced aside as the wolf's body barreled over where he had just been standing: he hadn't noticed before, but its coat was alight with flame. He reached for it carefully to see if he could retrieve his arrow, but it was already burning.

As Corriach finished off the second wolf, Airthel moved forward toward the Grey Warden and Angelo, salvaging his last arrow on the way. He knelt near a wolf with a Dalish arrow. and inspected the feathers and point. "I know this arrow," he mumbled to himself, although he couldn't place it. He hadn't been this south in a few months, and most of his stays with different clans were short. He couldn't place this arrow, even though he recognized it. He wondered again if these elves had taken the deathroot, and, if so, they had accosted the human having thought of this and their temporary foraging ground. His clan hadn't been that way, but in his experience those of his people who lived closer to humans, ironically, had less of a tolerance for them.

Rasie listened intently and chuckled softly when Zeynep smacked him. "Dwarves may be able to hold a lot of alcohol, but they still succumb to it eventually. At any rate, what do you two think about the person that came in and screamed about some type of trouble? Do we need to stick our noses in it or should we lay low for a bit?" She grasped her crossbow, just in case the others wished to do something, but she was not sure what was going on or why. To her, any trouble here was normal considering how dense the population was currently. She assumed everyone needed something done and someone had stepped on another person's toes along the way.

Corraich took up place at the rear of their motley crew after realising that the elf Airthel knew his stuff when it came to tracking. Probably go as far to say he was as good as a Chasind, which is no small compliment. The elf set a steady pace, the further out from Val Royeux they got the tougher the trek became. The Wilder didn't envy the Grey Warden in his armour then, he could only imagine what a sweaty mess the man must be on the inside. Eventually the group found a trail of blood and arrows, as ominous a sign as Corraich had ever seen. The grizzly tracks led them to a small grove, puddles of congealing blood dotting the forest floor.

"Never a good sign," he muttered under his breath, long years of practice telling him now would be a good time to ready his axe. The Warden crossed over to one of the puddles and took himself a little taste. Probably one of the stranger sights Corraich had seen, stranger still was the fact that the man knew what human blood tasted like. The Wilder didn't like that little revelation about his new companion one bit, but never got a chance to pass comment on it before the grove exploded into action.

"Wolves!" cried the warden, several grey shapes flitting from the tree line and charging the little fellowship. The mangy beast looked half starved, strange when there's so many refugees about. The big barbarian didn't dwell to long on that though, not if he wanted to live through this wee encounter. One of the bigger beasts peeled off from the group, howling as it pounced at Corraich. The wolf was too quick for the Chasind to bring his long-axe to bare, instead his left arm shot out to grasp the rabid animal's throat in a vice like grip. He held it there, suspended in the air as it pawed at him uselessly, snarling like a demon in the Chantry. He snarled at it in return, before throwing it back to the ground. The wolf hit the floor with a yelp, but before it could get its bearings the big man drove his axe deep into the beasts belly, putting paid to anymore resistance.

A quick scan revealed that the other beasts had been dealt with, save two that were on fire. Airthel took down one with an impressive bit of shooting, so Corraich strode to the other, a fall of his axe putting the creature out of it's misery.

"Where's the Warden?" he grunted at the two elves, before noticing all the wolves taken down by Dalish arrows, more arrows than Airthel could have possibly fired in the short fight. The big man lifted his axe to a fighting position once more, his practiced eyes scanning the undergrowth for any other surprises.

One of the people responsible for the arrows which were fired at the wolves stepped out of a thicket and walked towards that party members he could see. "Hold, travelers. A group of trackers from my clan and I have been following a group of human traffickers in these woods for a few days now. Am I to assume you're not with them?"

UnseenShade said
Rasie listened intently and chuckled softly when Zeynep smacked him. "Dwarves may be able to hold a lot of alcohol, but they still succumb to it eventually. At any rate, what do you two think about the person that came in and screamed about some type of trouble? Do we need to stick our noses in it or should we lay low for a bit?" She grasped her crossbow, just in case the others wished to do something, but she was not sure what was going on or why. To her, any trouble here was normal considering how dense the population was currently. She assumed everyone needed something done and someone had stepped on another person's toes along the way.

Zeynep and Gavlan

"You two are hardly going to be able to stay low. I mean how many qunari are there in Orlais?" Gavlan replied and dodged another attack by Zeynep ",I'm just being honest. Anyway, I guess we could but our noses in, isn't like we are going to do much else here, plus maybe we can get some pay out of it."
"The dwarf has a point but I'm not standing next to him if there is combat, he might not be drunk entirely but mixing that much alchol with an axe. I would like to keep my head," Zeynep answered standing up and deciding on leading the way out behind the person who had just broke a man's nose.
Gavlan followed as well those his walk wasn't entirely straight though despite perhaps bumping into a few people's legs, no one would both him as he brandished his axe on the way out.

"If you assumed we were with the traffickers you would be wrong. We are actually looking for a man who went missing looking for deathroot for his ailing child. If my assumption is right, these traffickers are likely to be the same who took the man we are looking for. If there is any way you could help us find them it would be greatly appreciated." Mathias responded to the elf who had come from a thicket of bushes. It was lucky that the elves had been here to help with the wolves even if they could have taken the wolves on themselves. The chance encounter could have slowed down the group and make it more likely that they would find the man dead instead of being alive. Mathias looked around at the dead wolves with the realization that he hadn't killed one. He was hoping to at least be able to kill one wolf before the other dealt with them.

The wolves were a grim reminder to Mathias that he always had to be on edge. Mathias couldn't die without finding out whether or not her sister is alive. Even as far away from the city as they were, Mathias could see the White Spire. It was the only place where Mathias could hope to find information on Marianne. He was the only surviving member of his family as far as he knew and would not let himself die before he found out where she is. Mathias turned back towards the elf which had come from the bushes and waited for the elf's answer.

Rasie followed closely behind and nocked her crossbow, adding a single bolt. Her fingers were kept safely away from the trigger to prevent misfires. As they broke the door's threshold, she looked around, trying to find the source of the commotion. She even asked out loud to anyone who may tell her. "Where is this conflict?" She was not paying those around her too much mind and she craned her neck above the crowd to attempt a glimpse at the possible place to go.

Maximus shuffled around the streets of Val Royeaux, getting a drink, avoiding refugees, basically just trying to pass the time until he was called upon to defend Orlais from the Blight. Ferelden had already resigned itself to its fate. There was nothing more he could do. If the Blight could not be stopped in Ferelden, he and his fellow Grey Wardens would have to stop it here. He stepped into one of the many taverns in the city. This particular one he was staying in. It was one of the lower end taverns, as Maximus didn't have much money. It was just expensive enough to not be packed full of refugees. Sure, he could have just stayed in the Grey Wardens' Headquarters in the country, but he didn't really like it that much; not enough privacy. He sat down at a table and a bar maid came up to him. "Just an ale will do, my dear." In no time, a mug and a bottle of ale was in front of him. If there's one redeeming quality about this tavern, it's the fast service. Mumbling a "thank you" to the bar maid, he picked up the bottle and poured the icy cold liquid into the metal mug.

The Dalish elf looked behind him and nodded toward another large patch of trees and bushes, from which four more elves emerged, one of whom conspicuously had no tattoos, and wielded two daggers instead of a bow. "We'll work with you, if that is your wish." said their apparent leader. "We knew that a group like theirs would eventually attract bounty hunters or law enforcement, and it appears that it has. This, along with the likelihood they would try to abduct one of our own, is exactly why we wanted them gone. We would prefer to have as few people as possible know of our location here. If you're ready, we should be able to lead you to the approximate location of their camp."

Angelo nodded to him and he looked at the elf with no tattoo and that seemed suspicious to him, all elves born if the people have a tattoo to represent that fact however that one didn't and even more strange was that the elf used daggers instead of a bow, which meant that he didn't help us against the wolves. Angelo couldn't prove that the elf in question was hiding something since he could be a city elf like me and just found the dalish to join then. He wasn't going to take his eyes off that one but he agreed with the leader "we need to find that woman's husband pain and simple. If they have him then we will have no problem writing with you to take them down

After the cadre of Dalish emerged, Airthel stepped forward and inclined his head in proper greeting to the fellow Dalish, with a small bow with crossed arms, and recieved one of the same. "Aneth ara, brother. My name is Airthel." He said with a smile, dropping his arms to the sides loosely and continuing, "My companion is correct. We are looking for a missing man, and evidence says he came this way. It was a human male and he was looking for young deathroot." The story was not necessary to explain, but in his time patroling the borders of a Dalish camp, he too had come across random human encounters and been left with curious questions. After all, humans were strange to a Dalish such as himself. "We would greatly appreciate your help, as he also said," He didn't really feel the need to repeat the words of their haughtiest companion, but he knew it might be propiotous to have them recognize there was another of the People among the strangers. He hoped the human wouldn't take offense.

The group was a familiar thing to Airthel, and he found himself more comfortable out here in the forest. He was not as startled by the sight of a tattooless elf as the others. Vallaslin were difficult to endure, and elves that came from cities were often allowed to take them at a later time than Dalish youth, and he figured this elf was a recruited Dalish. The though actually made the man seem more approachable for the Dalish: to see an elf who had both the city and Dalish experience, and choose Dalish, felt like a victory for his race to the elven scholar. His dagger, to Airthel, looked as though they were brought specifically for a fight against these human intruders, and Airthel hoped the camp hadn;t suffered at the vagrants' hands. "I think we should leave immediately. Even if the man we are looking for is not with these raiders, it is still something that is a danger to the refugees here. And the native inhabitants."

Zeynep and Gavlan

Zeynep looked around above the throngs of people, leaving Gavlan having to wait since he could do nothing by looking through the legs of the people, so he tried to keep himself standing while he waited.
"Why not try over there," Zeynep called to Rasie over the nose of the crowds, pointing to a crowded section of the people that seemed preoccupied with something below the bridge they stood upon.
She pushed her way through the other people walking about ignoring any comment that was thrown at her as she did, too curious on seeing what would make everyone just crowd in one place when most were trying to find places to stay or buy supplies before moving north or where ever they could to get away from the Blight. She soon had her answer. A boat was drifting under the bridge, and was about through. Upon it was a female warrior, templar perhaps judging by the armor, who was fighting a few demons which brought the question upon Zeynep, was she fighting a mage? Then her eyes caught more movement and took notice of the woman at the bar that they had witnessed moments ago and had been slightly looking for after the commotion in the bar.
"I think we found the person who caused the commotion now it's a matter of whether or not we should aid. What do you think?" She asked Rasie. Zeynep herself wouldn't mind killing a few demons but the templar could be a problem.

Upon seeing the demons, Rasie growled softly and immediately looked for the best course of action to get on the boat. "Demons. The mage used demonic blood magic. For that, they must die. How far is the drop?" She looked over the edge and began to take her own calculations, her brow furrowed as she worked to figure out how to best land upon the vessel. Seeing that it may work, she decided to first try and help from here. Rasie spoke a few arcane words, her eyes beginning to glow as she activated her Combat Magic. Her crossbow was pulled up and she shouldered it, focusing. She took into account the movements and lead as well as her arc. Satisfied, she let the bolt fly, aiming it at one of the demons. The bolt itself flew as a normal one would; however, it left a glowing trail of arcane power behind it, her magic helping to guide and aim it. Her hands moved quickly, bringing her weapon down, nocking it, and coming up with another bolt. She reset her position, beginning to aim again.

"As you said then." The Dalish said. They began traveling along the makeshift path that the traffickers had left. "Another Dalish is a welcome sight here, but what led to you becoming part of a group like this?" As he spoke, the smell of campfire smoke started to fill the air. The group of bandits they were looking for probably wasn't more than half a mile away.

Zeynep and Gavlan

"Well we could toss the dwarf to see if we can make it," Zeynep said.
"Nobody tosses a dwarf," Gavlan said, managing to look over the side of the bridge to see the boat ",I'd rather die then have to live that one down."
Zeynep looked over the edge and thought for a brief moment on how she could at least land on the boat."Well, one thing I do agree on is that the person who uses blood magic for demons deserves death," she said getting ready to jump ",I shall meet you on the boat."
With that she jumped over the side of the bridge and free fell for a few seconds before landing on the boat, rolling as she did. Once out of the roll she grabbed her staff and went to the first demon she saw using the medium size knife on the one end of it to slash at it before summoning her magic to aid her in the fight.
"Nobody tosses a dwarf but what a normal fall is for you is like jumping off a damn cliff for me," Gavlan grumbled managing to get over and then, falling onto the boat below, thanking his lucky stars that he managed to land on his feet rather on his face or back. He grabbed his axe ready to fight this wretched demons.

The Grey Warden
The Heartlands

The Grey Warden was already ahead of the Dalish, and the group as a whole. He still didn't show himself despite being clad in armor heavier than anyone else; it would have been unnerving how quiet he could move if anyone actually knew where he was at. He aimed to continue making sure no one knew. When the group was near the bandit camp, The Grey Warden was already there, setting up traps. He didn't have much to work with, but he made what he could and put them at choice points and narrow openings. He should probably return to the group at some point and warn them of his traps, but before he left The Grey Warden noticed someone. Someone in a cage. The Husband perhaps? He looked injured however, with dried blood caking his head and a swollen eye. But he was breathing and alive at least. But he worried about some of the barrels near him; from the sticky residue leaking from them, it was oil. A stray spark could light them up and condemn the husband to a fiery death. The fact that the cage was locked and made of metal did little to give The Grey Warden a plan of freeing the man. He'd just have to hope that his group could save him before things get worse.

Before The Grey Warden left, he counted how many bandits they'd have to deal with. So far, he found twelve. A daunting number for them, but these men were more skilled at robbing poor refugees than trained fighters than him and his group. At least he hoped so. The Grey Warden also managed to identify who he assumes to be the Bandit Chief; a large human wearing an impressive set of Veridium Heavy Plate Armor with a thick Heavy Iron Shield and Saw Sword. He was most likely the one who would pose the biggest threat to the group should they attack, what with his imposing armor and weapons. The Grey Warden did note his lack of a helmet however, though he imagined that if the group attacked them in the open, the Bandit Chief may add his helmet to his already heavy set of armor. He would just have to make sure that doesn't occur.

The Grey Warden opted to remain hidden however, even from his group. So long as the group doesn't try to attack from behind the camp, they shouldn't run into any of his traps. So the Grey Warden took out his crossbow, notched a bolt, and readied himself from his vantage point to take out the nearest bandit.

Karine Madeleine
Val Royeaux

The Templar walked out of the lower deck to the top of the boat, expecting things to have calmed down. But somehow or another, more demons have arrived to wreck havoc, and some people have even showed up to fight them. Karine smiled at the prospect of fighting them all. "Ah ha ha ha! And I thought this was going to be a boring job!" Karine charged at one of the demons who was recoiling from being shot with a crossbow bolt, and was stunned when Karine smashed her mace into what she guessed was it's face. The demon tried to slam it's molten fist against her, but despite the heat, it failed to dent her armor. Lifting both it's arms up it tried again, but she didn't give it a chance as she bashed it backwards. She and the demon continued to trade blows after blows, wearing down Karine but also the demon. And unlike the demon, Karine didn't seem to concerned about being near death.

The man leading the Dalish group crouched down and walked more slowly as they approached the camp. He spotted the bandits' leader easily enough. "He's wearing heavy armor, but it looks like his face isn't covered. Good." He pulled out his bow and began to draw a poison-tipped arrow. "This will eventually kill him, and he'll be much less useful in combat after it hits him. He'll still be going for a good thirty minutes however, and you'll still have his underlings to worry about. I suggest everyone who intends to take part in this battle decide what part they intend to play position themselves accordingly. My friends and I will hit them with as many arrows as we can while you fight, and the city elf here will help you take care of any stragglers. I suggest we do this quickly"

(In the near future) As soon as everyone did as he instructed, he fired at the bandit leader, poisoning him. His allies began firing at the rest.

As their now-even-stranger group progressed to the bandit camp, Airthel answered the elf's question on a hushed breath, "The Creators bring me many strange places." His obscure comment and their arrival at the camp cut off further communication. Peering forward through foliage and bated companions, he could see the camp and a few prowling figures ahead. He counted five, but he figured there were more beyond his limited sight. He drew his bow, similar to that of the Dalish group's own weapons, and tested the pull of the sinew string. As the patrol's leader drew a dark tipped arrow, Airthel tried to place the description, but it was too common an effect and too broad a description. Not that it mattered much either way. Airthel pulled an arrow from the quiver on his back, knocked it,and nodded. Seeing the Dalish patrol spread out, he followed their line until the five archers would be able to cover a majority of the complex once they emerged.

He waited patiently as the others readied themselves, eyeing down his drawn arrow at a few of the indistinct figures he could see, trying to figure where the best place to start would be. As the moments wore on and a signal told of the group's preparedness, Airthel moved forward with the other Dalish who let fly on the bandit camp. He took a bead on a rival archer, who still looked startled at the sudden ambush, and loosed his arrow and watched as it embedded into the man's lightly armored shoulder. Airthel was drawing another arrow as the man down his sights ripped the arrow, which had most likely done little damage, out of his armor.

Angelo watched as he waited for the dalish leader to fire his arrow. Once the arrows started to fly Angelo used the cover fire to move past the scrambling bandits to get past the doors seeing much more inside Angelo took a breath as they ask started to charge him but Angelo was quick and agile as he duck and dodged the multiple swords and axes slashing at him making cuts as he dodged obviously he couldn't make them killing blows but through it all he wasn't hit from them as he made slashes to try and slow them down