[Player Plot] Protecting Val Gamord from Darkspawn - Pt 1

[sunshinethroughgrey]

WHO: Bethany Hawke, Teren von Skraedder, Ciri, Merrick, Inessa Serra, Kain Ventfort, Aleron Darton, and Amelie Durand
WHAT: The Marquise of Val Gamord has called to the Inquisition for help, and the Inquisition has answered.
WHEN: Last week of Harvestmere, first week of Frostfall
WHERE: Val Garmond, in Orlais.
NOTES:Based off the war table mission. OOC details are here

Val Gamord is a small village in rocky hills, surrounded by walls, and presently very cold. Outside the walls, a sizable and semi-organized force of darkspawn has gathered. Reaching the village without passing through the darkspawn requires traveling along a narrow path to reach a small opening in its gates. The main road and entrance to the town are blocked and being battered by darkspawn on a nightly basis.

As noted in the original War Table Operation from DAI, Marquise Bouffon has already committed her handful of personal soldiers to the Inquisition's cause, so the town's only defenses at the moment are its walls and the efforts of the farmers and merchants who have taken refuge there. They'll all be exhausted and incredibly grateful for help. Several will be quarantined and suffering from blight sickness. (Note: They can't be saved; if the team does attempt to put through the Joining, they'll die during the ritual.)

Marquise Effiloche Bouffon will be a gracious host and very thankful for the team's efforts. She will call everyone involved noble a lot, and refer to herself as humble and devout; there will be some apparent truth to that, as her personal home is small and sparsely decorated, for an Orlesian noble's estate. She'll allow the team to stay there if they desire and feed them well. Once the darkspawn have been driven away, she will be particularly eager to see the team leave the town without lingering or asking any further questions. She will permit them to stay at most an additional day before insisting that they leave.

Comments

[in_death_sacrifice]

"Yes... that would be why I've seen you around." He recalls now that he was with the Senior Warden much of the time. Still fairly new to Skyhold, Kain is learning a lot of names and faces, but he hasn't yet met everyone officially.

He looks at him thoughtfully, still feeling a sense of familiarity. "Did you spend any time in Orlais, by any chance? Or perhaps there's some other connection there..." Baron Odinne had spent hours trying to get him and Cecil to memorize all the names of the other nobles, and he's sure that the name is one he ought to know. They may well have attended some event together at one point.

[lifeofendurance]

"Some time, yes." Though his accent is clearly Marcher, so it was either not long or early enough to have made an impact. "My wife-" there's only the smallest pause injected, where he reaches for how to phrase himself, "-was Orlesian. As is my mother. Her family is the du Guilles of Rieumont. Mirielle was a daughter of the Vauquelin family." Even after all this time, talking about her manages to feel like he's ripping out his heart and stomping on it anew.

His expression remains as dispassionate as it's been the entire trip, as any churning of hurt and guilt is pushed firmly down and away. It's quite easier to answer the question as regards his own time in Orlais. "I was sent to the Templars at the White Spire when I was quite young and trained with the Seekers until I was assigned to Nevarra. It's been some time since I've lived in Orlais." Sixteen years, actually. Not a number he cares to discuss, but he knows it and why so long.

[in_death_sacrifice]

That's long ago that Kain would have been a boy when he was there in Orlais. Still, the connection is something. But it's not that he'd met him there, after all, he was busy training with the Seekers at that time. But... the family name of his mother very clearly rings a bell. Both names, actually. Way back as a child he'd been forced to learn all the important family names, as was customary, and his parents had various connections.

"...du Guille... Vaquelin... Yes, that would explain it. My mother knew the du Guille family quite well. Hm... Marlie, is that your mother's given name?" He pauses, considering. It's hard to recall exactly, since he'd been dragged to a lot of weddings back in the day. But. Yes, he's sure that's it. "And I believe I may have been at that wedding. I was a young boy, at the time, though."