with (climbing) axes

[lacere]

WHO: Harding, Krem, Zevran
WHAT: Quest! Searching for the missing scouts, or, a supply delivery that failed to turn up at camp.
WHEN: Firstfall
WHERE: Fallow Mire
NOTES: Summary is here.

It was a miracle they found the cart at all, really, with it half stuck, half sunk in the bog - it was the Inquisition archer that gave it away, killed by someone who clearly knew what they were doing and clearly had the advantage. And likely took all the supplies that were presently missing to boot. If the scouts were missing... well, there was clearly negative interaction between an apparently hostile group and Inquisition members, so there's a possibility they might not-

Harding tries not to think about that too long. She stands up from where she's bent over next to the archer. "We'll have to come back and burn the body later," she says, because none of them are mages and matches in this maker-forsaken swamp are reluctant to light. "Don't want them coming back as one of the undead. Doubt they would, either."

For now, there were other matters to attend. As well as endless mire, there are rocks, and in her professional opinion in shooting things from height, it's easy to guess where the assiliant was hiding, even if the visual evidence points to the nearby rock face, too.

It doesn't look very friendly.

"Whomever killed them was waiting up there," she points with her own bow, which she's had out for much of the venture through the murk. Rule number one of the mire - don't let yourself be caught off guard by undead. She looks to Zevran (who looks remarkably pretty soaked to the skin) and Krem (glad to know those arms can hold a maul, he has very nice muscular arms) for their input. What now?

Comments

[lacere]

"There's gotta be more than just locals in the mire. And I doubt any of them would be out here. But there's always the chance one of them has gone rouge..." As desperate as a situation as they were in, they didn't seem desperate enough to murder the help, as much as they liked to turn the cold shoulder and try to keep to themselves. As for mercenaries, who in the right mind, and the right amount of funding and pay, would willingly send themselves out to the middle of nowhere with undead of all kinds and varieties and yes, that did seem to include farm animals.

"But they don't strike me as climbers." Back to the task at hand. Harding lingers behind the pair of them, not willing to put the bow down, even as she scans the ridge. They're not getting around it, but climbing it seems so unlikely, even if it's clear it's been done - really, there's a part of her that's impressed that whomever it was managed it. Possibly with supplies, but there's no real way of telling tracks down here. The answers are up there.

"Zevran, you want a boost?"

That's an offer, if you want to scramble up the wall. Elves are spindly, she's stocky. She'll happily watch- assist.

[ombranera]

"Mmm. One moment." He tilted his head to the side to consider the climb, whether or not he would need the hook and line on his belt to safely ascend. Damp as it was- the likelihood of slipping was slightly higher than none and therefore a risk he wasn't willing to take. Zevran unclipped the hook from it's leather loop on his belt and unspooled the attached line, stepping back to find an appropriate anchor point. "You will both cover me, yes? Climbing will leave me terribly exposed should any of their archers linger."

He did not think there to be any in the surrounding bog but- if they were to take what they wished and kill scouts of the Inquisition? Another investigative party was not below their notice.

One swing, two, three and he flung the hook through the air, yanking sharply on the cord to seat it between two stones high on the outcropping. Behold. A path up. Hauling himself up hand over hand may have been showing off but- Harding. Scout harding. More than worth showing off for.

[kremdelacreme]

"Show-off," Krem calls up after him with a soft chuckle, watching him with one hand on his hip for a moment then starting around to find a path that would be much easier for himself and Harding to take. After all, scaling the rock face is one thing, but they might still be able to find clues or traces as to what had happened to the other men that were supposed to have been there with the scout and supplies.

There's a gap, something that could serve as a footpath upward if one was a ram, or a talented scout. So he whistles for Harding's attention then nods up, letting her go ahead of him.

[lacere]

"Don't worry. I'll probably find a way to save you."

She's kidding, of course - she absolutely would find a way to save any Inquisition member, but it does give her an excuse to flash a winning smile in his direction before Zevran starts climbing up the rock face. Ah, yes. This is nice. So talented, so angular. Let her appreciate this moment.

She keeps an eye on Zevran's progress and the surrounding bog, which remains quiet, and eerie, glancing towards Krem and paying him her full attention as he whistles for her. Harding sees his intent easily enough, even from this distance, and backs up to the outcrop, and only then does she place her bow across her middle and begins her own climb. Who needs a line? Not her, as she presses fingers into improvised holds and hauls herself upward.

[ombranera]

"Only a little, bello!" Zevran calls down, hauling himself up bit by bit until he reaches the top. Still showing off just a little he hefts himself over with one arm, perching there to watch their ascent. It is not so bad a view- and from here he might provide cover to them in turn.

The vantage point is an excellent one- though it does leave him mildly curious as to why, exactly, no one thought to stake it for the Inquisition's scouts in order to avoid this from happening in the first place.

[kremdelacreme]

That was sort of the point to Krem's having found an alternate path upward while Zevran found his way to the top more quickly; an archer could provide better cover, while Harding's eyes were better for spotting the little clues here and there that he himself might miss. Having the two of them in the same party made him feel a hell of a lot better about all of this, if only because they could do the fast and findy things while he could protect the two of them with brute force if need be. And provide logical answers to the odd questions that would pop up here more likely than not.

When the two of them arrive at the top, Krem takes up a spot next to Zevran, thinking along the same lines as he scanned the area. Had he been an archer, he could have easily found the ideal angles from which to fire on the Inquisition's forces.

"Scout Harding. Check around for signs of a body, maybe a struggle, traces of blood, something," he suggests, kneeling down near the gap in the rocks that might have provided the cover needed to take their men by surprise. There was no way Leliana's men had just missed this perch, not from the positioning of the supply cart.

[lacere]

"On it," Harding affirms, moving away from the both of them and her bow finding its way into her hands quickly enough. She moves slowly, crouching down, squinting at the mud and dirt that has a story but might be keeping that story to itself due to loose dirt and persistent rain. A few metres from the edge, she halts, inspecting the site more closely. The mud seems to be disturbed, churned up more than it should, but even that means nothing, but she scans it thoroughly until a gloved hand reaches into the mud to pull something out.

A crushed potion vial, or a piece of it, of Inquisition issue. "Now what are you doing up here?"

[ombranera]

"A mole?" Someone of their side leaving clues? Betrayal? Any number of things it could be and none of them terribly good. Zevran frowns at the glass shards before again considering the ground below. Whatever it might have been that prompted this? The spoils had long since been made away with.

"Why wait so long for them to approach? They could have taken the first scout further from the point, make their position less obvious." It isn't sloppy, per se- some are of the 'fire when you see their pupils' school of thought, but it is terribly curious.

[kremdelacreme]

"Large as we're getting, it's to be expected," Krem murmured, leaving Zevran to his examinations and heading further down the path that twisted between crags of rock and puddles deep enough to snap unsuspecting ankles that sank into the mud. He picked his way along it carefully. In spite of the comment, he didn't think that the Inquisition's scouts were the sorts to abandon their purpose. If nothing else, Lady Nightingale would flay them alive for it.