faderift | closed.

Years of training, of having to run, of having to hide, of being chased by darkspawn in and out of a uniform, Kirwall, have trained Bethany to one thing.

To be a very light sleeper.

She goes from drowsing in a dream to wide-awake the moment Nate's fingers leave the front of her tent, and she's already scrambling. Boots on, armor on over her nightgown, cloak in place and hair tied back with a black ribbon to not catch the moonlight. Staff in hand, she is out in the darkness a mere minute after Nathaniel has made the call, brown eyes searching out in the darkness.

She would gesture which way, but it was obvious. Follow the lantern light in the darkness.

It's easy to get up when your source of heat and superior pillow left the tent an hour and a half ago. Anders needs to practice his draping skills so it can't escape so easily in the future, but that's a half-asleep thought as he scrambles up, tying his robes closed, and grabs his staff.

"I could just," he waggles his fingers, "stop them. Non-lethally." His voice is a little groggy as he rubs at his eyes; Anders had been more than ready for the next thing to stir him being the return of Nate so he could truly sleep again.

"Or lethally if we're feeling particularly aggravated."

"Not yet. We have to follow him back to his base camp. He was unaccompanied, which means he didn't travel far from his retainers." Nathaniel has black pigment out and smears it on his own face before passing it to Bethany.

She makes a face, but does the same, smudging it across her cheeks and forehead, along with her chin, to cut down the glare of the light on her face, and pulls up her hood. Passes it along to Anders.

"All right but we're going to have to figure out what we do if he has a large base camp. The three of us are good - but we're not that good."

"We have crystals." And that's on the off chance people stay sleeping. He wouldn't be surprised if more stumble out of blankets here. He frowns into the jar of pigment before dabbing a little on his cheekbones and chin. This stuff is a pain to wash off but he'll trust his husband's judgement in putting it on.

"We leave a trail the others can follow, because I hear stirring, and if something goes wrong we flood the enemy camp with fire-melted ice and let them get mired down in mud?"

Teren's demeanor has been alarmingly pleasant since this development was brought about. Though still as curt and bullheaded as always, she's been downright agreeable, even allowing Nate to do the planning and direct her. Happy birthday, Nate, it will never happen again.

She's the last person to wake up, but does so when she hears voices, cracking her neck stiffly as she hoists herself off her bedroll. She likely just managed to fall asleep, despite having had a few hours; it doesn't come easily to her anymore, and she pays for it at times like this.
Her hair is left in its long black braid down her back as she shuffles over to stand by the others, squinting.

"Wherewegoing," she mutters.

There was something to be said about being used to falling asleep hard and being able to wake up with ease. Oghren was like a rock that snored when he crashed but as soon as the call had been made, he was up with axe in hand. Squinting at the figure, he tried to see if he spot anything that would be important but no. Too far away.

"Not sure if I'm going to be too good for sneaking, Howe. I'll try but it's not my strongest point."

Best he could offer really. Well no, there was more. "I'll stick to the back so I can run up if you need help."

Guess he could with the literal definition of having backs but it should work at least.

"Following the man with the lantern." He passes Teren the pigment. "Oghren, stay well behind. One of the mages will send up fire as a signal for you to move forward. Everyone, move quickly and quietly, stay low, and stick to cover. Follow my lead."

With that, he is moving forward, more parallel to the target than angled toward him.

She nods sleepily, and though she puts some of the pigment on her face, Teren is rather darker than the others and is less likely to show up in the moonlight.
She passes it idly to Oghren and then pulls her hood up, disappearing before anyone can even turn around and see that she was there at all. Her trajectory is a little ahead of the target, where she hopes to meld into the darkness of their destination and get a good look at who it is.

Bethany nods, trailing behind after Nathaniel, keeping hers, Nathaniel's and Anders steps light with a touch of force magic. She nods to Anders, trusting him to light the fires behind them while she maintained their near silent approach.

Funny, to be the one hunting someone, instead of the other way around. She'd never get used to it.

"Got it."

With that, he sat down so he could wait for the lot of them to get pretty well ahead before he went off. Might as well give them some distance right now while they sorted this out. He could always come running in later. Not like they couldn't handle one person, after all.

The stranger's base camp is about a mile and a half away. It is small and cleverly hidden, with only three other people waiting for the stranger. The camp's occupants appear to be guardsmen. The stranger sets his lantern down and begins to speak quietly with them.

Nathaniel looks at Teren and gestures for her to go on ahead and see what she can find in the camp, while signalling the others to remain still and silent.

Bethany nods, and huddles down inside her cloak, making no noise, brown eyes peering out into the darkness. Trying to see if there is any magic at play, so she can disengage any traps that might ... pop up unexpectedly.

She does so, creeping forward as soundlessly as possible for someone moving through brush. Teren tries to match her footsteps to moments when the targets speak to each other, keeping low and out of sight.

Before too long she's even out of view of her fellows, crouching and waiting and listening-- then she spots a missive. It's across the camp, and she'll have to move around its perimeter to obtain it, but Teren is nothing if not confident, and she approaches.

Oh. Good. He's lost track of Teren. He can see some people moving around, can't hear them, and can't pop up protection around Teren in a second if need arises. That's a fantastic feeling, really, and he glares at the nearest fern as if it's at fault. Sitting and waiting are things he's definitely not good at, but at least they seem to currently outnumber the assholes who are the cause for them sitting and waiting in the dark.

It's a shame that the person they're following is in robes. It means he can't risk casting to make the lantern flare up for a second to show the groups' faces better. It means he can't really do much of anything until they're ready to move forward, and he switches from watching the group to watching Nate and waiting for the 'charge' or 'set them all on fire' or 'they have free cats adopt them all' signal. One of these is less likely than the others.

The missive Teren finds is, at a glance, Definitely Important and almost certainly in code. Beside it is a closed book. The people in the camp are engaged in conversation and the area Teren is in is not at all lit, as the camp is supposed to be difficult to spot and lights defeat that purpose. Nathaniel keeps up the signal to stay low and be silent.

Still listening for every tiny motion, any indication that anyone might come near, Teren slowly and carefully slips the missive and the book off the table in turn. She walks her fingers across them, silently pulling them towards her until they lose their balance and fall into her waiting hand, which she proceeds to curl under her and come back the way she came.
When she appears again beside the group, Teren simply whispers "light". They need to see what they have.

Nathaniel gestures for everyone to follow him back to camp. Keeping his head down, he moves with quick, quiet purpose.

They arrive and he repeats Teren's request. "Light. Bethany, Anders?"

"She's probably lighter than I am," Anders says jokingly before he's casting and producing a light. This is serious, there's no question about that, but that just means there's tension to cut through. Especially when he knows Teren and Oghren are probably currently annoyed with each other.

closed.

Re: III. SURVEILLANCE | OTA

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject