[closed] eyes to pierce the darkness

[heda]

WHO: Lexa, Alistair, Teren, Kaisa, Norrington, Saoirse
WHAT: Helping the Avvar take care of some Venatori and darkspawn sniffing around the Frostbacks
WHEN: End of Justinian
WHERE: Tower Hold and the Frostback Basin
NOTES: (ﾉ^ヮ^)ﾉ*:・ﾟ✧

Towerhold sits high in the Frostbacks, though not so high as Skyhold. They are met along the road by a party of Avvar, painted white and blue and black like a winter forest. An escort, to lead them safely to Lexa's capital along tracks no map depicts. The journey winds along the edge of a deep but narrow gorge and up steep ridges to a hold tucked into the lee between two rocky spires. It's a surprisingly large village, with homes of wood and stone and grassy roofs, smoke curling from chimneys, traffic bustling along mud and gravel paths. A wider road leads out of the valley in the opposite direction, busy with visitors, and many of those with packs or carts of goods for market.

The Tower in Towerhold is a half-restored ruin of a watchtower, built into the peak itself and jutting above to look down on valley and gorge below. It looks at least partially Tevinter in construction, but may have older bones and certainly has had other uses since. At present, the highest floors are home to the thane, and the party is led to her throne room on arrival and greeted with polite formality by a bald, sour-faced augur who apologizes for the empty throne up on the dais, twisted wood and antler backlit by wide open windows. Thane Stone-heart has led a scouting party to observe the intruders, and the Inquisition's representatives are to meet her there.

Comments

SCOUTING THE ENEMY

[heda]

A pair of Avvar guide them through the forest to base of a steep hill, where they meet another, streaked with grey and brown paint, who sticks two fingers into his mouth on spotting their arrival and executes a perfect birdcall. Down the hill comes a young woman of only average height, her long dark coat catching on brush and stirring up the groundcover of dried leaves in her wake. Her face is streaked with dark paint that spreads like wings across her eyes and drips down cheeks; beneath it she looks pale, but green eyes are sharp as they take in the newcomers.

"Welcome, representatives of the Inquisition," she says simply, "I'm Lexa, Thane of Towerhold and Commander of the Coalition. Our enemy is just beyond," she gestures the way she's come, "Occupying an ancient ruin. I thought it best you see for yourselves before we discuss the plan of attack."

She wastes little time, already turning to lead the way back up the hill. Halfway, she crouches low and continues that way, blending in with the scrubby shrubbery that crowns the hill. It looks down on Razikale's Reach, a large, surprisingly well-preserved Tevinter ruin. Though half-reclaimed by the forest, it is today bustling with activity. All of Corypheus's unpleasant friends are represented -- a half-dozen Venatori come and go, a trio of Red Templars lead leashed darkspawn in widening circuits around the site and guard a caged wagon full of more, and a handful of soldiers watch from the remains of the battlements.

[byblow]

—not going to go around in a circle to say their names and favorite colors, then. All right. Alistair doesn't have time to experiment with smiling at the thane before she's leading the way forward, but he can guess how that would have turned out. He doesn't speculate out loud, obviously, but he does shoot Kaisa a look behind Lexa's back: an exaggerated serious face, eyebrows furrowed and mouth forced into a very straight line.

It isn't very nice of him. And the expression vanishes quickly enough, once they're moving and his attention is on staying low and keeping quiet. Neither comes naturally to him, but he does manage not to fall down the face of the hill and give them all away.

Speaking of: this might be getting closer than they should. But the whole darkspawn-Warden mutual sensing thing takes effort and attention, and for the moment the darkspawn seem focused on something else.

They're also on leashes.

"Right," Alistair whispers. "This is new."

[doneisdone]

Teren is, for the most part, content to be a silent chaperone, though she can't help but curse under her breath when she catches sight of the scene below. "And here we thought the tossers couldn't get worse," she mutters to the other Wardens, wrinkling her nose at-- yet succumbing to-- the notion of pitying the darkspawn.

[sulena]

Saoirse is not so unused to silence and follows along, quietly, as they are led through to their destination. Crouched toward the ground, she leans in close to see the sight that lays out before them and scans over what (or rather whom) she can see.

Venatori, Red Templars and darkspawn outnumber which does not count the ones that cannot be seen from their position. She clutches her staff, glancing out the corner of her eye to the Wardens as they talk before looking back to the leashed darkspawn with a frown.

"How sad," she murmurs because it is to pity the darkspawn but it is hard not to in this moment.

[judgemewhole]

Norrington stood towards the back, because all of them he probably had the least amount of stealth. Yet even from here he could feel the flickers of red lyrium, his breath catching in his throat as he looked around at things.

".... well just when I thought this particular situation could not get any worse."

[heda]

(If Lexa spots that face-making she doesn't visibly react, instead continuing to maintain the exact same expressionless, dead-serious face that prompted Alistair's clowning to begin with.)

They all watch the enemies below, and Lexa watches them, taking in reactions. At the evident surprise, she makes an educated guess: "The leashing of darkspawn is not their usual practice? We see few of the creatures here, but guessed as much." She keeps her voice low, though they are far enough away and above that it's unlikely small noises will carry. She crouches, one knee in the dirt, and lifts her right hand to gesture.

"My scouts have seen them taking the darkspawn throughout the area, moving outward from this place and then returning. They seem to be working in a grid, as if searching for something. We want neither red lyrium nor the Blight spreading in our lands, so we have not attacked them yet. Some of you are Wardens?" She looks between the group for confirmation. "Do you know what they could be doing?"

[byblow]

Alistair shakes his head, but he's thinking while he does it. "Spreading the Blight intentionally," he suggests, in a hesitant sort of way that says I have no idea, just a guess. It wouldn't make sense for them to do that in the middle of nowhere—or not nowhere, this is Avvar country, but still. "Or Red Lyrium. Or darkspawn can sense things. Other darkspawn. Maybe they're looking for a nest."

If there is a broodmother down there, Alistair hopes they can just drop something heavy on it. Zero pity for the darkspawn here. He gets lower while straining harder to see.

"The ruin—what is it? I mean, what was it?"