the days that bind us

[exequy]

WHO: Lots of people
WHAT: Recovering lost phylacteries
WHEN: Guardian 23, 9:44
WHERE: The Storm Coast
NOTES: Violence! OOC post over here.

All signs point to the Storm Coast, and once scouts have narrowed down the location it's only a short journey across the Waking Sea to move a small force onto the rocky coast. They row ashore just after dawn in driving rain, and follow the beach for at least a mile before finding a path that actually reaches the top of the cliff. The rain fades to a drizzle but the day remains relentlessly overcast as they hike toward their goal, grey and dim even at noon, with a raw breeze off the water.

Comments

[pinprick]

Dammit. Nathaniel wanted to hate these people. He hates the rest of them, these mad fanatics, but he can't hate prisoners. His arm winds around Anders' waist and he kisses his sun-warmed hair.

"If they surrender, we will take them prisoner. Considering the specific hours of the day that they hurt you, they probably don't have full access to the phylacteries. They must have been escorted and supervised. So long as we can keep them separate from the phylacteries, there's no need to hurt them more."

[justice_is_blond]

He leans into the hold, anger fading for the moment. It's impossible to stay mad when Nate is kissing him and about to fight for him.

"Taking them prisoner might be a mess." Anders swallows, looking back toward the fortress. "We take them to the Inquisition and then what? They're put under Templar authority again? Not like I think we should kill them, they've had enough of a time over it but... If there's evidence that they were coerced and forced, what happens if the guard... slips up? And a few mages escape?"

It isn't a mercy to free them from a cage for them to be caught in another for them to be put in yet another.

[pinprick]

"One thing at a time," Nathaniel says gently. "But they won't be under Templar authority either way. If they are being forced to do this, they could be considered refugees. Given the same status as any mage of the Inquisition."

A beat.

"And I'm not conscripting them," he adds, not that he thinks Anders would suggest it.

[justice_is_blond]

He nods. The mages have to turn out to be prisoners first, and taken alive second. But he'll certainly do what he can to make sure they don't have to deal with the constant guards Benedict does.

"I know. I wouldn't ask that, anyway, unless their lives were in direct danger and they were clearly not to blame. We've good reason for not recruiting right now. And... I appreciate what the Wardens have done for me greatly, but the risks," of Joining, he means, and he figures Nate understands the unspoken words, "are only worth it if we've lost and the Circles come back."

Anders takes a breath, jerking his thumb toward where there's more shouting about the Chant. "If this sort wins. The sort so many are trying to pretend don't exist."