[OPEN] a fieldtrip for the Wardens and friends

[mactears]

WHO: Loghain, Teren, any other Grey Wardens who feel like participating + anyone else who would have some excuse to be down in the Deep Roads (or at least can come up with a reason to join)
WHAT: Wardens & co. respond to reports of darkspawn activity in the Deep Roads beneath the Vimmarks, and encounter another surprise.
WHEN: Early May.
WHERE: The Deep Roads beneath the Vimmark mountains, close-ish to Corypheus' tomb.
NOTES: There may be a spot of violence. For prompts 1 and 2, feel free to thread with each other rather than just Loghain. For prompt 3, please keep all replies to one thread. Also, while this log is really of interest to Wardens and those who care about them, literally anyone is welcome to join. Honestly, just make up an excuse for your character and hop in.

I.  Traveling


What the Deep Roads lack in visual variety they make up for in the variety of different ways the environment can kill you. Death by ancient dwarven trap or consuming the wrong type of mushroom is as real a danger down here as getting murdered by darkspawn, which is likely responsible for Loghain's frequent refrain of, "Mind where you step."

When navigating through the roads, he seems inclined to keep to himself, either leading the way through the dark or bringing up the rear. Yet he isn't adverse to company, should someone choose to join him and strike up a conversation.



II. Fighting darkspawn!


The first sign of trouble comes in the form of a genlock scout who escapes into the darkness of a narrow cave crevice before he can be killed or apprehended. This is enough of a portent of things to come for Loghain to quickly issue some marching orders; any non-combatants in the group in the middle, kept guarded by those with combat experience who haven't undertaken the Joining. The Wardens, of course, will be the first line of defence against the oncoming assault.

It's a short-lived skirmish, with enough genlock and hurlock opponents to keep the Wardens busy, and perhaps a few to sneak past the line and engage the other armed combatants. Any injuries will need to be tended to quickly, however, because no sooner does the group have a chance to catch its collective breath...



III. Fighting... other Wardens?!


...then the sound of armoured feet clinking against the stone ground signals the approach of someone new. Several someones. When they come into view, it is clear immediately that they are Grey Wardens, given they sport armour identical to Loghain's and any other Wardens in the party. (There are six of them in total, if anyone is inclined to count:  three warriors including one sporting a great sword; an archer and a mage, and a dual-wielding rogue who looks like she used to slit throats for funsies before her conscription.)

It's unclear precisely how this encounter might have gone had Loghain not been in the party--but as it is, one of the newly arrived Wardens points right at him, shouts something in Anders, and then the fighting begins again in earnest.

"Someone take out that mage!" Loghain has time to shout, before he's otherwise occupied parrying a heavy blow from the largest warrior's greatsword.
 

Comments

[circleprodigy]

Upon hearing Carver, Inessa immediately renews her Barrier spell to encompass herself and her allies. Then she gets ready to cast; as soon as that knife wielder reappears, she's on it and punching him downward with Veilstrike. Garahel isn't idle; the mabari aims a loud howl a their enemies before leaping upon the nearest one, pinning said unfortunate to the ground and leaving them prone to more canine attacks.

[in_death_sacrifice]

Kain lets the counterattack strike him from the warrior he's engaged with, feeling it fuel his strength even further. That'll definitely ache later, but for now it bolsters him. Then Kain leaps, cutting at the warrior with an upward slash as he jumps, ending with a stab to the neck for good measure. Yes, the new techniques are definitely paying off at this point.

He's barely pulled his sword free when lightning starts to sizzle around the area, a burst catching Kain unaware with a painful zap. He cries out, turning sharply around to face that direction. Looks like someone is bursting out of their little prison, or starting to, with rocks and ice crumbling away. "The mage!"

Thinking fast, he slams his sword downward to shake the ground beneath the mage's feet, but even as that deals damage, it looks like the mage is preparing to cast again...

[mactears]

Anders' approach earns him a black scowl and a grunt of, "Nevermind me!" but he isn't so intransigent as to resist help that he knows, logically, he requires. Despite the pain, he hoists his shield up further to deflect another arrow from the strategically positioned archer. The rest of their opponents remain properly engaged, but that one--and the mage now breaking free of the effects of the spell cast upon him--continue to pose a serious threat.

The mage is indeed preparing another spell, and this time looks as though he is preparing something with more bite to it than a bit of electricity. When the sudden rushing, roar of flames explodes from one of his palms, he does not seem overly concerned when one of his comrades is caught in the crossfire; his target is Teren.

"Teren, on your right!" Loghain shouts at her.

[doneisdone]

Teren has closed the distance between herself and the archer, and is about to make him regret his whole existence when a shock of electricity throws her off. She nearly drops her dagger, but manages to hold onto it despite her full-body shudder and rather undignified cry of dismay, and is a little delayed when she looks to Loghain at the sound of her name.

MAGES.

She dives down out of the way in time to evade most of the fire, but it scorches her back and one of her shoulders, and she has to roll over to quickly put it out before hucking her knife at the mage's leg. fuck you buddy

[justice_is_blond]

All of his goodwill toward the mage evaporates at that. The mage could have run, but chose instead to hurt which means Anders is done. He sends spikes of earth shooting up from the ground the mage is standing on, impaling the already-stabbed mage. They might require more of a follow-up but there are plenty of fighters here. He's the spirit healer. He has a different priority, which... he's not certain Teren will be fine with, as usual. Great.

First things first, then. He glares at the archer, which he prays is intimidating rather than inviting, but as usual his prayer is ineffective. They fire, and Anders flings a fireball back, incinerating the arrow and setting the bow on fire. The arrowhead nicks his calf, but the archer is at the very least distracted dealing with burned hands and weapon that's steadily turning to embers.

[circleprodigy]

Perhaps it's overkill, but Inessa doesn't trust that mage not to do some serious damage if he isn't bombarded. She casts Curse of Mortality, taking away his ability to heal magically or otherwise. That should make him easier pickings for the rest of the party.

After that, she'll cast Stonefist at the archer; immediately, a fade-boulder soars his way. Knocked down in addition to impaled should buy them more time, if not make him easy pickings for the front-line folks. Garahel continues his more active defense role, snapping and lunging at any enemies that come too close to his mistress or those nearest her.

[in_death_sacrifice]

It's definitely a good idea to wear down the mage as much as possible, making him less of a threat. There's no way he'll recover at this point. The mage makes a desperate effort to futilely try and heal the deep, bloody wounds he'd just sustained. Kain takes that chance to move in.

Faced with a large sword and an inability to heal, the mage knows he's well cornered now. He isn't going down without one last major spell, though. He brings down a massive Firestorm, which covers a pretty wide ranging area with a shower of flame.

Kain drops and rolls on his way toward the mage, hastily working to put out the flames that started to catch all along his right side. Even his improved fire resistance has its limits, after all. He shouts with an upward thrust right into the mage's belly, slicing further upward as he rises. There. That's enough of that one's spells. But of course, he doesn't drop his guard, ready to face whatever targets still remain.

[unshadowing]

The mage and archer haven't made things easy on anyone, even Carver. Without a shield, his armor remains his only line of defense. A few arrows fly his way, though they either miss or just dink off his armor. He moves a bit more slowly, thanks to the wound the dual wielder inflicted just before. But with Kain going after the mage, Carver beelines for the archer. Though he's impaled and likely dazed from the stone fist that punched him, he's a resilient little shit and is already trying to get up.

Nope.

Carver comes upon him, fighting through the pain as he swings his sword up before slamming it down. The archer's leather armor does little to protect him from the blade; it cuts clean through his midriff. Carver pushes it in, trying to speed up the man's death. In moment, after a pained gargle, he passes. He might have been a traitor, but he was still a Warden. A quick death was the least Carver could do.