[Closed] I can hear it Calling

[justice_is_blond]

WHO: Alistair, Anders, Anduin, Hanzo, Inessa, Merrill, Nathaniel, Val
WHAT: A race to save a life
WHEN: Start of the month
WHERE: Northern Anderfels
NOTES: Medical matters, pain, NPC death.

It's hard to tell when the dust begins to clear, because many trees are left smoldering, sending smoke up in a gigantic marker of where something has just happened. There are injuries, there are scared griffons... and there's a massive Great Dragon corpse alongside the far smaller Venatori ones. It's a loss. She's a loss. But it had come down to her or them and quite frankly none of them were ready to die just yet.

Anders takes a breath before heading over to the rapidly cooling body, pulling his belt knife out and then several stoppered vials.

"There's salt and wrappings in Buggsy's saddlebags, if someone doesn't mind getting it. We'll salt some of the flesh to preserve it, get her heart, get what blood we can, and be on our way. I don't... We likely can't stay here long, but those things are needed." As he talks, he's cutting open her forearm and dribbling blood into a vial. "Does anyone else need anything from her?"

Comments

[lil_lion]

Anduin searches for as long as he dares, flying low over brooks and crags, his scarf wrapped tightly around his face to protect him from the worst of the windchill. He flies faster than is cautious. When he alights, it takes him some minutes to root around in the soil with his fingers, or hack at the plants with his father's blade, extracting the herbs the Wardens will transform into medicines for an impossible cure.

He squints into the west. The light is waning. He mounts his griffin, its saddle bags stuffed with the herbs Anders required- though not as much as Anduin would have liked. Some of the rarer ones were necessarily scant. It would have to be enough...

Despite the urgency, the danger, Anduin finds himself moved by the beauty of these wild, lonely places. He doesn't linger, but his spirit is soothed by the wandering winds, the call of strange birds, even the scent of the pungent herbs and flowers. It is beyond dusk by the time Anduin's griffin disturbs the dust of the Wardens' courtyard with its wings. Anduin dismounts almost as soon as the beast is down and makes haste to secure the animal. Once done, he rushes to the gate to beg admittance and to find the others.

[justice_is_blond]

He's thankful for the support. There are times Anders feels excruciatingly alone in Kirkwall, but Hanzo's getting what Anders can't get, Merrill's there willing to help in a way that could cause her so much trouble, Inessa's right alongside him, and even a man he's met just on this mission, Anduin, is gathering what they'll need. It makes breathing actually possible as they head in to the fortress.

No one greets them at first as they go in. The place is quiet, front hall not too much of a mess with tables and benches everywhere, and a few large fireplaces. Late afternoon light spills in from the upper windows, but they'll probably want a fire soon.

"Nate, please sit. Someone help him if he can't?" For his part, Anders is brushing off a table of dust and debris, setting out vials and starting to pull basically everything out of his belt pouches and the saddlebags he'd pulled off Buggsy. Nate should be able to manage sitting down. Really, Anders more suspects his husband will be trying to be active, hence the seeking support. He doesn't have the time to convince Nate to rest. Not if he wants to cure him.

There's a clearing of a throat nearby and Anders looks up to find three blond Wardens there. There are no demons present, there's no red lyrium, and they hadn't attacked, which means he's holding up a hand to suggest everyone be calm. They're mostly watching Nate, the two men and the woman, rather than the rest, which makes sense. They know the danger there.

"We have to cure him," Anders says, almost asks. They need this place to work safely. They can't go back outside and work. Now the Wardens' gazes take in the party and the three bend their heads together for a minute before the man steps forward.

"I'm Ernst," he says quietly. "These are Helmut and Birgitte. We'll... we'll help, if you'd like, but you have to help us in return. It's not safe for Wardens around here. The, the others..."

Birgitte clears her throat. "We'll help. I'll show someone where to get water. But you have to share what you find, or get us out of here. That's the condition."

Anders nods, as if he has the authority to agree to anything.

[pinprick]

Which, fortunately, Nathaniel does. Though pale and clearly in the throes of his Calling, he keeps his composure and nods at them, squinting because of the loss of vision.

"If you need to escape," he says a little louder than usual, to hear himself over the Calling, "I promise you will be given safe passage and harbor. If you want to be cured, we cannot guarantee success. But I agree to your terms."

This is all provided, of course, that the Calling doesn't prove as deadly as the Joining. On paper, it doesn't seem like it would be--no known poisons are involved, as darkspawn blood is--but it will burn the corruption from Nathaniel's blood, separating two things that were not meant to be separated. Anything can go wrong. There is a very good chance...

Nathaniel reaches for Anders' hand and gives him a brief smile. Anders is more important than he is right now. Anders has a good chance of being left behind without him, with these moments in the forefront of his mind. Nathaniel may not have a future, but Anders is guaranteed one. Nathaniel will do nothing to make this more traumatic for him than it must be.

Except die.

Probably.

[chainlightning]

It isn't her place to agree or disagree to demands, and so Merrill doesn't. She keeps her hands busy instead, helping unpack what supplies they do have that might be needed for this. She keeps a wary eye on Nathaniel, then on the other Wardens, then the door - if they're attacked now, she's going to be very upset.