faderift | I dream of gardens in the desert sand

WHO: Rachette Dakal, Salvatore, Dismas, Clint Barton, Fenris, and a couple of NPC redshirts
WHAT: Scout the Western Approach
WHEN: After leaving the Emprise du Lion group past the Frostbacks
WHERE: Western Approach, aka video game desert, near Griffon Wing Keep
NOTES: Violence, needless redshirt death (maybe), bickering

a. On the approach
Tracking the Wardens from the Highway to the desert, playing pretend as mere merchants and fellow travelers along the way. Possibly gaining some gossip as to the whereabouts of the Wardens. When they finally get there, it's clear Venatori are about.

b. Cave and cliffs
Setting up camp. A Tevinter palace in the cliffs! (Guarded by Venatori. Who wants to try and sneak it?) More Venatori behind an extremely suspicious and extremely unbreakable door in the cliffside. Hanging out in their cave and exploring it. Mines, resources, places to map and scout.

c. Griffon Wing Keep
Scouting it out. Watching the Wardens. Hopefully able to get close enough to get some idea of what they're up to without tipping them off. Watching them start to leave for the Fortress. Hmmm, suspicious!

d. Margot
A young Warden recruit on the run, stumbling on the group. Please let her go with you and away from all these blood sacrifices! (And possibly blow the mission by tipping off the Wardens!)

e. Scouting and trouble
Sulfur pits, ugh. Also, dragons. Or singular dragon. Look, there is a dragon somewhere around here, you're sure of it. Resources! Mapping! Getting food and water please it's a desert it sucks it's dangerous. Venatori stumbling on the group--what do?

f. Wildcard
For all your None Of The Above needs.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

B.

He has sand in places sand should never be. But that’s okay. Because this is amazing. Exciting. They are camping in a cave. He takes a break from setting up to dump the sand from his boots, then pulls out a little notebook he’s been jotting notes in periodically since they’ve left Skyhold. In the back is a rough sketch of a map of Thedas. He marks an X over the Western Approach. The novelty of being a new place will wear off soon, but for now he’s awestruck.

C.

So that was Griffon Wing Keep. Even from a distance, it was intimidating. Salvatore thought so, anyway. Who designed that thing? As if a fortress full of Grey Wardens wasn’t threat enough. The giant spikes were overkill, really.

“Who wants to get closer?”

"We need to know what they're up to." It's not hissed, not really, but there's still a serious undercurrent of steel in Rachette's tone, focused on the objective in her mind. "Just be mindful that they don't catch you wandering about in the open."

"Yeah. Right." There was an unfortunate amount of out in the open surrounding the keep. "Think we could up those rocks on its backside without being noticed?"

"I think I can." Maybe that sounded haughty, but she felt it to be true. "Whether you think your skills are up to the task is in your hands." She waits only a beat before slinking on the move. They could take a wide way to the back, and even if they were spotted from a distance, with as many Venatori about as there are, they might just be ignored.

"Only one way to find out." There's a first time for everything, right? She's already on the move, so she might miss his grin as he follows a few steps behind. His staff makes for a good walking stick on the uneven ground. "Do you smell smoke?"

"And something else." She sniffs at the air as they move, face scrunched up. "Something like meat?" They do have a good number of mouths to feed. "Or blood." To be fair, she's more used to smelling the decaying blood of darkspawn, but there's still something in the air that could either be innocuous or...something else."

"There's a comfort." Not one with a whole lot of experience with various degrees of smoke-meat-burning flesh-smell, he nods along with an agreeable hum. He would note that it didn't smell like a usual roast a critter over a fire-fire. The plume of smoke curling up from behind the walls seemed too large to be from a cookfire as well, even one for a large army. Too ominous. More so when they come around their wide circle and start to make their way closer to the back of the fortress.

She stays as low, small, yet swift as she can manage. For a dwarf, that's not terribly difficult. But rather than barge in, even through the back, probably dying in the process, she holds up behind whatever rock gives her some cover, peering around it for any more details. "These people, they burn their dead, don't they?" Could it be some giant funeral pyre? It's an option, even if it's an optimistic one.

Sal is not as small as a dwarf, but he's not big either. He has to crouch down to utilize the rocks, and hey, his cloak is nearly the same shade, so that's convenient. "I think so. I think that may be what this is." All signs point to yes. But why so many bodies?

Strange surface rituals. Human rituals. But to each their own. She can't imagine not being taken back to the Stone, but then again...well, according to everyone she knew, the Stone isn't going to accept her anymore. Maybe she might as well burn.

She shakes that thought out of her head. "Surely they can't have so many dead. They are meant to be quite fierce warriors." Her nose wrinkles. "Are there any other rituals that might be happening? Could they be a sacrifice...?"

I dream of gardens in the desert sand

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