MOD PLOT ↠ NONE TO RETURN

[faderifting]

WHO: All characters signed up to participate in the Battle of Ghislain
WHAT: The Inquisition regroups and heads home
WHEN: Covers the period immediately post-battle (11.28) through the journey back to Kirkwall (11.29-12.1)
WHERE: North of Montfort, Orlais, and on the road to Val Chevin
NOTES: This is Post #2, covering the immediate aftermath of the battle and the journey back to Kirkwall. It's a free-for-all. Post #1 covers the battle itself. More info on the OOC post.

The Inquisition and Orlesian armies eventually limp to a halt along the Imperial Highway north of Montfort, where wide fields and gentle hills offer clear lines of sight and a sparsely equipped fortress provides some shelter and fortification. It's a soundly strategic location—if Ghislain is lost, Montfort is the last major city between the invaders and Val Royeaux—but among the rank and file there may be too much chaos to appreciate it.

For the remainder of the day and well into the night, the fortress and surrounding land are a frenzy of activity. The wounded who were not left on the field must be triaged and tended to with limited supplies, while many healers and surgeons out of commission themselves and the remainder worked to the bone. Scouts, soldiers, and even support staff in sturdy enough condition to keep working may be tasked with assembling camp from the few remaining supplies, taking reports on known casualties or acquired intelligence, or further fortifying the new location. The Orlesian army sends one of its battered cavalry units toward Ghislain to attempt to provide some warning, and from the Inquisition's number a few patrols are sent back toward the battlefield or toward Ghislain, with stern orders not to re-engage, only to watch for signs of pursuit, and to direct any stragglers.

Those who remain in the fortress are in for a long, miserable night, with meager rations and makeshift bedding, if any of either, while the wind shifts directions and grows colder. By morning a number of the wounded have died, but attempts to build a pyre are hampered by the sudden swell of a storm that starts with freezing rain and then transitions to early and unpredicted thick, heavy snow.

For a few hours that morning the two armies attempt business as normal, but it soon becomes clear that the storm is getting stronger, and they risk being snowed in with more people than they can feed. Many, including the Inquisition's Gallows contingent, are ordered to disperse. Many crowd into wagons, with any transportable wounded receiving further attention en route and neighbors hunching close to preserve heat whether they like one another or not, while those able to do so follow on foot or horseback over the rough, flash-frozen highway toward Montfort and then west toward Val Chevin. The storm doesn't abate until they've nearly reached the city, but once there they're able to stop, eat, and spend a few hours indoors thawing out before proceeding home.

Comments

[doneisdone]

Steady boy, don't drown yourself.

[She holds the flask for nearly as long as he wants it, but has to pull it back eventually-- she doesn't have a lot to go around, and can't go giving it all to one person.]

Anything else you're wanting?

[in_death_sacrifice]

[Ah, yes, he probably shouldn't have let himself get so carried away. He's just not in a very normal state of mind, his emotions overall very strained. He lets his hand fall back to his side, letting out a long, slow breath.]

News of the field? The status of our fellow Wardens overall? Any word about what we're to do next?

[Of course, he'll go for what's most practical first. With some drink in him he at least feels better, though, and really he'll take any improvement he can get at this point.]

[doneisdone]

They all want us bloody dead again, which shouldn't come as a surprise. [There's levity in her voice, but it's strained.]

Alistair took an arrow, so did I. Both will live. Inessa and Anders are busying themselves with the healing, though not without taking a scuff or two themselves.

[Pausing, she goes to scoop a cup of water from the nearest barrel, holding it toward Kain's lips and tilting it when he's ready.]

We're in deep shite, lad.

[in_death_sacrifice]

They're... you're... we're all alive. That's something.

[But Kain sounds very somber overall. On the one hand, he's glad to hear that they've all survived, and with treatable injuries at that. Sure, it's going to be a while before they're all back up to speed, but it's better than the alternative. It could have been even worse.]

[But it could have been better, too, and he can't stop dwelling on the negatives. She's right, of course. Even if certain individuals among them are well enough... they're still very fucked over, on the whole.]

[He opens his mouth, slipping gratefully at the water, taking in all he can and carefully gulping it down.]

It sounds like... [He makes a face, disappointed in the one action that seems viable right now. They don't have much choice, though.] ...retreat is probably inevitable at this point.

[doneisdone]

Inevitable, [the word yields a grim smile,] what do you think we're doing right now?

[They're loaded up, they're traveling, tails between their legs as they creep back toward Kirkwall.]

[in_death_sacrifice]

[Kain sighs wearily. She's right, of course, though some part of him just wishes they had it in them to stay and fight, or at least send out those who are capable at the moment. But he knows that's just a foolish fancy, he knows better with the odds so against them right now.]

Right, of course. I guess I can't stop thinking... was this bound to happen, or should we have done something differently, taken some other tactic... did we ever even have a chance?

[doneisdone]

I don't know, lad.

[She's been having such thoughts herself, and doesn't know that there will be an answer to them anytime soon, if ever.]

I suppose, once we've regrouped, we can know the answer.

[in_death_sacrifice]

And that regrouping will take a considerable amount of time, undoubtedly. We need to finish our retreat, return to Kirkwall, and then... figure it out from there. We have a long road ahead of us.

[This battle may be over, but its aftermath will be felt for a while yet to come. He isn't looking forward to that. The recovery part always feels like it takes too long.]