Dream and Idea

[judgemewhole]

WHO: Norrington and You
WHAT: Norrington and the Seven dwarves Templars arrive at Skyhold
WHEN: Beginning the 3rd week of Haring
WHERE: Skyhold
NOTES: Warnings for the Chant of Light. Because Templars.

Night had fallen on Skyhold when the guards at the gate spotted seven soldiers mounted on horses, with another driving a car behind them, riding across the stone bridge to Skyhold proper. The call-out did not occur until the watchman on duty spotted the templar armor. The templars in Skyhold were many, but not so many that the watchmen didn't know who they were dealing with.

When they arrived at the gates, the man in front dismounted, and with a promptness that surprised the gate guards, gave them travel papers and proper identification. The man was clearly weary - his green eyes were red-rimmed with exhaustion, but he held himself up right and straight.

The guards sent word ahead, to anyone who might be up and still in charge, and then opened the gates to let the templars in. They pointed them to the well, and to the stables, while they got someone to ... well.

They didn't look like red templars. Were they rogues? Were they spies? They were watched quite carefully.

For their part, the templars themselves seemed rather subdued. Taking care of their mounts, talking amongst themselves. Except the tall, dark haired man with sharp green eyes. He muttered something to the red-headed templar, before starting to walk around Skyhold itself. It was clear the man was looking to get the lay of the land.

...Or perhaps to figure out just what the hell he had gotten himself into.

Who was to say it could not be both?

Comments

[dairsmuid]

Elian's face changes at malcontents. It isn't a very big change; he's largely impassive, displaying little more than placid curiosity, but his eyebrows pinch a fraction of a fraction of an inch inward. But he doesn't comment on that.

"I'm sorry," he says--for the loss of their Knight Commander and First Enchanter, though that isn't so rare--and looks back down at the half-formed practice dummy splayed at his feet. "Did you find them?"

[judgemewhole]

The man did not seem to have much of a facial expression, but he could see the way that his eyebrows seemed to move. Yet that could have simply been a trick of the light. Still the same impassive movements.

"No. One day I will find the mage who took their lives -- and they will face justice." He looked off then, his jaw tightening. "It is my last duty to both of them."

[dairsmuid]

"This isn't a bad place to look," Elian says, with a crook of a smile that's just as subtle as the earlier eyebrow pinch. "They're everywhere."

Some are more worrisome than others. Elian doesn't mind the mages who came here for shelter and sanctuary, but he still hasn't managed to reconcile his trust in the Herald with her decision to bring in the First Enchanter and her rebels. Maybe if she hadn't wasted time there, more of the Templars from Theirinfal Redoubt would be here.

After a moment, in the interest of not being mysterious, he adds, "I was in the Order, in Rivain. Some of us came for the Conclave."

[judgemewhole]

"No... no it is not. I am not hoping to find anyone who has, in fact, heard of this particular mage." He stated, with a grim sort of look on his face. "However, I will not press it until ... things have calmed down. Until we have more of a grasp on Corpheyus himself."

He paused at that, before his expression sobered, "Ah, you were one of the souls at Dairsmuid, then?" He had heard how native they had all become, how they stood and fought, how the Rite of Annulment had been called. "You have since left the Order, then?"

[dairsmuid]

"I have joined the Inquisition."

An important distinction, for him—that he didn't abandon anything, only joined something else. Important because he has to convince himself of it, like he hadn't been looking for an excuse since Dairsmuid.

"The others died in the explosion. My Knight-Commander. Everyone else was with the Lord Seeker." He nudges the dummy with his foot, uncomfortably. Everyone else is his friends. Sister. "And we lost more at Haven. I'm glad more are coming."

[judgemewhole]

Something in Norrington loosened - they would not take on anyone they could not handle here, could not trust.

"As have I, and my men. So welcome, brother... or I suppose, you should be welcoming us. As you are the one with the hands on experience."

He paused, his expression grave once more, "My deepest sympathies then, for the loss of your dead brothers and sisters." Those who had died in the explosion -- and Ah. Suddenly his expression made sense. "I spoke in anger before, about those with the Lord Seeker. I do not respect their decision, but I apologize if I insulted you. They are still your friends ... but you must know, they may not be for much longer."

Now there is a thought. "Will they listen to you, ser? Would they come and join us in the Inquisition, if you spoke to them?"