it takes strength to live this way

[qunari]

WHO: Iron Bull and OPEN
WHAT: General summary of events during the end of the month. Drinking, fighting, more drinking, maybe a little flirting.
WHEN: Mid-to-late Wintermarch
WHERE: All over the damn place. Mostly the tavern and sparring ring, though.
NOTES: n/a

He was starting to feel a little restless. By now, the boss would have taken them all out on some exploit or another, and even if he was glad to be at Skyhold again? Sitting idle could grate on the nerves a bit.

The best way to counter that seemed to be throwing down in the training ring just outside the tavern, taking on all comers as well as training those that seemed of a mind to ask. Cullen had most of his people following their own regime, but if they wanted a swing at something else? He wouldn’t refuse them. Not everyone fought like a templar.

The rest of the time, Bull made himself easy to find. Easy to avoid, too, if that was the preference of some. And he knew it was, from the glimpsed he’d gotten of the Vashoth inside the keep. But it was no hardship holding court inside the comfort of the tavern, indulging heavily in drinks and working his way down the menu of available meals and snacks.

It was business as usual, for the most part. Even if he did feel a little more restless than usual. Had to find a way to get out, hit something that really had it coming.

Or find someone to pass the evening with. That might help.

Comments

[qunari]

"Feel like I'm getting spoiled," Bull countered with a snort, leaning forward. Drinks being bought for him general meant they wanted something, a tumble or a favor at the top of the list. Not the feeling he was getting of the elf, though, at least not right away.

Interesting markings, too. There was a story there, without question.

"So, what's the occasion?" he continued, scarred brow arching over the eyepatch.

[aggregiopavali]

"Qunari in the south are not all that common, well - staying in one place. Last time I saw it was in Kirkwall," he said with a shrug. "Especially so many who speak common well. I was... curious." At least he was being honest in his curiosity.

[qunari]

"Kirkwall. Yeah. Place was a real shit-show from what I heard. Folks back home weren't too happy about that."

Bull snorted, shaking his head. Bit of an understatement. Riling up the Free Marches was the last thing they wanted, with what was being planned for the long haul. But that was neither here nor there.

"You wouldn't be the first. But I'm not the first Qunari you've had a chat with. Back north?" he guessed, crooked an eyebrow higher.

[aggregiopavali]

"Ben-Hassrath," he surmised, with a sharp nod. The spies that worked throughout Thedas. He wasn't altogether surprised he'd been made so quickly. They were good, by all accounts. "And yes, I spent some time in Seheron, about ten years ago." It wasn't a secret - that could be found out easily.

[qunari]

Bull made a low noise, not quite disapproval. "So did I. Trying to keep the peace. You know about how well that usually goes, in Seheron."

Anyone who'd been there knew what an uphill battle that was, how tense things remained even when the streets were quiet. Most agents only last a few years there before giving up, being broken, or dying. No place for anyone to live, the way things were now.

[aggregiopavali]

Given that Fenris had spent time on Seheron in the company of Fog Warriors... he knew only too well. But he suspected that that wouldn't go down too well. "Well, I was sad to leave Seheron." Truth. He left in Danarius' company after he'd tracked down his missing slave, back into a life he'd been desperate to escape from.

[qunari]

An eyebrow cocked. "Yeah?" Only a couple of reasons for that. Life in Seheron was Hell, even for the civilians neutral to the war going on around them. The most obvious reason seems the most likely.

Elf with fancy magic-looking tattoos? Slave. Had to be.

"Don't hear that often." Which is all he really plans to offer on that. It's not a subject he really likes delving into all that often, not of his own volition.

[aggregiopavali]

Fenris had never hidden that he was a slave. Elf from Tevinter? The chances were high at that point, never mind the tattoos. He wore his former slavery like a badge. "No, I suppose not," he said with a faint laugh. "But then, you don't find many Qunari down south who admit to having been there."

[qunari]

"Most Qunari you find down here are Tal-Vashoth. And most of them aren't interested in conversation."

Most of them were just interested in their own personal freedoms, free of the Qun and content to run rampant, acting like savages. There were a few that curbed that urge without the Qun, but even then...

"So. What brought you to the Inquisition, after all that?"

[aggregiopavali]

Which made a lot of sense. In Kirkwall, where the Arishok held sway over the Qunari there, they were under control. The rest... well, it fitted in.

But of course the implication was that this one was not Tal-Vashoth, a fact that was even more interesting.

"Friends of mine are here." That was what was keeping him here. Isabela, Zevran, even Varric. All were good reason to keep him here.

[qunari]

"Just following them? Good a reason as any."

Yeah, there are all sorts of implications for Fenris to chew on, if he cares to. Bull's not really of the mind that this guy is going to be an issue to anyone who isn't a Tevinter mage, at least not immediately.

Former slaves always have their triggers, though. Comes with the territory. Spend that much time under someone's thumb and you're a barrel of gaatlok waiting for a spark. Might want to warn Dorian.

[aggregiopavali]

"It wasn't intentional, but it is an added bonus." Though he'd yet to track down Varric, though he always preferred the company of Isabela. At least they understood each other. "I've spent most of my time lately hunting down slavers." And yes, most of them came from Tevinter, unsurprisingly.

Fenris' triggers were deep seated, and most of the time he never knew what was going to set him off - other than Tevinter mages. Luckily he hadn't seen any yet...

[qunari]

There was a rumbling sound that could have been approval, there. Pieces were starting to come together about the elf, forming a bigger picture. "You're in luck, there. As many Vint assholes as we run into on a regular basis, your chances of finding slavers in the mix are pretty good. No one here's gonna miss them, that's for damn sure."

The corner of his lips crooked upwards.

[aggregiopavali]

He gave a savage grin back at Bull. "It's been a busy time, yes," he agreed. He'd killed so many before heading to Skyhold, but he was now itching to get out and take down some more. "I call it my civic duty."

[qunari]

"Well, here's to civic duty, then."

Bull snorts, amused in truth now, before lifting his cup in mock-salute before taking another swig.

"Pretty ballsy of them to start moving their operations this far south, though. Venatori at their back must make them feel safer."

[aggregiopavali]

Fenris raised his cup in salute back, smirking slightly at Bull.

"It makes you wonder what they are up to." Because it was ballsy. The south was so anti-slavery, there had to be an ulterior motive. Maybe they were put up to it.

[qunari]

"Slavers usually only have coin to consider. It's not what they're up to, that never changes. You can trust them to be the same scumbags they always are. It's why. For whom."

He's already given it thought, decided he doesn't like any of the reasons he can come up with. But if they cut them off mid-trade, it won't matter.

"Interested in looking into it?" he adds after a moment, eyebrow arching.

[aggregiopavali]

Well. Now that definitely was interesting. Killing slavers was all very well, but getting to the bottom of why they were flooding the south, other than easy pickings in the aftermath of the Mage/Templar conflict? That certainly had merit as an idea.

"Yes." Why prevaricate? He wanted to know, and there was an option to find out. Simple as that.

[qunari]

"Good. So am I."

And leaning a little on someone's grudges wasn't outside his willingness to do. Fenris would obviously benefit from having something to do besides sit around and look pretty.

Not that he didn't do an admirable job of that.

"I'll mention it to Red. See if we can't drum up enough of a reason to go marching on those assholes. Sound like a good time to you?"

[aggregiopavali]

Fenris had a good grasp on why this Qunari might want to look into something like that, but he wasn't too proud to want to tag along. Maker knows he was bored with all the focus on the Emprise right now.

"Always a good reason and time to hunt down slavers. I could happily make it my life's work." And he was, for the most part.