What Can One Grey Warden Do?

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WHO: Hercules, Jamie, Kain, Rachette, Alistair, Kaidan, Bethany, Dorian, Anders, and Nathaniel.
WHAT: The ambush and capture of Lord Livius Erimond
WHEN: Drakonis 4
WHERE: The Western Approach
NOTES: Info on this post. Feel free to start your own mingle threads for the journey there and back. Warning for violence.

It doesn't really rain here. The skies are blue and the sun is glaring, the sands shifting only when a merciful breeze blazes through, which isn't often. It's hardest on Team D, which has no shade or shelter. The other two teams are tucked away in the shadows, impossible to see as Erimond's party enters the gorge.

They had seen the demons from afar, Nathaniel peering through a spyglass. There are eight of them, each bound to a mage, and Nathaniel has chosen to continue with the plan, though he has urged everyone not to try to fight, only to push through with the plan as-is and get out. They are all very much outnumbered, but all they need to do is take one man.

So stay hydrated and move quickly, team. Anything can happen in the next few minutes.

[OOC: I will tag into each team thread as the action reaches each team. Feel free to mingle on team threads before then and react to the action in other threads. Also, please start your own threads for travel mingling, if you want that sort of thing. This will keep everything organized for everyone's AC purposes.]

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The Rendezvous Point

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Team S and Team D will arrive first, with Team C right behind them. Erimond is captured and unconscious; various minor and major wounds abound.

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Nathaniel slides off his horse, staggers under a small tree, and sits down hard, face grey and drawn in pain. Anders has stopped the worst of the bleeding, but the wound is still fairly open and causing agony. There might be hairline fractures in the largest bone of his arm, he's not sure. Everything is pain. He curls against the tree and does not care that his plan was successful; the whole world has reduced to the size of his body. He's done.

[liberalum]

Black smoke is thick and rising in the air, marking where the scuffle had been. Scorched earth, air rippling with heat. A wall of magically burning flame is a good deterrent against pursuit, and also serves to flag the final team's inevitable arrival, a little belated.

Dorian made it out alright, all things considered. His own magical energy somewhat low, manifesting as a spiritual kind of haggardness, although that could just be the effect of the Western Approach in general. But it's a lively kind of exhaustion, raw-boned and adrenalised while he catches his breath. There's a streak of crimson cutting a refined rivulet from his scratchy jaw down along his neck, smearing at where his robe begins.

His eyes are very bright and he brings with him a gusting smell of storm and fire, but a dimness sets in as he starts to count heads with a zigzagging gaze.

[wontforgetyou]

Things could be worse for Jamie. True, there's some scorch marks on his armor and a line of angry-looking blisters across his throat, and he'd be lying if he said it didn't hurt, but all in all, he's lucky, and a part of him knows that. Some of the others haven't been, however, and there's a grim set to his mouth and a certain tightness to his jaw that could be interpreted as pain, but in reality has nothing whatsoever to do with his injuries.

He's hanging back somewhat as they approach, mostly to make sure that Kain doesn't wind up pitching off his horse along the way. Once he gets to a point where he can dismount, he does so quickly and quietly, not saying anything but putting himself in a place where he can offer Kain a hand down should he need it. His attention is split, however, eyes going back and forth between the warrior and the way they've come, the faint flicker of hope that appears as he looks back starting to dim somewhat as more time passes.

[dragoon_pride]

It definitely could have gone even worse, and he knows it, even as the frustration is evident in Kain’s posture the whole way as they make their escape. The worst injury is to his leg, aside from that it’s just minor burns from all the magic that was being flung around. He feels weary and a bit weakened… though Anders’ healing spared him from worse, stopped him from bleeding out. He’s definitely holding on tightly, ever wary of the animal he’s riding… why can’t they have sensible animals like giant birds to ride?... but at least there isn’t trouble on the way back.

“Should have gone back…” he grumbles, mainly disappointed in himself despite knowing they’d had virtually no choice at the time. He hesitates, but then accepts Jamie’s help to dismount, taking care in how he gets off and keeping his weight on the good leg, using the long pole of his lance as a support of sorts. “...Thank you.” He sighs. There wasn’t much they could do but… they’d had no choice. The guilt is there anyway.

[justice_is_blond]

As soon as he's off his horse he's kneeling by Nathaniel and getting to work in earnest, but every new arrival has him looking up and assessing their injuries too. Dorian gets a frown - the man is upright but there are definitely injuries Anders will need to see to after the urgent ones - and Jamie and Kain get a wave over. There's far more to do there.

"Just breathe, Nate," he says quietly before raising his voice. "Kain, can you get over here? Or somewhere comfortable. I'll see to you next."

At least it looks like they haven't been followed, though they've paid quite the price for that. Anders doesn't look pleased because he isn't. Herc had saved his life, and Anders had been told to leave Herc behind to die.

"And I'll help anyone else who would like it after that." Who he is shouldn't stop the desire for healing, and the wounds he sees are ugly and need attention, but there's always that chance.

His attention shifts back to where Nate's been pierced, now, and he works to bring the flesh back together and ease battered nerve endings into some sort of restfulness.

[sistertohermen]

It's almost better that they didn't try to fight the massive demon in the condition people are in. Rachette had watched the team's back, watching Herc and the giant terror demon disappear into the gorge. But it makes her upset. She seems to be one of the least hurt, which normally is a sign of a job well done, but she wonders if it makes her look like she hasn't done enough.

"We can go back for him," she insists. "Whoever is able--we have what we came for, and now with some patching up and a full assault, we can go back."

[byblow]

Alistair doesn't dismount, tight one-handed hold on his horse's reins keeping the animal restrained to kicking up sand in a slow, agitated circle around the congregating group. He's standing in the stirrups even now that they've come to a rest, because Erimond is slung across horse's back in front of him, limp as a ragdoll, and sitting down properly would mean holding the bastard on his lap. He'd rather not.

"Go back for who?" he says, but his eyes have finished scanning and counting before he's done asking the question.

His shoulders would have sagged if they'd lost anyone, but they sag a little extra, for Hercules.

[liberalum]

"Hansen."

Dorian can see that Alistair has done the math and says it anyway, making eye contact before he drops a look down to the flopping form of Erimond, and then to Rachette. "Venhedis," he curses. Of all the Wardens, it had to be one he'd specifically intended to see back to Skyhold, and he doesn't even know Hercules.

He knows Benevenuta. He stops leaning on his staff, volunteering silent, clear in his posture. He is among those who constitute as 'able'. "There isn't time to lose. If we can get them while they're still scrambling--"

[wontforgetyou]

Anders' gesture hasn't gone unnoticed, and he glances over at Kain for a second before motioning over in the mage's direction and starting to slowly head that way. However, he makes sure to stick close by Kain so that the other man can lean on him however he needs to, figuring it's better to be around for that until they can get over to a place where Anders can see about fixing that leg. Dorian has a point, though, and even though he doesn't pause in what he's doing, he gives a a brief nod, more or less agreeing with what's been said.

"Aye, catch them while they're on the move and there'd be a chance."

Likely they'd still be expecting something - they'd be daft not to, as far as he's concerned - but hitting them before they have a chance to get to where they're going would make a rescue easier. In theory, anyway, and his eyes flick over to Alistair, his chin lifting as he gestures in the general direction of the unconscious form still slung over the other man's horse.

"What about him, though? We can't bring him with us. That's just asking for them to rescue him."

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"Take Rachette," Nathaniel says in a daze to no one in particular. "Rachette and three others. The rest of us will wait here for you. If you can't save Herc, don't sacrifice more lives trying or taking revenge. He understands. You have an hour."

[dragoon_pride]

There's a moment wherein Kain attempts doing without the support, but that doesn't go so well, so he leans on Jamie as he heads over toward Anders. He takes a seat nearby and stretches out his leg with a grimace so that the healer can see to it. But he's patient, knowing it looks like Nathaniel needs the healing more first. He's eager to get back out there, but the whole situation doesn't look good. Is it worth the trade off, losing one of their own in exchange for Erimond?

"I'm able... or I can be." Or... close enough to it? Ugh. It doesn't feel too great at the moment... but really if he can get rid of the worst of the pain, he's all for trying.

[justice_is_blond]

"Neither Kain nor Nate are able." He gives the former a sharp glance before looking around the group and assessing. Everyone else, at least, is upright on their own. "Anyone who thinks they might slow the others down due to a need for healing should withdraw their name. My focus will have to be on Herc as he was already injured. We need people who can stand upright and fight."

He straightens up from where he's been kneeling and looks over at Kain with a frown. There's no time. At least both Nate and Kain are stable and won't slip away. Herc's in more danger.

"I'm clearly able." In the end, it's all Kaidan's call as he's senior Warden, but he's said his piece.