Dragon Age: Pony Origins (Private)

[Cainiam]

Gossan felt a tug at his arm as something held him back. His head snapped to the offender, thinking it another attacker, but then he saw it was just Grymrose's shadow. He wasn't sure why she would even attempt to stop him, and his mind could only focus on the target squirming and shrieking beneath him. He was about to shake her off when another voice told him to stop. He looked over to see the Soldier shouting something. He couldn't focus properly. Rationality was trying to break through, but stopping the rage mid-combat was a challenge. He had to focus, forget what he saw in the deep roads, focus on the happier thoughts, happier times. Visions of his wife and the time they spent together flashed past his mind's eye.

He closed his eyes and took in a deep breath. When he opened them again. his ferocious snarl was replaced with a vision of calmness. His sense of logic returned, and with it the fact there was a sword in his back, and an arrow too. He grunted in sudden pain as he almost collapsed there and then, but after a brief stumble he was back in control. He looked at Broken, then Cold, then the pony they were so desperate to save. She was young, sure, but so were all the others. They had all paid the ultimate price for attacking them. What made this one special? Even without his rage, logic was in agreement that the best course of action was to kill her, but logic also deferred to the Wardens. He would spare her if ordered, but he had a question first. "Why? Why her?" he growled.

[Shadowbolt0]

Midnight waited, she hoped her flask had worked, but she honestly doubted it would have killed the Warden. Wardens were legendary, and if that simple to kill one...

That's right when she came out of the Smoke, blades swinging. Midnight kept track of them, but if she went straight up against them, she'd get torn apart. She leapt back (Active: Evade), at the same time, she looked around her. Pike was dead, the ambush team had been slaughtered and it was only a matter of time until they took her down.

She had to flee, not happy about it, but she knew where she headed to get back to Redcliff. That would give her time, time was her greatest ally..But not yet.

Having given herself some distance, she again, raised her crossbow and fired another bolt at almost point blank range, before picking up some dirt and throwing it at the Warden (Active: Dirty Fighting) and sliding on the ground, raising her blades and going, not for the Wardens face, but their chest.

[Dabom444]

Broken was in a panic, she knew that the Dog would throw her off and gut Delilah with ease. She shook her head over and over as she held his arm. Then Cold came to her side and told him to back down as well.

With this the dog seemed to calm down and come back from his rage. Her pulse seemed to dampen and she managed to swallow to reply to him. "Because how are we any better than those that attacked us? We cant be fighting eachother like this! There is one problem here and its the Blight! The fight is over! Let her go!" She said quickly ammasing her response and blinked. "I know she worked for them but she sees the error of her ways and deserves another chance!" She squeaked and squeezed his arm. "Please...." she whispered.

Delilah lay on her back shivering and whimpering. "Im sorry! I...I messed up! I saw what you did to the others and i beg of you to please find it in your heart to let me live....You wont have anymore problems from me....." She squeaked and looked up at the others. She began to slowly stand, showing her hooves the whole time as to not cause problems.

Broken looked at her then to the others. "I wont ask anything else from you all...i wont....Just dont kill her...."

[Hundashter]

Clover was about to speak when the large diamond dog came over, blind rage apparent on his face as he seemingly intended to end the mares life right there. Sky cried out to him to little effect, and Cold came to stand defiantly before him in the mares defense. All the while Clover wondered why, and then her question was also shared by the dog. She came up beside him and looked down at the mare to get a better look at her.

She had been injured terribly, but Sky had healed it to the best of her ability, though the mare would still be blind in one eye. The other eye was fearfully darting from pony to pony to dog to pony in an erratic fashion. Clover caught its gaze and the mare flinched at the sight of her, and Clover did the same as she realized what could happen should the mare escape. She had seen her face, the face of an apostate, the face of an escaped mage, the face of a killer.

Clover listened to the pleas of Sky and the mare, then gulped and spoke up. ​" I question it too. I understand that taking the life of one so young is terrible, but she chose to sign on with this band of madponies and try to kill fighters who's skills are legendary. If she would do such a thing for glory, or revenge, or coin once, then what is to stop her from doing it again? And even if she does keep her word and doesn't attempt to assault us again, what's to stop her from giving our descriptions to another group? "

She sighed shakily and swallowed again. " As such, I believe I may have a solution that will benefit all of us...well, most of us. " She gave the mare a sad look then said in a quiet voice. " Cut out her tongue. That way, she can never tell another of our descriptions. It is better than death, and safer for us all. "

She sighed then turned away after casting a healing spell on the diamond dog who's name she still did not know. " I have said my peace, it is up to you to decide her fate. " She then realized there was still a fight going on as she heard the sound of a crossbow being fired. She began to gallop in the direction she'd heard it from and came upon the sight of Grym battling with the assassin mare that had inspired her speech. Setting her sights on teh pony, she began rapidly filling the air with arrows, all oft hem directed at the mare. (power active: rapid shot )

[SunlightHeart]

Her strike missed due to a well timed dodge on her enemy's part. The mare was a lot more flighty than she expected; a minor inconvenience. She thought she had distance, but at such a paltry range, Grym's powerful legs easily put brought her back within range. Before she could swing though, a crossbow was leveled at her. At this distance she could see exactly where the bolt would be going and in a gambit, raised the broad side of her black blade to intercept the incoming projectile. It pinged off her weapon as if it were nothing more than a bead, however, in avoiding the shot, she left herself open to the hoof full of dirt chucked into her face. She snorted and almost stopped to wipe her eyes, but that was what her opponent wanted; no, she'd charge through the temporary blindness.

Her vision cleared just in time to see the glint of her foe's blades coming at her. This was her chance, the assassin had screwed up. By lashing out in melee, she put herself right where Grym wanted her. Her body twisted gracefully; just enough to avoid her sword, but she still took the dagger to her shoulder as planned. She locked gazes with her opponent, her eyes filled with bloodlust and her smirk masking any pain that she was in. The archer's weapon was lodged in her, she was in swords reach, and her blades were primed above the bat mare's head. With but a thought her blades and horn glowed burgundy(Power Activated: Devour) as she commanded guided them on a course that would plunge them into the mare's back legs.

[Dabom444]

Broken's Eyes shrunk more. "You want to cut out her tounge!?" She squeaked as her eyes blinked at Clover in disbelief. Before she could say much else the mare had torn off.

Broken shook her head and squeaked again. "No! That is to terrible of a choice!! Please dont!"

-Broken Dissaproves -5

[Shadowbolt0]

Getting her blade into the Wardens shoulder, Midnight felt a sense of victory, this wasn't her normal style, but how hard could it honestly be? That's when she saw the Wardens smirk, and in the moment of horror, she realized she'd underestimated her, and now she was going to pay the price. The horn glowing, and the position of them were pointing at her back legs!

If Midnight got his there, she knew she would be a gonna, she had mere seconds to react, but she knew what she was going to do. She destroyed a flask on her uniform, one she'd made for a special occasion. She shut her eyes and held her breath and within a few seconds, the flask did its magic.

A loud banging noise, along with black smoke pouring out of it straight into her face, and that of her opponent. Normally, she'd throw it, but if she did, she'd lose her legs.

One of the many materials in this flask was a form of neuro-toxin, that would, in theory at least, blind what it attacked. She had no idea if that was true, not wanting to find out. With the cover of darkness, she flipped her legs to the side, meaning if the Warden attacked, she'd miss.

Ripping her blade out of her with as much force as she could, she knew it was time to ditch. She ran out of the fog, flared her wings and took off into the sky. Mere seconds after taking off, she felt something tear into her shoulder, turning to see an arrow in her right shoulder. Keeping the scream hidden, she flew north west, headed back to Red-cliff, blood ozing out of her shoulder.

[SunlightHeart]

Right as her blades were about to make contact, she burst a flask outfit, releasing a thick smoke that caused darkness to invade Grym's eyes. She could feel Midnight twist, avoiding her attacks. The moment the mare had a chance she yanked herself free from Grym too to the skies, leaving her choking and stumbling about in the toxic cloud. She hobbled out into the fresh air, her magic faltering, causing her to drop one of her blades. She planted the other in the ground and plopped down on her hunches as she gasped for breath all the while picking large shards of glass from her face. One of her hooves inspected the deep stab wound in her shoulder. She'd counted on her attack to mitigate her injures, but now she was left with a possibly fatal wound and no body to show for her effort.

Grym slumped against her sword, breathing in quick, shallow breaths. She still couldn't see anything and it seemed as if they'd won the battle, seeing as how the chatting voices belonged to the ponies that had come with her. Well, most of them anyway.

[Hundashter]

Clover fired a few more arrows at the retreating pony for good measure as she flew off into the distance, then galloped to Gryms side. Crouching down beside the injured unicorn, she wasted no time and helped to clear the glass from the mares face before casting a heal spell upon her.

She watched as the wound to her shoulder began to quickly heal and let out a sigh of relief. " Will you be alright? Do you think that you did enough damage to that mare to kill her before she can get very far? "

[Travelaway]

Cold growled at Clover's suggestion, "I'm going to have to have some words with that apostate friend of yours Sky." He turned his attention back to Gossan and the matter at hoof, "She isn't worth the strife that will be caused if you harm her, and everyone back in town probably heard or saw us, or will at least connect the dots when they find the bodies, so cutting her tongue out would be mutilation for no purpose. You understand duty, and focusing on the task at hand, killing this mare will gain you nothing but distrust from your healer, so it's more efficient to let this one mare who in no way can do anything to stop us, surely you can understand that."

-Cold disapproves -5

[SunlightHeart]

"I'll survive." she said, a hint of sadness in her voice.

I didn't even hit her..." Grym stared in the direction her opponent flew off too. The coward, she didn't even stay and kill her. Grim slammed a hoof into the ground in frustration at being bested and left to continue this quest.

"We'll see her again, and by the looks of her heading, and her injuries our next meeting will be soon." She rose, shakily and fell back to her haunches. The healing spell repaired the flesh, but she was still tired. Getting to her hooves once more, Grym gathered her swords in her telekinesis and replaced them in the sheathes on her back. She rolled her newly repaired shoulder.

She lazily looked at the others bicker over what to do with a prisoner, choosing to stay out of it completely. "Their spoils, their choice."

[Dabom444]

Broken watched the hound as she awaited him for an awnser. Her eyes blinked as she held his arm back from goring the poor mare should he decide to change his mind.

Delilah couldnt stand the tension and scampered away. Broken opened her mouth to object but she had already broke into a run. She watched her escape off to the town. She held The dog's arm for just a bit longer and released him sighing. With a snort she turned to Gossan and took ahold of the blade with her hooves sticking out of his back. Clover had already casted a heal spell upon him which helped but it didnt solve the whole, "Blade jutting through my body" Syndrome the dog was having. Her horn burned brightly and all of her mana that she had managed to refuel had withered away to nothing. (Lifeward) Her head spun like a merry go round after the spell but she couldnt risk her accidently cutting something vital on him. With a hard grunt she placed her hind leg on his back and wrenched the blade free. A splatter of blood hit her face causing her to gag and reave back. The blade had hit a major artery as the blood kept coming. The magic kicked in and The wound burned brightly, sealing nicked arteries and mending harmed body parts to Living status still.

It would not heal them completly but would make sure to keep him in the world of The living. Broken threw the blade aside and ran her hoof over the wound to watch it seal mostly. With a "Im fed up with it all." snort she trotted away keeping her gaze low and Levitating her Staff back to her side. She collapsed it and peered at cold for a momont before she trotted down the road alone. If the group were to catch up she would keep a slow pace but right now she just needed to think.

[Cainiam]

Gossan stared at the mare that squeezed at his arm. Her words were pure sentimentality. There was nothing that made her different from the ones they had already slain. She deserved the same fate as the others. He looked back to the offending mare as she sobbed out apologies and promises. She was begging for her life. She'd say whatever she had to say to not get killed, and it was working on the lesser Warden. She was fitful to see this pony live. Gossan was about to concede the point as he saw no rationality from the mare, when the Archer walked over and added her piece. Removing the tongue. In some ways an elegant solution. The mare would still live, yet she could never talk about these events. Gossan nodded at the Archer. "Good idea," he said with a nod that left him light-headed. (Gossan approves (Clover) +5) He felt a small burst of his energy come back as the mare's horn lit up, before she pulled out her bow and rushed off.

It seemed the others once again shunned logic however as the lesser Warden looked horrified at the thought. She begged that they not consider that an option, and the Soldier agreed with her. The Soldier was right about one point, that killing her would earn distrust from the irrational lesser Warden, and that was reason enough for him to spare her, but his other point discredited the fact that she would be a reminder of why nobody should mess with the Wardens. "She lives," he said slowly. Then he made sure to point at the lesser Warden "For you." (Gossan disapproves (Broken) -5) The enemy then galloped off without a look back, back to the temporary safety of Ponyville.

Gossan slowly lowered his arm at he same time that the lesser Warden released it. He exchanged a brief stare with the mare before she decided to fix him up. He felt the grips of another spell, but it was weak as if dormant. He felt the blade in his abdomen tighten as if gripped and he prepared himself. Then she pulled it. He roared out at the sudden intense pain as the blade tore at recently healed flesh. It flew out easily enough, but with it came a fountain of blood as Gossan staggered forwards. Then that dormant spell kicked in. He felt the artery close again. The flesh in his wound start to heal. His injuries slowly faded into a dull pain, and he turned to see her toss the blade away. "Thank you," Gossan panted heavily. (Gossan approves (Broken) +5) The mare walked off without a word. Gossan yanked out the relatively easy arrow which the mare had missed before heading over to where the Archer was helping the greater Warden. "We should go," he said simply.

[NeoExlucky]

Aselia returned from her bear form, logic and sense returning. She smoothed out her dress and joined the group as they were gathered. "Well...that was certainly interesting." She said with a small smile and looked around the group. "I suppose we should get on the road now, a group of bodies with a bunch of people around it wull probably cause some issues with the others." She turned to the road, but stopped herself a bit. She forgot one little thing. She turned back to the group and her smile grew. "My name is Aselia by the way. I'm a shapeshifter."

Aselia mind ran wild as she stood next to the group. The idea of cutting ones tongue out was a terrible. Yes, in logic, that was the best idea. She could not talk about these events with a missing tongue but at the same time, she couldn't talk about anything else. A missing tongue could cause a lot of other problems, and what would happen if she choked on all the blood? That was a bad idea. (Aselia Disapproves of Clover [-5])

One of the wardens, Broken seemed to disapprove of this idea, and for some reason it seemed like she and the pony that Gossan let live were...connected. She seemed to like her or had took pity on her. Aselia didn't know what that reason was but she felt happy that she didn't like it and was also glad that Gossan let her live. (Aselia approves of Gossan [+5] and Broken [+5]) She was also glad that Broken did something about Gossan's...sword problem. She knew what rage could do, but that seemed a bit over the top. (Aselia approves of Broken [+5])

[Travelaway]

At least that little issue was dealt with, "Thank you sir, I'll repay you for her life I promise." He walked away to move towards where that angry mare was, "Interesting way of fighting, brutal for sure, but effective. We're back on track then, to Redcliffe?" Indeed her fighting style was horrific, but she was a warden, so there was no point in mentioning it. The new apostate had turned out to be a shapeshifter, and yet more calculated and calm then Clover, there was something to be said in that.

[Walker]

When the stallion returned to the scene of carnage, his nose wrinkled slightly, each of his hoofsteps careful to avoid to pools of blood that had come to stain the dirt road, even though his coat was already speckled with the stuff. He gave the group a small smile, weaving his way past the unicorn with her very large swords, and the stallion in the heavy armor, giving the two of them a small grin.

“Right… well I suppose things all worked out for the better, yes?” He said, clicking his tongue against his teeth as he stepped over a small pile of unidentifiable pony matter. “Nothing short of a spectacular display, if I do say so myself, though you, Ms., seemed to have a bit of trouble with that other Pegasus.” He mused for a moment before shrugging his shoulders. “Tricky ones, those types if ponies, always sneaking behind a party’s front wave and killing all their archers or mages… I’d say you lot were lucky that you didn’t have to face more of them.”

He swept his blood speckled fringe over his eye, glowing for a moment as he thought on his next words. “Not a bad ambush though, still, it was easy to see the group coming out of the woods from a mile away, no two ponies would have stood up to a group as rough looking as you all.” He smiled again, before moving past the two ponies and making his way over to the diamond dog. He whistled softly, admiring the scars and cuts that were still visible on his fur. “Mmm… way tougher then you look, huh Gossan? And you look pretty tough to begin with…”

He reached into his saddlebags and pulled out some unidentifiable plant matter. Smiling once more, he held it out to the mare who looked as if she was the one healing the party. “I don’t know how much more juice you have in you, Warden, but these might help, if you know anything about them.” He muttered. “They should work wonders to numb any pain that your patients are feeling… though don’t give them too much, it has a habit of… paralyzing in large doses.”

He reached into his saddlebags once more, and pulled out a small silver mirror, letting out a small tsk as he ran a hoof over his mane. “I wish I would have stayed, to be honest, sounds like you all had a grand old time, and all I got to do was take care of a number of them that were planning on hitting in a second wave… It’s a shame really, would have loved to see Gossan juggling his axes around again…” He sighed.

[Cainiam]

Gossan shook his head as the Soldier thanked him. "I did it for her," he said brusquely as he pointed at the Healer. He walked past him when he noticed a hulking bear slowly turn back into the Lady as she returned to the group. He was confused for a second, having been too preoccupied to notice her original transformation. It looked like she was a fighter, or a Shapeshifter as she claimed to be. Aselia. Less of a funny name than Tune. The fighting was over. Wounds had been repaired. Everypony seemed set to be preparing to move out. Gossan hurried around the battlefield, reclaiming his lost axes and returning them to his belts. Quite a few of them were still embedded in ponies, and one even in a tree. He couldn't set off without them.

As he pulled out the last axe, his red steel waraxe, he heard the sound of hoofsteps on the road. He turned around, axe in paw, to see Lucky Tune dancing around the battlefield. He didn't know whether to grin or scowl. His duties were no longer conflicted, Tune had returned, but at the same time he had been quick to abandon them when things had gotten tough. As he walked up, critiquing the enemy's technique and praising their performance as if he had been watching a theatrical play rather than a fight for survival, Gossan put the last axe away. He walked right up to Gossan and seemed to be admiring his wounds. The diamond dog blinked confusedly at the display, and the compliments. What was he trying to say? He then moved on to hand something to the Healer. He confessed that he had been wrong to leave, then stated he took out some more attackers down the road. As he examined himself in the mirror, Gossan looked over his bloodied appearance. He looked like he'd seen some action. Gossan was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt this time. He gave the pegasus a brief smile. "Welcome back."

[Dabom444]

Broken looked at the herbs she was handed absent mindedly and sighed. "Th..thanks...i guess...." She whispered and took one of the pieces and Popped it into her mouth. Her Sore leg began to numb and she felt a little better. She stowed the rest of it away and kept going as Tune chatted with the others. She had moved on the path some ways away and stopped herself. Plopping herself on a Log that seemed simmilar to the one the leader was sitting on a ways off.

Her eyes were glued to one spot on the ground as a small grasshopper skittered along. She used her magic to pick it up and place it on her hoof. She smiled at it and then frowned when she noticed it was injured. Its leg was broken on its right side, So thats why it didnt hop away when she put it on her hoof.

With a small spark of mana she had healed the small bug and watched it test its leg out before hopping down to the ground. She smiled at it as it hopped along and dissapeared into the grass.

She exhaled and rested her eyes. Waiting for the moment for everypony to move.

[SunlightHeart]

Grym gave Tune a sidelong glance as the stallion walked past. He claimed to have been engaged in stopping a secondary wave of ambushers, yet he wasn't fatigued like they were and the small amount of blood staining his coat said that he hadn't really seen much action. If he was a mage it was understandable, but that wasn't the case. Add to that, but the time she engaged Midnight proper most of the fightning had died down. Even if he had taken down a second wave in a non-lethal manner with mostly his hooves, they should had heard the noise of combat off in the distance. She hadn't heard anything. However, Gossan seemed to accept him back, so in the name of group cohesion, she left it alone, choosing instead to focus on getting them to Redcliffe. She'd bring this up later.

"It's time for us to move," Grym informed everyone. " Aselia is correct, being spotted in the center of a massacre isn't what we need right now." She turned to Cold and looked past him to Sky then back to him.

"If letting that mare walk comes back to bite me, it's on you and Sky's head..." she said flatly, before whipping around and sauntering down the road. On her way past Clover she gave the mare a respectful nod, silently thanking her.

------

Redcliffe was a town situated on slanted land and rolling hills. When she was younger, Grym had always thought that the name meant the inhabitants lived on a cliff, but later after seeing it spelled it she was sure that the town had been named after some pony or the "E" at the end was purely stylistic. Off in the distance from the quaint town was Castle Redcliffe, where the Arl would be. All they had to do was travel through the town and obtain an audience.

As they approached the town, the unicorn became accutely aware of a problem. Her ears swiveled, pickup up on the clank of gears in the town's windmill and the crash of rapids against rocks from the river which cascaded through Redcliffe's landscape. And that was the problem; she heard nothing else. Where was the hustle and bustle of a living town? Where were the merchant calls and the laughter of foals playing outside? She couldn't even pick up the idiotic ravings of a chantry caller shouting the word of the maker. From the road Redcliffe sounded dead. After rounding a bend in the road, their destination came into full view. Nothing occupied the streets, making the only traffic in town whatever the wind carried through. The town looked dead.

Within its limits, windows were boarded and doors were shut tight. Everyone here was prepared for an apocolypse, a bit preemptive, but Grymrose figured they followed a "better safe than sorry" sort of mentality. Still, it was frustrating. Every so often, her ears would pick up shuffling from inside one of the buildings or she'd feel as if she were being watched, but when she looked no one was there. Normally, she'd love not having to wade through a crowd of random ponies, but she needed to find and talk to someone about what the best way to get an expedient audience with Arl Eamon would be. She kept her frustrations to herself as she and the party trotted through town. Grym figured that the were getting near town square, hopefully there would be some life there.

What she was looking at now was perhaps the perfect opposite of what she wanted to see. Between every building was hastaily patched together wooden barricades, cutting the square off from the rest of the foothill town. From what she could see, the main path the were on still allowed entry, and it was likely any other important access path was open as well. Before her and the group was something akin to a checkpoint, a shoddy looking one, but a checkpoint none the less. Two guards watched the area, neither looking as if they wanted to be there.

"Defensive lockdown due to the darkspawn?" Grym asked, approaching the guards. "Regardless of why the town is locked up, we need to get through."

[Travelaway]

The road was a long one, but the journey was easier than he'd expected, Cold reflected on what Grym said, if that mare they'd allowed to live returned as a problem, he'd solve it himself, he believed in second chances, but that was usually his limit. Cold made a point of walking near Clover as the group made their way to Redcliffe, analyzing her closely for a few moments, the way she behaved was odd, as though she'd never had any social interaction, he moved in a bit closer, "I don't know who you are, or what your scheme is, but I know the stench of corruption, and the moment you try anything, I'll chop that horn right off, and solve all our problems, so you watch yourself." After that he gave her a pleasant nod and a smile, then moved to walk beside Grym.

He sang an uplifting little tune as they entered the town, he'd made sure not to sing too loudly in case anyone took offense. He thought about that other mage, Aselia, she needed to be watched carefully as well, though she seemed more calm and collected than Clover, nonetheless she was a shapeshifter, and that was a dangerous form of magic to meddle with, so he still needed to keep tabs on her. Cold sang a bit louder now, trying to improve his own mood, and hopefully lifting the spirits of the group too, he loved to sing since he was but a colt, though his father detested it. His train of thought was cut off as he noticed how empty the town was, he ceased his singing and looked around, the whole town looked as though it was ready for war the way it was barricaded. They approached two guards at a checkpoint of sorts that was watched over by two haggard looking guards. "What in the world has happened here?"

[Dabom444]

Broken had been dozing off the whole walk. Her eyes remaining closed throughout the whole journey to Redcliffe. She only opened them when needed and as to not trip on any rocks or obstructions along the way. She could cast a spell on herself to revitalize her energy reserves however she wasnt one for it. It didnt feel like true energy and usually messed with her head. She had walked at the futhest back of the group. Keeping space away from any conversation or interaction for the moment.

--------------

Upon reaching Redcliffe she noticed it was very quiet. The wind blew but didnt carry any smell of bread or the giggles of the young. She peered around with her fire opal gaze. Her expression was hidden by her Brown cloth Facemask. She lowered her gaze to the ground and closed her eyes as Grym spoke to whomever she was speaking too. She didnt feel like speaking or doing much more than just following. Sleep....sleep...sleep....She needed it terribly. She hadnt slept in over 5 days. She felt herself teetering and snapped awake to peer around again before Sitting in her haunches and wrapping her hooves with her tail.

[Cainiam]

NPC Post:

One of the guards stood stepped forwards. "Who are you lot supposed to be then?" he asked rather rudely. It seemed the travellers had questions of their own however. "You think this is because of darkspawn? No. Maker no. They ain't this far north yet," he replied. "No, we got ourselves a different sort of problem." The leader voiced another question, and the guard scratched at the back of his neck. "You want to pass through the town? There's no point in doing that unless you're going to the... You want to enter Redcliffe castle?" The guard took a step back at the realisation, then turned to the pegasus guard beside him. "Hey, Breeze, tell the Bann to get out here. We've got some ponies he'll need to talk to," he called back. The pegasus gave a curt nod then took off to fly over the barricade.

He noticed the group were all staring at him, probably wondering what the hell he was on about. "Oh, right, Bann Teagan's been helping us hold the town since the attacks started." He was quiet for a moment, before realising that that would only pose more questions. "You probably want to know about the attacks. Well, the Bann probably knows more about it. Just follow me. It's pretty clear you're not here to rob us or burn the place down," the guard said as he walked through the gate, and gestured with a hoof for the group to follow him.

Inside the barricade things didn't look much better than outside. There were ponies around, but they all were armed, and some of them armoured. A bunch of ponies who looked like they'd never fought a day in their life were firing crossbows at wooden targets. A pair of pegasi were fighting with sticks in the air. A group of earth ponies hacked apart a wagon to make a pile of wood. Behind all this stood the Chantry. The large structure was hastily reinforced with wood and stone. On the raised steps stood a smartly dressed earth pony, and beside him hovered the pegasus from the gate.

[Dabom444]

Broken had fallen into a deep doze. She opened her eyes and realized the team were within the gates. With a sigh she heaved her sore fatigued muscles to make her stand. She moved after them just before they closed the makeshift fortification. She watched the group as they went to speak to the one in charge. She sneezed and closed her eyes again "I need a nap.....You know what..i work hard...if Grym is going to be pissy about it then let her....i just need a wink or two...." She said softly to herself and half stumbled to a nearby wall of a building nearby. She was a little agitated whenever she was tired so it would be easier later if she had some energy to spend.

Part of her said she should stick with them. Listen and learn what all was happening but a larger part of her pounded the constant. "SLEEP, SLEEP, SLEEP." Tone in her mind. It also made sense for her to keep her energy up or what little there was of. She didnt need info on how to fight whatever it was, she only needed to know how to mend the wounds that arose because of the fights, Which she knew alot about.

As she lay on her side she closed her eyes to rest for a while. "Just 5 minutes...its all i need." She said to herself and lay her head down on her hooves. She closed her eyes and drifted off into rest.

[SunlightHeart]

Grym nodded at the guard, seeing no reason to disagree with their terms. She cast a cursory glance behind her to make sure that everyone was still together, that's when she noticed Sky walk away from the party. "One second, there's something I need to handle," she told the guard leading them as she trotted after her fellow warden.

On the side of a building, away from all of clang of training swords and the hammering of wood, Grym found Sky lying on her side asleep. The reaver gritted her teeth, annoyed by such an irresponsible action, but she couldn't find it in her to be angry at the mare. Everypony was her; some ponies gave a buck about themselves. Not to mention that she was much more physically fit that the mage.

Grym crouched down near Sky, letting her belly touch the ground and through the use of telekinesis and some maneuvering, deposited Sky on her back. She made an effort not to wake her as she rejoined the group. In the back of her mind she wondered if she was pushing too hard, and if she was being fair to Broken. A part of her said that she shouldn't give a buck and that if the mare couldn't keep up, than she was dead weight, but the part of her that had her carrying Sky's slumbering body said that if the situations was so dire, she wouldn't be being so rough on her. It was now that Grym started to realize that these ponies were following her and she couldn't just drive forward all the time. Sighing, she figured that she would tackle each bridge as she came to it.

"Alright, I'm right behind you. Continue." Grym nodded, signalling the Guard to continue.

[Dabom444]

Broken gave a little squeaking snore as she was picked up and placed on Grym's back. She curled up a bit on the mare as she snoozed soundly, not even waking up a bit when she was moved or when the bobbing of the mare's steps rattled her. She continued to sleep peacefully.