At the first sign of trouble, Aurora slackened her steps and drooped behind the marching warriors. Unlike them, she wasn't covered head to toe in armor, nor did she wield an implement of death as tall as she. No, all she had at her disposal was a hidden blade and the scant little she had learned from Amalia, though strained it was, reflecting on previous circumstances. Though, there was always the ability to dip into her considerable arsenal of magic, but that would prove far from the most favorable approach. She didn't quite feel like stating to the world that she was a mage just right yet. Thus, the shadow games. As Sophia conversed with the belligerents, she had a gut feeling that mere words wouldn't get them far. Such as the state of the underworld. She didn't get a good line of sight on the rogues, since she had positioned herself right behind the large frame of Ketojan.
Then the Qunari took a step forward and a feral sound escaped his sewn lips. Aurora sighed, she knew that it would probably end this way, though not from the direct action of Ketojan himself. The blast of magic was also a surprise, but one she wasn't entirely ungrateful for. At this Ketojan lowered his own stance, like an animal would when it's ready to pounce. That gave her a better view of the battlefield, and most importantly, her first target. One of the rogues had gotten to his feet a little too fast, and had stumbled close to the Qunari and the redhaired girl behind it. Aurora fully intended to capitalize on this opportunity. Channeling Amalia as much as she dared, her short legs pumped, surging her forward toward the back of the Qunari. Ketojan, the mound of muscle that he was, surely wouldn't mind a light frame like Aurora to borrow him as a launching pad for a moment.
A hop brought her first foot to the base of Ketojan's back, the next step to his middle, and third and final to his shoulder. There she launched herself at the dazed rogue-- the fact of seeing a girl pop out of nowhere and launch herself at him surely not helping matters. In midair, she extended her wristblade and as she fell back to the earth, the blade entered the man's neck-- ending him before his back ever met the ground. Using that momentum, Aurora then dismounted the man, rolling forward and into a standing position. Hopefully the spectacle was surprising enough that it drew attention away from actively trying to kill her and into something more akin to "What the hell?"
She quickly let the blade resheathe itself as she backstepped towards the relative safety of her comrades.
Sophia was not pleased with how things had progressed. As she had suspected, open conflict was unavoidable, certainly now that Ketojan had made what the thugs clearly saw as a brazen attack. Lucien had gotten straight to work, as had Aurora, her acrobatic first attack coming as a bit of a surprise to Sophia. It succeeded in catching the thugs off guard as well, and Sophia took the opportunity to slice one across the back of the leg, taking him to his knees, and allowing Sophia an easy hit to the back of his head with her blade pommel, knocking him out. She would not try to force any ideals on Aurora, but she still did not think death necessary here. Not if it could be avoided.
It seemed Ketojan did not share her line of thought, however, which became apparent as Sophia turned to confront her next attacker. She'd been ready for a parry when Ketojan decided once again that she was in need of assistance, this time his hands igniting in magical flame. The fire shot forth from his palms, setting the thug alight and dousing nearby Sophia in the heat. She backed off quickly, a shout of surprise drowned out by the flaming man's screams. It was an unpleasant sight, sound, and smell all at once.
"Restrain yourself, Qunari, we can handle this!" she shouted, but the order went unheard. Sophia once again questioned why she was risking so much to set Ketojan free. The thought would have to wait, as she focused on engaging and disarming the next enemy.
Flashy, but not too bad. Lucien thought with a smile as Aurora launched herself off Ketojan and onto one of the thugs. Of course, she also went right for the throat, and he wondered about that for a moment. She didn't seem to be of Rilien's kind, those who saw no point in leaving an enemy alive that would have killed them, but he'd been wrong about that sort of thing before. The other options were that she was simply angry enough to do it now- quite possible- or that she was trained with that blade well enough to kill but not well enough to refrain from it. Also possible, though perhaps a bit less likely. Whatever the case, he wasn't here to judge, and he paid it no further mind, wading into the mass of thugs like he was out for a casual stroll.
Or at least it would have looked that way until the scythe started swinging every which-way. Spun, passed from arm to arm, contacted with three incoming heads. Never with the deadly bit, because he knew his timing and his intent. One locked eyes with him and disappeared, but this time he was more than ready for that old tirck, and smoothly as you please, the scythe just happened to be passing behind his back when the man appeared to attept to sink a dagger into it. Free of his immediate assailants, Lucien advanced for the back of the ranks, pivoting his entire body and adding force to the nearly ninety-degree angle of the whirling farm implement. Three repetitions, and three more downed thugs. It was quite apparent that they weren't even dealing with professionals here, just a large grouping of people.
Perhaps they'd find a new occupation, when (and in some cases, if) they awoke afterwards. It didn't seem all that likely, but then people like he (and apparently Aurora and Sophia) tended to deal in the unlikely.
Aurora hadn't meant to kill anyone-- at least that was her intention when she first began. That was why the first bandit encroaching on Lucien only got a knife to the back of the knee for his trouble. Though now she had blood, real blood on her blade. Sure, chances were that the rogue would still be doing what he was doing only elsewhere, though still. To kill wasn't her intent. It seemed that her mind was still clouded, despite her earlier words. It wasn't Sophia, no, rather she was a victim as well-- though she made off better than the next one. Visions of Amalia danced in her mind. If Ketojan was an example of how the Qunari treated their mages, then what did she see her as? A beast in need of a cage? Or something else entirely.
Confusion and frustration, pent up and ready to burst. The slaying of a rogue only added to that pressure. Now because of the Qunari, she had blood on her hands. True, it was foul blood, but she did not intend to start the night with bloodshed. It was only by her force of will that she stayed composed and kept the obsceneties from her mouth. Also, it was her will that kept the fade in check. It was mental states such as hers that invited demons into her soul, and unlike the metaphorical demons of common folk, hers were much more dangerous. Such conflict waging inside her head, between composure, outrage, betrayal, calm, anger, it was a small miracle that she didn't just start chucking fireballs. Though that would only add another facet to her issues. No doubt Sophia would take offense to her being a mage.
Though it was with a bit more control that Aurora approached the fray once more. A thug looking to take the seemingly easy prey, his other options being a chevalier swinging a scythe, a woman wielding a large sword, and a Kossith that could crush him with his mind. So obviously chose the little girl with the tiny blade strapped to her wrist. It was his underestimation that did him in. He thrusted with his blade, looking to skewer Aurora, but she spun, and knocked it away with the dragonskin bracer, using the momentum to bring her back inside the thug's reach. Close enough for a bear hug, had he the chance. Fortunately, he didn't have one. She brought her heel up and into the... sensitive area of the man, instantly lurching him forward on his knees. Aurora took a step forward with him and dropped her elbow right on the back of his head, knocking him out cleanly.
Now it was a dance.
Sophia found herself faced with two, but the way they wielded their blades was slow and clumsy, as though they were made of solid lead rather than any steel. She parried a wild thrust from the first, sidestepping away as she did, putting the thug in front between her and the second, removing him from the combat for the moment. Planting her back heel and pushing forward, she struck low and fast, straining his poorly trained guard with an attack that was awkward to block. It let her catch him off balance, his defense opened enough for her to cut a deep gash across his thigh. She raised her guard to receive the first blow from the second attacker, but it never came.
The thug burst into flames, adding yet more screams to the din, although the previous lowlife that had been incinerated has stopped his screaming at this point. Fire burst out with him as the center, pushing Sophia back at step, the flames close enough that they likely would have burned her had she not been wearing armor. With haste she put distance between herself and the burning man, looking about for any further threats. There were none to be had, however, as any thugs that were still capable of fleeing were doing so, turning tail and bolting for the nearest escape. If only they'd done that sooner, no one would have needed to die here.
The area secure for the moment, Sophia cleaned off and sheathed her blade across her back, before turning to Ketojan, whose hands were still alight with magical fire. "They're gone, Ketojan! It's safe now." It took a moment for him to respond, and for a moment Sophia thought he wasn't going to, but at last the Qunari gave a decidedly neutral growl, the fire disappearing from his hands. Glad that he'd relented at least, Sophia sighed and turned away, wiping a growing sheen of sweat from her brow. She'd felt quite enthusiastic about this task not so long ago, but now she wouldn't mind simply getting this done. Ketojan had already helped to smother any sympathy for the mages that may have been taking root within her. His actions reminded her why she believed as she did.
"It can't be far now," she said, taking note of their surroundings. "Hopefully no more of Ketojan's magic will be necessary," she couldn't help but put a slight amount of disdain on the word. The smell of charred flesh was doing little to calm her nerves.
"Well, ideally no more violence would ever be necessary," Lucien half-agreed, straightening and looking about him at the unconscious or dead bodies in various stages of disrepair. "But alas, it seems I wait for the day I become useless in vain, at least for now." His tone was light, with a hint of self-effacing humor, and he dipped his head at Aurora. "You were not wrong about the things Lowtown taught you." It was obvious that there was no further useful information to be had from this encounter, and it seemed that they were best served by simply moving on.
The thugs had been standing in front of (or on, in a few cases), a set of stairs, and the Chevalier shrugged to himself. It was the only visible candidate for 'way out,' so he saw no reason not to take it. Slinging his scythe back over his shoulder, he led the way up, reaching what appeared to be an old, ill-used door with rusted hinges. An attempt to use it the conventional way found Lucien with a handle in his hand, blinking with a slight hint of perplexity at the still-closed portal. Perhaps it was asking a bit much to expect anyone to run maintenance down here, but there was a comment in there about guarding a door that didn't even work, also. Discarding the lump of corroded metal to one side, he pulled the entire thing off its hinges quite on accident when attempting to utilize the hole the handle had left behind, and patiently set it to the side.
Outside, dawn was just breaking, and the door led out onto the Wounded Coast, by the looks of things. He'd been worried about the noise drawing undue attention, apparently needlessly so, as they didn't run into the Qunari for another few hundred yards. There was what appeared to be a large grouping of them, but they were organized in such a way that to him, it was immediately obvious that they were a single military unit. So, what was an entire unit doing out in the middle of nowhere? This was quite far from the Tal-Vashoth base he, Ashton, and Nostariel had dealt with the other day, and anything else worth note, as far as he knew.
Sophia had to admit, the situation going from bad to worse didn't really surprise her. The Qunari warriors before them were at least a dozen in number, well-armed, and clearly more organized than the roving bandits the Tal-Vashoth had been reported to be. These were the Arishok's troops, there was no doubt about it. As soon as they'd caught sight of a Qunari mage among the humans they were locked, their leader drawing them forward cautiously, but with certainty. There was no avoiding them now. This would have to be dealt with, one way or another.
She certainly didn't do anything so foolish as drawing her blade, but she did position herself in front of Ketojan as best she could. He was her charge, after all, and she planned to see him through this, if only to let the Qunari know that such things as the abuse he'd suffered could not be allowed within the territory of what was to be her city. Regardless, this was all really starting to seem like a huge mistake.
"They shouldn't be here," Sophia commented, mostly to herself. But regardless of where they should have been, they were here, and there was little left to do but steel herself and be done with this. "Here goes nothing..."
Then the Qunari took a step forward and a feral sound escaped his sewn lips. Aurora sighed, she knew that it would probably end this way, though not from the direct action of Ketojan himself. The blast of magic was also a surprise, but one she wasn't entirely ungrateful for. At this Ketojan lowered his own stance, like an animal would when it's ready to pounce. That gave her a better view of the battlefield, and most importantly, her first target. One of the rogues had gotten to his feet a little too fast, and had stumbled close to the Qunari and the redhaired girl behind it. Aurora fully intended to capitalize on this opportunity. Channeling Amalia as much as she dared, her short legs pumped, surging her forward toward the back of the Qunari. Ketojan, the mound of muscle that he was, surely wouldn't mind a light frame like Aurora to borrow him as a launching pad for a moment.
A hop brought her first foot to the base of Ketojan's back, the next step to his middle, and third and final to his shoulder. There she launched herself at the dazed rogue-- the fact of seeing a girl pop out of nowhere and launch herself at him surely not helping matters. In midair, she extended her wristblade and as she fell back to the earth, the blade entered the man's neck-- ending him before his back ever met the ground. Using that momentum, Aurora then dismounted the man, rolling forward and into a standing position. Hopefully the spectacle was surprising enough that it drew attention away from actively trying to kill her and into something more akin to "What the hell?"
She quickly let the blade resheathe itself as she backstepped towards the relative safety of her comrades.
Sophia was not pleased with how things had progressed. As she had suspected, open conflict was unavoidable, certainly now that Ketojan had made what the thugs clearly saw as a brazen attack. Lucien had gotten straight to work, as had Aurora, her acrobatic first attack coming as a bit of a surprise to Sophia. It succeeded in catching the thugs off guard as well, and Sophia took the opportunity to slice one across the back of the leg, taking him to his knees, and allowing Sophia an easy hit to the back of his head with her blade pommel, knocking him out. She would not try to force any ideals on Aurora, but she still did not think death necessary here. Not if it could be avoided.
It seemed Ketojan did not share her line of thought, however, which became apparent as Sophia turned to confront her next attacker. She'd been ready for a parry when Ketojan decided once again that she was in need of assistance, this time his hands igniting in magical flame. The fire shot forth from his palms, setting the thug alight and dousing nearby Sophia in the heat. She backed off quickly, a shout of surprise drowned out by the flaming man's screams. It was an unpleasant sight, sound, and smell all at once.
"Restrain yourself, Qunari, we can handle this!" she shouted, but the order went unheard. Sophia once again questioned why she was risking so much to set Ketojan free. The thought would have to wait, as she focused on engaging and disarming the next enemy.
Flashy, but not too bad. Lucien thought with a smile as Aurora launched herself off Ketojan and onto one of the thugs. Of course, she also went right for the throat, and he wondered about that for a moment. She didn't seem to be of Rilien's kind, those who saw no point in leaving an enemy alive that would have killed them, but he'd been wrong about that sort of thing before. The other options were that she was simply angry enough to do it now- quite possible- or that she was trained with that blade well enough to kill but not well enough to refrain from it. Also possible, though perhaps a bit less likely. Whatever the case, he wasn't here to judge, and he paid it no further mind, wading into the mass of thugs like he was out for a casual stroll.
Or at least it would have looked that way until the scythe started swinging every which-way. Spun, passed from arm to arm, contacted with three incoming heads. Never with the deadly bit, because he knew his timing and his intent. One locked eyes with him and disappeared, but this time he was more than ready for that old tirck, and smoothly as you please, the scythe just happened to be passing behind his back when the man appeared to attept to sink a dagger into it. Free of his immediate assailants, Lucien advanced for the back of the ranks, pivoting his entire body and adding force to the nearly ninety-degree angle of the whirling farm implement. Three repetitions, and three more downed thugs. It was quite apparent that they weren't even dealing with professionals here, just a large grouping of people.
Perhaps they'd find a new occupation, when (and in some cases, if) they awoke afterwards. It didn't seem all that likely, but then people like he (and apparently Aurora and Sophia) tended to deal in the unlikely.
Aurora hadn't meant to kill anyone-- at least that was her intention when she first began. That was why the first bandit encroaching on Lucien only got a knife to the back of the knee for his trouble. Though now she had blood, real blood on her blade. Sure, chances were that the rogue would still be doing what he was doing only elsewhere, though still. To kill wasn't her intent. It seemed that her mind was still clouded, despite her earlier words. It wasn't Sophia, no, rather she was a victim as well-- though she made off better than the next one. Visions of Amalia danced in her mind. If Ketojan was an example of how the Qunari treated their mages, then what did she see her as? A beast in need of a cage? Or something else entirely.
Confusion and frustration, pent up and ready to burst. The slaying of a rogue only added to that pressure. Now because of the Qunari, she had blood on her hands. True, it was foul blood, but she did not intend to start the night with bloodshed. It was only by her force of will that she stayed composed and kept the obsceneties from her mouth. Also, it was her will that kept the fade in check. It was mental states such as hers that invited demons into her soul, and unlike the metaphorical demons of common folk, hers were much more dangerous. Such conflict waging inside her head, between composure, outrage, betrayal, calm, anger, it was a small miracle that she didn't just start chucking fireballs. Though that would only add another facet to her issues. No doubt Sophia would take offense to her being a mage.
Though it was with a bit more control that Aurora approached the fray once more. A thug looking to take the seemingly easy prey, his other options being a chevalier swinging a scythe, a woman wielding a large sword, and a Kossith that could crush him with his mind. So obviously chose the little girl with the tiny blade strapped to her wrist. It was his underestimation that did him in. He thrusted with his blade, looking to skewer Aurora, but she spun, and knocked it away with the dragonskin bracer, using the momentum to bring her back inside the thug's reach. Close enough for a bear hug, had he the chance. Fortunately, he didn't have one. She brought her heel up and into the... sensitive area of the man, instantly lurching him forward on his knees. Aurora took a step forward with him and dropped her elbow right on the back of his head, knocking him out cleanly.
Now it was a dance.
Sophia found herself faced with two, but the way they wielded their blades was slow and clumsy, as though they were made of solid lead rather than any steel. She parried a wild thrust from the first, sidestepping away as she did, putting the thug in front between her and the second, removing him from the combat for the moment. Planting her back heel and pushing forward, she struck low and fast, straining his poorly trained guard with an attack that was awkward to block. It let her catch him off balance, his defense opened enough for her to cut a deep gash across his thigh. She raised her guard to receive the first blow from the second attacker, but it never came.
The thug burst into flames, adding yet more screams to the din, although the previous lowlife that had been incinerated has stopped his screaming at this point. Fire burst out with him as the center, pushing Sophia back at step, the flames close enough that they likely would have burned her had she not been wearing armor. With haste she put distance between herself and the burning man, looking about for any further threats. There were none to be had, however, as any thugs that were still capable of fleeing were doing so, turning tail and bolting for the nearest escape. If only they'd done that sooner, no one would have needed to die here.
The area secure for the moment, Sophia cleaned off and sheathed her blade across her back, before turning to Ketojan, whose hands were still alight with magical fire. "They're gone, Ketojan! It's safe now." It took a moment for him to respond, and for a moment Sophia thought he wasn't going to, but at last the Qunari gave a decidedly neutral growl, the fire disappearing from his hands. Glad that he'd relented at least, Sophia sighed and turned away, wiping a growing sheen of sweat from her brow. She'd felt quite enthusiastic about this task not so long ago, but now she wouldn't mind simply getting this done. Ketojan had already helped to smother any sympathy for the mages that may have been taking root within her. His actions reminded her why she believed as she did.
"It can't be far now," she said, taking note of their surroundings. "Hopefully no more of Ketojan's magic will be necessary," she couldn't help but put a slight amount of disdain on the word. The smell of charred flesh was doing little to calm her nerves.
"Well, ideally no more violence would ever be necessary," Lucien half-agreed, straightening and looking about him at the unconscious or dead bodies in various stages of disrepair. "But alas, it seems I wait for the day I become useless in vain, at least for now." His tone was light, with a hint of self-effacing humor, and he dipped his head at Aurora. "You were not wrong about the things Lowtown taught you." It was obvious that there was no further useful information to be had from this encounter, and it seemed that they were best served by simply moving on.
The thugs had been standing in front of (or on, in a few cases), a set of stairs, and the Chevalier shrugged to himself. It was the only visible candidate for 'way out,' so he saw no reason not to take it. Slinging his scythe back over his shoulder, he led the way up, reaching what appeared to be an old, ill-used door with rusted hinges. An attempt to use it the conventional way found Lucien with a handle in his hand, blinking with a slight hint of perplexity at the still-closed portal. Perhaps it was asking a bit much to expect anyone to run maintenance down here, but there was a comment in there about guarding a door that didn't even work, also. Discarding the lump of corroded metal to one side, he pulled the entire thing off its hinges quite on accident when attempting to utilize the hole the handle had left behind, and patiently set it to the side.
Outside, dawn was just breaking, and the door led out onto the Wounded Coast, by the looks of things. He'd been worried about the noise drawing undue attention, apparently needlessly so, as they didn't run into the Qunari for another few hundred yards. There was what appeared to be a large grouping of them, but they were organized in such a way that to him, it was immediately obvious that they were a single military unit. So, what was an entire unit doing out in the middle of nowhere? This was quite far from the Tal-Vashoth base he, Ashton, and Nostariel had dealt with the other day, and anything else worth note, as far as he knew.
Sophia had to admit, the situation going from bad to worse didn't really surprise her. The Qunari warriors before them were at least a dozen in number, well-armed, and clearly more organized than the roving bandits the Tal-Vashoth had been reported to be. These were the Arishok's troops, there was no doubt about it. As soon as they'd caught sight of a Qunari mage among the humans they were locked, their leader drawing them forward cautiously, but with certainty. There was no avoiding them now. This would have to be dealt with, one way or another.
She certainly didn't do anything so foolish as drawing her blade, but she did position herself in front of Ketojan as best she could. He was her charge, after all, and she planned to see him through this, if only to let the Qunari know that such things as the abuse he'd suffered could not be allowed within the territory of what was to be her city. Regardless, this was all really starting to seem like a huge mistake.
"They shouldn't be here," Sophia commented, mostly to herself. But regardless of where they should have been, they were here, and there was little left to do but steel herself and be done with this. "Here goes nothing..."