Snippet #2502042

[font=baskerville]The cave did not seem, externally, to be something particularly extraordinary. It was recessed into a rocky outcropping about a mile and a half from the limits of Kirkwall proper, and though there were subtle signs of occupation to be seen around it for someone who knew what they were looking for, there was nothing to set it apart from any number of bandit dens that appeared very similar. It was just one more part of the architecture of the Wounded Coast—to anyone but Rilien, that was. Whether it was gift or curse, he was still sensitive to alterations in the fade, and he could feel quite a lot of it going on below. Less, however, than there had been this morning. That could mean any number of things, and he took it that the best course of action was not to mention this to anyone else, lest they become prematurely anxious.

He gestured the group to a stop some distance from the actual cave opening, himself ducking low and moving into cover. Glancing back, he made a motion to beckon Amalia forward, as the two of them were much more suited to getting a sense of things before anyone else simply waltzed in. Sticking to shadows and wall-sides, they were able to duck into the entrance and get several yards down the initial tunnel before it became easy to tell that everyone was simply going to have to risk being seen—the activity, whatever it was, happened much deeper in the belly of the earth, and they didn’t want to leave the others behind entirely.

Emerging back into the daylight, Rilien shook his head slightly. "They are deep underground. We encountered no guards, however—I expect they have no reason to believe they’d be tracked.” He folded his arms into his sleeves and awaited the subsequent decision, though he knew well that they’d be venturing in. They had not proceeded all the way out here to be dissuaded by the depth of their quarry, after all.

"There's little use in waiting around..." She said, but the tone she used held a certain hesitance her words did not. She fidgeted in front of them, as if unsure how to phrase her next sentence, though she felt it needed to be said. "You all..." She began and stopped. It was an unfamiliar feeling, being so unsure on what to say. She wanted to say that they needn't follow her if they didn't wish, but they'd made their intentions clear as they followed her out to the coast, she would not insult them asking something that didn't need to be asked.

Shaking her head, she picked the most simple option left to her, and thanked them, "I just wanted to thank you all. I'm... Glad that you all are here." She wasn't sure she would've been able to do it alone and she was thankful for their support.

Sophia wished that she didn't have to be here, but wishing had rarely gotten her anywhere, and the fact of the matter was that this didn't feel like an organized Templar effort in the slightest. Kidnapping mages and taking them to isolated caves on the coast was much more akin to bandits, and Sophia had little trouble engaging bandits. This was surely not something that the Order had dictated.

Still, while Amalia and Rilien scouted their way in, Sophia wondered if there was any way to avoid a confrontation. If they threatened Milly's life, there probably was not, and something led Sophia to believe that they would not be the type to be reasoned with, like so many of their enemies. She'd come in only a simple chain shirt over her tunic, not the plate affair that she typically wore into battle, but Vesenia accompanied her, as always. Grimly, she nodded her support to Aurora.

“Do not thank us yet,” Amalia warned. “Our task is not done, and the results may not be what you hope for.” It brought her no joy to say it, but she was nothing if she was not honest, and she would not spare the truth for the sake of comfort. Aurora knew this, and managed still to find something worthwhile in her company, so she felt no guilt for saying it, either. But the time for words was not now, and she jerked her chin towards the mouth of the cave in a terse motion. It was perhaps best for someone with stealthier inclinations to lead, and though the strange elf had led them this far, she took point thereafter, in case of traps.

"You came when you didn't have to," Aurora replied just as tersely. Feeling that enough words had been exchanged Aurora nodded and settled herself, and slipping behind Amalia and Rilien. They descended into the cavern quietly as they could, with a measured pace, one that was quick enough to reach their destination in a timely manner without tipping anyone off that they were coming. Fortunately, their path was free from traps, it was as Rilien assumed, they didn't expect anyone to track them. Even the clanking arms and armor that Lucien and Sophia bore did nothing to rouse attention.

Before long the cavern led began to open and natural sunlight began to bleed into the wall adjacent to the opening. From where they stood they could hear the shuffle of feet, the clank of swords, and the murmurring of spoken words. Aurora looked ahead to Amalia and nodded, imploring her to go get a look at what awaited them ahead.

The Qunari was not one to waste time, and so she slunk forward as briskly as she could while retaining her silence, pressing herself close into the cave walls and finding shelter amidst the darkened shadows, the mottled black and grey of her armor suddenly making quite a lot of sense—it mirrored the variation in natural shade. It was in this fashion that she was able to make it right to the opening in question, turning her head to get a look inside.

What she saw was not particularly encouraging. The men and women standing around were mostly in plain clothing, save two in armor—perhaps the two that had originally removed Milly from the street. There were several more people, perhaps mages, lying unconscious in various states of sprawl on the ground, mostly at the far end of the cavern. She could make out Aurora’s friend among them. The Templars stood in a rough circle, all clearly deeply focused on what was happening at the center of it, if the sweat on their brows and concentration on their faces was anything to go by. She likely could have walked right in without being noticed. One stood slightly further in, and seemed to be directing whatever power the others were contributing, towards a figure on his knees at the very center.

Whatever this was, it looked highly suspect. Detaching herself from the wall, Amalia hastened back to the others, speaking in a low voice that was nevertheless audible. “They’re doing something, to one of the mages. Whatever it is, it requires a lot of focus. Millian is there, but unconscious.” Lucien’s eyes ascended his forehead, and he immediately sought the eyes of the magical authority he knew the best.

"Ril?”

He didn’t even need to have it described to him. The way the fade was being manipulated around them was evidence enough. He’d known it very intimately, that distortion. "Rite of Tranquility.” Rilien was in motion immediately thereafter, breaking into a sudden sprint and tearing one of his knives free of the sheath. He hesitated for exactly a second before he threw it, but that was long enough to remind himself that he was not here to assassinate them. While he would have had no compunctions with this, it was not, for the moment, his decision to make. There was at least one person here whom he deferred to by default, and one other whose stake in the matter was greater than his, and these facts alone guided his aim, the enchanted dagger flying true—

And thudding into the bicep of the Templar in the middle of the Rite, effectively breaking his concentration and ending the flow of their anti-magic. Whether it was soon enough for the man undergoing the ceremony, he did not know. Perhaps there would be one more like him in the world. He felt a flicker of something at the thought. Something dark, and unpleasant. All the same, he moved no more after that, not even when the attention of no fewer than seven Templars was directed right at him. The others would be here momentarily, and what happened after that was for someone else to decide.

Things were looking bad, about as bad as Sophia had come to expect, but she still hoped there was a chance for them to pull out of this without any death. Rilien had interrupted the Rite taking place before them, and thankfully Milly's turn had not yet arrived, else Aurora likely would have been lost to them. Knowing the moment needed to be seized upon before it was lost forever, Sophia came to stand in the view of the Templars, holding her hands up in the air and hoping they would not immediately resort to aggression, even despite Rilien's actions. Her sword remained across her back, a precarious place for it to be if a fight broke out, but it was loose in the sheath, at least.

"Templars!" she called out, commandingly. "Stay your blades. Why are you here? If this was not explicitly ordered by Knight-Commander Meredith, then you have no authority to be here with these mages, performing the Rite." Technically, her position as Viscount's daughter and heir commanded no authority over them, but her faith was well known, and she hoped that it might win her enough favor to hold off violence long enough for this to be resolved.

The mage within the circle, fell onto his back, but it seemed that Rilien's intervention had been timely, as he instantly began to drag himself backward and away from the men who had moments ago attempting to perform the rite. It garnered Aurora's attention for only a moment, as soon as it was clear he was alright, her attention immediately shifted to the prone form of Milly, her back turned to them. Every fiber of her being urged her to rush to her said, to pick her up and escape from the place, but between them stood a Templar. She could do nothing without it resorting to bloodshed, so she waited and hoped Sophia could talk them out of it. Still, her eyes never broke from Milly.

The armored Templar beside the one that had taken Rilien's dagger to the shoulder first checked on the downed man, helping take Rilien's dagger from his shoulder before aiding him back to his feet. With the dagger in his hand, he turned toward Sophia and her crew and began to speak. "Isn't it obvious, dear viscountess? Tranquility." He said with a crooked grin. Spinning the dagger between his fingers, he continued, "The mage population has exploded these past few years. They're getting... Unruly, hard to control. They're poisonous, they fight us more and more with every passing day."

"The solution was an easy one. With the Rite, they're submissive, but still useful. It's the best way to ensure that the mages obey us," That managed to catch Aurora's attention. She despised the man, the way he spoke about controlling them through tranquility. Her eyes narrowed and the hair on the nape of her neck prickled, but still she stayed her hand. She would be patient. Maybe there was still some way to escape without bloodshed, even though she believed that they deserved it.

"This is not the way to peace," Sophia tried, as patiently as she could in the face of the man's disrespect. "Your attempt to force submission will only result in more resistance, and more violence. Regardless, you have no authority to perform the Rite on these mages. I will give you one chance to release them. Do not throw this chance away." She hadn't been watching, but Amalia was undoubtedly waiting to strike somewhere, and Sophia knew the power of the group behind her. If they chose to fight, this would not end well for them, Templar training or no.

"Hah, my dear Viscountess all of that power you think you have has gone to your head. You have no authority over us, we are Templars. We do not answer to you, we answer to a higher power. The Maker is on our side, our word is that of the Maker!" And with a flash of movement, the Templar sent Rilien's blade hurtling toward Sophia's head as the others readied their weapons for the ensuing combat.

The dagger was knocked from its course, however, by another thrown to intercept it. That one belonged to Amalia, who had been watching carefully rather than speaking, reading the body language of the Templars in an attempt to discern whether or not any of them were going to attack. Fortunately, the throw was very telegraphed, her own motions considerably more efficient, and so the blades clanged against one another and flew off to the side, skidding to a halt near the unconscious mages. Amalia herself unsheathed two more and ducked under the swing of a zweihander, coming up beneath the Templar’s reach and slamming the handle of one up into his jaw, snapping his head backwards and exposing his throat. The second blade found his main artery without hesitation, and when he dropped, she moved smoothly onto the next.

Lucien had moved to Sophia’s side, guessing correctly that she was likely to take most of the immediate heat, given her attempted intercession. Angling himself slightly, he took his poleax in hand and gave it a vertical swing, a resounding clang echoing in the chamber as he was met with a Templar’s shield. He couldn’t say he was terribly fond of the situation, but they were not exactly being given a choice here, and he wasn’t about to let his friends face more danger because he would have liked to understand more about why it had come to this. The impact jarred his arms, but not so much that he failed to react to the incoming sword, and the pole of the weapon blocked the hit for the most part. With a twist, the Templar brought his shield in and up, bashing it into the Chevalier’s chestplate. Though winded, Lucien refused to step backwards, instead throwing his weight forward and pushing, disengaging the locked position they were in and forcing the Templar sideways, where he drive an elbow into the man’s nose, forcing him to his knees. The same elbow came down on the back of his head thereafter, rendering him as unconscious as any of the mages against the far cave wall.

Rilien, currently wielding only one dagger, was not in the slightest perturbed by this, and indeed might have even counted himself the slightest bit relieved that it had come to this. He had no great love of battle—having, in fact, no great love of anything—but even he would have felt somewhat unbalanced allowing this to pass with no more action from him than a disable. It was, in fact, the Templar he’d injured that came after him, which was hardly surprising. The man held only a naked longsword in one hand, perhaps usually having a shield or an off-hand weapon that couldn’t be used with his injury. In that sense, they were equally handicapped.

The sword swiped for his midsection, and all particular thought ceased for the Tranquil, giving way to simple, utilitarian calculations of probability, coupled with instinctive action and reaction. It was the easiest thing he knew, and the most difficult part was not acting on some of the things he could calculate. Such as where and how to hit so as to be nonlethal but maximally painful. It was not an action that bothered him normally, but what did cause a slight hint of perturbation was that he actively wanted to do that. To cause this person pain, in a way he would never have the chance to cause another like him to suffer. His mentality had no room for desires of such a base nature, and he quashed them, instead moving with clipped, efficient motions, blocking the incoming longsword with the dagger, then striking his boot against the floor in such a fashion as to eject a small blade from the toe, which with a little maneuvering, found the man’s side, doubling him over. Killing him was hardly any trouble after that, really.

Sophia preemptively ducked under the incoming knife, but it was impressively deflected out of the air before it could even reach her. She was disappointed that it had come to this, but she was not unprepared for it. A pair of the zealots rushed her, given the target she'd put on herself by trying to defuse the situation, but a quick backstep was all the time that was required for Lucien to be at her side, pulling away one of her attackers and putting her on even footing with the remaining foe. She drew her sword quickly from her back in time to deflect the first slash sideways. Resolute in the knowledge that these were no true Templars, but merely fanatics who twisted the imperatives of the Order to make an excuse for violence, she launched her own attack on the man before her, sending a rough kick to the side of his knee and knocking him off balance. She struck deep into his arm with her blade, rendering him weaponless, before bludgeoning the back of his head with her pommel, dropping him face first to the damp cave floor.

Once the hostilities began, Aurora acted quickly. She broke from the group and angled toward Milly and the rest of the unconscious mages. She drew the attention of the armored Templar who'd been assigned to keep watch over them. It didn't matter that he stood half-a-foot above her nor that he wielded a longsword, she would see her friend and the mages freed. On her approach, the Templar stabbed out with his sword, aiming to lance the redhead through and through. Learned instinct and trained reaction halted her step before the tip, and with a twist of her body shifted her momentum slightly to his side. She guided the blade away from her trunk with the dragonhide bracer on her forearm and spun inside the Templar's reach. She finished the manuever by throwing an elbow backward into the side of his helmet, dazing him.

She followed him closely as he stumbled and with a flash of cold emotion she struck out with the wrist mounted blade, digging it deep into his armor. Not yet satisfied, she kicked out his legs from under him, forcing him to his knees, where she then grabbed his arm and wrenched it back, where she then drove a knee into the overextended elbow, resulting in a wet crunching and and pained yell. The shout was short lived however as a palm to the back of his head drove him into an unconscious pile before her.

Despite their leader's belief otherwise, the rest of the Templars found no such favor with the Maker. Each fell in quick succession until the only ones who remained standing were the ones who had thrown their lot in with Aurora. With the battle complete, Aurora jabbed a hand toward the mage they had just saved and commanded, "Make sure he's okay!" As she began to make her way to Milly.[/url]