Never Falter (Wadrens for the Expedition)

[Nathaniel Howe]

They just could not come on out and play could they?

It was hard enough to gather resources for this trip, much less find a new entrance to the Deep Roads that was not pouring with darkspawn. Nathaniel had sent out a tracker about a week past, and had come back with information on an entrance about ten miles south of the Vigil's Keep. He had gathered a few Grey Warden's to his side, ones that he thought were strong enough, or they were there under different circumstances. He continued to walk the tunnel with torch in hand. He had left people outside to guard the point of entrance. The taint with the Wardens would allow them to sense any darkspawn near by, and in fact sense any other Grey Wardens. But at the moment they should be the only Wardens here.

As he continued down the tunnel, he came to a rather large open area, moving from the exit way to let them all come inside he turned and spoke to them, "If for any reason we are split up, this is our rally point. Keep your eyes open and your ears sharp." He said with a small pause as he looked around for a moment. "They have been silent for too long. Frankly I do not want to be taken by surprise, if they do decide to show their ugly faces on the surface." He said as he passed dropped his torch to the ground do any last minute checks. He pulled his bow that was slung over his back to check its string again, his quiver full with arrows.

He secured his pack once more before carrying his bow loosely in his left hand while the torch was in his right. Looking to each of the Wardens in turn before he turned with a nod to go in further. The rather massive cavern before them was filled with the stench of underground and bodies long dead. It was rather potent. He felt sorry for the Warden who did not have a strong stomach. Coming to a rather large crack in the ground he noted a pillar that had fallen over it, he hoped up on top of it, letting his feet carry him across as quick as they would go. Jumping down to the other side he looked back across the crack, awaiting them to follow as he then turned back to examine the rest of the area.

Arching a brow at the now forked path that was before him. He could feel the wind tunneling through both paths. He could even feel it filtering through the crises in his armor.

[Warden Darin Cathar]

A week, two weeks, three weeks, a month.That's the time he would've had to serve without the expedition at hand to relieve him of those duties. The Deep Roads had been silent for years; they were unlikely to encounter hordes of darkspawn amassing somewhere. Well, unless the silence meant something entirely else. But he couldn't fathom how - darkspawn had never been capable of strategy or even pulling all of their forces back to regroup. As far as the Deep Roads went - how far did they actually go? - there, however, were always darkspawn about.

Darin eased his sword hanging from his waist, sensing none but the other Wardens nearby but still not eager to be surprised by anything. Mavenna at his side smelled of lyrium and dust, but that was how all mages smelled like. Her own scent was buried under the flurry of scents that came from within the Roads, the scents that clung to its walls and had been there for hundreds of years. He could literally smell how old the place was - the rotting carcasses you saw lying about here and there, a layer of flies eating them away, gave off a smell that could've aroused the dead. It would've aroused him, too, if not for others around him. They were his brothers and sisters in arms, a pack of wolves surrounding him, a comforting presence.

Oddly, Mavenna did not seem to need as much support as he did. It felt as though he was relying on her, not the other way around. And in a darkspawn-filled tunnel! He needed to shake that slackness off before it brought him trouble unlooked for.

Upon crossing over a broken pillar that had fallen against the wall, nearly collapsing a whole segment there, he scanned what lied ahead with increasing wariness. He was beginning to get an oily feel about him; the scent of the Roads clung to his coat, rotting meat splashed under his boots as he pressed on, trailing after the Warden-Commander.

He knew that he could kill darkspawn. He could kill dozens of them alone, yet he felt... limited. As though his arms had been cut off, he felt limited and helpless in those dark tunnels that seemed to continue on and on without end. He wondered what would happen if he encountered darkspawn in the Roads - he had never fought any here - or if they came across a pack of Ogres. During those moments, Mavenna's presence seemed to have a soothing effect to his mood; looking at her brought him a source of stability. He drew from that source deeply, drank from it as though he were in great need, and second by second, minute by minute, he became calmer and calmer. Finally it was as though nothing could shake him, nothing could break him, and that feeling was deeply bonded to Mavenna's presence.

Abruptly the tunnel split off into two directions, both going straight on for as long as he could see. He turned to the Warden-Commander, awaiting his decision indifferently. He could see Mavenna turning, too, although she had inspected the tunnels a tad longer than he.

[Rawen Thredith]

It would seem, being a Gray Warden grew more and more curious with each passing day. Rawen had only been a part of the Order for perhaps a little over two months now, so she still knew very little compared to the Wardens she was with today. The Wardens were to scour the Deep Roads for answers. The question? Why was there such silence down here from the Darkspawn? Rawen could recall horrible tales about the blighted creatures, about how they rose from deep underground to cause chaos and terror upon the land. She herself had only come across the foul beasts once in her young life, very recently in fact. They were horrible, revolting monsters, just as they seemed to be in the nightmares that haunted her.

Though this journey could very well prove to be dangerous, Rawen was excited. She was just happy to be out and about, roaming around rather than being cooped up at the Keep. The Dalish girl hated staying still, so this expedition proved to be just exactly what she needed. She was grateful towards her Commander for having let her join the group, even if she was a tad surprised due to her lesser experience in handling things such as this. Perhaps Nathanial thought she would gain a great deal of experience through this? She was unsure, but again, grateful.

The elven girl listened quietly as Nathanial spoke, and she nodded expectantly. She felt comfortable in the Commander's presence, even if he was a Shemlen. The two other Wardens here, Rawen knew nothing of except their names. Darin and...Mavenna she believed were their names. She had no personal opinions of them yet seeing as she had nothing to judge them on yet. But, seeing as they were Wardens, they had to be an honorable sort. Rawen tilted her head to the side a bit, like a curious pup. "Is there any clue as to why the Darkspawn have been quiet? Do you think they could be planning something?" She asked in bewilderment as she looked around her. The elf crinkled her nose in disgust as the stench of the place finally hit her. "By the Creators it smells horrid in here!" She said with a slight whine. The girl stumbled then, but managed to catch herself before falling. Rawen looked to see what tripped her up, only to find it was a rotting corpse of Creators knows what. She gave a little surprised squeaked before looking away and speeding up her pace some to catch up with the others.

The group came across a fallen pillar then, to which Rawen hoped up onto it like an agile cat, gliding across the pillar like a squirrel on a tree branch. She jumped down easily, landing almost silently. It was then that Rawen noticed the fork in the road, which Nathanial was staring at. She frowned as she looked from one path to the other, her nose still crinkled a bit from the disgusting smell of the Deep Roads. "So...what now? We all take one way? Or split up? Or..." Rawen frowned again and went silent. She had a bad feeling about all of this. The Dalish girl grabbed her longbow and held it firmly in her right hand, her hazel eyes wary as she watched the roads carefully.

[Nathaniel Howe]

Nathaniel arched a brow at the fork, before finally answering Rawens' question, "Well it is not likely that they are planning anything at all. But their numbers could be reaching a peak. That's why I wanted to take this trip." He said to her with a small shake of his head as he inspected the paths again in silence. He was somewhat of a good tracker, but he was not nearly the tracker that those who dwelled down here. They knew these caves and halls like no other he knew. Kneeling down to get a closer look, the rock and dirt had been recelty disturbed on the left path. He turned to see if he could see anything else that was not on the path, but nothing that he could see anyway. He pushed back his hair, and turned to the three just as Rawen had asked another question. "Well I think that the left will be more prominate at the moment." Nathaniel stated as if he wanted to get their opion on it.

But regardless of their choice he was going left, maybe that was not the right way to think as the Warden Commander, but he liked to give them the option to use their own minds. He had his lines and he was sure thatthey had theirs. He looked to them for only a moment longer before he turned to the left path again. His feet began to walk down the way but before he could walk any further he stalled at a rumbbling sound and before he knew it the floor started to cave in. Taking in a breath he tried to grab ahold of something as his torch began its decend with him. Finally after what seemed like a lifetime he finally hit solid ground on his back, taking the air from him, "Fantastic." He retorted, as he looked up, unsure if the others had fallen, about 25 feet above him, "Is everyone alright?" He almost demanded to know as he got back to his feet.

((OOC: You can have them either fall with him or not it is all up to you))

[Warden Darin Cathar]

Soon enough a slender shape hit the ground beside Nathaniel, accompanied by a shrill cry. Mavenna was just a black shadow amidst total darkness, barely visible to those above her, but still her voice rose from the heaps of dust, grime, blood, intestines and darkspawn-filth.
"Everyone alright up there?" she said. Her voice was faint; the fall had emptied her lungs of air.

Light from the hole above somewhat illuminated the ground. Darin saw Mavenna's frame lying right next to Nathaniel. She was trying to get up, and her voice sounded strangled. No wonder, after that fall... how much? 25 feet down there?

"We're fine. What's more important than us, though, is your state. You both just took some heavy hits there. Are you all right?"
Hearing Darin's answer come from somewhere above, Mavenna forced herself up. The world wavered in her eyes. She was sure that speaking would've made him fall on the ground again.

"Nathaniel?" she managed, barely even a whisper.

She looked up and saw the frames of Darin and Rawen painted against a blinding light. They were both looking down at them. Mavenna gasped ferociously for air, trying to fill her lungs, and each breath filled them fuller. She leaned on Nathaniel for help, and finally broke into a fit of coughing.

That seemed to have cured the momentary shortage of oxygen.
She looked up again, this time into a stable world. It was not useful - darkness surrounded them completely. It was... fuller than in the tunnel above, richer in pigment. Impenetrable at some points, light and transparent at others... mysterious.

"We're all right down here. What do we do now?"