• Hello Guest, the Post-Trespasser timeline is open to all characters now. If you want to play your DA:O/DA2 timeline characters in the Post-Trespasser timeline, please check out the thread below. It will give you all the information you need to get up and running in no time:

    Getting your DA:O/DA2 Character ready for Post-Trespasser!

Give Me A Reason To Try Again [Closed]

Sati Adaar

Prominent member
Canon Character
Post DAI Timeline
Posts
118
#1
[[Evening: 9:20 Dragon, Bloomingtide, three miles short of Ansburg in the Free Marches]] Shokrakar

Sati hadn’t felt much in the last few weeks. After wallowing in the grief that had consumed her following Ser Lehman’s murder and her abrupt dismissal, she had shut her emotions behind a wall and tried as much as possible to keep them there. She’d wobbled a little when she had returned to her home village and found no trace of her parents. After a little questioning, she’d learned that rumours of a qunari raiding party gradually encroaching on the area had been spreading, and overnight they’d upped sticks and vanished. It was sensible. Her parents were Tal-Vashoth and as far from the brutish image that term inferred as it was possible to be - neither would have stood a chance against trained warriors, and they wouldn’t have been shown any mercy either. They’d left only a couple of months ago, but could have gone anywhere.

Thedas was vast. Sati had no idea where to even start looking. She put her feelings back behind the wall.

She’d visited home rarely since coming under Ser Lehman’s tutelage, and perhaps that had been a mistake. The people she remembered as children were now nearly adults themselves, and while a few had offered sympathy, most were clearly glad to see the back of her. She couldn’t blame them. It was a rare day that a sword-wielding qunari came as a welcome sight. She could have taken ownership of her old dwelling, but it just felt like a shell. All the personal touches that had made it a home were long since gone. The village headsman, Eidread Gelbraint, quietly suggested that she might try her luck with a mercenary company in a big city.

Once upon a time, she’d let herself dream of being a knight. She had the training, and some of the experience. Sati wasn’t naive; she knew that Ser Lehman had taken her on for the glory it gave him to have a qunari at his command, but she’d worked hard every day to prove that she was worthy of the chance. Now like any Tal-Vashosh, she was going to end up a sellsword. There was little else she knew how to do, except perhaps be a scribe, and who was going to hire her for that?

She fought the heavy weight in her chest. She would not shame her mentor’s memory by succumbing to despair, even though as each day went by, each step felt a little harder.

Fortunately, she at least had a few coins to her name. She had decided completely at random to head for Ansbury - there were always a few wealthy merchants there who needed bodyguards - and along the way she’d escorted a lord’s youngest son and his retinue. They’d parted ways at the man’s country estate, and now she might be able to afford a night in a tavern once she reached the city, before starting her search for work.

Unfortunately, it looked as though she would be sodden through by then. The sky had opened a little while ago and Sati was staggering a little in the mud, rain coursing down her face. The pathways leading to the city should be well defined further in but she was just far out enough that it was still mostly mud track, sucking at her boots with each step. She could have pulled off to the side and hidden under a tree, hoping to wait it out, but if she had her distances right Ansburg was only a few miles off. She could survive another couple of hours of this. It wasn’t as though sunshine would have made her feel any better anyway.

However, she wasn’t so numb that she missed a faint flash of light through the trees as she approached a bend in the path. It was definitely armour, and she slowed her pace, stepping carefully up to the trees and peering around the corner. Her breath caught in her throat.

Qunari. Several of them.

Only regiments of the Antaam and Tal-Vashosh travelled in those sorts of numbers. Sati couldn’t see from here which it might be. Neither was likely to treat her well. She’d never met another of her kind, apart from her parents and occasionally seeing lone workers at a distance, but she knew almost all Tal-Vashoth went mad with their freedom and attacked indiscriminately. And if ‘pure’ qunari saw her as Tal-Vashoth, they’d kill her on the spot. Or subject her to the brain-washing that was apparently so popular for easing problems with dissidents.

She could likely sneak around them without being detected. It wasn’t one of her strengths, but between the rain and the failing light, she might be able to pull it off. However, left to their own devices, they might wreck havoc along this road for months, maybe even kill. Ser Lehman, in this situation, would tell her to back away, find some authorities for reinforcement, then come back and deal with the situation sensibly. However, he would also never leave if he thought innocent people might suffer in the meantime.

A thread of pain that wound tight around her heart gave her another reason to stay. Better to die in a fight trying to prevent people being hurt in the future, than perish while protecting some crooked merchant from his competitors.

She rounded the corner in full view, Ruin drawn. The group of qunari were strangely attired, and none wore the red vitaar she knew was the staple of the Antaam. Tal-Vashoth, then. Sati steadied herself, ready to defect anything that came her way. “What is your purpose here?”
 

Shokrakar

Member
Post DAI Timeline
Posts
11
#2
“How about this? ‘The summer rains roll down my face/like blood from another time and place’.”

Sweet fuck, not now. Shokrakar gritted her teeth and focused on the tent poles. Living under the Qun fucked you up, and every Tal-Vashoth dealt with the damage in their own way. For Kaariss, it meant indulging in the poetry that had been forbidden to him as a member of the Antaam. That he pretty much sucked at it was beside the point; it helped stave off the madness that had claimed so many others of their kind, and if it sometimes drove her crazy, it was a different kind of crazy: one that she could choose to respond to or not. The choice made all the difference; for the first seventeen years of her life, she’d been given none.

Four years later, she was free and the leader of her own mercenary company, and even if said company only consisted of herself and five other Tal-Vashoth, it was hers, and damned if she would engage in the same bullshit that the Qunari had inflicted on them all. “Sounds good,” she grunted, wedging the pole beneath the oilcloth and pushing it upright. Almost there. “Now get your fucking tent set up.” Tempting as it had been to try to make it to Ansburg, a group of Tal-Vashoth, arriving at night and in the rain, would most likely be refused by all but the seediest inns. Better to sleep a bit damp than share a mildewed straw tick with a legion of biting insects.

They’d found a copse of fir trees that offered some shelter from the driving rain and enough space beneath the spreading branches to set up six tents. She dreamed of the day when such a small space would not contain the Valo Kas company, but it was going to take time. Most Tal Vashoth who hadn’t lost their minds were already members of one mercenary company or another, where they were generally valued for their martial prowess; difficult to convince them to leave that to join a group less than six months old and barely large enough to be considered a company. Thus far, her recruits had been new deserters, like Kaaris and Ashaad, or ones looking to leave shitty companies, like Meraad, Sata-Kas and Sam.

“Yes, Karasten!” She gritted her teeth again. The patterns seared into the brain over a lifetime were not easily redrawn; even she found herself speaking and thinking in Qunlat without meaning to, falling back onto the military terms used in the Antaam. Samuel was the only one who had taken a name for himself with no ties to the Qunari tongue.

A long pause, then a sheepish, “Sorry, Shokrakar.”

She glanced over her shoulder; Kaariss stood looking crestfallen, rain dripping from his curving horns. “It’s all right,” she told him with a smile, and it was. What mattered was that they were free; everything else would come with time. The bleakness left his eyes, and he nodded gratefully before bending to unpack his tent. Satisfied, she turned and set the second pole in place, then moved to tighten the ropes.

“What is your purpose here?”

The voice that rang out in challenge had a definite Marcher accent; given the location, that was hardly surprising. What was surprising was the sight that greeted Shokrakar when she came to her feet and turned, one hand on the hilt of her greatsword.

Horns.

The newcomer was young: several years younger than Shokrakar, from the looks of her, with the gangling look of late adolescence, but she held a well-crafted bastard sword in the manner of one comfortable with its use, her stance ready, her weight balanced nicely on the balls of her feet. She’d had training, Shokrakar noted approvingly.

“Trying to get out of the damned rain,” Shokrakar drawled, jerking her head toward the tents, a gesture from her free hand signaling the others to stay ready but not attack. Training didn’t necessarily preclude crazy. “You?”
 

Sati Adaar

Prominent member
Canon Character
Post DAI Timeline
Posts
118
#3
Several sets of eyes turned in her direction. The general impression Sati got was one of surprise, not aggression, which slightly put her on the back foot. She’d honestly expected to be rushed the moment she made herself known. Instead, one female qunari straightened up, gesturing to her companions, and the few hands that had reached for hilts or bows as Sati appeared went no further.

The appearance of the group was startling enough, and their apparent leader embodied that. Missing horns were common enough amongst qunari - hence Ser Lehnman’s insistence that Sati have hers tipped in bronze, although Sati had never been sure herself how effective that would be - but the tattoos were not. The woman, like Sati, was almost as tall as the men with her, but she was broad and curvaceous, so she had a presence just as physically intimidating as anybody else in the group. Sati wouldn’t let herself be distracted, though. The qunari obviously had at least a measure of discipline, but that could make them more dangerous than if they were completely wild. Sati kept one ear open for somebody sneaking up on her, and kept her guard up as the leader looked her over.

She didn’t seem put out by Sati’s challenge. “Trying to get out of the damned rain,” she explained, indicating the half-built camp. “You?”

There were six tents, as far as Sati could see. That didn’t exclude the possibility there might be more than six people. She wouldn’t beat those odds. Besides, other than practicing sensible caution, there was no need to be uncivil. While she didn’t lower her sword more than a few inches, she adjusted her posture enough to politely dip her head in response to the leader. “The same. I was going to try to find a room in Ansburg.”

Apart from the sense that the qunari were waiting to see if she’d attack them as much as she was waiting to see if they’d attack her, there’d been no hostility so far. It was a strange counterpoint to everything she’d been taught to expect in the behaviour of any others of her kind. Merciless warriors intending on bending everybody to their will, or straight up butchers, was what she had been told. Of course her parents had been living proof against that, but how common could they really be? It took a lot to break from the Qun without fighting at least a little. They’d planned for a long time, and been very lucky.

Sati cleared her throat. She might as well rip the bandage off now. “Are you Tal-Vashoth? You don’t match the descriptions of the Antaam I've read.”
 

Shokrakar

Member
Post DAI Timeline
Posts
11
#4
The newcomer relaxed marginally without lowering her guard. “The same,” she replied, inclining her head ever so slightly in Shokrakar’s direction, rain dripping from her horns. “I was going to try to find a room in Ansburg.”

That drew chuckles from most of the group and a measuring glance from its leader. “Unless you’ve got the coin and are willing to pay ten times what it’s worth, the best you’ll likely get is an empty stall in a stable.” How was it that she’d been in the Free Marches long enough to pick up the accent and didn’t know that? Ben-Hassrath? She was dismissing that notion almost as soon as it arose … mostly. There remained an off chance that the kid only looked that young. “You have a tent? You’re welcome to set up with us.” Wouldn’t be the first time she’d slept with one eye open, and the potential gains in the situation currently outweighed the risks.

The kid continued to look between them, her expression caught between wariness and wonder. Seeming to realize she’d been staring, she cleared her throat awkwardly. “Are you Tal-Vashoth?” There was curiosity, right enough, but what lay beneath it was harder to define. Something hungry and hopeful and afraid of revealing itself. “You don’t match the descriptions of the Antaam I've read.”

More laughs, and Samuel hawked and spat on the ground. “Fuck the Qun,” he said flatly.

Shokrakar snorted and turned her gaze back to the kid. “Tal-Vashoth and proud of it,” she confirmed with a smirk. “You’re Vashoth, aren’t you?” If she’d only read about the Antaam, it was the only possibility.

Unless she was Ben-Hassrath. But they could always kill her later.
 

Sati Adaar

Prominent member
Canon Character
Post DAI Timeline
Posts
118
#5
The derisive chuckles that rose up brought a brief flare of discomfort, but Sati grounded herself, determined not to show shame. People who flared up in the face of minor mockery were those most likely to be stabbed in the ribs and left bleeding in the dirt. “Unless you’ve got the coin and are willing to pay ten times what it’s worth, the best you’ll likely get is an empty stall in a stable.”

Of course. Sati was still learning - while she’d been afforded a great deal of leniency as Ser Lehman’s protegee, not many people would extend her the same courtesy now she was on her own. She tried not to let the realisation show on her face. “A stall would suit me fine. I suppose I can’t be picky.” Polite, always polite. She still didn’t know if this group was being particularly cunning. Nonetheless, she couldn’t detect any subterfuge in the leader’s invitation for her to join the cmap.

“You have a tent? You’re welcome to set up with us.”

Not so much. Grief and desperation had driven her from the estate with little time for practical thoughts; her failure to find her parents hadn’t helped. Still, her lessons would come in handy. “I can rig myself a shelter. Your...generosity is appreciated.” Not that she was likely to be asleep most of the night.

Wondering would keep her awake, and rather than being murdered while she was lying down, she decided to address her main concern before they went any further. Were they the wild Tal-Vashosh of the stories she’d heard human men repeating without any experience themselves? Or were they a spy group from the qunari?

The answer was abrupt. One of the men spat on the ground. “Fuck the Qun.”

That was a relief in a way; she wasn’t going to be killed for having the audacity to have parents who had fled the Qun. On the other hand - “Tal-Vashoth and proud of it,” announced the leader. There was no hint of derangement in her eyes, and the fact that they hadn’t attacked her for her few belongings spoke well...so far. “You’re Vashoth, aren’t you?”

Sati nodded, slowly, finally lowering her sword. If they chose this moment to rush her she could probably dispatch one or two of them before she was overwhelmed. “My parents were Tal-Vashoth. I never knew the Qun. From what I’ve been told, I didn’t miss much.” She eyed the leader. Throughout the course of her life, she’d met a few people so comfortable in their own skins that she couldn’t imagine them being any other way. This woman was such a person. For a long time, Sati had been equally assured, and now that the ground had been ripped from beneath her feet, she desperately wanted to regain that sense of assurity. She’d never attack an innocent, but in the meantime...this couldn’t hurt. “My name is Sati Adaar. And I don’t really know where to go from here.”
 

Shokrakar

Member
Post DAI Timeline
Posts
11
#6
A chagrined expression touched the stranger’s face when Shokrakar reminded her what any one of their kind should well know: they weren’t welcome in many places. How in the Fade was that not engraved on the backs of her eyelids?

“A stall would suit me fine,” she mused. “I suppose I can’t be picky.”

“Wrong attitude,” Shokrakar corrected her, shaking her head. “You let them treat you like a beast, and that’s all they’ll ever see. If you don’t know your own worth, no one else will. That’s why we’re out here -” she tipped her head toward the small circle of tents, “instead of sleeping in a stable.” They would enter Ansburg on their own terms, and leave the same way.

More awkwardness ensued at mention of a tent. “I can rig myself a shelter,” the kid conceded. “Your...generosity is appreciated.” No tent, no idea that she wouldn’t be welcome at an inn … Shokrakar’s curiosity - or maybe suspicion - was growing by the moment, but the kid wanted answers too and voiced her question first.

She seemed marginally reassured by the response that she received - enough to lower her weapon, at least. “My parents were Tal-Vashoth,” she told them. ‘Were'. That didn’t sound promising. “I never knew the Qun. From what I’ve been told, I didn’t miss much.”

“That’s putting it mildly, kid,” Shokrakar snorted, feeling a twinge of envy. What must it be like, to not be at war with your own mind? To not have to fight against years of conditioning that told you that everything that you were was wrong?

From the looks of the kid, it wasn’t that great. “My name is Sati Adaar. And I don’t really know where to go from here.” There was a plaintiveness to the admission and a lost look in the violet eyes that Shokrakar had seen before, in the ones that had just broken free of the Qun and had no idea what to do with that freedom. That was when most of the ones that went mad snapped.

“Well, this is Kaaris and Ashaad,” she replied, pointing at each in turn. “Meraad, Sata-Kas and Sam.” They each nodded and offered their own greetings, regarding Sati with no small amount of interest. None of them had ever met a Vashoth before, either.

“And I’m Shokrakar,” she finished with a smirk. If her parents had taught her Qunlat and anything of the Qun, she would know the name as the pejorative it had been intended as when it had first been bestowed upon a defiant adolescent by the Tamassrans. “We’re the Valo-Kas company.” Spoken without a trace of irony and with as much pride as if there had been a hundred tents set up in the rain.

“As for where to go from here -” She jerked her chin toward the edge of the copse. “Those two trees have enough space between them to set up a lean-to.” She had a couple of spare tents stashed if it came to that, but she wanted to see what the kid could cobble together on her own. And she knew from experience that a goal, however small, could help stave off the voice of fear. “What say we get our asses out of the rain and talk over breakfast?”
 

Sati Adaar

Prominent member
Canon Character
Post DAI Timeline
Posts
118
#7
Sati was confused. She’d thought that the woman was warning her that a stall was all she should expect, and Sati had quickly adapted her expectations accordingly; Ser Lehman had taught her that the best warriors and strategists adapted immediately to whatever new information they were presented with. But apparently this wasn’t the right reaction, as the leader shook her head. “Wrong attitude. You let them treat you like a beast, and that’s all they’ll ever see. If you don’t know your own worth, no one else will.” Sati dropped her gaze. Since the death of her mentor, she had no idea what value she might be to anybody, other than as brute muscle. “That’s why we’re out here, instead of sleeping in a stable.”

That made a certain amount of sense. The group were demanding respect in their way - not with force, but with other forms of action. Sati felt a little of the tension in her chest loosen. So far, these particular Tal-Vashoth didn’t act much differently than her parents had. No anger, no slaughter, just relief at having escaped the oppressive system that had raised them. With that in mind, she finally allowed them to see how uncertain she was. She’d fully expected to get to Ansburg exhausted and have to spend more than a fair sum of the little coin she had left to get some food and shelter. She hadn’t been totally naive - she knew that without humans to vouch for her, her life was likely to get much more difficult.

The leader responded by giving introductions. “This is Kaaris and Ashaad. Meraad, Sata-Kas and Sam.” Sati knew enough to recognise the odd one out in the lineup of qunari names. “And I’m Shokrakar,” the leader finished, smirking for some reason. The sound of the name suited her, like the falling of a great tree or a crack of lightning. “We’re the Valo-Kas company.”

Only six, but they called themselves a company and hadn’t attacked her on sight. Perhaps Sati’s luck was taking a turn for the better. She bowed slightly. “Pleased to meet you all.” She was still going to sleep lightly throughout the evening, in case they thought her easy prey, but there was no sense in abandoning her manners in case this did all turn out to be above board.

“As to where to go from here - those two trees have enough space between them to set up a lean-to. What say we get our asses out of the rain and talk over breakfast?”

Sati nodded, relieved to have something else to focus on than the suspicion she might be killed or the gnawing numbness that had occupied the space beneath her breastbone for the last week. She retrieved the small hatchet at her waist and started slicing some of the thicker boughs in her reach before using those and a blanket to construct a crude shelter. She could sleep beneath her cloak and use the groundsheet to keep herself out of the mud. It would do.

Once it was all set up, she retired almost immediately. There were lumps in the ground and she was hungrier now than she’d been in days, but above all that was the need to get some proper sleep, and with what felt like the largest root in Thedas digging into her ribs, she fell asleep in moments - but not without hiding a dagger beneath the cloak. Just in case.

-

Out of habit she woke quite early in the morning, briefly disoriented by the soreness in her side and the cacophony of the dawn chorus. Apparently birds in this part of Thedas liked to project. When she pushed her head out from beneath the shelter, dew clung to the grass but had not dampened the fire, now being tended to by the one who had been introduced to her as Kaaris. A pot was simmering over the flames; oatmeal with something else mixed in. Sati’s stomach growled. "Um. Good morning."
 

Shokrakar

Member
Post DAI Timeline
Posts
11
#8
Sati Adaar didn’t talk much, which was a point in her favor (that she hadn’t yet shown a propensity for spouting bad poetry was a bigger point, so far as Shokrakar was concerned), but she listened, violet eyes shifting from one to another as they were introduced and dipping a proper bow when the introductions concluded.

“Pleased to meet you all.”

Tal-Vashoth parents hadn’t taught those manners; Shokrakar’s curiosity about the newcomer was growing by the minute, but she contained it for now, pointing out a good spot and watching as the kid quickly and efficiently put together a passable lean-to, remembering to lay a cloth out on the ground, which stole heat from a body faster than the coldest air. She had stubbornly ignored that teaching on her first overnight march and woken up shivering beneath her blankets, colder than she had ever been in her life. It had been a valuable lesson in more than one way; never again had she rebelled simply for the sake of rebellion, biding her time and storing up knowledge for the time when she broke free once and for all.

That question about the newcomer answered, Shokrakar finished setting up her own tent, crawling inside and stretching out without bothering to remove her armor, her sword laying at her side. With an unknown quantity only a few yards away, she wouldn’t be the only one sleeping light, but it wouldn’t be the first time, or the last. Tal-Vashoth were rarely in friendly territory.

She drifted in and out of a dozing state, taking note of when the rain stopped and, a bit later, the sounds of Kaaris coaxing a fire to life and getting breakfast started. She stayed where she was, the knowledge that one of them was up and on guard allowing her to snatch a few minutes of deeper sleep. She roused again at the sound of Sati’s voice and Kaaris’ mumbled reply. The fucking Qunari had tried to beat the poetry out of him so many times that he was timid around strangers, especially anyone who might be a Qunari.

She rolled out of her tent and stood, stretching in the cool morning air, rolling her head on the column of her neck and giving an appreciative groan at the series of loud cracks that resulted.

“Morning,” she grunted, nodding at Sati and peering into the pot without enthusiasm. Oatmeal and dried apples. They’d eaten the last of the ham two days ago. Retrieving her mug from her kit, she crouched by the fire and retrieved the kettle that was steaming beside the pot of oatmeal, pouring herself some hot tea and lacing it with a generous dollop of whiskey from the flask in her hip pouch.

One by one, the others emerged, none of them looking particularly overjoyed at the prospect of oatmeal, but there were no complaints. It was what it was.

“If we don’t get a job soon, we’re going to have to eat Sam,” Shokrakar joked, eliciting laughter from the rest, the loudest coming from Samuel, who patted his slight paunch proudly.

“And poison us all?” Meraad retorted in mock disgust. “Better to try our luck hunting.”

“Some of us need more luck in that than others,” Shokrakar replied. She could use snares and traps, but those weren’t the best choice when you were on the move, and she couldn’t hit shit with a bow. She was teaching herself to use a sling, and could hit a still target maybe three times out of ten; not odds to bet dinner on. Fortunately, Meraad and Ashaad were skilled archers.

She turned her head to peer through the trees, where the walls of Ansburg were just visible in the distance. “If we don’t have any luck getting work today, we’ll set up full camp and hunt for a few days.” Between hunting, trapping, and fishing, they would have enough smoked, dried and salted meat and fish to last them a while, and maybe some skins to sell. Not the mercenary work that they all preferred, but neither was it an unwelcome prospect. They worked together on such occasions as they did in combat, and and while they mainly each gravitated toward their talents, if one of them wanted to try something that they weren’t good at, like Sam and bow hunting (though that was likely an excuse for him to spend time with Meraad), it wasn’t a problem. That choice made all the difference.

“You’re welcome to enter Ansburg with us,” she offered casually to Sati, taking a drink of her tea and relishing the burn of the whiskey as it made its way south. “People will be less likely to mess with you until you get where you’re going.” Not going to ask where; that was up to the kid. “We’ll be checking out the warehouse district for any caravans looking for guards.” Generally dull, but easy money.
 

Sati Adaar

Prominent member
Canon Character
Post DAI Timeline
Posts
118
#9
Kaaris eyed her a little warily, but greeted her civilly enough. Shokrakar appeared shortly after. In the daylight she was even taller than she’d appeared the previous day, and as she rolled her head the tendons in her neck stood out in stark relief. Sati had met human men bulkier than her before, but she’d never been in the presence of somebody quite as physically imposing before. It made a difference not being the tallest one in the group, although she had yet to decide if she enjoyed the change or not.

Nobody seemed particularly enticed by the breakfast on offer. It made a stark difference from wedges of bread still warm from the oven, smeared with preserves, which had been Sati’s standard breakfast while serving under Ser Lehman. She wasn’t going to complain, assuming the food was offered; she was hungry.

So was everybody else; from the sounds of it, their food supplies were low. Shokrakar cracked a joke about eating one of their number, and the laughter that followed put paid to the occasional rumour Sati had heard about qunari occasionally having cannibalistic tendencies. She’d never paid much attention to that, having heard it also being attributed to Fereldans, Rivaini, hedge mages, and Wilder folk. Apparently it was a universal tactic in the book of ‘how to keep my child from running into the woods’.

“And poison us all? Better to try our luck hunting.”

“Some of us need more luck than others.” Shokrakar turned her attention towards the walls of Ansburg. “If we don’t have any luck getting work today, we’ll set up full camp and hunt for a few days.” Kaaris nodded silently towards the pot of tea, which Sati took as an invitation to help herself, as she processed what she was hearing. She wasn’t naive - she didn’t think - but was this how mercenaries lived? Never a set bed to return to, wandering from job to job, unsure where their next meal would come from?

Ser Lehman had worked her hard, and never once let her become complacent. She’d hunted, she’d spent time living outdoors to prove she could. But knowing at the end of it she’d have somewhere to come home to made a difference. She would need to adapt her expectations - and quickly.

Shokrakar was talking to her. “You’re welcome to enter Ansburg with us. People will be less likely to mess with you until you get where you’re going. We’ll be checking out the warehouse district for any caravans looking for guards.”

Sati wasn’t going to look that gift horse in the mouth. “That would be appreciated, thank you. I’m still plotting my course.”

That implied she had any sort of plan at all. Mercenary work was the most obvious, although it rankled slightly. She’d wanted to serve a lord with honour and bravery, not sell her brute strength to the highest bidder, and she knew her morals would get in the way if she was asked to administer a kicking to a tenant who was late with their rent or a merchant who had run afoul of her employer. But apart from maybe offering herself out as a farmhand, she doubted anybody could find much else use for her.

She dug in the bag at her waist, producing a small glass jar of honey, as she turned back to Kaaris. “For the oatmeal, if you want it. It’s not much but it might be welcome. As to hunting - I don’t have one with me, but I’m trained with a longbow. I can help with that, too.”
 

Shokrakar

Member
Post DAI Timeline
Posts
11
#10
Sati listened to the fireside banter without joining in, her expression seeming more than a little wistful. Small wonder; a Vashoth alone in the south would always be isolated, viewed with suspicion by those around them. The manners were an indication of how hard she had tried to fit in, but Shokrakar was willing to bet it had been as futile as pissing into a windstorm.

She wasn’t quite ready to adopt the newcomer sight unseen, but she was willing to give her a chance, inviting her to accompany them into Ansburg and dangling the idea of signing with them as caravan guards.

“That would be appreciated, thank you,” Sati replied before shying away from the bait. “I’m still plotting my course.” Shokrakar nodded; whether the kid knew it or not, that course was going to push her toward others of her kind, and she could afford to let her figure that out on her own.

Sati rummaged through her hip pouch and came up with a glass jar that gleamed gold in the rising sun. “For the oatmeal, if you want it,” she said, holding it out to Kaaris, who took it with a pleased smile. “It’s not much but it might be welcome.”

“Definitely welcome,” Shokrakar replied, echoes of agreement rising from the others as Kaaris poured the honey into the oatmeal and stirred.

“As to hunting -” Sati continued, “I don’t have one with me, but I’m trained with a longbow. I can help with that, too.”

“Got a spare you can borrow,” Shokrakar told her, pleased with the suggestion that she was at least considering remaining with them for that long. Decent weapons were expensive, but she tried to keep at least one extra of each type that they used on hand, because a merc without a weapon was pretty fucking useless. They were all proficient in at least two weapon styles, and it looked as though Sati was, as well. Better and better.

“It’s ready,” Kaaris announced and began dishing the oatmeal into bowls. Shokrakar dug in with a bit more enthusiasm than she’d felt a few minutes ago. The honey improved the taste, and while it would have been better alongside some meat, it did a decent enough job at filling the empty space beneath her ribs.

“So,” she began, washing down a mouthful with a swallow of tea - she should’ve had Kaaris save some honey for that, damn it, “what brought you to Ansburg?”
 

Sati Adaar

Prominent member
Canon Character
Post DAI Timeline
Posts
118
#11
Offering the honey had evidently been the right thing to do. Sati would have offered it regardless; by letting her share their campfire for the night, she had been somewhat more protected than she might have been sleeping alone. From the sound of it, she probably wouldn’t have found a bed in Ansburg. There was more she could offer, however, now she was over her initial misgivings of the night before. The ice that had encased her heart since Ser Lehman’s death chipped slightly as Shokrakar accepted her offer to join the hunt with a grin. There was even a bow she could use.

Kaaris dished out the oatmeal. With the honey, it was pleasant enough. Ser Lehman had been well respected but kept a modest table and expected those in his employ to follow suit; Sati could subsist on the basics easily enough. She settled down with her bowl, prepared to do as she’d done the previous night and simply listen, learning more about this odd company.

However, Shokrakar turned the attention on her. “So. What brought you to Ansburg?”

Sati saw no point in hedging. There was nothing in her past of which to be ashamed - she’d failed Ser Lehman as a protector, but she hadn’t even been in the room when he’d been killed. There was simply nothing she could have done. While talking of it hurt, it was better than clamming up altogether.

“I was a squire to a country knight not far from here,” she said, resting the bowl on her knees. “I’ve been training under him since I was ten years old. He was recently murdered by one of his other protégées.” Henrik. He was from a well-off merchant family and had a natural talent for weapon work, and had treated Sati with a lofty disdain from the moment they’d been introduced. She’d always known he didn’t like her, and was resentful that Ser Lehman didn’t devote all his attention to him; nonetheless, she never would have expected him to stoop as low as murder. It had been an impulsive action, according to the others in the room at the time, but still...it was a death far below what Ser Lehman had deserved. At least Henrik had experienced the swift wheel of justice before his parents could buy off the right authorities.

Sati let out a slow breath. Her voice didn’t shake, she was in complete command of herself. “Once he was gone, I was advised by his inheritor to make myself scarce. I believe that there were several people quite glad to see me go. So I attempted to find my parents, but they’ve disappeared. With no other direction, I decided to come to the biggest city I could reach on foot, and see what opportunities for work there might be. I’m...aware that my mentor may have shielded me from some of the realities I might face.”

From the look on Shokrakar’s face last night when Sati had announced she was planning to find a room in Ansburg, that might have been an understatement.
 

Shokrakar

Member
Post DAI Timeline
Posts
11
#12
Shokrakar trusted her gut, but she knew not to rely on it alone unless she had no other options. Sati Adaar seemed like a steady enough sort, and she’d handled her sword with an ease that suggested more than casual training, but she hadn’t been a mercenary … at least, not in this part of Thedas, where anyone with horns was a bare half-step above the beasts in the eyes of the populace. She wasn’t crazy - or if she was, she was one of those who hid it well. Shokrakar had encountered one of that type, and it was not an experience that she cared to repeat; finding the soft-spoken Tal-Vashoth methodically carving out the eyes of all of their fallen opponents after a battle was not one of her favorite memories.

So if the new arrival had any similar tendencies, best to find out sooner, rather than later. Simple questions to start off, paying attention to the way that Sati answered as much as what was said. She’d learned more during the Tamassran training than she’d let on, and she’d gotten more than pain from her sessions with the re-educators.

“I was a squire to a country knight not far from here,” Sati replied, as matter-of-factly, as if it were a common occurrence. “I’ve been training under him since I was ten years old.” That would explain the weapons training, manners, and vocabulary. “He was recently murdered by one of his other protégées.”

“Shit.” There didn’t seem to be much else to say to that. “I’m sorry. Did they try to pin it on you?” It would be far from surprising, but it would also present a thorny problem if she had a price on her head. They could ill afford to harbor a fugitive, falsely accused or not.

Fortunately, that didn’t seem to be the case. “Once he was gone, I was advised by his inheritor to make myself scarce,” Sati went on, her voice steady, the faint lines of tension on her face suggesting the effort that it cost her. “I believe that there were several people quite glad to see me go. So I attempted to find my parents, but they’ve disappeared. With no other direction, I decided to come to the biggest city I could reach on foot, and see what opportunities for work there might be. I’m...aware that my mentor may have shielded me from some of the realities I might face.”

Shokrakar snorted softly. That was an understatement, but it also begged the question of why. Why accept her as a student in the first place? Why treat her so well that she evidently had no idea that the rest of Thedas would treat her like an animal? A couple of possibilities suggested themselves, but Meraad spoke up before she could.

“Fancy a bit of horn between the sheets, did he?” she asked, stirring at her oatmeal with a bitter expression. Shokrakar couldn’t blame her for the assumption: the head of Meraad's former company had tried to sell her to a brothel when the owner had offered a prime price. The number of southerners with size fetishes had long ago stopped surprising Shokrakar. All of them had dealt with it at one time or another; most of the women seemed to just be drawn to larger partners - male and female alike, and Shokrakar had no objection to indulging that kind of interest, but too many of the men had darker impulses and the need to dominate a larger lover to prove they could. That wasn’t the impression she was getting of the country knight from the way Sati was speaking of him, however. She gave Meraad a cautioning look, but did not try to soften the blunt query; if the kid hadn’t encountered that mindset before, she needed to learn about it before she ran into one of the real freaks.
 

Sati Adaar

Prominent member
Canon Character
Post DAI Timeline
Posts
118
#13
Sati headed off the expected question; it made sense that they would assume she had shouldered the blame for her mentor’s death. Perhaps she might have, had there not been quite so many witnesses to the deed. It would have taken nearly a dozen people cooperating to hide the truth first and foremost, and had they chosen to try and punish her, she would act as she had been taught to act under threat. Perhaps some of them had known that it was better to quietly shoo her away than try to take her down. She couldn’t have beaten all of them but she would have made a mess of the courtyard before she fell.

Even knowing that, she’d chosen to leave almost as soon as Ser Lehman was cremated, preferring not to give anybody the chance to knife her in her sleep.

She shook her head to Shokrakar’s query. “Enough of them had enough honour not to make me their scapegoat. The squire in question was foolish enough to attack Ser Lehman in broad daylight, in front of many witnesses.” Which was likely the only reason he’d succeeded. Quite simply, nobody had expected him to act so brazenly.

Sati told her small audience of what had followed, keeping painful facts as free of emotion as she could. She was also willing to admit that perhaps she had hoped for better treatment than she should have expected. That people - humans in particular - didn’t like her had been with her for as long as she’d been alive, but she thought she’d molded herself into a reasonably acceptable shape. From the reactions of the group, she’d been too optimistic.

Then the one who had been introduced to her as Meraad glanced up from stirring the breakfast pot.

“Fancy a bit of horn between the sheets, did he?”

It was far from the first time somebody had expressed that assumption to Sati. She’d first heard it at ten years old, shortly after Ser Lehman had taken her under his wing, back when she’d had little idea what she was actually being asked, and she’d heard it multiple times over the years. People just immediately jumped to the most perverse explanation for her mentor’s charity. It had been some time since it had bothered her. She let her abilities on the battleground do the talking.

However, still stinging from his recent loss, the accusation made her clench her fists and turned her voice blisteringly cold. “He fostered me as a page first, and then a squire. He was never once inappropriate with me, despite what many people claimed over the years. If you doubt the extent of his teachings, I would happily demonstrate on your skull - had he not drilled it into me never to initiate a fight out over mere words.”

Take a clear breath, steady herself. She looked back at Shokrakar. “I approached him for training, and I believe he initially took me on for the acclaim he could get having a qunari at his back. But he didn’t stint in my teaching. I learned every weapon he could throw at me, military tactics, languages, cartography, etiquette. All I wanted was to make him proud that he’d taken the chance on me. It seems like the effort may have been wasted.”
 

Shokrakar

Member
Post DAI Timeline
Posts
11
#14
Given her own experiences with human society, Shokrakar would not have been surprised if Sati had been blamed for her mentor’s murder; folk always seemed eager to think the worst of the Vashoth and Tal Vashoth in the south.

“Enough of them had enough honour not to make me their scapegoat,” Sati remarked, but the likely truth of the matter was a bit less honorable. “The squire in question was foolish enough to attack Ser Lehman in broad daylight, in front of many witnesses.”

“That level of stupidity is always helpful,” Shokrakar observed. And very typical of the entitlement of noble whelps, in her experience. It hadn’t, however, made anyone else any more willing to have her around, and when she’d gone back home, her parents had vanished. Shit.

So, the kid found herself on her own, and - as she ruefully admitted - the knight, as honorable as he might have been, had let her lead a sheltered life in terms of how the rest of the world might treat her. There were certainly motivations for that besides the one that came most readily to mind, but the rest of them had been shaped by their own experiences, and Shokrakar wasn’t overly surprised when Meraad suggested outright that Sati’s mentor had at least wanted to bed her, whether he had actually done it or not.

Not the most tactful of observations, but mercs weren’t known for delicacy, and for a moment, she thought that Sati might fly at Meraad. Her expression hardened and her fists clenched; Shokrakar remained seated; Meraad could take care of herself if it came to that. She wouldn’t step in unless weapons came out.

After a moment, the kid controlled herself, but her voice was as cold as the Frozen Sea. “He fostered me as a page first, and then a squire,” she said, the words as precise as cut gems. “He was never once inappropriate with me, despite what many people claimed over the years. If you doubt the extent of his teachings, I would happily demonstrate on your skull - had he not drilled it into me never to initiate a fight out over mere words.”

Meraad narrowed her eyes, but gave a curt nod and a muttered “Sorry” before beginning to eat her oatmeal again.

Satl drew a slow breath: in through the nose, out through the mouth, then turned her gaze to Shokrakar. “I approached him for training, and I believe he initially took me on for the acclaim he could get having a qunari at his back,” she admitted frankly. “But he didn’t stint in my teaching. I learned every weapon he could throw at me, military tactics, languages, cartography, etiquette. All I wanted was to make him proud that he’d taken the chance on me. It seems like the effort may have been wasted.”

“Depends on what you consider wasted,” Shokrakar replied with a shrug, mentally ticking over the advantages in her head. “That skill set would be considered an asset in any good mercenary company … unless you think you’re too good for that.” She hadn’t said it in so many words, but it was pretty plain that the kid had been hoping to stumble into another noble that would see her worth and offer her an ‘honorable’ position on his guard.

“Sorry about your parents,” she went on. “I know of a few Vashoth and Tal Vashoth settlements … small ones. We can send some messages to them, ask around. Can’t guarantee anything, but they’re the most likely to have heard about any of us out there.” The odds of one or two Tal Vashoth wandering in southern Thedas weren’t good, but the kid didn’t need to hear that just yet.
 

Sati Adaar

Prominent member
Canon Character
Post DAI Timeline
Posts
118
#15
Sati half expected Meraad to fly at her, and was ready for it; she wouldn’t goad on purpose, ever, but the itchy feeling that had started crawling under her skin at the insinuation about Ser Lehman’s motivations was begging for an outlet. But although her frosty response caused a distinctly unfriendly expression to cross Meraad’s face, nothing further came of it. She would have to do some forms or exercise later, and burn this feeling off before she headed towards the town. Doubtless she would face more insults there, and she would have to be ready to absorb them stoically.

She’d been unable to prevent herself sounding morose when she reflected on how her plans of the last decade had come to nothing, but Shokrakar voiced another opinion. “Depends on what you consider wasted. That skill set would be considered an asset in any good mercenary company...unless you think you’re too good for that.”

As little as a few weeks ago, Sati might well have thought that. She’d been training to answer to a lord, something that required more dedication than a mercenary, who was loyal only as long as the coin held out. But despite the bristling tension at her appearance and Meraad’s biting remark, she’d been treated better by this group than by anybody since her mentor’s body had barely soaked into the woodwork.

It seemed like an offer, of sorts. Sati decided to treat it as such, but she’d check some conditions first. If she found out they were willing to work for slavers, or resorted to breaking fingers to get money out of the already horrifically destitute, she would take on as many of them as she could before they cut her down. It wouldn’t be a long fight. Sati had faith in her own abilities, but she only needed to count visible scars and wrinkles to know she was amongst battle-hardened warriors. They would crush her in moments.

Before she could respond, Shokrakar continued. “Sorry about your parents. I know of a few Vashoth and Tal Vashoth settlements...small ones. We can send some messages to them, ask around. Can’t guarantee anything, but they’re the most likely to have heard about any of us out there.”

Sati inclined her head, placing one fist over her heart. “I thank you. That would be greatly appreciated.” Neither of her parents had been warriors, although both would have no problem against a few humans. Against a lot of ones looking for scapegoats, however…

She returned to the subject of the offer. “If your group would have me, I would prefer to stay. From the sound of it I would be much better placed with you than seeking my own fortune abroad.” She withheld what she would do if they turned out to be one of the brutal mercenary groups Ser Lehman had warned her about. The element of surprise might help her drop one or two before the others cut her to pieces.
 

Shokrakar

Member
Post DAI Timeline
Posts
11
#16
Shit talking was a regular feature in the world of hired blades, and if the kid was the type to let it get under her skin, Shokrakar wanted to know, but if Meraad had continued trying to goad Sati after her tightly controlled response, she’d have been in the shit and she knew it. The leaders of other mercenary companies might tolerate disorderly conduct in their ranks, but they weren’t leading a group from a race that was believed by many to be uncontrollable and unstable. She did her best to help her squad deal with the traumas they had each endured from the fucking Qun, but she had been forced to cut more than one loose when they couldn’t control themselves. It sucked, but shit like that could put the rest of the team in danger or damage the reputation that the Valo Kas was slowly building as a formidable and reliable mercenary company.

The Vashoth accepted Meraad’s muttered apology without comment, directing the remainder of her words to Shokrakar. The knight who had trained her had been one of the rare sort possessing a true sense of honor, apparently; not only had he not been inappropriate with her, but he’d given Sati all of the training that knights traditionally provided to squires: training well beyond martial skills. Unfortunately, he’d also evidently taught her that knighthood was the only honorable path for such training. Granted, a lot of mercenaries were decidedly lacking in honor, but the same could be said of a good many knights that Shokrakar had encountered in her life.

Sati didn’t immediately agree with her suggestion that her skills would be welcomed by any decent merc company, but neither did she argue the point. She did express gratitude for the offer to check with the rare and widely scattered settlements of Vashoth and Tal Vashoth for any word of her missing parents. It wasn’t a concern that Shokrakar could really understand; the Tamassran who had given birth to her had been bred to a Sten of the Beresaad who had been selected for that purpose, and she had no memory of either of them. But the concept of ‘family’ was one that she had come to understand, and every one of those under her command now fell into that role for her (though she would never express it to any of them in those terms). She fought beside them, dragged their asses out if they were wounded, listened as they floundered through the aftermath of nightmares that they had never been given the tools to deal with, and if they were lost, she would search until she found them. She figured it had to be close to the same thing.

The Vashoth hesitated visibly before continuing. “If your group would have me, I would prefer to stay. From the sound of it I would be much better placed with you than seeking my own fortune abroad.”

“Most likely,” Shokrakar agreed. Vashoth or Tal Vashoth, it didn’t matter; the Qunari saw traitors, while most of the rest of Thedas saw dangerous, horned beasts, and all the fancy knight-training wasn’t likely to change it. “I’m willing to let you stay, see how you fit.” She didn’t glance around for a consensus; she’d talk with each of them in turn over the coming weeks before making the newcomer a permanent member, but the final choice - and this one - were hers.

She gulped down the last of her tea and stood. “First, though, I’d like to judge your training for myself.” Taking up her greatsword, she strode out of the camp, angling for a clearing she’d spotted earlier that had featured actual grass instead of calf-deep mud, and glancing back with a grin and tip of her head, aware of the rest of the company moving to claim good vantage points. “C’mon.” Her choice to come or not, spar or not, but while Shokrakar might be willing to let her travel with them for a time, she wouldn’t be participating in any contract work - or sharing in the pay - until she’d proven that she had more than good manners and a shiny sword to offer.
 

Sati Adaar

Prominent member
Canon Character
Post DAI Timeline
Posts
118
#17
Sati suspected that Ser Lehman would have approved of Shokrakar. While her mentor’s manner had been much more formal than that of the mercenary captain - a necessary precaution to try and quell the rumours of their involvement - he had, after all, been unconventional enough to take Sati in, not to mention giving her as thorough a training as he gave any of his charges. He’d disapproved of sellswords generally, but he’d been the kind of man to assess someone on their individual characteristics. Shokrakar’s offer to assist in searching for Sati’s parents would have won him over.

With that in mind, as well as the knowledge that there was safety in numbers, Sati accepted the offer to stay.

As ever, thinking about Ser Lehman caused a shadow of grief to pass over her heart. Not enough time had passed that she could think on his death without pain. Weirdly, the thing that struck most strongly is that she’d never be in the training yard with him yelling form numbers at her, barking instruction if she wasn’t fast or tight enough in her response. The instructions had happened less over time, but the drills had remained just as relentless, and Sati had enjoyed pushing herself, feeling her form improve and winning an occasional nod.

She’d never see that again, but the opportunity was raised to put his training into practice. Shokrakar’s offer came with a clause. “First, though, I’d like to judge your training for myself.” The gigantic - even for a qunari - woman strode towards a clearing, and the company scattered around to get the best view. Sati stood and followed her without hesitation. Meraad had called Ser Lehman’s motivations in question earlier - Sati had already refuted it, but there would be no better way to clear his name than to show what he’d taught her.

Not that she thought she’d win against Shokrakar. Sati was well trained, but Shokrakar had the benefit of experience, and she would likely know some tricks Sati had never learned.

“Nobody who believes they have learned everything can ever claim the title of master, Sati. The greatest swordsman in the world can be undone by a novice who surprises him.” And Sati would never claim to be a master. She’d made the mistake of getting cocky once, after drumming an arrogant noble’s son into the dust after he’d challenged her, and Ser Lehman had made her do press ups in the midday sun until she collapsed into the dirt.

Sati found her place and slid into the familiar stance. It was like pulling on an old, beloved item of clothing, and she immediately felt more comfortable for it. The sword was held angled across her body, ready to strike or parry. She also left herself the option open of moving quickly. Shokrakar had a longer reach, but that might work in Sati’s favour if she could get inside her guard. Instinctively, Sati’s breathing slowed as she assessed her opponent.

Maker, she was big.

“Are there any particular rules for this? Other than not killing each other, presumably.”
 

Shokrakar

Member
Post DAI Timeline
Posts
11
#18
Credit where credit was due: the kid didn’t hesitate, coming to her feet and following Shokrakar away from the camp. If she was nervous at all, she gave no sign, drawing her sword and settling into a ready stance, her gaze steady on her opponent. The rest of the company spread out around the edge of the clearing, giving plenty of space to the combatants.

“Five silver says she’s down in a minute.”

“Ten says that she doesn’t last half that long.”

“I’ve got a sovereign that says that she cries like a baby.”

Shokrakar made no attempt to silence them. Sati Adaar was no longer among the chivalry, and if she hadn’t heard far worse than the taunts that were being bandied about, she would soon enough.

“Are there any particular rules for this?” Satin inquired calmly. “Other than not killing each other, presumably.”

“None,” Shokrakar replied, shaking her head as she slid the nevarrite blade from its sheath. She’d eaten beans and bread for months at a time, saving every coin to buy the greatsword. She refused to refer to it as Asala, or even give it another name, but there was no denying that it was the most important possession that she had. “A bandit trying to get by you to raid the caravan you’re guarding won’t be playing by the rules, and there’s no crowd to impress. You win … or you die.”

She gave no warning, no preamble to her attack. She simply launched herself forward with the bloodcurdling shout that she had found to be highly effective at unnerving southerners. Having a tattooed, horned giant roaring toward you with a bigass sword made quite a few people give sudden and serious consideration to their own mortality, and even the ones that didn’t run generally had a moment or two of hesitation. A smart merc never turned down any advantage.
 

Sati Adaar

Prominent member
Canon Character
Post DAI Timeline
Posts
118
#19
The company called to one another, shouting out bets. It was nothing she hadn’t heard before from guards, pages and squires. Those who belonged to the noble class were no less likely to be overtly rude than the average man on the street - more so, in fact, believing that their station in life entitled them to say whatever they pleased without facing a consequence. Besides, what she was hearing gave her goals. She didn’t have to beat Shokrakar. She just had to last longer than a minute, and last long enough to show that she knew what she was doing.

As for crying, she had wept herself dry the night after leaving Ser Lehman’s estate, and even finding her parents gone had not been able to rouse more from her. She would not give the hecklers the benefit of a single tear. Instead she asked if there were rules.

“None.” Shokrakar drew her greatsword. It was beautiful, made from nevarrite, and Sati would ask to look at it later, but she did not let her eye be drawn for more than a couple of seconds. Any distraction might not equal death, but would cost her the protection of travelling in numbers. “A bandit trying to get by you to raid the caravan you’re guarding won’t be playing by the rules, and there’s no crowd to impress. You win...or you die.”

Shokrakar was suddenly moving forwards, following a howl that could have turned Sati’s bones to milk, her blade bearing down on her.

Even though she was numbed by pain and loss, even though she was likely facing a challenger stronger than any she had faced before, Sati’s lips drew back in a grin, before she unleashed a bellow of her own and barrelled towards Shokrakar.

This was what Ser Lehman had seen to be worth shaping, worth all the hours of etiquette and guard duty in the hot sun and rolling the barrels of sand and chainmail, worth the snide comments that had followed her around for the last decade, worth stuffing her aching head with maps and genealogies and tactics.

Sati didn’t love to kill, but she loved to fight.

Her blade parried Shokrakar’s. It would only hold for a moment, the woman’s brute force bearing down was too much, but it broke her speed and allowed Sati to dip down, stepping past her and then spinning around, ready to counter again. The other mercenaries were yelling and Sati absorbed the noise, channeling it into her arms as she took a strong swipe towards Shokrakar’s knees. It felt good to be moving again, the best she’d felt in days, and this time she was freed from the restraint she’d had to show in the training grounds.

She would have to recalculate a bit, though. For a person her size, Shokrakar moved with a swift grace that would be hard to counter. Sati was going to have her work cut out for her.
 

Shokrakar

Member
Post DAI Timeline
Posts
11
#20
Give the kid credit: her only reaction to Shokrakar’s war cry was a slight widening of her eyes before a fierce smile lit her face and she charged with a very passable war cry of her own. The others gave cheers of approval as their blades clashed together, then separated as they spun apart.

From her earliest years of training, Shokrakar had been enthralled with the two-handed swords, the combination of strength and deftness that it took to wield one effectively. It felt like dancing, even more so when you were matched with an opponent skilled in the same style, and even when the stakes were life and death, she gloried in the feeling.

And Sati Adaar was good, her years of training evident in every controlled move. Shokrakar recognized a few of the forms she’d seen knights and chevaliers employ, but the Vashoth did not make the mistake that some did of adhering to them rigidly. Her knight had known that much of her fighting would not be done in tournaments.

She let herself enjoy the match, pushing Sati just enough to take her measure and approving of what she saw. The kid was bold, but not foolish; she’d been trained to look for and exploit openings, but also to be on guard for traps meant to open herself to a counterattack.

Stepping back, Shokrakar felt a stone turn under her foot; it would have been easy enough to recover from, but there was one more thing that she needed to know about this potential recruit, and it was a biggie. She let her momentum carry her back and over, sprawling heavily on her back, seeming to only barely manage to hold onto her sword with her right hand while her left clawed at the turf beneath her. The rest of the company let out cries of surprise and dismay; likely most of them realized what she was doing, but didn’t want to give it away. Sati could end this fight here and now if she chose to.
 
Top