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[[Guardian, Dragon 9:41]] Cauthrien
Siali had never been much of a one for the countryside. Out of necessity she’d long since acclimated herself to travelling through it in search of darkspawn nests, or on expeditions to other cities, but it was never going to be her favourite environment. The fact that now everything was cast in the eerie green glow coming from the south did not help - trees at night looked sinister enough without flickering all the time. Fortunately, Cauthrien made for an ideal travelling companion under the circumstances. While they did speak in turns companionably and seriously, the other Warden wasn’t given to chatter just for the sake of filling up a silence.
Even if either of them had been, though, they probably would have been struck speechless anyway by their first real sight of the Breach. Siali had been out of Highever on two occasions to assist civilians with fleeing the smaller rifts, and those had been unsettling enough, but the great gaping, swirling hole in the sky gave her a sensation she hadn’t experienced since childhood - the cold, crawling feeling that came with knowing she was facing something far bigger and more dangerous than herself.
Not long after they spotted the town up on the hill, Siali noted the scouts watching them from a distance. One was already making their way back to the main gates, and by the time she and Cauthrien had reached them, a welcoming party had already assembled. At the head of it was a woman wearing the armour of a Seeker.
“Wardens. Welcome.” No bow; her manner was terse, although polite enough. “It is my honour to greet you; I am Seeker Cassandra Penteghast.”
Siali waited for Cauthrien to speak first before introducing herself. “Warden-Captain Siali Arnith. An honour to meet you.”
“My men will take your horses to the stables, and your baggage to the rooms we have arranged for you at the tavern. I’ve already sent a man to inform the Herald of your coming; we’ll gather in the war room at the Chantry.”
So the gathering was officially referring to the person in the middle of all this as ‘Herald of Andraste’ as well. Siali had been receiving reports about what was going on in Haven almost from the moment after the Conclave had exploded, but how much was fact and how much was hearsay had been impossible to separate. The circumstances of the woman surviving the blast seemed improbable enough without bringing Andraste into it.
They left the horses outside the gate to the town and walked up the hillside towards the Chantry. The atmosphere was...odd, to say the least. There was tension, but very few people seemed as fear stricken as Siali would have expected. She glanced at Cauthrien, trying to discern how the other woman was reacting to all of this.
Siali had never been much of a one for the countryside. Out of necessity she’d long since acclimated herself to travelling through it in search of darkspawn nests, or on expeditions to other cities, but it was never going to be her favourite environment. The fact that now everything was cast in the eerie green glow coming from the south did not help - trees at night looked sinister enough without flickering all the time. Fortunately, Cauthrien made for an ideal travelling companion under the circumstances. While they did speak in turns companionably and seriously, the other Warden wasn’t given to chatter just for the sake of filling up a silence.
Even if either of them had been, though, they probably would have been struck speechless anyway by their first real sight of the Breach. Siali had been out of Highever on two occasions to assist civilians with fleeing the smaller rifts, and those had been unsettling enough, but the great gaping, swirling hole in the sky gave her a sensation she hadn’t experienced since childhood - the cold, crawling feeling that came with knowing she was facing something far bigger and more dangerous than herself.
Not long after they spotted the town up on the hill, Siali noted the scouts watching them from a distance. One was already making their way back to the main gates, and by the time she and Cauthrien had reached them, a welcoming party had already assembled. At the head of it was a woman wearing the armour of a Seeker.
“Wardens. Welcome.” No bow; her manner was terse, although polite enough. “It is my honour to greet you; I am Seeker Cassandra Penteghast.”
Siali waited for Cauthrien to speak first before introducing herself. “Warden-Captain Siali Arnith. An honour to meet you.”
“My men will take your horses to the stables, and your baggage to the rooms we have arranged for you at the tavern. I’ve already sent a man to inform the Herald of your coming; we’ll gather in the war room at the Chantry.”
So the gathering was officially referring to the person in the middle of all this as ‘Herald of Andraste’ as well. Siali had been receiving reports about what was going on in Haven almost from the moment after the Conclave had exploded, but how much was fact and how much was hearsay had been impossible to separate. The circumstances of the woman surviving the blast seemed improbable enough without bringing Andraste into it.
They left the horses outside the gate to the town and walked up the hillside towards the Chantry. The atmosphere was...odd, to say the least. There was tension, but very few people seemed as fear stricken as Siali would have expected. She glanced at Cauthrien, trying to discern how the other woman was reacting to all of this.