Seven people was probably a few too many to fit around the small map table, but they made due; Khari just stood a row in front of Asala and Rom and called it good enough. The map on-hand wasn't a particularly-detailed one, but she supposed it had been short notice for Ser Routhier and Ser Durand had the landscape long memorized by this point. So maps weren't really a necessity for him. That was nice, because they were damn expensive, as she understood it.
“We ran into some Jackals on our way here. You think this is them?" Khari recalled the incident with clear distaste splashed across her face. They were nasty pieces of work to a one, but they usually moved in smaller, more mobile groups, so they could get in and out of the territory quickly. The Dalish would catch them every time, otherwise, before Ser Durand even had to worry about flesh-traders in his territory.
Her teacher considered it for a moment before shaking his head. "In a way, I'd prefer it." His tone was grim; he crossed his arms over his chest. "The Jackals at least would have been likely to try for capture." The implication was obvious: Ser Routhier's missing sister and her troops were much more likely to be alive if slavers had ambushed them.
"I think it's more likely Halfhand and her damn Reapers." He grimaced, pointing to a spot on the map that sat in an area Khari knew to be steeper, with as many cliffs as gentler hills. "They took the old fortress off the last guys a couple years back. I've never had the manpower to even try and dig them out." His tone was edged with a familiar grievance there.
Khari sucked a breath in between her teeth. Halfhand was no joke; she remembered stories about her. “What makes you think it's them?"
He huffed, arching a brow at her. "Little Bear, do you know any other bandits crazy enough to try fighting a full squad of chevaliers? Ser Routhier had ten fully-trained knights with her. They'd have broken any other group to pieces, ambush or no."
Seeing how Zahra’s skills and abilities were usually strictly useful on the seas, there wasn’t much she could offer by means of strategy. She’d taken on mercenary gigs, and sticky-fingered capers, but it wasn’t likely that she did anything planned. Flying from the seat of her pants? More likely. She kept her silence, but peered over their shoulders, scrutinizing the map splayed out in front of them.
Violette, who had so far been quiet, chose that moment to speak. "The complaint Lili was responding to was simply for increased bandit activity, but she would have gathered what she could from the locals, as far as information. If she heard about some bandit in an old fortress, I'm certain she would have at least gone to investigate. I believe Ser Durand's hypothesis is likely correct; if..." She paused, her throat working as she swallowed thickly. "If Lili is still alive, it seems likely she will be there. If nothing else, it is a place to start."
“That looks like a bit of a trek, from here," Estella contributed softly. “It would be nearly morning by the time we got there, if we left right now."
Clearing her throat, Violette continued in a much crisper tone of voice. "Quite so. I believe our best option is to camp here for tonight, leave early tomorrow, and attempt to take the fortress under cover of darkness."
Rom had no disagreement with that. He had studied the map while they spoke, listening intently with his arms crossed, one closed fist gently propped against his lips. "You said the fortress is old," he stated, looking to Ser Durand and lowering his hands towards the map. "Do we know what the state of its defenses are? If we're attempting to take it, I'd be put to much better use on my own, inside the walls, than with the bulk of our numbers."
Khari watched her teacher study her friend, clearly reassessing what type of fighter he was. Durand nodded slowly. "It's backed up against a cliff, making it inaccessible from that side. The rest of it is walls, but the masonry is old enough that it should be scalable, to someone with the right skills. Halfhand's no amateur, though—she'll have a watch posted, and she herself will likely be heavily-guarded." He stroked his beard with a hand, eyes shifting into the middle distance.
"I think it would be best if you got the gate open for us, rather than risking taking her out. Too many unknowns—I only know the basics of the fortress's layout, for one. Just what I've been able to get from observing at a distance."
“How many people does she have, these days?"
"At least fifty in the fort on a given day. More, if her lieutenants are in to give their reports. She runs a large outfit." It was easy to see why even a chevalier and his eight soldiers wouldn't have risked it, considering that. Khari would have asked why he hadn't sent for help, but she already knew that was the wrong question.
The better one to ask was why no one had ever answered.
Violette didn't look thrilled by even the suggestion of what amounted to an assassination; she shot Durand a very obvious aside-glance, but apparently decided to let it slide. "Opening the gate would be for the best. Even with our troops combined, we'll have but slightly more than half their number. I'm not worried about that so much—a bandit is a bandit, and two are hardly a concern." Her confidence was clear, but the matter-of-fact tenor of the comment didn't carry any arrogance. Rom nodded his understanding of her advice, and said no more.
"The worry is, I believe, that they will know the environment much better than we do, and be better positioned to begin with, if the watch is on the walls. We'll have to be quick."
"Little point in planning much beyond that." Durand seemed to be amenable to the plan's general direction, however. When it was clear that everyone with an opinion on the matter was in agreement, he turned to Khari and the others. "It seems we've an evening to kill. I don't suppose any of you lot play Skulls and Roses?"
It turned out that everyone who didn't play was willing to learn, so after a hearty camp stew, they clustered together in a circle to one side of the campfire. They'd relocated to the part of the camp dominated by the older tents; Khari had made a point of greeting all the guys before sitting down to her food. They were pretty much exactly as she remembered them, though considerably older, of course. Brick and Firmin had decided to play as well, bringing the number up to eight.
“I didn't see Gervais or Louis around—they find actual gainful employment or something?" Khari laid her first card face down on her knee, passing the turn to Ser Durand on her right.
Brick pulled a face, but it was her teacher that answered. "They're dead." The news was delivered with the measured, even tone of someone quite used to the idea, but the fact that he didn't look at her when he said it told Khari the rest of the story.
“Shit." She grimaced. “It's just the six of you guys now?"
Firmin nodded, playing his card face down as well. The oldest man in the bunch, he had a beard that extended well past his chest, and no other hair to speak of. "Not the same without you kicking us all awake in the morning to spar with you, Khari."
"Yeah." Brick rolled his eyes. "I can actually fuckin' sleep now. Not the same at all."
“One." No sooner had the turn gone around once than Estella used the opportunity to begin the betting phase. Her face was quite unreadable, smoothed over until there was no expression on it at all. Rather appropriate, for a game where bluffing was half the point. She broke the moratorium on expression for just long enough to smile at Brick, though. “If it helps, I got her back for you, in a way. We train before morning, now."
For a pirate who was committed to underhanded means, Zahra floundered at Skulls and Roses. She was in the habit of betting far too high and coming out with nothing at all. From the look on her face, nose scrunched and eyebrows screwed up in concentration… she wasn’t fond of losing either. She sighed and passed, effectively drawing herself out of the round, “Just isn’t the same without any ale.”
Meanwhile, Asala stared at her cards with a confused expression, her eyes darting back and forth between the cards in front of her and those in her hand. "Uh..." she murmured.
Khari nodded emphatically, then leaned over to peek at Asala's cards. “You pass, Asala. I raise to two. Anyway, Stel here is up a couple hours before the sun, and now so am I." She spread her remaining cards a little further with her free hand; she'd put down her skull, so she was really hoping someone tried to up that bet.
"Pass." Apparently her teacher at least was not going to oblige. "You've been keeping up with your training then, Little Bear?"
“Of course I have." She sniffed, as though indignant. “Can't let myself slack off. I'm helping important people now, you know." Thankfully, Brick raised to three, so she was safe for this round, at least. “Inquisitors and everything. I've beat up demons and Tevinter cultists and crazy templars with red lyrium growing out of their bodies, and that's just this year!" So it wasn't strictly modest to mention, maybe, but she couldn't help herself; she figured she had reason to be proud. “I mean, I'm kind of a big deal if I got them both to traipse out to the countryside with me, right?" She grinned at the two of them.
"We wouldn't be alive to traipse anywhere if not for our quiet Qunari friend here," Rom added, his face quite blank as he looked at his cards and the board. "Several times. Pass." Now that he was out of the round, he returned her grin with his own smaller variety. "But yes, she's important to us. And we have to keep her out of the regulars anyway, for morale reasons. Sleep, as you mentioned."
“I do believe they quite enjoy watching her fight, though," Estella added, raising to four. No one seemed to want to take her up on that, so she was left to try and pick three roses besides her own. Brick had one, which she guessed immediately, as did Firmin. Her last guess was Durand, and she accompanied it with a question.
“May I ask what you know of the Inquisition, Ser Durand?"
He flipped his card, showing her the rose on it. The first bet was Stel's. As everyone reshuffled for the next, Ser Durand raised his shoulders. "Well, we don't exactly get news from the horse's mouth around here, but you could see that damn green thing in the sky from just about anywhere. Rumor tells that you lot were the ones who went about fixing that, and now you're looking to fix whatever caused it in the first place."
“That's basically it." Khari brought her legs up to cross underneath her, settling into a more comfortable position. “It's why we're here, honestly. I thought maybe you'd be able to help us."
He looked surprised by that for a moment, scratching at his beard with the hand not holding his cards. "Me? I'm not much of an asset, Little Bear. Can barely keep the bandits under control in my neck of the woods. Seems like a question better put to Routhier."
Khari snorted. “Bullshit. I know how hard you hit. And I know none of them have ever beat a clumsy dumbass into shape the way you have."
It was his turn to look like he didn't buy it. "That was not the labor you make it seem. But if what I can offer seems worth the asking, then I suppose I'll have to consider it." He grimaced. "If we can dig Halfhand out of her fort, I could pull up my old roots, too, I suppose."
Khari kept a lid on her excitement, but only just. It had been years since she'd been able to be around Ser Durand and the others; if they were coming to the Inquisition, well... almost everything she cared about would be in one place.
War or no war, that felt pretty damn good.
“We ran into some Jackals on our way here. You think this is them?" Khari recalled the incident with clear distaste splashed across her face. They were nasty pieces of work to a one, but they usually moved in smaller, more mobile groups, so they could get in and out of the territory quickly. The Dalish would catch them every time, otherwise, before Ser Durand even had to worry about flesh-traders in his territory.
Her teacher considered it for a moment before shaking his head. "In a way, I'd prefer it." His tone was grim; he crossed his arms over his chest. "The Jackals at least would have been likely to try for capture." The implication was obvious: Ser Routhier's missing sister and her troops were much more likely to be alive if slavers had ambushed them.
"I think it's more likely Halfhand and her damn Reapers." He grimaced, pointing to a spot on the map that sat in an area Khari knew to be steeper, with as many cliffs as gentler hills. "They took the old fortress off the last guys a couple years back. I've never had the manpower to even try and dig them out." His tone was edged with a familiar grievance there.
Khari sucked a breath in between her teeth. Halfhand was no joke; she remembered stories about her. “What makes you think it's them?"
He huffed, arching a brow at her. "Little Bear, do you know any other bandits crazy enough to try fighting a full squad of chevaliers? Ser Routhier had ten fully-trained knights with her. They'd have broken any other group to pieces, ambush or no."
Seeing how Zahra’s skills and abilities were usually strictly useful on the seas, there wasn’t much she could offer by means of strategy. She’d taken on mercenary gigs, and sticky-fingered capers, but it wasn’t likely that she did anything planned. Flying from the seat of her pants? More likely. She kept her silence, but peered over their shoulders, scrutinizing the map splayed out in front of them.
Violette, who had so far been quiet, chose that moment to speak. "The complaint Lili was responding to was simply for increased bandit activity, but she would have gathered what she could from the locals, as far as information. If she heard about some bandit in an old fortress, I'm certain she would have at least gone to investigate. I believe Ser Durand's hypothesis is likely correct; if..." She paused, her throat working as she swallowed thickly. "If Lili is still alive, it seems likely she will be there. If nothing else, it is a place to start."
“That looks like a bit of a trek, from here," Estella contributed softly. “It would be nearly morning by the time we got there, if we left right now."
Clearing her throat, Violette continued in a much crisper tone of voice. "Quite so. I believe our best option is to camp here for tonight, leave early tomorrow, and attempt to take the fortress under cover of darkness."
Rom had no disagreement with that. He had studied the map while they spoke, listening intently with his arms crossed, one closed fist gently propped against his lips. "You said the fortress is old," he stated, looking to Ser Durand and lowering his hands towards the map. "Do we know what the state of its defenses are? If we're attempting to take it, I'd be put to much better use on my own, inside the walls, than with the bulk of our numbers."
Khari watched her teacher study her friend, clearly reassessing what type of fighter he was. Durand nodded slowly. "It's backed up against a cliff, making it inaccessible from that side. The rest of it is walls, but the masonry is old enough that it should be scalable, to someone with the right skills. Halfhand's no amateur, though—she'll have a watch posted, and she herself will likely be heavily-guarded." He stroked his beard with a hand, eyes shifting into the middle distance.
"I think it would be best if you got the gate open for us, rather than risking taking her out. Too many unknowns—I only know the basics of the fortress's layout, for one. Just what I've been able to get from observing at a distance."
“How many people does she have, these days?"
"At least fifty in the fort on a given day. More, if her lieutenants are in to give their reports. She runs a large outfit." It was easy to see why even a chevalier and his eight soldiers wouldn't have risked it, considering that. Khari would have asked why he hadn't sent for help, but she already knew that was the wrong question.
The better one to ask was why no one had ever answered.
Violette didn't look thrilled by even the suggestion of what amounted to an assassination; she shot Durand a very obvious aside-glance, but apparently decided to let it slide. "Opening the gate would be for the best. Even with our troops combined, we'll have but slightly more than half their number. I'm not worried about that so much—a bandit is a bandit, and two are hardly a concern." Her confidence was clear, but the matter-of-fact tenor of the comment didn't carry any arrogance. Rom nodded his understanding of her advice, and said no more.
"The worry is, I believe, that they will know the environment much better than we do, and be better positioned to begin with, if the watch is on the walls. We'll have to be quick."
"Little point in planning much beyond that." Durand seemed to be amenable to the plan's general direction, however. When it was clear that everyone with an opinion on the matter was in agreement, he turned to Khari and the others. "It seems we've an evening to kill. I don't suppose any of you lot play Skulls and Roses?"
It turned out that everyone who didn't play was willing to learn, so after a hearty camp stew, they clustered together in a circle to one side of the campfire. They'd relocated to the part of the camp dominated by the older tents; Khari had made a point of greeting all the guys before sitting down to her food. They were pretty much exactly as she remembered them, though considerably older, of course. Brick and Firmin had decided to play as well, bringing the number up to eight.
“I didn't see Gervais or Louis around—they find actual gainful employment or something?" Khari laid her first card face down on her knee, passing the turn to Ser Durand on her right.
Brick pulled a face, but it was her teacher that answered. "They're dead." The news was delivered with the measured, even tone of someone quite used to the idea, but the fact that he didn't look at her when he said it told Khari the rest of the story.
“Shit." She grimaced. “It's just the six of you guys now?"
Firmin nodded, playing his card face down as well. The oldest man in the bunch, he had a beard that extended well past his chest, and no other hair to speak of. "Not the same without you kicking us all awake in the morning to spar with you, Khari."
"Yeah." Brick rolled his eyes. "I can actually fuckin' sleep now. Not the same at all."
“One." No sooner had the turn gone around once than Estella used the opportunity to begin the betting phase. Her face was quite unreadable, smoothed over until there was no expression on it at all. Rather appropriate, for a game where bluffing was half the point. She broke the moratorium on expression for just long enough to smile at Brick, though. “If it helps, I got her back for you, in a way. We train before morning, now."
For a pirate who was committed to underhanded means, Zahra floundered at Skulls and Roses. She was in the habit of betting far too high and coming out with nothing at all. From the look on her face, nose scrunched and eyebrows screwed up in concentration… she wasn’t fond of losing either. She sighed and passed, effectively drawing herself out of the round, “Just isn’t the same without any ale.”
Meanwhile, Asala stared at her cards with a confused expression, her eyes darting back and forth between the cards in front of her and those in her hand. "Uh..." she murmured.
Khari nodded emphatically, then leaned over to peek at Asala's cards. “You pass, Asala. I raise to two. Anyway, Stel here is up a couple hours before the sun, and now so am I." She spread her remaining cards a little further with her free hand; she'd put down her skull, so she was really hoping someone tried to up that bet.
"Pass." Apparently her teacher at least was not going to oblige. "You've been keeping up with your training then, Little Bear?"
“Of course I have." She sniffed, as though indignant. “Can't let myself slack off. I'm helping important people now, you know." Thankfully, Brick raised to three, so she was safe for this round, at least. “Inquisitors and everything. I've beat up demons and Tevinter cultists and crazy templars with red lyrium growing out of their bodies, and that's just this year!" So it wasn't strictly modest to mention, maybe, but she couldn't help herself; she figured she had reason to be proud. “I mean, I'm kind of a big deal if I got them both to traipse out to the countryside with me, right?" She grinned at the two of them.
"We wouldn't be alive to traipse anywhere if not for our quiet Qunari friend here," Rom added, his face quite blank as he looked at his cards and the board. "Several times. Pass." Now that he was out of the round, he returned her grin with his own smaller variety. "But yes, she's important to us. And we have to keep her out of the regulars anyway, for morale reasons. Sleep, as you mentioned."
“I do believe they quite enjoy watching her fight, though," Estella added, raising to four. No one seemed to want to take her up on that, so she was left to try and pick three roses besides her own. Brick had one, which she guessed immediately, as did Firmin. Her last guess was Durand, and she accompanied it with a question.
“May I ask what you know of the Inquisition, Ser Durand?"
He flipped his card, showing her the rose on it. The first bet was Stel's. As everyone reshuffled for the next, Ser Durand raised his shoulders. "Well, we don't exactly get news from the horse's mouth around here, but you could see that damn green thing in the sky from just about anywhere. Rumor tells that you lot were the ones who went about fixing that, and now you're looking to fix whatever caused it in the first place."
“That's basically it." Khari brought her legs up to cross underneath her, settling into a more comfortable position. “It's why we're here, honestly. I thought maybe you'd be able to help us."
He looked surprised by that for a moment, scratching at his beard with the hand not holding his cards. "Me? I'm not much of an asset, Little Bear. Can barely keep the bandits under control in my neck of the woods. Seems like a question better put to Routhier."
Khari snorted. “Bullshit. I know how hard you hit. And I know none of them have ever beat a clumsy dumbass into shape the way you have."
It was his turn to look like he didn't buy it. "That was not the labor you make it seem. But if what I can offer seems worth the asking, then I suppose I'll have to consider it." He grimaced. "If we can dig Halfhand out of her fort, I could pull up my old roots, too, I suppose."
Khari kept a lid on her excitement, but only just. It had been years since she'd been able to be around Ser Durand and the others; if they were coming to the Inquisition, well... almost everything she cared about would be in one place.
War or no war, that felt pretty damn good.