Dragon Age: Smoke and Shadows

Participants:

Even a man who lives and breathes dance can't dance all the time. In fact he hasn't really dancced much at all since coming here, apart from practice in his room. Watching a full-grown man shimmy his hips just isn't a popular form of entertainment here. Well, except in the Blooming Rose, and he's not going THAT far to entertain others. So it is that Ariston is here, in the Hanged Man, with food and drink. He's wearing standard civilian clothes at the moment rather than his typical very flashy attire. What's he doing? Eating his food and drinking his drink.

The door to the Hanged Man opens up, and in enters Black. He then closes it behind him, before he looks around. His cloak manages to draw attention, as do his fancy blade hilts that rest on his belt. The Warden's heraldry is upon the back of the mantled cloak he wears, while he steps in. He seems a bit damp, looks like he has just arrived in town this eve, fresh coastal rains scented around him.
The man does not know much besides the fact he was told to wait here, this is the place he was called to, from Starkhaven to Kirkwall. He moves to take a seat, and lifts up a hand, exchanging a little bit of money for a drink, which is delivered to him.

You know, she was really getting tired of this bar. If this went on much longer, Adeline was really going to have to set up the Wardens with something more permanent. Down the stairs from the upper floor, the Senior Warden coos at a falcon on her shoulder. Riot of dark hair pulled away from her face, the Vael woman actually looks like she has just recently woken up. In Warden blues, she does tend to stand out in this otherwise dull main room that has come to be more her sitting room to her. By rote, she walks to the bar, ordering a drink quietly.

Black takes a moment to push back from his seat, and then does a small salute towards Adeline once he has seen her. Then he relaxes a bit, "I was beginning to think I was the only one here," he states, and then his drink arrives. A nice distilled wine, it's cheap, but it won't get him too drunk to perform that way. First day and all. "I'm… Reporting in from Starkhaven," he offers up, after that.

Adeline blinks, looks over, eyes sharply blue and inquisitive. Slowly, she smiles, and then nods. "Starkhaven, hm?" She says, the burr from that very place thick on her voice, "Well, I'm Senior Warden Adeline Vael, it's a pleasure. There's a small handful of us here already. What's your name, lad?" Her drink arriving, she settles down at the seat beside his, despite the change in elevation making the gyrfalcon on her shoulder fluff his feathers.

When the cheap wine comes, Black is quick to take it up, and sip on it a small bit. His own accent seems a little bit exotic, hard to place for sure, with a little bit of a husky tenor to it. The man shakes his head a bit, while he inclines, "Merek Black, most just call me Black though. I received a missive that asked me to come here. Besides that, I know little. I'm a full Warden now so my mentor did not come with me."

"Ah." Adeline says, leaning back in her chair and looking the younger Warden over with a fierceness. "Still fresh, then?" There's no disapproval in her tone, just benign curiosity. "Well, lad, it's a fairly simple matter. Some of us went down into the Deep Roads beneath the city, and they've been gone longer than planned. So a group of us are going to down to try and find out what happened." She drinks long and deep at the end of that explanation, draining her cup all in one.

"… That seems a bit standard," Black mentions, after a moment, and nods to Adeline. He takes another drink from the wine. "Until then, we are stationed… Here?" he asks, after a moment. He pulls out a letter, and then places it before the woman. If she opens it up, she will find some information about the Warden. It describes him to be a 'Kirkwall local', and verifies his name. It is stamped. Not much besides that seems to be available on it.

"Well yes, and no." Adeline says, "No one's been down into that part of the Roads in a long time. Bound to be pretty nasty." Waving down another drink, the Senior Warden pauses long enough to take up the letter. She reads it quickly, folds it again, and passes it back to Black. "And yes, this is where we're set up. There's a room upstairs with cots, that's our lodging. And so long as you make it obvious you're with us, the barkeep actually has some decent stock."

"Well, I appreciate it," Black tells Adeline, while he takes the letter back, and folds it up to pocket. "Until then, I suppose it is all up to training and the like. I could visit some places maybe while I'm here." He lets out a small sigh, and then scratches his chin a moment, before he finishes his wine. "It's a… Nice place, all in all."

"It serves." Adeline says, managing to keep and disdain from her voice. True enough, the Hanged Man had served well, even if it was not always the most comfortable of lodgings. Then again, people teased her for being a princess enough, she probably didn't need to make that any worse. "Feel free to go about your days as you see fit. You'll know when you're needed for training or planning, or when we're set to go."

Black dips a small nod to Adeline, while he pushes up after a moment. He then offers out his hand towards Adeline, "Well, it was nice to meet you, I should rest though for a while… Just got off the ship, still tired and all," he admits.

"Of course, Warden." Adeline says, rising and taking his hand with a confident grip. "Get some sleep, and something to eat." It's almost maternal, that tone then. But that was just Adeline, everyone's mom.

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