[OPEN]

[ttlynotabloodmage]

Who: Jowan and YOU
Where: The Deep Roads
When: 6/5 to 9/5
Rating: Most likely some violence, specifics added as necessary
Summary: Jowan gets a chance to see what it would be like to be a Warden! ...he doesn't like it very much.3
The Story:

Exploring
The talk of treasure had gotten interest from Jowan, even if a large part of him thought that it wasn't likely going to be a particularly good idea to go treasure hunting in a place like this. It seemed far more likely with everything else he'd seen so far that it would be a trap or something dangerous. Still, he'd thought it mightn't hurt to take at least a look, see if it looked like it was as bad as he thought or not.

What he hadn't expected was to see what looked a bit like the Deep Roads, or at least what he'd seen of them in books. Admittedly, there wasn't much written about the dwarven roads that he'd been able to or cared to read much of in the Circle, but this looked a bit close and that was enough to start him wondering where the roads might lead. Surely if there were dwarven roads, they might lead back to Thedas or something? They couldn't just lead nowhere, even here.

He's still a bit doubtful, doubly so because he doubts that travelling the roads is going to be easy or safe but he's just going to look a bit and it isn't as though he hasn't done anything else like this before. Getting into the phylactery store hadn't exactly been a walk in the park either.

So, feeling a little more hopeful than he has in a while, Jowan packs himself some supplies and sets out, reassuring himself that it'll just be a bit of a look around and returning if it turns out to be worse than he thought. It's a nice idea really, which is probably why it doesn't last. After the third or fourth turn down a dark path, Jowan realises that he can't really remember if he went left or right at the turn before the last (or was it the one before that?) and he stops, suddenly unsure if he should press on and hope for the best or turn and try to go back.

Both ideas end up being left as he hears what sounds like footsteps approaching rapidly and he steps back, pressing his back against the wall and holding out his hand, wishing he had a proper staff with him.

"Whatever's back there, you'd better show yourself! Or else! I'm a very powerful mage and if you don't, I'll... I'll fireball your face off!"


Random Encounter: darkspawn
Of course if Jowan had really thought about what little he had read about the Deep Roads, he might have remembered that one thing they were all pretty upfront about was the fact that there sure were a lot of darkspawn down there. Unfortunately by the time he remembered, it was a little bit too late.

The unearthly shrieks of the pursuing creatures sound loud in his ears as Jowan runs blindly down dark paths, stumbling over broken rocks and cursing he uneven ground, his lack of a decent weapon, and the darkspawn themselves as he runs. While he can cast a spell without a staff, he'd really prefer something to keep the snarling creatures at a distance from him and without that... running seems the safer option. Even with a staff, actually. One look at those things and running very far and very fast seems like a brilliant idea.

Hurtling down another narrow path, Jowan yells as he slams into someone else and automatically grabs for them, trying to right himself and pull them along with him at once.

"There's darkspawn coming! We've got to get out of here!"

Comments

Darkspawn naturally

[fatherlesskind]

For once Alistair hears the darkspawn long before he sees them. Their shrieks draw his attention as he's slogging through the tunnels, hoping he's going in the right direction and isn't completely lost, a new-old dragonbone sword slung across his back. The sounds echo in the tunnels, making it hard to pinpoint their direction but the crawling feeling pulling at the taint in his veins leads him as surely as a beacon.

Jogging down a narrow tunnel towards the commotion, another body slams into his armoured chest in what must be a painful collision. It doesn't slow them down much though, as they quickly start yelling at him about the encroaching darkspawn and- and he knows that voice, doesn't he?

Jaw clenching tight, Alistair grabs for the mage's shoulder to shove Jowan behind him. "I know about the darkspawn. I'm a Grey Warden." And he didn't much like their chances of outrunning Jowan's new friends. Could he handle them all alone?

Did he have a choice?

Scowling down at the mage he snaps, "I'll deal with them. You can keep running or you can stay and help. I don't care which." Drawing his battered old longsword and unslinging his shield he places himself squarely in the centre of the tunnel, waiting for the darkspawn to fall upon them.

[ttlynotabloodmage]

Jowan doesn't even realise who it is that he's run into at first, too concerned with putting distance between them and the darkspawn, but when the warrior - he has to be a warrior of some kind with a grip and a sword like that - grabs his shoulder and all but tosses the scrawny mage behind him, he recognises him. The realisation is enough that Jowan stands there in uncertainty and confusion, wondering if Alistair wanted him to leave and why the man hadn't simply left him with the darkspawn.

Probably because he's a better man than you, he reminds himself.

He feels shameful for even considering that he should leave Alistair to fight on his own and makes himself straighten from his instinctive cower as the Warden turns to face the darkspawn, conjuring a ball of flame in one hand.

"I'll fight," he answers, tossing it towards the oncoming creatures. "I won't run away from this!"

[fatherlesskind]

That's good. Unexpected, given they're not exactly friends or anything like it and Jowan could easily escape while he distracts the darkspawn, but good. Because. There's enough darkspawn that tackling them all alone would be difficult. Too late to worry about the wisdom of standing and fighting against running away - they're almost on him and there's definitely no escaping for Alistair now. Not with everything weighing him down and making outrunning much of anything unlikely.

"Stay behind me. I'll keep them off you." The tunnel is narrow enough he thinks he can manage to block any from getting past him to the mage. Which should let Jowan continue to throw magic at them without needing to worry about getting run through. And Alistair himself is used to fighting alongside mages so a few fireballs flying by his head won't put him off. So long as Jowan's aim is good and he doesn't hit Alistair by mistake.

That's all the thought he has time for before the first of the darkspawn that the fire missed reaches him and Alistair focuses on keeping them at bay while they both pick them off.

[ttlynotabloodmage]

"Alright..." Jowan agrees, though the nervous fear is obvious in his voice. He's never been in a battle like this, the closest thing he'd come to being the spirits in the tower when they'd gone after his phylactery, and they'd been nothing like this. He feels sick, his heart pounding in his throat as he calls on his magic again to lob a ball of fire past the Grey Warden's head and into the darkspawn, jumping like a skittish cat at the shrieks they made.

Another blast of fire that barely seemed to slow them down and Jowan finds his thoughts turning to another option instead, a dark little thought that reminds him how much easier he could make this. All he'd have to do was draw on the power he knew was there, thrumming in his veins, and he could surely decimate their attackers, keep them both safe properly. He wouldn't have to be useless again, or afraid. He'd be powerful, a mage that could hold his own and was a force to be reckoned with, not a frightened apprentice.

It could be so easy...

He shuddered, already feeling an ache in his palm at the memory of a knife, and tried to set the thoughts aside, focusing on weaving his magical attacks more quickly and pushing through his fear. He couldn't, wouldn't turn to blood magic again. Not when he'd tried so hard to shake off what it had done to his life and those around him. Not when there was still other options.

He just hoped he'd never have to find out what his choice would be if those options ran out.

[fatherlesskind]

If Jowan were someone else Alistair would feel bad about this. It's hard, your first battle against the darkspawn. He knows that. The first time he fought them he'd been left shaken after, all the stories doing nothing to prepare him for how monstrous the creatures were. And he'd been trained to fight since he was a boy. It would be harder still if there had been few or no other battles before it. Not every Circle mage is like Wynne, fearless and more than a little terrifying when she wants to be. If Jowan has never fought the creatures before then throwing him into the middle of such a battle is hardly fair.

But what the people of Redcliffe had faced hadn't been fair either. And they'd had no choice in the battle - their homes had been attacked and their loved ones dragged off. Jowan had chosen to come down into the tunnels and he could have chosen to run as well. Lucky for Alistair that he didn't but it's not like he nailed the mage's feet to the floor and he can't say he feels all that guilty over the fear in the other man's voice.

True to his word, Alistair does his best to keep any darkspawn from getting past him, battering them back with his shield if he can't cut them down in time. He may not feel bad for Jowan but he's not trying to get the mage killed either. They're thinning the group down, no more than a few darkspawn able to attack him at once and the fireballs Jowan throws helping keep them distracted and wearing them down so they can't press the attack. But it's slow. If there are any other darkspawn in range they'll sense that their brethren are under attack and be drawn to the battle.

Gritting his teeth, he roars out a challenge and lashes out with his shield once, twice and a third time. It buys him a moment to breath and shout over his shoulder, "Is there anything else you can do to slow them down?"

[ttlynotabloodmage]

The darkspawn just keep coming no matter how many fireballs Jowan tosses or how much ice he uses to try and slow them down. They're still there, pushing forward relentlessly to try and get at the pair of them and he's starting to feel real fear that they're going to die here. They'll be overrun and cut down and if they're lucky it'll be a fast death, but that they're going to die either way. His mana is already failing, and he knows that Alistair's arm won't hold strong forever either. A whimper escapes his throat, and it takes him a moment to realise what the other man is asking as he turns back towards him.

But once he does, relief sweeps through him, even though Jowan knows that they are far from safe yet. Retreat at least gives them a higher chance of it.

"I can use ice," he says, holding off another fireball. He'll need the mana if that's the plan, though a part of him can't help but think that he has another source of power if need be. "But you'll have to go first, I can't get a good enough shot to stop them if you're between us."