There are some things in life that just make a dwarf question their life decisions.
Cadash – 'Dusty' to most, reaches this point not during any of her general thievery, cheating, or backstabbing, but when she finds herself smuggling lyrium.
Shifty surface dwarf sneaking around with shipments of lyrium. She sounds like a character out of a sodding Tethras. A bad Tethras.
When the Carta says there's money in it, though, Dusty doesn't get to complain. All they care about is that there's good coin in moving lyrium to this 'Inquisition group', and to them, she's nothing more a common footpad. Being igood/i at being a footpad doesn't change the fact that she's highly expendable, and not listening to orders is a very good way to rise to the top of the expense list. Complaining is another, no matter how anxious the concept of waltzing into a military stronghold next to a hole in the sky makes her.
So it's with some apprehension that the dwarf walks on up to the gates of the town called Haven, doing her best not to let it show by keeping a slight swagger in her step. She's passed a smith already, but apparently it isn't him that handles this kind of thing. Fantastic – this Inquisition business is so big that they've got their own sodding quartermasters. The scope of the operations here makes her stomach knot with unease, cause it means the threat must be even more dire than she'd first thought. Dusty's not sure whether it would be worse if the Inquisition was tiny and nobody was paying attention to the Breach at all.
"You're looking a little lost there."
Dusty, standing still inside of the gates as she tries to figure out where she needs to go, almost has a heart attack when she looks around, because what the ever-loving sod that's Varric Tethras.
Okay. Play this cool. Just because he wrote your favourite book ever doesn't mean that you need to freak out. Just say 'Oh I'm looking for a place to drop off some lyrium; say, you're that author, right?'
Dusty opens her mouth. A high pitched squeak comes out.
Sod!
Tethras smiles, and a chuckle isn't far behind. "Would you believe me if I told you that's a better reaction than most I've been getting lately?"
She finally manages a word, and it's stammered. "M…maybe?" Great. She's meeting a personal hero out of the blue and she's acting like a thick-skulled rock licker.
"Well, I'm guessing you're here with lyrium?"
Dusty's eyebrows must have risen, because Tethras fills in an explanation. "Your satchel is glowing. Also, you have that shifty smuggler look."
"So do you," she blurts without thinking, then immediately claps a hand to her mouth, eyes going wide. Her and her damn mouth!
After the briefest, dread-filled pause, Tethras just laughs again. "The Seeker would agree with you," he gives a slight, flourishing bow. "Varric Tethras."
Dusty resists the urge to tell him that she knew that already. "Cadash. Dusty, if you want."
"Carta, huh? Well, since you haven't tried to kill me yet, we're already off to a better start than the last criminal ring I ran into."
"I could be waiting for you to let your guard down," she's smiling now. When did she start smiling? A kind of giddy excitement is running through her. She's holding an actual conversation with the actual Varric Tethras, the man who created guardsman Donnen and all the rest of Hard in Hightown.
"Around a shifty smuggler? You might be waiting a while," Tethras taps his nose, and then gestures further into Haven. "You'll be looking for Threnn, near the chantry. I was heading that way, so you can tag along if you'd like," he pauses for long enough to grin. "Unless you're just too in love with that whole 'completely lost' feeling."
"Lead on."
Tethras turns, and Dusty stares after him for a couple of seconds before following. Maybe this Inquisition gig won't be so bad after all.