Chapter 2

After some quick packing, and some guarantees from everyone else that no one is going to do anything dumb while any sort of authority is gone and that everyone will take a break to come up with better ideas, Avernus, Barkspawn, and the Commander head for the surface. He has to remind himself that magic is something that he's glad he doesn't have to live without. A trip that would've taken a normal group several weeks to see Soldier's Peak, let alone the sun, took them only a week and a half. They are almost in a more travel heavy area of roads so they slow down to a reasonable speed. It might take them the rest of the day to reach the mountain fortress but it's better than running head first into a farmer's wagon. Literally.

As they approach the gates, they're hailed by the poor soul who has guard duty at this time of night. 'The best part about being the commander is I never have to do this,' the Commander thinks. Upon seeing her commanding officer, she quickly lets them in. With a swift acknowledgement, that nothing is getting done tonight and they go their separate ways. Praying for blissful sleep but knowing that probably won't happen is the last full conscious thought the warden has. Barkspawn knows it'll be a hard night and climbs right into the bed and cuddles real close. Wrapping arms around as an automatic response to the hound's presence is the closest thing to comfort the pair will receive.

Only waking up 3 times because of nightmares and kicking Barkspawn off once by accident is considered a good night's sleep. Is it the bed helping? Maybe. Sunrise is starting so he might as well get up and get some work done while he's at the fort. Walking to his office, he passes by several newer wardens who are shocked to see me back so soon and snap to a salute. Half-hearted returns are their only response as he continues on his way.

The door is open. He expected as much after leaving Nate in charge and he's such a stickler for this kind of stuff. Jokingly knocking on the door is how he greats his second in command, "Mornin Acting-Commander. How goes your job?" When he looks up, he leaps to his feet.

"Commander," He states in alarm, "I wasn't aware you arrived."

"That's fair," he says as he takes one of the guest seats, "I got in late last night and was too tired to do much of anything else."

"Is there any specific reason for your visit sir? I thought you'd be down in the Deep until a decision was made. It's not like I don't think that a decision could've been reached yet, but even then I was expecting a messenger before you'd even return."

"No the meeting, conference, whatever you want to call it, has produced less than stellar results so far. We have called for a break to let cooler heads prevail and more research to be done. I have obviously become rather antsy and since I have yet to apply my own vision of a step forward I am trying to get some inspiration."

"You're packing for a serious fighting trip into the Deep Roads?" he deduces quickly.

"Well… yes," I admit, "The Old Blood has volunteered to be the scribe for the trip and is collecting what he needs now. I plan to swing by everywhere else to get the necessary supplies."

"Ah that makes sense. Will you need more soldiers for the venture?"

A child could hear the hesitation with which he asks that question, "I take it recruitment hasn't gotten any better than?"

"No sir. The recruits we get are few and far between. We are still well under 500 soldiers. The war between mages and templars helped with those who want a safe haven from the fighting and while being able to say that you are technically our commander helps, the lack of your presence doesn't inspire much recruitment. Though conversely we are well funded and all non-warden staff is at an appropriate level."

"Well then," he stands up, "that's at least one problem we can mark off our list. Do your best to make sure we are ready for a sudden burst in recruitment if it happens. I need to take the rest of today to get ready. We will take our leave sometime tomorrow at the latest."

"Before you go Commander, a letter arrived for you from the Inquisition."

"What is the Inquisition?"

"A group founded under the Chantry's banner to stop the war between mages and templars. They want your help with the issue as there might be bigger forces at play."

"Of course they do. I seem to have bigger fish to fry at this point," he makes the grand sweeping gesture behind him.

"They say that they will gladly help with any issues we might have," he snorts back at Nate's idea of getting religious help for this, "Also the letter is from your sister."

Eyes are wide with interest and a little bit of fear; he takes the letter and reads it. Thoughts start moving again, 'Hmm, this is a weird time to have a big problem with all this. That massive explosion does pose the idea of a bigger threat. No this weird Calling song bullshit feeling has to be dealt with first.'

"No I won't be able to help them. I'll send them a letter with my regrets that I am too busy. Send them some useful item with my response though. Once I fix the problem that is taking all of my attention I can personally lend assistance. If anything with Darkspawn happens offer immediate assistance," After writing a hasty response that he hopes will lend credence to the idea of being to busy he sets off to get the rest of the work done.

"Of course. I will be here if you need me, Commander," he says returning to his work.

His thoughts are rolling with hatred, 'Fuck. The. Rain. Traveling in this will be so much harder.' His boot gets stuck in mud again and at the speed they are going, he falls face first into the mud. He screams bloody murder into the impromptu mud pie. He is reminded of every time he had to do something in the rain and how something always goes wrong. As a child? A limb breaking and falling from a tree. As a teenager? Ostagar. He gets back up and thinks about just freezing all the water and just dealing with snow or hail at worst. An idea suddenly strikes him, and his faces breaks into a muddy grin.

With this first attempt is brilliant, insane, and wickedly fun. He rushes past Avernus and Barkspawn by creating a perfectly slick patch of ice to slide on and using fire magic to accelerate forward. With this first bit of innovation, this trip has the possibility of being a massive success.