RP: Shepard and/or James

[carverfadewalk]

Carver was still pounding uselessly on the door an hour or more later.

There was no way to go around the castle--from the outside, there was only the single bridge leading up to the door. Everything fell away into an impossibly dark chasm beyond that. And he was certainly not heading out into that strange, flickering darkness at the other end of the bridge.

So. He had to get the huge doors to open. But even though he was strong--and willing to yell at the top of his lungs as he pounded away--he was only one man. There was no way he was getting it open on his own, even if it was by chance unlocked.

He could scale the wall, he supposed, staring up at its face with a scowl. Likely he'd fall to his death, but maybe he'd get lucky...

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[also_cmdr_shepard]

"What the fuck is Orlesian?" James muttered under his breath. Shepard didn't even bother to shoot a look at him.

"I don't recognize Orlesian or Ferelden," she said, sounding her way carefully around the new words. Any soldier with even the most minimal contact with other nations had kept a translation charm on their person, but didn't help much when you had to pronounce foreign words.

"Warden isn't a military designation either," James added, quietly He was looking at Carver half with mistrust and half with curiosity. "Not in the Alliance."

"Not with any of the Council species either, if I'm remembering correctly..." Shepard added, just as softly. "Do you know where we are, Warden Hawke? I've traveled this road many times and I've never seen this castle." She briefly glanced back towards the end of the bridge and the darkness that waited there. "It also seems we cannot leave, despite our best efforts."

[carverfadewalk]

He shrugged a shoulder, relaxing his sword even more. He had a good feeling about these two. "No idea about the castle, though the remnants of mountain suggest we're either in the Anderfels or the Frostbacks. Frostbacks, I'd wager--if anything is going to go tits-up in Thedas, it's probably going to happen near Ferelden. I don't sense any darkspawn, so at least there's that...but I'm pretty sure we're in the Fade. Or something like the Fade."

[also_cmdr_shepard]

James and Shepard both stared at Carver, trying to process whatever the heck he'd just said. Shepard dismounted and stroked her fingers over Normandy's mane. It was more for her benefit than the horse's. James followed her lead. "I"m sorry, but I'm not sure I understand you. I don't know those places and I've never heard of darkspawn. Do you mean the Reapers? If that's the case, I'm happy to tell you that the war is over. We destroyed them. Pushed what was left of their army back north."

James snorted and grinned at his commander. "What's all this 'we' stuff, Lola? Come on kid," he said, directing his attention to Carver, "How have you never heard of Commander Shepard? She's a one woman army. She took down most of the biggest Reaper captains without breaking a sweat."

Shepard rolled her eyes but couldn't help a grin. She wasn't modest about her accomplishments. She knew that what she'd done was nothing short of a miracle. "One woman army is a little bit of an exaggeration," she said.

"Yeah, a little bit."

[carverfadewalk]

Carver really, really hated being caught flat-footed, but in this case all he could do was shrug. "I'm sorry," he said. "I hate being that asshole, but I've never heard of you--or the Reapers. Unless that really is another word for darkspawn?"

He frowned.

"It would fit, I suppose. And the blight is over...but the 'war' never really is. There are always more darkspawn. That's why we have Wardens. Look. Could you point to where you're from on a map? That might help." He reached into his rucksack to pull out a carefully rolled map of Thedas, offering it to the strange pair.

[also_cmdr_shepard]

Jane nodded. She handed her reins to James and approached Carver. Her hands were still warmed by her gift, but whatever flames that might have once expected her control had faded out of existence. She didn't believe this man was a threat.

"Alright," she said, looking at the map he held out. Usually, it was so simple. Of the many council nations, the Alliance was one of the largest. But this map looked like nothing she'd ever seen. There were placed she'd never heard of, mountain ranges she'd never seen. "This... None of this is familiar. Here, let me..."

She moved back to Normandy for a moment and pulled out her own map. "Here, you see? This is where we're from. The Systems Alliance."

[carverfadewalk]

Carver studied the map closely--then looked up, brows arched. "Well, they can't both be right."

[also_cmdr_shepard]

"I don't see why not. There is clearly some kind of magic going on here. Whether it's natural or driven by someone for some kind of nefarious purpose..." She shrugged and rolled up her map again. "Did you mean to end up here or did you happen on it like we did?" She put her hands on her hips and stared up at the large gate, frowning. "I take it no one has come to answer your knocks?" she asked, her voice just a little teasing.

"Allow me." Hoping she wasn't making a huge mistake and leading herself and James into a trap, Shepard summoned her Gift to her hands. She mentally pulled at the gate. Cool, blue flame made its way up the wood but didn't seem to burn it. Slowly, as if pulled by giant hands, the gates opened onto a large corridor. "There we go." She shook out her hands and the fire vanished.

[carverfadewalk]

His jaw literally dropped.

Carver stared at Shepard for what felt like a full minute, then looked at James, brows arched, a familiar--to James at least--holy shit, she is amazing look on his face.

"What," he said.

Just that.

What.

Even Force magic wasn't that impressive.

[also_cmdr_shepard]

James grinned at Carver, "And that's here barely lifting a finger. You should see her when she's showing off."

Shepard rolled her eyes, but there was a tiny flush of scarlet in her cheeks. She was pleased by the praise. "I'm not the best mage that I know of. I'm not even the best human mage. But I get by alright." For Shepard, it was a matter of will. She had always had the talent for digging her heels in and refusing to budge until she got what she needed. She was stubborn, relentless. She never gave up. It came in handy when trying to wrangle a power that sometimes felt like a very willful cat.

"Should we go in and see if anyone is home?" She asked Carver cheerfully and strode out into the courtyard.

James dismounted and moved to Carver's side. "Never a dull moment, eh?" he said, slapping the man's shoulder before heading in after his CO.

[carverfadewalk]

Carver shook his head, trying not to gape like an idiot, and hurried after the strangers--a little starstruck already.


(OOC: This seems like a pretty good place to end the thread! We can assume they explored and chatted/got to know each other?)

[also_cmdr_shepard]

(OOC: Sounds good to me! That's a wrap!)