In the Nowhere
None
To call it a village would have been too generous. A handful of homes clustered together as if for warmth, a dirt track weaving among them. The fields he picked his way across were untended, growing wild now. Avishaan ran his palm over the high grasses, freeing a few kernels of wheat from the dry heads as he walked.

“I’d give the empire for a mill and the time to run it. What about you, Kay?”

The oversized wolf snorted and surged ahead, easily leaping the fieldstone fence and padding into the little settlement. Avishan followed much slower behind. With Kay looking out, his mind was free to wander a bit. What had happened to the people who lived here? Fled north across the sea to Val Royeaux?

Maybe. That seemed a little … Ambitious. These would have been farmers, home to this unnamed place on the Imperial Highway, somewhere between Verchiel and Lydes. Avi imagined it was likely beyond their means to buy passage on a ship. But they’d gone somewhere nevertheless. No wagons. No beasts of burden or evidence of their remains in sight.

Bad news for him. There wouldn’t be much left to glean.

Avishan tried the door on the largest house. Locked. He gave up, broke a window instead and knocked the glass out of the frame with the backside of his gauntlet. Climbed through.

Hope made him try the pantry first, though he had little luck there. A pot of salt, a forgotten jar of something dark and gloopy. A few withered apples in the bottom of a barrel. He spent far too long picking out the seeds to bring to Lirulin. He’d seen her use magic to ripen fruit – might she be able to grow it too? Other useful things vanished into his rucksack as well – a dusty sheep hide, a passable knife.

Then it occurred to him. The old apples might well indicate a living tree. Avishan let himself out the back door, and stepped into what had clearly once been a kitchen garden. And indeed, a few homes down was a large apple tree. Bruise-dark fallen fruit buzzed with insect activity: wasps and butterflies. The boozey, rotting scent of it all was for a moment overwhelming.

@Isla Ros
The shadows of the Deep Roads still clung to Isla as she emerged from the suffocating dark, her search for a passage to Arran’s last known location proving fruitless. For days, she had navigated those ancient tunnels, following every lead and whisper, but there was no sign of her sister. Just dead ends, more darkness, and the haunting silence of empty caverns.

Despite her exhaustion, Isla wore the rough, nomadic life of a Grey Warden well. Her armor was scuffed and travel-worn, her staff strapped across her back still humming with the last traces of the last spell. She was no stranger to hardship, but the thought of losing Arran was harder to bear. Her twin had always been the stronger one, the more daring. A skilled Warden who had faced impossible odds before and returned each time, bloodied but unbroken. The reports of her death had to be mistaken - Arran was too clever, too resilient to simply vanish.

Remy, padded silently beside Isla, his amber eyes scanning the overgrown path ahead. Even below ground, he was alert, his nose twitching as he caught scents Isla couldn’t detect. He had been Arran’s loyal companion, but now the mabari stuck close to her sibling, as if determined to protect the only family he had left. As they approached the outskirts of an abandoned village, the hound hesitated, ears twitching. Something in the air made him wary, and he guided Isla around the settlement, taking a longer, less direct route.

The scent of rot drifted to her, faint but clear, and she spotted its source - a lone apple tree standing just outside the village, its branches heavy with mottled, overripe fruit. Beneath it, the ground was littered with apples, some dissolving into dark, sticky sludge. She hadn't eaten anything fresh in days, and despite everything, the sight of the apples was strangely comforting.

Shedding her pack Isla found an old, weathered ladder propped against a nearby shed and dragged it over, setting it against the tree. Remy watched her, head tilted, as she climbed up, reaching for the few apples that still looked untouched by rot. It felt almost absurd, picking fruit after all she had been through, but she wanted a moment of normalcy. As she reached out, fingers brushing against the skin of an apple, Remy barked - a sharp, anxious sound that startled her. She turned, one foot slipping on the rung of the ladder, and at that exact moment, the mabari bounded forward, his massive body nudging against the ladder’s base in an attempt to steady it. Instead, he knocked it clean out from under her.

Isla yelped as the ladder clattered away, leaving her clutching at the branch. The world tilted, and for a terrifying heartbeat, she dangled precariously over the ground. Below, the decaying apples squished and slithered like a dark, pulpy mire, promising a less-than-pleasant landing if she fell. She scrabbled for a better hold, nails digging into the bark, muscles straining as she tried to find balance.

Gods be damned, Remy! she hissed, her heart pounding. What in Andraste’s name are you doing?

The hound barked again, this time with a whine of apology, pacing beneath her as if trying to figure out how to fix the mess he’d made. Isla felt her grip slipping and, in a desperate move, swung her legs around, managing to hook one around a sturdier part of the branch. She hung there for a moment, breathing hard, before finally pulling herself back up onto a solid perch.

Maker’s breath… she muttered, wiping her brow with a shaky hand. Below, Remy wagged his tail, clearly relieved that she hadn’t fallen, but still visibly anxious. He looked back over his shoulder, nose to the wind, as if expecting something… or someone.

Isla followed his gaze, her heart still hammering from the near fall. Whatever had made him so cautious was still out there, lurking, and though she hadn’t seen it yet, she knew it was there. The hairs on the back of her neck stood up in an all too familiar sensation. You better not be darkspawn….

@Avishan
It took a moment for his mind to catch up with his eyes — there was a dog beneath the tree. One of those muscular, short haired brutes favored in Ferenden. Mabari was the word. Frozen in place, Avi didn’t particularly like his chances. The breed was known for thick, dense skulls and was bred to fight alongside their masters. One strike with a weapon like his might not do the job. In that case, he’d certainly get bit.

This was far too dangerous. He ought to get well away, apples be damned. And yet, he was slowly starving. The thought of going back to Lirulin with mostly empty pockets stung. So, he watched a few seconds longer.

The dog wasn’t in bad shape, considering. Glossy pelt, good conditioning. Someone was looking after it. Strange that it remained in attendance upon the tree, rather than approaching – as one might expect for a well socialized animal – or fleeing. Avishan took a few slow, tentative steps forward. And followed the dog’s worried glance into the canopy.

Among the yellowing leaves and dark fruits was the strangest thing. A woman, fair and light haired like so many Orlesian humans, but with ears that matched his own. The beast’s master, no doubt.

“Hello? Do you need help, miss?” He pitched his voice to carry, wincing at the noise. It had been some time since he’d spoken with anyone other than his sister and their wolves. “I’ll set the ladder for you if you promise he won’t bite.” A wave of nausea washed over him as he stepped foot into the tree’s shadow, a rush of blood through his ears that dimmed the sounds of the dog and the wind. Avi shook his head and the feeling began to pass.

Maker’s breath, a bit of rotten fruit wasn’t that bad. It was nothing, only that it had been too long since a proper meal.

@Isla Ros
Isla squinted down at the figure, her pulse still racing from her near fall. The voice startled her almost as much as Remy’s bark had. It was unfamiliar, with an accent she couldn’t quite place, and the sight of the stranger – an elf, she realized, with dusky skin and long dark hair – immediately put her on edge. She tightened her grip on the branch, her eyes darting to the mabari at the base of the tree. Remy had gone silent, but his stance was tense, muscles coiled like a drawn bowstring.

Depends, she called down warily, her voice steady despite the pounding in her chest. Who’s asking?

Her gaze swept over the elf again, noting the worn armor and the gauntness of his frame. He looked like he hadn’t eaten properly in weeks, though his posture suggested someone accustomed to moving through dangerous places. She couldn’t tell if he was friend or foe, but in her experience, most people who showed up unannounced in abandoned villages weren’t the friendly sort. Then again, she was also a stranger.

I’ve got no quarrel with you, she added, testing the waters. But if you think I’m coming down without knowing your intentions, you’ve got another thing coming.

She glanced at Remy, who hadn’t moved from his spot beneath her. The hound’s ears flicked, his eyes never leaving the stranger, but he hadn’t lunged forwards either. Whatever Remy had sensed earlier, it hadn’t gone away, and that only made her more cautious.

You smell like a Warden, why? Isla asked, her tone sharper now. Don’t think for a second that I’ll call him off just because you sound polite. That dog’s smarter than most people I’ve met, and he doesn’t take kindly to threats.

She shifted slightly on the branch, adjusting her position to make herself more comfortable, but kept one hand ready to pull on her staff, just in case.

@Avishan
This wasn’t going as expected. Avi blinked up at the stranger and sighed, running a hand through the tangled tail of his hair. More fool he for expecting the treed mage to want help. She was clearly far from defenseless, especially with that big brute of a dog around. He thought about whistling for Kay – and quickly decided against it. If the lady was in a foul mood now, the wolf would only make things worse.

“Avishan of Serault. And I only intended to spare you a fall.” He dropped his gaze, all the way to the ground. Moving very slowly as not to alarm the dog, he took a semi-circle path around the tree, kicking up fallen leaves. Apples kept reasonably well, if he could find any the birds and the bugs hadn’t made too much of a mess of yet. “But if you’d prefer to take your chances …” He trailed off speculatively, though there was little actual spite in it. If he returned to camp with this tale on his lips, little Liru would send him right back.

And rightfully so. Just as he couldn’t risk a dog bite – the stranger likely couldn’t risk a wrenched knee or turned ankle. Not this far from help. Unless she was a healer like Ru? Hard to imagine getting into this situation from his sister’s perspective, though. Ru would simply ask the tree to put her down.

“I’ve not threatened you.” Avi looked up sharply and frowned, insulted. He glanced back to the dog, wondering if some magery allowed the pair to communicate in secret. He settled on a useless maybe and went back to looking for apples. A few passed muster and went into his knapsack. The second-best he ate now, digging in with enthusiasm and spitting the seeds into the grass before crunching the core between his teeth.

Unfortunately, the best ones would still be on the tree. Where she was.

“I don’t think you’re in any position to smell me, ma’am.”

@Isla Ros