Solona Amell

"That's still more than a lot of people remember, Sol." Anders remembers more about his family than most, but he knew people who couldn't remember where they were from originally, who their parents were...it wasn't right.

Nellie nods quietly at Cullen, shuddering slightly.

"Yeah. Yeah, they do. It's...bad."

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Cullen frowns at that. "Where do they keep the mages then? In cells?"

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Nellie nods slightly.

"Not always, but mages end up there more often than not. If they're not there, we've got dormitories. They're a lot smaller than what the Tower has, and we all have to sleep in them--even the senior Enchanters. I think the only person who gets their own room is the First Enchanter."

And the templars, of course, but that goes without saying.

"When Solona and I first arrived at the Gallows, they had a new Knight Commander, and she was the one putting all of these big changes into effect. I don't know what it was like before that."

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"That sounds like a horrible place to live in. I imagine the Circle was a breather after experiencing that," Cullen sighs, trailing behind to wrap an arm around Nellie's shoulder for a half-hug. He lets his arm linger there for a while before letting go, remembering that they couldn't risk being too conspicuous. "And this new Knight-Commander, I've heard of her. Meredith, I think her name is."

"That's her," Solona adds to the conversation. "I remember she had lovely hair. Ash blonde and fell down in waves."

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"It was a lot better, all things considered."

Nellie sighs and leans on Cullen's arm for a moment before they both pull away, afraid of drawing attention.

Nellie nods in response to her sister.

"She had beautiful hair...and I remember that she was putting all these new rules in, but weirdly, despite everything, she was always sort of nice to us children..."

Anders scoffs at that. Somebody who locks up mages in cages can't be nice to mage children.

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"What was that noise for?" Solona turns back to look at Anders, raising an eyebrow with a smirk playing at her mouth. "Don't believe a Knight-Commander can actually have some good in her heart?"

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Anders just scoffs again.

"No, I can believe that a Knight-Commander can be a good person...I just find it difficult to believe a woman who locks mages in cages can be nice to mage children she'll probably start locking up when they get old enough."

Nellie sighs quietly.

"She was strict, but things were a bit rough in Kirkwall when she took over...I'm sure she's lightened up by now..."

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"Well, then, it's a good thing Nellie and I didn't stick around long enough to find out how it would be like behind bars, right Nel?"

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Nellie nods again.

"Though they did threaten me with that a few times, I remember correctly..."

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"They what--?" Cullen snaps. "To children? They'd threaten children?"

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Nellie nods.

"They didn't do it, but they did threaten it, yes. I think some of the older children did get locked up..."

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"Moving on from such dreary toics," Solona interrupts, not exactly wanting to reminisce the memories of the Gallows. "How much far till Lothering?"

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Anders frowns and looks around.

"Well, we're making good time, haven't run into any trouble yet...I'd say another day at the latest, maybe..."

Nellie nods and sighs in relief.

"Good, the sooner we get there, the better I'll feel."

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"Don't get your hopes up," Cullen says. "We've still more ground to cover and we still need our rest." He doesn't like to dampen their spirits but it was the truth.

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Anders groans and rolls his eyes.

"Do you always have to be a buzzkill, Cullen? Okay, yeah, maybe it'll take 2 days. But we just need to move for as long as possible, then we can rest after it gets dark."

Nellie doesn't say anything, just fiddling with her bag a bit.

"Where are we going to camp tonight?"

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"There's a small village, not too far off from here," Cullen says. "I'm not sure about the amount of supplies we'll be able to get, considering the size of the town but hopefully there will be a good household willing to take a few Chantry folk in."

Solona grins. "Ah, if only they knew who we really are. Circle escapees on the run. Three mages and a templar. Who would have thought?"

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Nellie smiles and laughs at Solona's comment.

"I can get the supplies while you guys get shelter set up. I know we don't have much money, but we don't need to get much, right? We're only a few days away from Lothering, so we just need enough to get us through until then..."

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"We'll need to stock up on some clean water. And maybe a bit more bacon." Solona makes a list in her head of things they might possibly need. "And maybe some blankets. The nights are a bit chilly, don't you all think?"

Cullen nods. "Blankets would do us wonders. How much money do we have exactly?"

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Anders thinks for a moment.

"I know I've got maybe one or 2 sovereigns, some coppers...maybe a silver or two...that's it, though. It's all I've been able to save up and keep with me."

He frowns.

"If we need to, we could always try to barter or sell something...we need blankets, water, bacon, maybe soap..."

Nellie stops and looks through her bag. She's got a little money...

"Uh...I've got a few coins well, but not much."

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"I have a good amount of silvers from doing random chores for the quartermaster and for extra days on kitchen duty," Solona says. "And soap sounds like an excellent idea right now."

Cullen takes out a pouch from his pocket and hands it to Solona. "At least one of us gets a regular stipend from his work," he says nonchalantly. "You can count if you wish." He maybe was a bit proud by the amount he'd managed to save.

Solona looks through the pouch and Maker, she's never seen that much coin in her life! "Cullen! I can count maybe forty sovereigns in here!" She's surprised he's even willing to spend this amount throughout their trip. "This must be your life savings or something!"

Cullen just shrugs it off. "We can easily earn the amount back once we're settled somewhere."

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Nellie peeks over Sol's shoulder, eyes widening at Cullen's stipend. She's never seen so much money in her life...! Not that she can remember, anyway...

"Maker, Cullen...that's enough to get us through this! We need to save this! We can use some of our other savings to get supplies, but we're going to need this to get settled..."

She grins at him.

"What other supplies do we need, anyway?"

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"Maker, with this amount, we can probably get our own staves or something!" Solona squeaks with glee.

Cullen glares at her. "Are you sure you want to risk that?"

"It was just a thought," Solona glares back at him.

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Nellie laughs.

"Let's wait till we're settled to get staves, okay sister?"

Anders chuckles.

"I'm gonna have to agree with Nels here, Sol. Sorry. We should get a list together of things we need, then we can send Nels into town to get things."

He goes into his bag, gets out a piece of paper and a pencil.

"We need soap, blankets, water, more bacon...what else..."

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"New clothes," Cullen says. "Undoubtedly they'll notice that I too am missing and send word to other towns that the three mages are travelling with a templar." He then realizes that maybe even new armor would be needed. Not just for him but for all of them. And weapons too. If they were to run into templars, they needed to be able to defend themselves without magic. "Add armor and weapons into the list as well."

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