In Another World | locked to apostate_amell

[amellsinferno]

Solona had been giving it some thought ever since Anders brought it up. Escape the tower together? Her, Nellie, him and even Cullen? It was crazy but the way Anders explained it, it just might work. Surprisingly, Cullen agreed to do it, with Nellie's powers of persuasion of course.

So now the four of them are off to escape the Tower. Hopefully everything goes according to plan.

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[amellsinferno.livejournal.com]

"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."

[apostate-amell.livejournal.com]

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?"

[amellsinferno.livejournal.com]

"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.

[apostate-amell.livejournal.com]

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..."

[knightcullen.livejournal.com]

"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."

[apostate-amell.livejournal.com]

"How much is armor and weapons? And...well, if I'm going to be doing the shopping, wouldn't it look odd if a Sister was buying those things...?"

Nellie frowns. She was the most inconspicuous, but...

[amellsinferno.livejournal.com]

"We can save the weapons and armor for later, right, Cullen?" Solona gives him a look. "I think we'll need to be dressed a bit more like civilians to purchase that kind of equipment. We should buy normal clothes first."

[apostate-amell.livejournal.com]

"I can get normal clothes for us!"

Nellie just wants to help so badly, and it shows.

"If I'm lucky, I can get us some other foods for tonight...the bacon will last a while, but we can't just eat that for 2 days."

[amellsinferno.livejournal.com]

"Why don't I come along with you when we go shopping for food, yes?"

[apostate-amell.livejournal.com]

"Okay!"

Nellie nods enthusiastically. She likes spending time with her sister, and this way, they both feel like they're actually doing something...

"These 2 can set up things, we'll do the important stuff...you just want to come along because you don't like my taste in food."

[amellsinferno.livejournal.com]

"Not at all, Nel. You may be excellent at herbs but sometimes you come up with strange new recipes that I don't think I'm adventurous enough to try out now," Solona chuckles.

"I think it would be a better idea to take Solona with you, Nel," Cullen can't help but chuckle as well. "Anders can come with me to help find suitable accommodations for the night."

The village was within sight, rooftops peaking over the horizon.

"There it is," Cullen announces.

[apostate-amell.livejournal.com]

Anders nods, moving to pat Cullen on the shoulder.

"Me and metalpants over here will get us a nice place to stay. Sol, you'll make sure Nellie doesn't accidentally poison us all, and Nellie, you'll make sure Sol doesn't murder any obnoxious shopkeepers."

Nellie shoots Anders a look at his comments, and he just grins sheepishly.

"It's true what Sol says, and you know it."

Nellie just rolls her eyes.
"Only because I never got taught properly, okay? Jeez..."

[knightcullen.livejournal.com]

"Metalpants?" Cullen shoots Anders a death glare. Solona however bursts out into complete laughter. "You've outdone yourself, Andy!" she says in-between trying to calm herself down.

Cullen brushes Anders' hand away and proceeds to walk faster, honestly annoyed at his new nickname.

"I'll try my best not to murder anyone, promise," Solona chuckles, walking alongside her sister and giving her a pat on the back. "I can teach you now, if you'd like. The first step is coming along with me for food shopping."

[apostate-amell.livejournal.com]

Nellie can't help but laugh at Anders new nickname for Cullen, shooting him a small, apologetic smile.

"Sorry, Cullen...you have to admit it is sort of funny..."

And then she just nods to her sister.

"I'd like that. C'mon, let's get started and leave these two to kill each other in peace."

[amellsinferno.livejournal.com]

Cullen catches Nellie's look and sighs. "I'm never going to hear the end of this, aren't I?" he groans.

Solona giggles again and moves her arm to interlock it with Nellie's. "Agreed. Let's go shop for some supplies then."

The four of them enter the small village catching a few curious looks.

[apostate-amell.livejournal.com]

Nellie smiles at Cullen. "Probably not, love. Sorry."

And then she and Solona go off to get supplies. Nellie makes sure to put her best pious sister face on. They've got to look and act the part...make sure nobody catches on. She's read the Chant of Light a few times, and has some bits of it memorized...so they should be okay. Hopefully.

[knightcullen.livejournal.com]

Cullen marches off, trying to forget that he was stuck with Anders for probably the whole afternoon in search for lodgings. He figures that he might as well try to strike some friendly-- if not, civil conversation with him.

"Do you think they would have a tavern here?"

[apostate-amell.livejournal.com]

Anders shrugs.

"Probably. They're usually attached to the inns in places like this...Maker, I could use a drink."

He's not exactly the best at acting like a good Chantry brother...but Cullen makes up for that.

Meanwhile, Nellie and Solona are doing fine as far as blending in goes.

[amellsinferno.livejournal.com]

"I don't think that would be a very wise choice wearing those robes," Cullen replies with a slight groan. It was going to be a long afternoon.

The market however was not so far from the village gates.

"Sister Helen," Solona calls out to Nellie, using her full name as a disguise, as they both planned on their way to the market. "You have to come over here!"

[apostate-amell.livejournal.com]

Anders is not pleased about this, and he mentally groans. Once they get to Lothering, he will get drunk. So very drunk.

Nellie may not be a fan of her full name, but it works.

"Yes, Sister Solona?"

She has to resist the urge to giggle. This is just so insane.

[amellsinferno.livejournal.com]

"This lovely woman right here is selling some marvelous garments that we must buy to give to the needy who might come our way!" Solona's surprisingly holding it together quite well.

The merchant eyes the two sisters with interest. It's been a while since travelers took interest in her goods, wanting to find fancier looking clothing for them to wear.

"Just a few coppers for each set, sisters," she says sheepishly. All the more she was interested to sell knowing that the clothing would go to those in need.

Meanwhile, Cullen and Anders manage to find a tavern that a few of the villagers say doubled as their inn. They both make their way inside to speak to the bartender in charge.

"May I help you, Ser?" he stands at attention. It had been a slow day for him and to have a templar and a brother enter into the tavern certainly came as a surprise to him.

[apostate-amell.livejournal.com]

Nellie smiles quietly at the merchant, thanking her and paying her a little extra. She can't help it, she's got a good heart and this merchant is really helping them out.

Anders, meanwhile, is trying to think of exactly what to say. He can't muck this up.

"My companion and I would like to rent two rooms for the night, sir."

Maker, why can't Cullen do this...

[amellsinferno.livejournal.com]

"Thank you!" Solona says, taking the sets of tunics and breeches, vests and belts and coats that she bought. They weren't that eye-catching-- exactly what they needed. She places them all inside a shopping bag she purchased as well and nods at the merchant. "Have a good day, good lady, and may the Maker watch over you." Pretending to be a Sister was awesome.

She directs Nellie towards the food section of the market. "So, what would you like to be eating while we're on the road?" Solona smiles at her sister.

Cullen however is unimpressed with Anders. "I thought you knew how to charm the pants of women," he mutters under his breath so that only Anders could hear.

[apostate-amell.livejournal.com]

Nellie can tell how much Solona loves pretending to be a Sister, and then...and then Nellie knows exactly what she wants, eyeing a fruit stand closely.

"Apples. I haven't had apples in forever, sis..."

Anders sighs, irritated.

"I do. Just not as a pious Chantry brother, metalpants."

[amellsinferno.livejournal.com]

"Apples it is then," Solona smiles, making her way over to the fruit stand. "Fine day it is, ser, to be selling such succulent looking fruit," she greets the merchant. He looks up at her curiously then turns towards Nellie.

"I haven't seen you folk around here. I didn't know that the Chantry would be sending some priests to our village."

"Oh, we were just passing through, ser. We're on our way to Lothering, actually."

"Ah, Lothering. Maker knows how much that town needs its holy men," the merchant chuckles. Solona's brow furrows, wondering what the man meant. "Now, what is it that you need, sisters? I have some fine fruit here that I am very sure you would enjoy!"

"A-apples would be fine," Solona replies, coming out of her trance. "Right Ne-- Sister Helen?"

At the tavern, Cullen decides that it's up to him to do the talking. He manages to get the owner to prepare two rooms for them and manages to get through the small talk and the questions with ease. He had to keep his story in check though-- in small villages, news spreads fast and he didn't want anyone suspicious of their actions.

He then turns to Anders, who was of minimal use to him and a wicked thought crosses his mind. And it just so happened that the tavern owner was more than happy to finally have some paying customers, he offers the fine, young templar and the silent brother a drink. Cullen raises his hand.

"Thank you very much for your offer, ser," he says, turning to Anders with a smirk. "But the brother here is not allowed to drink. I can have his share."