“Brilliant,” she muttered, sloping back even further in her chair as she drained her tankard of its final drops. “If you don’t have ale then you have something to say, so out with it.” Korinne finally turned her attention to the man, eyebrows raised and posture tense, despite her relaxed pose. When he revealed his identity, she found herself even more disappointed that he hadn’t brought any ale as compensation. “Of course you are,” she said, her voice dripping with the same displeasure that fell upon her face. “Sorry to disappoint, Lieutenant, but I know just as much as you do. The First prefers it when I know as little as possible about his actions, and since I quite enjoy not seeing his ratty little face everyday I don’t ask questions. Now, if we’re done here…”
a part of gideon was surprised at her hostility, though he couldn’t exactly fault her for it, given his own gruff tendencies. still, he refrained from retorting with the same open displeasure, even though her answer was frustrating; his investigation seemed to come to a grinding halt regardless of which direction he strode toward. pinching the bridge of his nose, the warden quickly fought off the whispering in his head; the dull ache that had nipped at the edge of his consciousness for weeks now. “sounds like a wonderful boss,” he sighed. gideon knew he could badger her, maybe extract information through context if not directly, but he had a feeling she honestly didn’t know any more than he did - or that she’d share even if she did. so when she motioned to drop it, gideon relented, though he stayed put at the table. instead, he raised a hand to get the barkeep’s attention, ordering another tankard of ale for the other. “for your troubles,” he muttered, dropping a few crowns into the server’s hand as they delivered it.
Leliana hummed. A warden asking for current information. She didn’t need to be the spymaster to deduce what he was alluding to. Though she was often hard pressed to share information with anyone not the Inquisitor or the other advisors, the spymaster felt a certain.. duty, she supposed was the best word for it, to at least try to ease the Gideon’s mind. “We have a lead on the situation,” she informed him. “Possibly a big one, but investigations into it are still ongoing.” Leliana shifted forward to stand upright instead of leaning back, her arms falling from her chest to rest at her sides. “I’m afraid I can’t go into specifics. I trust you understand.”
a lead... possibly. gideon moved to lean against a column as she in turn shifted upright. he did understand, really; he knew as well as any that information had to be dealt with carefully. but it didn’t help his frustration, nor his sense of helplessness toward the grey warden situation as a whole. “i suppose a lead i’m not privy to is better than no lead at all,” he muttered. but even with the resignation in his tone and the finality in hers, gideon was not to be deterred - if the inquisition knew something, and the spymaster was not willing to share just yet, he’d simply have to find other ways of acquiring the information for himself. he nodded in her direction, straightening, “sorry to have kept you up, spymaster. i appreciate you sparing the time.”
Sora let a little smile grace their face as they looked over at the Grey Warden. When she spoke to Solas, he made the Grey Wardens seem so… bad. But this Warden looked…tired more than anything. And tense. On guard. Sora had heard rumors that all the Grey Wardens had gone crazy. Hopefully this one wasn’t.
Sora glanced over at the mabari and smiled brighter. She loved the dogs of Fereldens. Tevinter didn’t have them, and Orlais was too snooty. But Fereldens had sweet loyal dogs that she absolutely adored. Their little stubby tails were so cute.
“Sorry, I’m not…quartermaster Morris. He kind of just pointed at me and told me to…deliver these. I’m not even technically a servant.” She frowned. “Well, what I mean to say is that I am a servant to the Inquisition. Only, I am…better as a scout? Sort of?” She began to ramble, handing off his things to him but continuing to talk.
“I mean, I’m sort of developing magical powers, but I mean, I’ve always had magic powers, but they never developed. I was a slave, you see. Oh! But I’m not anymore. I escaped, and well, I’m good with daggers, and I’m very quick. But, I’d really like to learn more about my magic and…And I’m rambling, aren’t I? Oh, Kaffas. Forgive me.”
the fog in gideon’s head cleared a bit, and he took more note of the elf standing in his doorway; she wore a pretty dress and a bright smile, and seemed terribly out of place in the gloom of his quarters. he watched her smile grow as she glanced over at the mabari - laney stared back with a lazy curiosity, her good eye inspecting the other as she stretched sleepily across the floorboards. gideon went to scratch behind the mabari’s ears, then strode back to the earlier table to arrange his things in the now-cleared space. “he... did what?” admittedly, it took the warden a brief moment to catch up with what she was saying. it seemed rather rude for the quartermaster to be passing off duties to a random scout, even a ‘sort of’ scout.
when she trailed off, there was silence; a beat. two. then, gideon smiled. a small laugh - rough and worn and tired - escaped him as he arched a brow. “i’m afraid you’ll have to forgive me, really; i haven’t had many conversations outside the context of business in a long time. i seem to have... forgotten how they work.” though he sounded genuinely unsure, at first, the twitch of his mouth revealed he was mostly joking. he shook his head. “but, thank you all the more for taking the time to drop this off, then. instead of just... dumping it somewhere.” he made a gesture toward his things before glancing back in her direction. he cleared his throat and tried a hand at another smile. “i’m gideon. grey warden, but ah, you knew that. that over there’s laney.” he shot a look at his mabari, who was quick to perk at the mention of her name.
Korinne couldn’t recall having drank much before joining the order. Now, it seemed to be one of her more favoured passtimes. Although the ales on offer back in the Anderfels were nothing compared to those she had tried since arriving at Skyhold. She was well aware that her country was hardly the richest, or well known for their cuisine, but this seemed simply ridiculous. With all the power the Wardens held they could surely aquire a casket or two of Antivan brandy, or perhaps some Tevene wine.
Easily gulping down another mouthful, she caught sight of an unwanted visitor approaching her otherwise empty table. “If you wanted to talk, then you should have at least brought more ale.”
“...sorry. haven’t any.” he didn’t sound particularly sorry at all as he dropped into a chair opposite hers at the table, turning so his arm could lean against the surface, facing the rest of the tavern with a watchful eye. gideon had heard tell of another grey warden turning up at skyhold, this time from the anderfels - he figured she would know about as much as he did when it came to the disappearing wardens, if all she did was join up with no news to spread; but at this point he’d choose to chase even the smallest of leads in the hopes that it’d move the investigation forward at least a bit. “gideon vance. warden-lieutenant under orlesian command,” he introduced with a customary bow of his head, turning to look at her. he didn’t intend to waste her time, so he was quick to get into the purpose of his intrusion. while it may have struck some as rude, gideon preferred the brevity. “i was wondering if you could share any information you have on the wardens’ presence in the anderfels.”
It took her weary mind a moment longer than usual to identify the man– a Grey Warden, Gideon Vance, from the Orlesian sect of the wardens. With that information, Leliana nodded in response to the question. “Yes, we traveled together,” she confirmed, shifting to lean back on her desk and cross her arms over her chest. “We were friends, close friends.” The spymaster hid the note of nostalgia that threatened to creep into her voice. “I don’t think you came here for a story about the Fifth Blight, though, did you?”
he nodded at her confirmation; gideon had of course listened to enough of the stories, but it never hurt to hear it coming from the source - or the subject matter, more accurately. at leliana’s follow-up, however, he let out a small laugh. “no, i’m afraid not. i was... hoping you’d have information more, ah, current.” his brows furrowed a bit involuntarily; gideon didn’t expect leliana to be in the dark about the wardens’ situation - maker, he figured she wasn’t really in the dark about anything - but he was still hesitant to discuss the matter in this particular tower, where sound travelled, somewhat.
Sora had seen a Grey Warden once—Blackwall. She’d heard of Grey Wardens before, but she’d never seen one look so…Grey Wardeny. And of course, he had to be super Grey Wardeny because Blackwall wasn’t. He was your…backroad Warden. Or maybe wood chopping Warden.
She’d gotten roped into it once again. She looked unassuming in her civilian clothes, a pretty dress she’d sewn herself. She’d actually stolen the gold fabric from one of the merchants when they weren’t looking. Whoops. So, the dress had a bit of flair.
She carried some of the supplies she’d been forced to deliver (”Oi you rabbit! Go deliver these to that new Warden!). It was mostly things needed to really clean armor and such along with a few necessities.
“Um, Warden?” She called, poking her head inside his room briefly. “I hope I got the right Warden. This is going to be very bad if I didn’t.”
weariness didn’t even begin to describe the weight that tugged at his shoulders. the calling taunted from the periphery of his attention; a whisper at the back of his mind like a steady pulse, aching. when he’d first arrived at skyhold not too long ago, he was graciously assigned a room in a corner tower - which was wonderful when he needed the quiet to focus, yet that same quiet could easily turn threatening.
as he hunched over a table at one end - poring over notes on the missing wardens - a call of his title pulled him out and away from his own head. gideon turned slowly, as though dazed, peering over his shoulder at the blonde elf peeking in from the open door. the mabari napping at the foot of his bed cracked open an eye at the voice, but otherwise didn’t stir. “depends on your instance of ‘right’,” he remarked with a slow blink, only then noticing the delivery she carried with her. the smile that followed was grateful, albeit still tired, and he let out an embarrassed chuckle. “...ah, that. then - yes, you’ve got the right warden.” moving quicker this time, gideon shifted his notes around the desk so he’d have somewhere to dump his things, then moved to take them from her. “apologies. i was expecting the quartermaster. ser morris?”
The spymaster ground her teeth together, huffing before finally leaning over to blow out her candle, deciding to turn in for the night. She paused, breath almost about to extinguish her only light source before the spymaster heard the steps ascending to the rookery, making her pull away from the candle and turn to face her visitor. “Yes, what is it?” It was a bit strained, weary from exhaustion.
he reached the rookery with a look of caution; while gideon did admire and respect the woman’s profession, it was much harder to trust it. he spied the head of red hair a few steps away, and her exhausted tone gave him pause. perhaps another time? he hesitated, but pushed on regardless - there would never be a perfect time, so he’d have to take what he could get. “spymaster,” he said in way of greeting, “you knew the hero of ferelden, did you not?”
it’s nyx again, because of course it is. here’s gideon, an orlesian grey warden originally from ferelden, aka ‘grumpy local man who should really be dead by now just wants to go home’.
IAIN GLEN || introducing [GIDEON VANCE]! at age [53], of [MALE ELF-BLOODED] origin, born in [FERELDEN] && best known as [A GREY WARDEN]; [HE] has just recently arrived at skyhold. they seem to be a [WARRIOR], their known traits include [MOROSE, PRAGMATIC & RETICENT]; and they stand with the inquisition.
gideon is a good warden - maybe even a good man. he’s full of loyalty, compassion and valour: it courses through his blood, tangled up in his veins. he’s made of hard edges and sharp words and a stubborn need for self-sacrifice, but he’s a soldier and a brother and a son and he does what he can, does everything he can, for the good of others.
but at the same time, he’s cynical. jaded. worn and weary from years of fighting, tired of taking part in wars they can never fully win. he’ll still fight, and he promises to do so until his last breath, but some days he doesn’t know if it’s because he really believes in something better, or if it’s just a leftover instinct from ideals he’s long since lost.
born in a bucolic, rural part of ferelden, gideon was an active, happy child - he climbed hills and ran laps and skipped rocks by the riverside, blunted his play-swords on the trunks of trees, tumbling home by sunset with his younger sister delaney giggling on his shoulders.
his parents, his father a lowborn human and his mother a city elf from an alienage, had run away together in their younger years. the two were often busy with their jobs as a cobbler and a seamstress, and so the siblings tended to spend more time with each other than with their mum and pa.
when he was around the age of twelve, a group of orlesian knights passing through took note of gideon training out on his own, and decided to hire him as a squire of sorts - though as more of an errand boy than an apprentice. he jumped at the opportunity regardless, idealistic as he was back then; he promised to write, then left for orlais.
for a time, things were steady as he trained and worked and grew. he would likely never make it into the ranks of the knights themselves, being from ferelden and of low birth, but he still learned how to wield a sword and shield, determined to make something of himself.
in his early twenties, though, the knight whose command he was under ended up murdered, and gideon was preposterously framed for it. he was jailed for a trial he knew would be unjust, but during his imprisonment, an orlesian warden came recruiting - and gideon was conscripted away from this fate.
he survived his joining, obviously - and spent the following years thinning herds of darkspawn, sealing openings in the deep roads, and trying to figure out how he was accused of a murder he didn’t commit. (he eventually found out about a clandestine coup within the knight order, and spent some time setting things right.)
during the fifth blight, he was assigned to a post protecting and holding the orlesian border - which infuriated him, because there was a blight in his homeland... and he was supposed to stay away from the fight?
he very nearly defied orders - especially after receiving a mournful letter from his sister, telling him their parents had died during their attempt to flee - but he didn’t, and was subsequently made a warden-lieutenant during the thaw. but to this day, he carries guilt like a weight ready to drown him.
he also acquired a mabari war hound in the time after, a lumbering girl with one blind eye that the breeder was having some trouble with. he named her laney, after his sister.
some time ago, he started hearing the calling in full. he was on his way to the deep roads for his long walk when he heard word of wardens vanishing - plagued by a lingering sense of duty, he returned to find his old unit missing. the investigation into their disappearances led him first to alistair and, later, the inquisition.
he hasn’t seen or written to his sister at all since the blight, and is honestly too ashamed to face her these days, even though he may very well be close to dying and he’d do anything to see her again. well, anything but swallow his pride, apparently...
