Metal tracks and stone bridges crossed the countryside outside of the grand station. Rivers were crossed by the steam-driven engine, traveling faster than any horse or carriage could ever hope to. Orichalcum metal masterfully forged into a wonder of Dvergar engineering, drawing multiple cars full of passengers and supplies alike. The car that Verigan had bought out was near the back of the train, connected to the following car loaded with the group's carriages and other supplies. The interior was well-decorated, a double row of seats carved from polished wood and cushioned for comfort during long journeys, clear glass windows open in some places, closed in others.<br/><br/>Near the section's front, a spiraled staircase led to an upstairs section, giving the vehicle a tall, multi-layered appearance. The group splayed out a bit, as there was plenty of room to separate into smaller gatherings. A cold chill ran through the upper floor, the winds of early winter augmented by the speed at which the vehicle moved. Cloud cover on the sky darkened compared to the previous day, and the air held a moisture that preceded coming rain.<br/><br/>As the train drew further away from the northeast, the ground became less parted by rivers, and the evergreen trees gave way to shorter, branched flora that were victims of the seasonal change. Leaves of red and gold became commonplace over the more occasional hint of green in the woods, and the train's route became much more direct, with less bridgetop tracks to weave over in order to pass the many rivers.<br/><br/>As the group entered and began to settle in their train car, Cyrus and Selen said a quick 'goodbye' to the group and made their way up the spiral staircase.  While it was still early in the day, and the duo had rested plenty the night before, Cyrus was still an old man; and he much prefered the comfort of a quiet meditation in a bedroom than awkward small talk amongst the group.   The pair took the first room off to the right of the staircase on the second level, and began to put their things down.<br/><br/>"<span style="font-style: italic">Selen, I think it would be wise for you to spend time with our new group.</span>"  Cyrus spoke a voice that hinted that another lesson was coming.<br/><br/>"<span style="font-style: italic">Grandpa.</span>"  Selen spoke, the tone in her voice lowered as she finished.  "<span style="font-style: italic">I don't think I will fit in quite well.</span>"  Pausing as she scratched Thedas on his head.  "<span style="font-style: italic">Besides, is there not another lesson you could teach me?</span>"  The words coming out as if it were poison.  She never would have thought that she would prefer a lesson over any activity, and her eyes darted down to the floor.<br/><br/>"<span style="font-style: italic">I am teaching.</span>"  Cyrus spoke as he lowered his body onto the bed beneath him, letting out a surprised "<span style="font-style: italic"><span style="font-weight: bold">ohhh</span></span>" in response to the feeling of his body slowly sinking into the bed beneath him.<span style="font-style: italic">"I could get used to this.</span>"  He whispered to himself as his eyes looked over the bed, full of envy.  He looked back at Selen, and upon noticing the perplexed look on her face he decided to elaborate.  "<span style="font-style: italic">Back at the station, our group nearly fought one another.  There is a food car right next to ours, filled with all manners of booze.</span>"  Pausing as his hand reached up to his mouth as a series of coughs escaped his lips.  "<span style="font-style: italic">I dislike being old.</span>"  He muttered under his breath to himself, before clearing his throat.  "<span style="font-style: italic">While I stay up here and rest some more, you must tend to anything that happens down below.</span>"<br/><br/>"<span style="font-style: italic">You mean?</span>"  Selen responded with excitement in her eyes.<br/><br/>"<span style="font-style: italic">Yes.  You get to be the healer I trained you to be.</span>"  Cyrus said as he coughed again, this time harder than before.  "Y<span style="font-style: italic">our pet, however, must stay with me.  I do not want you mindlessly tending to him while you are on duty!</span>"<br/><br/>Selen quickly commanded Thedas down, to which the monkey quickly obeyed before she rushed to her Grandpa's side, wrapping her arms around him in a warm embrace.  "<span style="font-style: italic">Thank you Grandpa, you have trained me well.</span>"<br/><br/>She pulled her arms back, and quickly made her way to the door, opening it, and setting a foot outside before a thought stopped her.  "<span style="font-style: italic">Grandpa, you have been resting a lot lately and that cough is only getting worse.</span>"  She spoke as she turned her head back into the room.<br/><br/>"<span style="font-style: italic">Precisely why i need to stay here and prepare some medicine.</span>"  Cyrus said in a chipper tone.  Cyrus's head turned towards the bed and looked for the monkey who he had a sneaking suspicion had found the bed just as comfortable as he did.  He noticed Thedas was already curled up in a ball on one of the pillows, fast asleep and snoring up a storm.  Laughing a hardy laugh as his attention was once again fixed on his Granddaughter.  "<span style="font-style: italic">Now go!</span>"  He commanded, to which the vanishing figure of Selen and the quickly shut door was his response.<br/><br/>As the door shut, he quickly tore the smile from his face as he raised his hand up for closer inspection.  Rust colored blood was clearly seen on his white hand.  "Well this is no good, no good at all."<br/><br/>- - - -<br/><br/>Selen quickly made her way towards the staircase and was about to descend down when she noticed Anora was on her way up.  Stepping aside to allow Anora up, Selen forced her eyes down to the floor.  The archer still made her feel not at ease with those ever looking eyes, and Selen could find no way to hide her discomfort.<br/><br/>"<span style="font-style: italic">Careful down there.</span>"  Anora spoke as she neared the top.  "<span style="font-style: italic">Ardur wants to play cards, though no one can decide on a game.</span>"  Pausing as she reached the top.  "<span style="font-style: italic">Where is Cyrus?"  <br/></span><br/>"<span style="font-style: italic">He is feeling the need to rest some more.</span>"  Selen looked up real quick but quickly shot her glance back down.<span style="font-style: italic">"He is old, you know?  He needs as much rest as he can get."</span>Her voice once again trailed off as she finished the sentence.<span style="font-style: italic">"I will be the one to come to if you require healing, at least for the first part of the trip.</span>"<br/><br/>"<span style="font-style: italic">I don't think I will.</span>"  Anora responded.  "<span style="font-style: italic">I will be up on the third floor, cold be damned.</span>"  As Anora finished she made her way towards the more traditional staircase on the far side of the floor, and quickly made her way up top.<br/><br/>- - - - - -<br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">"Magnus, you must know a game or two!</span>"  Ardur spoke quickly as he began to shuffle a deck of cards he had found on a table near their seats.  The material used in the crafting of these cards was quite unlike anything he had played with before.  Each card had a glossy finish to it, allowing each card to slide over one another with ease and without hesitation.  "<span style="font-style: italic">What say you?</span>"  He asked Magnus.<br/><br/>Seated across the table from Ardur, Magnus pursed his lips as he thought of what game to play. "Honestly, I'm more familiar with boards and pieces than cards. How about..." He trailed off momentarily, then snapped his fingers as something came to mind. "Caravan? It's not the most complicated thing around. Pretty common in taverns and on the road. You familiar with it?"<br/><br/>"<span style="font-style: italic">Aye</span>."  Ardur said as inspiration struck him.  He reached into his bag and pulled out a small, folded object and placed it on the table.  "<span style="font-style: italic">Have you ever played Tvei?</span>"<br/><br/>"Sounds familiar," Magnus responded, giving a slight shrug of his shoulders. "Remind me what it is?" Card games were hardly his forte, but it was as good a way to pass time as any.<br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">"Oh Magnus my boy</span>."  Ardur spoke as he sunk back into his seat.  "<span style="font-style: italic">Tvei is a card game as old as history itself, and it would take me far to long to introduce the game</span>."  He placed the object back in his bag, and pointed out a small chest in the corner of the room.  "<span style="font-style: italic">I noticed when looking around there was a chess set there, you know that one right?</span>"<br/><br/>Magnus nodded. "Maybe next time, then. Chess is definitely easier." He knew how to play that, at least, and preferred having physical pieces to manipulate in a game. While Ardur put his own things away, Magnus stood and approached the chest, gathering the board and its pieces. In a bit of ergonomic construction, the board doubled as a storage case, holding all the pieces within.<br/><br/>Back at the table, he sat down and opened the top, plucking out the ivory-carved pieces for himself. The others, carved from what was likely polished ebony, rested in the half of the case nearest Ardur. With all of them removed, he closed the box again and set up his side of the board.<br/><br/>Ardur quickly followed Magnus's lead and set up his own pieces.  While he was not the most skilled at the actual game, he was versed enough to give any average player a run for their money.  "<span style="font-style: italic">Magnus, I do not believe I know a whole lot about you.</span>"  Ardur spoke as he made the first move of the match, moving the middle most pawn up two spaces.  "<span style="font-style: italic">I reckon that is because of all the crazy that follows this group, dividing our attention away.</span>"<br/><br/>With an agreeing nod, Magnus answered. "It's been a pretty hectic week, hasn't it? I think I've been moving around more in the past couple days than I have in months." He followed up with a move of his own, sending a pawn towards Ardur's pieces. "But now's probably the best time for a chat we've had thus far. So, what is it you'd like to know?"<br/><br/>"<span style="font-style: italic">Just the simple things.  Like where you learned where to be a blacksmith, how did you ever woo an untamed beast like Sheo.</span>"  He paused as his eyes darted from left to right, making sure the woman did not hear what he said before continuing.  "<span style="font-style: italic">And why you have a bunch of crazy assassins hunting you and your family down</span>."  The tone in his voice made it clear which was the real question.  He moved another pawn, this one resting beside the original position of the first, up one square to offer protection for the first.  "<span style="font-style: italic">Just the simple things, you know</span>?"  He spoke once again.<br/><br/>Magnus let out a small laugh at the second question, a sly smile crossing his face. He very nearly began to answer, but stopped himself at the final, real question given. His smile faded quite rapidly, and after clenching his jaw for a few moments, he answered truthfully. "I don't know." That was about all there was to it, but during the trip, he'd considered possible options. None really seemed more likely than the rest, but it almost gave him an ease of mind comparing them to having utterly no reasons.<br/><br/>"The best reason, if you could call it that, is that my family's had a long association with the church. My mother was a cleric, her mother before her, and so on." He considered the fervent dedication of the interrogated assassin to his cause, and the religious ramblings within the journal they'd procured. "These people, whoever they are, aren't Alesian. Maybe it's some sort of religious coup in the works."<br/><br/>As he moved his next piece forward, he continued his talks. "I was up next in line to join the church's ranks myself, years ago. I wanted to be a paladin, you know? A knight in shining armor, wandering the world to protect the innocent. A pretty average childhood dream for a young boy in a religious family." With a quiet huff, he leaned back in his seat. "Things didn't really work out."<br/><br/>Ardur looked at the piece that Magnus had moved forward, trying to see his master plan before he made a move.  But Ardur was a novice still at this game, so the best he could was think of the situation his pawns were facing now and try and react to the moves as they came.  Ardur quickly moved his hand, hesitating for just a moment above a knight piece, before he grabbed it and placed it within striking distance of one of Magnus's pieces.<br/><br/>"<span style="font-style: italic">There might be some truth behind that train of thought.</span>"  Ardur said as he once again leaned back into his seat.   "<span style="font-style: italic">I've heard of Kings, Bishops, and even poor farmers ending up the victims of our masked enemies attacks.</span>"  Pausing as he turned his head and watched as Selen made her way down the stairs, creating a bit of noise as she did.  "<span style="font-style: italic">But you did not join?</span>"  Ardur asked.  "<span style="font-style: italic">Being a Paladin is a noble endeavor, what caused you to back out?</span>"  Ardur assumed that he backed out at least.<br/><br/>"<span style="font-style: italic">And Selen.</span>"  Pausing as he waited for her to give her his attention.  "<span style="font-style: italic">Please don't walk with your heels.  On dirt roads and in old taverns you can get away with that but these floors are not as kind.</span>"  He let the obvious joke hang in the air for a second as he he turned his attention back to Magnus.<br/><br/>Magnus simply nodded. There wasn't much else to his theory than that, as he felt that the attacks were otherwise far too disjointed to put together a more cohesive one. When further questioned, he shook his head. "I didn't, no. I spent a lot of time when I was younger learning how to use Miracles, and spent time learning how to forge and fight when I was older in the hopes of becoming a paladin's squire. But those murders started to happen closer and closer to my hometown. I couldn't just leave my parents on their own while I was off working at the church's capital temple."<br/><br/>Becoming a squire for an ordinary knight could be enough of a challenge if one lacked the social status of nobility. While his family's connection to the church would have given him a better chance at accompanying a paladin to learn their ways, he was still from a fairly middle class temple in a town more notable for its trade than its religious power. "It would have been too long a process in too risky a time for me to take that sort of responsibility. I just used what I learned to support my parents after my mother retired instead."<br/><br/>Ardur was about to respond when the sound of a door opening on the near side of the train car.  He quickly turned his head and took in the sight of a woman about to enter.  She had on a simple outfit, simple brown trousers met with a white lace up shirt underneath a black hooded cloak.  Her puffy blonde hair was well kept, and Ardur quickly stood up from his seat.<br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">"Excuse me, this is a private car.</span>"  Ardur spoke simply.  "<span style="font-style: italic">Are you lost?</span>"<br/><br/>The lady was visibly taken aback.  "You startled me."  She responded in an accent that sounded all too familiar.  "<span style="font-style: italic">I was told the lavatory was just past the food car, I must have misheard.</span>"  She spoke in a soft voice.  "<span style="font-style: italic">I will be on my way, pardon my intrusion.</span>"<br/><br/>Ardur quickly sat back down in his chair with  a smile as wide as ever spread across his face.  After a second he turned his attention towards Magnus.  "<span style="font-style: italic">You recognize that beautiful ladies accent?</span>"<br/><br/>Magnus tilted his head slightly, considering the woman's tone of voice. "I'd put her somewhere around Magord, or some other place toward northeastern Ardon. She's got that tone of voice common around those parts." He leaned forward onto the table slightly, finally making his next move on the chessboard, claiming the piece that Ardur had slid within attack range of one of his own. "I wonder what someone from up there is doing headed so far south."<br/><br/>Ardur watched as Magnus skillfully swiped away any hope he had of using his knight in an offensive manner.  "<span style="font-style: italic">My thoughts exactly.  A caravan i worked for passed near the Hilfghard mountian a few years back.  Heard that accent all but once yet I still remember it as clear as day.</span>"  He paused as his smile vanished as he began to contemplate his next move. He had already lost a valuable piece to his own stupidity, and he needed to focus on making sure his next move was more safe.  "<span style="font-style: italic">Another great question, Magnus.  Why indeed is she all the way down south.</span>"  Pausing as his hands hovered over his pieces and he began to smile once again.  "<span style="font-style: italic">Why is she this far South?</span>"<br/><br/>His hand quickly grabbed the King piece and he placed it on it's side.  "<span style="font-style: italic">I concede the match to you.</span>"<br/><br/>Magnus raised an eyebrow at the sudden surrender. "Well, that was a pretty quick win," He joked, plucking the black king off the table to playfully roll over his fingers in a slightly show-offy display. "I suppose you intend to find that out now? If so, we'll have to play again later. Once there are less interruptions to deal with." After he was done toying around with the king, he cleared off the top of the board to put all the pieces back in their resting places.<br/><br/>"<span style="font-style: italic">I won't say what I may or may not do.  Rather I am thirsty for a drink, and if I recall there is a well stocked bar next door.  If i just so happen to run into her I might check and see if our Magord 'friend' is of any interest.</span>"  He smiled a heavy smile as he jumped up, and quickly made his way out of their train car.