<strong>Ruvena Marlow</strong><br/><br/>The Maker certainly had a sense of humor, with timing and such being what it was, Ruvena Marlow was not at all surprise at what consequence fell upon southern Ferelden. The Blight had not impeded her search until now, after the unfortunate turn of events at Ostagar the Seeker found herself surrounded by darkspawn, her companions mostly killed during the night and now, she was lost and alone, her quarry had escaped but he would meet his fate by her hand or another. For now, Ruvena found herself wondering the battle ravaged countryside of Ferelden, her journey ended with the defeat at Ostagar, it was no longer safe to be here.<br/><br/>As she carefully stepped over a small stream, a thunderous blast from not far off caught her attention. Last her order was aware, the Qunari had not actively traveled this far south, and only one thing created such a noise aside from Qunari inventions. Magic. Her eyes narrowed as the fleeting source of light created by the explosion faded through the trees. She quietly drew her sword and shield, slowly stepping over a downed tree before heading towards the source of the blast. Her heart beat a little faster, she hadn't chased down an apostate in quite some time, it was a little exhilerating to not only be home for the first time in several years but also to, now, after everything that had gone wrong since her return to Ferelden, that possibly she could do something good.<br/><br/>When she arrived, she found a small scene of carnage, with several templars and a couple of mages laid dead across the ground. She paused at the opening of the small clearing, the smoke drifting up from the campfire situated in the middle was the only source of obvious fire, nothing else seemed to be singed or even on fire. The templars were all dead, killed by some form of magic, the mages suffering wounds, one with a templar sword still in her back. Ruvena took in a few tense breaths before she glanced around. There were only a few templars for a few mages, which meant there were certainly more of both somewhere, possibly on the way to Ostagar or running from it. But other things required her attention. She settled to covering the bodies with what she could, rushed as she was. The mage who did this would not get far, not in this kind of thick jungle and with countless swamps or bogs near by, assuming this mage was from the Circle, he or she would hardly be adept at running through swamps. Of course there was the idea that an apostate had ambushed these mages and templars, though unlikely as that seemed. After doing what she could for the bodies, Ruvena quickly set off, finding many tracks but only a few made by people. She wasn't sure if the Chasind lived in this area or not, but it was all she had to follow.<em>"Marc!"</em><br/><br/>Ruvena froze and looked around, trying to zero in on where that voice had come from.<em>"Gale's gone mad in the head.  Don't let her kill me!"</em>Her eyes again narrowed as she quickly moved off towards the voice, her determination to findind this apostate was temporarily put on hold as she deftly stalked through trees, being as quiet as her rather bulky armor would allow. Ruvena held up her shield to keep the branches out of her face, her sword leading the way though lowered. She moved quickly, stepping right over whatever obstacles blocked her path as she slowed.<em>"She's unarmed, not a threat!"</em>The voices weren't far away now, and Ruvena crouched, lowering her shield and continuing towards the voices as movement to her right caught her attention, a woman in mage robes standing with her back turned.<br/><br/>The woman was facing two others, a young man on one side and... a templar on the other. Ruvena paused for a moment, several feet away from the mage. She studied all 3, the templar seemed nervous and without her arms, or her helmet for that matter, looked clearly frightened of the woman with her back to Ruvena. The man however, was dressed as a mage, the woman as well, perhaps they both were of the circle.<em>"She's a templar Marc."</em><br/><br/>Ruvena didn't need to be told what was going to happen, as the female mage raised her hands, small fireballs appeared in both. The templar seemed completely powerless to do anything, not trying to interrupt the spell in anyway she could, Ruvena recognized that sort of fear in the face of magic, she'd felt it once before. Jumping to her feet, Ruvena charged, smacking her sword on her shield. The mage turned, and upon seeing the templar shield charging towards her, hurled a fireball in its direction. Ruvena, however, was vastly more experienced countering mages than this woman was using her powers. The fireball fizzled upon hitting Ruvena's shield and the mage had no time to react, attempting to summon another fireball, she was sent falling head over heels as Ruvena crashed into her. The mage again attempted to cast something, but Ruvena was giving her no opportunities, squaring to face the woman. Her hair jumped briefly, a very quiet noise, like the distant cracking of thunder could be heard, though brief and sharp as it was. The mage screamed, clutching her head in pain, though the young templar simply stared, bewildered. The young man may have felt a slight headrush but little else.<br/><br/>Ruvena approached the woman and drew her blade, the tip precariously pressed just below her chin, her eyes flickering up to the woman standing above her, though despite the shield she had, instead of the templar armor, a large white eye stared back at her from Ruvena's chest. "<strong>And you, mage, are an apostate.</strong>" Ruvena quietly spoke, her attention shifting briefly to the young templar. Alla seemed to have replaced her fear with discomfort, glancing sheepishly at the Seeker as she turned to look at Marc. "<strong>And what of you, mage? Apostate, or no?</strong>"