<strong>Mathius<br/>The Imperial Highway <br/>North of Ostagar</strong><br/><br/><strong>“Poor bastard.”</strong>Was all that Mathius muttered seeing the half frozen corpse laying in a heap on the side of the road. It wasn’t said in a sympathetic fashion either, more of a sarcastic tone than anything. He looked a little closer at the arrow sticking out of the mans chest, and oddly enough it didn’t seem like it was flung from a darkspawns bow. The arrow was smoothly sanded and recently made, and not crude and misshapen like the spawn arrows tended to be.<strong>“This may have been a bandit or highwaymen arrow, maybe even the wild folk to the south, I suppose we should be aware of more than just darkspawn about.” </strong>Mathius told his Grey Warden sister after he knelt down in front of the dead farmer and took a close examination of the arrow.<br/><br/>The Antivan walked around the horse, running a hand up its back to try and keep it calm. Then he loosed the reigns from the post they were wrapped around and he brought back around to the horse and to the front of the cart, laying them down. The horse didn’t budge an inch, despite probably feeling nearly frozen to death. It was well trained to respond to certain movements of the reigns.<strong>“No I can’t say I have ever driven a cart.” </strong>Mathius said as he walked back around the back of the cart and to Eluv’yan’s side, facing her and the opposite side of the road.<strong>“But--,” </strong>Mathius stopped himself just as he was about to say something else, when something from off the road caught his eye, a black spot up against the sea of white, blue, and green of snow, trees, and the sky. Suddenly he realized what it was, an arrow coming right at him!<strong>“Down!” </strong>The Antivan yelled out and he was forced to shove Eluv’yan down to the ground just before the arrow reached them. It struck into the outer part of the wooden cart with a thud and stuck there.