Rhocanth stared into the murk of the mug offered to him for a long moment, blinking to try and mask the confusion that overcame him. What dwarf of what caste would offer him a drink that the previous owner had already drunk out of? It startled him, and after that, it sort of grossed him out. Either this man was so lofty that it would have been a gift to drink his spittle — highly unlikely — or he was so low as to not know any better. That, and he spoke so strangely! That was not an Orzammaran accent. Was he not properly taught the surface tongue?
Very well, he would treat it as the latter and accept correction, if need be. He adjusted his posture to the appropriate level and shook his head. "No, thank you," he said in regards to the drink. As to anything else, the girl did not voice any concern, which was wise of her. This matter required delicacy. "I thought that perhaps—"
The scene was interrupted by the drunk's powerful outburst, which set Rhocanth to frowning in his direction. The girl handled herself well, he had to admit. Not only had her admission been stunning, but in rather good humor as well. He had enjoyed hearing her put the drunk down, which he conveyed by letting the corner of his frown lift up just a little. It was no surprise that she, should his deduction be correct, had managed to survive in this fashion. All humor was gone, however, in the brief flicker of that glance at the other dwarf. Oh, dear. Hopefully, no one else had noticed such a nuance.
To make matters more interesting, Rhocanth's fellow warden chose that moment to crash through the door. He hadn't caught what had prevented him from opening the door normally, only that some other man took a fair stumble away from the door after that. Perhaps Rhocanth had underestimated this town. It seemed a fair deal more colorful than he had remembered through a rainstorm.
Not only that, but it had to be his templar friend. If it had been Jaden or Bethen, it might have been easier to maintain his offer to help. As it was, he could not predict the way in which Alderic would react should he discover there really was a mage here. On one hand, he was a Grey Warden as well as Rhocanth was, and it was his duty to protect the people, or at least not cast hasty judgment or make any undue show in case it impacted the mission, but he was a templar as well. They had all been forced to give up previous titles. Was that true for templars as well, or was it not? If it was not, this was clearly a fatal conflict of interest, which slid deftly into the realm of politics. Yes, an angle Rhocanth could handle!
It gave him no grief to have to lie for political reasons. Personal reasons were another matter entirely, and that was cowardly, but there were only a few ways in which this matter could go. The elven girl might find it prudent to lie (or tell the truth, depending), and say one more time that she had no part in any magery. Or, she might crack under the pressure of what was a sort of angry-looking and intimidating human templar. That could not be allowed, for anyone's sake.
To prove his position once more, Rhocanth pushed his cloak out of the way of his shield and revealed the griffin on his arm. He didn't like using it as a badge of sorts without knowing the full ramifications, but he did not know how to argue on many other levels but class. This allowed him to butt in and answer Alderic's gaze and inquest without fear on his part.
"Clearly," he said with a brief level gaze toward the drunk, "This man is harassing this woman. They did us a service, so I was just about to offer to procure some respite for her and her companion." This time, his confidence didn't falter at all. If the girl was a mage, he would smooth it over with Alderic at a later time, when the risk of violent objection was not so high. ... or not, if the consequences proved grim. He would just have to gauge Alderic's temperament at that time. Rhocanth still objected on a personal level. For now it would be touch and go. He glanced over at the elven girl and gave her his best mannerly smile, attempting to reassure her that it'd be alright if she went with that in the face of answering the templar.