Well, that was the end of that charade. Rhocanth coughed into his fist in a last-ditch effort as the templar neared, but in the end folded his hands beneath the scrawls of wet ink slowly drying and kept his head sort of down and angled. "Good morning, Templar Alderic. No, not at all," he said, invoking an expression that was something in between smiling and wincing. Alderic was, at least, quite discreet and polite himself. Actually, his opinion of the man so far was very positive. He was more than a competent fighter, and he had excellent composure. Overall, a man worthy of trust in battle, even if Rhocanth did not know so much about the Chantry he once served, the least of what he knew being anything good.
"I was simply enjoying the morning and recording a bit of our travels." On further observation, the templar's trousers were a bit wet around the knees. It was strange to see him out of his armor. The steel uniform projected such a powerful image that it was almost a surprise to see a man beneath it. He was about to ask Alderic what had awoken him at this time, since the rest of the camp was still quiet or just barely beginning to stir, but something he said caught his attention.
Sun what?
Rhocanth immediately put his fingertips to his cheek, forgetting that it was gooey. His eyes went a little round, surprised. "I - hm? I beg your pardon?" he managed to squeak out before being taken by preoccupation. Was it worse than he feared? This was the beginning of the terrible, legendary dwarven affliction that headed so many warnings about the surface. The dreaded sun-touch. Recounting these tales in his head only hastened his panic along, and in no time he was out of his seat, both hands patting at his face.
"How would the sun ever...?! What's going to happen?" Oh, no. No, no, no. Being sun-touched did not just burn. It made dwarves lose their minds. That was the last stage, one that Rhocanth had apparently not yet reached, because when he stuck his fingers into his ears, twirled them, and then pulled them out to look, there was no blood on them yet.