Test Drive Meme!

[faderifting]

No, Seriously, You're Never Getting Out Of Here

Maybe the Inquisition sent you, maybe you came seeking the Inquisition. Maybe you fell out of a rift into this world last week and are still just trying to find your feet. However it happened, early fall finds you in the Hinterlands. Tucked between Ferelden's massive Lake Calenhad and the icy Frostback Mountains, the Hinterlands are a hilly region covered in patchy forests and small farms trying to eke out a living between the boulders. Though somewhat remote, the area is rich with game and minerals and home to Redcliffe, a bustling town on a busy trade route.

Lately the Hinterlands have also been full of mages and templars and rifts, all threatening to turn once-peaceful countryside into a dangerous warzone. The Inquisition has set up several camps and sent personnel to try to restore order to the region, unwilling to let it slip into chaos. There's a lot to be done, some of it straightforward killing bad things, some of it weird and nebulous morale-building.

NOTE: We will not have an App Help/Enable Me meme this month, but anyone who has questions about OC concepts or AU adaptations is welcome to ask for assistance on the Mod Contact page.

1. WHERE THE SUN COMES UP ABOUT TEN IN THE MORNING

QUESTS COME AND GO BUT BEARS ARE ETERNAL: You have turned the wrong corner, forded the wrong stream, crested the wrong hill, entered the wrong cave. Maybe you are far from camp. Maybe you are in camp. Whatever has happened, wherever you are: you are being chased by bears. Did you provoke the bears? Are they huge? Babies? Fade-touched? Mage-controlled? What are they chasing you away from? What are they chasing you into? What do you plan to make out of their hide if you kill them? What do you think they'll craft out of your hide if they kill you?

2. THEY MOVED DOWN SOUTH OF REDCLIFFE

NICE PLACE FOR A SPOT OF CAMPING: If there were an inn, which there's not, there wouldn't be room for you in it. Traveling with the Inquisition means carrying your own bedrolls, putting up your own tents, and sleeping alongside whoever you've been told to share with--no matter how much you hate them or how loud they snore. If you really can't stand it, the alternative is sleeping outside. On the ground. With the bears.

3. AND THEY LAUGHED AND SANG A NEW SONG

Hey, there's a big, crazy light in the sky that craps out demons! Let's worship it!: Not everyone thinks the Breach was a bad thing. In the southeastern mountains, a burgeoning cult has taken up residence in Winterwatch Tower to wait patiently for the Maker to reach through the tears in the veil and gather the faithful to his bosom. They're a little kooky, maybe, but harmless, and they're happy enough to share their wine and lager with travelers in the area. The demon-spewing rift behind the Tower, on the other hand... Too bad the Herald didn't close that thing before she bit it. Watch your step.

4. NO ONE EVER KNEW THERE WAS LYRIUM IN THEM MOUNTAINS

TROUBLE IN THE DEEP: The Carta is everywhere, but it's here in force, occupying dwarven ruins in a chasm behind a waterfall. Inquisition forces have already cleared most of the smugglers out of the hold, but there's still a vault to break into, bodies to loot, and old texts to search through for anything worth adding to the Inquisition's growing archives. Also: darkspawn. Sorry.

5. AND THE SUN GOES DOWN ABOUT THREE IN THE DAY

CHOOSE YOUR OWN ADVENTURE: hunt game, kill demons, gather herbs, track bandits, haggle over the price of armor, fall off a deceptively tall rock, get lost circling the same hill ten times trying to find a way up to the weird glowing skull on a stick you can see is up there, climb trees or abandoned towers, rummage around in empty homes, run from a dragon, cry over how cute that fennec fox you just shot was, set up camp and chat around the fire, knock yourself out (figuratively, or even literally if that's more your speed)-- the Hinterlands are your Frostback Mountain oyster.

Comments

eyyy

[warcatalyst]

[Anders doesn't remember when he was in good health, to be honest. Even back in Kirkwall he worked himself to the bone. These days it was even tougher. He couldn't settle anywhere, risking to be recognized - always walking, helping where he could and then disappearing again.

Like a ghost.

Bruce doesn't startle him too much, because he did have a good view over the general area from his position. The man looked a bit lost and confused, and even a self-inflicted hermit could lend a fire to the needy.]

Hello.

let us bond over our shared status as abominations

[amygdalae]

[Well, at least he hadn't scared the man. Bruce wouldn't want that to happen, considering what most scared and confused people tended to do in these times. Not that he could blame them, of course.

He walks all the way over to the other, blinking at him and at the cat on his lap once he was close enough to notice it too.]

Is the cat yours?

possessed by angry bastards, too!

[warcatalyst]

Oh, no. I'm hers.

[That's how things worked with cats. They ignored you until they wanted something, and then sat on your head until you fed them. You didn't own cats, they owned you.

Right now, she was quite content to roll over in his lap and demand stomach rubs.]

You look lost, ser.

so many common interests :'D btw Justice is totally free to notice, if that's its thing

[amygdalae]

[Bruce lets out a small laugh at the words. He's no expert of cats, but he'll take the other's word for it.

At the question Bruce gives a wry smile, feeling suitably chastised.] A little. I may have wandered off a bit too far from the camp.

o7

[warcatalyst]

I can sympathize. It's a mess out there, and not only because of the bears and the crazy people. The terrain isn't too forgiving, either.

[The mage gestures to the fire.]

Sit and warm up.

[Anders. Nope. Anders, do not be a child. Be quiet. You're in danger.]

Oh, shut up.

this gunna git gud

[amygdalae]

[He inclines his head in gratitude for the offer, and starts to make a move closer so that he can settle closer to the warm fire.

Before he can properly sit down, though, the man suddenly snaps without warning, and Bruce pauses in his steps. He stares at the other in mild alarm, the surprise clear on his face.]

Is there--? [Something wrong, he would say, but even without that the question is pretty obvious.]

[warcatalyst]

Sorry, I... [He pauses, rubbing the bridge of his nose.] Sorry. I wasn't talking to you.

[There's a very tired smile from him as Anders does his best to calm the slightly frazzled cat and guest.]

I'm a little tired, that's all. Don't worry.

[amygdalae]

[If he wasn't talking to him, then who was he talking to? Bruce tries not to frown but the confusion still shows - confusion as well as some concern. If the man was hearing voices, then he must be truly tried.

But he takes the man's word for it and comes closer, eventually getting next to the fire and starts to settle down.] If you need something to help you sleep, I do have it. [He gives what he hopes is a reassuring smile.] I tend to have troubled nights myself as well.

[warcatalyst]

[He's an exhausted, unkempt and dirty man out in the middle of nowhere. Sanity tends to lack in such men, but at least he was coherent and not a babbling madman.

Yet. That attachment to the cat wasn't the best of signs.]

It's kind of you, but I have plenty of potions for that myself. It's just... not safe to sleep alone out here.

[He is not kind. He is an abomination. Well, so are they. This man wasn't a bubbling mess of flesh like most abominations, so he cannot judge.]

[amygdalae]

[Well, Bruce can't say that he doesn't understand. Before the Inquisition he had been spending his time running around all of Thedas as well, so he can perfectly relate to the whole 'not safe sleeping outside' stuff.]

Of course. [He simply says, giving a nod.] Like you said, there are always many dangers out here. Bears, the people fighting, wolves...

[Himself.]

It is quite the mess.

[warcatalyst]

Rogue templars, bandits, possessed goats...

[Anders gives another wry smile.]

Quite a mess, indeed. Come morning, I'll see if I can help you back to yours.

[amygdalae]

[Ah yes. Bruce remembers the possessed goats. Sort of, anyway.]

I would appreciate that. [He says with a bow of his head.] Thank you, in advance. I usually wouldn't have trouble, but the area here has been rather dangerous as of late.

[And the last thing Bruce wants is to somehow endanger anybody else if he ends up transforming for some reason or another.]

[warcatalyst]

[They're way too alike. Healers. Abominations. Worrying.]

Think nothing of it. There's little kindness left in the world.

[The cat stretches in his lap and then moves out of it, wandering over to Bruce to give him a curious sniff before she sits down with her back to him, cleaning her paw.]

That's Hawke. I'm... Karl.

[amygdalae]

[It is hard to find people willing to help these days - with the war waging around people all tend to keep to themselves and not be concerned about the others. Its a sad truth, but one that reflects the reality of the situation.

Bruce stops dwelling in his thoughts before they can get too deep. He watches as the cat moves from the other man to him, blinking as it settles down right in front of him. He glances back to the man when he speaks, nodding as he hears their names.]

Bruce. [He returns, since its only polite, then pauses as he looks back onto the cat.] ...her name is Hawke?

[Even as out of touch as he is, Bruce knows who Hawke is - he's read Tale of the Champion himself.]

[warcatalyst]

Bruce? A curious name.

[He doesn't sound too nosy, though, instead searching through a battered pack for some very stale bread and only slightly moldy cheese that he cuts off the mold from with a small knife.

Then he holds it out to his guest.]

Hawke, yes. After the Champion, not the bird.

[amygdalae]

It's nothing too interesting.

[Bruce only smiles and accepts the offered food with a small thankful murmur. Even stale and slightly moldy food is still food, and Bruce appreciates what he can have.

He puts the cheese with the bread before he glances at the man curiously.] Did you know her? [He asks, although if the man doesn't want to answer it Bruce won't pry.]

[warcatalyst]

[He drops the question, then, and just smiles a little. Part of him wants to eat as well, that Warden appetite rumbling in his empty stomach - but if he did he would have nothing to eat tomorrow.

Instead, he takes a swig of water from a waterskin, face tensing a bit when Bruce asks about Hawke. He'd expected it, of course, but somehow it still hurt.]

A strong little lady needs a strong name. What better than a Champion's?

[amygdalae]

[Always wary of other people's emotions and how they would react, Bruce notices the way the other man tenses. He doesn't exactly know the reason why, of course, but he knows better than to press.]

I'm sure she'll be a fine lady, then. [He says instead, letting the question drop. He looks at the cat and gives another small smile.] Befitting of a Champion.

[warcatalyst]

She will.

[You know, in lack of the real one, wherever she may be. Anders has lost the trail long ago, but her face still haunted him sometimes.

So here he was with a cat carrying her name, like some desperate effigy.]

There's five of them. Kittens, I mean.

[amygdalae]

[Bruce quirks a smile at the response, and it widens at the mention of kittens, looking clearly pleased.]

Five? That's quite the number. [Bruce approves very much though, yes.] Hopefully they'll come out strong and ready to face the world.

[Any sort of life is always precious and important. Bruce could never deny anybody the right to live, especially when he himself could still be alive despite everything.]

[warcatalyst]

They will.

[Thedas best healer is on the case.]

So... Inquisition. How is that going? I've heard far too many rumors.

[amygdalae]

[With a group like the Inquisition Bruce supposes there will be rumors. Not surprising, but Bruce isn't one for gossip. He's here to simply do his job.]

Everyone's doing their best to do their part to help. [He continues to smile.] It's nice knowing how despite all our differences, there are things we still equally care about above all else.

[warcatalyst]

All our differences. Hm.

...and the mages? Are they back with their jailors, bound by the templars once more, now in the name of the Inquisition rather than the Chantry?

[Easy with the bitter there, Anders.]

[amygdalae]

[Bruce Slightly Disapproves.]

If they are, the mages that I work with certainly hasn't said anything.

[The Inquisition is nothing like that.]

[warcatalyst]

That's usually part of the deal. Shush-shush, hide your bruises and all that.

[Do not anger him, Anders. You wouldn't like it when he's angry. Well, obviously. Contrary to popular belief he wasn't always looking for trouble.

That said, it wasn't like he was the most stable of men any more, either.]