allthisshitisweird | Test Drive Meme!

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.

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"I am. Seems the only sensible place right now for- well." She taps her 'walking stick' with her fingers - the qunari's not exactly being subtle about being a mage, so she won't insult her intelligence by pretending not to be one herself. "Certainly better than these parts."

Korrin nods in full agreement to that, a small smile quirking at her lips. "No kidding, this place is a mess. We're better off away from it. Tell you what, if you head to the Inquisition camp just beyond here, you'll have company on the road when we head back. Safety in numbers and all that."

"Huh, didn't know they were in the area. I'll collect the halla and get her food before I head off. This place isn't so bad for grazing, but I can't imagine she'll eat well off the land on the way through the frostbacks."

She begins to pack away her things, back into bags made to be slung over a halla's back. "You're with them, then? Or are you heading to join up yourself? The way it seems these days, it's them or those red folk, and I'd rather throw my lot in with the Chantry than the 'vints."

"Yeah, same. And I'm already with them, have been since the Conclave blew up. Some of my company were running security, so I was nearby. It only seemed right to join afterward."

Korrin's done is matter-of-fact, not wanting pity or to discuss her feelings on the subject at great length. It is what it is, and she tries to use it as motivation for the present, not to wallow. "Can I come with you, to see the halla? I've never seen one up close. Either they run off before that happens or the Dalish with them were being protective."

"Heh, folk get like that. Enough close calls with hunters, and they start to forget the halla have antlers, don't need much protecting." She's happy enough to drop the topic of the inquisition and the conclave - she's got what she needs out of the conversation, after all, and its hardly her place to pry. "Can't promise anything, it's up to her if she wants to be around you in the end, but I'll ask her. Don't see why she'd say no if she knows you're not a threat."

She gets up, slinging the bags over her own shoulders for now, and motions toward a forested area some way away from the crossroads. "She'll still be off over yonder, likely as not. She likes being in the trees better than the open, easier to hide if she spots something she doesn't like."

Satisfied with that response and hoping the halla won't mind the presence of a Vashoth, Korrin follows the Dalish woman away from the crossroads. "I can't blame her for that, honestly. There are far too many wolves and bears driven mad by the Breach, even aside from the rift demons roaming the area. It's a sad mess, for all that we keep trying to make it safer. I think we'll succeed, but it'll still take time."

"Well, at least sooner or later the mages and templars who picked these parts to fight'll wipe each other out. It'll be quieter then, at least. No doubt it'll be easier to deal with holes in the sky, too, when they're not getting in the way." She shifts the bags around on her shoulders as they walk, until they're a little way into the trees, then drops it at the other woman's feet.

"Watch m'bags for a little while, will you? Don't want to spook her by getting too close without introducing you, I'll go fetch her now."

Korrin glances to the bag, then nods. She can be patient for this, and appreciates that Chaya's taking the time to do it. "Alright, do what you need to do. I'll be here."

She keeps her staff on her back, not wanting to spook the halla when it arrives, but the Vashoth mage remains alert to her surroundings. The last thing she wants is for them to be ambushed, whether by Templars, rebel mages or something else.

Edited 2015-11-12 00:09 (UTC)

She returns soon enough, halla walking a few steps in front of her. They slow a little as the halla spots Korrin, but they don't stop. Cautiously, the halla approaches.

They stop a little way short of Korrin, and Chaya continues over to pick up her bags again while the halla tilts her head first to one side and then the other. Vashoth are a rare sight, and while Chaya was able to take her first meeting with one in stride, the halla is a little more confused.

"Her name's Saeli" Chaya says, staying close to the halla but not loading her up yet - not until she knows she feels safe. "We're sisters, near enough. She was going to head back to the clan once she'd seen me safely to the Circle but- well. Ended up being a big flaw in that plan, you know? So we're stuck with each other now."

Edited 2015-11-12 14:35 (UTC)

"Hello, Saeli." Korrin approaches slowly and stretches out her hand, offering to pet the halla but wanting Saeli to make the first move. She won't push the matter if the beautiful creature won't allow it.

And then Chaya's words make her brow furrow, because she couldn't possibly have heard that right. "You...were going to the Circle? On purpose? But you're Dalish."

"Aye." She says, as the halla cautiously - very cautiously - presses the top of her head to Korrin's hand. "Funny how that works. Three mages in a clan. Any more, and someone needs to go."

Saeli's a little more comfortable now, so she begins loading up the halla as she speaks. "Course, I could stay out here, but I'm not the- you know. The fighting kind of mage. S'why I need Saeli here as a bodyguard. Circle seemed like the safest place."

Aw, Saeli. Korrin takes care to be extremely gentle in her petting. "I've heard about that rule, though the Circles have fallen anyway. What about another clan, wouldn't they need you?"

Not that she wouldn't encourage her back to Skyhold, but the Vashoth mage has to wonder about that. Don't Dalish prize holding onto their heritage? Throwing that away for a Circle...no, it makes no sense to her.

She shakes her head. "None we've had contact with. I've looked, best I can, but with folk moving around all the time it's not easy to find people we've not traded with recently." And she fiddles with the straps of her bags. Saeli, for her part, is still somewhat tense but seems content to allow the petting.

"Circle seemed like the best option. Food, board. Seemed boring, but better than bleeding out in a field somewhere and no need to pick a side in a great bloody war." She pauses for a second. "No offense meant, sure your side of the bloody great war is the right side. If in doubt, follow whoever's not a 'vint."

"Fair enough. We're not the ones wanting to tear a hole in the sky and end the world." Korrin's befriended several 'vints', but only those dedicated to fighting said asshole and his followers. Maybe she'll get to introduce Chaya to them, once they're back.

"Trust me, you don't need to give up your freedom to have room and board. We're not living in the lap of luxury back in Skyhold, but we have enough to go around. Anyone willing to pitch in gets their share, whatever their background. There are representatives from a couple of the clans as well, so maybe you'll get to reunite with some familiar faces."

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