TEST DRIVE MEME!

[faderifting]

Surprise, Beartch

Bet You Thought Etc.

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.

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.

I. DRAGONS

There is a dragon in the Hinterlands. Everyone knows this. It's difficult not to notice when a dragon flies overhead with a mouth full of screaming sheep (alas, the poor dead sheep) or scorches your fishing boat and makes you swim for it (alas, the poor soaked fishermen). But she's only rarely sighted, and her lair is as of yet unknown, if "yet" is defined as "the moment before this exact moment, right now." Because you've found her. She is, at this very moment, screeching so loud it rattles the cliff sides that are trapping you in her territory and raining fire down over the only clear path of escape. She and her two dozen children don't care if you only wanted some elfroot and spindleweed. They also don't care if you have a sword. You look way more delicious and less woolly than a sheep.

II. CROSSROADS

In the year since the Inquisition's formation, the Crossroads have changed. Most of the refugees from the Mage/Templar War have moved on--if not back home, to new places--and there's been some progress rebuilding the homes and fortresses ruined by the war. Very few people are still living in caves. But rather than quieting down, the Crossroads have begun to bustle. Between the Inquisition's locally stationed forces and the increasing number of travelers and merchants now that the roads are safer, there's enough business to support a tavern with a few rooms for rent, and the Crossroads are becoming a trading post in their own right rather than a dot of houses on the path to Redcliffe--a great place to stop for a drink, to buy basic weaponry, or to unload all of the bear skins you've collected.

III. BEARS

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?

IV. CRYSTALS

Members and trusted agents of the Inquisition are given access to one of the Inquisition's stores of ancient, mysterious sending crystals, allowing them to communicate instantaneously by voice. It's magic. And a magical excuse to ask everyone what their favorite constellation is in the middle of the night.

Or to call for help because you've been treed by bears.

Either way.

V. MISCELLANEOUS

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

[harthad_uluithiad]

The mountain! Do you mean to say we got that close? All the way into - into Mordor?

[ He drops his voice on the last word, down to a hoarse whisper. They may be far away from Middle-earth and the Dark Lord himself, but some things just aren't meant to be said out loud, even here. ]

Why, then it's almost finished! Just a day or two more. And now you're here instead. [ He shakes his head, his expression sorrowful. ] Oh, but it is a shame, isn't it? If only you'd stayed there just a day or two more, and then we wouldn't have to worry about it at all.

[apostafuckyou]

Raylan rolled his eyes and was in the process of turning an 'are you stupid' look on Tyrion, when he spotted the green glowing out of his hand.

Maybe that explained a thing or two.

"Let me guess," he said. "You fell out of a hole in the sky? Kinda greenish, shape like someone tore a hole in some fabric?"

[gatheringstorm]

Taking advantage of that stunning, Korrin blurs over on waves of magic and begins swinging with her spirit blade. Now it's her turn to play the distraction while Krem descends, and being as large and flashy as she is, that's really not a problem.

[inthemoonlight]

Cecelia responds with a thoughtful look softened by a smile. What is the point of coming into a tavern if she doesn't try what's on offer, disgusting as it may be? This elf is right. Cecelia may not be very adventurous by nature, but she's here and she may as well, right?

"Oh, all right. I will try one."

[aceso]

The spell is cast and Sansa really won't feel herself moving faster at first. However, if she takes note of the world around her, it will have seemed to slow. The branches swaying in the wind are doing so more slowly, the leaves rustling slower too. Even the sound of the dragon's beating wings are now slower. In truth, the pair are moving faster now, it just doesn't present itself as running fast. Christine leads them into the thicket, hoping for heavy cover or maybe an outcropping of rock. The Hinterlands is full of such formations.

[theladyofwinterfell]

Sansa can sense the world going by quite a bit faster than she expects and she's grateful for it. Once she's reached the thicket, she looks to her savior with gratitude.

"I don't know how I can repay you, I truly don't."

[anacardiaceae]

"Of course. Several hours later, perhaps?" She makes it a question in the hopes that it will sound less harsh, but the merchant is already busy with someone else and they've taken a handful of steps away from the stall.

"I found myself there often, recently." Pamelia's expression is a bit wary. "Could I have the drink elsewhere?"

[in_death_sacrifice]

That's what all healers tend to say, too...

[He settles back, a little less tense now that he's not as pained. Though he's still drained, the aches are becoming more vague... he'll take it over how it was a few moments ago.]

I've always admired such skill... talent, really, as well. [He gets a wistful look for a moment, before returning his attention to the present.] My thanks, for that. I owe you.

[in_death_sacrifice]

I know. Trust me, I know. The name is purely figurative, I promise. It's a mix of rum, some other things... A taste you'll never forget.

[Maybe he's a bit biased though, it's smooth and good, but there's definitely a nice burn to it as well. They named it after dragons for a reason.]

[fightorfright]

( Rum sounds good. Other things, not do much.

But what does she have to lose? )

All right. I'll give it a shot.

[famousest]

--Do you not remember? [ stranger and stranger. he supposes nothing should surprise him after what he's experienced since leaving the shire, though. ] What do you last recall, Sam? [ he may have a great deal to catch him up on.

his expression falls a little at the reminder that they'd been so close to their goal. if he'd just had.. a little longer.. ]

It is not so heavy here, nor so loud, but it is still a weight. And.. [ he hesitates, mouth pressing thin in uncertainty. ] I.. am a little concerned about the effect it may have on others here. I'm not certain if I'm entirely safe to be around so long as I carry this.

[famousest]

Oh. [ he pauses, then nods, accepting the answer without question. it doesn't entirely make sense to him, of course, because little about his arrival here does, but she's also been polite and seems apologetic, so he can't hold a kneejerk reaction against her. he's never been inclined toward grudges, anyway. ] It seems to be a terribly inconvenient business, new arrivals falling out of green holes in the sky alongside demons. [ can they disguise themselves as regular people? it must be difficult to tell them apart, in that case.

the question makes his mouth quirk back up faintly. "what's a hobbit" indeed. how does he explain his people..? ] Well.. we are all generally my size. Smaller than dwarves, almost never bearded. [ he points to his feet. ] We tend to go barefoot, as our feet are much tougher than any other race that I can recall. [ hmm.. what else.. oh! he turns his head a little, brushing the unruly curls away from the pointed tip of an ear. ] Some folk think we're related to elves because of our ears, but.. [ he lets his hair fall again as he taps a knuckle against his mouth. ] I think most hobbits agree that we're related to no other race at all. If anything, perhaps we're a bit Mannish.

[legerdemainist]

Noelle practically beams at that! "I am glad to hear it," she says and gestures to a chair at the table in front of her. "Have a seat, and I will fetch you one. Then we shall have proper introductions, yes?"

Then she makes her way over to the bar to order another drink.

[aceso]

[ Christine looks a little surprised at the admiration coming from him. It's not often a mage hears she's admired. ]

You are welcome. But nothing is owed. Healers simply wish to help the hurt.

[aceso]

"It is all right. You are a rifter, and I know you can help all of us by virtue of the shard in your hand." Christine nods towards it. "It has the power to close rifts, like the one you arrived through. Shardbearers are the only ones who can do that."

[inthemoonlight]

"Oh. All right." Cecelia is actually used to people fetching things for her. At home she had servants, but here she's been learning to do things for herself so this is a bit of a surprise. Still, she sits and awaits her drink. She has no doubts it will be horrid.

[legerdemainist]

It takes a minute, but eventually Noelle flutters back over to the table and sets down the cup with a, "Here! Your... swill, my lady? This is the word, yes?"

Smirking slightly, she sits as well. "In any case, it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance. My name is Noelle Lefebvre."

[thesteelwolf]

"Testing the shell once I am done grinding the powder." Half done, right now, perhaps further along than she might like. "With your lightening. Until I am ready for you, it is safest over there."

[thesteelwolf]

Metal for heat and lightening? This I have done. But Ice...mm. I will need help testing this.

[tallasaking]

"I could not agree more. If there was a creature I hoped we had in common, it would be the Dorne grape, which makes the finest wine in the world. Not, instead, the disgusting thought of creatures that will still eat you and are the things of nightmares." He sighed quietly, "Of course I could not land in someplace pleasant. The gods do enjoy their sense of humor, after all.

"...Well that seems, if you pardon my bluntness, ridiculous. This might be the best time possible to hammer out terms, before this Chantry gets back up on its feet and can start making demands that you mages do not want to answer." He paused, then sighed, "Forgive me - I cannot seem to keep from politicking, even when I am a stranger in a strange land."

[tallasaking]

He found a water skin, and a bed sheet he began to tear to make her a bandage. Honestly, no one had come across them yet so he was hoping they could beg their host's indulgence.

Clearing his throat, he offered her the bandage, and the clean cloth, stating simply, "I have not the right to push up your dress, Sansa."

Another pause, and a crooked smile. "We are in this together, are we not?"

[tallasaking]

Now, Tyrion's eyebrow rose together, "... Are you some sort of Seer, ser? A Red Priest, perhaps? That might explain the oddity of this place. Of course I imagined all your fellows still wore red."

Another pause. "And tended to spot a lot of nonsense about the Lord of Light."

[apostafuckyou]

"Uh huh. And what's that gonna entail?" He just wanted to get a clear picture here, but that was enough information to be reassuring, so he was already taking a few steps toward the chair.

[apostafuckyou]

"No, not a seer, you just ain't the first," he said, poking his head back in. "She's lookin' for us, but if we stay in here a minute we'll be all right. She'll go back to her nest."

He let himself slide down the wall of the cave with a sigh, setting his staff down on the ground next to him. "Name's Raylan Gibbs," he said, offering a hand to shake. He assumed rifters still shook hands.

[thesteelwolf]

"I make small clouds with this powder, you? Zap it." Easy, simple. As basic a test as it comes.