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

shakes head

[dreadedwolf]

[ he's not entirely certain what just happened or why, but that was definitely.. something. was she.. dared? does he really smile so little? are others.. concerned? that's somewhat surprising, given what he knows of his own personality.

his mouth quirks faintly as he reaches for his cup, balancing it on a knee and glancing up at her. ]

And how, pray tell, did this come about, then?

[arlathvhen]

[ Now, she looks a little bashful, ducking her head again and clearing her throat. ]

Cole was telling me about you--He's quite fond of you, Solas. He, um--he drew a picture of you, and you were scowling in it. And when I asked him, he said that you don't smile very much. And I told him that if I could, I'd try to get you to smile.

[ She spreads her hands out, palms up, an amused smile playing across her lips. ]

The Dalish keep their word, even if the word is a pun.

[dreadedwolf]

[ he lifts his cup to take a sip, but pauses at the mention of cole, expression softening fondly. ] .. I'm fond of Cole, as well.

[ it's safe to allow himself that, and cole's easy to care for, still spirit enough that he doesn't always understand what he senses inside solas-- or feel obliged to share it with others the way someone else might.

and he's seen solas, seen inside his heart, and he still.. wants to help him. wants to fix what's been broken so long that solas himself wouldn't know how to begin picking up the pieces. ] He worries about us all, I suppose. [ he takes a sip of his tea finally, letting the familiar, unpleasant bitterness ground him.

he lowers the cup once more, his faint smile a subdued echo of beleth's. ] You can report back to him that you were successful, I think. [ he nods to the chair she's ignoring, then, brows lifting pointedly. ] You've been busy lately, it seems.

[arlathvhen]

I...feel rather guilty, really. He's helped me countless times, either to say kind words, or just listen. Whatever I need. But--[ She rubs the back of her head, frowning. ]--I feel like I can't do much in return. He never asks for help, it's hard to tell if he needs it. I even tried giving him food, and he just...gave it to other people.

[ Sigh!!! Cole let her be nice to you!! But after a moment, she cheers up. ]

But I can do this much, at least. And your expression was great. But--Oh! [ She scrambles to sit in the chair, and perches there like that had been her plan the entire time. ]

Busy? Yes, well, you know how it is. I'm no expert at the Fade, but I can shoot arrows at things, make potions. And annoy experts at the Fade.

[dreadedwolf]

Don't, [ he reassures her gently. ] While Cole is human-shaped, it's best to remember that he isn't one. His perception isn't like ours. His understanding of our behavior, his emotional capacity, even his physical and emotional needs-- all very different from what most of us are accustomed to. [ he sets his cup aside again, smile widening faintly, fond. ] I'm certain that he's simply happy that you're his friend and that you want to spend time with him.

[ cole isn't simple by any means, but there's still so much that he's learning.. and solas isn't entirely comfortable with the idea of cole becoming any more human than he already is. he's a spirit. he shouldn't be pushed to change.

his brows shoot up. ] Your visits aren't an annoyance. [ a beat, and he adds a caveat: ] Though I may have to reconsider that if you preface them from now on with puns. [ the lowest form of humour, beleth!! ] --How was your trip home? I don't think that I asked you when you returned, and I apologize for that.

[arlathvhen]

[ Beleth blinks, looking a little puzzled by what Solas says, but she nods along with him anyway. Surely even spirits needed some kind of emotional support and kindness now and then--? But, she wasn't the expert at them. Or...really knowledgeable about them at all, really. So she just nods. ] I guess...? I just don't want to, ah. Take without giving.

[ But she flashes Solas a sheepish smile when he assures her she's not annoying him, and adds the caveat. She holds up her hands. Look at her. She's the picture of innocence. ] I think I'm done with puns, for the moment. But, ah--Yeah. The Clan.

[ She has to stop and think for a bit about that. How much she wanted to reveal, how much she wanted to glaze over. Solas is no Dalish, and it makes her hesitant to voice any dissent about her People. ]

It was...nice. To see my clan, and my family. They haven't really changed since I left, which...is a relief, I think. With so much chaos in the world, it's nice to know that some things continue to endure. My mother, I suspect, will endure beyond all of us. Certainly, if it's possible to survive through sheer will power, she will outlive Thedas itself."