TEST DRIVE MEME!

[faderifting]

I ROLL TO SEDUCE THE BEAR

Tucked between the massive Lake Calenhad and the icy Frostback Mountains in Ferelden’s chilly, hilly south, the Hinterlands are a region covered in patchy forests, small farms, and a bustling fishing village called Redcliffe. The region was recently the frontline of a war between mages and Templars, but the Inquisition’s military presence has restored order and is now focused on helping the locals and influx of refugees rebuild their lives. Whether you’re a recent recruit or a hardened veteran, a Fereldan local or someone who recently fell out of a rift from another world, you may be asked to go lend a hand.

I. FLOODS

A burst of unseasonably warm weather (in no way inspired by real life events) is initially greeted with relief, gloves discarded and scarves unwrapped—but followed within the week by severe flooding across the region. Maybe you’re sent out to help debris from a road or collect the bodies of those swept away. Or maybe you’re less lucky and instead there when the waters come, shepherding refugees to higher ground, or caught riding in the flow on a dislodged roof or log. Maybe there’s a bear on the roof with you.

II. TREASURE HUNTS

Given the lack of banks and lockboxes, when the people here have something they value, they often hide it—under the ground, in a tree, behind a waterfall. So here you are, with a sketch of some landmarks found on a body, trying to find… something. If you find it, it might be useful: weapons, runes, a stash of supplies. Or it might be someone’s box of racy letters and a request to deliver them to a now-married woman who will slap you on delivery.

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

[conqueredhearts]

"It does seem like I am taller than this part of the flood. Many mistake me for one of the Qunari because of it!" He laughed and planted his hands on his hips, still not minding how filthy and wet he was. Why should he care about that when he had this fellow here that he'd just rescued! "How do your papers fare? Did you lose any?"

[intruthandlove]

"We were not quite like your Chantry," Diana says, "We were far more secluded, on an island far from the rest of our world."

She hasn't told this story to anyone, not for years. There were always so many other stories to tell, when there weren't battles to fight. There were others to tell the story, in their own way. All of her sisters, her Mother. Gone now. Dead or spirited away by the gods. Her heart aches, so

"Our makers sent my people, my sisters, to the island, to guard against the evils that lay in it's depths, to ensure they could never reach the world beyond. We trained and lived in service to that, in penance." Difficult to explain in penance for what, to explain the weight of the silver bracelets around her wrists that served both as protection and reminder of a past far more complicated than the story would have one think. "I was the first child born there."

[lyriumcarved]

"Believe me, they're not my first choice for company." Not his last choice either, but there are probably some good guesses as to who might count there. He sighs, taking a moment to order wine, before turning once more to Varric. "I came to realize that many of the Inquisition's enemies are also my enemies, more or less. It seems a suitable arrangement, for now."

Sister Miriam Godwinson | Alpha Centauri | AU'd

[wemustdissent]

(OOC: okay, well, minus the god- part of the surname.)

I

[The floods came through. But, as all such floods must, eventually the waters recede, the birds return, and the trees remain. Though, as in all such floods, there remains the matter of what to do with the bodies, who were not as lucky nor as blessed as the birds, the trees, and the waters. Some may claim they died on account of their wickedness, though Miriam is not one of them. Not today, at least, for today they must be accounted for, and the pyres must be lit, and their souls must be sent away to join all others.]

All things in this world are finite. What one man gains, another has lost. We have all lost much today. We can but hope that those who remain will gain some measure of peace and comfort in the days to come, as the departed who now sit by the side of the Maker.

IV

[The crystals are new and work by magic. Miriam is... somewhat suspicious, to say the least, but still: it is not the crystals that are evil. Not yet. Not until the Wicked get their hands on them. So, she asks a question in the dark of the night, hardly expecting an answer.]

Who do you suppose is listening to the conversations we have among ourselves?

[justice_is_blond]

I've not heard that story before. If I buy the drinks, will you provide the entertainment?

[There's a short pause as he realizes he should... probably let her know who she's talking with, considering where their positions have put them.]

I'm Anders, by the way.

IV

[alankazam]

[ When the answer comes, it's dreamy, distant; muddled, perhaps by recent sleep. ]

I am, [ But that's probably not so helpful. After a moment, Alan adds. ] The Maker. The stars. Anyone who's found one of these — everything around them.

[dissono]

( with her permission he goes about the dull, painful business of tending her wounds; methodically cleaning out each abrasion, easing her pain with cool, gentle magic that encourages the healing process, applying salve and new, clean bandages. she won't walk out of here perfectly hale and hearty; her wounds are, despite their plentiful nature and her weariness, minor enough not to merit a great expenditure of magical energy. sometimes it's well enough to let the body do its business, and only make it easier to do so.

and better for people not to grow too accustomed to healers working miracles, besides. )

Rest, ( is the advice he gives her, fastening soft cloth in place.
) Rest, ah, and, rest and a - a good meal.

Will s-s- will serve you.

If, if, ah, if, that is, if it does - not. Return.

( in short: soup and a nap should do for her, but in the event she's still feeling woozy when she oughtn't, let's revisit that assessment. )

[intruthandlove]

[ It's rare that Diana ever leaves a doctor hale and hearty. Even the Purple Healing Ray has it's limitations and Diana is certainly one to push those. She thinks nothing of the pain, only that it is lessened.

She does however pause. ]

There's still a lot of work to be done after the flooding... [ Does sleeping on the wagon ride back count as rest is maybe what she's asking. Probably. ]

[needsmust]

I'll endeavor to keep that in mind.

[He makes no promises, mind, given that politics is one of his hobbies. But for the time being he's more like to drift at the outskirts of said confrontations, largely to get a better image of the shape of the various grievances.]

[needsmust]

[There's a raised eyebrow at the explanation. Not that he has any sort of reason to even so much as suspect the nature of the secrets the Doctor might be holding on to (and perhaps just as well, all things considered).]

Not that much so, I should hope?

[For the time being, he's still hoping that there's some glimmer of memory lurking in the back of the Doctor's mind. That he hasn't changed so much over the years as to be unrecognizable, even if it's fairly clear that their own personal timelines don't match up.]

[needsmust]

I wouldn't leave it to the Council, perhaps. But we are here, are we not?

[And even if they aren't able to help, surely they can do their best all the same.]

[not_the_question]

[He purses his lips. There's one thing he can offer. And it would say everything and nothing at the same time.]

Let's just say that Rassilon finally found a way to exact his revenge upon me.

[Never mind that the Doctor then exiled him. It was an exquisite punishment that not even the Master would have dreamt.]

[needsmust]

I... travel, why don't we say. Not usually via glowing rifts, I must admit, but enough that I've grown accustomed to visiting other worlds.

[needsmust]

[He's better than most Time Lords are about self-preservation, at least. Not that this is necessarily saying much, nor is he likely to mention it, but it's something, perhaps.]

Well, I can't exactly say I expected to be accosted by a bear. But quite apart from that, yes.

[Nor does he appear to be particular squeamish. He doesn't draw any closer, mind. But not neither does he so much as bat an eye at the sight of her cleaning the kill. In fact, as far as he's concerned, better that than simply leave the corpse to rot.

(Which may be something he wouldn't have thought before meeting Leela, but this too is nothing that he's about to speak of.]

[romana2]

Brax, are you separating the President from the High Council?

[Her voice has that lilt of hers, when she's teasing. She's pleased, really. The Council too often slows her down or gets in her way of doing what's right.]

[needsmust]

[If it's not one thing, it's another, or so it seems. Admittedly, Brax doesn't have a whole lot of experience with wild dogs, but he figures that a pack of anything is probably not the best of things to run into. Especially when attempting to fight the whole pack would leave the two of them sorely outnumbered.

Still, the fact that they decide to go after the bear is at least a temporary relief and Brax figures there's no need to stay and watch the fight anymore than they already have - he follows Jamie without so much as a second thought, and it's only when he makes a comment about making for a nearby stream that Brax speaks up again.]

I should hope a bear would prove to be enough. But I agree. Best to not risk it.

[He can survive getting a little bit damp. The same can't necessarily be said of being set upon by a pack of wild dogs and he has no interest in attempting the latter anyway.]

[in_death_sacrifice]

I can't imagine ever growing accustomed to such a thing. It seems like it would always be very disorienting to keep traveling to new worlds...

[wontforgetyou]

Usually it is, but you never know around here.

[Stranger things have been known to happen, which admittedly this new person might've already started to figure out, given that Jamie's made no attempt to hide the glowing green mark in his hand. But he's not about to worry about the mark itself at the moment. Not unless they happen to stumble on a rift out here, but right now the mark's not showing signs that one's nearby. If that changes - well, he'll worry about it then.

Right now he's just going to focus on getting them to the stream before the fight winds up turning one way or another, and he pushes off through the underbrush, pausing only occasionally to hold bits of it up in order to allow Brax to get through.]

Not that I've any idea how long you've been around here, mind. You might know that already and I've no idea. I'm Jamie, by the way. What's your name?