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

[romana2]

Well, after some years of proper leadership and guidance, they hardly had need of me any longer. And that experience actually prepared me to become president of Gallifrey, so it was all for the best, in the end.

[Oh K-9. Let's not talk about K-9.]

He is a very good dog. The best, in fact.

[timeforgotten]

It is good to know things turned out well enough for you. [ Without having to wait for anything linearly. Something tells him... waiting linearly isn't his best bet. ]

I'm still not certain if I'm glad you're here, though. This planet is a bit far out of both our ways.

[romana2]

Adric, we've both travelled with the Doctor. I'm fairly certain, whatever this place is like, we've faced worse.

[That was only so that Romana didn't have to talk about how bad thing had gotten on Gallifrey - all the Gallifreys.]

[timeforgotten]

You always were difficult to disagree with.

[ Logical and quick-thinking. And very very brave. He's missed Romana. ]

It's a shame you can't meet Nyssa. I think the two of you might get on well.

[romana2]

[She chuckles softly.]

Well, then it's a good thing I became president.

[It actually does make it easier.]

Nyssa? I assume that's another companion?

[If Adric met her, it didn't take the Doctor long.]

[timeforgotten]

Yes. She came aboard sometime after we left E-Space. There wasn't really anywhere else for her to go. [ that awkward moment when your whole planet dies. ]

But she's friendly and she's quite intelligent.

[romana2]

Ah so, someone to keep the Doctor in check, rather than to egg him on?

[That's probably for the best, since the Doctor needed to be kept in check more often than encouraged.]

[timeforgotten]

Well, you say that as though he doesn't egg himself on. I know I've been trying not to. [ It carries an amusement. Though the second statement is probably a lie by most definitions. Whether it was the Doctor with the scarf or the one he's gotten to know most recently, there's almost always a degree of egging on to be done. If for vastly differing reasons between the two. ]

[romana2]

And how about you? Do the pair of you get on as well?

[Because Romana will always be fond of Adric. Always.]

[timeforgotten]

Me and Nyssa? Of course, we're friends. She's terribly nice. I suppose you could say that about almost anyone who came from Traken.

It's not really the same as traveling with you and the Doctor was, of course.

[romana2]

Well that's very good then.

Well, I don't suppose travelling with two Time Lords would be comparable to anything else. Especially when one was a renegade and the other destined to lead Gallifrey.

[To be fair, the Doctor had been president as well, however briefly. But, well... point stands, not the same.]

[timeforgotten]

[ If Adric articulated and explored his emotions frequently like a well-adjusted sentient being, he'd probably have something to say about how much they've missed Romana. How much he could be certain that they both did before the Doctor regenerated and kept things more to himself, at least.

It was... nice. Being the three of them and K-9, traveling together. Seeing more of what was really out there, doing things for people that he'd realized he wanted to be doing. Seems a terribly long time ago now.

While he's certainly feeling sentimental, he hasn't gotten much better at articulation. ]

Of course it wouldn't, Romana. You were always incomparable.

[romana2]

What do you want?

[Her tone suggests she's kidding and she is, but she's also been president of Gallifrey long enough that she's used to people buttering her up as it were.]

[timeforgotten]

What, I can't just be pleased to hear from you?

[ He's definitely missed the traveling companions he actually started to figure out understanding. ]

[romana2]

You can be that as well. But the way you're complimenting me, makes me think you want something more.

[Because, well, she's suspicions these days. It's not Adric's fault, really.]

[timeforgotten]

[ He almost laughs. He doesn't quite get there, but the fact that he thought about it may remain in his tone. ]

Well, if I think of something, I'll be sure to let you know. Right now, I'm just pleased to hear from you. You sound like yourself. Even the Doctor's different now.

[romana2]

Different? How do you mean different?

[He had clearly regenerated, but he was still very much... the Doctor.]

[timeforgotten]

-- it's hard to explain. Theoretically, only his appearance changed. Not that any of us knew what regeneration was before he did it. He has all the same memories, all the same knowledge. The same TARDIS.

[ He pauses, trying to suss out the best way of putting it. ]

But he's... well, he's different. He behaves completely differently! He's even interested in different things. And he never seemed to explain things anymore. I couldn't always make sense of what he was saying before he changed, but at least he used to try.

[ Doctor Who: a 50+ year study in not getting particularly attached to any one regeneration, as learned by almost every companion ever. Adric broaches this not so much as a chance to immaturely complain about Five while Five isn't here (though let's be honest, it's at least partially that). When it comes down to it, he isn't especially patient with the things that he can't understand. And he would most certainly like to understand. ]

I suppose we just haven't gotten along terribly well since then, is all.

[romana2]

Ahhh. He regenerated. It's a thing Time Lords do.

[She goes quiet thinking how to explain it, because Adric clearly isn't asking about how or why it happened.]

It's a tricky thing to accept, even for Time Lords. But, when every single cell in your body changes, you do change a little. You get new taste buds, so things you liked in your previous body, you might find distasteful in the next.

The one thing Rassilon could never quite work out was how to stabilise the mental changes that went with regeneration. It's why we're only allowed to regenerate 12 times. Thirteen bodies.

[Shhh, we'll just ignore the Fact that Moffat screwed all of that up where the Doctor is concerned. And the fact that Moffat couldn't count. And that what the Sisterhood did to the Doctor WASN'T regeneration, so didn't count anyway, so Twelve is still Twelve hrmph.]

Through trial and error, from thirteen regenerations on, it was discovered that Time Lords became mentally unstable. So it was best to stop it at twelve. You're just experiencing one of many mental shifts the Doctor is likely to experience. And he had the Body you knew him in for a very long time. Well, as his bodies go, anyway.

[timeforgotten]

[ Doctor Who writers: a long-running tragedy. Adric listens dutifully to Romana's explanation. It's the best explanation he's ever gotten about regeneration, that much is for sure.

At least there's some comfort in knowing it's normal. A strange thing, honestly, equal parts comfort and disappointment. It was already fairly obvious that the Doctor he first met was long gone, but... well. Something he would have had to really get used to, he supposes. ]

Oh. Well, if that's all true, it certainly explains a few things about the Master. [ He's quick to tack on: ] Not that I'm inclined to believe he was ever stable.

[romana2]

[Romana sighed heavily.]

Yes. People say the Doctor burns through his regenerations too quickly. All the more for the Master. And I don't know that he was ever stable. But he and the Doctor were friends for a long time.



[OOC: There's one great line from Missy that Moffat later cut Clara is challenging Missy that she and the Doctor couldn't be friends because Missy kills people. Missy points out that the Doctor does too. "The difference is I enjoy it more. He's a farmer, I'm a hunter." Which is one of the best descriptions of those two I've ever seen and CURSES to them for removing it!]

[timeforgotten]

Were they?

[ Eugh. He's kind of glad that apparently fell apart before Traken and Castrovalva and the like. There's no forgiveness once someone's crossed the "torture you in a hadron web" line in Adric's book. ]

I almost don't know why it's so surprising to hear.

(( man, that sounds like a really top-notch line to cut! ))

[romana2]

Yes, they were.

[Romana chuckles softly.]

I'm not saying it was necessarily good or healthy. But they were friends.


[[ooc: One of the things I dislike most about Moffat, really. He cuts awesome stuff like that but leaves in garbage like "bitch is back"]