TEST DRIVE MEME!

[faderifting]

TEST DRIVE MEME

Maybe you’ve been around for a while, or maybe you’re new to the Inquisition. Maybe you’re new to Thedas, having recently fallen from a tear in reality and been collected by uniformed rescuers. Whoever you are, you’ve been sent to Kirkwall, to an outpost where many of the Inquisition’s members and allies work on some of the biggest mysteries and problems the organization must solve if it’d like to keep the world from ending, where “ending” means “falling under the power of an ancient powerful corrupted being who wants everyone to bow to him as a god.”

And just to be clear, it would like that. It would like that a lot.

I. THE GALLOWS: The Gallows is an island fortress in Kirkwall’s harbor. It’s been home to, in order: Tevinter slaves, a Circle of Magi, a lot of creepy red lyrium, and now the Inquisition, which has occupied the fortress with the provisional Viscount’s blessing. There are walls that still need rebuilding and corners that still need dusting, but for the most part the Inquisition has gotten down to business. There’s space in the stone-floored courtyards to train or spar; or, if your skills don’t lie in the realm of hitting things, there’s a large library and several offices supporting the Inquisition’s areas of research and diplomatic efforts. If you don’t know what to do with yourself, then by all means, ask; someone will definitely be able to put you to work.

II. KIRKWALL: A quick row across the harbor will take you to Kirkwall proper. The city is built into the cliffs, from exclusive and wealthy Hightown at the top to impoverished Darktown in the abandoned mining tunnels below. In the middle is Lowtown, home to taverns, merchants, and plenty of trouble to keep anyone looking for it happy. You’re welcome to spend your free time and your money here—but try not to annoy the locals too much, please, in case their welcome runs out. It’d be a shame to have to pack again so soon after arriving.

III. QUESTING: Barely had time to make yourself at home, did you, before you were sent away from Kirkwall again—but this time on a mission. There’s a rift outside of Markham, pouring demons into the fields, and the Inquisition has been asked to lend a hand. Maybe literally. If you have an anchor embedded in your palm, you’re needed to close the damn thing. If not, maybe you’re here to fight demons or guard against bandits on the road, or to gather samples and take notes on the rift’s location once its closed, or to speak to Markham’s nobility afterwards to make sure that they fully appreciate the Inquisition’s efforts. Regardless, it’s a long trip, so we hope you like campfire cooking and sharing a tent.

IV. SENDING CRYSTAL: Joining the Inquisition gets you access to the very latest in barely-understood magical communication devices—namely, a crystal, small enough to wear around your neck, that will allow you to communicate verbally with anyone else who has one. Or everyone else who has one. Say hello.

V. WILDCARD: The whole of Thedas is yours to explore, from coast to uncharted wilderness. Choose your own adventure!

Comments

[theexile]

With a nod, she actually went to the shallow waters. She waited patiently, sitting in them as she watched the fish. After a time she made some motions with her hands to freeze the waters enough to slow a pair of fish down for her to catch them. Her combat magic was rather weak compared to her healing abilities but she could accomplish this much.

Coming back out, she set about cleaning the fish with a knife before putting them on sticks to cook with the fire. Simple nutrients that would help warm the stomach. With that, she sat down and watched the elf interact with the fennec.

The little thing was cautious at first before inching his way over. Slowly he sniffed at her hand before snatching the food. Rather than dart away with it, he chose to eat it right there. A sign he'd accepted her.

"You can touch him now."

[wheretheferngrows]

"I never realized how small they are," Fern says wonderingly. As the little thing scissors its sharp little teeth through the dried meat, she gingerly reaches out one hand to touch the soft fur on his back; when he doesn't try to escape, she smiles a little and gives him a gentle stroke from behind his enormous ears to just before his tail. "He might have bigger ears than you," she mumbles to the mule, who has taken to lipping at her hair from boredom.

After a moment, she stands up and turns back to Kattrin, only to look startled by her use of magic. Rather than frighten her, this seems to catch her interest immediately. "You're a mage?"

[theexile]

Kattrin tilted her head at the question, watching the girl even as she kept an eye on the fish to ensure they were evenly cooked. That was some interest in her magic. A surprising thing considering how, well, Avvar she looked. Though, perhaps the girl was not familiar with what Avvar tended to look like in the first place.

"I am. Though mostly in healing magic rather than anything else. You are one as well."

[wheretheferngrows]

Fern takes a few tentative, deer-like little steps closer to Kattrin where she sits by the fire, her curiosity over meeting another magic user warring with her bone-deep mistrust for humans. This woman is certainly a weird-looking one; Fern's never seen such clothes on the shemlen who used to come past the farm where she worked in Ansburg, and her accent is strange.

"You are one as well."

"How did you--oh," she stops herself, remembering the half-conjured defensive spell she'd managed when the woman found her in the creek. She flushes a little in embarrassment, then finds her courage and comes to sit next to Kattrin by the fire, under the guise of warming herself up. Not because she's interested in being social or anything absurd like that.

She sits quietly next to the fire for a few seconds, watching the fish could and discovering her hunger the more she smells it. Chewing her lower lip, she looks Kattrin's way again and admits, "I've never met another mage besides my aunt."

[theexile]

"You are no Circle mage then."

She was an apostate like herself. Of course she'd been able to meet other mages since she was an Avvar but she knew that those outside the Circle had the hide their magic in the lowlands. It was...truly unfortunate.

Kattrin offered a small smile. "Is there a kind of magic you are most comfortable in?"