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

[justice_is_blond]

[Anders' expression gets a little guarded.]

Because rumor had you with Marion, but I'm not seeing her with you and I'm also not hearing a great deal of yelling coming from somewhere in the distance which means she's probably not here.

[And he's worried. Really worried.]

[unshadowing]

[...oh.

Oh.

Carver's guard drops a tad bit, deflating from his defensiveness to understanding.]

No, she's not. I have Dog, but I haven't seen her in... too long. Honestly, I hoped she'd have turned back up here by now.

[justice_is_blond]

[His expression falls as he looks past Carver. Alone. She's alone out there, then, and she's always been one to want company. Or maybe somehow Varric has found her and she's not alone, but surely there would have been letters from Varric in that case.]

Well, [he says, at a distinct lack of anything else to say and just trying to find something to fit the silence.] She has a way of... things.

[Nailed it.]

[unshadowing]

[Carver doesn't know whether to laugh or roll his eyes. With Anders he's leaning towards the latter, but he at least sort of understands.]

A regular orator, you are. [He had to, okay.] I heard that the Warden-Commander of Ferelden's been missing, too. Is that true as well?

[justice_is_blond]

[In return, he rolls his eyes at the first statement, because it's a lot easier to play things off than it is to show how worried he is. The other, though, brings him right back down to the reality of the situation.]

No. Because we found him. Dead.

[There's a bleakness in his voice.]

He went into the Deep Roads for the true Calling and died down there. We found his body. ...And a lead at finding a cure, but I think I'm still some ways off from that.

[unshadowing]

[As Varric would say: well, shit. It's not terribly surprising, Carver knows, but it's still bad news. Whatever people's opinions on the Hero was, he saved Ferelden and the world at large from a Blight. He was a Warden, so a death in the Deep Roads was always going to be his fate, but it still seems a little... unfair.]

The end all of us face, some day. [But his tone's quiet. He knows Anders knew him, so he's at least trying to respect that.] A lead for a cure? He was looking for one?

[justice_is_blond]

He was looking for one. And I've been working on that search as well.

[He can't sound too hopeful. Not yet. There's been no real ground made even if he has a lead or two, but it's not like he's going to sound defeated.]

I've a few years for it, and I intend to make the most of them.

[unshadowing]

[Would the Maker leave a cure lying about, if the taint is supposedly the world's punishment for the first trespass against the Maker? Carver's never been particularly devout, but he has no better explanation for the taint then the next person. And it seems a dangerous hope to have, wishing for something so seemingly impossible. Of course he wants there to be a cure (maybe not so much for himself, but for the world at large). But did they have a chance at all?

Then again, he supposes it's at least looking forward and not dwelling on the past. Trying to better the world and all.]

Still trying to make a world worth saving? [While his tone's a tad sarcastic, it's not nearly as much as it probably would be, considering who he's talking to.]

[justice_is_blond]

[He hears the sarcasm... but also hears the difference from what Carver used to use with him and Anders chooses to hear the change more than the other.]

Yes. It's not there yet. But it's tiptoeing closer, and while I'm alive I'm going to try.

[He's on time he hadn't expected to have and the mages still have a ways to go.]

[unshadowing]

[Look at them, all grown up and mature!]

Good luck with that. [Still a little sarcastic but... well, if Anders manages, Carver's not gonna be upset about being wrong.]

I need to go and find Beth. And Dog. We split up, but he's as good at getting into trouble as Marian. [And Marian will kill him if something happens to her dog on his watch, so]