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 filled with bears. Choose your own adventure!

Comments

[hearher]

"Uh, here?" he suggested as he rubbed his arm at the spot she had hit. The punch had landed a little harder than he would have liked but it proved he wasn't hallucinating. Rather than complain loudly about the pain he still distracted by not understanding why she was here.

Sure, he had left without much notice, but he was sort of used to people not fully caring what happened to him. He probably should have realized she was different; that maybe she did care and she had come to make sure he was safe.

"It's a place called Kirkwall. Not sure if you noticed the giant gates?"

[mal_adjusted]

Mal tipped her head to her side, her expression tightening, before she drawled out in her sweetest, most sarcastic tones -- a tone that reminded her strongly of her own mother.

"Oh is it? I thought this was the Fallow Mire. Unless the stench is all you." She didn't push him but she did tweak his nose. "You took off without a word! One day I'm out in the frigging field helping with a demon infestation, telling you and the others I'll be back in a few days. And then when I get back? POOF. GONE."

She spread her hands wide, before she tweaked his nose once more. "Clearly I wasted the worry for nothing, because you were just Here."

She spread her hands wide, spinning around. "Heeeeeere. So why are you in the place where people hate mages the most in all of Thedas? Looking to get in more of that self-inflicted guilt torture?"

[hearher]

The sarcasm actually helps Carlos process what Mal is saying. If she had been sincere he might not have trusted it, but seeing her frustration at him just disappearing helped to make the worry seem real.

"I'm sorry," he apologized after a moment, looking down at the ground. "I heard that James Norrington was here and I wanted to see him."

At the Circle, James had been one of the templars who had helped Carlos feel safe. He had wanted to see if he could find that again.

[mal_adjusted]

Mal stares at him for a long moment, before she lets out a long groan as she stares up at the sky. "Of cooooooooooooooooourse it's all about James Norrington. Because he's the nicest, sweetest Templar in the whole wide world."

She put her hands together, batting her eyelashes, "And you wafted to his side, to suck in his general manliness." She wrapped her arm around his, and dragged him along. "You have it so bad it is practically a curse all on its own. How do we get to the Gallows? I can't leave you alone here with him - you're going to make yourself look like a total idiot."

[hearher]

Carlos didn't comment on the implication about his feelings for James but a blush did creep up to join the freckles across his cheeks. He let her wrap her arm around him and then started to guide her into the fortress. He didn't take her comment about him being an idiot personally, in fact he basically ignored it.

"Oh! I was assigned my own room. Do you want to stay with me until you get your own?" he asked her, brightening up a bit. Despite how confusing it was that she had followed him, now that she was here he wanted to make sure that she at least had a bed and a roof over her head.

"Just be careful because there's a really nice mabari around here and I kind of already told him he could come in and out of the room as he pleased." It had taken him a while to get over the poison that his mother had put in his head about animals, but now that he was he liked dogs the most. "His name is Garahel. His person is a Grey Warden."

[mal_adjusted]

Mal gave him a sideways look, before her expression shifted into something sly, her smile turning up at the corner, rather like a cat that was stalking out her poor feathery prey. "I most certainly do - especially if you have nice blank walls I can do something with."

That sly smile melted momentarily into a small, warm almost shy smile. "It will be like when we both started in Ostwick. Two brat apprentices."

Light green eyes brightened at that, "Ooooh, does he have the kaddis? I love those painted designs." Now her gaze narrowed in thought, "You think the Grey Warden would let me paint designs on him? I've always wanted to work with kaddis."

[hearher]

Being reminded of Ostwick put Carlos at ease so he smiled and nodded at the idea, chuckling a bit at good memories of the two of them within those safe walls.

"He didn't have any on him when I met him, but if Inessa is up for it and Garahel doesn't mind, I'm sure it wouldn't be that big of a deal to get some supplies. We'll have to talk to them both and get approval." After all, mabari were smart enough to approve of such a thing, and it was going to be Garahel's body Mal was working with. Carlos didn't want to upset the dog and end up with a chewed up boot or something.

[mal_adjusted]

Mal's smile stuck around for a little while longer, before she rolled her eyes at him and gave him a friendly elbow in the side. "Anyways, I'm still mad at you for running off without saying anything - so you're going to help me get painting supplies for our rooms."

She grabbed the reins of her horse, patting the creature on the neck, "C'mon Goblin, we found the lost waif. Now we're going to - Ugh - the Gallows."

A shake of her head. "I can't believe you - You - ballsed up enough to go to Kirkwall by yourself, and befriend a Mabari." She gave him another nudge, "Is there a word for proud and angry?"

[hearher]

"Progry?" Carlos offered, offering her a bit of a smile as he suggested it. Now that he knew for sure that her friendship had been the thing that had brought her here, he could settle into feeling relieved that she was going to be around again.

She'd bring color to the world, both figuratively and literally by plastering it all over his walls.

[mal_adjusted]

"Progry sounds like a weird Orlesian pastry." Mal stated wryly, before affecting an accent, "Have you tried ze Progry today. It tastes of rage and exultation in another, and is a good side dish to the Ham of Despair."

Already she had a vision in her head - Ostwick and all of them - coming out of stone walls.

[hearher]

Carlos chuckles, already super amused by the idea of the two of them as Orlesian nobles. "Oh no," he joins in, adopting his own terrible accent. "I have forgotten to remove my mask. How ever will I taste ze progry now?"

[mal_adjusted]

"Clearly, we are not meant to EAT ze progry. We are only meant to taste it with our noses through the mask, to gain it's True Essence." She clasped her hand into a fake fist.

[hearher]

"That iz acceptable," he replied, making 'acceptable' have way too many syllables. "The starved-half to death look is in fashion this year. I must impress Duke le Brichestoobig with my knowledge of fleeting fads."

[mal_adjusted]

"Naturally! How else will you be invited to the masked ball of masks in which we all wear different masks atop our masks? It is ze Social Event of the Zeason, this week!" Mal dramatically flipped her hair, putting a palm to her forehead. "However will we show ourselves if we do not look like we have been starving ourselves since our births?"

[hearher]

"It's so true. And have you heard of my secret plan to put a mask on top of mask on top of ze first mask? Three masks. I will be the talk of ze town." He really can't keep this up for long as he starts laughing and snickering each time they think of something more ridiculous to say.

[mal_adjusted]

"Mon frere, how genius you are! It will be all the rage! A mask within a mask within a mask!" She clapped her hands together, her green eyes glowing with wicked laughter. "We shall all have to be that uncomfortable and sweaty for fashion's sake!"