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Fade Rift Mods ([personal profile] faderifting) wrote in [community profile] allthisshitisweird2017-12-20 08:53 pm
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TEST DRIVE MEME!

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.

PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS TDM FEATURES SNOW.


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, currently covered in snow and ice; 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, currently very cold. 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. In the snow!

II. KIRKWALL: A quick row across the near-freezing harbor will take you to Kirkwall proper. The city is built into the cliffs, from exclusive and wealthy snow-dusted Hightown at the top to impoverished Darktown in the abandoned mining tunnels below, where discarded waste is presently frozen into slushy brown ice. In the middle is Lowtown, home to taverns, merchants, and plenty of trouble to keep anyone looking for it happy. And a lot of snow. You’re welcome to spend your free time and your money here—but try not to annoy the locals too much, please, in case the Inquisition's welcome runs out. It’d be a shame to have to pack up and leave in all this snow.

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 Denerim, in the snow, pouring demons into the snowy 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 snow-covered road, or to gather samples out of the snow and take notes on the rift’s location once its closed, or to speak to prominent locals (in the snow) 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. And snow.

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.

There is no snow on the crystal, unfortunately.

V. WILDCARD: The whole of Thedas is yours to explore, from coast to uncharted wilderness filled with bears, and did we mention that there is snow? Anyway: choose your own adventure!

provenforce: (No I won't say please)

[personal profile] provenforce 2018-01-18 02:07 am (UTC)(link)
Rey raises her eyebrows at that, trying to decide if he means that as a challenge or not. straightening her back a little she tilts her head to the side, her hands going back to her lightsabers. They'd drifted away in the course of their conversation, but now she rests them there deliberately.

"I have a year and a half of training I didn't have before, two lightsabers, and a warhound. You think I couldn't?" She knows he's got more training than she does, but when it came to power with the Force, she's confident she's his equal.
letoldthingsdie: (27)

[personal profile] letoldthingsdie 2018-01-18 06:04 am (UTC)(link)
"A year and a half? Amazing. So much experience, how could I ever hope to match against it?" Now he was just being mean, holding up both hands on either side to show that he had no use for his lightsaber in its current state and that he was attempting not to be a threat to her. Though he was showing he wasn't a threat, he knew he could still very much challenge her in other areas.

"Though, I suppose us fighting does no good. We'd tear this place apart trying. I doubt the locals would appreciate that." Not that he cared. He didn't want to fight with her but recent events had proven they would be at odds in a lot of ways, even as they were on even ground in others.
provenforce: (This is beginning to feel good)

[personal profile] provenforce 2018-01-18 06:26 am (UTC)(link)
He's trying to get under her skin, but oddly enough it isn't quite working. She actually smiles slightly at him, a corner of her mouth lifting.

"I beat you with no training. Imagine what I could do with that year and a half." She knows he was injured, and that's the only reason she won. But if he's going to be an asshole, she can dish it right back to him.

She has no intention of fighting him, of course, and her posture doesn't change, relaxed, but alert. She's aware that needling him isn't the best of ideas, but she can't bring herself to be afraid of him.

"There's miles of open land outside the city, if you really want to fight."
letoldthingsdie: (23)

[personal profile] letoldthingsdie 2018-01-18 06:43 am (UTC)(link)
His lips press in a hard line, Rey having clearly struck a very raw nerve. You're no Vader. You're just a child in a mask. Snoke's voice still mocked him even after his death. It mocked him in the form of Hux's condescending voice and the men who struggled over which leader to follow.

"You were lucky." He spat back, his temper very much rising again. Why had he even tried to be civil with her? Why had he even bothered? Again and again he dug himself into these holes with her. Neither of them could trust the other, no matter how much they had connected through the Force.

"If you were to fight me now, you'd be lucky again if I didn't kill you." That thirst to prove himself stronger burned red hot in him, showing itself in his clenched fists and tight jaw. He didn't want to fight her and yet the challenge was always there.
Edited 2018-01-18 06:44 (UTC)
provenforce: (Anything could happen)

[personal profile] provenforce 2018-01-18 06:56 am (UTC)(link)
The smile faded from Rey's face as he got angry, though she doesn't tense.

"You won't kill me," she replies, her voice firm. That is one thing she absolutely believes, now. He wouldn't have saved her from Snoke, and then asked her to join him, if he were going to kill her. He can threaten it, but she doesn't believe him. She can sense the conflict in him, even now.

"I'm all you have here. So we can either get along, or not. I'll leave that up to you."
letoldthingsdie: (31)

[personal profile] letoldthingsdie 2018-01-18 07:17 am (UTC)(link)
He honestly contemplated it in that moment - choking the life out of her, showing her his strength, but he knew that wouldn't do him any good. He needed her. She was right. It was more than just this place. Even though she made him angry, she still made happiness rise up in him too. He couldn't explain it or understand it. One moment he was seeing that gaping hole inside of himself, feeling its pull, and the next - a memory. Crystal clear and solid, he could feel her hand touching his. It made his chest ache.

"Fine." He takes a breath, the bite still in that single word. He wanted to hurt her, to show her that her needling him would only end in her pain and not his. It was a reflexive thought after years of vying for Snoke's approval. Rey isn't Snoke, he reminds himself.

"How much do you remember? Do you remember Snoke's ship?" He wanted to know that she remembered her refusal or not. If she didn't, he'd be fine giving her a second chance. If she did, then he knew this would be harder for him. He didn't want to have to keep being reminded of the feelings of rejection he struggled with.
provenforce: (Wild cause you left me here)

[personal profile] provenforce 2018-01-18 03:41 pm (UTC)(link)
Rey presses her lips together as she wrapped her arms around herself, trying to decide how to answer that. She knows what he's really asking, and the answer was one she didn't entirely want to give.

"I remember. We fought, because you wanted something from me I couldn't give you." She can still remember his eyes when she'd seen him through the Force, before she'd closed the doors of the Millennium Falcon. She regrets putting that look on his face, but not her actions. She had been able to save at least some of the fleet because of what she did. If that means that he is lost to her now... She'll live with that.
Edited (tenses...) 2018-01-18 15:43 (UTC)
letoldthingsdie: (4)

[personal profile] letoldthingsdie 2018-01-18 08:24 pm (UTC)(link)
"So you remember what I asked you. In essence it's the same as what you want - that we work together." Not entirely the same but in the same vein. He wants them to be together, even if it's not the same here. He can't be what she wants him to be and he can't continue his grandfather's legacy - not here, at any rate.

"If you want me to 'get along' with you, then you have to promise me this: never betray me again." Because in his mind that's what it was when she'd told him she couldn't go with him: a betrayal. He'd already dealt with that nonsense enough. He wanted an ally. He wanted her to join him. This would be as close as it got.
provenforce: (It wakes me up inside)

[personal profile] provenforce 2018-01-18 09:03 pm (UTC)(link)
Rey bristles at that accusation, about to throw back that he was the one who betrayed her, but then, of course, that's not true. He did what he'd been programmed to do by Snoke, really. She had betrayed him, and she'd let him down, and she hated that. She presses her lips together as she wars with her thoughts, before giving a jerky nod of her head.

"But you don't betray me, either." Because expecting her to allow people to die, when he knew enough about her to know that she couldn't be that person, had felt as much like a betrayal to her as her not joining him had to him.
letoldthingsdie: (33)

[personal profile] letoldthingsdie 2018-01-18 09:43 pm (UTC)(link)
He nods, satisfied with her answer. He wouldn't betray her - other people were a different matter, but that issue could wait for now. He was done fighting her. He didn't want to deal with this back and forth between them anymore.

"That's fine with me." He says at last. He did know enough about her to know that she wouldn't turn no matter how hard he wished it, but that didn't stop him from feeling the way he did. What made all of this difficult is the conflict she brought in him. She had some points that were right, that he agreed with, but there were other things he couldn't change about himself. It was like a bad habit.
provenforce: (Maybe I should wait)

[personal profile] provenforce 2018-01-18 10:41 pm (UTC)(link)
"Okay." Rey squares her shoulders, unsure what to say next. She doesn't know if she can trust him here, not yet anyway. He has all that darkness in him still, but maybe being away from the First Order, from that power that had tempted him... Maybe this place is what he needs. Relaxing her arms a little she glances down at Padawan, who has been sitting calmly by this whole exchange, before looking back at Ben.

"Have you found a room to stay in, yet?"
letoldthingsdie: (17)

[personal profile] letoldthingsdie 2018-01-18 10:59 pm (UTC)(link)
"No, I haven't." A room to stay in hadn't been very high on his list of concerns between arriving and seeing Rey again. The reality of the situation creeps up on him again, making him nervous. He would have to prove himself to this Inquisition if he was to get any help with the shard in his hand. He'd probably have to find a means to provide himself with shelter and food as well. These were strange concepts when, for most of his life, he's had things provided for him. He didn't grow up like Rey.

"Why?" He was suspicious that she might ruin his chances of gaining any trust with anyone, worrying in the back of his mind that she had some ulterior motive to sabotage him like any other rational person might do if they had to deal with him. Rey always seemed patient but he wondered when that would run out.
provenforce: (Don't leave me stranded)

[personal profile] provenforce 2018-01-18 11:53 pm (UTC)(link)
Rey raises her eyebrows at the tone in his voice, tilting her head slightly.

"I can get you a key? I do a lot of the maintenance work around the Gallows, so if you want a room I can find you one." One of the nice things about the Inquisition in the Gallows was there was plenty of space. Skyhold had been starting to feel a little crowded. She knew the place had a dark history, but she hadn't seen any of that. To her, it's a roof over her head, and at large a community that she finds she fits into for the most part.
letoldthingsdie: (14)

[personal profile] letoldthingsdie 2018-01-19 12:02 am (UTC)(link)
"Why would you do that for me?" He's actually confused by this. Rey was being nice to him, which wasn't new, but going out of her way to help him settle in when he'd given her no reason to help him? That was throwing him off.

"I mean- thank you. I appreciate it." He just didn't know what to do with himself when she was extending an olive branch like this to him. It reminded him of the aftermath of their fight with Snoke's guards. She'd sounded so relieved that he was there, that he could call off the ships shooting at his mother's fleet. When he didn't, her relief deflated like a balloon.
Edited 2018-01-19 00:03 (UTC)
provenforce: (your moments inside the sun)

[personal profile] provenforce 2018-01-19 12:22 am (UTC)(link)
Her face falls a little when he questions why she'd do that for him. She's frustrated with what happened on the Supremacy, but she can't do anything about that, here. All she can do now is try to treat him well, show him that he's better off without the First Order. She recovers when he thanks her, and smiles.

"It's no trouble. I've been here longer and Rifters look out for each other. We aren't entirely popular around here, some people think we're demons."
letoldthingsdie: (4)

[personal profile] letoldthingsdie 2018-01-19 02:57 am (UTC)(link)
He's trying to make an attempt not to keep pinning this all on her. His issues aren't her doing, even if he questions her motives behind her actions. Rey was the one person who didn't seem to want to hurt him, contrary to his paranoia over the opposite. He didn't know what to do with that, whether it was even safe to figure out what to do with that.

"Demons...? Imagine if they met one of the things we have back home - they'd be beside themselves. We're normal by comparison." He shakes his head, bemused that they could ever be seen as demons. But then he'd be frightened of these shards as well. He wanted to know more about it, how to remove it. No one seemed to understand it.

provenforce: (Sometimes I feel it burning)

[personal profile] provenforce 2018-01-19 03:18 am (UTC)(link)
Rey lets out a small laugh at that, dipping her head down. She knows he's right, but he's also a little off base.

"You'll learn that here it's not always easy to tell what's a demon and what isn't. When we fell out of the rifts, we fell from tears in what they call the Veil, which is what separates this world from the Fade, which is sort of... the land where spirits live, and they also say when you dream that's where your mind goes." Which Rey kind of thinks is loony, considering that people don't seem terrified of being possessed by demons all the time while sleeping.

"They think we came from there, so we must be demons."
letoldthingsdie: (10)

[personal profile] letoldthingsdie 2018-01-20 05:32 am (UTC)(link)
"I'd expect something with more horns and teeth." He runs a hand through his hair, smiling too when she laughs. It felt strange to smile. He hardly ever did anymore or felt the urge to. So much of his lifestyle back home was doom and gloom but it was the life he'd chosen, the life that had accepted him when no one else would. "I haven't seen any spirits. Before I was here I was dreaming, though."

He'd dreamt of her, of their battle with Snoke's personal guard. The moment when she'd turned on him, the blinding light from that split lightsaber burning in the back of his eyes, was still fresh in his mind. It had been very real but now it was like a broken record in the back of his head, making him wary of trusting her even as he finds comfort in her presence. His smile slips somewhat and he folds his hands together, not sure how to look at her.
Edited 2018-01-20 05:33 (UTC)
provenforce: (I think that I could show it to you)

[personal profile] provenforce 2018-01-20 06:02 am (UTC)(link)
Seeing him smile is so unusual that she loses her train of thought for a moment. He was always so severe, even in the quiet moments they'd had together, talking and learning about one-another, she doesn't think she's seen him smile. She wants to see it more often.

She nearly has to physically shake herself to reply to him, nodding her head a little too vigorously at his comment about dreaming.

"I was too. I think that's common, and it might be what connects our worlds. Maybe we all share the Fade." Its a thought she's had in passing several times, but never really addressed to anyone.
Edited (sleepy varis= fucked up tenses all over the place) 2018-01-20 06:03 (UTC)
letoldthingsdie: (16)

[personal profile] letoldthingsdie 2018-01-20 06:27 am (UTC)(link)
"Maybe. In a sense we could. Our closest approximation is the Force, sustaining life and those who pass on after to return to it." Their Fade sounded awfully similar. He doesn't understand why it would be hidden behind a Veil if it was so powerful. "The only difference is the people here fear it whereas we don't."

He found her views about the connection solid, wondering if perhaps that was something their hosts in the Inquisition were researching. He could also understand why these people were wary of them. Fear of the unknown was a universal thing any being could feel. He'd cultivated that sort of fear into power for many years, making himself a General in the First Order that made weaker men tremble at the sight of him.
provenforce: (So if you've got the time)

[personal profile] provenforce 2018-01-21 12:15 am (UTC)(link)
"Their mages are also capable of doing things that we aren't. Unless conjuring fire and ice is a Force ability I haven't been acquainted with, yet." Boy that would be something. Granted, she really doesn't know much about the Force, beyond what she's felt and been taught by Luke and Obi-Wan, but she is fairly confident that the powers that the mages have because of the Fade are different from those of the Jedi and Sith.
letoldthingsdie: (9)

[personal profile] letoldthingsdie 2018-01-21 12:57 am (UTC)(link)
"No. Jedi don't do things like that. The only ability like that I know of is a Sith ability - to create lightning to injure an opponent." Not even he knew how to do that but he'd damn well felt what it was like, thanks to Snoke. He could only imagine what men like Palpatine and his grandfather had been capable of.

"Jedi just stick to parlor tricks like mind trickery and lifting rocks." He might be a little sarcastic about that, given he hadn't studied as a Jedi in some time. The most advanced ability he'd seen was Luke's Force Projection.

provenforce: (No I won't say please)

[personal profile] provenforce 2018-01-21 01:32 am (UTC)(link)
The smile fades from Rey's face as he says that, irritation seeping in around the edges of her good mood once again. She sighs shaking her head.

"I know Luke let you down, but you know there's more than that to the Jedi." Maybe if Luke had been her only master, she'd feel a little differently. But she'd trained with Obi-Wan, too. He had been a good teacher.
letoldthingsdie: (17)

[personal profile] letoldthingsdie 2018-01-21 05:09 am (UTC)(link)
"Ah, right. There's meditation. That's important, I suppose." Now he's just saying this to poke fun at her for putting his uncle and Obi Wan on such a pedestal. He respected that they both had power, but that didn't mean they were stronger than him. They were just old men, from his point of view, from a time long gone.
provenforce: (Whatever I may be hiding)

[personal profile] provenforce 2018-01-21 05:30 am (UTC)(link)
"You could stand to meditate more, maybe you'd be able to reflect on what an ass you are," she replies, bristling and turning to walk away, whistling for Padawan to follow her. Ben can follow if he wants to, but she isn't going to keep talking to him if he's going to keep trying to upset her.

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