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[faderifting]

'Tis The Season...

...To Still Be In The Hinterlands

Maybe the Inquisition sent you, maybe you came seeking the Inquisition. Maybe you fell out of a rift into this world last week and are still just trying to find your feet. However it happened, early fall finds you in the Hinterlands. Tucked between Ferelden's massive Lake Calenhad and the icy Frostback Mountains, the Hinterlands are a hilly region covered in patchy forests and small farms trying to eke out a living between the boulders. Though somewhat remote, the area is rich with game and minerals and home to Redcliffe, a bustling town on a busy trade route.

Lately the Hinterlands have also been full of mages and templars and rifts, all threatening to turn once-peaceful countryside into a dangerous warzone. The Inquisition has set up several camps and sent personnel to try to restore order to the region, unwilling to let it slip into chaos. There's a lot to be done, some of it straightforward killing bad things, some of it weird and nebulous morale-building.

NOW WITH ADDED SNOW.

1. I CAN'T BEAR THE COLD

You have turned the wrong corner in the snow, forded the wrong stream in the snow, crested the wrong hill in the snow, entered the wrong cave in the snow. Maybe you are far from camp, in the snow. Maybe you are in camp, which is also snowy. Whatever has happened, wherever you are: you are being chased through the snow by bears. Did you throw a snowball at the bears? Are they huge and snow-dusted? Babies burrowing through the snow drifts and coming for your ankles? Fade-touched in addition to snow-touched? Controlled by cold mages who are hiding in the snow? Popping up out of the snow like a game of whack-a-mole? What are they chasing you away from in all of this snow? What are they chasing you into, other than more snow? What warm things do you plan to make out of their hide if you kill them in the snow? What do you think they'll craft out of your hide if they kill you in the snow? P.S. It's snowy.

2. GIVE ALL THE TOYS TO THE LITTLE RICH BOYS

Winter came. The villagers are freezing. Recruit Whittle totally saw this coming. Now he might have sent you haring (get it) across the countryside in search of supplies that apostates or bandits may have hidden in caves and crannies. He might have handed you some sticks and told you to build a fire. He might have eyed your nice coat with a contemptful gleam that suggested you'd better find some blankets if you didn't want to have your own clothing requisitioned. Nobody's freezing to death on his watch--except maybe you, if you're really bad at finding hidden caches. In the snow.

3. DON'T SHOOT ME SANTA

The sky is beginning to darken and white snow continues to fall, but you and the supply wagon you're protecting should make it to the little Hinterlands village before sunset. The wagon is laden with food, blankets, and other sundry supplies, and so it's important to stay sharp and alert as you make the trecherous journey. And for good reason: an arrow is fired from the tree line and topples an Inquisition soldier from his horse. Beset by bandits, will you manage to fight them back? Or do they overwhelm your troupe and you are forced to flee? Or, perhaps, you could attempt a negotiation, knowing they could be as hungry as the people you protect.

4. DOES THEDAS HAVE FIGGY PUDDING?

It is not only snowing, it's blizzarding, and the tavern in Redcliffe is the closest and warmest place to duck into to wait it out. Unfortunately, half of the Hinterlands had the same idea. The Gull & Lantern is so packed with thawing visitors that it's hard to walk from one side to the other, the owner has given up on telling these Fereldens they can't bring their dogs inside, and that lady in the corner is almost definitely someone you've tried to kill before, or vice versa. But there's a fire going, and the bartender seems to think that giving everyone half-price drinks might prevent a brawl instead of causing one, and there aren't any demons indoors, so it could be a lot worse.

5. WILDCARD

Hunt game in the snow, kill demons in the snow, dig under the snow for herbs, track bandits through the snow, deal with someone charging extortionist coat prices now that it's snowing, fall off a deceptively tall rock into the snow, 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 in the snow, climb trees or abandoned towers covered in snow, rummage around in empty homes to get out of the snow, run from a dragon in the snow, cry over how cute that fennec fox you just shot in the snow was, set up camp and chat around the fire because it's snowy and cold, knock yourself out (figuratively, or even literally if that's more your speed)-- the Hinterlands are your Frostback Mountain oyster, topped with snow.

Comments

Amaranthine?

[el_tybs]

Perhaps it's because he is used to Korrin and the others in the Inquisition that Sam doesn't find it strange. Course it could also be that this is a far more tame way of meeting a stranger than what he's used to; people falling from rifts, being yelled at, falling into a bush, elves sneaking up on you and walking you around at night...

That doesn't mean he isn't without caution though.

At the offer of the flask, Sam raises a hand to indicate that he didn't want any. He doesn't know what's in it. It's probably not poison or anything, but it could be that stuff that Korrin had let them all try. Burning throat and passing out around a stranger was not something he wanted to do.

"... You traveling alone out here?"

[cachaemicgage]

He shrugs some and takes a sip for himself. He could understand the caution, and won't raise any issue.

"Yes. There is intrigue here after all, but a lot of us coming at once would certainly draw attention, wouldn't it?" He smiles as if it's simply an amusing quip. But to waylay confusion, he puts the wine aside and pulls his hands back in under his cloak. "We aren't mercenaries, or agents of the Qun, so don't worry. I am curious to know what the Inquisition wants out here when there are other concerns, in Orlais and further north."

[el_tybs]

So he was traveling alone, but there was more of them. His thoughts did immediately drift towards mercenary, much like the Chargers, but the stranger quickly put that idea off the table. He hadn't even considered agents of the Qun, but the idea was unsettling. Not just because of Korrin or the others, but being a Mage himself. The stories weren't... pleasant.

Sam does raise a brow at the man questioning the Inquisition's reasons for being in the Hinterlands, though. That was strange? "Rifts are concern enough to warrant the Inquisition to continue having us in Ferelden. But crazed wild life and bandits are the main concern right now."

[cachaemicgage]

"You've been out here for a long while. You've spread your forces thin. Tactically, not a very good idea. It can be exploited without mercy." He doesn't look like he enjoys the idea, but he states it bluntly. He turns over the flask, looking over the engravings in it, traditionally qunari in nature. "You, personally, are anxious. I'm not an obvious threat, but I am an unknown. There are bears outside, might come in here to get out of the cold if they haven't found shelter already."

[el_tybs]

"Exploited by whom exactly? Ferelden? There is only the bare amount of forces here just to deal with the rifts and other issues, not take on an army. The rest of the Inquisition is out dealing with Corypheus' forces."

He gives a huff, turning in his spot to look at the qunari a bit more fully. Kind of reminded him of Kas with the small horns, but older. "You know, now that you've said that a bear will more than likely show up now."

[cachaemicgage]

"Bandits, rogue factions, bears. You've apparently cleared out most of the rebel mages so that's something, but there is always someone else to fill in the hole left by their deaths." It's all very matter-of-fact, logical and concise. While Sam is right, there was always risks in the places they moved on from.

This close up, it's easy to tell from the shape of his horns that they were shaped, but it doesn't matter all that much. It's hardly the most noticeable thing about him. He gives a genuine little laugh at apparently having jinxed them to a fate involving bears. "Well, if one does, I imagine that between the two of us, we can walk out of here with a pelt and some meat between us."

[el_tybs]

That he can agree on and Sam nods in agreement with a shrug. He's right that more than likely someone or something will come in to replace what they had cleared out, but even so they still needed to have their forces where it was most needed. Even though they were a large force they clearly did not have enough to cover several nations.

"Really?" he chuckles, encouraged to do so with the stranger laughing. "It would be rather hard to fight one in here." At least for him it would be.

[cachaemicgage]

"So you stand back and let me fight, I'm fine doing so in tight spaces. I'll keep the spoils for myself." He grins at that, though he really doubts that Sam would just stand back and let a bear do what it wished with him.

[el_tybs]

"Are you saying you could take on a bear all on your own? In here." Sam finds himself grinning back. That would be something to see, but if a bear did show up he couldn't just stand back and do nothing. "Bear hide would be nice for this weather."