faderifting: (Default)
Fade Rift Mods ([personal profile] faderifting) wrote in [community profile] allthisshitisweird2019-01-22 11:09 pm
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TEST DRIVE MEME

TEST DRIVE MEME

While in some alternate, tidier timeline, the War against the Elder One ended years ago, you're not in that timeline. It's 9:45 and there's a war raging in northern Orlais between the Inquisition and its allies and the army of demon-bound Wardens, Red Templars, Venatori loyalists, and darkspawn Corypheus has amassed over the last four years. Rifts are still scattered across the continent, periodically spitting out strangers from strange worlds with green-glowing anchors embedded in their hands. There's no Herald of Andraste to save Thedas. Someone else is going to have to do it.

Under the leadership of the Herald's advisory council and Seeker Pentaghast, the Inquisition remains in Skyhold and manages an army of thousands. But you're not going to Skyhold. You've been assigned to the Inquisition's outpost in Kirkwall, one occupying an island fortress called the Gallows—formerly a Circle of Magi, more formerly a prison for slaves, but the Inquisition has done a good job removing the more grotesque reminders of that past and making the place livable.

Maybe it's an honor; they're doing important work. Maybe it's an insult; they're rumored to be a lot of weirdos and troublemakers. Or maybe you're a rifter and just going where the nice people with swords tell you that you need to go.


I. THE GALLOWS: Welcome to the Inquisition. Here's a broom, and there's a mess: a shattered window, a splintered pile of wood where a wardrobe was thrown out that window into the frost-encrusted courtyard, a whole shelf of jars containing rat hearts and deathroot and other miscellanea that exploded like firecrackers. The Gallows doesn't house much in the way of a cleaning staff, so it's up to whoever doesn't have anything better to do, and whether you like it or not, at the moment that person is you.

The source of the mess—an apparent invasion of ghostly spirits—has already been dealt with, but a door might still slam, and the shards of glass might still rattle. It's harmless, though. Probably.

II. KIRKWALL: The Marquis d'Lussard is very heavy, as you discover when it becomes your job to fetch him from the Hanged Man, where his sightseeing tour has ended in a drinking contest that he decidedly lost. Now he's swinging between unconsciousness and mumbled drinking songs, apparently a hugger when he has control of his arms, and heavy. He's also, diplomatically speaking, worth his weight in gold, so getting him back to the Gallows' guest quarters in one piece is worth the effort.

That means making your way through the streets of Lowtown and down to the Gallows at night, on ice-patched streets, with a masked Orlesian nobleman whose entire slumping, singing presence screams please rob me blind. Try to resist any and all urges to drop him into things, including ditches, uncovered drops into Darktown, and the harbor.

III. THE WAKING SEA: The island is too small to have a name, a dot of land off of Kirkwall's Wounded Coast that's traditionally only seen use by fishermen who wanted a guarantee they wouldn't be hassled for a few days. But in more recent years, it's been a permanent home to someone, people say, until the last few months, when the nightly fires stopped appearing. Nervous whispers from the coastal bandits and explorers who ventured out to see if its resident left anything worth stealing have reached the ears of Provisional Viscount Bran Cavin, and as a personal favor to him, the Inquisition is sending a couple of people to have a look.

And here's what you're looking at: a rocky, sandy stretch of land with a few dozen scraggly trees, each of them decorated with dolls in various styles, in various states of decay. All of them give off energy—some friendly, some malevolent, some despairing—and if you're very quiet, it's possible they whisper. Or maybe that's the wind through the masts of a nearby shipwreck. Either way, they're definitely home to bound spirits, and probably more than one spider.

There are more in the wooden hut at the island's center, which is also where the bones and tattered robes of the island's former occupant can be found. (There's no sign of blood magic or ill intent. Just a lot of dolls. Everyone needs a hobby.) Box them, burn them, have a funeral or don't. As long as someone can tell the Viscount that he doesn't have to add an island of possessed dolls to Kirkwall's list of tourist attractions/nightmare fuel, the mission will be a success.

IV. SEND A MESSAGE: Each member of the Inquisition (or rifter, or ally) is assigned a blue crystal, small enough to wear around the neck, that can transmit voice messages, as well as an enchanted book tied to that crystal that can be used to exchange written messages. They're secure enough to discuss the war, if you'd like to get down to business, but loosely controlled enough to ask a question or play a game with only a few rolled eyes from people who hate fun.

V. WILDCARD: From the Gallows' library to the pirate islands off the coast, from Hightown's high-priced market stalls to the frostbitten frontlines of the war, Thedas is yours to explore.

aerifor: (17)

Aerifor "Definitely Not Mahariel" || Native OC

[personal profile] aerifor 2019-02-13 12:26 am (UTC)(link)
II. Kirkwall- the Hanged Man

Aerifor isn't here for any shem babysitting, he's just here to look for merc work. Actually he's here to get wasted, but you know, a job opportunity wouldn't go wasted.

He looks really Dalish(with the facial tattoos), but the heavy armor, dual greatswords, and the being PRETTY BIG for an elf might throw you off before you get a good look at him. Either way, it's obvious this dude is a merc out here to have a good time, but he's not having a great time when some human fool in a mask gets real drunk and starts getting too close. Close enough for hugging, and THAT'S FAR TOO MUCH.

Sop who's the one babysitting the Orlesian lush, because now drunk and angered by the unwanted friendliness, Aerifor has fully picked up this rich dude and is not more than a few seconds away from tossing him, no doubt starting something awful with this nobleman.

III. The Wounded Coast

Dolls. Of course it's dolls, because it has to be. Nothing can be normal with shems. Nothing. Never. Aerifor is so tired, but a job is a JOB and if that means dealing with some weird haunted doll island, then okay, fine.

Now, how do you deal with ghosts? You can't hit them with your oversized swords and that's a pain, so the best thing he can think of to do is just clean this place the hell up. This could be a neat escape honestly, if not for the ghost dolls, but that does mean moving the dolls elsewhere. He's thinking some shem city that he doesn't have to live in for awhile, and so you may come across some giant elf in heavy armor with a woven grass basket on his back like a backpack absolutely full of dolls. Just every doll he's found so far, and he's continuing to pick them up as he goes before noticing someone who noticed him, scowling at them.

"What? You got a better idea?" Of course they don't, this idea is perfect and cannot be improved upon in any way.

IV. Message

hey who can i stab for money around here i'm getting bored and also tired of stale bread

X. WILDCARD

No matter where you might be, here's a REALLY BIG BUFF ELF in heavy, dusty red armor. He might even resemble a short Qunari before you realize his Definitely Dalish Facial Tattoos, but hey. He's not judging you for looking the way you look! Unless you are human, then he's definitely judging.

Also he may or may not be picking fights just to see if anyone would throw money at him for it, so hit him up anywhere you'd like.

[OOC: feel free to hmu here or at [plurk.com profile] decathect if you wanna hash anything out/ask questions.]
Edited 2019-02-13 00:26 (UTC)
krem: (CA32374)

II

[personal profile] krem 2019-02-13 01:29 am (UTC)(link)
Krem took his eyes off the Marquis for what feels like one minute maximum and he's already getting (probably deservedly) manhandled by an armed and armored stranger, isn't that just his luck?

He makes a beeline for them, having been trying to negotiate his astronomical tab with the bartender, reaching up to grab at the back of the Orlesian's collar in order to at least stop him from getting whipped clear across the room if he can't de-escalate this fast enough. Normally he wouldn't be so bold as to just grab rich clients, but there is literally no way Marquis d'Lussard isn't fully black-out drunk right now. What he doesn't remember can't hurt Krem's sterling reputation.

This shockingly buff elf, however... "Sorry, I can see he's been bothering you."
aerifor: (dEsTrOY)

[personal profile] aerifor 2019-02-13 01:51 am (UTC)(link)
This Marquis is already lifted over his head at this point and definitely about the be yeeted across the bar when someone does stop him.

"Ah, a shem with eyes, how novel!" In his defense, Aerifor is also drunk. He would probably at least rob the guy first if he were sober, but here we are. The Orlesian nobleman may or may not just think he is flying. Or falling. Either way, there is a lot of yelling.

"Tell me, do you want for me to not break this man in half like a brittle winter twig?"
krem: (CA11232)

[personal profile] krem 2019-02-16 01:45 am (UTC)(link)
"Would really appreciate being able to return him in one piece so I can get paid," he shouts as well as he can above the Marquis' caterwauling without seeming aggressive. Clearly, this guy is not in the mood to live and let live right now, and Krem isn't all that keen on throwing down in the middle of a mission. He has a reputation for actually being capable of carrying out simple jobs to maintain after all. Come on Aerifor, help a guy out!

"I'll pay for your next round, how's that?" And good luck to everyone else in the tavern about to be stuck with an even drunker version of this elf, honestly. RIP.
blood_royal: (pic#10734905)

III

[personal profile] blood_royal 2019-02-17 11:13 am (UTC)(link)
"Why are you bringing them with you?" Dante is typically a scout, and in this case it's roughly half of why he's come along, but on the off chance the island actually does house spirits it's useful to have a mage close at hand. "Let me burn them and be done with it."