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Fade Rift Mods ([personal profile] faderifting) wrote in [community profile] allthisshitisweird2021-10-02 11:29 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 9:47, and the war continues. An enemy force partially occupies Orlais and has decimated several Marcher Cities, while the Chantry, aided by the Inquisition, has marshaled Orlais and the faithful of Southern Thedas into a new Exalted March against the army of demon-bound Wardens, Red Templars, Venatori loyalists, and darkspawn Corypheus has amassed. 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.

You're part of (or allied with, recently hired by, imprisoned by, etc.) a newer organization that's an offshoot of the Inquisition, dubbed Riftwatch, that consists mainly of these otherworldly new arrivals, rebels and Wardens, and other people who want to prevent the apocalypse without necessarily marching under the Chantry's banner to do it. Their headquarters is an island fortress called the Gallows—formerly a Circle of Magi, more formerly a prison for slaves, but its new occupants have done a good job removing the more grotesque reminders of that past and making the place livable. Their goal is to do what the Chantry can't or won't do, to go more directly after Corypheus and the dark magic he employs, and to keep the Veil from coming apart entirely.

Maybe you're here because you want to help. Maybe you need the money (though there isn't much of it). Maybe you acquired an anchor and sticking around is the only way to prevent your hand from killing you. Maybe you've been sent by the Chantry or some other entity to keep an eye on everyone—they're rumored to be a lot of weirdos and troublemakers. Or maybe you're a new rifter and just going where the nice people with swords tell you that you need to go.


I. THE SIEGE OF STARKHAVEN: North of Kirkwall, Corypheus' forces have occupied Hasmal, laid waste to Tantervale, and has now besieging the city of Starkhaven. An army of Marchers led by Sebastian Vael has returned from the Exalted March to press against the Tevinter force, but Riftwatch's aid is still needed. With the assistance of Riftwatch's griffons, you might be doing aerial surveillance of the enemy force or swooping into the city to provide supplies and news to the people holding the walls, then bringing news and valuables back out to deliver to the Marcher force outside. Or you could be engaging directly by harassing enemy camps from the air or dealing with mages the Marchers are less equipped to face.

II. THE WAKING SEA: When Riftwatch isn't traveling by air (or magic mirror), it frequently travels by sea, courtesy of allied pirate ships. So welcome aboard. The sea is choppy and frequently violent—violent storms, violent enemy ships, or both at once—and the crew may not have much patience for incompetence, so either make yourself useful above or try not to get sick below.

III. KIRKWALL: Even when enormous evil darkspawn are trying to take over the known world and you and your colleagues might be the only ones who can truly stop him, you can't work all the time. And when you aren't working, Kirkwall is there for you with its dingy Lowtown taverns, its flashy Hightown establishments, its market stalls and street musicians and cellars hosting gamblers. (Or maybe you can work all the time, and you're in the city to do some official shopping, try to spy on a suspicious character, or show a potential financial backer a good time.)

IV. SEND A MESSAGE: Each member of Riftwatch (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 bloody frontlines of the war, Thedas is yours to explore.

ashing: (Default)

+ CRYSTAL PROMPT

[personal profile] ashing 2023-02-15 09:57 pm (UTC)(link)
So, how would a guy get a better look at these "demons"?

[And with the wry tone of someone who knows they're asking something they probably shouldn't be:]

Speaking hypothetically.
grindset: (hour work is)

[personal profile] grindset 2023-02-15 11:19 pm (UTC)(link)
Hypothetically speaking?

[This voice in the rock is likewise wry, specifically because he's asked many a question of that very same variety, himself, and will continue to do so in the future.]

In all likelihood, you're getting a good look because you've just dispatched one and it's about to enter a state of matter-energy conversion, or because it's in the process of attacking you. Either way: briefly.
ashing: (001)

[personal profile] ashing 2023-02-21 03:34 pm (UTC)(link)
[John resists the urge to roll his eyes. Got a smartass here, clearly. And a nerd. "Matter-energy conversion", who the hell calls it that?]

You missed the part on how I get attacked, or do the attacking. [A beat.] Hypothetically.
grindset: (15448100)

[personal profile] grindset 2023-02-21 04:19 pm (UTC)(link)
[This little guy over here, giving his sending crystal the side-eye. He, in fact, the hell calls it that.]

How interactive should this description be? Do you want to roll dice?
ashing: (Default)

[personal profile] ashing 2023-02-21 04:26 pm (UTC)(link)
What I want is to get a little one-on-one time with what this place calls demons. Seeing as my usual go-tos don't work, I'm stuck asking for help. So unless rolling dice is going to summon one, I'm thinking you're not being very helpful.

[50% his usual asshole self, 50% real frustration = 100% bombing any chance of anyone helping him.]
grindset: (15390250)

[personal profile] grindset 2023-02-21 06:50 pm (UTC)(link)
A lyrium-inscribed die... there's a thought.

[A substantial pause occurs here.]

Interesting. Anyway, you're obviously new here—welcome to Thedas, [he adds, in the precise tone of a guy briefly lifting his fingers away from his forehead to gesture at no one—] so we can blame whoever picked you up for leaving such a critical hole in your knowledge. Why, exactly, do you want this?
ashing: (Default)

[personal profile] ashing 2023-02-22 12:27 am (UTC)(link)
Call it professional curiosity.
grindset: (15464538)

[personal profile] grindset 2023-02-22 05:52 pm (UTC)(link)
What profession?
ashing: (Default)

[personal profile] ashing 2023-02-23 03:19 pm (UTC)(link)
That's a long list.
grindset: (hour work is)

[personal profile] grindset 2023-02-23 03:42 pm (UTC)(link)
[This fuckin guy.]

Good. Then imagining its mysterious contents will keep me entertained for a while.
ashing: (Default)

[personal profile] ashing 2023-02-23 04:11 pm (UTC)(link)
Always glad to be of service.
grindset: (15390183)

[personal profile] grindset 2023-02-23 05:02 pm (UTC)(link)
[sigh—]

They come through open rifts—tears in the field that enables our perceptible reality—the same as you and I. Through weakened areas, sometimes. Through people.
ashing: (Default)

[personal profile] ashing 2023-02-23 11:28 pm (UTC)(link)
[Honestly, he'd gone hard sarcasm because he'd thought this conversation was likely done. Getting the info he'd asked for is a surprise. The info itself, not so much. "Through people" practically puts his hackles up.]

Sounds like you've got a professional curiosity in it, too.

[Because that didn't sound like a layperson's knowledge on the matter.]
grindset: (15448585)

[personal profile] grindset 2023-02-23 11:58 pm (UTC)(link)
[Being teased is, unfortunately for those who don't love it, sometimes the price of Viktor's assistance—especially if those people happen to be men who give the impression of thinking they're sooo coool—]

More so in the technical aspects of magic, but yes, very much so. Spirits, the Veil, enchantment... it's all interconnected.
ashing: (Default)

[personal profile] ashing 2023-02-24 03:59 pm (UTC)(link)
[So he's John's kind of nerd. Seems like he'll have to get used to things like "matter-energy conversion".]

We should talk.
grindset: (15703444)

[personal profile] grindset 2023-02-25 04:12 am (UTC)(link)
Are we not talking now?

[This sounds a bit flatter. He knows what request is likely coming—and will likely oblige it, in spite of his tone.]