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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.

strongnarrativevoice: (Default)

Mohinder Suresh | Heroes | Rifter

[personal profile] strongnarrativevoice 2023-03-18 02:16 am (UTC)(link)
II. All Aboard

Mohinder has never understood why anyone would willingly set foot on a ship, and since he has not yet come to the point in his life where he'll be on the no-fly list three times over, this is the first time his antipathy has been challenged.

It is not actually a challenge, because he was right. This sucks.

"You," snaps a passing crewman, as Mohinder is once again losing his last meal over the side of the boat for reasons he will insist have more to do with inadequate resistance to native bacteria than seasickness. "Rivaini. Come earn your keep and hold this steady."

Mohinder has given up explaining by now that whatever a Rivaini is, he's not one. He rolls his eyes skyward, heaves a sigh of dramatic distaste, and after an expectant moment in which the sailor fails to change his mind, pushes himself back from the deck railing and looks around to see what he's meant to be steadying. It is a rope, attached to a sail, and this seems like an easy enough task in the scheme of things, so Mohinder can't really complain--

--but everyone else on the ship certainly can, when one accidental tug on it with his miscalculated super-strength snaps it like a stray thread. Whoops.

IV. Book

[ The handwriting that appears here is the unkempt-but-legible scrawl of someone accustomed to having to write down a lot of things in a hurry between lab processes, or else in the margins of student papers. It is also all in uppercase, with actual capitals just marked by slightly larger writing, because Mohinder is one of Those People. ]

I'm seeking more information about these shards half of us seem to be contending with. [ like yeah yeah sure sure they hurt and they close rifts and they'll eventually kill you, that's all well and good, but-- ] Have they been known to correlate with any kind of physical transformation? Has anyone perhaps observed any unusual side effects, like skin deformities or hormonal imbalances or anything of the sort?

For that matter, what research have other "rifters" conducted on the phenomenon, if any? I would be interested in reading over other findings on the matter, if at all possible.

[ He could also, he guesses, read things written by people who are calling all this stuff "magic." Because congressmen being able to fly and cheerleaders regrowing their organs doesn't strain credulity anymore, that's just science, but magic? Pfffff. ]

Thank you,
Dr. Mohinder Suresh

V. Wildcard

[ DO YOUR WORST. Or your best. Anything you want, just PM! ]
Edited 2023-03-18 02:20 (UTC)
thereneverwas: (lol)

II

[personal profile] thereneverwas 2023-03-18 03:45 am (UTC)(link)
"Andraste's tits."

The shocked voice from behind is that of someone who had taken pity and was on his way over to assist, only to quickly learn there was no need. He's got a sort of bewildered smile on his face, his mouth opening to ask further, when he spots the anchor shard-- and that's all his questions answered, it seems.

"--oh." He smirks warmly. "New in town."
strongnarrativevoice: (did I leave the oven on)

Re: II

[personal profile] strongnarrativevoice 2023-03-21 06:26 am (UTC)(link)
Mohinder would argue that there is, in fact, even more need for help now, because what is he supposed to do with the broken rope and the angry sailors early in the morning?

"Very," he says despairingly. "One would think that if I could handle the rift monsters, the boat would be the easy part." But no.
Edited 2023-03-21 06:27 (UTC)
thereneverwas: (Default)

[personal profile] thereneverwas 2023-03-22 04:01 am (UTC)(link)
"Thinking a boat's the easy part is your first problem," he's gently informed, and Barrow turns to wave off the objecting crewmen; he's not a full-timer, but he contributes well enough to be at least somewhat respected.

"Don't worry," he continues cheerfully, "it'll be even worse once you get to Kirkwall."
heirring: (Default)

book!

[personal profile] heirring 2023-03-18 08:57 pm (UTC)(link)
[That handwriting that scratches in after his is very lovely, looping in eager cheerful strokes like an excitable little dog chasing after the allure of a bouncing ball.]
Doctor Suresh,

I am most pleased to inform you that you have joined a small number of us who are indeed very fascinating with this very thing. I have in my possession a great many notes which I believe would be of interest to you.

That said, I shall try to do my best to provide a brief summary of answers to you questions. Please see above.

Regards,
W.A. d.Foncé
Research Division

[And here, scribbled among the original lines of his own writing, that hand has written:]
Shard takes root in the host form in the sense that a plant might grow; known effects and phenomena: increased strength of the shard's ability to control rifts and tears in the Veil, various defense and offensive capabilities which may be activated by the host somewhat at will; illness; death; unusual relationship to lyrium in all forms.
sprent: (my mind still fears)

book

[personal profile] sprent 2023-03-20 01:43 am (UTC)(link)
(Gela is not a shard-bearer and cannot answer any of these thoughtful questions: she circles his title at the bottom of the page and leaves a simple,) ? (behind, to indicate that he should explain himself further to the rest of them. More writing appears quickly afterward, encouraging a response.)

What do you doctor?