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Fade Rift Mods ([personal profile] faderifting) wrote in [community profile] allthisshitisweird2016-01-01 03:35 pm
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Test Drive Meme!

New Year...

...Same Old 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, the first days of the new year find 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.

STILL WITH ADDED SNOW.

1. SHOULD OLD ACQUAINTANCE BE FORGOT
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 still snowy.

2. WE TWO HAVE RUN ABOUT THE SLOPES
Farmers have been forced to abandon their homes after a series of vicious attacks by wolves. Packs of them are roaming the foothills and stalking paddocks and even roads seemingly without the usual wariness of humans. Inquisition agents and local volunteers guard travelers through the affected region, hunt the wolves through snowy woods, and track them back to their cavernous lair in the edge of a canyon. Only eliminating the demons that lurk there will free the wolves from their influence and allow the area to return to normal.

3. AND PICKED THE DAISIES FINE
Winter snows freeze and bury the ground, but the need for healing herbs is as great as ever. Stockpiles are thin after the chaos of the last year, and Corporal Vale is desperate enough to send people out to search caves and hollows and cliffsides and beneath overhangs for any plants still clinging to life. The weather is brutal, the search tedious, the footing often treacherous, but that last patch of Crystal Grace could be a key find. Getting it requires clambering up a slippery hillside and stretching up to a ledge and hoping whatever creature lives in that foxhole beside the plant isn't at home, but it's worth it, right?

4. WE TWO HAVE PADDLED IN THE STREAM
With many roads through the hills and ravines blocked by deep snow, some crazy, desperate few have begun traveling by river. The ice is thick and jagged along the shores but in the center the water rushes, just deep enough for a shallow draft boat lightly laden. Supplies are carried down from the passes toward Redcliffe this way, a white-knuckle process that you, for some reason, have become involved in. Maybe you were hired to help fend off the bandits that haunt the calm shallows and try to demand tolls for passage, maybe you're paying your way downstream by helping port both boat and cargo around the steep falls, the mist so thick and cold it coats whatever it touches in a thin sheen of ice. Maybe riding a glorified canoe through rocky rapids and narrow gorges just sounded like a good time. Don't rock the boat!

5. WE'LL TAKE A CUP OF KINDNESS YET
It is still snowing, and the tavern in Redcliffe is still the closest and warmest place to duck into to wait it out, and not only is it packed to the gills but it seems that the First Day celebrations have continued within long past the dawn of the second day. 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 Fereldans they can't bring their dogs inside, every few minutes the group in the corner breaks into a traditional First Day song that will be stuck in your head for weeks, 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.

6. 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.
make_my_mark: (laraBow)

2. Git dat pelt, gurl

[personal profile] make_my_mark 2016-01-06 01:33 pm (UTC)(link)
Until they left for Skyhold (a castle, apparently, not a city) there was still work the Inquisition wished to accomplish here, and Lara was willing to help wherever she could. They were, after all, offering to do the same for her, and she certainly couldn't deny that the wolves and their demon masters were dangerous.

She had the still healing wounds to prove it.

She was following a fresh set of tracks through the snow, her bow at the ready, when she heard the shouting. Forgoing her careful pursuit, she hurried ahead, reaching them just in time to see the couple sprinting away as the lone woman remained to fend off the pack.

She scanned the scene quickly - noting the scorch marks, one already badly signed wolf, the staff in the woman's hands (one of the mages she'd been told about) - and took a fast shot at another animal that was circling around, driving it back with a pained yelp.
make_my_mark: (laraSmile)

[personal profile] make_my_mark 2016-01-06 01:39 pm (UTC)(link)
We have them, yes. [She can't help a small laugh, the change in Leliana's demeanor sudden, and somehow endearing. She might have wondered before, but she felt now that she'd made the right choice.] And both are actually kept as pets by some.

[No judgement, Leliana.]

But those that still send messages via animal tend to use birds. Though dogs aren't unheard of.
foodsofmypeople: (Glare)

[personal profile] foodsofmypeople 2016-01-06 02:14 pm (UTC)(link)
Kaidan watched Nathaniel leave, and knowing what was inevitable sighed as his own dagger was moved to where it could be used. He wasn't going to fight him if he could help it, though any of Corypheus' pet Wardens would most likely kill on sight. Hopefully Kaidan could dissuade him.

He walked over to his fellow Warden, ready to cast a barrier should he need it. "You're a long way from home, brother." It seemed as good a starting point as any.
pinprick: (Though you came to me in the night)

5

[personal profile] pinprick 2016-01-06 02:41 pm (UTC)(link)
Nathaniel brings two bowls of stew with hunks of dark bread on top, sliding one over to Bethany.

"Your scarf," he murmurs helpfully. He understands keeping the Warden's Oath on, but it should remain hidden.

It's been the two of them for some time now. They first headed for Highever, where Fergus Cousland sheltered them for a few days while they got a plan together. Nathaniel didn't want to stay there long, for fear of endangering his friend, and he has been eager to track Clarel and her new non-Warden friend to find out more information. Their Duty has not ended simply because the other Wardens are trying to kill them.
pinprick: alone (Though we share this humble path)

[personal profile] pinprick 2016-01-06 02:47 pm (UTC)(link)
Nathaniel does not flinch, leveling the dagger toward Kaidan's eye while keeping his other hand lower, protecting his torso.

"Who sent you?"
sunshinethroughgrey: (Grey Warden)

Re: 2. Git dat pelt, gurl

[personal profile] sunshinethroughgrey 2016-01-06 02:48 pm (UTC)(link)
Bethany's eyebrows rose, but she worked with enough archers and battle situations (thank you, big sister!), to know when to fall back a little to let the archers have their targets. Or rather, archer.

Nathaniel wasn't going to be pleased she picked up a friend, but what was she to do? Leave the couple to demon-possessed wolves? Absolutely not. She'd never forgive herself if she let innocents die.

She glanced over at the archer - a ...strangely dressed woman, before she gestured to the wolves. "Go for the ones further out from the flames! They haven't been touched yet!"

Another shield snapped up around both of them, as she went into the satchel at her side for a lyrium potion.
sunshinethroughgrey: (Blush)

Re: 5

[personal profile] sunshinethroughgrey 2016-01-06 02:55 pm (UTC)(link)
Bethany gave him a grateful smile under her cloak, before she put a startled hand to her throat. A wry smile touched her lips, as she pulled the bowl closer to her, and then pushed the bread and fruit towards him, along with the bottle of wine.

"Already I've forgotten I've had it on. I usually wear it under - well." Warden armor tended to have a high neck, so she just tucked it in her, uhm, bosum.

She looked around, a flash of concern in her brown eyes, before she leaned over to whisper to him, "Did anyone see?"
mythalenaste: (to seek to search)

1

[personal profile] mythalenaste 2016-01-06 03:05 pm (UTC)(link)
Very suddenly, there is a tiny elf beside Ron, leaping from seemingly out of nowhere--a practical skill, not magic. But it's definitely magic when she raises a wall of ice between Ron and the bear. No wait. Around the bear. Then, she's flinging her arms around the apprentice, heedless of his height.

"Hold on."

Ron may or may not have ever Fadestepped before. If he hasn't, he's in for a real shock as reality seems to warp around them and he and the elf are very suddenly quite some distance away from the bear. Pel grabs his elbow and starts to haul him away from the scene at a run.
pinprick: (Cast your eyes on the ocean)

[personal profile] pinprick 2016-01-06 03:14 pm (UTC)(link)
"I saw." Thankfully, most non-Wardens don't know what that necklace is. Any Wardens would have sensed her by the taint anyway. He starts to pull the bread apart with his fingers and dip it into the stew. Stew which probably has remnants of food from the past fortnight, but it's hot and it's edible.

"How are you holding up?" Nathaniel has had a keen brotherly instinct over Bethany since she joined. He remembers how bitter and resentful he was when he became a Warden, and wanted her to have someone who could help her through that difficult time of adjusting to a strange and unwanted life.
Edited 2016-01-06 15:14 (UTC)
make_my_mark: (laraAngry)

[personal profile] make_my_mark 2016-01-06 03:21 pm (UTC)(link)
Lara tried not to look at the staff as the woman cast - focus, Lara - willing herself keep her attention on the danger. She could ask later.

"Where's the demon?" she called back, sidestepping as she drew again and took aim.
sunshinethroughgrey: (Looking out)

[personal profile] sunshinethroughgrey 2016-01-06 04:17 pm (UTC)(link)
"Well yes of course you saw. You can see a seagull riding across the waves on a cloudy day." Bethany couldn't help the quiet tease, taking up a wooden spoon to dip into the stew. It was rather like Gamlin's cooking, if she didn't think about what was in it she would be just fine.

At his question, she sighed and shrugged her shoulders. She appreciated Nathaniel's protection of her -- it was justified. She had also been bitter when she had been been brought into the Wardens, her life cut short by how many years. Yet as time passed, as she focused more on the mission and in turn, was able to connect with both her sister and brother again, she had found that she could forgive and appreciate what her sister had done to save her.

Beyond that, her brothers and sisters in the Wardens looked out for one another. They showed that in sacrifice, they did not truly stand alone, even to the last. Which was why Clariel's actions were so ... strange. And frightening.

"I'm worried, Nathaniel." She murmured, staring down at her bowl. "I keep thinking of all those who didn't leave when we did. All those who did, but we haven't heard from. What is happening?" She paused, then sighed, "And I'm worried about my sister and brother. What is happening with the Rifts probably has them both swept up by now."
"I'm worried."
sunshinethroughgrey: (Mage Warrior)

[personal profile] sunshinethroughgrey 2016-01-06 04:19 pm (UTC)(link)
Focusing was good. It was what Bethany was doing, after all. She lifted her staff once more, brown eyes searching the darkness.

"Out there, I suspect. Once we create a hole between these blighted beasts, we can finish off the demon itself."

She frowned as she considered her actions, and decided going with a standard would be best. So up her hand went, then brought the staff down hard on the ground, showering out ice to freeze the beasts into place so the woman could hopefully bring them to a shattered end.
pinprick: (O give these clay feet wings to fly)

[personal profile] pinprick 2016-01-06 04:25 pm (UTC)(link)
"So am I." Nathaniel's sister is likely still in Amaranthine, along with his ten-year-old nephew. Unlike the Hawkes, they are unlikely to march to the forefront of the action. Also unlike the Hawkes, they could be sought out by the Grey Wardens if Clarel is crazy enough. Fergus said he would do what he could for them, at least.

"But this isn't the first time we've been at the desperate end of a worst-case scenario, both of us."

He turns a winking smile to her, just a flash for her eyes alone.

"We know what to do."
sunshinethroughgrey: (Little smile)

[personal profile] sunshinethroughgrey 2016-01-06 04:53 pm (UTC)(link)
She looks up at that, and reaches across the table to put her hand over his. "She's going to be fine. They both are. Clarel may be willing to sacrifice us but she's going to pull the line at hurting innocents."

At least Maker, Bethany hoped so. Or their leader had fallen farther than either one of them had realized.

She caught his winking smile, and one corner of her mouth dimpled up. "Yes, but that's usually because we were following someone into danger. This time, we're running away from it." She paused, then said with a touch of wryness, "And ... right into the larger fire. Forget I said anything, this is just like old times."
pinprick: (And all the paths were overgrown)

[personal profile] pinprick 2016-01-06 05:08 pm (UTC)(link)
"She would. I have less faith in this Erimond bastard, and how much or how little he'll tell her."

The corners of his eyes crinkle at her other words.

"You have the way of the hunted pariah already."
colecomfort: (from a distance)

[personal profile] colecomfort 2016-01-06 05:13 pm (UTC)(link)
[Cole looks at his hand.] Oh. [Of course. He lets go, carefully in case the boy happens to slip again, and then waits another moment, to make sure he's steady.]

It'll be easier this way. Follow me. [And he starts to climb, upwards and a little bit sideways. They can bypass the larger patches of ice if they go by this route.]
sunshinethroughgrey: (Little smile)

[personal profile] sunshinethroughgrey 2016-01-06 05:23 pm (UTC)(link)
She nodded her head gravely at that, still squeezing his hand tight. "We have to get to the Inquisition -- we have to warn them about Erimond. He's dangerous, and he needs to be stopped."

She gave him a bright smile, pure dimples. "Yes, plenty of practice. If we just had Carver here to complain about the weather, I would think I was eighteen again."
pinprick: (When the dawn seemed forever lost)

[personal profile] pinprick 2016-01-06 05:36 pm (UTC)(link)
"Maker, don't say things like that. Makes me feel old." Bethany looks like a pup to him, and she's talking about age eighteen like it was ages ago.
sunshinethroughgrey: (Little smile)

[personal profile] sunshinethroughgrey 2016-01-06 05:41 pm (UTC)(link)
"Oh, you'll always been the grumpy young Warden archer to me, Nathaniel." She dimpled at him again, but the world was a different place than when she was only eighteen. She's twenty-eight now, nearly twenty-nine. Eleven years since she and her family had run from the Blight, and nine years she had been a Warden. Sometimes it felt like forever ago, and some days it felt like yesterday.

ferrushomimus: (MOAR SCIENCE!)

Re: hahaha

[personal profile] ferrushomimus 2016-01-06 05:44 pm (UTC)(link)
[Tony gave him a broad grin, before he rubbed the beard.]

That's the name. Surprise - look whose is not dead! [He held his arms wide, before he smirked and went back to adjusting his device.] Don't you know it's dangerous for impressionable mages to be wandering around?
pinprick: (Please remember me)

[personal profile] pinprick 2016-01-06 06:02 pm (UTC)(link)
It's true, it's only been nine years. It feels like twenty, and yet he can't believe nine years are already gone. Most of his life's memories are now with the Wardens. There haven't been as many as he hoped for. His eyes are still crinkled, but he quietly reminds her:

"Mind your words. Someone could get the wrong idea."

The W-word, in particular. They are not Wardens in public.
Edited 2016-01-06 18:02 (UTC)
sunshinethroughgrey: (Little smile)

[personal profile] sunshinethroughgrey 2016-01-06 06:29 pm (UTC)(link)
Dark eyes widened, and then closed as her cheeks flushed with embarrassment.

"Maker's Breath ...someone would, wouldn't they? And me getting above my station other than a common mercenary. Good thing I haven't actually got any big secrets to tell." Oh, outside of being a Mage. And a Hawke. Now a secret Warden.

Edited 2016-01-06 18:31 (UTC)
pinprick: (Then the mountain rose before me)

[personal profile] pinprick 2016-01-06 07:01 pm (UTC)(link)
Besides a few understandable hiccups, Bethany has adjusted to the vaguespeak of being on the run quite well. Frankly, even the slip-ups are worth much less than being on the road with her. He's glad he can keep her nearby, look after her, and enjoy her company. She may make him feel old, but she imparts some of the vitality of youth as to keep him going.

"Everyone has secrets, Beth."
make_my_mark: (laraSnowy)

[personal profile] make_my_mark 2016-01-06 07:07 pm (UTC)(link)
And so she did, the once vital wolves splintering and cracking into white-blue pieces as her arrows struck them. A clever trick for sure. She could have used this woman a few days ago, when she was trudging through the wild mountains of Siberia, the wolves waiting seemingly every time she turned around.

"Can you do that one again?" she asked as the last wolf-sculpture shattered and the remaining members of the pack ducked into the trees (likely to try and circle, she moved to follow them).
sunshinethroughgrey: (Little smile)

[personal profile] sunshinethroughgrey 2016-01-06 07:23 pm (UTC)(link)
"Oh you might. You're one of those grizzled, mysterious fellows that my friend used to love to write about." She curled her hand around her wine, taking a drink to hide her smile.

"Me, I'm as boring as they come. Just with a wild imagination."

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