Fade Rift Mods (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
faderifting) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
allthisshitisweird2023-05-02 05:40 pm
faderifting) wrote in allthisshitisweird2023-05-02 05:40 pm
Entry tags:
Test Drive!
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 9:49, 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.) an organization, dubbed Riftwatch, that split off from the Inquisition several years ago. Riftwatch consists 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.
NOTE: This is a static test drive! We post them once per year or so and continue to use them for a long time, so you're never late. Current players are encouraged to track new top-level comments.
I. THE FREE MARCHES: Hasmal, Tantervale, and most recently Starkhaven have all fallen to the Tevinter incursion, leaving Kirkwall the largest city-state in the Free Marches to remain unoccupied. For Riftwatch, that means the war is closer to home than ever, and traveling anywhere north of the mountains runs the risk of running into enemy scouting parties. Perhaps you've been sent out to find these scouts before they find the unwary, or perhaps you're just trying to pass through unnoticed to Antiva or Rivain when you run into trouble. Or maybe you're more in the thick of it: joining the Free Marches armies in harassing the occupying army as best they can from outside the city, or slipping your way into one of them to gather intelligence or meet with an ally.
II. THE WAKING SEA: When Riftwatch isn't traveling by griffon or magic mirror, it frequently travels by sea, courtesy of a small assortment 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 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.
While in some alternate, tidier timeline, the War against the Elder One ended years ago, you're not in that timeline. It's 9:49, 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.) an organization, dubbed Riftwatch, that split off from the Inquisition several years ago. Riftwatch consists 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.
NOTE: This is a static test drive! We post them once per year or so and continue to use them for a long time, so you're never late. Current players are encouraged to track new top-level comments.
I. THE FREE MARCHES: Hasmal, Tantervale, and most recently Starkhaven have all fallen to the Tevinter incursion, leaving Kirkwall the largest city-state in the Free Marches to remain unoccupied. For Riftwatch, that means the war is closer to home than ever, and traveling anywhere north of the mountains runs the risk of running into enemy scouting parties. Perhaps you've been sent out to find these scouts before they find the unwary, or perhaps you're just trying to pass through unnoticed to Antiva or Rivain when you run into trouble. Or maybe you're more in the thick of it: joining the Free Marches armies in harassing the occupying army as best they can from outside the city, or slipping your way into one of them to gather intelligence or meet with an ally.
II. THE WAKING SEA: When Riftwatch isn't traveling by griffon or magic mirror, it frequently travels by sea, courtesy of a small assortment 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 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.
Karlach | Baldur's Gate 3
I. The Free Marches: Bounty
[Running hot. Too hot. (Hot enough to sear a steak,) she tells herself, a half-hysterical giggle in the back of her throat so she doesn't break her back teeth by clenching them so hard. Fuck, she's so hungry she could eat a bear. She hums through her teeth to try to focus on something other than the pain. She's had a lot of practice with that. Unlucky on principle, but comes in handy.
Karlach's last sighting of Red Templars was a half-day ago near what's left of Starkhaven, and that's really not enough of a buffer to sit down and rest.
But she's free. She's outside, unbound, not bidden to kill anything she doesn't choose to. She's in the countryside instead of a sulphur-scented warren of stone.
Unfortunately she is quite loud, what with her humming and loud footfalls, and the red Templars aren't the only ones seeking her out.
Unbeknownst to her, Karlach has a huge bounty on her head. Kirkwall and Riftwatch have received reports of a murderous Vint on the loose: a fairly accurate woodcut of her face and build -- and there aren't many seven-foot-tall women with horns, even if one of them is broken off near her skull.
So, she sings. Low and off-key.]
I've dreamed of the kiss I stole 'neath the arbor.
I've dreamed of the promise 'neath the old ash tree.
One last stream to cross, one last hill to wander.
Until I reach the love I'm longing to see.
III. Wildcard
[Someday, she'll make it to the Gallows! Hopefully with her head intact and un-bounty'd.]
baby I heard your bounty is HUGE
Whatever. Abby's got her orders. She hardly expects to run into her on the way to Sundermount when she is off-duty and not thinking about any kind of work, only walking to walk. The song on the breeze greets her first, Abby hearing it and looking for the source, finding it in a person who ventures up over the hill toward her, headed down the track. It's not strange to see out people out here. She lifts her chin at the woman in passing, a broad, big woman, even taller than her: a qunari. Abby sees her face for seconds. She keeps going.
A minute later she grounds to a halt, head up, turning—she can see her, still descending the track. One of her fucking horns is broken.)
Shit, (she breathes,) oh, fuck. Seriously?
(Why like this? Why Abby, who can't sneak to save her life, and is deeply aware of how obvious she's being even as she turns on her heel and starts to gently jog down after her, trying not to make too much noise. Is there even a plan, here? Hmm. Figuring it out on the go.)
something something head joke
So she lets an easy, genuine smile bloom across her face, lifts her chin back in greeting, the quick casual understanding of soldier-to-soldier. She doesn't pause in her humming, just lifts a large hand to wiggle her fingertips, where her wrist is resting over the haft of her greataxe. Hello, hello there. Just passing through. Nice day for it.
The woman passes, and Karlach takes a full breath, a sigh of relief. Yes.
And then she hears the curse. And the footsteps.
Ah. Well... fuck. She turns her head to the side, but doesn't quite turn around.]
All right there, mate?
ar ar ar
Like, trick her into visiting the Gallows?? What are you doing, Abs?
She's frowning as she stops a good distance away, noticing much more now, namely the greataxe at her hip.)
Yeah. (All right. Ish.) Hey—you don't know your way around here, do you? I'm lost.
(Nice start.)
no subject
[Karlach smiles back, toothy and startling-white against the ruddy warmth of her skin. There's a flicker of wariness in it buried deep. She's on the run, after all -- everyone's a potential enemy. But there's something so deliriously good about speaking to someone. Like a person.
She really hopes she doesn't have to take this woman's head.]
All I know is Kirkwall is thataway- [Karlach points out towards the glittering waters, the Gallows they can see in the distance... and then back up the trail from whence she came.]
And there's a likely-looking bush back there if you need to pop a squat.
no subject
Her nose crinkles, equal parts incredulous and amused. Anybody else might have decided it had to be some other red qunari with a broken horn; couldn't possibly be this one, judging by her pointy smile and her bad jokes. Abby knows murderers take many forms.)
Yeah? (She starts to walk again, arching a brow at her, coming closer. She's trying to remember what the name on the bounty poster said.) Mind if I come back to Kirkwall with you? Might try this hike again tomorrow, with a guide.
(Kiera, Katarina? Something weird starting with K.)
no subject
Eyy, sure. Starved for some company. Just don't stand too close. Would hate to give you blisters.
[And without explaining that at all, Karlach continues tripping along down the road, taking long steady strides. Someone shorter than Abby might be hard pressed to keep up.]
Got business in the city, actually. These folks calling themselves Riftwatch. Know where to find them?
no subject
The mention of Riftwatch startles the fuck out of her. For a moment she considers coming clean. Right here, right now. Fighting in Kirkwall is pretty bad for optics (Abby knows from experience), and she's starting to doubt that she'll make it back to Riftwatch without somebody fucking recognising her and saying something that identifies her, or maybe the woman will get too suspicious, lose her in a crowd.
She clears her throat, thinking fast. She has her crystal in her pocket, she has options.)
Yeah. (She points it out to her, leaving her arm up and waiting for the woman to look.) They're in there.
(She is pointing at Kirkwall's chantry.)
no subject
Really?
[Karlach scoffs, but it's a pleased sort of sound, almost impressed.]
There? And here I was hearing all about them being a ragtag group of misfits and miscreants. [She holds out a hand toward the city, describing it excitedly like a little kid regaling an adventure story.]
Some of them, demons. With pieces of the Veil in their palms.
no subject
She sounds... excited.)
What business do you have with them, exactly? (She's trying her best to sound like a civilian, one who has lived in Kirkwall forever and is soooo sick of Riftwatch's misfits and miscreants. She is glad she has her gloves on.) You're not going there to cause any more trouble, right?
no subject
No! Well, yes- but in the good way. The fucking up the Vints way.
[A laugh cuts out of her, a beaming grin as she turns back to Abby, still heading down the path. She turns, one arm flung wide down towards the city, the water and the docks, the pirate ships.]
I'm going there to join them.
no subject
(Wait a second. Surely she's going there to kill all of them, though, judging by the content of her bounty. Abby stopped in her tracks at this, still staring out across the chantry she had falsely labeled and she has to jog to catch her up again.)
What are you joining them for?
no subject
Makes it fairly obvious that she's heard about the bounty, and is following her to keep an eye.
Karlach can't blame her in the least, but it's still damned depressing.
If she were a more devious mind, she'd pretend ignorance and see how much more she could find out, but Karlach just isn't built that way. Moreover, she has a feeling this woman isn't either.
Maybe they can both enjoy a little honesty today. So Karlach gives a deep sigh, her tone dropping to matter-of-fact and bitter as she bites out the words.]
When you're a runaway slave from Tevinter with a bounty on your head, options get a bit narrow.
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
i
Look, she's wearing combat boots and she's not into stealth. It's fine for other people, she can admit it has its practical uses, but for her personally it just feels like cowardice. And she's bad at it. And she probably should not have been picked for this mission, but everyone makes mistakes.
Anyway, she figures that even if the Murderous Vint gets a head start running away from her, she'll only end up bumping into someone else from Riftwatch, sooner or later, because whoever sent her out here wasn't completely blind to Clarisse's... essential Clarisse-ness; there are others out there looking, too.
Besides, she has great endurance. This could just as easily turn into a wolf going after an elk situation. Persistence hunting.
Once she has Karlach in her sight, there is really no point in trying to sneak up on her. Even somewhat nerfed as she is here, Clarisse is still faster than any normal person. She's just gonna sprint for it and let her spear do the rest. ]
no subject
A net. Really.
So when the young woman comes sprinting at her up the path, wearing colors Karlach doesn't recognize, it's such an obvious trap that Karlach stops dead, standing her ground, eyes flickering to the wilderness, the boulders, the cliff faces- this has to be a distraction for the real shot they're about to take.
Belatedly, it his her: no, this woman is much, much faster than she has any right to be.
Karlach holds herself loose, fluid, ready, and when the spear comes for her she dodges to one side, reaching up to grasp the haft of it, preparing to yank her off her feet and throw her into the bushes behind her.
One miscalculation, though.
The spear's got lightning in it.
It jolts through her, cracking her back teeth together, and Karlach screams once, short and choppy before she follows through. The throw's bad, but it knocks the both of them off balance, stumbling on the trail.]
Andraste's holy knickers, that one hurt.
[She sounds impressed.]
no subject
Karlach is pretty evenly matched for her in terms of size and strength, though. In height, she's got a good foot on Clarisse, which is fucking impressive. And she gets a grip on the spear haft even despite the shock and manages to send the both of them stumbling for balance. ]
Yeah, you like that? Get ready for another taste. [ She's taunting Karlach even as she regains her balance.
Clarisse keeps on the other woman, pushing forward because that's how you win, you get the other person on their back foot and you don't let up, except that stupid tug on her spear means she's even closer than she wants to be. When the spear is five feet long and you're two feet from your enemy... well.
She goes for the knife at her belt. That's plan B. ]
no subject
The taunt doesn't go amiss either. A broad grin splits over Karlach's face, riding the adrenaline, and the scorching of the lyrium rolls over her body.
The next time Clarisse comes for her, Karlach is ready for the pain. She lets Clarisse thrust the point at her, catching the shaft in her fist, bearing down. The electricity jumps through her, setting all that lyrium alight, bursting through her veins with pain. But Karlach is used to pain.
Karlach pulls Clarisse in close with her grip on the spear, reaching out with her other hand to grapple her, go for the front of her armor.
Unfortunately, she's. Got a backup knife.
Karlach jerks back as the blade cuts across her cheek. It's fast, viper-like. It would've easily taken one of her eyes.]
Ow-! Damn it!
[One thing at a time. Karlach gives a mighty yank that'll force Clarisse to let go of the spear or break her fingers, and hurls it into the grass nearby.]
Not even an acquired taste, I'm afraid. Now, if you'll listen-
[Unfortunately, Karlach is very unprepared for how unwilling Clarisse is to listen.]
no subject
Listen to you? [ 'Cause Clarisse listens to very, very few people, and she's not eager to make a murderer from across enemy lines one of them.
She's lost her spear, but no matter. She has the knife, still, and even though the woman she's fighting has a fucking axe, it's not enough to make Clarisse seriously concerned about the situation yet. She's still got the upper ground here. She drew first blood, and second, and third. She could do this all day. She could—
She goes in again with the knife, and her hand touches skin that feels like it's on fire. The suddenness of it takes her by surprise and she has an abrupt and karmic realization of what it must have been like for the other woman to grab her spear a minute ago. She jolts back with a yell of pain, nearly loses her grip on the knife, and stares at the large red welt already rising on the back of her hand. ]
no subject
[Karlach puts her hands up, nothing in them, trying to talk her down, but Clarisse comes at her with the knife again. On instinctive reaction, Karlach blocks with her forearm, diverting the blade by landing a blow against the back of Clarisse's hand- which of course burns her.
Karlach mutters another curse to herself. She's spent this encounter trying not to hurt her, but it's becoming more and more obvious that she'll have to.
Well, shit.
So she surges forward in the split-second afforded to her by Clarisse's shock, grips the front of her leather armor, lefts her bodily up -- and suplexes her directly into the ground.
She comes with her, too -- wraps her hand around the leather bracers protecting her knife-hand forearm and pins her to the ground, a knee across her other shoulder.
The blood from the cut on her face drips down like a molten raindrop, blessedly misses Clarisse's cheek, and sizzles in the dirt next to her.]
Easy, soldier. I don't want to hurt you, but you're making it bloody fucking difficult.
no subject
So Clarisse isn't the only one who's fast, then. Fuck.
Still trying to catch her breath, she flexes her knife arm, testing Karlach's grip. She doesn't try to break out of the hold yet, though. She doesn't have a lot of patience, but she's not stupid. She'll get her energy back and wait for an opening.
She can feel the heat coming off the woman through her armor. If she wanted to, she could probably kill Clarisse just by bear hugging her. It's a disconcerting thought. She doesn't seem to be trying to hurt her, though. She keeps trying to talk to her.
Easy, soldier. It's clearly meant to calm her, but aside from a glint of recognition in Clarisse's eyes she doesn't give in for a second. That's how people get dead. ]
Get up and face me like a man, [ she bites out through gritted teeth. ]
no subject
[You know what, don't answer that. Karlach bears down on Clarisse's arm when she tests her strength, showing her. If Karlach wanted her dead, she would be.]
Listen. I'm not what you think. I'm not a Venatori.
[Karlach's expression breaks, pained laughter bursting out of her, because really. Of all the things they could've said.]
I was a magister's slave. I ran the first chance I fucking got.
no subject
Then somebody is going to an awful lot of trouble to get their slave back, [ she says finally, skeptical.
It's not like she hasn't personally met people (well, immortals mostly) self-important enough to do all this just because they feel slighted, but it's still a lot of effort. There are like three different factions all gunning for this woman. ]
no subject
Lyrium device for a heart. Courtesy of Zariel.
She can't stand the thought of anything squirming out from under her thumb, but this is what she wants. Her little experiment.
no subject
This is quickly turning into a situation she's not sure she wants to be a part of. Though she's loathe to walk away from a fight like this, it does seem likely that Karlach is being honest with her. And she's not going to murder a runaway slave with a fucked up lyrium device for a heart when it turns out they haven't actually done anything wrong. ]
Walk away, then. I'll give you a five minute head start. Pretend I never saw you.
no subject
Thank you. Knew you were a good egg.
[She unlatches her grip from Clarisse's forearm, backing off to stand. Makes a motion with her hand, thinks better of it.]
I'd offer to help you up, but I don't want to melt your fingers together. Before I go- where in Kirkwall can I find Riftwatch?
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)