Fade Rift Mods (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
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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.
no subject
"Well, this isn't fiction. Even if it might feel like it. We're all as real and solid as your home, and you can die just the same." He's not telling Loki a lot right now. Wouldn't go so far as to call it actively hiding it, but where does he even start? Maybe that's the same problem that Loki's having, a starting point for all the chaos. He opens and spreads his hands. "Lotta weird can happen in a year."
no subject
It is a conversation he'd like to have, with Mobius even, but now? Not the time. He's too tired and Mobius is too... frayed, not having expected to see him, plus the weight of countless things Loki has no way of knowing anything about.
"What was the best part?" Start with the good news, maybe?
If there's any to be had.
no subject
Mobius frowns about it, taps his fingers a little harder than need be on the table. Tips his head back and forth. What's safe to say? What isn't?
And then, fuck it: he smiles. Bright, even through the cloud hanging over him. "I went to New York."
It's tempting to leave it at that, be as confounding and confusing as Loki's being, only do it on purpose and out of spite. But that isn't fair. (Loki leaving also wasn't fair. But that wasn't Loki's fault. He has to keep reminding himself of that.)
"There was a trip into the Crossroads where things got very weird. Spirits and such trapping us all in versions of the homes of Rifters. It all felt real. Felt like we were trapped in each world for weeks, but it was only ever hours at most. So I got to see New York in its shining glory. The buildings are too tall," he comments idly, "and the night too bright and noisy, but still beautiful. If packed to the gills with elfroot stench." yeah that's the dank weed stank permeating through everything buddy
"Also saw Seattle, but a version of it that Ellie and Abby are from. That one...was not the best part. Strange and horrifying and familiar all at once. It puts things into perspective. One thing to hear from them, another to experience it. There was a religious sect that..." He shakes his head to clear the arguments from mind. "Nevermind, they were extremists, but it did lead to conversation.
"And Yellowstone," he continues with a touch of awe. "Jude's clan lives in the middle of a sprawling protected forest land. And it was a wonderful little town, everyone working together, everyone like one big family, and a bunch of us ended up having the ability to become animals, too." And more. And more. It starts to claw up his chest, the memories and the emotions attached to them. How freeing it was to be a wolf. How overwhelming the psychic sensation of feeling the emotions of others. How Jude had calmed him down and held him steady and tried to give him a crash course in tempering it(water ocean sea, Jude a placid expanse of water before a storm)--
The sense of being an outsider fading into a sense of almost-belonging. An oversized sweater and a comfy skirt for ease of changing. The cooking rotation always bringing good flavors to the tastebuds, as well as the wolf senses attuning to hunting game and the taste of a fresh kill. New York taught him so much and introduced him to a lot that he misses even now, a spectacular spectacle. But Yellowstone felt like a place that could be a home.
And maybe that's in no small part thanks to Jude.
Who died and came back shining bright. Who is now gone. Like Loki did. Jude who had invited him to sleep in his bed, wolf cuddled up close, after admitting what Loki's departure had felt like. Just to wake up in the morning with that same wolf still there. Jude the shining sea whose cold hand he'd taken and cried over. Jude whose pancake recipe is for everyone, now, but will never quite taste just right.
He wonders for a moment, if he'd still had those powers, what he might glean from Loki. Or what ghosts he might conjure.
Mobius blinks several times, looking away before it overwhelms him completely. Before the composure shatters for good.
no subject
Of course, since Mobius is a good person and possibly a better friend, he continues and explains, and Loki's expression changes from complete shock and confusion to fascination. "I don't think they call it elfroot, there." Just. Pointing that out, and then allowing Mobius to continue because this is very cool, actually.
He tilts his head at the mention of religious extremists ('note to self: ask Abby about that' is now on his mental to-do list) but doesn't interrupt any further. This means his focus is entirely on Mobius as he describes Yellowstone, mentioning Jude, and... shapeshifting, maybe? And then looking away.
Now. Loki is often an idiot and even more often a bit dense, emotionally, but he can see that Mobius is struggling with emotions here. Because of the entire situation, the widening of one's concept of the known universe that would occur from such a thing, or is it more complicated than that?
His money is definitely on the latter. Mobius looks a little like he's grieving.
"I'm really glad you got a chance to experience all of that. It sounds amazing."
no subject
And does not wait for an answer.
There's not much to get right this very moment, which is fine, he can wait for a couple of mugs of hot herbal tea, the kind one gets cozy with drifting to sleep or with a comfy novel. Mobius doesn't very well care at the moment, but it's hot, and it smells nice, and it lets him pull himself back together. If Jude ever comes back--
Shutting that thought down. By the time he comes back to the table, he looks more or less right again. Still cloudy, still troubled, but not on the verge of falling off a ledge. "You ever try something called a soda? Lots of different kinds, real sweet and bubbly, keeps you awake like coffee. I miss that; I want that to be a thing here."
no subject
He can make some guesses and wait until neither of them are terrified he's going to up and vanish to ask the hard-hitting questions.
"I have, yes. There are ones, also, that don't keep you awake like coffee. Is mineral water a thing that is available?" Does Loki know much about the chemistry of carbonated beverages? Not at all.
Would he be willing to learn? Definitely.
no subject
So, y'know, probably not a thing in Thedas.
"I like the staying awake part. Coffee's expensive here. It wasn't in New York! Everyone could get it, anywhere! Having access to Stark's money was a bonus, obviously." He's halfway to lifting his mug for a drink, then sets it back down. "You know, he could fly? In a metal suit of armor. I've seen some scary things, that might be up there."
no subject
Loki wraps his long fingers around his coffee mug. "I did, in fact, know that." Long sip. "It was also distressing the first time I saw it in motion."
For a variety of reasons.
no subject
"It's no wonder every Rifter from a world like that has a hard time adjusting. It just boggles my mind, still boggles me, right now."
See, this is all much easier to talk about. Than anything else.
"Sure, having to fight everyone and everything around us when we realized it wasn't real and needed to find some thing that the spirits didn't want us to find sucked some of the joy out of things, but I miss the convenience of everything."