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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.
Susan of Narnia (adult) | The Chronicles of Narnia
Back home, her elder brother was the Magnificent, but a reputation for being gentle had its uses, such as no one expecting her to be able to shear the wings off of a fly with an arrow or sneak into enemy camps.
It was the latter that was Susan's business this evening. She'd dressed herself in men's trousers and a tunic, both in black, and a pair of soft-soled boots for ease in sneaking about. She was new to this world, 'tis true, but if this was to be her fate she would grasp it with both hands and hold it close.
Susan kept her wits sharp as she sought whom she needed to pass the intelligence on to. Her blue eyes cast from side to side carefully as she crept almost silently. Finding the one she was looking for, she murmured just loudly enough for them to hear, but no others. "I'd say we shall dispense with pleasantries and get on with business. What say you?"
II. THE WAKING SEA
At least this time Susan wasn't fleeing an ill-mannered suitor. That was the kindest thing she could say about the storm-tossed voyage. She struggled to be of use, but it seemed almost useless as sailors tottered about, blinded by the onslaught of rain.
This rate, the mast was sure to snap in half, then where would they be? She did her best to be heard over the roaring thunder as she shouted "We must secure the sail! There's not a moment to be wasted, we have to hurry!"
Her own sight wasn't ideal, but she could see that much and see a way to possibly help them all.
III. KIRKWALL
Never let it be said that Susan didn't have a flair for hospitality. The Orlesian wine flowed freely, the amuse bouche was well received, and at any moment she'd get the signal for the eight course meal to be served.
She'd had to pawn two of her rings to afford all of this, so she felt that she had better see results. The merchants she was courting for coin were a bit handsy, there was a limit to what her dignity and pride would allow them. Best perhaps to seat them at the other end of the table and make them feel that was the most prized space to be owned.
Susan turned to her ally and partner in the wooing and murmured "Honestly, they're both louts, but their coin is good and that's what the Riftwatch needs them for. Any ideas for keeping their minds on the cause and not on the cost?"
IV. SEND A MESSAGE
the.gentle
I must say that this is quite the change from what I was used to, though as a girl I frequented war camps and did my duty to my people. However, I am here, not there and I must find a way to blend in. So those who were nobility in their own realms or those with more experience, how does one become invisible?
I
It's a good joke. That is what anyone who turns an eye will believe; the Northern elf has worn the brisk, efficient warmth of aunties world-over as she sweeps tents and sweats the fire. The soldiers — far from home, uneasy for the Southern winds — have drunk on the familiar. She is as any other servant (slave) in company. That those others do not know her,
Well. They know better than to raise the alarm. She's made certain promises, she's made clear that they are waiting. There is to be a contact, a rendezvous, reinforcements. Right on schedule:
"Come," A hand to shoulder. "We must empty the buckets."
Her fingers are very tight.
no subject
And she was very prompt at the meeting site. She knew a great part of winning was simply showing up on time for what it was she had to do. Susan gave her compatriot an arch smile and reached for one of the buckets. "Please, allow me. I'll be more than happy to do my part. We must be swift if we're to succeed, no?"
III
Susan's comment earns the smallest quirk of a smile at the edge of his mouth, gone before it can truly take hold. "Your instincts don't seem to be steering you wrong, generally. But I would say, with this lot ... there's often an impulse to be seen as generous that can outstrip the genuine altruism. My first impulse would be to play them against each other, or even against their peers. Suggest someone else might be getting the praise they feel they deserve." He looks at her guests, thoughtful beneath a pleasantly bland expression. "I don't know any of them well, but I've met the one in the green tunic before. Not terrible, but tends to insecurity." A trait that can sometimes be unpleasant, but not without its uses.
no subject
So partners they were. It was always better to have another pair of eyes and ears in circumstances like this, especially while the wine and conversation flowed. "They seldom do," she said with a little, impish smile. "That sounds perfect. An easily exploited ego is often a gift to others, let's make the most of theirs. However, I think we should work as a pair this time, really play up the notion of the one in green not getting what he believes he's due. I shall play the chatty but slightly dim socialite and who will you be?"
no subject
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no subject
"Right. Why don't you take my arm and steer me his way? You can be the heroine trying to make a connection."
The man in the green tunic does not, thus far, seem to be paying the pair of them any special attention. A thin, florid man in perhaps his late 40s or early 50s, at present he's engaged in conversation with a woman roughly of an age with him. Her look is increasingly disengaged, suggesting whatever he's attempting is not working especially well.
no subject
"That will work splendidly, I think. I can be very imploring when the situation calls for it," she said, a hint of mischief in her eyes and quickly extinguished, replaced by something of a plea.
If there's one thing Susan knows is that men of a certain age like to flirt with ladies or gentlemen of a more youthful one. It reassured them of their own vitality and worth and blinded them to the trickier aspects of conversation. Good thing, too, they rather desperately needed the coin.