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.
nina zenik — grishaverse.
ii. the library.
iii. the infimary.
iv. wildcard.
infirmary variation;
It’s not a job interview, but it’s also not not a job interview. Strange has been trying not to hover like some anxious helicopter parent, but as soon as she explained what she could do — tailoring, what a euphemism — he’d swooped in to recruit her for the infirmary. It could come so very much in handy, for an organisation currently lacking in spirit healers.
So he looms like some incredibly fascinated bat-winged surgeon, desperate to see exactly how Nina does this and feel how the edge of the Fade responds as she works her magic, watching and marveling as the skin knits itself back together.
He watches as their patient leaves, the scout absently rubbing their new scar, now fully healed. He politely waits long enough for them to be gone, before he turns his steady blue-green gaze back on the young woman in front of him.
“I am,” the doctor starts, with a faint smile crinkling the edges of his eyes to note that he’s kidding (mostly) (sort of) (except not entirely), “intolerably jealous.”
no subject
Perched on the edge of the cot, Nina beams with excitement as she watches her patient leave, and once they are out of sight, she turns her attention to the looming doctor. "It's just science; there's nothing to be jealous about. I figured with the title of head healer you'd be able to, you know, heal."
Clearly teasing, she understands there are many ways to heal a body, most of which aren't as sufficient and immediate as a Grisha's ability, but their end goals are often similar.
In Ravka, doctors are overshadowed by Corporalki, but some turn to traditional doctors due to living in a rural area or a distrust of Grisha. Fjerda, with their hostility toward her kind, relies heavily upon conventional medicine, adhering to scientific or herbal practices. The Kerch combines traditional and innovative approaches while relying on indentured Grisha. Novyi Zem has a progressive outlook, and doctors and Grisha work alongside one another as they, like Ravka, see Grisha abilities as a gift ( going as far as to call them Zowa, "blessed" ). The Shu Han are known for their scientific advancements, inhumane treatment of Grisha, and reliance on physicians when it comes to ailments of the body.
"Our abilities are an extension of the natural world. We call it the Small Science rather than magic."
no subject
He pulls up a chair, settles on it next to the cot, bringing himself lower so the conversation’s a little more casual. With the patient gone, he’s not staring with the same hawk-like intensity as before, but she still has his full attention.
Wryly: “Interesting nomenclature, though. If yours is the Small Science, then what’s Big Science?”
It’s— a joke, maybe, but with real curiosity underpinning it.
infirmary;
But it is what sends the whole expression funny: Squiggling through mouth and brow, eyes watering in the abrupt effort not to sneeze. Cedric's sat board-stiff 'til now, so it's a fucking sight to watch him wrangle it. Like one of those comedy plays, where the lord gets pepper down his pants.
"Practice," He repeats. Wouldn't have troubled the Infirmary for this at all, place makes him nervy, only one moment he was looking for Gwen; and the next some Rifter's had him on a cot. "You... done this before?"
There's no good way to ask if your arm was just an experiment.
no subject
Sitting up straight, Nina blows a loose bit of hair out of her face, but it clings to her forehead. An exasperated sigh escapes her lips as she uses the back of her hand to brush it away — a few strands still cling, but she'll deal with them later.
Right now, she has to worry about the possibility of being sneezed on.
"Not my area of expertise, but I've done it plenty back home," she reassures, trying not to wince too much as she isn't sure if he can reel in the feeling or if he'll explode at any second. "First time since arriving."
Gesturing up to his face — the pained expression and watering eyes as he fights against the urge.
"I could help with that. Alleviate urge without the lingering sensation of a missed sneeze." Her powers work on the human body, which makes her capable of manipulating emotions, making the body heal itself, changing one's appearance, and even forcing a man's heart to stop, among other things. "Looking into bright light, preferably the sun, tends to help if you'd prefer a natural remedy that isn't pepper or a feather to irritate your nose further."
no subject
He turns and horks snot into elbow.
"'S alright," Fishing for a handkerchief. Green flickers beneath his palm, the same shade of Nina's Anchor. "Reckon we got it."
His smile cracks slow, conscious. Takes a beat to find his eyes. Cedric doesn't makes a habit of mage healers, but that's the first he's heard of anyone laying spells for a sneeze. Alleviate the urge.
Probably it's not dangerous. Probably it's a joke. But,
"Thanks," Skin hooks in faint line, another half-moon for the sky. He's thinking: "Where's home?"
library
Right, making friends and keeping an eye on the rifters is part of his job. He changes trajectory and moves to pass by her desk.
"New?" he nods, a gesture toward himself. "River."
ii. the library.
She looked forward to it, really, and hoped that whatever lay ahead would be an interesting challenge. But for the moment, what challenged Susan was a particular book, it was supposed to be in a certain spot on the shelves though when she went to take it, it was gone. Frustrating, but not insurmountable.
Susan made a slow circuit around the room, finally spotting the book in question being read by another young woman. She approached with a friendly smile, saying "There it is! I've been looking for it everywhere. May I borrow it after you're through?"
i. the waking sea
He'd never seen the ocean with his clan; the closest they'd ever gotten were lakes, with no storms like this to froth up the waves, nor clouds to cover them in gloom. Maybe it's the remove of half a decade coloring his memories, maybe it's nostalgia for a time when the world was simple, and he had simple enemies, and simple fears, but he cannot remember weather like this before Kirkwall.
He remembers green, and burbling streams and mighty rivers, and beauty. Halla, family, his bonded. This place is not familiar.
The look on Nina Zenik's face as he approaches her, though, is.
"Yes," he agrees, then, with the sentiment if not the words, coming to stand beside her in her grief. "Who do you see in the waves?"
infirmary
On arrival back to the Gallows, maybe from the stumble out of the eluvian, it had reopened and landed Hermione on a gurney inside the infirmary proper, with a perfect stranger mending her wound into non-existence.
And now there's talk of tailoring a scar away? "What exactly does that mean?"