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
He'll find his footing soon, helped along by more friendly faces - and if he seems even more pleased to see Hardie, it is, hopefully, forgivable. The creature is the closest he's ever come to a pet; for all he'd petitioned Mother for a war dog to join them on their travels, he'd always been rebuffed. (In retrospect, such a thing was never going to happen, but a twelve-year-old's dreams are stubborn things.) Bending down a little, he gives Hardie an affectionate scratch behind the ears. "Hardie! What a beast you've become!"
To Gwenaëlle's office, though, and with some dignity (and perhaps he'll see what tricks Hardie still remembers later). He follows her down the stairs, finally answering the question she'd asked in the middle of everything. "I came a few days ago - overland from Nevarra. The countryside was choked with Venatori, I'm sorry to say, but I'm sure you're well aware."
no subject
“So a nice change from the restless dead,” she suggests, dry, thinking of her own recent trips to the parts of Nevarra City that’re actually accessible. Hard to envy the Mortalitasi their work there, or everyone else who’s going to make that place liveable again. Or who have to put up with her fucking brother while they’re doing it, a thing she immediately has no interest in dwelling on, “Just the more obnoxious living.”
When they arrive, her office is clearly intended to be shared; equally clear that no one currently occupies the post to share it with her, half of the room and the other desk neat and clean but plainly unused. Her side is well organised and evidence of how busy her own post keeps her — a few keepsakes displayed, but it’s mostly well ordered professional chaos. Duty rosters, notes on the armoury, some infirmary inventory that seems a little out of place with everything else.
And, of course, there’s a cushioned bed for Hardie near the desk.
“Are you joined up with us?”
(A fleeting and sincere stab of anxiety: Maker, she’d rather go back to Sarrux than face Morrigan if anything happens to him. Wow, probably this is how Coupe felt. No need to examine that at all.)
no subject
"Provided you'll have me." The broad you, Riftwatch as a whole - but with the knowledge that Gwenaëlle could easily put in a hesitant word if she so chose. She wouldn't sabotage him - he's quite certain of that - but if she felt him unable to rise to the task at hand, she's perfectly capable of saying so. "I was shown great kindness here when Mother was affiliated with your organization. I'd like to give something in return."
no subject
It’s still hard not to look at him and see the boy with his wooden sword, showing her what Alistair had taught him.
(Alistair and Morrigan, both asking her if she thought them awful once she knew. How easy it had been to say it had never entered her head not to trust that they’d done their best, made the best decision available to them.)
“We can use you,” she says, frank. “We’re still shorthanded more than we aren’t, but the work is...you aren’t going to be bored, I can promise you that. Though I suppose you might find our eluvians rather old hat, knowing your mother.” Fondness colours her voice; she misses Morrigan constantly, thinks of her often.
If she’d led a different life, maybe she’d have a daughter now, named for her.
no subject
"I don't take well to boredom," he informs her, though he doubts she has to cast back too far in her memory to know it already. His dedication to his studies was always fitful: easy when he was interested, easy to set aside when he wasn't. Fortunately, everything that holds his attention can be found within Riftwatch's work; if he slips away from a dull textbook to spend an afternoon with a foil, he won't actually be abandoning his duty. "But I do quite enjoy an eluvian."
Hardie nudges politely against his leg, and he leans down just enough to pet the dog's head. "Is there anything I should know before I sign myself away to you for the foreseeable future? Besides the obvious."
Which is to say - the war's not going particularly well. I know it's been a struggle.