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.
Yuri Kozukata | Fatal Frame V
[It's not like Yuri is that unfamiliar with falling asleep one place and waking up in another. It's just, usually, that other place is recognizable. It smells, first of all, but she can count herself lucky. The dirt she's laying in is a scant few inches from a puddle of questionably muddy water.
She doesn't move for a moment, just staring at the puddle and the wall beyond it. This wasn't her home, and this wasn't the forest. She didn't feel like she'd been possessed or anything like that to explain sleepwalking away.
After a long minute or two she slowly sits up, taking note that it feels like she's stepped into a Medieval European world. Isekai?? Did she have a run in with Truck-kun unknowingly?
Ugh. Her leg hurts. Either she pulled something arriving, or maybe she'd just been laying unnaturally for too long. Either way, she doesn't feel like she can move right away.]
Um... Excuse me...? [She calls out tentatively, hoping for friend rather than foe to answer back.]
B. Haunted Houses
[is it truly a Dragon Age game without a haunted house? SHe hadn't meant to get wrapped up in anything like this, but the child had asked for help and Yuri couldn't say no to anyone asking for such a thing. Dammit.
She stares, tired, at the body slumped against the side of the house. The cause, she's pretty sure.] Just stay back here. I'll, um.... I'll help it.
"Are you one of those death mages, miss? From Nevarra?"
Uh. Maybe...? [She doesn't know what any of that means but like. Sure. But she steps closer, ignoring the poltergeist activity that starts to ramp up. The house foundation shaking, bricks, chairs, and/or pictures flying through the windows. The howl of the undead.
Yuri touches the body and everything goes still. As one, everything just...stops. Freezing in place.] Let me see into your soul.
[A beat and then...Furniture falls to the ground. The shaking stops and everything goes blissfully quiet, the air feeling lighter than ever. What appears to be a wisp rises from the body, flitting about Yuri in a spiral before it disappears.
Yuri takes a few steps back, bows her head briefly, and then begins to stumble and fall, looking exhausted.]
C. Obligatory Network Post
Hello. My name is Kozukata Yuri. I'm from Hida-Takayama, in Japan.
I don't really know how I can be of help. I think someone tried to call me a 'Death Mage' but I'm not sure what that's supposed to mean. I don't have any magic powers or anything like that.
But I want to help.
I guess that's all.
Arrival
He's the first to find the oddly dressed human stirring near a foul puddle - a fellow rifter going by the attire - and offers a hand up.]
Steady. Are you injured?
no subject
To her credit, though, she doesn't scream or anything like that. He is, after all, much better-looking comparatively to the various spirits she's seen before and she never screamed with them either.]
Oh.
[Alright. Sure!! She hesitates before tentatively taking his hand, with the gentleness of someone expected a static shock. When none comes, her shoulders relax and she sighs in something like relief.]
I don't think so? My leg is a little sore. [She pulls herself to her feet, wincing a little and favoring her right leg some] I don't think it's anything bad.
[Her eyes wander up to his horns and then quickly away. Wow, these bricks sure are interesting!!] Thank you.
no subject
He's learned to distinguish between a curious glance and a threatening glare and when it's best to simply ignore one, and challenge the other.
In this case, he ignores it, helping the human to her feet.]
There's some healers here that can help.
[He casts her a sideways glance. Yup. Definitely not local.]
Are you from this world? Thedas? Or did you come through the rift?
no subject
There's a rat somewhere in the shadows sniffing around and skittering away. Yuri watches it for a beat too long, wrapping her mind around it all.]
I... Thedas? [She doesn't know every country in the world, but this doesn't even vaguely sound familiar. A rift?]
Oh, I... Remember something green? [Her hand aches and she looks down at it, the spark of green making her stare and then clench her fingers into a fist as if attempting to hide it.]
...I may be...a little lost...
no subject
For most rifters, it's the opposite - many come from worlds where magic does not even exist or is so wildly different to what is in Thedas it might as well not be called magic at all.]
You are a rifter then, like myself. Brought here from another world to Thedas.
[It's more complicated than that, he's aware, and that's not even getting into Riftwatch and the war with Corypheus. But baby steps for now. He'll let that sink in while he gets her to the healers bustling about.]
no subject
[She says, faintly. It's not... Well, okay, it is unexpected, but also she'd been slowly coming to terms with that the longer she'd sat there in the shadow of unfamiliar buildings.
She's completely silent, just following after him on autopilot. It isn't until she's being looked over that she speaks again]
What about... my home? I had things I needed to do there. Important things.
no subject
You are... also there. There has been a split of sorts.
[There's a low, thoughtful rumble from the upper slopes of the Qunari.]
Worry more about the situation now. This world is not without its troubles that put you in danger.
no subject
...Okay.
[Is all she says at length, shoulders relaxing somewhat.] What kind of danger? Aside from...stumbling out of odd portals, maybe.
no subject
Demons also come from those portals. And those portals - rifts - are opening due to the actions of a diseased husk with delusions of godhood called Corypheus. The organization that found you is at war with him.
[He inclines his head to the glowing sliver of green in her palm]
That shard means that you too are a part of this fight.
no subject
[Another faint sound of acknowledgement. It all sounds absolutely bizarre, baffling, and any other number of words that would mean 'absolutely mindblowingly impossible.' She looks at the shard in her hand and briefly considers digging it out herself to rid her of this mess on top of everything else she's dealing with.
Then she just has to go thinking of others living in this world dealing with this without a shard, how it could help, and her stomach clenches. The voice of Miu in her head is positively screaming at her to turn around and walk away.]
I'm not a fighter. [Is what she says instead in weak protest] I help people find things, and...and I'm not even really good at that. If my mentor was here, she... She could do more, but I...
[Yuri shakes her head, frowning] I can't do anything. I'm sorry, that...rift picked the wrong person to help you all...
no subject
Do not disparage yourself. There are enough here wary of rifters, and they will be more than happy to do it for you.
[He pauses, quiet for a while. He's not good at this, not people. It's so obviously the wrong thing to say, but he cannot fathom the right one that isn't a saccharine half-truth.]
Your mentor. Does she teach you how to find things? Are you...
[A brief, distant stare as he tries to recall all the many overly specific professions of humans.]
...a detective of some sort?
no subject
His question doesn't get answered for an almost-too-long moment and just when it seems like Yuri isn't going to answer at all, she speaks up:] Something like that.
[Riveting answer.
It's not really a secret, but, again, Hisoka had been better at this sort of thing. Yuri had never been fully comfortable with what she could do]
We have a...a special ability for it. As long as we have something connected to the thing or person we're trying to find, we can track them almost anywhere. If I have a picture of a person, or a piece of their writing, I can use traces of them to follow where they've been or gone.
If I have an earring, I can use it to track its missing pair. That sort of thing.
no subject
...A useful talent. Many things are lost by unconventional means. Perhaps it will take the equally unconventional to find them.
b.
So she's come prepared, ready to extol the virtues of the Gallows' library, ready to explain the divisions of the Riftwatch and how to, should this young lady want to join, choose which one to work in.
Instead, they get interrupted by a sallow, sad child with a big eyes - understandable, then, the deviation: who wouldn't have a heart and deviate? - and death mage gets flung around in conversation. Casually. ]
I'm not sure that's the most polite thing to s - [ Is what she starts to say to the child, but then the girl approaches the body and things. Just. Happen.
After, dashing to catch Yuri before she falls, under her breath: ] I'm sorry, what [the hell] was that?
no subject
Nothing does, so she lets out a breath.] Sorry. I didn't know it would get so...flashy.
[Maybe she should have, though. Spirits here are somehow capable of doing so much more than the ones where she's from. After a moment to catch her breath, she continues:] He was angry. And sad. He was killed--a robbery. He was upset.
[Yuri pauses, getting her bearings again to make sure she's making...well, at least a little sense.] I took it from him, the pain, and the anger. So he's free now.
no subject
That's...[ Sad, for the dead, and spirits can often turn into demons if left to suffer, so: ] very kind of you, miss. But you should be careful - Rifters who end up here have noted that magic doesn't work the same way for them. Don't wear yourself out on a favour.
no subject
She shakes her head a little, then immediately regrets it when the room swims a little. Yuri blinks her vision clear and takes a breath] I can't not do anything when someone asks for help, though. But...I'll try to take it easier.
[She trails off, looking at Hermione with a quiet curiosity before she continues] I didn't mean to make you go out of your way or anything. Thank you, and sorry for the bother.
no subject
No, no - you didn't get in my way. I was the one escorting you.
[ A pause. ] Why don't we try again, we've skipped past introductions in our haste to help the people of this...[ Spooky. ] Place. I'm Hermione. Like yourself, I've wound up here by falling through the Fade, and am what the locals call a Rifter.
no subject
Hermione. Pleased to meet you. [She says Hermione's name slowly to make sure she has the pronunciation right, before moving on] My name is Yuri. I'm from Japan-- Originally.
Thank you, again. For helping me out. I... [She trials off and sighs deeply] I really don't know how much good I'll be here, but...I want to help. So... [So whatever she can do, she'll try.]
network;
no subject
[A pause and she adds:]
I was helping a ghost, though.