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.
🥰 ty ty
"I did teach myself, yes, but I was lucky; my master was a scholar. I had the opportunity." And you did not lies unspoken in the air.
no subject
"Mm." Tertia shakes her head when Calpernia speaks about opportunities. Not because she's denying it, but because she wants to dismiss the very idea that Calpernia needs to downplay her genius. Knowing that this woman is so sharp and so clever is a pleasure in and of itself; who cares whether Tertia is, too? She certainly doesn't.
"I wish I could hear everything about you, and about your life. But - Doctissima - why are you here?" She can't just stand around basking in the fact that she's speaking to the Calpernia. "They said you weren't captured in battle - They said you surrendered yourself."
no subject
Being here will have its perks, if she can get out of this cage.
Yet, even imprisoned, Tertulla can still be useful. Calpernia reaches through the bars of her cell, even if it makes the guard to the left shift nervously. She ignores him. Her focus is only on the girl.
"I thought the Elder One was our best chance at fixing Tevinter." Our, not my. "But he's changed, since all of this started. But now, can you answer my question? Are you the only Liberati here?"
no subject
How different it would have been, if Tertia had been freed by Calpernia herself. Different for the better in some ways, but in others...It would have been worse. If Tertia had been near to Calpernia, she would have tolerated anything. And then she'd never have left, and she'd never have had a chance to understand how the Elder One truly wasn't their best chance at anything. How his care did not extend to people like her.
"Yes, Doctissima. But I'm with the People of the Silent Plains - all Liberati, or almost all. Riftwatch...They wish to see the slaves to rise up. So we work with them."
There's a guardedness in the way Tertia says that. She might be timid, but she's not a fool. The people of Riftwatch are kind enough, but they wouldn't lift a finger for the slaves if it wasn't key to their strategy for winning the war.
no subject
"Call me Magistra," she says, her voice soft. "In the old tongue, it used to mean teacher, before the Alti perverted our ways."
Our, the true heirs of Tevinter, the Liberati, two women crouching on the floor of a prison. Calpernia holds Tertulla's hand in hers the way one would cradle a baby bird. Her affection is a comfort, and Calpernia will reward it. This is how bonds are made.
"They have the right of it. I was blinded by Corypheus' skill," a bit of humility is good, when deployed correctly. "Now I know the path toward cleansing Tevinter is from the outside."
no subject
In many ways, Tertia's shyness is quite an asset. The guard doesn't intervene to stop that touch between the two women, because it's just Tertia on the other end of it. Her gentle-seeming nature puts her above - or, perhaps more accurately, below - suspicion. And so they're allowed to continue with their intimate conversation; what harm could come from it?
"I'm certain that they'll let you go free. Riftwatch, that is. Because if the slaves and the Liberati know you're fighting against him - they'll abandon the Elder One." A bit of color creeps into her cheeks, but she speaks earnestly and shamelessly. "You are greater than he could ever be."
no subject
She thinks, this girl has the makings of a spy. For now, she'll spread rumors to suit Calpernia's aims.
"You don't need to flatter me, little one." She places both hands on Tertulla's, now. "I hope the Liberati would abandon him... but I worry they'll never find out."
no subject
"We can make certain of it," is the extent of her promise. "Riftwatch has good propaganda networks. And so do the People."
no subject
Lower case P, but whatever. It would benefit Calpernia (and so it will benefit Tertulla, whom Calpernia will nurture) if her profile was known before she left this cell, if her propaganda was already alive and well at home base. She'll need to consolidate power, and the easiest way to do that is with a rumor mill under her thumb.
"What do they have you doing here, little mouse?"
(After she says it, Calpernia reflects that she may be laying on it a little thick with the pet names.)