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.
i.
Which particular situation about the veil and the Fade? There’s simply so many. I’ve got stacks on stacks of magical theory back at my office, but they’re presumably fairly introductory if you’re already from Thedas. I liked Enchanter Mirdromel’s account, though; it’s more well-rounded on magic compared to Genitivi’s outsider perspective.
[ He might be younger and shorter compared to the professor, but there’s a similar talkative scholarly air to the dark-haired— mage? He seems like a mage. He also can’t stop staring at Emmrich’s staff (we don’t mean that as euphemism) with something alike raw envy. ]
no subject
It is quite a lot, isn't it. I meant in particular the clear weakness here, though first-hand accounts of any interesting peculiarities someone has encountered would be welcome.
['Outsider' in this context clearly refers to someone who is not a mage, and that combined with how his new company is looking at his staff suggests the other man is a mage. Due to that, this man can doubtlessly feel how thin the Veil feels in Kirkwall compared to elsewhere.]
Do you find Enchanter Mirdromel's account... thorough? I find Chantry-approved texts on the topic often dance away from any deeper conclusions.
[Emmrich's already looking over the shelves for Mirdromel's name and pulling down the suggested text, though. He holds out his hand once that's secured with the Genitivi book on Nevarra.]
Emmrich Volkarin, Professor with the Mourn Watchh.
no subject
[ Tucking away the book under his elbow, Strange accepts the other man’s hand and shakes it. Crisp, polite, professional. ]
Doctor Stephen Strange, Head Healer of Riftwatch, delighted to meet a real academic, [ he says, with a bemused brightness in his green-blue eyes, perking up even further once he realises who he’s talking to: ]
You know, I was only recently able to visit the Grand Necropolis for the first time and work with the Watchers to close a rift. Is it weird to say I’m a fan of your order? I’m a fan.
no subject
His expression lightens as Dr. Strange goes on, transforming to an amused smile by the end.]
Frankly I have no idea if it's weird. Regardless, I'm a fan of it as well, so I thank you for that, as well as for the rift-closing assistance. I should have been a part of that operation, but unfortunately things have been... well. Let us call matters of late in Nevarra City complicated and leave it at that.
[They're settling down at last, which is why he's been asked to assist the Riftwatch. He might like a bit of downtime in the recovered Necropolis, but with the rumors and conflict that surrounds the Riftwatch he can hardly ask someone else to be at risk.]
You must have been part of the Riftwatch for some time, to be the head healer, Doctor Strange?
no subject
but thankfully Strange manages to bite back that pithy joke. He’s habitually sarcastic, but has just enough common sense to rein in his tongue when it’s a Nevarran local, someone whose own city was the one overrun. When the Mourn Watchers have, presumably, been the ones often paying the price, as Strange himself saw firsthand. There’s a time and a place to let that acid sense of humour loose, and this probably isn’t it.
So there’s only the slightest beat of a pause as he reorients, focusing back on Emmrich’s question. He cants his head and does the math. ]
Just a bit over two years. Coming up on two and a half. [ He half-winces, ] God, time flies when you’re fighting evil wizards. I won’t pretend there was a lot of competition for the role — we’re always a little understaffed here — but I was a medical professional in my previous life, so. It was a natural career transition.
no subject
I've little ability with healing on the magical front, but I'm an anatomy expert with no little background in botany and can at least assist with the more hands-on medical matters, particularly where bones are concerned. Though I fear I cannot devote time reliably toward that.
My reason for being here is primarily my expertise on the Fade and spirits. The veil is thinner here than in most places, and I'm wondering if understanding that better can assist with restoring or strengthening it. I must stay at least somewhat focused on that; the Watch must stand against that which would intrude upon our world.
[There's a beat, and Emmrich blinks and looks faintly amused.]
...I refer to the Mourn Watch there, but the duties of the Riftwatch would seem to run parallel in enough ways that matter.
no subject
Are you looking to join us properly, then? Perhaps on secondment? If you did, Riftwatch and Research would certainly be welcome of any contributions, whether it’s medical or osteological or magical in nature. I admit I’ve some experience in combating otherworldly arcane threats, so I’m interested in that particular realm of study and Fade research, as well— I mean, we’d likely all benefit if we managed to stabilise the Veil better so it’s less prone to ripping open and shitting out demons.
[ Eloquent. ]
no subject
That's exactly the reason I'm here. Or most of it. We'd, as in the Mourn Watch, also like a little more warning if threats are headed to Nevarra or the Grand Necropolis. So I'm here to join, assist as best I can, and give them a head's up if, say, someone is about to disturb the rest of our dead all over again.
[He smiles, and his voice has no judgement in it. It hadn't been Riftwatch's job to give them advanced notice, if they'd even had it.]
I'd love to learn from you and teach in return. Especially when it comes to protecting the waking world from spirits, and spirits from the waking world. It's too much for them, and that's why they become dangerous.
no subject
[ He’s so distracted by the conversation that he briefly forgot what he was here for, until he realises his fingers are starting to ache from clutching the textbook in his hands, grip slipping from the weight; he sets his book down on the nearest library cart, reminding himself to take it with him when he leaves. The Gallows’ newest arrival is, frankly, more interesting than whatever research lead he’d been trying to chase down today. ]
‘Professor’. What does that entail exactly, in Nevarra? Do you teach? I thought the title of ‘Senior Enchanter’ primarily marked a teacher in a Circle.
[ But the Mortalitasi seem to do things differently from other Circles, as he’s realising— ]
no subject
The Necropolis does not operate the way Circles did.
[Despite his best attempt to sound neutral with that sentence, it's a little clipped. Emmrich frowns, mostly at himself, and shakes his head. His voice is mostly back to normal when he resumes speaking but there's still a slight edge.]
The Templars of Nevarra know that it's best for Nevarra, and truly the whole of Thedas, if they let the Mourn Watch operate and teach as it will. I teach young adult mages about spirits and the Fade, with higher-level lectures on the same topics, and sometimes when there is need I cover for lower-level classes: anatomy, necromancy, and the like.
Perhaps the South does not talk about how we operate much because in Nevarra many mages have autonomy without the issues of slavery and blood magic that run rampant in Tevinter.
no subject
One of the templars here is Nevarran, so I’d gathered a little bit about how it works, but it’s— I feel like that ought to be the model. In my own world, I had the privilege of learning magic at a monastery of fellow scholars — the Masters of the Mystic Arts — so I admit I’m frankly spoiled. If the Circles could have been more like actual schools of magic, we’d presumably all have been the better for it.
[ A twinkle of mischief in his voice, half-joking: ] Are you still taking open enrolment? For, say, a hypothetical student of somewhat advanced age?
no subject
I doubt, and even hope, that I will be too busy for formal teaching while here. But I do enjoy the art of teaching, if there are particulars you'd like to learn or discuss. In return, if you're willing, I'd love to hear more about magic from your world.
[It seems a fair exchange, in his mind.]
The way it works, what it does, and if you can teach the magic itself here. I've focused on what I do to the point that I'm highly specialized; it would be interesting to branch out a little while I'm not working in the Necropolis.
no subject
It doesn’t directly transfer in either direction, [ and what a frustration, that Doctor Strange can’t simply pick up principles of being a Thedosian healer and make his job all the easier, ]
as in, no one’s been able to directly learn new spells from each other, but I still find value in the sharing of knowledge. Your own principles and techniques help me channel my own abilities better here by manipulating the Fade better. It remains a universal truism: practice does make perfect.
[ He’s a chatterbox when he gets going, glad to expound on these subjects. ]
Nowadays, my own specialties lie in protective glyphs and conjuring spirit weaponry and combat magic. But it was an even broader umbrella, once upon a time: portals, scrying, astral projection, time manipulation.