TEST DRIVE MEME!

[faderifting]

What if there is no tomorrow?

Only more Hinterlands

Maybe the Inquisition sent you, maybe you came seeking the Inquisition. Maybe you fell out of a rift into this world last week and are still just trying to find your feet. However it happened, the first days of the new year find you in the Hinterlands. Tucked between Ferelden's massive Lake Calenhad and the icy Frostback Mountains, the Hinterlands are a hilly region covered in patchy forests and small farms trying to eke out a living between the boulders. Though somewhat remote, the area is rich with game and minerals and home to Redcliffe, a bustling town on a busy trade route.

Lately the Hinterlands have also been full of mages and templars and rifts, all threatening to turn once-peaceful countryside into a dangerous warzone. The Inquisition has set up several camps and sent personnel to try to restore order to the region, unwilling to let it slip into chaos. There's a lot to be done, some of it straightforward killing bad things, some of it weird and nebulous morale-building.

STILL WITH ADDED SNOW AND NOW ALSO ADDED KINDNESS TO ANIMALS (MOSTLY).

1. IF I GET SCARED, YOU'RE ALWAYS AROUND

You have turned the wrong corner in the snow, forded the wrong stream in the snow, crested the wrong hill in the snow, entered the wrong cave in the snow. Maybe you are far from camp, in the snow. Maybe you are in camp, which is also snowy. Whatever has happened, wherever you are: you are being chased through the snow by bears. Did you throw a snowball at the bears? Are they huge and snow-dusted? Babies burrowing through the snow drifts and coming for your ankles? Fade-touched in addition to snow-touched? Controlled by cold mages who are hiding in the snow? Popping up out of the snow like a game of whack-a-mole? What are they chasing you away from in all of this snow? What are they chasing you into, other than more snow? What warm things do you plan to make out of their hide if you kill them in the snow? What do you think they'll craft out of your hide if they kill you in the snow? P.S. It's still snowy.

2. THEY SAY WE'RE YOUNG AND WE DON'T KNOW

The Inquisition has, possibly, been a little too good at dealing with the Hinterlands' bear problem, and a group of concerned citizens--including young burgeoning naturalists, farmers concerned about the effect an unchecked population of rams may have on their crops come spring, and at least one woman who claims to be directly descended from bears--has taken issue. Maybe they're blocking your character's attempt to enter a bear-infested area. Maybe they've doused your character in bear blood. Maybe the bears they have been working so hard to save have cornered them in the wilderness and they're changing their tunes.

3. WITH YOU I CAN'T GO WRONG

The Inquisition's (cough Leliana's) habit of communicating by raven works out fine, usually, but this particular raven has gone a little rogue. It's not the raven's fault! She's young, she's trying. But she has very important information tied to her leg, and instead of delivering it, she's joined a flock of identical wild ravens to hunt for food in the snow. Recover her, somehow, without hurting her and making any spymistresses angry.

4. BEFORE IT'S EARNED, OUR MONEY'S ALL BEEN SPENT

The tavern at Redcliffe remains as busy as ever, filled with locals, travelers, and Inquisition members. But this month in addition to the usual free-flowing ale and rowdy conversation there is also a contest going on. Bakers have come from across the Hinterlands bearing their very best in an effort to win a coveted ribbon and the title of Best Cake. They pack the tavern and spill out into the surrounding courtyard when the weather allows, cakes sold off tables, out of packs, small chunks given away to whoever is passing and not paying enough attention to refuse. The votes are carefully guarded by several serious looking fellows in the back corner of the tavern. In addition to traffic issues, the cake madness has also caused an infestation of large local rodents, who have appeared out of their holes to devour the many crumbs. Legend has it that if they can be humanely eradicated from the tavern before the final vote is cast, spring will come early. No one in living memory has succeeded, but you are strongly encouraged to try anyway.

5. AIN'T NO HILL OR MOUNTAIN WE CAN'T CLIMB

Hunt game so you can rescue it before other hunters get there, kill demons or maybe just try to hug it out?, dig under the snow for herbs or plant some of your own to replace what others have taken, track bandits through the snow and see if they need a hand, deal with someone charging extortionist coat prices now that it's snowing and convince them to do the right thing, fall off a deceptively tall rock into the snow and admit it was your own fault, get lost circling the same hill ten times trying to find a way up to the weird glowing skull on a stick you can see is up there in the snow so that you can give it a decent burial, climb trees or abandoned towers covered in snow and be careful not to knock them down, rummage around in empty homes to get out of the snow but leave a nice apology note, run from a dragon in the snow and promise not to trespass on its territory again, definitely don't kill any fennec foxes, set up camp and chat around the fire about your feelings because it's snowy and cold, give yourself a pat on the back (figuratively, or even literally if that's more your speed)-- the Hinterlands are your playground.

Comments

Hermione Granger | Harry Potter

[bookish_lioness]

She was in the woods, and she was running. So if she was running, something was likely chasing her, since that was how she'd spent most of the previous year. But now the war was over, which left her wondering what was chasing her, and as she went to grab her wand out of her beaded handbag as a precautionary measure (another anomaly, as she wouldn't have kept her wand in her bag and really, what would she need a bag with a seemingly limitless Extension Charm for anyway, now that the war was over?), she glanced behind her.

Death Eaters in the distance. Lots and lots of Death Eaters.

Well. That certainly explained the bright flashes of green that seemed to be exploding everywhere. Now all that was left was for Hermione not to get herself struck by a Killing Curse so late in the game.

But wait. This was a dream. It had to be. And she couldn't die in a dream.

... but then, she also shouldn't feel cold damp snow soaking through her shoes and her jeans. Especially since it hadn't been snowing a moment ago.

And that was when she realized that she was "dreaming" about a completely unfamiliar spot of woodland, and somehow, it didn't feel as though she was dreaming anymore.

1.

Hermione had never seen bears up close before.

Oh, she'd certainly seen them in zoos, and they had seemed very nice - if a bit sad - when they were locked away from the general public. But she was fairly certain that brown bears were extinct in the U.K., and she'd been in no hurry to go out and find any other kinds of bears in the wild. She was, after all, the smart one of her group.

Granted, the smart one also happened to be an animal lover, and seeing what looked like a family of bears appear out of nowhere and traipsing about the woods was just a little distracting. Especially when one of the younger ones made eye contact with her before surprising her by approaching closer.

Bears weren't like cats. With cats, you stuck your hand out and let them sniff at it and at worst they might ignore you. With bears, sticking your hand out was an open invitation for them to try and take a bite. Hermione learned that the hard way. She also learned that Mama and Papa Bear don't much like it when witches shout, "Stupefy!" at their cub in self-defense. She also learned that the bright red Stupefying Charm apparently doesn't work on larger bears.

Hermione was learning many things today, and she was also doing a lot more running than she'd done since the war ended. She just never imagined it would be because of bears.

3.

She didn't know where she was, and she knew that the easiest way to fix that would be to ask a local. But there didn't seem to be many of those out in the wilderness. There were just wild animals (she'd learned to avoid the bears, thank you), which couldn't very well tell her how to get back to Hogwarts.

Or could they?

Hermione noticed the small group of ravens scrounging for food, pecking away at the snow. If not for all her time in the wizarding world, she would have missed the small letter attached to one of their legs. Well! It might not be an owl, but at least she could be fairly confident that there were other witches and wizards about!

She didn't want to intercept someone else's mail, but maybe if she could attract the attention of one of the other ravens, she could get a message off to the Headmistress or someone at the Burrow. Digging into her bag, she got out a package of trail mix, which should serve ravens much better than owls.

... perhaps it served a little too well, really, considering that she'd only been attempting to get one raven over to her, but it seemed that none among the flock of them had been having much luck finding food. So when the curly-haired girl stuck out a hand filled with seeds and raisins and berries, they all flooded the scene en masse, driving her back a few steps as she tried (with no success) to avoid beaks and claws.

"Ow! There's enough for all of you, just.... Wait your turn!"

5. - (Feel free to interact with her as you'd like!)

For some strange reason, Hermione Granger wasn't as much of an animal lover as she had once been. She was still picking raven feathers out of her hair and trying not to rub at a myriad of scratches, even if she'd managed to take care of the worst of her injuries with her wand. There had to be civilization somewhere, but she was either going around in circles or she was just tired and hungry after having thrown her trail mix at the conspiracy of ravens (what an appropriate collective noun) to keep them at bay.

At least she found a jar in her bag inside which she could cast a Bluebell Flame, keeping her warm for long stretches at a time. If anyone came by and saw a grumpy-looking witch sitting by a small blue fire, she would at least be less grumpy at the sight of sentient life and be willing to share the warmth as she fished for information.

1

[qunari]

Bears. It was always bears, wasn't it?

Luckily for Hermione, Bull happened to be exploring the ruins of a nearby hut, eyes scanning over a bit of correspondence left behind. Generally it was just a matter of skirting around the bears if one didn't want to pick a fight or got in a hurry, but apparently no one had bothered to tell the nice young lady currently running for her life.

With a sigh, the letter was tucked into his pocket, axe hefted onto his shoulder as he made his way out of the remains of the splintered framing. Alright. Time to see if he could catch up before they decided to make a snack out of the poor girl.

[bookish_lioness]

A flurry of thoughts went through her head as she tried to think her way logically out of her situation. Could bears climb trees? She could try to scale one in a hurry, but that would leave her within biting range for far too long. Would throwing her arms out to make herself appear larger and more aggressive scare them off, or would she just be giving them more surface area to choose from for their next meal? Would playing dead work? Possibly, but who would be stupid enough to stop mid-chase and drop motionless to the ground based on a possibility?

In the end, Hermione chose the latter option; or, rather, it chose her, given that the ground suddenly shook harder than it had before, presumably as one of the large bears pounced for her and just barely missed. Actually being on the ground made the "play dead" aspect of this tactic seem like an automatic death sentence, and so she turned around, one hand tight on her wand as she used the other to try and scoot backwards.

One of the bears was frightfully closer than the others, and so she immediately went for the first spell on her lips. "Impedimenta!" Personally, she would have much rather not seen how close that massive paw - now moving in slow motion - would have come to ripping her face off, but she was grateful to have had time to avoid it.

As she scrambled to her feet, Hermione tried to think of a suitable hex for the other bear. She knew a few that could cause serious damage, of course, given that she'd survived a war, but it didn't seem right to hurt or kill an animal just because it had been defending its young.

[qunari]

In this world it was kill or be killed, far too often. Motivations rarely mattered in the moment, when lives were on the line. There was time to stand back and feel sorry things had ended that way later. But Hermione wouldn't be given the chance to regret the nature of...well, nature.

The least he could do was draw the animals away from the girl. That meant pulling it towards himself, a far more threatening target. Lowering his head, the Bull rushed forward with a growl, slamming straight into the approaching father bear's side. The beast roared and toppled, massive paws flailing for a moment as Bull stepped back, planting himself between the mage and the two enraged furry parents.

"You want to make a break for it, now'd be the time!" he shouts over his shoulder, turning just enough to catch eyes with her.

[bookish_lioness]

Whatever Hermione might have expected to see once she'd managed to keep herself from falling as the ground trembled yet again, it certainly wasn't a giant minotaur with an eye patch coming to her rescue. It was almost nice to know she could still be surprised. Almost.

After what felt like a second or two too long, she slowly backed away, though she still held her wand out towards the pair of animals, one shaking off a hex and the other shaking off whatever it was that had been done to it while she'd been trying to make it to her feet.

"Can you scare them off?" she asked, keeping an eye on the bears and making sure there was a strong hex at the tip of her tongue. If she were less frazzled, she might have been worried that he might take offense to that, but frankly, he was big, and he was scary, and she would have preferred that to the idea that he'd try to destroy these animals just because she'd been stupid enough to encroach on their territory.

[qunari]

Not that he doesn't get where she's coming from. The bears looking like they're giving the whole situation another second's thought, but they're not backing down. One of them roars, shaking out its furry head, teeth bared.

"Nah. Whatever you did pissed them off royal. You can fight or run, but they're not gonna leave this alone." Hermione was given another side-glance. "Getting out of their territory's the only way out without fighting them. Your call."

A little tender-hearted, considering the next poor asshole to wander through this neck of the woods would probably get the brunt of the animal's rage. But you live in the woods, you deal with bears. This girl didn't look as though she'd signed up for any of that.

5

[doneisdone]

From out of the wintry gloom walked a tall figure, dressed warmly in traveling leathers with studded blue accents. Her expression was difficult to see in the low light of the fire, but it was decidedly unfriendly, though not aggressive.

"A blue fire," Teren said, quietly enough to be heard only by the girl and not by anyone nearby, "do you have a death wish, girl?" She didn't ask if she was a mage-- that much was obvious.

[bookish_lioness]

The sight of another person gladdened her, but the smile died away before it could fully take root. "What do you mean?" she asked, since that seemed more pertinent than engaging in formal introductions right at this moment. Looking down at the jar, she murmured, "It's too dim to be seen by most predators... though I suppose putting up a shield charm would have been prudent if I wanted to be absolutely safe, but-...."

Oh. She didn't really know if this other woman was a witch, given that she didn't even know where she was. She didn't seem overly surprised by the blue flame and had assumed that Hermione had done it herself, but that didn't mean that she could just walk around talking about magic until she knew more about where she was.

"Should I put it out?"

[doneisdone]

"Every Templar for miles is going to see this and know there's an apostate here for the slaughter," Teren informed her, "aye, I'd put it out if I were you. Start a proper fire, child, then all you'll have to worry about is the bears."
She cast a glance over her shoulder and up, listening. They were alone, for now, though she was prepared to disappear if anyone else arrived.

[bookish_lioness]

She didn't know how to respond to that. At all. Templar? Apostate? Slaughter?

"Er-... I don't know what you think I am, but I'm not an apostate," she brought up, even if she did move to extinguish the flame. The prospect of being slaughtered didn't sit well with her. "I know about the bears, though, and I'd frankly rather not deal with them. Is there a village nearby? Or perhaps I can build a regular fire while you tell me about these Templars."

[doneisdone]

Heartened by the girl's willingness to listen, Teren approached a few more steps, then stooped to crouch across the smoking embers and offer her a flint.
"You're one of them who came from the rifts, aren't you," she guessed, still unsmiling but not entirely unkind, "aye, there's a small trading village not too far from here, and Redcliffe, though the times have been rough on them and I've heard tell the mage revolt is in full force there." She watched Hermione build the fire in whatever way she chose, not interrupting unless it appeared the girl needed help.

"Templars are the mage hunters, and you'd do well to hide any magic inclinations until you're safely out of here. They've all been battling it out for weeks, 'round here, after one mage saw fit to blow up a chantry."

3.

[samahl]

Cyril had been trying to find the missing raven when he came across this girl currently being swarmed with them. He really didn't like the idea of someone innocent getting harmed because one raven got off course. He knew those things looked threatening enough, he couldn't imagine having a flock rushing you.

"Hey!" he yelled really loud, trying to distract the birds, as he ran up to where Hermione was currently being trapped by the birds. He got out his bow, but didn't shoot an arrow just yet. He didn't want to accidentally hit the girl, or Leliana's raven.

[bookish_lioness]

It didn't take long for Hermione to realize that animals act out whenever there's something edible involved, and since she was fairly sure ravens would prefer trail mix over witches, she tossed the back of snacks on the ground. It distracted most of the birds, which was good, since she heard an unfamiliar voice that seemed to imply someone was attempting to come to her aid. A rescue would be much easier when she only had a pair of birds on her now, pecking at the stray seeds that had fallen up her sleeves in the skirmish.

"Shoo!" she scolded at them, still trying to swat them away. That was when she noticed that the newcomer had a bow, and she gasped as she shouted, "I said shoo, not shoot! Don't shoot them; they're just hungry!"

[samahl]

"I know, don't worry," the elf replied. "I was thinking of using it to scare them, but I can't get a clean shot without hurting them..." Rather than try again, he put up the bow and then and came up to her to help her get the remaining birds away from her face.

"Are you all right?" he asks, with real concern on his face. He'd figure out which one of this birds was the Inquisition's after she was safe.

[bookish_lioness]

She calmed considerably when she found out that she wasn't going to get one of these intelligent - if thoroughly irritating - birds killed, and she calmed down even more when this stranger helped her with the remaining birds. Heart still racing, she breathed out, "Yes, thank you," and was about to ask after whether he was in some sort of archery club before she noticed his appearance.

Or, well, until she noticed his ears. Those were definitely the most distinctive feature amidst all of the other distinctive features.

If nothing else, though, Hermione was polite enough not to stare, and not to bluntly ask after what he was. So though she visibly faltered for a moment, she managed a small, only slightly awkward smile as she commented, "I suppose this would be a good spot for a bird feeder, if they're as ravenous as-...oh. I suppose that's where the word comes from."

[samahl]

Cyril seemed to be the sort of man who was used to people being flustered at his appearance so he only smiled at her and gave her a moment to recover. He didn't even make a big deal about it, just let her have that moment without comment.

"We've been trying to get the one with the letter back to his rightful home. Did you manage to see it?" he looked over at the crowd, scanning the creatures over for the right one.

He knew he ought to be a little more wary of her. She might have been trying to lure the birds down in order to steal the secrets it held, but honestly, if she had been a spy it was very likely she would be sharing much about this story.

3.

[judgemewhole]

It was something unusual for Norrington to go be asked to go pick up the mail -- so to speak -- but he was the one who was finishing up his rotation on walking the perimeter so he headed over to where the crows typically gathered. He found them basically surrounded a girl who was holding out her hand with ... what was that? Seeds?

He had his sword out when he had come through the bushes, hearing the cawing and the sound of someone who was not supposed to be there. Now ... he had to admit, he was a bit stumped.

"All right, I suppose the first thing I should ask is - are you a spy? Because if you're a spy, I'm going to let them keep pecking you. Baron Plucky is particularly vicious."

[bookish_lioness]

By this point, Hermione had tossed the bag of snacks onto the ground, even if the birds still seemed all too eager to harass her. She tried kicking at the bag and stepping away to get some distance between herself and what they wanted, but there were still quite a few that were either tangled in her hair or simply didn't want to leave her be just yet.

And then there came a man with an honest-to-goodness sword, and Hermione wondered why she was at all surprised.

Deciding that it was better safe than sorry, she put her hands up, one of them still glowing with the green that had followed her from her dream. "Even if I were a spy, don't you think I'd deny it if it would get these things off me?" She might even admit to being a spy, if that was what it'd take to get him to help. But she knew better than to let her snappishness last, especially since she didn't want to end up on the wrong side of that sword.

"I'm sorry, no, I'm not a spy. I don't even know what I'd be spying on. I was just trying to - ow! - trying to see if I could send a message to someon- will you stop that?" That last bit was directed towards one particularly vicious bird - the Baron, most likely - who seemed to think her ears were just as tasty as any trail mix she could have offered.

[judgemewhole]

The green shard shimmering from her hand gave him a good idea precisely what he was dealing with. Another Rifter - young and probably with no idea of what was going on. Of course, she denied the claim of spy readily enough, but it was clear that all she was was frazzled, and just a little frightened.

He sheathed the sword, before he clapped his hands together, drawing the birds attention to himself. Then he swept through their ranks in the most threatening manner possible, easily done even without the blade naked in his hands, and they scattered to the sky, cawing as they took flight. All but the Baron, whom Norrington held out his arm as he stated to the bird, "Your mother requires her notice, Baron."

Baron cawed at him, before hopping on his arm and offering his leg. Norrington nodded, then looked back to the girl. "I'm afraid, since you wear that shard ... you are not going to find a way to get a message to anyone you know, my Lady."

[bookish_lioness]

She was paying more attention to the birds than she was the man, so of course all Hermione noticed was that they suddenly diminished in number, all save for that last pesky one that seemed intent on relieving her of her ear. But even he was soon gone, and Hermione quickly brought a hand up to her face, assessing the damage. From what she could tell, she had a few scratches and was bleeding just a bit, but the worst of it was that itchy feeling of far too many feathers and talons and beaks having just surrounded her.

At length, once she was sure that her body parts were at least in the right place, she returned her attention to the man who luckily no longer saw her as some sort of threat. Still breathing hard from her recent scare, she tried not to huff as she replied, "Then maybe you could answer a few questions. Where am I, and why use ravens for messengers when they're so fickle, and why is my hand glowing, and do you know how to get to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry?"

Wincing a little, she reached up and squeezed at her earlobe that Baron had been attacking moments ago, feeling quite a bit of blood. She won't be able to put in earrings until that healed up. "And do you happen to have a bandage I could use?"

[judgemewhole]

Norrington took the letter from Baron Plucky's leg, and after the bird gave him a swipe, he let the infernal beast go upon his way. He turned towards the girl, frowning faintly at the scratches on her face and ear.

He reached into his belt, as he answered her questions. "You are in Thedas, more specifically an area they call the Hinterlands. The ravens were not any one in the Inquisition's idea except for our spymaster. Your hand is glowing because you have a piece of the Fade in it."

A longer pause ... "There is no such place here, and I have something better." He handed over the healing potion. "Take this."

1

[eviscerates]

Wolf hearing does all sorts of things for her. She can hear if her car engine is doing something a little funky long before most other people would, for example, and it helped her find David when he went missing in the woods, one time. Sometimes it's less great. Hearing gossip, for example, and helping her Granny run a hotel? Well, that was an adventure, and sometimes a terrible one.

Today she can hear breaking branches and rasping breath, and it has her stopped in her tracks and twisting, running towards the sound. Most people wouldn't have heard, but she can, and she's bolting through the snow to find the sound, until she see a girl. It's then that she unclasps her cloak, bright crimson with a deep red brocade, and lets it tumble behind her to the ground, and breaks into a sprint. "Get up a tree," she calls to the girl, eyes glowing gold, before she hurls herself towards the bears - not as Ruby, though. It's a wolf that meets them, a snarling mass of grey and black fur and bared teeth.

[bookish_lioness]

Hermione's sort of busy running for her life, so she doesn't notice that there's anyone else on the scene until she hears a voice calling for her to climb up a tree. It had definitely been a thought, but she needs to make sure the bears would be distracted long enough for her to do that, since she's not exactly the best climber.

So she turns around just enough to glance behind her, catching sight of the woman who'd apparently called out to her. Just when she's about to turn back, though, she notices a strange shift, and it's not just in the fact that the bears are no longer paying her the most attention.

Oh. A werewolf. Who can control her transformations, apparently. That... shouldn't be possible.

But okay. She isn't going to look a gift wolf in the mouth, especially not if that mouth ends up being indiscriminate about what it eats up. So she's only all too happy to take the distraction offered to her, scrambling up the nearest tree and deciding that she can always perch herself as high as possible and use that vantage point to figure out where to aim her wand, if need be.

[eviscerates]

In fairness, running for your life is a pretty good priority to have. For now, Red - or the Wolf, more accurately - is fighting for hers. Two bears at once, and there have been times when she's had to face down a pack of wolves, or soldiers sent by Regina in the old days, or King George when he wanted revenge on David. She about matches the bears, for size - a little smaller, maybe, but she can move fast and twists to lunge at the throat of one. It's a messy fight, blood splashing across the snow.

The problem with two against one in a melee fight was that it was easy to get surrounded, so even as one of the bears goes down with her tearing at its throat, the other batters her back with outstretched paws, and the Wolf is all but tossed against a tree by the action.

She may have over estimated herself, this time around, and the Wolf is always that bit stronger during Wolfstime.

[bookish_lioness]

All things considered, Hermione would have much preferred not having the view she'd managed to procure for herself. She felt awful for the bears, considering that she had incited this whole thing by foolishly thinking she could pet their cub and then attempting to Stun it when it acted on its instincts, and the idea of that cub losing its parents....

It makes her sick, just as it does to watch as the wolf that had attempted a rescue gets slammed against a tree, and so she tries to do something to salvage both her rescuer and at least one of the bears. Encouraged perhaps by the snow around them, she gets out her wand, pointing it at the advancing bear and crying, "Glacius!"

Though it isn't as strong as it ordinarily is, a layer of ice immediately forms around the bears paws, slowly creeping its way upwards until all four legs are frozen within the ice. Hopefully it's strong enough to keep the bear back for a bit, but not strong enough that it will freeze or starve to death before it wears off.

Though she wants to see if the newcomer is all right, she knows better than to wholly trust a werewolf in its wolf form. If Remus could attack her, then she certainly isn't going to trust a random stranger not to, preferring to watch and see what she does next.