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allthisshitisweird2016-03-02 10:14 pm
faderifting) wrote in allthisshitisweird2016-03-02 10:14 pm
Entry tags:
TEST DRIVE MEME
A kingdom of isolation, and it looks like
it's the 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. WILL IT EVER BE WARM AGAIN WE JUST DON'T KNOW
1. AND THE BEARS THAT ONCE CONTROLLED ME CAN'T GET TO ME AT ALL
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. In case you hadn't guessed, it's still snowy.
2. LET IT GO
At first it sounds like a folktale, passed around tavern hearths and campfires after a few too many tankards. An evil witch with a heart of ice atop a frigid mountain fortress, casting endless winter upon the land, turning those who oppose her into snowmen. But it turns out it's true-- or at least partly. Maybe. Sort of. If you can weed through the stories, the common threads are these: several locals and travelers claim to have been accosted on the back roads through the hills by a female mage who used ice magic to trap them and steal their belongings, sometimes freezing solid those who tried to fight back. Some said she claimed to own the land, others that she was collecting a toll, and several that she cackled wildly about ranted about endless winter. Whichever version you choose to believe, there seems to be an apostate who needs dealing with. Perhaps you'd like to wander the roads in the guise of a wealthy traveler and lure her into an ambush? Scout the caves in the hills and try to track her to her lair? Make a friendly visit and recruit her to the Inquisition?
3. LET IT GO
The Hinterlands are dotted with lakes and ponds and streams, nearly all of which are frozen solid. The locals sometimes travel this way, pushing goods across on sledges, or strapping blades to the bottoms of their boots to skate, carrying messages and supplies or just racing when the weather is clear. Some enterprising souls have even attached sails to their sleds or runners to their rowboats and skitter across the ice hoping not to tip over or stray off-course into rocks. There are other hazards, too: in some places the ice is deceptively thin, and you may come across a stranger unlucky enough to have lost a boot or gotten a leg stuck or fallen through altogether. Maybe you're the unlucky one, treading icy water and calling for help.
4. I AM ONE WITH THE BLAH BLAH BLAAAAAH
The tavern at Redcliffe is rid of both cakes and rats, but is still filled to the brim with rowdy drunks. Tonight they are both rowdier and drunker than usual, and something sets someone off. Maybe it's you, maybe it's the guy next to you, maybe it's someone all the way across the room and you don't even see it happen, but suddenly the entire place is engulfed in a knock-down drag-out glass-smashing chair-swinging bar fight. Dive right in, pick a side, pick no side, get caught off-guard, hide under a table, try to sneak out, it's up to you but you'd better decide quickly.
5. THE COLD NEVER BOTHERED ME ANYWAY
Hunt game, or kill demons, dig under the snow for herbs, track bandits, open a streetside scarf stand in Redcliffe, fall off a deceptively tall rock into the snow, 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, climb trees or abandoned towers covered in snow, rummage around in empty homes to get out of the snow, run from a dragon, definitely don't kill any fennec foxes, set up camp and chat around the fire, sing a rousing solo about your love of the weather, do whatever the hell you want-- the Hinterlands are your endless frozen playground.
Thane Krios | Mass Effect | Native AU | elven assassin eyyy
[It's difficult to say what is the cause, but Thane suspects that it was going to be inevitable. Poor decision making is often made while one is intoxicated, Thane is the odd man out in the corner of the tavern, preferring to let his hot tea steep. He sits, patient, his face difficult to read due to the serpent stone mask he's wearing.
The fight quickly crawls his way.
When one unfortunate thug comes his way, ready to pick a fight, Thane barely looks at him, kicking the man's feet out from under himself.
Sadly, that's not the only man. It's almost bothersome; Thane would much rather just be left alone right now and enjoy his cup before it gets cold. He snaps a hand up to stop someone's club from coming down, using the momentum to toss him aside into someone else.
And before he knows it, Thane finds himself in the middle of a tavern-wide brawl while trying to keep his tea from spilling.]
WILD CARD BABY!
[Throw something at me!]
no subject
I just wish to pass!
[ Unsurprisingly, no one feels inclined to listen. Perhaps the urge to backhand an elf with no consequences is too strong, as one lifts his arm to strike her and she backs into Thane on accident, trying to avoid the blow. ]
Stop!
[ Her staff comes off her back and suddenly the man is encased in ice. Hey, she told him to stop. Now she looks over her shoulder at the person she ran into. ]
Sorry.
no subject
Thane now bows his head politely.] No harm done. It looks like we might both benefit from trying to take our leave?
[It'll be a ways to go, but she certainly looks like she could stand to find a way out.]
no subject
[ That much is clear from her demeanor. She'd rather just walk away than try to come out on top here.
Looking towards the door, she sees two mean scrapping in front of it. Great. ]
There must be a back door through the kitchen.
no subject
What isn't beautiful is when people try to bring weapons into it. An unbroken wine bottle? An ale mug? Things like that are acceptable. Knives, in an honest brawl? That's low. So when Kaisa sees a man with something suspiciously sharp and pointy, intent on trying to stick it into a nearby elf, she takes action.
There's a sickening crack as the man's wrist is grabbed and yanked in a way wrists generally don't bend. The man gives a loud cry of pain, but Kaisa's face is generally unsympathetic as she twists her leg around his and sends him flying to the ground. He takes the hint, and Kaisa stoops to grab the knife, tucking it into her boot for safe keeping. Then she turns to the elf whose life she had totally just saved.
Of course, she doesn't know that the elf is an assassin, and he not only could have handled that himself, but was probably already well aware of the danger. As far as she's concerned, he's a small elf and she is a hero. She gives this small elf who is definitely not a dangerous assassin a charming smile. ]
Hey there. I'm sorry about that, some assholes have no idea how to handle an honest tavern fight. You okay? I can get you out of here, if you need.
no subject
Garris huffs at that, lips thinning as he stumbles onto his feet though before he can get his feet under him he too is being shoved into a table. Instinctively his hands go out, one grabbing hold of the lip of the table, and the other catching someone else's shoulder. Well crap.
He's quick to let go though, straightening out and readying himself in case an attack does come.]
Thanks for the shoulder.
no subject
Someone who paid attention might notice that she was less about attacking though, and more about protecting the innocent people who weren't planning on getting involved with a tavern wide brawl.
She started by acting as a shield to get the poor barmaid who had been serving her out, and then focused on some of the elves who had been cornered by a particularly angry looking human.
She isn't paying much attention to Thane right away, because he's not being overtly aggressive to people who don't deserve it, but Thane is near enough that if he pays attention he'll see that her focus on helping people get out more than participating in the fight has left her right side open for attack.]