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allthisshitisweird2015-09-30 09:21 pm
faderifting) wrote in allthisshitisweird2015-09-30 09:21 pm
Entry tags:
Test Drive Meme!
You'll Never Leave the Hinterlands Alive*
Welcome to Fade Rift's very first Test Drive Meme! Use one of the prompts below or make up your own, and tag around! Have fun, try out the setting, generate samples for your app, coerce your friends into joining you.
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, early fall finds 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.
1. In the Deep Dark Hills of Western Ferelden
You have turned the wrong corner, forded the wrong stream, crested the wrong hill, entered the wrong cave. Maybe you are far from camp. Maybe you are in camp. Whatever has happened, wherever you are: you are being chased by bears. Did you provoke the bears? Are they huge? Babies? Fade-touched? Mage-controlled? What are they chasing you away from? What are they chasing you into? What do you plan to make out of their hide if you kill them? What do you think they'll craft out of your hide if they kill you?
2. There I Read on a Hillside Gravestone
The rebel mages and renegade templars have ravaged the Hinterlands, skirmishes breaking out all over. It looks like you've just missed one-- great spikes of ice melt slowly in the cool autumn sunlight and patches of grass and trees have been scorched away. Three bodies are scattered about, two templars and one mage judging by their clothing. You could bury them. Or search their pockets. Or track their friends. Or all of the above, if you're feeling industrious.
3. Won't You Walk With Me Out the Mouth of this Holler
Whatever task you were actually sent out here to do, you are going to be late. One-Eyed Jimmy asked so nicely for your help finding his prize ram, Lord Woolsley. It's been in the family for years, so smart for a ram, it's a good luck charm, their business has boomed with it around, and it's lived for so long, he just can't abide thinking of it getting eaten by some mangy apostate. And then he went and offered you money, too. How could you say no? Maybe you're still wandering, asking everyone you pass if they've seen a ram that looks like it's wearing an orangey-red sweater. Maybe you've found it and are chasing it around a lake or trying to lead it back to the village for your reward. Maybe you've gotten fed up and gotten out your sword to bring Jimmy a new sweater instead and discovered that lucky Lord Woolsley is a demon in sheep's clothing. Surprise!
4. Fill Your Cup With Whatever Bitter Brew You're Drinking
Just because the region's had a rough time lately doesn't mean the tavern at Redcliffe is any less crowded than usual. Bella behind the bar dishes out tankards to refugees and soldiers, scared villagers and angry farmers, merchants traveling through from Orzammar and Orlais and families fleeing the rifts in the foothills. It's packed, basically. The Inquisition has only recently extended its influence into the region, and while some have already seen the benefit-- demons killed, fighting broken up-- others are skeptical.
5. Spend Your Life Just Thinkin' of How to Get Away
Choose Your Own Adventure: hunt game, kill demons, gather herbs, track bandits, haggle over the price of armor, fall off a deceptively tall rock, 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, rummage around in empty homes, run from a dragon, cry over how cute that fennec fox you just shot was, set up camp and chat around the fire, knock yourself out (figuratively, or even literally if that's more your speed)-- the Hinterlands are yourFrostback Mountainoyster.
*Yeah, I had this stuck in my head. It's a good song!!
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No, I've not hit my head! And I don't need a healer. I'm not from around here, I'm telling you. I'm from a place called Earth. This place might look a wee bit like my home back in Scotland, but it's not, and I know that perfectly well. Here, I'll prove it to you.
[He holds up his wrist, which has a watch on it - a fairly plain thing with a leather strap and a simple dial on it, which he turns so she can get a better look.]
Now, tell me, do you have anything like this in your world? Where I come from it's called a watch, and it helps you to keep track of the time. I might not have been here long, but I've not seen anyone that has anything like this.
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It looks like dwarven clockwork to me, though on a smaller scale. You might find something similar in Orzammar, but I can't say for sure. It's been some time since I visited, and that was brief.
[She looks up from the watch, with a raised eyebrow.]
'In your world'? There is the physical world and the Fade, and trust me, you do not want to go around telling people you're from the latter. It will get you killed and quickly.
[He's no spirit, anyway, and she's seen abominations enough to be fairly certain he's not that either. But Earth, Scotland? Those names don't bring even a spark of recognition.]
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[He breaks off, bringing up a hand and pinching the base of his nose. Clearly this isn't working, and it's starting to frustrate him. If the Doctor was here he could explain it. Jamie's sure of that. Then again, if the Doctor was here, the TARDIS would be here too and they could just leave. Since he's seen absolutely no sign of either of them, he's just going to have to assume he's stuck here, and has to figure out some way to get that across to her. It doesn't help that he doesn't understand half of what she's on about, though, and he peers at her through his fingers.]
Alright, then. So what's this Fade when it's at home? Is it your moon, or some other country, or what?
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[Korrin sighs and shakes her head, wondering how she attracts all the weird ones. Though he has to be the weirdest by far of late, even if his appearance doesn't give that way.]
Alright, I'll play along. [Maybe because she needs a break from killing rift demons, bears and everything else hostile that crosses her path.] The Fade is the realm where those demons come from, you know the ones emerging from the rifts all over the place. I wouldn't try entering it from those rifts, by the way. Those things are like beacons to demons, and the only person able to seal them is dead.
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So the demons live in the Fade and they're falling out of the rifts and attacking people?
[Thinking about it that way does make sense. It makes him a little uneasy, too, and he unconsciously flexes the fingers of his left hand, curling them in and out a bit, as if stretching it to try to soothe an ache.]
Does, ah, anything else ever fall out of these rifts, then? Or is it just demons?
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Not that I'm aware, though the Breach seems to have driven plenty of creatures mad. Wolves, bears, you name it. Some are even fade-touched, making them considerably harder to kill.
[She gestures to splatters of blood on her armor that most certainly aren't hers.]
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[Given that blood, he can guess that she's had some experience with dealing with creatures that've been affected that way. But he has no plans on attacking her - or fighting at all, if he can help it. Right now about the only thing that would get that to happen would be if he needs to defend himself. And while he's not under any illusions that she knows how to use that staff as a weapon, the fact that she's planted it like that is a hopeful sign.
At least for now, anyway, because he's really not sure if she's not going to decide he's a demon at some point, given what she's said about this Fade-place. He'll just have to hope she's willing to keep talking, for now.]
Right, then. So say someone fell asleep on a...ship somewhere, and had a sort of dream. Ah, hypothetically, that is. Hypothetically, they had this dream and in it they fell through one of these rift things and when they woke up they weren't on the ship any longer. Say they were here instead. Would they be a demon, or mad, or...something else?
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They wouldn't be a demon, no. Demons are distortions of spirits, not people. Sometimes demons possess others, but those are called abominations and most of them are very, very obvious. And dangerous. They can wipe out entire villages. Mad...well.
[She sighs. Trying to be polite here, don't make her call you mad. But she's not one to beat around the bush, either.]
Every living being -except dwarves- enter the Fade when they dream, though usually only mages remember it. The connection is there, though a human -or any other mortal- entering the physical world from the Fade...I've never heard of it happening. It's not a quick form of travel. Hypothetically, and I'm really stretching this, it might perhaps be possible, but in any case I would still not mention that to the public at large. This is a bad time to have any connection with the Fade, mage or not.
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Because of the demons? Aye, I see what you mean. Saying you're from there isn't likely going to make you many friends if what you've been saying is true. Especially not if there's not any way to close those rifts...
[He can't imagine that's going to be a good thing, at all. Or how anyone's going to deal with it, but maybe her Inquisition will be able to help there, at least. That idea is one that gets him chewing on his lower lip just a bit, something thoughtful coming into his expression and lingering there even as he looks back up at her.]
Look, I know I've been asking a lot of questions, and you've been humouring me by answering them. I- well, I appreciate it. Still don't know what I'm going to do now, but I think you might have helped me out a lot here. Is there anything I can do to help in return?
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I can take you back to town and relative civilization. At the very least, you won't be mauled by bears there. As for helping...if you truly mean that, the Inquisition has plenty of need even for those who aren't skilled in combat. Scouts, healers, diplomats, you name it. Scout Harding is probably the best one to see for that information.
...and yes, it's partly because of the demons. But people also fear the Fade for its connection to magic. Mages...we'll, we're feared. That fear leads people to do stupid things.
[She gestures to the Templar bodies.]
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[It's not a boast, far from it. He's quite serious, and his face reflects that for a moment before it shifts, a slightly wry expression coming over it instead.]
Including bears.
[Although with something better than just a knife. He knows as well as the next man only having that's a good way to get himself mauled. If this Scout Harding's the person to see about doing that, then that's what he needs to do.]
And I'd much rather be doing something than nothing, to tell ye the truth. Seems to me that helping's a sight better than sitting around waiting for things to get worse. If magic's involved... well, maybe I don't understand that, but I've seen a lot of things that I don't understand that've been quite useful. Helpful, too. It all depends on who's using it and what it's being used for.
[He tilts his head for a moment, then seems to come to some sort of decision, offering his hand out - either to shake, or to clasp, if that's her sort of thing. He's not sure what, if anything, she'll want to do with it, but the option's there, at least. Worst case, she won't do anything and he'll wind up feeling like an idiot, but it's a risk he's willing to take.]
My name's Jamie, by the way. Think I'd gotten bit distracted with everything, or I'd have said so earlier.
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Well met, Jamie. I'm Korrin, Korrin Ataash. And I couldn't agree more, this is a time to be proactive, not sitting around waiting for the world to fix itself. And bears? That's brave of you, especially if you've dealt with any here. The Breach drove them mad, I think, so they're mobbing everyone they can. I'll be out here forever cleaning up that mess.
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[Before he finishes the word, he stops. Mentioning a tranquilizer gun is a likely a good way for the conversation to go right back to being weird, and Korrin's been very patient with him so far. Best not to push that, he thinks.]
We knocked him out and were able to get away. Anyway, it's good to meet ye as well. Think if this Scout Harding's willing to take me on you'll have some help with the bears around here, though. Or maybe they'll figure out a way to fix things so that the bears'll calm down some. Has any of that magic you can do worked on them at all?
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In calming them down? No, not at all. Believe me, I would prefer to focus fighting on the rift demons instead. Since we can't close those rifts anymore, they keep coming. No, my magic is mostly the sort suited for battle, blasting them with lightning or fire or such. Manipulating the Fade to knock them down helps, too. But when they can't take the hint and keep coming after me, well...better them than the refugees.
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It's the mention of the refugees that gets his attention again, and turns his countenance more than a bit somber. That, unfortunately, is something he's too familiar with. Some things are the same no matter when or where you wind up.]
Aye. Being forced to leave your homes because of a war is bad enough as it is, let alone having to deal with bears that've been driven mad on top of it. Is the Inquisition able to help with that as well?
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We're trying, yes. It's not easy to keep people fed and warm with all the chaos around us, so there's been calls for ram-hunting, to gain some easy meat, and searching for supply caches the rebel mages left behind. Find them, mark them on a map, and Inquisition agents will pick them up, or so that's the plan. There's also an endless amount of requests to fill at the requisitions table in every camp; from items to bring for more tents to remedies, that sort of thing.
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[While a bear stew is normally perfectly edible, that whole fade-touched thing doesn't sound like it'd be a good thing to mess with. Maybe it'd not wind up affecting someone who ate it, but it'd be risky. The rest of it, however, gets him to purse his lips together, rather thoughtfully.]
Sounds like a lot to do. Well, no time like the present, then. Couldn't hurt to see about getting started with some of that since I'm here, anyway. Ah...did you want to come along, maybe? Could do with someone who knows the area better than I do.
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You know what, I like you. People taking the initiative is something the Hinterlands definitely needs to see more. Alright, I'll join in. Just do yourself a favor and not rush into my line of fire should I need to cast something, though. I have some healing potions, but I'd rather they not run out sooner than need be.
[She's not a healer otherwise, so better safe than sorry when it comes to the more fragile races.
Sorry, but it's true.]no subject
[He's been hit with enough stray shots from other sorts of weapons in the past that he'll do his best to stay well clear of anything she might be casting. So long as the fight allows him to, anyway. But he'll worry about that more when it actually comes to a fight. Right now, he's just happy to be doing something other than talking. If he had something to take with him he'd pick it up right now. All he's got is his dirk, though, so he simply heads over to Korrin's side.]
But otherwise, I'd say the feeling's mutual. Come on, let's go. You can tell me what one of these caches looks like in general and we can keep an eye out for it while we go track some rams.
(OOC: did you want to fade out here or keep going? I'd be up for either!)
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