allthisshitisweird | TEST DRIVE MEME!

Guess.

go on, guess.

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 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. BEARIED ALIVE

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. NICE PLACE FOR A SPOT OF CAMPING

If there were an inn, which there's not, there wouldn't be room for you in it. Traveling with the Inquisition means carrying your own bedrolls, putting up your own tents, and sleeping alongside whoever you've been told to share with--no matter how much you hate them or how loud they snore. If you really can't stand it, the alternative is sleeping outside. On the ground. With the bears.

3. A BIG CRAZY LIGHT IN THE SKY

Not everyone thinks the Breach was a bad thing. In the southeastern mountains, a burgeoning cult has taken up residence in Winterwatch Tower to wait patiently for the Maker to reach through the tears in the veil and gather the faithful to his bosom. They're a little kooky, maybe, but harmless, and they're happy enough to share their wine and lager with travelers in the area. The demon-spewing rift behind the Tower, on the other hand... Too bad the Herald didn't close that thing before she bit it. Watch your step.

4. TROUBLE IN THE DEEP

The Carta is everywhere, but it's here in force, occupying dwarven ruins in a chasm behind a waterfall. Inquisition forces have already cleared most of the smugglers out of the hold, but there's still a vault to break into, bodies to loot, and old texts to search through for anything worth adding to the Inquisition's growing archives. Also: darkspawn. Sorry.

5. 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 your ~~Frostback Mountain~~ oyster.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Let them! They can't stand against us!

[Darting a grin over at him for that boost, Korrin then turns her attention to their ice-barrier. When the first of it begins to chip away under the darkspawn assault, she readies her staff in one hand and spirit blade hilt in the other. With herself on the front lines and more of Henry's own magic from behind, she's not overcome with anxiety. Not overconfident, just not paralyzed with fear.

As ice shatters, Korrin's ready for them, unleashing that lightning blast on the nearest before closing in to slice at them with her glowing blade.]

[ Well, that's one reason to hang with a Qunari. They make good frontliners, mage or not. He swipes his finger through the air, pulling the mana that resided about them and drawing it into his staff.

Now to give their offence more power. He directs his staff once again at Korrin and he unleashes the energy from his staff to surround her. It invigorates, strengthens and empowers, now giving her more fatal power to inflict with her sword swings. ]

Keep holding them there! I'll prepare a static cage! [ He just needs a bit of time, that's all. ]

Will do! Over here, assholes!

[Always enjoying the results of that spell, whether she's the one casting it or not, Korrin will hold the line and give him the time he needs. That energy he bestows on her definitely gives her a much-needed edge, and she seizes on that opportunity to cut down as many darkspawn as she can. Fortunately, that barrier is holding and their blood doesn't reach her.]

[ He prepares it. Pulling the energy from the fade, from the very air itself to gather it and direct it. He pushes out the sound of combat as this spell is still something difficult to grasp onto.

It pools into him and he pushes it towards the end of the staff and when he see's Korrin's in the clear he points it just ahead of her.

The cage of electricity is unleashed and the darkspawn caught inside. The bolts of lightning surge through them, the smell of brunt and tainted flesh on the air as the electricity is merciless. They try to escape but are merely pulled back in. ]

[In the process of cutting one down, Korrin looks over and grins as the spell takes effect. When it comes to crowd-control, that's one of the better items in one's arsenal to have. Plus, she's always had an affinity for Storm magic, so the use of it gets her approval.]

Nice work, Henry.

[It won't last forever, of course, but every moment they're trapped and fried is a good one.]

[ The approval earns a smile to Henry's face. After all, not every apprentice gets a compliment from an experienced mage.

The darkspawn were beginning to thin out now from his cage that would soon end. But, there were still others lurking behind it, waiting to charge on through.

He couldn't conjure another, not now, he just needed a breather...or a lyrium potion. That's when he turned to Korrin.]

Think you can finish the rest?

[Nodding, Korrin gives Henry that breather as she conjures a fiery glyph beneath the darkspawn. Upon triggering it, a loud explosion ensues, along with plenty of flames and screaming. Adding to it with another blast of flame ensures that those in their immediate area won't be getting up any time soon.]

You didn't get any of their blood on you, right? Because now's a terrible time to become a Grey Warden.

[Her tone is light, even though it's very true. Anyone who's spent time around the Inquisition knows the toll Corypheus is taking on them.]

[ Thankful for the respite he just watches the last of the darkspawns shrieks die away in the fire. Her question merely earns a shake of his head. ]

I kept my barriers up so I had a good solid wall between myself and that awful stuff.

[ Still, he can't help but frown at it all. He walks forward a bit shoving the blade of his staff into the heads of the charred darkspawn. Just to be sure they were dead ]

Not really fair to them, is it? Having to give up everything to protect everyone only for someone that evil to just-

[ and he stops mid sentence, giving a good kick to one of the corpses heads.Yeah, guess who's not happy about that fact. ]

[Korrin nods in approval, glad to see a mage who knows the importance of protective magic. Thrilling heroics don't mean much if said mage is cut down due to the lack of them. Crossing her arms, she just observes his actions, not stopping him.

No, not fair at all. It's a harsh life for them even without a Blight, or an asshole to manipulate their corruption. I don't envy them one bit.

[And despite how she's not at all thrilled with their claiming Anders, her expression softens, knowing that without them Thedas would already have been consumed by blight.]

Maybe there's a way to fix that. Somehow block him at the impasse or something.

[ He admires them after all. They're heroes and to have their sacrifice turned toward something so corrupt? It sickened him.

He shakes his head, stepping over the bodies. ]

Who knows maybe we'll find something in here?

[Once Henry's clear of the bodies, she sets them aflame. It's better to have them burn to a crisp than let all that taint persist in the area. At least it's downwind, so the smell won't be blowing back at them.]

That's a long shot, but I won't be the one to discourage you or anyone from trying. Maker knows the Wardens could use a miracle. So could we.

[Haven definitely counted as that, but they need more.]

With everything that's happened? I think everyone needs a little bit of hope right now. All it is back there is just...death and despair.

[ But, that is far to sombre right now. ]

But, thanks for coming down here with me. I just hope you can keep up.

[That last comment gets a much-needed laugh out of her and she flashes a grin, giving him a gentle shove. Emphasis on gentle, she knows her own strength and how easy it is to knock over smaller, less sturdy races without realizing it.]

You do know I'm a mercenary, right? I was born to do shit like this.

[Yes, don't knock over the smol mage, Korrin. That would be rude.

There's a grin he gives her as he moves forward. ]

Well, being with the inquisition who knows if you're rusty or not. Sure it's not the same kind of pay you're use to.[ He's teasing of course. ]

Edited 2016-05-26 00:44 (UTC)

[She chuckles at that, starting them forward again. Staying still for long isn't her forte, and they aren't done.]

Not exactly, but there's a lot on the way that can be claimed, you know. Dead giants, Venatori or dragons don't need their treasures. I'm not lacking for coin, when it's needed.

[Though she's just as likely to spend it on other people as herself. Nights at the tavern rarely end without her buying a round or two.]

TEST DRIVE MEME!

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

Origins stole my soul, sorry.

It's okay, Fallout 4/DA2 did the same to me.

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject