TEST DRIVE MEME!

[faderifting]

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.

Comments

[meonikost]

Meoni returns the smile, a bit crooked but well-meaning. "That's good to know, especially if you were from the Valo-Kas. I've heard good things about them." More like her captain griping about the rising company and how they were snagging jobs from under his nose. Considering her old mercenary company was long-established, that was a good thing.

"Meoni Kost. I was with Vedas' Marchers until recently." A bad run-in with the Red Army had her indebted to the Inquisition, and she intended to make good on that. "It's nice to meet you."

[gatheringstorm]

The compliment about her company gets a wider smile from Korrin, obviously proud of them and pleased that they're making a name for themselves even as she hasn't been able to take part in that for the past few months. It'd be more bittersweet if it weren't for Lena and Taaranda. "Likewise. I've definitely heard of Vedas' Marchers, that's definitely a name with some weight behind it. If you joined up alone...well, I've been there. It takes some getting used to, but at least there are several of us now that you won't have to worry about getting a crink in your neck from staring down at so much."

[meonikost]

Meoni snorts. "I have to admit, that's a relief." It wasn't like she wasn't used to slumping around humans to make them feel more comfortable--dwarves were a lost cause--but she enjoyed standing straight.

"Several Vashoth? I'd heard the Inquisition was inclusive..." But that didn't mean people were accepting. Meoni had already spied a few apprehensive looks from the townspeople. Not outright hostility, but the two of them are pushing their comfort levels. "Do you all come from the Valo-Kas?"

[gatheringstorm]

Korrin immediately shakes her head at that. "No, actually. I was lucky enough to have two of my Valo-Kas sisters join up recently, but all the rest came from elsewhere. Kas and Metaari are from Rivain; I don't know the latter as well, but the former is shaping up to be a damn good scout. Taashath actually was from Par Vollen, some time ago, was bodyguarding dumbass nobles until the Inquisition. Hell, we used to have someone who wasn't any form of combatant at all; Gorse did apothecary work. His people have this farming commune not that far fro the Fallow Mire. I tried to teach him how to fight, but he...wasn't cut out for it, at all. Weird, huh?" Given how their primary role in the world that of a mercenary, she still can't get over it.

She pauses, hesitating, but it's not a secret in the Inquisition anymore. Meoni might as well know. "There is one actual Qunari, too; the Iron Bull, agent of the Ben-Hassrath. For whatever reason, he's not hiding it and the higher-ups have accepted his role, I guess because it's better to show the Qunari that we're actually doing something to stop this mess rather than needing an invasion to sort it out. I'd a shame, I think I'd like him if he weren't tied to the Qun...but he is, and I can't afford to forget it. Not as a 'dangerous thing'." Gesturing to her staff, since...yeah, mage.

[meonikost]

"Huh." Well, Meoni's certainly enjoying the gossip. "My Pa was actually a carpenter. As good as we are at plowing through humans, it's nice to not have to fight at every step." A pause. "But don't mind me, I'm getting old." Retirement wasn't necessarily an option, but at forty-five, killing people for money was an old game. Killing people the Inquisition pointed out would hopefully be a little less exhausting, considering the Inquisition was supposed to be some kind of beacon for holy goodness or whatever.

Her eyebrows go up at the mention of Iron Bull. "Ben-Hassrath...oh, right, the ones who spy." Meoni considers Korrin's staff and has the urge to talk about pots and kettles, but keeps it to herself. Mages have the capacity to be as decent or awful as the next person. They just creep Meoni out with the whole possibility of demonic possession thing. But that's not her problem, and frankly, neither is a Qunari spy sanctioned by the Inquisition.

"I don't have any plans on being anything but a lowly grunt, I doubt I can reveal anything incriminating anyway." Meoni doesn't have the anger towards the Qun that many Vashoth and Tal-Vashoth have. Not that she's in a position to defend it, but it seems complicated. It's not the sort of thing she's interested in fighting over on watch, annyhow. "Interesting that the higher-ups have accepted it just like that. Did they talk about it over tea?"

[gatheringstorm]

Korrin shrugs, unable to say one way or another. "I guess? It's not like I'm an advisor, so I have no idea. But the spymaster must've thought it was worth the risk, one way or another. I admit, it could have been worse." Her thoughts turn to that rescue at Antiva...but it's going to take more than that for her to feel comfortable around Bull. Nothing short of him leaving the Qun.

She straightens, stretching a little to keep her muscles from cramping up. "Pfft, like age matters. My grandmother -Tama- is old as dirt and still running around like she can take on the world. I've no doubt she could, too. If I somehow make it to old age, I hope to be just the same way."

[meonikost]

Oops. Her dry sarcasm seems to have been missed, or maybe she's not as funny as she thinks she is. That's certainly an option. Meoni hummed in response and shuffled slightly.

"She sounds like a good role model." Some people were just intense. Maybe that was her problem. Meoni stretched up to feel her shorter horn--there were still rough, sharp spots that she needed to have filed down. "Hey, there's still hope! If your grandmother can get to that age, why not you?"

[gatheringstorm]

The age comment really just struck a nostalgic spot for a moment; it's been far too long since she's gone and visited family. But that's not likely to happen any time soon, so Korrin might as well snap back to the here and now. She takes note of the horns, still vain about her own and pleased that they remain unbroken...but that could change at any time. She's young and battles aren't kind to them. Her luck won't last forever.

Korrin lets out a soft chuckle at that last comment, and a skeptical smile to follow. "Well, there's the whole 'darkspawn magister trying break open the Fade' shitshow. If he wins, that ought to cut down on my life expectancy pretty damn drastically, don't you think? Now, I'm not saying I'm giving up, just that it'll be a nice surprise if it doesn't happen, you know?"

[meonikost]

Meoni laughs, just a little. "Fair enough. I think we have a fighting chance, though." She tends towards the optimistic. Shame on her.

Speaking of fighting chances... "I've heard rumors that the Inquisition is pulling beings out of the Fade, actually. Do you know how true that is?" Rumors in the ass-end of Nevarra get botched pretty badly. Meoni also heard rumors of a demon army, but she's pretty sure that's not right.

[gatheringstorm]

"Oh, it's true. And before you ask, no, they aren't demons. They're just people, some a bit stranger than others but all having one of those glowing shards in their hands. With those, they can close the rifts like the Herald did...well, almost. The need to work as a group, not go it alone." Still, it's more than what they might have had. If they'd entirely lost the ability to seal rifts, Thedas would be so fucked. "Some have become exemplary members of the Inquisition, people I've come to trust with my life. And in one case, my heart."

She reaches up to take hold of the dragon tooth suspended around her neck with a small smile.

Sorry for the delay, I came down with a nasty cold :C

[meonikost]

Meoni decides to reserve her judgement until she sees one of them herself. Demons are supposed to be tricky, after all. "That's interesting. At any rate, I'm glad someone can take down the rifts."

She eyes the necklace, but smiles softly. "Congratulations." It seems unwise, but again. Not her business. Even if Korrin is young, with her horns all attached and everything. "How long have you been together?"

Just got one myself, so I understand! :(

[gatheringstorm]

Unwise, probably, but it changes nothing. Korrin is a creature of passion, not the type to sit and wait when feelings have revealed themselves. The lack of judgement leveled her way seems to relax Korrin, who might have been expecting it. She would have stood firm in her decision, but least Meoni seems likely to keep an open mind about things and that's welcome. "Since around First Day. There was a nice celebration for it up in Skyhold, not just for the nobles or higher-ups but us grunts, too. It was a damn good night, and not just for that, though it was the highlight. The necklace is a much more recent thing, though."

[meonikost]

No matter what Korrin does, Meoni doesn't plan on being angry or confrontational. Unlike Korrin, she prefers to watch and wait. Either way, she's happy for someone who's enjoying herself, even if Meoni wouldn't do the same thing.

"It sounds like you're enjoying it. Not a lot of people can say that about their romantic lives." Meoni was one of them. So far. "Interesting that you used the dragon tooth necklace--I know my parents opted not to. Now that I think about it, though, it might just have been that they couldn't get a dragon tooth." Neither of them had actually been interested in fighting a dragon, despite her father being Tal-Vashoth. The teeth were pretty expensive anyway, so if they could show their devotion otherwise, Meoni figured it workedout better for them.

[gatheringstorm]

Korrin grins proudly. "I can't say I defeated the dragon all by myself, but I was actually there to help it fall. I couldn't resist taking my share after that. My parents went through with the whole dragon tooth necklace thing, so I wanted to do the same." Whether they killed the dragon themselves, Korrin's never been sure as they haven't talked about it. But she'd like to think they did; they were mercenaries, too, so they could have pulled it off. "It's not that commonly known, is it? I've met enough of our kind where I had to explain it was even a thing."