OPEN: The Western Approach

[faderifting]

WHO: Everyone!
WHAT: The Western Approach is a terrible place. You should definitely go there.
WHEN: Bloomingtide 15 onward
WHERE: The Western Approach
NOTES: This is open to everyone. Characters who would not happily go to the hell desert probably have to go anyway; it's a war, not a vacation.

Once these wastes were a land of plenty. Can you believe it? The rain came north over the Gamordan Peaks, turning the plains green and verdant for three months of the year. Eight hundred years ago, that changed. During the Second Blight, darkspawn spilled out of an enormous crack in the earth, corrupting it with their foul blood... and it never recovered, even after they were driven back underground. The Grey Wardens built Adamant Fortress to stand watch over that chasm, but eventually even they abandoned it to the wind and the biting sand.

What few of us eke out a living in this Maker-forsaken place do so knowing that any number of deaths await us: darkspawn raids, dragons, bandits—not to mention starvation from the lack of water and game. If we stay, it is because we know there are treasures buried in the bones of this place, ruins from the time when Tevinter ruled, and even earlier. We pass tales around our campfires of the things we have seen shrouded in the dust storms. My favorites are the ones about relics that could restore the Western Approach once more... but I don't believe them. Truth be told, on nights when the wind is calm, I can stand on a hilltop and see for miles in the moonlight over a stark beauty of which no other Orlesian can claim to know the equal. On those nights, I hope it will never change.

—From Lands of the Abyss by Magistrate Gilles de Sancriste

---

I. THE DESERT

When Scout Harding calls somewhere the worst place in Thedas, that's probably a bad sign. Even when nothing in the Western Approach is deliberately trying to kill you, there's nothing kind or forgiving about the landscape: bare and arid, carved through by sharp-dropped canyons, dotted with abandoned mines and signs of the deaths of lost travelers. Winds sweeping through to whip stinging sand into uncovered faces, and periodic dust storms obscure visibility entirely. It's warm enough to be dangerous but not so hot, at this time of year, that heat exhaustion and dehydration can't creep up on you while you aren't paying attention.

And at any given moment, something probably is deliberately trying to kill you. The food chain in the region is top-heavy, with quillbacks, phoenixes, hyenas, and varghests roaming hungrily and as likely to attack one another as the sparse local prey population. Compared to their natural competitors, the Inquisition's forces look like easy marks. The camps the Inquisition scatters at lookout points throughout the region require constant watch, and going anywhere alone is inadvisable. Not only because of the hostile local everything, but also because it is incredibly easy to get lost. One rock formation looks much like another after hours in the sun or bathed in shifting moonlit shadows, and good luck finding many other landmarks. There are a few: chunks of pillars or arches from some ruined structure, or the occasional odd pillar that might, if someone investigates, prove to mark a trail of sorts.

Plus: the only people who seem determined to survive out here are cutthroat bandits and stray Venatori. Double-plus: a high dragon makes occasional fly-bys, scouring the ground below for anything edible, armored or not.

Some reprieve comes at night, relief from both the sun and the area's primarily diurnal predators. But that's when the darkspawn come out.

II. GRIFFON WING KEEP

Bloomingtide 16-17: Taking the Keep

Only a small force of Tevinter cultists remains in Griffon Wing Keep when the Inquisition arrives, seemingly on their way out the door already, but the sight of Inquisition banners is enough to make them stay and fight. There's no need for siege equipment, but there is call for a little bit of patience. With it, a small battalion is able to evade the mages and archers on the walls and storm the doors with few casualties. Fewer than three dozen warriors wait inside. It's a quick, brutal fight; it only takes a night.

Bloomingtide 18 Onward: Home Away From Home

Once the Keep is cleared of occupants, it's ripe for the Inquisition to… occupy… But with implicit permission, at least. Those who aren't needed for fights elsewhere may be put to work clearing out debris and small animals and the remnants left by the cultists, and within a few days the fortress is a serviceable outpost, much more hospitable than the camps out in the sand. Barracks mean even those who don't have beds at Skyhold may have one here, and it takes less than a week for an enterprising merchant to arrive with ale.

III. THE STILL RUINS

Despite signs of recent activity, the lavish Tevinter palace tucked incongruously into the canyons is quiet and still, when the Inquisition discovers it—quiet, still, but not empty. The ancient ruin is brimming with demons and Tevinters in incredibly outdated fashions, all frozen in place, as they have been for hundreds of years. No one breathes or blinks, but their skin is still warm and alive to the touch.

Beyond the entryway and halls and through the courtyard, there are signs of research and experimentation, and one man stood unmoving with his hand clasped around something unseen.

Perhaps someone will discover the cause. Perhaps someone will undo the spell that's been cast over the palace. Perhaps, if someone does, someone will take the opportunity to not immediately murder all of these valuable sources of ancient information, and instead only murder most of them. In the meantime, however, it is unlikely that anyone will ever be able to get this close to a rage demon without receiving a face full of fire. Take advantage.

IV. CORACAVUS

Signs of the Venatori point upward: up the hills, up ladders and towers, and into the ancient Tevinter prison, Coracavus, that was built into the mountainside. The ruin is filled with sand now, with half-collapsed walls and anything not made of stone worn away by winds, and the Venatori are long gone, their hunt for relics from the glory days of the Imperium abandoned when an excavation attempt opened the prison to darkspawn, instead. The darkspawn have retreated as well, but there are signs of their presence. Namely the smell and the half-eaten corpses of slaves—primarily elven and dwarven—who were left behind to their fates when the Tevinters fled.

There's no sign of them now, but digging through their abandoned camps may turn up a name, if anyone would like to see that he pays.

V. ADAMANT FORTRESS

A day's determined walk from the nearest Inquisition camp, Adamant Fortress overlooks the vast chasm—dubbed the Abyssal Rift—from which darkspawn poured during the Second Blight. It stood abandoned for nearly 150 years before the Grey Wardens' recent reoccupation, and it's abandoned again now, emptied out well before the Inquisition's forces arrive. There are signs that the retreat was a hasty one: scattered belongings, opened doors, abandoned meals, and no fewer than fifty bodies left on a mass pyre that only half-burned without anyone to tend it.

The Veil has always been thin here, and it's thinner now, where demons have been pulled through from the Fade. Rifts hang over the battlements and in the corridors, and escaped shades lurk in the dark corridors, siphoning away the willpower of those who linger until they come close enough to attack. Those who visit the Fortress set up camp outside of it rather than within it, wisely.

There are clear signs of blood sacrifice, for those who look: the bodies, blood stains on the stone floors, neat lists of names systemically crossed through. Sorting through documents left behind may turn up vague notes in a mage's runic shorthand or the journal of a trepidatious new recruit (Lourde, a pickpocket, crossed through on the registers). Behind a locked door in the lowest rooms are the bodies of sixteen mages, still in their Circle robes, left lying where they fell when the Joining took them. Mages who were among the rebels in Redcliffe may recognize a face or two as belonging to the hardliners who left with the Tevinters.

Comments

Jamie | OTA

[wontforgetyou]

I.

[a]
This isn't Jamie's first trip to the region, and since the last time he was here with the Wardens, he's picked up a few useful tricks, such as wearing light-colored clothes (for the most part) and keeping water on him at all times. When he's away from the camp, whether it be hunting, exploring or on patrol keeping an eye out for beasties, he's also taken to wearing a broad brimmed hat as well. It may make his ears stick out some, but it keeps the worst of the sun off of his face - and gives him a place to stick a wet cloth under when he needs to to stay cool.

He's in the middle of doing just that when a roar catches his attention, something he's heard before, and his head whips up, one hand reaching to clap the hat in place so it doesn't fall off. Sure enough, off in the distance there's a dragon, flying far overhead. But even with that, Jamie can see it's huge, and his instinct, as always in this situation, is to get the attention of the nearest person and point it out.

"Hey, would you look at the size of that!"

[b]
For the most part, the landscape is barren, reminding him all too much of other places he's been. Rocky planets with little to no visible signs of life, only remnants of old buildings indicating that anyone'd been there at all. But the ruins are something to draw his curiosity, and when he comes across a still-intact arch, it's not long before he goes to check it out, mindful of the beasties that are surely lingering nearby. If they show up, he'll deal with them, but it doesn't mean he's not going to poke around a bit while he's got the chance to.

"Huh. Wonder what this was?"

II. - taking the Keep
Once the doors to the Keep are breached, Jamie's in the thick of the fighting, flinging himself at the nearby enemies in his usual Highland way, yelling and brandishing a sword. The fight goes much like the way fights tend to go, with give and take on both sides, and while overall the Inquisition seems to be winning, Jamie isn't about to count on that until all everything is said and done. So he keeps fighting...and then something unexpected happens.

The warrior he's currently fighting is a large man, and even with Jamie's natural agility, he's having problems keeping the other man at bay. The warrior has a longer reach, and that and the extra weight are starting to shift the battle in his favor. Slowly the man starts to press forward, forcing Jamie towards a corner in an attempt to pin him down and keep him from dodging away. When he's backed the young Scot up enough, he strikes, knocking Jamie's sword out of his hands and leaving him helpless...or so the thinks.

As the man lifts his own sword to finish him off, Jamie reaches up in a desperate effort to try and stop him, his shard hand glinting as he goes to grab the man's arm - and then, without warning, green bursts from his hand, small projectiles of light that slam into the warrior's face with enough force that he winds up stumbling back, dropping his weapon as he lets out a cry of pain, bringing both hands up to cover his face. For Jamie's part, he seems rather stunned, staring at his hand in disbelief - and leaving things open for anyone who might want to take advantage of the situation.

Wildcard!

[Want to explore somewhere else or help Jamie get into trouble somehow? Add your own starter or let me know if you'd like something specific and I'll add it on in!]

I.a

[seesobserves]

Sherlock does, in fact, look at the size of that, giving the dragon an upward glance... but when it becomes clear the beast has no interest in them, he looks down again.

"More likely to snatch up a varghest than any of us," he notes, assuming the man is worried about being eaten. "There's much more meat on them, once it tears through the scales."

[wontforgetyou]

Alright, so Sherlock might have a point - and Jamie's not all that worried about being eaten - but his mouth does tug off to one side ever so slightly anyway. It's the principal of the thing.

"Aye, well, maybe so. But I've fought a dragon here before, and that one was fine with eating Inquisition soldiers. Think it's just as likely to decide we'll make a quick easy meal, especially since we've not got any scales to protect us. You're not worried about that at all?"

[seesobserves]

"Well, if it starts diving, run and hope for the best." 'Worried' is, perhaps, too strong a word for Sherlock's feelings toward the dragon. 'Cautious,' on the other hand, would not be inaccurate.

"Before that, there's more cause to be concerned about what's already on the ground."

[wontforgetyou]

Caution wasn't necessarily the worst thing in the world when it came to a dragon, and if the dragon did happen to come back their way and looked like it was going to swoop down on them then chances were that running was going to be a thing that happened.

However, it seemed as though that wasn't about to happen anytime soon, and Jamie watched the dragon seemingly grow smaller and smaller as it headed off into the distance - at least for a few moments. After that, he turns towards Sherlock, a quizzical expression on his face.

"What, the beasties? Och, we can handle those. Or did you mean the bandits and Venatori?"

I A

[aceso]

"Ugh, don't encourage it to return and show itself off to us, please," Christine implores, a worried look on her face. She can't help being a worrier in this situation. The desert provides few spots to hide from large predators, and she hates feeling like a sitting duck.

For her part, she's dressed in light fabrics -- both in color and weight -- with her long, blonde hair pulled up into a bun. Even so, the heat is getting to her, and she forms a layer of frost over her hand before wiping it across the back of her neck.

"Would you like me to make your cloth nice and cold?"

[wontforgetyou]

"Don't think my saying how big it is is going to do that," he retorts - but his hand gestures might, and he does wind up dropping his hand back to his side fairly quickly. Better to be safe than sorry.

The layer of frost over her hand catches his attention, though, and he watches it with overt curiosity before glancing back up and nodding rather enthusiastically.

"You're willing to do that for me? Aye, I'll not turn that down." It only takes him a few seconds to retrieve the bit of fabric he's been using to keep cool, and he willingly offers it over to her. "Thank you, miss."

[aceso]

"Of course. You should not suffer in this heat. Not while there is something I might do." Taking the cloth with a small smile, she adds, "Christine," before spreading a layer of frost over the cloth with her magic. Then she offers it back to him.

"Here you go."

[wontforgetyou]

"Jamie."

The smile that accompanies his name has nothing to do with her making the cloth cold, but he's grateful for that as well, especially when she hands it back to him. He can feel the cold radiating off of it, and rather than put it under his hat immediately, he puts it on the back of his neck, letting out a sigh of relief.

"Now that is something I could've used the last time I was out here, but I'd not even thought to ask of anything like that. That's a clever use for ice magic. Ah...if I've gotten that type of magic right, that is. I'm still not entirely sure if there's other names for it besides the obvious ones."

II

[gatheringstorm]

Korrin's always appreciates Jamie's enthusiastic fighting style, and the Griffon Keep battle is no exception. His skill with a sword is a perfect counterpoint to her spells, and the yelling helps divide attention since otherwise it go mostly to her. Not that she's shying away from a fight, at all, but not being dogpiled is helpful.

She's not at his side constantly, often blurring around the area to make it difficult for their enemies to catch her. Nonetheless, the Vashoth mage tries to keep him in sight when possible. Fortunately, one of those times is when that large warrior corners and disarms him. Scowling, she prepares to blur ahead and help, but Jamie's shard had beats her to it. Her eyes widen upon seeing its magic tear into the warrior, but she snaps out of her shock before the warrior can recover. With that, Fade Step and a vicious swipe from her own blade ought to buy Jamie the time he needs.

[wontforgetyou]

It's good that it works, since part of the reason why he yells is to draw that attention away from other targets. Better he be the one to have to fight them face to face than someone else who can bring other things to the table...like magic.

The fact that he's just somehow managed to do something very like that without actually knowing any magic has thrown him for a loop, and Korrin's timely arrival is just what he needs to snap out of it. As the warrior recovers, he's faced with not one, but two enemies, and switches to a defensive stance, giving Jamie the time he needs to dive and recover his sword. The moment he does, he closes to assist her - although not without giving her a slightly wide-eyed, unnerved look, one that hopefully lets her know he has no idea what's just happened or why. Talking about might have to wait, though, at least until they've taken down the enemy.

[gatheringstorm]

That unnerved look has her sympathy, though it's a shame he has no idea what's going on, as she'd love some answers right now. But they don't exactly have that luxury at the moment, anyway. She closes in on the warrior, staying on the offense to keep him offguard. There's no messing around or quarter given, and her aim is to end the right as brutally effectively as possible. Encasing him in a sheet of ice might help, as well.

[wontforgetyou]

Ending the fight quickly is just fine by Jamie - and if he was able to encase the warrior in a sheet of ice, he would. Whatever magic's just sprung out of the mark, though, it's not ice related, and with the mark not seeming to want to shoot out more projectiles right at the moment, he's back to fighting in his usual way and letting Korrin handle any magic. Between the two of them it doesn't take them long to finish things up, leaving them with a break, brief as though it may be, to catch their breath. and, in Jamie's case, to give Korrin a grateful look, as he does appreciate the save on his end.

"Hey, am I ever glad you were able to get over here. Thought I was a goner for sure there, for a moment."

II

[dragoon_pride]

Kain arrives on the scene just in time to catch that display of the shard’s strange power. He’s about to leap in to Jamie’s defense the moment his weapon is knocked away. But then there’s that sudden bright glow and the scream from the enemy as it physically damages him.

“What was that?” Kain asks, as he leaps in to finish off the fighter with a swift stab of his lance. There’s no time to talk for long, he realizes, but seriously… what was that? He’s more than a little concerned, now, knowing that shards can do that. He had no idea. Not that it’s a bad thing, of course, being cornered like that but… well… seeing the shards behave unexpectedly makes him uneasy.

[wontforgetyou]

He's grateful for Kain's assistance, especially when he's able to take out the enemy before the warrior has a chance to truly recover and rejoin the fight, and there's a quick "Thanks" from him as he quickly recovers his sword. But he still looks rather out of sorts, something that only intensifies at the question.

"I've no idea. The shard's not ever done anything like that before."

Shafts of light when he's gone to close a rift? Absolutely. But that...for all that he didn't think much of Church calling the light that'd shot out of their hands 'pain lasers', what he'd seen was very much like the wee beams of light that had come out of the laser guns he's run across in his travels with the Doctor. Just...green ones.

"Only thing I remember is that I was thinking that I needed to get yon warrior off me somehow, but I was going to try and get him to drop his weapon, not...that. It was like I'd suddenly shot him with a gun, only that's impossible."

[dragoon_pride]

Keeping an eye out for the next wave of enemies, Kain divides his attention between that, and glancing toward Jamie, eyes honing in on his hand in particular. The fact that the shard had done something so unexpected is beyond worrisome. Just when he'd started to think those things were pretty much stable.

"I saw it from afar as I approached too... I don't know much about guns," aside from what he's heard about them, of course, "the closest comparison I can make is to magic. It damaged the enemy with as much power as spells I've seen..." He's still alarmed with the way it had burst out like that. "So it was beyond your control... or was it?" Jamie had been in a desperate state, so while it wasn't a conscious effort... the situation had still pushed him toward it in a way.

[wontforgetyou]

While Jamie is also keeping an eye out for the enemy as well, his eyes keep straying down to his hand, even if they don't wind up staying there for very long. Maybe magic would be a better comparison here. Guns are just more familiar - well, most guns, anyway - so it's easier for him to try and understand what's going on.

The problem is is that he doesn't really understand any of it at all. He was under the impression the marks were stable as well...although could anything that reacted to a presence of a rift by sparking and spitting really be considered to be stable? He'd thought so, even after that. Now he wasn't so sure, and that was more or less written all over his face.

"I don't know. That's the first time it's ever done something like that. But...I've not had a fight here go exactly the way it did, either. Maybe it was a reaction of some sort?"

II

[shieldwalls]

From her nearby vantage, Aveline spots the man lose his weapon to the warrior he fought. She's close, and not much stands in her way -- just as her shield is raised to catch the oncoming sword and she's within distance to help, something else entirely happens.

The flash of green light that takes him is a surprise -- not just to her or the warrior, either. So that is what those marks are capable of.

As the man seems to come back to it, Aveline doesn't drop her momentum and slams the shield into his face, buying Jamie a few moments to snap out of it.

[wontforgetyou]

Luckily, Jamie doesn't take long at all to snap out of it - although suddenly seeing a shield suddenly being slammed into his opponent's face helps. The warrior reels back a second time as the shield connects very nearly in the same place as the projectiles had moments ago. Still, he recovers fairly quickly, and brings his sword up as he presses forward in an attempt to get past Aveline's guard.

As for Jamie, whatever caused his hand to flare up like that, he has no idea. But it doesn't seem inclined to do so again right away, so rather than wait what happens there, he dives for his sword, snatching it up before it has the chance to be kicked away. Once that's done, it's only a matter of moments before he rejoins the fight. Since Aveline has the shield - and seems to know what she's doing with it - for now it seems better for him to try and move to flank the warrior while watching Aveline out of the corner of his eye, watching for any cues as to what she wants to do next.

i)b

[harthad_uluithiad]

"It looks Elvish, don't you think?"

It doesn't, really, and Sam says it more out of hope than anything else. He walks up to the arch, glancing high up overhead before placing his hand on the stone. It's not quite cool, but it's shaded enough that it's not hot to the touch, either.

"It seems to be very old, anyhow."

[wontforgetyou]

"Aye, it could be." Old, certainly. Elvish? Well, he couldn't say off the top of his head if it was. He simply didn't know enough about what the Elvish ruins looked like to decide if it was part of that or something else altogether. "Although I'll not say as I would know what would bring any elves out here. Not unless this place looked a lot different a long time ago. Could be...och, who did that lassie say owned this place before? Tevinter. Could be one of theirs, too."

He reached out, brushing his fingers against the surface of the stone, trying to see if there was any change in the surface, some small indication that there'd been writing to the like on it. The arch simply felt smooth under his fingers, however, and if there had been and writing on it in the past, it'd long since been worn away.

"Wonder if there's a way to tell."

[harthad_uluithiad]

Could be is enough, and Sam beams, pleased and hopeful up until Jamie mentions Tevinter. The smile turns immediately into a scowl, and he glares suspiciously at the ruins.

"Let's hope it's not that," he mutters darkly. "Though in that case I suppose it's a good thing it's abandoned and not still in use!" He glances up at Jamie. "Don't see how we could tell either way, not unless we find something more."

Wildcard - on the road

[colecomfort]

Cole has not made himself known to Jamie for some time, but he's been watching here and there, the same as he has been for all the rifters. All the ones he can, in any case. There are so many, these days.

He's been glad to see Jamie making a place for himself in the Inquisition, finding his feet, but he hasn't had anything in particular to say — until now.

He's there, now, walking at his side.

"I like your hat, Jamie."

[wontforgetyou]

It's been long enough since he's seen Cole that Jamie's all but forgotten their conversation, but when Cole winds up walking next to him, he looks happy to see him - and maybe just a bit pleased by the compliment, as well.

"Aye, well, thought it'd be a bit easier to keep the sun off that way. Although I think you've got me beat there, to tell you the truth. That's got to work pretty well out here. Have you been out this way before?"

[colecomfort]

"Yes," he answers simply, letting a heartbeat pass before he elaborates. "There was a fortress, and a demon, and a man whose eyes were no longer hollow. It... wasn't good."