( closed ) player plot: the stars go waltzing

[eviscerates]

WHO: Adelaide, Araceli, Avery, Bellamy, Bruce, Ciri, Cosima, Daenerys, Jamie, Korrin, Lexa, Martel, Merrill, Ruby, Sabine, Teren.
WHAT: catch all log; the capture of shardbearers, their rescue, and related shenanigans.
WHEN: Gently timey wimey for flexibility, Team Rescue arrives at the outpost on the 10th.
WHERE: Orlais/Nevarra borders (roughly halfway between the Fields of Ghislain and Trevis), and then a Creepy Place.
NOTES: Log for the missing shardbearers player plot; ooc here & here. Only the travel threads for teams one and two are going up for now, the rest will go up on Friday :]b And to clarify - when I say party style, what I mean is subthread to your hearts content!
WARNINGS: HORROR THEMES. Abduction, experimentation/torture, forced ingestion of lyrium, implied past deaths/murder, violence.

SPEEDY LINKS

• TEAM ONE: travel to Craintellier
• TEAM ONE: rift two attempt & Venatori attack
• TEAM ONE: dungeons
• TEAM ONE: escape attempt — Cosima, Jamie & Lexa only
• TEAM TWO: travel to Craintellier
• TEAM TWO: post rift investigation — Adelaide, Bellamy & Sabine, Bruce, Korrin & Teren, Ciri & Merrill
• TEAM TWO: take the outpost — Attack & Distract & Stealthy & Stealy
• TEAM TWO: regroup & into the dungeons — plus a Lexa-shaped guest star
• ALL: finding your shardbearers
• ALL: boss fight
• ALL: epilogue & return to Skyhold — tba

click for bigger version. full map of Thedas here.

East of Perendale and south of Trevis, next to a river's winding course, there lies the bones of a fortress. It is an old and almost forgotten place, a dramatic, clawed seeming thing reaching up into the sky, harsh against the the rolling hills.

It is an ancient place, dating back to 660TE, a testament to an Empire suffering after civil war and grasping to restore its wealth and influence after it had been so shaken. It stands as a memory of grandeur, rather than an icon of it, and bears the marks of devastation and scarring that so much of the land suffered during the First Blight. It was all but abandoned thereafter, host only to the desperate and the greedy, and never for long. Once ornate mosaics now only hold flecks of gold, flakes that stubbornly resisted the hands of looters trying to pry them away. Other colours, reds, whites, greys and blacks, they all remain.

The site was chosen for its riches, sitting atop a mine that once held immense wealth, seams of gold that would bring wealth back into the Empire and help restore stability. Opulence, the central Tevinter staple (aside from slavery and blood magic, some might say).

But they dug too deep, and when the First Blight came so too did the darkspawn.

It has a new master, now, and he serves the Elder One. Parts of this stronghold may be in ruins now, but remember: it is not what lies on the surface that counts, but what lurks beneath it.


AD VICTORIAM, AD GLORIA.

Comments

TEAM ONE: travel to Craintellier.

[eviscerates]

The most direct path to Crantellier requires a journey through the mountains, to the coast of the Waking Sea. The weather is mercifully clear as they cross to Cumberland by boat, and after landing at the rocks they resume their journey on foot, moving north without the benefit of the Imperial Highway.

Even so, it is fair weather, even if it is starting to lose the summer heat and drift into Autumn, and though they do not pass many merchants once they leave Cumberland, there is game to be hunted and elfroot to be gathered, to keep them well enough in stock as they make their way.

When they arrive at the village, it is a quiet sort of place, and very old. The people are polite enough, if understandably cautious given the rifts that are not an immediate threat, but are certainly uncomfortably close, and the party is welcomed by the requisition officer that alerted the Inquisition to the rifts, and Araceli, who arrived there from Tevinter rather than travelling with the group.

Ruby will ask about somewhere for them to sleep before they go to tackle the rifts in morning, and they are directed to an inn. Betraying their proximity to the border, the inn carries the influence of Orlais and Nevarra in its cuisine, and proudly boasts its own brewery.

They leave bright and early to close the first rift, and to teach their newest rifters how to close rifts, and it all seems to be going rather smoothly. How wonderful.


( OOC: This thread is party style! It can basically include anything prior to the attempt at closing the second rift, so travelling to Orlais, checking out the village near to the two rifts and patching each other up after rift one are all things that can happen. Feel free to do whatever :]b )

[wontforgetyou]

It's just as well that the weather is clear while they're on the boat. If the waters had been even a bit rougher chances are that Jamie'd have spent the entire trip looking green about the gills. As it is, there's still the occasional faint curl of nausea in the pit of his stomach, and while he is able to push past it, it leaves him quieter than normal for the trip across.

Or perhaps that quietness is due to something else, because he's quiet as well during most of the trip to the village itself. Still, during the times where they take a break on the way up, he seems content enough, standing just off the path and looking out into the heart of the mountains, not minding the breeze that tugs at his kilt and messes with his hair - and if anyone happens to come over to see what's going on, he's happy not only to move to provide them a bit of room, but strike up a conversation as well.

It's the same in the tavern. While he doesn't indulge too much - they've a job to do, after all - a pretty server at the inn seems to have caught his eye, and by the time he's done chatting with her, he has not only one tankard of ale from the inn's brewery, but two. Rather than keep that second one to himself, he looks around for one of the other people he's been traveling with, offering out the tankard once he manages to catch someone's eye. Maybe someone'll take it or maybe they won't, but it seems better to offer to share rather than keep it to himself.

[thecookery]

It may not be immediately obvious, but Avery is actually sort of enjoying herself. This is her first time seeing anything green and growing outside of Skyhold's garden in months, and it's oddly refreshing. Not refreshing enough for her to smile, mind you, or to start striking up much in the way of friendly conversation as they travel, but she is a bit more approachable than usual and practically almost pleasant as she puts any game caught to good use and makes sure that everyone has enough to eat on the road.

...no, really. She's watching how much everybody eats, and if someone isn't having enough in her opinion, she's pestering them until they do.

[heda]

Lexa has never been on a ship before. She doesn't announce that fact, and instead does her best not to let on, but there's a certain keenness to her attention as she strides the length and breadth of the vessel, as she watches the sailors work, and especially as she stands up at the bow that might make an perceptive person guess. She spends most of the voyage up there at the front, with her arms folded against the small of her back and the wind and the spray lashing at her face and whipping her hair into a curly mess everywhere it's not tightly braided.

She still manages to conceal her surprise as they approach the dock in Cumberland, but it's harder to keep her fascination completely contained at the sight of the largest city in Thedas (or near enough). She'd love to look around, but they have a mission and so instead she spends her efforts on advocating that they hire horses rather than walking all the way to their destination and back. The matter is urgent after all, isn't it? Either way, she'll be silent for most of the trip--that's just her default--but helpful with hunting without needing to be asked, even if the terrain is somewhat different than the Frostbacks she's accustomed to. Rabbits, mostly, a couple of gamebirds. She mostly just goes without asking for assistance, but isn't secretive about it if someone wants to tag along.

At the town she keeps to herself still, doesn't drink much but seems quietly curious about the food--and a little skeptical, pushing it around with her fork in examination before chewing thoroughly. Except the snails. The snails get a more thorough poking-at with her fork. WTF.

[foxsays]

If everyone could kindly ignore that Araceli and Lux seem to be coming from the opposite direction to pretty much everyone else - that is the distinctly not Skyhold direction, the 'hmmm, you came from the north didn't you?' direction - then that would be absolutely grand by her. Since she can't talk about where she's been. (Unless you're maybe Martel because certain men are a law unto themselves, or the Outsider who will probably just know whenever she gets back to Skyhold.) The fox is miserably slung over the saddle of a 'borrowed' horse when she meets up with the group, quite glad to be down at the first available opportunity. But he has wee little legs, and a horse has big legs, so y'know, you need to shut up and suffer the indignities Lux because there's a job to do and Ruby summoned your mistress.

At the inn, since Araceli doesn't have a ruse to keep up this time, she will quite happily show any serving girls who happen her way (it's Araceli Bonaventura so serving girls will always just happen her way, this is pretty much a universal constant) as she fans out a deck of cards. If anyone else is up for a game to settle themselves, she'll deal them in. Tonight's not about money, or learning tells, or getting information. It's just about relaxing. Incredible.

The booze is still really, really bad. But that's fine, guess who still has rum from Rivain in her pack. Maybe you can have some if you ask her very nicely. Since she kind of had the more chill journey, just a girl and her fox and a big dumb horse out of Tevinter that she will sell to some merchant since no, she doesn't want a horse, look at this stupid thing.

[unsullies]

When they sail, she imagines, as much as she can, that they are on a ship bound for Westeros. She imagines that she is finally returning home with the Dothraki army at her back, ready to claim her family's rightful throne. Dany opens her eyes, though, and the salty air is as unfamiliar here as it would be crossing the Narrow Sea. This is neither Westeros or Essos and she is a woman without a country.

Nevertheless, the trip is enjoyable enough. Ruby is close by, who she knows as well as she knows anyone in Thedas (which is to say, not very well at all). Still, her presence is a sort of comfort, and the silver queen takes to shadowing Ruby every so often, asking questions and then drawing away again to think on it all.

Why had she come on this mission? Dany can't fight, which isn't a secret, but she's also one of their 'rifters.' She takes a deep breath, trying to quell the anxiety that blooms in her chest. She remembers well the demons that she'd seen upon her first arrival and isn't looking forward to seeing them again.

TEAM ONE: rift two attempt & capture.

[eviscerates]

The sun is still low in the sky, and fog lingers in the valleys around hills, making it hard to see too far away unless there's bright light or loud noises to guide and sharpen your attention.

Travelling to the rifts took a little time, travelling through some forest and dragging themselves up a grassy slope, but they make it there without too much struggle. The first rift is at the top of the hill, because nothing says “thank God we made it up that hill” like having to fight some demons. It’s your same old same old, a lot of rage demons and a lot of terror demons waiting under the surface to burst up through the ground.

The second rift is beneath a great oak tree that reaches up to the sky, the green of the rift bursting and crackling in the branches, and requires descending a rocky outcrop to make it. This rift is more difficult, hitched up a few levels like that bastard level twelve rift in the Hinterlands. Fuck you, level twelve rift in the Hinterlands. It’s not so easy a fight.

A cluster of rage demons circle, but there are also fear demons and a multitude of fearlings to contend with. They wait, ready to prey on the instinctive and the primal within those coming to combat them. There’s a lot of them, but they can handle it.

Unless, of course, something terrible happens, but what are the odds of that.

Ruby sets her mouth, and starts to slip her cloak from her shoulders, stretching her and rolling her shoulders as she folks it and sets it on a rock. “Okay. I’ll take offence,” she murmurs, eyes glowing gold before she moves forward as Wolf, rather than Ruby.


( OOC: This thread is one thread with no tagging order! I will GM demons from the rift and the Venatori attack. We can touch base if people want it to branch into subthreads for each characters capture when we get there, but let's plan to keep it all one thread, for now. )

[wontforgetyou]

Seeing Ruby going forward as Wolf is something new for Jamie. The very first time they worked on a rift together she'd stayed Ruby, and while he knows that she can do it, it's the first time he's seen it - so there's a part of him that knows he'll have to wrap his mind around that sooner or later. Right now isn't that time, however. There are a lot of demons there, and he knows as well as the others that they'll need to be taken down before they'll be able to get the rift closed. Wrapping his mind around things will just have to come later on.

A determined expression appears on his face, something to go along with the way he shifts his body, drawing his sword and readying it for the fight to come. He spares the others only a quick glance and a few words.

"I'll back her up."

With that he starts off as well, moving to flank Ruby and whatever target she's going for first. The sooner they can start to bring down those numbers, the better.

TEAM ONE: dungeons.

[eviscerates]

The dungeons are, predictably, cold. They are cold in the way of rooms that have never once seen the light of the sun, nor had external walls that were warmed by it. They are cold, and they are damp, with scant amounts of straw scattered over the floor. The walls are raw rock, not carefully polished and carved and decorated like so much of the fortress once was, at least in Ages past when first it was built.

For those who had some grasp of consciousness by the time they reached the fortress, they travelled downward on spiralling steps, past forks in paths and torches burning fiercely as they hung from the jaws of stone serpents. Downward, always downward, and at times there had been the distant, echoing sounds of water.

When they wake, there is only ever one or two torches in the room, and shallow dishes of water that are hard to reach and easily spilled. Their wrists are heavy with shackles, heavy chains connecting them to the wall. At times, guards come and take people away, only to return them. Whether they are gone days or hours — hard to say. Time feels distorted in this place, even if it is not.

The ceiling is sloped, high at the entranceway, and lower and lower at it stretches out to the edges of the room, until a person would have to be shorter than four foot to be able to stand properly.


When people are taken, they are moved to a much more well lit room, the chains binding them hooked to the ceiling, and they might be interviewed - asked questions of their health, of how long they have had the shard. The man speaking with them is a little shorter than six foot, soft spoken and with a very pleasant smile. He introduces himself as Zoroastres Maris of Vyrantium. A lovely place, he says, before asking questions of their world and their lives. He is a quiet, methodical man of science, and he explains his interest in the resilience of those who have journeyed through the Fade.

And then the lyrium injections begin.

Each of them come and go. There might be times when they are kept in a separate holding cell, closer to his main workroom, so they can be observed more easily. There might be times when only one of them is in the main dungeon, or when they are all there together.

The lyrium makes how they understand reality twist.

They may experience reality-muddling, the memories or dreams that come into play may include flashes of events from beyond the the time that they have lived through or personal canon experience of their home worlds.

They may also experience brief memory bleed from other nearby characters, including their fellow captives and their captors — quick disorienting flashes or dreamlike patchworks of various different experiences, nothing coherent or prolonged that would allow characters to glean much personal information about others. These flashes will feel indistinguishable from the rifters' own memories, especially combined with the difficulty separating memory from reality, so conclusively distinguishing between their own memories and dreams/others' memories may take time and careful thought or may be completely impossible.

Coherency varies, how much lyrium is administered and how strongly it effects them all varies, and careful notes are kept with each change.


( OOC: Party style. This setting will span a few days, with people being taken away and returned from experimentation, etc.

Here begins memory smooshing, confusion, lyrium effects, hurt/comfort, whatever you fancy, although there will also be room for that later on, of course. Feel free to be timewimey and jump around because it does span several days and characters will be suffering effects that make it hard for them to be certain of time, anyway.


PLEASE NOTE: how severe your character is dosed/reacts to the dosage is up to you, and any additional abuse they might have taken from guards is also up to you. They are only being given REGULAR/BLUE lyrium, and you can read more about the regular effects here. Rifters have the same recovery capacity as mages, as mentioned in the original plotty post, so no matter how badly effected they are in this plot, they will make a full recovery.

Although identifying memories as belonging to the particular person is not possible, please don't info mod anything people aren't willing to have shared. If you have memories you would like others to see/experience or ones you would not like them to see, add a comment in the OOC plotting post and link it in your comment, or include it in your set up post or discuss on plurk or... whatever works best for you, honestly. Just don't godmod okok.

Add content warnings at your own discretion and/or advise me so I can add them to the main post. )

[eviscerates]

Waking up in the dungeon, her head feels heavy and aching and too hot, and when she tries to move she can feel heigh tugging at her wrists and the hear the grate of metal against metal. Her side is cold, and is sore and aching from pressure. Ruby blinks in the poor light, lifts her head, and it feels like she is inhaling rot from the smell of this place. No.

All she remembers is fog and fire and burning up her back and blood on her tongue, and Ruby groans as she tries to push herself up.

“Hey.” She crawls over to the person nearest her, mercifully within reach, and very gently rests her hands on their shoulders. “Hey, come on. Wake up.”

Please be okay. Please be alive. A glance around the room, and she doesn’t know if she’s relieved or horrified - so many of them are here, which means at least they are alive, but Avery is gone. It’s hard to figure out if it’s worse not knowing how Avery is, or knowing that so many are irrefutably alive and in the hands of Venatori.



After a while in the dungeon, she attempts different tactics, gives her food to the younger or the more injured or the less resilient members of the party, which as far as she’s concerned? Is everyone. She is the Wolf, she is stronger.

At one point she tries to take advantage of the guard not paying attention and braces her feet against the wall, hands wrapped around the chain and pulled it hard and tight in a bid to pull the bolts right out of the wall; it doesn’t work, and gets her a kick in the ribs for her trouble.



When others return she tries to comfort them, bunching together the scraps of straw or trying to pull closer so they have someone to lean against rather than just the floor.



Coming and going makes keeping track of time even harder than it might have been. Her heart feels like it’s going too fast and she’s doubled over on the floor, skin clammy (too hot and too cold on a loop), eyes clasped tight as too many images press through her head, memories that feel strange and mismatched with everything else but she can’t pin down why.
At one point, she is no longer the woman they know here, she’s Red, and she doesn’t recognise any of them. "Who are you? I don't— where's Snow?"


Eventually, Ruby just doesn’t come back.

cw: mentions of violence, additional potential violence

[wontforgetyou]

When they first arrive in the dungeon, Jamie takes a bit longer than the others before he comes to, and when he does it's to a splitting headache, causing him to try to bring his hand to the side of his head in an old reflex that is cut short by finding himself chained to the wall. That doesn't stop him from muttering to himself, though, the other half of that same reaction and one chains can't stop from happening.

"Ooh, my head."

He may not be able to try and feel at the back of his skull to see how bad it is as well as he'd like, but he still has a go at trying to do so anyway, grimacing when he finally does manage to brush his fingers against the tender knot that's formed there. There's not much he can do about that right now, so instead he shifts around as best as he can to check on the others, even if he can't manage to move closer to more than one or two people.

"Are you alright?"

A short time after that Jamie starts trying to find different ways to break the chains, either by force or finesse, but there's not much he can use for leverage either way. After a couple of failed attempts and a couple of blows by the guards, he seemingly gives up - but there's a determined look in his eyes. It'll take more than that to put a McCrimmon down, and if there's a chance to get out of here, he has every intention of going for it.

When that doesn't work, the Venatori counter not only with violence - payback for what he tried - but with more lyrium, turning his days into a tangled jumble of hot and cold and dizziness and thirst undercut with pain. Time becomes impossible to keep track of, and the longer it goes on the more he slips away from reality, calling people 'Doctor' or - for the girls - switching between calling them 'Polly', 'Victoria' or 'Zoe' - and once or twice, 'Kirsty'.

Eventually, the sound of pipes drowns out the other voices in his head, and his eyes fix on a seemingly empty spot in the room. Over time his brogue has gotten stronger, and when he suddenly starts to struggle against his chains in earnest in an attempt to get away from that spot, it's thick enough that even the word 'you' sounds more like 'ye', making him harder to understand than usual.

"The Phantom Piper! No, I'll not go with you. Stay away! I'm warning you, I'll fight. You'll not take me!!"

The people that know him well know that the Phantom Piper is a legend of his clan, something that appears when they're close to death - or in Jamie's case, when he thinks he's close to death. But he's not going to go down without a fight, and without warning, he lunges forward, kicking out in an attempt to drive the "Piper" away - or anyone else that might get too close, for that matter. He's not quiet about it, though, and if he keeps it up, the guards are bound to notice. Whether or not they'll do anything about it is another matter...

[foxsays]

Keeping her eyes closed at first, she opens one then the other, swallowing the bubble of panic that rises once she can see anything in the dim light. Lux isn't here and that's--

I sent him away, she thinks. She must have. He's smart, he would've-- but her head aches worse than after a long night of drinking. Her left wrist throbs angrily and when she looks closer, the leathers she's wearing are stuck to it with dried blood.

"Estás bien?" Her own tongue comes easier, but given how gently she asks it, it should probably be enough to get the point across.


The lockpicks are gone. And they were thorough in stripping her of everything so the necklace and earrings that are also actually lockpicks? Gone too. Doesn't stop her from trying; her fingers are only so good, and her aching wrist bleeds again before she gets anywhere. Even that isn't enough to let her slip a hand free though not for lack of trying.


Keeping track of her words becomes harder. The people that know Antivan or Spanish? It's easier for them to understand. When she slips back into her own tongue after the lyrium comes (she never thought something blue would frighten her, blue is the ocean, what reason has she ever had to fear that?) she curls in on herself. Mumbles a song under her breath when her breath doesn't come hiccuping out of her.


Three in all of Skyhold know the truth about Araceli. That she's more than just a thief and a pirate and a gambler. That she's spent the past year running around guarding her queen (fall out of the sky with no way to prove anything, not wanting to stand out more than you do and see how quick you are to go volunteering that detail) but she's talked about them all plenty.

And now she's looking around for them, fighting in the chains harder, staring down at herself, at everyone else in alarm--

"What the-- No. No no no, this is not-- Where are the others and who are you?"

[heda]

Lexa's first task when she wakes in the cell (after discreetly rubbing a hand against the lump on her head) is to canvass those around her for everything they remember of the trip here. As they wake she'll draw attention with a nudge of a foot stretched across the floor, or fingers snapped until the sound draws their eyes.

"What did you see on the way here?" she asks. She scuffs aside a clump of straw to reveal the beginnings of a makeshift map scratched into a flat patch of floor. No one is spared her questioning. It gets harder and harder to keep things straight in her mind, but she fights off sleep as hard as she can, instead crouching over the map, one hand rubbing aching temples and lips moving soundlessly as she struggles to memorize what little they've learned. She'll move over if anyone else wants to do the same. Just in case.

She's been a model of stoicism so far, never complaining, and not as severely dosed as the rifters, all stone face and steely determination. She's not good at comfort, and mostly just keeps her distance and her silence when others seem overcome, waiting for it to pass. But once it has, she'll be there with a hand planted beside a knee or shoulder, or eyes caught across the dim cell. "We will survive this," she says, voice low and firm, reassuring, and too deadly certain to be patronizing. "They will make a mistake, and we will get out, and they will pay with their lives for what they've done."

But after a few more times being dragged out of the cell and tossed back in, her best efforts only result in crumpling into a knot of limbs and chains against the wall, dozing fitfully. Half-asleep her mask cracks, tears cleaning tracks down her face as she mumbles and twitches and gasps and eventually startles upright with a shouted "NO!" eyes wide, unfocused and confused.

( closed ) COSIMA, JAMIE & LEXA: escape attempt.

[eviscerates]

They are all together in a room, with higher ceilings than the dungeon that they have spent most of their time in thus far. It is not so deep into the ground, and better lit. It is more for convenience than out of any kind of consideration; these subjects will need to be examined soon.

Who knows how long they are there; one of the torches begins to burn too low, hissing and protesting.

Initially there are two venatori guarding the room; they talk nonsense, or they are silent. One is a mage, the other a rogue, and both watch closely and tell the subjects to be quiet if they speak too much.

Eventually there is a third venatori, speaking in hushed whispers to the others, and the mage leave with him, leaving one lone venatori, who from his posture might just be sulking at being left behind.

( OOC: One thread, no strict tagging order, I will GM Venatori and such. REMEMBER THIS IS AN EXTREMELY SERIOUS PLOT we take everything seriously here. )

[wontforgetyou]

The journey here hasn't been an easy one - at least for Jamie. His brief rise into consciousness may have given him enough time to work his watch free and stick it on a tree branch, but it's earned him a blow to the head and a headache that still seems to be lingering even after he's spent some time cooling his heels in the dungeon.

But aching head or no, he's not one to give up easily. There's no guarantee that that anyone from the Inquisition would find the watch, or even know who it belongs to. They still need to figure out some sort of way to get out of here, and the sooner the better. He's had enough experience with dungeons and being locked up in general that he's always looking for that way out - and he knows a chance when he sees it. When most of the guards wind up taking off, leaving only the sulky one behind, he shifts as best he can so he's within hearing distance of both the girls, making sure to keep his voice as low as possible so it doesn't carry and wreck what might be their best shot at getting out here.

"Right. Now's our chance."

( closed ) LEXA: after the attempt.

[eviscerates]

"It's a terribly ugly business," Maris starts, upon noticing the Avvar woman stir. It had not been so difficult a deduction. Oh, there was the rifter girl who spoke a language like Antivan, but it was a language like Antivan, not a pure strain. It was helpful, having so many fine researchers amongst his time; identifying the Avvar tongue had not been easy, but it had been done and confirmed.

He walks over to the woman, laying both of his hands on her forearm. Shackles clamp over her wrists and her ankles, and a paralysis weakens limbs almost to the point of complete immobility— only almost. She might, for example, be able to turn her head, to shift slight, to grasp her hands into very loose fists. Fascinating to observe, he thinks.

"I have brought in the guards who were so heavy handed with you and your colleagues. You deserve an apology, my dear." Maris looks at the trio, the most vicious offenders, and they keep their gazes trained ahead of them. Before he addresses them further, however, he looks to Lexa again. "All that can wait a moment. How are you feeling?"

The room is well lit, immaculately clean. There are three tables, one occupied by Lexa, the middle empty, the third inhabited by a form that's not easily visible.

( closed ) COSIMA: after the attempt.

[eviscerates]

Maris is a patient man. It is impossible to be a man dedicated to scholarly pursuits and not be patient, in his experience. He sits beside the table where Subject Twenty-Four is lying, her wrists and ankles shackled to the table, no steps yet taken to see to the injuries suffered during the escape attempt. Fractures to the left forearm, so far as he can gauge it, perhaps not surprising given how weak she appears to be compared to the rest of the party.

Once there are signs of the Subject stirring, he begins to speak. His voice is very calm, almost— kind.

"My dear," he starts, not glancing up from his book, "take care not to move. The pain in your wrist is doubtless considerable, but we can see to that, soon enough."

Finally, he does look at her. His eyes are a very bright, warm copper-brown, and his eyes crinkle when he smiles. "How are you feeling?"

( closed ) JAMIE: after the attempt.

[eviscerates]

Unlike Lexa and Cosima, Jamie is afforded rather less civility. He is strung up, hands over his hand and tethered to the ceiling by a chain, feet barely touching the ground, and before him sits Maria on a seat, watching him rather pensively.

"What did you hope to achieve?"

His patience wears, but it is not run out just yet. He simply—

Well. This might be more interesting than the other approach.

TEAM TWO: travel to Craintellier.

[eviscerates]

The news comes from a requisition officer in Craintellier; the party is missing. The second rift is still open. Please send help.

As with the first group, the second must go through the mountains, and cross the Waking Sea to arrive in Cumberland, before travelling north across the Fields of Ghislain. The Imperial Highway is too indirect, but the Inquisition does send two wagons of food, healing supplies, and whatever else might be necessary via the Highway, to be ready for the second party, whatever the outcome may be.

The weather is still clear, and the grass and flowers still ripple in the breeze. The path the first team took may still be apparent, a trail of poppies and yellow flowers whose bursting blossoms seem akin to lion manes or the suns rays swaying with the tall grass.

The requisition officer who greets them in Crantellier is more somber than he was when he met the first party, and he debriefs them as best he can. Describes the first party, their night in Craintellier before departing early, very early, to see to the rifts. And then— nothing.

The rifts - or rift, now - are separated from the village by a stretch of forest, so they didn't see anything that happened, and with the remaining demons (and him just one man, and no shardbearer) he was unable to investigate further. Even so, he will do whatever he can to help, and offers to direct them to the inn to rest before they carry on their journey.

( OOC: This thread is party style! It can basically include anything prior to the attempt at closing the second rift, so travelling, checking out the village and anything that isn't investigating is totally fine. Get chased by a bear. Live the dream. )

just make up anything and i'll roll with it tbh

[amygdalae]

To be perfectly honest Bruce was still worn out from what had only happened so recently with Highwind. To see him being possessed as such, and the end that he met... it was hard to forget.

But yet things still went on, as they did, and now yet here was another situation. Hearing the news of the previous group apparently disappearing was incredibly concerning, and that worry gnawed at him as they made their way to Craintellier. The dracolisk, as usual, was with him, and apparently more than pleased to be out of Skyhold again so soon. For the most part its reasonably well behaved, perhaps save for a few incidents in the mountains and that one time while they crossed the Waking Sea.

Never bring a dracolisk across the sea, generally speaking.

For Bruce himself he tends to keep quiet away from the main party, brooding on his own thoughts more often than not. He's definitely open enough for conversation when needed, and incredibly focused when it comes to discussing about the mission, but otherwise it almost seems like he's in his own world, sometimes.

Except when the dracolisk bothers him. Then he can be found trying to tell it to not bother people.

TEAM TWO: post rift investigation/picking up clues along the way medley.

[eviscerates]

( OOC: This is going to be divided into three subthreads, one for each mini team. I will GM clues and stuff to look at - for an example of what I mean, check out KB's awesome GMing in the abomination plot.

Each subthread will be for a different area along the way to the Fortress, and I've used RNG to assign "teams" to those areas. You can either do a thread with just your character, or it can involve others from the group - I'm fine either way.

If you really want a your character to be investigating an area they aren't RNG'd to then that's okay, but it will be the characters assigned to that area that find the clues :]b )

BELLAMY, ADELAIDE & SABINE: near the second rift

[eviscerates]

Here the search begins.

Once the rift is closed, there is a chance to begin investigating if the party ever made it this far after successfully closing the first rift. The first rift, according to the requisition officer, was atop a nearby hill, while the second was in the valley. Even with the sun shining, there is a light fog in the valley, though it’s not too difficult to see through.

There is a a tall oak tree, with great gnarled roots. Not too far away there is a rocky hillside with dramatic outcrops of stone, that the first party would have had to descend in order to get down from where the first rift was located.

There are also some patches of dark liquid of varying size, and the carcasses of the demons they just defeated, rage and fear and fearlings all steaming on the ground.

TEAM TWO: take the outpost.

[eviscerates]

The team was selected from all the Inquisition for their tactical prowess.

This isn’t a proper log starter, those will be in the subthreads, just humour me.

With Avery having rejoined the party, there are now nine of them ready to take the fortress. The thing is that there are quite a lot of Venatori, and quite a lot of mages, and the fortress is solid.
Thanks to clues and being a giant nerd, CIRI* is able to lead the group to the exact location of the fortress.
Based on the attack at the second rift, AVERY* is able to provide a bit of information about the enemies.
BELLAMY* is able to assess the fortress from a glance, suggests a dual approach of stealth and force.
Everyone else is there to look pretty and brooding and concerned.

*if you guys would like more info on anything for Thread Purposes I will gleefully provide :]b


The basic rundown is that there will be two threads, one for STEALTH & SEARCH and one for DISTRACT & ATTACK.

STEALTH & SEARCH: BELLAMY, BRUCE, CIRI, SABINE

ATTACK & DISTRACT: ADELAIDE, AVERY, KORRIN, MERRILL, TEREN.

STEALTH team will infiltrate: scale the wall with grappling hooks, get in through some windows, pick locks and take down bad guys. This will be a combination of me GMing, but don’t feel limited if you want to PROGRESS things or do something random. Embrace it. The STEALTH team will also interrogate a dude and find some clues, before they go and open the main gates to the ATTACK team.

The ATTACK team is going to send Avery in looking weak and useless, and like the poor helpless bunny she is, she is going to draw some Venatori out. to a convenient nearby treelike. Once they are drawn out, ATTACK team can destroy them, and then majestically charge in to attack some more Venatori. Likewise, I will be GMing but if you want to DO A THING then let’s go with it.

There is an OOC comment for plotting and chatting for this here.

( OOC: JUST TO BE CLEAR two separate threads each no tagging order, I will GM Venatori/traps/clues and such. )

STEALTH & SEARCH: BRUCE, BELLAMY, SABINE, CIRI.

[eviscerates]

Team Attack and Distract is both very attack-y, and very distract-y. All in all A+ job. With the Venatori attention sufficiently drawn, it is safe for the smaller team to move into action. There is a tower with massive cracks and breaks in the wall - tricky to get a grabbling hook into, perhaps, but big enough that they can climb through them and into the tower. From there they must go quickly and effectively, pick off stragglers and let in the rest of their party.

I mean, there’s some blood mages and trauma probably awaiting them, but it’s fine.


( OOC: One thread, no tagging order, I will GM Venatori/traps/clues and such. )

TEAM TWO: regroup & into the dungeons.

[eviscerates]

Team Stealth has gathered some information, found some items taken from the missing party, and successfully opened the giant, mechanically operated doors to the fortress.

Team Attack has managed to gather a little information of their own, and draw out a good number of adversaries as well as the initial wave that came out after Avery, so that they won’t be going into enemy territory against such alarming odds.

And Tevinter’s answer to Team Rocket has blasted off.

In another stroke of good news? Two wagons from the Inquisition have arrived, one manned by Burly, tal-vachef of the kitchens. A chance for steeds to rest a little on the way back without people to carry, for the injured to be able to lie down and rest, and for supplies to be replenished before charging into battle.
Burly and his npc companions will guard the entranceway against other potential Venatori threats that might arrive and leave our heroes trapped. (Burly heard his fellow cook and others he likes were imperilled, and volunteered on this rare mission to assist.)

The two teams are reunited, the sound of water cascading a distant roar. To approach the fortress (or return to it after re-stocking) it is necessary to cross a bridge still being restored, which damaged and treacherous stonework and large gaps that risk a tumble into the waterfall. Maybe just don’t look down. Once they are in the entranceway, the air becomes much cooler. Stone serpents coil along archways, chains hanging from their mouths to hold burning dishes of oil that light the hallways.

They already know it is the easternmost passageway that they must look to; now they just need to find their missing companions.


( OOC: One thread, no threading order, I will GM traps/Venatori/points of interest. Branching off is okay if you want for dialogue and chats or checking out rooms here and there, but make sure to tie back into the main thread and indicate if you are branching off so others know to continue the main thread.

This thread will culminate involve FINDING LEXA in a separate location, and then finding the MAIN DUNGEON.

Note: injuries incurred in this thread won't be anything huge and dire, unless you wish to make them so. That is so you don't need to worry about being aware of surprise injuries, etc, before we commence the main boss fight log. That won't go up right away, though! )

What is this, a bridge for ants?

[fleurdesel]

A moment to restock, to be thoroughly vexed by the venatori trio giving them the slip, to rest. To consider their next move as they consider how it is they are to enter. At first Adelaide says nothing, weighing the effort she's expanded in the earlier fighting versus what it would take to make the path clear and safe. Reluctantly downing a lyrium potion Adelaide summons a wisp for herself with a wave of one hand and strides to the edge of the bridge. Platform to platform, gap to gap. What needs to be filled, what needs support. It is something she could, in theory, manage on her own- but it would leave her a weary liability for the remainder of the mission.

With both Martel and Ruby inside? She cannot overextend herself in such a manner. "Merrill?"

She calls over her shoulder, inclining her head. "Could I borrow you and your vines for a moment?"

Connect the platforms with vines, entwine the ice in a laced overlay- a stable bridge for them to cross. Simple enough.

TEAM ONE & TEAM TWO: here are your shard bearers.

[eviscerates]

Traps have been endured, Venatori have been slain, and there is the distant sound of the ground river that leads to the external waterfall echoing up from the mine below. Just how deep and tangled these dungeons might go is a mystery.

The dungeon where the missing party is held is dark, and smells of rotting straw and sickness. The room is cold, its two lanterns offering precious little in the way of light let alone heat, and the inhabitants are all shackled to the walls with long, heavy chains. Some will still suffering the effects of lyrium very badly, others are doing a little better, but they are all of them in need of water. (A barrel sits in one of the corners with wooden cups, but is out of reach of all the shard bearers.)

Simple enough to gather them up and move, but—

Ruby Lucas is not here.


( OOC: This thread is party style! Have an emotional reunion, take a moment to heal up and recover before the boss fight. Members of team one and two are welcome to do threadstarters, RUN FREE PRECIOUS ONE, RUN FREE. )

[thecookery]

It feels a little wrong being here, to be honest. Avery cares of course. She's glad to see them all alive. She's livid at seeing the condition they're in. But some of the others with her are their friends, family, lovers. The trip up here was literally the most interaction she'd ever had with any of these people.

So rather than rushing to anyone's side emotionally or making any dramatic declarations of revenge, she steps out of the way, allows others to reach them first, and goes over to inspect the water barrel. If it seems safe, she'll start distributing it around the room with quiet instructions to drink slowly. Not too much at once.

And those who want it and can stomach it also get a little of the food Burly sent the rescue party down with.

TEAM ONE & TEAM TWO: boss fight.

[eviscerates]

Roots break through parts of the floor and the wall, great twisted things. Unusual, perhaps, for so deep in the mine. What could possibly grow here? Stone has given way to them, cracked under their strength.

If the party were to stay very still, they might realise that they can hear the roots slowly breaking through more stone.

One last door. One final barrier, and beyond it can be heard the wet snap of— something. The door opens without the need for lock picking, and the smell in the room is a wave of copper mist on the air.

It is a laboratory, or a chamber that has been adapted to a laboratory, if it can be given the dignity of being called that. A long bench stretches along the side, several stretches of leather unrolled, silver tools and implements set along it. Blades, needles, instruments designed to test and torture. Some are clean, others less so. Heavy chains hang from the ceiling, and silver needles are scattered across the floor.

Great, twisted tangles of roses have consumed part of the room, seeming more akin to thorned tree trunks than rose stems, and they shudder and spasm. It is not they that at the source of the sound, they remain pristine and somehow ancient seeming.

At the centre of the room is a Wolf, a great shaggy thing. Bigger than the Wolf has ever been seen, it must seem, and thoroughly distracted. With the sprawling roses, it is not immediately obvious what she is doing, until there is another wet tear and the Wolf raises its head to swallow.

Ten Venatori bodies lie at her feet, each one eviscerated, and her muzzle and neck are slick with blood. Her meal is not distraction enough - the slightest breath or movement or scent makes the Wolf swing her head around to look at the party, snarling to bear bloodied teeth. Her eyes burn lyrium blue, instead of orange-gold, and the Wolf growls as she takes in the spectacle before it, hackles raising and head lowering.

The roses begin to thrash a little, a whiplash cracking motion that slaps all too close to the party with thorn fit to sink in and tear.


( OOC: One thread, I will GM the bosses & Venatori. We will start with the first part, and then the second boss will come in.

As with before, branching off is fine but mark it and bring yourselves back into the main thread when you can.

If we have discussed something specific or if you have something you really want to thread as part of the fight and aren’t sure how to slot it in chronologically or feel it could disrupt other stuff and don’t feel comfortable with branching off, feel free to do a subthread (or I can make one). Just make sure to mark what it is/who it will include/etc. We can be time wimey and flexible as need be.

NOTE: By this point all the abductees will have had their personal items restored to them, and opportunities to take weapons from Venatori gladiators and scouts.

REGARDING WEREWOLF BITES AND SCRATCHES: these WILL NOT turn people into werewolves in Thedas, however their healing cannot be hastened with magic. If you would like to make any revisions or add notes to your permissions re: injuries, or if you'd like to plot or plan anything there, please go for it.

The one requirement is that Ruby will be restrained and not killed, but when the other boss happens kill the hell out of them. )

[fleurdesel]

It could be considered romantic if framed properly. Something of a fairy tale. Strained desperation, a terrified determination spurring on one lover in hopes of finding their other half. A long journey, a fierce battle, twisting through stone that crumbles, hiding layer after layer of more enemies, more traps only to come to this climactic moment. Rose thorns and this, this is how she is finally certain that Ruby is well. The notes retrieved have been concerning to the point of sickness, cold fear threatening to shake Adelaide's conviction even as shoves past the thick snarl of brambles. It could be terribly romantic if one found this much death romantic. It could be a fairy tale- so long as it was the older sort of pacts in blood, snapped bone and hearts consumed. Visceral and vivid.

Through here. Just through here and she could find Ruby, unchain her, and take her home. They could be shut of this wretched fortress, of the lyrium, of the venatori. Heedless of the bodies, the silver, the blood- the whole of her world narrowed down to the glowing lyrium blue of the wolf's eyes. For a moment there is fear- "Maker, what have they done to you?"

But it is brief. Whatever has been done? Can be undone. Whatever sickness or strangeness? They will cure it. They must- she must. Anything less than a proper return of Ruby to her whole and healthy is unacceptable.

"Ruby." Her voice cracks, wavers. But only for a moment, only until she is able to swallow past the shards of ice in her throat. Leather gone liquid, Adelaide's shoulders slump as she steps through the blood. Over needles, hand raised, palm held forward for her wolf to sniff and know she's come. She's here, she's safe. Voice low and pitched to sooth- for she remembers well that Ruby can understand like this. Will know her, recognize her voice, understand the sentiment. "Miel Loup- it is fine, yes? It is only us, you are safe. No more tests- no more Venatori."

EPILOGUE | travel back to & arrival in Skyhold.

[eviscerates]

The air is cold when they emerge from the fort, and the waterfall roars, but they are out.
Still, as a wise member of the mage council once said: shit is fucked.

If enough of them can walk to get out of the fortress without needing Burly to come in and carry people, however, it can be considered a win. Anyone who can’t move themselves, and doesn’t have someone to move them? Burly will see to.

The entire party has survived, although just how great they feel is probably up for debate.
In short

— All of the shard bearers have been rescued, mostly in one piece
— They have acquired some information on Venatori projects, and one encrypted volume that will need to be studied in Skyhold
— Daenerys recruited a quartet of Venatori gladiator slaves to the Inquisition, and they will help defend the party on the way back to Skyhold
— Everyone probably needs to wash their hair five times
— This was a really… great… bonding experience…

This thread is a party style adventure for anything after the boss fight, including getting out of the fort, healing, travelling, cleaning themselves up, and whatever else you can think of. They have a cook there to make sure everyone gets hearty meals all the way back to Skyhold, they have people to see to their defence, and they have a couple of big wagons that they can all pile into, if they aren't in a fit state to walk or ride the steed they came down on. This trip will go via the Imperial Highway as much as possible, with some detours to avoid the War of the Lions raging across Orlais.

Do feel free to also include prompts for arriving back in Skyhold! Those specific prompts will be open to people not involved in the rest of this plot, although naturally the rest are closed to plot buddies.

ota

[eviscerates]

The one thing she insists on as she’s carried out of the dungeons: shackle me or kill me. She’s barely coherent but she keeps insisting, keeps repeating it over and over with a feverish kind of insistence until her wrists are shackled.

Considering the recent sword to the gut and daggers to the thigh and everything else that has happened, she isn’t exactly mobile, limited to lying in the back of the wagon with wounds that magic can’t heal but that it can help along, skin too pale and cheeks hollow.

Ruby Lucas is a shaking mess, when she’s Ruby of the Curse; a lost girl who doesn’t know what’s happening but knows she’s hurting and hugs her arms around herself protectively, fingers curling into the scarlet cloak that tumbles from her shoulders and pulls up the hood protectively. When she’s Red of before the Curse it’s a little better, though both tense at the sight of magic, at least Red can be persuaded to cooperate. It’s the times when she remembers life after the Curse and life in Thedas that might be worst, because in those moments she is lucid enough to piece together what it was she had done.

The first time she realised (remembered?) she threw up over the side of the wagon and didn’t want to be touched. The second time she almost stopped breathing with the horror welling up in her chest. Maybe more rememberings can happen.

She starts to be conscious more often than not, but just how coherent she is remains quite another matter.

Immediately they arrive at Skyhold, Ruby insists that she go to the dungeons.


( ooc: if you’d like to specifically deal with Curse!Ruby or pre-Curse!Red or regular FR Ruby, let me know in the subject or something. Any point in the timeline is good, feel free to wildcard, she just won’t be very mobile at any point. )