( 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

CIRI & MERRILL (& ???): near the river

[eviscerates]

Furthest along the trail.

The sparse outcrops of white flowers continue.
The ground here is softer, muddier, and it is possible to sink in a little, leaving some tracks on the ground. The sound of water might draw some attention. You guys maybe that ominous dark trail is worth looking at, idk.

[ichaer]

The mud matters little to the Warden, thankfully. In fact, she'd take mud up to shoulders over snow, caves and abominations. The mission before this one still lingers in the back of her mind and the news of missing agents was the last thing she needed after that mission.

It helps keep her mind off of it though so she marches along the trail following the sound of water for now.

[eviscerates]

Her search is not, as it turns out, without company. The sound of trudging through mud as drawn attention, and there is rustling through some nearby grass, long as dense enough to make seeing just what's coming very difficult.

[chainlightning]

The flowers are nice, at least. Merrill had been crouched down, trying to distinguish anything she can from the tracks -- she's never been a scout, but she was raised Dalish, and she should be able to tell a human track from a bear if nothing else. The rustling, however, has one hand go to her staff as she looks up, freezing but ready to cast at a moment's notice.

[eviscerates]

SURPRISE YOU GUYS

it isn't terrible. Unless you think an adorable black fox sticking his head out through some long grass is terrible. He might even be recognisable as Lux, companion to a certain parkour pirate rifter. The fox steps out, circles around Ciri and Merrill, and barks a couple of times.

[ichaer]

Truth be told, Ciri is probably jumpier than usual. She doesn't immediately draw her sword when the adorable creature pops its head through the long grass but there's a sudden bout of tension in her stance.

And then there's confusion but what in the Maker's name was she looking at... ?

"Isn't it rather big for a fennec?"

[chainlightning]

Merrill, on the other hand, is immediately bounding forward, hands outstretched.

"Lux! Oh, you're okay-" And antsy, apparently, and as much as Merrill wants to cuddle the fox and reassure him that it's okay, they're here for a reason -- plus Ciri probably wants an explanation. So.

"He belongs to one of the people on the first team, Araceli. He's a sweetheart and incredibly smart and Araceli wouldn't leave him behind... Do you know where they are, boy?"

[eviscerates]

Merrill! It's Merrill, good. Lux rubs up against Merrill for a moment, taking comfort in the familiar person (friend!) and noses her shins before skipping away and circling them once, twice, before pointing towards the sound of water. Unfortunately, he is pointing down the slick, steed, muddy track.

[ichaer]

And Ciri can only nod in response while watching the two. Her focus immediately goes to the fox as he circles them, skipping around and pointing toward the sound of water that she had already been following. She isn't too pleased to see the muddy descent that awaits them though and moves to settle her hands on her hips.

"I have some rope back with Kelpie that we could use to steady our descent but we could also just say fuck it and not mind the chance of leaving this place covered in mud."

[chainlightning]

Aww, Lux. What a good boy, and Merrill coos as much at him. The muddy slope down, however, is eyed with suspicion.

"I think- rope, probably. Just in case we can't get back up, or we need to bring someone back up." Rocking up on her toes, Merrill tries to peer down the slope. "Maybe it would be good to have the horses themselves, too?"

[ichaer]

"It wouldn't hurt. Right then, I'll get Kelpie."

She turns and takes a few steps away, bringing her hand to her mouth and letting out a loud whistle. It's a only a moment later before the black mare appears trotting down the muddy trail, snorting playfully as she approaches and happily knocking her head against Ciri's shoulder.

"Hey there, girl. Ready for an adventure because we got one ahead of us." As she speaks, she gathers the lengths of rope stored away and hopes it'll be enough.

[chainlightning]

Following right behind Kelpie is Honeysuckle. Merrill hasn't called for him, but he likes pretty mares and dislikes standing still. It's a win/win in this case, at least, though Merrill sighs slightly.

That mud is going to take forever to get out of the feathering around his hooves.

"Are you any good at tracking? You may want to go first, if you are, because I'm- not. Though I suppose we can also just follow Lux." She pauses. "Lux, can you get down that okay?"

As if the fox is going to speak to her.

[eviscerates]

Lux makes a keen little sound, gently rubs against Merrill once more, and hops onto a rock. If Ciri is good at tracking, she might notice that the mud looks like something sizeable slid down it at some point. Although, really, a stretch of smoother mud amidst the rest isn't terribly subtle.

From his rock, Lux jumps down the slope and springs a bit, landing gracefully at the bottom. See? It's not hard! (If your owner does parkour, maybe.)

[ichaer]

"I'm good at tracking darkspawn but humans shouldn't be too much harder, yeah?"

She thinks so anyway. Either way it was the sizeable disturbance that gets her attention as she looks for a tree that would support the weight going down the slide. Thankfully there are more than a few knots she learned stuck up in Weisshaupt with nothing more to do than work with her hands.

Even with Kelpie the track down in a slow one to make sure they do not loose balance but thankfully they reach solid ground without much trouble. She turns with a glance to Merrill and holds the rope taunt, calling back up to her:

"Okay! Your turn!"

[chainlightning]

Lux, you show-off. Merrill shakes her head and then watches Ciri and Kelpie's descent nervously, clapping her hands in delight when they're at the bottom.

Except then it's her turn, so-

"Okay." Okay. She'd go slower than Ciri, except Honeysuckle doesn't really want to do slow and steady. As a result, Merrill has a splash of mud up on her face when she gets to the bottom.

"Maybe we should go around when we come back this way..."

[eviscerates]

Lux is hopping about, restless, until Merrill makes it to the bottom. And then? Off he goes, bolting along the muddy track, leading them to the water.

[thecookery]

"Around's not so easy, actually."

The words are muttered weakly from the other side of a tree near the river's edge as they approach, followed by a heavy breath. "Not from here anyway. Too many waterfalls and crevasses."

[ichaer]

Focused on Merrill, Ciri does not notice if anyone might be around until the woman has made it down safety and the voice speaks up to answer the question that had been sent her way. She immediately looks over her shoulder, shocked before hopping off Kelpie and hurrying to where Avery sits.

"Avery! Are you hurt?" Because she'll be checking anyway.

[thecookery]

"Just catching my breath," she answers, almost laughing but too tired for much of one to come out. Slumped back against the trunk of the tree, Avery looks both exhausted and fairly well banged up, though other than some sort of leg wound she's wrapped with a sleeve torn from her own shirt, most of her injuries seem like superficial scratches and bruises that have already partially healed.

She pushes herself up a little straighter and winces. "Thought I heard voices. Wasn't sure what to think of it though, 'til I heard your yelling. Not very good at sneaking, are you?"

[ichaer]

Ciri will just laugh for the both of them then. "Helps to scare the bears off and besides I'm great at sneaking since you never seem to see me sneaking around the kitchens."

She grins and laughs again but her attention is on the bandaged area of her leg. Her medical bag is on Kelpie's saddle but for now she removes her waterskin from her belt and offers it since it's probably better than river water and whatever might be swimming around in it.

"I'm going to get this properly bandaged. In the meantime can you tell us what in the Maker's name happened with your group?"

[thecookery]

"Shut up," Avery grumbles and grabs the waterskin, taking a moment to have a drink from it and push down all the emotions threatening to overwhelm her right now. She's still alive, and people are here to help her. Who knows what would have happened if they hadn't found her? Who knows what has happened to everyone else??

After a moment, she clears her throat and answers, "I don't rightly know, to be honest. Not fully.

"The first rift was no problem, but the second was tougher. More demons. Stronger ones. And then halfway through, a bunch of people appeared out of the fog too. Soldiers. Blood mages." She swallows thickly. "I tried to fight back, but one of the mages... did something to me. I- I don't know what, but I guess I blacked out?

"When I woke up, it was just me and the demons. Everyone else was gone, and those things were all headed my way, so I ran."

[chainlightning]

Oh! Oh, there's a person -- Merrill gasps audibly and, as Ciri looks Avery over, takes a moment to pick Lux up to cuddle him and tell him how smart and brave he is. Who's a good fox? It's you!

Ahem. Anyway.

"Adelaide or Bruce can heal with magic as well, when we regroup with the others. Unfortunately I'm not any good at that myself." Avery is offered a little awkward smile, and then- "Oh! I'm Merrill. I'm glad we found you."

One down, several to go.

"The mages- did they sound like they were from Tevinter? Or... dress like it, I suppose, with the pointy hoods?"

[thecookery]

"Uh..." Avery blinks at her, unsure. "I don't know what people from Tevinter dress or sound like. But I guess some of them might have had pointy heads? It happened fast, and there was a lot of fog."

[ichaer]

As Ciri passes by Merrill to get to her medic bag, she gives Lux a happy little pet and a smile. What a good fox, indeed.

"We'll make sure they get it healed up but I just want to make sure in case we run into... trouble, I guess." Because who knew what was wondering around here given the current state of things.

Either way, she sets about unwrapping the shirt from the wound and looking it over. At least it looks clean and not infected which meant they wouldn't have to rush to try and find the others.

"You're not missing much with how they sound. It's all Manaveris Dracona and Na via lerno victoria or something like that." She huffs. "Tevene was never a strong suit of mine also this is going to sting."

That is Avery's warning before she pours a disinfectant on the wound.

[eviscerates]

Hello yes good yes please adore him more, he misses him mum :C For now, however, Lux is happy to squirm closer and snuggle up with Merrill, in absence of Araceli.