[OPEN] holes in the sky, pierced by the fire

[eolasemah]

WHO: Everyone who's around!
WHAT: A rift has opened in Skyhold. We have to deal with it.
WHEN: The last day of Wintermarch
WHERE: In the courtyard, between the tavern and the dungeon.
NOTES: I will be posting periodically to let you know the results of what your dudes are doing! If you need clarification or want to ask me something, PM me on this account.

It’s a dismal, rainy evening, with Skyhold at the mercy of one of the many winter storms that passes through the Frostbacks. Most of the keep’s denizens have shut themselves inside to sit by a warm fire, have a drink, even go to bed early rather than face the freezing rain and the wind.

The tavern windows are aglow with light and merriment, but in the open area just behind it comes a different kind of glow: flames bursting to life and then dissipating, as a solitary elf in an oilskin cloak practices her fire spells in the relative safety of the rain.

It’s no secret that Sina has been isolating herself as of late, though her mood has taken an even more pointed downturn in the last few days. Her movements as she works are increasingly erratic, frustrated even, as there are times when she casts a serviceable fireball, and others when barely a spark leaves her hands. As she grows angrier, her energy depletes, and she’s barely resting between casts.

Perhaps it is because of this that what happens next occurs at all. In a burst of anguish and fury, Sina wrenches her hands forward, drawing from whatever reserves she has left—and then her shard reacts.

In an explosion of neon green that knocks Sina flat on her back, a rift erupts into the gloomy sky. It crackles and hums insidiously, its strange electricity causing every shard belonging to every Rifter in the vicinity to suddenly spit and pop in recognition.
No doubt drawn to the new opening in the Fade, the dark form of a despair demon slithers from the rift, takes stock of its surroundings, and slowly begins to approach the prone form of the fool that freed it. Moments later, it is followed by several spindly green terror demons, and at last the hulking inferno that comprises a rage demon.

Comments

Fight the demon!

[eolasemah]

Although not immediately on the offensive, the demons will attack mortals who approach and interfere with their exploration.
[OOC note: after you’ve posted in, I will secretly assign you a number and randomize specific demon attacks.]

[mythalenaste]

She's on the other side of the courtyard, but Pel comes sprinting, snatching up a random staff someone had leaning against a wall along the way. The staff swings as she arrives, ice spewing from it toward the rage demon as her feet anchor to the ground in a fighting stance.

[dalishious]

Almost as soon as the rift appears Merrick runs across the battlements and hops down roofs and walls until he lands sure-footed near Pel. His daggers are drawn as soon as he hits the ground, and he moves to her side, staying low to the ground.

She's well-equipped, but he stands in front of her anyway, glaring at the oncoming demons with murderous intent.

[mythalenaste]

The rage demon approaches Merrick like he's some kind of snack. Of course, of course rage demons would be drawn to Merrick. Pel sweeps an open hand palm-down before her. Pale blue glyphs appear on the grass below, briefly, before fading. She sets her hand on Merrick's shoulder and draws him back behind the glyphs.

"Steady," she says, low and firm, eyes on the demon. If the demon touches those glyphs, the battle will go quickly. The question is what will happen with Merrick.

It's like in her dreams, when she is protecting Merrick from demons. She has always wondered if she seeks him out in the Fade to do so. But this is real, waking, and she is calm now. She has faced this so many times asleep that she knows what to do.

"Focus on my voice, da'len, not the demon."

[el_tybs]

He was tired from the trip but eager to see certain faces, so the first place he starts to head is the tavern rather then his room. At least that had been the idea until the flash of green and pulsing of spirit energy exploding not too far off.

"Wha-"

His reaction is immediate, yanking his staff from his back as he runs to the source. There's someone on the ground, but before he can consider getting closer a sickly green circle of energy appears under his feet. He's lucky to at least get a barrier off before the demon comes crashing up through the portal, sending him sprawling to the ground. "Shit..."

[el_tybs]

Sam doesn't quite scream, but he certainly makes a distressed noise when the terror demon takes the chance to pounce onto him, thankful to see his barrier flash when it slams into that rather then sinking into his flesh. Course seeing its claws tearing at the space that would be his chest, and its teeth trying to get at his face not even a foot away, was not very pleasant. What was worse was seeing the barrier flicker after each attack; that would not last long.

When he sees the demon lean back to try again slamming into the barrier, Sam raises his hand and immediately the demon's face is hit with a ball of flame. Reeling instead of continuing the attack, Sam takes the opportunity to scramble to his feet and back away, readying his staff for another attack.

[kremdelacreme]

Bad things happened sometimes. A lot, all at once, compounding until everything seems to be snowballing uncontrollably. He had heard about what had happened between Sina and Pel, how tense things had gotten, and he was pretty much aware of the kinds of things that could happen to mages under enough stress. So this sort of thing wasn't really unprecedented, in his opinion.

It was still something of a disaster though, and before people could really start to panic, one comfortable-looking Charger in a thick pair of breeches and a tunic and little else had run out of the tavern, shouting and gesturing for some of his men to start keeping people back. Crowd control would be key here to keep people from getting hurt. Krem himself beat a wide path around the courtyard to draw a sword from the training area. The demon don't seem to be attacking yet, but he still keeps them in his sights as he keeps his distance.

"Mages, keep your eyes on the rest," he ordered; should the demons attack, there would need to be barriers thrown up in a hurry.

[eolasemah]

No sooner have the words left Krem's mouth when a portal forms beneath Rocky and a terror demon erupts from within, knocking him off his feet and into Skinner.

[disgracedchampion]

Michel was hard pressed to stand by idly while danger was thick in the air, especially when that danger involved demons muscling their way out of rifts and into Skyhold.

It was typical for the Chevalier to be completely dressed out in full armor and equipped with a sword and a shield, always ready for something to happen as something was usually prone to happen. It was always best to be ready regardless.

Careful to dance over any bodies caught in the demon's appearance, Michel helped anyone he could up before taking his place in the the creature's peripheral, not too far away from Krem, "I suspect a little bit of aid would not go amiss?"

Re: Fight the demon!

[sunshinethroughgrey]

"... Maker." The stein in Bethany's hand slipped free as the green fire took to the sky, and demons started coming out one by one, bowling over those who were already out there, and then there was a small figure lying beneath it.

Years of terrible things had Bethany running out the door into the cold wet night, dragging fire with her as she looked to defend those who were trying to get their feet back underneath them, and those who were already standing to do battle.

Re: Fight the demon!

[sunshinethroughgrey]

All right, she didn't quite expect the demon to come up from underneath her, and she hissed out in pain as the demon claws dug into her robes. The armored parts were intact, but she could hear the tearing of silk and her brown eyes flashed for a moment before she all but growled. "All right, my turn."

For those watching from the tavern, or anyone who manages to tear their gaze away from their own demonic opponent, the demon who has his claws in Bethany? Suddenly finds itself punched directly in its upper body from a Telekinetic Burst, sending it flying backwards and off of her. She slaps her hand to the ground, sending Winter's Blast to freeze it into place, before she raised her hand and Fireball'd the demon into a thousand flaming, still half-frozen pieces.

She really, really had liked this robe.

Spinning around, she twisted her head this way and that to see who else needed help.

The demons fight!

[eolasemah]

Prompted by Nahariel's shove and Adelaide's barrier, the Despair demon shrieks away above all their heads, directing its line of icy breath at everyone present, but focusing its ire most directly on the nearby forms of Krem and Michel. It has put itself at a distance, but continues to spew bursts of excruciatingly cold wind in their direction.

Sam's Terror demon pounces him after it has him on the ground, it's horrible inhuman jaws snapping for purchase as its claws dig into his flesh, tail lashing furiously.

A second Terror demon erupts from beneath Bethany and latches onto her, scoring her robes with its claws.

The third Terror demon, after toppling two of the Chargers, stalks curiously towards the small gathering of Rifters.

Pel and Merrick find themselves face to face with the Rage demon, which approaches Merrick at a gait that one might almost call intrigued rather than aggressive. It holds out its claws and cranes its neck toward him, and though it doesn't speak, it is clearly drawn to him for reasons other than an attack.

[For the sake of organization, please contain your battle to your response. If you want to merge battles with someone else, hit them up and thread it together! I will post again when everyone has killed their respective demon.]

Do the Rifter thing!

[eolasemah]

You know what you have to do. And if you don’t, you better figure it out, because this giant hole in the sky ain’t closin’ itself.

[aintwejust]

Know what Mal didn't wanna deal with today? His hand light'n up like it's some kinda magic. Know what Mal's deal'n with today?

His foutu hand glow'n like it's foutu magic! And then there are demons and Jayne go'n crazyballs off to one side try'nta eat 'em and Mal. Mal just screws the glaive blade onto the head of his spear and heads out, palm flex'n, try'n to figure out how in the void he's supposet'a close that thing with this thing in his hand.

"...tell me someone knows how this shit works."

[motherfucking_ghost]

Church does not know what he has to do. All he knows is the stupid bit of magical hell demon portal rift in his hand is acting up in a fucked up way, and, oh, there's chaos going on out there somewhere at the- the tavern? Ugh, what the fuck.

So of course, stupid him has to go and check it out like a dumbass. Aaaaand there's some demons and a tear in shit and he still can't work his fucking crossbow. What the fuck? Should he just leave it to the people who know what they're doing?? Generally speaking he's never been surrounded by people who know what they're doing, so this is weird to him that it's a viable option.

Maybe more people were gonna come falling out like he did into the swamp. That'd be cool.

[apostasia]

Cool in that this clusterfuck already involves a despair demon, at any rate - Martel hasn't drawn his sword at all when he strides with purpose toward ...Mal, first, grasping him by the wrist and dragging him toward Church without so much as a by your leave. He is brisk and businesslike about it, tracking the progress of the demons and sharp with the awareness that he is going to have to simply accept he can't do everything at once, and leave those who aren't grappling with the rift itself to their work.

It pains him to do almost as much as the shard of rift magic trying to rip his arm apart.

"Together," he says, brooking no argument, gripping Church's wrist the way he'd caught Mal's, lifting all of their hands and aiming them toward the rift with purpose; staggering, when they link.

Fucking hell.

[eolasemah]

There's a strange, unearthly thrumming sound as the rift and their shards connect like magnets, a stream of vivid green energy bridging the gap between them. It hums and builds until it feels as though their hands will shred, and then an explosion of energy releases them all.

For all that, the rift is still there.

Help Sina!

[eolasemah]

Sina is conscious but that’s about as good as can be said for her. With the constant pulsing and bursting of her shard in response to the rift, she is curled up and clawing at her chest and throat, mouth open wide but taking no breath as she struggles to make her lungs work. She’s not going to last long.

[nadasharillen]

Nahariel is crossing the threshold of Skyhold to join a caravan bound for Emprise, hood of her own cloak raised against the damp chill, when the rift blazes to life in the courtyard.

Her head snaps back, eyes staring, transfixed as if the sickly light it shed were a spear through her heart. Rift. The courtyard. Sina.

Suddenly everything she carried was on the ground, her feet scrabbling in the churned, freezing mud in a desperate bid for speed. Her hood dropped back as the hunter sprinted directly into the wind, the cold rain plastering strands of dark hair to her cheeks. Rounding the turn into the courtyard, her foot slipped beneath her, sending her hard to her knees on the muddy stone. Even as she bared her teeth in pain, she spent no thought on it. She could see the courtyard now, and her rapidly dilating pupils were filled with demons. Demons, and the crumpled form of her beloved First.

A noise tore out of her throat that was not unlike the screeches of the dark creatures themselves, and then she was running again. In such an animal fear was she that her hands made themselves claws, forgetting entirely the blades at her belt.

This was how, with a second shriek, the dark-skinned hunter's body slammed fully into the demon of despair that approached Siuona Dahlasanor.

[fleurdesel]

The veil's a funny thing to most mages. It's there. It serves it's purpose, keeping magic and spirits and demons on the other side. In Skyhold it's never felt particularly thin save around the odd shards the Rifters carry, that Sina carries. To have the veil tear in a rift feels- sounds- even tastes strange in the air to Adelaide; though she's never been around them long enough to document the phenomena.

Then suddenly there's a shriek, a snap of some wild, unknowable power- and demons. Ozone in the air, acrid and ashen, and demons. Adelaide scrambles for the courtyard to see what's happened, where the light is coming from, harried and horrified as she shoves her way past those fleeing the chaos-

Crumpled below the rift, Sina. Struggling with a demon, Nahariel.

Adelaide sprints, calling Compassion like a guiding song to raise barriers around the downed mage, around herself, around Nahariel with a gesture and a word as she skids through the chaos closer to the young Dalish. "Sina!"

[eolasemah]

Sina, naturally, doesn't react. She's barely aware of what's happening, too busy drowning on dry land. Between her abnormally racing heart and her useless lungs, her chest feels like it will explode, and her mind contains nothing but wordless panic.

The despair demon is alarmed by being crashed into, and it whirls on Nahariel right as Adelaide throws up her barrier. It shrieks, blasting the three with frigid air, all of which is blessedly shielded, as it vaults itself away from them and into the fray with the others.

Watch from afar!

[eolasemah]

Everything is visible from the tavern windows, so I mean... why give up a good seat? (this is a wildcard, do what you like!)

by request =P

[dwarfing]

Stomp stomp STOMP STOMP STOMP. Oh yeah, there's a golem in the courtyard. Shale comes rushing (as much as a golem can rush) to see what was going on. They would like to come fight the demons, but there's far to many people for them to swing around efficiently.

Instead, the golem decides to be helpful until something bigger comes to play.

"What an excellent new light source. The green is very flattering." Yep, there's commentary. "It brings out my crystals very nicely."

"It should crush that ugly one's head like a grape, yes? The ice is a new touch, but I prefer it to the sloth demon."

"Is the shiny elf dead? A pity. I liked its glow."

[clarioretenebris]

Bowhannon couldn't fault anyone for remaining on the side lines as it was his own preference to do so, not that he couldn't grab a bow and make himself useful, he simply decided not to. He was, for all intents and purposes, a humble merchant and there seemed to be more than enough.

Leaning against the edge of the wall he observed the fight from a distance, taking his own notes when the demon finally emerged tossing a few of the combatants aside in its wake.

"Do you think that will leave a mark? I'm betting on bruised ribs at the very least."

If there was commentary to be made, they might as well gamble on a few things as well.

[dwarfing]

Shale would like to punch a demon, but hey. They would have ample opportunity for that while with the Inquisition. Right now the golem was far more interested in seeing how the rest of the people handled it - and if the shiny elf lived.

Noticing a human next to them, Shale scoffs slightly. "You fleshy ones break under anything. One rib, at least." They point at the person in question, and then shrug. "The demon is paste soon. The tattooed elves are very efficient. I would be more concerned with the foolish people with their glowing hands."

They didn't seem to know what to do, and that was chaotic. Whatever the magic in their hands was, it wasn't enough.