[ CLOSED ] MISSION: THE STILL RUINS

[fleurdesel]

WHO: Adelaide, Galadriel, The Outsider, Korrin, Malcolm Reed
WHAT: Exploring The Still Ruins
WHEN: Bloomingtide 19
WHERE: The Still Ruins
NOTES: Demons, Research, Ancient Tevinters, Canon Typical Violence, Sass, etc.

The Courtyard is empty by the time they arrive. Stray crates and casks, abandoned weapons and books litter the ground. More recent signs of Venatori activity where recent is a relative enough term. Within, adjacent to the gate there's a table stacked with books, a note tucked into the pages of one left half open, exposed to the elements. Morven, Alexius has failed. The work here thus becomes all the more vital. Secure the site at all costs. The Elder One will not tolerate another mistake on our part. -Servis In the main chamber- Tevinter mages in antiquated robes are frozen, caught in combat with demons while a strange rift hovers in the center of the room. Stones that had tumbled from the rafters are locked in place, solid and unmoving even when pressed against- crackling light from the mage's fingers in defensive spells remain still. Littered about are notes, scraps of research and manuscripts on how this came to be.

Comments

FROZEN EXPLORATION

[fleurdesel]

Scattered notes, demons and mages remain frozen in time. Caches of research equipment and knives are trapped mid tumble, scattered in the air, caught by the spell that locks the palace in a forgotten moment. Near the front a corpse holds a single note, weathered by age.

Baloren,

You were right to doubt. Helladius will not be swayed. If this letter was sent, then it is sealed. Send aid.

Sarpedon

[laurenande]

There was something jarring but familiar about this place; it wore on her nerves as they approached, like an old song sung just off key. It hovered just outside of the bounds of perception and Galadriel couldn't place it, not as they strode the courtyard, nor searched the materials abandoned by the doors. The sense of disquiet grated on her until they threw open the doors of the ruins and crossed into the temple itself. As they crossed the threshold, a sense of stepping through a barrier came over her and, at once, she realized what the strange feeling was.

"I know this spell," she muttered distantly, in her shock, but her voice carried easily in the absolute silence of the ruins.

Before them, time was brought to a halt. Demons rose through the veil, battles were caught mid-swing, and all around them the temple walls were coming down...except that they were not. The whole scene, a terrible calamity, was motionless.

Galadriel walked into the temple without hesitation. A slow sort of wonder dawned across her face as she moved and she turned as she walked, head craning this way and that in an attempt to see all that had been frozen in place, everything that had been suspended outside of time.

"How did they manage this?"

[fleurdesel]

"If I were to hazard a guess..." Adelaide murmured, peering at the stitching on the robes of the mages- between the Venatori seal on the crates outside, the stilted handwriting, the hoods? "And I do hate to make assumptions based upon generalizations, but being these are mages from Tevinter, that they are of old Tevinter? Blood Magic."

Wherever they'd performed this spell, they would find the bodies. The demons were unnerving but the detail in the notes that she found- that was what unsettled Adelaide most. The breakdown of human suffering as but one more notation in an equation for a spell.

[laurenande]

"If that is the case," Galadriel ceded as she moved down the steps and toward the frozen rift. "I expect it would require a great deal of blood."

Admittedly, she knew very little about blood magic. She knew that blood could serve as fuel for spells, not unlike the power that was drawn from the Fade, and that it was widely reviled. The idea that it could accomplish something like this, even if this was not the intent, that was fascinating to her.

"Time is not easily slowed. Halting it, altogether, is a feat of some note."

[extramural]

"That depends on who is doing the halting."

He is walking now, only because levitation is, unfortunately, a drain on his stamina. He's still sunburnt, but he does have some salve for it now and it's already fading into a slight tan in some spots. It at least has the effect of making him look somewhat more human, if you disregard the eyes.

"It also depends on how they use the blood -- or it would in my own world."

One hand slides over the frozen stone, and then he realizes.

"What is Tevinter?"

[fleurdesel]

"That depends on how badly the sacrifices were tortured before they were killed." Power from blood, willing and openly given? Is significant. But for the brighter spike, for the better boost? Pain, suffering, and violent death. How much of that was actually true she couldn't quite tell, but considering the rest of what she'd seen of Tevinter magic not managed by Dorian?

She would not be all that surprised.

"Could this have been the ideal result? The note outside by the messenger said 'it is sealed'. Was there some other intent?" Whatever manner of research they could find on it would tell them more. "The Imperium, a country to the north with decidedly questionable practices in magic, a history of conquest, currently in a stalemate with the Qunari further north, and generally reviled by the rest of Thedas. They make half decent wine."

[gatheringstorm]

Ruins in the middle of nowhere always mean demons, darkspawn or anything hostile, sometimes all of them. Naturally expecting more trouble inside than out, Korrin's smug at not needing to use any potions or grenades made earlier. Or at least she is until the overwhelming silence sinks in. The 'vints' and demons are hardly a shock, but that there's no movement from them at all, no noise...it's beyond unnerving. For someone who thought she's seen it all, the Vashoth mage can only stare at the bizarre display all around her.

"...what the fuck kind of creepshow is this?" She steps forward to inspect it all, though doesn't put her spirit blade hilt away just in case. The temptation to touch the frozen figures is there, and she gives in upon reaching a terror demon, giving it a test-kick with her boot. But, nothing. Not so much as a twitch.

"Fucking Tevinter...."

[fleurdesel]

"Please don't kick the demons, Rinot." That she has to say it at all- that she manages to say it in an almost dull, bored drawl much as she would chastise a student for poking a Tranquil-

Her life has become very strange and only seems to grow stranger still the more she works with the Inquisition.

"We do not know how the spell holds- or if they'll remember what happened while they were frozen." Idly, she snaps her fingers in front of the eyes of one of the mages- but nothing. Not a twitch. Not even breathing. Locked in a moment.

[laurenande]

"Then perhaps dispatching the demons is not so terrible an idea," Galadriel suggests as she regards a despair demon far too closely for comfort. "If they are aware, being trapped like this would be a terrible torment. If they are not, well--a swift death would be a kindness, in any case."

She reaches out and runs a careful hand along the hood of the demon before her. It is difficult to study such things when they were frozen, fabric was hard to tell from stone when time was not involved, but she's never seen one so clearly nor for so long.

"That is, assuming we can damage them at all."

[gatheringstorm]

"Just checking. Beside, don't tell me you never wanted to do that to a terror demon for that damned phasing trick of theirs." The amount of times they'd had her flat on her back as a result? Yeah, she feels entitled to one kick.

Pausing to watch Adelaide examine one of the mages and Galadriel with that demon, she grimaces at the sudden thought. "Maker...can you imagine being conscious and aware all this time and not being able to do a damned thing? That would be beyond horrific."

COLLECTING THE SHARDS

[fleurdesel]

The odd magic that has locked time in place, demon, man, and physics alike seems to be bound to a power locked behind a door far behind the main area of the palace. The door itself is sealed and elaborately carved, five chiseled holes waiting for something to fill it. What notes are around make no mention of what lies beyond the door or how to open it, but there are signs of someone having been here before. One of the rare scraps of paper that has different handwriting, something sharply angled and more recent, marked with the Venatori seal lies wrapped around a note: it is a map of the Western Approach, several areas have been circled.

Lucanus:

The references are obscure, but they point to a single power, sealed at the height of the old empire. Tevinter’s involvement in the region predates the First Blight. Detailed accounts of the location are non-existent, but there are some promising leads. You will be provided with men and supplies.

Do not return empty handed.

[extramural]

While he is fairly certain he was only brought along because he can close rifts -- and because Adelaide didn't notice his eyes when she more or less grabbed him -- he can't say that he's sorry for the experience. With any luck, those with him will also find his talents useful; he is feared here as he is in his world, but without as much ability to interfere. It presents unique challenges, and the Outsider has no intention of dying in Thedas when his role is with the Void in his own world.

Locked doors need keys. Five, in this case, and while it's entirely possible that he could just open the door, finding the keys seems better. And so he looks around, senses shifting toward the important, and then lifts a hand to point at a hidden shard.

"There. One of the five."

Hopefully someone else has come to the same conclusion about keys.

[tactical_alert]

Lady LeBlanc, from what Seeker Malcolm can gather, must have something of an open mind about Rifters. Malcolm is...still wary. Oh, certainly, he can talk to them, and he's hardly as extreme in reaction as Cassandra by far. But they still unsettle him deep down, in a way he doesn't quite trust. Healthy paranoia, on guard!

This boy is even more unsettling. He's also new and untested, so if this is as bad as it looks--and it looks bad--then he can't be sure how this boy is going to react or fare. That he can find one of the objects, keys, to the doorway without even sifting through the sands, the fallen rock, every corner of the area...

Look. He's not going to call bullshit right off the bat. But he does give the boy a wary eyeballing as he heads in the direction indicated. He needs to brush the sands off it once he sees an odd end sticking up out, but it looks to be the right size.

"How did you do that?"

[fleurdesel]

"I am fairly certain the answer is going to be close enough to 'magic' for you to become twitchy. Might we skip that part?" Adelaide crouches instead to free the shard from a frozen mage's clenched hand, eyes narrowed. Working against the force of this spell is strange and difficult enough-

But that she thinks she might, perhaps, feel the thready press of a pulse half formed in his skin? Stranger still.

[extramural]

Wariness is expected. For his part, the Outsider just watched Malcolm with an eyebrow raised. Well, go on -- see if he's lying. And when he does, and finds that he is not, another question.

One that the woman who brought him here in the first place interrupts. He laughs slightly, nodding once. "As you say." Because she's not wrong -- the answer is magic, when one gets down to it.

"If it helps," he doubts it, "it does not look as though there are any mages or demons beyond the locked door."

TIME RESUMES

[fleurdesel]

When the door is unsealed- so is time. Stones fall from where they'd been caught, demons crackle to life, Tevinter mages recoil in horror while attempting to defend their lives. In the main hall the frozen rift spits and crackles with life- pouring out yet more demons unless sealed. If left to their own devices the Tevinter mages will fall back from the antechamber in an attempt to collect their bearings. IN the scuffle a journal is dropped, open to it's final entry:

Helladius ignores all results that do not support his own hypotheses, brushing them off as "anomalies" and "expected deviations." He posits that there will be an acceleration in the channel's creation—and will no doubt test the theory without guaranteeing a secure channel can even be maintained.

I have argued the inherent risks, the catastrophic tear in the Veil that will result from such foolishness, but he has the others convinced. He grants only a sneering permission to conduct countermeasures in the event of failure.

If I am correct, the only course of action will be to redirect the resulting power into sealing the event itself. The odds of survival are less than ideal, but the surrounding lands will be preserved.

[gatheringstorm]

And of course the only thing that could make this unnerving, creepy place even better is for time to start flowing again. Right? In a way, the sudden explosion of noise and activity is actually preferable to that unnerving, tomb-like silence, but there are suddenly a lot of vints and demons to wade through. Remembering the main hall and its rift, she does her best to clear the path back to it, renewing Barrier as often as possible and blurring ahead to slice at any resistance in their path. This is not the time to hesitate.

Upon reaching the main hall and seeing her suspicions confirmed, Korrin scowls. Lovely. "Focus on the rift! I'll distract them." Very good at attracting attention, Korrin closes in to get the demons' attention with a Chain Lightning spell, then immediately closes in on strongest

[tactical_alert]

The most important part is to fight the demons while the rift remains open. Hopefully the Tevinters won't attack those who are helping...although maybe having a qunari running around them isn't the best idea.

There are level differences everywhere but the space in itself isn't terribly big. Sword it is, then. While Korrin gains attention, he feels free to slide in behind any number of them to hack away.

"Will two be enough?" he wonders aloud, though now that it's chaos in here instead of silence, his voice may not carry as it did.

[gatheringstorm]

There's really nothing Korrin can do to disguise her race, even if she wanted to, so she'll just hope that the 'vints' will remain distracted. Maybe some of them will even possess enough common sense not to attack the woman clearly more interested in dealing with the demons, though she'll keep her expectations low. That way, she won't be disappointed when proven right.

"It'd better be! Not much choice, is there?" And just as a terror demon approaches, perhaps the one she kicked earlier, Korrin gets a small amount of satisfaction from summoning a boulder to send it flying. "Try to jump that you piece of shit--"

[laurenande]

"We shall suffice," Galadriel called over the sudden din of battle.

Korrin had moved through the demons with a speed and ferocity that was bracing, a glittering barrier across her. At her back, more or less, the human warrior contends with another demon and the pair hold the path to the rift. The human mages, they who had been frozen in combat, continue their fight with barely more than a stray glance at their company and, for that, Galadriel is mildly grateful.

They did not need to face a tide of mortal enemies and demons all at once.

Though, as the revived mages fall back to the yard, away from the main-hall and the antechamber, their company is abruptly faced with the demons they failed to slay. Stone is crashing around them, the stale air suddenly moves with some whipping force, and the walls, it seems, delight in their new-found ability to reflect every tearing screech and bone-rattling scream these things wish to make.

With only two shard-bearers, closing the tear in the veil will prove challenging in and of itself.

"We cannot fight and seal the rift," Galadriel calls to the warriors as she drives her glaive through the body of a shade and, with a heave, rends it in half. "We must draw the demons away or slay them!"

GATHERING WITNESSES

[fleurdesel]

Rift sealed and demons tended to- all that is left are the mages that survived the demonic attacks. They've split down the middle in the small room where they'd fled, each backing a single mage as they argue over the results of this very much botched experiment. Listening long enough would give their names, Sarpedon and Helladius, each mentioned in the other's notes. While they bicker over diagrams, individual notes have scattered amongst the emphatic gesticulating, offfering a better idea as to how this might have been done.

Theoretically, it should be possible to draw energy from the Fade itself. While I will not discount the obvious dangers, such risks can be circumvented through use of a proper channel. Once the channel is stable, we should be able to manipulate the energy to our will. The power gained would be beyond measure.

At this time, theory will take us no further. If my hypothesis proves true, it will be an achievement unrivaled by any in history that will all but ensure the immortality of the Imperium.

[tactical_alert]

That all this has happened, and yet the two sides still bicker? To Malcolm, that says they were unaware of the passage of time. This must have been much how it was like before the incident occurred.

It is unwise to piss off a room full of mages. A room full of ancient Tevinter mages? Less so. ...Oh, but the Commander is going to love this. His weapons are no longer drawn, but his hand rests on the hilt of his sword, stepping between the groups and giving each a level look. Clears his throat. Quietly demands attention.

"What has been done here has been undone. This academic bickering can continue in another location. The demonstration was foolhardy and dangerous, and that all that happened was being attacked by demons before being frozen in time for Maker only knows how long." The leaders get long, hard looks again, to drill the point home. "The world as you knew it is gone. You have much history and advancement to catch up on. We of the Inquisition are willing to extend our help and hospitality to you, in exchange for learning all that you know. Arrangements...with Tevinter may be possible in the near future." So sorry, Lady Montilyet.

[fleurdesel]

"...Well done, Seeker Reed." The mages at least seem to be shocked into silence, if not compliance. Some shuffling of feet and tension remains-

Which is to be expected when this has happened and they've no real idea how long has passed- only that they attempted something and were locked in time in the interim. "...the question is now what we are to do with them."

"What year is it then?" One of the mages calls out from behind his fellows, more fearful than the rest. How long has it been? How long have they been trapped?

[tactical_alert]

"First," he murmurs to her, "we make sure they aren't about to attack us or each other." And when that's done...honestly probably take them to the keep, get them fed and rested, then march them to Skyhold with some Templars. For questioning, aide...diplomatic disasters...

"The year is Dragon 9:42. Whatever Age it was when your experiment began, it has long since passed." There's startled whispering among them, terrified at the passage of time, and he allows this for a few moments. It's so much to take in. "You will be happy to learn that the Tevinter Imperium still stands, though not as the south-crushing force of eternal nature you were no doubt hoping to create. And you have not been the last ones to try and tear open the Fade for the sake of power. As you can see...it does not end well."

[fleurdesel]

"Vishante Kaffas-" And other such oaths in Tevene ripple through the air; their antipathy for the idea of cooperation abandoned in favor of mutual shock- and in a few instances? Grief. They had roughly a few moments before blame would be laid and perhaps fire would be thrown, but Malcolm's authoritative posture is keeping them cowed for the moment.

"What will you do with us?" One quavering voice asks from the rear.