[ 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

[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."

[tactical_alert]

"A different form of magic than I am, admittedly, accustomed to," Malcolm says to them both, only a little grudgingly. That Rifters also bring different magic and different ways of wielding it...

Look the word of the day is 'unsettling' and we'll just leave it at that. He instead inserts his shard into part of the locking mechanism. "Any idea, then, what might be on the other side of this door?" If the boy has a power, might as well use it.

[gatheringstorm]

"More Tevinter fuckery, no doubt." Korrin wasn't asked, but she can't help but remark anyway, having seen enough of this place to fathom that much. The new rifter's abilities don't really get a reaction out of her, at least partly for the Seeker's reaction. Rifters already get enough side-eyeing as it is, no need to add to it.

She eyes the shard with wary interest, curious but also fairly certain that it's not going to lead them to anywhere full of sunshine and kittens. But it's better to see for themselves rather than let someone else stumble across it.

[extramural]

"Only one-" A pause, and then a slight shake of his head. He moves closer to the door, sidestepping in order to get a full view of the room within -- or the interesting things, at least.

"Two things of note, as far as I can make out. A rune of some sorts and a staff inside a mechanism. There may be more inside the room, but if there is, it is not- physical."

He shakes his head, vision returning to normal as he turns back to the others.

[tactical_alert]

"Sounds like 'Tevinter fuckery'," he says dryly. He'll have to give the Rifter youngster the benefit of the doubt. "A staff could be part of the cause of this. Inside a mechanism, you say? A staff being held there, part of some elaborate magical ritual? Hm..." He peers across the area again, in case he can see another shard from here by the door.

[gatheringstorm]

Korrin perks up a little at mention of a staff, given that it's her favored type of weapon. "It must be some staff, to be set like that. Hopefully it can be gained without tripping any traps or screwing us over." She's quite happy with her own, but still. Something that well-protected might be an important gain for the Inquisition.

The Vashoth woman wanders away to have a look around, as much to distract herself from the unnerving stillness of the place as to be useful. There's much detail to distract her, but she keeps in mind the image of that shard, searching for anything resembling it. Moments after she enters one of the side rooms, her voice emanates from it. "Here's another!"

[extramural]

"Based solely on the scattering of the keys, I imagine someone did not want anyone to get through and disturb it." Which, of course, also makes it the best lead they have. Luckily for them, whoever it was that scattered the keys also didn't seem to do very far.

Pulling himself away from the door, the Outsider joins the others in the search. "Though I must admit -- these are unlike any keys I have seen before."

[fleurdesel]

"This is going to end poorly." Adelaide says, while still scouring the courtyard for more. They've found two and have three yet remaining- there's a glimmer that seems to emanate from them. A ripple in the fade, perhaps, or a twist of unfamiliar magic. Whatever it is, it calls enough for her to wander and find shard number three.