OPEN: The Nightmare's Domain

[visus]

WHO: Everybody present for the effort to draw out the Nightmare.
WHAT: Oh no.
WHEN: 28-30 Bloomingtide
WHERE: THE FADE as it exists, approximately, in an incomprehensible nongeographical way, alongside the Western Approach.
NOTES: You can only participate in this plot if you signed up in advance. (Not really, this is a joke.) For driveby GM taunting or to have the debris of personal nightmares appear in the Fade sign up here. Check here for notes on crystal functionality, which will not be normal. (GIF source.)

The plan is simple enough, on paper.

Lord Livius Erimond, locked in Skyhold's dungeon since his capture, finally cracks when he learns that the Grey Wardens have moved on and no one is coming to negotiate for his release. There's no mind-control driving the sacrifices, he says, only fear. Corypheus has an arrangement with a demon to amplify it and extend the reach of the song that's driving the Wardens to desperation. Handle it, and maybe they'll see that they're being manipulated.

In practice, it's a little fuzzier. Some guesswork. Some optimism. Approximating the demon's location takes time and effort from the Fade-fluent. There's a rift nearby, but it's small, nondescript. Making it bigger, drawing attention and drawing the demon out onto solid ground where it can be fought, calls for every anchor shard on hand, mages and Templars to assist, archers and swordsmen at the ready. The Herald did it before, at the Temple of Sacred Ashes. It's feasible. Just wiggle your fingers, and--

--and the sky opens up wide, then wider, too wide, green light flooding out like water finally cresting over a bank, and the ground beneath your feet turns from sand to stone. In some places it becomes vertical. In others it stops existing at all. The rift sprawls and spiders out with almost sentient aim, encompassing everyone it can reach. It takes two seconds, maybe three.

Then it closes.

I. THE NIGHTMARE

The good news is: the Inquisition pinpointed the Nightmare's location correctly. The bad news is: the Inquisition pinpointed the Nightmare's location correctly.

So if you find a second to to wonder where you are, there are two possible answers. The first is the raw Fade, where few have trod since the ancient magisters entered the Golden City and began the Blight. The City is Black now and it hangs in the distance, always on the horizon, always visible, but never within reach. The light is sickly green and seems to come from everywhere and nowhere, creating shadows from any and all directions. What direction is up and what direction is sideways is open for debate anyway. The ground--if it can be called that when it is only sometimes below you--is dark and rough, all crags and cliffs and spires. It's wet, too, with puddles and stagnant streams wound through the rock.

The second possible answer to the question of where, and the one that might warrant even more attention than the first, is right on top of a damn demon.

The Nightmare is massive, as large as a small fort. It has a dozen legs and at least twice as many eyes; a warm, civilly sinister voice that knows your deepest and darkest fears; and a seemingly endless supply of minions. Terror demons spring out of the ground around you with creaking screams. Fearlings take the shape of your simpler phobias: here a spider, there a snake, or roaring flames, a lyrium-encrusted Templar. Fighting through the flood of demons and bringing down the Nightmare will take every sword, every staff, and several hours. Pick a leg.

And when it's over--when the Nightmare is dead and only straggling Fearlings and occasional Terrors present an immediate threat--try to figure out what's next.

II. SEARCHING

Attempts to tear a new hole in the Veil from the inside will produce no results. But those sensitive to the Fade may be able to feel something--not quite like a draft guiding you out of a cave, but there's no closer analogy in the common tongue. A faint whiff of reality, somewhere in the distance, straight away from the distant Black City. There's no sunrise or sunset, and an hour can feel like a day or feel like a minute, but time is passing, and the walk is long by any measure.

While it's in your best interest to stay with the rest of the Inquisition's forces, this region of the Fade is a twisty, treacherous thing that seems to actively conspire to separate and mislead its visitors. More Fearlings slither out of crevices to menace anyone who lingers alone or tries to sleep. There's a marshy expanse that does its best to trap feet, and a field of memorial stones with the names of visitors etched into their surfaces, each with a cause of death marked below. Everywhere you step the ground is littered with evidence of terrible dreams, worked into the landscape like they were there first and it has grown up around them. There are skeletons in the stone, rock formations that twist into the shape of gallows, lost toys underfoot, an entire home tucked down a winding path, achingly empty.

III. ESCAPE

The Nightmare is dead, but its absence creates new reasons to fear. It begins slowly, things crumbling: the edge of a stair giving way unexpectedly, a towering hunk of rock a ways off collapsing upward into the open air and reforming there. The path rearranges as it's walked and takes wanderers in different directions, leaving them to fight their ways back to the main group. It was the concentration of fear and willpower embodied in the Nightmare that held this domain of the Fade intact, and without it, there's a power vacuum to fill. The spirits drawn here are drawn by lingering fear, and warped by it.

The forms they take may not be those you're familiar with from outside the Fade--less deformed, more malleable, more insidious, the things you most or least want to see. Those who long for safety may find a gentle Desire demon willing to offer it. Those whose fears stem from insecurities may hear the whispers of lurking Envy, mimicking their voices from its hiding place, cautiously testing for a foothold. If fear only pisses you off, be prepared to face your Rage. And if you refuse to be afraid--if you have this under control, if you know you'll be all right--a smiling embodiment of Pride may appear to praise your prowess and ask you to put those skills to other uses.

Whatever form your demons take, they are distractions from the larger issue: this part of the Fade is collapsing, unstable, and not meant for creatures like you to survive in. As important as it is to face your fears, it may in the end be more important to run from them. Regroup, keep moving, take head counts. There's a rift ahead, small enough to slip through one at a time, out into the desert, with its bright sun and relatively solid ground--and however long it feels like you've been walking, days or weeks, Adamant Fortress is visible across the sand.

Comments

[fleurdesel]

"You think it would be a little more creative." The thinnest edge of humor, strained and somewhat distant for her reverie. She's been drifting for awhile, staring at those words. Wondering how it might happen, where she might falter. Where she might fail. Dragging her gaze from the middle distance she sweeps her eyes from the stone with her name to Korrin, reading the fates listed for her friend below. "Then again- perhaps we ought to be grateful it goes for the obvious."

[gatheringstorm]

"It must be more fun to repeatedly drive the point home, like a hammer. I'm not too surprised, since those fearlings think I need to see abominations running around the Fade." Since it's just them, Korrin allows herself a slight shudder, as deeply unnerved as everyone else but trying to keep some semblance of calm and focus in public.

Her gaze lingers on Adelaide's tombstone again, then flickers over to her friend, sympathetic. "It won't happen, you know. We stick together as much as we can; anything tempts you, and I'll blast at it. Do the same for me, and we're set." It'll be that easy, right? Please say yes. "Besides, you have Compassion on your side. That's not nothing."

[fleurdesel]

"Templars- templar. One in particular." Idly Adelaide reaches up to rub at her throat, an old ache that's long since healed. Korrin knows the story well enough for her not to have to go into greater detail. "It is...unnerving to see him again."

Or hear him.

As long as he doesn't come close enough to touch her? She's fine. But if one of them grabs her... "That is...that is the best plan." Trust Korrin to bring her back to the present and remind her of the stakes. It is not her life alone she need fear for. "You have my word."

"Thank you, Rinot. I will help keep you safe as best I can." Compassion speaks, warm and resonant from where they hover at Adelaide's side.

[gatheringstorm]

Glancing over to Compassion, Korrin manages a smile just for that. "That...that helps. Thanks." She may not trust any other spirit or demon encountered in this realm right now, but the partner of a Spirit Healer she knows and trusts? That carries weight.

Turning her attention back to Adelaide, Korrin's eyes narrow at the thought of what her friend must be going through. "I'll kick those fearlings' asses even harder, now. They won't get near you."

[fleurdesel]

Dead. He is dead. She tries to remind herself of that but fear is insidious and cloying. Here with Korrin it seems less terrible, though. What it is in the other woman that helps Adelaide feel brave- she can't say. She is merely grateful for it. Some of the tension in her shoulders unwinds at the promise. "Thank you. I could not ask for a better partner. I suppose if I am to be lost here- I am glad I am lost with you."

[gatheringstorm]

Korrin herself doesn't feel particularly brave on her own, not here, but having Adelaide and Compassion present is enough to give her some desperately needed focus. Without it, it's possible she'd keep staring at her own tombstone while her mindset spiraled downward into darker places. And that's the last thing that needs to happen right now. So she expresses her thanks and support with slipping an arm around Adelaide, and giving her shoulders a gentle squeeze.

"Let's get the fuck out of here, shall we? That pull from elsewhere isn't getting any stronger as we stand here, so we'd better keep seeking it out."

[fleurdesel]

It is more of a comfort than she can express, to be able to lean against Korrin's side and breathe. Something solid, something grounding. Even with the echos of the Spire and her worst fears all around- she can take comfort in this. Her own arm slips about Korrin's waist to return the squeeze. "I think- there was something that felt like an eddie of it to the north? Or....what I think to be north."

[gatheringstorm]

"That's what felt, too. Assuming it's still north and we haven't gotten completely turned around." Being in the Fade is messing with her usually good sense of direction, and she likes that not one bit. "We'd better catch up with the others before Lena freaks out even more about being here." As it is, Korrin knows she'll get an earful for worrying her, even though her Valo-Kas sister wouldn't dare say it like that.

[fleurdesel]

"We might not even be in the right orientation for a north. The bridge I used to get here seemed to twist after awhile." As long as she does not look up, she will not be forced to see if she's upside down.

Second worst thing about this fade. The lack of her will to make it make sense.

[gatheringstorm]

"Yeah, same.

...have you tried using the sending crystal? Would it even work here?" Korrin frowns, hoping they'd have better luck with that than she did earlier, trying to reach Araceli. That had been hours ago -she thinks- and still no response. It must not have worked.

[fleurdesel]

"After the Nightmare was slain, I sent a few messages." Martel, Anders, Nathaniel, James. A few to her students. "I think they are going out- someone replied. The response was horrifically loud and attracted demons."

Everything here attracts demons. I sent a reply but...I do not know if they are reaching those we send them to.

[gatheringstorm]

Shaking her head, Korrin frowns. "I sent a message to Araceli, but there was no reply. She would have sent one if it'd reached her, no doubt." Araceli did, but her kadan never received it, oops. "I'd take attracting demons if it means I could be sure about getting through."

[fleurdesel]

"Perhaps if we are where the veil is thinnest?" Which would be a rift. Which would be a way out. We will get you back to her, Korrin."

Or at the very least they will try. To not- no. She is not going to lay down and die just yet.

[gatheringstorm]

Her expression firming, Korrin straightens and nods. She refuses to fall apart while Araceli is on the other side, waiting. "I know. And that's not a bad idea, though if I see a rift, I'm going for it. We need to get out of here, whatever it takes."

[fleurdesel]

"If we find a rift? We might need someone with a shard to keep it stable. Everyone that has come through them has had a shard- I do not know what would happen to use to slip through without one or if we would even make it." Assume the worst, be pleasantly surprised when you are wrong.

[gatheringstorm]

It's allowed, Korrin's thinking along the same lines at the moment. "I'd never thought I would be saying this, but I almost wish I had one of those now. But shard or not, I'll take the risk. What other choice is there, staying here? Fuck that."

[fleurdesel]

"If we find rifters they might be able to tear us a doorway out. We simply must...find enough of them." That would be three. Five? More, likely, with them trapped here.

[gatheringstorm]

"They might be trying something on the other end with those, too. We'll just have to remain alert, see if we notice any other pulls or rifts or whatever." It probably isn't the best idea to promote more rifts, but...fuck it, they need a way out.

[fleurdesel]

"If we can get word through- call enough to the nearest rift..." They might work it open from both ends. They could find their way through. As long as they moved away from the Black City and avoided demons.