MOSTLY CLOSED: Weisshaupt Fortress

[visus]

WHO: Anders, Herc, Ingrid, Kaisa, Mal Reynolds, Merrick, Merrill, Nathaniel, Samwise, Sera, Teren, Varric
WHAT: A friendly visit to Weisshaupt Fortress that will go very smoothly and involve zero bloodshed.
WHEN: Bloomingtide 29-30 for the closed portion, with travel time on either side.
WHERE: Weisshaupt Fortress, the Anderfels.
NOTES: This plot is 90% closed to the above-named characters, but there are open comments for before and after the main quest that are open to any characters who might travel to the Anderfels to serve as back-up without going to Weisshaupt.

No one has ever claimed that 'the Anderfels' is a particularly pretty name for a place, but it is somehow still too nice for the land itself. Bone-dry and blasted by hot, dusty winds for most of the year, the steppeland of the Anderfels has been harsh and unforgiving country since long before the Blights began. It is barren in every sense of the word: all greys and browns and blood-rust reds, the monotony broken more often by black outcroppings of rock than by greenery, with settlements few and far between. Even where blight has not turned the ground dark and toxic, it feels like a place people are not meant to live. Not anymore.

↠ The Walk There (Open, Mingle)
↠ Arrival at Weisshaupt (Closed, GMed)
↠ R&R&Demons (Closed, Mingle)
↠ Everything Goes To Shit (Closed, GMed)
↠ The Sprint Back (Open)

Comments

The Walk There (Open, Mingle)

[visus]

If Erimond's information hadn't been believable, the signs of a large group traveling through the wasteland would be confirmation: there are abandoned tents, campfires half-buried in blown sand. No effort to hide the trail until signs of civilization appear on the horizon, and then the Wardens' path swings wide to go around it. The Inquisition's team has fewer demons, so they don't need to worry so much about that.

A half day's ride from Weisshaupt Fortress, the village of Freisig is barely a village at all, a small cluster of five homes and a single general store/tavern tucked at the juncture of the road and a sickly stream of sort-of-fresh water. The locals are as worn down and dried out as the land, wary of strangers but devoutly respectful of the Inquisition and loyal to the Grey Wardens. Plus, this is the most business they've seen in a month. The visitors are invited to lay their bedrolls on the dirt floor of an abandoned house--Wilhelm died two years ago, someone will explain, and no one's claimed to see his corpse wandering past the windows in months.

On Bloomingtide 28, late at night, the Calling stops. That, more or less, is the signal. Those going to Weisshaupt head out in the morning.

( OOC: Make your own threads! Characters who aren't going to Weisshaupt but want to tag along to be back-up are welcome as well. )

Arrival at Weisshaupt (Closed, One Thread, Bloomingtide 29)

[visus]

There are a thousand Wardens in the Anderfels, and Weisshaupt Fortress is home to half, with ample room to spare--a relic of an age when their numbers were much greater. There's a village larger than Freisig within the walls, with a market and smithy, usually home to civilians but presently deserted. Across a bridge, Weisshaupt itself cuts an imposing figure against the red-dust sky. The Inquisition's envoys aren't stopped until they've crossed that bridge. That stop is only temporary: a brisk inquiry into their business there, a few minutes to run the message beyond the doors, and then a quiet escort through the empty courtyard and into a room with a long table and crackling fire.

The High Constable looks up first. Fulk is a small man, kind-faced, with grey at his temples and dark circles beneath his eyes. Beside him is Warden-Commander Clarel with her shaved head still bent to examine documents laid out on the table.

"The Inquisition, is it?" Fulk says, looking beyond those in Warden uniforms to examine the others.

There's a third figure in the corner, bearded and hooded. He turns a page in his book.

( OOC: Please keep things to a single thread. No tag order, and characters are welcome to be silent in the background. )

R&R&Demons (Closed, Mingle, 29-30 Bloomingtide)

[visus]

They keep their weapons, in the end, and they're given free rein in the upper levels of the fortress; the staircases to the lower levels are blocked off and guarded by Wardens, most with broad shoulders and thick Ander accents, if they speak Common at all. They're keeping the demons in, they'll explain, more than keeping the visitors out--but no, sers, you can't go down there. Perhaps in the morning, when if Fulk says it's all right.

That still leaves most of the fortress to roam. Weisshaupt is a monument and a memorial, strewn with tapestries and trophies, ancient weapons and ogre bones. The library rivals a university's. There is a small chapel, for the devout, and until sunset it's half-filled with Wardens on their knees. The kitchens are well-stocked--meant to feed hundreds of preternaturally hungry warriors--but presently understaffed, with the civilian workers recently evacuated. There's an aging Warden on duty instead, with nothing to offer but today's stew, tomorrow's porridge, or access to the raw stores of imported vegetables and dried meats. And stories. He talks about every Blight as if he had been there himself.

Periodically there are demons, matched with mages and additional watchers, crossing through to help carry food or blankets below. Near nightfall, there's a small commotion near the easternmost staircase--three Wardens wrangling an unconscious varghest that woke up too early. They appreciate any help immobilizing it, but not killing it, don't kill it, please--immobilize it, and the elven woman in the group will stop looking stressed long enough to say thank you before they drag it past the guarded doors and out of sight.

There are rooms to spare, though those both habitable and unoccupied are scattered. Nathaniel, Anders, Merill, and Mal are directed to a pair of rooms on the second floor; Samwise, Teren, Ingrid, and Merrick to the third. The remainder are left on the first. All on the eastern side of the fortress, all within shouting distance if one doesn't mind shouting up the stone stairways. The neighbors, however, might object. The local Wardens keep late hours, but by the earliest hours of morning, the fortress is quiet and still.

( OOC: This is partly just for time-bridging and partly for anyone who wants to chat or explore; it will not be GMed. You're welcome to take control of the grunt-level NPCs broadly described above for conversations. If you have any specific questions about what would happen if your character presses this or that button [metaphorically], let us know! )

Everything Goes To Shit (Closed, GMed, 30 Bloomingtide)

[visus]

The fortress does not stay quiet and still.

Pretend to be surprised.

The sky is a deep grey-red and the sun hasn't yet risen when the clamor starts--the clank of men and women running down stone corridors in armor, muffled shouting that's more outrage than panic, a cheering roar from the courtyards that floats through the windows--and the clamor only goes on for two minutes at most before it's brought directly to the doors of the visiting Wardens and Inquisition members. The Weisshaupt Wardens knock, if the doors are shut, or meet anyone already on their way to find the source of the noise before they get too far; they come in groups of ten, armed, but some still buckling their armor or affixing their hilts.

The message, everywhere, is, "You need to come with us."

( OOC: The NPCs and GMing will be separate for each group from this point forward, so please branch off into your three groups: Anders, Mal, Merrill, & Nathaniel; Ingrid, Merrick, Samwise, & Teren; and Hercules, Kaisa, Sera, & Varric. No strict tag order, but please don't leave anyone behind without their okay. )