( closed ) player plot: the stars go waltzing

[eviscerates]

WHO: Adelaide, Araceli, Avery, Bellamy, Bruce, Ciri, Cosima, Daenerys, Jamie, Korrin, Lexa, Martel, Merrill, Ruby, Sabine, Teren.
WHAT: catch all log; the capture of shardbearers, their rescue, and related shenanigans.
WHEN: Gently timey wimey for flexibility, Team Rescue arrives at the outpost on the 10th.
WHERE: Orlais/Nevarra borders (roughly halfway between the Fields of Ghislain and Trevis), and then a Creepy Place.
NOTES: Log for the missing shardbearers player plot; ooc here & here. Only the travel threads for teams one and two are going up for now, the rest will go up on Friday :]b And to clarify - when I say party style, what I mean is subthread to your hearts content!
WARNINGS: HORROR THEMES. Abduction, experimentation/torture, forced ingestion of lyrium, implied past deaths/murder, violence.

SPEEDY LINKS

• TEAM ONE: travel to Craintellier
• TEAM ONE: rift two attempt & Venatori attack
• TEAM ONE: dungeons
• TEAM ONE: escape attempt — Cosima, Jamie & Lexa only
• TEAM TWO: travel to Craintellier
• TEAM TWO: post rift investigation — Adelaide, Bellamy & Sabine, Bruce, Korrin & Teren, Ciri & Merrill
• TEAM TWO: take the outpost — Attack & Distract & Stealthy & Stealy
• TEAM TWO: regroup & into the dungeons — plus a Lexa-shaped guest star
• ALL: finding your shardbearers
• ALL: boss fight
• ALL: epilogue & return to Skyhold — tba

click for bigger version. full map of Thedas here.

East of Perendale and south of Trevis, next to a river's winding course, there lies the bones of a fortress. It is an old and almost forgotten place, a dramatic, clawed seeming thing reaching up into the sky, harsh against the the rolling hills.

It is an ancient place, dating back to 660TE, a testament to an Empire suffering after civil war and grasping to restore its wealth and influence after it had been so shaken. It stands as a memory of grandeur, rather than an icon of it, and bears the marks of devastation and scarring that so much of the land suffered during the First Blight. It was all but abandoned thereafter, host only to the desperate and the greedy, and never for long. Once ornate mosaics now only hold flecks of gold, flakes that stubbornly resisted the hands of looters trying to pry them away. Other colours, reds, whites, greys and blacks, they all remain.

The site was chosen for its riches, sitting atop a mine that once held immense wealth, seams of gold that would bring wealth back into the Empire and help restore stability. Opulence, the central Tevinter staple (aside from slavery and blood magic, some might say).

But they dug too deep, and when the First Blight came so too did the darkspawn.

It has a new master, now, and he serves the Elder One. Parts of this stronghold may be in ruins now, but remember: it is not what lies on the surface that counts, but what lurks beneath it.


AD VICTORIAM, AD GLORIA.

Comments

[gatheringstorm]

"And then everyone responsible will be obliterated." Korrin responds grimly, eyes glinting with fury. Adelaide's bond with Compassion prevents her from unleashing her power like that, but Korrin has no such restrictions. Venatori, Red Templars, she doesn't care what they are, but they're going to pay and dearly.

"I promise you I'll take down every single one of the bastards and cut you a path, so you and Compassion can do what you do best." Thinking about their possible state makes Korrin's heart ache, but if anyone can help Araceli and Ruby and the rest, it's Adelaide. She has complete faith in them both.

[fleurdesel]

"Violence is a last resort. But-" On this occasion? The idea of it still twists in her gut so soon after witnessing what had been done to those people, to that boy. She had been ill at ease the entirety of that mission and only Ruby's comforting smile helped settle her afterward. Now to think that she might be in those hands, at risk?

Adelaide shudders. Allowing herself this uncertainty is unthinkable in any other company- but Korrin will not judge her. That is a rare and well cherished comfort. "We will find them. We will help them. And then I am chaining her to the still in the undercroft so I will not lose her again."

[gatheringstorm]

There's a weak laugh from Korrin, whose laughter can usually be heard across a crowded room with no effort. "I have a suspicion she'll disagree with that. And Araceli...it'd be like trying to chain the wind." Not that Korrin would even think to do so, not seriously. Araceli's freedom as important to her as breathing, just as with Korrin.

When Adelaide shudders, she slips an arm around her friend and gives a gentle squeeze. "Let me take care of the violence, alright? I don't want you to risk your oath if you don't have to. Just cover me with whatever you got, and I'll make sure they won't get near you."

[fleurdesel]

"I don't care. I cannot-" She sucks in a slow breath. Korrin knows of Robert. Of that loss. "I cannot lose someone else that I care for, not again. Not through inaction or ignorance."

Not because she wasn't enough. Fast enough, strong enough, vicious enough to take the steps required to save them. Protect them. Korrin's arm is grounding, her voice reassuring- Adelaide leans into her like a flower to the sun. "Everything I know is at you disposal. They will not keep them. Not for anything."

After a step she loops her arm around Korrin's waist, squeezing back. "And then- Ruby has spoken of something called a 'double date', where two couples dine together. We should- we should do that."

[gatheringstorm]

Korrin remembers Robert, and her expression softens as she listens to Adelaide, understanding why that would be her breaking point. It would be hers as well, if their positions were reversed and she was the one with a bond. There's finding and saving her love, and there was everything else. Only the former matters right now.

"Then we'll do what we have to do. Breathe, Adelaide." She makes a noise that could almost be amusement at the thought of a double date, not expecting to hear that of all things at the moment. But it's a nice goal, something to hope for. "I won't say no to that. I don't think Araceli would, either. She loves cooking for people, and given a chance she'll channel my grandmother and make enough for an army."

[fleurdesel]

Breathe. Narrow her world down to what is, what she can change, what she can mend. At the moment? Precious little. And that is what she finds most unsettling, her inability to change any of this outside of hunting and hoping. Helplessness isn't something she has ever found tolerable.

And here they are. Helpless.

"Ruby would- she would need it." Breathe. In for three, out for four. "Part of her being a wolf, she needs a great deal of food to feel satisfied. And she would enjoy every bite."

Her exuberance, her unashamed enjoyment of all things- that is what holds her deepest affection in Ruby. It seems much the same for Korrin and Araceli.

[gatheringstorm]

Helplessness is a horrible feeling, especially to a woman of action. Korrin wants nothing more than to fight whoever they are, right now, but rushing ahead without the others would be stupid and she knows it. As much as she hates waiting, it can't be just them.

"It's hard not to think of her as a mage, since she's able to change her shape. I hope it doesn't get old for her to hear that, but...." Well, that seems pretty mage-y to her. She sighs, her hand going to the dragon tooth at her chest.

"...keep a lookout for a black fox. Maybe Lux was able to get away and is looking for us. He's a smart boy, he could show us the way."

[fleurdesel]

"So long as you do not call her a shapeshifter. It is a sore point with her as it is not something she chose but something she was born with, in that much? She is very like us...and has learned to loathe herself as many Circle mages do." Out of fear. Out of grief. Out of an inability to understand. Something she is only now just starting to shrug out of herself.

But with Korrin? It is easier to push that aside. To be her own mage without fear, without loathing.

"I'll keep an eye out. He is quite clever, isn't he? I doubt whoever took them knew to look for him." Foxes are, well. Foxish for a reason.

[gatheringstorm]

"I'll try to remember that about her, promise." Korrin may not understand what it is to loathe oneself thanks to such abilities, but she doesn't need to in order to have some manners. Ruby is someone she'd like to have as a friend, Adelaide aside, and she doesn't want to go rubbing salt into a wound.

"And no, probably not. Araceli would have sent him off, anyway, if she was still--" Conscious? Alive? There's no way she can bring herself to finish that sentence.

[fleurdesel]

"Aware." Stunning spells are used often in ambushes- to disorient and distract while the rest of the party moves in. She's seen the tactic often enough- or at the very least? She has seen the aftermath. "We will find him, he will help us find her-

And all will be well." It must.

[gatheringstorm]

Chewing her lip, Korrin nods. "I should have lent her that amulet I had, the one that reduces attention in a fight. It's not like I need it anymore, since I'm on the front lines now. I was going to, before she left for the mission before this, and...I forgot."

[fleurdesel]

"We are not omniscient." Unfortunately. Life would be so much simpler otherwise. "When we find her? You can give it to her then."

[gatheringstorm]

Hmph. "If only. And I will, I have it ready. Let's just hurry up and get there, lay waste to everything, scoop up our ladies and return big damn heroes." Yes, mimicking Mal's accent. "Maybe Maryden will sing about it." It'd be better than hearing 'Empress of Fire' for the billionth time, right?

[fleurdesel]

"The dramatic tale of Korrin and Araceli- starcrossed lovers that no one could tear apart?" Leblancs do not have songs written over them- though it is an amusing notion One that suits Korrin and her love far better.

[gatheringstorm]

If Korrin were in a better mood, that'd get her snickering endlessly. As it is, her lips twitch a little. "Don't rule out your part, the ice queen whose heart was melted by the wild wolf woman from beyond. If there's a squishier, more overdramatic way to say it, she'll find it, too."

[fleurdesel]

"Comtesse, not queen." Technically, if she keeps the title and the lands and everything a mage ought to not for so many reasons. It is picking nits- but doing so helps her feel...more in control. Settled. "She would. The woman is ridiculous- though I suppose she has you to thank for our relationship. I'd never thought of women in any particular way until I met you."

[gatheringstorm]

"My apologies, Comtesse." There's only a hint of teasing now, but expect it to return in spades later, when they're both in a better mood. You know, should this not end in complete disaster. That last part gets a warm smile from Korrin. "That's very flattering to know. Watch out, I have a big enough ego already."

Maybe if things hadn't gone the way they had...but they did, and Korrin isn't one to dwell on what might have been.

[fleurdesel]

"Please-" It's the smallest sound, the driest twist of laughter- but present. Strained but present. "I like you far better as a friend but- you are quite. I mean-"

Stumbling over her words again, lightly pink- but laughing at herself. It is the thinnest thread of humor, but she will grasp it with both hands. "You know what you are, large ego and all."