( 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

[unsullies]

"I haven't spoken with either," Dany admits, blinking, but committing the names to memory. Adelaide and Solas. "Are they mages, then, or scholars of magic?"

She assumes there must be a slew of humans, non-mages, who look into magical abilities and properties. Like the maesters of Westeros (though they might cast scorn on the idea of magic, now that she considers it).

"You hardly forced me," she points out with another smile. "I... truthfully don't like being stranded in Skyhold, much. I feel more at ease out here, traveling."

It's a little like traveling across the sands with a khalasar - her khalasar. Minus the Dothraki and the sand, of course.

"I'm well enough," Dany replies. "And yourself?"

[eviscerates]

"I don't know all that much about Solas, but from what I understand? He's kind of the guy when it comes to rifts. He helps predict where they're going to be open, so we can have people there to meet people and make sure they aren't stuck alone with demons, like when you arrived." Her smile turns fonder, then. "Adelaide's a member of the mage council. So, she's a mage, and she's a researcher. She used to be a teacher at one of the Circles, if you've heard much about them. She came to the Inquisition with a whole lot of her students from there, and she teaches Spirit Healing." Oh. She's... rambling. Proud rambling. Excuse her, she's just going to clear her throat. "So basically she's a scholar, yeah. Scholar and mage. Mage and scholar."

Just... stop, Ruby. Inhale, exhale, and then she hums a quiet sound of agreement.

"I like Skyhold plenty, but... I want to see more of this world, you know? And if I can do that and help, it seems kinda perfect. And I'm good. Things have been good."

[unsullies]

How does he know? Dany wonders, frowning slightly, but doesn't ask. Instead, she says: "It's good that you have him as a resource. I would have died without your aid."

The demons would have gotten her, and if not them, then exposure.

"I've only heard some of the Circles, but Adelaide sounds - wise," she settles. She sounds like she knows a lot of things, anyway, and has magical abilities to boot (though Dany is forever wary of magic).

"I understand." She wants to see and learn more of this world, too, though there will always be that desire to return home, to continue her quest to the Iron Throne. "The Inquisition certainly has its work cut out for them, or so it seems."

There are a lot of things for them to help with throughout Thedas, apparently. As with every world.

[eviscerates]

"She is, definitely. She's very responsible about magic, you know? Using it to help, rather than hurt." Ruby elaborates by going on, "magic has done a lot of harm in my world, so it's kind of nice knowing that there are people who use it so carefully."

Ruby huffs out a little bit of a laugh, though it's more of a yeah, you aren't wrong tone than something mirthful. "They're lucky they've got helpful people like you and me around then, huh?"

She gently bumps Daenerys' shoulder, with her own, before turning so she's walking backwards to face Daenerys as they wander. "Are you tired, or going okay?"

[unsullies]

Dany doesn't respond to that first part, but it's certainly on her mind. 'Magic does a lot of harm in my world.' Mirri Maz Duur's face drifts through her mind and Dany's expression hardens, briefly.

"... Yes," she agrees, only distantly aware of what she's agreeing to. The bump to her shoulder brings her back to the present and she swallows. "I'm fine," Dany answers, raising herself a little more to demonstrate. "I don't mind the walking."

Though she's more used to horses these days, she's certainly done her share of walking alongside them.