faderift | ( closed ) player plot: the stars go waltzing

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( closed ) player plot: the stars go waltzing

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.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Bruce does appreciate the concern from the cook, but right now any sudden movement would be a bad idea - at least from his experience. He doesn't flinch when the wolf snarls - he's faced more dangerous threats before - but his concern skyrockets as he turns his gaze over from the beast to Adelaide, quiet as the others speak.

"We need to be objective about this, Leblanc," he speaks again, voice still quiet, but much terser this time. "I don't think any of us want to hurt her. Restraining her might be a way, as suggested."

In a way they're friends now, too, and he doesn't want to hurt Lucas as well, unless absolutely necessary. Not to mention... having a thing inside of you? Hurting people beyond your control? Its something Bruce can relate to all too well. He doesn't want to give Lucas that same fate.

There are more people, now, and they move closer. It is Korrin that draws her attention. The tallest, the greatest threat, and casting spells when magic has been nothing but a danger these past few days. Though barrier might grant each of them an additional measure of health, it does not stop the Wolf when she bursts forwards, startlingly fast.

Her teeth snap at Korrin's dominant hands, jaws closing arm around her wrists and pulling sharply. The Wolf is powerful, a fearsome strong creature able to bring down many men, and she does not let go easily. Stop the magic, stop the threat.

The Wolf is not the only thing to contend with. Her flower ring has been as effected by the lyrium as Ruby herself, and the mass of roses and thorns and giant, tree-like stretches of brambles and thorns shudder, begin to rattle. Two separate vines lash out at Lexa and Avery, the vines coiling around Avery's ankle and jerking to sweep her feet from under her.

"Oh--"

For a drawn out moment, all she sees is stars after her head collides roughly with the stone floor... and then everything snaps back into painful focus and Avery is rolling sideways, in case any flowers have gotten the idea to eat her face or something next. Sitting up, she grabs for the vine around her leg and starts hacking at it with her boot-knife.

"Less talking, more burning these plants, yeah?" she growls out, now that it's too late. Now that they can't just leave and come back later like she'd wanted. The wolf clearly has a belly full of Venatori, maybe they could've found her while she was napping instead.

"She won't hurt me." Not ever and certainly not like this. Ruby's mind is confused, her form warped by the lyrium, this part of her twisted and angry and as undergone Maker knows what- but. It's Ruby. The sky is blue, magic a curse, and Ruby will not hurt her.

That same certainty doesn't extend to the others unfortunately, and she's right to have that concern- "Korrin you ought to step-"

Back, she means to say. Back and behind a stronger barrier, she'll be fine, she can talk the Wolf down but- there isn't time. There isn't time and there are jaws around Korrin's arm and vines writhing behind and she-

can't be objective. Won't. It is only her absolute certainty that has her darting forward, arms looping around the Wolf's neck. Steadying against something there's no bracing for, attempting to hold back something there's no restraining. "Charlotte!"

Disappointed Enchanter voice with an undertone of desperation. She could do nothing for that boy, they could do nothing for that boy. It cannot be so here. Hands blue she does what Korrin offered and now cannot- a quick, thorough dispelling. "You need to her go-"

In retrospect, casting Barrier was perhaps not the wisest course of action. Korrin did it as an automatic action, a habit which is usually a lifesaver on the battlefield. This time proves to be a horrible exception, and though the Vashoth mage is on her guard, she doesn't get to react quickly enough to escape those jaws. A scream of pain (because let's face it, that's going to hurt, barrier or not) escapes her and she drops her staff, unable keep hold while the wolf has her in its grasp. Her spirit blade hilt remains ready, though it remains unactivated. She won't harm Ruby if it can at all be helped, but she has to save herself somehow. Readjusting her grip as best she can, the Vashoth mage tries to bring the hilt down upon her snout, hoping to surprise her into letting go.

It is not the boop to her snoot that makes the Wolf release Korrin, though her teeth jerk away; the wounds are deep, but they do not tear, do not break apart the mage's arm for all that she has the strength for it. It is, instead, the effort at dispel that makes the Wolf pull away. It cannot turn her back human; Ruby is as much wolf as human, both forms natural to her.

She shakes, hard, to escape the weight and the mage and the magic that are all tied together, flinging Adelaide back and snarling at her. There is an open doorway that is blocked by too many people, but they can be easily cut through, just as the Venatori were.

The Wolf snaps at Bruce, but it is Lexa that has the misfortune of being between the Wolf and freedom, and the Wolf slams into her, a force strong enough to knock her back.

In the meantime, the thrashing vines and thorns are becoming more volatile, tangling around ankles and lashing out at everyone in the room.

Bruce steps back when the beast snaps at him, cautious not to incur its wrath further - though then again it might be a bit too late for that. It's all he can do to throw a quick healing spell on the avvar when it goes for her instead, hoping that its enough to cover for the damage.

The violent plant life is also something to be dealt with before they get too out of control. Good thing Bruce is proficient with his fire magic. He focuses his attention onto that first, channeling out his magic into bursts of flame that blast at points where the plants congregate the most. With luck most of them could get burnt, and the flames themselves would ideally burn out once there's no more plants in their way to catch fire.

"Leblanc!" he snaps, trying to get her back to reality. He understands that Lucas means a lot to her but--they can't risk everyone else here. If the beast is too volatile to be retained then they have to make it be not volatile, and beating it down seems to be the best option right now.

She tried. Later when she looks back on the fight? She'll be proud of herself for bothering with that attempt- but after the child? After that cave? A single attempt is all she is willing to offer, even to Ruby. Thrown she slams into the ground and rolls, twisting to avoid the snakelike tendrils of thorns and vines. "The dispelling didn't work-"

Different world, different magics-

She ignores the vines for a moment to snap a hand out, flinging a glyph of paralysis under the Wolf. Compassion quails against causing harm with magic and that? Proves she is not beyond saving. But they cannot afford Adelaide's reluctance a second time. "Silver."

Having to say it cuts deeply- but this has been Ruby's fear. This is her nightmare come to life. "The wolf is vulnerable to silver-"

Staggering back upon being freed, Korrin fights the pain long enough pick up her staff from the ground, though her grip is far from firm. Not a stranger to injury on the battlefield, she tries to keep said pain from consuming her when there's still a threat to her and her allies. She shakes her head at Adelaide's announcement, not doubting it must be killing her to say that much. But doesn't matter. "No silver over here."

Instead, she stands ready to toss a pitch grenade with that good hand, should that glyph fail to take effect or wear off. If she can't dispel whatever has been done to Ruby, she can at least slow her down.

What a mess. That is the only thing bouncing around Ciri's mind as the scene plays out before her and she pushes off to keep herself moving to dodge the vines whipping around. She tries to listen out for the words being thrown around the battlefield but it is hard when her focus is being jerked around with each attack that is thrown their way.

She has to stop hard, leaping back and twisting her form to hurry back to where Avery has been knocked off her feet. She raises her sword, burying it into the vine and attempting to separate it from the piece that has wrapped itself around Avery's ankle.

"My sword is made from silverite if that'll work!" She calls out, jaw clenched because how the hell do they continue to end up in these hard situations?

"Look in the room," Jamie's suggestion comes at just about the same time. His voice is ragged, disoriented sounding, and possibly only able to be heard by those closest to him. Right now, he's trying to stay away from Ruby, focusing on hacking at the vines as best as he can with his sword to see if he can't take some of them out while trying to get around to where he can grab a torch off the wall at the same time. If Bruce's spell doesn't work, the torch might not work either, but at least maybe he'll be able to scorch something in this room and feel a bit better.

"Like as not he tried as many things as possible to see what she'd react to. Maybe there's something there. If not-" A wave of dizziness runs through him for a moment, and his hand grips his sword just that much tighter. "If not Victoria can always scream them away. Worked last time."

Victoria isn't here with them, of course, but right in this moment, the lyrium is telling him otherwise, and it's hard to fight that and the vines at the same time. And given the vines are winning, reality isn't really something he's all that worried about right now. His sword lifts and comes down on another vine with as much force as he can muster right now...which isn't a lot, unfortunately. But it'll just have to do.

Edited 2016-09-17 22:45 (UTC)

Restricted by the paralysing glyph, the Wolf becomes more aggravated, desperate, thrashing as violently as it can against the restraints enforced by the magic. She cannot run, but can still move within the boundaries of the glyph, albeit slower.
When speed and strength have beem enhanced by lyrium, of course, slower does not necessarily mean slow.

As Jamie suggested, there are silver implements in the room, a range of blades and long needles in different gauges all to be found on benches that run along one side of the room. Closer to the Wolf there are even some scattered on the ground, though those ones are bloodied.
At the far end of the benches, more chains can be spotted.

Bruce fire has swept through about a third of the vines, although it temporarily has the effect of the vines thrashing more swiftly, while also being on fire. The plus side is that it is starting to burn through them, but for one Very Exciting round? Thrashing and thorny and flaming. Hurrah.

And, to make things better, a door on the far wall slides open to hail the first wave of Their Next Problem - ten Venatori warriors, advancing on the party with a mix of double-handed hammers, sword and shields, and all of them donning heavy armour, backed by two mages.

The mages cast haste on the warriors, who start to come at the party at a run, two heading for Adelaide and Bruce, three branching closer to Ciri, Avery and Jamie.

One of the mages immediately casts a spell of virulent walking bomb on Bruce, the other more concerned with casting barrier over the warriors.

Sticking with her usual weapons, Korrin will pass on the blades and other silver items, leaving them for others. The bloodied ones don't escape her notice but there's no time to lose her temper about it, not with the door on the far wall opening. Thinking fast, she throws the pitch grenade at the two heading for Adelaide and Bruce, then casts Static Cage for the three converging on Ciri, Jamie and Avery.

The mages concern her more than the warriors, though, and she'll focus next on the asshole casting barriers over their buddies. That has to stop, so she'll make them her next target.

Edited 2016-09-18 03:04 (UTC)

Not today Timm-

Wait, wrong mage. Still that same cold fury twists past anxious fear, spurring her into action. Snapping a quick dispell to Bruce to handle the case of walking bomb, focus winding tight as she throws a glyph of neutralization at the mage's feet. It will buy them some time before they start throwing another round of spells about-

Which leaves The Wolf. Ruby. "Silverite will work-"

Frost coils in her fingers as she grabs her dropped staff, drawing up a wall of ice between the wolf and Jaime. He is in no condition to face the beast.

Lexa is knocked down by the wolf's charge, borne back and partially trampled, but it's nothing Bruce's brief blast of healing magic cannot help, not that she knows where it came from to thank him. She had been on her way to escape the vines and assist Avery in doing the same, but by the time Lexa's regained her feet Ciri is there hacking the cook free.

The arrival of more Venatori pulls her attention, and her expression hardens as she draws the second blade across her back.

"You should let the wolf go after them and subdue her again once they're dead," she suggests to anyone within earshot as she moves to attack the warriors heading for Jamie, Ciri, and Avery.

With the help, Avery is finally able to cut away the plant and pull herself back to her feet, muttering a quiet, "Thanks," and briefly placing a hand on Ciri's arm.

Then she glances in Lexa's direction and sighs, "Wanna see something really stupid?" before actually moving closer to the wolf, just barely dodging the whip of a flaming vine in the process. Very barely. Like if she survives this she may or may not be missing half an eyebrow barely. Crouching without taking her eyes off this massive creature, she scoops up two of the bloodied knives off the ground and throws one directly at her, shouting, "Oi! Furball!"

The other she holds in the air, moving it back and forth so that the bits that aren't covered in Ruby's blood will shine in what light there is down here. She wants her full attention when that spell holding her in place runs out. "Remember this? Remember what it did to you?"

At which point she starts sloooowly walking in the direction of the Venatori.

Attracting the attention of a hulking wolf demon thing of indeterminate and unlikely moral reasoning is a potentially stupid and dangerous plan, even if the bulk of the hulking wolf demon thing's rage and force and unlikely moral reasoning will quickly and eventually directed at the enemy--

Which is why it's a plan Bellamy is all for, even if it's part Lexa's. So long as they can keep damage to themselves at a minimum while directing that force.

"If that's your plan, walk faster," he advises Avery, loudly, with a note of taut urgency. After all, the warriors sure aren't moving slowly--but the mages need to be minimized as a threat too, or at least defanged for a second. He swings his sword around; a moment of focus, and, with a wash of white light, dampens the magic of one of the mages. Not a welcome party trick in a room full of mages, but anything to keep the side up--and with any luck, his target will be the mage working the barrier.

Then again, they don't seem to have much luck, so probably not.

For the most part Teren has been playing as crowd, er... vine control, her razor-sharp daggers keeping things clear for at least herself and the people around her. The wolf is a problem in itself, but she considers that best left to the experts, given that her solution would be to just murder it and have done with the whole thing.
As always managing to stay mostly unseen through the fracas, she advances on the warriors en route to Adelaide and Bruce, ghosting behind the farthest one and waiting for just the right moment to ram the blade of her dagger up through a crack in his plate, penetrating his spinal cord just below the waist. That's the intention, at least, and her hope is that the second can be waylaid in a similar fashion before they're able to reach the mages.

When Avery picks up the blade, the Wolf's ears lay black flat against her head, the snarl becoming for frantic, louder, until she is able to break forward from the glyph. It takes her a moment to register that she's free, and her attention flits rapidly between the mages, the warriors, and the knife. The Wolf follows Avery, before she all but knocks her out of the way to throw herself at one of the mages. She moves at a run, bounding, until her paws slam into the mages chest and her teeth meet his throat, closing around it and starting to tear his head away from his shoulders.

That, at least, takes care of the necromancer. Bellamy’s magic dampening incapacitates the barrier mage, just in time for Korrin to advance on him. Automatically, the mage raises his hand to cast a devastating fire attack - but nothing happens. Sad day for Venatori mages.

The pitch grenade Korrin threw catches one of the warriors, the other stopping short to evade it, and walking around it. The one who was slowed falls prey to Teren’s efficient attack, but the other turns and blocks her attempt to do the same to him, shield raised. His efforts to block her draw his attention away from Adelaide and Bruce, though he does a good job at defending himself.

The three warriors that had been heading for Ciri, Avery and Jamie are torn - Avery has evaded them, and they are flanked by Lexa. One turns to focus all his energy on the Avvar, trying to take advantage of any weakness she might have from this place, in a barrage of relentless attacks, swinging his hammer brutally. One of the others is hit by a vine, but both still try to attack Jamie and Ciri.

The burning vines have now withered, though there are still more of the plants living, thrashing slowly.

It is amidst this chaos when four more mages enter the room, standing on higher level balcony, rather than on the same floor level. One of them recognisable to those abducted as Zoroastres Maris, the great experimenter, and three associates mana drain on all the Inquisition mages in the room.

“Inquisition. Leave my subjects here, or join them on the slab.”

Edited 2016-09-18 05:29 (UTC)

Wolf diverted, mages in hand, warriors making themselves known- but the first ripple of draining magic from above promps her into whirling about and earns Zoroastres the exact same crackling wave of blue spirit energy that his friend, Timmy, enjoyed so well outside. It is reflective and merciless, the sharp surge of power snapping through the air as Mana Clash does it's work. "Faites savoir à vos hommes de se retirer ou VOUS serez sur la dalle suivante!"

Later it will occur to her to yell in Common, but for now? She has had more than enough of this venatori magic bullshit. And as Timmy learned so well outside? Adelaide can do this all. Day. She will,, bolstered by anger and an unyielding determination to put this behind them as swiftly and efficiently as possible. With what mana she has left? Wisps to each Inquisition mage in the room to counteract the drain.

Good thing that worked out well. Bruce keeps an eye on the burning, thrashing plants until they die out, ready to do any kind of damage control if he had to. He could call on his other powers if it was really necessary but--he'd rather not risk it. In a confined space like this it'd only lead to more trouble.

Of course, with how focused he is on the burning plants he hadn't quite noticed the spell that was going to be cast on him - luckily Adelaide take care of it for the most part, though Bruce quickly throws down a Dispel of his own as well, neutralizing the spell before it can strike.

With that taken care of, Bruce glances around to try and access the situation--the cook was getting the wolf's attention (to some success, apparently) and the others were doing their best to deal with the situation. He quickly tries to rack through his mind, deciding on what to do--but then Bruce hisses when the first bout of draining magic hits them all.

Never having the biggest of mana reserves, Bruce instantly staggers - his regeneration is already kicking it but even if its fast it still takes time. He grits his teeth and uses the staff to keep him upright while Adelaide shouts angrily back at the newcomer - possibly the mastermind of this, considering his words.

"Yeah, I've had enough of that," he mutters to himself, the wisp from Adelaide returning whatever mana that has been drained from him. He straightens himself back up, teeth clenched and expression set into one of grim determination. In return for the hurt they've caused, the pain they're bringing now, all of this--Bruce doesn't hesitate and attempts to sear onto the ground below the newcomers the glyphs from the fire mine spell.

Well, she had to make sure she had her attention first, Bellamy! Maker, are all men as critical as him and Martel?? No wonder she's not attracted to them.

Which is maybe a thought Avery would be having if she wasn't the recipient of the world's largest doggy shoulder tackle and crashing loudly into the bench of instruments along the walls. There is even a very near miss with some sort of large knife and a few of her most important fingers when half the bench's contents go tumbling to the floor.

Properly bowled over now but thankfully neither beheaded nor behanded, Avery watches the fate of the mage with the dawning horror of how narrowly she escaped that being her instead. She'll gladly just lay here for a moment and appreciate her soon-to-be bruises and the new throbbing pain in her shoulder instead, thank you.

It's not like she can even follow all these flashy whatevers the mages are throwing about.

Teren has no idea what just happened to the mages, but they all seem thrown. She doesn't have much time to think about it before there's a shield in her face, however, and she has to make a quick withdrawal to avoid getting her nose caved in. She ducks out of the way and behind him to make a quick slash at the back of his knee, then absconds whether it lands or not, just in time to see Avery nearly torn to pieces.

"Shit. Bollocks," she hisses through her teeth as she skirts around and over the writhing tendrils of vegetation, making her way to the girl who is clearly alive but perhaps about to not be.

Trying to keep track of all the magic that's being thrown around is impossible on a good day. Today is not a good day, and Jamie doesn't even bother to try to figure what's going where except for that wall of ice that Adelaide had manifested to try and keep him safe. It doesn't seem to have deterred his attacker all that much, but it does give him a bit of a barrier, something he can keep between himself and the warrior that seems set on carving out a piece of his hide.

There's only so long that he can use the wall and avoid any attacks, however, and eventually he has to switch to a defensive stance, using his sword to fend off as many attacks as he can. For a short while he's able to manage, but then a blow from the shield sends him staggering back into the mess of the bench's contents that are scattered on the floor. One foot slips, but it turns out to be to his advantage as the follow up swing from the warrior's sword winds up passing harmlessly over his head rather than connecting with his neck - something he's grateful for.

However, it's also given him an idea, and hopefully a few seconds of time to try and pull it off as well. He grabs at some sort of container that's next to his other hand, using it to scoop up whatever he can on the floor. This time when the shield comes at him again, he's ready, dodging to avoid the blow and then, the moment there's an opening, throwing the contents of the container at the warrior's face. It might not do much, but he might get lucky - or at the very least, he might get a chance to disengage and try and get to a more advantageous position. Whatever happens, he'll take it.

If the wolf could have just stayed their only problem at the present.

But that would be easy and Ciri has honestly never been a fan of the mundane. Her eyes had been kept to Avery as the woman went through her plan to lure the wolf. For a moment she did not dare breathe until the beast sailed by, knocking Avery to the ground and tearing through the skin of the Tevinter's neck like it was nothing but the wolf isn't her main concern. It isn't even her second concern as the foursome step out onto the balcony and one has the gall to tell them to stop.

The grip on her sword tightens slightly and she takes off, racing toward where some of the healthy portions of the plant still remain. There are the two racing toward her and the addled Jamie but her sights stay on the one trying to block her path. She parries his attack as he draws in close before twisting her form low, jabbing her sword through a weak spot in the armor at his knee. There isn't any time to stop and see the damage dealt but hopes it is enough to slow him down as her sights are focused solely on the four lording over from above them now.

Despite the age of the ruins offering more than ample climbing rungs she climbs atop the sprawling rose vines before the four can clear away the fire that Bruce's magic has ignited under their feet. Considering the size of the vines she is able to scale them much like she would a tree while using the thorns both as leverage and to keep herself from being thrown as they thrashed around. Once there is enough height to reach the balcony, she leaps forward and lands with wobble atop the railings. Not intending to fall she reaches forward to grasp one of the mages at the speaker's side by his collar, grinning as she uses his weight to pull him forward and steadies her stance on the balcony railings.

She fixes her blade on her next target, eyes narrowed and leaps toward Zoroastres.

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