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faderift2016-09-06 10:28 pm
eviscerates) wrote in faderift2016-09-06 10:28 pm
( 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.
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: escape attempt — Cosima, Jamie & Lexa only
- TEAM TWO: regroup & into the dungeons — plus a Lexa-shaped guest star
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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.”
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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.
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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.
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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.
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"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.
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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.
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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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Slashing at a vine, she spies Jamie and moves his way quickly, listening for the wolf or anything else coming her way as she slows just enough to drive her blade at the warrior's left arm. Not the one that did it to her but she's hurting, everyone is hurting, and she'll take what she can get in dishing out some in return.
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And then that balcony door opens and gives her an even better target. "I'm coming for you, you piece of shit!" Narrowing her eyes at the man obviously in charge, Korrin casts Dispel on him to make it easier for her fellow mages targeting him. Because really, what mage would wade into battle without a few spells for protection? And then she'll go for Winter's Grasp to try and freeze him in place for Ciri or at least slow him down. Thanks to her training, it will chill and harm the other mages as well.
There are far too many people and far too much chaos to mind everyone, so Korrin gives up on that front. The only one she'll truly make an attempt to keep track of is Araceli. Whenever she manages to down her current mage, Korrin will make returning to her side a priority.
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Though one of his fellow mages is now on the floor, crumpled, he does not look especially concerned. Instead, he grabs Ciri by the throat, gripping hard. “A stalwart effort,” he says, commending her, before hurling her backwards off the balcony to slide across the floor.
Taking the same path down that Ciri ascended by, Maris and the three mages with him join the Inquisition members on the floor, each of them wielding mage staves, two of them read to use them as weapons, Maris watching. “You know what to do,” he informs the third, who simply nods to him.
The mage steps forward, two others wielding their staves even if their magic is controlled, twisting them, to keep others back. They need not do so long; they need not live through it. The nominated mage slashes across his hand, and ribbons of yellow-white light begin to obit around him, streams of light that would be beautiful if not for the blood that hangs in the air with them.
The mangled bodies in the room lift from the floor, dragging tangled vines and brambles that are bought about them with them, and even the body of the mage Ciri just slew with a fall to the floor moves closer. They wrap around him, and as the bodies draw closer and the blood still appears as droplets suspended in the air, his eyes turn a foul yellow shot through with grey. The sound a wet, rippling sort of thing, and only seconds have passed before the mage and bodies that were stand before them as a flesh golem.
The thorns and brambles are entwined and tangled into its very flesh and sinew, and the golem growls a wretched, hollow screech a sound out past its throat as it tears the vines from the wall, and lashes them across the room as a whip.
The warriors from before are all dead or immobilised - the one Araceli immobilised with her knife is flung against the wall by the whiplike use of the vine, while one of Teren’s falls under the creatures foot.
Maris watches with a grim sort of pleasure, and one of the mages with him approaches Korrin to engage her with a battle of staves, even if their mana has been drained by Adelaide.
The other is casting blood magic on the Wolf, and Maris looks over to the other members of the Inquisition with a smile. “Carry on.”
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She's quick across the floor to Ciri's position, offering a hand up if she's fit to take it, blade out to defend as the Warden finds her feet again. Then she's headed for the other staff-swinging mage blocking the path to Maris, aiming to cut him down and make a path to the disgusting bulk of their boss.
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Creators. Creators, that's Ruby and there are more Venatori and this is the effects of Ruby's ring, which is old elvhen magic, Dalish-
And Merrill can work with that. She was a First, and she reaches for that magic, that talent. Vines and roots will listen to her, and she will make these listen to her, will make them turn to wrap around their enemies instead of the Inquisition and its allies. If it listens to her, she'll try and jerk the mage casting blood magic on Ruby away. She'll also try and make the the brambles in the flesh golem begin to choke the life out of it, as well as make the vine-whip turn on its wielder. The rest, she'll let be a bit more natural, as long as natural is against their enemies.
If it doesn't work, well. She'll figure out what to do then.
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Her back hits one of the large vines which slows her fall but there is no denying the pain of one of the thorns piercing her at the waist. The pain helps her to ignore the new pain that blossoms when she hits the ground with enough force to knock the air out of her lungs and hear undeniable snap in her left arm.
Rolling onto her back, she grabs weakly at her arm and feels where bone has punctured through skin. Damn, damn, damn... Her head is spinning from the landing and she hopes her skull hasn't been cracked opened like an egg because of that bastard. There's movement around her and noises but she can just barely focus enough to see the forms of the mages descending to the ground and then Lexa as she appears at her side.
There is no time no waste and she reaches for the hand offered but does not make it far enough. Suddenly the pain returns, spinning her world out of focus and she falls back to the ground unconscious.
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Seeing Maris coming down to ground level makes firm the resolve that's been in the back of his mind for some time, though, and that's to make him pay. If he has to carve his way through the flesh golem to get to him, so be it. Shifting both hands to the hilt of his sword and ignoring the pain that lifting it above his head brings him, he goes to charge the golem, determined to take the thing down as soon as possible.
"Creag an tuire!!"
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The wolf? Big and scary, sure, but still a wolf. Avery's seen wolves before. She gets the general concept. Magical spells and vines? Again, intimidating of course but manageable.
This absolute abomination though?! She has no frame of reference to even come at whatever this monster is or how it came to be, and rather than curling up in the corner and screaming like part of her wants to, Avery just slaps a big mosaic censor over it in her head and finds something else to focus on.
Namely Ciri, who is not about to get blasted apart by Venatori or stomped on by a vague, pixelated shape in Avery's peripheral vision while she has anything to say about it.
Scrambling to her feet to start running that way, she practically bowls right into Teren and instinctively tries to grab her by the arm and start dragging her along. "Help me get her out of here!"
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To be crass: Shit is fucked.
Adelaide pulls deep, glowing wisps pulled to this point in the already worn thin veil blinking into existence in her palm like a swarm of fireflies. Fingers clench and they coalesce into a single glittering seed. A flick and a twist of will, the seed strikes the ground, a glowing golden flower of wisps and spirit energy blooming for a moment, a dome of glinting golden motes floating through the air. SpellBloom summoned with one hand, Compassion on her back and bubbling in a blue misting froth with the other she slams the but of her staff against the ground, blue light lancing from her to each of her fellows for half a moment.
More wisps in a cool blue flare around her allies, protecting them from damage for a short while. Settled neatly within the Spellbloom's glow she is able to pull once more and flick a glimmering blue Heroic Aura around Korrin- to help her fight harder, strike faster.
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Oh, Maker, not another flesh golem. Korrin curls her lip in distate, but she'll finish off what she's started with this mage before running off to fight elsewhere. All the contempt and rage she has towards the Venatori is put into that next swing, ready to slice him down with all she has.
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That only takes a moment or two and then Lexa then heads towards the mage with the staff who is blocking their way both to the giant flesh golem and--more importantly to Lexa--to Maris behind it. With the Inquisition's mages mostly occupied by the giant monstrosity or Ruby's safety, she's searching for a way to get at the head Venatori and make him regret not managing to chop her hands off sooner by using them to stab him repeatedly. (It's not just a desire for revenge sending her that way. She wants that, definitely, but she's not one to allow emotion to override logic. Maris created the golem creature, and until he is dead he can continue strengthening it or perhaps even make another if they succeed in slaying the first.)
"Bellamy!" she catches sight of the Templar across the way and gestures to try to grab his attention and urge him over to join her. If the pair of them can find a circuitous route around to Maris's back or up over his head, maybe they can take him by surprise while he's busy being pleased with himself and his golem.
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Bruce can't help but wince a little when his and Ataash's spell cancel each other out, but there are bigger things to worry about now - namely, the giant flesh golem that's just appeared before them and very intent on smashing all of them into pieces.
Collect and regroup himself. Habits for his older days were coming to the forefront now, habits borne from running, from having to face Templars after him and needing to escape from them. When outnumbered, when outpowered, there are things that one can do, things that he's learned from those incidents - one of the very few applicable life lessons he can make use of now.
With Adelaide's wisp giving him back enough mana Bruce begins casting once more - the boom of explosions as he casts Immolate several times in quick succession, doing his best to deal with the plants again and try to leave some lasting damage onto the creature. After the last time he huffs and sears yet another Fire Mine onto the ground where the flesh golem would step next. This time, hopefully, it might do something.
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He doesn't bother protesting or rolling his eyes or offering any sarcastic prayers of thanks to the Maker for forcing him into this cooperative effort. At worst, he stares a second too long; then he cuts across toward her at a run. Only a little flinch at Korrin's burst of Chain Lightning and the next round of Fire Mine as he passes, and when he's reached range, he drives down the worst of the magic from the with the staff, another round of dampening. As if a flesh golem weren't proof enough that shit is fucked, now he's got to cooperate with the Avvar commander.
"Back the way we got in," he calls to Lexa, "there's another way--might loop around, maybe behind him, if it's not blocked. It's narrow, but it'll get us there." Maybe. Hopefully, or things could get more fucked. Maris' golem is a present problem, but it's not a battle unless there's about fifty things going on at once, and Maris himself is the one he's picked.
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As previously mentioned, Teren is a bit unnerved by mages. This is... more or less why. They can do insane things like create armor out of corpses, and that's just bloody unnatural.
She doesn't have much time to reflect on it before Avery grasps her by the arm and wrenches her to the side, which merits a yell of surprise and a bit of resistance before she realizes what the girl's intentions are.
She doesn't have to be told twice. Teren breaks into a sprint toward Ciri, but rather than attending to the unconscious form herself, she skids into position in front of her, prepared to divert attention while Avery pulls Ciri to safety.
ooc scheme-y scheme-y
I have made subthreads to hit located:
— Bellamy, Jamie, Lexa & Sabine; Zoroastres Maris and lackeys versus the badass normals
— Adelaide, Araceli, Avery & Ciri; Taming the Wolf
— Bruce, Korrin, Merrill & Teren; Golem: kicks his buttses, precious
— Daenerys; casually recruiting some gladiators nbd.
Simply put:
Lexa and Bellamy are going to start fighting Maris via another entrance, to be joined by Jamie and Sabine after they attempt something and it goes not so well,
Maris threw a confusion grenade at Korrin, so he and his can regroup.
Golem is throwing attacks and being grumpy. Not taking a lot of damage yet, though.
Wolf is chomping on Avery, pls assist.