OPEN ↠ FALSE GODS, GREAT DEMONS (OPEN LOG 1)

[faderifting]

WHO: Living Residents of the Horrible Future
WHAT: Ah ha ha ha stayin' alive, stayin' alive.
WHEN: ALTERNATE FUTURE, 1-15 Cloudreach 9:48
WHERE: Anywhere, but especially Orzammar
NOTES: This is the first open log for False Gods, Great Demons. Anything that happened prior to Cloudreach 9:48 should go on the flashback meme. Most members of the TTT and their friends in Kirkwall will be arriving in Orzammar on approximately Cloudreach 7. In the meantime, feel free to make your own adventures. If you want to blow up an bridge, assassinate an NPC of your own invention, steal supplies, or anything else--it's all yours, go for it!

SOUTHERN THEDAS is a wasteland. The Blight crawling across the Orleian countryside and into Ferelden leaves nothing alive in its wake, scarring the land like an insatiable fire until no birds sing and the only things that grows is the Red Lyrium that speckles cliff sides and crawls up dying trees until they look like rows of jagged bloody teeth. And where it's still green, where people can still survive, the atmosphere is nearly as stifling. Every city and settlement is watched over by a Venatori or trustworthy collaborator. Those who don't keep their heads down and their dissent a whisper may vanish without warning. They may take their whole families with them. There are flashes of hope--an assassinated lordling here, a village rousing itself to brief and doomed rebellion there--but for every man the Imperium loses, they seem to find two to take his place.

NORTHERN THEDAS is at war. The worst of it doesn't reach west into Tevinter or the Anderfels; the line between the Qunari and the Imperium is drawn straight through Antiva, with Nevarra and Rivain on either side quiet and calm as only lands under martial law can be. The Free Marches vary between complacency and rebellion, but the rebellious ones risk ruin--there are murmurs it won't be long before a whole city is made an example. A steady stream of desperate refugees is fleeing north to the Qun, but plenty are picked off and punished as traitors before they can cross into Qunari-controlled territory. Your best best for a clean escape are the pirates who still hold Llomerynn free from both sides of the conflict.

ORZAMMAR is the only kingdom in Thedas that looks much the same--and Kal-Sharok, but they're not accepting outsiders. The heavy doors at Orzammar's entrance are sealed and guarded, as much against the steady flow of refugees asking for help as against the Venatori. The refugees are turned away. There's no way to know who can be trusted, and even if there were, there's not food enough for people who can't fight. Orzammar Thaig is still the dwarves' home--though with stealing shrinking numbers and poor prospects, King Bhelen has been amenable to allowing casteless surfacers some leeway--but the once-abandoned Ortan Thaig is the Inquisition's. Quietly. The only things stopping a full assault on Orzammar is the Venatori's need for dwarf-mined lyrium and the plausible deniability that the Inquisition's remaining rebel bands are using the Deep Roads with Bhelen's consent.

An hour's walk through caves and deepstalker swarms, Ortan is a city in its own right. A crammed city, one where cots and bunk beds crammed into shared housing are the norm no matter how important someone is and you occasionally have to protect your dinner from a restless, swooping griffon, but one where you can still find a pint of ale or a game of cards if you've time to waste on them. It's just that not many people do. There's the watch to keep; the tunnels that creep further into the deep teem with darkspawn who are held back at barricades, while the hidden, narrow tunnels that lead to the surface are watched at all hours so anyone coming or going can be identified. There are weapons to forge and sharpen. Plans to make. Bands to lead. Maybe you weren't a leader five years ago, but these days, there aren't that many people with more than five years' experience still alive to give orders. Fewer every week.

And so we burned. We raised nations, we waged wars,
We dreamed up false gods, great demons
Who could cross the Veil into the waking world,
Turned our devotion upon them, and forgot you.
Threnodies 1:8

Comments

[samahl]

Cyril's jaw tightens a bit at the exchange but now's not the time to be emotional. He shoves down what he wants to say to her, about how those words weren't meant to be a challenge, and focuses instead on getting back to safety.

He still has his bow out in case another creature comes near. "Are you hurt at all da'len?" he asks, looking over her to make sure there's no blood or other sign of injury.

[mythalenaste]

She shakes her head mutely, then walks forward and wraps her arms around his wrist as they walk together, cheek to his arm. Maybe if she's cute enough, she won't get in such bad trouble. It is a touch cumbersome, but she sustains it nonetheless.

[judgemewhole]

Have you ever seen a Templar run in full armor, looking like he just jumped out of a bath to do so? That would be the clattering sound that comes past the barricade and into the mouth of a cave, where James already has his sword and shield out.

Yes, screams are supposed to mean Sina is in danger.

" - Oh, thank the Maker." He breathed out a sigh of relief to see Iksander and Cyril with Sina in tow.

[conqueredhearts]

"Ah good. You are here too, my friend. That should give us a pair of fine warriors so Cyril can spare a hand for our princess."

He laughed as if this weren't a rather terrifying moment then gave the little girl a fond rub of her head. Just to show her that everything was going to be fine. Sure she'd get a lecture later but for the time being reassurances were in order. "Would you care to lead the way, James? I can bring up the back."

[samahl]

Cyril found himself grateful to both of these men, and not for the first time. He put his bow up across his back for now and then offered his hand to Sina. He trusted James and Iskandar to look out for them both.

"You know, da'len, I never doubted that you were capable of getting past the guard. It was a rule, not a challenge." His voice is calmer now that they have Sina, she is unharmed, and there are indeed two warriors he trusts with his life near. "We'll talk about the difference between those two things when we get home."