faderift | [OPEN] Smoke and Mirrors: Perendale

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[OPEN] Smoke and Mirrors: Perendale

WHO: OPEN!
WHAT: The Inquisition's forces fight against the Venatori to prevent Corypheus from seizing power in Perendale.
WHEN: Early November.
WHERE: Perendale, Nevarra
NOTES: Violence.

On the edges of Corypheus' territory, Perendale is the site of a major Venatori offensive--a push by Corypheus' forces to take control of the city and push his influence further across Thedas. The Inquisition's forces have rallied to answer the Nevarran governor's desperate plea for support. The battle for Perendale will decide the fate of hundreds within the city's walls.

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In the aftermath of the most intense parts of the battle, it is the responsibility of the Inquisition and Perendale city guard to chase out the last remaining vestiges of the Venatori, either capturing or killing them as is most efficient. There are also many fires (literal and figurative) burning throughout the city; helping the civilians caught in the midst of this traumatic event would do much to ingratiate the citizenry with the Inquisition.

Perendale's governor at last comes out to address all the soldiers who fought to protect his city from the Venatori, heaping praise and thanks upon all who fought and shed blood,
and lost their lives, in the fighting. He invites the Inquisition to accept what little hospitality Perendale is able to offer in the aftermath of the fighting, suggesting that whatever inns and public houses are still functioning might do well with receiving a bit of business.

[OOC: The threads under this header are effectively the denouement of the Perendale leg of the plot, and you're free to have your characters pursue whatever interests them here. Find some Venatori stragglers? Smite them! Find a tavern accepting patrons? Get drunk and hook up (or don't)! Rescue a little lost dog from a burning home?
Gain a new pet! Etc.]

Thanks to her talent with ice magic, Inessa is rather busy putting out those literal fires for a while. Garahel is right at her side, being a faithful watchdog in case any remaining Venatori take advantage of her focus. Rest can wait until she's certain all that can be done for the time being has been accomplished.

Sooner or later, she returns to the Perendale City Archives. Given that it was the sight of a battle, it seems only natural to offer aid in restoring it...or at least energizing away any rubble. Admittedly, there is another motive; who knows when she'll have another chance to investigate its contents? The young Warden will undoubtedly spend a great deal of time within unless needed elsewhere, looking for anything that might help either of her projects...and anything else of interest.

[ooc: Either scenario is open for RP! I want her to find rune schematics, either way.]

Kain takes a look around the area while Inessa is busy extinguishing the flames. He finds a stray Venatori lurking around the area, taking them out with a swift, heavy blow of his sword. He continues making the rounds a bit longer after that, just in case he finds anyone else.

After he's sure there aren't any more immediate threats, he returns to Inessa and Garahel.

"I found one, but otherwise, all seems to be clear... for the time being. It doesn't mean we won't be ambushed, though, so... no dropping our guard yet." He knows they can rely on Garahel to alert them, at least. "Can I assist somehow? I can climb and pour water in some spots, if that helps..."

Garahel wags his tail as Kain returns, though doesn't push for affection since he's still trying to remain alert just in case.

After casting another Winter's Grasp, Inessa turns as ice extinguishes another discovered fire. Wiping her brow and certain that it's less than immaculate by now, Inessa frowns in thought as she glances around. "I think it's largely under control, now, but if I have trouble reaching anything, that's an idea.

We should check the Venatori, though. Anything they have on them might be of use to the Inquisition, or explain more about their plans."

Kain nods respectfully at Garahel, one man to another, knowing that he can give him lots of petting and perhaps even get down and allow Garahel to playfully wrestle him, later. For now, they're all business as they're keeping a watch on the area. Things may have quieted down, but that's a perfect time for something to go wrong.

"Maybe I just want an excuse to show off my climbing skills," Kain remarks with some amusement, before he returns to a more serious demeanor. "You're right, though. Keep an eye out for any who appear high-ranking, they're more likely to have such information on them. And even if we don't find something useful, we'll probably find some coin at the very least... and that's better put in the Inquisition's hands than theirs." He glances around, but knows exactly where to start, given he's taken down so many of them personally.

"Precisely. I'm not above repurposing anything we find for our own use, unless it is corrupted." Inessa falls silent, crouching by Venatori bodies and almost immediately begins sorting out what is useful and what isn't. Anything that can't be identified is kept separate, though the vast majority are healing potions and rock armor tonics. "Slim pickings, for a Venatori force. Do you think they had a stash somewhere? That might explain why they're so lightly equipped, if they could just retrieve what they need."

Yeah, no corrupted disturbing items, please. Kain can get behind that idea. He starts looting as well, keeping a running tally of any coin he's stashing away. It's not as if they're carrying much on them, alone, but as a whole, it'll add up. As for items, he's coming across similar materials at the moment, mostly potions and tonics, and then just pretty standard, generic equipment.

"Here I was hoping for perhaps an enchanted ring at the very least. Hm... I think you're probably right. If so, it can't be far off..." Kain glances up for a moment, trying to retrace what he recalls of their movements in the fight. It may help narrow down where such a cache might be kept. "Many of them were coming from this direction here." He points, then starts heading in that direction.

"An enchanted ring? Any particular kind?" Inessa might keep that in mind for later, in case they come across anything that matches the desired description. Following his case, Inessa nods picks up the pace, gesturing for Garahel to join them.

"I hope to find notes, schematics...anything which will tells us more about their plans. We need to know if they plan to repeat this anytime soon, with another city. At the very least, we can keep powerful items away from their grasp."

"I've no idea, just something valuable that can be sold off or given to someone else in the Inquisition to use." He's so bad at actually thinking about what he wants or needs, unfortunately. "None of these are carrying much of interest so far... but they're apparently not very high ranking soldiers, unfortunately. But perhaps their storage will give us something more worthwhile. Plans would certainly be worth finding..."

"They don't need to be high-ranking to make this scavenger hunt worthwhile, though. Anything that falls into our hands is away from theirs." It takes some searching, but Kain is right about the direction. Not too away is another Venatori corpse in a dead-end alley, by some barrells. Opening them, she peers inside.

"...a dozen potions or poisons, some maps...check another, please?"

"Well, we've scrounged a few things so far, anyway, even if nothing is especially noteworthy. It's still worthwhile, as you say..." The Inquisition can adapt any weapons, perhaps, too, or armor. All in all, it's been a pretty good venture, in their favor, so far. He goes to check on the corpse as Inessa looks in the first barrel. Not much on him, but Kain takes everything of interest, before moving on to one of the other barrels.

"Those maps will be of great use, especially if they're marked up with strategic plans. Finally, we're getting somewhere..." He pauses as something interesting catches his eye. "A rune schematic? Hm, would this be of any interest to you?"

The potions and maps are promptly ignored, in favor of Kain's discovery. Almost instantly, she's at his side, peering at the papers and automatically comparing them to the maps and other notes.

"Hm...this isn't the same writing as the others. I don't think it's Venatori at all, just something they found and stashed away." And then she smirks, after looking it over more intently. "No wonder; this is for a rune of warding! They must have stolen it, to prevent use from the enemy. Well, their loss is our gain. We'll definitely find use for this."

Kain doesn't know a whole lot about magic or the creation of runes, only the effects that they have, which can be very powerful and useful. He nods approvingly, glad to see that it's something a little more useful than average.

"Any particular warding? Though I suppose anything would be of use, if it adds some resistance to someone's armor." There were times, after all, when one simply wished they had applied some rune or other to their armor, if, say, up against fire-breathing enemies for one example. Kain knows the feeling well.

While Garahel sniffs at the barrels, Inessa narrows her eyes and continues scanning the schematics. "It's a warding rune for...blood magic. Now that would put a dent in a Tevinter-based offense! Though why didn't they destroy this? Perhaps they meant to later...that or there are rivals within the Venatori. They may not be as monolithic as they seem." That thought has her smirking, hoping it's true. If they have cracks to exploit....

"Blood magic. Well, that should be useful." Incredibly so. There's nothing worse than the feeling of losing control to blood magic... but, he tries not to think about that too much. He raises an eyebrow curiously, wondering about that speculation of hers. "You may be right. There are people of all sorts, in all organizations, with their own motives... Who knows? It's either that, or perhaps it's simply a matter of studying their potential enemies' defenses." After all, if they could find some way to break past a rune's protection... well... that wouldn't be good.

She rolls up the schematics, placing them in her satchel. "In any case, they are ours now. We can see to their creation upon our return. I hope that will put your mind more at ease, having that kind of protection available." Given that Kain has even more issues with blood magic than Inessa, she's glad he finally has more options when it comes to protecting himself from it.

Exactly. Kain doesn't like to think about it, because weaknesses are something to be avoided and ignored, in his world. But the threat of blood magic is always out there, and it haunts his worst dreams. He'll never forget what it was like, having that mage control him.

"It will. It does. It's... fortunately not a situation that's come up again lately, but I don't want to let it have a chance to."

Looking over, Inessa nods with a sympathetic expression. "Nor I. I will turn over these schematics to the Tranquil runemaster in Kirkwall. If you want one for your own, I'm certain it can be made. That's worth some peace of mind, isn't it?"

She straightens and gestures to the rest. "I can fit the rest of what's worth taking in my satchel, but I think we already found the grand prize."

Kain nods, thinking about it. He may not like referring to any of the past, but Inessa understands well enough how to bring it up without directly poking at those wounds. "...Thank you, Inessa. That would be... I could see it being of considerable help. I may have to take you up on that offer."

He looks around as well, and nods. "That seems to be the most valuable or useful item here, although we've amassed a good collection of spoils overall. It's not bad."

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[OPEN] Smoke and Mirrors: Perendale

The aftermath; putting the city to rights

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