[OPEN] Smoke and Mirrors: Perendale

[minrathousian]

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.

Comments

Outside Perendale; the Inquisition's camp

[minrathousian]

The Inquisition forces have eked out a camp beyond the rocky hills that overlook the city of Perendale, a Nevarran city that has been under siege by Venatori forces for several days prior to the Inquisition's arrival. The city's great Orlesian gate depicting the Lions slaying of the Dragon have been closed tight against the siege engine currently lodged against it, and scattered around it is evidence that the Venatori are here in earnest; to carry this metaphor forward toward its inevitable conclusion, it seems the Dragon is well on its way to winning, this time.

However, the Inquisition's arrival may have tipped off the Venatori that the balance of power in this particular engagement has just shifted. The bulk of the Venatori's forces have retreated enough to indicate that they're regrouping, though enough troops remain to guard the siege engine to make sabotaging it overnight implausible. The fighting will have to happen in the morning.

For tonight, you have time to prepare yourself for the fight to come by whatever means you prefer.

[OOC: This thread is primarily an opportunity for establishing and developing CR; any tactics for the assault to come have already been hashed out.]

The initial assault; entering the city

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Whatever tactics were determined the previous day are laid to waste as the Inquisition troops wake to the smell of fire and the sound of fighting below the hills: the Venatori have engaged the Perendale city guard, and whatever forces the Nevarran capitol could spare, in a fierce skirmish. The reason no alarm was sounded is determined quickly by the bodies of dead Inquisition scouts beyond the camp periphery. No time to squabble or pass the blame around now--it's time to act.

The Venatori's siege engine has managed to penetrate the iconic gate leading into the front of the city, but this is also where the combat is concentrated most thickly, creating a bottle-neck that prevents the Venatori from flooding into the city in earnest. However,
they have begun to roll another siege massive engine up towards a different gate, with the intention of providing another entrance into Perendale.

The Inquisition's troops must enter the city, but it is imperative that the additional siege engine be destroyed before it can create another weakness in Perendale's defenses.

[OOC: There are opportunities to kick Venatori butt at both gates, and on the battlefield that stands between the soldiers and the siege engines. There are lots of Venatori zealots as well as enchanters on the field, in addition to Inquisition forces from Skyhold as well as Kirkwall, and the Perendale city guard--this is a major battle.]

Reaching the Venatori commander; inside Perendale

[minrathousian]

Whether the siege engines have been destroyed or not, some Inquisition soldiers have managed to fight their way through the skirmish transpiring outside the main gates. What they discover is a city, once beautiful and historic, aflame and on the cusp of ruin. The streets are filled with pedestrians desperate to find shelter in the section of the city still under the control of the Perendale city guard, their flagging ranks now bolstered by Inquisition and Nevarran soldiers.

A bloodied young Inquisition captain is giving directions to the wounded and able-bodied alike, and it is she who informs the newest arrivals that the Venatori were able to smuggle a number of their forces into the city by nightfall. The Inquisition's arrival has made them wild and desperate--clearly, the added opposition was not expected--but that desperation has made them formidable, too. The Venatori are led by a magister commander who has set up his base of operations within Perendale inside the city archives, well on the other side of a field of urban combat. Kill or capture him, the captain says, and their numbers will fall apart from disorganization.

There is also the Perendale governor's offices to consider, though the bulk of the city's defensive forces are concentrated around that building to prevent the officials from being captured or killed. Nevertheless, there is doubtless an effort being put forth by the Venatori to break their ranks; another potential place for you to exert your strength and lay waste to Corypheus' minions.

[OOC: The primary objective here is to fight your way through the city to the Perendale Archives. At certain stages, there will be DM tags indicating obstacles ahead of you that will need to be overcome.]

Capturing the commander; the Perendale Archives

[minrathousian]

You have successfully cut a swath through the Venatori forces within the city of Perendale, and have managed to enter the Perendale City Archives, a beautiful building replete with cultural and municipal memory that is now the stage of a major fight to wrest control of the city out of Corypheus' reaching grasp. The archives' interior is beautiful, full of wood paneling and marble statues, arching doorways and cavernous corridors; it is easy to imagine it full of researchers, on another day.

You don't have much of an opportunity to enjoy the view, however, as you are immediately set upon by Venatori zealots and mages intent on preventing you from reaching the commander.

[OOC: This section should be contained to ONE THREAD and will involve light DMing! Once the opponents in the entrance have been dealt with, another tag will be provided with guidance as to how to proceed next. This will continue through confronting and capturing (or killing) the Venatori commander.]

The aftermath; putting the city to rights

[minrathousian]

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.]