FIRSTFALL RIFTER ARRIVAL

[faderifting]

WHO: New rifters & their rescuers
WHAT: People fall out of a rift and get attacked by stuff, as usual.
WHEN: Firstfall/November 14
WHERE: Somewhere a ways off the Imperial Highway between Cumberland and Nevarra City
NOTES: This arrival log is open to all. Solas was able to alert the Inquisition to the general area where the new rifters would be arriving so people can pick them up. Rifters can then either continue on with the main Inquisition caravan to Nevarra City or be escorted back to Kirkwall.

You were asleep--deeply or fitfully, for the last time or just resting your eyes for a moment-- and then you were not. And wherever you were was not, anymore, replaced by nothing but the sensation of falling, tumbling into endless, bottomless nothing. If this were still a dream, you would wake before you hit the ground. You can't die in a dream, they say. In some worlds.

In this world, when the afterimage left by a flare of too-bright, greenish light fades, you will find yourself landing with a wet smack. There is no avoiding the mud: this rift has opened up in the center of some unfortunate farmer's field, and all his hard work plowing and manuring has now been ruined, first by the rain that has churned it into a thick and especially fragrant muck and then by the arrival the rift itself, splitting the air mid-field and making it impossible to safely plant. And now, of course, there's you as well, tumbling out of the Fade and into the shin-deep mud.

The cluster of demons emerging from the rift seem at odds with the setting, strange stark shapes in this empty space, standing out against the grey sky. Some are tall, spindly stick-things with too many eyes who seem like they should tumble down the hill in a tangle of limbs but instead sink into the snow to anchor themselves and use the long reach of their arms to attack. Some are hunched and hooded with no eyes at all, others mere wisps of greenish light that float over the icy ground. None look friendly or familiar. Also unfamiliar is the narrow splinter of light the same sickly green as whatever brought you here that now glows out of the palm of your left hand. It aches, a bone-deep pain that gnaws even through all the distractions.

All around is more fields, except for an abandoned farmhouse a ways off, beside a windbreak of spindly trees topping a low ridge before the next stretch of pasture. As you find your feet, you may catch sight of a handful of figures in the distance, exiting the farmhouse and hurrying away over the hill. If anyone ventures to the farmhouse, they will find the remains of a camp, and may be able to locate a dropped notebook or what looks like pieces of some unknown scientific instrument, apparently broken in the rush to leave.

Comments

[purered]

This... was a lot to take in.

"Clearly some were able to pass physically through the Fade if those of us from other worlds are here now. Does it have something to do with this light in our hands...? And why was Corypheus so keen to enter the Fade? Why-"

He stopped, and pinched the bridge of his nose, taking a deep breath.

"I'm sorry - there's quite a lot to ask about, but I shouldn't bombard you with questions. Where would you consider a good place to begin?"

[iceblade]

"Aye, the shard ties you -us- to the Fade in a way not even mages can claim. Until recently, the only other example of people passing physically through to the Fade was those ancient Tevinter magisters who did it through mass blood-sacrifice. Not a popular thing nowadays, even in Tevinter.

As for Corypheus, I gather he wanted to reach the Black City. It was -according to the Chantry- the seat of the Maker. It seems our magister wants to become a god and bring Tevinter's glory days back." Skadi rolls her eyes at that, obviously not thinking much of this plan. "Even if he doesn't bring that about, he'll still tear this world to shreds trying to make that happen. Better to stop him before he gets that far, aye?"

[purered]

This raised even more questions in Klaus and while he was eager to jump the gun, the rational part of his mind told him that there was no immediate way home and that he had to focus on getting acclimated to the situation.

Corypheus was, at least, easy enough to understand.

"I've met my share of megalomaniacs back in my world," Klaus said with a small nod. He and Libra had just defeated a particularly nasty one. "I do not know what this Black City is, but stopping this man seems to be the priority. Would you bring me up to speed on him? If at all possible, I would like to help."

[iceblade]

"I can try, but I'm no expert. What I've heard is that he might be one of the ancient magisters who tried to breach the Land of Dreams before, the event that Andrastians hold as responsible for the Blights. I've never seen him, but some in the Inquisition have; they say he's large, even larger than us, and has red lyrium growing out of him. He also has a pet dragon embedded with the stuff. It's the dragon that helped destroy the Inquisition's first headquarters, in Haven. He leads a force of Red Templars and Venatori. Venatori are a Tevinter cult that wants Tevinter supremacy to make a comeback. Red Templars are templars that have take the red lyrium instead of the normal stuff. It rots them from the inside out. They'll die shite deaths even if they don't fall in battle, but if they do, the power that gives them will have them taking us down with them." Skadi's good humor drains away just thinking about it, and she narrows her eyes.

"Speaking of red lyrium, if you see a red crystals sprouting up from the ground, that produce a reddish haze around them? Stay the fuck away. Being near the stuff can drive people mad, even when they're not fanatical idiots who ingest it."

[purered]

"Expert or no, that was very thorough," he said, having hung onto every word. He didn't have a pen or his planner to take notes (they must be on his desk back home) so he was careful to commit every word to memory.

"Why would people ingest something that causes-" he stopped himself mid-sentence, and shook his head. "No, I shouldn't ask that." People in Jerusalem's Lot imbibed all manner of harmful substances for reasons that were beyond counting. "Are they chasing a high? Or does it cause other effects?"

[iceblade]

"Regular lyrium is used for powerful magic, by mages. It's also used by Templars for their abilities. But even normal lyrium is addictive and over time takes a toll on anyone who isn't a mage. It doesn't turn them into monsters, though. My guess; the red stuff is a more powerful version all-around. It gives them great power, even as it corrupts them from the inside."