Cloudreach 9:44 Rifter Arrival

[faderifting]

WHO: New rifters & their rescuers.
WHAT: Welcome to Thedas.
WHEN: Cloudreach 10, 9:44
WHERE: Amaranthine
NOTES: This is the arrival log for all new rifters, open also to current characters who would participate in their recovery. New players can also assume everyone survives and arrives back in Kirkwall within a couple of days, but please note there will be a brief quarantine period when they won't be permitted to leave the Gallows, to get them up to speed while ensuring they're not diseased or otherwise going to kill anyone, before they're set loose on the city.

You were asleep—whether deeply or fitfully, falling unconscious for the last time in a pool of blood 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 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, bathed in the light of a flare of too-bright, greenish light you will find yourself hitting mossy cobblestones with an unforgiving smack. You're alive, and you're fine, except for 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.

Above you is a shifting, crystalline tear in reality; beyond that, gray clouds and a sea breeze, framed by the high walls surrounding the city you've landed in. There are people on the walls, some of them armored and armed, all of them briefly and collectively paralyzed by the sight below.

Don't let their terror go to your head. It's not you that has them intimidated, nor is it any of the humans (or Qunari) who are sprawled out on the ground around you, nor is it the assortment of unfamiliar—to them, not to you, perhaps to you it's very familiar—junk that's spilled out as well, most notably some flaming metallic debris and a giant wooden cross.

It's the beings that are coming out after you, almost as if in pursuit. Two are drifting, spindly things with six spidery limbs in addition to grasping skeletal arms, eager to grab hold of anyone who comes too close and fill their field of vision with swirling darkness and corner-of-the-eye glimpses of whatever frightens them. Several more most closely resemble trees, perhaps, with half-melted squids for heads—which might not sound particularly scary, fine, but their ability to dive into the ground and resurface anywhere with rasping screams helps on that front.

All of these things would like to kill you, and the people around you, and the people on the walls, and perhaps the other people screaming and scurrying into taverns and shops for cover. But you're not alone. Out of those same taverns and shops come people who do seem to know what they're doing; many are wearing a symbol that looks a bit like a hairy eyeball being pieced through by a sword, and at least a couple of them seem to know what they're doing. Almost like they've been waiting for you. In fact, exactly like they've been waiting for you.

---

AFTERWARDS, the grateful citizens of the City of Amarenthine might provide a drink, a meal, or a place to tend to wounds before everyone sets back toward Kirkwall. It's not a long trip, but one that requires boarding a ship to cross a narrow sea. It will be a rough, stormy journey, but there won't be any demons.

Comments

[exascendee]

Honestly, with the appearance of some of the people here, it's not immediately obvious to Daniel who is friend and who is foe until they actually attack him. But anyone who's attacking or fleeing from those demons is probably a safe bet as an ally.

He turns just in time to see one of those probably-allies get knocked to the ground as one of those towering green things looms over her.

The shot from Daniel's staff weapon doesn't kill it, but it does distract it from attacking the person on the ground, hopefully giving them a moment to get to their feet. Of course, now the creature's attention is focused on him, and there's a limit to just how fast this weapon can actually fire.

[gatheringstorm]

The terror demon leans in to swipe at its prone target, when the blast from a staff happens at just the right time. Too battle-trained to just stand there and gawk, Korrin reaches for her fallen blade hilt and rolls to the side before scrambling to her feet.

As the other mage -that's what she assumes, with a staff like that- is a distraction, she moves to take advantage of that before he regrets giving aid. Thinking quickly, she casts a protective barrier over her current battle partner before releasing an burst of intense cold. He ought to be fine, but the nearby demons...not so much. As chill assaults them, some freeze in place or begin to slow down; the terror demon, already wounded thanks to the shot from that staff, is one of them.

"Quick, before it wears off!"

[exascendee]

Well, Daniel knows a force field when he sees it - or more importantly when he notices the the chill hitting the creatures nearby but not him. He barely feels the cold, whereas the one he'd just shot at looks covered in frost or even partially frozen somehow. He has no idea how they (she?) is doing that, but it's impressive and slightly horrifying.

He doesn't need telling twice though, shooting the once closest to her, the second shot causing it to apparently partially shatter, only to disappear into the glowing green light again.

The nearest monsters seem to have been slowed down, though not enough that Daniel feels comfortable taking a break in the shooting, training his weapon on the others now. He has a lot of questions, but the only one he takes to ask right now is: "You okay?"

[gatheringstorm]

The question is met with a brisk nod, as Korrin backs up with staff and blade, eyes on the rift. "I'm fine! Hold your glowing hand up to the rift, it'll stun the demons!"

Once they're all gone, she can set about to instructing him how to help close the rift. But, first things first. While he figures that out, she strikes one of the demons with a bolt from her staff, then another.

[exascendee]

His... glowing...? Daniel lets go off the staff to look down at his hand. It is glowing, which is a little disturbing. He'd noticed it hurt - it had honestly been impossible not to notice - but so far he'd had no time to actually inspect it.

Alright, well. He goes with it, throwing his hand up towards the light - which he assumes is the rift, because it's the same sickly green, and the only thing he can see that fits the name - in much the same way as he would use a kara kesh. To his surprise it actually works! Or at least he assumes it works, because there's a green beam emitting from his hand now, connecting with the rift, and it looks like the neural link but green, and it's not particularly pleasant, but then there's a jolt, and he pulls his hand back... And the demons are actually stunned.

He only stands there gaping for a brief second before he realises he should actually take advantage of that, joining her in firing blast after blast at the demons.

[gatheringstorm]

From what Korrin knows, interaction with that hand and the rift is not terribly pleasant and she does feel a little sorry for not giving him warning about that. However, results are what's needed right now or they aren't going to have the chance for a discussion later on. When the two connect, there's a crackling noise before the rift's tendrils expand toward the demons and...good, it's time.

Whirling her staff, Korrin slams it onto the ground and sends forth another round of chain lightning before closing in on the nearest one and slashing at it with her blade until its essence is drawn back into the rift. After that, it's onto the next. All the while she knows it won't last, but the more they take down before the demons start moving again, the easier it'll be.

[exascendee]

Daniel is also trying to take down as many as possible, watching other people around him do the same. He doesn't know exactly how long they remain stunned though, so he doesn't notice when it ends, one of the green squid-faced things disappears. There's no one next to him, so it's a surprise when suddenly there is, and claws slam into his side, cutting his robes and knocking him to the ground with a pained yell of surprise.

[gatheringstorm]

"Fuck!" The pained yell has Korrin whirling around, scowling at the fear demon attacking the newcomer. Blurring over on waves of magic, she unleashes a blast of flame as soon as she's close enough to the creature, careful to angle it so that Daniel isn't caught in said blast.

"Hey! Focus on me, you piece of shit!"

[exascendee]

Holy shit.

Daniel holds up his hands to protect himself against the fire, and he can feel the heat pressing against him, but it doesn't burn him. However, he'd grabbed at his side when he he fell, and now that he's holding his hands up, he realises one of them is covered in blood. That's probably not great.

He looks around for the staff weapon, thankfully lying within reach, and grabs at it. He doesn't get up, partly because he's injured, and partly because, well, fire. Instead he plans to take advantage of the distraction to get a few nice shots in.

Unfortunately, the staff weapon seems to have been broken. Either that or the crystal inside it is suddenly out of power. Either way, it's useless.

Thankfully the distraction seems to work, and Daniel pushes himself to his feet, using the staff to lean on instead. Kind of out of other options, and hoping it will buy him some time to get out of the fray, he holds his hand up to the rift again, trying to stun the demons.

[gatheringstorm]

While Daniel is struggling with the weapon, Korrin takes a few hits but she's still standing when he raises his hand up to the rift. Hearing that familiar hum and crackle, the horned woman doesn't dare spare a glance while the fear demon is still up and around. Glaring at it, she summons her spirit blade and slices into it relentlessly, taking another hit but satisfied when it begins to fade away back into the rift.

Glancing around, she narrows her eyes. "Is that it? Hey! Everyone! Follow this guy's lead and raise your anchors to the rift! Seal it, quickly!"

[exascendee]

There aren't any more demons to stun now, the last few having been picked off by the people fighting, yet his hand is still connected to the rift, and Daniel can feel the energy surging through it. And apparently that's a good thing. He doesn't know what he's doing, but he keeps his hand raised, as more people raise theirs as well.

And then suddenly his hand jerks backs unpleasantly, disconnecting, and Daniel stumbles a little. But when he looks up, there's no glowing green tear above them.

His hand stopped hurting too, although really that's just throwing the cut in his side into sharper relief, and he pushes his free hand against it, trying to stem the blood flow.

[gatheringstorm]

As the collapsed rift is beset by green light from the anchors all around, Korrin straightens and places her staff and deactivated spirit blade on her back and hip, respectively. The familiar hum and crackle of all those anchors interacting signal the end of the rift, and she smiles to see it disappear. One more down, countless others to go. But each one they seal is one less to terrorize Thedas.

Turning away, she heads over to the injured human and frowns in concern. "I'm no healer, but if you lean on me, I can take you to them. They always set up something nearby for those who need it."

[exascendee]

Daniel looks up at her -- wow she's tall. Also, are those horns real? They look it. It's been a while since he encountered horned people, and even then it wasn't at all on this scale. That's rather impressive.

"Uh, sure, thanks," he answers, tossing the broken staff aside with a sigh. He can still stand and walk on his own, but he's not going to turn down the offer just like that. "I'm Daniel, by the way." She probably just saved his life, as far as he can tell, and they haven't even done introductions yet.

[gatheringstorm]

"Korrin. Don't worry, it's not that far." Offering her arm, she glances to the staff, eyebrow raised. "Interesting staff, or at least it was. I'm sure we can get you a new one, though." In her view, it's weird that it just stopped working, since her own staff never runs out. But hey, rifters have all sorts of different rules for everything and she can't keep track of it all.

[exascendee]

"I hope not," he comments offhandedly, taking her arm, because whichever planet he's randomly landed on - and now that he's no longer in mortal danger, that's an issue he's going to address soon - he really hopes there aren't any goa'uld here. "Or at least not that kind."

He's curious how hers works though, shooting lightning like that. But they can save all that for later, when he's not exhausted and bleeding.


[At this points Daniel goes off in like three different threads in vague succession, so probably leave it here?]