faderift | MOD PLOT ↠ BLAZING LIKE STAR-SHINE

MOD PLOT ↠ BLAZING LIKE STAR-SHINE

WHO: All characters signed up to participate in the Battle of Ghislain
WHAT: The Inquisition faces off against the armies of Corypheus
WHEN: Covers most of the day on 11.28 (forward-dated)
WHERE: The Fields of Ghislain, Orlais
NOTES: This is Post #1, covering the battle itself and the retreat. It contains top-levels for each of the teams and an open prompt for the retreat. The OOC post with more information/explanation is HERE. If you're not sure which team your character is on, there's a LIST. POST #2 covers the aftermath of the battle.

Scouts accurately report the enemy's movements: after a slight slow-down believed to indicate that word reached the of the Allies' sudden appearance in their path, they have elected to remain on-course, and arrive almost precisely when and where they were expected. By sunset the night before they are making camp just over the rise to the northeast, easily visible from the hill, and as night falls their fires can be seen winking along the horizon, a close-packed glow.

The mood in the camp is tense, openly jittery rather than the tightly-wound nerves of the past month, but with a sense almost of relief that after so much preparation and so many weeks of anticipation, the day has finally arrived. Some corners of the camp, particularly the greener recruits and the Antivan veterans, are raucous around their campfires, singing and drinking, playful brawls breaking out, but commanders are strict about the wine rations, and even those who choose to take the edge of this way make an early night of it. A scattered handful of men attempt to quietly slip away during the night, mostly Orlesian conscripts, but a few Inquisition agents as well. Some succeed, but others are caught and imprisoned--the Inquisition's few held to be returned to Skyhold where it can be determined if they are traitors or merely cowards, the Orlesians only as long as it takes to find a tree and an audience to watch them hang and spread the cautionary tale.

It is expected that the enemy, hoping to make up for its surprise at finding the Allies prepared for their arrival, will attempt to catch them off-guard by attacking before dawn instead of waiting, as is traditional, for first light. They are all roused from their beds to form up in the dim grey as quietly as possible, moving into formation in the wet grass, a heavy morning fog lingering on the field ahead. It's cool and raw, the air still. But the ground moves: the shudder and rumble of hooves striking earth, felt before it is heard. The Orlesians raise their pikes, the front line braces, and it begins.

TEAMS 1 • 2 • 3 • 4 • 5 • 6 • 7 • 8 • 9 • RETREAT
Team members can break off into smaller groups within their top-level prompts—it doesn’t need to be one 13-character thread—and the retreat is an open free-for-all.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"Do what you have to, I can take it." Skadi nods at them, eager to rejoin the fighting. She holds still, though, and neither resetting bones nor needles nor glowing eyes seem to faze her. As the magic begins to do its work, the tension within eases somewhat.

"Lady, that's miles better. You both have my thanks. I'll repay it as soon as we get going, promise."

There's no hesitation; it's not necessarily that Sidony dislikes magic, and it's obvious from the way she reaches out without pause that she's not afraid of it either. When your brother is magical you grow accustomed to it being somewhat close to you, no matter how envious you might be. The problem has always been that she longed for it herself, that she wishes that she had it for her own, that she could claim that power...

But now is not the time.

She finishes her work, biting off the thread with her teeth and tucking the rest away before she nods her head and glances to the side, eyes flicking over the growing rabble.

"There is no need. We must move."

Christine nods in agreement. She doesn't see the need to voice the obvious: that the enemy has broken through their ranks and have come to assault the healers and the wounded.

"This way," she says, turning her attention towards their fellow healers and support staff as the fall back to a safer position. "We need to set up a new infirmary."

Skadi nods and immediately moves to take point with those long strides of hers, once again able to hold her greatsword properly and without too much pain. Then it's time to cloak herself in a purplish, arcane energy, knowing she'll need it again before long. "Aye, this will go to shite even more than it has if we can't have a place for healers to do their work.

As she speaks, the tall Avvar woman glances around and tries to remain as alert as possible. That said, the sheer amount of chaos and overload doesn't make that in any sense easy. But better that she confront the danger head-on before one of the squishier lowlanders is felled by it.

Another mage. Marvellous.

It's not, of course, that Sidony loathes magic. She does not fear it as some people in Thedas might: she had grown up alongside a magical brother, who had shown talent that she never had. He had been favoured for it, which did not surprise her in the least, but she had been so desperately envious that it had caused quite the rift between the two of them - of her own making. Octavian would never truly turn his back on her, but she had turned surely on him.

Moving forward, Sidony makes her way through and shifts, stumbling a little as another explosion seems to hit nearby. Her eyes fly to the woman beside her - at least there is no safer place to be than between two with magic - before she sets her lips and lifts to stand taller, nodding her head.

"I have as much as I can carry."

With Skadi there to defend them, Christine feels she can look ahead towards the meeting place to see what's being done. It's far enough away that the explosions aren't touching it, and some people are forming a front line of sorts to defend the patients that are being placed down in rows behind.

It was trying enough to try and prioritize patients when they were all coming in at once, but the explosions, fire, and their flight has surely reinjured many who were on the mend, and worsened those who were still waiting to be seen. This is a complete mess, but Christine can compartmentalize the chaos for now and get to work. She takes long strides towards their patients in the distance, knowing that time is running short for many of them.

"I'll hand off the linens and start healing. Since you have the needle and thread, you could get back to stitching. I need to see what our potion supply looks like now—" And on and on she rattles off plans, because plans keep her focused.

Skadi barely listens to said plans, knowing they won't involve her unless something needs to be moved or carried. Her task is to get them where they need to go and keep them safe, and to that end she's fearless and enthusiastic. Upon spotting enemies ahead, she darts forward to take care of them first, before they have a chance to focus on the mages. Her greatsword spins in an arc, cutting down two foot soldiers.

"Talk later, and keep moving!"

There's a part of her that bristles at the suggestion, that she ought to do what someone else orders her to do, but she's well aware that she has no position to bargain here. She is not Lady Venaras in the midst of the battlefield; she is no one important beyond her fingers and her ability to stitch and mend wounds. She does not have a title, anything that she might claim beyond what she has currently, and it makes her nose wrinkle before she forces herself to breathe and be calm.

Nodding her head, she hefts the things in her arms higher, so they don't fall, and does not disagree.

"I can stitch -" But then there is distraction. Sidony knows she cannot fight and so she rushes forward instead, forcing herself not to think of what might happen if she trips over her skirts. She will not be made a fool of here. She cannot. "I'll go ahead with the materials."

Christine may stop speaking aloud, but she can't be made to stop thinking out her plans. It helps her stay focused, which seems counterintuitive because there's a battle going on, but she's at her best when she feels in control, and this is something in which she has some semblance of control. The battle is something she doesn't.

"All right," she replies to Sidony, adding a "Be careful," as she goes. She sees those skirts, young lady.

As long as they keep moving, Skadi will say no more on the subject. The important part is that they remain alert and don't fall too far behind, or she won't be able to protect them. It would have been on her mind anyway, but after that saved her hand, well, she's especially motivated. Hearing them, she doesn't dare glance back, instead narrowing her eyes at the infantry not too far ahead. They're not quite like anything she's seen, with the patterns of scarification on their faces. Normally, she'd be fascinated...but not when lives are on the line.

"Lady, the party's just gotten stranger. Tell me if you need help!" She has to trust them to reply, since she can't take her eyes off their foes. Instead, she rushes forward to slam her sword into the ground, creating a tremor that reaches the first of them.

Her frustration continues and Sidony is well aware of it, the frown on her face. Laden with fabrics and her back, skirts around her feet, she frowns as she makes her way forward. She traversed from Nevarra to get to Kirkwall - rushing across mud is hardly a novelty to her. She stares down at the ground, doing her best not to stumble, bringing her things together.

"I am fine," she rushes forward, stepping around some dropped items, some shrapnel and bits of wood. She moves over them and does not stumble, but she does turn her head, eyes wide as she sees the enemies across from them, aiming weapons and staffs their way.

Stranger? Christine risks a look before she turns back and throws out a barrier, hoping to catch both herself and Sidony in it. But the other woman has gone ahead and may or may not be in range. Here's hoping. To the support staff ahead, she yells, "Enemies, incoming!" and she's relieved when a number of people ready their weapons and start placing barriers and glyphs around the patients.

She worries for Sidony, though. Still so new to the Inquisition and Christine has no idea as to her prowess in battle. From the sound of things, Sidony is a privileged academic, but those types sometimes surprise you in other areas, like battle. Though she doesn't notice a weapon on her; not like the staff on Christine's back of the spirit blade hilt on her belt.

The sound of spellcasting behind her fills Skadi with relief, glad they're quick to defend themselves and not sitting ducks. Expecting them all to keep their distance, it's a surprise to her as the Nevarran woman with the long skirts rushes in, and one more factor to keep track of on the battlefield. Eager to draw attention away from Sidony, the Avvar woman lets out a cry and leaps after charging to catch the nearest of them in the blast of purplish energy centered around her. That certainly counts as a distraction, and is probably why she didn't want any allies too close; all near her are blown back, now hurting.

But some can still fight, and so they do. Skadi does her best to dodge their axes and hammers, not wanting another hand smashed. In that, she succeeds so far, though still accumulates her share of non-vital wounds. She can manage this, long enough to for the others to work their magics.

Arms full of fabrics and supplies it's clear that she is not any kind of fighter. She might have managed her way across Thedas with a handmaiden at her side, but there were not many threats to her, really. Now she recognises that there is a threat and she does not know what to do with herself, does not know how to handle herself, and she stares blindly at the oncoming dangers, not sure what to do with herself.

Does she drop her fabrics and move? Does she fall back and hide behind the mages? That makes her feel quite uncomfortable, and she glares.

Instead, she ducks low and moves forward, trying to push forward and dance away from the midst of the dangers, ignoring the shards of magic flying nearby and the pulses of barriers.

Luckily for Christine, she feels rather comfortable around spellcasting. Not that every mage uses their spells for good, but in this case it's certainly so, and she cradles the linens to her chest with one hand as she takes her staff from her back and places Heroic Offense on Skadi to help with her attacks.

Christine's spell is a definite boost, and Skadi won't waste a single moment of it. With her strikes enhanced, she swings her large blade overhead and sends it crashing down upon her nearest foe, sending them crumpling to the ground. It's enough to give her next foe a moment of hesitation, which she exploits by lashing out with a stunning strike.

"Is this the best you can send from the north? I've had tougher fights just rolling out of bed!" Talk loud, swing heavy and the enemy won't have time to focus on the people beyond, right? Or so is her train of thought. It works well for a while, as she cleaves her way through Orthmen and it's on her mind to taunt them some more when someone from further beyond catches her attention. She narrows her eyes at the staff-bearer; a venatori, because of course those bastards are always on the field somewhere. Scowling as she notices him starting to cast, she headbutts the axeman before her out of the way and starts forward. It doesn't take her more than a few steps to notice that he's not her target, though, and her scowl deepens that must mean he's targeting the ally nearest her; Sidony. Acting instantly, she moves into his line of sight, blocking him from accessing the other woman...which means she's first in line for the cone of deadly ice surging forward.

Sidony recognises Venatori, at least; she is not entirely ignorant in this war, even if she might act otherwise. Spellcasters are generally bad news for her, unarmed and untrained as she is, and woefully she wishes her brother was here. Even as a Mortalitasi he would be of use, to protect her, to defend her, to make sure that she was safe once sunlight turned to dusk. She's not a child any longer, but she is not quite capable of defending herself.

It's the spell that catches her off guard, and the motion of Skadi moving forward. The ice surges out at the two of them and she gasps, eyes wide, almost dropping her things as she stares.

"Madame!"

"Merde!" Christine mutters under her breath, dropping the linens and pulling out her spirit blade before surging forward with an ice spell of her own to hold the incoming forces at bay. She reaches the Avvar's side and shouts, "Skadi?" to see if she's still cognizant of her surroundings. There isn't much time, but her spirit blade is charged should any more projectiles come flying their way. Hopefully that will be enough to extract Skadi back with them.

Skadi tries to deflect the blast with her blade...but she's out of time, having spent it just to place herself ahead of Sidony. The swirling shards of ice mostly strike her armor and embed themselves there, but a large one strikes her head straight on, with a force that sends her flat on her back. Pain is all she can feel...and then her eyes roll back into her head, and she goes limp. She feels nothing more, her form chilled and unresponsive.

"No!" Sidony is quick to move, lurching forward and dropping down to Skadi's side. The fabrics are gone and her hands are trailing over the woman quickly, trying to search for some kind of pulse, some kind of sign that she is alive and breathing. It comes quickly and she tilts her head to look at Christine, frowning. Magical damage likely needs magical healing, so she is powerless here. "She is alive."

Christine nods, eyeing the forces headed their way. She quickly lays a new barrier across the three of them as she ponders their next move. Skadi is huge, and Sidony and Christine are decidedly not. Even working together, she doubts they can easily drag the woman back, but Christine isn't one to abandon her friends. Swallowing hard, her grip tightens on the hilt of her blade.

"Can you signal anyone on our side to help us move her? In the meantime, I can try to hold them off."

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

MOD PLOT ↠ BLAZING LIKE STAR-SHINE

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