faderift | Out of the frying pan... [ Open

WHO: Glimmer, anyone else.
WHAT: Glimmer arrives in Thedas via Rift, then gets settled in the Gallows
WHEN: A week or two during Cloudreach
WHERE: Location
NOTES: N/A

i. Falling, falling, falling

Glimmer had gone to sleep in New Amsterdam, awkwardly curled on a too small mattress, doing her best not to make unappreciated skin contact with the girl she shared with. And as usual when far from home, she had been dreaming--dreaming of home. Of her friends. Of her war. When she dreams this time, it is of the endless corridors of the vessel she had been imprisoned on--a common nightmare for her. In this one, she runs through endless, identical corridors, pursued by identical monsters, each of them wearing the face of the warlord imprisoning her. She fights them, but no matter how many she blasts down with her staff or fights free of, there are always more. Endless, endless, and endless. She cannot escape. She will never escape. Until she stumbles through a doorway and into emptiness. She is tumbling down, down, down--

Her eyes shoot open and she flails. She is falling, really falling and she has a staff in her hand--she doesn't know where this is or what's happening. Too green to be New Amsterdam and yet not the familiar land of home. She flails, twists herself, and by instinct tries to teleport herself down to safety--

And finds that she can. Appears in a burst of sparkling light. There's a laugh. A bark of stressed, unsure mirth at being able to teleport once again.

"What?" It's the only thing she can think to say as she stumbles and leans against her staff. It neatly sums up her experience in the last few months.

[ There are probably some shades of the clones chasing her through her dream around to be slain, and they'll go poof pretty easy. Maybe some Fade daemons? Go wild! Please PM me if you've got other questions or ideas. ]

ii. Landing on your feet

The Gallows seems an appropriate name for the place when Glimmer first sets eyes on the imposing edifice that seems to rise out of the water of Kirkwall's harbor. Thankfully, once she sets foot on the island, she finds it much less of a miserable place than she had thought. It feels more familiar than the artificiality and sterility of New Amsterdam (at least before it had been overrun by plants) but has a feeling of oppressiveness and closed-off isolation compared to the open, airy corridors and breezeways of Bright Moon. Still... she can deal with this, right? Having gotten her bearings, she settles in for what is sure to be an interesting time.

There are days of education. She can be found learning about this new world, about what brought her here. In the training yard, sweating as she swings a practice staff against targets and works on her teleportation 'muscles' once again. Appearing and disappearing in bursts of light, firing off blasts of her photokinesis to knock down targets until she collapses from the exertion, panting and weak. It helps her work off the frustration of being far from home once again and though she's friendly enough when approached, there's something moody and closed off about the young woman from time to time.

Perhaps she's found at meal times, tired and practically dozing in her soup after a hard training sessions or with her eyes fixed on a book about Thedas as she tries to absorb whatever she can. Regardless, there's a new face to be seen at the Gallows and she could probably use someone friendly to help her feel welcome.

Or maybe you just want to needle the new kid. Either way.

[ Go wild! Open to to other stuff as well. If there's nothing here that strikes your fancy, hit me up on Discord or Plurk and we can plot something else out. ♥ ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Glimmer is difficult to miss.

"You push yourself very hard," comes after she's finished, and Ellis can draw up alongside the edge of the training yard when Glimmer seems ready to leave it. It's a neutral observation, Ellis studying her. There is plenty he doesn't know about how magic might work, what kind of toll it takes on the user. And Rifters, that's a whole other arena of capability; he's never seen someone disappear in a blinding flash of light before.

But what he does know is that it's likely rude to ask so bluntly about the strain any magic puts on a mage, so—

"Have you ever practiced that with partners? Someone at your flank?"

"It's been a while since I had a chance to use these particular muscles. They need work so I can get back into shape, that's all," Glimmer replies. She's tired, but cheery enough. She tilts her head, looks over towards Ellis as he continues.

"I have. Why?" Ever since she'd started taking an active interest in fighting alongside Bow and then Adora she'd been ready and willing to fight alongside others. It seemed a natural thing to do, really.

Almost: Don't force it.

But Ellis holds that particular piece of advice in check for the moment.

"I've some experience fighting alongside mages. And sparring with them," he offers instead, even though the word mage might not be quite the right fit. But the differences between magic in Thedas and magic everywhere else is Wysteria's domain. Ellis is thinking strategically.

"I'm not much for staves, but if you'd like a better partner than those training dummies, I'd volunteer."

"I'd appreciate it, honestly." Glimmer gives Ellis a bright, welcoming smile.

"Let me get my breath back and we can have a go, yeah? Feel free to use whatever weapon you're most comfortable with--it's better for me to spar with someone using something different, isn't it?" A pause, then she offers a hand.

"I'm Glimmer!"

"Ellis," he volunteers, though there's a beat of hesitation before he puts his hand in hers. The name is less cause for consideration than her height. If he hadn't seen her display earlier, he might have been more concerned about squaring off with someone this tiny.

"I fight with a mace," follows after, Ellis tilting his head slightly before continuing, "But for this, a sword, maybe."

The phrase that Glimmer likes to exemplify is 'though she is small, she is fierce' if it's any consolation for Ellis. She shifts her weight and moves to stretch for a moment, limbering herself up for what's to come.

"Either is fine with me. It'll be good practice--I haven't had to fight anyone in a while."

"Were you not fighting, where you came from?"

There's a sense of...delicacy in the question. Ellis doesn't want to be mistaken as prying, doesn't want to be needling at something sensitive.

"No, there was fighting. I mean back on Etheria. But I got captured. Then I ended up in New Amsterdam? It's... it's a long story?" Glimmer ventures, her expression and voice apologetic.

As with most references Ellis can't place, he takes the unfamiliar names in stride.

"You needn't tell it if you aren't inclined to," he offers instead, rather than questions. "There'll be more than enough opportunity for you to fight here."

Is that reassuring? Ellis wants it to be, but isn't entirely sure it's had the desired effect. He tacks on, with a slight smile, "If it's not demons, it's bandits. Or bears. They'll keep you in top form."

"It's not that I like fighting..." Okay, maybe she does a little bit. "I just like having something to do. Sitting around feeling helpless isn't my thing, you know?" She returns the smile. Settles back and stretches herself out for a moment.

"I'm sure they'll keep me in good shape. I'd feel a little bad about the bears, though."

"You won't when you meet one that's been Fade-addled," Ellis cautions, so solemn that the degree to which he's joking is impossible to discern. From what he'd seen, Glimmer might not be so outmatched by bears, Fade-touched or no.

But, more sincerely, "There'll be work for you. It might not all be..."

A pause, Ellis casting for descriptors that encompass the range of things Riftwatch is asked to tend to.

"You won't be bored," is what he settles on, apparently the most honest summation that can be mustered.

"Well, better to be busy than sitting around looking pretty and doing nothing?" Glimmer ventures. She's not quite sure what to make of Ellis but he seems like a good enough fellow? She grips her staff a little tighter and grins. Forward, always forward. It's the best way to go when you've no idea what else to do!

"So. Wanna show me what I'm up against?"

Out of the frying pan... [ Open | Arrival ]

ii / post training yard

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