Fade Rift Mods (
faderifting) wrote in
faderift2015-10-21 11:34 am
Into the DANGER ZONE
WHO: All Rifters + the 7 natives who signed up
WHAT: Searching the ruins of Haven for survivors, an Inquisition crew finds something strange. And demons. It's kind of scary that the demons aren't the strange thing.
WHEN: Third week of Harvestmere, 9:41
WHERE: Haven
NOTES: We've broken rifters and rescuers (or "rescuers") into two groups. This log has an arrival comment for each group--you can start smaller subthreads beneath those rather than try to have an eight- or nine-person log, just incorporate surrounding chaos/fighting--and a third top-level set for the whole group's journey back to Skyhold
WHAT: Searching the ruins of Haven for survivors, an Inquisition crew finds something strange. And demons. It's kind of scary that the demons aren't the strange thing.
WHEN: Third week of Harvestmere, 9:41
WHERE: Haven
NOTES: We've broken rifters and rescuers (or "rescuers") into two groups. This log has an arrival comment for each group--you can start smaller subthreads beneath those rather than try to have an eight- or nine-person log, just incorporate surrounding chaos/fighting--and a third top-level set for the whole group's journey back to Skyhold
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.
But there's no waking here, just a flare of green-white light and a jarring impact, barely softened by snow that lies a foot deep with an icy crust that cracks beneath the force of your landing. The wind is biting cold, the sun is bright, and you are not alone. Others thud to the ground nearby, as bewildered as you, and others run up who look no less confused for having their feet beneath them.
You are also not as you were: in the palm of your left hand there glows a narrow splinter of light the same sickly green as whatever brought you here. It aches, a bone-deep pain that gnaws even through all the distractions. Like that you're being attacked by monsters, some tall, spindly stick-things with too many eyes, some hunched and hooded with no eyes at all.
Welcome to Thedas!

Would one made of ice work?
"Are you injured?" She said, half a mind on the woman and the rest on the barrier of ice.
Yes, I think so.
The answer was less than helpful, but honest. Galadriel had never witnessed a barrier being raised so, though it was not so strange that she could afford to give it attention. It granted her a moment to breathe and calm the racing of her heart, if nothing else, and she regarded the woman who made it.
However she had come to be on the ground, however she had been injured, it had taken her focus. She would require more than a few moments pause behind a wall to regain it; wielding Nenya was far too dangerous if she could not walk without risk of falling.
"Can you make me a weapon?" Galadriel asked and closed her fingers around the mark in her hand. They worked well enough, despite the pain that bit at her. If she remained unbroken, she could use a spear or sword well enough.
One spear, coming up
What service, fantastic.
She had been unprepared before, using her will even as her thoughts lie scattered around her, but she would not be caught unawares again. These creatures were unknown to her, but they were filled with such hate, such violence, that she could not stand by and permit them to escape.
Two shades, creatures of shadow and bone, clawed at the wall of ice and Galadriel watched them in silence. How they existed, she could not say, but there were precious few things that were immune to a sharp edge.
"What is your name?" Galadriel asked as she caught her breath and was finally able to maintain it.
She tries.
Done, it was held to be taken.
"Adelaide." A beat passed, the scrabbling at the wall of ice cracking under the demon's blows. "Aim for the core- they have no true heart but it is similar enough to see them dead."
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"Adelaide," she repeated, though the vowels were the wrong shape as she spoke them.
Unfortunately, the time the shield had given them was at an end. The creatures claws broke through the ice and, with speed, Galadriel lunged forward and drove the spear through the break in the wall. It was not a kind kill. It had been too long since she had last held a weapon and her aim was not so sharp that she could spare the creature suffering. She drove the weapon through the shade's arm, caught its throat, and finally into its center, pinning it to itself before it died. When she twisted the spear and pulled back, it seized and collapsed.
The other took its place without pause or hesitation, carving through the damaged wall with viscous blows.
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It passed as it must, the rolling sound of her name not quite right but never so solid as when she'd spoken.
Some part of Adele wondered if she hadn't been renamed. The rest twisted and curled with Compassion to settle themselves, to focus on the demons. Smite them down, mend the injured.
They could not help what they were and for that, she attempted to make the kills clean. A shard of ice stabbing up from the remains of the wall through the demon's neck, leaving it pinned until it passed. Others remained- the crackling heat of the rage demon was especially worrying.
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Something in her dimmed as she used her power, it burned away with such speed and waste that she couldn't quite fathom it. She felt as if she were a flame caught in a gale, as though she could pull power and become a pillar of fire, but knew the wind would extinguish her, that whatever power it fanned would not prevent it from blowing her out. It was terrifying and, at once, the manner of her injuries began to truly worry her.
She cast a glance at those around them. The others fought against these creatures with blades and bows, they were skilled and the creatures fell quickly. They would not be overwhelmed without her aid. She lifted spear she'd been given and, as a few of the remaining shades advanced, she gave them no quarter. She was swift but disjointed, and her gown did not lend itself to her task, but she was still deadly enough that she needed no protection beyond her weapon.
At least not for these creatures.
(And Adelaide can be off and help someone else, or they can fight the rage demon, whichever you'd prefer.)
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But she could fight. Adelaide could ease that burden and make it simpler. The shades and Wraiths were cut down but the Rage demon? Would take more from them both.
Time and room enough was granted by the woman's skill with the spear to offer Adelaide space for another spell. Her eyes flashed, her hands glowed, and it would not be much but it would be something- a glowing aura flared into existence around her spear wielding partner, offering clarity, a strength and speed just above and beyond what she had been managing earlier. Perhaps with that and the woman's skill, the Rage demon would fall.
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It was a creature of flame and anger, without bone or flesh, and it rose up as Galadriel slew the last of the shades. It grew in size and intensity until it stood half her height above her, looming and livid. As she stared it down, searched for some way to cast such a creature out with the weapon she held, a wash of clarity came over her. The way her vision listed, the clumsiness in her limbs, even the haze that mired her focus, all were driven out.
She nearly felt like herself again.
The creature lifted a hand, molten and taloned, and brought it down above her. She had settled for simple movements with the shades, stabbing, thrusting, and narrow strikes, all as quick and easy as she could manage to make them. She'd been so addled she couldn't have attempted more. With this new clarity she was faster and stronger; she could finish this swiftly.
Galadriel moved in closer, ducked under its arm and brought the bottom of her spear up in a wide arc. The weapon struck with enough force that the base broke apart as it rent the creature's arm from its body. Without pause she shifted, leaned back and brought the blade up. It carved a deep furrow through the creature, split it open from its narrow waist, up through the mass of it, and broke apart one of its glowing eyes. The blow failed to cleave it in two, but only just.
If it also held a core, she would expose it, for arrow, ice, or her own spear to strike.
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Or five. Maker had she found and saved the reincarnation of Andraste?
The clash was fierce and the weapon seemed to hold long enough- the Rage demon doing what it would until much of it was cut away like so much rotted flesh from a wound. Nothing, not even bone beneath to slow the pass of the blade- only viscous hate given flesh. Demons were as much like spirits as they were not; they only had so much power, so much form, but in Haven where emotions ran high and death ran rampant it gave them more than they ought. They weren't supposed to grow or swarm, not in what she knew of them.
Swift and certain she called shards of ice to her hand, snapping it out to drive them into the core exposed by her companion's swift carving. Wounded, slowed and bleeding and yet to fall but soon- very soon they would be rid of it.
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It took dexterity to shift the spear as she did, dexterity she would not have had without the aura that consumed her. She moved quickly, with wholly elven speed, and brought the icy blade across the creature again. The second blow parted its remaining arm at the shoulder, what it had of one, and had a far more viscous depth than the first. The blade did not survive; it splintered before it reached the creature's core. Fortunately, the broken shaft in her hands was no less sharp for the lack of it. Galadriel lunged forward and ran the creature through.
The heat was severe but it faded quickly, it didn't have the time or strength to burn her as it died. Before long, the spirit had faded and its shell was cold. It crumbled as she drew the remnants of her spear back, leaving nothing but ash in its wake.
For that moment, the world was still.
The danger had passed and all was calm; she had yet to question where she was or how she arrived here, at least in earnest, but there would be time for that. After a pause, Galadriel turned and glanced back at Adelaide. If it weren't for the spear in her hands or the scattered ash before her, it would have been hard to tell that she'd been fighting at all.
"Will there be more?" Galadriel asked with...if not urgency, a reasonable firmness. These creatures were unknown to her, but Adelaide was familiar and her aid had been both timely and sound. Galadriel would trust her answer.
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The Rage demon died and died spectacularly, falling to ash and naught else at the blow this woman- no- Lady struck. For as certain as Adelaide could recall anything of her youth and the nobility, it was that this woman had the regal bearing of one.
Grace and importance. Power and knowledge. And all of it so...quiet. Her mother would approve.
"They fell through the same rift that you did. It closed behind." She paused, turning her eyes to the empty air where it had been. "It may yet open but...I doubt it."
Mouse over Elvish for convenient translations. If you're on a phone, I am sorry.
She did not press her; looking into the hearts of others was often taxing for them and the strain of battle still rested on them both. Ultimately, though, the ability was unnecessary; this woman had already acted and proved her mettle. There was nothing she could read that would speak more clearly than Adelaide's actions already had.
With a slowness that, perhaps, betrayed her weariness, Galadriel drove the remains of her spear into the earth. As her hand was freed she smiled, earnestly and with much relief, at Adelaide.
"Mae l'ovannen," Galadriel said as she pressed her hand over her heart and bowed as deeply as she dared. "You have my thanks as well as my gratitude, le fael, Adelaide."
After a pause, she rose and lowered her hand from her heart.
"I am called Galadriel. Though the circumstances of our meeting were terrible, I am quite glad to have met you. I owe you my life."
On a laptop, it's all good!
Galadriel? Sang to her in a way that was more pure than anything she'd ever known. It was no mere desire that had her blinking and all but dazed. Something closer to awe. To a joyful reverence for her attention that she'd felt at the first moment she'd been able to understand Compassion. A stirring, certain warmth in the chest that put a flush to her cheeks and a slight stammer to her words ere she spoke- which she didn't just yet, knowing that she'd make something of a fool of herself.
Elven. She'd seen elves before but none quite like this. So clear, so bright, so- enthralling. There was no sign of blood magic so it was simply that. Galadriel was that dazzling. Right. Words. They were speaking. Adelaide cleared her throat and tore her eyes away, scanning the field for a moment to compose herself. It did not do much to keep her from being dazzled yet again when she looked to Galadriel.
"Ah- you do not need to- that is. We were sent here to make certain none came to harm if demons fell through the rift." It was her job. Nothing more. "I am...glad to have met you as well."
Even if she had no idea what to do with an apparent life debt. That'd- never happened before.
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Men and mortal beings were often awed in the presence of elves; her reaction was hardly unusual and, while Galadriel often found it endearing, she would not take amusement in Adelaide's discomfort. She spared the woman the weight of her gaze and, for the first time, truly took stock of the glade that surrounded them.
It was a glade only because there were few other words to describe it--what beauty had been in this place was marred by rubble, by their recent battle, and by a strange sense of discomfort. The snow was thick, where it had not been trampled, and Galadriel regarded it as one might regard a peculiar animal. There was curiosity in her stare, but a wariness as well.
It had been summer in Lórien.
"Tell me," Galadriel began, as the last of the aura about her faded and she was left feeling distant and apart from herself. "What is the name of this place? And what of these rifts?"
Oddly enough, the term demon was not unknown to her, nor was it without context. She wouldn't have dubbed the creatures they'd fought demons, but it was not such a stretch that she refused to so now. How they came to be, what they truly were, and a thousand such questions required answers, but they could wait.
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Honestly it felt like the safer comparison to make. No elf she'd ever met held such grace or regal bearing. A spirit of what, then? Too calm to be of battle, too kind to be of justice. Faith? Wisdom? Those were rare spirits but-
Oh. Questions. Yes. She could answer. Would, even, now that she'd found her tongue again.
"Currently? Haven, or at least what is left of it. A small Village in Ferelden." Hopefully that is enough. "The rifts...no one knows much of them, save that they allow demons to pass through from the Fade- and apparently more than that."
There'd been the herald, strong and certain, able to close them. That was no longer the case.
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Unfortunately, any answer that would assist her required both time and care to locate. For now, she had neither the power nor the will to seek such things. There were simpler questions and more pressing answers that demanded her attention.
Galadriel lifted her left hand and regarded the mark that burned across it. The pain the mark carried, for she had to guess it was the mark that wounded her, was persistent. The green light that whispered across her palm was unfamiliar, strange in every sense, and against the gleaming white of Nenya it was difficult to look at. It was pervasive, it tried to consume...yet it did not have a will.
After several, long, silent moments, Galadriel regarded Adelaide again.
"And where is The Fade?"
If it were distant, some fortress or forgotten land, perhaps it would explain how she'd arrived here. Though she did not recognize the power in her hand, it was similar to the rift. They could not be entirely separate.
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Adelaide reached out and paused before making contact, eyes flicking from the mark to Galadriel's face. "Does it hurt?"
It seemed like it should. And what she might be able to do for that she could not say. Everything about the Herald to her was a rumor. Nothing concrete. No one had studied the mark long enough for anything to come of it that she knew of.
"Here and...not. This world and the Fade are separated by a veil, when the veil tears we have the rifts. Where it is thin spirits may cross over or great feats of magic cast." Explaining the Fade was difficult enough when she wasn't weary and trying to sort out what in the blazes this thing on Galadriel's hand was.
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She did not disparage the answers she'd been given but, by that token, she was almost certain Adelaide could provide little else to expand them. The woman was bright and clever, but the situation was exceptional. No, rather than question her further, Galadriel offered her hand.
"Yes," she answered plainly, almost conversationally. Though the pain was considerable, it was not more than she could endure. When she continued her confusion was written on her face. "I attempted to close it and failed...I do not know why, it should not have been beyond me."
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Delicate as anything Adelaide took Galadriel's hand between hers, frowning down at the glowing green cut. Not a wound, there was no blood but there was pain. "...Part of you is missing."
Not the best explanation but one that fit. "Instead of what ought to be here you've brought- the rift you fell through looked much like this. I do not know if this is a shard of the fade or a fragment of the rifts that are open across the country or- this is not my specialty. But I will try to do something for the pain." Her hands grew warm, glowed blue, the wisps of Compassion lighting in her eyes as she attempted not to close, but to soothe.
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Adelaide's skill, as she wove it into the warmth of her hands, was strange and overt; it was truly fascinating to watch as she worked. The pain that carved through her arm receded, though the mark remained unchanged. Her aim was true and the she'd bent to this task did not conflict as Nenya had. Whatever it was, Adelaide's ability to sooth was driven by kindness. Galadriel's concern ran deep, there was much about this situation that troubled her, but she couldn't help the smile that crossed her face.
"I can heal, though I am not a healer as you mean it," Galadriel answered. "My skills lie elsewhere."
She watched Adelaide's hands, a polite curiosity in the set of her brows. This discussion was little more than idle banter, though Adelaide's every answer shed some new light on this place. Questioning the woman about minutiae was hardly a reasonable use of either her time or Galadriel's energy. She could feel her focus drifting as she stood--and yet, it mattered not. She would be worn to exhaustion whether she questioned the human or stood in silence. The weariness that hounded her would catch her up the moment she moved from this place...but, if she asked, she would have another answer.
"I have never met a human who could fold compassion into their will as you do," Galadriel said, fascinated by the hands that held hers. "Nor have I seen such a skill. How do you do it?"
Her interest was academic as well as practical. The world was full of beautiful things but this, in her experience, was quite singular. It had been two ages since she had known anyone who could do such things and she had not been capable of learning it then.
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Compassion didn't care for her use of Lyrium, and thus she attempted to make it a rare thing. It made hearing the spirit more difficult. Her other magics flourished, but the healing? Took more focus to pick apart the whispers, the songs.
"Perhaps they will be of use in better understanding what has been done to you." For this was no voluntary action. No one fell through the fade on purpose. No one embedded shards of rifts in their palms intentionally. No one was that mad. Mysterious as Galadriel was, mad wasn't something Adelaide thought she could be.
Pain soothed her attention turned instead to the weariness. The weight of whatever fall and what came after for her. Battle was exhausting enough, for this she had small measures. Scraps of rejuvenation, revival that she might offer. The light and warmth dim, turn golden and green, a cool balm against the ache of the day. It would not give Galadriel the clairty of the aura from before, but it may yet sooth the rest of her pains.
"It is less a 'folding of my will' and more tacit agreement. More than demons, spirits exist beyond the fade and- you are right. Compassion is the spirit I call upon for my healing. They help me help others. I suppose some Spirit Healers bend their spirits with their will but I've found a partnership to be far more beneficial to us both. I follow a few rules and in turn Compassion allows me to use their power to mend flesh or bone- to banish pain or weariness. If anything, Compassion bends me to their will to see these things done." The rules were simple and Compassion quite kind. Relatively undemanding, even outside of the Circle. A familiar companion, even.
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Adelaide's talk of compassion as an entity, as a separate force, was difficult to parse. How mortals defined spirits, she couldn't say, but it seemed as broad as their definition for magic. The function of it, to use and be used by another force, was not entirely foreign to the elf, but the barest understanding didn't merit wastefulness.
"I would not weary you further," Galadriel said and gently withdrew her hands from Adelaide's. "I have spent too much of myself for you to soothe my aches, but do not worry, I shall endure."
She looked out past the glade and beyond the rubble. The combat had ceased and those who had appeared with her were gathering.
"Surely there are others who need your skills more than I. Else we both should find safety and rest."
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The spell spun out without a target when Galadriel pulled away, the glowing motes of golden light flickering out in almost a petulant manner. Adelaide was trying to keep her word. It was no fault of hers Compassion could not fulfill their desires.
"It's how Spirit Magic works. I am not using my power for this, but the Spirit's. The ice, the spear- that was me and my magic. My power. The healing? All comes from Compassion. It does not weary me to see you well, Galadriel."
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