faderift | Into the DANGER ZONE

Entry tags:

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

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!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Korrin is on the quiet side while helping out around the remains of Haven. That last night is still fresh in her mind, and it's not as easy to focus with such memories intruding at every turn. So, she skimps on conversation and focuses on her task of energizing debris in silence, allowing others to retrieve supplies or dead as they're uncovered. Her work is brisk, in the hopes that the sooner this is done, the sooner she can leave.

She's not too far away when the rift erupts with that loud crackle and flash of green light, spewing demons everywhere. Turning from her work, the qunari mage scowls as she instantly speeds over (thank you, Fade Step) to her nearest allies and casts Barrier over them as well as herself. "I knew something was going to happen here. Fucking knew it."

She frowns at mention of people-shaped demons, which...makes no sense, but there's no time to stand around and wonder. Cue a Chain Lightning spell for the demon-shaped demons.

Walker has seen a lot of things in his life, this was all new to him, dreamlike almost. He would almost mistake it for a lucid dream as well, if it wasn't for the feeling of cold wind against his exposed, sun-burnt skin, or the pain that he felt in his hand.

It wasn't like he wasn't holding his own, he might have lacked his firearms, but his knife still got the job done whenever he was able to get close enough to one of the creatures. That or they made the mistake of treading too close to him. And as beat up as his armor is, it was still durable and able to stand up from most physical attacks that were thrown at him.

Then another flash of light caught his attention. Did that...woman? He thinks that's a woman, they look female and humanoid enough, sans the obvious height and horns. Just conjour up what looks to be lightening?

This certainly takes the cake for a whole new level of weird. But at least she wasn't trying to kill him...yet. He couldn't let her get the chance either. Not knowing where he is, who the people and creatures around him are and feeling a tad cold, but he also didn't feel like making any enemies either.

Besides, they at least seemed to have a common enemy, so in sign of solidarity, he moved to swiftly sneak up behind one of those large, green creatures with deformed mouth, and hit it in the back of one of it's knees to bring it down to a more comfortable level to knife.

Good, the new person from the rift isn't completely defenseless. Well, for now that's good. Hopefully they're not hostile outside of fighting demons, but Korrin will take what she can get. She whirls her staff around, keeping a defensive stands as she fires away at it from a greater distance. Most mages don't go toe-to-toe in combat and she's no exception.

The shriek that demon makes causes her blood to run cold and Korrin scowls at yet another reason to hate the Maker-damned things. Those terrors couldn't be killed fast enough for her liking. She raises her staff again, ready to summon a lightning bolt, when one of those spindly demons phases in behind her and knocks her flat on her back.

"Vashedan!" Korrin's barrier allows her to absorb those blows as she moves to stand, upon which she locks the creature in a sheet of ice, freezing it in place. "Now, while it's stuck!" That won't last long, and in seconds it will break free.

Edited 2015-10-23 01:06 (UTC)

He doesn't waste a second, while the show that she's displaying looks like it's straight out of Hollywood, it could wait for now. Though the snow did slow his movements, his body has been forced to pull itself through far worse areas where just walking was difficult at best.

In an instant, he feel upon the damned creature, blade flashing out dangerously. The tip hitting home, slicing into the creatures flesh before sliding it out and moving on to wherever the next target would be.

"He's down, next!" Killing comes as easy as breathing to him, and that should probably be considered self-evident.

Korrin responds to that with a sharp nod, her estimation of her current fighting partner rising. This was no place for civilians, not now, and every moment counts, since she can't be certain anyone else who suddenly arrived knows how to defend themselves. One more down, several others left to go.

In light of that, Korrin decides to go for spells that affect more than one at a time. As a despair demon approaches with wraiths in tow, she brings forth Chain Lightning again to damage and stun them. That ought to buy the man with the blade enough time to get in a least a few good blows.

There are worse odds than this, and things were starting to look up for the two of them at least. Whatever it is that she's doing certainly helps things along tremendously at least. Without another word, he bounds over to the nearest demon and quickly knifes it before moving on to another, tackling a floating creature to the ground before slamming his boot down on its head. His eyes held a blank, if not angry gaze to it as he performed the action.

There was a lot of them, but he noticed that, for the most part, they could be considered scrubs at the very best. Annoying when together, but when left alone or halted in their tracts, not quite that formidable. Nevertheless, he continued moving, experience saying that it would keep him alive and be the most beneficial to them.

The Barrier should hold for a little longer, so Korrin doesn't worry about it for now, instead concentrating on pure offense. Casting Immolate, she sets and triggers a contained explosion just beneath the last of the three. She doesn't relax her defensive stance at all, though, eyes scanning the area for more trouble.

"Are you hurt?" Korrin's been a bit too busy to be sure of anything other than that her fighting partner is well enough to keep going, but that still doesn't guarantee much. She's no healer, but potions are ready just in case she needs to share them.

Now that's what he's talking about, something to clear the room...well frozen ruins with. At least it took care of whatever those things were. Of course chances are that there's still more scurrying about. But at least they were safe, for now. But with the threat gone he looked towards the other with marked unease. What to do now that their common foe was gone? He needs answers and more of a reason to give this person his trust.

Or at least a small amount of it.

"No." Well he does hurt all over, but the biting cold helped to mitigate some of the pain with its numbing sensation. Of course that probably doesn't change the fact that he himself looks as though he's been through hell and back. Because he almost literally has. "Mind telling me who you are?"

A quick assessment of the man has Korrin reaching for one of her healing potions and tossing it for him to catch. "I'm sure you'll end up needing it anyway." Probably sooner than later, if these demons have their way.

"I'm Korrin Ataash, of the Valo-Kas and now the Inquisition. I don't suppose the latter means anything to you?" And she spots a terror demon phasing in to knock a relatively nearby Inquisition agent onto their back, so she summons a lightning bolt to stun and damage the demon before it can do more.

He deftly catches and turns it around in his hand before putting it away in his pack. He has no clue what was inside of it, and would probably just end up tossing it later. Mostly because he doesn't like the idea of drinking strange liquids of questionable origins.

Particularly when it comes from someone who can somehow throw around lightening and fire somehow.

"Neither of them do." Then a pause as she smokes another creature, letting him rush it and finish it off. No rest for the wicked.

"Of course not. Why would it be that simple?" Korrin sighs, not disbelieving him, just tired of the world not making sense. It's going to continue, she's sure, and it's a good thing there are demons to take out that frustration on.

She nods to the agent who gets back on their feet, then fires at some wraiths, hoping to take them out before they can close in. "And let me guess, you have no idea how you fell out of the Fade, either?" The Herald couldn't remember her own trip into it, as far as she heard, why would this time be any different?

"No, can't say I do." Or really know what the Fade is, probably something that he'll have to ask around about.

Still, why would it be that simple? Life's far from easy and absolutely nothing is how it first seems, a lesson that he was forced to learn the hard way. Those recent injuries would be proof enough of such ordeals. Once again he quickly moved to take care of another creature moving to attack this "Korrin", moving to tackle it to the ground and beat the ever loving shit out of it.

His eyes completely blank except for the anger towards the creature.

Edited 2015-10-24 23:49 (UTC)

"That's nothing new." Well, it isn't. As far as Korrin's aware, the Herald couldn't explain stepping out of the Fade either. But she didn't need it explained to her what the Fade was, of course.

She continues her ranged assault with that staff, by now practiced enough not to hit allies within melee distance of her target. "The Fade is the world of spirits and demons. We go there when we dream, pass through it when we die, and mages tap into it to cast spells. Like this."

Soaring over to him on invisible waves of magic, she then renews the Barrier spell before backing up, firing at it anew. Between the two of them, it's not getting back up.

"Interesting." Perhaps something to look into later? For now he focuses on keeping his head down as she fires off, whatever that stuff is, "magic" or whatever. Perhaps he should put some more stock into it, but at the moment he finds that hard to do. When someone experiences something new for the very first time they tend to warp it into something more familiar.

As far as he's concerned, they're tricks, fancy and complicated tricks, but tricks anyway.

However belief in it or not, he's still going to find himself getting hit by a spike of ice from a despair demon. Thankfully modern body armor is quite useful in stopping projectiles. But it may still provide a heart stopping moment, if not a very chilly one for him.

Glaring at that despair demon, Korrin responds by casting Immolate, setting off an explosion underneath it. Catching fire, it shrieks, which is satisfying for all of a moment before she just wants it dead. Darting over, she sends forth another blast of flame at the creature before it can recover.

"Andraste's ass, how many of you are there?!? Maker-damned things...."

One hand pulled the shard out from what remained of the vest itself before he took further stock of the situation. There was most likely a great many more where that came from. Just continuing to blast them and kill them probably wasn't going to get anything to stop. They need to regroup with others, they need too--

His thought process paused slightly at the sight of the fire, and the sound of the creature shrieking. He watches it catch fire and burn alive. Teeth clenched against teeth and sweat began to form on the surface of his skin. Memories flooded into his head before he quickly turned around.

Now's not the time...now's not the time... He repeated it until he calmed down. "We need to move, find somewhere more defensible." Dèjá vu. His eyes scanned the area around them, somewhere they could easily funnel and trap the creatures into a smaller space. His eyes spied the ruins of what looked like buildings. There perhaps, if they can just lure what was left of the creatures there and trap them by the buildings it may make it easier to limit their movement.

Unleashing another Chain Lighting spell, Korrin then follows his gaze and sighs heavily, unable to hind her wince. It's not a bad spot, all things considered, but seeing the ruins of what just weeks ago was a small but thriving village she had considered a home base brought back bad memories. That entire last night in Haven was one long nightmare, and this return trip to it isn't significantly better.

But her pragmatic nature wins out over internal protests and she nods. "Fine, over there. Let's make it quick. Draw them to me and I'll take care of the rest." With fire, ice or lightning, one of the three.

Edited 2015-10-25 01:26 (UTC)

It was going to have to, he wouldn't take no for an answer here. If it made getting rid of these pests easier then you may as well take it. If push comes to shove then they could always just cause the buildings to collapse on top of their foes, burying them under rubble. Yeah, this would work just fine. "Will do." Still Walker also makes it a point to gesture to any nearby agents as well, motioning for the, to follow and protect her.

He waits a moment for her to get into position while grabbing the attentions of nearby demons in an attempt to keep them away from her.

Upon reaching the proper spot, Korrin steels herself to do what must be done. She assumes her stance, her own gaze intensely focused. Whatever doubts and memories she has are placed on the back burner for now. Making certain no one is blocking her line of sight, she then waits until the precise moment necessary to cast another Immolate spell, to blast underneath as many demons as possible, before following that up with Chain Lightning once again, stunning and setting them aflame. All in all, it's a satisfying image for Korrin.

In turn he does his job, managing to injure a few of the creatures along the way before quickly ducking behind the woman. His mind hardened itself as he once more watched her light the group aflame. This is better, this is more like it, one after another fell as they became caught in the architectural bottle neck. Control the battlefield, lead your enemies to a position that most favored you.

Lessons that officers may learn when studying Sun Tzu. And it was just as satisfying to see those strategies still work, even in a foreign land.

When the last of them falls, Korrin pauses a moment to get her bearings and her breath, checking around to make sure she's not needed elsewhere or that others haven't fallen. She passes around more of those potions to others, telling them to heal themselves while they have the chance. She glances back over to the rifter, then nods.

"Not bad. They're vicious, but they act on instinct, little else. Unless a pride demon gets through, it's usually manageable."

Well, for her. She's fought countless demons by this point, so by now it's second nature.

He grunted in response, eyes scanning this way and that in case more were to come. He wouldn't let his guard down just yet. Not if there were more of those things around, and most certainly not when there were unknowns nearby. Silently he looked around for any possible escape routes away from here before he approached the woman.

"So is that what those were then, demons?"

Korrin nods, her lips forming a thin line as she scans the area. "Right. Terror and despair demons, mostly. And wraiths. The Fade is their home, but they're drawn to the rifts. This is the first time I've heard of rifts spawning people with them, though."

Her expression is curious, but wary. His sliver doesn't go unnoticed, that echo reminiscent of what the Herald once possessed. If it could do what hers did, then maybe it would be worth something. But she also remembers the cost. "That mark...does it hurt?"

"Well there's a first time for everything." He remarked, putting his full attention back on her. She's...a lot bigger he noticed now that he's standing near her. It'd be more intimidating if he was in more of a mood to care about such things.

However her interest towards the mark on his hand didn't go unnoticed, it was like she had seen something similar before. "It does." Nothing that he really noticed during the fight, but now that they didn't have to worry about...er, demons, the pain became ever more apparent. "Have you seen something like it before?"

"Yes, I have." Why deny it? It's apparent that she's not the only one, as other Inquisition agents are sending glances his way and murmuring to each other. Korrin's own gaze lingers on it for a moment longer, both wary and concerned, before she meets his gaze again.

"Not too long ago, a woman emerged from the Fade with a similar mark, though hers was more prominent. When she first did so, it was strong, unstable. But that was with the Breach -a massive tear in the sky far bigger than that rift- still present. Now that it's gone, I can only speculate that you won't have the same trouble with it. If it spreads or the pain gets worse, mention it."

Korrin | OTA

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