Into the DANGER ZONE

[faderifting]

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!

Comments

[slipshot]

It was kind of stunning, how young she suddenly seemed, and Gavin was abruptly much more worried. What on earth was she doing here, in armour like that?

"Magic? But I thought--"

But his thoughts were interrupted by her cry, and he stumbled upwards, three arrows out of his quiver and between his fingers in the blink of his eye - holding all of them as he notched the first and let it fly, the second one notched not even half a breath later.

[lennethvalkyrie]

A quick shot. she thought approvingly, as the molten creature behind him took the arrow solidly in its shoulder, the wooden shaft already beginning to blacken under the heat. Not something they wanted to close with, then.

She reached for her power, meaning to encase it in crystal for a short time so they could gain distance, but faltered, remembering the previous time she'd tried to bring power to bear in this strange place. Not that then.

"...A tactical retreat perhaps," she said, moving to stand beside the archer, sword in hand again. "Have you more allies here?"

[slipshot]

To be fair, Gavin never wanted to get close to a demon (hence the arrows) but that was another point entirely.

He nodded quickly, gesturing back over his shoulder. "There aren't many of us, this was just supposed to be a - a guard mission, but--"

He looked back over his shoulder, to see that their group had now somehow doubled in size. "-- we seem to have gotten, er, reinforcements..."

At least. That's what he hoped all these new strangers were.

[lennethvalkyrie]

Reinforcements?

Is that what she was? Summoned from one war to fight another? The archer seemed surprised by her appearance in this place--and apparently the appearance of others--so if it was such a thing, it was not planned. Lenneth was suddenly filled with a burning desire to see if she knew any of the others who had been pulled through the rifts.

"Let us fall back to join another group, then," she said, swinging her sword in a great horizontal arc in front of her, more to ward the demon away than inflict any damage. "I will cover the retreat."

[slipshot]

"Sounds good to me," Gavin immediately replied - knowing that he wasn't equipped to cover her, save by running a few feet ahead, turning and firing an arrow at the demon past her, and then continued running toward the group.

They'd know what to do, he hoped.

Someone had to.