faderift | Into the DANGER ZONE

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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

"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."

"And what happened to her?" That's actually rather important to know. If he's not the first, then perhaps there's someone around who might know more about what's going on? If luck would have it perhaps she also comes from Earth and not this place? Yet knowing how his luck usually runs, the chances weren't all that high.

And he knows it.

Korrin sighs but doesn't hold back from the truth. If it was her, she'd want to know, no question. "She's dead. Died sealing the Breach a few weeks ago. That same night, our enemy revealed himself. Haven used to be our home base, and...well, look at it now." The ruin of charred buildings overlapped by remains of the avalanche spoke for itself.

Edited 2015-10-26 13:59 (UTC)

He figured as much, it was most likely not worth it to ask if they were the same as him. Chances are that, whoever this person was, was not of the same situation as him. Walker looked frustrated for just a moment before glancing around himself once more, then to the agents before going back to Korrin.

"Well we should keep moving then if there's nothing left for us here. Are you the only ones?"

"No, other agents are in the area. We were sent to retrieve what supplies -and bodies- we could from Haven, before that rift caused trouble. We'll see if anyone's injured, then take what we can and mark the rest for later before heading to Skyhold. It's not an easy trek, but at least we have scouts this time."

He would probably have liked that first journey even less, given that they were wandering blind, uncertain if their supplies would run out before they reached any kind of sanctuary. Korrin certainly hated it, and the thought of repeating it even with advantages over that last time don't do much to appease her now, but she tries not to show it. It's just what has to be done.

"It will get colder than this, so if you want warmer gear, we have enough to go around. Humans are plentiful, so getting something in your size won't be a problem."

The first journey would have been familiar to him. His job entails the uncertain and possible dangers of the world. If anything the idea of weighing himself down with supplies and bodies were the opposite of ideal in his current state of mind. Still, if this is a much larger force than at least everyone could share in the work, as opposed to a scant handful, if that.

"I'll see what I can do later then." Comfort comes second to finishing the job. "Have you marked any areas of interest, or do you still need to find what you need?"

"I have a few marked, thankfully. We were able to get at least some work done before the rift erupted, though there might be more we missed. But honestly, after all this, it's not quite the priority that it was. The Inquisition leaders will definitely want to know more about this latest development.

Korrin fishes out that map, though. "I have some here, that I was able to uncover thanks to magic. It should be safe to tread, as long as the pathways aren't strayed from."

His eyes look over the map provided. Well at least the job was nearly done. But should he really get involved here? Walker supposed that he owed it to the woman for helping him.

"Well may as well not leave the job half-assed." He grunted, looking over the group they have. It should be enough to finish what they need to do, right? Perhaps send some to the main group in order to report what was found? "If you're up for finding more, and wouldn't mind plus one."

"No, definitely not." Korrin flashes a smile, surprised but readily accepting the offer. He rises in her estimation once again. "And I'll try to answer more questions, if I can. If I have to explain every other term in the process, I can live with that."

And she'd try to keep it simple, leaving out more than an overwhelmed newcomer needed to know for the time being. Her own biases might creep in, but she'll try not to skew things too much. At least not on purpose.

"Well then, no offense, but telling me what you are would be a start." He's...never seen anything like a Qunari before, and it's probably rather obvious as well. Though he doesn't mean anything by the question, she does look far more demonic than the actual demons. What, with the horns and all.

"Maybe we can talk while we work."

"No offense taken." Asking is more polite than staring or making slurs or whatnot, so Korrin will take it. She'll begin leading the way, after sharp look around to be certain that no one needs her immediate attention.

"People call my kind qunari, which has become a catch-all term for 'those people with horns' eve though it's not strictly true. More accurately, I'm a Vashoth, one who has never lived under the Qun. And before you ask what that is, it's a weird, oppressive lifestyle that's complicated and gives me a headache just thinking about it. You won't find any real Qunari around here anyway, they're all in the north."

He followed behind, still tense, and his knife still out. But he looked less than likely to jump anyone at the moment. He listened to her explanation and description. More giant people with horns? Just where is he right now? "I'm guessing that there's a reason why you didn't grow up in that culture."

She couldn't be a majority around these parts, not with what he could gather from the small amount of people that he's seen thus far. And from her description it sounded like they didn't really travel that often.

That leads to an inelegant snort of amusement, keeping her staff out but at this point doubting she'll need it. The noise around them has died down, as demons she wasn't in range to kill were destroyed by others. "You saw what I did, right? I'm a mage. Magic and the Qun...don't mix, not in the way that I would ever want to live with. I'll take my chances elsewhere, even if there are Templars down south. The Inquisition doesn't care where you're from or what you are, only what you can do. I'll take that any day."

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