OPEN: turn off the lights and I'll glow

[faderifting]

WHO: New rifters & characters in Emprise du Lion
WHAT: More people falling on ice than usual, this time with demons, templars, and bonus nighttime
WHEN: Guardian 23
WHERE: Emprise du Lion
NOTES: This month, the arrival log is open to all.

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 onto freezing stone or ice that is twice as cold and just as hard. When your breath returns and the light's after-image fades from your eyes you will find yourself beneath a dark sky, a full moon straining to be seen through intermittent clouds, and a second moon low on the horizon. Its light reflects off snow to add an eerie ambient glow to the darkness, made stranger by the sickly green tint added by the fluttery menacing shape of the rift hanging in mid-air. Be careful getting up: you are at the edge of a cliff, what was once a waterfall now frozen solid in a massive curling sheet of icicles. The drop to the bottom is several stories, surely a deadly fall even without the huge humps and spikes of ice and snow that litter the ground where splash and spray were petrified.

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 the fact 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. Some are entirely different but perhaps more monstrous for it: men and women in heavy, gleaming armor, all of them with chunks of red crystal protruding out in a way you soon realize indicates it is actually growing out of their skin. Their eyes are a dull red, hollow and empty, and they attack with a single-minded determination.

Luckily, you are not on your own. Around you others are waking up, equally confused, with the same green lights flaring from their hands. There is stuff scattered about, like the contents of someone's life exploded through the rift with them: a picnic table and benches upended, metal camp furniture flung about, clothes and utensils, bits of wood and canvas and mattress littering the ground. Even better, you are not far from a path leading toward an Inquisition camp, and noise travels far in this terrain, echoing up canyons and off cliffsides, carried by the chill night wind. Help is on its way; just last until it arrives.

Comments

[bookish_lioness]

When the light cut off, Hermione staggered back a few steps, breathing hard; this "rift" was still in the sky, and she was about to ask for another suggestion when the blonde woman called out to her. Looking back at her, she put on something of an incredulous expression before realizing that this needed to be done one way or the other. Besides, though it was a strange sensation, closing the rift was hardly the most painful thing she'd ever done.

So she took a breath and nodded, steeling herself before turning back to the strange mark in the sky. She was far too focused on her task to notice what anyone else was doing as she brought her own hand up again, narrowing her eyes as the light grew bright once more.

[aceso]

"Here; allow me to help?" Christine asked, before placing her hand over Hermione's. A small pulse of magic flowed into Hermione's body, and though it couldn't erase the pain of the shard completely, it would hopefully dull some of it and rejuvenate her at the same time.

As Hermione went for round two, Christine stayed close by, alert for more demons and anyone who might be hurt. People were shouting, instructing the rifters in their task, and some rifters were shouting back, wanting to know just what was going on. But this time a few stragglers who hadn't joined in last time were compelled or ordered to assist, and between all of them, the rift stretched, pulled and finally sealed itself shut with a sharp cracking sound echoing in the air.

[bookish_lioness]

Hermione gasped softly, if only because she wasn't used to strangers touching her, never mind touching her and feeling magic coming straight from their hands. Wandless magic wasn't used often where she was from, so it caught her a bit off-guard.

She was definitely one of the ones who wanted to shout and ask what exactly was happening and why was she being forced to play such a crucial role in something she obviously didn't understand. But she focused on her task, eyes squeezed shut as the rift grew brighter and the pain grew stronger despite the help from the young woman at her side. Before she knew what was happening, there was a sharp sound like very loud, distinct thunder in the air, and she was staggering a bit, her hand no longer connected to some giant hole in the sky. When she opened her eyes again and saw that she wasn't the only one there who seemed confused and startled, she turned to the blonde besides her and asked, "All right, what just happened, exactly?"

[aceso]

The atmosphere changed as soon as the rift closed and the last vestiges of green ozone dispersed. No more demons, no more shooting pain for the rifters, and plenty of questions that the natives only had a few answers to. Christine leaned on her staff a moment, softly exhaling a breath of relief.

"The rift is a wound in the sky. It leads directly to the Fade: a place we should only be able to access in dreams or in a trance. We are not physically capable of going here." Well, the Tevinter magisters of old had proven that was not so, and now the rifters as well. Christine needed to amend that.

"Or should not be. Some unknown force pulled you from your worlds, across the Fade, and to here, through these wounds in the sky. We do not know how to get you back through the other way. Not yet, at least." That seemed something only the Maker was capable of doing, yet wasn't it said He'd abandoned them?

[bookish_lioness]

Hermione was trying to catch her breath, though whether it was out of exhaustion or fear, she couldn't rightfully say. She struggled to latch onto what was being told to her, because otherwise she was going to be lost and panicked and absolutely nothing would get accomplished, which was bad because she really needed to get back to bed so she could wake up for her exam the following day.

But from what she was hearing, she would have to take a make-up, and that was assuming she even managed to get back in time to qualify for such a thing. She couldn't be away from Hogwarts, not again, not when she was already behind on taking her N.E.W.T.s and joining the work force as a qualified adult witch with the proper accreditation.

"You're saying I somehow dreamed my way through a portal and have no way of getting back?" she asked, thoroughly incredulous. Feeling weary and maybe just a little delirious, she let out an almost hysterical chuckle and asked, "Well, if that's the case, why don't I just go back to sleep and see where that gets me? Maybe I'll wake up in the middle of a dragon fight in Azerbaijan!"

[aceso]

Christine could only imagine what Hermione was going through right now, and she knew whatever she said would be little help for a person so removed from what they knew.

"No, I am sorry if I explained poorly. The Fade is a world parallel to this one, where spirits and demons dwell. On death, our souls pass through the Fade to their final home, and at night, our consciousness travels there to dream. Mages have bodies that are open to receive the energy of the Fade. It flows into us and we use the power to fuel our spells. The Fade is many things, but to physically travel through it should be impossible. You did not dream yourself here. We do not know how you came to be here, only that you came in through the Fade. I am sorry I can provide no more answers."

[bookish_lioness]

If she were Harry or Ron, she would have simply reiterated, So I dreamed my way through a portal haunted by ghosts and have no way of getting back. Brilliant. Instead of sarcasm, though, she opted for answers, even if this woman claimed she couldn't grant them.

"Then who can? I'm sorry, I don't mean to be rude, but I sort of swore to my two best friends that I wouldn't get in any trouble this year, and I'd hate to have to break that promise by having been abducted through unknown magical means and plopped down in the middle of-...."

Looking around, she frowned and asked, "Sorry, but where am I?"

[aceso]

Christine's lips parted to say if she knew just who knew where the rifters came from, that information would have passed to her anyway, but then Hermione continued and she waited.

"Emprise du Lion, a region in the empire of Orlais. The nearest village is called Sahrnia, just up that way." At least Christine had those answers for her.

[bookish_lioness]

Hermione hadn't quite cottoned on to the fact that she'd traveled just a bit further than beyond the borders of Hogwarts, not until a list of names was rattled off and she realized she'd never heard of any of them. First things first, start with the big picture and then she'd focus on the region and the village.

"Orlais? I've never heard of-... is it some sort of magical community tucked away somewhere? Near France, perhaps?" If she was somewhere near Beauxbatons, at least she could try and communicate with the Headmistress there and see about getting herself home.

[aceso]

Christine nearly laughed, but she held it in. It wouldn't do to laugh at a poor, confused rifter.

"No, it is an empire on the continent of Thedas. I have never heard of France."

[bookish_lioness]

"The... continent... of Thedas." Unless geography has changed quite a bit overnight, she was fairly certain that Thedas wasn't one of the seven continents. And even if it had always existed and had simply been tucked away somewhere by magic, there was no way it could have been populated by people who'd never heard of France.

"I'm sorry, are you trying to say that I've found myself in a completely different world?"

[aceso]

Now she was getting it! Christine nodded gravely, gesturing to the group around them.

"You and the others who just fell through are from a world removed from this one, and your world may not be the same as theirs either. As I said, we have no idea how this is happening, or how to reverse the process yet. It will take a great deal of study, and it could prove dangerous because of the power in these rifts."

[bookish_lioness]

Hermione wanted to believe she was dreaming. That would make all of this so much easier to understand. But considering that she still ached from her recent fight and she was sure that her pounding heart would have woken her up by now, she decided that there was actually a slim chance that this woman was telling her the truth and she'd somehow found herself in the middle of another adventure. And this time, she couldn't even blame it on Harry and Ron!

"I... think I might need to sit down for a bit," she murmured in a shaky voice. "I'd rather not do it on the ice, so if there's someplace nearby...."

[aceso]

"Oh, not so nearby, I am afraid. Sahrnia is a short walk this way, and our camp lies on the other side. But I will support you, if you have need." Christine offered her arm in case Hermione needed escorting.

[bookish_lioness]

Hermione faltered, trying not to wilt the more she heard. "No, I-... I should be able to manage it, but I-...." Though she didn't quite take the offered arm, she did lean upon it a little as she remarked, "Sorry, this is just so much to take in. Are you sure I'm not still dreaming?"

[aceso]

"I am sure," Christine assured her. "I wish I could tell you otherwise." Knowing that she would awaken in her own bed, safe and secure, would help Hermione deal with all this. But sadly, the world was not kind, and this was not a dream. If anything, life in Thedas right now could be thought of as a nightmare.

"We'll get you a hot drink and a blanket when we return to camp. Then you'll have the opportunity to rest and let your mind settle."


[ ooc: i think we could wrap up soon. what do you think? ]

[bookish_lioness]

Still a little dazed, Hermione could only nod her head for a few moments, looking blankly around to try and determine the direction of "camp." She'd had enough of camping in her life, to be perfectly honest, and more than enough of adventures, but it seemed that the universe hadn't considered her quota filled, in the end.

"Thank you," she said, at least still aware enough to be polite. "I-... I appreciate it."

[OOC- Sounds good! We can let it go here, unless you wanted to toss one more tag in there.]