fadewalk | RP: Through the Eluvian!

((ooc: With sigrun_fadewalk, heromiyuu, wardenalistair, blackwall_fadewalk & dagna_fadewalk. I'll consider this thread no good to recieve new participants because we're little fullhouse'd here. Also, for the RP order: Sigrun/Alistair/Neria/Blackwall/Aria. Gogogo Ground Zero Team! xD))

There it was. The Eluvian.
Beautiful, shiny, restored.
She'd like to know how Dagna had accomplished such feat, but now her curiosity should remain controlled. She would re-activate the Eluvian and she had no idea of what would happen after. Maybe the magic dragging people to Dirthamen knows where intensified. Maybe more strayed people arrived. From what she knew, anything could happen. But saving Dagna was important, too important for Aria just sit and wait for the Eluvian give her back as it had done with Varric and Cullen. Dagna was the only creature in Skyhold which never looked down on Aria for her problems with controlling the Voices from the Well. The only person capable of keeping up with her logic lines, to aid her, to complete that part of her. The Arcanist was missing and she was mortified. Infinitely more than she would ever admit.

Aria could deal just fine with long waits.
But the short ones? Hmph, Creators, it was surprising she hadn't opened a hole on the floor where she was pacing. She already had travelling supplies and the straps of her Inquisition Scout armor (there was no mage armor to be seem, anywhere) were well adjusted. Thank the Creators she had the habit of walking with her staff around Skyhold no matter the time or day, or she would feel naked without her usual weapon.

She wondered if the Voices would come back once they left Skyhold.
The Inquisitor was both thrilled and frightened with the idea.

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Neria smiled back to Alistair, stepping towards the Eluvian. She had never entered the Crossroads, so she was really impressed by the magic lingering in the air. Jaeger sided her, apprehensive, sniffing the air.

His second time travelling by Eluvian, and while it wasn’t easier than the first, not having Corypheus swooping down after them made it less panicked at least. As ever, Aria took point, so Blackwall had rear guard. It was a strange magic tingly-feeling, and then the Crossroads appeared.

As gloomy and endless as ever. Blackwall scuffed a mark into the thick layer of dust settled over the old paving stones with his toe. Might help find their way back. Couldn’t hurt, anyway. Then, shield up and sword out, at the ready.

"Does anyone see any other Eluvian working?"

Aria was trying to get used to the new magical sensation, normal for a change, but rather weird after her time in the Fade Skyhold. She could feel the Veil and interact with it using her mana, always moving forward in the path. She could feel active magic somewhere nearby, but she was having a hard time on sensing the exact place with accuracy, closing her eyes to focus. The Voices from the Well started talking all at once and she grimaced, losing her balance for a moment. Too much noise, excitement for being in the Crossroads, answers for her question.

"Oh, for the love of--"

She snorted, biting her lower lip to avoid startling everyone with her sudden cursing, hand reaching for Blackwall's arm to steady herself, almost making sense of the Voices. She pointed to northwest from her position "There... there is a obscene amount of magic in that direction. Could be the Eluvian we're looking for."

Sigrun lingered near the group until the Inquisitor pointed out a direction and then she nodded, decisive. One glance over the Inquisitor (mage), Blackwall (warrior), the Commander (mage) and the Constable (warrior) had her finally realizing she was it when it came to rogues in the party. Well. That was fine by her. Less of Nate's fussing to deal with. She grinned, grim.

"I'll go and scout ahead," she said, tugging a smoke bomb from her belt and vanishing in a cloud of dust and smoke.

She was quick and nimble and utterly silent, heading in the direction the Inquisitor had indicated. She couldn't sense the magic like a a mage could, but the hair on her arms and the back of her neck stood up a bit when she got closer, and if that wasn't a sign, she'd start venerating the Stone. Sure enough, there was an active eluvian up ahead - not so big and grand as the one they'd come through, but clearly open. She circled around it from a distance and then headed back to the group.

"Looks like an eluvian, and an open one, at that," she said, reappearing next to Neria like she'd never left at all. "I don't see anybody about, though."

Alistair let go Neria's hand once they'd made it through the mirror. He didn't draw his weapon, not yet, though he did loosen his blade in its sheath and keep his hand on it as they continued.

He looked to Neria for her thoughts when Aria mentioned sensing magic.

Neria turned to face the direction mentioned by the Inquisitor, focusing "You're right. Seems a little too much energy for an Eluvian, though this could be a side effect from everything that has been going on." then she added "It's worth an investigation, to see what's beyond it."

Blackwall stepped up when Aria wobbled, wrapping his shield arm around her waist as best he could. Braced her against his side. “My lady? Do we need to turn back?”

Sigrun’s disappearance wasn’t near as startling as her reappearance. Cole had got him used to people popping up out of thin air, or as much as he could be. Meant he kept his jump down to a flinch and a quiet curse.

"No, not at all." she swallowed hard, and rubbed her temple, keeping her voice low "The Well startled me, that's all."

Then, Aria turned to face the others "Investigation sounds good to me. Let's go." She nodded to Blackwall, trying to convince him everything was alright, taking point again. The Voices were still fussing, but the Inquisitor had become really proficient at ignoring them.

Sigrun kept closer to the group as they progressed, moving out to scout around and then back, if not so stealthily as before. She was twitchy, watching the whole area around them warily, shifting her weight and her daggers in her hands as they moved.

Alistair kept half his attention on the surroundings and half on the Inquisitor, who seemed to be struggling the most with this. He carried himself at the ready.

Neria frowned, noticing something wasn't right with the Inquisitor, but rather than prying on the matter, she decided to take point with the other elven woman.

A first glance at her confidence when walking could mean arrogance, her eyes focused on the path ahead only. But a second look would reveal she was attentive at Jäeger and Sigrun, trusting their senses regarding the surroundings. The magic energy around them was also stable for the moment.

Brow furrowed, Blackwall nodded back. He’d keep a close watch on Aria. She’d only just told him about how the Well affected her. Worried him some, but he couldn’t demand she stand down just because of it. Not only had she learned mostly how to handle it, she’d laugh in his face if he tried to tell her what to do. He’d deserve it, too. Still.

Blackwall fell back to the rear. Knew they’d gotten to the right spot by the way his back teeth started to itch.

The walk wasn't too long and went without events. She could feel Blackwall's worried eyes on her back and seemed to her that the Hero knew a little more than she said, but those things didn't bothered her. The Ancient Elven magic buzzed louder and louder on her ears as they approached the active Eluvian, the old, golden frame sided by two broken statues. Its surface glowed, blue, and soft waves rippled when Aria stepped closer, trying to understand the place beyond it.

A vast wheat field seemed to extend further and further in the horizon, golden and blue sharing the scene in equal parts. Slightly more peaceful than she anticipated, but she couldn't fool herself by its looks. The magic in the Eluvian was strong, balanced and stable, so it wouldn't close once they had crossed it. Or so she hoped.

"The Eluvian is a go. C'mon."

Ans she stepped in.

Sigrun didn't hesitate this time through the eluvian, darting through it right on the Inquisitor's heels.

The sight of all that wheat and blue sky on the other side drew her up short, though. It was...impossibly big, and peaceful, and maybe in other circumstances she would have thought it beautiful, but right now? Now there was nothing to kill, no Dagna about to save, and she gritted her teeth in frustration.

Alistair followed the pair, taking a breath to steady himself before he stepped through the mirror.

Neria followed the group, impressed by the place. Nothing in sight for miles and miles and Jaeger seemed pretty satisfied running around the wheat field.

Big blue sky. Big field of golden wheat. Big magic mirror in the middle of the field. What kind of farmer would plant around a bloody mirror when you could just haul it away? Blackwall didn’t know grains from weeds, but the wheat looked a little too regular for it to somehow be wild-grown. Nothing immediately around them, and then where was the farmhouse?

Fucking suspicious. Blackwall kept his shield up.

Aria reached for the Veil, getting to know the magic on that place; strong and apparently undisturbed for a long time now. The Voices stirred inside her mind, confused with the new magic around and she couldn't agree more.

The farmhouse was far to their side, hence why she couldn't see it before crossing the mirror. Quite normal, looking from the outside. She turned to face the mirror and her chin dropped.

Miles and miles away, an amazingly colossal city emerged in the horizon, silver and white. Its towers and buildings emerged far, far past the clouds. Reminded her a little of the vessel just in the courtyard of the Fade Skyhold. "Well..." shit.

Weird place, weird technology.
Fuck.

Sigrun turned in a full circle, scanning the horizon, and spotted the silver city in the distance about the same time that the Inquisitor did. She looked up at the sky, which seemed impossibly blue perhaps for the contrast with all the gold of the wheat surrounding them, and shuddered.

She'd lived on the surface for a good long time now; really it was more home to her than Orzammar had ever been, but still, that much open sky above her was about as damned unsettling as it had been the first time she'd set food outside the Deep Roads. Maybe it was the lack of trees, and mountains, and even clouds, things to break up the wide expanse of the sky and make it more manageable in her head.

Whatever the reason, she didn't like it. And she didn't like this place. She licked her lips and swallowed hard, trying to force her gaze back down to earth and to the matter at hand.

"Well," Alistair echoed the Inquisitor. "So. Farm house or city - silvery - thing - first?" He nodded at each as he spoke.

"What in the name of..."

Neria was really impressed with the silver city and its towers, but she had to admit she had noticed Sigrun's apprehension and shared the feeling.

"I say we take our chances with the farmhouse, see if anyone in there can help us understand this world. I doubt this is the same point of entry for Dagna, but perhaps, with a bit of luck, someone saw her."

“If the Arcanist isn’t here, at least we could always bring back some wheat. Don’t know if Skyhold has a millstone-”

Blackwall turned and nearly swallowed his tongue when he saw what everyone was looking at. “Maker’s balls.” He muttered, eyes wide. He’d never seen anything like the buildings in the distance. Like a city out of a story, all made of glass and metal.

“I’m with the Commander,” He agreed, tearing his gaze away from the glittering buildings in favor of the comforting wood and stone of the farmhouse. “Not likely anyone out here has heard anything, but nothing travels faster than gossip. And the Arcanist is certainly memorable.”

"Quite memorable, indeed." Aria chuckled, walking towards the farmhouse.

The Voices from the Well stirred again and the Inquisitor frowned; the house was old and probably had seem far better days once. Looking from the outside, she could hardly say someone lived there, but the the Voices were far more concerned with spirits wandering the wheat field around the house. They had all colors and all shapes and most of it just wandered, aimlessly. The mark reacted to their presence, green shining on her left hand and some spirits turned to look at her. She swallowed hard, turning to the group "Be kind to the spirits. They're friends, trust me."

Aria took a deep breath and finally reached the door, nodding and greeting some spirits in her way. She knocked, waiting for an answer, glancing her companions over her shoulder. She was nearly knocking again when the door suddenly opened, startling her.

An apparently nice middle-aged man was in the door frame, amber eyes staring Aria and the rest of them with a curious look.

"Visitors cladded in flesh. That is new." his voice was old, wise and a little raspy, but his smile was friendly.

Edited Date: 2015-09-18 02:14 am (UTC)