RP: Open to anyone

[cullen_fadewalk]

Cullen straightened, then slowly rose to his feet. He was in the main yard of Skyhold all right, but there were telling differences even beyond the troubling sky. The greenery hadn't all been stripped away, for one. The Herald's blood red banners were nowhere to be seen. The tavern still stood, and the high parapets were bare of their bristling defenses.

If he could ignore the tempest going on above his head, it almost seemed...peaceful. Like it was before things started going so wrong.

He turned in a slow circle, chains clanking, and silently noted the changes--then went perfectly still when he heard a footfall.

Comments

[cullen_fadewalk]

"Are there...echoes of ourselves?" No, that didn't seem right. Did it? This place, this strange, strange place... "There was a book by my knees when I first arrived here. I left it. But if we can assume there are others--whether or not they are echoes of ourselves," or whether Neria was lying or had gone mad, "and that each of them has been given a book like this, then it seems possible we might have been deliberately brought here. Collected."

He looked between them. "Where were you before you were here? What are the biggest turning points of your life, or recent history, that you remember?"

[heromiyuu]

"I woke up in the underground library, perfect place to miss a book." she snorted "Points of my life, right... I was travelling west by myself, following some leads on elven magic so I could craft the Cure. The Breach was closed and the last thing I know, Divine Victoria had been chosen, as Leliana told me. The Inquisition was a good thing for people, helping refugees and anyone in need."

She took some steps in the room, avoiding both men's gaze.

"I was a Circle Mage. Left after being betrayed by a friend, Duncan took me in. He died in the battle of Ostagar. Me and Alistair were the only Grey Wardens left, we had to fight the Blight and the Civil War with the help of people with common goals, that later became or friends. Anora was crowned Queen of Ferelden after the Landsmeet, I killed the traitor myself. I became Warden Commander, me and Alistair went to Vigil's Keep and..." she took a deep breath, shaking her head "Years after I left, to search for the Cure. Soon after, Kirkwall's Chantry was blown away, the Templar Mage war started. Then, the Inquisition came to be after the explosion of the Conclave, in the Temple of Sacred Ashes, when the Breach first appeared in the sky. Your turn."

She turned to the men, still avoiding their gaze.
It would be very weird to say she had married Alistair after the Blight. Better to avoid that subject.

[exiledalistair]

Hearing the events of the Blight narrated, even in such broad brush strokes from this woman as if she were the one who lived it and not... Alistair shook his head abruptly. It wouldn't do to think about what might have been if this yarn she'd spun had come to pass for him. But it was hard. Loghain dead, still a Warden, happy, a Warden, given purpose beside his love.

He clenched his jaw until it ached. She wasn't the Hero of Ferelden. But she wasn't lying about everything. She was a Warden, and he frowned at her at the mention of a cure.

When she fell silent he cleared his throat, staring at the floor between them. "I-- well, the Blight happened, and all that. But Loghain was pardoned, after-- after everything he'd done. And I couldn't stay." His voice broke and when he continued it was a bit gruffer. "I was almost executed, but they decided if I renounced all claim to the throne I wouldn't be a threat. So." He rocked back on heels and glanced up, feeling his mouth pull into a sour half-smile. "I've been loitering in the Free Marches for more than a year, but only just. A wandering sellsword, drunk, bit of a waste of space really."

[cullen_fadewalk]

"So you are the Hero of Ferelden," Cullen began slowly, "very close to the one I knew, but not an exact match. And nothing at all like the one Alistair one. He is nothing like the Alistair either of us knew." He frowned. "The witch Morrigan mentioned an artifact that could take you to different worlds, or shadows of worlds, before the Herald had her executed. Could we have all been brought to one of those shadow worlds, each of us from a different path that could have been?"

[heromiyuu]

"Morrigan? What sort of artifact?" she frowned, realizing the answer "An Eluvian, this have to be an Eluvian! She was really passionate about them. That's it. That's the answer! If we can find a Eluvian here, on this Skyhold, maybe we can use it to go back to our rightful places!"

A smile died on fer face before even blossoming, as she stared Cullen.

"Of course, considering your reality, maybe this isn't a good idea for you, sorry about my eagerness."

[exiledalistair]

Alistair shifted uneasily, eyes moving between them. There was so much of this to untangle, and his head hurt, and people were executing Morrigan, and any reality that had an Inquisitor (whatever that was) who had the power to kill a witch who could turn into a bird and had a dragon for a mother?

"Send Cullen back to have his head chopped off, not high on the list of our goals for the day, I agree. Besides, is the Inquisition the kind of place that just has Eluvians lying around?"

[cullen_fadewalk]

"Well, I'm not going to argue for execution," Cullen said, a ghost of a smile touching his lips. "But actually, yes. The Herald had an eluvian in Skyhold. She moved it after Morrigan was killed, kept it hidden from her advisors, but it has to still be here."

Then he paused and cocked his head.

"Or," he said slowly, "it could be where we used to store it. So much of this Skyhold is like how things were before she started to show her true colors. Perhaps that is one of the things that was like before."

[heromiyuu]

"Well, lead the way, Commander. Though I doubt we have any sort of appointment here but... and maybe we should go after our respective books, as well. Maybe see what the other us is up to may help us to solve this equation."

She waved her hand to the door.
It would be nice to find a way to avoid Cullen's execution, as well.

[exiledalistair]

Alistair took his book back folding the soft leather cover so that he could stick it beneath his belt. Better than carrying it around and trying to fight one handed.

"Poking the ancient magic mirror and hoping nothing horrible falls out of it. Instead of bunkering down with weapons and supplies and fluffy pillows." He nodded firmly. "Wonderful plan. I can see why we put the both of you in charge." He stepped out of the smithy first, hand on his sword hilt, eyes scanning. The change in the set of his shoulders, the distribution of his weight was obvious, plain that he is for all his claims to being a drunkard still a fighting man.

[cullen_fadewalk]

That earned a surprised laugh--rough and more than a little rusty, as if he hadn't laughed in a very long time. "Common sense would seem to be a prerequisite," Cullen said as he led the way. There was a large part of him that wanted to continue to shore up resources and build defenses, but he recognized the need to find and quarantine the threat first.

Still, it was a gamble.

[heromiyuu]

"Well, I don't think I'm in position to speak of common sense. Nor are you, Commander Fancy Pauldrons." she smiled "Don't listen to him Alistair, you look really good. We could all be part of a carnival parade, in Antiva. Now, where can we find this Eluvian?"

[exiledalistair]

They really were fancy, weren't they? Alistair eyed Cullen's surcoat and ruff for a moment as he fell in line behind Neria. Her armor was... well she had no room to talk about fancy pauldrons. Those were the most elaborate mage robes he'd ever seen. He snorted and turned his attention back to scanning the grounds, eyes training to the battlements, the passthroughs and archways, all the nooks that could hide someone who was watching.

Because Alistair truly felt like something was watching. The prickle was almost as sharp as the sensation of the taint reacting to darkspawn, hairs on the back of his neck practically bristling. "This is worse than all the fog and the werewolves trees trying to murder you in the Brecilian forest," he murmured, mostly to himself.

[cullen_fadewalk]

They were all, indeed, the very fanciest.

Cullen kept a wary eye out, one hand braced on the hilt of his sword, as he led the way toward the room where they had stored the eluvian before the Herald had spirited it away. After what had happened in Kinloch, he had never done particularly well with this kind of bell jar paranoia...and yet recent experience with the Herald had somehow managed to make him, if not immune from the creeping dread, at least able to compartmentalize and let it haunt his dreams later.

"This way," was all he said.

[heromiyuu]

Neria followed Cullen's lead back inside the great hall. She couldn't shake away the unsettling sensation she felt and wondered if this was part of being physically inside the Fade or if this was part of seeing familiar faces with little clue about her.

Cullen was pretty much the man she remembered from Leliana's letters; strong-willed and trying to make up for his mistakes in the past. He also knew a Neria (and this Neria looked exactly like her, she supposed) so maybe, the only difference between her reality and his was the Inquisitor. In her reality, Inquisitor Lavellan was a good woman, driven and righteous, fighting for the helpless and the needed. She didn't knew much about Cullen's Inquisitor, but things were bad if she demanded executions of everyone. A knot formed in her throat.

Now, Alistair was completely another person. Betrayed by the Hero of Ferelden, of all people. That was a blow almost directly against her. She was a Hero of Ferelden and she would never, ever, let Loghain live, not after Ostagar. A faint smile appeared on her lips when she glanced at Alistair; he stood his ground and he gave up something he really loved to stick with his beliefs. Perhaps, he was the same Alistair, after all...

Which really doesn't have a soothing effect over me.

[exiledalistair]

The subtle signs of other denizens of this place drew Alistair's eyes as they passed into the keep. There wasn't much, a chair drawn back from a table there, a window open here, an arrow bristling from a door with no other signs of violence... Wonderful.

Well, at least he'd found two dangerous but not completely crazy people to follow along. Hopefully.

He cleared his throat, drew up abreast of Neria and cut a glance over at her. "So, you're a mage, obviously, and all that. What, er, do you do?" If they were going to have to fight anything horrible at some point it was a good idea to know what people were going to be throwing past his head. "Fire, lightning, ice? That icky bug thing with all the biting flies?"

[cullen_fadewalk]

Cullen kept his hand on his sword and silently led the way, more than willing to be the shield for the both of them if needed--and let them talk uninterrupted.

[heromiyuu]

"What do I do... well, that's a very difficult question. I excel at primordial magic, mostly fire, but depending on the situation, shapeshifting might come as a better solution." she shrugged "I can tend to injuries with my magic as well, even though I am no superb healer. There is a few other handpicked spells, but I don't think they need to be named. Rest assured I know my way around a battlefield."

Neria smiled, finally, finding Cullen's silence odd, but not wanting to push him from his thoughts, he certainly had many.

"What about you, Alistair? The Alistair in my reality had chosen the sword and shield as his prefered combat style. Any surprises we may expect from you?"

[exiledalistair]

"Shapeshifting. Like Morrigan? Ooh, can you turn into a spider? Watching people run screaming was about the only good thing about having her around." Alistair gave her a grin that was younger, a flash of human that wasn't only laced with bitterness. It faltered after a moment. "No, no real surprises. Swords, shields, getting hit in the head occasionally. Templar stuff too. The basics, nothing special."

[cullen_fadewalk]

"Those basics are strong enough to kill archdemons and close a rift in the sky," Cullen said, opening the door to the eluvian's chamber. "And it's obvious you have a strong sword arm. I would not discount you. Here it is," he added.

Then he frowned. "It's been shattered."

[heromiyuu]

"Oh no..."

Neria grunted, clearly disappointed. She motioned forward, kneeling near the glass shards and taking one piece on her hand, carefully. She examined the glass briefly, closing her eyes and concentrating a small amount of magic to feel anything her eyes might have missed. She frowned just before having her hand repelled by some force; she dropped the shard and flexed her finger a few times, thoughtful expression.

"I don't know what caused this Eluvian to shatter, but it left a strong residual energy. It repelled me when I tried to read it. There's a great chance that the shattered Eluvian and the mixed realities are connected, but I have no clue what does it have in common with out transportation to Skyhold. Maybe another force, trying to set things right again?"

[exiledalistair]

Alistair grunted at the broken glass and Neria's assessment of it. He lingered in the doorway of the room keeping an eye on hallway. "So we're trapped! In the Fade. Which wouldn't be my first choice for being marooned. I hear Antiva is nice. Could we get a Fade version of the Rialto to summer in? Are we sure we won't just pop out of existence as suddenly as we appeared?" His brow furrowed as he rambled. There was no real telling how big this all was. What if the rest of... everything was gone and this was it? They lived and died together in these castle walls?

There was a creeping sense of panic, the stillness of the castle smothering. What if Cullen and Neria's just disappeared. He wiped his forehead with the back of his forearm, trying to smooth away the sudden prickles of nervous sweat he felt there.

(OOC: I'm posting on my phone at work (because I am a slacker) and hoping for the best about autocorrect tyos!)

[cullen_fadewalk]

"If we are trapped," Cullen said, taking firm control of his own panic and deliberately keeping his voice even and a little firm for the sake of Alistair's, "then we will consider ourselves lucky that it is here in Skyhold, with companions we can rely on and strong walls we can defend. We will make the most of it, and we will fight whatever comes. Or," he added, tipping his head to Neria, "a solution will be found."

[heromiyuu]

"This journal..." she pointed at Alistair's journal, thoughtful "Suggests there is more people trapped here, just like us. If a solution is to be found, we must work with them, share our discoveries and knowledge. Otherwise, we'll fatally run out of supplies."

She grinned, confident, more like Warden Commander than like Neria Surana.

"Whatever is the solution, we'll find it. I am not going to let you down, no one gets left behind, I promise. Rest assured."

[exiledalistair]

Alistair shifted so he could look from Cullen to Neria as they spoke in turn, not expecting it to be as comforting as it was. He nodded, a slight wrinkle of a frown between his brows, making himself breathe. He had trained as a Templar, he could find clarity when he remembered to look for it, and stopped tripping over his own ridiculous worries.

"Right. You're commanders, you command things. So, commands?" He quirked an eyebrow hopefully.

[cullen_fadewalk]

Cullen nodded to Neria. "Research," he said. "You should make friends of the mages here, if you can. The more eyes we have on this, the better. You and I," he said to Alistair, "should take control of key points in Skyhold before the others work past their confusion and start to think strategically. Weapons. Provisions, if we can. Poisons and grenades. We'll need to try to keep the armory contained and control the flow of weaponry as much as possible. People will arrive with their own blades, but this at least will give us a chance to have a leg up. We'll begin a militia and earn their trust. Meanwhile, we will learn who they are and what they are about...you two will," Cullen corrected himself, rubbing the back of his neck. "I am...no longer very good at social interactions. But knowing them will allow us to determine their safety. Cole. Cole is vital. He will know if someone is dangerous."