fadewalk | RP: Open to anyone

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.

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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?"

"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."

"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.

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.

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.

"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?"

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.

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.

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.

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 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.

"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?"

"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."

"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."

"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?"

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!)

"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."

"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."

Edited Date: 2015-08-05 02:32 am (UTC)

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 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."

"Cole, right. I'll keep this name in mind." she nodded "But before walking around, making friends with the mages, I'll help you two with our key points. I can set up some magical traps and alarms to warn us if something goes wrong. And there is Jäger too... he's an old hound, but he can still chew arms and hands off if needed."

Neria kept a straight face, even knowing they could find slightly disturbing the fact she hid the mabari from them.

"So, I assume we should take the armory, the kitchen and the requisitions office, for a start. Any other location you find important?"

Alistair was comfortable with plans. Plans that other people put together, particularly. Plans that didn't involve him getting hit with swords? Even better. He nodded, listening with clear-eyed attention, despite how he might smell, to Cullen's list of priorities, and then then turned to Neria. He felt a slight hitch in his chest at the mention of her mabari. Another strange echo of the Hero that he knew.

He cleared his throat. "Where does Skyhold's water come from? If it's a well or a cistern should we make sure it hasn't been tampered with or tainted? Not tainted obviously. Well, probably." He made a slight face then shook his head.

"There are wells," Cullen said. "That is very good thinking, Alistair. There is also a very small lake toward the end of the property. No way of knowing whether the borders we've been given extend so far without trekking out to see for ourselves."

He frowned, thoughtful.

"I'd like to claim my own tower, but that's just...familiarity, rather than necessity. We should leave the tavern. It's difficult to defend, as I said before, and it will attract a lot of attention early on. The War Room," Cullen added. "It has a single large--and heavy--door in, and it would take extreme skill and courage, not to mention luck, for anyone to scale the wall and slip through its windows. It is a good place to store and guard supplies."

"Well thought. Seems like I already know where to mingle too."

Neria led out a sigh, far from being excited to play the sociable person. But looking at Cullen and Alistair, she could see she was their best option now.

"So, let's make it happen. If we want some edge, we can't stay here waiting for our plans to complete themselves."

Edited Date: 2015-08-06 02:55 am (UTC)

Alistair blinked. Good thinking? If Cullen said so. He nodded to Neria and rolled his shoulders. "Right. Lifting and carrying. That I can do."

He waited until Cullen lead the way to the War Room, trying to mark the route, the doors and chambers, nodding when storerooms, dead ends, and potential egresses were pointed out. He looked forward to the labor, really. Something useful to do, wear himself out, and then go see about the tavern for drinking himself into a deep, black sleep after.

(OOC: Do we want to wrap up this thread? Assume that Cullen is inventorying, Neria has gone to try to make friends with other mages, and Alistair is busy fetching and carrying?)