The Orlesian occupation of Ferelden lasted almost a century, marking a dark period in Thedas.
Vigil's Keep was the first fortress to fall. Twenty years after the invasion began there, Orlais finally sacked the city of Denerim, claiming victory and drove the king into hiding. Though routed, the king now known as "Brandel the Defeated" continued to rebel against the Orlesians... but his efforts have proven inefficient, as most nobles believe that Ferelden is truly lost.
August has just ended and the cold and rain are starting to show, on-and-off, in the southern parts of the continent. The northern half is experiencing only minor changes.
All skins coded by Dani, graphics made for them a collaboration between Dani & El.
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NOV. 24th Happy belated first month anniversary to us! A few things to be noted. We are currently taking nominations for our first ever site spotlights. The nomination period will be over by the 30th, so feel free to take your time as new members and threads roll in. Just don't forget about them. Secondly, the advertising contest is still going strong, but it slated to wrap up at the end of the month. If you want to earn some extra gold and help promote the site, best to get on that now, while the rewards are higher than usual. Thirdly, the site lottery is still going, and the drawing period will be over Friday. Lastly, we should be getting that multiplayer thread soon. Sorry it's been delayed so long--as you can imagine, I've been busy with single player for Inquisition. Once I'm done, I'll put up the threads and we can hopefully get some games going.
OCT. 19th We're kicking off the site's grand opening with quite a few things to do (besides apply and join, of course ;D). We have an advertising contest going on right now, which will earn new members a ton of gold. You even get ten gold just for advertising for us once. Aside from that, our first ever site lottery is underway, with double the traditional jackpot payout. There might even be a few other things that we've forgotten to mention, but we're sure you can figure those out on your own. ;D As a final note, with DAI's release date being less than a month out (in North America), we're strongly considering organizing multiplayer across the various platforms so IWV members can play together. If that sounds like something that might interest you, keep your eyes peeled for the next little while.
Today was a special day for Liulfr, he had been confined in the tower since he arrived over a decade ago. The ancient walls of Kinloch Hold had been a home and a prison for the young mage. And while he had found the partition comforting at times, he had grown weary of it. The walls were full of shadows, the Veil was thin. He could hear the demons whispering in the dark, and on occasion he heard them howl. Apprentices would go to the harrowing, like lambs to a den of wolves the demons would taunt the templars, and the mages. Liulfr would study, and read, trying to block the noises, but it rarely worked, and he would fall into despair at the though of a demon slipping into his body. Wearing him like a glove. A small part of was curious. The rest was terrified.
Getting ready for the trip was easy. He had few possessions, none of them requiring much to carry. He tied his sword over his robes, the weight of it comforting to the mage. It was one of the few things he truly owned, his journal being the other. It was full of notes, thoughts, musings, and experiences. He would fill it up soon, but until then it was the most private research article he possessed. He had carved a symbol on the front, it had little real meaning, but to him it was how he kept it secure from prying eyes. He took his writing utensils, a little vial of ink and a handful of quills. If he didn’t commit what he learned on his leave to paper quickly, many of the details would be lost to the Fade.
In the early morning, he stepped onto the dock of Kinloch Hold, his thick cloak becoming slightly damp in an early morning drizzle. Maybe leaving the tower alone was foolish. He briefly though about returning, and forfeiting his leave, but dismissed the thought. He could mange the walk to Redcliff or where ever he ended up traveling. He didn’t plan on being gone long, or even if he wanted to visit the castle town on the southern shores of the lake. He boarded the boat in the chill still dark morning, the oarsman tried to make small talk, but quickly gave up the effort. It was probably a common occurrence for the older man powering the boat. In an hour or so, they reached the other end of the lake, a little inn had sprouted up near the far side of the docks. Liulfr had only been there once, on the day he first arrived, freshly torn from his family.
He took the time to eat breakfast at the inn, a rather uninspired hot grain porridge. It was filling, but hardly palatable. The sun had started to poke its head over the horizon when Liulfr continued his voyage, heading west over the northern tributary to the lake, on the aging Imperial Highway. The drizzle ended, and the sun was starting to warm the autumn morning. His thoughts wandered as he walked, the morning warming up rather nicely. It was shaping up to be a nice day, He listened to the calls of animals, and the gentle breeze as he started to travel south. He stopped frequently to admire a late blooming flower, or observe a flock of deer. He laughed at himself, and jotted down that he needed to study wildlife nomenclature more, he was severely lacking in knowledge in this area, as long with any knowledge of plants, and wilderness survival.
After another hour of walking, he noticed a change. The animals he had encountered frequently had disappeared. He found it odd, but continued to travel, chalking it up to the area he was in. He decided to take a recess here, as he had spotted a nice spot of shade under a tree. The ground had dried nicely, and the day under the sun had warmed him substantially. He sat down, nestled in between roots as he wrote some of his musings down, forgetting the world around him.
Until he heard a sound out of normal. A snap of a branch. When he looked up, he spotted a shadow in the tree line, and another, and before he could react the forest seemed to birth an ensemble of creatures too foul for the mind to process. He grabbed his staff out of reflex, but he was stunned by the appearance of these humanoid beasts. There was no comprehension of what they were, or what to do. All he could do was realize that he was surrounded, and the creatures didn’t look friendly. He stood and stared, his feet glued, and his mind numbed, with death looming before him. He had never used his magic in anger, all his studies were theoretical. Esoteric. Ephemeral. But the wicked blades he saw were real, and the hunger in the eyes of the creatures more clear as they drew near.
Post by Avery Mondivarius on Nov 15, 2014 21:25:15 GMT -5
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King Meghren, the cousin-buggering fruitcake of a monarch made it perfectly clear that him and his weren't welcome. Oh, sure, he used all the fancy words he thought that Avery couldn't understand. He danced around the point and coated it with a layer of sickly sweet honey about how he admired the Wardens and the Wardens were heroes and all the like, but there was little mistaking the rejection. Meghren wasn't sympathetic, he was doing what he needed to do to protect his ass. The Wardens were bad news to the Fereldan peoples, and he didn't want any more contempt for his rulership than there already was.
So Avery said that he understood. He understood that dressing up like a buffoon and watching his tongue and kissing the ass of a King wasn't going to do him any good. Which was just as well; he despised politics. He didn't even want to talk to His-Incestuous-Buggerer to begin with, but did it because darkspawn were still a threat in Ferelden, and his people needed to return.
Operating against the King's wishes meant that they'd have to be quick and quiet as a shadow every time they entered the country, but that was fine by him. Guerilla warfare was more his speed, and the less groveling he had to do, the better.
They rode across the Frostbacks under cover of night. The mountain passes swallowed them up and then spit them out on the other side, and into an entirely different country. The cold Ferelden morning air nipped at them, especially in the mountains, but they proceeded.
It was the early hours of the morn when the finally began to close in on their destination. The rosy fingers of dawn dabbled the horizon with pinks and golds and the chill of the night lifted just a bit. Steamy streams of breath still clung to the air for a while longer, but passed when the sun finally peeked over the horizon.
The area they were at bore all signs of the darkspawn. The grass shriveled around them, deadened and browned like it had been baked. The wildlife grew silent and still. These were the signs that a Warden spotted without even thinking about it. But the fact that the plants were dead meant that the spawn had been here for some time--days, perhaps. It was unlikely that they remained still in the time since, which prompted the Wardens to spread out, but still remain within sight of one another.
There was no telling what destruction the darkspawn had already unleashed. Destruction that certainly wouldn't have spread as widely had Meghren been concerned about the lives of his people rather than his popularity.
Motioning with hand signals, the Wardens communicated in silence. Before overlong, one of the Wardens caught the trail and Avery signaled that the Wardens gather and follow the scout that caught wind. The group passed in as much silence as they could. Leaves rustled under their footfalls, but little more than they would with the breeze. The woods wound tight and thick in places, funneling the Wardens as they encroached upon their mark. Finding the darkspawn at the bottom of a small hill that opened into an equally small clearing, Avery was surprised to find a human amongst them. Stealth no longer mattered when a civilian's life was on the line.
Signaling again, Avery motioned for the handful of Wardens to open fire through the thick brush. A mage let loose a blast of electricity that crackled through the air as Avery held three arrows between his fingers. By the time the lightning found it's mark, his first arrow planted itself three-inches into the neck of a Hurlock.
"Fall back t'the East, boy!" Avery barked. The darkspawn were thinnest there, and would undoubtedly thin further as the Wardens slew them. It was there that he'd have his greatest chance of survival.
((Hope this is okay. Feel free to utilize the darkspawn and NPC Wardens as you like. I figure there's about five of them, including Avery.))
Liulfr had often wondered what death would be like, and it looked like he would soon find out. The disagreeable creatures and their nasty blades looked rather set in their ways. There were too many to fight, and he didn’t see any way for him to escape. The initial shock of being ambushed quickly wore off, leaving clarity in the current, and alacrity with the end. He wouldn’t be able to get a spell off before his demise, the creatures were too close. Running would just leave him tired for the end. But in all his planning, he didn’t expect others to appear. There was a flash of light, followed by sound, heat, and then the smell of ozone and cooking meat. One of the creatures was just gone, consumed by lighting, lighting clearly from a magical source. A second brute collapsed, the arrow in his neck ending his life quickly.
Liulfr was broken from his resignation with a bark, telling him to travel east. Son of a hound, he didn’t know which way east was. The little clearing had erupted into something that he had never seen. A skirmish as five armed men burst through the tree line. It filled him with a certain bravado, but it was tempered by a realization that these men might not appreciate the help of a man who had never been in a fight. The ebb and rhythm of battle was foreign, but alluring. The tempo was beautiful, and he wanted to be a part of it. He spun, looking for east, but he found no markers, and took it as a promising sign that he should stay. These men were outnumbered after all, and Liulfr was already committed to death, and not fleeing.
One of the beasts continued to charge, intent on killing his initial quarry. It filled the mage with vigor, seeing the mass of armor, muscle, and steel rush at him. Nothing he had experienced matched this. He had but a moment to think, and tapped his staff on the ground, channeling his magical energies and training into a paralyzing weakness.
The brute froze in step, his charge stopped short, and his muscles atrophied with the spell. Liulfr took a breath, his mana reservoir was not endless, the exertion felt renewing. Like he had stretched after sitting in a dusty library for hours. He drew his own sword, a simple steel longsword, and placed the tip of the blade to the creatures exposed throat. He plunged the blade into the yielding flesh, watching as the life faded from the assailant’s eyes. He would have to remember this moment for future study, but he would omit the foul stench. That was something he could do with forgetting.
He pulled the blade back, as the foul beast fell dead, and turned back to the fray. The five men who had ambushed his ambushers were excellent warriors, not even the templars could match them. The swirling melee around him was starting to get too messy, and he soon regretted not fleeing when he had the chance, but there was no where for him to go now that looked safe. He waved his staff at the nearest beast, its back turned to him fighting desperately against one of the men.
Liulfr tapped his staff again, filling the creature’s mind with sleepiness and disorientation. The creature’s actions slowed with the subtle manipulation, and it couldn’t react fast enough to the axe that greeted his face. The man looked confused at the sudden change in battle, but he quickly found another foe in the fracas. Liulfr winced slightly, the sudden usage of this much mana was something new to him. He felt a tingling in his fingers, they seemed slightly cold as they gripped his wooden staff. He had never pushed himself this far, but he couldn’t stop just yet, there was still fighting to be done.
Post by Avery Mondivarius on Nov 16, 2014 8:42:00 GMT -5
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The boy stood around with a thumb up his arse. Did he not hear Avery? Was he deaf? Blind, too, if he didn't notice the Wardens? Or did he simply not know his bleedin' directions? The bloody son was up low over the horizon--finding east was damn easy for anyone with some sense. But maybe he was just in a panic--some types had rotten survival instincts. That would certainly be preferable to a witless blind and deaf sod he'd have to safeguard, but not by much.
Some part of him wanted to scream again for the boy to go East, but there was no use. If the boy was anything other than brain-addled, repeating himself wouldn't work.
Gritting his teeth down, Avery thrice-damned the situation as he nocked and loosed another feathered arrow. The thing soared through the tree line, barely making it past the dense foliage before it imbedded itself into the shoulder of a genlock archer. Squealing in pain like a stuck pig, the archer stopped its ruthless onslaught just long enough for Avery to put another arrow in him and finish the job.
The rest of the Wardens were spreading out like a viscous liquid. Daggers and blades of cold steel flashed in the morning light moments before they were dyed a matte red. Steel on steel followed, with screeches and clangs as well as the smell of burning air that accompanied the crack of lightning. It was chaos, though it was organized, with Wardens striking and parrying in fluid motions, almost as if dancing. This battle was unremarkable to them; it was instinctive, and every response was natural and hard-wired into their brain.
Rather than maintain his advantageous position, Avery slid down the leaf-covered hill, carefully winding through the trees until he was in the clearing. The darkspawn were thinning in some areas, leaving him opportune openings, all of which he took. Sometimes the spawn drew too close, or backed into him while they were engaged with another. These spawn were met with a stiletto slipped into the nearest fleshy part he could find before he continued toward the boy.
At long last he came out on the other side of the chaos next to his mark; the boy. But he was no unskilled fool; at least not entirely. The foul-stained blade he wielded suggested he was at least proficient, though it was not near as much interest to the Warden-Commander as the staff. A Mage's Staff was a curious weapon, and carved in such a way as to be quite distinguishable from their more mundane counterparts. Avery wasn't sure if he was an apostate or not, and not did he frankly care.
The proximity and position meant that he no longer had the luxury of archery. He would rely on his blade to defend the boy; assuming he needed defense.
"Careful of their blood." The man growled, his accent a strange mixture of Orlesian and something else that rounded out his vowels and deepened his voice. "An' focus on yerself first." Hand finding one of the many knives at his side, Avery flung a blade into the chest of a nearby hurlock, and once more joined the fray, but was certain to stay near the mage.
((Avery's kinda terrible. XD But yep, feel free to do whatever you want. More darkspawn, some nasty plot twist to their situation, I'm down for whatever.))
The men who had burst through the trees had spread out, the ground was littered with the foul smelling beasts. It was the most beautiful thing Liulfr had seen. The prospect of living through this had given him a renewed view on his life. They were still outnumbered, the swirling nature of the fighting made it almost impossible to count the tainted creatures, but he counted at least thirty more in the clearing. That put the group of men, and himself in a rather disadvantageous spot. The men didn’t seem to mind, they fought like mad dogs with their back to a wall.
A man, tattooed rather heavily burst through the chaos. He seemed intent on staying by Liulfr, and the mage was rather happy for that. He was told to watch the blood, the accent was Orlesian, but tinted with something else that Liulfr couldn’t place. The statement he made about blood seemed odd, as he never slain anything before. He looked down at his robes, and found them covered in putrid smelling black ichor. He wondered what the importance of their blood was, but he didn’t have time to ask. Instead he turned to the man standing near him, armed with vicious looking daggers, and hollered, “I have no idea where east is.” Hoping that he was heard over the sounds of battle.
He watched the man throw his dagger, it landed in between the plates of the brute’s armor, killing it almost immediately. There were still many beasts in the clearing, and Liulfr didn’t know where to go, or what he should do. He waved his staff slightly over his head, striking a creature with entropy. It’s movements slowed, and its face contorted with pain and confusion. Liulfr knocked it’s blade aside, and thrust his sword through the abdomen. Liulfr tried to pull the blade out, but it was lodged in the bone and armor. Well, Fade be dammed he thought. He turned back to the man, “What’s the…”
Liulfr’s concentration was quaked with a loud shattering war cry. He searched for the source, and spotted on the creatures. It stood almost a full head taller than the rest of his compatriots, and wore armor that slightly less hodgepodge than the rest of his party. Behind him stood a dozen creatures hissing and howling. Some in the clearing broke off, and rallied to this giant. If the mage was confused before, he was deeply perplexed. He flung the dying creature off his blade, as he felt his feet and hands become numb, and his breath shortened. He was nearing his limit, he could feel the affects of overexertion starting to take hold.
Post by Avery Mondivarius on Nov 17, 2014 2:58:29 GMT -5
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As a Kestrel, Avery had learned the value of carrying an obscene amount of weapons, and he'd learned it early. The knife had been his first friend and did well by him, and though he did not master it as he did the bow, it was a comfort all the same. Each one at his side assured him that he was capable of overcoming whatever saw fit to kill him that day. And considering that he was unable to use the weapon he was most skilled with, their consolation was more important than ever.
"You don't know where East is?" Avery echoed back with a derisive bark. He snorted next, though it was hard to tell whether it was a snort, a scoff or a laugh. And then a string of curses in three languages other than common followed. "It's mornin', ain't it? Look towards the bloody sun! That's East!" He was a mage, wasn't he? Cooped up somewhere with nothing but books and his peck to pass the time. He'd have thought the boy would have read about that in some sodding book somewhere, but maybe he'd been too busy focused on his peck.
All the mages to babysit, and he had to get saddled with the one too busy buffing his helmet to take to his studies.
When the hurlock fell, Avery quickly planted his foot on its chest and wrapped his gloved hand around the blade, jerking it back up, ichor and all. The blood smelled as foul as its darkened, coagulated nature suggested, but that barely seemed to phase the Warden, who wiped the handle clean and tossed it at another. The blade didn't fly half as true, but still managed to bury itself in flesh, eliciting a cry from the gunlock. A cry that was barely audible over the roar of battle.
This only drew the gunlock's attention to him. Lumbering forward, the thing dodged the bodies of Wardens and its own comrades, weaving through the undulating mass only moments before it found them. Long knife in its hand, it lashed out in wide strokes and quick curves, hoping to catch the Warden in it. The Warden reeled, back arching out to dodge the thing, though it came uncomfortably close. Catching a pause that lasted less than a moment, Avery kicked out hard, smashing the dwarf-spawn's kneecaps. This staggered it enough for him to move in, quick as a flash to grab his dagger, remove it, and then stab it even deeper into the spot it had been.
This felled the thing just in time for the Hurlock alpha to arrive with reinforcements, including a few gunlock archers.
"Archers!" Avery bellowed, knocking back the genlock he'd finished moments before to retrieve his bow. While it would do him no good against any that ventured too near, it was paramount in taking down the archers before they finished off his men… and the fool of a boy.
((Didn't address the alpha, I know, my bad. I guess they could do a coordinated strike next volley?))
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