(no subject)

[da3pt5mod]

It's been chaos in Ferelden for months now. The mage/templar war was only the start of it all, sending refugees spilling out into the wild, easy picking for bandits and overzealous templars. And now the sky itself has begun to tear, unleashing all manner of spirits and demons on the vulnerable masses.

Some say it's the end of the world. Perhaps they're right.

There's word of a group that can help. The Inquisition, a controversial rival organization to the Chantry, to hear some tell it, led by the supposed Herald of Andraste, rumored to be able to seal the rifts. But whether or not the Inquisition is all it claims to be, they are currently far, far away from Southern Ferelden.

The Tevinters, unfortunately, are not. You may have heard the rumors about the events at Redcliffe, strange whispers of the fates of the rebel mages holed up within. The Tevinters are supposed to have been driven out of Redcliffe. Unfortunately, some, at least, came here.

Some seem to have kept to themselves, holed up in strange, ancient ruins in the outskirts of the Wilds. Whatever they're doing, it can't be good. But at least they're not as bad as the slavers.

You're not really sure when they grabbed you. You must have fought, certainly, but sitting here all you can remember is vague flashes of color and light, and then silence.

The cell you wake up in is dark and cramped, and you can feel the press of others around you. There must be at least six of you in here, manacled together. A heavy locked door lies in one of the walls, a small slit below it open just enough to peer through if you'd like.

Comments

[nevarranknife]

Standing to their feet, Knife gave Branwen a small withering look, not bothering to hide the look of irritation. That was until they registered that the voice that had called to them mentioned the word 'Golem'. Well, they supposed, that could very likely be what those feet belonged to. "The room is empty except for what I assume is this...Golem"

With the question answered, and with no desire to continue the conversation, Knife turned their attention back to the cell door. They could do nothing about the chains that bound them, but the door... that they might have a chance at.
The lock would be a lost cause, Knife was no rogue and lock to heavy and strong to possibly be forced off. The hinges however... if there was a weakness could be broken off with the right leverage.
Thankfully it seemed that the elf's luck had improved because unlike the lock, the hinges were not well forged and looked like they could be forced.

So they could get out maybe but the chains were still a problem. Turning back to the room Knife called out , "I have a way out, can any of you do something about these", whil jangling the manacles at their wrists.

[edan]

"Branwen...?" Edan said uncertainly. "Almost didn't recognize you," they mumbled, squinting as their eyes adjusted to the dark again, then went quiet when Knife began to speak.

Even if they had a lockpick, Edan doubted they would be very useful here -- they had never bothered to learn how. There had never been much reason to -- restricted areas in the Kinloch Hold were usually guarded by templars or magically sealed. Their hands were shaking from nerves anyway, which wasn't exactly ideal for fine motor control.

A golem, though...

"This might be a stupid idea, but golems are strong, yeah? What are the chances it's a friendly golem who might be so kind as to break some chains?" They paused then, frowning. "Though... golems need to be controlled by someone, and with our spectacular luck so far, chances are it's being controlled by the people who put us in here in the first place, so..."

They trailed off and settled into an uneasy silence again. To be fair, they had never been much of an optimist.

[sephet]

Gerta cracks her neck and sighs, trying to check her pockets, and hidden pockets, secret spots in the lining of her boots, no luck. "Motherfuckers are thorough..."

"Okay anyone got something lock pick like? An idea how we got here? Whose blood all that is? Anything? Like I'd settle for what the weather's like right now."

[qalaba]

Qalaba grunts as small feet dug into them.

They scoot away from where the small flame had appeared, muttering under their breath "Shit, bas saarebas." They shake their head and take a deep breath and listens to the conversation around them before doing anything hasty.

"Golem?" Qalaba tried to remember anything and everything they learned about the stone giants, "I've only heard tales of one that was close to being considered friendly. I doubt we'd be lucky enough to find another one."

[sergolem]

Adventure listens to the prisoners debate amongst themselves whether to call upon him for aid.

Prisoners, what luck! My first noble deed in this incarnation lies before me! But, be they captive or criminal?

"I ASSURE YOU, SERS," Adventure addresses the party for the first time. "WHATEVER LEGENDS YOU HAVE HEARD, I HAVE CERTAINLY EXCEEDED THEM. THE QUESTION IS: HOW FRIENDLY ARE YOU?"

[edan]

Oh, good, Edan thinks to themself. A cocky golem.

Strange response for a golem to have, though, if it was being controlled by whoever imprisoned them.

"That depends," Edan says cautiously. "Very friendly if those legends include freeing captives, or breaking down doors, or... hell, I'd settle for anything that involves not leaving us to die in the dark. Or some light, even -- more light would be... very much appreciated."

You're babbling, they scold themself, running their hand through their hair nervously and allowing themself to go silent.

[sergolem]

Adventure laughs hollow and heartily. "I'VE FREED MANY A CAPTIVE IN MY TIME! VIRGIN MAIDENS FROM FEARSOME DRAGONS! OPPRESSED NATIONS FROM CRUEL TYRANTS! PRICELESS TREASURES FROM THEIR MISERLY HOARDERS!"

He sighs wistfully, drunk on his (perhaps slightly exaggerated) memories.

"BUT, I MUST ADMIT: THIS IS A NEW EXPERIENCE FOR ME ALTOGETHER. PERHAPS I'D BE MORE INCLINED TO AID IF YOU WERE TO SHED YOUR OWN LIGHT UPON... ER... WHERE WE ARE?"

[goldengirlaurelia]

Aurelia has never been the biggest fan of emotional manipulation, but it feels like it may work on the golem.

"Unfortunately, we're just as confused as you! We're all chained together, and I'm pretty sure no one has any idea where we are. I certainly don't. If we could just get out of these chains, maybe we'd have a better chance of finding out where we are, but there's nothing to pick locks with . . . "

[sergolem]

Adventure gasps inwardly.

The voice of an angel...! Such sinless youth cannot possibly be shackled for misdeeds! It is my duty- nay, my DESTINY- to free these prisoners and defeat our villainous captives! ...Whoever they are!

"OH, BUT YOU DO! I'LL PICK THOSE LOCKS! PICK THEM SO WELL THAT THEY NEED NEVER BE PICKED AGAIN! STAND BACK!"

Adventure steels himself- ha! gotta remember that one- for a mighty swing, and hurls his body at the cell door with all his courage.

[da3pt5mod]

There is, unfortunately, a reason that the task of lockpicking is best left to the subtler sort.

The door does, to Adventure's credit, fly from its hinges the heavy steel toppling inwards on the cramped cell.

Knife, unable to hear even Adventure's booming voice from their awkward location, barely dives out of the way in time to avoid the brunt of the damage, and their right leg - unbroken - is pinned beneath the metal.

Edan is significantly less fortunate. Knocked off balance by Knife's movement, they are entirely immobilized by the combined weight of the door and the people around them. Something snaps, followed shortly by a blinding pain in their left arm as they are knocked over, and they black out briefly.

Qalaba tries to move out of the way of the door instinctively, but their movement is cut short by the chains surrounding them. Fortunately, their bulk and relative distance protect them, and they are unharmed, if slightly winded.

Aurelia, clearly not expecting the golem to have such an immediate reaction, fails to stand back in time. However, with Qalaba shielding her, she escapes all but perhaps some minor bruising as she falls back into the chaos.

Branwen, at least, processes Adventure's warning in time, and hastily backpedals to safety with time to spare.

Gerta, farthest from the door, barely even needs to move to avoid the door, and remains uninjured.

And as for Adventure himself, the durable golem's body remains unharmed by the exertion. He will, however, notice as he moves that something about the metal in his right arm seems different, somehow - weaker.

[nevarranknife]

A stream of unintelligible curses streamed from Knifes lips as they felt the pain course up their leg. What on Earth had they done to get captured, and then stuck with these idiots, who didn't think to give the person standing closest the door any warning? Had they been thinking more logically, they would have realised that they had failed to hear a warning. afterall their companions didn't know about knife's hearing. After all, being a knife -ear caused enough trouble, and being a hearing impaired "Knife-Ear"....well that brought its own sort of fun

It wasn't the pain that had them cursing, or even the idiocy of their companions.It was the fact, that with their leg pinned they were at the mercy of the others in the room. A room mainly filled with humans. Just their luck.

In futile attempt at pushing up on the door, with as much grip they could purchase, they growled in frustration when they found they could barely lift it a hairs width. They were going to need help out of this, but frankly Knife didn't trust any of their companions to give it.

[sephet]

"Well fuck me sideways!" Her ears are ringing from the clatter of the door, now there's more blood, violence, her chain gang seems pinned and injured and... she doesn't even know anymore. "Okay, new plan. Slower more talked out plans. Also I think we need a medic. Many medics. Fuck."

[qalaba]

Qalaba lets out a breath, "That... could have gone better." They squint around the room, the glowing globe in the other room giving off enough light to see slightly better, but not much. "Is everyone alright?" They were fine of course, but that doesn't mean they couldn't think of the others around them.

Branwen

[phoenixofborg.livejournal.com]

Branwen scrambles back to her feet from where she'd thrown herself against the wall. She rolls one shoulder, then the other, then her neck, as though resettling her rattled bones. Then she takes a few quick steps forward and back along the side of the fallen door, too limited by the cramped space and the remains of their shackles to properly be called pacing but agitation obvious in her movements.

"M'fine. I dunno what you lot know about medicine, but we've got a proper healer smashed under the door." She sounds more exasperated than distraught, truly, but there's a wildness in the way she moves her hands, first to dismiss Qalaba's query on her own behalf, then to indicate Edan.

She crouches by where the other mage is pinned, fluttering their fingers over the edge of the door without actually making a move to lift it. Knife's curses at least mark them as conscious, but Edan's pretty well under the thing. With the two at opposite corners as they are, Branwen suspects a careless attempt to free one of them might put more pressure on the other.

"They're right though," and now she indicates Gerta with a flick of her not-quite-flailing hands (because they've not really had time to exchange proper introductions, and while Branwen has never met a dwarf before she suspects singling Gerta out as 'the dwarf' might be more than passing rude). "I mean, yeah, let's get this thing up and off soonest, but a bit less with the rushing maybe?"

[goldengirlaurelia]

Aurelia gets to her feet and looks around at the others in the room. At worst, she was just a bit bruised, but she could see that some of the others had fared worse. She then turns her attention to the golem.

"Thank you for your help. Although, a bit more warning would have been nice, Ser . . . what's your name?"

[sergolem]

Adventure does his best to bend his steel frame into a graceful bow.

"MY NAME IS BUT THE FIRST OF MANY FAVORS I CAN OFFER YOU, MY LADY. WHICH IS TO SAY, MY NAME, OF COURSE, IS. ER."

Shit. Names. My hosts have usually come with those until now. THINK, Adventure! Something plausible! What would a golem be called? She's starting to look at me funny. A name shouldn't take this long. Just out with it already!

"....GOLEM! SER GOLEM. YOU MAY CALL ME... SER GOLEM. YES. THAT IS ABSOLUTELY MY NAME."

Yes. Nailed it. Nice.

[nevarranknife]

Unable to contain their frustration any longer, Knife finally let go of the loud exasperated growl they had been trying to repress.

“Stanje! To the void with all of you!” they exclaimed ,

These people were useless! Instead of doing something, they seemed to be content standing around discussing the matter like they were in some village committee discussing the weather. Their captors were sure to have heard the din that this golem was making. After all, if Knife could hear “ Ser Golems” voice clear as day , then there was a good chance their captors could. Yet, instead of collecting themselves, they were wasting time. Though they had to admit at least Branwen seemed to be trying something.
Glancing across the way the elf glanced at the unconscious mage who lay pinned across from them. The mage’s safety would be a priority, injured or not if they wanted to get out of this, they would need a healer. Perhaps if they could lift the door enough for Knife to scoot out and for someone to pull Edan free? But if they could barely lift the door them self, it was doubtful that the female mage nearest to them would be able to help. But the Golem…or Qunari?

“Golem! I honestly couldn’t care less what you call yourself. You could be called Andrastes Flaming knickers for all I care. Now can someone help lift the door off of us”

Knife paused for one moment, perhaps asking the Golem to lift the door would not be a wise choice, but would any of the others have the strength? They were running out of options and needed to get mobile, and find their weapons as quickly as possible.

[sephet]

"Hold it!" She's not in with miners much more than drinking buddies and bedmates, but she's heard enough stories to feel a little knowledgeable. "'fore we start liftin' things about, how 'bout we check make sure moving the door won't make someone bleed out, or take a leg with it. I can't see very well and my medical know-how's pretty shit but trust a Dwarf on a cave-in problem, eh?"

[qalaba]

Qalaba jumps and looks down to wear the door landed. There were people stuck there, "Oh shit."

They rush over and kneel to assist the two, but looks over when the loud dwarf speaks. "Pretty sure they," Qalaba jerks a thumb over their should to point at Branwen, "Just said that the person under the door is a healer, so wouldn't it be better to get the door off the one who can heal so they could... I don't know, heal?"

Shaking their head, Qalaba goes to lift the door anyway. They grab the sides of the door tightly before standing, taking the door with them. They turn away from the others and drop the door to the ground. "Foot check!" The door drops to the floor without incident.

[edan]

Edan sits up, wincing at the shooting pain in their arm. Broken, they recognize quickly -- they've had enough broken bones in their life to know by now what one feels like.

They make a mental note to be much more specific in the future when asking for help from a golem.

But it could be worse, they think. Nothing is on fire -- that's always a plus.

They hesitate for a moment, wondering if it's safe to reveal their magic, before remembering that they'd already practically flaunted the fact that they're a mage when they conjured fire earlier. A stupid move, possibly, but what's done is done -- at this point, all they can do is hope they won't come to regret it.

They rest their right hand on their left arm and it glows with the soft light of creation magic. Thankfully, they feel the injury begin to mend -- their mind is still a bit too foggy for the more intense focus that spirit healing would require. As the light subsides, they flex their arm and roll their shoulder, testing for further signs of injury. Finding none, they glance around at the rest of their company.

"Does anyone need healing?"