It's the dripping that wakes her, before anything else. A slow, inconstant plip-plop of droplets sliding down some overhang before breaking free to plunge into a stone floor. They almost echo, like there isn't anything around to absorb the sound.
She doesn't remember how she got here.
Wherever here is.
A spasm of searing pain in her left hand jolts her to full wakefulness. Her hands are bound. The room is dark, with a pair of flickering torches casting feeble light by the entrance. Two men in armor stand guard by the door, alert but not giving particular signs that they have noticed her consciousness. She is wearing her usual robes. She does not have her lightsaber.
She is lying on the floor, a thin bed of straw and a scratchy cloth blanket between it and her.
Another shock of pain in her hand, this one accompanied by a flash of green light.
This gives her cause to bestir herself enough to sit up. She's only tied at the wrist, so this isn't too difficult. Her body is stiff, as though it's been some time since last she moved.
There's nothing visible on her hand when she examines it. Though she senses... something. Some unknown power or potentiality. Hm.
"Pe-" Cough. Oh, her throat is dry. She clears it, then tries again. "Peace, gentlemen. I am no threat to you. Might I trouble you for some water?"
That's not in the script. The guardsmen share a glance. One of them bangs on the door. The Seeker did ask to be told when the prisoner woke up, after all.
The door opens, and the guards have a brief muffled conversation that Elesse can't make out with someone on the other side she can't see.
Hm. Well. She's not in imminent danger of death. Let's see what happens.
What happens next is a while of nothing, then the door opens again and a woman in armor walks in, a eye-shaped symbol emblazoned on her chestplate. She walks past the guards who straighten to attention and tosses a waterskin to the floor in front of Elesse.
It's a little tricky to pick it up and get the cap off with her hands tied together, but she manages.
"Thank you," she says, after taking a drink. Her hand flares up again, but she conceals the wince. The pain is... manageable, and she doesn't want to make a show of weakness if she doesn't know it would get her anything.
"My name is Elesse Vendar, of the Jedi Order. As for this," she lifts her hand, palm up. "I do not know. Where are we?"
"What do you know about the explosion at the Conclave?" she asks, ignoring Elesse's question. "What happened to Divine Justinia?"
"I do not know who Divine Justinia is, nor what conclave you refer to."
"Liar!" she snarls. "You stepped out of a rift in the smoldering crater! You cannot know nothing."
If she's the prime suspect for a bombing, that explains why she would be locked up under guard, at least.
"I am sorry, but I have no memory of how I came to be in this place. This- rift?- you mention does not sound familiar."
Another woman slips quietly in through the door and places a restraining hand on the armored one's shoulder. "Easy, Cassandra. We may need her yet."
"As I said, my name is Elesse Vendar. I am a member of the Jedi Order. I do not know where this place is, who you are, or what act of terrorism you accuse me of."
"I do not remember. You might know better than I, as you saw fit to bind me."
"I was... exploring an odd site in the Mid Rim. The planet was uninhabited."
"You see, Elesse, the circumstances of your arrival have precipitated a good deal of chaos. Some of which, we think, is connected to that mark you have on your hand. And if you don't know anything about that..."
"I am sorry, but it is as much a mystery to me as it apparently is to you."
"Cassandra, take her out the back. Show her the sky. I'll try to meet you at the forward camp."
And with those instructions, Leliana turns and leaves the room, signaling the guards to follow her.
Outside, it is a chill day in early fall. The buildings around are rustic, constructed mostly of wood, though the one that Elesse and Cassandra exit is stone. It is also considerably bigger than the others, perhaps some sort of meeting hall or gathering place. Snow-dusted mountains dominate the horizon, studded with green conifers and shedding deciduous trees on their lower slopes.
In the slate grey sky, a gaping green wound stands out starkly. It is the same color as the mark that flares on Elesse's hand. As they stand and watch for a moment, it crackles in time with a flare of said mark, and a trace of fire arcs down out of the wound to impact the ground in the distance.
"We call it the Breach, a massive rift into the world of demons that grows larger with each passing hour. And it is not the only such rift. Just the largest. All were caused by the explosion at the Conclave."
"The Fade. Do you not- Of course. It is the realm of dreams and magic, where mages draw their power from. It is inhabited by spirits and malevolent demons that are now coming through, killing everything around them."
What, is this some kind of fantasy novel? Mages and demons to go along with the steel swords and plate armor. Cassandra seems perfectly sincere, though. Best to treat this seriously.
"Do you have some kind of plan for addressing these- tears?"
"We... believe... that the mark on your hand is connected to the rifts. By the Maker's grace, it may prove the key to closing them."
Ah. Local religion.
"With any luck," Elesse agrees. "Then I presume our next step is to get close to one of these rifts and see what happens?"
"I would suggest that I will be more useful to you if you were to untie me, especially if we will be traversing a hostile environment."
Elesse will apply a slight bit of mental pressure. Just enough to smooth out the spikes of ill feeling Cassandra is experiencing based on the stressful circumstances. The texture of her mind is a little strange, slightly... viscous, is the best way she can think to describe it. Thicker than it should be.
"I have no more wish to see your world overrun by these demons than you, Cassandra. And I am a Jedi. I am sworn to protect the innocent. This my calling. Please."
"Do not make me regret this," she mutters, reaching out with a small knife to cut Elesse free.
The town is relatively small, so it doesn't take them long to get the gates. The wall isn't much, a simple wood construction. Cassandra walks with an air of purpose, and with Elesse freed, they don't attract too much attention. People are mostly quietly shellshocked, hurrying about their business with their heads down, flinching every time the sky flares. There is panic, bubbling below the surface. It wouldn't take much to set it off. For now though, it remains contained, the lack of strikes within the town itself and the presence of armed soldiers guarding the wall keeping tensions in check.
From the gate, the two women set off up a road that leads into the mountains, across a stone bridge over a frozen stream. As they leave the town behind, the sound of the falling streaks from the Breach grows louder, cracking like thunder.
Elesse's mark continues flaring in time with the Breach, and a particular violent one breaks through her composure to make her stumble.
"I will be." She holds up her left hand and flexes it. "Though the pains grow worse."
"Perhaps because we are moving closer to the Breach? Or there may a lesser rift nearby."
One of the green streaks from the breach barrels down towards them. Elesse is barely able to pull them away from where it impacts like a small meteor, flattening a few small trees.
From out of the charred crater, a figure covered in thick purple rags extracts itself, emitting a palpable aura of menace.
"Stay behind me," Cassandra barks, drawing her sword and unlimbering her shield to close with the demon.
Elesse will do that. Though that doesn't mean she will be inactive. First, what can she feel about the shape of this presumptive-demon's mind?
It is... remarkably one-dimensional. It doesn't seem to possess the full range of desires and drives she would expect from a sapient, and the range of how it might express those desires and drives is similarly limited. She could not reasonably, for example, expect it to be amenable to or indeed capable of a negotiated surrender.
Well. That lends credence to what Cassandra has said about them previously. And makes her less conflicted about the violent solution.
There is a surfeit of debris in the region, thanks to the creature's arrival. Elesse lifts some with the Force and slams it into the back of the creature, knocking it off balance enough for Cassandra to deliver a killing blow.
She turns, shaking the ichor off her sword before sheathing it.
"What... was that? That was you?"
"Yes. I apologize if that startled you, but you seem competent and I did not want to risk closing, unarmed as I am."
"That was the Force. I said I was a Jedi. This is part of what that means."
Cassandra grunts. "And I suppose I should be expecting more of your Force... sorcery."
They continue on up the path for a while longer, but before they can reach the camp, sounds of battle echo through the forest along with flashes in a familiar shade of green.
When they get closer, they can see that there is indeed a rift on the ground, spitting out demons. Battling them are a short, stocky blond-haired man firing an elaborate repeating crossbow with impressive accuracy, a bald man with pointed ears shooting blasts of energy from a staff, and a lean, long-haired woman with tattoos on her face tearing into the front ranks with a pair of long daggers.
Elesse takes a moment to assess the battlefield. Looks like eight hostiles, including more of the drippy purple ones, some almost unformed wispy figures of greenish mist, and some gangly scaled lizard-hybrid creatures which radiate an aura of menace. Not because they are threatening per se, but as more of a mental effect. Noted. Elesse can form the shape of her thoughts to decline this influence.
She thinks they are still the most dangerous creatures currently present, though, owing to their maneuverability, evidently tough hides, and natural weapons. As she still lacks a weapon, it is infeasible to directly engage them... But those wisps are so indistinct she may be able to dispell them entirely, thus freeing up the others attention.
She reaches out in the Force to one of the wisps. As with the other demon, its consciousness is alien in its orientation, but fuzzier, unfocused, the locus of its obsession not fully determined. Elesse bears her will down upon it, pressing, pushing different directions, muddling things still further until- With a silent poof and faint, lingering confusion, it vanishes.
"Thanks for the assist!" the woman calls, taking advantage of Cassandra's arrival and the diminished wisp harassments to dart around and hamstring one of the lizardy demons.
The tide has definitively shifted, and soon enough the field is clear.
"Quickly!" the bald man calls to Elesse. "Use the Mark! Before more come through!"
Right. And how...? Ah. There is a tugging, from her hand to the rift. And if she holds it up, she can almost feel it catch, a hook in the fabric of reality. She can push or she can pull, and if she pulls, space folds over itself and the rift disappears in a flash of ethereal power.
The short man hefts his crossbow. "Just that easy, huh? Shit, Seeker, you and our new friend could have show up sooner."
"Truthfully, Master Tethras, I expected her to remain comatose for at least a day longer given the extent of her... injuries. Though the surprise is welcome, to be sure."
"I am happy to be of what help I may. Though if we all know each other, perhaps introductions are in order...?"
"Elesse Vendar, this is Solas, and Varric Tethras," Cassandra indicates the bald man and the short one respectively. "Her, I do not know."
"Keeper wanted to see if your truce talks would work, or if we needed to get more worried. So she sent me." Shrug.
"An impartial observer. Come on, Seeker Pentaghast. The world's eyes were always going to be on what happened here, no matter what your guest list was like. Although I can't say I mind not getting into the Temple now, considering."
"Twirly here has stabbed more than a few demons in the face before they could get to me," Varric says. "She's all right in my book."
"Protecting your pretty face is the duty of every good Thedosian, Master Tethras. Who else would write our next favorite novel series?"
"Heh. Whatever works." Varric turns back to Elesse. "So where did you come from, anyway? Know anything about the-" fingerwaggle "-magic mark thing? Chuckles here claimed to be stumped, and he's the closest we have to an expert right now."
Solas smiles tightly. "Hardly an expert; it is an obscure sort of magic. I was focused more on attempting to heal her."
"Then you have my thanks, Solas. As Cassandra said, my name is Elesse Vendar. I am a Master of the Jedi Order, and Coruscant is my home as much as any planet might be."
"...We should keep moving," Cassandra says. "We need to get to the forward camp. Are there more rifts in the way?"
"Not between here and there. They've mostly been further up the mountain, nearer to the temple."
"That is fortunate. It must make it easier to contain the demons as well."
"We're holding the line for now," Varric says. "But it's a good thing you're awake now, and that your glowy hand can actually do something about these rifts. If more of them are going to start showing up behind the line, things will get ugly."
Varric has the look of a man who has seen something like this happen before. "Then as Cassandra says, let us not delay."
The forward camp, when they get there, is a bustle of activity. Soldiers moving to and fro, cookfires, a small medical wing tended by a handful of men and women in white and red robes, crude elevated watch platforms.
In the center, Leliana is receiving reports and coordinating activities with the aid of a map spread out across a trestle table. Another man in the white and red is hovering anxiously, not appearing to be contributing anything useful.
His fear and anxiety is palpable, even without her Force senses. Not a military man, evidently, nor, Elesse thinks, one used to presiding over active crises. Possibly a bureaucrat, left in charge now after higher-ranking members of his organization perished in the blast.
Leliana looks up to see Elesse and Cassandra's party approaching. "You made it. What of the rift back there...?"
