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Annie is on her trike on her way to school.
This van labeled HAZARDOUS MATERIALS is also on its way to school.
The van hits a patch of black ice. It goes spinning, it turns over, it slices itself open on a wrought-iron fence with spikes, and it disgorges boxes which smash open on the pavement. Some of them skitter clear into the slush.
Some of them - along with most of the van - land on Annie.
There is a whirl of bewildering pain and confusion -
- and she falls to the ground, injured and in more kinds of discomfort beyond that and moaning.
She slowly starts to heal before the eyes of her sole witness.
six artifact pileup annie in thedas
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keep_busy
first-and-final
"Unfortunately for your runecrafting we'll be travelling pretty light, but you can bring some things, just not a whole cartload."
keep_busy
"I go through stuff pretty fast when I'm inventing... maybe I'll just bring the most promising specimens to show to anybody we meet on the way who might be able to help. And work on my book en route instead."
keep_busy
Annie has developed a keener sense of the nature of Stalas's various smiles and what they sense like via the practice of sign language. This is a good smile.
And, really rather soon, she gets packed up - clothes and spare frost amulet and notes and paper and pen and the most promising rune lights that she may as well test if she can - so they can tromp out into the surface world.
And, really rather soon, she gets packed up - clothes and spare frost amulet and notes and paper and pen and the most promising rune lights that she may as well test if she can - so they can tromp out into the surface world.
first-and-final
The surface world: is cold.
Stalas pauses in the shadow of Orzammar's massive stone gate, blinking up at the pale sky.
"...So, the rumours of people falling into the sky are completely unfounded, right?"
Stalas pauses in the shadow of Orzammar's massive stone gate, blinking up at the pale sky.
"...So, the rumours of people falling into the sky are completely unfounded, right?"
keep_busy
"...I'm going to swap frost amulets, my other one's a little weaker," Annie comments, and she rummages in her bag. "Nobody's ever fallen into the sky on my world."
first-and-final
"Just checking," he says. "Wouldn't it be nice if we could reclaim the Deep Roads between here and whatever thaigs were near Redcliffe? Oh well. Later. I'm fine, let's go."
Hesta stops beside Annie and waits for Annie to get her amulet resettled and become pick-uppable. She brought her blanket. Kador, beside Stalas, squints at the sky a little too.
"Isn't there supposed to be a sun? I remember hearing about a sun," rumbles Kador.
"Isn't there supposed to be a sun? I remember hearing about a sun," rumbles Kador.
moreperfect
"There is." Tev points. "It's the slightly brighter bit over there. It would be more visible if it weren't overcast today."
keep_busy
"And one shouldn't look directly at it," says Annie, settling herself on her golem vehicle. (It would be much pleasanter to be carried by Stalas but a lot of this snow is deep enough to completely engulf him and Kador will have comparatively less trouble keeping her able to breathe.) "Although I don't know if that applies to golems. ...On my world people do sometimes go into the sky in a controlled fashion."
moreperfect
"Really? Didn't I hear you don't have dragons? What do you go into the sky on?"
keep_busy
"Machines. I know... a tiny bit about how they work, probably not enough for anyone to reinvent them here any time soon."
moreperfect
"Fair enough."
They set off for Redcliffe, with Tev in the lead. Since out of the five of them only two need to sleep, Hesta can carry Annie and Kador can carry Tev during the night; and they brought Stalas's golem armour, although he prefers to carry it rather than wear it unless he is about to be engulfed in a snowdrift or fight a darkspawn. There is a pleasant absence of darkspawn to be found on this trip, though. All in all, they make good time.
They set off for Redcliffe, with Tev in the lead. Since out of the five of them only two need to sleep, Hesta can carry Annie and Kador can carry Tev during the night; and they brought Stalas's golem armour, although he prefers to carry it rather than wear it unless he is about to be engulfed in a snowdrift or fight a darkspawn. There is a pleasant absence of darkspawn to be found on this trip, though. All in all, they make good time.
keep_busy
Annie works on her book on the way; one advantage of being carried by Hesta instead of Stalas is that Hesta's a really smooth ride and she can scribble things like "airplanes... helicopters... internal combustion engine" and fill in notes to self about what she remembers of these things in between.
The village of Redcliffe is a quiet place. They pass through it briefly on their way into the castle, which is even quieter. The golems wait by the entrance while Tev, Annie, and Stalas are shown directly into a bedroom containing a very unhealthy-looking old man sleeping in a huge bed.
moreperfect
"How soon will we know if it worked...?" says the woman who let them into the room, glancing nervously between Tev and Annie.
"Hard to say," says Tev. "But it's bound to help, anyway."
"Hard to say," says Tev. "But it's bound to help, anyway."
keep_busy
"I was very badly injured when I landed and I could walk a few minutes later," says Annie. "But it could be quicker or slower on illnesses if it works at all."
moreperfect
"Thank you so much," says the woman.
"No problem," says Tev. "While we wait, Annie, Stalas, is there anything else you wanted to do while you're here?"
"No problem," says Tev. "While we wait, Annie, Stalas, is there anything else you wanted to do while you're here?"
keep_busy
"I don't know what there is to do here," Annie says. "I don't have my tests complete to start hiring people..."
first-and-final
"Now that we're on the surface and not travelling, we could get a bunch of plants to test," says Stalas.
keep_busy
"Yeah, I suppose we could go shopping for seeds and stuff so Bhelen doesn't have to source them. And so I have a better idea of what to recommend in the event it works; I keep just saying 'potatoes' but for all I know there are more suitable plants here that there weren't in my world."
keep_busy
Annie turns to the woman who let them in. "If it hasn't already been explained - while he has the healing power you absolutely mustn't have any music of any kind anywhere near him. That's the side effect of the magic."