player plot: the horror of sarrux's pass

[aberratic]

Who: Ness, and up to 7 others
Open/Closed: Open
Where: Outside Wycome
When: Spooky Month (October 1)

The Horror of Sarrux's Pass

The residents of Sarrux's Pass, a moderately-sized village tucked into the mountains near Wycome, have long held that their settlement used to be a bustling trade city where dwarves were as plentiful as humans and they had constant contact between the surface and the Deep Roads. They were finally vindicated a few months ago when an earthquake caused a landslide in the surrounding mountains, revealing a long-lost outlet from the Deep Roads. They were vindicated again, finding ore and artifacts, and Sarrux's Pass quickly became a magnet for treasure hunters, Lords of Fortune, historians, archaeologists, and anyone in search of a quick buck.

It's been a few months since the reveal of the Deep Roads entrance. News from Sarrux's Pass has slowed to a trickle, then a drip, and now, in the past weeks, nothing. Riftwatch has been tasked with investigating the village, with three goals: find out what happened to the residents, recover whatever valuables they can from the Deep Roads, and, if necessary, close the entrance again. There may be Venatori in the area, or Darkspawn, or territorial prospectors—without contact with the village, there's no way of knowing what Riftwatch may discover.

Get in losers, we're going to the Deep Roads.

At the start of Harvestmere (October), a small contingent of Riftwatch agents will be sent to the small village of Sarrux's Pass, in the mountains near Wycome, to investigate why news from the town has dried up in the past weeks. While there, they will absolutely not encounter any Horrors, nor will they mutate in any unfortunate ways, nor will anyone die or witness any deaths. Everything is going to be Fine and Uneventful.

More seriously, this plot is based on the Tevinter Nights short story The Horror of Hormak, and will mostly be centered around spooky vibes and forging trauma bonds. There will be an opportunity for any rifters who come along to experience temporary mutations from exposure to freaky lyrium, and for natives to experience permanent mutation from ingesting freaky liquids. Anyone who wants their native character to experience permanent mutation has to get with the mods about what that would entail, as it could severely hamper their ability to move about Thedas.

As you might have guessed from the possibility of mutation, this plot will cover themes of body horror, as well as NPC death, ghost town/apocalypse vibes, there may be some dying children, and general horror stuff. If that isn't something you're cool with, best to give this plot a miss!

Ness is not in charge of who gets chosen for this group, so it's truly open to anyone and everyone who might be interested in their characters going—we'll just say the team was voluntold, if there's no reason for all of them to choose to go together. If there are more than 7 additional sign-ups, I'll RNG who gets to go!

ETA: RNG has spoken, chosen players have been reached out to! Thank you all for your interest!!! © tessisamess