plotting: killypheus

[cozen]

Hiya. This is an experimental plotting discussion/brainstorming post for killing! Corypheus! eventually! with some build-up!!!! There are comments below for:

1. Questions. If you want a lore check or something. I am not the only person who can answer these, so feel free to jump in (or correct me if I do answer and it's wrong).

2. General Proposals. This is for discussing ideas for how this could happen — either the thing itself or the build-up — in a general way.

3. Character Dreams. This is for registering desires for characters to participate (and how, if you know). Everyone be brave about indicating a desire for your character to do something important! We're all there is! And we're all good at sharing, so if we have (for example) multiple people for whom getting to actually murder the guy would be an important character moment, we can team them up and work it out so they're all cool.

Comments

QUESTIONS

[cozen]

GENERAL PROPOSALS

[cozen]

preliminary steps

[cozen]

Off the top of my head, some things that could or should occur:

- An initial attempt/opportunity to kill him that results in him regenerating, to clue everyone into needing a better plan next time. (Cami has already volunteered Teren as tribute for the blighted thing he body-hops into.)

- Nailing down that his red lyrium dragon is key to his immortality. (Ammmy has had fingers in this for a long time!)

- Figuring out how to kill the dragon. In DAI this is obviously via the Well of Sorrows giving the Inquisitor access to their own dragon, one way or another, but we can do it however we want.

- A plan for getting access to Corypheus and the dragon somehow. Setting a trap?? Sneaking around to discover a time and place they'll be vulnerable???

- Side note: we also have the two one other ancient magisters with his own dragons who is running around as his sidekick. We could kill him too or keep him alive for complications later.

[elegiaque]

man’s gotta keep his dragon somewhere right — we could do a tevinter infiltration mission to info gather where is corypheus vibing between atrocities anyway?

[cozen]

yes yes yes.

I think what we're going to do is run a preliminary encounter where they try to kill him and discover that they cannot just Do That via him horribly regenerating, then buckle down on dragon stuff and a second attempt that requires more coordination because they have to kill the dragon and then kill him before he has a chance to replace it or something, and first they should definitely have to go do some legwork to figure out where he keeps the dragon and where he & it might be vulnerable again.

aftermath

[cozen]

Trying to keep this separate: ideas for AUing the immediate aftermath.

Cass & I have had some discussions about letting Corypheus bust open the Gates as he's been trying to do, resulting in the Veil either actually coming down or it just being like busting a seal so Solas could move onto the next step. We were trying to seed some evidence that Solas's people were letting him do that (and responsible for info about how to contain the Blight in the meantime) because it aligned with Veil destruction goals, etc. So that's still an option.

Could be that the Orb isn't destroyed this time??

Or. things.

Re: aftermath

[elegiaque]

i do love the idea of fucking with the veil and messing with all those gates — even veil fuckery around their ability to get near corypheus at all?

INITIAL ATTEMPT PLOT

[uniform]

Sometime in the final weeks of 9:52, Corypheus comes to the Cauldron, an abandoned Warden outpost filled with the order's darkest secrets, with a small group of Wardens and Venatori to investigate the possibility that it hides a Gate. Considering this their best shot to defeat him, Riftwatch mobilizes from the Hossberg lodge to meet him there and end the war once and for all. Unfortunately, with his dragon still alive, Corypheus is functionally immortal, and Riftwatch will be forced to retreat after losing one—or more—of their own.


i can make a post for this plot as-is, but i'm down for any and all suggestions or improvements you guys can think of!

SIGN-UPS

[uniform]

During this plot, a number of Riftwatch agents will see evidence of things in the Cauldron going deeper than they seem. Comment below to sign up to be randomized a clue regarding what lies below the Warden's shame!

[wontknowwhen]

I would love a Warden clue for my Warden, please!

[thereneverwas]

raise hand!

GRIFFON RIDERS

[uniform]

Does your character ride a griffon? Leave their name here and maybe something will happen to ittttt

(Isseya will happen to it, but you'll get it back eventually!)

[doneisdone]

Teren rides Blanche and will obviously not be returning, so,

STOLEN

[uniform]

blanche is having a really bad day

[doneisdone]

:(

[wearyallalone]

a preview of the sad icon I'll use if the rng picks Pamplemousse

SAFE

[uniform]

rng smiles on vanya this day!

[dirthsal]

ghostface noooooo

STOLEN

[uniform]

rng does not smile on me, which feels rude tbh

CHARACTER DREAMS

[cozen]

[doneisdone]

I would love it if either Teren lands the killing blow (so she can be gloating about it right before The Thing Happens) or that she be doing some other important thing like leading a team or interfacing with outside-Riftwatch folks. Because I want it to be as inconvenient as possible when she explodes. sorry you know how I am

[portalling]

No need for actual killing blows BUT I would love for Stephen to bring some flashy weird pew-pew magic to the final fight a la Endgame, since it’s been a while since he’s used it on the battlefield— maybe his new Reality Break spell (e.g. making Corypheus see other ways his life could’ve gone, seeing his death in DA:I with a living Inquisitor lol, being a human magister again, dying a normal dull mortal death back in ancient Tevinter) helps distract Corypheus long enough for someone else to get the hit in?

[youwonscience]

I'd love to be able to put the final piece in the red lyrium dragon puzzle (with others, of course). Even though Julius is off for Orzammar, Cosima has former-Sashamiri's notes and has herself been working on red lyrium for ages.

I don't know what makes most sense, but off the top of my head, maybe a newer-to-Riftwatch character has a piece of knowledge (Evka as a Warden? Cassian with Tevinter lore?) that allows the team to make the connection of how he's using the dragon in the aftermath of the failed attempt. I mean, we can always MacGuffin a magic way the team gets the answer, that's available. But I do think it would be more satisfying to have the cinematic "one piece of knowledge slots into the blackboards full of notes and suddenly everything is clear" catharsis, and maybe even a lead on the dragon's vulnerabilities. We've got a lot of supporting evidence from earlier reports and it would be cool to tie back to one or more with a breakthrough.

[interroga]

oooh I’m totally down for this! This also gave me the idea that Cassian could probably steal some paperwork from the magister office in Bad Blood while they’re already infiltrating them and he’s already planting evidence there. So some combo of that + existing Shadow Dragons intel could help out, down the line.

[youwonscience]

In which I dreamed that I responded to this, I guess!

But hugely belatedly, I feel like this is an excellent idea, A+