trusthell | Welcome.

Welcome.

You wake with the unshakable feeling that you shouldn't be here.

Perhaps you were in the middle of something, perhaps you weren't. Either way, you're waking up in an unfamiliar location with no recollection of how you got here. The room you've woken up in is sparsely-decorated, though that might be difficult to tell at first given how nice the beds are...but eventually you'll notice a few things that are a little...off. Maybe the scent is striking you wrong - it's clean, but it's not yours. Maybe your bed back home doesn't support your back in quite this way. Maybe you should be seeing sunlight through your window by now.

Maybe you should have a window in the first place.

This isn't right, but leaving the room won't give you any more answers. You might want to grab the silver key sitting on your trunk on the way out.

Don't worry though, you aren't all alone here. Once you step outside your room into the hallway, you'll notice that a few others are emerging from their rooms as well. It looks like they're just as confused and concerned as you are. Feel free to talk to them, but none of you know how exactly you wound up here and maybe some useful information can be found by exploring.

If you follow the hallway to its end (and it's a very long hallway), you'll eventually arrive in the foyer. You'll find some very interesting information about yourselves on the wall near the clock. Perhaps even more importantly, if you look on the other side of the multi-pendulumed thing, you'll find other framed information that you might want to pay attention to. It could very well be the key to escaping this strange place, after all. Don't worry if you forget the rules, you can find them in every room of the building.

Of course, search as you might, you won't find a doorway or a window of any sort. Getting out won't be so easy, it seems.

But who knows? Perhaps your fellow captives have something to say about all of this.

Welcome to Chronos University.

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[She talks. Of all the bullshit Varric has run into in the past hour, it's this that pushes him over the edge. For a moment, the silver-tongued dwarf is speechless (something that likely goes unappreciated, as no one quite realizes just how much he can run his mouth), simply gazing at the nug-like creature.]

[And then, finally, he allows a rumbling laugh to escape him.]

And here I thought I'd never meet anyone smaller than me. [Varric chuckled again, before holding out a hand.] Varric Tethras. What can I do for you?

Oh! Um...

[Judy is actually quite surprised by the gesture, seeing how he's the first to actually offer anything of the sort in greeting that wasn't condescending or simple cooperation. Admittedly she's...still a bit frightened by these people on the inside, but it'd be rude not to.

She stands up on her tiptoes, reaching up to carefully take hold of Varric's hand with a furry paw. ...one of his fingers, to be more precise. Then she comes back down to the floor, gesturing to the profiles and rules above.]

Well, Varric, I would like to know if the information listed in your profile is accurate or not.

[While normally he might have balked at authority figures, the fact that someone was taking the time to try and figure all this nonsense out was relieving. Cooperation wasn't exactly his strongest suit, but he opted to stifle his sarcasm and wit for the time being.]

[Three times he looked over the information on the wall, and on the third, just as he was coming around the idea of it all being correct, Varric caught on to a flaw.]

The age is wrong. [He spoke mostly to himself, ignoring Judy for the time being. He'd often lied about his age, but he never truly forgot it.]

[After a moment of silence, time spent warring with his thoughts, he turned to Judy. His expression still looked troubled, even as he tried to force a smile to his lips.]

I'm 40. Not 43.

[Judy nods, her ears flopping a little as she glances back up at the wall.]

Okay, then you're the second person to tell me this. Is that the only thing that's incorrect? Your age?

[The professional world saver bit sounded a bit hopeful, rather than accurate, but it seemed their captor was prone to dramatics, so Varric wouldn't make a big deal out of it]

That's it. [He offered Judy a grin.] I definitely do enjoy avoiding my responsibilities.

[Judy ends up mirroring his smile a little in spite of herself. What can she say? It's infectious.]

Don't we all, sometimes? I appreciate your input, though. Any little bit helps, and it's starting to look like no matter how correct, whoever brought us here has a lot of information they shouldn't.

[He does that to people. And animals too, now, apparently. He learns something new about himself every day.]

Makes you wonder how they got it. [But then, most of his information was pretty easy to guess at. The Red Lyrium was likely the only surprise, and even that had become relatively public knowledge since them.]

I guess my next question is how easily accessible information might be where you are from. Word-of-mouth only, personal documents, anything like that?

[Varric shrugged]

I can't speak for everyone where I'm from, but me personally? I'm an open book. [Which reminded him...] A fair amount of this information could probably be found on the inside of any of my own books but... some of it is word-of-mouth, closed ranks stuff.

[Not that he suspected anyone in the Inquisition's inner ranks to go blabbing about that.]

Okay, that's good to know. I'm not after any personal info, just any leads as to how our host might have gotten his or her hands on it.

[Closed ranks...she tilts her head a little, curious.]

Are you an officer too, or something else?

Don't worry, I'm an open book. [He couldn't help a short chuckle at his pun, which grew into a full blown laugh at Judy's second question. Him, an officer? Even if his height weren't laughable (which... wouldn't be a good comment to make, company considered), there was his own lawlessness to consider.]

[Still chortling to himself, Varric shook his head.]

Nothing so fanciful. [But then, how did he describe it?] I'm something of an unwelcome adviser for the last army standing between my world and its destruction. [Not fanciful at all.]

[TOTALLY NOT...of course, while Judy is one to uphold the law even outside of her jurisdiction, it's not like she could hold past events against someone she's just met. If anything, she's just really curious...and had been hoping for a moment that maybe she'd met another authority figure.]

Oh! That...sounds difficult.

[Her expression falls a little as she looks off to one side, sheepishly. World-wide destruction? Y i k e s.]

You're telling me.

[Never mind the fact that it got infinitely more difficult now that he was trapped here. Judy probably understood that fact though, so Varric kept his mouth shut.]

I'd say the pay is good, but it turns out being a hero isn't all that lucrative. [He glanced at her and tried to force a serious look to his face. It felt like he was sidetracking her investigation.] Need anything else?

[Whether he realizes it or not, any information is useful when you're an officer who literally has nothing to work with. And Judy knows about having nothing to work with.

She taps a paw to her chin in thought, briefly.]

One other question. Do you recognize anyone else here, by any chance?

Unfortunately not.
[Not that he would have wished this bullshit on any of his friends. It just might have been nice to have company, like some of the others seemed to have. Especially if that company could help him devise a way out of here.]

[Judy nods, making a mental note.]

I just ask because I figure if someone went to the trouble of going to your world to get you, they might have grabbed a few others while they were there.

I hope not. [Could there be others somewhere in this place? Was Hawke sitting there, talking to an animal and thinking about him? Worse, what if they had invited Sebastian along.]

Doesn't make sense to just grab me. Plenty more powerful people out there.

[The better question is, why grab a police officer, even if they're a rabbit? Or a fox, if Nick is to be believed.]

...remind me. What did they give you as your title again?

[Aaaand there goes Varric's mood. He crossed his arms over his chest, making a show of rolling his eyes.]

Balanced. Whatever that means.

[SORRY VARRIC...she's gotta be thorough.]

Maybe it means you're good at...keeping things organized?

[Yeah, that's a scoff.]

You should see my desk back home. [That's a no.]

[Judy huffs a faint laugh herself, putting her paws on her hips and shaking her head.]

Guess not, then. Seems like some of our "titles" are pretty straightforward where others aren't.

[But maybe he'll figure out what it's supposed to mean eventually?]

Is that so, Determined? [He lifted a brow at her, a playful smile dancing across his lips. At least someone got an appropriate title.]

I think as long as you're on the job, we'll be alright.

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