Player Plot: The Days That Bind Us (Continued One More Time)

[exequy]

As discussed here, some Circle mages have decided to go on strike if the phylacteries now in the Inquisition's possession are not destroyed. A letter has been sent off to the advisors with a lot of arguments and reasons and, ultimately, a demand that the phylacteries be destroyed by Cloudreach 14. When that deadline arrives, rather than outright agreeing to the destruction, the Inquisition will invite the mages to send representatives to Skyhold to negotiate a solution.

Nell and one or two additional delegates (to be chosen IC, see below) will go to Skyhold to argue with the advisors and the Chantry and Templar personnel who have also been invited to the table. To apply pressure during those negotiations, and to keep this plot from being totally anticlimactic, any Circle mages who are still on board will go on strike at that time. (Whether they stay in the Gallows or relocate during that time will be hashed out through RP.) To keep from ruining other people's pre-planned plots, the strike will only last until Cloudreach 19, when an agreement will be reached.

HOW IT WILL BE RESOLVED

To spoil everyone a bit, the main result of the negotiations will be the Inquisition agreeing to destroy the phylacteries of all of the mages currently working for or with the Inquisition, unless specific mages request otherwise, while the remaining phylacteries will be kept intact (for now) due to the possibility that their owners are among those who defected to the Venatori or are out in the woods doing freaky demon blood rituals.

Other details aren't set in stone yet. For example, the Chantry will be demanding that the remaining phylacteries remain in its possession rather than the Inquisition's, a Templar representative will want the destruction of apprentices' phylacteries to be contingent on them first undergoing Harrowings, etc. Whether they get their way will depend on the negotiations (which will mostly be hashed out OOC with participating players rather than us trying to RP/NPC it all).

We're doing our best to balance three things:

(1) what we feel would be a realistic, palatable conclusion for the other parties, given Thedas' overall conservatism;

(2) leaving some aspects of this conflict unresolved so there can still be stuff to debate and plot about, rather than the two of us Solving Phylacteries Forever with one player plot; and

(3) allowing enough of a victory to end the strike and keep everyone's characters playable.

If something about this would cause your character to quit the Inquisition forever and become unplayable—keeping in mind that Corypheus does threaten the entire world, that they wouldn't have to consider the matter permanently resolved so much as temporarily acceptable until the world is saved, and that they could continue to advocate and scheme to resolve their remaining concerns—please let us know here or via PM elsewhere, and we'll see what we can do to help.

IC CONSEQUENCES

Those who stop working will be docked pay for the days they do not work, and while they will not be forced to leave the Gallows or starved by the local Division Heads, they will lose access to any amenities that they're granted as full Inquisition members— sensitive information, offices, equipment, extra comforts (including fancy food instead of bread and potatoes), or the right to have their opinion heard regarding any of the Inquisition's official business—for the duration of the strike.

We'll make sure that "and we all get to keep our jobs" is part of the formal deal that's reached with the Inquisition, so no one in a leadership role will be permanently fired and your characters won't be locked out of plots for all eternity. However, that won't shield characters from ongoing CR-based consequences from other characters who believe they essentially deserted, placed their personal desires above stopping the impending apocalypse, etc., and may be reluctant to trust or rely on them in the future.

We tried to provide an escape valve for characters who would might go on strike, but whose players don't want to deal with those repercussions, by having the strike occur after the Inquisition has agreed to negotiations. So if you don't want the consequences and can reasonably say your character would choose not to go on strike immediately and instead wait for the outcome of the negotiations, you have a way out!

THINGS TO DO

CIRCLE MAGES

(1) If your character will be participating in the strike, let us know here, whenever, so we have a headcount and everyone else knows who won't be working.

(2) If you're interested in your character being among the delegation that goes to Skyhold to negotiate, or want to nominate someone else, make a pitch for that here by April 7. After that we'll make a poll and let mage players vote.

(3) There's a new discussion point regarding a strike exception for healers and what the scope of that exception would be, happening here, if your character has something to say about that.

EVERYONE ELSE

If your character would take some relevant action to support or oppose the strike, let us know here so we can take it into account when we write the log and work out how the negotiations turn out. For example, if your character sends their own separate letter for/against destroying phylacteries or regarding the strike itself, let us know so we can factor that into the negotiations! Or if they would do something in Kirkwall or the Gallows that should be taken into account when we put up an open log, like painting MAGE FREEDOM on the walls of the Gallows (don't actually do that, it only makes work for the serving staff) or refusing strikers access to something under their control, let us know that too.

The Circle mages won't officially ask anyone else to strike with them, and some might actively discourage other people joining in, since part of the point is to show how much the Inquisition is relying on Circle mages themselves on a daily basis. But if your apostates/rifters/sympathetic non-mages would want to participate or support them some other way, or if they would want to organize to join them, or whatever else, they're welcome to reach out to either of our characters or to any other participating Circle mage to make arrangements.

Comments

QUESTIONS/CONCERNS

[exequy]

If you have any questions or concerns, let us know!

[faithlikeaseed]

Neither a question nor a concern--well, actually it might be a question! Anna and I had it that Hasmal's Knight-Commander, Brycen, brought the Hasmali phylacteries (including Van & Myr's) along with him to Skyhold. Would he have been made to turn those over with the others or could they still be reasonably under his guard & that of the Hasmali templars, separate from the cache that was recently retrieved?

[samahl]

How best can non-mage characters show support? Like, Cyril would be 100% behind this whole thing, so could he like bring food or blankets or...? I know you said some of the deets are still being hammered out, but is the idea that they'll be gathered somewhere visible so that having that kind of support would be useful? Or is there a better way for non-mages to participate/support this?

STRIKE SIGN-UPS

[exequy]

If your character will be among those refusing to work, sign up here. And if there would be caveats—like refusing to do most work but still performing certain duties, or giving up halfway through, etc.—let us know in the notes field.

<b>Name:</b> <b>Division:</b> <b>Project(s):</b> <b>Notes:</b>

[dissono]

Name: Gervais Vauquelin
Division: Research
Project(s): N/A
Notes: he literally just arrived so he's basically going on strike with everyone else before he's even done more than set up his work area and unpack. Also, declines to be exempted for healing.

[exequy]

Name: Kostos Averesch
Division: Scouting
Project(s): Northern Powers, Elven Artifacts
Notes: He's gonna leave Ciri in charge of NP, so everyone be nice to her

[altusimperius]

Name: Benedict Artemaeus
Division: PRISONER (research)
Project(s): sort of a little bit northern powers
Notes: he doesn't even go here but no way is he missing this

[wythersake]

Name: Isaac
Division: Forces
Project(s): Base Operations
Notes: Won't be taking any healer exemption, but will helpfully refer anyone who needs it to the general concept of leeches.

[misdirection_hex]

Name: Vandelin Elris
Division: Diplomacy
Project(s): Northern Powers
Notes: Might have to have his hand swatted away from whatever piles up on his desk, but will commit until the end.

[champions]

Name: Marisol Vivas
Division: Scouting
Project(s): Northern Powers, Naval Presence
Notes: can she sign up twice???

[keenly]

Name: Colin
Division: Diplomacy
Project(s): Base Operations
Notes: Colin will be closing his store for the duration of the strike.

[justice_is_blond]

Name: Anders
Division: Research
Project(s): Northern Powers, Corypheus' History
Notes: He'll make an exception for life or death cases.

[overharrowed]

Name: Julius
Division: Research
Project(s): Corypheus' History (leader), Other Powers
Notes: He is going to leave very precise notes about the state of everything in his project, but is not going to attempt to designate who will be in charge in his absence.

[circleprodigy]

Name: Inessa Serra
Division: Research
Project(s): Rifts and the Veil (project leader), Red Lyrium
Notes: She'll still be tending to her Grey Warden duties (Griffon Keeper and such). She'll leave her project duties to Myr (if not he's not striking as well).

[winterwinds]

Name: Audra Hawthorne
Division: Research
Project(s): n/a
Notes: so are we having that clam bake or what

[foundmyselfagain]

Name: Gareth
Division: Research
Project(s): Base Operations: Archivist
Notes: Have fun archiving those phylacteries LOSERS

[supersonic]

Name: Pietro Maximoff
Division: Scouting
Project(s): N/A
Notes: Joining team "literally just got here," also team "mediumly shit at magic anyway" but he'll conspicuously help even less to make a statement.

DELEGATE SIGN-UPS

[exequy]

In addition to Nell, one or two other characters can be part of the delegation that goes to Skyhold to negotiate with the advisors. (Or if there isn't any interest, we'll just add some Skyhold mage NPCs instead.) Rather than trying to RP and NPC several days of discussion, we'll mainly be hashing this out OOC: we have a list of talking points, concerns, and counter-demands that the Inquisition or Chantry/Templar/etc. representatives would have, and we'll talk about what your characters and various NPCs would argue, then nail down the final agreement.

IC, the delegates will be chosen via one of those unorganized, noisy votes that takes place mainly via shouting in a big group. OOC, we'll handwave that and just do it via a Google poll. If your character would put themselves or another character forward for consideration, let us know who they are and what reasons (if any) would be given for why they should go. Do it by April 7, and we'll put a poll together on April 8.

<b>Delegate:</b> Your character can also nominate someone else, but make sure it's okay with their player OOC first. <b>Pitch:</b> Doesn't have to be long. "She's adorable! Who could say no to this face?" works as well as a long resume of successful diplomacy.

[champions]

Delegate: Marisol Vivas
Pitch: Rebel mage with more extreme inclinations, supported the rebels during the war with financial support, supplies, and was smuggling mages out of the Rialto Circle before the Circles fell. Has been vocal about mage legal rights on the network, has some money and influence that could be appealing.

TLDR DESTROY 👏 EVERY 👏 PHYLACTERY 👏 EVER 👏 AND 👏 GET 👏 MOVING 👏 ON 👏 OTHER 👏 BASIC 👏 RIGHTS

Also she can set her flamingoes on their enemies (and could threaten withdrawing the ships her family has gifted to the Inquisition and other potential Vivas resources) and generally make use of her wealth to support the strike.

l o l

[wheretheferngrows]

Delegate: Fern
Pitch: There are other people who are 5000% better suited to this delegation, but I've just OOCly been looking for a way for Fern to end up more involved with mage politics and figured I'd toss her name into the hat. Also, "she's adorable, who could say no to this face?" is literally her resume, so \o/

[keenly]

Delegate: Colin
Pitch: Is striking, risking a lot for this, is part of the diplomacy division, and has amazing hair.

[misdirection_hex]

Delegate: Vandelin
Pitch: Passionate about the freedom cause, has participated in rebel gatherings before, and is committed to having the phylacteries destroyed, but is also capable of seeing the situation from a diplomatic perspective, looking at the optics of it all, and arguing the mages' case in a way that may resonate well with those they need to convince.

[overharrowed]

Delegate: Julius
Pitch: Arguably voice of moderation, as these things go, and passionate about why destroying the Inquisition-aligned mages' phylacteries is good for the Inquisition as a whole, regardless on where the organization stands on the future of mages in Thedas more broadly. See, he made a power point, it's very convincing.

[foundmyselfagain]

Delegate: Gareth
Pitch: Has a lot of very loud opinions, an excellent Tragique Backstory™ to use for why Circles can be Bad and Terrible, does not bend to pressure, willing to shout in a Templar's face. This might also be a drawback, because he's very willing to shout in a Templar's face, but Nell can usually keep him corralled.

OTHER STUFF

[exequy]

If your character would do something with regard to the strike that we should take into account, let us know here! That includes telling us if your character would send a letter or speak to someone at Skyhold in favor or against destroying the phylacteries on their own, and what their argument would be, so we can make sure those points are considered when we hash out how the negotiations go.

You can also plot with each other in these comments if you want.

strikebreakers?

[hearher]

Would you consider someone trying to pick up the work left by the other mages for this? I don't think Carlos would actually speak out strongly against the destruction of the phylacteries, despite what he said on the crystals about it. He would want to make sure he wasn't grouped in with the strikers, though.

I was thinking he might do that by volunteering to pick up some of the jobs that aren't being done?

So, yeah, he's gonna be a scab. Is that something you guys need to consider?