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faderiftooc2019-06-28 10:34 pm
faderifting) wrote in faderiftooc2019-06-28 10:34 pm
Entry tags:
MOD POST ↠ JULY ASSIGNMENTS
JULY ASSIGNMENTS
The teams for the assignments are as follows, and details for each one will be posted in the comments as quickly as we get them finalized. (We're doing them not-all-at-once because two of them have a much shorter deadline than the rest and need to be posted more quickly, etc.)
— Crossing the Crossroads: Marcoulf, Solas, Sorrel, Steve
— I Got Better: Coupe, Iorveth, Merrill, Wysteria
— Divine Intervention: Ilias, Isaac, Thranduil
— Venatori Gone Wild: Bastien, Colin, Leander, Nikos
— Never Forgive: Julius, Darras
— Building Bridges: Barty, Brienne, Teren, Val
— Cooler Than Being Cool: Barrow, Cosima, Fingon, Matthias
Relic Recovery is on hold for next time because that's just how the teams worked out. If you didn't sign up for assignments and wish you had, we'll have more soon! And if you did sign up for assignments and wish you hadn't, hahaha sucker.
Jk, just let us and your teammates know if you need to back out for any reason.
RULES
OOC, the only two rules regarding these assignments are: (1) they must be RPed in some way, not entirely handwaved, and (2) you have to file a report by the deadline. Otherwise, you can handle them basically however you want. For example,
— Format: You can write a log addressing the main action/meat of the assignment, handwave that and do a log or crystal post that’s instead focused on deciding what to do about the problem or discussing how it went after the fact, or whatever else, as long as you RP about the assignment’s substance in some way.
— Personnel: You can limit the assignment to only the assigned team, if you prefer, or you can take other people along, whether that means involving just one other specific character to go for some specific reason or turning the assignment into an open log/discussion that the whole game can participate in. Just make sure everyone on the team is on board with whatever you decide.
— Content: If you want to add obstacles, problems, pit stops, etc. to your assignment, you can, as long as they’re reasonable given the scope and spirit of the assignment. For example, if your characters are tasked with finding a lost child in the woods, it’s fine for them to accidentally wander into a bear’s den or to get caught in a storm that causes a flash flood in a ravine, because those are hazards that make sense given the assignment and its setting, whereas finding a zany artifact that causes bodyswaps or assassinating Corypheus would be outside the scope.
GENERAL QUESTIONS
— Chain of Command: Division Heads are everyone’s boss, and Project Leaders and Assistants should be deferred to on assignments originating from their projects. Otherwise, if a situation arises where you need to know who would be formally in charge—such as if the involved characters are split on how to approach something and someone would need to have the final word—you can come up with your own reasonable answer (“Bob is the only one with experience here so let’s say he's the leader”), you can choose whoever has the highest ratio of consonants to vowels in their name, or you can ask us and we'll decide using another test that is equally arbitrary but more unpredictable.
— Resources: Unless otherwise stated, assume your characters have a budget sufficient to do what they’ve been asked to do, but not enough to be reckless or wasteful. If being short on money would make something more fun to RP, you can do that. If acquiring something extravagant and ridiculous, like a team of dancing bears, would make something more fun to RP, talk to us about it first—not so we can say no, but so we can arrange a way for your characters to luck into acquiring things at a bargain without anyone having to pretend it’s a good use of money.
— OOC: Everyone assigned to the team is responsible for RPing the assignment and getting a report posted by the deadline, and everyone assigned to the team is eligible to earn 5 bonus AC points when the report is done. Extra characters who are brought along or involved but not assigned aren’t eligible for the bonus points. If for whatever reason something can’t get done by the deadline, please talk to us about it! Failing to complete a report without contacting us might result in the group getting last priority when future assignments are handed out.
CROSSING THE CROSSROADS
DEADLINE: July 15, 2019; we recommend ICly forward-dating to Solace 10-15, so there isn't a long delay between the discovery and the modplot that will let everyone go again, just in case it would hypothetically be OOC for anyone to wait very long to try to go back.
ASSIGNMENT: One of the elves in Briala’s network, who had been especially tasked with expanding the network of eluvians, was recently murdered after apparently being tortured. Briala believes that whoever killed him—mages, judging by the state of the body, and as likely as not Venatori—may have previously intercepted information regarding his work in the Crossroads. He had been attempting to find a safe path to a particular eluvian that was very large and looked important. She is unaware whether or not he gave any information up before dying. The team will be told by the project leadership not to engage with the Venatori if it can be avoided, and prioritize securing information about the path to the eluvian and to where it goes.
DETAILS: The team will have access to the eluvian that Briala's agent had been entering and the information he had compiled, including his instructions to the eluvian in question—though as he was neither a cartographer nor particularly good with his letters, the instructions will mostly take the form of a series of sketches of symbols or objects marking the correct path. Deciphering them can be as easy or as difficult as you like and could potentially take the team through various obstacles, including encounters with spirits or environmental hazards.
At the end of that path is a large eluvian that's dark and impassable and, also, currently the site of a small Venatori encampment. Only a two or three of them will be present, and they'll be exhausted from spending days in the Crossroads' oppressive environment trying to figure out the eluvian, so the sight of the team will make them run for it if they're scared off, or they'll be fairly easy to subdue if they're ambushed or otherwise forced to fight. Among their belongings will be notes and a map of Thedas with a very large and vague circle drawn around Southeastern Orlais.
Information from the elven agent's notes (as well as the Venatori attempting to enter the eluvian, if their notes are reviewed or if any are captured alive and compelled to talk) will mainly be a list of passphrases that haven't worked. (And the eluvian was sealed after Solas did his thing, so he can't cheat.) The only clue is a nearby skeleton in gleaming armor propped beneath a veilfire rune, the sort that can convey impressions and memories, which will impart a fleeting image of an old guardian sliding toward death with a sense of relief and rest.
If you want to try to figure out the passcode together (OOC or IC) based on that clue, feel free to do that and tell us your guesses to confirm/deny. Or just tell us you don't care about figuring it out, and we'll tell you what it is.
Assuming the team does eventually figure out what the passcode is, they'll be able to activate the eluvian and pass through it, into a hot, humid, overgrown temple, which the ancient liars among the party may recognize as the Temple of Mythal. From their vantage point, high in an alcove elevated along one of the walls, they'll be able to see a mysterious glowing pool surrounded by other eluvians, but they will not be able to make it more than a few yards into the Temple without being noticed and chased back the way they came by a hail of arrows. The sources of those arrows will not pause for any discussions or negotiations no matter how elfy anyone is about it. However, after they exit through the eluvian, they won't immediately be pursued, and they'll be able to return safely to the Gallows.
(Footnote: Steve and any other rifters who might be brought along, including elven rifters, will experience the same discomfort and fatigue that non-elves always experience in the Crossroads, and the environment will appear to be desaturated and grey to them rather than the brightly colored and patterned world elves see. However, other people will perceive rifters differently. It will be impossible to put a precise finger on what exactly is different about them, and they won't actually look any different, but they'll be a little difficult to bring into focus—like having to adjust camera lens, but so quickly it's hard to pinpoint—while simultaneously seeming a bit brighter than their surroundings.)
QUESTIONS? If you have questions specific to your assignment, reply to this and we'll answer them. If you have general questions applicable to every assignment instead of just yours, ask here.
no subject
no subject
VENATORI GONE WILD
DEADLINE: July 15, 2019
ASSIGNMENT: A baron in the Deauvin Flats reports that a baron in the Dales—a known rival—has recently allowed a sizable party of Tevinters to pass through his land and even provided them with supplies. Finding out whether or not this is accurate or a ploy to smear a rival is step one; finding out who knew what about whom and when is step two; finding out where those Tevinters were headed and why is step three. A team capable of combining diplomacy and espionage will be sent to follow up on this information.
DETAILS: The nobles in question are Baron Arnoul de Loutain, of a territory in the Dales, and Baron Mathelin Arcenaux, of a territory in the Deauvin Flats.
Step one—confirming that travelers did indeed pass through de Loutain's territory, with his aid—will be fairly straightforward. De Loutain will entertain the Riftwatch party willingly and will readily confirm that a party of travelers passed through and that he gave them aid. However, he'll deny that they were Tevinter: they were merchants who had been set upon by bandits and lost everything, and they had perfect Antivan accents. If pressed as to why they then went south, rather than north toward their homeland, he'll be a little befuddled and say he didn't ask and doesn't generally like to interrogate his guests, or to be interrogated by them, thank you.
Steps two and three can be done in reverse order depending on what people prioritize, or simultaneously if the party wants to split up, but we're just going to call them two and three.
Step two, finding out who knew what about whom and when, will require hiking west to visit Arcenaux and press him for more information about his information: who told him about de Loutain's guests? Why did they believe they were Tevinter? Etc. He'll explain that his own tradesmen, traveling north of de Loutain to sell leather goods, encountered the party and overheard them speaking about Minrathous in a tavern. They sent back a runner (a 13-year-old boy he'll be able to produce, if asked, to confirm the story) to alert him, as well as informing the local guard, but by then the Tevinters had already moved on and the guard did not take it seriously.
Step three, finding out where the Tevinters were headed and why, will be less fruitful. The travelers can be tracked south using witnesses who interacted with them along the way and then signs of people who don't know how to move through woods and jungle without leaving evidence moving through woods and jungle, but the trail will extend further and further into the wilds rather than toward any known speck of civilization, and about half a day's walk in, the trail left by the "Antivan merchants" will pause at a since-abandoned campground, where a few smaller trails from other directions converge and the group's total size (judging by the space they took up sleeping) swelled beyond what the team would be equipped to combat alone.
The campsite will have some discarded supplies, but the only information of use will be a tightly-folded note that seems to have fallen from someone's pocket, which includes a hand-drawn map of the road and villages between de Loutain's estate and the Wilds, with a note "A. recommends avoiding" next to the largest village, Vinsier; passing through in either direction, the team may note a heavy guard presence checking names and destinations of passersby at the gates.
The team is welcome to do more investigation than described here—just tell us what they're going to do and we'll tell you what they can find. They're also welcome and encouraged to loop in the Project Leader if they want further direction.
QUESTIONS? If you have questions specific to your assignment, reply to this and we'll answer them. If you have general questions applicable to every assignment instead of just yours, ask here.
no subject
- Colin's cooking fire will be noticed by Venatori, who will assume their butt-monkey (Even Cultists Have Butt-Monkeys © mj 2019 don't steal) neglected to adequately snuff the fire and send him back to do it.
- Our guys will then encounter this very unlucky person and interrogate him for info about the gathering Venatori: how many they are, where they're headed, and so on, as much as we can get out of him.
- Butt-monkey will be delivered to local guards or nearby Inquisition, whoever seems more likely to be competent about it.
- We're also going back to Vinsier to ask about the guard presence (why, how long, etc) and if anyone local has seen or heard anything unusual lately. Perhaps this is where our butt-monkey is deposited. What an odd sentence.
- Leander will be comparing the map to pieces of writing, ideally from both of our friend barons, to see if there are any similarities in the hand, ink quality, etc. At this time it looks like he'll be doing a pass in the field, because our spies are kleptomaniacal parodies of themselves, and then pass it off for more detailed study at home.
- Bastien will spend some time flirting with one or more of Baron Arcenaux's daughters—in a totally professional move, obviously—until his moustachio'd wiles yield a secret or two. What a hardship. Such sacrifice. Very noble. He deserves a medal.
If anything else comes up we will add/amend as needed. Thank you kindly.
no subject
In Vinsier, the locals will report that the heavy guard presence began about a month ago because Vinsier is the home of a local hero/villain: an outlaw who has been recruiting young people who don't want to be drafted into the war to join her, instead, and harassing and robbing several noble estates whose heads or primary defenses are now at the front in the north. She's rumored to have been giving some of the proceeds back to those in need in Vinsier, so now they're under watch. (Her name is Écarlate Hareng.) They won't have seen anything unusual, possibly because the unusual things were warned to avoid them.
The guard there will be nervous to take the Butt-Monkey, because mages are a little outside their realm of experience, but will be able to point everyone toward the nearest Inquisition camp, where people will be less nervous. It won't be very far. Somewhere along the way, the Butt-Monkey, whose name is Linus, will start crying about wanting to go home and not die.
The handwriting comparison will be middling-useful, in that the map's labels will clearly not be in de Loutain's hand. There will be some similarities to Arcenaux's handwriting, but not enough to warrant calling the fantasy cops right away. The note regarding avoiding Vinsier will be in a different hand entirely, as someone other than the original map-maker added it while being given advice.
Flirting will not get Arcenaux's daughter to divulge any secrets about Venatori, because she doesn't know anything about them, but she will note that her younger brother is in a terrible amount of trouble and was sent to stay with their aunt and uncle elsewhere in Orlais shortly before the Riftwatch representatives arrived, in a hurry and with so little explanation that she must assume he's gotten someone inappropriate pregnant, which would never happen to her because she's very careful about those things, eyelash bat eyelash bat.
The truth everyone can hopefully reasonably guess at from there is that Arcenaux's son was the one aiding the Venatori, and Arcenaux is doing his best to cover it up and divert suspicion elsewhere.
Getting solid proof of that sufficient to have anyone actually arrested would require a little more snooping (sneaking around, or bribing the staff, or posturing about having more proof than they do to get Arcenaux to cave and let them look around, etc.) to find some incriminating correspondence from Tevinter, hidden under floorboards in the young man's room, that Arcenaux overlooked while trying to purge the evidence, which will be brief and vague, but reading between the lines will indicate he was definitely seduced by a Tevinter and might also be an apostate.
I GOT BETTER
DEADLINE: August 5, 2019
ASSIGNMENT: Reports from Wildervale indicate something very strange is happening in the woods—specifically, that people who enter a certain area, themselves not mages at all, are transforming into animals. The first person to come back with that story was dismissed as having eaten the wrong sort of mushroom on the road, but now she's been joined by a few others, including a party of men who intended to storm into the woods with torches and pitchforks to find the witch responsible but, upon turning into butterflies and mice, could no longer hold their torches and had to turn back. The team will be sent anticipating that they must prioritize closing the rift, so will need to contain at least one person with an anchor. As the “witch” might be the best way to ensure everyone who’s turned into an animal is able to return to their original state with best results, initial orders from project leadership will be to avoid killing her to avoid potentially trapping themselves as animals.
DETAILS: The rumors are true: at the designated spot in the woods, anyone on the team who crosses a particular invisible threshold will be transformed into a woodland creature. (Attempting to approach the spot from other directions will have the same result, but will reveal that the affected area is approximately 10km in diameter and, as far as anyone able to tell without advanced equipment, is a perfect circle; of course, not bothering to attempt to figure this out is fine, too.)
At the center of that 10km circle is, not a witch, but a rift, which has deposited some debris on the ground beneath it and resulted in a handful of demons wandering in the immediate vicinity. The demons will be less inclined to attack animals than they would be people, unless they notice the animals acting fishy or the animals attack them first.
The debris beneath the rift includes the artifact responsible for the transformations, an abstract statue about the size of a soccer ball, but it also includes a number of other objects of similar size and shape, and no way to tell what is what, exactly. The effect will end when the correct artifact is fully contained by something solid. If the team came equipped with containers large enough, those will work; if not, they'll have to get creative, but if any of them is a large enough animal to just lie on top of the thing, that will transform everyone other than the person making contact back into their original selves for as long as the one lying on top of it keeps it covered. Destroying the artifact, which is possible with enough force, such as by dropping it from a height or smashing it with a rock, will end the effect, but they have no way to know that it won't just leave them as animals forever.
Their job is to contain the artifact—or destroy it if they have to—and to close the rift while either dealing with or evading the accumulated demons.
As for the transformations: entering and exiting the affected area will cause people to transform back and forth, and each time they reenter, they may find themselves a different animal. The only animals they might transform into are those native to the area, and the likelihood that they turn into any given animal will roughly correspond to how common that animal is in the vicinity—so, for example, being turned into a large predator like a bear will be much rarer than being turned into a songbird or a squirrel, since there are fewer bears per square mile than there are birds and rodents. (You can roll for this if you want, or people can choose. ICly, if people don't like the animal they're turned into, they can also exit the perimeter and reenter to try again.)
Transforming will not transform their clothing along with them. If they enter the area without stripping down and turn into something huge, they may rip whatever they're wearing; if they turn into something small, it will fall off of them. They won't be able to communicate verbally or telepathically or anything like that, but their minds will remain mostly human/elven/whatever, with some animal influence and disconcerting animal senses influencing their thoughts but not making it impossible for them to reason through more complex problems or understand instructions and so on.
Magic or other special abilities generally won't work while characters are transformed, but characters with anchors will keep their anchors even as animals, just smaller, and if they want to close the rift as animals they might be able to pull it off.
Note: Demand for this one was a lot higher than there was room to accommodate, so please include an open portion for the transformation parts. You can do this however you like, but we'd suggest assuming that it takes multiple unsuccessful teams/visits to investigate what's happening. But the whole thing doesn't have to be open! Your four characters (and others, if you want to bring specific other characters or have sign-ups) can be the ones who are in charge/coordinating everything and who figure out and handle the artifact (or whatever else) in a closed portion, to make sure that stays a manageable size.
QUESTIONS? If you have questions specific to your assignment, reply to this and we'll answer them. If you have general questions applicable to every assignment instead of just yours, ask here
DIVINE INTERVENTION
DEADLINE: August 5, 2019
ASSIGNMENT: Divine Beatrix has appointed as her Right Hand Sister Esmeral, of Orlais, who is open to meeting with Riftwatch representatives to discuss their future cooperation and the Divine’s positions. She’s known to be straightforward (though not Cassandra Pentaghast levels of brash and blunt) and somewhat more moderate than Beatrix—perhaps a concession to the liberal elements that had significant sway during the Grand Consensus. Your assistant project leaders would like to gently press for a commitment to honoring prior agreements re: mages/rifters, and attempt to balance that out by taking a “how can we help” approach to anything else the Chantry might need right now.
DETAILS: Sister Esmeral will meet with the envoys in person, accompanied by a young cleric, Brother Armin, who handles notetaking and shuffles through his armful of documents to supply information to her as needed. Esmeral herself is like a sunny winter's day—bright, open, not particularly warm but also not as chilly as she could be—and, perhaps atypically for an Orlesian, will be disinclined to playing games or to having them played with her. She won't be willing to make any new bargains on the spot, without consulting with the Divine, but she will be open about the Chantry's positions and take an "I want to work with you but this situation is complex" approach to the prior political agreements, while in discussions of how the Chantry and Riftwatch can coordinate efforts regarding the war, she'll speak as if it's a partnership rather than trying to jerk any invisible leashes.
With regard to the prior agreements, and assuming they ask about these things, your characters can learn:
The agreement regarding phylacteries—that those belonging to mages whose whereabouts and identities are unknown will remain in Chantry custody, but those who come forward to request theirs be destroyed will have that request honored, and new phylacteries will be created only for prisoners and known allies of Corypheus and so on—will stand, and many of the other smaller aspects of the previous agreement, such as all Inquisition members being equipped with magebane or Templars and Loyalists being necessary for any effort to address domestic mage problems, will continue to apply to the Inquisition but not necessarily to Riftwatch.
As for how the Chantry and Riftwatch might assist one another, she'll indicate that Brother Armin has been designated as a specific liaison for Riftwatch in Val Royeaux, and he'll be in touch with Riftwatch—through the Chantry Relations leaders, if that if their preference—regarding any issues encountered during the Exalted March that may be within their wheelhouse. The Chantry requests that Riftwatch reach out to him with any concerns or with any intelligence that they uncover that may assist their efforts to repel the invasion. Brother Armin is very young and somewhat harried, but he has a military background before taking vows and also seems very bright, so whether this assignment is an insult or a compliment (or both) to him and/or Riftwatch is up for speculation.
OOC, we won't be NPCing any of this; you guys are welcome to, if you want, or you can play out conversations before or after, or make an announcement in the aftermath, or whatever else you'd like. If there are other questions your characters would ask or issues they would press that we haven't covered here, you're welcome to reply to this to let us know what they would be, and we'll cook up answers for you.
QUESTIONS? If you have questions specific to your assignment, reply to this and we'll answer them. If you have general questions applicable to every assignment instead of just yours, ask here.
NEVER FORGIVE
DEADLINE: August 5, 2019
ASSIGNMENT: Queen Anora has discreetly requested assistance dealing with a handful of Fereldan lords who are pressuring her to make demands of Orlais—including a formal apology and a pledge of reparations for the occupation—before committing to any official assistance in repelling the invasion. The Queen thinks that these demands are unlikely to be met, that making them and then conceding would result in a loss of face, and that failing to assist could ultimately jeopardize Ferelden and all of Southern Thedas. But pushing back too indelicately against the lords may make her look weak or indifferent to those among the populace who still remember the brutality of the Orlesian occupation. A team will be sent to investigate the lords clamoring for her to make demands to see if they can uncover any potential means to quiet them down, and then to do so, with violence as a last resort.
DETAILS: The knot at the heart of the trouble are three Banns from the Bannorn: Bann Lindhard Pryan, Bann Osthrytha, and Bann Ranulf. They're the origin of the initial demands for reparations and the three most powerful individuals pushing the cause.
Of the three, Bann Ranulf is the only one old enough to remember the occupation. Though he was still a young man when it ended, the occupation and the rebellion resulted in the deaths of his father, mother, and older brother, and his outrage over Orlais now asking for Fereldan assistance is entirely genuine. He's an old man living comfortably, with no children, or even distant relatives, alive to inherit his title and land, so the potential financial gains of being paid reparations aren't the point. It's the principle, and as he's nearing the end of his life, finding himself alone and worrying that he isn't leaving behind any sort of legacy, he's latched onto this as a cause that might make people remember his name.
Bann Osthrytha is of middle age and was born during the rebellion, which her father died fighting in. Her interest is somewhat more cynical: the power her family wielded historically was left in tatters after the occupation and much of their land parceled out to others because her grandfather and father collaborated with the Orlesians, and she's made restoring their honor and influence her life's work. She's made headway, but she's short of where she wants to be, and she thinks taking a firm stand against Orlais will help with the honor bits, while some restitution for what was lost when Orlais redistributed lands and power will help with the influence bits.
Bann Lindhard Pryan is younger and only recently inherited his title. If asked, he'll explain that it's a matter of national pride and demonstrating to the Orlesians that they aren't to be taken advantage of, that a whipped dog may run and become wild rather than answer when called, etc., but peeling back some layers will eventually show that he's also trying to impress a freeholder's daughter who frequently sings at the local tavern, usually about how terrible Orlais is.
Silencing the three of them will make enough of their quieter supporters follow suit to take the pressure off of the Queen; convincing at least two of them to publicly change position, rather than just to shut up, will have the same effect. Convincing all three to change positions would go so far as to provide support for aiding Orlais, rather than resentful assent.
OOC, how you want to go about that is up to you! Talking them down could work; sneaking around to force them down could, too. Giving Ranulf something else to live for, or pulling strings to get Osthrytha financial resources more valuable than the reputation gains from yelling about Orlais, could work; convincing Pryan's crush to change her tune or to spurn him or be impressed in some other way or something could take care of him. Just as examples. If you decide on a strategy and want more information from us, just ask.
QUESTIONS? If you have questions specific to your assignment, reply to this and we'll answer them. If you have general questions applicable to every assignment instead of just yours, ask here.
BUILDING BRIDGES
DEADLINE: August 5, 2019
ASSIGNMENT: A scouting party of the Legion of the Dead reported to Orzammar that they sighted Corypheus himself in the Deep Roads. This is unlikely, as the description they gave was for someone significantly less red lyrium-encrusted, and slightly hotter, than Corypheus. However, as they're absolutely sure they saw a tall darkspawn speaking in full sentences, the most obvious candidate for which is the missing Architect, it obviously bears some manner of follow-up. Project Sashamiri will send a team to track down and talk to the Legion of the Dead scouts about what exactly they saw and where they saw it. Both diplomats and combatants capable of keeping diplomats alive in the Deep Roads are needed.
DETAILS: Reaching the Legion of the Dead outpost (and getting back out again) will obviously be a significant undertaking, and it can be filled with whatever Deep Roads hazards you like, including pockets of marauding darkspawn. It will also require talking the dwarves in Orzammar into telling them the Legion's last known location and letting them into the Deep Roads.
Once they do get there, the individual dwarf they need to speak with is Lervia, a scout, who had the clearest view of the darkspawn and reported that he spoke with her directly.
She'll report that the darkspawn in question—the Architect, pretty definitely now, based on her description—was traveling with a small group of blighted ghouls who were not yet so far gone they couldn't speak, and she crawled close to try to listen to them. They didn't say anything of note, mostly talking about a passage that had collapsed, but before she retreated she was spotted by the Architect, who asked her if she had any recent news from the surface, to which she said "no" because it was the only word she could manage to squeak out. The Architect pressed a little further and seemed particularly interested in where Corypheus was reported to be and reports he'd heard that darkspawn had worked in concert with the invaders in Orlais, but she wasn't able to say anything else because she was shaking, and he eventually waved for her to go away and ignored her.
She went back to the other two scouts she was with, and the three of them went to get a larger force, but when they came back, the area had been vacated.
Her reports can be corroborated by other scouts if necessary. If the Legion is suitably complimented and kindly treated, she can also take the team to the spot where they encountered the Architect, which will require sneaking past or fighting through a small encampment of hurlocks and genlocks worshipping one of their shabby, creepy shrines to the Old Gods.
It will be empty still, but someone will have painted a symbol on the wall above the camp that those in the party who have spent significant time in the Deep Roads may be able to recognize as the shape of a rock formation, as observed from below, that arcs over a crevasse that can be used to enter and exit the Deep Roads in Nevarra. Dwarves would not recognize it, generally, as looking at it requires looking at the open sky.
Actually pursuing that clue would require traveling further and take more time, so it will need to be something that's done later and in coordination with the Project Sashamiri leader. But if there's anything in the immediate vicinity you want them to poke at or other questions you'd like them to ask Lervia, feel free to ask us here, and we'll let you know if they could find out anything else.
QUESTIONS? If you have questions specific to your assignment, reply to this and we'll answer them. If you have general questions applicable to every assignment instead of just yours, ask here.
COOLER THAN BEING COOL
DEADLINE: August 5, 2019
ASSIGNMENT: Efforts to eradicate the red lyrium in Emprise du Lion have been ongoing, but hampered by the prolonged freeze—now going on four years of bitter cold, even in the summer—that both encourages the red lyrium's growth and has made keeping a population of workers and soldiers in the area increasingly unviable. It's also just damn difficult. As there's no artifact anyone has seen in Emprise du Lion in these last four years that's helpfully labeled "SOURCE OF ETERNAL WINTER," a team will be tasked with researching possible causes and methods of weather control to get a better idea of what people should be looking for on the ground.
DETAILS: Rather than stomp off to Emprise du Lion to search for something without having any idea what it is they're looking for, the team is being sent in pursuit of information. Since actually entering Tevinter to look through the libraries there is not feasible at the moment, the team will instead be following up on two other sources of information on non-Circle-approved magic.
The first is a Tevinter expatriate and merchant currently residing in Antiva. Not a mage herself—which is why she left, decades ago—Devrenix Alfonsi (née Valynus) has since married an Antivan and made a name for herself trading in Tevinter goods and knowledge. A quiet name. She'll initially deny having any secret stores, but if the team discloses what specifically they're searching for and why and maybe makes sad eyes or something, she'll let them into the back room, where the shelves are lined with books, artifacts, and devices.
The books will be largely useless, but a plate enchanted to be eternally warm might be helpful, and she'll have a device made of perpetually spinning rings that she says turns more or less quickly as a measure of arcane energy flowing around it. If someone casts a spell—or silences the area—she'll be able to demonstrate it speeding up and stopping, accordingly. She'll be willing to part with both, but only at significant expense—which is perhaps a bit higher, rather than lower, due to her awareness of their desperation and noble cause.
The second is an old Orlesian collector, Didier Duret, who, actually, loathes magic and mages, and has accumulated a sizable library of books on magical theory, including books forbidden by the Chantry to be kept in Circles, because—as he'll explain at passionate length—the Chantry has been conspiring with mages this whole time to control the world, all of it, and that's why they aren't just killed when they're discovered as children, which would be the smart thing to do. But thanks to his extensive knowledge, he knows what's up, and he knows the thunderstorm that struck his house last year was an attempt to assassinate him.
He'll be hostile to Riftwatch as a concept and will lose his entire shit if he knows that anyone present is a mage or rifter, but if he's given a different impression, and especially if they don't tell him they're with Riftwatch at all, he'll be happy to take them on a tour of his library. His collection will include a single, very old book on ancient Tevinter's use of magic to alter the weather for farming purposes. Some of it will be illegible, but the portions that can be read will have diagrams of what look a lot like crop circles, and advise lining those designs with blood from between six and a dozen slaves to ward off hail or encourage rain over particularly important pieces of land.
If you have any follow-up questions to any of this or want to know what happens if X (and don't feel comfortable making it up), feel free to ask!
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