frprojects: (HOSTILE POWERS)
frprojects ([personal profile] frprojects) wrote in [community profile] faderiftooc 2020-03-05 06:32 pm (UTC)

Join the Navy, They Said...

TEAM: Bastien, Darras
REPORT DEADLINE:April 5, 2020

ASSIGNMENT: A team is to be sent to "join" the lowest ranks of the Orlesian Navy at Val Royeaux under the "command" of their contact Lieutenant Armand de Vereux to glean information from the often overlooked rank and file—clerks, cook's helpers, deck swabbers, cargo loaders, etc—about the sabotage of the ships forming the blockade at Val Chevin. Once they feel they've got substantial enough information to lead to something else, they're to give the Lieutenant a good reason to discharge them from service.

DETAILS: Keen observers that they are, Bastien & Darras will soon notice that there's a growing divide in the lower ranks of the Navy between those who chose it as their career and those who have been conscripted or pressed into service more recently. As the numbers of the latter continue to increase, so does the amount of grumbling, and it won't be difficult to identify some likely ringleaders of the disgruntled conscripts. The most likely is a fellow called Bruleaux who seems to have some sway among the men and contacts on other ships, and definitely seems to feel frustration that the navy is rumored to be planning an offensive in the wake of the blockade.

If they can manage to get themselves into his orbit, they'll be able to confirm that he's strongly opposed to the war for its impact on people like him, dragged from their homes and forced to fight, and for what? But they'll also learn that his ship left Val Chevin a few days before the blockade was broken, so he probably didn't personally participate, whether he knows more or not. They may also notice hints that Bruleaux has a friend or patron among the officers in the city. Learning more than that will require either a fair bit of time and patience, or some sort of shortcut into Bruleaux's friendship before he'll be willing to confide that he does have a sympathetic ear within the officer ranks who he says is helping to coordinate things between ships. But he's not going to let slip anything about the blockade specifically, so it's difficult to tell whether this is related or if they've stumbled into plans for some well-meaning civil disobedience.

Whatever reason they come up with for their discharge, after wringing what they can from Bruleaux, should ideally not involve fatalities.

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.

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