faderiftooc | research plot: Automatic Rift/Rifter Indicator Via Early Detection system.

Entry tags:

research plot: Automatic Rift/Rifter Indicator Via Early Detection system.

WHAT: On the revelation that Solas is the antagonist, or at least one of them, in popular video game Dragon Age: Inquisition, Riftwatch is in the process of forming up its own ability to locate rifters swiftly, and bring them to safety and not left to capture by the Venatori or being eaten by bears.

After many months of monitoring, research, data collection, and development, the nerds have fabricated a device called the Veil attenuation network echo (or, a VANE, or just a vane, don't shout) that can monitor wide geographic areas and measure the levels of Veil-thinness in that area. Once Fadeiation levels have reached a certain critical point, the vane will send a signal back to a sending crystal switchboard housed in the Gallows that will prompt a rescue team to travel out and intercept the coming rift, narrowing it down using thaumoscoping devices.

This plot will pick up when the instalment of the Automatic Rift/Rifter Indicator Via Early Detection (ARRIVED) system is in the process of deployment, a network of vanes across, initially, the Free Marches, branching out further. Now that they can confirm that rifters seem to emerge where large deposits of lyrium exist, they can begin to build up the network itself.

HOW: This is kind of a sprawling project that can't be represented in a single log, and so there isn't going to be one. Instead, if you volunteer to assist in this project, you will be given a task IC to carry out. It is up to you to complete this task sometime in the next two months, however you see fit. You are encouraged to integrate it into your normal day to day role play, maybe use it as an excuse for a CR-building road trip, or just chat about it in inboxes, really any way you like. By the end of the quarter, I'll ask the task-leads to come together to form up a report that represents how their individual tasks progressed the instalment of the ARRIVED system.

Tasks will be tailored by me to the people involved, and can involve anything from convincing a local landowner access to their territories so Riftwatch can build there through to scouring an area for evidence of rumoured lyrium deposits. I will provide details, hooks, prompts that you can do what you will with. You are welcome to RP with each other, but I would anticipate you to RP about it with whoever you like. Only task-leads will collect AC rewards for their involvement, but if you partner up with someone else and they're heavily involved, let me know and I can check about it.

WHO: You! Hopefully. This is a very Research heavy operation so preference will be given to Research division members. Fill in the form below in the comments. I'll be in contact with tasks in the next week.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Ask them here! Or else.

Player: Era
Character: Erik Stevens
Division: Diplomacy

Rank the following in order of IC preferred to least preferred: Action, diplomacy, construction, research, exploration, tourism.
Skills: The boy is an engineer. Put him to work, Tony.
Bad time: like an 8 on the bad time scale? something goes awry but he gets the intel they need.
Rift closure: Erik has an anchor shard but has never tried closing a Rift with it

One of the earlier vane structures they'd erected is no longer sending 'pings' back to the Gallows, implying that it has broken down, or been damaged in some way. Erik, and those he asks along with him, will be sent out to determine the extent of the damage and make repairs if possible.

The vane is located at the Wounded Coast, a stone's throw outside of Kirkwall. Several pieces have been removed, mainly from the internal panel that deals in sending signals back to the Gallows. A core component of enchanted crystal has been removed, and will need to be replaced. Checking the machinery itself will show that attempts had been made to remove some gears but had mostly damaged these elements instead.

At the site of the investigation, however, Erik and friends will be at the centre of a bandit ambush, ten men strong. Their weaponry is a couple of crossbows, bows and arrows, and some swords. They are there to take everything you have, and don't mind a little murder if a fight is put up. How Erik wishes to engage with this situation is up to you: negotiation, hostility in return, defensive retreat, etc.

Let me know how Erik and friends may wish to approach this, and I can supply more information as to his success.

Refer to this note for additional guidance.

The group uses Negotiation. It's hopefully successful. Erik himself would have had enough coin on hand to pay for a meal for everyone in Kirkwall (because that's what he was expecting to do once they were done). He's not against fighting though, if negotiation goes sour.

Player: Pel again
Character: Amos Burtonelli
Division: Research

Rank the following in order of IC preferred to least preferred: Construction, exploration, research, action, tourism, diplomacy.
Skills: Amos is a spaceship mechanic, generally strong engineering knowledge tho fitting that into Thedas level tech is a Process, he's learning quick. In general, he's very solution oriented and likes any busywork with his hands that can keep him, well, busy.
Bad time: 7.
Rift closure: Yes. He keeps it in his elbow.

The Wounded Coast appears to be a prime location for rifts opening and spitting our rifters due to the high concentration of underground lyrium in the area. It is also a prime location for banditry, where travelling carts and homesteads are frequently raided by cutthroats hidden in the cliffs. Constructing a vane in this area will require some cleverness and hardiness, as their early attempts have already been tampered with. However, it's worth finding a solution, as we definitely want to avoid confused rifters suddenly landed in inhospitable wilderness while also contending with bandits.

Amos will be asked to find investigate the area and find a solution. Wholesale slaughter of starving criminals isn't it, obviously, and unfortunately, asking them nicely isn't either. The vane ands its tower will have to be made less penetrable, hidden, or otherwise defended. It is already pretty robust by necessity in that it needs to withstand the open elements—the tower of the base design is sturdy, and the outwards gears and dials on the vane itself are formed of a metal that stands up against weathering, but it's still susceptible to human tampering. Amos is invited to come up with mechanical/practical solutions, or consult with magic people over how to fortify this vane, whatever you like.

Note: as this follows on from Erik's task, and I don't want to put time pressure on anyway, feel free to communicate with Era on continuity or working together, or work independently based off of whatever info might be available from Erik's end.

Danger levels fluctuate. Depending on Amos' approach, you will be advised of the risks involved. Let me know how Amos and friends may wish to approach this, and I can supply more information as to his success.

Refer to this note for additional guidance.

Player: Abby
Character: Wysteria
Division: Research

Rank the following in order of IC preferred to least preferred: Research, exploration, tourism, action, construction, diplomacy.
Skills: Knows a thing or two about rifts; good at math and engineering (designing) if not the actual building. Has a fully upgraded anchor shard and some can detect magical/enchanted fields. I've been looking for an excuse for Wysteria to use her spell breaking abilities to punch holes into some magical barriers etc, so if that potentially comes up then rad but I'm not actually that demanding.
Bad time: 5, but I'm flexible.
Rift closure: Yup.

Over the course of some evenings of revelry whilst in Orzammar, Research picked up some information on a source of lyrium in the Vinmark Mountains. This is a verbal rumour, but as it's not so far out of the range of the Gallows, it behoves them to at least check it out. Cross-referencing old maps of the area will give them a few specific leads to go on, in particular one obscure map references a small mountaintop village that would only exist if it had been for the purpose of supporting a mining company.

The village itself is long abandoned once they're there, but Wysteria will find some deep mushroom growths in and around the trails leading to and from, confirming a nearby lyrium deposit. This is enough to justify building up here, but it would, of course, be good to see if there really is a lyrium mine for reasons of observation.

Some exploration will lead to a cave entrance, but they will be stopped at the entrance by a wall of ice-based barricading magic. Wysteria will have to figure out how to get past it—based on your approximation of her skills, this may be an arduous task, or a simple one. There will be further such barriers inside, magical traps, and so on, and evidence of an old encampment.

Let me know how Wysteria and friends may wish to approach this, and I can supply more information as to her success.

Refer to this note for additional guidance.

Wysteria and Holden are going to be Indiana Jonesing their way through the caverns, looking for

- any evidence of actual lyrium veins
- any signs re: who the encampment belonged to or who may have warded the caves so thoroughly and (pipedream) why
- Thank god Holden's there or Wysteria might try to touch some raw lyrium for fun

Let me know if you need anything else from me/us! Thanks for pulling this together.

They will hit the encampment (a large natural cavern) before they discover any sign of lyrium veins, although deep mushroom continues to populate the area in thick growths. It is hard to tell if the encampment was a simple work camp, say, for miners, or something more permanent, as much of everything has been stripped and ransacked. They'll be able to tell that there was a camp here at all due to evidence such as a few lanterns staked into the rock, several partially-collapsed tents, some barrels for water and food, likely fouled and infested by now, but full. The instinct is probably that this was not a formal organised operation, due to the way the cavern hasn't been properly developed or worked, and the scattering of items left behind.

They can deduce, too, that evacuation was done in a hurry. Enough searching around to discover the purpose of this place will take them to one of the upright tents, where half of the inhabitant's belongings are missing, but there is a heavy coat thrown into the corner. It's dwarf-sized, and searching it will uncover a letter, paper old and delicate. It is written in a rudimentary code which will probably require someone who is any good at code-breaking to break. (If you feel Wysteria or Holden are equipped for this or really want to sit down and try their hand at it, let me know! Otherwise, it might be worth asking an expert.)

Some of the tunnels further in are lit with processed lyrium enchantments for illumination, and there seem to be some tracks laid into the rock to help along carts, some of which they will find, long abandoned, rusted, covered in loose dusty earth built up over however long. At certain twists and turns and forked points, they will encounter those same wards, some of which Wysteria may be able to tell, if she takes a moment, are additionally charged with an enchantment that deals explosive elemental damage when the barrier is dispelled. Up to you how thorough she's being! What she will also be able to note, with study, is that the these wards were likely erected at around the same time. Depending on her skills and abilities, she may be able to work out that they were erected in order of deepest to shallowest, i.e., the deeper they go, the slightly older each ward is, as if whoever put them up was doing so as they exited.

There are also demons lurking in these depths, who will kind of be idle and dormant, trapped as they must be, but will charge and attack once spotted. The source of these demons is, finally, a rift, overhanging a deep interior lake, unstable and spitting Fadeiation. There are demons in the water, some shades that try and fail to claw up to where they'll be standing. Wysteria will be able to detect the remnants of further warding, but long broken, all surrounding the rift in this cavern.

There is also evidence of lyrium veins on the walls of this cavern, and evidence of ramshackle mining operations in the form of half-collapsed platforms.

Let me know if this info is workable, and if there are any aspects you wish to investigate closer! Have fun, kids, don't lick anything. Or write it down if you do. Love, Tony.

Player: eppy

Character: Nikolai Lantsov
Division: Research

Rank the following in order of IC preferred to least preferred: Diplomacy, research, exploration, action, construction, tourism
Skills: High charisma, high intellect, quick decision making, opportunities to utilize any of these things would be appreciated.
Bad time: 5/6 ish. A moderately bad time.
Rift closure: Yes

Character: Ellis
Division: Forces

Rank the following in order of IC preferred to least preferred: Construction, exploration, action, diplomacy, research, tourism
Skills: High strength, good with a mace, useful for heavy lifting.
Bad time: Anywhere from 7-9, if it's on the cards.
Rift closure: No.

Riftwatch has recently obtained permission from the Arl of Castle Whitepoint, Herret Keene, to build on his lands. This is a minor noble who governs lands outside of Ostwick, and being able to erect a vane in his territories will ensure good coverage and some security to the structure itself. He does, however, wish to speak to a representative of Riftwatch in person before he makes the paperwork official.

Nikolai will be sent out with whoever he feels he requires to meet with the Arl—it will be recommended he takes another shard-bearer and someone who can watch their backs on the road. Upon arrival, he will discover that the Arl is a chatty and self-indulgent individual, intent on hosting Nikolai and the other Riftwatch agents present with a grand show of free flowing ale, good food, and merriment. Conversation will press towards wishing to know all about these other worlds and how anchor-shards work, and eventually presses towards wanting to see a demonstration of such feats.

Let me know how Nikolai and friends may wish to approach this, and I can supply more information as to his success.

Refer to this note for additional guidance.

Note! To keep stuff streamlined, Ellis will be lending his assistance as Forces guy to Ellie's task. This is the content I've supplied to that player.

We're considering building out north of the Minanter River, where the Free Marches begin to share a boundary with the Tevinter Imperium. Is it worth it? Debatable, but we should take a look. Ellie, with the support of Ellis and Hugo as muscle, will be tasked with doing so, surveying the area for enemy presence. The Imperium and Coypheus' forces are most certainly concentrated elsewhere, but this won't be forever, or even currently the case that these borders go unpatrolled. If it's feasible, having a vane out in these territories would diminish the chances of Tevinter getting a hold of any wayward rifters.

Ellie will be supplied with a map of prospective places for build sites and the instruction to carefully check them out. She will be provided with, at minimum, Hugo and Ellis, but she is free to recruit whoever else she likes, including more folks from Scouting. While Research's priority amounts to 'is it too dangerous to build out here, and are there places we could hide a build site if so', Riftwatch could probably use a report on current enemy presence in this area.

Danger levels fluctuate, depending on approach. Let me know how Ellie and friends may wish to handle this, and I can supply more information as to her success. (I will let Ellis and Hugo players know of their involvement, but consider this task as being led by Ellie, as a Scouting representative.)

Refer to this note for additional guidance.

Player: z
Character: holden
Division: research

Rank the following in order of IC preferred to least preferred: Exploration, action, research, construction, tourism, diplomacy.

Skills: he can be great at talking to and building bridges with people, big on trying even if the situation seems ???, a tried and true history of touching artifacts/weird shit he probably shouldn't.
Bad time: also open to the 7-9 range
Rift closure: yes

Edited 2021-05-18 12:57 (UTC)

News comes to Riftwatch of a village south of Starkhaven that has been utterly ravaged by demons. This report notes that the royal house of Starkhaven has already been lending assistance in the form of men and women with swords, executing the demons and monitoring the area. They've reported on several rifts opening up nearby.

The village is actually part of an independent rural community called Brunswick-on-Planes over which Starkhaven has no official authority, but it was the high offices of Starkhaven that contacted Riftwatch on its behalf due to its involvement. The Magistrate of this community had requested assistance from the crown rather than speak to Riftwatch, but that is who Holden will have to make contact with to gather more information about the demons.

He will be taking Margaery Tyrell with him from Diplomacy to help smooth over any wrinkles.

Outreach to the village and the Magistrate are important but tertiary to the task of closing the nearby rifts, and mapping their locations. Be on the lookout for signs of deep mushroom growth to determine whether this area could use a vane for a more permanent look out. There will still be some demons roaming around, so exercise caution.

Let me know how Holden and friends may wish to approach this, and I can supply more information as to his success.

Refer to this note for additional guidance.

holden will be bringing along gabranth for the purpose of focusing on rifts, demons, and looking to see if they need to be installing a vane; in tandem with margaery, petra, and nikolai focusing more on dealing with the magistrate and village.

something jim and gabranth are going to be doing is spending some time mapping where they find rifts, run into demons, etc in order to scope out kind of central areas from which activity might be emanating and/or obvious hotspots. additionally, he and gabranth will be scoping out the damaged water mill mentioned in your reply to cookie.

lmk if you need any more level of detail or info to determine what they might find!

It's summer on the Planes, and the meadows are still riotously populated in wildflower blooms from the spring, and the tall grass is busy with hopping mice, birds, insects. Beyond them are worked farmlands, windmills, barns. It is old fashioned even by Thedosian standards, idyllic, until the shriek of a fear demon pierces the warm silence.

Holden and Gabranth will be equipped with a thaumoscope that's been set to seek out rifts at a long range. Just point and follow the clicking, is roughly what Tony said. It will probably take the best part of a day, maybe two, to properly explore the area and cross reference their findings with a roughly sketched map. The rifts they encounter will not be aberrant to what Holden expects to see, spitting out the usual suspects: depression demons freezing ponds, fear demons roaming through cornfields, et cetera. They will also be able to find Veil-thin spots that visually have a soft green glow hanging in the air, and they will need to re-open/close these spots with their anchors. Just don't let anyone see you.

The central point, as far as they can tell, is an innocuous looking patch of open undeveloped meadow. Some searching through the grass will turn up what Holden has been told to look for: glowing fingers of deep mushroom that show up pale under the sun, but would be aglow with natural bioluminescence in their more natural underground habitat, indicating a hidden lyrium deposit deep under the earth.

If they speak to members of the community, they'll hear of the watermill immediately, or can otherwise find it as they track down rifts. It is a large structure that crosses through a river, and despite its currently ruined state, it was clearly of proud heritage and solid engineering. No demons are currently present, but they'll be able to track the signs of burning and demonic ichor back towards a pulsing rift being orbited by two rage demons, who will attack them on sight.

Let me know if you need anything further! Happy to also generate some specific scenarios if the above is too broad, or if you just want some prompts to play with.

Player: Ammmy
Character: Cosima
Division: Research

Rank the following in order of IC preferred to least preferred: research, exploration, tourism, diplomacy, construction, action
Skills: Scientific observation, background research on/familiarity with lyrium, general PhD in evolutionary biology skillset
Bad time: ~ 3? Some minor challenge is good but I'm not gearing up for her to have a real bad time yet. (Open to discussion tho)
Rift closure: Y

The basis of the ARRIVED system map is founded on one thing: that the concentrated presence of lyrium in a given area means that the rifts that open there seem susceptible to drawing people and objects in from other dimensions. While evidence of this pattern has been documented, with enough data to act on, there is still a lot we don't know about causation beyond theory. Cosima will be tasked with deeper analysis, taking measurements (using thaumoscopes, or whatever tech/magical resources you think of) around these established areas, particularly in spaces that have recently ejected out any rifters, i.e, in the last six months, as well as any sites being worked on currently (see: the other tasks on this plot page).

This is a shorter/vaguer set of instructions to encourage initial independent work and some freedom in how to go about collecting this information. Come back to me here or elsewhere about Cosima's preferred approach (i.e., methods, location(s), people she might want with her, info she might request to help inform her approach, and so on) and I will supply further information as to her success and what observational evidence might be found. If you need help brainstorming, though, we can chat it out.

Refer to this note for additional guidance.

BELATEDLY just saying this is still on my radar after June kicked my ass. I think her initial approach will be to go over the documents pretty finely (say during June/Justinian) with an eye to picking one or two likely sites to go measure in person in July/Solace.

Given her experience with fieldwork, she'd probably prefer to go out with at least one person capable of defending them if unexpected combat comes up, and/or another sharbearer for rift-closing purposes if they encounter one. I don't have particular people in mind offhand, though I can beat the bushes for interest if necessary. Or if you know that someone's looking to team up, hit me and I can adjust. Cosima's laid back enough she'll easily work with almost anyone.

Player: Cass

Character: Maud
Division: Diplomacy
Rank the following in order of IC preferred to least preferred: Diplomacy, tourism, research, exploration, construction, action.
Skills: Good at relating to/potentially familiar with minor nobles of the inner Marches, general problem-solving and academic stuff, but nothing in particular I'm desperate to show off here.
Bad time: 3-6 (but flexible)
Rift closure: No, which is a secret. But she'd privately admit her anchor's fake to Tony rather than let a team get out to a rift expecting her to be able to close it for them.

Character: Hugo
Division: None but I may finally sign him up if it matters. Probably Forces.
Rank the following in order of IC preferred to least preferred: Tourism, diplomacy, exploration, construction, action, research.
Skills: His IC preferences aside, I'd be happy to see him have to do some manual labor or provide combat-y assistance. Very good at animal wrangling. Medium good at noble-wrangling.
Bad time: 4-6 (but also flexible, really open to whatever)
Rift closure: Yes

Edited 2021-05-18 14:43 (UTC)

Riftwatch has recently put through a request to the offices of the Lord Chancellor of Tantervale to build our rift-monitoring machinery out in the lands technically under the city's protection and jurisdiction, and received lukewarm word that while Tantervale's authority does not object, they will have to ask direct permission of some of the smaller settlements in the area. There is no unified point of leadership in these communities, but they do some together to discuss matters that might have an affect on all of them, and to speak to one such community is to speak to them all. Maud will be tasked with helping to organise a kind of town meeting to handle the questions and answers they might have when it comes to installing a vane in their own or their neighbour's property.

Maud will need to do her homework with regards to the operations of the vane, the research we have available on rifts that Riftwatch is comfortable with releasing to a room of minor nobles/elevated commoners, and any diplomatic information about this crowd that might be of benefit to her, such as anticipating the kinds of questions she (and whatever other experts she might recruit to assist in this) may be asked. Maud is also free to ditch the idea of a group meeting if she feels it wise, but this is how these communities tend to make their decisions.

Let me know how Maud and friends may wish to approach this, and I can supply more information as to her success.

Refer to this note for additional guidance.

Note! To keep stuff streamlined, Hugo will be lending his assistance as semi-Forces guy to Ellie's task. This is the content I've supplied to that player.

We're considering building out north of the Minanter River, where the Free Marches begin to share a boundary with the Tevinter Imperium. Is it worth it? Debatable, but we should take a look. Ellie, with the support of Ellis and Hugo as muscle, will be tasked with doing so, surveying the area for enemy presence. The Imperium and Coypheus' forces are most certainly concentrated elsewhere, but this won't be forever, or even currently the case that these borders go unpatrolled. If it's feasible, having a vane out in these territories would diminish the chances of Tevinter getting a hold of any wayward rifters.

Ellie will be supplied with a map of prospective places for build sites and the instruction to carefully check them out. She will be provided with, at minimum, Hugo and Ellis, but she is free to recruit whoever else she likes, including more folks from Scouting. While Research's priority amounts to 'is it too dangerous to build out here, and are there places we could hide a build site if so', Riftwatch could probably use a report on current enemy presence in this area.

Danger levels fluctuate, depending on approach. Let me know how Ellie and friends may wish to handle this, and I can supply more information as to her success. (I will let Ellis and Hugo players know of their involvement, but consider this task as being led by Ellie, as a Scouting representative.)

Refer to this note for additional guidance.

Player: rock
Character: dick
Division: research

Rank the following in order of IC preferred to least preferred: research, exploration (might refuse outright to push beyond sight of an eluvian especially into a jungle biome), tourism, action, diplomacy, construction
Skills: Observation, documentation, sneaking, healing, problem-solving curiosity, his friends call him whiskers
Bad time: 5-9
Rift closure: yes

Riftwatch has record of rift occurrences in the foothills of the Vinmark Mountains, in the dense wilderness of the Planasene Forest, further west and close to Cumberland. As it's relatively in our backyard, Richard has been tasked with going out there and surveying the territory to find any sign that a construction of a vane would be of benefit to them, and if so, where. This survey will be conducted by measuring for Veil thinness by use of thaumoscopes or other alternative methods, making note of any aberrant flora/fauna as we have witnessed in the past, and checking for any sign of the growth of deep mushrooms, which would indicate a lyrium-rich underground. Although there is no recent record of demon sightings, how prepared Richard wants to be for the possibility of danger is up to you.

It will take several days, even weeks, to properly canvas the area entire, so delegation and parcelled out excursions should factor in to the planning, i.e., Richard won't be expected to comb this section of forest by himself, but oversee the logistics of the exhibition. Over time, they will be able to determine a central point of Veil thinness that could use with rift opening/closure to strengthen it, and note a thicc proliferation of deep mushroom growths in the midst of the forest. This area will also, strangely, be densely vegetated, while also showing signs of decay.

In the course of attempting to strengthen the Veil by opening/closing a rift in this area, the rift that opens will be more or less normal, but seems to have a strange effect on the immediate landscape. Where Fade energy forks out in green lightning bolts as usual, it converts the ground into bubbling black ichor, also as usual, except this side effect appears to be significantly worse and wider spread. In a wide radius, the seemingly sturdy earth beneath their feet will disintegrate into tar-like mud, trapping them amongst the thick root systems just beneath, which seem to passively yet with intent hinder their mobility. It will become evident, too, that several creatures have succumbed to this fate, with half-decomposed elk, birds, and even a couple of human beings churned up in the muck.

This effect will slow and stop once the rift is closed.

Let me know how Richard and friends may wish to approach this, and I can supply more information as to his success.

Refer to this note for additional guidance.

i am likely just going to integrate aspects of this into an open post. richard will spend some time out there alone to see how long he can go before anchor pain drives him back and then parcel out more responsible excursions in earnest. his approach to opening and closing the rift will be pretty standard, nothing special -- he will just aim to have a couple of martial folks there to hold off demons and shades while attempting to rush it closed with another shard-bearer or two.

after finding corpses floated up in the process, he'd search the humanoid bodies and try to ID them + post a watch over the area for a while longer to gauge whether or not someone else had been fucking around with the rift previously to open or close it. if he can't ID the humanoid corpses he will likely dissect one of them to try to gauge if it might have been a rifter or fade-corrupted or what.

i think that is all, apart from standard sample-taking of muck and monsters, dissections, etc.

Tasty.

Closing rifts will all go as standard, as will demons and their dying, and taking samples of the muck will (fortunately) not come back with anything Taint-y. It seems to be just a massive decomposition of earth and plant life and the odd substance that seems to form whenever a rift is spitting out demonic energy that interacts with the material world.

What Richard can conclude is that this particular area has been Veil-thin for a long time, with localised rifts opening and collapsing for what is likely a period of years, and gone unnoticed for that long due to being fairly remote. The presence of demons and Fadeiation leakage has brutality affected the environment. Besides just this generation of swampy grossness, the plant-life in the immediate vicinity has a Fade-touched quality that makes it behave in strange ways, mostly overgrowing while decaying, and with a root system that passively but at an accelerated rate gorges on hapless creatures that wander into this area at the wrong moment.

There are no particularly identifying features of the two corpses that he finds, with their clothing mostly disintegrated and effects lost in the demon-bog. An autopsy will determine that they were both rifters, one male and one female, with one more significantly decomposed than the other. They seemed to be human.

So that's a good time. Let me know if you need anything further!

Player: Cookie
Character: Margaery Tyrell
Division: Diplomacy

Rank the following in order of IC preferred to least preferred: Diplomacy, exploration, tourism, research, action, construction.
Skills: Communication, observation, organization, charm, and morale-boosting.
Bad time: 5-7? I trust you!
Rift closure: Hasn't tried yet.

News comes to Riftwatch of a village south of Starkhaven that has been utterly ravaged by demons. This report notes that the royal house of Starkhaven has already been lending assistance in the form of men and women with swords, executing the demons and monitoring the area. They've reported on several rifts opening up nearby.

The village is actually part of an independent rural community called Brunswick-on-Planes over which Starkhaven has no official authority, but it was the high offices of Starkhaven that contacted Riftwatch on its behalf due to its involvement. The Magistrate of this community had requested assistance from the crown rather than speak to Riftwatch, but that is who Margaery will have to make contact with to gather more information about the demons.

Margaery, as a newbie, will be accompanying Holden of the Research division. He will oversee this task primarily but will be concerned in surveying the area for the purposes of installing a vane. Margaery, as a representative of the Diplomacy division, will be there to speak with the Magistrate and convince them to allow Riftwatch to assist them, and build a vane if Holden can determine its necessity. Negotiations and charitable outreach are the name of the game.

Let me know how Margaery and friends may wish to approach this, and I can supply more information as to her success.

Refer to this note for additional guidance.

Margaery would like to bring along Madame de Cedoux and Nikolai to speak to the Magistrate.

And while the Magistrate is distracted by Diplomacy 3x, Holden will go ahead and survey the area as much as he can (with Gabranth's help).

There will be a set time for them to check in with each other via crystal so as not to jeopardize their individual missions, but the real information relay will be handled with an in-person discussion.

I hope this is enough info? Please let me know if there's anything else you'd like to know!

Truly a power trio.

Despite this collective charm, they will find it hard to get an appointment with the Magistrate immediately. The Magistrate is a beleaguered individual named Tyme Roak, very much a serf with an administrative office of authority more than a lord.

They will quickly work out that the fact that everyone involved is a rifter will make for an additional obstacle, at least to begin with—they will have been asked directly of their place of origin. Fortunately, Roak won't seem to maintain any belief that you're all secretly demons. The wariness seems to be a mix of this being a community who prides themselves on their independence, as well as caution that getting involved with Riftwatch (and by extension, the Inquisition) might somehow mean getting mixed up in the broader conflicts of the wide world.

Likely, Holden and team Diplomacy will find out the same point of particular recent hurt, through their respective methods: a very old but sophisticated watermill has been completely destroyed thanks to an encounter with some rage demons, and several people dead in the village nearby. There are several other structural repairs they've had to make over the past several months that they've all struggled to share the cost of.

Feel free to have dug up all of the above info through talking to community members as well as the Magistrate himself, who will really only open the door to a proper meeting if Riftwatch is offering something tangible. If they were just closing rifts, that'd be easy to just do and leave, but Holden will find they do need to build a vane in this area, which the Magistrate will balk at.

Let me know if you have any questions or if this is enough to inform discussions for now. Once there are more decisions/actions on your end, I can illustrate the outcome.

Player: Charlie
Character: Ellie
Division: Scouting

Rank the following in order of IC preferred to least preferred: Action, exploration, construction, research, tourism, diplomacy.
Skills: Stealth, combat, traversing hostile territory and using the environment to her advantage. Not great at noble-level diplomacy but would be quick to help out vulnerable people.
Bad time: Some difficulty's fine but I'm not trying to fuck her up when we just got to the party.
Rift closure: Yep, and she's used it once.

We're considering building out north of the Minanter River, where the Free Marches begin to share a boundary with the Tevinter Imperium. Is it worth it? Debatable, but we should take a look. Ellie, with the support of Ellis and Hugo as muscle, will be tasked with doing so, surveying the area for enemy presence. The Imperium and Coypheus' forces are most certainly concentrated elsewhere, but this won't be forever, or even currently the case that these borders go unpatrolled. If it's feasible, having a vane out in these territories would diminish the chances of Tevinter getting a hold of any wayward rifters.

Ellie will be supplied with a map of prospective places for build sites and the instruction to carefully check them out. She will be provided with, at minimum, Hugo and Ellis, but she is free to recruit whoever else she likes, including more folks from Scouting. While Research's priority amounts to 'is it too dangerous to build out here, and are there places we could hide a build site if so', Riftwatch could probably use a report on current enemy presence in this area.

Danger levels fluctuate, depending on approach. Let me know how Ellie and friends may wish to handle this, and I can supply more information as to her success. (I will let Ellis and Hugo players know of their involvement, but consider this task as being led by Ellie, as a Scouting representative.)

Refer to this note for additional guidance.

Ellis and Ellie are the more combat-oriented of the three, and with Ellis included, stealth won't be that much of an option. Ellie will often scout ahead and circle back on places where they find signs of other people, and will try to keep her folks away from major showdowns or soldiers. They'll be polite to any civilians they come across.

If they find smaller threats, or come across any enemies unexpectedly, they'll fight like hell.

Ellie's an artist, so she'll check out the potential build sites and sketch mock-ups of the areas to bring back, so more tactical-minded heads than hers can decide how they want to take advantage of the lay of the land.

Ellis Inbox: Link
Hugo Inbox: Link

Edited 2021-08-13 03:05 (UTC)

Player: k2
Character: Isaac
Division: Research

Rank the following in order of IC preferred to least preferred:
Exploration, action, research, tourism, diplomacy, construction.

Skills:
Magic nonsense, magic biology, not looking to show off anything in particular but hmu if that's actually unhelpful and you need ideas.

Bad time: 3-7, but I'm easy. If you need a 1 somewhere in there, cool.
Rift closure: Nope!

Bierstagg continues to be a site of strange and curious rift-related phenomena, but we haven't checked back in on this area for a while, and given how much strange flora and fauna was sighted while it was being investigated, no one took down any mention as to the possible presence of deep mushroom, which is our current flag for whether a location might spit out rifters.

Isaac is being tasked with investigating the area, confirming presence or lack of deep mushroom growths, and 'stress testing' the vane itself. He will be provided with the machinery itself and some general instructions on how to test its responsiveness in an area where we have already seem some strange phenomenon. He is encouraged to invite at least one of those that went to the Bierstagg mission before (Wysteria, Joselyn, Richard, or Tony) so that they can advise on any changes to the area due to their firsthand experience.

At minimum, there will be a mutant moose.

Danger levels fluctuate, depending on approach. Let me know how Isaac and friends may wish to handle this, and I can supply more information as to his success.

Refer to this note for additional guidance.

As stated in the plot write up above, how you represent this task in RP is up to you. If you want to make it an involved aspect of your role play, then go for it. If you find it more useful as a backdrop to CR building, that's fine too. If you want to RP out discussions over crystals about it more than writing out the action, that's also all good. The only requirement is that it is depicted in RP in some meaningful way.

It also expected your character will have help in accomplishing their tasks, so please reach out to whoever you like, whether they signed up for their own task or not!

Please hit me up for any amount of detail you might need, such as NPC details, setting, outcomes to actions, and so on, to help enable whatever aspects you wish to RP out. If some GM'd or NPC'd threads would be useful, we can definitely look into doing a little something.

The deadline, such as it is, is the end of July. This deadline just asks that this task have been RPed about by then. If there are more aspects to this task or you have to arrange your IC schedule in such a way that it has to take place after this point of time, that is entirely fine, just make sure to RP about it in the next two months and report on your IC progress/intentions. I'll be requesting a volunteer to put together a report that creates a broad overview of the progress of the network project entirely.

For information on what the technology actually is, consult this section of the Research page on the wiki. If you have any questions at all about this tech, the build, and the system itself, please don't hesitate to ask.

Edited 2021-06-05 02:23 (UTC)

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

research plot: Automatic Rift/Rifter Indicator Via Early Detection system.

QUESTIONS

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MAUD

HUGO

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additional guidance;