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faderiftooc2021-06-24 11:16 pm
faderifting) wrote in faderiftooc2021-06-24 11:16 pm
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MOD PLOT ↠ The Soldiers of the Demon Charged
MOD PLOT: THE SOLDIERS OF THE DEMON CHARGED
Or, Look! We Found That Missing Army!
The log for this cycle's mod plot is now live. Most of the details are in that post, but in summary, it involves Tevinter (and to some extent the Anders) redirecting its invasion efforts to the Free Marches. The plot is designed to be fully open, with a lot of things you can drop your character into blah blah blah.
This plot covers six IC weeks—which sounds like a lot, but it's still relatively quick for how much is happening. (Really it should probably be longer, but we didn't want to draw things out for months and travel times are still mostly fake in this game thank you.) By the end of the six IC weeks, the situation will have reached a point where other forces are taking up the brunt of the work and it's safe for Riftwatch to give less than 100% of its time and attention to this, so at that point you should feel free to run player plots and war table assignments that don't directly address the invasion. The invasion will remain a problem for the foreseeable future, so keep it in mind as a backdrop for what you do! Player plots that deal directly with the invasion are also obviously fantastic.
NOTE: We know that the significant delay in getting this posted (we're sorry!) may have made scheduling other plots difficult, and the length of this isn't intended to force you to keep everything else on hold for another 6 full weeks. We've backdated a bit to try to cut down on how much of July would ICly be focused on this as well. You should feel free to go ahead with other plots, especially if they're time sensitive in some way. We'd just recommend back- or forward-dating any personal plots that aren't urgent enough to take precedence over an invasion. If there's something borderline that you'd really like to get done in the middle of the emergency, but you're not sure how to justify it, feel free to reach out and we'll see if we can help come up with a reason.
KEY IC DATES
- Hasmal invasion: Early Justinian (June), with Riftwatch becoming aware on Justinian 10.
- Tantervale dragon attack: Justinian 18
- Siege begins: Solace 15
- Sebastian arrives: Solace 25
OOC LOGISTICS
As we described above, this plot is designed to be loosely plotted and open-ended, similar to the Fields of Ghislain structure where we provide overarching parameters and info and then you choose your own adventure. Most of what's happening is out there for you to drop your character into as you please. Involvement in these general activities can also be handwaved if you're not participating this month (and really should be — barring extraordinary circumstances, all Riftwatch members would be doing something to help).
Specific Missions
This time there are no closed plots that require sign-ups and RNG. What we're doing instead is offering a couple sets of 'specific missions' that anyone is free to participate in. (Within reason; please use some judgment on whether your character could realistically be ordered to do this in an emergency situation.) These are designed to provide some specific experiences and info—especially several minor villains who will need dealing with in the future.
The information for these plots is located in the comments below and linked from the main log post. You can choose whichever of these plots you like and there are no caps to overall participation. But you can only choose one per character per timeframe, because they're meant to be happening simultaneously. So if Adam is doing the griffon surveillance over Hasmal in Week 1, he can't also go to Tantervale in Week 1. But he could go to Wycome in Weeks 2 & 3 and play bodyguard against an assassin in Weeks 4 & 5.
You can sign up beneath each plot's info to let us know which specific missions your character is doing, but this is just for our records and to help other players see who's going along so you can all organize among yourselves as needed. Please note that because these are open-ended and there's no RNG or single dedicated post/thread, sign-ups only become real once you tag about your character being part of one of these missions. Unlike with all the general stuff described above, you can't handwave that your character took part in these activities unless you actually RP something about it, even if it's just a conversation with another PC about it.
Regarding Griffons
Many of these plots and activities make use of griffons, so as a reminder: you can make your character a griffon rider for 10 AC points! We made it cheap to encourage it to become common among Riftwatch personnel, rather than something fancy, so don't feel like you're making your character too special if you add it to the list of things they can do. But if that's not in the cards for them, the griffons will cooperate with passengers who aren't trained riders as long as there's a trained rider/griffon pair leading them, and individual griffons can also carry a rider and passenger. Use it for CR! Or you can just vaguely handwave the presence of a trained rider somewhere nearby, say your character was dropped off somewhere without specifying who did it, etc. Whatever works.
AFTERMATH
All of this ends in a change to the status quo for Riftwatch for the foreseeable future. A closer military front that means:
- More dangerous routine travel.
- More urgent wartime energy in Kirkwall, where the locals will no longer consider Corypheus and Tevinter a distant threat.
- More opportunities to assist with military maneuvers without making a whole month of it.
- Opportunities for enemy activity in and around Kirkwall — scouting parties in the Vinmarks, spies and saboteurs, etc.
Additionally, we're also going to be debuting a villain tree (shamelessly ripped off of the cultist map mechanism in Assassin's Creed Odyssey, and we're not sorry) with NPCs and other key resources that need to be dealt with to make Corypheus vulnerable enough to strike at directly once and for all. We're not done with the actual chart yet, predictably, but people and names from this plot are on it and it'll build on things learned here.
QUESTIONS
MINI-PLOT APPROVALS
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WHAT THEY'RE DOING: During the middle phase, these three will already be in Starkhaven to speak with Lord Tominagh and the dowager (along with anyone else who signs up). This is kind of an additional sidequest to that that I'd like signed off.
I wanted to also throw in something to give me an excuse for them to deal with Marcus' family. The Rowntrees run a shipping business up and down the Minanter, and what I'd like to do if for Riftwatch to gain some intel on refugee movements, which include a few ship names that Marcus will recognise as being owned by his elder brother. Turns out, his family is engaged in some light under-the-table extortion of refugees with enough cash to spend on secure travel down the river. The object will be to convince them to more openly assist the crown in the war effort, perhaps let Lady Gerfarlane pay for their troubles.
DESIRED OUTCOME: A successful exchange, if tensely made with some blackmail shaped pressure, but bolstering also their case to Gerfarlane and Tominagh for Starkhaven's capacity to assist the Tantervale refugees, specifically their movement. I am also open to it being an abject failure. His family is not titled and engage in some shady practices to protect their wealth, so that might not go well with a philanthropist.
QUESTIONS: No further questions! Let me know.
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Depending how much the Rowntrees are inclined to charge/how clear their shady practices become, she may also make some snide comments about the grasping merchant class who lack the natural grace and generosity of their betters. (Not that it's their fault, of course, there's simply no substitute for good breeding.) Otherwise, we're happy to leave the degree of success/how difficult his family are to convince and such up to you.
waffling on whether or not to put this in the questions section but this seems better off here
WHAT THEY'RE DOING: during the dragon tracking assignment, just at the very end, after eavesdropping and needing to make their departure just before sunrise: rather than just fleeing silently into the wild blue yonder, how disastrous would it be if someone (or say a few someones) decided to engage in a little direct sabotage/sniping/potshots at Primus Taxarchis' forces on their way out the door?
tl;dr Astarion isn't motivated to just passively slither in and slither out (because lust for wanton violence is a hell of a drug), and would be looking to land at least a few casualties or direct sabotage efforts on the enemy forces, regardless of risk. As of right now it's something we're discussing as a potential group conflict and/or effort, but this is all hypothetical since we don't know how much is feasible in terms of diverging from a completely clean end to the task.
DESIRED OUTCOME: NA, negative or positive it's all on the table
QUESTIONS: I just crammed my question into the what they're doing section because lbr the two go hand in hand here, and we're not really jonesing for any particular outcome so much as just getting a feel as to whether or not it'd be possible or desireable to have this play out less than beautifully, hit me if there's anything else at all you need
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after 10000 years I return
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WEEK ONE
HASMAL AERIAL SURVEILLANCE
Discoveries: There is a substantial Tevinter (and Ander/Warden) force camped around Hasmal and more still arriving from the northwest. From a rough guess it's probably about the same size as the force that invaded Orlais. They don't seem to be settling in--there are no signs of building a permanent encampment big enough to house them all--but appear ready to move again very soon.
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CHARACTER: Astarion
DIVISION: scouting
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CHARACTER: Edgard
DIVISION: Forces
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CHARACTER: Darras Rivain
DIVISION: Forces
HASMAL GROUND SURVEILLANCE
Discoveries: The arrival of the Tevinter army doesn't seem to have calmed things down as much as one might expect. There's no organized resistance to their authority, but the streets are still dangerously unsettled, all sorts of wild rumors continue to stir the populace up in this direction and that, keeping them paranoid and always on the edge of violence. They'll see street criers stoking fears and resentments ever higher as they share bits of sensational news and rumor, and firebrands of various stripes turning a mob against this government faction one day and the opposite faction the next. One particularly charismatic speaker, a young man with a hooked scar that turns up one corner of his mouth, frequents the corner Vizier Arith Park, speaking every day to large crowds who lap up his tales of horrors perpetrated in the streets and of Hasmali leaders abandoning their posts to cower from the violence. By night he may be found in taverns on the other side of town, sharing stories of how he got his scar when a gang of vicious refugees attacked and robbed him. The overall impression from a skeptical outside observer will be that the populace is being deliberately stirred up because someone wants the situation to remain chaotic for now.
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CHARACTER: dick dickerson
DIVISION: research
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TANTERVALE OUTREACH
Discoveries: Lady Chancellor Davina Crouch has never liked the Inquisition, let alone Riftwatch, and nothing happening right now appears to have changed that. As soon as it's known who the team represents they'll be stalled and shunted aside as much as possible and finally permitted to meet with a lower-level military advisor who will politely take copious notes of anything they have to say and make absolutely no assurances of any future cooperation.
While they're being stalled, the team will have a chance to observe the Chancellor's court, which is a buzz of nervous activity. They'll get the sense that no one is quite sure who is in charge of these sorts of things (defenses, namely) since the recent untimely death of Lord Meinard, the Chancellor's brother and chief advisor on military matters. There appears to be a lot of jockeying and discussion of complicated regulations and not much actual action.
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WEEKS TWO & THREE
OSTWICK
He won't outright commit to sending soldiers anywhere right now while the situation is so unclear, but will express serious concern about Tevinter invasion as an issue that affects all Marchers. In general he'll give the impression that he is willing to join an alliance if one forms for mutual defense or to push Tevinter out of Hasmal, but isn't going to be the first to jump and wants more information. Ostwick is typically neutral, so will want to be sure that there is something like unanimity among Marcher leaders before making any public commitments. He'll agree Tantervale refugees are welcome, but there will be some mild trepidation in the way he asks how many they think are likely.
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Re: OSTWICK
MARKHAM
If Riftwatch have some concrete thing they need to work together on or need access to Markham for, they can send a proposal and she'll consider it, but she isn't going to make any promises based on hypotheticals. Her interest in Riftwatch is academic, metaphorically and literally: she seems as if she's probing to find out what makes them tick, and mostly wants to know about the Research division's work and the Rifter scientists that are said to be part of the organization. She'll treat the arrival of refugees from Tantervale as an inevitability, something there is a plan in place already to deal with, but will not volunteer to take in any more than make their way there on their own.
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HERCINIA
He'll be open to working with Riftwatch in a mutual support/coordination way in the meantime, and if they want to make one specific request of him for support in some particular effort, he'll agree if it's reasonably within his powers. He'll be hesitant at the notion of taking in large numbers of people, encouraging the idea that maybe he could provide monetary support for the Tantervale refugees to settle somewhere closer to (their) home where there's more space. If lightly guilted about this he might rethink, but it'll take walking a narrow tightrope between persuading and offending--it's clear that the Count thinks of himself as a sort of role model leader, and won't take kindly to Riftwatch disputing that. He can be magnanimous but it's not unlimited: the team can either get him to agree to welcome refugees, or get his support on whatever their one other request is, but not both.
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ANSBURG
He'll be reluctant to discuss the problems head-on, talking around it and putting it off until the end of their little journey. But it's clear that he's concerned, and he'll ultimately admit that, and, if they've made a good impression along the way by being helpful and interested and not too pushy or weird, he'll want to hear whatever Riftwatch wants to tell him. He'll be clear that his resources, especially in the military sense, are limited, and he can't risk being spread too thin by sending them elsewhere. He's also still skeptical that this conflict will ever touch Ansburg, being as small and remote as it is. Let the bigger power bicker amongst themselves while Ansburgers get on with their lives. Especially with Antiva on their northern border, and a key partner, neutrality remains the priority for now. His sympathy for the refugees from Tantervale is clear, but again he'll stress limited resources and say he needs to speak with his people to determine how many they might be able to help.
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WYCOME
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STARKHAVEN
Questions about refugees will be nervously deferred by Lord Tominagh as outside his jurisdiction, and a second meeting will be arranged with a Lady Gerfarlane, who turns out to be less a government official and more a prominent dowager with connections to all the elite in Starkhaven society, who runs a philanthropic program and will be happy to discuss what might be done for Tantervale refugees.
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WEEKS FOUR & FIVE
STARKHAVEN ASSASSIN
Outcome: PCs will be assigned in pairs or small groups to shadow various key people (nobles, government officials, military/guard leaders, guild leaders, scientists), patrol their homes and grounds at night, and generally provide bodyguards whether those people want them or not. Some will be taking the threats seriously, others will not. The architect of this assassination scheme will manage to escape despite Riftwatch's best efforts, but they may be able to catch a glimpse and apprehend an accomplice or two, and maybe at least one would-be copy-cat.
Whether your characters encounter an assassination attempt directly and have to tussle with bad guys, manage to sense the danger in time and avert an attempt, find their target has managed to somehow get murdered anyway, or just spend a few days stuck on a boring stake-out together is up to you. When the time comes to evacuate agents from Starkhaven, they'll have gathered enough information to be sure that there was one person behind all of the attacks, each time working with a disposable partner whose assistance they purchased. Each was told a different vague (and demonstrably false) story about why their target was chosen.
Piecing together details suggests that the main assassin is highly-skilled and a master of disguise: no two accomplices describe them the same way, but all describe the same methods and instructions, and all say the assassin had blue eyes, though two of them will report noticing that actually, one eye was green. The obvious conclusion based on evidence gathered will be that this assassin was working for Tevinter, removing useful people and stirring up trouble and distrust among ruling families in order to weaken the city for the coming attack.
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DRAGON TRACKING
Outcome: While they won't precisely get that opportunity—just a disclaimer up front—they will be able to track the dragon to a fortress in the Silent Plains, near the stretch of Imperial Highway that goes on to cut between Nevarra City and Hasmal further south. Flying overhead by night, they'll be able to spot Corypheus among the soldiers and Venatori in the fortress. But any attempts to get close or linger will be cut short by the dragon and necessitate a hasty getaway.
Later, when the dragon attacks have paused, there will be an opportunity for a return visit on a night when the moon phases and some low-hanging clouds. This time there will be no sign of Corypheus or the dragon, and they'll be able to spend more time circling and observing without being noticed. The fortress is clearly being used as a command center for the army, with messengers riding to and from both Nevarra City and Hasmal. The fortress seems busier and more populated than advisable for its size and the amount of supplies it could contain, unless it's bigger on the inside (or has a substantial underground component).
It will be possible to land some passengers in the fortress itself, quickly and with use of the cloud cover to drop them on the unguarded tops of the towers. Sneaking around is out of the question—there are guards elsewhere, and the place is packed—but hanging around on or near the tower tops will allow eavesdropping on enough pieces of conversations to find out that there's an eluvian inside the fortress being used to transport people to and from Minrathous. (A pair of guards will complain about the headaches and nausea passing through the Crossroads gave them.) They'll also be able to spot and learn the name of the fortress's commander, Primus Taxarchis (primus being his rank), before needing to airlift out before sunrise.
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FIREBOMBING THE ARMY
Outcome: Initially, the plan will be a roaring success.
Get it? Fire? Roaring?
Catching the approaching army off guard at a time when it's feeling particularly confident, the team will be able to cause a significant amount of mayhem with its unexpected arrival and make several fire-dropping passes over different areas of the camp before the army manages to organize somewhat. At that point, they'll be able to continue to make passes, but only while dodging attempts to shoot the griffons with arrows or throw magic back up into the air at them.
In the midst of all of this, however, a cluster of Tevinter soldiers will set up in a protective formation around a mage wearing a set of robes that mark him as a high-ranking Venatori and sporting a goatee that marks him as a real asshole. He'll operate a glowing, rune-inscribed object that's shaped like a pyramid, and within a few minutes the wind will pick up and the wind will shift and a storm will seem to brew up, centered directly over the Venatori and his Weather Triangle TM.
The enchanted storm will rapidly grow to encompass the entire camp, putting out the fires that the team started and making it impossible to cause much more large-scale trouble, especially with the rest of the army continuing to do its best to knock the griffons out of the sky. (You're welcome to have a griffon or passenger be hit and need an emergency landing somewhere for drama—just don't kill them, unless you talk to us first.)
The interruption won't make the mission a failure. They'll have damaged a lot of supplies and likely killed some of the enemy soldiers, and they'll have information on the Venatori's ability to conjure up rainstorms to bring back as a warning.
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Re: FIREBOMBING THE ARMY