faderiftooc | PLAYER PLOT: HUMANS OF THEDAS

Entry tags:

! player plot

PLAYER PLOT: HUMANS OF THEDAS

WHAT In light of the recent violence at Hasmal, Tantervale, and Starkhaven, and influx of refugees fleeing south, Holden's interested in generating some good-will and sympathy for the beleaguered folks. His idea is this: publishing a series of pamphlets (thanks, Bastien!) spotlighting random refugees with little humanizing anecdotes, likes and dislikes, and accounts of their having to flee their homes and trying to settle in Kirkwall. He won't be looking to publicize anything particularly contentious that may take away from the basic message of hey let's be more compassionate to these people, which includes some care with regard to how Tevinter is spoken about, given that there are refugees from there. The idea is to try to improve conditions for a group of people in a way that lets them speak for themselves.

WHO That's where you come in! This is open to anyone from any division who's willing and able to spend some time talking to refugees around Kirkwall. Feel free to choose partners from characters who did or didn't sign up to do the work with.

HOW This is meant to be pretty low-key, so feel free to handwave or rp anything around the process of actually interviewing NPCs, up to and including the interview, any aftermath, inboxing Jim to complain, whatever. As long as characters come up with some pertinent information to pass along and act in good faith, it's all good. Holden'll be taking this endeavor very seriously and weeding out anything that might hurt the message and/or anyone who seems to be doing more harm than good. Let's Not Terrorize The Refugees, Guys. On a related note, interactions will be mildly negative at the very worst, no one need worry about getting NPCs out to pick a fight.

WHEN OOCly, sign ups will close by AUGUST 31. I'll be handing out information about the NPCs your character will encounter as sign ups roll in. You'll be expected to write a few sentences to a paragraph of a mini-report by SEPTEMBER 15 that I'll subsequently compile into a full report.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Player: dove
Character: beth greene
Division: diplomacy
Preferences? i'm okay with whatever kind of interaction, positive or negative ♥
Anything else? my favourite colour is purple

In all likelihood, Beth meets Shaya by way of an attempted pickpocketing. No one knows exactly how old the elf girl is, least of all her, but she isn’t any older than 13. She comes to Kirkwall by way of the alienage in Tantervale, and if she ever had any family, they’re long gone. She’s fiercely independent and prickly, loath to talk to a strange human woman, but the word is that she loves music. It’s possible to catch her singing when she thinks she’s alone, and while she’s embarrassed to be found out, she’ll quickly warm to any company willing to encourage this interest. She’d especially enjoy someone willing to play games with her, with her favorite being what’s essentially hopscotch, as well as marbles — she has a small collection that she guards jealously. While she's reticent on the topic of her past, or how she arrived here, she's interested in the idea of being written about, especially if Beth is willing to come back and read the pamphlet to her. She emphasizes that it's extremely important that Beth include her feelings (negative) on all the rain in Kirkwall.

As a reminder, please reply to this comment with a report of your character's findings by September 15.

Player: rachel
Character: sidony venaras
Division: base / research
Preferences? absolutely anything! she is a healer/surgeon, so there's positive possibilities there, but also kind of snobby and a noble so !
Anything else? lavender c:

Nadine Riedel is a tired, haggard woman. Fleeing south with two children — a girl, Lisbeth, and a boy, Liam, twelve year old twins — hasn’t been an easy task. She’s wary of strangers, particularly such fine-clothed folk, and will be halfway through none-too-politely asking Sidony to leave when they hear screaming. The kids had been playing, Liam took a fall, and now there’s a lot of blood; if Sidony offers her services by, say, giving him stitches, she’ll find Nadine grateful enough to be willing to admit the hardships of recent months. She’d been a washerwoman in Hasmal, initially unsure of the Vint camps, but after fleeing side by side with many of them after the Imperium showed up in her city, has grudgingly developed some sympathy to the fact that they aren’t all the same. And if Sidony knows of anyone who needs the services of a washerwoman and can offer her coin, well, she could use the work.

As a reminder, please reply to this comment with a report of your character's findings by September 15.

[ Written in neat, painfully formal handwriting. ]

I met a woman with her children, one of whom suffered a fall. It was clear they had little means of taking care of it themselves, given their situation, and so the least I could do was tend to the child. It did not seem that she had much in the way of either partner nor means of caring for herself, which is not an uncommon story.

Too many people have found themselves alone, harmed with nowhere to go.

Beth, as I shall call her for her own safety, was a washerwoman who had born witness to the Tevinter camp in Hasmal. She fled with them, refugees in their own right, and has told me in her own words that many of them were different to what was expected. Words that we all ought to keep in mind in the midst of all the sadness, pain and terror that we have been facing of late.

A final note, if you please - should anyone desire a skilled, dedicated washerwoman or, in fact, people to do any other jobs, I cannot recommend the people I spoke to any higher. Despite their setbacks and their failings I can assure you that they wish nothing more than to work and find their place in the world, and that is something worthy of great respect and admiration.

Player: Lana
Character: Edgard
Division: Forces
Preferences? Not too picky, but Edgard will be wanting to uplift the downtrodden, albeit in his own way
Anything else? Blue

Otto is a middle-aged man who laments the difficulty of getting food around here. He isn’t greedy; but charity only goes so far — and, surely, there are women and children, families, who need it more than he does, so he abstains when he can — and shop prices are sometimes prohibitive. He’ll be delighted to notice Edgard’s bow, eagerly requesting lessons in archery. If Edgard agrees, he’ll cheerfully talk about how he got off easier than some, leaving Hasmal, considering how little he really had to leave behind, and without children to fret about and care for. He’ll also be fascinated by Edgard’s opinions on mud, enthusiastically discussing the philosophy of respecting all that comes from the ground. He’d like to work on a farm when things are more stable, but in the meantime he’s immensely grateful for the help with learning to hunt.

As a reminder, please reply to this comment with a report of your character's findings by September 15.

omg best friends (this isn't the report obviously)

Edited 2021-08-15 16:59 (UTC)

heheheheh

I met a man named Otto. He is a very fine man of great taste. We talked of a great many things, but mostly how it's difficult to get food. I taught him to hunt. He will one day be a great archer, but currently he is a passable archer.

He told me there are a great many families and children who are not getting food either. He talked about how lucky he was that he had only himself to worry about. I think he will probably help others now that he can hunt. He wants to be a farmer in the future.

He also is a very good listener.

As a reminder, please submit a report by September 20 at the latest, or let me know if you will not be able to. Thanks!

Player: its a meee pel
Character: jone
Division: forces
Preferences? im open to anything

Character: fenris
Division: forces
Preferences? something teeth meltingly adorable to make fenris shut the fuck up

Margitte is maybe 4’9” in height, and initially very alarmed at the mere sight of Jone. But she approaches eventually, timidly inquiring if Jone’s hair really is that red, if she really hasn’t done anything to make it redder, and if she made that poleaxe herself. The more time she spends around Jone, the more utterly fascinated she becomes. She confesses that her father was a merchant in Hasmal, and she was promised to the son of one of his work contacts, but they haven’t heard anything of what became of the family since having to run south. She’s not good, she’ll say, at a lot of things; but she’s always enjoyed sewing and embroidery, and she’s taken to doing as much mending as she can get her hands on. She’s sure it sounds foolish to such a strong woman, but it’s doing something, right? Her hope is that if Thomas Spahn reads any of these, won’t he try to find her? Also, can she touch the poleaxe before Jone leaves? A no will be accepted without argument, and a yes will make her blush crimson.

As a reminder, please reply to this comment with a report of your character's findings by September 15.

Feyven is little more than a toddler, eyes wide and blue, ears small and perfectly shaped into little points. But he takes a shine to Fenris pretty much on sight. If Fenris goes anywhere, he moves his tiny legs furiously to keep up; if Fenris stands, he’ll find small hands clinging to the fabric of his trousers; and if Fenris looks down, he’ll see grabby hands in the universal gesture of pick me up. Would you say no to that little face. Would you. Feyven’s parents materialize sooner or later, apologizing profusely for the inconvenience. They talk to him, wearily, about their fears of being thrown into another alienage — or worse — though it’s hard for conversation to grow too grim with Feyven cooing as they speak, grabbing at anything grabbable he can. They just want him to be able to have a good life, they explain, and warmly tell Fenris he’s welcome to come back and see them whenever he wants. Feyven would miss him, surely, if he doesn’t.

As a reminder, please reply to this comment with a report of your character's findings by September 15.

Player: era era bo bera
Character: Loki
Division: Diplomacy
Preferences? Nah go wild
Anything else? My favorite color is the dark blue shade of cerulean (there are several colors named that, weirdly)

Character: Erik Stevens
Division: Diplomacy
Preferences? something re: children or even just a soft interaction would be good
Anything else? nada surf

Ravi is an ancient, wizened man, initially suspicious of some Kirkwall stranger willing to talk to him. These are dangerous times, you know, and you can’t just trust anyone. He’s an old man. However, even the slightest reassurance that he isn’t so aged, really, leads to him warming up considerably. When he was your age — hush, young man, don’t interrupt him — when he was your age, he was a sailor. In fact, he even dabbled in piracy! He’ll never tell what ships he looted, or worked aboard for that matter, but rest assured that if the Vints knew who he really was, they never would’ve let him escape alive. Not that he’d be welcome in Antiva either! He goes on to tell the tale of a priceless painting that he stole from an Antivan merchant, right from under their nose. To their dying day, they never knew where it went. Where does he have it now? He sold it, of course, for the money for a ring when he was still young enough to charm a spouse with his good looks. Best decision he ever made in his life.

As a reminder, please reply to this comment with a report of your character's findings by September 15.

[ Loki has decided to change the name for the sake of the not-so-innocent. ]

Today I met Vira, one of the many refugees that have arrived in Kirkwall fleeing the war. They are an elder now, wized by age, and yet Vira swore that had Tevinter been aware of their history they may never have made it out alive.

For, you see, Vira was once a pirate.

Their story is one of high seas intrigue and art theft that can't be repeated in detail here for the sake of protecting the aged, but their last great feat led to the purchase of a wedding ring and their retirement from piracy to settle down into the married life.

Vira's spouse is no longer with them, and time has taken its toll on Vira in other, more obvious ways to even a casual observer. But we can't forget that every refugee has a story, a tale, and lived a life before war upturned everything for them as it has for so many.

Hunar and Shini are a pair of children — best friends, they proudly proclaim — who take a shine to Erik right away. They’re part of a group of children whom a man named Gerard has been looking for, who don’t have families or anywhere else to go. Gerard’s alright, Shini says; he only gets mad at them if they go too long without telling him where they’ll be, Hunar agrees. They insist of getting Erik to play hide and seek with them, and also tag, and, after, Hunar will insist on Erik drawing his sword and letting them have a look at it. There is a lot of oohing and aahing from the both of them.

Eventually, Gerard himself makes an appearance. He scolds the children briefly for almost missing dinner, herds them back to the group. But he offers for Erik to join them, and will spend some time talking about the children displaced by the war, the challenges of keeping them clothed and fed under the circumstances. If there’s anything Erik, or Riftwatch, or anyone is willing to do to help, Maker knows they could use it.

As a reminder, please reply to this comment with a report of your character's findings by September 15.

[ Erik gives the equivalent of two month's of his Riftwatch salary to Gerard the day after they have their conversation. ]

War is the hardest on the children it leaves behind without anyone to care for them.

Gerard is one of those who has decided it is within his capabilities to pick up the slack. I met him through a pair of best friends, Hunar and Shini, who says the man caring for them only worries when they don't tell him where they'll be and forget to come in for dinner. Gerard himself is struggling with the reality of keeping children fed and clothed while they are all refugees of the current war.

Should you have room in your pockets to give to this cause, you can find Erik Stevens with Riftwatch in the Gallows; he'll make some introductions for you.

Player: Era
Character: Adrasteia
Division: Forces
Preferences? Nope

When she asks his name, the boy — somewhere in his late teens, or early twenties — blurts out something like Gnaeus, no, I meant Lukas, no, Thom, Lukas is my brother. To his credit, as much as he looks like he wants to run away after saying all...that, he doesn’t. There’s an obvious jolt of terror at the idea of being interviewed, but he doesn’t turn her down either.

He doesn’t talk, but he doesn’t turn her down.

Sitting closer to him, though, means she’ll be able to see part of nasty burn wound peeking through a hole in his sleeve. Recent enough to not be fully healed yet, old enough to have been acquired before he arrived at Kirkwall. He’ll allow her to heal it if she wants to, flinching a little at her touch. After which, he’ll haltingly tell her a story about — not him, a friend! Not even one he’s close to, a friend of a friend really — who was conscripted, and sent off to war to honor his family and his country (uhhh, some country, he can’t think of the name right now), and

lost his nerve. And ran, and kept running, and kept running, because his orders were too heinous, and he never actually wanted to hurt anyone, and there’s no going home now, obviously. If his home is even still there after what he did, who knows. His friend’s home. His friend of friend’s home. Does she think, he’ll implore, wide-eyed, that his friend is a coward?

(His accent is pretty clearly Tevene. It hasn’t made him any friends around here.)

As a reminder, please reply to this comment with a report of your character's findings by September 15.

But if you need some extra time since you're getting this late, just let me know.

[ Adrasteia will DEFINITELY heal him and will tell him she doesn't think he's a coward. She'd rather that he run than do something he knows will sit poorly on his heart.

She'll give him her name, tell him that she's a Warden, and how best to reach her, to see if he needs anything after they talk. She'll also give him whatever coin is in her pocket and see to it that he gets something to eat with her.

The following is what she submits for publication: ]

Sometimes doing the right thing means running away.

I know this. I hate this, because I'm a Warden, and I'm a fighter, and I don't like running away. I know this, and yet I'm reminded of it when I least expect it. Today, for instance, talking to a young man with a Tevinter accent.

He told me a story. A story in which someone was conscripted, in the name of honor, and ran, in the name of bravery. Did I think he was a coward? No.

Sometimes doing the right thing means running away, with every bridge you've passed burning in the night, lighting your way.

I hope those that have fled in the name of doing what is right, in the name of survival, find peace here in Kirkwall.

Player: MJ

Character: Bastien
Division: Diplomacy
Preferences? Anything's good!

Character: Jehan Mercier
Division: Research
Preferences? He's a Chantry Brother, so something that is either good for a serious Andrastian or hilariously bad for one would be great.

Anything else? Blue (Caribbean) or orange (tangerine).

Jack is a cobbler with grays threaded into his blond hair, who’s ready to talk to anyone willing to buy him a drink. A few beers in, he’ll laugh about childhood aspirations to be famous — though, Maker, not like this — when he grew up on a nameless farm in the Free Marches. He moved to Tantervale as a teenager, apprenticing under a stern man who never complimented him until the day he told Jack that he was retiring and handing over the shop to him. Jack had, he’d said, earned the honor. Jack will discuss some of the specifics of shoemaking, accommodations for different people, and different kinds of feet; and it’s clear he’s a knowledgeable and passionate man about his profession. He’s found farmwork to do, with harvest approaching, and he’s grateful. But he hopes that, one day, he can have the chance to make shoes once more.

As a reminder, please reply to this comment with a report of your character's findings by September 15.

[ The full report includes the farm, the apprenticeship, and the stern master, among other things. An excerpt: ]

Until his shop was destroyed, Jack made shoes in Tantervale for more than twenty years, and I find it hard to imagine anyone made them better. He can tell from the wear on the soles of your boots how a new pair might be cut to hurt less on a long day and only needs a vague description of the color and feel to identify the type of leather that must have been used in a beloved but lost old pair. He has made too many to remember them all, he says, but off the top of his head he can recall in detail the shoes he made for a young woman who brought in her first wages and planned to go dancing, the shoes that made it easier for a young man with a bear-mangled foot to keep his balance while he walked, the shoes he copied carefully for a son before his father wore the original pair on his pyre.

He told me that it isn't shoes that take people where they are going; it's feet that do that. But shoes can make the going more beautiful, and they can make it hurt less. Even a long walk away from a home you might never see again.

Cordelia is a cool-eyed woman of about 19, and while she never admits where she came from, her accent and the style of her clothes point in a pretty specific direction. She is not interested in the Chant. She doesn’t, immediately, seem interested in talking. However, if he’s patient, she’ll start talking about her favorite parts of Hasmal. She has an interest in architecture, and she becomes downright voluble as she discusses the beauty in the buildings, the layout, of the city. Play his cards right, and she’ll be willing to contribute some sketches pressing worn and well-loved paper into his hands before he goes.

As a reminder, please reply to this comment with a report of your character's findings by September 15.

[ Jehan's report comes with her sketches attached—save one, which he keeps for himself, but it's the most worn and least replicable of the bunch. He writes a fairly voluminous recounting of their conversation, not quite word for word but a spirited attempt, with academic attention to detail and absence of editorializing. It may need to be edited down.

In conclusion, however: ]

The Maker's first children, capable of creating anything in a world that bent instantly to their will, built nothing. And so he created us, with endless possibility in our souls, unquenchable flames in our hearts, and a world that would resist us. The stones are heavy and hard, but we build. The buildings fall to storms or wars or time, but we build them again, and taller this time, with bright glass in the windows.

Cordelia has had two worlds fall around her. I think she will make something beautiful in the third.

[ And jotted afterwards as an obvious bit of afterthought, ]

You have grieved as I have.
You, who made worlds out of nothing.
We are alike in sorrow, sculptor and clay,
Comforting each other in our art.
— Trials 1:8

Player: libby
Character: Gwenaëlle Baudin
Division: Forces
Preferences? Game for anything.
Anything else? Gwenaëlle has done and published this specific kind of work before, and while she would generally prefer not to get back into it, contributing a small part is something she'd be down for & potentially could add helpful publication connections to circulating the pamphlets further around southern Thedas.

Thank goodness for Gwen.

Oswald says he was a baker in Hasmal; which may be surprising, because he’s built more like a warrior, down to the crossbow and bolts he’s never without. He explains that he likes to be well-prepared for opportunities to kill Venatori and game alike; both all the larger concerns now that he has little opportunity for baking. He explains that his primary reason in talking to her is for his older sister, Clara; they were separated in the chaos of their hurried escape. He speaks with a grim determination of his relentless search for her all along his journey south. He doesn’t intend to stay around Kirkwall long, prepared to seek out other places where refugees have settled, in hopes of finding her, or at least finding out what happened to her. If she hears about him, if the word from these pamphlets reaches her, then he hopes she’ll reach out to someone here — maybe Riftwatch — and he expects a promise from Gwenaëlle to ensure they’ll do something to help her find him in turn. He won’t leave for a fortnight, and he expects to return to Kirkwall before winter truly sets in.

As a reminder, please reply to this comment with a report of your character's findings by September 15.

Hasmal has produced an uncommonly well-prepared pâtissier in Oswald, a burly crossbowman engaged in the search for his sister. We must address her directly:

Clara, your brother survived. He has come to Kirkwall, but intends to depart soon to search for you again; if these pamphlets reach you before he does, he will winter in Kirkwall, and you may follow these writings to Riftwatch to be reunited with him. If you are half so impressive as your brother, we would like to offer you both work when you're safe — we hope that you are safe.

Player: eppy

Character: derrica
Division: forces
Preferences? only request that she end up interviewing someone comically taller than her

Character: ellis
Division: forces
Preferences? anything's fine!!

Anything else? my favorite color is blue

Edited 2021-08-10 01:24 (UTC)

Brett was a blacksmith in Tantervale, tall and burly, straight-backed despite the steel gray of his hair and wrinkles in his skin. His smithy had been in the family for generations, worked by his father, his father’s father, his father’s father’s father, and so on. He’s all too willing to talk to a lovely young lady, but he doesn’t speak of the war. Instead, he tells her a long tale from his youth, of a girl he’d loved. Her name was Olivia, and her long brown hair was a sight to see, and her voice was like a songbird in the flush of spring. They’d been best friends, and he’d been saving the money to ask for her hand, but she confided in him one day that she’d fallen for a dashing Ferelden cousin of her sister’s husband, who’d been visiting town. She married him and left with him for his country, though Brett had the chance to see her now and again since then. He never fell in love again; but considering what became of Tantervale, he thinks her choice was for the best.

As a reminder, please reply to this comment with a report of your character's findings by September 15.

Derrica will debate changing Brett's name, but leaves it intact on the off chance this pamphlet reaches a certain person.

Each refugee I've met has had stories of loved ones. They tell me of the people they've lost, or people they hope to find.

When I met Brett, I thought I would hear more of such stories. Instead, after telling me of his destroyed smithy, he told me of someone he'd parted with willingly, when he was young. He knows where she is and he knows that she is safe. And he loved her, maybe more than she realizes. She is not his wife, and she didn't spend her years by his side as he worked in the smithy that had passed from father to son for generations. Brett doesn't regret the choice.

I can't say I know very much about love like the kind Brett confided in me. It's a rare kind. He must have loved this woman very much to give her up to a better life than she would have found if she stayed in Tantervale with him, knowing now where that would have led.

Could we be so selfless? I don't know. I hope to be, if I'm ever set with a choice the way Brett was. And I hope he finds her now, after all that's happened or if not, then he finds kindness in the Marches as he rebuilds his life. We need the comfort of friends and the kindness of strangers in this time now more than ever.

Varini speaks Tevene-accented Trade, has proud, bright eyes. She’s happy to speak to anyone — but especially a Warden — about her escape from slavery in the household of a Laetan. She’s interested in becoming a Grey Warden, herself, and will want to find out whatever he may be willing to tell her about the process. She’s undeterred by any talk of risk; her life is now her own, and there is nothing she’d rather do with it than elevate herself into such a warrior. She knows what’s at stake. And she doubts anywhere else would be willing to take her on and train her, with tensions being what they are.

As a reminder, please reply to this comment with a report of your character's findings by September 15.

For posterity, Ellis sent Varini on to the Ansburg fortress after having spent the better part of an afternoon speaking with her.

Varini had already escaped a life of slavery in Tevinter. And now she has survived an invasion.

She has come all this way, seeking to be of service to Thedas.

It's a rare thing, to survive hardship this way and not be broken by it. Wherever her life takes her, I am sure she'll be able to withstand whatever else she meets on her path.

As a reminder, please submit reports by September 20 at the latest, or let me know if you will not be able to. Thanks!

Edited (wait theres two) 2021-09-18 23:14 (UTC)

Player: cee!
Character: Tiffany Hart
Division: Diplomacy
Preferences? nah
Anything else? my fav color is BLACK

Paxley is delighted to be asked for his story, thank you very much. At last! He’s waited his entire life for the telling of this tale. You see, he is a bard. Well, he’s not a bard, really, not like the ones in Orlais if you know what he means, but he’s a singer. A troubadour. An artist. And with times like these, his job is really more important than ever. Morale matters so much, doesn’t she think so? Of course she does. As he was saying —

(Where did that lute come from?)

He spins a tale of being born on a storm-tossed ship on the Waking Sea, wandering wherever his fortune took him, into the depths of dragons dens, on the borders of Tevinter, across the hinterlands of Orlais, and did you know he’s sung for the Empress herself? His adventures take him, truly, all across Thedas, until at last he’s throwing spears at the dragon over Tantervale, then escaping the siege at Starkhaven.

If pressed, he will insist that every sentence of his story is true. And, honestly, after spending so long listening to him talk (and sing), do you really want to try asking him for another story?

As a reminder, please reply to this comment with a report of your character's findings by September 15.

Edited (wheeze) 2021-08-14 23:57 (UTC)

[Written in a neat hand, only slightly prone to embellishments (a modern Tiffany Hart would only recently have grown out of completely unironically dotting her i's with tiny hearts and smiley faces)--]

It is said that the Maker loves music, which is why the Chant is a song, and why the language of every country is music. Every person knows music. Every person can sing you a song, if only the song their nursemaid or mother sang to them when they were very small. Even the wind through the trees is a song.

I spoke with a man so blessed that his every thought is a song. It reminded me that there is a sameness to us all, that we were all created by the Maker, no matter the families and countries that we were born to.

I hope we can all remember this.

Player: c
Character: Abby A.
Division: Forces
Preferences? Fine with anything! Abby's bedside manner is awkward so if that gets her into negative situations so be it lol
Anything else? My favourite colour is orange!

Tullus Casca brushes her off pretty much on sight. He has no interest in wasting time talking to strangers after all they’ve been through and with all the work to be done. However, his son, Paul, seeks Abby out before she can leave the settlement. He’s 12 and extremely bored, and Abby is a novelty. Also she looks, like, so strong? Can she rip a tree in two? Can he watch? Okay, but has she tried? What’s her favorite weapon? Because he wants a halberd when he grows up, and no he hasn’t used one before, but he could, and he’s going to be as muscled as she is at least, because if any soldiers or dragons or anyone else comes for his home again, he’s going to stop them. If she humors him in conversation, she’ll learn that they fled Tevinter because his dad wasn’t going to fight for no Venatori wars, so they went to Hasmal, which sucked, and then the soldiers came there, which is why they’re here now. He’s closer-lipped on the topic of his mother, but he may eventually admit that she died before they left home — not that it’s home anymore — under mysterious circumstances.

As a reminder, please reply to this comment with a report of your character's findings by September 15.

(abby isn't necessarily poetic in her write-up but she's honest and well-meaning, and hopefully that comes through. she's going to use her own coin to get a basic halberd sent to tullus casca to keep secret until he deems it appropriate for his son to have.)

I met a kid who has been travelling a lot, moving from temporary home to temporary home. It's been hard for him, but he's brave. Keen to fight, and protect his people. I think that's something we can all empathise with. These are people that have lost a lot, but still want to give something if they can. It's admirable.

They're also as time-poor as they are otherwise; if you can't give anything physical, you could offer them your free afternoons. They have a lot of work to do, and some are parents, trying to look after children who are bored, and want to talk, want to hang out with new people. It's an easy way to help out, to spread the load. It might not seem like much but I know it would mean a lot.

Wouldn't be a one-sided offer, either. You'll get back some pretty amazing stories, probably a couple of laughs. Don't think there's much to lose when you weigh it up like that.

Player: dove
Character: laura kint
Division: forces
Preferences? no preferences, let's do w/e

Bram clearly gives a name made up on the spot, but he never offers an alternate. He’s maybe 20, looks weary and worn even among a group of people who have lost so much. Still, he’s wary, and the only reason he consents to Laura’s company is her willingness to speak little, and let silences be. He came from Hasmal, he may admit at one point, in Tevene-inflected Trade, but not from Hasmal. He just doesn’t want to be forced to fight. He doesn’t think anyone should be allowed to do that to someone. And he’s willing to let her report that, as long as she’s clear on that point: not everyone has a choice in it.

As a reminder, please reply to this comment with a report of your character's findings by September 15.

Edited 2021-08-15 02:50 (UTC)

Player: Cookie
Character: Margaery Tyrell
Division: Diplomacy
Preferences? No preferences come to mind!
Anything else? Black has never let me down. c:

Flora’s clothes are as susceptible to dust and grime as anyone else’s, but it’s clear that the fabrics are finer — silks, embroidered wools — and she carries herself with a bone-deep haughtiness. She approaches Margaery not because she’s particularly interested in being interviewed, but because she could use a few minutes of decent conversation. Who is Margaery’s modiste, and what does she know about local fashions, and has she heard about this (out of date, truthfully) scandal about a Bann’s son who ran off with a cobbler’s daughter…

She says at least three times, good-naturedly by her estimation, that normally gossiping with the likes of Margaery would be beneath her. (Has she seen the roughness of her hands lately?) But needs must.

Presently, the conversation wends in a different direction. It becomes increasingly clear that Flora had been the lady of a house in Hasmal. She wears a ring, but she doesn’t know what became of anyone else from it. She’d been barricaded in her home with the rising violence, and had fled when the Tevene army appeared. In truth, she admits, she’d never cared about the war. It could never touch her, and what was so bad about the Imperium, really? Her husband’s business had sold wares to some of their traders, and they were perfectly acceptable men.

None of that, she says, protected her. Certainly none of it protected her husband, struck down by Tevene soldiers, or any of their people. She hopes no one else makes the same mistake of complacency that she did.

As a reminder, please reply to this comment with a report of your character's findings by September 15.

But if you need some extra time since you're getting this late, just let me know.

Edited (wheezes) 2021-09-05 14:45 (UTC)

There is no haven in a war. Even if one tries to remain clear of conflict, all it takes is a gentle gust of chance, a mistake, a wrong place at the wrong time for that to change.

There are those who cannot remember what peace is when they're so blinded by their aggression, and those who prefer to see all strangers as foes rather than pausing for dialogue.

Doing nothing at all is a clear choice and a side picked, as any. It is a foolhardy mistake to assume that your inaction will afford inaction against you, and I believe this is a hard-learned lesson that so many like my new acquaintance, Flora, have learned after a lifetime of privilege and luxury.

War shakes us all. It gives us a world that we do not recognize and forces us to become different as well.

I believe these stories should be well-documented and used in our effort to rouse support and battle indifference in higher social circles. For the survivors who are used to living a certain way, Riftwatch may stand to gain much future standing allies if we are able to help acclimate them to their new realities.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

PLAYER PLOT: HUMANS OF THEDAS

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