PLAYER PLOT(s): MOVERS AND SHAKERS

[katabasis]

WHAT: A series of mixed-division/mixed-project, more or less official Riftwatch business assignments dealing with some of the mage-templar-chantry politics in the aftermath of the kiboshed Conclave attempt.

These are odd-job style assignments that are meant to be done by a small number of characters (2-3), or styled as mingle logs for ease of play.

HOW: You'll be provided with a brief overview of the goals/stakes/potential complications of each mission, but will otherwise be expected to set up their logs/conduct the missions as you see fit. If presented with a choice of A path or B path, the selection won't affect the success of the mission itself, but it may weigh the scales for Conclave Pt.2 so make your decisions wisely.

WHO: All y'all. Each mission has preferred character types noted, but I'm really just using these suggestions as flavor guidelines so a) don't feel tied down by them, and b) please don't hold the respective divheads/project leads personally responsible for any of my half baked hijinks.

WHEN: OOC sign-ups close EOD Saturday, Oct 1st. Groups will be finalized and additional details distributed in the next 48-ish hours. This sign-up period is purposefully short to make sure all business is settled before Conclave Pt.2. ICly, you're welcome to date these however is convenient or interesting so long as it occurs pre-Conclave Pt.2 (whenever that happens), so don't be worried about this overlapping with any IC obligations/feel free to sign up for multiples if you have the time and interest.

Reports for these mini-plots will be due by October 31st. Don't make me hunt you down. [knife emoji]

Comments

[portalling]

PLAYER: Julie
CHARACTER: Strange
RIFTER/MAGE/DIPLOMAT/(EX-)TEMPLAR?: Y, rifter + mage, if it's okay to hop on in!

[katabasis]

(Disclaimer: I had intended to write y'all a fun spreadsheet with weighed point values for each character, but I've been sick; while the soul is willing, the body is little too crunchy to get its act together. Apologies for the delay/the last minute concept rework. With this in mind, the report deadline for this has been bumped to November 5th.)

The letter sent to Riftwatch by the castellan overseeing the particular region of Wildervale in which the village of Cledwyn is located is brief. The village, the castellan writes, is suffering from a spate of sickness. Ordinarily, they would of course send their own healers to support the locals. Unfortunately, the great majority of their resources have been committed to aiding the Exalted March. With this in mind, would Riftwatch please be so kind as to send some help their way? In exchange, the castellan promises Riftwatch ten casks of the finest vintage in their cellars in addition to some vague overture of future favors.

It's not a very appealing offer, save for the final detail: 'Please speak to Sister Merran when you arrive. She will brief you on the situation accordingly.'

Sister Merran, to anyone on top of their Chantry pamphleting, is a prominent advocate in the Chantry for the reinstitution of Circles (and, presumably, the imprisonment of Rifters post-war). It would be preferable if something could be done to sway her opinion on the matter, or to at least reduce the strength of her voice in the debate. Seeing a prime opportunity to make a good impression on Sister Merran, Gela, Vanya, Derrica and Strange are ordered to attend to the village. They're to be on their best behavior and exhibit their best bedside manner.

Unfortunately, when they arrive in Cledwyn, they will find the situation considerably more complicated than the castellan made it out to be. It seems this sickness plaguing Cledwyn is just the tip of the Problems iceberg.

SOME BACKGROUND:
Just over one year ago, Corypheus' forces razed the city of Tantervale to the ground and the Imperium's troops marched East along the Minanter to lay siege to Starkhaven. The refugees driven from Tantervale and the surrounding countryside have scattered throughout the Marches and beyond, and a number of them found refuge in Cledwyn. Last year, the village—whose trade is primarily in wheat and the the milling of flour and making bread—was prospering to the point that taking in a few dozen refugees could be done practically without question. If there was some fear that Tevinter's army might swing south rather than marching east, and the possibility that twenty more hands might be pressed to defend the village—well, obviously they would have taken them anyway. But it wasn't not a consideration.

But, 9:48 is proving to be an entirely different kind of year for Cledwyn. While last year the loss of Tantervale had meant a surplus of food on hand to feed their guests with, this year it's meant significantly less coin in the locals' pockets with one of their main trade hubs erased off the map. What had once been a very reasonable agreement—that the refugees would assist in the farming and harvest in exchange for roofs over their head, and that everyone would benefit from the added security—has soured as no Tevinter soldiers have come raiding, as the refugees have continued to go unpaid for their labor and unable to really restart their lives, and the Cledwynites have grown less and less patient with the perceived lack of gratitude that comes with being hassled for compensation they clearly can't provide.

And then the rains came. The river which drives the mill flooded, and the would-be harvest was decimated. And then the curse came: villagers and refugees both succumbing to sudden bouts of fever and convulsions; reports of sudden personality shifts and hysteria. All of it has bred an air of helplessness and panic—the locals are adamant that the refugees must relocate. The refugees have no means with which to do so and are determined to not simply be driven off empty handed. To make matters worse, Sister Merran (who traveled to Cledwyn from region's Chantry to oversee Riftwatch's work) has herself fallen ill and in her delirious fever has rambled just enough to plant the thought that all of Cledwyn's ills (literally and otherwise) might be the work of some apostate consorting with demons.

WHAT THIS MEANS FOR THE RIFTWATCH CREW:
Cledwyn is on the verge of full blown witchhunt, with both Tantervale refugees and Cledwyn natives sufficiently devout enough to take a Sister's fever addled word seriously. They'll be distrustful if not downright hostile to Derrica and Strange; Gela will find herself dealing a thousand requests. Meanwhile, should Vanya claim (either by his own volition or by being persuaded) any connection to the Templar Order, everyone in Cledwyn will show every indication of wanting to trust his judgment (albeit adamant that Something Wicked Is Afoot).

Is there an apostate somewhere in the village getting their revenge, or is it fantasy!ergot poisoning? Can the immediate crisis be averted in order to bring everyone together and reach a solution for the more long term problem of how to get everyone through the winter? Last but certainly not least, how do you deal with a problem like Sister Merran?

In general: I've provided you with a lot of details and not a lot of concrete resolutions in the interest of letting y'all run wild. Feel free to characterize your village of NPCs how you please; don't feel obligated to write anything too heavily populated by NPCs either if you'd prefer to swerve around it entirely and instead write the crunchy Riftwatch interpersonal stuff. My interest is in creating drama for your characters, not in trapping you into a result. That said, if you want to come to me with 'Hey our characters are going to do this, what happens?', then I'm happy to provide a solution. But you're also welcome to just detail their decision and the immediate consequences or lack thereof in your report (due November 5th) and I'll sneakily lift that info and incorporate it and any cascading effects into future plots.

[katabasis]

Hey all! I'm going to pull together a bulk report for some of these assignments in an effort to keep the wiki up to speed and my ducks in a row in case I'm moved to do any follow up assignments that involve this.

It seems safe to assume that the the visit to Cledwyn wasn't a total disaster and that no one entered full blown stake burning mode, but let me know if there's any particular resolution y'all would prefer canonized/if there's anything specific that you want included in the report (or want to say happened, but WASN'T included in the report), if you have any relevant things you want linked in addition to the log, and if you have any preferences where the report point gets spent once mod hiatus is over.

Thank you!