FORCES + HAVEN WAR TABLE: Mending Rifts

[tender]

WAR TABLE ASSIGNMENT: MENDING RIFTS

WHAT:
A smattering of Rifts anomalous to Riftwatch's tracking methods have been reported in or near pastoral Antivan population centers with bizarre regularity. Members of Riftwatch have been ordered to travel to the affected area to both find and seal the rifts, and to help repair damages inflicted on various picturesque Antivan farming communities by the sudden proliferation of demons.

But when a Chantry Sister confronts the members of Riftwatch with a potentially explosive accusation—threatening to not just publicly lay responsibility at Riftwatch's feet but also to drastically damage the organization's reputation when she claims to have witnessed a member of Riftwatch open the Rift that ultimately drove her, her Sisters, and their congregants to abandon their little pastoral Chantry—, the efforts in the region quickly pivot to figuring out who this Mysterious Member of Riftwatch is and where they'll strike next in order to intercept them.

HOW:
The log will be split into two parts:

A general mingle log open to all Divisions focused on cleaning up the countryside, either by closing Rifts or assisting the affected locals in the region. During this mingle log, characters will have an opportunity to uncover clues that will eventually lead to being able to intercept this Mysterious Riftwatcher and [Mysteries Yet To Come], or to make significant impacts toward preserving Riftwatch's reputation. No need to sign up for this, but if you nab a clue or do something to build a lot of good PR, we'll have a space provided to claim those plot achievements.

A showdown between members of Riftwatch and scoundrel sullying their name. This is closed to 2-4 members of Project Haven and/or Forces Division. If you want to get involved but aren't part of either, you can join Project Haven at any time by adding your character's name to the project page or by indicating in your sign-up form and we'll do it for you.

These parts will run concurrently so no one has to be agonized about an unsolved mystery for weeks, but don't let that discourage you from recovering clues in the mingle log. That will be important for the results of the plot and [Yet Again, Mysteries Yet To Come].

WHO: Everyone and anyone, but especially Project Haven and Forces Division.

WHEN: Sign-ups for intercepting the Mysterious Scoundrel close on June 7th, and we'll (Maker willing) have the log up on July 8th. Everyone will have through August 5th to claim their plot impacts, and an official report will be filed afterward which reflects the results (y'all are off the hook for report writing).

Comments

[clawings]

PLAYER: era
CHARACTER: Erik Stevens
MEMBER OF FORCES AND/OR PROJECT HAVEN?: forces!
ANYTHING ELSE?: nah

[tender]

Welcome, Scooby Gang! You'll be part of the team that eventually successfully tracks down the guy responsible for this mess. A top level comment for that thread is available HERE. A few things:

The Imposter is a non-mage Venatori with an anchor (gasp) in his left hand. His right hand is injured, which has impacted his ability to wield the sneaky assassin sword he carries. That said, he's very skilled with his anchor, and has the ability to use both a shielding and offensive concussive blast anchor abilities in addition to tearing open rifts and raining demons down on everyone's heads. Consider him a highly dangerous, if technically non-magical assailant.

The Imposter is available for everyone to NPC. Think of him as a round robin story tool which you can use to complicate the lives of your thread partners.

The Imposter doesn't want to get captured and will put up a fierce fight in his attempt to escape, but his actual fate is up in the air. Capture may be just as effective as killing, but don't feel obligated to check with us (Eppy and Abby) for which one you want to do. It can be an organic thing we get to in the thread (or decide on later if we collectively get sick of writing action). If we somehow get to a point where there's a lot of talking happening, we'll provide everyone with a run down of the important things the NPC knows so that everyone can continue playing him.

In the interest of keeping this thread moving with such a big group, we're going to instate the 'Three Tag Rule' instead of using strict tag order. Meaning, if two people have tagged after you, you can go again even if someone else hasn't tagged yet (i.e. you could theoretically have every third tag in the thread). For anyone slow to get to the party, don't feel bad - just pretend you've been there the whole time, and everyone else will similarly play along. There should be enough demon and rift shaped chaos happening to cover for intermittent disappearances.

[katabasis]

Hey! We're calling this mission a wrap, with the following results:

• The mysterious imposter will successfully escape into the night. Clever boy!
  
• However, his gear is recovered/can be rifled through. Among the ordinary equipment required for sleeping rough are a few personal effects, including a book on eastern Thedas flora and fauna with small pencil markings made on various pages (weirdly not the ones associated with this specific region), and a stack of miscellaneous gossip broadsheets. More on this later once everyone returns to the Gallows and a report has been filed (extra ooc note: there's a code involved and your characters will have a chance to weigh in in some capacity).
  
• All rifts in the region are closed.
  
• Thanks to Riftwatch's work in the region, Mother Sveta has been persuaded to temporarily reserver her accusations that Riftwatch was responsible for the attack, and that anchors can be used to tear the Veil. But if Riftwatch doesn't follow up with proof that the culprit was Venatori soon, they may find her patience has waned.
  
• For play purposes, if you end up wanting flavor to refer to either now or in the future then please feel free to reference any of the clues from this spreadsheet. We're just going to assume some/all were pieced together.

Eppy will be filing the report for this. Let us know if there are any questions.

Thank you for signing up!