MOD POST ↠ Orlais

[faderifting]

PLOT INFORMATION

The results of the poll are in and apparently you all really want your characters to wear masks and laugh in obnoxious accents about ham that tastes of despair for a month because next up the Inquisition is going to turn their attention to solving the problems in Orlais. By which we mean its civil war, not...everything else about it.

ICly, this news can begin filtering through the grapevine in a gossipy and not-entirely-reliable way immediately. An official announcement from the advisors about the choice and the reasons behind it will follow shortly. Please keep an eye out for it! OOCly, the mod plot in Orlais is going to be a little different from what we've done in the past so forgive us for this longer-than-usual overview.

OVERVIEW

There will be a base of operations that any and all characters may be ordered to travel to and an open post with suggestions for things characters might be working on while stationed there. This will be posted in the second week of July and no sign-ups are required to participate. There will also be several rounds of closed mod plots that build on each other, and these will be spread across both July and September, with August used for regrouping, backtagging, player plots, and some war table operations to be announced later. It's going to be politics-focused, as the Inquisition attempts to play The Grand Game and help bring stability back to the Empire of Orlais.

The first round of mod plots--sign ups below!--are designed to set the stage and determine what the political landscape in Orlais will look like when it comes time for the Inquisition to choose who to back in the War of the Lions. The advisors will then decide who to officially throw the Inquisition's weight behind. A second round of mod plots will involve Inquisition agents approaching specific key players with orders to try to win them over. Finally, there will be an event similar(ish) to the ball at the Winter Palace in which characters will have a final chance to try to push the outcome one way or another. The final results will be based on a point system (kept hidden behind a curtain) that takes into account IC choices from each step.

The goal of drawing this plot out into several stages is twofold. First, we want to make it realistically difficult to end a well-balanced and intractable conflict in a complicated nation jam-packed with political power players. Second, we want to allow the choices characters make in the mod plots to actually determine the outcome without placing too much pressure on any one decision, group, or person. Like in DA:I, there are many different ways that things could end up between Celene, Gaspard, and Briala, and how the Inquisition conducts itself, who it approaches, and in what ways it tries to influence them will all help decide who ultimately rules Orlais.

Anwers to some questions we anticipate:

• If the advisors choose to have the Inquisition back, for example, Gaspard, does that mean at the end Gaspard will definitely take the throne somehow?
  
  No. It will be possible for the Inquisition to officially support X but for the plot results to ultimately mean that Y takes power instead. This may happen either through deliberate action by PCs who want Y instead of X and decide to risk the consequences, or because other choices made throughout the next several months unintentionally add up to give Y more power. We don't want to reveal too much about precisely how the sausage is made behind the scenes and take the fun out of it, but we have a system, and we hope that it will empower players to know that their characters' choices matter without worrying that they might singlehandedly decide the fate of Orlais.
  
  
• What about the elves? What if my character wants to promote Briala's agenda instead of Celene or Gaspard's?
  
  There will be ways to do that in each stage of the mod plots. It may--we assume--at some point run counter to the Inquisition's Official Stance, and if that's the case you should consider the possibility of there being consequences if your character is caught deliberately acting against orders. But OOCly we definitely want it to be possible for characters to push their own agendas, especially the elven one since it's such a big part of the unrest in Orlais in canon. If there is a more specific player plot-type operation you'd like to run related to this please contact us about it through the usual channels ASAP.
  
  
• How is this going to work if modplots always take way longer to play out? Are we going to know what happened in the first round in time to start the second before October?
  
  Because the results of the each round really do have a significant impact on the RP that comes after, we're going to ask players to please carefully consider their availability and speed before signing up. We've also done our best to construct the plots in a way where they are focused on specific key moments and/or clear choices that must be made between approaches A, B, and C. This choice is the key one moving forward, and we will ask players to let us know which their group chose by a certain date so that we can move on even if RP is still continuing.
  
  
• Will we know the results of the plot rounds as we go or just the final reveal of who wins?
  
  There will be IC news posts as we go about the progress of the war, key events, and the Inquisition's status in Orlais that will demonstrate some of the results of the plots, but we're not going to be doing OOC posts with "Celene now has 10 points and Gaspard has 7!" or anything like that.

QUEST SIGN-UPS

Beginning in the second week of July, Inquisition agents will be stationed outside Halamshiral on the estate of Duc Hugues Pelletier, who has invited them to use his property there as a base of operations in Orlais. More information about the location and Inquisition business in the area will be provided on the open post. The closed mod plots will occur in and around the city and further afield in the Empire. They will occur in the last week of Solace, IC, but will be started sooner OOC and forward-dated.

The Alienage

Characters who have been called to assist the Chantry with a rebuilding project in Halamshiral's fire-decimated alienage will have to decide how best to engage with the locals. This plot will involve interacting with the elven community, and one spot will be reserved for a city elf character.

The Caravan

Characters traveling from Skyhold to the base in Orlais will have to decide the fate of a merchant caravan and the supplies it carries. This plot may involve some combat depending on IC choices.

The Dispute

Characters visiting a local noble estate will find themselves called upon to decide a border dispute between neighbors. This plot will involve some investigation and may include some stealth or diplomacy depending on IC choices.

Sign-ups are here and will close at 11:59pm on Friday 7/8.

Comments

QUESTIONS

[faderifting]

[lifeofendurance]

Maaaaaaaybe I missed it, or I haven't had enough liquor tonight... Will the mod plots be overlapping the timing of the Annulment personal plot going on in July? I'd not want to sign up for something and take a spot if I could end up committed elsewhere.

[faderifting]

Hello! Apologies for leaving out the dates. The mod plots will take place after that one has concluded, as far as we're aware, so you can do both.

PLOT SIGN-UPS

[faderifting]

Sign-ups for the three closed quests will close on July 8 at 11:59 PM EDT.

If you want to sign up with multiple characters, please list each character in a single comment in order of priority. We will RNG by player, give players their highest available ranked choice for their highest priority character, then fill in empty slots with players' second or third characters if any remain.

<b>Player:</b> <b>Time Zone:</b> <b>Character:</b> <b>Quest(s):</b> In order of preference. <b>Notes:</b> If any.

[samahl]

Player: Mel
Time Zone: PST

Character: Cyril Ashara
Quest(s): Alienage, Dispute
Notes: Your note says "in order of preference" but really I'm fine with either of these two in equal measure.

[arlathvhen]

Player: Ema
Time Zone: cdt

Character: Beleth
Quest(s): The Alienage, The Dispute
Notes: i am very excited eee

Character: Kaisa
Quest(s): The Caravan, The Alienage
Notes: n/a

[mythalenaste]

Player: Tori
Time Zone: Eastern US

Character: Pel Ashara
Quest(s): The Caravan, The Dispute
Notes: With regards to the Dispute, she can provide some stealthy recon via owl shapeshifting.

[kallian_endris]

Player: Ardruna
Time Zone: CST

Character: Kallian
Quest(s): Alienage
Notes: City elf with Orlesian ties~

[gatheringstorm]

Player: Isana
Time Zone: EST

Character: Korrin Ataash
Quest(s): The Caravan
Notes: Enchantment!

[universal_charm]

Player: Luna
Time Zone: USA Central Time

Character: Jim Kirk
Quest(s): Dispute, Caravan, Alienage
Notes: Kirk has been set on a team for the Dairsmund plot, which is running July 15-20. If this plot runs in that time frame and it is not feasible for Kirk to go on this particular mission, then please disregard his sign-up.

[fightingdirty]

Player: Megan
Time Zone: EST

Character: Lena Meravas
Quest(s): Dispute, Caravan
Notes: Big horned woman is surprisingly stealthy.

[wontforgetyou]

Player: Beth
Time Zone: EST

Character: Jamie McCrimmon
Quest(s): Alienage
Notes: none unless you want to go with perfume notes - orange, a spot of barley, and a dash of the local single malt.

[ancarrow]

Player: Hannah
Time Zone: GMT

Character: Eirlys Ancarrow
Quest(s): Alienage
Notes: City Elf liaison, used to dealing with alienage problems

[justice_is_blond]

Player: Jackie
Time Zone: PST

Character: Anders
Quest(s): Alienage, Caravan
Notes: Timing, not order, is my real priority here. I'd like to be free for the annulment player plot (15th-20th) and then I'll be insanely busy with SDCC (21-24th,) so if either is outside that timing that's what I'd prefer, please.

[dalishious]

Player: Candy
Time Zone: PST

Character: Merrick Ashara
Quest(s): Alienage, Caravan
Notes: My god he's terrible for all these plots but where would we be in life if we didn't take risks

Re: PLOT SIGN-UPS

[judgemewhole]

b>Player: Wren
Time Zone: EST

Character: James Norrington
Quest(s): Alienage, Caravan, Dispute
Notes: I'm here for cookies

Character: Bethany Hawke
Quest(s): Caravan, Alienage, Dispute
Notes: I like Oreos.

Character: Katniss Everdeen
Quest(s): Dispute, Alienage, Caravan
Notes: Do you guys have Double-Stuff?

[rowancrowned]

Player: kate
Time Zone: est

Character: thranduil
Quest(s): alienage
Notes: recognize that i've been slower as of late- should be up to regular speeds by august.

[glandival]

Player: Brooklyn
Time Zone: NZ times.

Character: Sabine
Quest(s): Alienage
Notes: Obv this is an IC homecoming but I can make my own fun around Halamshiral if not selected.

[amygdalae]

Player: Knightblazer/KB
Time Zone: GMT +8

Character: Bruce banner
Quest(s): Caravan, Alienage
Notes: Have equal preference with both of them, so either/or is fine with me.

[apostasia]

Player: Libby
Time Zone: NZ future land.

Character: Martel
Quest(s): Alienage
Notes: Martel loev elf.

[levered]

Player: MJ
Time Zone: U.S. Central

Character: Clarke
Quest(s): Caravan, Dispute
Notes: n/a

Character: Alistair
Quest(s): Alienage
Notes: n/a

[arcaneadvisor]

Player: Mhairi
Time Zone: GMT

Character: Morrigan
Quest(s): Dispute
Notes: What could go wrong with the Celene's pet apostate showing up?

Re: PLOT SIGN-UPS

[sandsofhell]

Player: Alex
Time Zone: MDT

Character: Martin Walker
Quest(s): The Alienage, The Caravan
Notes: n/a

[fledglingenchanter]

Player: Lills
Time Zone: gmt +8

Character: Sadira
Quest(s): Caravan
Notes: n/a

[bookish_lioness]

Player: Janet
Time Zone: EST

Character: Hermione Granger
Quest(s): The Alienage, The Dispute, The Caravan
Notes: I'm pretty much equally open to each of these options, so I only listed them in the order that Hermione would ICly be most suited for/interested in.

[nonsibi]

Player: Cee!
Time Zone: CST

Character: Bellamy Blake
Quest(s): caravan, dispute, alianage
Notes: I ranked in order of preference but tbh I have no preferences stick me wherever. also you are so beautiful to meeee

[shieldwalls]

Player: Corie
Time Zone: PST

Character: Aveline Vallen
Quest(s): Caravan, dispute.
Notes: If any.

[ichaer]

Player: Anya
Time Zone: EST

Character: Ciri
Quest(s): Alienage, Caravan

[eviscerates]

Player: Bella
Time Zone: GMT +10 aka the worst

Character: Herian Amsel
Quest(s): ALIENAGE (yells delicately in the distance)
Notes: she's an elf-blood human, though not an elf she did grow up in an alienage and has been roaming around Orlais the past year helping city elves and with ties to that one ginger elf that the Inquisition is stuck with. She'll be recruited to the Inquizznos by Sabine and Adelaide in Halamshiral so she could be a handy person BUT with that said it is 300% cool icly and oocly if she isn't involved in the alienage stuff so :]b

Re: PLOT SIGN-UPS

[faithstarved]

Player: Varis
Time Zone: EST

Character: Andra Riveris
Quest(s): Dispute, Alienage, Caravan
Notes: -

[circleprodigy]

Player: Isana
Time Zone: EST

Character: Inessa Serra
Quest(s): Alienage, Dispute

Re: PLOT SIGN-UPS

[ombranera]

Player: Belle
Time Zone: CST

Character: Adelaide
Quest(s): The Dispute, The Caravan
Notes: Family ties and reputation to throw in for the Inquisition.