Plotting for: Scout Emprise du Lion

[dalishious]

This is a Good Idea. HERE is our mission! Participants are Merrick Ashara, Christine Delacroix, Samouel Gareth, Korrin Ataash, Kain Highwind, Katniss Everdeen, Cremisius Aclassi.

Let's do dis.

Comments

[gatheringstorm]

'Whether or not to free any of the captive villagers who are accessible on the outskirts will be up to the scouts, but doing so more than once is likely to alert the Templars that someone is watching and working against them and may have longterm consequences for the Inquisition's efforts in the region.'

Korrin will be strongly on the side of freeing as many people as possible, but it's possible to persuade her to think of the greater good. I look forward to the dilemma this presents!

Also, Korrin will be making her spiced wine for people, because Emprise du Lion is no place to visit completely sober.

[dalishious]

Oh man. Merrick is dedicated as fuck to staying stealthy in this mission and he'd probably argue with her about blowing their cover, even if he wants to save everyone too. This should be interesting.

[gatheringstorm]

Definitely! I'm open to persuading her, and she'd appreciate it coming from someone even more blunt than she is. She would absolutely hate it, though, and need a good distraction if she doesn't give into impulse.

[dalishious]

Merrick is likely to crack down hard on the others and school the non-rogues on being super fucking sneaky. You blow their cover? You get ya ass kicked.

Thinking he and Katniss could have sneaking-around-the-Keep detail, unless anyone has other plans?

[dalishious]

Korrin is his friend (gasp!) so it'll be less bitching and more 'we're gonna come back and get everyone, and kill all these Templar motherfuckers.' :|

[aceso]

Funny enough, Christine is from a small village in Orlais and is the daughter of a merchant, so she can be their go to on how to act like simple merchants for those who aren't pretending to be hunters. I want her to take a great interest in the red lyrium and hopefully look into it more back at Skyhold, but being that it's so dangerous, her initial research will be in trying to find evidence in history of red lyrium existing before Kirkwall and not actually studying a piece of it. I also have her signed up for a Fallow Mire quest that will bring her to a Red Templars' camp there too, soooo if anyone wants to help her with red lyrium research as a result of this, I'm up for it!

As for the present, she's the only Orlesian on this mission, right? She could be the "face" of the group who could keep people occupied with questions while others scout around? It would be cool if she could learn to scout, but I wouldn't count on her being stealthy just yet. Also, what do those of us with mage characters want to do with their staffs? Should they have them hidden away at a camp and not carry them out in the open?

[gatheringstorm]

Christine being the 'face' makes a lot of sense to me! Korrin knows it'll be far easier for her to masquerade as a hunter than a merchant, so she'll go with that. I was thinking she'd be easily able to say she's a mage as well as a hunter, but if that attracts too much attention, then leaving the staff behind might be the better call.

[gatheringstorm]

Aw, Merrick. And that'd definitely be the best way to approach it!

[aceso]

Yeah, I was thinking about it, and in the game, really the only time you see mages out in the open who aren't the enemy (or wholed up as part of the rebel mages) are in special cases like a mage Hawke or Morrigan, or Inquisition mages fighting in the Arbor Wilds or the Frostback Basin. When you're the Inquisitor, you can run around with your staff and your party of mages, but for our characters out there in the middle of Red Templar central pretending to be merchants/hunters, it would probably be better to keep that on the down low.

Or they could all just go "A staff? Pfft, it's a bow." and see how far that gets them.

[gatheringstorm]

Dalish's example is clearly the best example to go by!

[dragoon_pride]

As I mentioned to you in plurk, Kain is ALL for making hardass decisions like this. He tends to look more at the end game and the overall good... even if it means doing something tough in the present. So he'll help in the argument against freeing them all.

Also yay get him drunk, he needs to loosen up at some point while they're camped out!

[gatheringstorm]

His perspective will be helpful! Not sure how gracious she'll be, but still, it's something Korrin ought to hear. And she'll definitely help with getting rid of his sobriety.

[dragoon_pride]

Kain is great at hunting and surviving in the wilderness, so he'll have no problem keeping up that cover of being a hunter. He will be all for actual hunting! Though he's very much used to the mountains and loves that sort of environment, he won't be too thrilled by the snow... that's not really a thing he's dealt with so much... so dealing with that will be fun.

He's also not really a stealth fighter, more of a "direct approach" sort, but he's willing to do what it takes to see things through. (His job class, dragoon, would definitely be a warrior class in DA terms). So he'll be open to following someone's lead on the sneakier stuff.

Also, he will be VERY interested in the dragons they see in the distance, and it'll take some convincing for him not to run off and try to get closer. Just something to consider!

[the_effect_she_has]

Thinking that yeah, Katniss and Merrick will be best to do the 'hunter' cover, along with Kain as their 'heavy muscle'. Katniss thinks it will be good to set up traps around the area - one for their own safety, two for their cover, and three, give them an excuse to go wandering about Emprise du Lion high and low.

[the_effect_she_has]

Katniss can provide them with furs and other products to 'trade', giving them the ability to get closer to the town -- and maybe even to some of the templars that haven't completely lost their minds yet. It's cold out here, after all.

[the_effect_she_has]

... Katniss will pin him down. Gdmnit no DRAGONS. You'll blow our cover.

[the_effect_she_has]

All right, Katniss is ... well an actual hunter so she'll provide the party with meats, furs, and make them items from said animals that they can use for trade - like candles, bone jewelry, etc. I agree that she and Merrick should handle most of the sneaky sneak, but if any of the mages want to learn how to track and how to walk on snow without leaving a footprint?

Katniss will teach you. Because Katniss doesn't want to die because you didn't know where to look.

She ... is also going to have a very hard time not letting people out of the cages -- but she will also realize that if they don't take their time, everyone in the mines will die.

She will recommend that they send whoever they rescue back to Skyhold - their accounts could help the Inquisition Forces know where they have to strike first.

[dalishious]

Merrick will be his sensei for all things stealthy.

[dalishious]

'Sup hunter buddy. All of that sounds good. They'll make a good team if she can handle his, er. Gruff demeanor.

[dalishious]

Awesome idea, A+

[dragoon_pride]

YAY GOOD! It will be needed. I'd say if anyone can talk some sense into him, it'd definitely be Katniss!

[gatheringstorm]

Korrin's not adverse to some stealth lessons, though whether or not she'll have much aptitude is another question. But she'll try! And she'll completely agree with sending people back to Skyhold, for their own protection.

[dragoon_pride]

Excellent! He can get by good on a hunt generally, but in certain other situations, I can see him needing a reminder here and there about "no, this is not a time for open combat."

[el_tybs]

Chris would be a great 'face' for the group when it comes to pretending to be merchants. Sam could back her up on that since he used to be in trade and kind of still does it with being in the armory.

Well it's not like we can't use our magic without a staff, but they'll probably either be harder to pull off or weaker without a focus.

Dalish's example is great. Hehe. Though could we assume that we could use something smaller to cast spells that could easily be hidden under clothes or such? Like scepter type thing?

[el_tybs]

Right with you on this Korrin. Sam will probably have an issue with not trying to save people, but he won't go against the group's decision.

[el_tybs]

Yes! Sneaking lessons!

Strangely enough in crowds he just kind of sneaks up on people without being noticed, and he's used to keeping quiet when it's called for, but sneaking in the wild is a whole 'nother ballpark. This would be appreciated.

[dalishious]

I should mention that Merrick's method of teaching is a kick to the face if you do something wrong

It's effective at least???

[dragoon_pride]

HAHAHA best stealth teacher.

But really, being a hardass is how Kain rolls too, so... he'd either stoically appreciate that or be a complete grump and butt heads with him, could see it going either way!!

[dragoon_pride]

At least Kain is just as stubborn! He'd be pretty set in his way about it being a bad idea. Hahaha drunken campsite funtimes... and lots of just trying to stay warm at that point, I'm sure.

[dragoon_pride]

It sounds like a bunch of people are more up for the hunter side of things, so having someone to really take that merchant role on and be the face of things would be great!

Thanks for mentioning about attracting attention... Kain normally prefers his dragoon armor which very obviously marks him as a rifter, so I assume for this mission he'll have to go for something that lets him blend in more.

[gatheringstorm]

They can pout together on this, since even if Korrin's persuaded she'll hate the entire thing.

[el_tybs]

Tall, pouty Mages.

Maybe some point Korrin can help Sam with storm magic to get their minds off of things (best he can do is shock someone if he touches them).

[dalishious]

He swears to all the Creators that if y'all fuck this up then

Actually just don't, just don't fuck this up, love yourselves

[dalishious]

He'll also just straight up tell her that as a Qunari she sticks the fuck out :'|

[gatheringstorm]

YEP. There's no getting around that.

[the_effect_she_has]

'Sup hunter buddy. And since she's equally gruff - they will either get into a brawl and work it out that way, or accept that they are both ... kind of Gruff sometimes.

[the_effect_she_has]

Well, Katniss is up to the challenge to teach her tall friends how to sneak. Up to and including, 'Here is a branch. Don't step on it.' kind of lessons.

[aceso]

No prob! I'm looking forward to seeing everybody be real sneaky spies.

[gatheringstorm]

Korrin would definitely be willing! It'd be good to keep her mind off it with something constructive.

[gatheringstorm]

There will be even stronger alcohol soon enough, I'm working on that post for before they leave.

[el_tybs]

Yaaay!

Sleeping arrangements!

[el_tybs]

There's 7 of us. Obviously we'll have more than 1 tent. Who's bunking with who?

[gatheringstorm]

Korrin won't be picky, she knows that her relatively greater size will make things more cramped. So, she won't hold it against anyone if they want more space by sharing with someone else.

[el_tybs]

You're not the only tall one. Maybe the camp has 3 which would make it easier?

[gatheringstorm]

It would! And Korrin would to her best to accommodate, anyway.

[el_tybs]

Korrin is super warm yes? You might have a lot of people fighting over you. Literally. Haha

NOTE

[faderifting]

We've added an addendum to your quest information. Here it is a second time for convenience:

In addition to the player characters, you can choose to have up to three NPCs participate in this scouting mission. NPCs must be Inquisition members (or hired help) and cannot have any skills or information that would be remarkable for your run-of-the-mill Inquisition scout. The purpose of these NPCs is mostly to give you someone to kill off. (:D) They can also do grunt work (e.g., if it would be stupid not to leave someone behind to keep watch but no players want their characters to stand there twiddling thumbs) and advise characters who aren't used to scouting or stealth on any basic skills they may be lacking.

Whether you use the NPCs, what their names and personalities are, and what happens to them is up to the group.