PROJECT: Hostile Powers

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PROJECT

HOSTILE POWERS

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The Warden coup in the Anderfels and Corypheus’ open occupation of Tevinter’s capital have left both nations openly opposed to the Inquisition and its efforts to restore order. The Hostile Powers project (previously a more broadly focused Northern Powers) is focused on identifying and exploiting opportunities to disrupt Corypheus’ control over those countries.

DIVISION: Scouting	LEADER: Kostos Averesch
STATUS: Active	ASST LEADER: n/a

Comments

[champions]

HELLO SWEET MJ ty for all this gr8 info

For the mission, are you happy with me NPCing the Laseca family and guests, so the people signed up to the mission have particular peole to be showing off to, etc, or would you prefer them to be a handwaved presence?

My idea was just to do some fun party style stuff and maybe put some CLUES AND DEETS that can be found or overheard to GM into threads, if that would be appropriate?

I will probably mostly handwave Marisol's sleuthing rather than NPCing off myself but let's say she charmingly flirts with said guest for information, that sounds suitably Marisol.

[exequy]

Belatedly: you can have anything you want, pookie.

[champions]

cool i'll bill this fancy car brand 2 u

[lyriumcarved]

SUBJECT: A Favor for a Favor
PARTICIPANTS: Fenris, Adasse, Cyril
DATE FILED: Mid-May/Bloomingtide
STATUS: Ongoing
SUMMARY: A team of elves went to Tevinter to rescue two slaves in exchange for information about Venatori supporters. Their objective was to get the slaves out of there by any means possible, as long as it didn't get back that the Inquisition was behind it all. Fenris, preferring the violent approach over simply purchasing them (they are slavers), worked with the other two to arrange a trap and fight/sneak/kill the slavers, freeing their two captives. Since the whole thing was staged like a bandit attack, their cover worked out very well overall.

REPORT: [This report was delivered orally and transcribed:] We accomplished our objective with no outstanding trouble. Arhel and Varihris, the formerly enslaved children of our contact, are both safe at this time. May they never fall under such bonds again. We managed to free them by setting up a trap and ambushing the slavers, using both stealth and force to kill all of those who were guarding the pair. There were no survivors or witnesses. Additionally, we took precautions to disguise ourselves as bandits, and set up the entire scenario as if it were simply that: an attack from rogue forces. The following are the names and descriptions of those who visited our contact's master, and are all foreigners in support of the Venatori. I suggest we act at once to neutralize them. I would be glad to personally aid in hunting them down.

[A list of names and descriptions follows.]

NOTES & LINKS: Link

party in privantium

[champions]

SUBJECT: Party in Privantium
PARTICIPANTS: Marisol, Janzik, Jester, Julian, Mal, Petra, Resa & Sarah
DATE FILED: in a timely fashion after their return (sorry for the lateness on my part!)
STATUS: Complete, although Marisol will be pursuing an ongoing thread of investigation from another plot
SUMMARY: Marisol and a troop of rifters and mages went to schmooze, booze and dazzle with the Laseca family of Privantium. Their roles was largely making positive ties, and using the opportunity to tactfully gather information. Marisol was able to secure some information regarding the attack on the Inquisition in Nevarra, as well.

REPORT:

Enchanter Averesch,

( please note that she wrote that with extra flair and sparkle to her already beautiful penmanship. ~*~*~Enchanter Averesch~*~*~ so fancy )

The trip to Privantium was successful, and the Laseca’s appear to be enthusiastic about the Inquisition, even if we should not celebrate having Tevinter support, as such. They were delighted by the displays of the rifters, especially, though it hardly needs saying that the natives that accompanied made an excellent impression.

I will spare you the details of the spa and party, but suffice to say that we were welcomed warmly and treated with great respect and consideration. A good deal of the gossip was nonsense and conversation trivial, and pushing political matters or discussing deals would have soured relations. The trip was, however, a success.
There is potential, I believe, for us to liaise with the Laseca family in the future, whether we wish to use them as a safe house for some members of the Inquisition, or schmooze with them for further information. Although they pride themselves on displays of wealth and whatever magic they can muster, the lucrative nature of link with the Inquisition could be a valuable tool to ply them with. Their ambition can be appealed to, though naturally I would not advocate letting them know details. Allow them to believe they are important to us in some way while keeping them in the dark, and we may find them a useful resource.

I have also found a possible lead regarding the issues in Nevarra and the attack on the Necropolis. I could not make too great a show of prying or securing promises for fear of sabotaging the original mission, however there may be more to learn in Qarinus. With your permission, ( lol ) I would like to continue to pursue this matter and gather more information on Estoris and Divider.

Please find attached a complete guest list.

Marisol

NOTES & LINKS: set prior to the rifter phylactery announcement & discussions, log here.

Pls pretend there is a guest list, also.

Justinian–Solace 9:44

[exequy]

If you’re interested in any of these, respond with the form at the bottom by June 13. And if you have an outstanding report from a previous assignment, please submit the report before requesting more work!

TASKS
There are things characters can vaguely work on in the background. An explanation is up here. You can sign up for two of them at once, in addition to any assignment or mission you're interested in, and there's no limit to how many characters can work on a given task.

1. Review Magisterium voting records from the last few years to flag any apparent alliances or unusual patterns, trends, or decisions.
   
2. Compile information on Ander trade routes and trading partners to determine their suppliers and the ideal merchants to pressure or routes to consider disrupting.
   
3. Collaborate on decoding a cipher that seems to be based on a mixture of Tevene and Ander languages.
   
4. Sift through intercepted correspondence and various family trees and financial information to synthesize the relative strengths and weaknesses of the Pentaghast and Van Markham factions.

ASSIGNMENT: ONE WAY OR AN ORTHER
WHAT: The Orth people in the Hunterhorn Mountains and Wandering Hills may be potential allies. Go climb some high peaks to meet with one tribe's leaders, taking griffon feathers as gifts, and find out where they stand on what's happening in the Anderfels and if they may be willing to help.
WHERE: The Hunterhorn Mountains.
WHEN: Sometime before the end of Solace/July.
WHO: This will be assigned to one Northern Powers project member to assemble a team of 1-3 other people of their choice. It will require good outdoors skills and the ability to sneak through mountains patrolled by enemy forces, plus diplomacy.

ASSIGNMENT: TE VENE OR NOT TE VENE
WHAT: Develop a short one- or two-session course on Tevene language skills, focused first on the basics and then specifically on words and phrases likely to be used by the Venatori or Tevinters in general to communicate things they don't want understood, like words for "leader" and "war" and so on. Add in lessons regarding cultural conventions and the social structure of the country as needed. Offer it enough times that no one can later claim they didn't have a chance to participate.
WHERE: The Gallows.
WHEN: Sometime before mid-Solace.
WHO: This will be assigned to one Northern Powers project member, who can acquire assistants if they want. It will require Tevene language skills and cultural familiarity.

ASSIGNMENT: NEVAR GONNA RUN AROUND AND DESERT YOU
WHAT: Nevarra has been oddly quiet about the fact that the Anderfels have marched through and essentially claimed some of its territory to reach and harass Orlais. Go to Nevarra City to speak to some of its elder statesmen about Perendale and try to glean why they seem so chill about this.
WHERE: Nevarra City.
WHEN: Sometime before mid-Solace/July.
WHO: This will be assigned to one Northern Powers project member, who can bring 1-3 others of their choice. Diplomacy and stealth skills are both advisable.

ASSIGNMENT: GET SHORTY
WHAT: A low-level elven Inquisition worker behaving suspiciously fled Skyhold with a satchel full of secrets before he could be questioned and has been sighted near Rialto. Pick up the trail and capture or kill him.
WHERE: Antiva.
WHEN: Sometime before the end of Solace/July.
WHO: This will be assigned to one Northern Powers project member, who can take along 1-3 people as they see fit. Requires tracking and stealth skills and the stomach to kill when necessary.

<b>CHARACTER:</b> <b>TASK(S):</b> Your character can be assigned to up to two, and sign-ups aren't limited, so you'll get whichever you ask for. <b>ASSIGNMENT(S):</b> These will be assigned to one person apiece, so if you’re interested in more than one, list them in order of preference. <b>NOTES:</b> Time conflicts, whatever else you think is important.

[champions]

CHARACTER: Marisol
TASK(S): 4
ASSIGNMENT(S): Nevar Gonna Run Around, Get Shorty
NOTES: Her ongoing Nevarra investigation would be fun to wind in to Nevar, but her connections in smuggling and Rialto generally could be handy for Get Shorty.

[eruit]

CHARACTER: Hanzo Shimada
TASK(S): 3
ASSIGNMENT(S): Te Vene or Not Te Vene, Get Shorty
NOTES: N/A

[altusimperius]

CHARACTER: Benedict
TASK(S): 1
ASSIGNMENT(S): Te Vene or Not Te Vene
NOTES: Has a lot of current contacts and cultural knowledge from as recent as the tourney, Formally Educated in Tevene like a fancy boy

[pinprick]

CHARACTER: Nathaniel Howe
TASK(S): 1
ASSIGNMENT(S): One Way or an Orther
NOTES: For the moment, I'm wide open.

Benedict Artemaeus (primary)

[altusimperius]

NAME: Benedict Quintus Artemaeus
DIVISION: diplomacy
CONTACT: Inbox
SKILLS & EXPERTISE: diplomacy (ostensibly), apprentice level spirit & entropic magic, fluency in Tevene, connections with the magisterium

CURRENT WORK: Researching the Venatori and their connection to some of Tevinter's powerful families

COMPLETED WORK & REPORTS: n/a

Re: Justinian–Solace 9:44

[justice_is_blond]

CHARACTER: Anders
TASK(S): 3
ASSIGNMENT(S): Get Shorty, One Way Or An Orther
NOTES: N/A

[exequy]

Thanks for volunteering! For his task, Hanzo is currently working with/alongside/in conjunction with Anders, in case you guys want to do anything with that. For his assignment, Hanzo has Get Shorty. Details below!

WHO: Hanzo and 1-3 people of his choice.

WHEN: Try to have a report in by the end of July!

WHAT: Mostly what it says on the tin: an elven worker from Skyhold, Haralan, vanished from his post with sensitive documents, and your character's job is to go stop him. He was last seen in Rialto, and from there his trail leads to Ayesleigh, where (if observed prior to being confronted) he can be found trying to make contact with members of the Qun, mainly by asking if anyone knows anyone who can put him in touch. He won't come quietly; whether that means killing him or working very hard to capture him is up to you. If he's captured, he and his documents can be brought to the Gallows and handed off for delivery back to Skyhold. If he's killed, just his documents can be returned. If he escapes, SHAAAAAAAME.

No, if you'd like him to escape that's cool. But Hanzo deserves a win imo.

HOW: You can make everything a group effort if you want, or divvy things up however you like. And it doesn’t matter what you RP—you can handwave a fight and just write the clean-up and recovery after it, or just write your characters discussing a moral quandary instead of logging out the actual event, or announce something via crystal without logging it out. Whatever is fun. Just make sure you also submit a report that summarizes what happened, including anything you handwaved.

ETC: Let us know if you have any questions.

[exequy]

Thanks for volunteering! For his task, Nathaniel is currently working with/alongside/in conjunction with Benedict, in case you guys want to do anything with that. For his assignment, Nathaniel has has One Way or an Orther. Details below!

WHO: Nathaniel and 1-3 people of his choice.

WHEN: Try to have a report in by the end of July!

WHAT: The Orth people, who reside in the Hunterhorn Mountains and Wandering Hills, are an ancient Ander culture that practices facial scarification and gifted the Wardens with their first griffons. Not much else is known about them anymore, outside of the Anderfels, but there's a decent change they don't consider themselves beholden to the Ander crown, so a not-impossible chance they would be willing to help. Your character's job is to go mountain climbing—high up, where it's cold even up North and even in the summer—to find one of the southernmost Orth tribes, with some griffon feathers as gifts and evidence that they've been brought back.

The people will mainly speak an old dialect similar to Ander but not really mutually intelligible, so an Ander speaker will be able to make out a few words but not everything. They'll have one person who speaks Common fluently and can interpret, though, and they'll be generally hospitable in a watchful, wary way. As long as everyone behaves themselves, with bonus points for talking about griffons and the potential for their return to the Anderfels and the Orth in the future, it will be possible to secure promises to spy on the Ander troops in the mountains, albeit not to interfere at this time.

HOW: You can make everything a group effort if you want, or divvy things up however you like. And it doesn’t matter what you RP—you can handwave a fight and just write the clean-up and recovery after it, or just write your characters discussing a moral quandary instead of logging out the actual event, or announce something via crystal without logging it out. Whatever is fun. Just make sure you also submit a report that summarizes what happened, including anything you handwaved.

ETC: Let us know if you have any questions.

[exequy]

Thanks for volunteering! For his task, Benedict is currently working with/alongside/in conjunction with Nathaniel, in case you guys want to do anything with that. For his assignment, Benedict has Te Vene or Not Te Vene. Details below!

WHO: Benedict and 1-3 other people of his choice.

WHEN: Try to have a report in by the end of July!

WHAT: We have all these Vints at the Gallows, but most people outside of Tevinter know very little about the country. Your character's job is to create a short course to tell people what they need to know about Tevinter, focusing primarily on the language, and specifically on basic phrases and keywords that an enemy force trying not to be understood by prisoners might use, but also incorporating important cultural information, like the fact that not everyone in Tevinter is a mage and not every mage in Tevinter is a magister, etc. Your character should do his best to make people understand that this is not mandatory but is potentially very useful, and offer it enough times that no one can whine they weren't given the opportunity. Also highly recommend a Tevinter Q&A Session crystal post. (But please make sure you aren't making up any significant information about Tevinter culture/politics, beyond what's canon, without clearing it with mods, if you are put into a position where you have to make something up instead of using canon.)

HOW: You can make everything a group effort if you want, or divvy things up however you like. And it doesn’t matter what you RP—you can handwave a fight and just write the clean-up and recovery after it, or just write your characters discussing a moral quandary instead of logging out the actual event, or announce something via crystal without logging it out. Whatever is fun. Just make sure you also submit a report that summarizes what happened, including anything you handwaved.

ETC: Let us know if you have any questions.

[exequy]

Thanks for volunteering! For her task, Marisol is currently working with/alongside/in conjunction with NO ONE, except this is something Kostos would totally help with even though I didn't sign up, so if you want to RP about it at all you're welcome to him. For her assignment, Marisol has Nevar Gonna Run Around & Desert You. Details below!

WHO: Marisol and 1-3 other people of her choice.

WHEN: Try to have a report in by the end of July!

WHAT: Nevarra has been oddly quiet and calm about the fact that the Anders have marched through and essentially claimed some of their territory, including the much-prized Perendale, on its way to harassing Orlais. Your character's task is to go meet with some of Nevarra's nobles from the west, ostensibly under the guise of seeing if they need the Inquisition's assistance, to try to discern what exactly is up. Whether through diplomacy or espionage, your character will be able to uncover that one of the Pentaghasts aspiring to the throne, Lady Aurelia, has had the aging king's ear with regard to Nevarra's response to the invasion, has also entertained visitors from the Anderfels recently, and has asked the Pentaghast-loyal nobles from the affected region to be patient.

Further snooping—this time definitely via espionage—could reveal an agreement between Aurelia and Ander ambassadors to permit Nevarra to recover Perendale and territory in the Blasted Hills after the Anderfels have established a better foothold in Orlais, creating a buffer between Nevarra and Orlais that would make keeping Perendale secure long-term a much easier task.

HOW: You can make everything a group effort if you want, or divvy things up however you like. And it doesn’t matter what you RP—you can handwave a fight and just write the clean-up and recovery after it, or just write your characters discussing a moral quandary instead of logging out the actual event, or announce something via crystal without logging it out. Whatever is fun. Just make sure you also submit a report that summarizes what happened, including anything you handwaved.

ETC: Let us know if you have any questions.

[exequy]

Thanks for volunteering! Anders doesn't have an assignment this time, but for his task, he'll be working with/around/in conjunction with Hanzo, if you guys want to RP anything about that!

[champions]

:V :V :V this is great, I will get organised and let you know if I have any questions ASAP

[eruit]

SUBJECT: Missing Inquisition Information
PARTICIPANTS: Hanzo, Alacruun, Anders
DATE FILED: Mid-Solace
STATUS: Complete
SUMMARY: Hanzo, alongside Anders and Alacruun, tracked down the Inqusiton scout who had fled with important information (secrets) with rumour that he would be attempting to deliver it to the Qun. Using Alacruun as bait, Hanzo and Anders arranged for a meeting in order to trap the rogue agent.

REPORT:

I was assigned the task of finding an elven agent who had fled the Inquisition with sensitive information. Tracking him from Skyhold lead to a trail from Rialto to Ayesleigh. Rumour was spread of him attempting to contact the Sun in order to exchange information, so a Qunari member of the Inquisition was brought to be used as a false informant for the Qun, to coerce the rogue agent to hand back the information without any trouble.

He was initially unwilling to return the information, but was coerced by our Qunari agent. The information was verified and was returned to my hands. The elf was unfortunately killed when he tried to escape the situation; he would not return to face his punishment. The information has been taken back to where it belongs.

Hanzo Shimada.

NOTES & LINKS: An ongoing log of their meeting with the elf is here.

[champions]

This is horribly late; would it be possible for me to grovel for forgiveness and submit the report for this by the end of this week?

[exequy]

Yes that's fine!

Yseult (Primary)

[hassaran]

NAME: Yseult
DIVISION: Scouting
CONTACT: Inbox
SKILLS & EXPERTISE: ~15 years experience as government spy/assassin, mostly in the north

CURRENT WORK: Nothing yet.

COMPLETED WORK & REPORTS: TBA

[champions]

SUBJECT: Nevar Gonna Run Around & Desert You
PARTICIPANTS: Kostos, Nikos, Marisol
DATE FILED: backdated to early July, pre-Tevinter
STATUS: Complete
SUMMARY: A team heads to Nevarra to investigate the quiet following the Anderfels invading of Orlais, and discover that arrangements have been made between Lady Aurelia Pentaghast and Anderfel ambassadors to ease the advance into Orlais and secure Nevarra further territory in the future with the reclaiming of Perendale.

REPORT:

Kostos,

Since you were with me on this mission I will spare you the artistic flair that helps bring my reports to life and stick to the key facts.

Lord Pichler was very eager to discuss opportunities to develop trade relations with the Inquisition, but also with Antiva. He made himself almost a suspiciously easy mark, but thus far it has proven successful. He told me of Lady Aurelia Pentaghast reaching out to the nobility of their region and provided names of all those who had agreed wholeheartedly, and those who had their reservations. (Please find the list attached.) Duke Baumgartner was revealed to be particularly enthusiastic, and the first to support Aurelia’s plans and assist in bringing other nobility to heel.

Thanks to the efforts of Nikos and yourself, we secured the correspondence and documents that prove Lady Aurelia’s arrangements with the Anders ambassadors for cooperation from Nevarra that would help the Anderfels gain a foothold in Orlais with greater efficiency, and in the longer term, give Nevarra a better chance of regaining Perendale.

Due to the dramatic nature of your exit, they know that someone knows has stolen the documents and are likely on guard, although it was not a greatly advertised affair - it appears they do not want it known that something sensitive to the Anderfels was stolen in a time of invasion, and some energy seemed to be being spent quashing rumours.

Your identities remain unknown, and my return to Lord Pichler’s estate and efforts of persuasion the two weeks following have allowed me to keep the Inquisition’s name clear of it, although I will be returning to his estate in the near future to maintain the pretence of flirtation, to this end.

Unfortunately for Duke Baumgartner, his estate is under suspicion after his horses and carriage were used to enable the escape of the thieves who took the evidence.

Please do not hesitate to call on me if you need further detail or clarification.

( on a separate piece of paper that she tells him, privately and in person, to burn when he has read it: )

The next question, I think, is what we can do with this information and how it might be used. It may even be possible to have your family name restored.
On the one hand, our silence and negotiation with Aurelia could be the leverage we need to re-gain favour with Nevarra, but our alliance with Orlais is established, and it would be remiss to undermine all that work to gain an ally willing to tolerate the Anderfels advance.

NOTES & LINKS: log here and a list of nobles attached, as well as a love letter to Marisol from Lord Pichler, which she has gone through with red ink to mark her critiques (purple prose, clunky grammar, etc)

[exequy]

Hi! This is just a reminder to file a report for the assignment Nathaniel received if you intend to do so. If the assignment wasn’t done, that’s okay—just let me know so we can reuse it if needed.

[exequy]

Hi! This is just a reminder to file a report for Benedict’s assignment if it was done.