DIVISION: Forces

[frdivisions]

DIVISION

FORCES

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The Forces Division is the Inquisition's army in Kirkwall. It provides security for the base there and also for Inquisition agents on missions, shipments, and guests. It also includes the base's healers, and all the other support staff necessary to the outfitting and maintenance of an army, include smiths, engineers, stable workers, and the like.

LEADER: Commander Coupe | INFO
PROJECTS: Naval Presence, Red Lyrium

Comments

[periastron]

SUBJECT: Get Down With The Sickness
PARTICIPANTS: Bronach, Simon, Alex
DATE FILED: 28th day of fake April
STATUS: Initial stage complete, however information gathering will be on-going.
SUMMARY: A survey was conducted to help ensure the Kirkwall outpost and missions are adequately staffed with appropriate medical personnel (and expanded to collect useful information for treating people)

REPORT:

Commander Coupe,

Just over 40% of Inquisition personnel responded to the survey. It’d be beneficial to keep the survey available and keep encouraging people to provide the requested information indefinitely, and do periodic reports to review the staffing situation.

Possible causes for not personnel not responding yet are the strike and those who may have declined to respond on that basis, those away on assignments who were not able to reply prior to our deadline for presenting this report, and those who had concerns submitting the information or who didn’t want to communicate with any of the nominated persons despite the offer to secure someone else for them to speak with, and lack of awareness of the survey. We raised it on the crystals, but making it an on-going project would help us get a more accurate picture.


Regarding different types of treatment:

Magic: General.
Of the respondents, just under 82.9% replied “yes” to accepting magical treatment. Further to that, 4.3% replied with a conditional “yes, depending on the situation.”
10.6% stated “no.”
There was an additional 2.1% that responded positively to magic, but specified no Spirit Healing, although this matter was addressed separated in the next section.

Magic: Spirit Healing.
70.2% responded “yes” to spirit healing.
A further 10.6% stated yes with conditions, sometimes citing that it would only be acceptable if a particular healer were or were not to treat them, or that they would accept it only in emergency situations. 2.1% stated “possibly,” so it’s reasonable to conclude that 12.7% of respondents may accept spirit healing depending on particular circumstances.
17% of respondents will not accept treatment with spirit healing under any circumstances.

Standard/Non-Magic: General.
For standard healing, 89.4% of respondents stated “yes.”
2.1% (each) stated “yes” depending on the circumstances, stated it was not required, and declined to respond.
4.3% stated “no.”

Standard/Non-Magic: Surgical.
57% of respondents stated “yes” to surgical medicine.
23.4% responded “yes” depending on the circumstances, and 4.3% responses “yes” if all other possibilities had been exhausted.
2.1% (each) declined to respond or stated it was not required.
Another 2.1% responded “specify,” perhaps meaning it would depend on the nature of the surgery.
8.5% stated “no.”

Note from Alex:
Surgery in Thedas is a long way behind where it’s at in other worlds, including mine. The lack of anaesthesia, sterilisation and other equipment is a big problem, and it can make a huge difference to a patient’s likelihood of recovery and survival. Honestly, any hesitations that people have regarding surgery here are more than fair.
I’d like to request funding and resources to being able to research and develop better surgical supplies, and adapt methods for what we have available here. Not sure how you guys feel about cadavers, given all the possession stuff, but they’d be really useful, too.
Is that something I’d talk to you or the Provost about? Or both?

There was mention of concern about surgery sounding like blood magic, people not understanding what certain treatments might involve, which is fair enough. Not sure what to do about the blood magic bit in particular, but if there’s a way to help improve people’s understanding so they can make informed decisions without it being a crisis situation.


Privacy.
A suggestion was also offered that we could use a cipher for the medical information to ensure confidentiality at a higher level. I think that could cause delays in treatment and could lead to translation errors in a rush, but ultimately that’d be your call, Commander.

[added in a different hand] Given, however, the fact that Venatori infiltrators have breached the Gallows’ defenses before, it is important to consider further security of storage than we otherwise might have, if we are to have lists containing Inquisition agents’ weaknesses and sensitive histories on hand. If a cipher would be impractical for this purpose, then perhaps we should look to the artificers for a mechanism that could, say, deter those without a particular code from accessing the container in which we keep the files. I can make recommendations as requested. [The previous hand resumes here.]
We have further information and statistics, however some of these are not relevant to Forces preparation for staffing and supplies, etc, and will only be of use to treating physicians. In keeping with our discussion, information not relevant to your request have not been included, and we cannot disclose particulars of any individuals to you.

Contact us if you require anything further or need more clarification.



(OOC) NOTES & LINKS:
— network post & survey post.
— Mhairi is a superstar who organised all our data
— Mhairi is not responsible for any possibly tragic attempts to convert into %

— Approximately 40% of player characters (as of 25/4/18) responded. Obviously those aren’t ALL the Inquisition personnel in the Kirkwall outpost, but since there are limited NPCs and for the sake of statistics perhaps it can be handwaved that a corresponding ratio of NPCs replied and that their answers aligned with player character responses, just for the sake of argument.

& OOC organisational note based on player inquiry:
Since the survey could be on-going for incoming characters and be useful for players of medical staff, it could be a good idea for the surveys and their responses to be available to be added to and viewed in a more game-based way than being in a specific character journal.

Perhaps it could as a Gdoc from the mod account (like the room list) or possibly as an entry in the frorg account and responses could be left as comments? Either way it would be player maintained/player responsibility to comment & read, and potentially could be more accessible.
As its rooted in the Forces division we thought this was worth bringing to you before scampering to the moderinos.

[limier]

Mlle. Karahalios,

It is both boon and unfortunate fact that the Inquisition relies largely upon spirit healers. I can little blame those who are wary, and hope that our new additions may encourage some to seek treatment where they would not otherwise.

Magical healing is a luxury I confess I have grown used to, but it is a rare art, which most will go their lives without encountering. The recent strike only underscores the importance of furthering other research: If the Provost proves amenable, I will agree to split funding between our divisions.

However, I cannot at this time grant you access to corpses. The Veil is precariously thin here; for all our work to strengthen it, leaving bodies about remains a serious hazard to life, limb, and reputation. Anatomical studies are accordingly difficult to come by, but perhaps a necromancer or one of our University scholars might at least suggest alternatives.

As regards blood magic: I have been previously required to investigate certain surgeons, but I regret my association will mean less than it once did. Ser Caron or Seeker Reed might vouch for the work if required. While I am disinclined to conceal information any further than necessary, if Ser Ashlock wishes to investigate a means of mechanical protection, I will await a followup report with his recommendations.

At the risk of bludgeoning you with names, Cosima Niehaus is a scholar of her world, and I may speak to Enchanter Vauquelin’s skill with a blade. [ hah :( ] I think them both likely to take interest in this research.

My gratitude to each of you, for your diligence and discretion. It is a credit.

Regards,
— Ser Coupe.

[ ooc note - i'm working on the best way to organize it, but either way i'll take it to the mods & let you guys know after. currently thinking a doc linked to a forces post for this & the pets one, and just reminding people to fill it out when doing new assignment posts in the ooc comm.

also mhairi's a beast, jeez ]

[periastron]

Commander Coupe,

Right you are. I'll find out what I can about off-site cadaver studies or what other options might be an option. Experimenting on patients when they need the help isn't ideal, but it's not like it's a reality that can be avoided even in my time.

I'll get in touch with the Provost.

Cheers,

Doctor Alexandra Karahalios

( "Doctor" is underlined just once, because fuck it. )