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FORM: Crystal
SENDER: Inessa Serra
RECIPIENT: Anyone (also there's a letter pinned to her office door effectively saying the same thing)
WHAT: A minor announcement
WHEN: Now
WHERE: Kirkwall
NOTES: Anchor survey available here.

This is Warden Serra. As of this month, I will be stepping down from my position as project leader for the Rifts and the Veil. I remain a project member and will make myself available for questions or assistance, as need be. It's my hope that another will replace me soon and continue the work that needs to be done.

To that end...if you are the new bearer of an anchor, please take the survey available at the project's office on the six floor of the central tower, room B. The more information I can make available to the new project lead, the better. If you have updates to share, those would be also be welcome.

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Hey, this is Daniel. Thanks for the book recommendations by the way, I enjoyed them. And uh, I'm pretty interested in the rifts myself - for obvious reasons. Was just wondering what sort of stuff you do in that project. Both as a member and a leader, really.

[ Yeah, he's looking for stuff to do and this seems pretty up his alley. ]

Hello, Daniel. I'm glad you enjoyed the recommendations; if you ever want to discuss them at length, I'm open to that whenever we're in the library. [Book club?]

As for the project, it centers around a few key issues. Namely, learning how to permanently strength the Veil to prevent further tears, the nature of rifters and anchors...and how to prevent the anchors from harming or killing those who bear them. I won't lie; we cannot guarantee long-term safety for anyone bearing them. One native woman was unfortunate enough to have an anchor in her chest; we could not remove it without killing her, and she eventually succumbed to it. Most do not have theirs located in such a vital area, but it's overall presence is still of great concern.

As for the role of a project leader, I did what I could with it. I began the survey for the purposes of cataloging anchors and their evolution, as well as lead expeditions to Veil-thin areas. We learn what we can of them, and try to strengthen the Veil so as to prevent further rifts or disruptions.

We have also discovered an orb seemingly very similar to that which Corypheus used to create the Breach. It's currently inert, but I believe it holds great potential to understanding what we're dealing with.

[ Thank god, people who want to discuss history books at length! He's missed these kinds of people when he moved from academia to a military base. ]

[ That's pretty bad news regarding the anchors though. He flexes his hand as he listens, looking down at the anchor. Daniel wouldn't be happy if he had to amputate his left arm. But then, he doesn't usually stay dead, does he? Presumably Oma can still reach him on this planet. As for everyone else, though... ]

So... what have you found out about the nature of rifters? [ He's got some theories and concerns based on his own experiences, of course. ]

Well, I might have succeeded in convincing some natives that they are not demons. [Sigh. It's ridiculous she even has to do that, but such is the way of things.] Rifter discrimination is often based along such fears, given that all we can verity is that they stepped out of the Fade. The fact that your anchor is exactly the same as any native who has also gained them is encouraging toward that end; you're as affected as anyone else here.

What's more difficult to explain and reconcile is that some rifters do not last long in Thedas. We know they don't just leave the area because the nature of the anchor prevents it; if you wander too far and too long, the anchor will essentially cripple you with pain until you return to where most anchor-bearers are located; here, or Skyhold. What happens to them, we cannot verify and that is -bluntly put- rather frustrating.

[ Daniel hums thoughtfully, considering that. But, yes, it would seem it's not particularly voluntary, in any case. ]

I suppose it could be any number of reasons. Some might have left and been prevented from returning, until they... succumbed to it. Others - well, if rifter discrimination is common, it's not unthinkable some might have been killed. A more optimistic possibility is that they were taken back to where they came from. [ Now, does that mean just the Fade, or.... ]

Don't suppose anyone has done any research on that? Records of who disappeared and when, investigations into their disappearances...?

[There's the sound of shuffling paper.]

I'll admit, that has been less investigated than the nature and evolution of the anchors. I can and should compile all information on that, so thank you for the reminder. [It can be her focus, now that she doesn't have the entire project to juggle.] There have been little in the way of active investigations, as well. Any announcements made about such have been made by roommates and such, and they have been taken at their word. Still, rifter discrimination is a factor we can't ignore and outside the Gallows, it's almost impossible to enforce.

I do have a theory about the disappearances in general, though. All rifters questioned arrived as they were resting...dreaming, to be exact. Could it not be true that the same is what caused their departure?

[ They probably don't have the resources to look into the disappearances too closely, at least not if there was no reason to suspect foul play. Still, might be useful to at least get a list together or something. And then she mentions the dreaming. ]

Yeah, about that... [ He clears his throat, frowning, not sure how to discuss that. But then, Inessa isn't a rifter, so at least she won't be directly affected. ]

If people arrived here... not just while dreaming, but from their dreams... [ He pauses briefly. ] I... guess I'll speak for myself first and foremost. I know I came through with things that weren't in my possession in, you know, my normal waking life. Which seems to imply to me that this isn't my real, physical body. Rather, that it was created upon exit from the Fade, or in the Fade, or...

[ God, there are so many options that he's pretty sure none of the rifters would like to think about. Pocket-universe alternates? Duplicates or some other kind? This all being some kind of elaborate simulation? Nobody would like that last one. Yet Daniel has personally encountered all of those, and it would be foolish to discount them. ]

[A thoughtful hum at that.]

It's entirely possible. The Fade is a realm where anything real or imagined can take form. This might be true for others as well, though I have seen no variance in the anchors, regardless. For all intents and purposes, it's your real body at this place and time.

Actually, that's not super uncommon with Rifters! [Church might be a little excited to point that out. No, he's not going to explain that this is Definitely Not His Body.]

There's some sort of weird racial or species thing going on here. People becoming human, or elven, or dwarven, or qunari...en, when they weren't before--like some weird kinda fucked up way to make people fit in. Not something that they would've chosen themselves. People haven't shown up as birds or cats or dragons or a living tree or anything.

I mean no, yeah, she's right, there hasn't been any change in how the anchors present themselves, even in location--that part's more dependent on other variables, cuz they have definitely shown up in other places before. [thanks sina for your valuable contribution to science???] Not even in ability to do things with them. It's just a, uh, physical difference, in the people themselves when they come here.

Sure keeps the risk of being hunted as demons down.

[ Right, well, he was planning on trying to keep that low-key, but sure. Is there a way to put these things to private mode? Did he miss the 'conference call' option? Ah, whatever. More input is actually helpful. ]

Well, I wasn't really speaking about whether uh, we count as real people with real bodies here, I was more talking about... Whether it's the same body as where we're from.

I mean, same as in... Uh. In the case of people changing bodies, is it a change, or is it a copy that's been made with Thedosian standards?

Deeeeeepends, I guess? Do you mean like...were we maybe uploaded into the Matrix, only medieval-ier?

[Chuckling a little at Church's enthusiasm, Inessa speaks up again.]

I'll pretend I understand that reference. But either way, I'm not certain we native Thedosians would be able to tell for certain. You current state is the only one we know; there is nothing for us to compare it to, short of medical records and the like falling through a rift.

Matrix was a movie that-- ...Uh, never mind. [ Probably too much of an explanation would need to be covered to make her understand that. Starting with what a movie is. ]

But yeah, Matrix, that's an option. [Slightly aside, he adds, ] Wouldn't be the first time it's happened to me... [ Then louder again, ] Anyway, I'm not sure I want to explore that possibility too closely yet. So far I haven't seen any reason it would be the case, either. But the idea that we're copies is... uncomfortably more likely.

Anyway, have people come here who came from the same place? People who knew each other before?

Yes, actually. We can't guarantee it will happen, of course, but there have been instances of such. Some remember more than others, speaking of being at a different point in time. And even that isn't set in stone; we've had rifters speak of dreaming and gaining new memories, as well.

Really? And, and, the people from the future point in time, had the other person disappeared or were they still there in their timeline?

[ This is pretty significant proof of his theory then. He's got pretty mixed feelings about this, because, well, this isn't just a case of him being dropped onto some random planet. He's not sure finding a stargate is gonna solve this problem. ]

They were still in the timeline, I believe. At least, I've heard no mention of otherwise.

It's kind of a working theory that when people dream and suddenly remember more of their lives, you sort of 'go back' to when you got pulled here, cuz people didn't act any different in these dreams, with the knowledge of anything, or had anchor shards in t heir hands. Kind of like this place stops existing for them for a while.

It's weird shit.

Well then... That is, if nothing else, at least proof that you retain some ability to reconnect with where you came from, if not actually go back.

[ He needs to work on this theory for a while probably... God, he wishes he had Sam here to actually figure out the science behind it. ]

Aaaare you thinking you might be able to Science a way out of here?

I mean... I probably way more research, but I've "Scienced" my way out of situations like this before.

[ For a while he hoped maybe his team would be looking for him too, but if his theories about copies is correct, then they probably aren't. ]

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