010.

[dashing]

FORM: Crystal
SENDER: Herian Amsel
RECIPIENT: Division Heads (and/or their stand-ins) project leaders & assist leaders, Saoirse & Myrobalan.
WHAT: An idea to tackle the rifter phylactery discusssion.
WHEN: Current
WHERE: Kirkwall
NOTES:

I apologise for making contact with you all after so recently sharing an update on the Chantry Relations project with the network, however I think we can agree that the matter of the rifter phylacteries and the reaction to them is a disruption to our work, and causing divisions amongst our ranks.

Following the hard work of those who attended Skyhold to negotiate the matters of the phylacteries and were faced with considerable opposition from the Templars and Chantry, I think it is key that they come to understand it is not Skyhold and the Inquisition that pushed for this measure, but those other agents.

I also come to you to propose an idea to counter. Given that the Chantry and Templars pressed the matter of phylacteries for rifters, the most effective way to work against it is to diplomatically persuade them of the dangers and risks that come with said phylacteries, and diffuse the idea without further fracturing of our alliances and resources.

One matter that has been raised is that, as we have so recently seen, phylacteries could be used to harm the rifters should they fall into enemy hands. Furthermore, they could be used by the Venatori to target and abduct rifters. We do not know what they could do with them, but their shards are powerful and important to our efforts, even if we were to neglect what the Venatori might use them for in order to further their goals.

If you have insights or ideas on what other arguments could be used to present to the Chantry and the Templars, I appeal to you now to share them with me so we can present a strong and effective argument. This is not solely a matter of concern for rifters, though I can confess my bias; this is for the sake of our Inquisition, and more importantly, the sake of Thedas. Interruptions to our work jeopardise our cause.

Those who would be willing to attend a meeting with Chantry leadership with me, please make yourselves known.

Comments

Private

[overharrowed]

Knight-Enchanter. I wished to let you know that I've stayed silent to this point largely because I don't wish to make a bad situation worse. I fear that as part of the party that, however reluctantly, conceded the point, I can do little without appearing to have negotiated in bad faith.

That said, I did want you to know that I think the thoughts about convincing the Inquisition that rifter phylacteries are bad for the organization, rather than for the rifters, are well-observed. And if there is a way I can usefully assist in the future, I will strongly consider it.

permaprivate

[dashing]

Enchanter Julius, I am— I greatly appreciate your response. I must confess that I have—

( An exhale. )

I know I must be seen as a traitor to my fellow mages, and that interceding in this only serves to cast my failure to strike in greater more severe a light. I did not strike not because I felt it was not necessary, but because I felt— I knew that we need to secure the future of the world, or else bettering it will not mean anything. Setting aside my duties to strike was an impossibility. My concerns in this are not based in the valuing of rifters over mages, but knowing that if the disruptions and discord continue and escalate, that too will set our world against Corypheus in jeopardy.

Your input would be welcome, both because of the esteem that I hold you in, and because the mages need to see that those who went on strike and those that did not can still stand in unity for Thedas.

[overharrowed]

Believe me when I tell you I can understand the discomfort you're feeling. We do not live in a world that is often kind to nuance.

[Voss had called him a pseudo-loyalist, and he's unsure how true that is. Either half.]

Corypheus is, truly, the threat that brings us all here. Whether you thought he was best defeated by striking or not striking... it is a question on which I believe reasonable people may disagree. I am speaking only for myself, but I had hoped that the strike would be a contained risk that would keep more than half the Inquisition's mages from breaking away.

[It was... sort of successful. Except now the new risk with the rifters.]

And, I think the more reasonable among the mages will see that it is useful to have sympathetic representatives who have not been labeled agitators, unfairly or otherwise. I spent some of my capital, and it was a deliberate choice, but if we had all done the same without exception, we would have to make other choices now. I suspect Madame de Cedoux would tell you much the same.

[dashing]

You are very gracious. I—

( agree, she would say, but is that too self indulgent? Self congratulatory, somehow? It would credit her with more forethought than she possessed. She did this for good reasons, she hopes, but that particular strategy was not amongst then. )

I hope you are right. Doubtless time will tell.

( And hopefully hard work will see to it. )

Capital, as you say... I think it is doubtless galling for some of the rifters who have been here some time that they appear to have so little capital. Or that it is being squandered to counterbalance those whose reactions involve bluster and potential volatility.

[overharrowed]

Rifters have less context. I suspect fewer mages were surprised that it eventually came to this, though. Magic, too, was a gift at first.

[See how well that's gone -- not only politically, but with its actual application in some cases. They say Corypheus was a magister, once.]

The Inquisition would do well to remember, though, that part of the reason all the rifters are here and most are cooperating is that no one in Thedas is currently offering them anything better. We have no guarantee that will continue forever, and we might want to mind we're offering them more incentive for their loyalty than "you have, effectively, no other options." We almost lost them all to illness, and then where would we have been?

[Even if they'd saved a handful of native shard bearers, it would have been a massive tactical blow, and surely there are people outside Kirkwall who realize it.]

[dashing]

You speak it rightly. This is precisely why we must focus on the benefits to those other than rifters should I be able to effectively press for discussions. They, like us, are deemed a resource. Validity as people matters little, if at all.

The Venatori amongst the options that could come to the fore. And I agree, fully, though there are those who would argue that it matters not, when more join us through the rifts with some reliability. There is, however, no guarantee that will continue indefinitely.

Mayhaps this can be included in our appeals to Chantry and Inquisition both.

[overharrowed]

I think that's wise. From what I've read, the Venatori have already expressed interest in the rifters, whether to stop them or control them or... who knows, exactly, but it's clear they're an item on their convoluted agenda.

If we could simply argue "They're our allies, we should trust them," believe me, the negotiations at Skyhold would have been much shorter. That doesn't mean the sentiment isn't true, it means it won't be effective on its own.