diplomacy, gird your loins.

[bouchonne]

FORM: Crystal
SENDER: Byerly and Eshal.
RECIPIENT: All y'all
NOTES: Blue is Byerly, red is Eshal.

Bonsoir, Riftwatch. I have some dreadful news for you all.

[ Byerly’s voice sounds a bit dry. And characteristically dramatic. ]

My dear comrade and equal, would you like to tell them?

It's not dreadful, get over yourself. Anyway, Diplomacy has two heads, because we're better than the lot of them. Right?

Oh, yes. It’s widely acknowledged as a show of faith to appoint two people to do the job normally done by one. A task given only to truly quality prospects.

Exactly.

[ A sigh. ]

My esteemed self and this esteemed lady have been appointed joint heads of Diplomacy. She, being a decent and righteous soul, has volunteered to hear any and all complaints that might be made about this decision.

Yep. Love to meet the rest of you, honestly. Come by the head office, any time. I'll supply the whiskey.

[ Byerly lifts an eyebrow at her; he’d expected a protest to him volunteering her for that thankless duty. But, well, if she’s willing to be the goat here, let her be the goat. A shrug. That’s it. Meet your new overseers. ]

Comments

[overharrowed]

Enchanter Julius. A pleasure to meet you, in advance. I'm the head of Project Sashamiri, and a somewhat recent transfer to Diplomacy from Research. The former ambassador pointed out that I kept volunteering to negotiate things.

[saam]

Eshal Fazon. Right back at you.

What kind of things? Or should I just go with my gut and assume mage stuff.

[overharrowed]

Well, you aren't wrong.

[He did include 'enchanter' in his name, years after the Circles fell.]

I was part of the team that went to Skyhold to work out how the cache of phylacteries should be handled, about a year ago. And I handled some minor unrest amid Fereldan nobles who worried mages might inherit, before the Divine Election complicated that point.

["Complicated."]

[unshut]

[casually taking notes]

[overharrowed]

[Julius' rule of thumb: No point in lying about something when a detailed report on it is sitting in the Diplomacy office.]

[unshut]

[Nonetheless, she appreciates the sparknotes.]

[saam]

Mm, good. We'll need advisory mages, seeing as I'm ex-Qun and Byerly is... [Oh, her voice was a little serious for a moment, there. A return to form, jocular and light-] not... a fuckin'... mage?

And before you say anything, that's ex-Qun. Tal-Vashoth, technically. I'm not here for sewing anybody's face up.

...Probably should get that carved into my desk.

[overharrowed]

I appreciate the reassurance. I admit, the Qun is not a subject I know much about, so perhaps our backgrounds can compliment one another.

...perhaps a framed needlepoint facing the office door.

[saam]

Well, I'm not pretending like I'm gonna give classes, but if you got questions, I'll answer 'em. Good questions.

Look. I can carve, but I sure as shit can't sew.

[overharrowed]

I'll think about it, and let you know if I have any. I'm happy to do the same for mage affairs, though if you've been with us longer than a day or two, you likely know that you can ask the same question to five mages and get five answers.

Probably best, though, about the sewing. On second thought, it might be a counterproductive medium for the particular message.

[saam]

See, that's the shit I can't get over. Qun education. The world's a straight line, and fuck the rest.

[She doesn't sound too adoring.]

See, that's the kind of diplomatic expertise I'm talking about.