crystal; staff meeting

[katabasis]

FORM: Crystal
SENDER: Flint & Yseult (but that's just a formality)
RECIPIENT: Riftwatch Leadership
NOTES: Staff meeting closed to Riftwatch leadership (divheads, project leads, anyone who's on the leadership list); someone's out doing fieldwork or something and that's why they're doing a fantasy zoom call.

Threadjacking welcome and encouraged. Flint is red, Yseult is blue.

Given the dramatic shift in the war front, now seems as good a time as any to review the trajectory of Riftwatch's work as it currently stands.

[Says the man who missed a great deal of that shifting warfront; for someone who spent more than a month either in Venatori captivity or sneaking around on foot across the Free Marches, Flint sounds remarkably unaffected. Same old brusque demands.

Yseult sounds similarly unchanged. ]

The Commander and I are once again up to speed on our divisions. It would be helpful to hear what plans you each have already in motion so that we might coordinate and focus our efforts.

Comments

[bouchonne]

[ By sounds rather clipped and tired. ]

Given the proximity of the Venatori, it seems particularly important now to ensure that we have somewhere to retreat to if Kirkwall is overrun.

[katabasis]

Such as?

[bouchonne]

[ Don't play dumb, man. ]

Ferelden.

[katabasis]

[Shock.]

Are you suggesting we start surveying swamps?

[bouchonne]

[ Through gritted teeth: ]

It's so good to have you back, Commander. Was it a pleasant little sojourn you had out there?

[propulsion]

The silver lining to losing two cities to Big Dragon is we have a bunch of data on what that looks like. Gather intel, analyse attack patterns, work on our defense.

And build something to help kill it.

[bouchonne]

What, a ballista of some sort?

[propulsion]

Something like that.

[bouchonne]

Grand. We'll be sure to win, then.

[hassaran]

Could your magic gun project be adapted to a larger weapon?

[cozen]

[ For Project Jeshavis, ] We have a team going south to look into the incidents there during the invasion, and I have appointments in Denerim and Val Royeaux to talk about sharing information and, vous savez. Their feelings about us running around their territory.

If anyone has any errands they need run there, I am happy to do it.

[hornswoggle]

Bring me back a bottle of West Hill Brandy from Denerim, if you would. The widower Gernot has been lamenting at length on how much he's missed the taste.

[cozen]

West Hill Brandy. Je m'en occupe..

[hornswoggle]

Merci beaucoup.

[hassaran]

Find out what you can about the Queen's suitors while you're in Denerim. We should conduct some discreet inquiries into their susceptibility to Venatori influence. And we may have need of your printing contacts in Val Royeaux if the Exalted March continues to drag its feet.

[bouchonne]

I can make all the proper introductions with the high society gossip-mongers who will have all the poison on the suitors.

[ And, reluctantly... ]

I have started a few investigations of my own. To no avail.

[cozen]

I will take your introductions and your information, thank you.

[ And keep him included, of course. ]

If the Queen is not already as much on her guard as she possibly could be, maybe we could try to put her there. I know it is bad form to lie to an ally— [ or employer, as it were ] —but we could say one of our agents overheard something vague from the Venatori.

[cozen]

[ First part: of course. Second part: ]

I am not sure I could knock on their doors now without, ah—

[ Personal problems. Long explanations. Word getting back to people for whom he was more than a casual business acquaintance. It is terrible and unfair, that charmingly lying to people for years and then vanishing on them for more years has consequences. ]

It might be simpler for me to tell Monsieur Silver who would be cooperative.

[hornswoggle]

I would be extremely interested to converse with them on your behalf.

[satinet]

Let's see— Ah, here we are. [Cassius clears his throat.]

I made the emergency decision to considerably overextended our immediate acquisitions budget and am pleased to report that after a consultation with a short roster of local merchant captains who are more acquainted with the idea of rationing than I am, that we are well provisioned through the winter regardless of what the Kirkwall markets may decide to do in light of what I imagine will constitute interruption to trade. I expect that we should be able to avoid any indelicacies such as hard biscuits or coffee shortages until at least First Day.

That should give prices plenty of time to settle, though I'm afraid it puts a dampener on our discretionary spending. [It's going to be a lean Satinalia this year, children.] Should anyone stumble across a new stream of revenue or trip over a treasure vault while out exploring the wilderness, I would be delighted to hear of it.

[cozen]

Coffee! You are wonderful. [ Smarm forgiven! ] What else could anyone really need?

[satinet]

Please, please. [—as if waving his wonderfulness away like a vaporous cloud.]

At least put the compliment in the box so it might later be read aloud.

[venenifer]

Project Haven has been running a donation drive in Hightown to find supplies and shelter for the influx of refugees. Warehouses and space on large estates are temporary solutions, but. There is concern about enemy spies filtering in among the needy.

[hassaran]

Are there any specific suspects or merely general concerns?

[venenifer]

General concerns.

[a pause.]

You know how people can be.