report | tevinter outreach in the silent plains

[cozen]

SUBJECT: Tevinter Outreach in the Silent Plains
PARTICIPANTS: Bastien, Benedict Artemaeus, Nina Zenik
CLASSIFICATION: Public
DATE FILED: Wintermarch 9:50
STATUS: Complete
SUMMARY: A small Riftwatch team traveled to Tevinter villages near the front to get a read on the atmospheres and likelihood of peaceful surrender. Aside from a brief violent interlude in a roadside inn and some fear among the Tevinter locals that the Exalted March would lay waste to their towns rather than accept a surrender, it went fine.

REPORT:

Esteemed Ambassador & Company,

While visiting the Exalted March our exploration of the surrounding Tevinter territory went fairly well. There was an incident with apparent Venatori (or Tevinter patriots only, who can tell) tailing us to an inn, or coincidentally winding up at the same inn in the middle of nowhere, but Monsieur Artemaeus and Mademoiselle Zenik were very competent (and I kept up) and we did not leave behind a mess. We did leave behind witnesses, the innkeepers and their son, but whether they would keep quiet or tell the Tevinters to preserve their own lives did not seem to matter. Tevinter knew we were there.

The general sense in the villages is what you what expect. In the smaller ones in particular, the villagers feel disconnected from Minrathous and do not care about who rules them so much as surviving to be ruled by anyone. The larger towns have stronger ties to the capital. In all places we noted a fear among the Tevinters that it would not matter whether they surrendered or not as they had heard reports, some credible and some clearly exaggerated, of the Exalted March destroying homes and executing civilians regardless of how they responded to the incursion. One leader in Capena also seemed to be having success fear-mongering over what would happen to their children under the Southern Chantry should they reveal magic. Artemaeus has explained that in Tevinter the lower classes hope for mage children to elevate their families' statuses, and it is a common and widely publicized occurrence, so even families with no sign of magic in their blood might feel like any given child could be the one. Any attempt to turn the Tevinter populace against the regime in Minrathous will need to keep that in mind.

To whatever extent the rumors of the Exalted March razing villages and killing noncombatants are true, it seems impossible that the Chantry does not already know, so in my opinion informing them would not do much more than make it awkward while they lie to us about it. But it does seem like we should do something, especially if we intend to continue assisting them. It is not something I would like to die knowing I enabled.

Humbly,

Bastien

NEXT STEPS: Decide what (if anything) to do about the war crimes, contemplate how to address Tevinter concerns about how the South will treat their baby mages if they surrender/lose, etc.

NOTES & LINKS: OOC info, IC log.

Comments

a conversation;

[katabasis]

[It's midday and the fire in the war room's hearth has been permitted to burn itself down to ash and embers. It's still grey out—miserably so, icy rain hammering on the far side of the firmly sealed windows—, but the room can only hold so much heat.

It makes for a somewhat miserly quality of light. A lamp has been brought to augment where nature fails, and it's into its pool that Flint flicks down the report he's just taken the liberty of rereading.]

I imagine that it goes without saying that we're obligated to respond.

[The report had been publicly filed. If Bastien doesn't press the matter, someone else will.

(This isn't the Division Heads' only matter of business this afternoon. It's just one nearer the top of the pile.)]

[youwonscience]

[Cosima has, so far, listened more than she's talked at these meetings, especially on topics that don't directly come under the heading of research. It's too early to say whether that will be true forever or whether she's just getting the lay of the land; either way, for the present she's been largely taking the lead of the more experienced leaders.

This, however, when she sees which report it is:]

I know we don't have as many allies as we'd like, but I don't think we're knowingly turning a blind eye to war crimes levels of hard up.

[She's not picking a fight, because she doesn't anticipate disagreement. But there's a bit of steel to her demeanor all the same.]

[hassaran]

[ Yseult thumbs a loose thread at the cuff of her sweater, a pale wool somewhat shabbier than she'd normally wear in public, but the disgusting weather and general chill of a stone tower designed for no one's comfort demands it, or maybe she just no longer considers this room public. There's a cup of tea cooling to the right of her stack of reports. ]

A team to investigate further?

sorry for a tag of nothing

[tender]

[ For the moment, Derrica too is quiet. She has read the report. She is familiar with the accusations.

Presently, she is more interested in getting the lay of the land. Noting the quality of Cosima's tone. Yseult's suggestion.

She waits, stretching forward to retrieve the report and examine it while Yseult's option begs response. ]

[katabasis]

All well and good [sounds at least enough like endorsement of the suggestion that they'll likely be coming up with a few names for that team before leaving this room.

But obviously letting it lie there and considering the question resolved for the time being isn't in the cards.]

We will want to have a strategy prepared for when they inevitably find confirmation, however small. I don't imagine any team we might send into a contested slice of territory in search of cruelty will come up empty handed.

[youwonscience]

[She hesitates slightly; she knows she's not a diplomat, and though she's been in Thedas long enough to have caught a fair amount of nuance, she knows she's still playing catch-up. Cosima glances at Yseult and Derrica while considering saying nothing at all, but instead lands on:]

Saying anything to the Chantry privately might not do much. Could we leverage a relationship with another ally? One the Chantry will care about losing more than it would care about losing us, maybe.

sorry, tracking failure

[hassaran]

[ The tip of Yseult's head slightly to one side indicates consideration of that suggestion. ]

The former Inquisition leadership. Or Nevarra might have designs on the region. [ in which case it would behoove them not to make bitter enemies (or corpses) of its people. ]