therookery | report | elven outreach in the silent plains

SUBJECT: Elven outreach in the Silent Plains
PARTICIPANTS: Jayce, Xiomara, Desidério, and Nina
CLASSIFICATION: Public, presented to the leadership of Riftwatch and the March during their time in the Silent Plains
DATE FILED: Firstfall, shortly after returning to the March's camp
STATUS: Complete
SUMMARY: A small team, made of Riftwatch and The People of the Silent Plains, attempted to locate a clan of Dalish that were attacking members of the Exalted March in the Silent Plains. They were met with warning arrows, but no Dalish. They did find a sand aravel and hijacked it via griffon theft auto to prove the presence of elves besides the People.

REPORT:

Regarding the suspicion of elven involvement in the death of a hunting party of the Exalted March:
- Two known parties of elves present in the Silent Plains: 1) a group from the People of the Silent Plains and 2) a Dalish clan.
     - Evidence of cooperation from the People: discourse, shelter
     - Evidence of hostility from the People: none (not counting reasonable caution)
     - Evidence of cooperation from the Dalish: none
     - Evidence of hostility from the Dalish: attacks, refusing attempts to communicate
     - Evidence of Dalish presence presented to the Exalted March: aravel, standard transportation unit of the Dalish, by way of griffon. Condition: good; recent abandonment suspected (got too close to them?)
- Note: Irene, the leader of the People with whom Riftwatch established connection earlier this year was present and vouched for us Riftwatch to her comrades.
- The People shared their concerns re: the Exalted March and their purpose within the Silent Plains. We shared with them the concerns of Exalted March, including their and our objectives, respectively.
- The People are wary of the Exalted March, but they do not wish to see strife between their groups.
- The People shared an observance: no lethality occurs from Dalish hostility when an elf is present in their hunting parties.

Conclusions: It is highly unlikely that the People of the Silent Plains are responsible for the deaths of the Exalted March's hunting party. They sheltered our small party when they could have easily done harm. They informed us of the Dalish and aided our search which yielded physical evidence of Dalish occupation in the form of an aravel, presumed recently abandoned based on its condition. Our search was met with hostility and an unwillingness to parley from unseen assailants.

However, we cannot rule out the possibility that a third, unrelated party may be present and responsible for these deaths.

Recommendations:
- Maintain neutrality between the People of the Silent Plains and the Exalted March. The March has enough on its plate right now.
- Discourage seeking confrontation with those responsible for the hunting party's deaths. Whoever they are, they possess the advantage of terrain knowledge. Conserve the March's resources which are already strained.
- Consider including at least one elven member to any scouting, hunting or other party sent by the March. This approach seems to work for the People. It worked for us.

Jayce Talis, Research division, Riftwatch

NEXT STEPS: Continue to foster a positive relationship between Riftwatch and the People of the Silent Plains. Discourage the March from expending resources to hunt down elusive elves. Do whatever with the aravel (e.g. turn it over to the March to utilize if/as they wish, give it to Xiomara and/or Desidério to fly around, other).

NOTES & LINKS: OOC info, IC log.