SUBJECT: Mushroom For Interpretation
PARTICIPANTS: Edgard, Jone, Ellis, Richard and Isaac
CLASSIFICATION: Public
DATE FILED: back dated to November
STATUS: Complete
SUMMARY: Five agents were sent to investigate weird phenomena in the Orlesian swamp.
REPORT:

This mission was a good mission because there was a lot of mud. There was a monster. She was so beautiful. We killed her. It was so sad. Then it turned out she was actually a woman and she was a very mean woman. Despite her being mean, she was protecting a group of deserters and we told her we wouldn't tell her that she wasn't a beautiful monster but instead a mean woman. She told us the group would help us in the future if we wanted in exchange. Edgard did the best. Jone did good too.

NEXT STEPS: The 'haunting' was not a fade touched monster, but a ruse concocted to protect a group of 40 deserters who can be relied upon to help in the future.
NOTES & LINKS: log and ooc information

SUBJECT: Where Lies the Strangling Fruit
PARTICIPANTS: Tony Stark, Richard Dickerson, Joselyn Smythe, Vanadi de Vadarta, & Wysteria Poppell
CLASSIFICATION: Public
DATE FILED: Late August
STATUS: Ongoing
SUMMARY: At the request of the neighboring village of Ansburg, a team traveled to investigate the mysterious illness afflicting the residents of the village of Bierstagg and the strange alterations occurring in the landscape surrounding the area. Upon arrival, they found the flora and fauna of the forest to be seriously mutated and poisonous, and that the residents of the village itself were dead. A rift in the orchards - seemingly motivating the changes to the woods as well as enabling a number of minor spirits to possess some of the villagers - was closed and the dead burned.

REPORT:

Rifts & the Thinning of the Veil's Alteration of Local Flora and Fauna:
A Comprehensive Account of the Investigation of the Village Bierstagg
and its Surroundings in the Year 9:46

Having received word from the villagers of Ansburg recounting the strange tale of the recovery of a Bierstagg child on the road, her reports of an illness ravaging her home, and the subsequent attempted and failed investigation by an party of Ansburgite villagers into the nature of their neighbors' distress (see attached copy of record number, 9:46-FM-W.Ans.I), a team of Riftwatch agents (see roster addendum) was dispatched in order to investigate the mysterious malady and reports of strange unnatural phenomena in the forest surrounding Bierstagg, including the corruption of harmless fruit typically known to be edible, and to close a rift reported by the wayward child.

Traveling first to Ansburg, we met with the original investigation party who recounted to us their initial attempts to reach Bierstagg and the sickness that had overtaken them after the consumption of a most common berry (a sample of which, among others taken from the afflicted area, has been preserved for further study; please see appendix C for complete indexing of samples and their archival status). The affected individual claimed to have eaten no more than a handful of the berries, and described his symptoms as having included vomiting combined with a clarity and brightness of vision. His companions described an altered mood, and that their fellow had been prone to long stretches of silence. Further, all of them reported a sense of uneasiness while attempting to traverse the forest (see appendix A for further details).

As to the Bierstagg girl, she reported the same trance-like state, and that her mother lay in bed. She was unable to corroborate any vomiting, but did report a certain loss of appetite in those afflicted. The rift, which she noted was in the orchards East of the village, had been there for some time but she was unable to say exactly when it opened save that it had not been present during the previous harvest season. A full copy of her account is attached for reference (appendix B).

Having gathered all information we might from the Ansburg locals, Riftwatch set off for Bierstagg. Once we reached the overgrown sections of the road which ultimately deterred the infestation prior to ours, we immediately determined the Veil to be quite thin. In a number of places, it was necessary to open and reseal Rifts in order to repair it. This thinning of the Veil likely seems to have contributed to the alteration of the plant life - indeed, sampling and testing reveals a great majority of the growing things in the area to be varying degrees of poisonous -, and to the strange alteration of the creatures living there. Full details of the aberrations observed are attached (please see Appendix D), including but not limited to freshwater eels with strangely human eyes, a two headed wolf, insects moving in coordinated figures, and a two headed wolf whose assault on our encampment during the first night earned Mssr. de Vadarta what first appeared to be a minor wound only to suffer subsequent complications of organic growths in limb which required extraction (please see the drawings attached).

When we reached the village of Bierstagg, it was immediately apparent that the poisonous qualities of the landscape had also affected the village itself. While not obvious on our initial arrival - there being some individuals employed in their daily work -, the discovery of numerous corpses bearing organic growths (flowers, vines, etc; samples also noted in appendix C) and a closer examination of the active residents revealed that all of the Bierstagg villagers had sadly succumbed to the affliction and that any instances of persons going about their daily business were instances of possession - albeit seemingly benign insofar as any invasion can claim to be, as no spirit attempted to harm us either as we passed through the village or during the closure of the orchard's rift. Upon closure of the rift, all spirits vacated their host corpses or were encouraged to do so via light physical altercations.

Unfortunately, closure of the rift and repair of the Veil did not revert any of the alterations to the life (or lackthereof) surrounding it. In an effort to deter further growth and with respect to common Thedosian customs, all bodies were carefully burned (after some testing which determined the material to be both highly flammable and potentially noxious). As there is no current solution to the corruption of the landscape, it was determined that the best course of action was to return to Anbsurg. An account of what Riftwatch discovered was relayed to them, and Ansburg has agreed to mark the perimeters of the afflicted area so as to discourage travelers from entering it until such a time that Riftwatch can return in order to set the place more definitively to rights.

NEXT STEPS: Send a follow up team to do additional research on the afflicted landscape in order to collect more data; ideally either cleanse the corruption, or organize a more permanent containment measures to discourage anyone from wandering into the splash zone.

NOTES & LINKS: OOC Information; IC Log

Hey. It's me.

[ A good pitch has a strong opener. ]

Project Felandaris is-- has  been back online. [ Time flies. ] We're dusting off the shelves, figuring out the feng shui, personalising our desks with adorable knickknacks. For the confused, here're the priorities as follows.

[ Papers rustle in a way that sounds suspiciously like he is just rustling some papers. ]

Rifts, shards, Rifters, shard-bearers. What are they? How are they? Can we get them anything? Like an extension on their deadlines? Hope springs eternal at Project Felandaris.

Esoteric items. Do you have one? Did you find one? Did you lick one? Be honest. If you did, submit a report. It's fun. Elves had some cool stuff, and so did dwarves. Arguably even cooler, not to be controversial, just inclusive. 

Uhhh new item. Development. That's the item. Riftwatch is uniquely situated to create new technologies that literally no one else in this universe can conceive of, and some of those esoteric items can be put to work, as can Rifter knowledge from their home turf. If you're in any way wired to find that interesting, let's talk about it.

I'm also looking for an assistant. Someone reliable, trustworthy, neat penmanship, doesn't mind friendly overtures like obscure nicknames that may or may not just naturally occur over the course of a conversation.

[ Another deliberate paper rustle. ]

Oh, and if you happen to have an anchor-shard lodged in your hand and you use it to blast energy at bad guys, I got something for you. If you have an anchor-shard lodged somewhere more interesting, you get nothing, but tell me about it.

Questions below in the comments.

Bye.

SUBJECT: Rift and anchor-shard interactions research
PARTICIPANTS: Led by Tony Stark Rhodes-Potts along with Wysteria Poppell, Mhavos Dalat, and sundry other assistants.
CLASSIFICATION: Public
DATE FILED: Mid Firstfall
STATUS: Ongoing
SUMMARY: Studying the interactions of anchor-shards with rifts through the use of slightly obscure technical methods of measuring the energy output of magical effects. This report is a summary of findings so far.

REPORT: As this report is many pages long, this is the tl;dr sumamry. It is introduced as an initial intake and synthesising of results, and expects to continue data gathering over time.

It describes methodology, which amounts to using a device called a thaumoscope to measure the effects and interactions of anchor-shards and rifts. Measurements are taken while the rift is in a passive-closed state, while it is being activated by anchor-shards to emit energy, while demons are passing through it, and the process of full closure. The raw data is included, esoteric though it may be, but copied and compiled in neat handwriting that is recognisably Seneschal Salvio. Also included are the names of all shard-bearers who closed rifts during these experiments.

Summary comment:

Through observation, historical accounts, and the data included, we can surmise that the anchor-shard functions by attracting Fade energy ("magic") through the rift itself. Rate of accumulation accelerates until the shard reaches a maximum capacity (refer notes 1.13, 3.45 4.67) at which point the energy is expended and released. This release is channeled directly into the phenomenon known as the Veil, reinforcing the area of damage (the rift) until it is closed.

This process normally requires two or more shard bearers, implying a limited capacity in comparison to original bearer, Evelyn Trevelyan. On 23 Harvestmere 9:45, a single shard-bearer, Gwenaëlle Baudin, closed a rift independently (refer recording 23/9:45), which indicates that capacities may grow over time and/or useage.

It is the hope of those involved in this process that this information will be used and built upon to better understand the interactions between anchor-shards and rifts, and eventually, the continues effects on shard-bearers themselves.

NEXT STEPS: As stated, this report is preliminary, with more data collection and observations to come.

NOTES & LINKS: Log and OOC note!

SUBJECT: What Pride Had Wrought
PARTICIPANTS: Everyone (except those who stayed behind)
CLASSIFICATION: Public
DATE FILED: originally filed Solace 21-24, transcribed later by Bastien
STATUS: Complete
SUMMARY: Temple of Mythal and the fate of the big puddle of magic water

REPORT:

• Went thru a magick mirror


• Helped a bunch of old weirdos (Surely she means the Sentinels) deal with Red Templers (sic) and Venatorry (sic)


• The battle kinda fucked up the temple gardens


• A bunch of us had to go thru this stupid maze called the Petishonners (sic) Path and some weird old magick stuff happened where people saw ghosts?? and other stuff I guess, I didn’t do it and made the old elves hate me yay


• Found some neat old junk and skeletons in the cripts (sic), nothing importent (sic)


• Convinced Abbylass (sic) not to destroy his magick puddle, since it was soooo importent to him. They will be bottling that shit rite (sic) up and takeing (sic) it somewhere else


• Cleared the temple so if Korriffeuss (sic) ever comes back he won’t find anything usefull (sic) just some old ruins and some petty vandalysm (sic)


• O yea and Solas cried a lot


• it was uncomfortable for everyone

NEXT STEPS: The process of phylacterizing the Well of Sorrows will likely be a big operation and take some time but I don’t imagine Riftwatch will be involved or even welcome to know where the Sentinels are taking the Well.

NOTES & LINKS:

Right, so to review; we found an ancient, yet-still-inhabited temple of Mythal, and had a great fight over it with the bad ones, so this is obviously all a big deal for us, we can all agree. [Riftwatch, of course. Obviously. Who else would he mean? Don't be paranoid.] So I'll have a blanket invitation out; whatever you saw, or experienced, if you wouldn't mind giving a detailed account of it, for the historical record, we'd like to have it. I hope I'm not the first to point out how easy it is to lose history, even vitally important history, just because no one kept the record straight. Let's not be that, shall we?

Felandaris office hours are between noon and midnight, at the moment, but I'm always available on the crystal, or if you'd rather write it down yourself and simply deliver it all done and finished, then you know how to find me.

[There is a small pause.]

Oh, and if there's anyone good with enchanted locks, Merril was wanting a hand with an artifact we've had in storage that won't budge. That's all for now, everyone. Thanks.

SUBJECT: Venatori Activity in the Crossroads
PARTICIPANTS: Sorrel, Solas, Marcoulf, Steve Rogers
CLASSIFICATION: Confidential
DATE FILED: Solace 15
STATUS: Complete
SUMMARY: Venatori agents attempting to travel through the eluvian network are discovered to be in search of some kind of mysterious temple.

REPORT:

Following the path indicated by Briala's recently deceased agent, we made our way through the Crossroads. In the days we were there, we encountered a series of small obstacles that might indicate the presence of larger dangers lying in wait there. On our first night, a young varterral unafraid of people wandered into our camp. We saw no sign of its mother, but I don't doubt it has one. Additionally, both human members of the team found were regularly tripped and tangled in thick vines which seemed to want to bar their way. They also reported feelings of fatigue. The Crossroads here seems to discourage any non-elven presence.

When we at last reached the large eluvian indicated in the original directive, we found and subsequently drove away a small encampment of Venatori. They didn't appear to have made any headway through the eluvian. After some guesswork, we were able to decipher the passcode - Halam'shivanas - and pass through.

There we found a temple housing some kind of pool in the distance. Before a thorough survey of the place could be made, we were driven back through the eluvian by an attack from figures who may have been Dalish. As they didn't follow us back into the Crossroads, I believe they may have simply been trying to discourage our presence and mean no harm to anyone who doesn't trespass there.

-Sorrelean Ashara

NOTES & LINKS: OOC ASSIGNMENT INFO, ASSIGNMENT LOG, IC LEADERSHIP REPORT LOG

In light of the recent chaos, not to mention that we’re all being shuffled around, I’d like to remind those that remain in any form working for the office-formally-named-as-Elven Artifacts that we still have work to do. Just because you caught an attack of verbal incontinence it doesn’t follow we get to take a nap, so let’s move on with it.

[There is a sharp knocking sound, as if aligning a stack of papers by tapping them on a desk.]

Firstly of all, would the person who keeps stealing people’s packed lunches please just stop. Everyone knows who you are, and food’s not even being charged for in the commissary. It’s already included as part of your pay, just go and get your own, for goodness’ sake.

Second, since apparently no one but me cares about actual records-keeping, and now we’re in charge of a great load of yet more artifacts, let’s have some help moving them into actual secure locations, if you please. That means with doors, and that lock, and that more than one person knows what’s in them, and can tell if something were to change, thank you. And labels, with actual proper descriptions, if you can imagine it.

( A call for volunteers... )

Hello, Elven Artifacts project! You’ve all likely heard my voice before, addressing the Inquisition at large. I’m Adalia, the newly appointed assistant to the newly appointed project leader!

( A pause, and an inaudible flourish, as Adalia cedes the crystal to Sorrel. )

My name is Sorrelean Ashara and, as of this week, I am the new leader of the Elven Artifacts projects. Our work here is important, and I’m sure we can see great things done, together. The past has never been more important to the future than it is now. So. We’ve got a lot to do.

That said, we want to hear from you — what areas you think we need to focus on, your past experiences in the project, anything of note. We have our own ideas about where to take the project, but we welcome input from the rest of you. This is an important field, both to the Inquisition and to Thedas in general, and we want to do our best.

Hello. I'm Clarke, I'm— [ not used to the crystals; there's a pause, then she's a bit louder. ] —leading the project to figure out what's going on with the Veil and the rifts. I don't think I know any of you yet, but that's probably going to change pretty fast.

I've claimed a room in the center tower, third floor. There isn't much there yet, but we have a map. I'm trying to mark known rifts. There's a box of pins on the floor beside it and different colors of thread to wrap them with, so the ones with rifters and the ones that gave people anchors are in another color. If you know of any, you're welcome to add them. And from there...

We need more information.

[ If anyone wanted to ease in with a meet and greet and ice breakers, sorry, you'll have to ask for them. ]

We know we don't have forever before those anchors start killing the people who have them. [ She knows, anyway. If you didn't know, now you do. ] I know people have seen healers about them, but we need to start recording how big they are, how much they hurt, how they behave. So we know when they're getting worse. And while we're doing that I don't think it would hurt to create a record of where everyone is from and what they can do. No names, if they're afraid. But it might help to know if there's some kind of pattern.

Aside from that, I think we can find out a few other things to start. We need to know if the areas where rifts are sealed are fixed permanently, or if the Veil just weakens again. If people with anchors can strengthen the Veil long term, maybe they can strengthen it before tears ever happen—the Veil in Kirkwall is thin, so it's a good place to try that. The Veil has torn before, in other places, so figuring out how people fixed those before, if they even did, that might help us understand what's going on now. And we can't send everyone back to every old location, but we need to start looking at new rifter sites to see if there's anything they have in common that might explain... any of this.

If anyone wants to volunteer to take charge of any of those things, now's the time, before I ask you to do something you don't like instead.

—and if anyone has their own ideas, feel free to share.

[ ooc | Clarke is bossy! It's totally legit to tell her to chill (though she won't like it) or argue with her, etc. Just so no one is scared. xoxo. ]