I miss my niece. She is... tiny angel, Kira. I am glad she is not here, for her, and the brother-sestra and mother who would be missing here if she was away, but I wish she was here for Sarah.

( A pause, and— )
And me, also. She sees always the good, I think.

Who... Rifters, if you could be wishing for people to be here, who would you choose?

Inquisition.

[The voice is hard to place, neither male nor female, lingering oddly over the syllables of the word--considering. An Inquisition, proper noun. What a thing.]

Your cities are infested with beasts. You keep them in comfort and guard jealously their welfare. A caste among you even exists to care for them.

Explain this.

Hello, everyone. This is Scoutmaster Beleth Ashara, and this message has been sent to everyone who has, for their own reasons, not gone to Tevinter with the rest of the Inquisition.

I've stayed behind as well, and I want to thank all of you for the hard work you've been doing to make sure that our work here continues to go smoothly while the others are gone. I know that it's not easy making up for lost manpower, and I'm grateful that we have so many dedicated people doing their best.

In fact, I'm grateful enough that I thought we could do something special, something fun, to help make up for missing the things they're doing in Tevinter.

Since this would be for everyone here, and there's not many of us, I figured I'd open the floor for suggestions. That way, everyone can have their say, and we can make sure that we have something that's fun for everyone.

To get the ball rolling, possibilities include a small party, everyone getting a day off, or we could do a gathering where we participated in activities to get to know each other better.

Greetings, Inquisition, this is Scoutmaster Beleth Ashara. I'm back from my temporary leave of absence, due to an unfortunate injury that I have thankfully recovered from. I wish to express my deepest gratitude to everyone for their thoughts and prayers, [ To any deity, chill out ya nerds. ] and for their support during such a taxing period of time for me. I’m glad to report that said period is over, and that I have resumed my duties as leader of the Scouting Division.

And of course, a special thanks to Valentine...de Foncé, [ She is not rattling off that grocery list of names, thanks. ] and Kostos Averesch, for stepping up to help take care of matters and provide leadership for the Scouting Division while I was indisposed. You both did an admirable job, considering how little warning you got before an entire division was dropped on your laps.

Scouting assignments and missions will be resumed promptly, and if there’s anything that anyone has been waiting to speak to me, specifically, about, my office is open. And, of course, I can always be reached via the sending crystals.

[ There’s a pause, and then the formality in her voice drops. ]

Additionally, I’ll be expecting a report from everyone who temporarily defected from Scouting while i was absent, explaining why they cruelly abandoned me in my time of need, and cost the division a win in the tourney.

[ Not to name names, IORVETH. ]

[ Private to Cade, Herian, Nari, Sorrel, and James. ]

Um—Hello, this is for those of you who were present for my...episode. [ Her voice is still informal, tone rather awkward and very sheepish. How do you apologize for trying to kill people because you thought they were trying to kill you first. ] I want to offer my deepest, most sincere apologies to all of you, for my...horrid behavior. While it’s true that I was not myself, due to unforeseen and outside forces, what I did was...still absolutely awful.

I owe all of you, both for the restraint that you exercised during my episode, and for, ah. Your discretion afterwards. You have my unceasing gratitude, and if there’s anything I can do to make it up to you, please let me know.

[ Loki ]

Loki, of House Asgard. Hello.

[ He gets his own message, both because they have particularly covert information to discuss, and because she’s not actually that sorry she stabbed him, oops. ]

I do hope your cut is healing well, because mine has.

You needn’t worry, of course, I can hardly hold your actions against you. I was trying to kill you, after all. I just hope that I haven’t unduly harmed our work relationship.

I would hate to not be invited to any more of your parties.

What do you believe gods are Inquisition? Do you indeed believe that there are gods? The Chantry that likes to press and to meddle might not be for all but there are many of those who will still have the name of the Maker upon their lips in a time of strife. The Dalish have the Creators. The Avvar have beliefs about spirits and gods, and the Chasind have gods of a fashion, men and women beloved of them.

Rifters need not be shy in answering, I ask about...what a god is. What it might be. If it is a thing indeed. Something far beyond the comprehension of any mortal being, shifting even beyond the Veil or Fade that we might never know what it truly is, or if it might something else. Something closer to flesh and blood fashioned long ago. Shaped in the way the world is shaped.

[That phrase turned over and over: There is only the subject and the object, the actor and the acted upon.]

Perhaps… [and well she might as well voice a possibility when they're in Kirkwall where the Veil was stretched so thin long ago] once 'twas possible to raise those of ambition and power as high as the magisters of old Tevinter, to leave terror and awe in their wake depending on the mood, the whim, the offering.

[Eventually...well eventually there will be a report, but until she can trust how to write it, can know what the reception might be when it dares to leave the small group that know even the truth of what lies deep in the Tirashan, she can't bring her hand to write it.]

[ There's the sound of movement and a fancy voice (aka Ignis) talking with someone about food. But he's obviously at a bit of a distance from the crystal. When a voice speaks, it's way less fancy. It's Tessa. ]

Heeeey, Tessa here. And Ignis. So I'll bet the Tourney got us all pumped and ready for more sports, right? [ Tessa sounds pretty energetic right now, as if she's had a few coffees, or is just really, really pumped to bring this idea into being. ] Well, I hope so, because I've got a sport from home I'd love to introduce here. It's called football.

[ A pause. ]

American football, before any of you Rifters think I mean soccer. Anyway, football is super cool. You have two teams face off trying to throw or carry a ball towards a goal. They get four attempts to make it at least 10 yards, and if they don't, they have to kick the ball away to the other team so they can try to do the same. There's tackling involved, but I figure if we get a real diverse group together, we should do flag football rules. That's where you wear a sash tucked into your pants, and if the opposing team grabs it and pulls it off, it counts as a tackle. Anyway, there's a ton of rules to explain, but I wanna see if there's genuine interest first. [ From behind her, Ignis adds in that they still need to find someone to construct these footballs too. ] Right, we have to do that. And if any other Rifters wanna help me explain the rules if you know them? Like I'd watch every season on tv, but I'll bet I'll forget stuff.

[ Now she takes a second to gather her thoughts, and Ignis takes the opportunity to lightly say: And tomorrow? His tone is teasing, but he's reminding her to stay on track with what else she wanted to say. ]

Right. Speaking of Rifters, I was wondering if we all shouldn't meet up. Casually. Not as anything political, but because we all share one thing in common and we're all so diverse. I think we could learn a lot from each other, and nobody knows what we face in getting settled here like people who've been through it before. Like if we want to integrate into this world, it'd be nice to know people it's okay to turn to and ask questions. And I get it: we're all so different and some of us are loudmouths, or jerks, and you don't wanna associate with them. That's fine. I can't force anybody to turn up. But if you do, then let's meet up and all hang out. How's tomorrow night sound, in the main courtyard? [ That way anyone can see they're literally just hanging out, not making evil demon plans to overthrow the Inquisition. ] Ignis and I are working on the food situation now, so there'll be stuff to eat. It'll be sorta like a party where we all mingle; not some weird group meeting where we all sit in a circle and talk one at a time.

[ Ignis's voice carries over one last time: Not to disparage sitting around in a circle, but let's skip the formalities for now. There'll be plenty of time for that later. ]

Heh, yeah. This is just hanging out and getting to know each other. Anyway, let us know what you think!


[ ooc: a mingle log will go up tomorrow for just this thing! ]

I hope we are all somewhat recovered from the Tournament. We should all be very pleased with our efforts. The very warm farewell before the matter of the Anders incursion was a result of your hard work-- all of you. 

And now we find ourselves returned to Kirkwall. I begged patience from many of you, and I thank you for it. Skyhold wishes for us to come and speak with a delegation from the Chantry and the Templars much as the mages did. I will be attending, as will Obi-Wan Kenobi and Araceli Bonaventura. Both are known well to the leadership of Skyhold and very familiar with Thedas itself.

However, we need a fourth for our party, and this I leave to you. Any Rifter is eligible for nomination. I would suggest that you choose carefully. Ideally, our fourth would be familiar with Thedas and settled into the Inquisition, as well as accustomed to dealing with pressure with grace. 

There will be a box outside my office with slips for nominations nearby. Please record your name and the name of your nominee below it. I would appreciate responses turned in with all haste.

Good morrow, Inquisition.

( Herian always sounds even and controlled. It's her own personal cliche, on par with "it was a dark and stormy night." Now, however, it takes on a new dimension, a suggestion of flatness that could be tiredness, or could be... something else. )

I bring good tidings. Though there were those who felt the loss of the Hightown forest keenly, the fire cleared the way for work to begin on the memorial, the progress of which had been stymied for some time. Working with a committee of Kirkwallers, the families of the lost and survivors, and members of the Chantry, the Chantry Relations project and the Inquisition has aided with the design and construction of the memorial gardens. The gardens were designed as a place of reflection and to commemorate all those who lost their lives in the Chantry explosion of the thirty-seventh year of the Dragon Age, and its aftermath. However... as a place of peace for all those who have lost people and who seek succour, all are welcome.

It would be remiss to speak of the memorial gardens without acknowledging, in particular, the work of Siuona and Nahariel of Clan Dahlasanor. For all that feeling was much divided on it, the current growth and fertility of the gardens would have been impossible without the efforts and Sina and those who aided her in raising the forest. It was their shared vision of a peaceful place for the coming together of people in remembrance that allowed Andraste's Grove to come into being, and Narahiel's work that gave us the statue that has become an icon for so many. Though the fire destroyed much, all that survived it - the trees, the flowers, the ground of that grove as well as the statue of Andraste - are sacred. It has become a place of peace, and of pilgrimage. Knowing all the injuries that the Chantry has inflicted in the past, it seems... it seems all the more fitting that a place of healing and reconciliation be the result of Dalish idealism.

( Her own feelings on the Dalish are not warm, or perhaps much better than frosty, but her sentiment is genuine.

There follows a bit of a pause. )

I hope that... even with all the adversity that faces us now, new challenges arising alongside the old, that when it comes to protecting this world and standing against Corypheus, we can do so together. That... that animosity might be saved for those who stand as a threat to us all, and that breaches between us, allies even when it be... through circumstance rather than choice, might be settled peacefully whenever possible.

Easy words to say, I know, and I cannot claim that I have stood by that ideal anywhere near so well as I ought in times past. I wish to do better, on that count. If you should wish to find me, I am most often in the Chantry Relations office. Doubtless there is much to discuss, in light of recent developments and proposals.

[ thranduil's voice is tight, if still somehow pleasant: ]

I understand that there are a great number of questions and concerns at the moment regarding the Inquisition's proposed policy of phylacteries for Rifters.

If there are concerns that anyone would wish to make known through official channels, the Research Division has been appointed to handle the research of this new, proposed policy. [ very pointed stressing. ] My office is where it has always been, and any concerns should be turned into the box reserved for correspondence of that nature.

I would remind all Rifters that we are yet considered a single unit. [ remember the curfew? ] That poor behavior will affect all of us- indeed, anyone currently afflicted with a Shard. I would advise them that this is never as true as it is now, and that consequences for actions taken in the heat of the moment are the same as those made when rational.