SUBJECT: Sarrux Pass, a village outside Wycome
PARTICIPANTS: Caius, Gwen, Hermione, Jayce, Ness, Siorus, Stephen, Vanya
CLASSIFICATION: Public
DATE FILED: O...ctober / Harvestmere
STATUS: Complete
SUMMARY: Riftwatch discovered elven ruins containing a long-buried pool of corrupted lyrium that was causing locals to mutate beyond saving. The team experienced mutations that were temporary for Rifters but permanent for natives. They killed the locals and destroyed the ruins, but signs indicate this pool may have been only one of twelve.


REPORT:

Provost,

When it walks like the Blight and talks like the Blight, every once in a while, it isn't. But pretty close. Guess an entrance to the Deep Roads wasn't the only thing under Sarrux Pass.

We found elven ruins, Ancient or early Imperium, though exactly who built them and why isn't clear. Carvings on the walls showed a pair of elves (Ghilan'nain and maybe Anduil?) either healing or poisoning the humans and dwarves there, but none of us could agree which.

Whatever it used to be, it's poison now. Some kind of corrupted lyrium discharge, if I had to put a label on it. We found a big pool of it at the bottom of the ruins. Must have gotten into the well water, to change everybody in the village so fast. The Rifters in the group started changing too, as soon as they got near it, but the rest of us had to drink it.

See attached for details of specific transmutations of the flesh. Rifters that were exposed returned to their normal shapes at a similar rate as when exposed to raw, uncorrupted lyrium. The villagers were unrecoverable.

I bottled as much of it as I could, but the group decided the pool itself was too dangerous to be left intact. Ruins and bodies both are now buried under half the mountain, for all the good that does anybody.

The Warden is letting his people know. Considering how little we were able to bring back for study, I don't recommend sharing our samples, but it might be worth asking their expertise. Famously open and forthright, wardens.

- Porthmeus

( ATTACHED: )

NEXT STEPS:

• Experiment with the corrupted lyrium samples.
• Don't touch them.
• Don't put them in your mouth.
• Keep an eye out for the other eleven pools.
• Why was #1 Halla Mom Ghilan'nain's image all over this horrible lyrium experiment anyway?? Weird!

NOTES & LINKS: OOC post, IC log, and Tevinter Nights: The Horror of Hormak summary on Dragon Age Wiki.

Hey, it's Jayce from Research. Not to worry, this isn't about an unintentional combustion event. I'm looking for any available hands that won't mind testing the resistance force of a project intended to benefit the defenses of the Gallows. We'll need physical and magical force to mimic another siege, so... well, if you're looking to let off some steam, then this might be the perfect excuse to do so in the name of science.

Since these barriers, which are powered by lyrium, will eventually fail under enough force, I'd like to see if they can be... recharged, you know, in a pinch with magic, either from an anchor or a mage. Given how lyrium-hungry this system is, it probably won't amount to much, but we can obtain a baseline and extrapolate the data.

If you're available, let's meet outside the Gwaren outpost in forty-eight hours. Barrow, the Master of Works, will oversee us. Let us know so we can form a rough headcount. Oh, and, uh... if that time conflicts with the majority, then we'll reschedule. All right, thanks.

So it's about a month or so til Satinalia, [ says a woman's voice, accent mostly Nevarran with just a hint of Ander to keep it sounding common, if you've got an ear for that sort of thing. She does not sound like the sort of person who starts decorating for Satinalia in August. ] and I started thinking, 'I wonder what shit the Venatori are going to ruin the party with this year?'

And then I thought—maybe this year we get the jump on them and we go ruin their party instead.

What d'you think, Riftwatch? Anybody up for getting some revenge? Maybe set a bunch of undead red lyrium bees loose in some swanky magisters' ball or something like that? I'm open to ideas.

What with the new faces recently, I’ve been working on the medical curriculum and refreshing the infirmary’s recordkeeping. It’s high time to establish some better-kept patient files.

To that end, we’ve provided a written questionnaire at the infirmary — thank you to Amsel for her neat penmanship — and I’d appreciate it if you could fill out a form for yourself and drop it off. The records will only be referenced by healers in the course of their duties, and otherwise locked away; your personal details will remain private. Having as much information as possible will only help the healers take care of you properly.

If you don’t read Trade or otherwise require assistance filling out the form, say as such and we can have someone sit with you. Any other questions, let me know.

— but also, fill it out.

SUBJECT: Rune enchantment skill acquisition
PARTICIPANTS: Jayce Talis, Viktor
CLASSIFICATION: Private to division heads
DATE FILED: Early Solace, 9:50
STATUS: Ongoing
SUMMARY: After months of working together with Hedda Ferrin, a dwarven NPC, Jayce and Viktor successfully enchant a... hot plate!

REPORT:

Regarding runic enchantment:
- Following much independent study, expansion on prior research conducted within Riftwatch (Mme Wysteria de Foncé, Mssr Richard Dickerson), and informal collaboration with Hedda Ferredin, two human rifters (Jayce Talis, Viktor) have demonstrated the ability to perform runic enchantment.
     - Item: Hot plate, portable. Purpose: A clean, resource-conscious alternative to fire for cooking, sterilization, and other thermal applications. Intended for use by Riftwatch agents and citizens alike, as resources permit. Status: Currently adjusting output control.
     - Initial success compounded by excess output resulting in temporary panic in Lowtown. No injuries or fatalities. Minor property damage, no structural concerns.
     - Further practice required to hone skill.
     - Research relocated to the Gallows.

Recommendations:
- Explore enchantment possibilities internally, with external guidance as needed.
- Redress any lingering inconveniences caused by the combustion event to the Horseshoe Lane artisan community and surrounding neighbourhood.
- Stabilize hot plate.

Jayce Talis & Viktor, Research division, Riftwatch

NEXT STEPS: Fine-tune the enchanted hot plate. Enchant useful items for Riftwatch. Craft new siege defenses that also happen to be weapons.

NOTES & LINKS: IC crystal post.

Morning, Riftwatch. Clarisse La Rue here. From now on I'll be taking the Griffon Keeper position in an official capacity, so if anyone has questions about them, the eyrie, or the stables off-island, I'm your girl.

[ She has an OFFICE now. That's what's up. ]

Couple things. The first one will sound dumb if you've already been here a while, but I want to make sure everyone is comfortable with the idea of taking care of the griffons in an emergency. They're pretty self-sufficient in the field, but they're an important resource, so if you're on a mission and something happens to one's primary rider, [ we don't need to list hypothetical scenarios here, right? ], making sure the griffon has its basics covered until we can get it back to the Gallows is important. Same goes for the horses, too, but most people are already more comfortable dealing with them.

The second thing I want is to make a list of people who'd be comfortable griffon riding as a passenger if needed, in combat. Um, we all saw what happened a few months ago, so the likelihood of more aerial combat in the future seems. High. It would be good to have a go-to list of people who are willing in case someone needs backup in the air.

And if you're not interested in flying solo, that's fine, but I'd encourage everyone who hasn't yet to at least try and get a basic familiarity with how it feels to ride alongside someone else, in case of an emergency. [ Never know when you're gonna need to fast travel away from a crumbling tower, right? ]

Okay, uh, I think that's it for now. Thanks.

ooc: (( feel free to handwave that clarisse had a brief check-in with your character about the first point, unless you would like to thread it out for whatever reason! ))

If your soul were to take the form of an animal, what form do you think it would take?

You can answer on behalf of your friends, if those friends are killjoys who won't answer for themselves.

( i told u kids not to play with fire )

( open )
[Viktor's voice, broadcast to Riftwatch at large, is at first distantly quiet.]

What should I—

[Suddenly much closer and clearer:]

Ehh— should anyone happen to have noticed a combustion event on the mainland just now, please be assured it's nothing to worry about.

( closed to Division Heads )
[ Minutes later, the sending crystals of the division heads light up. ]

Hey! Hi, uh-- [ Jayce clears his throat. ] Hello. It's Jayce. Jayce and Viktor. Research div. There was a-- an incident in Lowtown. That was us, not an attack. Everything's okay. Could you let the Viscount know?

[From a few metres away, raised thin with excitement, Viktor's voice:] Tell them! Tell them what we've done!

[ Jayce, with a breathy laugh and an excitement scarcely backdropped by the worry of reprimand (and-or shock of success): ] Yeah, we've-- we've got it! Runic enchantment. Viktor and I figured it out. How to do it ourselves, I mean.