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.

SUBJECT: Lyrium Studies, 9:49
PARTICIPANTS: Wysteria de Foncé and Viktor Nolastname + Consensual and Educated Study Volunteers
CLASSIFICATION: Public
DATE FILED: Late fantasy!December
STATUS: Complete...for now!
SUMMARY: A study concerning the use of lyrium by various natives, rifters, mages and non-mages, etc has determined that rifters retaining their anchors have a unique relationship to lyrium which, among other boggling side effects, enables them to safely(-ish) interact with raw forms of the arcane matter.

REPORT:

NAILED TO THE DINING HALL DOOR is a shocking—shortages being what they are—array of paper. Each page is neatly ordered from left to right. The first one reads—

TO ALL MEMBERS OF RIFTWATCH,

The following is a copy of the full report of the survey into Lyrium use conducted this autumn per the guidelines outlined by the late Provost Stark on behalf of Research Division by Viktor and myself, Wysteria A. P.d Foncé. I invite you to closely read the contents of this paper for they are relevant to every member of this company.

However, for those which require a brief summary, attend directly to these points:

1. Rifters with Anchors have a unique relationship with Lyrium; high doses of Refined Lyrium allows them to touch the Fade and to view brief visions pertaining to the experiences and thoughts of those close to them in proximity. This author suggests a number of potentially useful applications for this apparent Talent in our clandestine fieldwork. Encourage further testing to determine whether these observations can be guided and directed.

2. Rifters with Anchors have been determined to be capable of handling the Raw Lyrium with relatively minimal side effects (nausea, temporary memory loss, temporary transmutation of the flesh). These side effects are largely in line with those reported by dwarven miners, runesmiths, etc (see pages 112-214, The Economy of the Stone, C.Y. Brolac, IInd Edition, to name just one source). It may be inferred therefore that, given the correct education and protective equipment, Rifters are capable of enchanting and runesmithing in a similar fashion. Strongly encourage recognizing capable individuals among the Rifter ranks and securing apprenticeships for them among the Dwarven runesmiths in Kirkwall or elsewhere.

3. Lyrium has been determined to have no outsized healing properties for Rifters.

4. Severing the Anchor from the Rifter renders the latter to a state most closely aligned with a native Thedosian. Therefore, the Anchor is both the apparent key to the Rifter's unique relationship to Lyrium, and to the Veil and the Rifter's ability to extend through it to and from worlds unlike this one.

It is the foremost interest of this author to determine a method by which the effects of the Anchor may be countermanded, and therefore whether the connection a Rifter has with the properties of Lyrium and Places Beyond the Fade might be artificially severed without literal physical separation. This author posits that one must merely identify a material capable of 'Silencing' the effects of Lyrium/the Anchor in order to minimize the possibility of Spontaneous Discorporation.

In the interim, this author formally suggests that all Rifters concerned with maintaining their presence here in Thedas give strong consideration to amputation of their Anchor-effected extremity. Apparent longevity is not a promise of permanence.

Most Pleased to Have Been of Assistance,
Wysteria Anathyme Poppell de Foncé
Research Division

The following pages nailed to the door consist of a meticulously laid out paper (which is apparently co-authored far more directly by Viktor than the page preceding it) detailing the lyrium survey's methodology and myriad discoveries. There are tables of observational records. There are diagrams.

(A copy of the paper has also been filed with Research Division proper.)

NEXT STEPS: Train rifters to enchant; get high and read some enemy minds while on an important mission; conduct further research into the lyrium/rifter relationship, and seek out a substance or means capable of counteracting the link between anchor and lyrium.

NOTES & LINKS: OOC Info, Can Rifters Enchant?, Request for Survey Participants Pt.1 + Anchor Amputation Info, Request for Survey Participants Pt.2, IC Survey Log

Good Afternoon, Riftwatch. Senior Enchanter Cassius Black, at your service. I come fresh from the Office of the Viscount with a list of demands and requested reparations.

First, let me assure you all that I've done everything in my power to make all the proper excuses and naturally have firmly denied any responsibility for the more outright criminal charges. That said, should anything on the following list catch your ear then consider either modifying your behavior in the future or coming forward so we might discuss the most fruitful way to take responsibility.

[He clears his throat.]

The Kirkwall Mummer's League has lodged a formal complaint that a certain pair of mustachioed gentleman in Riftwatch's service have been performing at a number of cheap Lowtown establishments. They claim this has negatively impacted the crowds at and reception of their own performances. One specific line of the complaint included suspicions of utilizing the performances as a front for clandestine intelligence gathering.

Minor criminal charges include reports of public drunkenness, fighting, and the temporary theft of a celebrity donkey named Count William who was happily eventually returned to his hitching post with only minor damages. His owner, however, requests restitution for the hours of labor spent attempting to scrub the words 'WORLD'S BEST ASS' left in paint on the animal's side.

A member of Riftwatch broke up a would-be duel in a Lowtown public house. Both parties are now demanding that the individual come forward so they may have satisfaction. And while we are on the subject of debts of honor— [A pause to turn to the next page of his notes.]

Having heard rumor of at least one payout by a member of Riftwatch to an unnamed woman in order to quiet claims of a certain indiscreet act, there is currently a gang of bastard children roving Lowtown insisting that various male members of this company are their sires. These children are impeding local commerce and are responsible for a number of acts of hooliganism. The Burrows Street Mercantile Alliance is requesting that the children be dealt with within the fortnight or else any further property damages or disturbance to their places of work will be charged to Riftwatch or debited against our standing accounts. At least one of our major suppliers of grain is involved.

Additionally, someone has wracked up a series of gambling debts and at least a half dozen of their creditors are now seeking repayment through the minor courts. The description of the individual in question is 'average height, dark, and sullen.'

Less overtly negative but of some general concern, there has also been a series of Rifter-related complaints concerning the excessive production of noise, offensive fashion choices, and, quote, 'suspicious spice mixtures in baked goods.' Whatever that means. Rifters, please see to minding your p's and q's among the public if you would. The rest of us afflicted with anchors thank you.

And finally last but certainly not least, there has evidently been a slew of petty thefts in Hightown. These thefts have victimized either well off young men or the contents of certain private rooms of houses where lavish parties were recently hosted, and among whose guests members of Riftwatch's company were counted. While I firmly doubt we are in any way responsible for these and have said as much to the Viscount's representative, I did suggest that we might lend either a few keen eyes or a handful of heavy hands to the Kirkwall Guard to assist in hunting the thief. Please let me know if you'd like to volunteer for the work.

SUBJECT: Going Against the Grain: Forces mission
PARTICIPANTS: Derrica, Darras, Lazar, Colin, Poesia, Edgard, Nell
CLASSIFICATION: Private for Flint and the other Division Heads
DATE FILED: 17 fantasy September
STATUS: Complete
SUMMARY: A team took to the Waking Sea to burn, sink, or otherwise destroy the cargo of two Antivan ships, and break into the privateering game on Riftwatch’s behalf.

REPORT:

[The report is carefully written in a hand that looks suspiciously like the Scoutmaster’s, but only a little. Like perhaps if the Scoutmaster was trying to disguise the handwriting]

The Reaper served us well in our journey and we sailed east, and easily overtook the Antivan ships, the Leonilda and the Uccello Canoro. We approached by night but were forced to engage in combat with the Leonilda while the Uccello took flight. We engaged her with ranged attacks and fire and other magics from our mages where possible which prevented larger combat, but she was destroyed in the process, and her cargo with her.

The Uccello was the slower of the two and we caught her up before she had gotten very far, and repeated that same upon her. She was crippled shortly after our engagement with her and what remained her crew abandoned her.

We thought to commandeer a portion of the cargo aboard the Uccello but her destruction prevented us. The cargo was destroyed entirely. To our best ability and our knowing, no member of either crew survived.


NEXT STEPS: The strike against these ships lays the possibility for privateering if Riftwatch thinks itself able.

NOTES & LINKS: main log can be found here

Greetings. For those I've not met, my name is Marcus. I'm with the Forces division.

[ Male, proper adult in tone and resonance, and a lilt to his accent that marks him as coming from Starkhaven. His manner is-- mannerly, measured, mild. ]

I also number among the mages here who have seen battle before. My skill as a combatant isn't my purpose for addressing anyone today, but we suffered an attack very recently that required quick response, and I have some thoughts.

[ There's a pause, as if to compile said thoughts before speaking to them. ]

As mages, we differ from other militant units in that someone entirely new to combat might exhert the same sheer power as a mage who is well trained and battle hardened. We also wield vastly different weapons, and such weapons can be made deadlier when wielded in combination and tandem. There are enemies some are better suited to face than others. The way in which we engage with a threat differs between each individual. This makes us difficult to corral, but potentially, extremely effective, and hard to predict.

I think we should take the opportunity to share between ourselves our areas of battle and magic expertise, and the things we are weak in. As for myself, I am predisposed towards wielding the elements of fire, rock, and smoke, with a little skill in defensive magics. I am late to learning how to engage an enemy without magic, and I would be glad to learn more.

I'd invite Rifters, too, who have magics of their own, to share what they can do, if they like. And train among us.

[ He could probably leave it there. But he adds-- ]

It's no small thing, to witness a mage overcome the way this stranger was. It was affecting for me as well, as it will be for others. The Circles, once, had an ability to handle such eventualities, in their customarily brutal manner. Whether it be today, or another day, I would welcome conversation between mages about what the future of such moments will be in a world without Circles. This moment, and many others.

My thanks.

Alright, I'm just going to say it: whoever was fucking in camp last night, you're disgusting. And you're also much louder than you think you are, so I'm sure I speak for basically everyone here when I say for the love of Andraste stop.

[ A pause, as if she might be done. But on second thought, no. ]

I just don't even understand. I thought I had low standards, but you make me look like the fucking Maker. The alley behind the Bloody Racket is cleaner and safer than this fucking jungle. Do you not have a nose? Or even eyes? Have you looked at your fingernails? Have you seen the bugs here? If you won't stop for all of us who are already trying to sleep over the sound of monkeys and giant parrot-snakes and shit, then stop for your own health, fuck.

Right, so--is there anything that can be done to make a staff cool?

[Well.]

More deadly, like. If it needed to be used for offense. Or defense, even. S'ppose it wouldn't hurt if it looked cooler as well.

[ Quiet, Nevarran-accented, and almost conversational (with a hint of sullen irritation, of course) rather than outraged: ]

Who the fuck pushed Athessa down the stairs?

[ That's all. ]

Now, I know we're all increasingly uncomfortable and lacking in certain...amenities, I've found there's at least some aspect of our present situation to be optimistic about.

[ a pause, some shuffling papers, then— ]

In light of the unfortunate turn the weather's taken towards stifling, Diplomacy has received some requests from our neighbors in Hightown. Do we have any among us skilled at making ice? They're offering what I think is fair compensation, and I'd say if the weather cooperates we could ask double their initial price—

[ john breaks off, clears his throat. probably less than professional to be so blunt about haggling?? ]

There are a few caveats that I'm sure we'll all have some opinions about. [ more shuffling paper ] Orlesians are preferred, for some reason, and they'd like any volunteers to be accompanied by someone who isn't a mage, preferably a templar. I assume anyone will do for that. Seems they're less picky on that front, so non-Orlesians, don't feel shy.

Any volunteers? Or should we wait a week and see how they feel if the weather holds?