SUBJECT: Halamshiral Visit
PARTICIPANTS: Bastien, Byerly, Alexandrie, Jayce, Lazar, Wysteria, Barrow, Julius, Petrana, Gwenaëlle, Strange, (Demon) Vanya, Evelyn
CLASSIFICATION: Public with some private additions (see below)
DATE FILED: Wintermarch
STATUS: Complete
SUMMARY: Riftwatch went to Halamshiral. The things that went wrong were mostly not their faults; some people made friends; and Research in particular earned a benefactor.

REPORT: ( Read more... )

NEXT STEPS: Various folks have various opportunities for follow-up, but none required!

NOTES & LINKS: OOC post, log post.

SUBJECT: Project Stormrider: Peaceful Acquisitions
PARTICIPANTS: Misc members of Riftwatch, including Xiomara and Astrid
CLASSIFICATION: Public
DATE FILED: Drakonis 9:50
STATUS: Complete
SUMMARY: Members of Riftwatch were tasked with identifying, locating, and capturing a ship for use in Viktor and Wysteria's airship project. They did that. Mostly.

REPORT:

Provost Niehaus,

I would greatly appreciate if you might discuss the meaning of restraint and care with the other Division Heads during your next meeting with them. It seems quite vital that both these concepts be passed down through the ranks, as it appears very few members of Riftwatch have a firm grasp on either.

While the capture of the Best Laid Plan was ultimately successful, it is in the sense that we have acquired a chunk of splinters which I can only assume once bore that name. Though how exactly one would go about confirming that fact is unknown to me given the outrageous damage done to both the boat's stern sections and bow. One must thus guess at her identity based entirely on the arrangement of her masts, and battered canvas, and the disproportionate number of Antivan sailors dumped along the coast. Or, I suppose, the testimonies of Misses Novoa and Runasdotten who I believe sighted it prior to its harassment.

Viktor and I have assessed the damage in need of mending. On the back of this page you will find a list of materials which will be required on the following page, including a sizable hunk of elm or oak for the carving of a new figurehead. Unless of course we wish to keep the beheaded horse currently occupying that space.

Respectfully,
Wysteria A.P. d.Foncé

NEXT STEPS: Repair the boat for inclusion in the airship project. Despite Wysteria's penchant for hyperbole, it's not quite so decimated as all that.

NOTES & LINKS: OOC Info, IC Log

It seems prudent, given the current situation, for us to publicly identify those who have been acting out of character. I can understand a desire for secrecy, to take any imposters by surprise, but the risk of one of our own being caught unawares seems much greater.

Who has been strange of late? And when did this change in behavior start?

Good afternoon, all. I'm soon for Orzammar and am in need of some assistance for the tidying of various loose ends before then, as I expect to be abroad for some time.

[She clears her throat. There's a sound of paper being squared. Apparently, she's made a list.]

As mediation officer, I request that any disputes or inquiries be filed to me by no later than month's end. This will ensure I have proper time to review and refer various resolutions or suggestions to either yourself or to your respective division heads.

I also have need of two to five volunteers unafraid of heavy labor in order to assist with the final renovations on Riftwatch's meeting hall in the city. [Is she talking about her haunted mansion, which she's generously lending while she's away? Who knows. But you're all incredibly welcome.]

Lastly, and somewhat of less official business, I'm in need of a referral for a reliable house and groundskeeper who may oversee some property while I'm abroad. I stress reliable, as it seems keeping hired staff is somewhat difficult to retain despite offering a perfectly respectable wage. If you know of any well mannered or dependable individuals in Kirkwall to recommend, I would be most grateful.

—And I suppose if there is anything you wish to have sent from Orzammar, you may make those requests as well.

[There's a small moment of taking a breath, with a sound and tone like a tired schoolteacher.]

I'd like to remind people of some basic library etiquette. The library is for everyone. Don't be loud, rowdy, or obnoxious while in there. If you make a mess, clean it up. Don't run. Don't leave candles burning after you're done with them. Don't reshelve books yourself. Popular books can have waitlists, and said list will be followed, and no, you cannot skip places unless someone decides they don't actually want it after all.

If you must bring food and drink into the library, say for a long research session, [Viktor, Stephen,] be careful about it. Don't eat over a book and get crumbs and jam and grease stains all over the texts. If you spill your ale over it and it comes back in an unacceptable condition, you're getting charged for it. There are old maps, scrolls, tomes, and the like in the library that are invaluable to us, so be mindful of how you handle them. And, accidents happen. If you damage a book, just be upfront about it. A lot of it can be mended, like broken spines, loose covers, and more.

Dog-ears are annoying; bookmarks exist.

[There's a lean forward.]

Do not. write. in. the books.

[And a lean back.]

If you don't return your overdue books, I'll break your arm.

She's joking.

I'm not. Try it.

Abby—

[The crystal clicks off.]

Good afternoon. This is not an urgent message. If you're engaged in anything serious, please accept our apologies for the interruption... and... and be safe, wherever you are.

[This is not a common voice to hear over the crystals—nor does the speaker emerge from Research's rooms very often, at that. In fact, even after a year and a half, there may yet be some people he's never really spoken to. He sounds slightly nervous, somewhat less so as he goes on:]

But those who can spare a moment... you are invited to imagine, [softly clearing his throat,] to imagine a ship... only, unlike the ships you might have seen to date, this one was built to traverse the sky. And this flying ship, it is yours—and now, you must finish outfitting it. Add any contrivance or convenience you might wish, whether practical or extravagant, for personal comfort or professional efficiency. Cost is of trivial concern, and the laws of physics yield to your every whim. Whatever you imagine can be realized.

So... what do you add to it? What does it do?

OK everyone, here's the deal. I read a lot of reports as Tony's assistant and I've read a lot more in the last few weeks, and I've had time to make my own first pass. But if you're in Research, I want to check in with you. What are you working on, what's promising, what's stalled. You give me a private call by sending crystal or drop by the office, either's fine with me. I guess you could write a note, but I'll be honest, I'll probably just track you down to ask follow-up questions anyway, so you can save us both a step and take the meeting in the first place.

Next couple days, if you can. Or tell me you need more time, if you do. Thanks.

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

Hi, everyone. I'm sorry to have to do this again so soon, but I've been pretty thorough about checking and it seems like Provost Stark has vanished. [Clearly in the way Rifters do; if he'd just gone into Kirkwall and never come back, her tone would certainly be different.]

As his assistant, I'll be filling in as best I can until the organization has picked a new head of Research. I was still kind of getting a handle on his system, but, you know. We'll work it out.

I know we don't have a like ... formal process for this, as we just discussed. [Too recently.] But if anyone wants to have a drink and talk about it. Or not talk about it. I'm around for that too. Standing offer, even if you and I don't know each other as well as we knew him.

You can find me in the Research office for now. If I'm not there, I'll have my crystal on me.

So. [Hi, Riftwatch. How does one do one of these? Is it possible to do it well?] Think it's pretty safe to assume Jude's not on some long-term secret mission, unless a division head wants to speak up.

[There's a moment of silence, though if it's simply out of respect or for trying to figure out what to even say, that's up in the air.]

There's some recipes. So we won't be screwing up his pancakes anymore, among a few other things.

I pity whoever gets that room after, though; the wolf hair's gonna be lingering on everything.