( closed ) I hear your whispers

[dashing]

WHO: Adasse Agassi, Herian Amsel, James Flint, Jester Lavore and Teren von Skraedder
WHAT: Blast from the P(entagh)ast assignment
WHEN: Harvestmere
WHERE: Nevarra
NOTES: Content warnings for death related images, and themes of war and murder, potentially. Please feel free to start open starters or smaller threads, but hold off on anything set after the big group chat until we have further information.

The Inquisition are not alone in recognising the potential value of Aurelia Pentaghast. The Venatori have also come to the conclusion that Aurelia is the strongest potential candidate to rule Nevara, and probably the most formidable military mind Nevarra could have in that role. They are interested in using the deal she made with the Anders to either ruin or control her.

A Venatori-hired rogue (spy, poet, and stealer of valuables and hearts) is also present at the negotiations, trying to secure proof of the deal in the form of correspondence or signed and sealed statements from nobles who collaborated in the bargain.

The bad news is that he definitely gets the documents he’s after.
The good news is that the team can stop him, with the excellent scouting members present and snooping during all the diplomacy.

The team must make a choice. What will you do, Inquisition?

Comments

[the_cleric]

Wow, this is a lot.

Jester, as the sole Rifter among the group, has played the role of support. Because she's a cleric, right? A healer (however reluctant) and a conjurer of Spiritual Weapons, an eater of pastries, weaver of friendship bracelets, dispenser of blessings, and a morale officer for the Inquisition. And she is in way over her head, which is saying something, because in Thedas? She is seven feet tall.

She doesn't look seven feet tall, right now. Her Disguise Self spell has her looking like a maybe-human woman, just a little under six feet tall, with pale skin and a tumble of long dark hair that kind of resembles Herian's. Maybe she is Herian's little sister, actually. The resemblance is striking, epseically now that Jester is stood close to Herian (who is really pretty), listening to everything and chewing on her thumbnail. It would be better if it was a bear claw, man. She would love a bear claw right now.

"Hey," she says, as Teren (who is scary pretty, like a knife herself or a cannibal with good cheekbones) puts a knife to the spy's throat. "Can I see the papers? I am really, really good at forgery. Like, really. If I look at them I can totally write something else and make it look like the papers came from whoever wrote them. If that's what we want to do," she says, more to the group at large, "because right now I think we are going to kill him and not tell anybody, right? But maybe say, hey, it's me, the spy, I'm going on a long vacation, don't look for me, but here are the secrets...."

It's a first draft, okay.

[dashing]

There are a few things to consider. Captain Flint speaks rightly. They must move, and quickly. She is about to speak to address that, when Jester makes her offering.

"Forgery?" That was a boon, certainly, if Jester was so good as she claimed. Herian looks to the papers - some notes penned by Vel, others from his own contacts, and then the documents and contracts that he was going to send to the Venatori. She draws out one of the notes, and then finds another letter that was shortly to be sent, with Vel's signature. Useful, but not one of the essential documents.

"Captain Flint, you will take the rest of these documents and depart to Kirkwall immediately. Do whatever you must to ensure this reaches Scoutmaster Ashara." She holds the bundle out to him, holding his gaze.

And then, she looks to the rifter, who frankly looked... unsettlingly familiar. "Jester, we will need to work on the missive to send to the Venatori. Perhaps Teren can provide guidance on how to best word the report. If it buys us time for Aurelia to defend Perendale, that's the best we can hope for, but I'd wager they will be suspicious of anything that seems like stalling."

Adasse and Teren were both scouts, proven to be capable. Her jaw clenches for a moment, and she address them both: "I take it you are both willing and able to depart to Perendale? It will not be a simple undertaking, with the city surrounded. The risks to both of you are significant."

(Vel, for his part, is very pale, but smiles at Teren. His teeth are bloody. "I told you everything I know," he rasps, protesting the weigh on his chest. "I'm not Venatori, I just work for them." )

[katabasis]

Forgery. That's a handy skill. It warrants fixing Jester in her glamour with a brief look of re-evaluation, a calculating pause as Herian sorts through the papers and Warden von Skraedder's knife does whatever it pleases in concert with her boot heel. The use of his name draws his attention back.

And for a split second, the small lines on Flint's face shift as if uncertain whether he's annoyed by or approves of the selection. He must settle on the latter. The fight in Perendale is already Aurelia Pentaghast's to win or lose, and, if nothing else, Amsel can be trusted to be tight with the Inquisition's metaphorical purse strings. He can imagine no drastic action she might possibly be convinced to pursue.

The packet is taken, rolled twice in hand to transform it into a compact bundle, and tucked inside his coat. To Herian: "Be absolutely certain Aurelia knows what we have. Send a message should you need anything."

[gottakeeponejumpahead]

Adasse's dark eyes narrowed on the spy, spitting out blood and nothing else under Teren's careful knife, before he let his gaze shift back to Herian. He nodded once, eying the clothing he was wearing now.

"I'll go get back into the rags. Poor elven farmer is pretty general, should get me through whatever guards they might have posted."

He stood up, stretching his lanky form, his gaze moving from Herian, over to Flint, then back to Jester. "Do I need to steal anything to make it official? Seal, right kind of paper, that sort of thing?"

[dashing]

"Certainly general," Herian replies, cautious, "but passive as the siege has been, it is still a siege. Perendale may have suspicions on who it lets enter its walls, and the Anders may eye anyone travelling to a city surrounded by enemies suspiciously as well."

As in who in their right minds would be travelling there instead of escaping. Scouting and spywork are not her specialities, however. Perhaps they both have an understanding that she is lacking.

To Flint, she nods - grimly. The stakes in this are high. "Travel safely."

[katabasis]

And that's that. With a curt nod to Adasse and Teren, and a quirked eyebrow at Jester that must roughly translate to 'Good luck with that', Flint makes his way from the cellar without further statement or argument. See you all back in Kirkwall.

[the_cleric]

Jester waves good-bye Flint, quirked eyebrow and all. Technically that eyebrow means he is wishing her well, in his own grumpy man way. She'll take it, and yells a heartfelt, "Good luck!" after him, before she turns her attention back to the letter that Herian selected for her to copy.

"The miss-sive," she repeats, in a serious sing-song, as she shakes the paper open and flat. "Forging the missive. Leave it to me, I am ready for it, man. Hey, if you guys are going to go, maybe you can get a seal and bring it back to me! Even if I do really really good forgery, like the best, it will be way more convincing if we have the official seal to put on it, you know? And maybe we can use it later. To forge more."

She looks over at Herian, a younger sister seeking her older sister's approval. "That'd be good, right?"

[dashing]

A glance at Jester. "Yes, that... could be valuable."

She is so uncertain about this cheeriness, but it reminds her a little of Saoirse, and that's kind of nice - e even in the absurdity.

"Scout Agassi, Warden von Skraeder - I trust you will not risk your communication crystals or anything that can be used against the Inquisition falling into enemy hands. Destroy them, if you must."