Dear old friend, how goes the war (closed)

[overharrowed]

WHO: Julius and Herian Amsel
WHAT: Julius drops by to make sure his sneaky letters are sufficiently sneaky
WHEN: Now-ish
WHERE: the Diplomacy office
NOTES: Nothing to see here.

Julius had, in fact, warned Herian that he wanted to stop by on a matter of Inquisition business. (He supposes specifying was unnecessary; he has no problems with Herian, but it isn't as if they've spent time together socially in the past.) But he'd been canny about what, precisely, he wanted to talk to her about, mainly because it was the sort of thing he'd prefer not to be overheard.

When he knocks on her door, he has a small stack of parchment in his other hand. "Knight-Enchanter. Is now still a convenient time?"

Comments

[dashing]

"There may always be matters for concern that we do not foresee." A moment of pause. Her dealings with Enchanter Julius had shown him to be a sensible, careful man, and one well-trusted by others of the Inquisition. Had he not been selected to attend negotiations at Skyhold?

"Do you mind if I take the evening to read them over? I trust your judgment to be sound, but it would be unfortunate if we rush the correspondence and think of something belatedly that might be better amended."

[overharrowed]

"Not at all. None of them are so urgent that a day or so will make a difference, and I'd prefer you to be sure. It's why I brought them to you in the first place." He shakes his head a little, still smiling. "My affairs are not so delicate I am reluctant to have you see the more personal sections. And one or two of these might make good Inquisition contacts in the future for other matters as well. I can vouch for several of them, though as you'll see one is making bold use of a mutual friend."

He pauses, then adds, "Now that I am part of Diplomacy, it seemed to me that reaching out to some contacts was the very least I could do."

[dashing]

"Thank you." Said softly, as she picks up the letters, and safely sets them into a locked drawer to more detailed revision after the meeting. Focusing on one thing at a time might not be impressive, but she found she always did better with that than when she tried to stretch herself in too many directions at once.

"Contacts are certainly favourable, wherever we can find them." Growing up in an Alienage, for example, did not offer much when it came to the sort of contacts that were useful in Diplomacy. It wasn't something she resented, or berated herself for, but it was a reality of the situation.

"Are there any who you'd urge me to reach out to, in particular?"

[overharrowed]

"Of those in front of you... you already have notes on Lady Selwyn, and as you'll see when you read the letter, Giulietta Dioli is rather a gamble, as we've never met. Of the other three, I think Laris is likely to be of most concrete use to the Inquisition, though perhaps more to other divisions. He's a talented merchant with a good ear for information, and he's willing to sell either the goods or the information at a fair price. Not much of an ideologue, but honest. Keeps his word."

He sits back a bit. "Honestly, I wish I had more for you. I know fewer people even than most mages, because I was never transferred between Circles. I had a few correspondences, back then, but I don't know where most of them are these days, for obvious reasons." Assuming they're alive at all. "But I did travel some, before coming to Kirkwall, so I thought it made sense to make the most of the contacts I did put together. The responses to these messages may give us a better sense of how much more to expect from any of them."