[closed]

[katabasis]

WHO: Flint, Silver, Isaac, Julius, Petra, Marcus, Nell, Kostos
WHAT: A naval combat training test drive; nothing to see here.
WHEN: Immediately after returning from Orzammar
WHERE: The Waking Sea
NOTES: [insert 100 resources links here re: Nevarran-related mage politicking]

It is all perfectly legitimate.

If in short order a multitude of Riftwatch's forces, mages, and those with anchor shards will be stuffed onto one of the outfit's ships in order to learn a thing or two about how to best be efficient at sea, then it follows that the reasonably thing to do is to first practice the thing at a smaller scale.

And so shortly after the return from Orzammar, in some grey pre-dawn, the smaller and fleeter of Riftwatch's two working ships beats its way free of Kirkwall harbor and makes for open water. She's a quick thing, manned well by a dozen hands borrowed off the Walrus, and the Twins over Kirkwall have faded to distant smudges well before the sun has fully risen.

Presumably, this puts them far enough to sea that any glass tracking their progress ashore will be none the wiser when no mage work (or indeed any visible practicing of the ship's own armaments) is actually done.

Instead, the group assembles in the ship's cabin. There are only a few seats to be had - a narrow bench beneath the stern windows, the edge of a bunk or on top of a sturdy sea chest. The rest of them are left to stand, stooping slightly in deference to the cabin's low beams. The door is bolted. The deck slants away slightly under their feet as the ship leans into her work.

Flint, upright and steady enough despite the heel, says, "I think it's well past time that we agree on what's to be done with Nevarra."

THE FACTS (as ICly recounted):

• Flint had a copy made of Aurelia Pentaghast's papers which proved she allowed Tevinter to capture Perendale with the expectation that she be permitted to sweep in and win an easy victory there.
  
• Flint, Silver, Isaac, Ilias and Leander arranged to aid a Mortalitasi (Speaker Orlok) to slip out of Nevarra City to Hunter Fell to join the Van Markham forces; he carried with him a copy of the papers, which he delivered to Van Markham in exchange for some promises. The Van Markhams haven't agreed to abolish Circles outright, but they have promised to "look into other options" and are willing to promise up front to at least provide external oversight of the Circles within Nevarran borders, so there would be a secular entity to look into mistreatment, and to disallow the transfer mages outside of Nevarran borders without the presence of some sort of crime that warrants it. This is all contingent on the Van Markhams securing the Nevarran throne.
  
• Flint would suggest informing Grand Enchanter Fiona with the hopes of working alongside the rebel Inquisition mages to gain Pentaghast intel and subtly place mages within the Van Markham camp without drawing undue suspicion. Basically this pitch, 2.0.
  
• Flint & Silver less interested in empowering a particular claimant to the throne; Galen Van Markham just seems like the easier person to step all over on the way toward more serious reform.

Comments

fiona. / https://i.ibb.co/Qf9K6mK/vbku4.jpg

[hornswoggle]

Occupying one end of the bench, crutch slanting across his thigh, John looks away from Flint to their assembled guests and adds, "If we could sway Grand Enchanter Fiona, and she agrees to assist us in this venture, we'd have an easier time moving forward."

For obvious reasons: more people, able to move in camps Riftwatch members could not. Aligning with her would be an obvious boon.

"I'm not as familiar with Grand Enchanter Fiona as some of you may be, so what approach might be best received is open to your advice. Which of us might be best suited to approach her, for instance."

[overharrowed]

Julius is standing, tucked between rafters to keep stooping to a minimum. "I know her mostly by reputation, but I think the approach depends on the type of help we're looking for. Manpower? Information? Both? It will matter how much aid we're aiming for."

A pause, and then he says, "To that end. I am all for securing at least some balance to Chantry oversight. But has anyone been in touch with the mages who stayed with the Inquisition? I haven't a sense of what the temperature is there anymore, and that would be useful to know before tipping our hand." No one who knows him is surprised he's inclined to be on board with securing even partial progress in one country, but he's not at all sure whether the mages who didn't end up in Riftwatch have swung more conservative toward the new Divine or more radical in opposition to her. It's an uncomfortably large blind spot.

[hornswoggle]

"Considering the desertions, I think it's safe to say there is dissatisfaction," John posits. "Though it certainly wouldn't hurt to confirm the mood among those who remain for ourselves."

[ipseite]

“And we do have within our ranks several who've come only lately from the Inquisition itself,” Petrana agrees, from her present vantage point — sat beside Marcus, rubbing soothing circles on his back in an absent-minded effort to stave off his seasickness. “Herian Amsel was there, if I'm not much mistaken, and Cassius Black.” She pulls a face— “Who I do not anticipate much aid from, but he would not need to know what or even that he was assisting to be massaged for information.”

Approach it the right way, and either ego or spite might do much of the work.

“Pavus and Thevenet left the Inquisition in light of the Divine's influence, to my understanding. But that was some time ago now, and Inquisition converts to our cause have been at best a trickle.”

[luaithre]

"The Grand Enchanter once considered the Tevinter Imperium as a shelter for mages of the rebellion. Not for any love of the Imperium, mind."

Marcus has been informed that if you go on a ship enough times, this particular affliction will pass. Thus far, that hasn't proven to be so, but he is a little more prepared to whiteknuckle his way through it when he isn't expected to climb any rigging or move through combat drills. He breathes through his nose, leans to Petrana's hand, listens, and then speaks quietly.

"They were looking for security, and stability. She's a shepherd, Fiona. If what's on offer is something like safe harbour, I think it in her interest to consider, and listen well, at the very least."

[overharrowed]

"Security is an excellent motivation," Julius allows, "if we can sell that it is, in fact on offer." He's not against framing it more convincingly than is, perhaps, actually warranted; his tone is thoughtful rather than skeptical.

"If I were the Grand Enchanter, I think I might wish to know what Riftwatch's mages were risking, if this is to be a partnership and not a thing we think you should do for your own good. We should be sure of which cards we're willing to lay on the table, but it should be at least some, under the circumstances."

[hornswoggle]

"Well, then the question becomes: what are we willing to risk in doing this?"

Because surely not a single person in this room arrived without considering that, even if it was only to weigh the ire of the Divine or the scandal of failure. John knows very little of Nell Voss and Kostos Averesch, but he knows Petrana, and by extension, he understands something of Marcus and Julius. They are not given to ignoring risk.

No mage is, John supposes. It's a shared trait, perhaps.