WHAT: Persuade Orzammar to Maintain Routes to Tevinter
WHO: Yngvi
HOW: The dwarven kingdom of Orzammar maintains underground embassies in several Tevinter cities, including the Ambassadoria in Minrathous and smaller outposts throughout the country, each connected by underground passages—rarely traversed except by trained messengers—that ultimately lead back to Orzammar. The dwarves in these embassies could prove to be invaluable sources of information, and access to the tunnels could someday prove useful, but neither advantage can be secured without permission from King Bhelen, who may not be willing to jeopardize Orzammar's economic relationship with Tevinter.
Forging a stronger relationship with Orzammar is a first step. Yngvi and whatever team he assembles will be sent to Orzammar to identify the current positions and attitudes of its leaders and determine what, if anything, can be done to earn their cooperation. They will be given limited authorization to commit the Inquisition to contracts or payments only up to a certain threshold.
The delegation will find that the dwarves are already incredibly uneasy about Corypheus' presence and the increase in activity and apparent organization among the darkspawn they encounter underground. Eavesdropping and asking around will be enough to learn that Bhelen does not consider himself in a position to provide troops for the surface while the darkspawn threat is on the rise closer to home, and some within the Assembly are pressing with almost inevitable success for any extraneous passageways in and out of the Great Thaig—including those leading to Tevinter, which would cut off both transportation and information—to be sealed until the threat has been contained.
It would be entirely plausible for the team to report that access to the passageways will be impossible and leave it at that; the choice is theirs. However, if they decide to pursue an attempt to change the decision, the following key figures can be approached and encouraged to put their weight behind maintaining the connection to Tevinter:
Brukias Otack, an aging but highly-respected leader among the warrior caste who has Bhelen's ear regarding the capabilities of Orzammar's forces. Intensely proud of Orzammar's might, he could be convinced that it does them a disservice to batten down the hatches and abandon the wider network. But to do so, the Inquisition would first have to win his friendship, which would be best (and most quickly) accomplished by restoring to him a prized statuette of Paragon Irinko, an ancestor, which was reportedly stolen in his grandfather's day by rival House Vavorn. He fears any effort to change the societal structures that Orzammar has lived by for centuries, and so will refuse to support any cause championed by Pyrathur Saemunt.
Kelada Runarek, wife of one of Bhelen's favorite cousins. She could easily put in a good word, but her family has suffered with the cancellation of one of the Inquisition's lyrium contracts following the agreement to allow Templars to buy their own, and she wants assurances that a new contract will be negotiated in the near future, either by the Inquisition or by its Templars. Oh, and she also wants Pysek Roulban dead for having killed her son in a Proving battle.
Pyrathur Saemunt, an up-and-coming politician and outspoken proponent of changing the caste structure and broadening Orzammar's interests and ties to the surface world, who has acquired a growing contingent of supporters among the younger generation of dwarves. Though his influence is not as direct as others, it is rumored that Bhelen has taken an interest and is sensitive to the opinions of Orzammar's youth. In exchange for adding a more specific pro-Inquisition/pro-tunnels bent to his messaging, he wants the Inquisition to agree to help broker ties with the surface dwarf community and request support from the Kirkwall Merchants' Guild for Saemunt's efforts.
Rigna Vavorn, proud owner of the statuette of Paragon Irinko that Brukias Otack covets (she also claims Irinko as an ancestor), is a smith and inventor and said to be a likely future paragon herself. She will show the Inquisition some ingenious engineering projects she has in process, ranging from weapons to an elaborate machine that appears to cook and serve breakfast. She does a great deal of work for Tevinters and so is both reluctant to see the tunnels closed off and a potential source of intelligence. But she is wary of working against such good customers or supporting those who do. Swaying her will not be easy, but showing that the Inquisition has an appetite for her work (and an ability to pay for it) could go a ways toward shifting her reliance on Tevinter. Most effective: agreeing to hire her to design and (remotely) direct the construction of an elevator in the Gallows, which would serve as an excellent advertisement of her abilities to new customers in the Marches. While the elevator would be useful and approved if the team wants to contract for it, it is a pricey endeavor and will exhaust the team's entire budget just as a down payment.
Pyseck Roulban is more warrior than politician, but is a respected voice at court for his heroism during the Fifth Blight. He is firmly opposed to what he's heard of Corypheus and no lover of Tevinter (the blights are their fault, after all) so is sympathetic to the Inquisition's mission, but leans toward taking whatever precautions necessary to protect Orzammar. Swaying him would require assurances of Inquisition aid if Orzammar called, and the quiet death of a casteless dwarf named Fennan who Pyseck says has been blackmailing him. Any attempt to find out what info Fennan has on Pyseck or steal his evidence will be unsuccessful; killing him is the only option.
Obviously it will not be possible for the team to win the support of all 5 of the above individuals, as their interests conflict in many different ways, but it is possible to bring 2 or even 3 to the Inquisition's side. Which combination of NPCs you choose to work with—or choosing to work with none of them, either because it's too much work or because your team agrees that Orzammar should close the passages for its own good—will have an impact on Inquisition interactions with Orzammar going forward.
OOC NOTES: Yngvi can bring a team of his choice, as long as it doesn't exceed 7-8 people total. And keep in mind that you don't have to RP every aspect of this; you can RP just the discussion of what to do, or pick a few key scenes that sound fun and focus on those. Just make sure you spell out the overall results when a report is filed. Since this assignment won't influence November's mod plot directly, you can have until the end of November to get a report filed, but let us know if you anticipate needing longer than that!
ASSIGNMENT DETAILS
WHO: Yngvi
HOW: The dwarven kingdom of Orzammar maintains underground embassies in several Tevinter cities, including the Ambassadoria in Minrathous and smaller outposts throughout the country, each connected by underground passages—rarely traversed except by trained messengers—that ultimately lead back to Orzammar. The dwarves in these embassies could prove to be invaluable sources of information, and access to the tunnels could someday prove useful, but neither advantage can be secured without permission from King Bhelen, who may not be willing to jeopardize Orzammar's economic relationship with Tevinter.
Forging a stronger relationship with Orzammar is a first step. Yngvi and whatever team he assembles will be sent to Orzammar to identify the current positions and attitudes of its leaders and determine what, if anything, can be done to earn their cooperation. They will be given limited authorization to commit the Inquisition to contracts or payments only up to a certain threshold.
The delegation will find that the dwarves are already incredibly uneasy about Corypheus' presence and the increase in activity and apparent organization among the darkspawn they encounter underground. Eavesdropping and asking around will be enough to learn that Bhelen does not consider himself in a position to provide troops for the surface while the darkspawn threat is on the rise closer to home, and some within the Assembly are pressing with almost inevitable success for any extraneous passageways in and out of the Great Thaig—including those leading to Tevinter, which would cut off both transportation and information—to be sealed until the threat has been contained.
It would be entirely plausible for the team to report that access to the passageways will be impossible and leave it at that; the choice is theirs. However, if they decide to pursue an attempt to change the decision, the following key figures can be approached and encouraged to put their weight behind maintaining the connection to Tevinter:
Obviously it will not be possible for the team to win the support of all 5 of the above individuals, as their interests conflict in many different ways, but it is possible to bring 2 or even 3 to the Inquisition's side. Which combination of NPCs you choose to work with—or choosing to work with none of them, either because it's too much work or because your team agrees that Orzammar should close the passages for its own good—will have an impact on Inquisition interactions with Orzammar going forward.
OOC NOTES: Yngvi can bring a team of his choice, as long as it doesn't exceed 7-8 people total. And keep in mind that you don't have to RP every aspect of this; you can RP just the discussion of what to do, or pick a few key scenes that sound fun and focus on those. Just make sure you spell out the overall results when a report is filed. Since this assignment won't influence November's mod plot directly, you can have until the end of November to get a report filed, but let us know if you anticipate needing longer than that!