War Table

[faderifting]

↞NAVIGATION—

THE WAR TABLE

Operations

• Characters may not participate in more than one war table operation at a time. 
• Sign-ups are first come, first served. After the minimum number of characters is reached, we'll wait approximately 48 hours to allow additional sign-ups before closing the operation and giving participants the necessary information.
• Travel time for operations outside of Skyhold can and should be OOCly condensed/handwaved for the sake of not RPing weeks upon weeks of roadside camping, but you're welcome to set scenes along the way as well. 
• Operations will not be GMed, but we're always happy to answer questions or provide additional details as requested.
• If you would like to suggest a war table operation--if your character is doing something other people should probably notice and investigate, their relatives are causing trouble, etc.--let us know on the Plot Request page.

Ferelden

The Secrets of Andraste: The team that investigated the ruins beneath and beyond the Temple of Sacred Ashes returned with ancient texts and artifacts. Adequately cataloging and translating these finds could help the Inquisition recover some of the political ground it has lost with the Chantry since the Herald's death. The texts, unfortunately, are written in an ancient runic script that no one in the Inquisition can fully translate. One scholar suggests that they are Alamarri, and the closest links are likely to be found among the Chasind Wilders. This operation requires four to six characters who will be absent from Skyhold for at least ten days. Those chosen will be told to equip for a fight but to try not to start one.

Orlais

The Chantry Remains: The Chantry's scattered condemnations of the Inquisition ceased--or at least ceased being publicly trumpeted--for a respectful period after the Herald's death, but the accusations of heresy and calls for the organization's disbandment have renewed. This operation requires three to five characters, with preference given to those who will not be immediately branded heretics as soon as they show their faces or open their mouths, who will be absent from Skyhold for at least five days.

Skyhold

Investigate Lyrium Theft: Small amounts of lyrium have been disappearing from the Inquisition's stores with enough regularity that it can no longer be considered a coincidence, and the Inquisition is looking into the problem. Those asked to help will need to be capable of discretion. This operation requires three to four characters who will need to remain in Skyhold for the seven days during the investigation.
 

INFO REQUESTS

If your character is investigating, experimenting, researching, normal-searching, organizing, exploring, polling, or anything along those general lines and you'd like mod input about what the results would be, ask us here! There's no form for this, just let us know what they're up to and what your question is and we'll get back to you. While requests and replies will generally be unscreened, please make sure to check whether results are IC public knowledge before assuming that your character is aware of them.

PLOT REQUESTS & IDEAS

We strongly encourage player plots, quests, missions, adventures and so on, especially ones that grow out of PC action. We are also always open to ideas if players have something in mind but feel for some reason that they can't run a prospective plot themselves. So that requests and answers can be screened, please use the form on the Plot Request page.

—NAVIGATION↠

Comments

INFO REQUESTS

[faderifting]

[liberalum]

Dorian will definitely be listing his research heavily towards Corypheus -- perusing books available in the library, going to great lengths to obtain new codices beyond Skyhold, writing to any trusted scholars back in Tevinter for more information, and so on. An indication of how far he could get would be great, and any other notes you can think of!

I can also narrow this down if necessary, just Dorian's net being cast is rather broad, if biased towards his knowledge of Tevinter history.

[faderifting]

Dorian is welcome to find out everything he discovers in the course of Inquisition, including Corypheus' origins and connection to House Amladaris, through books recovered from the Tevinter Imperium or other leads. If you would like to turn this into a more complex endeavor with more RP opportunities--for example, off the top of our heads, having the books from Tevinter "mysteriously" stolen en route so they must be recovered, or being on the receiving end of more serious repercussions from House Amladaris--we would be happy to support a player plot of that nature.

[mythalenaste]

Pel's continued research into veilfire runes was approved by Cullen, and now she needs to find other known locations of these runes around Ferelden and Orlais. She'll be requesting information, obscure sources including anything about elven ruins and veilfire runes, and asking about word-of-mouth from other areas of the map, writing to other Dalish clans. She's hoping to lead an excursion when she has some leads on locations.

[faderifting]

Pel will be able to discover that elven glyphs made in a manner similar to those found in the Fallow Mire (which are not elven in design or message, only in technique) have been sighted throughout Thedas.

Should she write to Keeper Hawen, currently in the Exalted Plains, he may be willing to send her sketches of glyphs from the region, which his clan has examined but been unable to translate. However, due to the danger caused by the Orlesian war, she would not currently receive Inquisition support to travel there personally to investigate.

We would suggest having Pel talk to members of Skyhold's Tevinter contingent about securing books from the Imperium that have been banned by the Chantry elsewhere, such as Veilfire: A Beginner's Primer with Numerous Teachings, Exercises, and Applications by Magister Pendictus. The book includes an appendix of various partially-translated pieces of veilfire writing that may aid her in translating new glyphs.

Fully translating the runes provided by Hawen or discovered elsewhere will require the cooperation of numerous Dalish clans. Pel may wish to talk to other Dalish in Skyhold about whether or not their Keepers would be cooperative or willing to send their ancient texts to her for comparison. She'll also need to contact fully-NPC clans; after she's spoken with everyone and had time to send letters, we can provide their responses.

[noleechesneeded]

Simon is working on a treatment for River to make her a bit more stable, and right now is starting out small with herbal sedatives and the like. In the near future he'll start trying to make something more drastic, something to temporarily weaken her link to the Fade in order to quiet the voices she hears (hopefully opening one or both of them up to be able to participate in missions outside Skyhold). I'm imagining it would essentially be a weak and temporary sort of Tranquility in a bottle, and I wanted to get your input on whether or not that would even work or how long it would take, what sort of materials he'd need, etc etc.

[faderifting]

Sedatives are fine, but at this point we can't approve the concept of Tranquility in a bottle. Something like that would likely have revolutionary effects on politics in Thedas as a whole, and we don't want to provide any easy outs to the questions of whether Tranquility is necessary, whether Templars are necessary, etc., since allowing people to struggle with those issues is a lot of the fun of this universe!

We might be able to work with you on something more akin to a Saarebas collar/system--it wouldn't have to look like one, necessarily, but something using similar magic/technology and that needs to be worn, and which would be severe enough that other mages would not be all right with having it presented as a viable way to control them. If that's something you're interested in, we'd suggest having Simon turn his research in that direction and talk to the local Qunari who might know more about how the collars work or help him figure out how to find one to study. If you're interested in running a player plot to let him acquire a collar, we'd be happy to facilitate.

[aceso]

I know I'm still in the middle of missions that will reveal more about red Templars so I may be jumping the gun here, but after the Mire quest (A Little Down in the Mouth) and Scouting Emprise du Lion, Christine wants to research red lyrium as much as she can from the academic point of view, since she doesn't want to get a case of the deads by physically being near it.

So! She wants to research, specifically if there are any instances of red lyrium existing before the events in Kirkwall with Meredith and her scary ass sword. I'm thinking of her doing a bulletin board message to ask for info, but she also wants to scour the Skyhold library and make requests of other libraries in Thedas. If all that is a bust and there are literally no written records, then she would move steadily on to Phase 2 and make a request through the proper channels (the advisers, I'm assuming) that they get volunteers to study this stuff. I want to coordinate with Varric's player so she at least has an idea of the lengths a person has to go to to study it safely like the people he hired, and I'm assuming the volunteer(s) would be a dwarf since even though Tranquils can work with lyrium, they really don't have much regard for their own safety and would volunteer, which Christine wouldn't want.

Basically the red Templars are stronger with new abilities and the Inquisition needs to learn how to fight against them. Can a regular Templar on regular lyrium negate their abilities like the spitting red lyrium from their hands bit? Can any magic cut down their speed and endurance? Who knows? I know in game you get a bonus against them if you collect their bows and other things, so this would be along those lines, only going further, like when Dagna uses Maddox's tools plus red lyrium to make a rune to destroy Samson's armor.

To sum up:
Phase 1
- any books in Skyhold's library on red lyrium existing out in the world before Kirkwall?
- any books on that she can send away for?
Phase 2
- any chance of studying a piece if the proper safety measures are in place first?

[faderifting]

There are no records of red lyrium prior to the discovery of the red lyrium idol in the Primeval Thaig, so Varric and/or Hawke's other former companions would be Christine's best primary sources for any information about that one piece. If she looks for more information concerning red lyrium or the thaig where it was found, the silence will be pretty deafening, but she can become an expert on early dwarven history in the meantime.

On the other hand, she would be welcome to study a piece of red lyrium--with help, as you suggested, and with extreme care not to allow it to infest Skyhold. Templars or mages capable of dispelling magic may be able to dampen the lyrium's effect, to the extent it has observable effects at all. For example, she may be able to sense that Templars or Seekers are able to restrengthen the Veil where the red lyrium shard is weakening it. Because red lyrium's non-permanent/dangerous effects are gradual and mild, measuring the full impact may not be easy without corrupted subjects to observe. But she may also have access to those in the near future.

Re: INFO REQUESTS

[nadasharillen]

Nari is looking to get ahold of some paints, either by making them herself or acquiring them through trade. How should I go about this?

[faderifting]

If the paint is of common materials then Nari is welcome to have acquired it or the ingredients to make it through the merchants who have begun to visit Skyhold, or by asking an Inquisition agent going to a larger community to pick some up for her on the way back or something like that.

If the paint or the ingredients would be rare, then you can still say she's acquired some if you can explain how she might have done it. You can also create a player plot to acquire the paint or materials as long as doing so wouldn't use Inquisition resources or divert their forces. As a sort of sidequest to some official mission would probably be easiest but we're open to ideas!

[aceso]

I was wondering if it was possible to pull some of the information given by this person to use when Christine and her team of Red Lyrium/Red Templar investigators finally get their hands on a Red Templar to study.

Also, Rems has offered up Harding's NPC scouts to help with this project, so I was wondering if we could move to the next step where Chris asks the higher ups if they can bring in red lyrium to study, because Harding's scouts could do that.

[faderifting]

This is something we're going to be dealing with a lot in Emprise du Lion very shortly, so we're going to hold off on providing more information just now. Thanks for bringing this resource to our attention! We'll keep this and the scouts in mind and you'll get some more red lyrium stuff soon.

[easternseaqueen]

Isabela is sending out feelers for books on magic, the Fade--anything that can help solve the mystery of the Rifts. It's a favor for a friend if she or any of her crew can recover some.

[faderifting]

There are thousands and thousands of books on magic and the Fade! It's a very popular subject. Her contacts would advise that they will keep an eye out for anything unusual but that they will have better luck if Isabela can speak with some of the people researching and get a list of specific volumes or authors that they're interested in. We don't expect anyone to make up such a list OOC, but if she'd like to get involved approaching those PCs is probably the best way as it would otherwise take her an impossible amount of narrowing down to be able to provide anything useful.

[mythalenaste]

Pel is going to put out feelers for any local rumors surrounding the Temple of Dirthamen, writing local clans and mayors and the like.

[faderifting]

The information Pel receives back will be a mix of fact and fiction, with disagreement over whether such a temple exists and where precisely it is located if it does. Any humans she contacts will likely not know who Dirthamen is, but some may be able to convey that there are woods they do not visit because they're cursed. The nearest Dalish clan might report that others have asked after the Temple before and were pointed in its general direction but will have no information about whether or not they were successful in finding it, having never personally seen them again.

Re: INFO REQUESTS

[sunshinethroughgrey]

So clearly, this will be close to the bottom of the information pile, but Bethany will be looking for volumes of books on griffons, where they might have been found, and how the Wardens would have trained them.

[faderifting]

Finding information about how the Wardens, specifically, trained and worked with griffons will be difficult, given how closely the Wardens keep their secrets, even from each other. At most Bethany will be able to find outsiders' accounts of the use of griffons during notable Blight battles, if she explores historical volumes. She may also be able to find information on them in older surviving bestiaries from the Exalted Age which may provide some basic details such as the fact that they were native to the Hunterhorn Mountains and were originally utilized by the Orth people who resided there.

Two For One

[fleurdesel]

Research: Adelaide is researching (on the down low) spirits, possession, and the sliding scale of spirit to demon and if there's a way to reverse the process once a spirit is tainted. More overtly she's researching the shards and their effect on the rifts- as it's very new there isn't anything in writing about it but any accounts she can find about what happened with the herald would be in her area of interest.

Experimentation:

SO I was wondering if she couldn't, in light of members of the inquisition going missing and others getting kidnapped, put in the research and experiment with making something that is similar to but not quite a phylactery. A little blood in a pendant that'll glow in time with the person in question's heartbeat when a phrase is uttered and can be used with a map via pendant scrying to give a general 'that a way' idea of where the person is. Since she's working from the ground up it'd take a lot of time, effort, and work to figure out how to create it and since it's Adelaide she'd only manage the one with her own blood in testing before she attempted to pitch it to anyone.

[faderifting]

Spirit Research: Adelaide will encounter a frustrating lack of specificity when it comes to texts dealing with spirits vs demons. Many don't recognize a different between the two at all, and the majority of those that do are interested only in the theoretical and/or philosophical distinctions. There are plenty of texts purporting to reveal ways to remove spirits from people, animals, objects, homes, etc. but very few that claim to be able to cleanse a tainted spirit (though none contemplate that spirit still being within a living being when the cleansing is attempted).

Several she will immediately recognize as hogwash but a couple will provide suggestions worth trying. They will require trial and error and the collection of several rare herbs and minerals (which you are free to make up), as well as the deciphering of at least one complexly encoded formula. Of the rituals worth trying, they range from merely embarrassing to highly dangerous to both caster and subject.

Rift Research: Nobody really knows what happened with the Herald, but if she interviews enough people present at the Conclave she will find one who (convincingly) claims to have seen the Herald emerge from the Fade. What happened when the Herald died sealing the Breach is even more a mystery: the massive hole in the sky sealed, but then there was a flare of blinding light and the Herald was struck down. Corypheus's army attacked in the next moment, and so her body was not examined until it was found and returned to Skyhold for the funeral several weeks later, missing the hand that had held the Anchor. Reports conflict about whether she still had that hand after the flash of light or not.

Experimentation: With the caveat that fear of blood magic and mages' discomfort about the use of phylactery-like objects should keep these from entering common use and potentially stymying plots that are reliant on not being able to find people, we're find with Adelaide developing this device and having one for personal use.

Anchor Leash

[aintwejust]

What with the upcoming crackdown on rifters one way or another Malcolm is going to duck out and head up north. He's not a rifter but he does have an anchor shard in his hand and sees that as reason enough to bail. How would the anchor leash work/feel/effect him as he's trying his damndest to get out of dodge?

[faderifting]

This isn't a comprehensive list of possibilities since a larger sample size would be needed to figure out all the ways the tether works, but if Mal takes off on his own, he will find that after a week or so away from Skyhold the shard in his hand begins to hurt. The pain gradually increases the longer he is away and the further afield he goes, from a dull occasional ache to a constant stabbing pain like his arm is burning from the inside out. Stepping back through the gates of Skyhold will immediately cause the pain to ease, and as he remains the pain will taper back off more quickly than it arrived.

Traveling with a group of other Rifters, if he does so, would cause the pain to develop more slowly, but eventually the result would be the same. Closing rifts would also provide temporary relief.

[aceso]

Back again since the first set of Emprise missions is wrapping up and I think there was talk of a second round. Since this is red lyrium central right now, I was wondering what will be happening with that in regards to Christine's research. Right now, I've just been saying in threads that Christine will let interested parties know more after she's requested red lyrium for study from the advisers. Oh, and also she was walking around Emprise, mapping out red lyrium spikes in the ground so most could be destroyed, but also so some could be salvaged for study if she got that request approved. I'm just wondering if there's anything more I should have Christine be doing, because I'm not sure exactly how it will work, like if the lyrium will be allowed in Skyhold and what have you. Pretty much all I have to go on canon-wise is how Dagna handled studying red lyrium and that was kind of vague.

[mythalenaste]

Pel has been given the go-ahead to write letters to Kal-Sharok's shaperate and Paragon Elect asking about the Lights of Arlathan. Her query is about whether any of the Lights made it to Kal-Sharok, though she carefully avoids mentioning Kal-Sharok's destruction of Cad'halash, saying instead that she has heard that Kal-Sharok was involved in some clean-up after the thaig's ruin.

If the letters go unanswered for long, she will write more letters until she is answered.

Does she learn anything new?