There are several options, I think. The simplest would be to send a team to make contact with those in the Magisterium who already oppose Corypheus and offer them support. Allow them to tell us what will be most effective in changing minds or turning a vote. Alternatively, we could identify the strongest supporters and find a way to neutralize them.
[ There are more extreme options, but they don't really seem the Inquisition's style, not enough to offer up right off the bat anyway. ]
The Archon claims to know the names of the Venatori. Skyhold has Dorian Pavus, and he has a friend—Tilani—who would likely be the most trustworthy ally. And we have been reviewing voting records from the Magisterium for...
[ A distracted trail off while he digs around for that. ]
I had someone go through the voting records we could access to chart out alliances. Who votes together most often. They flagged a few abrupt shifts that might have been blackmail or pragmatic dealmaking, and if I took a day I could tally who has voted for nonaggression or international outreach most reliably. The Tevinter mages here might have opinions and might have agendas.
If you can do it in a day. [ If not, eh, says her tone. ]
Do we trust Tilani and Pavus to guide us in who to speak with and provide insight on which of their demands are worthwhile and which will make things worse? We don't have time to gather intelligence from scratch; we will have to rely on someone's grasp of the nuances, it's a matter of who.
I know they have been reliable allies from the beginning, and Tilani has survived this long balancing that with a seat in the Magisterium. As far as I know she is the best we have. If she is not as politically savvy as she sounds, she might know who is.
Does she have a crystal? Or Pavus? We should contact them and offer to send a team to assist. I would not like to arrive and find we are undermining their efforts by our presence.
Our Tevinters are all are from powerful families, and I don’t trust any of them— [ hey irony, it’s me, ya boy ] —but if you know that and are watching him, Shimada is the least obnoxious.
Vandelin is more of a diplomat than a spy, for some reason— [ just his opinion, elves are wasted on diplomacy, no one will listen to them anyway ] —but he can keep his head down, and I believe Max is familiar with the coast at least.
Marisol Vivas—she is my cousin. [ Disclaimer. ] She does draw attention, but she can stop if you ask her to.
[ Slim pickings. He’d complained a lot about being put in charge of this, initially, but now it doesn’t seem like the most stupid thing the Inquisition has ever done. ]
Outside of our group—
[ He thinks. It’s a long pause. This is actually sort of depressing. ]
—you would not know Araceli is a Rifter if she keeps her hand covered.
And you must have met my brother, but gray areas give him indigestion.
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There are several options, I think. The simplest would be to send a team to make contact with those in the Magisterium who already oppose Corypheus and offer them support. Allow them to tell us what will be most effective in changing minds or turning a vote. Alternatively, we could identify the strongest supporters and find a way to neutralize them.
[ There are more extreme options, but they don't really seem the Inquisition's style, not enough to offer up right off the bat anyway. ]
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But no. He resumes staring at whatever report he was staring at before she started talking, but not reading it, because he's thinking. ]
It is Tevinter. The opposition is likely to tell us if assassinations would help, and add a few extra names for fun.
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Do we have solid intelligence about the opposition, or would it need to be gathered on-site?
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[ A distracted trail off while he digs around for that. ]
I had someone go through the voting records we could access to chart out alliances. Who votes together most often. They flagged a few abrupt shifts that might have been blackmail or pragmatic dealmaking, and if I took a day I could tally who has voted for nonaggression or international outreach most reliably. The Tevinter mages here might have opinions and might have agendas.
I would not call any of it solid.
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Do we trust Tilani and Pavus to guide us in who to speak with and provide insight on which of their demands are worthwhile and which will make things worse? We don't have time to gather intelligence from scratch; we will have to rely on someone's grasp of the nuances, it's a matter of who.
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I'll need a few others. Able to pass unnoticed, and unlikely to balk at assisting magisters. Do you have any suggestions?
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Vandelin is more of a diplomat than a spy, for some reason— [ just his opinion, elves are wasted on diplomacy, no one will listen to them anyway ] —but he can keep his head down, and I believe Max is familiar with the coast at least.
Marisol Vivas—she is my cousin. [ Disclaimer. ] She does draw attention, but she can stop if you ask her to.
[ Slim pickings. He’d complained a lot about being put in charge of this, initially, but now it doesn’t seem like the most stupid thing the Inquisition has ever done. ]
Outside of our group—
[ He thinks. It’s a long pause. This is actually sort of depressing. ]
—you would not know Araceli is a Rifter if she keeps her hand covered.
And you must have met my brother, but gray areas give him indigestion.
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I'm familiar with your brother. He's certainly skilled, but I would not trust his politics on this mission.
[ Of the rest of them. She's been making notes, there's the quiet scratch of a pencil in the background to confirm it. ]
Rifters are an unnecessary hazard unless we've no other options. Vandelin held this post before me--do you think he's likely to hold a grudge?
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[ Someone else would make it sound more palatable, maybe, but he doesn’t care. ]
She was our supplier during the war. Goods and information.