[OPEN] DEFENSE MEETING

[uncalled_for]

Date & Time: Five days after the completion of the bombing event. Starting early morning.
Location: Whatever area is decently clear of debris.
Characters: Anyone, whether it was previously arranged with Fiona, someone else did the convincing, or they just happen to be around the cleared area at the right time.
Summary: First “Defense” Group Meeting. Some chatting, some sparring, a little showing off, and everything in between.
Warnings: Violence and swearing, I guarantee it.


[When most have gathered Fiona will find some small piles of debris to climb on so she can at least be eye level with everyone else. It’s not the biggest of groups but it will hardly do if no one can see whoever is speaking. She’ll tap her staff to get some attention.]

Thank you all for coming and taking an interest. I’m Fiona, the one who spoke on the network before. Sorry there was a delay but I appreciate everyone coming nonetheless. [Detecting a little anger here…]

If what’s happened this past week has proved anything, it’s proved we need to work together and defend ourselves and each other. Those bastards aren’t going to help us no matter what lies they feed us. They can’t defend us, they have proven that again and again. They say they’re glad we survived, but how many of us didn’t make it through this last endeavor? We’re dealing with complete fools and we have only ourselves to rely on. So we need to find a way to help each other. You don’t have to agree with all of my opinions, but at least stay long enough to try and see if this will work.

[She’ll take a deep breath] This is only our first meeting, none of us really know each other or what each other is capable of. If we actually intend to defend each other then that is the first thing we need to fix. Use this meeting time to get to know the person next to you and what they’re capable of. And if you can fight then show everyone else what you’ve got. [She’ll hold up her hand and produce a tiny ball of fire, whirl it around a moment and wink it out as quickly as she made it.] Lets not be caught off-guard by those bastards again.

[And then she'll start hopping off the debris. Ah, wait. Almost forgot something.] Thank you.


[OOC: Behold the tiny organization abilities. All right so, here’s how I’m thinking this can roll. We’ve got a little fighting and a little chatting for threads. If conversation leads to battle you are welcome to keep it to the talking thread, just maybe tack it into the subject line “Chat -> Fighting” or hop to the Battle thread! Feel free to jump in as you please, opened, closed, whatever. This is a fantastic chance for CR, spoil it rotten! And thanks for being patient with me despite the OOC delays. :)

Edit: Okay so. People are on hiatus and stuff and that's okay. If your character would happen to be here, but you just can't toss them in, try putting down a placeholder reply or something. I am gonna be doing a headcount from the tags list when this wraps up so leader picking later on is easier to handle. :)]

Comments

[strategic_guile]

How much of what? This whole situation? [When it comes to planning and strategy he can't help but get a little into the discussion. It was what he did. He reached into his back pocket and pulled out his folded tablet.]

I'm sure it's a mix of things, but as far as communication goes we shouldn't be using these tablets for any important planning, including setting up these meetings. [Unfolds it and points at the tiny slots where the speakers were.] The picture and audio functions on these can probably be turned on without our knowing and be used as spying devices. Even if we wait a year from now to move, we'll have to figure out a really secure way to communicate.

[Folds it back up and puts it in his pocket.] If we meet, we need to turn them off, if not leave them at home.

[ofthegrey]

I wondered about that, too. What was really going on with this attack.

[Not only was the timing convenient, the defense for it was rather one-sided for his liking.]

Good thinking. I haven't paid much attention to the wildlife. If there are pigeons, we can begin training them for bearing messages at a distance. We can also set up local drop points and codes for written messages.

[It was commonplace for thieves in Val Royeaux as well as for Wardens all over Thedas. It was a good system to duplicate as far as he was concerned.]

[ladyspitfire]

How much was orchestrated and what truly was a surprise. I don't know if I can trust too much of what the Initiative says just yet.

[Pigeons. Elissa fights to keep her smile from showing.]

I wonder how many people we can coax into trying such things.

[All right, she can't help but smirk now.]

Passing off notes directly, leaving them in places... I could speak to a few people about other ideas. It's doable, I know, and it would be safer than relying solely on these devices.

[strategic_guile]

Well, there was a spy who escaped with information. They admitted to that much, so perhaps they weren't all that surprised by the attack, but still weren't prepared like they should have been. [He shrugs his shoulders.]

They've been so busy looking into the past for missions, they could have slipped up on current preparations. The Initiative isn't some centralized government. I keep forgetting that. [He would bet that his Organization was better equipped, cohesive, and informed than the Initiative.]

Speaking of the past. [He gives Duncan a smile] I'll leave all the training of pigeons and other flying, shitting machines to you.

[ofthegrey]

That was what I was wondering. [He nods at Elissa.]

No, they're not centralized. They may be even more fractured than they like to let on if some here are to be believed.

[He rolls his eyes, but it's a good natured sort of tease.]

In this we might have an advantage, coming from a place where no one relied on things like these devices but still having a pressing need for the exchange of clandestine information.

[ladyspitfire]

If they were so easily distracted, then building an army is the least of their troubles. We are barely a coherent force and no one has taken the time to train us in any sense, not in combat nor in tactics. We are fighting blind and unwilling.

[And if they're not centralized, then there could be pockets of them everywhere. It would make hiding difficult.]

We could train hawks too. I wouldn't begin to know how, though.

[Zevran might. Or Leliana.]

[strategic_guile]

I have no idea what the training is like. It's supposed to be twice a week at least, but that was put on hold for a while. [He plans on doing as little training in their presence as possible. Blaine doesn't really even want his allies to know, but he figures that won't last anyway.]

Code words can easily be added to normal conversations so the tablets can still be used. We just can't be so blunt about it. I really have no idea about training any animals except for maybe a dog. [Holds up hands] Totally leaving that to you. I'll stick with markers on random landmarks to indicate places and times.

[ofthegrey]

I won't be showing them everything. That's a given.

[He looks thoughtful.]

We might not want to mix hawks and pigeons. I'd hate to spend all that time training one only to have the other eat them the first chance they get.

Code words are a good idea, too. Perhaps a rotating system so they don't have the chance to discern a pattern.

[ladyspitfire]

I don't suspect we'll need to show them everything. We were brought here specifically, each of us individually selected. They probably already know. And if they do not, they will find ways of finding out.

[Like that blighted VR program.]

I like the idea of code words too. That's creative. The problem will be in being able to inform people of their changes.

[strategic_guile]

[Cocks his head towards her, contemplative.] Did they? I've heard otherwise about the accuracy of who they pick. I suppose they need negotiators, but there are people here who wouldn't be good for that, either. Do you need to import chefs and builders when you have your own population?

[A smile] A code keeper. Or several. You put up a sign that means the keyword has changed before the next meeting. Everyone goes to their code keeper to update their password bank. Or we just tell everyone during the meeting what the new keywords are.

[ofthegrey]

Looking around, I'd say builders will come in handy at this point. [A little dryly.]

Yes, signs or marks. We can work out the details for the next meeting as to how it works.

[ladyspitfire]

I suppose they'll bring in whomever they feel is necessary. If we are changing the past, perhaps the world will change around us when we return. I have to admit, it leaves me curious.

[Not curious enough to help their captors, however.]

Yes, next time. Perhaps you could show us.

[She's not certain how ready she is to trust everyone there.]

[strategic_guile]

[You get a short bark of a laugh for that one, Duncan.] Maybe. Negotiators, builders, scientists, I get all of that, but some of us don't fall so neatly into a useable category.

[Smile for Elissa] I'd like to see these changes, too, but I'm betting most of them are small or just happen somewhere else.

I'll have to find something that'll wash off after a few hours. More important is the places we'd put the markings.

[ofthegrey]

My question is how would they know there are changes? If you go to the past and do something that makes the present different, aren't you part of that present? Wouldn't it seem like it had always been that way for you?

[He's having a hard time wrapping his mind around that paradox.]

Good plan. I'm sure it will be easy enough to find something like that. As for the places, somewhere people won't have to go out of their way to see but that won't attract too much undue attention.

[ladyspitfire]

I wish I understood it nearly half so well as others seem to. Perhaps we'll be the ones to know the difference as this is not our home.

[But that would be silly, wouldn't it? And she doesn't really understand how time paradoxes can even work.]

Maybe somewhere in the apartments, in one of the back stairwells?

[strategic_guile]

A good question. I'm not sure how the people who were left behind would know. I'm sure they have a goal in mind, so maybe the people sent with us come back and compare notes on how things were when they left and how they are now after they changed it?

[Just shrugs and shakes his head. He has no idea.] One day they'll make a change and come back and it bit them in the ass.

The back stairwell. A corner of a building close to the shopping district. Somewhere it wouldn't be odd to stop for a second and adjust your shoe or something. The sign could be a circle with a hash on it to say what time. [Draws a circle in the air with his finger and then draws a line from the center to the right.] Three o'clock. Six o'clock. Nine o'clock. Make the assumption that it's night time unless it's an emergency.

[ofthegrey]

All of that just makes my head hurt.

[Time travel. It's not something he would have ever given any thought to barring a strange discovery in their world.]

Those are good places. Never the same place twice in a row. We can put that on a rotation, too, and shift the pattern by one every two months so that it doesn't get predictable.

[ladyspitfire]

[She turns to Duncan and reaches over to pat his back once, as if comforting a recruit. Her smile is coy.]

Hopefully we won't be able to think on it too long.

But these are good ideas. How many people are you looking to share them with first, though, Blaine? Those gathered here, perhaps?

[strategic_guile]

It would probably help us to know. [crosses his arms over his chest; there's a hint of a devious smile on his face] Especially if we plan on doing a little changing ourselves.

[He casts a look around the room, at all the different personalities and people.] Since she was the one to call the meeting and seems serious about it, Fiona should know, at the least. I wouldn't tell everyone here, because you have no idea of their intentions, even if they came.

[Blaine himself did not have the strong conviction of many of the people there. He liked to be informed and just so happened to be nearby to see the gathering and investigate.] I haven't talked to as many people here, but I'll leave it to your discretion. The less that's known about communication before it's ready, the better, I'd say. It's much easier to pin point leaks.

[ofthegrey]

[The look he shoots Elissa is wry.]

I trust Fiona with my life. She won't spill secrets, and she's aware of the code systems already. There's a chance she might know who else to speak with about this.

I agree that it's best we keep it under wraps until it's developed and ready for use. Perhaps we should do a few tests among ourselves.

[ladyspitfire]

There are others here whom I would trust with my life as well...but I would much rather bring them in slowly and give them time to make their own decisions on where they stand. I might speak to one of them about it.

[Zevran would understand codes better than others, she suspects.]

I like the idea of a test, just to see how well we can all remember and use it to our advantage.

[strategic_guile]

[Arms uncross and his hands slip into his pockets casually.] A test would be good, to know the limits of people's memories. Whoever has the best recall should be one of the code keepers.

Just let me know who you decide to tell. [Lip twitches upward] If you want.

[ofthegrey]

[He nods. He can understand the sentiment. In this place they have that luxury, unlike at home.]

As far as I'm concerned, this part of it is as much yours as ours, Blaine. We won't accomplish much by keeping the planning phase from one another.

[Does he trust him? Not precisely. He trusts that he has more reason to want to cooperate with them than the Initiative, and for now, that's enough.]

[ladyspitfire]

[She can only nod in agreement to what Duncan's said.]

Where can the three of us meet to discuss this further? Without the use of these devices, hopefully.

[strategic_guile]

[Aww, how magnanimous of you; Blaine gives a slight shrug.]

I don't have any plans, so you can make it whenever you want.