inbox.

[heirring]

[action + written + crystal]

Comments

[heirring]

[Simply written on the back of the original note and slipped back in with Tony's own mail—]

Mr. Stark,

- Unfortunately we have no one with Riftwatch. Perhaps speak with Lady Thevenet; the Inquisition may have someone. Alternatively, if you have some coin to spare, I would consult the Merchant's Guild.

- To your anchor foci?

- Since always.

-W.A. Poppell

[propulsion]

[ And the note is traded back, again with annotations. Tony has circled 'Lady Thevenet' and put a question mark over the top of it.

Next to 'anchor foci', he draws a tick.

And next to 'since always', he writes; ] same

[heirring]

[She isn't wasting a new sheet of paper on this, so she finds some empty space and crams her answer in wherever it fits.]

Mr. Stark, Lady Thevenet is one of the recent arrivals from the Inquisition. If not her, is not Enchanter Smythe late of there as well? Either may have some knowledge of a runesmith or Tranquil in the Inqusition's employ willing to consult. Best, W.P.

[Skepticism for Mr. Stark's interest in home is prudently reserved. It is rude to accuse someone of being a liar in correspondence.]

[propulsion]

[ Tony kind of draws a zigzaggy crossing out over Wysteria's note, locates a narrow margin that can fit a sentence, and adds; ]

who r u getting 4 your prototype

[heirring]

[Underlined words and letters form the following message:]

Mr Stark,

I

do

Not

know

y e

t

Best

always

,

W.A. Poppell

enchanted book.

[propulsion]

[ In the middle of a blank empty page, a tiny word; ]

hey

[heirring]

[A tiny question mark is eventually (how long does it take her to find this? How do these books work? What's the push notification system on these bad boys?) added to the end—'hey?']

[propulsion]

want to go halvies?

[heirring]

On what, precisely?

[propulsion]

we need a guy

[heirring]

Or a woman, yes.

What exactly is it that you're proposing, Mr. Stark? I don't think my Riftwatch stipend covers experimental rune enchanting.

[Also she's broke, but that's neither here nor there.]

[propulsion]

guy is a gender neutral term on earth we're very progressive
Riftwatch can cover it
we should pitch your thing + get them to fund it
I know you want the live demo but you've been sketching this out for how long now

[heirring]

I have devised a plan for funding the assembly of a prototype. If you would like to subsidize the effort in exchange for sharing whatever contacts I acquire, you would be perfectly welcome.







And I have not simply been reiterating sketches. The concept has required the development of theory and rather a lot of research.

[propulsion]

you know it's crazy but becoming a project head didn't actually come with a massive pay raise
you want money from me before you share Whatever Contacts You Acquire?
not very sporting of you Ms Poppell

[heirring]

Nonsense. Or rather, I was referring to Riftwatch's investment. If the fundraising to be independent, it makes far more sense to work together to raise a greater independent sum that might be split between our interests, and to share the same list of contacts.


In any case you should know that Riftwatch's budget is rather tight. Without the Provost's express approval, I don't know there would even be the resources to allocate to this. The Scoutmaster's interest does very little to alter the fact that she has an entire division to run with what she has been allotted.

[propulsion]

o.k. whatever you want
food for thought: #1 customer is riftwatch
and considering how twitchy they get about rifter b.s. they might rustle up some gold for
a.) weapons to contribute to the war effort (w/ or w/o provost permish - we just need 3/4 right?)
b.) us not flaunting crazy things in front of independent investors
c.) third thing

the thing with investors is they want to see return on their investment

[heirring]

a.) The Ambassador has no great affection for me was not impressed when I showed him initial concepts.

[It's hard to tell, but that period has the flavor of being jabbed there.]

b.) I have no intention of flaunting anything in front of anyone outside of Riftwatch. De Foncé and I's scheme does nothing to compromise the project's secrecy.

c.) I seem to recall you suggesting we pursue this effort one step at a time, beginning with Orzammar. May I ask what has caused the change of heart?

Regards,
W.A. Poppell

[propulsion]

what happened with the Ambassador

[heirring]

He and I have been at odds since my arrival in Thedas. It would be difficult to describe just one occasion.

- W.A. Poppell

[propulsion]

but you're so charming?

- T.E. Stark

[heirring]

Evidently the Ambassador feels differently on the subject.

- W.A. Poppell

[propulsion]

weird
what does the A stand for

[heirring]

Anathyme. It's my mother's name.

What does the E stand for?

[propulsion]

Eagle



just kidding it's Edward which was my granddad's name
do you miss your mom

[heirring]

Edward is very dignified. I see why you don't use it often.


(I am joking.)

But, of course. However, I was already well committed to being away from her, and so the separation is hardly so distressing as all that. She is an infrequent writer of letters at the best of times and I doubt I would have had much mail from her while abroad there either.

I assume there are people from home that you think of as well.