[Video | 005: A Quest Arrow Appears!] Monday Evening, Week 12

[pepperspray]

[To say that Pepper's looking like she's been over twenty miles of bad road is really just stating the truth at this point. (And underselling it -- it's been a lot more than twenty miles, all totalled.). Still, she's back in town, her apartment's spartan furnishings visible behind her as she lays claim to a couch that's seen better days but is, blessedly, not a horse.

There remains a businesslike gleam to her eyes all the same: Pepper, it appears, has A Plan.]

I haven't managed death by horse, thanks largely to Captain Rogers and Dr. Banner, and I've got potential good news on the food situation. However, it's not really straightforward, and not really something to discuss over the network.

What I can say is that we've been asked to retrieve some goods as payment, that I have a map, but that it's very old, and that I've been warned about hazards in the location. So, while I can bring this to you, it's not something I can honestly handle myself.

If you're interested in either going along with or leading an expedition to do some treasure hunting, let me know. And if you have experience with translating very old maps, I'd very much like to hear from you. I'll be at my apartment for, um... well, let's just say that not moving sounds like an absolutely amazing idea right now.

[[OOC: Details on things here:]]

Comments

[Filtered Video]

[canandhave]

[...Filtered? What does that mean, in the context of their conversation? She supposes that she can see other people's conversations, and it's likely some sort of protection against that. But in that case, why?]

Is this really the sort of thing you don't think others have a right to know about?

I mean, I'd think that anyone who can see it is probably going to be someone who will be eating.

[pepperspray]

While that's the case for most of the people on this network, it's unfortunately not the case for all.

[Pepper sounds faintly apologetic as she explains this, although for what is an open question -- that the Authorities haven't been taken care of? That they aren't better-behaved?]

The Outer Authorities -- the same force that did their best to destroy the crops in the first place -- proved with that raid that they keep an eye on what's said openly on the network, since it was in response to some, um, pretty inflammatory statements made in a public broadcast. Since they went to so much trouble to try and raze the fields, I don't really want to encourage them to interfere with my attempts to make up for the damage.

[canandhave]

They took out the food of the locals as well as us because of what someone or a couple of people said? Does the...filter keep them from being able to see?

[She assumes that their movements, particularly in and out of the inhabited areas, could still be monitored.]

[pepperspray]

No. The only thing the filter does is make it so that communications on these devices go only from their sender to their intended recipients, rather than being broadcast to anyone with access to the network. Our saving grace with the Authorities is that there's only a finite amount of them at any time, and they pay most of their attention to keeping people from getting too close to the dome.

[There's really no logical reason for Pepper to look cautiously over her shoulder, as if expecting a masked Authority to be lurking in her apartment. She looks anyways.]

And, well, they destroyed the crops and tried to raid the hospital because one person made a public post trying to rally people into a violent stance against them -- call the raid a pre-emptive strike, rather than just wanton destruction and you've got it more accurately.

[canandhave]

Does that mean we're a possible threat to them? I'd been rather assuming they were significantly above us, in terms of their ability to fight.

[Still, people didn't do attacks like that unless they felt threatened.]

[pepperspray]

They are, but that doesn't mean they don't see any sign of organization as a threat -- the paranoid are, unfortunately, rarely reasonable, and it seems like their entire society is arranged on fairly totalitarian lines.

[Pepper's lips twitch grimly all the same.]

That said, there are some people with very unusual capabilities that have been waking up on the ship, and local legend casts us in the savior's role. Well, um, generally speaking, that is. I am very good at organizing paperwork and supplies, but I am very much not a fighter, a spy or anything else useful to a guerilla war.

[canandhave]

Totalitarian... Are they actively oppressing most of the people under their rule, in such a way that they need saviors?

I can't say that I'm used to being in rebellions myself, although the idea does leave me with a bit of a sour taste in my mouth.

[pepperspray]

There's really very little knowledge about the quality of life inside the dome, although we do know that they'll die if exposed to unfiltered air, and that they exile dissidents to the outside... where they die. That doesn't paint a picture of a tolerant and caring government that keeps the wellbeing of its citizens its prime concern.

We also know that the dome dwellers consider themselves to still be at war with Antiqua -- apparently it's the sister planet to Verdana -- and that anyone not inside the dome can be considered to be working with the enemy. That's another reason they attack the outer inhabitants so mercilessly if they approach, I'd guess.

So... saviors or no saviors, I have to say that I'm personally inclined to take the side of the outer inhabitants, if a side needs taking.

[canandhave]

How can they be at war if they never leave their dome?

[That doesn't make sense to Aveline, unless...]

Or do you mean that the leaders lie to the inhabitants to say that they're sending soldiers there?

And seeing as we appear to be closer to the outer inhabitants than the inner, I can't fault that position.

[pepperspray]

Well, I'd guess its a little like the Cold War... which obviously wouldn't be something you'd know about, so that reference would make no sense so let's pretend I never made it.

[Pepper's fair skin is really quite excellent at letting the entire world know when she's got colour rising in her cheeks. She coughs once, pats at her hair, and moves on resolutely.]

I can't speak to what's actually said inside the domes, but various nation-states in my own world's history have used the constant threat of an attack from the outside to keep their citizens under control and marching in step. At one point, the threat was real enough that they retreated behind the domes, and once the domes were up, the common people would be unable to get information about the outside world directly.

[canandhave]

[In her own world...so not directly relevant to here. Aveline will let the other woman take back the remark, if she really so wishes. It's not really a big deal anyway, her brief time here has already shown her that she's pretty far away from being able to understand everything.]

While I've seen fear used as a motivator in my own world, I would think that people would notice that they weren't being attacked.

[They deserve a little more credit, surely.]

[pepperspray]

Ah, but when the government controls all information about what's happening outside, and convinced them that it's only through their efforts and their obedience that attacks on their own homes are held off...

[Pepper looks more than a little wry.]

It's not that people are ignorant. It's more that we are, by nature, made to be social, to seek out groups, and, once we're in them, to not try and upset things too much, especially if upset means suffering, both for you and your loved ones. Make it easier for people to toe your line than not, and be merciless in dealing with the ones who cross it and you can demoralize a population pretty effectively. It's... hideous, but it's not something I've never heard of, in my world's history.

[canandhave]

[Aveline still isn't certain how that works, it's fairly hard to imagine a government being able to control all information in that manner. Even the very real threat of war hadn't made Kirkwall's citizens behave more...cowed by the government, if anything it had been the opposite. But then, she certainly couldn't describe their approach as merciless, however undirected it had seemed at the time.

The Knight Commander towards the mages was another story, but even there it didn't seem to have resulted in mages just rolling over and accepting that sort of thing. Or in everyone believing that all mages were innately dangerous.]

I suppose. But they're a foreign nation, so it's not really any of our business beyond trying to minimize the hostility that they express towards us.

[Better to be practical about this.]

[pepperspray]

It's a long and twisted bit of history, sociology and political science involved in explaining it all, and it's been a long time since I was a university student, unfortunately. I'm sorry if I seem unclear.

[Apology offered with poised care, she does give a nod to the sentiment in general.]

Staying out of their business is certainly one approach. It would work better if they were also inclined to stay out of ours, rather than threatening any signs of serious development. But, for the meantime, I'm going to focus on getting the people here their grain.

[canandhave]

Peaceful coexistence can only really happen if one side's willing to bite their tongues when the other side starts getting snippy. It's far from ideal, but it sounds like if we went toe to toe we wouldn't have much of a chance, so.

Better to focus on what we can do, I agree.

[pepperspray]

It also relies on the other side staying at 'snippy' and not 'casually sending military force across borders if it feels like it'.

[Pepper's expression has crimped again, as memories of the chaos surrounding fields and hospital flicker briefly past her mind's eye. She clears it with a slight cough and a return to briskness.]

Well, that said, the grain shipment is hanging on the results of an expedition, so I suppose I should get busy setting up a place for the leaders and expedition-goers and general people with ideas to meet. Hopefully everyone likes simple sandwiches and herb tea.

[canandhave]

Sending troops over just counts as really snippy in my book. 

[ Aveline's careful to keep her own expression neutral, to pretend she doesn't even notice the change in Pepper's. ]

That sounds good to me. Thank you, for setting this up. 

[pepperspray]

That book sounds fascinating.

[Pepper is dryly impressed at this level of understatement. She awards Aveline a small nod.]

And it's not a problem -- those who can, do. Will I see you there, then?

[canandhave]

Of course. I look forward to...actually meeting you.

[Is that the way to phrase it? Aveline isn't sure.]

[pepperspray]

And I, you.

[Pepper's expression is encouraging -- the phrasing is, apparently, good.]

Although I'll be pretty much in the background -- this isn't my area of expertise.

[canandhave]

Nor mine, but that isn't going to stop me from trying.