#<- the beautiful version that exists in ria and my dms

[asharaks]

so here's the vision for Treviso: instead of the nonsensical and racist Antaam invasion, the Qun are working with the Antivan government to push the Venatori out of the city. We get a Josie cameo here. In the meantime, the Chantry are taking advantage of the political situation to push for more power in the country; there are da2-Petrice style anti-qunari demonstrations in the streets, trade embargoes, gridlocks, religious fervour. We meet various Qunari ambassadors, workers, delegations, all of whom get names and faces and personalities and opinions.

The Crows are being pulled back and forth by whoever has the most money that week (this changes a Lot, depending on your actions) and multiple contrasting contracts. There's infighting going on, as well as hierarchical friction: since the loss of the symbolic favourite grandson of the first talon, the resentment of the other fledglings has been stirred up, and there's talk of potential coups being planned. The elves who were bought as children and abused into becoming dispensible killers resent the leading family of wealthy humans; the Dellamorte's position is weakened as Caterina grieves her favoured protégé, and expends resources on his return while the city breaks down around her. “The crows rule Antiva” is less a rallying cry than a threat.

This is also an opportunity for Teia to shine, and bring out the nuance of the worldbuilding: she's an elf that clawed her way to the top of the hierarchy, and as a result is resented by the ruling elite; having her in this rare position, where she is neither a Dellamorte nor a human, but holding onto her power in this historically incredibly unbalanced organisation, it would be good if you could ask her opinions on the Issues. what does she think of Lucanis, of the elf children, of the practice of buying slaves?

Rook’s presence as the leader of the alliance built to combat the blighted gods (more on this later) catalyses the events that break the stalemate one way or another, by supporting certain crow subfactions, choosing to fight back the blight or not, taking quests for the chantry or the qun — and choosing to save Treviso or Minrathous, which can bring the conflict to breaking point — but ultimately, they’re one more representative of one more faction in the city, and while they can influence the balance of power by lending their aid to or with holding it from various factions within the city, they don’t dictate where the cards fall, and won’t find out for quite a while how things in Treviso shake out.

[next - minrathous]