Hi PalmerSperry,
Kudos for such a clever idea!
But such a letter is quite suspicious to anyone reading it, since Thirsk saw them off personally; so it doesn't make sense unless it was picked up at sea by the searchers, which of course it wasn't.
Thus for the inquisition the obvious question is where did it come from?
OTOH, seeing his daughters and grandchildren in real time holograms talking and moving etc would be far effective, even if he has to wait for Merlin to return [which he most assuredly will] to see them again.
Since the whole purpose of the exercise is to keep Thirsk alive and still in control of the navy, NTM a power within Dohlar, avoiding anything smacking of collusion or cabals is the first order of business.
Once the inquisition has calmed down or been diverted elsewhere, Thirsk might reach out to fellow minded sympathizers, as vetted by Nynian and Nahrmahn, where and when they provide the security with OWL's remotes.
Taking Dohlar off the Go4's team would go a long way to removing the whole of Howard from the Go4's resources as well, which is more than the sheer population, Desnair's gold, and South Harchong's burgeoning industry; making it worth the allocation of these resources.
L
PalmerSperry wrote:n7axw wrote:As for the idea of a letter from his daughters, I still think that is the best bet at this point in time. A letter with familiar handwriting, phraseology and terms of endearment should turn the trick nicely. If there is concern over security, Merlin can show him the letters and then keep them in his possession with an agreement to turn the letters over once security is no longer a concern. A paragraph could be put in one of the letters explaining why this is being done and that the letters will be put back in possession of the children.
If the letter, or part of it at least, is phrased carefully then it could be left with Thirsk. Obviously something along the lines of "We got rescued by the Seijins and we're on our way to Charis!" is obviously out of the question. However something like "By the time you receive this I believe we'll be on our way. I'm not fully quite how we're getting to our destination, or what the situation will be like when we get there but I have hope that it won't be as scary as some might think it." would be fine, because there's no way to
prove[1] that Thirsk didn't receive it in the normal way[2] and that it wasn't sent before the left to travel to Zion.
... and under the circumstances if Thirsk is seen to be clutching "the last letter he'll ever get from his family"(TM) it would hardly be suspicious.
[1] Clyntahn might not care about such trivial things as "proof" but Rayno is sure to point out that arresting Thirsk claiming "He's receiving communications from demons!" might not go down too well in the Navy or Dohlar in general.
[2] It might not have gone through the Royal Dohlarian Postal System, but can you prove it didn't get delivered via a corrupt Inquisitor who was bribed? If not, then point [1] still applies IMHO.
