knightsoflegend | andres ♔ but life is for living

WHO || Everyone
WHAT || With Andres Isle reclaimed, the Knights deal with the aftermath of their battle to save its people
WHERE || Andres Isle, and various
WHEN || September 20th, 2014 - October 20th, 2014 [backdated]
HOW || Actionspam

When the sun rises on Andres Isle the next morning, and the smoke and rubble clears, it is impossible to call the battle anything less than a victory, in terms of freeing the people from Sarandis' hateful regime.

But all victories come with their costs.

Sir Zatara's team easily accomplished their goal, shutting down the power station that allowed Sir Trinall's team to wrest control of Isle communications, although Emma Swan was grievously injured in the process and Faye Chamberlain found herself facing an unexpected temptation when she got her hands on Jordan Reeves' genie bottle. Sir Wellington and Carpenter led an assault on the prison base, that succeeded in freeing all of the captured Shadowkind and putting a halt to the hideous experimentation going on there - at the cost of Sir Maxwell Briggard's life. (And Nathan Young's... but he got better. Twice.) Even Myrilandel's familiar, Amaranth, was found, but when Lan turned violent on a bank of computers in a fit of hatred for the machines and all they represented, a targeting system was activated that released all the mind-controlled Shadowkind hybrids from the facility, on a dread path of destruction for the castle, ready to kill anything in their path.

Meanwhile, Sir O'Rourke's team had managed to locate the love potion that Dimitris Sarandis was using to control Kat Samcelot's behavior, and made it impossible for the next dose to be administered on time. Sir Hathaway's team likewise made it into the castle, after following a set of clues that indicated Sir Elena Gilbert and the doppelganger Kyp had killed a guard and stolen their identity, heading into the palace proper. Eavesdropping within its walls, they learned that the Prime Minister had been shot, and that the woman responsible was being held in a tower. This, however, proved to be a cruel trick of Dimitris' ally, the powerful psion known as the Mind Master. Forcing Elena to shapeshift into Dimitris, she mentally dominated Elena, and made her sit outside the empty tower cell, where Rose, Will, and Dean found her. Having been approached by Kyp, who had been separated from Elena and feared for her life, a grudging alliance was formed, and the doppelganger approached "Dimitris" alone. Despite her attempt to drop hints to her real identity, the situation escalated - until the Mind Master made Elena wrest Kyp's gun from him, and shoot him right between the eyes.

In the meantime, Sir Yassin's team had blown an entrance for Prince Marcus Andres to lead his group into the castle through the tunnels below it. Dimitris had, however, expected something like this, and filled the tunnels with all manner of monster and creation designed to stop them. With exceptional teamwork, they bypassed all threats and made it within, where they were shocked to discover the real Chad Becksworth was in fact a prisoner here, and that Draken Crombe, leader of the Church of the Lord's Humanity had been impersonating him with the aid of the Mind Master, for access to NOVA Records' resources, for years. They also discovered the bones of former Dragon's Claw Sir Ellison, Tia's father, and helped lay his spirit to final rest.

Knights around the Island struggled to halt the hybrid creatures from charging into the palace and ruining the internal team's chance to save Kat and Thomas and stop Dimitris. Wynn led his own team to hold the line between the forest and the castle, but the brutal creatures they faced were overwhelming, and even with back-up arriving, creatures broke through. Wynn sent Sir La Krail and Francesca, whose team had secured the guardhouse, to stop several driders who had passed, while he chased down a chemical golem that crashed right through the palace doors.

Dimitris had already sprung his trap, however, sealing Marcus and friends in a room below the palace pumped with poisonous gas, while he asked Kat Samcelot for her hand in marriage on a screen for them to watch. At that moment, however, the love potion wore off, and she stabbed him in the dick, and helped free the others below. Myri teleported several of the Knights up to the main floor to save Kat, who faced the guards alone and weaponless, but the arrival of the chemical golem provided enough of a distraction for Dimitris to make a break for the throne room.

Elsewhere on the Isle, Sir Koraith's team had been gathering allies among the Shadow Village, to face an attack that they had been warned about, by soldiers seeking the location of Rocket, who had escaped the Shadow prison after attempting to assassinate the Prime Minister. Koraith led those who could not fight towards the boats, while the others remained to hold the line and take out not only the soldiers, but also the clockwork creations called nimblewrights, robots whose construction Failboat had learned was based on some kind of demonic creature held in Dimitris' basement. The battle was brutal, and Sir Riddick fell to the clockwork soldiers' assault. The fate of Sir Jaina Solo and a Shadowkind villager named Indra Crestrage remains unknown, as they were also grievously injured in the assault.

Sir Edain's team had secured various boats to transport villagers off the Isle, but also discovered a sinister shack where body parts were created up for export to Japan. In the battle that followed to hold the docks, Hook lost his entire arm, but managed to hold onto his life.

Back in the palace, several Knights joined Wynn in taking down the chemical golem, as Marcus and company moved to confront Dimitris and the Mind Master in the throne room. The Prime Minister was unrepentant for his crimes, and revealed that after capturing Kat, he had had the Dragon's Claw Thomas Bancroft killed, dumping his body off a balcony for them to see. Enraged, Kat ran to attack Dimitris, and was nearly killed by his bodyguard, Asha, but Fred Jr. intervened, sacrificing himself to save her. Des murdered Asha instantly, while the Mind Master teleported herself and Dimitris away, leaving the guards willing to surrender, and the Knights frustrated by the hollow victory.

A search of the Isle revealed no trace of where the two had gone, but it also meant that Andres was free of Sarandis' influence. Sir Banks' team had managed to gather all the wealthy human elite of the Island together inside a country club under the guise of a gas leak, and when Emma Frost appealed to the humanity of Sergeant Alastair Stone, a local police officer, he assisted them in routing out potential supporters of Dimitris, and separating them from the others, so that they might be shown the truth about what had been happening on the Island, right underneath their noses, in the form of a video of the prison laboratory provided by Logan and Nathan.

Most of the natives were shocked by what they saw, but had already been distrustful of Sarandis' true motives. Hearing that the true heir to the throne had returned has given the people of Andres a real sense of hope that things can change, but the road will not be an easy one.

Rather than pull out and head home the next day, Wynn has asked as many Knights as possible to remain and help with reconstruction. There are families to reunite, injured to tend to, homes to rebuild, a palace to remodel, and much more. This post is for things following directly in the aftermath of the Battle for Andres, especially for things happening on the Island itself. More posts will go up in the near future to backdate less immediate events. Characters are free to go back and forth to the castle as they please, but also have accommodations provided in the city or palace on Andres Isle.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[It isn't long after the battle that Drax approaches her, a very familiar dragon cat perched on his head. He glances upwards, though the angle means he can't... really see Amaranth at all.]

Is this the human you were seeking?

[Myri is startled by Drax's presence. So much so that she doesn't notice Amaranth at first.]

I'm sorry? I'm not sure what you- [There's a squawking sound from Drax's head, followed by Amaranth jumping down to all but tackle Myri. She stumbles back against the nearest firm surface.]

Oh! What-? Amaranth! [She wraps him up in a tight hug.] Oh thank you! Thank you for bringing him back to me.

[It's the first time she's smiled like this in a very long time.]

[Drax rubs his head lightly to check for fur, nodding at her thanks.]

Your small feline friend aided us nobly in battle. Without his distraction, we may not have been able to prevent civilian casualties.

[Myri clings to her familiar for a moment longer before letting him return to the ground. He curls around her ankles, walking in a figure 8 and rubbing his face against her.]

I'm glad he could help. I... I don't know how to repay you for making sure he found me. After all you've been through, I can only imagine...

[FUN FACT: Myri has never met Drax and actually thinks he was one of the prisoners they just rescued.]

[Drax blinks, not quite sure how she knows what he's been through (wis 10), but losing his family at the hands of Ronan the Accuser and the Destroyer years following haven't been easy. He nods at the comment.]

If nothing else, I am well aware of the importance of friendship where you can find it. If you have friends, they can prove mighty allies in times of need.

[She smiles and nods at that.] Anyone who would be kind enough to listen to my familiar and return him to me is certainly an ally and a friend I would like to have. My name is Myri. I am part of the Knighthood that has come to help you all.

[Drax blinks at her, brow creasing.]

Indeed. I am part of that same knighthood. I rescued your companion.

Oh! [whoops] My mistake. I thought... Well, you just seemed...

Let me start over. [She is so embarrassed right now. hold on.]

Thank you.

[Drax seems rather indifferent to her embarrassment. He nods gravely at her thanks, though.]

I am Sir Drax. They call me the Destroyer.

Destroyer? Oh... That's... an interesting name.

[unsure]

A fitting one. My quest of revenge is now complete, but for many years, destruction was all that brought me satisfaction.

And... now? [She's thankful that you brought her the familiar, but you are kind of scary, Drax...]

I have learned that friendship is more satisfying than murder. [Murder with friends is pretty cool though.]

That's... That's good. Sometimes it can be hard to remember that.

[which is still a problem she's not used to having. But she'll be honest about at least.]

Indeed. But it was only through friendship that I gained the strength to kill Ronan the Accuser, the man who slaughtered my family.

[Guardians of the Galaxy is so important.]

Oh... I'm so sorry to hear about your family...

[He nods solemnly at her words.] I have killed their murderer. They can rest peacefully now.

Did it... did it help? Seeing the death of the one who caused you so much pain?

[asking for a friend /unsure]

[He pauses, considering the question thoroughly before nodding solemnly.]

Yes, it did.

[She takes a careful breath in and lets it out slowly.]

Thank you. Not many people are honest about such things.

Not many people have lost everything to the extent that such a vengeance would be warranted.

[She nods, pulling back into herself a bit more. She hasn't lost everything. She has it all back, doesn't she? She has her family, a soon to be husband. Even Elena has come back to her. She doesn't have those things to mourn. All she lost was something of herself, but does that equate to the sort of loss that Sir Drax is referring to?]

Thank you. [She says softly, after a long pause.] For bringing Amaranth back to me. If you need anything that you think I might be able to assist with, please find me.

[And with a final, small smile, she steps back and turns to leave. She has some things to think over now.]

andres ♔ but life is for living

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