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

[She doesn't even put her weaponry down. It's slung over her shoulder (the one that isn't still sore from the earlier dislocation) and she's moving through the small gathering of people trying to spot that flash of red hair. Sometimes it's better than wearing neon pink, because Allison is used to tracking this particular shade of hair down and it isn't long before she finds her way to her best friend.]

Lydia! [Allison moves toward her friend and embraces her in a solid hug, even if it hurts her shoulder to do so.]

[ Recognition comes instantly, and Lydia never hesitates as she turns to meet Allison in the embrace. Her arms wrap up around Allison's shoulders, pulling her in and burying her face against her friend's shoulder. Relief leaves her in an exhale, and one hand reaches up to smooth over the back of Allison's head. ]

You're okay. [ Almost like she can't believe it. ]

[Allison keeps her hold on Lydia for a bit longer, just being relieved to see her safe. It's only been a day, but it's been a long day.]

I'm fine. [Her shoulder hurts, but she doesn't let it show.]

We just fought a war. I don't think anyone's fine.

[ Even if it was just a day. ]

[Allison knows that, but she also feels like expressing her survival as easily as possible had been important. It's going to be a long time until everyone is where they can safely say that they're fine and mean it, but it's instinct for her to say those words. To state them as fact instead of letting any of her injuries or concerns get placed higher than the others.]

And you? [She pulls back to give her a once over, making sure that there aren't any serious injuries that her friend is hiding.]

A psychic plant almost liquefied Koraith and Stiles' organs, and David was a nightmare to deal with.

[ It's a quick shift she makes, from genuine concern to petty rant material. A sigh follows. ]

But I didn't get hurt, and they're alive.

[She forgives the rant, because she's just glad that Lydia is okay.]

I'm glad you're okay. Glad they're alive. [She won't bring up that they had spiders, giant spiders, because she doesn't want to make Lydia worry.]

Are you going to stay here and help?

Well, we made the mess. It only seems fair that we clean it up.

[ Talking herself into it, she finally nods. ] Yeah. I'm staying.

[Allison nods.]

Good, because I'm staying too. [She doesn't want to leave Lydia, either, but she also knows that this mission, doing this has sparked something in her and she knows she's going to want to go out again. To help someone else like they did here.]

[ The reaction startles her, a start difference from what she'd perceived as doubt from Stiles. Lydia straightens, eyes fluttering with surprise, and she takes a moment to study Allison with a soft look before she processes it properly. She adopts her usual disparaging tone as she defends, ] That doesn't surprise you, does it? I mean, [ she turns to start walking along the castle wall, needing to pace, ] Where else would we go?

[Allison isn't sure what Lydia is getting at. This isn't very far from what they would have done back home. Maybe it's not to the extremes of war that this was, but they always made sure to help when they could - when there were things that no one else would understand. If Lydia needs to voice it though, to work through it, Allison is going to be supportive.]

We're not the sort to just leave things in the middle. This feels like the middle, at least, to me.

[ A smile flutters over her face, and Lydia nods, reassured. ]

Me too. [ She links an arm through Allison's. ] Come on. They could use our help in the Shadow Village.

[Allison smiles and links her arm with Lydia, but then winces and shifts to the other side of her friend so that she doesn't link her bad shoulder. She'll go find Helen later, and that'll help with her shoulder, but for now being with her friend is more important.]

Still a little sore. I let a car door get the better of me.

A car door?

[ Lydia freezes, glancing over at Allison's injured shoulder. The thoughtful look lingers a moment before she sets off in the opposite direction. ]

The Dragon's Light set up inside the castle. They should look at it.

[Allison shakes it off.]

No, I'll be fine. Really. It's just a little sore. I'll go later, let's keep going to help out.

You will be fine. After you see a doctor, which is why we're going now.

[ No excuses. Lydia's tugging her in that direction. ]

[Ouch with the tugging... but Allison relents.]

Okay, I'll get it looked at.

The clerics are probably busy with the, you know, bleeding and dismembered, but there are medics too.

I know, but I thought that I'd let them handle the actual emergencies... not my tiny shoulder pain.

[Not that she's fighting against her friend's insistence.]

No one's going to give the actual emergencies to a doctor when there's a cleric around.

Edited (text font ??? ) 2014-12-28 05:25 (UTC)

[Allison isn't used to people wanting to actually stop everything to try and heal what's wrong. She's used to pushing through the pain.]

Alright. We're going.

andres ♔ but life is for living

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