mission ♔ all those arrows you threw you threw them away

[everyredcent]

♬ Please Don't Go - Barcelona

WHO || Francesca, Christos, Katniss [closed]
WHAT || Francesca attempts to spy on the humans' secret meeting; a concerned Christos follows
WHERE || The Municipal Building, Magadan, Russia
WHEN || Night of April 7th
HOW || Actionspam

The Russians were nothing if not subtle. Luckily, with three of them living in the Municipal Building, and two of the Knights specifically on watch for it, it became clear that they weren't the only guests here anymore, and that a pattern was emerging. Slowly, other officials from nearby cities, as well as high ranking military personnel were gathering, often ostensibly for other purposes, but so many at one time made it remarkably suspicious.

Especially when Francesca had been prepared to look for exactly these signs.

The most difficult aspect was getting out from under the watchful eye of the guard, but she also had a great deal of experience with that kind of thing as well, which is how she managed to secure herself an ideal place for spying on the proceedings.

Most of it was exactly what Wynn and Luthir had both feared for: some sides arguing for a military mobilization against the dark elves, or in other cases, both the drow and the sun elves, others arguing for trying to make another attempt at forging peace with the elves.

And of course, the prominent conversation topic of what role the Knights meant to play in this, and whether the drow ambassador could even be trusted.

** **
Meanwhile, the other end of the mission had finally reached fruition, with Christos, Thomas, and the squires collapsing in the tunnels at enough points to effectively cut off drow movements - hopefully right on time, as Thomas had also managed to "intercept" drow plans to invade the sun elf and human territories that night. While he planned to stay behind with Merlin and monitor things on the battle end of things, Christos slipped away, heading into the city, his squire at his heels.

After all, he'd made Francesca a promise, even if the tunnel process had taken more than the 'one day' he'd theorized.

[ooc;; please wait for the two threads to be up below. if anyone is not comfortable with where I've put their character in all this, please tell me and I will be more than willing to adjust/talk things out withyou! (I know I've talked to some of you, and figured those who haven't tagged the other mission posts yet might just want their bits handwaved, so we can move to the mission end)]

Comments

[socialgraces]

[She'll definitely choose the ducts, especially because it would be hard for many people to follow or find her in such a confined space. She, however, gets around with ease(Escape Artist check 32; Move Silently check 30) and is her usual sneaky self.]

[behindcloseddoors]

[ Most notable about the meeting is that Mayor Kotko is actually one of the most vocal proponents throughout it all of attempting to gain a peace with the sun elves. He argues for it rather passionately, professing to trust the Knights' motives - but it's clear that he is somewhat outnumbered on the issue, particularly by several of the military men, who smoke cigars, sport a number of medals on their lapels, and laugh cruelly at his speeches about making overtures to the sun elves.

The other officials seem split on where to fall, and don't speak much at all, besides to ask one or two questions which Kotko addressed in his meeting with Francesca. He's all too happy to lay out the Knights' response, but the General in particular is always quick to make a cutting dismissive comment, that sets the men into grim laughter, making the Mayor's point seem weak.

One man in particular, however, stands out, for how much he doesn't stand out at all. A short, mousy man, with a mustache making a vain attempt to grow above his lip, and tiny round spectacles that make his eyes bulge, he doesn't offer a single word through most of the meeting, though his lips twitch into a distortion of a smile at some of the most inappropriate moments. A strange light appears in his eyes whenever the dark elves are discussed, and he nervously fiddles with a pencil, tap-tap-tapping it against his legal pad. It's near the culmination of the argument that he speaks finally, tap-tap-tapping along with every word.]

Gentlemen - if I... if I may say a word?

[ The General continues laughing over his last bad joke, but waves a hand to signal him to go on, as he thumps back into his chair, obviously figuring he's been victorious in the debate. The mousy man clears his throat, and then says, in his thin voice: ]

No one has yet discussed the possibility of allying with the dark elves.

[ Many heads turn towards him, eyes widening in surprise, while others laugh, or give contemptuous snorts. He waits for all the comments of outrage to die down with nervous patience before continuing ]

I think the sun elves have more than -- more than proven unresponsive to our attempts at negotiations. But we may have something to-- to offer to the dark elves.

[socialgraces]

[Francesca silently observes the proceedings, and is not surprised by most of the arguments. The last one, however, gets her full attention. She searches for any indication of the man's name on or around him (Spot check 29), not knowing if it will mean anything to her or not.]

[behindcloseddoors]

[ The man is as nondescript as can be, unfortunately. Which in itself seems suspicious, but she would recognize him from a group portrait that hung in the Mayor's office during their meeting, where he was shaking Kotko's hand in the capitol.

He seems to have earned the full attention of most of the room as well, and the General snorts loudly, waving his cigar and saying in a boisterous tone:]

I've got plenty to offer to them: kilotons worth. [He laughs again at his own joke, and the little man's smile seems to stretch more tightly across his face. Finally, he says in that same quiet voice:]

Not what I was thinking, no.

[The Mayor's patience seems at an end with this, as he dabs at his forehead with a handkerchief.] What then? [His tone is testy, and he waves away a glass of water offered to him by an aide.]

Many things. [ The small man folds his hands on the table in front of him. ]

Resources.

[ His lips press together as if he's thinking for a moment, before he tacks on: ] Slaves might be a good start.

[ The mayor's jaw drops in outrage, as well as several others around the room. ] Are you mad?

[ The little man's response is a disturbing tittering noise as he shakes his head, still smiling ] Oh I think we're all a little mad in this day and age. It's the only way to survive in this brave new world of ours. But yes, slaves I think will do well... though I thought you might not see things my way.

[ His eyes take on a particularly dangerous shine abruptly, as he looks over his glasses at the Mayor. ] They thought so too.

[ It happens so quickly that most of the room hangs there in silence in the aftermath of the sudden hrk noise, the splash of red, the flash of silver. Staring as the blood blossoms across the Mayor's neck, split open as his head is jerked backwards, by some unseen force. The first thing to split the silence is the man's giggles, and his too calm, nervous little voice. ] It was good of you all to line up for us, at least. This will all go so much faster.

[socialgraces]

[Well that was certainly... very unexpected. She feels a slight tinge of guilt when the mayor gets taken down, but her adrenaline is quick to overrun it. She's torn between getting help or jumping in before it's too late. She's obviously quite outnumbered, but she doesn't think she can stomach watching anyone else get slaughtered right in front of her.

Christos was right -- this is NOT exciting.

She knows the drow will kill the spy soon enough, but he deserves to die now. She knows she has to go out there anyway, so she might as well enter with a bang (pun intended, of course). She takes her gun from its holster oh-so-quietly (Move Silently check 32) and aims it at that creepy guy's head.]

[behindcloseddoors]

[ Meanwhile, the room erupts into sudden chaos. The few military men who actually came armed with more than just their medals and cigars are reaching for their weapons, but they're the first ones to bleed after the Mayor. Precise cuts to throats make quick work of at least six of them simultaneously, while the helpless aides scream and cower from the invisible assailants, and the officials begin a wide gamut of panicked attempts to flee.

One of them, however, an older looking, distinguished man turns towards the mousey smiling figure, who sits unperturbed in the midst of the bloodshed, and points a finger at him.]

Traitor. [There's a smashing sound as his glass breaks against the edge of the table and he stalks in the little man's direction.]

[socialgraces]

[But before anyone makes it to him, the traitor's head literally explodes as a silent shot with a vengence hits him right in the forehead (called shot to head: attack 35, damage 28). As soon as she lands the shot, she twists around to angle her feet at the vent opening (escape artist check 33), ready to kick it in.

[behindcloseddoors]

[ The sudden head exploding manages to get the attention of a few of the invisible attackers apparently, because at least two of them are rendered visible when momentary hesitation proves enough for the remaining military men (including the General), to turn around and slam into them with brute force. They flicker into view upon impact - fully armored dark elf soldiers brandishing wicked looking swords and dark scowls.

Several of the aides moving to the doors find themselves running right into the waiting business ends of more invisible blades. The distinguished looking diplomat who meant to attack the traitor stands there, blood and brains spattered across his impeccably tailored suit jacket, and his eyes rake around the room, settling on the grate. ]

[socialgraces]

[Well, even if dude hadn't made her location s-so obvious, she was already planning on busting out of this vent. So she kicks it out (attack 22), quickly twists to give herself some cover and fires off two shots at visible drow soldier #1 (attacks 29 and 26) and both hit (for 18 damage).]

[behindcloseddoors]

[ The drow reels from the impact, turning in the direction of the sound of both the gunshots and the grate, which clatters to the floor. He shouts in drow: ] Up there! Kill her! [ The General stubs his cigars out into the eye of the soldier on top of him, and his scream of pain echoes through the room, mingling with the cries of those who have come to realize there's no escape from this death trap. The distinguished man turns towards the soldier who is pointing at Francesca, and buries the shards of his broken glass into the drow's neck, right above his armor. Blood spurts out everywhere, but the drow falls to his knees, eyes rolling back, and the sword falling from his hand.

But who knows how many invisible fuckers are making there way for Francesca now...]

[socialgraces]

[Well, now's a good time to disappear... but not really, she'll just turn invisible for a couple rounds and do her best. She'll actually jump down from the vent hoping to land on somebody because her invisibility doesn't disappear like theirs. And she makes a graceful tumble out of it (tumble check 26) to land on her feet.

To finish it off she'll swing the butt of the gun in her right hand hard to her right, aiming at head-level (melee attack 25 - 4 = 21; 8 damage if it hits anything). Still invisible herself, she waits to see if anyone "turns up" around her.]

[behindcloseddoors]

[She doesn't land on anyone, unfortnately... or hit anyone with her awesome attack 8( Stupid invisible people. Naturally, they have better luck because isn't that how it always goes... Something hard cracks against the back of her head for 10 damage.]

[socialgraces]

[She lets out a small noise of surprise at the attack, but is quick to keep herself from reeling (Will save 16). Instead, she makes quick to react, turning and making almost the same attack in the direction of the blow (attack 21, damage 8) before taking a small step back, holstering her gun and pulling a dagger.]

[behindcloseddoors]

[ The attack doesn't land on anything but air, but whoever came at her presses forward, and she can feel the whistle of a blade cutting through the air before it even lands. It slices into her shoulder (14 damage), though the next slice whizzes past her head.]

[socialgraces]

[She grits her teeth hard with the cut (Will save 17) and holds her invisibility for another round. But now she attacks a little more confidently (attacks of 24 and a crit of 26; damage 25), and as she brings her arm back for another jab she can feel the cut of steel slice through it (crit fail :( but a Will save of nat 20) but she holds it together enough to not drop her weapon. She'll probably pop back into view though, as it's too much to focus on at the moment.]

[behindcloseddoors]

[ The attack lands now, and the drow soldier materializes into visibility again as well, and his eyes widen when he sees that she's a drow as well. He practically spits in her face as he says the word: ] Iblith. [ And then he's swinging the blade again three times in succession, driving her backwards with wide curves of the sword, but not connecting.

Further screams echo around her on all sides, but it's impossible to keep track of who's dying when. ]

[socialgraces]

[Well that's not a friendly word, and she can't totally suppress the fear that accompanies hearing it from creeping up onto her face. She wants to re-assess the situation, as she's feeling quite overwhelmed now, but realizes she'll probably have to take at least this guy out to do that. She'll spring back at him, moving as quick as she can (attacks of 30, 16, 11) but only manages to sink in one stab (for 6 damage) as she tries to both watch him and her back.]

[behindcloseddoors]

[She's fast enough to keep him off balance, and he seems particularly enraged by her existence, which is only serving to make it easier to miss his wide maneuvers. Three more attacks cut the air around her, as she ducks and dodges out of their way.]

[socialgraces]

[She'll just keep going at him them, trying not to let him push her too far back (attacks 26, 24, 12), getting him twice this time (for 19 damage).]

[behindcloseddoors]

[ She stabs into his side, and he hisses in pain, a long string of drow curses slipping from his lips as he falls to his knees, eyes rolling back in his head. Yep. So very dead.

... But so is almost everyone else in the room, at least among the visible. The distinguished man is kneeling in the center, hands behind his head, a drow woman in a skanky dress standing over him with the smuggest expression on her face. ]

[socialgraces]

[Bitch please, she will throw this knife right at your face (for a nat 20 even 8| and 14 damage) Totally worth losing a dagger. She has another and pulls that one out immediately after letting go of her other one.]

[behindcloseddoors]

[The blade rakes right across the priestess' face, leaving a deep cut across her cheek and her head snaps to the side violently. When she lifts her face again, she howls, her eyes sparking with fury:]

BRING HER TO ME!

[ It becomes clear quickly enough that the diplomats didn't manage to take down very many of the inviso-drow... as several strong arms move to grab her from behind. With grapple checks of 26 and 27 o__o ]

[socialgraces]

[Yeah, that's way stronger than her, but she'll fight it nonetheless (with a Str check of 10) the whole way to her.]

[behindcloseddoors]

[She's slammed down onto her knees next to the other man, who looks over at her with wide eyes. They keep one hand on each shoulder, and the priestess glares down at her, blood dripping off her face. She raises one hand to wipe some of it away, and then looks down at her red streaked hand. Her features contort into a snarl, and then she brings her palm against Francesca's cheek with a loud smack (8 dmg). She speaks in the drow tongue.]

Tell me your name.

[socialgraces]

[Her head snaps with the impact, and she slowly turns it back to face front. Right now her mind is just reeling to find a way to save the man next to her, or to comfort him, even if it was merely false hope. But she comes up with nothing, her expression saddening for just the slightest second before she steels her face, eyes downcast. She refuses to answer such an insulting question. It's not going to save either of them anyway.

She just whispers to the man next to her, in English:] You fought valiantly. I'm so sorry this has happened to you. [Diplomacy check of 39 to comfort in face of death, help find acceptance, or whatever that might do.]