new orleans ♔ sing like it's going to be your last day

[romanticidal]

♬ Happy Birthday Song - Andrew Bird

WHO || Thomas, Jack, Gar, Kat, Dumage, Mark, Myri, Buffy, Finnick, Spike, Rafael, Des, Elena [Closed]
WHAT || Various downtime shenanigans
WHERE || Various locations, New Orleans
WHEN || Sunday Nov 18th, night through Mon, November 26th, 2012 [Backdated]
HOW || Actionspam, don't sweat tag order! Feel free to threadjack everywhere too :)

[ The last mission was something of a mixed bag: while Thomas' team successfully infiltrated the underground levels, discovering the truth about Chad & company's diabolical experiments grafting human DNA into Shadowkind in an attempt to make their human mind control technology work on Shadow, the team searching for the relics ran afoul of Iscariot agent, Alexander Anderson. The deadly regenerator was there to kill Rafael, but Jack held him off long enough for the others to escape. Meanwhile, Finnick and Myri learned some interesting information about the state of affairs at NOVA Records...

This log covers any work and non-work related shenanigans the Knights have while staying in New Orleans, immediately following the last log and extending over the next week. This will be the Knight's last week in New Orleans before they return to the castle for the holidays / do some other filler things so we can catch up to the rest of the world chronologically. (except for characters who have IC reasons not to).

Make your own threads, don't fuss about tag order, feel free to threadjack multiple people into one thread for hang-outs, ask me if you want a certain scene with an NPC, etc. forever whatever. There will be a few group scenes, which I'll alert everyone to on Plurk. They may not all be posted immediately, so keep an eye on this post for new threads as time goes by. ]

Comments

[slay]

[ between the boost that the word woman invariably gives, and the fact that he really really means that, pride swells in buffy's expression in the form of a slow-building smile that reaches her eyes. they prickle, growing glossy, and she decides it's as good a time as any to hurl herself forward and throw her arms around jack's neck, pulling him into a hug that he'd better deal with one way or another. ]

[shootfirst]

I'd already downloaded all their experimental data before you guys even got there. And then I uploaded a virus that took all of it out on their connected servers. In other words, it'll hopefully set them back awhile and give us a chance to analyze what they've been up to.

[65]

[w o w that makes finnick really uncomfortable because that kind of shit exists where he came from and they're called mutts. that's ... the opposite of things he missed from home. .o.]

How long is awhile?

[dragonsclaw]

[ he doesn't seem to see it coming at all, and looks totally thrown off as he's drawn into the hug. but then he relaxes and returns it with polite warmth, before drawing back and squeezing her arms. ]

I'll take that as your acceptance?

[slay]

No way. I was only in it until you saw how good you had it. Now, it's sayonara and hello greener pastures. [ buffy rolls her eyes, socking him lightly in the arm. ] Of course it's acceptance.

[dragonsclaw]

I imagine that's difficult for us to project, given that I suspect the experiments you discovered here are linked to further efforts being conducted on Andres' Isle, under the direction of their Prime Minister.

[slay]

Anyone else miss when this mission was all "let's just find the shiny rock"? [ buffy raises her hand, searching for solidarity among her teammates. slowly, she lowers her hand. ] Right.

Okay, so maybe the data will tell us what exactly they want their brain-zombie Shadowkind to do. Meanwhile, those in favor of blowing up every icky zombie lab we can find ... ? [ it's gross. it's unethical. it's a big hot mess that buffy wants to cockblock at any turn she possibly can. don't blame her for the explodey approach. ]

[notaroundme]

[Elena looks a little shocked.]

Their Prime Minister?

[She glances around, look for other reactions.]

...that's a big deal, isn't it?

[chessing]

I'm entirely relieved. [ /gentle sarcasm ] It's been an honor to be your Knight, and I'll remain at your service even after you've been made official.

And I still intend to take you to meet Hellsing, if you're bent on that course.

1/-

[shootfirst]

He's supposed to be one of the big bad enemies of all Knight-kind, but I missed the Euro Civ lesson as to why. Other than the obvious evil cult connection we've been dealing with here, but I figure there's gotta be more to it if he's been on our radar so long. [ she looks to the dragon's claws, folding her arms. ] So what's the deal?

[slay]

If they're half as crazy as Iscariot, you won't hear a peep of protest outta me. I'm sure Anderson's a hit at parties, buuut considering what a great start we got off to, I'm not ruling out fighting our way outta any meeting with Hellsing.

2/-

[bancroft]

[ thomas looks up from where he's got one foot up on the ledge by the window, leaning on his knee and looking out. his expression is rather serious... for thomas. ]

He's a piece of work. [ he looks back at jack, obviously deciding who's going to tell the story. ] For those unfamiliar with the country, Andres' Isle is a small nation off the coast of France. Tiny, really, and in many ways, seen as impossibly backwards, in that they've long held out against the sprawl of technology that's swept across so much of their part of Europe. Many have said that stepping on the island is a great deal like stepping back in time. They wouldn't be wrong.

But the Isle now is a great deal different than it was years ago. I remember that Andres quite vividly. [ he sounds distantly sound, and it's clear that to him, it feels like only yesterday ]

3/-

[dragonsclaw]

[ ♬ many funerals - eisley

jack picks up the tale, sensing thomas' mood. ]

The country was long ruled by a monarchy. The Andres family, old, powerful, and aristocratic. Not to mention almost universally beloved, by no one so much as their own kingdom.

Dimitris Sarandis first came to power as the late King William's adviser, nearly twenty years ago. He remained close to the family for the next decade, serving as an invaluable resource to the King.

And then one morning ...the Queen was found, murdered in her own bed while the King had been abroad. A search of her quarters revealed a secreted letter in a hidden compartment beside her bed: a half finished letter from the Queen, voicing her suspicions towards the Royal's only son, the young Crown Prince, whom she believed to be plotting actively against his own parents.

The penmanship was proven to be the Queen's, and the young prince... was arrested and thrown into the dungeons of the castle to await trial for high treason and murder. The country was sickened: the prince had been entirely adored by his own people, and that he might have hidden such a dark nature threw them into a panic.

Things were further upset when Dimitris and the guards discovered the King attempting to smuggle the prince out of the dungeons in the middle of the night. A battle ensued. The prince was slain. The King was taken - and beheaded for treason as well. The country fell into a complete uproar. And it was Sarandis who seemed prepared for this eventuality, entirely. With the support of many of Andres' prominent nobles, he made a political push to cast aside the corrupt monarchy, and replace it with a parliamentary system that would represent the will of the people.

It succeeded, and to the surprise of few, Sarandis was elected Prime Minister. The Parliament was packed with his supporters, and Andres began to 'rebuild.'

While on the surface, they seemed to thrive, it was the darker undercurrent of this new "Parliament"'s rule that attracted our attention. Sarandis' anti-Shadowkind sentiments were impossible to ignore. And the more we investigated matters, the more dire the situation revealed itself to be.

Sarandis is, essentially, a dictator in all but name, and manipulative enough to have secured himself the position without a single tarnish on his reputation.

4/4

[bancroft]

Before the events of that fateful night, there were rumors, that seem to have been effectively stamped down after Sarandis came to power. That he lusted after the Queen, saw himself as in love with her, even. I don't think it takes a genius to ascertain the possibilities of what hand he had in the 'treason' that occurred.

[dragonsclaw]

As entertaining as the thought may be, I wouldn't recommend picking a fight with them either.

kat ♔ (ota.)

[shootfirst]

[ kat's got a new spell 8D and your character's about to find it out the hard way while she's practicing. it's effectively an EMP that shuts down all power in an area for four minutes. all of it. cars, lights, tv, computers, everything. you can pick where your character is and what they're doing when the blackout goes down. /o/ ]

thomas ♔ (ota.)

[bancroft]

[ in a quiet moment near sunset, you might be lucky enough to catch thomas in a contemplative mood. but to do so, you'll have to have scaled to the hotel's roof, where he sits with one knee drawn up beneath his arm, the other leg hanging off the side as he watches night descend on the city. ]

mark ♔ (ota.)

[nosdacariad]

[ anyone who actually pays attention might notice that mark's been acting... kind of off lately. for a few weeks, really, but anyone who catches him out in the hallway with the vending machine tonight might notice an escalation. his bag of cheetos has gotten stuck, and he bams his hand against the glass once, twice, then violently a third time, almost too violently, as if he's taking out some seriously unnecessary aggression here. ]

[witchwoman]

[Myri tries to pay attention, but Mark is quiet enough that it's hard to tell when he's acting all that different.

Until he assaults vending machines, that is.]

...Mark?

[nosdacariad]

[ his tone is more snapped than she's ever heard it as he goes: ] What? [ and then seems to recognize the voice and runs a hand down his face, trying to sound less crazy ] What.

[nothingsodivine]

[Des, who has been occupied with hiding until his wounds healed and hoping no one talks too much about why the fuck that happened, finally emerges just in time to hear that story.]

My favorite kind of bedtime story. But I'm with Blondie. We can't let that lab just sit. The island's not going anywhere for now and we've got plenty of loose ends that need tying up right here.

[witchwoman]

But if he has control of the Isle, why are the experiments here? Why not there?

[witchwoman]

[She steps closer, cautiously. It's Mark, so she's not scared, but... still not the most stable human right now.]

Everything okay?

1/2

[postergirl]

[ someone else came in partway through this conversation. and here she stands in the archway to the living room, looking smug ] I wouldn't be so fast to make that call, Desmond. We've got some juicy information that I'm sure you're all dying to hear, which just so happens to have to do with this little fairytale of yours. [ over her shoulder, she says: ] Mark, darling, why don't you come tell them what you told me?

[nosdacariad]

[ mark, who was hovering behind her, steps forward hesitantly. his expression is somewhat grim as he looks at her, then the others, then squares his jaw. ]

... We found out where the Talisman is.