brazil ♔ even just a sound and all your cards are down

[luthir]

WHO || Belle, Luthir, Koraith, Violet, Robin, Reynard [closed]
WHAT || Settling into the mission HQ
WHERE || The Atlantic rainforest of Brazil
WHEN || April 5th (superbackdating go)
HOW || Actionspam

The Knight's plane touches down outside of the forest perimeter, as there's no accessible clearing anywhere close enough to the site that's not choked with machinery responsible for... making more clearings. And landing on top of them all might be dramatic, but perhaps not the subtle touch this mission calls for.

They disembark and head out through the rainforest in a little buggy, until they can't drive much further without being entirely conspicuous, so they pull it over and get out, about a ten minute walk from the site.

Koraith turns to them, his massive form annoyed by fronds brushing against his head, which he's forced to repeatedly brush back.

"Well! I suppose this is as good a place as any to suggest splitting up. In some ways, our problem is three-fold: we must stop the machines as soon as possible, contact the dryads to make certain they know help has arrived and don't escalate things prematurely, and, of course, speak to the foreman."

Comments

[smugfox]

Reynard leaned against a tree, wishing for a different forest a lot more north, because he wasn't feeling too thrilled about the heat here and just hanging hit tongue out and panting wasn't generally something he did outside of fox form.

He listened to Koraith and considered the two tasks at hand, looking from Violet to Robin and back again before finally snapping his fingers.

"Dryads like men, don't they? Robin, you should just take your shirt off and go talk to them. That should keep things from escalating."

He paused, tilting his head to the side.

"At least from escalating in any way having to do with the problem."

[untethered]

I don't know that we should bank our entire plan over anyone being smitten by the sight of our friends' chests. [ still, she sounds entertained by the notion, but adds, to robin: ] No offense to your chest of course. I'm sure it's a... very nice one. [ she pats him on it, just a wee bit condescendingly ]

[graveflowers]

[Wow Belle, life ruiner. Violet was looking forward to that, she looks a little disappointed. But she's a team player, so she raises her hand like a little kid.]

Sans rippling pectorals, I can befriend the dryads. Better with plants than people anyway.

[koraith]

It is likely best if I speak to the foreman. This sort of diplomacy is my area of expertise, after all.

[faeconman]

[ Belle is getting herself a raised eyebrow for that. ]

Why, thank you.

[ Then he adds to the group at large: ]

I'll go wherever you think I'd be the most useful, with or without shirt.

[ Hey, if you guys think his abs would help anything, he's willing to take one for the team. ]

[luthir]

I know how to move through this sort of terrain, so I might be best suited in attempting to contact the forest denizens as well. [ he looks to reynard and robin ] Are the two of you capable of sabotage, or would you prefer I accompany you?

[smugfox]

Oh, I'm capable of sabotage, alright. I'm pretty sure it's on top of my resume.

[He looks over at Robin and holds out a hand.]

Let's do it? You'll probably stay dressed.

[faeconman]

[ Robin goes to join Reynard and briefly shakes his hand, as if they've just made a deal. ]

You're on.

[untethered]

Then Sir Koraith and I will attempt to contact the foreman, and the sabotage team can meet up with us once they've halted the machines?

partying wit da dryads | luthir & vi

[luthir]

[ as they split off from the rest of the party, the very way in which luthir moves shifts as he begins ghosting through the trees (move silently 19; hide 30). he keeps a close eye out among the dense forestation, but it's that he doesn't have a set path in mind: he's just exploring and looking for signs of inhabitants. (search checks yo) ]

[graveflowers]

[Vi isn't as inconspicuous (hide 21) with her pink Converse, but she's crazy silent (move silently nat 20) like the forest wants her in it. She returns the sentiments, following Luthir gently, careful not to disturb anything as she goes. She doesn't see anything out of the ordinary though, slightly distracted just by watching him -- not even in an 'oh hey pretty' way, but in an awed, 'how does he do that?' way. (Spot 7, Listen 8)

She's nervous though, for all her bravado, because if she fails and the dryads just launch an all out war, they could be so badly hurt. Her nerves make a tell-tale trail of wildflowers in her wake though.

She silently scampers to catch up with him, a leaf in the wind.]

Maybe we should just ask someone to come out? It's not like they don't know we're here.

[luthir]

You may have a point. [ he pauses to look back at her and then up at the trees again ] Would you care to...?

[graveflowers]

[Why her?]

Um. Sure.

[She walks away a couple paces, frowning slightly. Do they speak Spanish in Brazil or was that the one country that spoke Portuguese? Not that it matters very much because she can only say hello in Spanish, but maybe it would be like an A for effort?]

So hey. Hi, Dryads. Can we talk?

[Yeah. Princess material right here.] I knew this Redwood, back home, she'd love this place. I mean, sweat all over the place and it's probably physically impossible, but man. She was a sucker for ferns. Which... isn't me trying to suck up, I just thought of it.

[luthir]

[ there's no response, merely the sounds of jungle around them... and finally Luthir awkwardly adds: ] I meant to speak to them with your gift.

[graveflowers]

[Oh.]

Oh.

Of course.

[Horrifyingly embarrassed, she just ignores all that. Especially because she doesn't actually speak to dryads that way, she's used to them just sliding from their trees and smacking her and then streaking off in the most impromptu games of tag ever.

Well, maybe she's just meant to make a point? Speak friend and enter? She can do that. Probably.

Wandering over to a fallen tree, she crouches down next to the gnarled roots. She can't bring it back to life, but she's Roman. They believed in reincarnation, especially in nature: from death comes new life. Her fingers press to the rough bark. Nothing happens for a moment, more silence, until the dead tree cracks and a newborn tree shoots out, skinny and fragile, tiny green leaves pushing out of the branches.]

'sup, little man.

[luthir]

[ luthir watches with interest, but his head snaps up as a rustling breaks through the trees. SPOT CHECK. ]

[graveflowers]

[Well she sure did crit fail that, busy making friends with a baby tree.]

sab-o-taghe | reynard & robin

[luthir]

[ the sabotage team is pointed towards the forest clearing... although it's difficult to miss it from the loud sounds of trees being cut down and crashing to the ground, and the whirring of machinery disturbing the serenity of the jungle. either way, if they are sneaking closer to scout out the scene, they can make move silently, hide, spot, and listen checks. c: ]

[faeconman]

All right, before we get close enough to risk getting noticed... Any bright ideas?

[ Because while he might have suggested it, this really isn't Rob's field of expertise, and Reynard did say sabotage is at the top of his resume so might as well let the guy take the lead here. ]

[smugfox]

My idea would have been to wait for nightfall, but apparently knights work by day. Probably to avoid confusion and puns.

[Reynard rubbed the back of his neck, thoughtful for a few moments, then he looked around himself, other senses as active as his eyes.]

I think, for now, I'll try to get a closer look. Enough creatures here that I should hardly be noted.

[With that he started to walk toward the machines, shifting into the form of a fox mid-step after just a few seconds and without a pause. Moving quicker past the trees now, he made his way toward the machines now, ducking through the underbrush and stopping when he managed to take a good position to inspect the machines.]

[luthir]

[ indeed, the workers pay no attention to the little animal. most of them seem to be locals, yelling in portuguese as they swing their heavy cranes and cutting equipment around. a few of the men seem to be on break in some half-falling apart fold out chair, playing cards and drinking beers. ]

[faeconman]

[ Well... that was unexpected. Robin files the fact that his partner on this mission turns into a fox at the drop of a hat away for further consideration later and leans against a tree to wait for Reynard's return. ]

[smugfox]

[Shifting into a fox wasn't the most impressive ability, on a larger scale and it became even less useful in potential when everyone and their mother knew about this. But with Robin it had been unavoidable, teamed up like they were.

Reynard had no trouble coming close, barely even noticeable as he stayed close to the trees. He ducked closer to one of the machines not in movement, to get a sense about how to enable them.

This really would be easier if they did it after dark.]

[luthir]

[ from his vantage point, reynard may make either a craft (mechanical) or disable device skill check to try to discern how the machinery operates. a 13 or higher shows him where all the levers are to control it / turn it on and off etc. a 16 or higher lets him see all the essential engine bits and where they are. ]

[smugfox]

[He actually manages to roll a 14, but, well, he can't even drive a car, much less operate heavy machinery. He's fairly confident in his ability to wreck stuff even without knowing how precisely it works.

So he takes what knowledge he can gain and returns to Robin, shifting back once he's by the man's side.]

This would really be easiest if we waited until they stopped for the day. Is that an option?