andres ♔ the terrifying rarity of truth

[bancroft]

♬ Haunt - Bastille

WHO || Thomas, Thoster, Brantley, David L., Andie
WHAT || The Knights intercept a boat shipping something to Andres Isle... with some high seas piracy
WHERE || The Atlantic Ocean
WHEN || December 9th, 2013, 6:00PM
HOW || Actionspam , single thread to start.  

The mission to intercept a shipment heading to Andres - one among many such mysterious deliveries that Wynn suspects have some sinister ties to the movements of Prime Minister Dimitris Sarandis' involvement in a Shadowkind slaver cult - is already off to an interesting start.  No sooner have the crew gotten aboard Thoster's pirate ship and headed out on a course that's meant to intercept the vessel then the winds start kicking up and dark thunderheads roll in on the horizon.  Lightning streaks the horizon as rain starts to fall, and Thomas stands on the deck, looking out with one foot up on the railing, frowning out. 

"Gonna be rough waters.  Not sure yet if that's going to work to our advantage or not."  

Comments

[fixyourproblem]

[Brantley cuts in to help when Thoster starts to walk.] Miss Dodge, why don't you take our captain, back to the ship and patch him up. Mr. Levin and I can take care of the rest. [He doesn't use the normal Sir because clearly the sailor still thinks that they're normal pirates and he doesn't want to give out any hint that they're the Knights.]

[asap]

[Andie makes a face at him. While it makes sense to not use the sir thing, there's no reason to go with something like Miss.] Oh, come on, it's Andie, or at least Ms you don't have to go all-- [She catches sight of Thoster and gender rants vanish when she sees what bad shape she's in.] Thoster!

[bluffcheck]

I'm fine. [He says at first to David, but then everyone's chiming in and Thoster's pride is just as wounded as his... well the rest of him.] I said I'm fine, lass. And I'm not going anywhere. [He directs that bit to Brantley before giving him and David a glance.]

Just kill the bastard so we can be done with it. [Thomas can't be seen. Leaving any of them alive isn't an option as far as he's concerned.]

[bancroft]

[ the sailor's eyes widen in fear and he lofts both hands defensively ] Don't be hasty! Take what you want, you don't have to kill me!

[fixyourproblem]

[Brantley hears Andie, but he is unresponsive, there is more pressing matter than naming convention. He also doesn't budge much when Thoster gives him that glance, but when the captain commands them to kill the man, he replies loudly.]

What!? We don't need to kill him. He has agreed to cooperate.

[Brantley is sensitive about lifes and he is already pissed about the content of the cargo, so he sounds a little angry.]

[asap]

Of course we're not killing him. [Wow Thoster you were doing SO WELL. But now Andie's giving him a super disapproving look. YOU CAN'T JUST KILL PEOPLE.] We can just... knock him out or something. And tie him up! There're about to be a lot of open manacles.

[bluffcheck]

Happy that the both of you have such compassion for filth like this, but don't forget about our dear friend back on the ship. Can't show his face if any are left alive.

[generaldavideus]

He surrendered.

[David is going to throw his lot in the moral police. Sorry, Thoster.]

We're not killing him. We'll put him somewhere else on the ship. Or we can knock him out - I'm not really opposed to either.

[bluffcheck]

[Outnumbered and injured, Thoster is pretty surly about the whole thing. But he's not really in any shape to try to convince them or go about doing it himself.]

Fine- if you won't do what needs to be done, bind him, blindfold him, and for gods' sakes gag him so we don't have to listen to him.

[generaldavideus]

[Well, that settles it.

David moves over to take the man gently by the arm (grapple 11), before leading him to another end of the boat to tie him up and blindfold him (dexterity 8) though possibly not very well, someone might want to double check that.]

[fixyourproblem]

[Brantley feels a little bit relieved that they won't kill the man. He follows David and helps him ties the sailor.]

Why don't you help the other release the prisoners? I'm going to interrogate him first. You could stay if you want, of course.

[He whisper to David. Though a low-level thug wouldn't give much info, even the tiniest hint could help in the fight against Sarandis. He usually uses peaceful diplomatic approaches to gain info, but one of the perks of having a hard-boiled detective brother is knowing how rougher negotiation works.]

Listen, if you fully cooperate, I'll make sure you get out of this without losing a finger. I can help you disappear from the system so you can live your life peacefully if you want to. But if you think your loyalty to whoever employs you is more important that your life, I know ways to make you doubt your loyalty, and it will be painful. Understand? [He calmly offers his deal to the man. He really doesn't want to use the latter but he will if he needs to. (diplomacy 29)]

[bancroft]

[ the sailor frowns beneath his blindfold ] Yeah. Yeah I understand.

[generaldavideus]

[David shrugs, deciding that's good enough for him, and with that, he'll wander back to Thoster and Andie.]

Where do we start?

[bluffcheck]

We need to get those people free. [His voice drops a bit lower because he DOES NOT TRUST THAT SAILOR even if he did surrender.] Need to get back to Thomas, too- tell him what we found.

[Patching himself up is not on his list of priorities. Mission first.]

[asap]

You do that. We can take care of the freeing part. [This may have to do with how beat up he's looking, but her tone is still a little frosty. WE CAN'T JUST KILL PEOPLE, THOSTER. She holds out a hand for the key.] Don't argue, they've already been waiting forever.

[Or a few minutes. Same thing.]

[bluffcheck]

[Dropping the key in her hand, he just nods.]

Be careful, lass. No way to know if this ship holds more surprises for us.

[But he turns and heads back to jump back to his own ship (jump 17), heading down below to find the Dragon's Claw.]

Bancroft?

[bancroft]

[ thomas lofts an eyebrow at his condition instantly, arms folded where he sits atop a crate ] That went well, I see.

[bluffcheck]

[Really, bro? Can we leave the man's pride intact at least.]

Afraid I'm not quite used to gun fights just yet. One of them left on the ship, but he surrendered and it seems my crew is full of better people than I. They've got him tied up and blindfolded for now.

[And now for the actual news.]

The cargo. It's... people. Not sure how many. Andie and David are setting to get them out of their chains.

[bancroft]

[ thomas nods darkly, but doesn't look surprised. ] Good thing we played our hunch then. Remember to keep up the pirate charade - we should leave one alive to tell the tale, or Sarandis will likely suspect us anyway, when the captives go missing. [ he claps thoster on the shoulder as he moves past him and a bright light surges through his palm, restoring all the man's hit points. ] A job well done. Let's try to finish clean - and get these people to freedom.

[bluffcheck]

[BLESS YOU, YOU BEAUTIFUL BASTARD. Thoster stands straighter.]

You're full of surprises, aren't you? [He says with a grin.] You want to wait here while we wrap up? You're welcome to join us to ransack the place.

[What? PIRATE CHARADE MEANS HE GETS TO LOOT]

[bancroft]

Does that mean the remaining sailor's locked out of sight?

[bluffcheck]

Not sure where they've put him, but they blindfolded him before I left. Have him tied up and got Brantley questioning him, for now. If that's not enough, I'll go ahead and make sure he's secured. Just say the word.

[You healed him, okay. You can do whatever you want.]

[fixyourproblem]

[One of the ways of detecting lies is through the eye. So he unties the blindfold. Using his knowledge in psychology, he focuses his mind and eyes to detect any signs of lie for the upcoming questions. (Sense motives 22)]

What's your name and who do you work for?

[Though it might seem trivial, asking basic questions is to establish baseline and lower the guard.]

And who are those people and other than them, do you carry other kind of cargo?

[bancroft]

"Emile." [ the man squints up at him for a moment, clearly suspicious of being blindfolded then having it removed seconds later. his eyes dart over brantley's shoulder, then back to meet his gaze. ] "And look, I don't know much about what we're shipping, it's just a job." [ whiiiich is very ostensibly not the full story.

IN THE MEANTIME, thomas strolls up top on the other ship, waving a hand. ] No need. I've faith in the crew.

[bluffcheck]

Well placed faith, that it is. I'm man enough to admit that if not for them, I'd be dead. [Thoster joins Thomas topside on his ship.]

After you, then.