london ♔ this is a bad town for such a pretty face

[wynn]

WHO || Wynn, Val'drin, Helen, Francesca, Eric, Lila,  Tia, Grant Peterson, Audrey Peterson, Peter Jayson, various others [closed]
WHAT || A mission gets personal when a cult takes a member of the Knights hostage
WHERE || London, England
WHEN || April 2nd, 10:30 AM  [backdated]
HOW || Actionspam or prose

This is exactly the kind of mess that the Knights like to avoid, and having two missions become very public spectacles in the course of less than a year is not doing much to keep Wynn's hair from turning... oh, wait.

It's already a media circus when the team flies out there in a helicopter that carries Francesca, Eric, Tia, and Lila. Across the street, Wynn has usurped the top floor of an office building to keep an eye on the situation. He watches the screens broadcasting the video taken by the three going on with a tense eye, along with Val'drin and Helen, who are here to consult. Below, the police have blockades of cars, officers, and police line keeping the civilians and reporters back, under orders of Chief of Police Jared O'Keefe.

The Bell 212 chopper hovers for a minute above the building, enough so that Eric can toss a long rope down to dangle over the top floor balcony in the southeast corner. He looks back over his shoulder at Lila, giving her an encouraging but grim nod, and then pulls his SWAT helmet on and grasps the rope, turning around and then hopping back as he slides down. (climb 12) the dc is 10 to climb down, and you are allowed to "take 10" (assume a roll of 10) if you don't have a negative strength score.

Comments

[telekinection]

[ there's a flurry of activity in the tent below, most of the hostages milling around or being checked by professionals, and helen doesn't catch sight of audrey at first.

upstairs, eric leads lila out and tia turns a questioning look at him. he merely looks back at her and then offers francesca and tia a very tight lipped shake of the head. ]

[daredtobelieve]

[Well... that just won't do. Helen grabs the nearest person who appears like they work here.]

I need to find Audrey Petersen. And quickly. [And then she gives Val'drin a look. Because he is there. And I am a moron.]

[valdrin]

[ one of the medics points them towards where grant and audrey are seated, getting checked over, one hand over her heart as grant frets. val'drin meets helen's gaze and nods, heading that way. ]

[daredtobelieve]

[Following after Val'drin, Helen gives both Petersens a quick glance to assess their condition.]

We're here to help. [And keep them here in this area. But mostly to help.]

[antiquaria]

Helen. [ grant sounds relieved to see his fellow researcher, and nods at them both. ] They're... they're going to take Audrey to the hospital. She's been through worse than most of us.

[daredtobelieve]

I'm afraid there's been a change of plans, Grant. We need everyone to stay put for now. If there's any injuries that need immediate attention, I can certainly willing to assist.

[mislabeled]

It's not an injury, it's my heart. [ audrey looks testily at the medic, who shakes his head sadly at helen.

"I'm sorry, ma'am, but she's right. She's experiencing chest pains, and we already have an ambulance ready for her." ]

[daredtobelieve]

The ambulance will have to wait. [Helen turns her attention to him, hoping that he realizes she's coming in with orders from Wynn without her needing to say that.] I won't let any harm come to you, Mrs. Petersen. And without trying to sound rude- I'm far more equipped to assist with any chest pains you're having than the paramedics or ER staff might.

[Diplomacy 29 to convince everyone to calm the fuck down and stay put.]

[socialgraces]

[ francesca looks grim at eric's nod, clearly wanting an explanation, but later when she's not forcing down the bile in her throat from the sudden lull in adrenaline.

she turns to tia as she finishes her bandage job on the hostage, the best work she can do up here, at least. ] Let's move her out of here.

1/2

[sirstickuphisass]

[ eric nods twice, sparing lila a glance before helping francesca get the hostage up and moving. ]

[mislabeled]

[ the paramedic frowns, obviously unhappy with the proposition since he don't know who you are, ok. or who wynn is. HE IS JUST A PARAMEDIC.

"You're a doctor?" he asks.

audrey looks between them, and then reaches into her pocket to pull out a little bottle. ] You know what? I forgot I had my pills with me. If I take these, I shouldn't need any help at all. [ she twists the top off while grant frowns at her in a moment of what looks like bewilderment, but then she slams down the whole bottle, and the way she swallows makes it look like it was a liquid - not pills at all. she turns to grant with a frown and a sigh. ] I really hoped things wouldn't go this way, darling. It could have all been so much simpler for everyone.

[socialgraces]

[ let's assume the four of them, plus one injured hostage, are toddling off the elevator now and out toward the paramedics, so they can walk in on whatever is about to happen o__o ]

[daredtobelieve]

[Well, Helen has her gun back out and up at the ready . Because nothing about that sounds good.]

Grant, get away from her. Now. [She focuses on the woman once more.]What is it? What have you done?

[mislabeled]

[ grant's head whips towards helen, incredulity written all over his features. "Helen, what--" but he makes no move to step away from her, his body language protective still, however confused he may be. audrey just gives helen a tight smile, a strange bitterness entering her eyes as she says firmly: ]

What I had to.

[ with that, her body seems to turn into mist before their eyes, as if she evaporates. a spellcraft check of 18+ can identify it as gaseous form. ]

[daredtobelieve]

[Helen doesn't have training in spellcraft. She has been around magic enough to not be entirely confused why a person is evaporating, though. SHE HAS SEEN SOME SHIT. She also got a will save of 25 to not lose her shit.]

Bloody hell- she's getting away!

[antiquaria]

[ a spot check of 15+ catches the wisp of strangely translucent gas that leaks out beneath the tent. grant looks panicked. ] Will someone tell me what the hell is going on?!

[daredtobelieve]

I have no idea but none of it's good.

[socialgraces]

[ as they approach the tent, francesca's still careful helping the injured woman along, but she's not sure what to expect when they actually reach the tent, so she's observant for anything (spot 21). which is probably why she notices that wisp of smoke, but she, too, is not very familiar with magic or spells and has no way of putting two and two together about audrey until she's actually inside.

here they come, francesca, eric, lila, tia and injured woman, into the tent, most looking a little worse for wear and some covered in copious amounts of blood (ie. francesca and woman who was shot).

francesca looks between helen and grant, her eyes finally settling on val'drin for a small amount of comfort before she and eric settle the woman on a nearby stretcher and the paramedics take over her care. she looks exhausted tbh and a little shaken up. ] Did you find her?

[valdrin]

We did -- and now she's vanished on us. [ he moves to her side, waving after the wisp ] She had an escape plan.

[socialgraces]

[ she looks at him, confused ] Vanished? That's some kind of escape plan.

[telekinection]

[ tia comes in right behind them, looking around wildly, and then turning a sympathetic eye on grant. ] This whole thing was unnecessarily convoluted. That's what I could read in her thoughts - this hostage scenario wasn't even real.

It was a distraction.

[daredtobelieve]

A distraction from what, exactly?

[bittersweeter]

[ nbd just standing here consumed by guilt. maybe she should have used less trigger happy psychopaths as the hostage takers if it wasn't for real. ]

[telekinect]

It was a cover operation. Grant collects artifacts, some of which he keeps in the penthouse. With the destruction that would be caused by the hostage situation and subsequent counterstrike, it would be easy for someone to assume anything missing been destroyed in the process.

Instead of stolen.

[socialgraces]

Stolen by Audrey, then? [ she turns to grant ] I take it you've never had any suspicions?