andres ♔ but what he told me last night lays on me like lead

[affianced]

♬ dear ophelia - abney park

WHO || Buffy, Myri, Finnick, Spike, Kat, Gar, Archer, Des, Rafael, Fred Jr., Vi, Rocket, Lara, Dimitris  [Closed]
WHAT || A diplomatic mission to Andres Isle goes about as successfully as one would guess
WHERE || Andres Isle
WHEN || August 15th  [backdated]
HOW || Actionspam. Single thread.

Even the briefing for this mission went well, with Wynn walking in on Dragon's Claw Jack Chessing macking on Sir Gar, in direct violation of his vows of, er, abstinence, both romantically and physically.   Following the briefing, and the team's attempts to make Wynn see reason in the face of Jack's resignation, they gathered up a large amount of weapons of all kinds into their private plane and took off for Andres Isle.  

Upon arrival, they found the island did not match up to their expectations.  Instead of fields of torture, they found themselves in a very upscale part of the city, full of affluent manor houses close to the palace.   They spun a cover story upon learning about a party there, using Finnick's celebrity on Andres to get access to the festivities.  

Inside, they met Dimitris Sarandis, Prime Minister of Andres Isle, who invited them to stay for the party, which was being thrown in honor of Countess Lara Tamon, who had helped Jack, Spike and Myri escape from their torment on the Isle.  They took the opportunity to chat up the local aristocracy, picking up the vibe that most of them had either benefited from Dimitris' rise to power, or were too afraid to stand up to him.  Spike talked to the Marquesse de Lyons, and learned that her son, Percy, had been a friend of the late Prince's, and had died shortly after voicing his belief that Sarandis had framed the Andres family in order to seize power.   Archer was shocked to find his manservant Woodhouse employed at the palace, and extra annoyed to learn that he didn't remember him.  For once, Archer found a reason to care about liberating the Andresians... if not purely for selfish reasons.

The party itself was to announce the breaking of the betrothal that had long stood between Lara and the late Prince, even after his death, a blemish on the reputation of the Tamon family that Sarandis sought to rectify by arranging a new betrothal: between Lara and her childhood friend, Lord Michael de Collines (aka Michael Collins).  Neither of them seemed particularly thrilled about the arrangement.  Lara managed to sneak a message to Myri to meet her that night under the bridge.

Following the announcement, the gang went to speak to Sarandis in private and find out his demands for the safe return of Sir Thomas Bancroft.  He wasted no time in making clear his position - he painted the Knight's vigilante attitude towards policing the world as the ultimate evil, and warned that no more Knights would set foot on Andres, lest they be killed.  He also demanded that Wynn himself bring the artifact Excalibur to the island to give to him - so that Dimitris could behead Wynn in exchange for Thomas' life.  The demands were met with outrage by the Knights, and in the face of their fear that Thomas was not even still alive, Sarandis agreed to let one of them stay the night to speak with the Dragon's Claw.   He specified that Kat be the one to stay, and despite protests, she agreed, and convinced Gar to let her stay.  

The other Knights headed back into town, where Gar, Fred Jr., and Vi headed to the nearby hotel to wait to hear from Kat, and be ready in case they should need to reach the palace quickly.  The others headed to the bridge across the river, where they met with Lara and her friend Lord Dana Green, another of her childhood friends.  They explained the situation on the Isle, and how many of the younger generation wished to see things returned to the way they'd been before, but the challenges they faced in doing so seemed almost insurmountable to them.  Lara expressed her fears that toppling Sarandis' rule would only wind up putting Andres in an even worse position.  They also related how Dimitris had created programs and taxes that had basically banished Shadowkind to the other side of the river and left them all but destitute, all while pumping more and more money into the coffers of the rich, particularly those serving on his Parliament.   She secured the Knights' promise to help in every way they could, and Myri asked her to show the way back into the woods where she'd found them before.

Finnick, Archer, and Rafael crossed the bridge into the Shadow village to do some recon, and spoke with a local tavern owner/dwarf who related that people down here were turning up missing more and more often - likely to feed Dimitris' experiments in the woods.  They seemed largely disheartened, but could potentially be talked into fighting if giving the means to do so.

In the woods, the others ran across a strange talking raccoon named Rocket, who was running for his life from a beholder, which the party managed to take down.  They discovered that Rocket had escaped from captivity in Dimitris' labs, and he was none too happy at the prospect of going back, even to show them where it was.  They argued briefly over the best course of action - whether the break out would be the best or worse time to try to make their way into the lab, particularly given that Dimitris had Kat as well now. 

Comments

[slay]

[ She takes the full force of the blow, letting out a grunt as the blade slashes across her abdomen. She jumps back in time to miss the other one, and then comes back in quickly to kick it squarely in the chest (atk 29, dmg 16). Her follow-up comes in the form of a crescent kick that clips it across the side of the head (atk 36, dmg 13). ]

When the hell did Sarandis recruit RoboCop? This guy's totally made of metal!

[romanticidal]

[ s2 keeps firing at gar (atk 24, 21, dmg 13), while s1 sprays more bullets at vi (atk 13, 15), and s4 at myri (atk 22, atk 23, dmg 20).

the soldier fighting archer gets slammed into by archer's foot in his face, and staggers back a step, before bringing the butt of the gun around to bear, smacking him hard on the head, although he misses the next blow (atk 28, atk 8, dmg 8) ]

[isisagent]

[Archer winds back for a Power Attack.]

I think you're using that wrong, guy.

[And throws a mean right hook at him: Atk 4... Action Point... 13 + 9 - 5 == only 17. :( Assuming that's a miss, but if it hits: 5 + 6 + 5 (PA) == 16 Dmg]

[rationalizes]

[ is a miss :X well, it hits him but gets stopped by his special response vest.

gar screws up her face with determination as she fixes the gun, and fires a shot that... gets closer at least (atk 18) she's bleeding pretty badly though. ]

[graveflowers]

[ nope, gar is fine. she is FINE OKAY. or she will be. vi casts heightened transfer wounds to heal 19 hp... and immediately takes 10 hp of subdual damage instead, whoopsie daisy. she doesn't react to the pain, though, just keeps on keeping on. (will save 30). ] We need to take these guys out before we can start helping the others. [ but ngl she does not sound too hopeful of their odds of doing it on their own. ]

[65]

Should've brought that fireworks bomb. [just saying. with buffy's revelation, he's just going to ... keep firing at the thing's head. like maybe he'll get lucky??? (ranged atk 27; 8 dmg)]

[romanticidal]

[ he did get lucky, actually, his shot striking the thing on the shoulder. it stabs at buffy again (atk 13) and then one blade goes right through her abdomen (nat 20, dmg 26). from so close, she can see that the little of its face showing is a strange burnished steel. ]

[witchwoman]

[So much is happening at once. This is awful. Myri knows Vi is right. And healing each other just to allow them time to shoot them more doesn't do anyone much good. But you know what she does feel? That nat 20 sliding right into Buffy's gut.]

Buffy! [She screams and grits her teeth before narrowing her eyes at the soldier she's been casting at (soldier 4) and tries to just knock him out so there's one less to deal with. (Ranged touch 24, damage 25) Unfortunately that's her last third level spell slot sooooo this is gonna get interesting.]

[romanticidal]

[ her last attack takes down soldier4, who falls back on the truck in a heap, dropping his gun, which clatters to the street. rafael grits his teeth and unleashes a full volley (atk 30, 27, 21, 29, and 24)... all of which hit but... one. wow he mad. (30 dmg) the shots riddle the back of the thing which jerks strangely and takes a few staggering steps... before falling backward, the blade sliding out of buffy as it collapses to the ground. ]

[bigbad]

Buffy! [Spike turns towards her, an anxious look on his face that manages not to be even a little hungry (will 23). But Rafael managed to hit the enemy instead of an ally (for once) so he's too late to kill the thing he wants to kill. So he casts her a worried look, runs to the edge of the building, and jumps off (jump 29), coat dramatically billowing behind him. Buffy's tough. She'll be fine. And if she's not.... Well, she'd rather have Rafael tending her wounds anyway. And there are more people to kill.

He was jumping off the edge closest to soldier 1so I'm assuming that with a full round action he can be in range of him. He'll then use heroic surge to get in a good punch (nat 18 which comes to 36, dmg 20).

That felt really good.]

[slay]

[ The stab wound rips a cry of pain out of her and Buffy staggers back, gaze dropping to her stomach as the blade slips free and RoboCop turns into a pile of rubbish between her and the others. Spike sprints off, and Buffy, dizzied, presses a hand over the blossoming bloody patch in her dress.

On her next step back, trying to stabilize herself, she slips on her heel and crumples to one knee. Blinking hard, she tries to focus her attention on the metal man, reaching for its hood to try and pull it back and get a better look at its steel face.

It's not massive damage threshold, but it's a lot of fucking damage, so I rolled a fort save anyway that she crit failed. Instead of passing out, she'll just ... take a minute. Or maybe several. ]

[romanticidal]

[ spike's fist cracks into the soldier's helmet, and he might have done some brain damage there. we just don't know. the soldier staggers backward and shoots at spike twice (atk 21)... and then he crit fails and his shot somehow hits s2 on the truck beside him (7 dmg). s2 recognizes the new immediate threat, and curses at his buddy before hauling his gun around that and also shooting at spike (atk 21, atk 24, dmg 12). archer's friend keeps backing up and firing at him (atk 23, atk 14, dmg 5), barely managing to graze his arm. ]

[isisagent]

[Backing up, eh...? FLYING KICK!]

Bringing a gun to a fist-fight?

Actually, that's... probably pretty smart.

[Archer charges and attacks for 6 + 9 + 2 == 17. Damage 4 + 6 + 2 == 12 if that 17 hits.]

[rationalizes]

[ gar shoots a grateful but worried look at vi, and then moves to take cover behind the corner, shooting out from behind it and firing off an entirely ineffective shot because she rolled a 4 ]

[graveflowers]

[ vi reaches out to gently press myri to take cover, her worry over myri reflected in gar's worry over... her. ] Get back with Gar. [ they need to stop being shot at and, really, myri needs to not be shot at because she's the cleric and they need her to not be shot. and myri needs to get out of the fight so possibly killing a guy doesn't do more damage to her sweet soul. it was very clearly self-defense, but that doesn't make it any less of taking a life. especially to someone who never has before.

her attention turns back to the soldiers. she fires both arrows at soldier two because she's sure spike can keep taking care of soldier one. (atk 24, dmg 9 & rapid shot attack... crit fail whoops?) ]

[65]

[ with robocop out of the way, finnick is going to try and staunch buffy's impalement bleeding with his jacket. (treat injury 16) THANKS CLERICS. YOU'RE ALL SO HELPFUL ALL THE WAY NOT ON THE ROOF.] Are you okay, Buffy?

[witchwoman]

[Myri got a will save of 22 to not have a panic attack over knocking out/killing someone. But she will follow Vi's directions and back up towards Gar. Poor Gar looks really bad off anyway, so she will give her some of the good touch. (cure critical wounds for 34 hp back to the librarian).]

[romanticidal]

[ that brings her back up to full, and she breathes a sigh of relief as her wounds heal over.

meanwhile, on the roof, finnick... stops the bleeding??? it doesn't heal anything tho. rafael goes skidding to her side, even as she pulls off the wrappings around the thing's head, revealing its metallic face. bitch is a robot. aw yis. its features are generic, and it doesn't even have a mouth, so there's that.

rafael puts a hand on her shoulder, staying out of finnick's way ] Carina...

[bigbad]

[Spike reaches out an arm to grab Soldier 1 (touch attack 26, no attack of opportunity because Spike's got a feat), and brings him close (grapple 23, dmg 32), baring his fangs with a growl.]

[slay]

[ Buffy takes a deep breath, nodding her head to Finnick. A thin smile of gratitude flickers across her face, slightly weary, and she takes his jacket to continue compressing her wound. She leans slightly into Rafael’s touch, looking up at him as she notes, ]

Please tell me that I’m just wacked out from all the being stabbed and that’s not a real robot.

[ How are their lives this fucked /?? ? ]

[romanticidal]

[ spike basically snaps the guy's neck and he dead. s2 widens his eyes, and fires at spike with a roar (atk 21, atk 16), but he's visibly shaken and totally misses.

soldier3 fires at archer as he keeps backing up and somehow still fucking misses (15, 22). wtf. ]

[isisagent]

[Archer frowns at his opponent's disregard for a fair hand to hand battle, and slips a pair of Walther PPK pistols out w/ quick draw.]

FINE asshole. Ruin the moment!

[Archer is going to fire both with two-weapon fighting @ a -2 penalty, and since they're semi-automatic, why not Double Tap both for another -2 so: 19 + 8 (Little less than the shotgun vs armor, as these are hollow-point bullets) - 4 == 23 Atk, for 3D4+1 Damage ( 3 + 4 + 4 + 1 + 3 Penetration + 1 Penetration. == 16 Damage.)]

[Second PPK fires for 15... Action pointing just in case, b/c of this -4 penalty: got an 18! + 8 - 4 == 22 Atk. Again, 3D4+1 Damage (2 + 4 + 3 + 1 + 1 Penetration == 11 Damage)]

There! You happy? Moment ruiner!

[rationalizes]

[ i guess vi's arrow snaps backwards, and gar is leaning out to take a shot and gets struck by it (3 dmg). the gun goes off (atk 14), but comes nowhere near her target. ] Where's Archer?

[graveflowers]

Sorry! [ she fires at soldier two again (atk 24, dmg 6 & rapid shot atk 26, dmg 8), before answering gar's question. ] I think he's over there. [ she cants her head in the direction of the yelling. (listen 31) ]

[65]

[finnick cranes his neck back at raf's unveiling after getting buffy all wound up.] No ... it looks a lot like a real robot. And yet, it's still not the strangest thing we've faced.