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

[bigbad]

We could burn 'em. Or let the raccoon eat 'em. They're meat eaters, right?

[graveflowers]

I can take care of a couple if y'all are willing to drag them to the woods. [ she straightens up with a bundle of her arrows. princess of the underworld, you bet she knows how to dispose of a body. ]

[rationalizes]

Just be cautious. They're likely still searching the woods and there may be more... creatures in their employ out there.

Archer may actually be right about leaving the vehicle. [ said s-so grudgingly ] Not in terms of taking it, but we might do well to dispose of it as well.

The river just might be deep enough to hide it, at least until we leave in the morning.

[65]

So ... why not load the bodies with it, then send it into the river?

[rationalizes]

Not a bad idea, actually. The keys are likely to be still in the vehicle. I doubt he took the time in the midst of a firefight to pocket them. Someone, go check. Buffy, Spike, Finnick, Rafael, why don't you see about loading up the soldiers?

Vi, Myri, help me keep an eye out for anyone coming up the street.

[slay]

Could 'figuring out a way to transport RoboCop to the plane' makes its way onto your to-do list while we're at it?

[ She will carry it down the building with her regardless (climb 29) because for once she will follow directions well. ]

[rationalizes]

It will be easier to transport if it's not all in one piece. I'll take it apart while everyone cleans up this mess... that way I'll be able to remember how to piece it back together as well.

[isisagent]

Well, I'll go grab my dance partner, then.

[Archer begins walking back down the alley to grab the soldier he left there.]

[romanticidal]

[ rafael climbs down (without falling on his ass) to aid in the carrying, although he shoots buffy a look of obvious concern at the idea of her lifting with a stab wound in her gut or whatever. she's a big girl though, if that's what she wants to do for funsies, he'll just... help re-bandage her up later 8| ]

[bigbad]

[Spike shoves bodies into the van. It's a pretty exciting life.]

[slay]

[ yeah, she catches that look. and the one he gets in return is very much i'M AN ADULT AND I CAN CARRY MY OWN ROBOTS DOWN OFF THE ROOF, STAB WOUND OR NO STAB WOUND. but jk it's really not fun so like he'll probably be rebandaging her later. maybe that's why she did it. we just don't know.

whatever. she's gonna haul off and grab one of the soldiers by the legs and haul him back into the truck like a grown up (str 19) and wham bam thank you ma'am bodies are gonna be dealt with while she leaves the robot for gar. ]

[rationalizes]

[ with a disable device of 18, it takes her a little while, but gar gets the robot in pieces. wooooo. ]

[graveflowers]

[ vi is just keeping an eye out (spot 33). her ears are also peeled (listen 28), somewhat less so. ]

[isisagent]

[Archer stomps back toward the vehicle with the dead soldier, and naturally begins using him as a makeshift puppet, bobbing his head as he walks;]

Oh, hello! I'm assface mcdouchebutt. I bring guns to fistfights. Blah blah blah.

[Then he tosses him into the truck.]

Alright, enough fun. We ready to conceal some murders?

[rationalizes]

[ and so the team dumped a bunch of bodies and a truck into the river and it was a great bonding experience for all. no one comes along, although at one point they hear more trucks moving about in the distance. by the time they're done and gathering up again, gar's done packing up the robot, and looking up at the sky ] The sun's already coming up. A couple of us need to head up to the palace, and the rest need to make certain that escapee is safe on the plane, get this package stashed on board without being seen, and... keep any guards from detaining us. [ she huffs out a breath. easy. right? ]

[graveflowers]

I'll go to the palace. [ not because she has a diplomatic bone in her body but because kat.

once she's dibs'd, she leans toward myri all casual like, whispering. ] Can you... tell if it's okay? [ it. ]

[65]

[btw finnick totally climbed down while not looking like a jackass (climb 20 total) and helped with the bodies and everything. yep. just wanted u to know.] Me too. [tom cruise knows they'll need his diplomacy mods...]

[witchwoman]

[Myri doesn't really say that she's going with Finnick and Vi, but really does anyone have to ask? She steps closer to Vi and slips her arm through the girl's as she looks her over and tries to get her empathy sense on (heal check 17).]

I think it's fine. [She says just as quietly.] Once things are more settled, I'll be able to be more certain.

[slay]

I'll hit the plane.

[ She looks expectantly at Spike and Rafael like yooooo. ]

We should ... probably bring Archer, too.

[bigbad]

He's marginally less likely to cause an international incident if we keep him away from Sarandis. We can have him babysit our new mascot.

[romanticidal]

We should hurry. [ he'll... take the pack of robot parts i guess??? ]

[isisagent]

Yeah. hi. Right here.

[As he jumps on team airplane.]

[slay]

That's the idea.

[ Stay close enough to watch. Yes. Good boy, Archer; who's a good boy???

Anyway here they are tralalala-ing to the airfield. ]