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

[rationalizes]

[ des can feel gar legitimately quivering with anger beneath his hand as she stares after them, and it takes all her grace not to say anything else, not to give him a moment of satisfaction. when she turns around, the fear in her eyes gives way to angry determination, and her gaze seeks out myri specifically. ]

I'm sorry for every moment you had to spend with that vile man. He'll pay.

[ she looks over her shoulder at the retreating figures, and then at the gates themselves, and the palace beyond them. ] Believe me.

[nothingsodivine]

[des's expression fades into a scowl, but he keeps a hand on gar as if it's the only thing keeping both of them sane.]

Let's just go before I forget to mind my manners.

[65]

[yep. come on y'all. if you don't start moving he'll start ushering you like a mama duck. substitute leader...??] We should've known better than to think the arrangement could be so simple. [this sux. he was pretty sure kat hated him because he has a penis, but that didn't mean he wanted her to ... go get brainwashed and married to sarandis. what the fucking fuck.]

[witchwoman]

[Myri only acknowledges Gar's words with a small nod, following the others without a word. Her arms wrap over her midsection, like she's holding onto herself because she's not sure what else to do. Everything in her knows that leaving Kat behind is a terrible idea, but they don't have an option. She failed her squire and now she's failed her mentor too. 1000000% of her energy right now is being spent on keeping it together until they get to the plane.]

[65]

[finnick notes that myri is upset by ... being a human with eyes do i really have to wis roll for that shit, and puts a hand on her shoulder. :( ]

[nepotism]

[ as they get back to the car that they magically acquired i didn't even realize until right now how did they get a car??????? werwatey???????????? i'm a genius. anyway, before they get in, fred takes a moment to

punch a tree

really hard

... and crit fail and probably break his hand, we just don't know. he lets out a few colorful curse words but otherwise doesn't say anything, before slumping into his seat. ]

[witchwoman]

[As they get in the car, Myri finds an excuse to sit somewhere near Fred after watching him attack a tree and probably really hurt himself :( She doesn't say anything. But she does reach out and give him a quick, comforting touch on his arm. She doesn't know him well, but she knows that he cares for Kat. That's enough right now.]

[rationalizes]

[ and back they wind towards the other thread airfield, where gar looks out with widened eyes as they come to a stop. ] Is that... smoke?

[nothingsodivine]

[I guess Des took shotgun because he and Gar have bonded now. And he just facepalms.]

We left them alone for five minutes. Jesus Christ.