debriefing ♔ in the emptiness there's a solution | just look within yourself for absolution

[nepotism]

♬ locking up the sun- poets of the fall

WHO || Wynn, Buffy, Myri, Finnick, Spike, Gar, Archer, Des, Vi, Rafael, Fred Jr., Dumage, Mark, Rocket, open! [Closed]
WHAT || Andres Mission Debrief & Aftermath
WHERE || Knights HQ, lobby etc.
WHEN || September 18th [forward dated*]
HOW || Actionspam. Single thread, don't worry about maintaining tagging order.

There are plenty of missions that return to the castle a success - most of them, even. The defeated air of the solemn group that returns from their diplomatic mission to Andres Isle to hear the demands of dictator Dimitris Sarandis makes it quite clear that this wasn't one of those.

Starting with Sarandis' actual demands - for all Knights to withdraw from Andres under penalty of death, or for Wynn to offer his own head in return for Thomas' safe return - and ending with the unexpected, disturbing confession from Kat that she intended to stay behind on the island because she had "fallen in love with" the dictator, the events of the island made it very clear that Sarandis was cannily playing his hand to get the Knights where he wanted them.

Fred Jr. shoves open the doors with his unnatural strength, stalking in ahead of the group into the lobby. Whoever's on desk duty isn't going to have to roll a high wisdom check to see that these people are pissed... and distraught... and a myriad of other emotions on the bad end of the scale.

*I am changing the date of the briefing log and Andres log/live session to have taken place in September, to avoid us being in backdated hell forever, and to allow for a September squiring ceremony before apps are closed. Carry on... in the future!

Comments

[bredinthebone]

[She's been gone for six months, so probably not? There might be a package that somehow got rerouted from Siberia to here, but she figures that anything of importance would have been collected by Gus already.

It's just something simpler to talk about. She shrugs.]

I've been gone for six months. Figured it was worth asking.

[killingtodeath]

Oh, did you-? I mean are you back because of..? [There is no good way to ask this question. Hi, are you here because we're going war???]

[bredinthebone]

[She gives a bit of a nod.]

Also because I finished the mission. I don't like to leave things unfinished.

[That Akhlut is now nice and toasty, that's for sure.]

[killingtodeath]

Mission. Right. [He... hasn't gone on one of those yet.]

So can I get you anything? I'm guessing you know your way around and everything.. [He just seems kind of nervous, or like he's not sure what to do. Because everything is going to hell. Fast.]

[bredinthebone]

[She shakes her head, watching his face for a moment.]

No, I'm okay.

[As far as she's concerned, it's another day, another mission. It's a big one, an important one, but it's just another job. Then again, she's been at this for ten years, and she can afford to think of it that way. This kid is just that - a kid.]

Are you?

[killingtodeath]

Yeah, I'm... still kind of new. So all this stuff is taking some getting used to.

[bredinthebone]

Usually you get more of a buffer zone between you and your first war. Unfortunately, shit happens.

[Which sucks, because this isn't the kind of organization that Wynn wants to run. But sometimes it's the one he needs to command. She pauses for a moment before extending a hand out to him.]

Malina Harvey. Dragon's Fire.

[killingtodeath]

That's... Did you know Kat? [Thats her sect. Suddenly more interested.]

Before you left, I mean. Not that she's... [Dead. Ugh. His feelings are making him fumble for words.]

[bredinthebone]

[There's a soft sound that could almost be a laugh, before she waves it off, forgiving the fumble.]

I knew what you meant.

[But her face is a little sad at that, because it's Kat, and she shouldn't be stuck in this situation.]

Yeah, I did.

[She then peers at him for a moment.]

You her squire?

[killingtodeath]

No, I'm... Just a friend. She was showing me some stuff about magic before...

[He trails off and drops his gaze.]

[bredinthebone]

[Her face softens a little more, and she's reaching across the desk and placing her hand over his.]

Hey. Kat is tough as shit. She's in a tough spot now, but we're going to get her back and she is going to be fine.

[Because Malina will not accept it any other way.]

[killingtodeath]

[Stiles nods, trying to hold onto that confidence. This was someone who was more informed than him anyway, right? An actual knight who knew Kat for more than a couple months. Totally.]

Thanks. I'm just... It's hard. I didn't expect it to get so intense, so fast.

[bredinthebone]

[She nods. She gets that. It can be a lot for a kid, especially with everything that's at stake, including someone he cares about.]

Maybe you just need to think about something else for a while.

[Meaning right now, she's probably going to completely distract you from desk duty, while Harry screeches awkwardly in his cage. BUT WHAT ABOUT ME, MOM? Yeah, that gets him a look, before she turns back to Stiles.]

What's Kat been teaching you?

[killingtodeath]

Just a few spells. I now am no longer hungry at the front desk. [He points to his lunch over off to the side. Fast Food Spell is the shiiiiit.]

I'm trying to get a journal together of my favorite spells, but there's so much out there. It's kind of hard to focus.

[bredinthebone]

[Yeah, she knows the feeling. She had the benefit of her father teaching her a few things before she got there, and not really knowing how much there was at her disposal. It gave her time to hone a bit before the world opened up and she learned how much she really could do.]

Well, you're mainly going to be using it on missions, right? So let's think about what you would use in the field. As handy as it is, unless you wind up stranded on a desert island, the ability to magically summon Mickey D's is not going to be the thing that keeps you safe.

[killingtodeath]

But well fed. [Jokes keep him going some days.]

Do you have any suggestions? I haven't been in the field yet so my judgement there is a little eh.

[bredinthebone]

[She nods a bit. She can totally do that.]

You want to think of this in two ways: offense and defense. So if you're in a bad situation, which are you more likely to do first - charge at it head on, or try and distract and stall?

[killingtodeath]

Depends on if I'm alone or not. If I can distract it so my friends can take it down? Totally. But if I'm on my own, that only delays the inevitable, you know? Need something to hit back with then.

[bredinthebone]

Okay, so you're a mix of both. That's not a bad thing, it'll make you pretty versatile in the field once you get good.

[Which is true. Someone who can weigh the situation and act accordingly is a good asset as a knight, and once he gets some firepower behind him, that'll make him really effective.]

But since odds are you probably won't be sent on a mission alone anytime soon, and you're still learning, let's focus on distract. Plus, it's less messy than if I start throwing acid around at the front desk.

[They can get to that stuff later. She reaches up to the top of her head and pulls off her sunglasses, handing them to him across the desk and indicating he should put them on.]

Sometimes the easiest way to hold something still is the flashiest.

[She'll wait until he's got his eyes covered before casting Flare, fort save DC 14 if you wanna roll for it, but she's not actively trying to dazzle him, so it's a bit off to the side and not directly in his line of sight.]

[killingtodeath]

[He made the DC so we're good. The shades helped, clearly. Stiles' mouth drops open.]

Whoa... So what's that do? Like blind someone?

[bredinthebone]

[She nods with a smile before shaking out her hands.]

Not completely, but enough. Holds them still for about a minute, so if your team works fast, they can get in there and do some damage before the smoke clears. Think of it like a flash bomb, but in the palm of your hand.

[killingtodeath]

[Stiles finally picks his jaw up off the floor and moves her sunglasses to the top of his head. Grabbing pen and paper, he starts to scribble down as much as he can remember about what she did and said to make that spell work.]

I know there's not a lot of time before its go time but... If you got a minute and want to give me a few to look up when I get off desk duty, I can go look them up in the library on my own or something.

[He offers her the pen and paper because he figures she has better things to do with her last night before war than help his bb wizard ass.]

[bredinthebone]

[She does, actually, she needs to check on Gus and get the data from her mission to Helen, as well as check in with Wynn, probably, though that would mostly end in her yelling, so that one is probably best to be avoided.

But still, Gus. Unpacking and then repacking again. There are things to do, and while she'd definitely help Stiles if she could, for right now she'll just write down a few defensive spells - Daze, Touch of Fatigue, different spells that'll slow his enemy down, as well as Resistance to help protect him from other magic users - before she catches a glance of a redhead coming down the hallway.]

I'll do you one better. What's your name?

[Because he didn't offer that yet. She glances up and waves towards Sean, beckoning him closer.]

Excuse me? Can I borrow you for a sec?

[imgonnadie]

[ sean, somehow, inexplicably, remembers malina from before she left six months ago. (wis 20 total) go figure. so he wanders over without much prompting, easy smile on his dumb face. he somehow manages to look tense and at ease all at the same time. ginger magic. ] Hey Malina. Did you catch the Abominable Snowman? [ a beat. ] Hey Stiles.

[killingtodeath]

[Stiles points to Sean as he gives his name.]

I'm Stiles. And he's got an awesome screaming power thing, but I don't really know how that's going to help?