andres ♔ a tiger's waiting to be tamed

[nosdacariad]

♬ clocks - coldplay

WHO || Prince Marcus Andres, Jeanne Gar, Myrilandel de Tanos, Finnick Odair, Spike, Buffy Summers, Sterling Archer, Desmond Descant, Dimitris Sarandis, Lara Tamon, Michael Collins, Dana Green
WHAT || The lost Prince of Andres leads a team of Knights in a coup against Dimitris Sarandis, to reclaim his throne
WHERE || Andres Isle
WHEN || September 19th, 2014
HOW || Actionspam

[ It seems that Wynn was hoping for Sir Mark Sandazhard to reveal his true identity, and to lead the charge against Dimitris Sarandis' tyrannical hold over the island he was born to rule.   He was not disappointed, and Prince Marcus Andres stands poised to lead the group of Knights who he's worked beside for two years, to confront Sarandis, save their friend Kat, and search the castle dungeon for the captive Dragon's Claw, Sir Thomas Bancroft.    

Before they attempt to answer the castle, however, it's time to reunite the Prince with his childhood friends on the Isle, who had long held out hope that he was still alive, including his once-betrothed, Countess Lara Tamon.  Their first task will be to convince Lara to make a risky attempt to draw Kat out of the castle.  

The fate of their captured allies, and the future of Andres Isle, lie in their hands.  ]

Comments

[nothingsodivine]

[Des's jaw twitches a bit as he starts to reload his gun.] Yeah, I thought so too.

[He glances up.] Let's get back on the road, gang, before the next surprise finds us.

[nosdacariad]

We're here to find Thomas, and then wait for the other team to send Dimitris and Kat right to us. I don't think we should beat ourselves up for actually taking the time to investigate what we find down here.

[nothingsodivine]

All things considered, I'd like to greet the bastard in one piece.

[Des totally forgot about the mission objective though. It happened somewhere between Spike getting EATEN and Buffy almost dying, and the penetration demon, so can you really blame him??]

[65]

So ... where would you like to look next? [he addresses mark. and not gar because finnick is not ruthi or des and totally remembered who's team captain today.]

[nosdacariad]

The rest of these cells look empty. [ mark glances in them as they move slowly and cautiously down the hall. ] I'm not sure if that's good news or bad news for Thomas. It could be the prison team's recovered him.

[nothingsodivine]

There's an optimistic take on things. [He doesn't want to be the one to say "Thomas could be dead," but it's probably on the back of their minds and it's one of those things they better make peace with. #pragmatist] So if we get to the end of the cellblock, then what? We wait for them to ferret Dimitris to us?

[rationalizes]

We let them know we're in position so that they can send a false message to Dimitris from the comm tower urging him to take shelter down here.

[slay]

Let's just try to make it to the end of the cellblock before we get too ambitious, huh?

[ Some of us are struggling to not die tonight. Buffy's heading off in that direction with little in the way of waiting. Her eyes remain peeled for more guests (spot 23). ]

[bigbad]

[Spike's walking down as well, still looking pretty unhappy about Buffy getting stabbed but... they're on a mission. There'll be time for healing later.

He keeps his eyes open as well (spot 32), though he's pretty much with Des on the plan to stay focused and not get Buffy stabbed again. Still, worth knowing what's down here, at least.]

[nosdacariad]

[ they emerge out from the hall of cells into a square room with a great sigil set in the floor - an ouroboros, the snake eating its own tail - with various words transcribed around it in a text that'd be unrecognizable to most of them. large torch-like sconces illuminate an elevator like contraption at the far end, and there's another hallway that branches off the third wall.

mark moves forward to examine the words. ] It's written in Andresian. Most people don't even know how to speak the language anymore, really. It's been years since I had classes but--

[ he cranes his neck, to read the circular phrase ] "The passage to eternity lies in bending the serpent to our will. Glory to God, glory to Man, glory to eternal life. Amen."

[slay]

That ... wouldn't by chance happen to specify that it's a metaphorical serpent, would it?

[nothingsodivine]

I doubt it. [Des follows Mark to examine the symbol.] The Snakebloods in New Orleans drew a symbol like that everywhere- only it was a double-looped serpent. [wis 19] Fits with what we've heard, doesn't it? This all started because of the Talisman, which supposedly grants eternal life. Hell, it might even explain why they keep so much company with snakes.

[nosdacariad]

Maybe the snakebloods are fascinated with immortality, too. Or whatever power they hope to gain from the Talisman. It could be that's why they agreed to even work for the Church - promises of a piece of what they've been after themselves. [ he points at the elevator ] That leads right up to the throne room. This was always meant to be an emergency shelter for the royal family - and a fast escape in case of siege.

[nothingsodivine]

[Des looks terribly uncomfortable for a moment and he steps away from the symbol, eyeing the elevator.] So when he comes down, it'll be right there... [He scans the room and notices the offshoot hallway.] So where does that one lead?

[nosdacariad]

I'm not sure, but it's probably worth checking out before we lure Dimitris down here. There might be a better place to corner him - and who knows if that's where Thomas is.

[slay]

Sure. [ Buffy meanders to the mouth of the hallway, staring down it. ] Because if I made it my New Year's resolution to give up dark, spooky hallways and tunnels, what else would I do with all my spare time? [ Her lips purse, and she glances down at the wound in her gut, briefly chagrined. Pushing through it, she starts down the hall. ] If we're doing this, better get started now.

[nothingsodivine]

If nothing else, we can set up the people down here and keep him from getting too far in any direction. [He follows Buffy, the hand not currently holding his gun occupied with keeping pressure on his own gut wound.]

[witchwoman]

[Speaking of that gut wound, Myri wanders up behind the three of them and puts a hand on Des' shoulder.]

Is it bad? [Please be honest with her, Des. She has precious few spells left and hopes you won't be prideful about your injuries. She glances over to Buffy as well, checking in on her too.] Should I...?

[She's like a peanut vender for healing spells. Cure spells! Get your cure spells here!]

[nothingsodivine]

Not too bad. [HE'S NOT EVEN LYING. It was a whole... eleven damage.] But I never want that to happen again. [Cat barb penis-armed monsters are the worst. :( He nods at Buffy.] I think it hit Blondie harder.

[slay]

Well, I got run through with a sword-arm, so I could be better. But as long as we have time to get a breather down here, I"m sure it'll be fine.

[bigbad]

Have we ever once been able to count on a breather? [Things keep trying to murder them....]

[rationalizes]

Spike's right that the odds haven't precisely been in our favor. [ everyone looks to finnick and doesn't know why ]

[slay]

[ though still reluctant, buffy gives myri a meaningful look and reaches out to squeeze her hand. fINE. ]

[witchwoman]

[Myri squeezes her hand back and sends two quick cure light wounds spells Buffy's way for 21 hp.]

[nothingsodivine]

We survived this much. Dimitris is a coward and a human. As soon as he's alone down here, it's gonna be like shooting fish in a barrel.