andres ♔ lining up for the grand illusion

[diplomatics]

♬ we are - ana johansson

WHO || Colin Banks, Emma Frost, Lissa Dragomir, Alex Karamazov, Cordelia Chase, Zoe Weiss, Adam Weiss, Leia Organa, Nessa Harvey, Alisha Daniels
WHAT || A team of Knights is tasked to rally the human populace of the Isle, gather them in a safe place, and keep Dimitris' supporters from causing trouble.
WHERE || Andres Isle
WHEN || September 19th, 2014
HOW || Actionspam

[ Meanwhile, a group of ten lands on... the roof of a building in the upscale sector of town. The half-moon lights the sky around them enough for any of them to get a good glance at what surrounds them. In the distance, moonlight plays across the river dividing the city, and the roofs of the Shadow village homes can be barely made out. But here, there are opulent old-money homes scattered here and there, and a number of commercial buildings coursing up and down the main thoroughfare. Colin doublechecks the location on the phone, which lights up his face eerily as he checks the screen, and then he slides it into his pocket, turning to nod the others. ]

We find ourselves on scenic Andres Isle, atop the historic Grand Hotel.  The very heart of the Island, ladies and gentlemen.  Advising caution seems unnecessary.  

Comments

[ambitionist]

[he might as well start scanning the room, too.

No? What do they look like?]

[lastdragomir]

[ lissa dips her head toward the couple that was all snippy in the face of lara's parents' fretting.

If I had to hazard a guess... ]

[diplomatics]

[ colin nods slightly in response to lissa's identification.

Have we a plan for dealing with them? ]

[ex_psionic439]

[Adam is like aren't you supposed to be in charge tho. But he will try to be helpful anyway.

It might be a stretch, but we can try making it seem like one or both of them are hallucinating and blame the gas leak. It would give us a reason to clear the room, at least. In the commotion, it might be easier to incapacitate them and make it look like they passed out too.

Then again, it might just make everyone panic or look too suspicious since Alex pulled it with Slinn already. At least he has an idea to bounce around at all ok.]

[telepathy]

[ Suspicious, given the Slinn situation.

Emma purses her lips, eyeing the crowd.

But not without merits. Perhaps we could frame them for Slinn's sudden collapse. In their hallucination, they might have seen him as an enemy. We can deteriorate their credibility. ]

[ex_psionic439]

[Why is he not surprised that Emma is the one to jump in with the best course of action.

Making them seem like they're hallucinating should be easy enough, so discrediting them could work--especially if they start trying to rally the others. They'll just look crazy.

Alex was alone with Slinn when he passed out though, so I'm not sure we'd be able to connect the two events without some creative thinking.]

[diplomatics]

[ Sir Harvey's still listening in out there. She could come in and declare it poison, as the one inspecting the body - after we've done something to put them in a poor light already. ]

[telepathy]

[ Well, Emma takes to examining her nails, thoughtful. I could provoke them into a mindless panic—say the stress got to them—but I'm fairly certain it would break Wynn's rules. About active mind control. Huff puff. If Sir Harvey could attribute it to poison, they might reasonably be eager to cause a ruckus to distract us from their crime. ]

[diplomatics]

[ I believe, actually, colin thinks carefully, that Wynn meant we cannot simply force them to say and think things that will support Marcus' return to power, put words in their mouth, so to speak, to serve our ends. What you are proposing... I find it difficult to imagine he would be opposed. ]

[telepathy]

[ Splendid. Her gaze lifts to fix on Adam. What do you think, dear? A rowdy scuffle and a defensive insistence that there's no reason for them all to be cooped up here, just in time for Harvey's 'diagnosis'? ]

[ex_psionic439]

[I think it's time to discredit a bitch or two. I'm down, in other words.]

[telepathy]

[ Emma targets the couple that Lissa pointed out, waving Adam to join her. Have you learned yet to bend the will of another? Because while Emma can handle both with only a bit more effort, she'd certainly appreciate the help. They do, though, need to be close enough to plant the seeds of whispered commands. ]

[ex_psionic439]

[Not as well as I'd like to. Charm and Suggestion were sub-par compared to Domination but he was getting there ok. Tia is a good mentor. I think two more levels and he can learn it...]

[telepathy]

[ Remind me to correct that when we've returned to the castle. In the meantime, She makes her way over to the Von Eckridges, wearing a genial expression. ]

Certainly not how I wanted to spend my night. I'm sure you agree. [ She shoots a look over her shoulder, feigning a certain sourness. Rolling her shoulders, she looks back at them. ] And such a pity about Mr. Slinn.

You know, [ She catches their gaze, dropping her voice and telepathically forcing her will onto them (dominate, psionic and I'm spending 19 power points on it so that the will DC becomes 23 for both of them to overcome it). ] It may be in your best interests to leave before Sergeant Stone discovers what you've done to him—whose idea was it to poison him? Don't be afraid to blame each other. That's marriage, after all. [ She snaps her fingers, as if remembering something. ] Oh! But don't be too quick about it. Wait five minutes. Mingle first. Wouldn't want anyone thinking I put ideas in your head.

[allaboutme]

[ yeah they rolled an 11 and a 13, wow good job team.

both of them adopt a strange, distracted gaze for a moment, as if they weren't really listening when she talked, and are trying to remember what she just said. the baroness offers a grimace of a smile as emma moves away, and then the two of them exchange a bewildered look, before moving as one to go speak with some of the other nobles.

meanwhile, cordelia is trying to keep order in the wake of all this chaos and mostly failing, the natives beginning to get restless while waiting to hear about slinn. ] Hey, we're still playing here! How about another volunteer? One with a ... stronger heart, maybe.

[wildmind]

[ not long after, nessa interrupts, barging back into the room, aspect grave. lord green looks up, and asks: "How is he?", evincing mild concern. ] He'll recover. [ her eyes dart around the room, calculating, accusing. ] No thanks to someone's efforts.

That man... has been poisoned.

[ COLLECTIVE GASP. ]

[ambitionist]

I didn't do it. [he holds his hands up.] You can search me if you want. Want me to strip? I'll do it.

[i bet like all the gurls (and some of the guys) in the room would be ok with that.....]

[allaboutme]

[ good thing cordelia was not involved in any of these mind convos. her acting chops need not be tested today. she glances over at the sergeant and raises both eyebrows ] You know, it does pay to be thorough.

[ stone just gives her a Look, however, and moves to the middle of the room.

"He was drinking while he was still in this room." he turns in place, looking around slowly at everyone. "If anyone knows something, they can save themselves a whole lot of trouble by speaking up here and now. We've got a long night ahead of us, folks, and none of us are going anywhere. If I need to search every last one of you, well--"

the baroness speaks up very suddenly, as if she can't help herself, nearly hysterical. "It was my husband!"

COLLECTIVE GASP: THE SEQUEL ]

[telepathy]

Good heavens.

[ Emma doesn't even try that hard with her righteous indignation. ]

[wildmind]

[ as the sergeant looks to them in surprise, baron von eckridge looks at his wife with a sense of betrayal, that changes swiftly to irritation. "Oh? And how would you know that? Are you going to act like it wasn't your plan the entire time?!" ]

My, my. Social climbing is a dangerous game.

[ the sergeant moves towards the bickering couple, hand going to the set of cuffs at his belt, as he steers them towards the hall.

"I think we all need to have a little chat." ]

[ambitionist]

[alex put his hands down and kind of shrugs like ain't my problem son.]

[allaboutme]

You know, as far as murder mysteries go, that one was kinda disappointing. Usually isn't there a whole dinner and clues and monocles deal? I mean, props I guess for not being the butler.

[ meanwhile, emma, you've got mail, in the form of a very special documdrama starring nathan young. enjoy. ]

[telepathy]

[ Distracted from the drama, Emma pulls out her phone, reviewing the first part of the video. As sickened as she is by what she sees, Emma does a good job putting on a brave face. Perhaps because it's all so familiar to what she's seen before, back home on Earth-616. She tightens her grip around her phone, twitching slightly.

She disappears a moment, making use of the projection system in the area they've all gathered. This isn't the first enormous party hosted in this club, and it's got a projector screen set up for just such occasions. Well. More likely, for weddings and graduation parties that celebrate the prettier sides of Andres. About time they saw what it all cost.

Emma plugs her phone in, gearing up to play the video and prefacing it with: ] It appears there's been a larger murder mystery persisting on this island for quite some time now, beneath our very noses. Perhaps you'd all like to see for yourselves what Dimitris Sarandis is willing to do to secure his power.

[ The video that plays provides graphic detail of the atrocities in the Shadowkind labs. Torture, experimentation, and corpses of the failures. The tiny cages are the best of it, and the mutilated, maimed bodies of even those seemingly human are the absolute worst. Sunken, sallow, deteriorated beyond recognition. Across an entire spectrum of Shadowkind, from the low-int magical beasts, to constructs and fey, and even drow and other Shadowkind races. ]