knightsoflegend | briefing ♔ a song will only scratch the skin

Entry tags:

briefing ♔ a song will only scratch the skin

WHO || Wynn, Thomas, Christos, Francesca, Luthir, Arthur, Merlin, Katniss, Ethan [Closed]
WHAT || Russia Mission Briefing
WHERE || Knights HQ, the Round Table room
WHEN || Mon, Feb 27th, shortly before 5pm.
HOW || Actionspam. Single thread, don't worry about maintaining tagging order.

Just as before, accessing the secret room where the Round Table is housed requires using the Knight's access card to open the glass class beside the mural of the War in Heaven, located across from the ballroom entrance. Using the fire extinguisher as a lever to activate the "door" mechanism reveals the long torch-lit hall plastered in artworks depicting the Knight's history. The tenants of the Knighthood hang large and foreboding over the doors at the end of the hall, which stand open to reveal the brightly lit Round Table, and the majestic crystalline dragon statue presiding over it.

Come in, find a seat, meet your teammates if you haven't already. Wynn will be with you all shortly.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ Arthur's next to arrive, the safe side of punctual. He's going to go sit on the far side of Ethan and Francesca — and save a seat for Merlin, who is pretty much guaranteed to be late. ]

[ He seems more interested in the statue than the gathered group, but he still gives a nod on his way to his seat: ]

Evening.

[Francesca perks up in realization.] Christos, [she calls past Ethan, trying to sound as if she's unaware of the bickering] this is my squire, Ethan Mavery. [And she turns to Ethan, gesturing in Christos' general direction.] Ethan, this is Christos La Krail, a close friend of mine. He'll be on this mission with us... obviously.

[And with the impending awkwardness already setting in she turns in Luthir's direction.] And this is Luthir Reedhym, who is also joining us. [Trailing off at Arthur's entry.]

[Katniss enters exactly two minutes before the scheduled time, not wanting to be too early or at all late. Too early means she'll have to talk to others, and too late means she'll be thought of as weak, because tardy people clearly are weak and shouldn't be dealt with.

But apparently she arrived a couple of minutes too late, as her eyes scan the room and notice Ethan in the seat between Francesca and Christos. Clearly, this seat must have been intended for her.

Oh, and look. Arthur is here already too. She barely spares him a glance and instead moseys on over toward her good bro Ethan. Where she stands chair side and just stares at him. She doesn't look annoyed, or anything much other than questioning.]

Hello.

[This is not said in a normal tone of greeting, this is said as if she's really saying "I'm here, now you can move."]

[ Ethan gives a nod to Arthur as he arrives and takes his seat, then looks to Francesca as she introduces, letting his eyes hover on Christos and Luthir. ] Good to meet all of you. Something tells me we'll be getting to know each other pretty well. [ He looks up as Katniss enters, giving her a smile that says he isn't moving anywhere so stop being an awkward fuck when she just stands by his seat. ] Now there's another familiar face. How've you been settling in?

[Francesca looks up at Katniss standing next to her. She's just gonna pretend like this isn't really happening and actually be polite, to everyone.]

Oh, Katniss, you can sit here. I'll move down. [She's completely polite and friendly about it, since it's, you know, a logical solution. She gets up and moves down just one seat to make room for her. She actually wants the girl to sit by her, and she gives her a welcoming smile after settling into her new chair.]

Fine.

[Making sure to keep the answer to one, non-committal syllable, she frowns and moves to slide into the offered chair. She's glad that her response could be to Ethan's question, or Francesca moving down the bench. She likes Ethan enough to not make a fuss over this, but his rank of potential ally is now moved down a notch in her mind.

He is now filed away in her mind as takes things that don't belong to him - not necessarily good for my being territorial.

She glances over at him one final time before slouching down in her seat and staring at the table instead. She wants to look over at Christos to judge his expression, but can't bring herself to let anyone know that she cares enough to know what he thinks.]

[Francesca does chance a glance in Christos' direction, trying her best not to look just a little smug by the turn of events.

After a few moments, she turns her attention to Katniss.] Have you ever flown in an airplane before?

[At first Christos was so busy being offended at Ethan sitting down in the place that he had obviously reserved for his squire ~~or at least decided he had after the fact~~ that he doesn't even bother to respond to the introductions. But then said squire of his shows up and makes his entire evening with her defiant stance against the man. He's bursting with pride over here, really, but he keeps his face blank.

It's really just a huge letdown, of course, when Francesca brings compromise into the situation and leaves him sitting next to Ethan. This was not what he had envisioned. At all.

And THEN SHE HAS TO BRING UP FLYING IN AN AIRPLANE 8|

He turns to visibly glare at that comment, not deterred by Ethan being between them. He's more than content to glare at him instead.]

[/sitting entirely alone on the other side of this huge table despite the fact that he smells like flowers and a brisk spring breeze]

[He's not too terribly late...he hopes. And Merlin's thankful that there are no taverns close by, lest Arthur accuse him of being at one.]

[he stays close to the wall after coming through the door, but then spots the chair on one side of Arthur and quickly slips into it.]

Sorry.

[And in complete contrast to Merlin's wall-hugging entry, Thomas bursts through the doors, throwing both arms out to address the company.] I certainly hope that wasn't you I heard apologizing, Merlin, my boy. Apologies should be saved for sincere occasions of a much more grievous nature than tardiness.

[He moves to the table, clapping Christos on the back, which prompts the dark elf to go rigid in place, his expression clouding instantly as he refuses to turn to look at Thomas behind him.] La Krail! Always good to have your cheerful company with us. [He glances down the line at Ethan and Katniss in turn] Not to mention some fresh meat. Wonderful. [He places a much more gentle hand on Francesca's shoulder in a nearly gentleman-like manner] My dear. [And then looks down to Arthur and Merlin, smiling with those slightly-too-sharp teeth of his] And the Once and the Future, even. Well. I imagine Merlin will be glad to have a friend along. [He continues past the two of them, popping into a seat beyond them, nearly in front of the two doors to Wynn's chamber, and places his feet up on the Round, lacing his hands behind his head.

It's only when he's settled in that he seems to notice Luthir and starts visibly] Nine hells, Luthir, what are you doing all the way over there? Did you turn into a leper and no one bothered to tell me? That's the sort of thing that should make it over that little phone network of ours, you know. [He grins aside towards those on his half of the table] Brill idea, that one. Almost wish I'd thought of it myself.

[ As second impressions go, it's — well, it's not particularly changing the one formed the first time, when Bancroft had sung on the table. Arthur manages not to look to put out at being Merlin's friend when it is clearly the other way around. But he does give Merlin a wry glance. ]

And hello to you too, Sir Bancroft.

[Katniss is about to respond to Francesca when more men enter the room, and she watches them speak, turning fully in her chair to look over at Arthur as he does.

She watches him closely, then glances over at Merlin, remembering they have some sort of bond. She makes a note to figure out fully what it is - later of course, no time for that now - and then turns back to face Francesca and answer the question about airplanes.]

Flying doesn't seem very natural.

[She prefers her feet on the ground where they belong, thank you. All kinds of things can go wrong in an airplane. She's imagined a wide variety of them, and isn't very excited about having to be trapped on what she likes to think of as a tin can of potential misery and death.]

I can't remember ever having flown before, though.

[Francesca smirks at Thomas' entrance, none of it surprising. She watches the reactions of the others in the room and her face softens when he addresses her.

She brings her full attention back to Katniss when the girl turns to her.]

We'll most likely be flying to our mission destination. I just wondered if it was something you were familiar with.

Christos is an excellent pilot, by the way. Perhaps he'll be ours for this flight. [She's trying to give her a little security in their common method of transportation. She hopes Ethan won't mind her not mentioning him. She just figures it would be more comforting for Katniss to be able to put her trust in Christos.]

[Thank god Francesca's feeding his ego over there so he isn't going to just sit seething over Thomas the whole time.]

I imagine I will be. Who else here is qualified?

[I guess we'll never know, because in walks Wynn, entering from the hallway rather than his chambers. He walks around the table on Luthir's side, coming to stand in front of the chair next to Thomas, and looking around at the assembled]

And that should be everyone.

[ Ethan does open his mouth, prepared to indignantly mention that he is, but he decides to save it when Wynn enters. He quiets and glances around the room, considering, then looks curious. ]

Sir Luthir doesn't have a squire joining us? [ All it took was a little math to figure out everyone else in the universe had brought theirs. ]

[Luthir fixes him with the most level of all stares]

No.

[Wynn nods towards Arthur in answer to the question] Sir Reedhym will be monitoring the progress of my squire on this mission. He also brings a sizable amount of experience with the situation to the table.

[His eyes cast about from face to face, as if taking the measure of everyone there.]

Several years ago, a highly unusual breach of the Veil relocated an entire populated Elvish city into the mountains near Magadan, Russia. This proved more troublesome than the relocation of individuals in that they were much less interested in the thought of any form of assimilation into this new world. They met explanations of their plight with skepticism and suspicion and initial contact with the nearby city went less than smoothly.

Part of this has to do with their heritage and culture as sun elves [he nods to Luthir] which Sir Luthir can explain in more detail. The nature of our intercession comes from the emergence of a drow settlement, which seems to appeared over the last several months, very close to the same area. The hostility between the two groups has begun to leak over into the nearby human city, as their conflict is threatening on the verge of total war. Human casualties have resulted in the Russians discussing taking action against both groups, and the elves have refused meditation attempts or even offers of assistance in rooting out the drow.

They want to win this war on their own, it seems, but they will not listen to evidence presented before their council of a subterranean entrance into the mountains that is allowing the drow access to their city, and to Magadan. Finding a way to seal off this tunnel should give them the upper hand they require to make a decisive stand and finish this. Sir Bancroft is in charge of that particular duty, and will have at his disposal whichever of you he deems necessary to complete the objective.

Meanwhile, Sir Francesca will be responsible for establishing diplomatic contact with the human government of Magadan, to keep them from taking drastic military action intended to wipe out both sides. She will also be allowed to select team members to assist her in this effort.

Sir Reedhym has had contact with the nobles of the elven settlement and will be attempting similar diplomatic efforts, though the best we may hope for at this time is to hold them off from their war efforts until Sir Bancroft has accomplished his mission.

[Here's hoping she can actually make it into the human city without being shot on site. It would be easy enough for them to mistake her for a drow spy.

She's watching Thomas, trying to see if his gaze is focused on any of the other members of their group. As if he has them in mind for his team. Selecting "teams" for a mission can sometimes be a lot like picking teams for a friendly basketball game. And of course someone will be the last choice for either side.

She's also already going through her personal knowledge of each Knight here, assessing what skills will be most useful to her.]

[ Ethan shoots Francesca a curious look at Wynn explains, interested in her reaction, but when Wynn is done and she says nothing, he straightens up and has to ask. ]

At the risk of bordering on insubordinate, I'm curious. Why take the side of the sun elves over the drow in this? What is it exactly that's caused the feud between them, and what made you choose to provide aide to the sun elves in this conflict instead of to the drow?

Beyond that, [ He glances at Francesca again. ] why send the one knight who could be mistaken for one of them in to do the diplomatic work?

I'm sure you could talk your way out of worse messes than Houdini's escaped, but you can't deny they might be on edge.

[Francesca can't help but be a little touched at his concern for her well-being. She is always glad to hear someone is.

She doesn't answer his questions right away, though, despite the fact that she knows the answer. She's kind of hoping Luthir might enlighten him on his rendition of the never-ending war between the drow and the elves. This could get interesting.

But if he won't, she will.]

You should understand that the presence of dark elves in this organization is the exception, not the rule. The danger the drow present stems from their societal makeup, and the religious structure that influences their daily lives and interactions. What we're dealing with is an enclave of dark elves who maintained their memories of their culture upon traveling through the Veil, and recreated it here.

Their young are raised to believe themselves superior to every other race, as well as superior to drow who remain "houseless" or outside their societal constructions. They do not simply accept this as a grounds for prejudice - they use it as justification to attempt to militarily crush any of these "lower" beings when they are granted the opportunity. They won't stop with destroying the sun elf colony, should they succeed. It's likely they would next set their sights on the humans in the area and act with the same level of ruthless efficiency.

[Luthir, you racist dick :| ... even if all that is 100% accurate, Christos will still be affronted]

You failed to mention that the sun elves are hardly any better when it comes to ideals of racial superiority. That's why we're in this standstill in the first place, isn't it? Because they believe everyone else to be too uncivilized to interact with.

[Wynn is just going to let them snipe at each other, and address Ethan]

Sir Francesca is one of our most highly qualified diplomats, though I certainly understand your confusion over why we would elect to send in someone who could be mistaken for the "enemy".

However, as you yourself obviously recognize, race itself does not dictate the morality of any being, and this is our opportunity to allow the humans to come to meet a dark elf who represents the opposite of what they've come to fear from them. There's a danger in encouraging a mentality that the drow are simply the villains in every situation and should be opposed on principle, and I have hopes that this will send a very clear message to that effect.

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