briefing ♔ a song will only scratch the skin

[wynn]

♬ Storm Coming - Gnarls Barkley

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.

Comments

[socialgraces]

[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.]

[everyredcent]

[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?

[wynn]

[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.

[militarized]

[ 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]

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

No.

[wynn]

[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.

[socialgraces]

[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.]

[militarized]

[ 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.

[socialgraces]

[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.]

[luthir]

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.

[everyredcent]

[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]

[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.

[socialgraces]

[Francesca's holding up pretty well, at least in appearance bluff check 29. What good drow doesn't want a chance to prove their existence to those who have never met one? Really, she's kind of honored. She's also quite terrified, but no time for that now. This is, after all, what being a Knight is all about -- disproving the stereotypes pinned to Shadowkind and diffusing the hostile occurrences caused by their appearance. She'll cling to that.

Still, the only reaction she can manage at this time is a simple nod of agreement.

She then turns to Arthur and casually sizes him up, before finally settling her gaze on Christos, or as much of him as she can make out behind two other people.]

[everyredcent]

[Christos looks remarkably unsettled for the slightest moment, but he covers up the fact as quickly as he can and says nothing else.]

[militarized]

[ This is pretty much the quietest Francesca has ever been around Ethan, and he's by no means failing to notice it. However, for the time being, he'll focus on Luthir, Wynn and Christos. He can tackle the Francesca issue on the plane ride.

Christos' response to Luthir does make him wonder why Christos is on this mission if he's got such a problem with it, but Wynn knows what he's doing, and in the military, you learn not to ask those questions. Questioning the ethics, you can do. Questioning why a higher-up is making a certain call? Not so much. ]

Superior to every other race. Sounds familiar. [ It's said with a wry kind of levity that isn't even a little amused. It's not funny. It's not even remotely funny. He looks to Wynn. ] Yes, Sir. Anything else we should know about the situation before we touch down?

[king]

[ Arthur is still stuck back on monitoring the progress of my squire, and has been watching Luthir quietly across the table. Oh, he'd taken in the briefing, of course: blah blah ancient racial conflict. Obviously Luthir and Christos are literally as different as night and day, but they both seem to be equally defensive, so he can only imagine what the level of bickering would be between two whole colonies. ]

[ Nevertheless. He does remember some of the things Wynn's told him
about anti-shadowlands sentiments. ]

The people of Magadan.

[ He looks back at Wynn. Yeah, like he has any concept of "Russian". ]

Are they truly only concerned with the human casualties? Or are they going to be looking to remove their new neighbors regardless of the conflict?

[wynn]

An important question, and one that Sir Reedhym and I have been looking to answer. There's a danger, of course, that even if the dispute is resolved between the two colonies, through one group driving off the other - or destroying the other - the remaining colony will be deemed a threat. This is our other reason for sending emissaries there - to uncover exactly what their plan of action is, and attempt to find a resolution that will appease their concerns for the future.

Ideally, we'll find a way to establish relations between the human and sun elf governments so that they can avoid these situations in the future, rather than arrive at the same point should another enemy arise.

[everyredcent]

After the dark elves have all been crushed underfoot or driven back underground to slink off elsewhere, I imagine. [He doesn't really conceal the edge in his voice] They have long memories and a capacity towards grudges. It's more likely they'll rebuild themselves if any are left standing, and return with greater forces and a more airtight plan in the future.

[bancroft]

And I imagine wholesale slaughter of an entire drow village is off the menu? [Thomas makes the remark casually, as if to point out the ludicrous extreme] So we leave it to the elves to do it. They won't stop either, you know. They're just as dogmatic about killing drow as drow are about killing, well... everyone else.

[luthir]

It is, as you've undoubtedly noticed... a thoroughly delicate situation. I don't foresee any bloodless solution. Even if the sun elves agreed to relocate - which they never would - it would leave the humans all the more open to attack by the drow. But the Russians refuse to recognize this fact.

[socialgraces]

[Francesca's just super quiet over here, obviously deep in contemplation. She's listening to the discussion, but is staring at the table in front of her.

She's trying to piece together what knowledge she has that might be beneficial to this mission, as well as thinking of any suggestions to give the other team and Luthir.]

What we need to accomplish, more than anything, is a sense of order. We need to make both sides understand that the drow thrive on chaos, and if they made a united, cooperative stand, they actually might have chance in surviving the attacks.

It's also in my understanding that the sun elves strive for order, a rare thing among elves, but perhaps that cultural stance could be even more exploited.

As well as reminding them that Corellon blesses those who aid others and warns his followers against stagnation.

[She smirks and shrugs.] I'm not sure what you've covered with them already, though, Luthir.

[militarized]

So, basically our best bet is to help negotiate an alliance between the sun elves and the Russians so that they can stand together against these drow. That way, we can say our hands are clean when they massacre them, is that it? [ Christos' bitterness is ... creeping into his subconscious and making this plan seem ookie. There is no good solution here, that much is clear, but it just feels like there has to be a better way than signing the death warrants of a whole tribe and stepping back. ]

[socialgraces]

The problem is, Ethan [And she turns to address him solely. She's trying not to squash his compassion as it's quite endearing to her, but she wants him to understand. It's a moral dilemma to them all, for various reasons, but they have to do something and this is their best option.] that the drow will not stop. We cannot reason with them as they are. We don't even have the option of attempting that approach as we would definitely be either killed or taken prisoner on sight.

If we had it in us to convert them all to the light, then that would be the plan we would choose. But thousands of years of attempts to do just that have shown us that the Spider Queen's influence is almost impossible to overcome. Even in this world. Most of us who have shaken her grasp have done so with either the grace of the Veil or having been born in this world to those already free.

To most of Faerun, the concept of a good drow is a foolhardy fable. And I'm not telling you we should encourage this notion, by any means, but like Luthir said, Christos and I are an exception to a nearly all-inclusive rule.

[king]

[ Arthur glances down the table to Ethan, giving him a dubious look. ]

Drow or human or — [ this certainly is a glance in Bancroft's direction, oh boy. ] — whatever else, if they're going to start in on wholesale slaughter then they deserve it in kind.

[ Arthur isn't big on the whole "giving evil magical creatures a redemptive second chance" thing. ]

At least an alliance between the Sun Elves and the Russians leaves two parties alive. Sounds to me like we'd have a difficult job of it, but I'm sure if we all focus on the same goal it's more than achievable.

[wynn]

[See, this is why you're his favorite, Arthur.]

If there were a viable middle ground available, we would take it. But as there remains none, we're forced to accept our best option. Should we refuse to intercede, it's likely all three sides will suffer great losses at the expense of their pride. We cannot, however, resolve this problem thoroughly for any of them - rather we must endeavor to provide them the perspective necessary to prevent a repeated incident in the future after the resolution of this current conflict.

I have the utmost confidence in each member of this team to do what is necessary.