knightsoflegend | andres ♔ but life is for living

WHO || Everyone
WHAT || With Andres Isle reclaimed, the Knights deal with the aftermath of their battle to save its people
WHERE || Andres Isle, and various
WHEN || September 20th, 2014 - October 20th, 2014 [backdated]
HOW || Actionspam

When the sun rises on Andres Isle the next morning, and the smoke and rubble clears, it is impossible to call the battle anything less than a victory, in terms of freeing the people from Sarandis' hateful regime.

But all victories come with their costs.

Sir Zatara's team easily accomplished their goal, shutting down the power station that allowed Sir Trinall's team to wrest control of Isle communications, although Emma Swan was grievously injured in the process and Faye Chamberlain found herself facing an unexpected temptation when she got her hands on Jordan Reeves' genie bottle. Sir Wellington and Carpenter led an assault on the prison base, that succeeded in freeing all of the captured Shadowkind and putting a halt to the hideous experimentation going on there - at the cost of Sir Maxwell Briggard's life. (And Nathan Young's... but he got better. Twice.) Even Myrilandel's familiar, Amaranth, was found, but when Lan turned violent on a bank of computers in a fit of hatred for the machines and all they represented, a targeting system was activated that released all the mind-controlled Shadowkind hybrids from the facility, on a dread path of destruction for the castle, ready to kill anything in their path.

Meanwhile, Sir O'Rourke's team had managed to locate the love potion that Dimitris Sarandis was using to control Kat Samcelot's behavior, and made it impossible for the next dose to be administered on time. Sir Hathaway's team likewise made it into the castle, after following a set of clues that indicated Sir Elena Gilbert and the doppelganger Kyp had killed a guard and stolen their identity, heading into the palace proper. Eavesdropping within its walls, they learned that the Prime Minister had been shot, and that the woman responsible was being held in a tower. This, however, proved to be a cruel trick of Dimitris' ally, the powerful psion known as the Mind Master. Forcing Elena to shapeshift into Dimitris, she mentally dominated Elena, and made her sit outside the empty tower cell, where Rose, Will, and Dean found her. Having been approached by Kyp, who had been separated from Elena and feared for her life, a grudging alliance was formed, and the doppelganger approached "Dimitris" alone. Despite her attempt to drop hints to her real identity, the situation escalated - until the Mind Master made Elena wrest Kyp's gun from him, and shoot him right between the eyes.

In the meantime, Sir Yassin's team had blown an entrance for Prince Marcus Andres to lead his group into the castle through the tunnels below it. Dimitris had, however, expected something like this, and filled the tunnels with all manner of monster and creation designed to stop them. With exceptional teamwork, they bypassed all threats and made it within, where they were shocked to discover the real Chad Becksworth was in fact a prisoner here, and that Draken Crombe, leader of the Church of the Lord's Humanity had been impersonating him with the aid of the Mind Master, for access to NOVA Records' resources, for years. They also discovered the bones of former Dragon's Claw Sir Ellison, Tia's father, and helped lay his spirit to final rest.

Knights around the Island struggled to halt the hybrid creatures from charging into the palace and ruining the internal team's chance to save Kat and Thomas and stop Dimitris. Wynn led his own team to hold the line between the forest and the castle, but the brutal creatures they faced were overwhelming, and even with back-up arriving, creatures broke through. Wynn sent Sir La Krail and Francesca, whose team had secured the guardhouse, to stop several driders who had passed, while he chased down a chemical golem that crashed right through the palace doors.

Dimitris had already sprung his trap, however, sealing Marcus and friends in a room below the palace pumped with poisonous gas, while he asked Kat Samcelot for her hand in marriage on a screen for them to watch. At that moment, however, the love potion wore off, and she stabbed him in the dick, and helped free the others below. Myri teleported several of the Knights up to the main floor to save Kat, who faced the guards alone and weaponless, but the arrival of the chemical golem provided enough of a distraction for Dimitris to make a break for the throne room.

Elsewhere on the Isle, Sir Koraith's team had been gathering allies among the Shadow Village, to face an attack that they had been warned about, by soldiers seeking the location of Rocket, who had escaped the Shadow prison after attempting to assassinate the Prime Minister. Koraith led those who could not fight towards the boats, while the others remained to hold the line and take out not only the soldiers, but also the clockwork creations called nimblewrights, robots whose construction Failboat had learned was based on some kind of demonic creature held in Dimitris' basement. The battle was brutal, and Sir Riddick fell to the clockwork soldiers' assault. The fate of Sir Jaina Solo and a Shadowkind villager named Indra Crestrage remains unknown, as they were also grievously injured in the assault.

Sir Edain's team had secured various boats to transport villagers off the Isle, but also discovered a sinister shack where body parts were created up for export to Japan. In the battle that followed to hold the docks, Hook lost his entire arm, but managed to hold onto his life.

Back in the palace, several Knights joined Wynn in taking down the chemical golem, as Marcus and company moved to confront Dimitris and the Mind Master in the throne room. The Prime Minister was unrepentant for his crimes, and revealed that after capturing Kat, he had had the Dragon's Claw Thomas Bancroft killed, dumping his body off a balcony for them to see. Enraged, Kat ran to attack Dimitris, and was nearly killed by his bodyguard, Asha, but Fred Jr. intervened, sacrificing himself to save her. Des murdered Asha instantly, while the Mind Master teleported herself and Dimitris away, leaving the guards willing to surrender, and the Knights frustrated by the hollow victory.

A search of the Isle revealed no trace of where the two had gone, but it also meant that Andres was free of Sarandis' influence. Sir Banks' team had managed to gather all the wealthy human elite of the Island together inside a country club under the guise of a gas leak, and when Emma Frost appealed to the humanity of Sergeant Alastair Stone, a local police officer, he assisted them in routing out potential supporters of Dimitris, and separating them from the others, so that they might be shown the truth about what had been happening on the Island, right underneath their noses, in the form of a video of the prison laboratory provided by Logan and Nathan.

Most of the natives were shocked by what they saw, but had already been distrustful of Sarandis' true motives. Hearing that the true heir to the throne had returned has given the people of Andres a real sense of hope that things can change, but the road will not be an easy one.

Rather than pull out and head home the next day, Wynn has asked as many Knights as possible to remain and help with reconstruction. There are families to reunite, injured to tend to, homes to rebuild, a palace to remodel, and much more. This post is for things following directly in the aftermath of the Battle for Andres, especially for things happening on the Island itself. More posts will go up in the near future to backdate less immediate events. Characters are free to go back and forth to the castle as they please, but also have accommodations provided in the city or palace on Andres Isle.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[As Alainn talks, a light bulb goes off in Myri's mind. She gets it. She doesn't know how she didn't see it before. (Wis 23).]

You love him. [she breathes the words with concern and sympathy all jumbled up in her tone.] Have you told him?

[Her eyes drop to the fingers in her lap, fiddling with the bottle for a moment before she answers.] Aye, I love him. For years now, I've loved him. But no, I haven't told him.

[The ache in her voice is unmistakable, matched by the look in her eyes as she brings them up once more.] And I never will.

But... [Perhaps it isn't her place. Actually, it definitely is not her place, but Myri just can't stand for that! She's all for people finding someone to love and definitely on team 'seeing mark happy.' And from what little she knows of Alainn, she knows he could be happy with her.

Shippin it, tbh.]

You have to tell him. I adore the man, but he'll never figure it out on his own.

[she's shaking her head before myri can finish speaking, one tear tracing down her cheek. She swpies at it, turning her face away as she speaks.]

I can't tell him, Myri. He's betrothed! To Lara! [the hopelessness in her tone is hard to miss as she says the name, her face crumpling once more.] How am I supposed to compete with her?? She's a bloody Countess, with her Countess hair and her Countess face. She's been raised to be a Queen, not me. And besides, why would Mark want some mage like me when he could have the person he's known his whole life? She's been waiting for him all these years... Maybe he's been waiting for her, too?

[Myri's a little torn on the whole thing. Lara saved her life, helped her return home. It isn't that she doesn't want Lara to have her happy ending, but there's more to all of this. And Alainn's happiness is just as important as anyone's.]

He's been gone for 10 years, Alainn. I don't know about you, but I'm hardly the same person I was three years ago, let alone ten. The person Lara knew may not be the man you and I know and care for. [It's just as likely that Mark and Lara will be deliriously happy together, but the point is, they don't know for sure.]

Love is...complicated. And you've not made it any simpler by falling for the lost prince of Andres, no. But that's not what happened, is it? You fell in love with a friend, a man you likely know better than most. When all of this came to light, he told me that he wanted to make certain that we wouldn't treat him differently. So try to remember who he's always been to you. Because that's who he wants to be. And that man? Could very well feel the same for you and not even know it.

[Her tears slow as Myri speaks, a tiny spark of hope warming her chest. She made a good point, logically she knew that. Mark was one of her oldest friends, one of the best people that she knew, even with all of his flaws and insecurities. If anything, those quirks had only served to endear him to her all the more.

But Alainn had been burned by love once already, falling for a man who had never really loved her, and she'd had to flee for his attempts on her life, for the safety of her adoptive family. She had been so guarded with her heart since then, careful of who she let in and how close, but Mark had still found his way in, deeper than she had imagined. And she had absolutely no proof that he felt anything for her but friendship. Hell, he had even told Lara that she was just "a really good friend".

It seemed too much of a risk, to put herself out there like that with nothing to go on.]

I can't do that to him, Myri. He sees me as nothing more than a friend. If I go off and start spouting love and forevers at him, and he doesn't feel the same? I'll have lost me dearest friend. I couldn't live with that.

[But no matter how much she tells herself she can't do it, she still can't shake the longing, the ache of wanting to come clean. It may not be a good idea, but she can't stop her heart from craving what it wants.]

[Reaching over, Myri takes Alainn's hand and squeezes it gently.]

I know you've known him longer than I have, but I think that fear has made you forget something very important. Mark isn't the type of person to let a friend slip away for something like this. I've never met anyone so kind and generous and... [What is the adjective to describe someone as a human version of a big doofy lab puppy?

She gives up on searching for right word and just switches gears a little.]

Even if he didn't feel the same... you wouldn't lose him. I would bet my life that he would do everything in his power to make sure that never happened.

[She squeezes Myri's hand back, glad for the support. She knew that Myri was right, Mark wouldn't walk away from their friendship. He just wasn't that kind of person. That still didn't make her any less petrified to admit her feelings. ]

Aye, yer right. I know yer right. [She sniffles, wiping a hand under her eyes.] He truly is one of the kindest people I've met, aside from yerself. I-I just... don't know.

[She shakes her head, sucking in a deep breath of air. When she meets Myri's eyes again there is a visible difference, the look in them much lighter, not happy by any means but almost a bit relieved.]

Thank ye, Myri. I didn't mean ter spill all of this in yer lap. Yer a good friend.

You never have to apologize for it. Really. I'm happy to listen and help where I can.

[And to solidify the point, Amaranth nudges her as well. They're both here to help.]

[She strokes his head again, a tiny smile on her lips. Fede lofts from Myri's shoulder back to Alainns, prawking gently and nipping at her ear. Making her feel like some kinda disney princess over here.]

I may have to take ye up on that, if yer not careful.

I'll be sure to be absolutely reckless then. [She says with a smile, meaning every word and intending to be there for whatever Alainn may need.]

andres ♔ but life is for living

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