PLAYER PLOT: The Least of His Children

[pinprick]

WHO: Nathaniel Howe, Felix Alexius, Anders, James Norrington, Kaisa Daesun, Fenris, Araceli, Inessa.
WHAT: A quest to rescue a slave.
WHEN: August 26
WHERE: Tevinter
NOTES: Will update. Plotting post is here.

The Mastermind: Nathaniel Howe
The Game: Green Goods
The Grifter: Felix Alexius
The Mark: Magister Leo Valerius is an ailing old man, but his mind is sharp. His main concern of late has been to leave his sons a good inheritance, though he isn't exactly straight-up greedy.
The Prize: Alavda Endris is a slave to Valerius. The bad news is that she almost never leaves his side. The good news is that that makes her easy to find.

The Plan: One team is sent in, with Felix dressed as a minor lordling and his entourage trying to climb the social ladder by schmoozing an old magister. Felix claims to be staying as a guest of a nearby lord (technically true) and only visiting for the day. Valerius must believe this boy is an upstart with no political value and too much money.

Another team performs a heist and gains the money Valerius keeps at this estate by pretending to be contractors hired to work on the floorboards in the room with the vault door (an appointment Valerius set up months ago and our team hijacked). Planting bees in the floorboards will clear the room of guards. Felix pretends to fall in love with Alavda and asks to borrow her from Valerius. If Valerius hesitates, Felix offers him more and more money until he consents. He has loaned Alavda to other lords before, and Felix's show of being petulant and stupid should help wear away any suspicion that this is a set-up. In that way, it's a basic hustle. Once Valerius consents, Felix then sends an attendant outside to fetch that amount from the money stolen from Valerius' vault. The entourage departs, claiming to be returning to the local lord's house. They leave with Alavda and return to Skyhold.

MAJOR OBSTACLES:

Alavda is wearing an enchanted collar which allows Valerius to locate her. If it is cut away or in most any other way removed, it sends a massive and lethal shock through her system. The team will need to find a way to remove the collar without killing Alavda.

If/when the collar is removed, Valerius will send people to find her.

Valerius has about twenty guards on his property.

The vault door operates on reacting to a specific keystone which cannot be found, but aside from the magical lock, the mechanism is still a mechanism. A good thief can crack it.

IMPORTANT NOTE: It is vital that the members of this team keep their involvement and mission details secret before and after the mission. It must not get out that Inquisition members and affiliates were involved in hustling a magister.

Comments

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[solutus]

They walk along for seemingly endless ages, the landscape sliding by, becoming progressively warmer, more tropical, as it shifts from the sprawling swarths of Nevarran countryside to the lusher, greener spans of the Imperium's outskirts.

Fenris' temperament on the journey thus far has been mild, congenial quiet for the most part but happy to engage lightly with his traveling companions as he flanks the outside of the caravan, eyes cast outward to the horizon or down at his feet, content enough to feel the road under his feet and the breeze on his face.

As the terrain changes though, so does Fenris’ mood. Tevinter begins to loom to the North like a weight on his chest and tension appears in the set of Fenris’ shoulders and in the tightness of his downturned lips, the set of his jaw rigid. His typically amicable silence turns to dour churlishness and he grows increasingly anxious, constantly casting disquieted glances out into the trees like he’s perpetually awaiting an ambush.

At night he’s posted by the fire, burnishing his blade or just sitting, legs pulled up as he stares saturnine into the flames, set apart from the group a little further with each camp.

[circleprodigy]

While Fenris still seems relatively social, Inessa will approach him after camp is set. Garahel gets their first, though, the mabari wagging his tail at the other elf, dropping his ball in front of him in hopes that he'll want to play. Yes, despite a day of traveling, the war hound somehow still has energy to run around some more. Maybe it's all these new friends that's giving him an extra boost?

Pausing a few paces away, Inessa takes a moment to observe. She's read Varric's book of course -who hasn't, really- so he isn't completely unknown to her. More than that, she's hoping he'll be able to fill her in on what she ought to know. "If he's a pest or you get tired of him, let me know. He means well, but not everyone takes to his level of enthusiasm."

[solutus]

Bent over his pack on the ground, Fenris is digging through it when a ball lands and bounces into his shin. He looks up and around, seeing no one in the immediate vicinity besides the mabari, smiling his dog smile, tongue lolling in expectant anticipation. Eying him for a moment of dubious consideration, Fenris picks up the toy and looks at it, sending the creature into a fit of tail-thrashing excitement. "Is this what you want, beast?" A little quirk of his lips as he tosses the ball at a low angle, sending it skittering a few feet out and watches as it's retrieved and brought back to him with bounding enthusiasm. A whine at his weak challenge as it's dropped again and Fenris chuckles quietly. "Not good enough?" and this time when he takes it, he stands up, set to give it a harder toss.

He's midd throw when, presumably the dog's owner, approaches, and he shrugs before he lobs the ball. "I don't mind," he says.

[circleprodigy]

That seems to be a better through in the mabari's estimation, as he goes tearing off after the ball with the vigor of a small pup. Just how he manages such bursts of energy when he's been traveling with them all day, Inessa will never know. She watches him fondly for a moment before turning to their company.

"Garahel will be very pleased, then. He loves making new friends, Warden or otherwise." Most of his company is of her own order, after all, but boundaries never matter to the war hound. "I don't think I introduced myself properly before; I'm Inessa Serra, of Ferelden. Are you fairly new to the Inquisition as well?"

[solutus]

"Garahel," Fenris repeats. "Who killed the Dragon of Slaves." A flicker of an unreadable expression as the gates of Minrathous loom, foreboding, in his mind. It's gone in a breath and Fenris nods to the dog, who's on the way back again. "He seems like a good beast."

"Fenris." And he'd have offered a hand but he's once again squatting to hurl a ball. "The Inquisition and I have a common goal, at present. That's all." And why he's so keen lately to make the distinction that he's not actually a part of the Inquisition he's not actually sure. Perhaps it's because he's not been in one place as long as he's been at Skyhold in a very long time and it's beginning to chafe a bit.

[circleprodigy]

Inessa smiles as Fenris gets the reference, nodding as she watches Garahel return, tail wagging excitedly as he awaits another throwing. "He is at that, the best I've known. But I am biased." It's difficult to be objective about a mabari that she's raised from a pup, after all.

Not taking offense to a lack of handshakes when he's keeping Garahel happy, Inessa nods. "The Inquisition can take all the allies it can find, whatever the circumstances. I cannot imagine you'll be anything other than vital at our destination. The Imperium may be often discussed in the south, but first-hand information is decidedly rarer."

[solutus]

"One of the few good things to come out of Tevinter, the mabari," Fenris says, watching the dog. "The breed originated there before they were introduced to Ferelden, you know. Good dogs and good wine." He trails off a bit oddly, but recovers with a shrug.

"I wonder why that is," he frowns slightly. He's still not thrilled that he's volunteered to waltz back in with a party full of mages, whatever the noble cause. He also notes she's heart of him and isn't too surprised, it seems he's garnered some notoriety lately thanks to a certain blasted dwarf. Or perhaps she's just done her research. "But thank you, I will try to be of help where I'm able."

[circleprodigy]

"Really? I didn't realize." Inessa raises an eyebrow, thoughtful as Garahel wiggles and runs in a circle. She moves to take the ball, but he ignores her. Evidently, he only wants his new friend to throw it.

"Are you at all familiar with the magister we seek, or the area in which he resides?" She'll ask Felix, too, just to gather all the information she can, but given Fenris' background, she's sure he'll be able to provide insight that a noble lacks.

[solutus]

Fenris tosses the ball and catches it, then fakes a throw that gets him a half-start and then a dirty look from the dog. "Smart boy," he says approvingly, and throws again.

When the dog has peeled off, he looks at Inessa, darkening visibly. "I am familiar with Valerius. He was in attendance on occasion when Danarius had... 'get togethers'. His estate is in the Upper City with many of the other Magisters' homes."

[circleprodigy]

Inessa smirks at the interaction between Fenris and Garahel, shaking her head. "He will be sufficiently tired tonight, I expect. Thank you for the assistance in wearing him out."

She sobers upon listening to the information provided, lips forming a thin, worried line. "Any would he could many of these magisters as allies? Or rivals? I am wondering what we will have to deal with, should we draw unwanted attention."

[solutus]

"I like dogs," Fenris says simply, not feeling he has done anything particularly deserving of gratitude. He's happy to be of this sort of service anytime.

"All members of the Magisterium are both allies and rivals," he supplies, cutting his eyes to Inessa. "We do not want to draw unwanted attention." He shakes his head, looking grim. "Our best tactic is to be fast second to discretion. Give them no time to rally. Guards will come first, then mages. We must be far away before the latter."

[circleprodigy]

Listening intently, Inessa nods and frowns thoughtfully. "It sounds rather like the Grand Game, but with mages. Though I suspect both parties would take offense to hearing that." Even so, to her eyes the elite often seem to have more in common with each other across borders than they would like to believe.

"Agreed, I have no desire to face their magic. I can dispel if need be, but that's a last resort, not a first. If nothing else, I can annoy them through buying a little time with ice walls." She's sure they can burn those down, but it's still time they waste on an object rather than those escaping.

[solutus]

"Not an entirely incorrect comparison" Fenris looks both dead serious and distantly amused. "but with much more and blood magic, unfortunately."

He nods vaguely because it's all he can really do without being overly forthright, saying he does not think it will be enough if they were really caught and the Magisters come down on them. There will be no saving anyone then, Fenris is afraid. "There is no point in contingencies when there are too many possible outcomes," he does say, crossing his arms. "It works or it doesn't."

[circleprodigy]

Inessa nods to that, knowing she can try to react to dozens of different scenarios in her head, but that something will happen that she doesn't anticipate. At least Warden life has hardened her to that truth, difficult as it was to accept at first. Her large eyes are shadowed, her lips forming a thin line. "You're right, of course. I should -do- know better, but the thought of facing blood magic again is...unsettling. Still, Garahel and I will be ready when we're needed."

Garahel's happy to interrupt with his glorious return. He drops the ball and barks happily, tail wagging. Did they see his grand leap?!

[foxsays]

Araceli is here because she's a good thief, not because she's a bard (but maybe because she's a bard too, since she can tell a lie as easy as breathing so no one will know where she's been) but thieves notice plenty if they don't want to end up locked in a cell or dead. Lux is a constant shadow at her heels when she sits not quite opposite Fenris, not wishing to block his view as she slips her own blades free to settle on her lap before she removes a necklace that on closer inspection is a series of lockpicks.

The light of the fire is just enough for her to inspect them, making sure they weren't damaged at all in Dairsmuid, that nothing is in need of replacing as her fox pricks up his ears.

"Señor?" More used to the night noises of a city or a dock, she tips her head in Fenris' direction, keeping her voice low and soft. "Is there something out there?"

[solutus]

Fenris doesn't look up from stitching the hole in the seam of his spare leggings when he's joined by a closeby presence, the Castilean woman that he knows to be Araceli, and her fox. They settle quietly, the sort of lithe quiet exclusive to those skilled in clandestine arts.

They sit for a short while, the fire crackling and throwing soft shadows over the the clearing. Every once and a while Fenris looks up toward the black forest outside the reach of the light and listens, his ears cocking like the fox's, before turning to his mending again. He's caught at it after a while, Araceli's question a whisper cutting through the relative silence.

"We have too many fires. Make too much noise," he says, shaking his head. "There is always something 'out there'. I just hope it's more than a matter of time before we are detected."

[foxsays]

"I don't think many people here have had to make a life out of being light on their feet," she murmurs, not exactly a complaint but she's aware. At least she's getting plenty of practice in at maintaining a perfectly neutral expression, and saying absolutely nothing when she wants to snap because that won't help at all but--

People are loud. Certain people are louder than others. It's grating. How have they survived this long, she sometimes wonders.

"You think ambush then." Tiredness flattens the question out of her voice but it makes as much sense as anything else, when there's this much secrecy to what they're doing. If the Inquisition lends the air of legitimacy that keeps them mostly safe and unmolested on the roads, this ragged band doesn't have that to fall back on. Just whatever lie they can try to cling to through their teeth.

[unbrokenoath]

The polite thing to do might be to recognize Fenris distancing himself from the others at camp is due to his own problems, and give him the distance that he wants. But Kaisa has never been accused of politeness, and she doesn't see any reason to start now. So one camp, when he looks particularly glum and by himself and like what he definitely needs is someone to bother him, she strolls over, dog at her heels, and plops near him. The dog plops on her, proving that large dogs can be lapdogs if they try hard and believe in themselves.

"I like your sword. It's pretty big." She starts off, grinning shamelessly. "But I think mine is bigger. Want to compare?" That's not an innuendo, you're an innuendo. Her sword, for the record, seems to consist of nothing but a gaudy, colorful hilt. But there's probably a reason she's carrying a sword hilt around, right?

[solutus]

Fenris is in fact feeling particularly sullen this evening, which is at least some small improvement (depending on whom you might ask) from the irascible mood he's been in most nights for the past near-week. When approached he says nothing, his general aura of 'go away' apparently not strong enough to daunt absolutely everyone tonight. He's keen to ignore the intruder entirely until she goes away, but she doesn't seem to be so easily put-off.

"No." Fenris says. But he makes the mistake of glancing anyway, his curiosity overriding his moodiness when he sees that her sword is...not a sword. "What is that," he asks, tilting his head. The hilt sparkles in the firelight alluringly. "How's it work?"

[unbrokenoath]

Throw Kaisa into all black and have her jump a train, because she is utterly dauntless, and does not appear bothered by any apparent moodiness. She does, however, look quite enthusiastic when he goes ahead and asks about her sword. She wiggles around, trying to dislodge her dog from her lap, and it's only after a little bit of stubborn wrestling that she hops up, showing off the hilt.

"No idea how it works, like, the core foundation of it. Enchanted, I guess? I thought it was dwarven, but there's an etching of a hawk swiping a rabbit, and dwarves don't have either of those. So. Who knows?" Not that Kaisa has done any actual research on it, or maybe she'd recognize all signs pointing to it being an ancient elven artifact that she's hefting around.

"But in practical terms..." She lifts the hilt up with both hands and swings it down. As she swings it, the sword bursts out of the hilt in a translucent, multi-colored (even chromatic), glass-like form. "Pretty neat, huh? Sure packs easier than any other sword I've had. And I look super cool swinging it around in battle." And aesthetics are, of course, something to carefully consider when selecting weapons.