faderift | War table: Stop Red Lyrium Shipment in Rialto Bay

Current Location: Antiva

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War table: Stop Red Lyrium Shipment in Rialto Bay

WHO: Korrin, Zevran, Pel and Anders (and 2-3 Inquisition redshirts to boss around/die for them)
WHAT: What the title says, stopping the red lyrium shipment. And maybe freeing some slaves in the process?
WHEN: Some vague period of time in the latter part of Kingsway, when other plots don't intersect. Don't think about it too much. /jazz hands
WHERE: Antiva, Rialto Bay
NOTES: Yeah, I put up a lot of threads but only play the parts you want. No pressure.

NPCs can be played by anyone! Content Warnings: Slavery, TBA

The plan starts simple enough: interrupt the red lyrium shipment to the Tom's Mum, a small ship moored off the coast, by taking the place of the contacts meant to arrive. As the ship is here ahead of schedule, they luckily have a buffer, a small window of time before the real contacts appear for their goods. The plan is set for an evening meeting; early enough for 'legitimate' business meetings, and late enough to provide some cover for those who must focus on stealth. With any luck, they'll be in and out before anyone realizes what just happened. If not, between them, they have a spirit healer, an assassin, a knight-enchanter and a shapeshifter. If they keep their wits about them, they can hold their own.

Intelligence revealing the presence of slaves in addition to the mercenaries alters the plan somewhat. Naturally, no one wants to depart without freeing the slaves as well, so the mission evolves to accommodate this. It's time to split the team in half. Korrin and Anders will assume the roles as contacts or, more plausibly, Anders with a presumed mercenary bodyguard. As long as they can keep attention centered on them, Pel and Zevran sneak in or board with the slaves, Pel taking the assassin's lead. A few Inquisition agents stand ready to assist as needed. Everything hinges on the teamwork of both parties, and how quickly they can accomplish their dual purpose of stopping the shipment (as well as preventing said shipment from being dropped into the water) and freeing the slaves before becoming overwhelmed by its crew.

Can they pull it off? It's time to find out.

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Unfortunately, Korrin isn't a great liar either. She can bullshit her way through some situations when she has to, but usually momentary diversions. Otherwise, her blunt, straightforward nature is more of a hindrance than an asset in terms of subterfuge. If only Zevran...but he had his job to do, and an elf leading the group would rouse suspicion due to its perceived improbability.

Likewise stern in demeanor, Korrin nonetheless draws no weapons. A hand rests casually on her spirit blade hilt, but that's as much as she dares to do at the time. As predicted, none of the entourage coming to greet them are sporting staves or robes, but the armor and weapons of an experienced mercenary crew. She spares a slight glance to Anders with a shake of her head; none of them are people she's worked with, which is both good and bad.

One of them stands up at the bow of the boat, hands on his hips. Like Korrin, the sword hilt is close but the weapon itself not drawn. "If you've the gold, we're your people. Do you have the amount ready?"

"Not unless we see the shipment first. No confirmation, no gold." The thought of being anywhere close to red lyrium turns her stomach, but they need to stall, for Zevran and Pel's sake. Besides, the mercenaries would get suspicious if their contacts didn't want to confirm what they were getting. At least they've covered up the best they could.

He wishes a little that he had his staff in hand, but he has to trust in Korrin's reaction speed and them being convincing. They seem to take her reply well, turning and talking with each other before rowing the boat the rest of the way. Anders seizes the moment to take another breath in and out. They have this.

The boat gets beached and two of the men bend down to heave a small chest out before a third joins them. Two more stroll along behind them, leaving one man in the boat. Six. More than Anders would like are still on the ship where Pel and Zevran are, but at least another six are in the other small boat, probably ready to come over to finish the deal.

Finally the chest is brought over, and Anders forces himself to stay patient as they unlock and open it. Not like he, or likely Korrin, needed it open. He can feel the hum long before then, the twisted song that is far closer to the Blight song than anything he ever heard from blue lyrium with Justice.

Anders steps forward anyway. The glow is just as unmistakable, the chunks in the barrel looking a little murky. With blue lyrium, that means the product is substandard. With red? For a moment his mind races. Is this a test? Is this what was expected? He settles on the latter.

"This is what you're selling." His voice is flat. "Are you trying to pretend this is high-quality? There's no guarantees with any of this. I was assured I would find what we needed here. This isn't it."

There's a pause that he feels in his stomach, before one of them chuckles and signals back to the ship. The second boat is lowered and Anders can feel his heart start to beat again.

"Had to see, I'm sure you understand," says the lead guy with a smirk. Anders doesn't, but he's not unfamiliar to this dance.

"Had to see what you could get away with," he says mildly, and the smirk on the guy turns to a smile. Of course. No honor among smugglers and all that. If they could find a sucker, they'd use them.

The other two close the chest and haul it back as they wait for the next boat to arrive.

That hum, familiar from Emprise du Lion and other places, sets Korrin's teeth on edge, and her jaw works, though she resists the urge to recoil or otherwise visibly reveal her feelings on the corrupted substance. The 'contacts' aren't supposed to give a shit, so she can't afford to do so, not when they still need to get the bulk of the mercenaries over to them. She'll just have to enjoy the cathartic release that comes with destroying them later. Varric will be proud.

Anders' channeling that revulsion into disgust gets some slight approval from her as she follows suit, eyes narrowing. Diplomacy and stealth aren't her thing, but she wouldn't be a qunari if she didn't know how to intimidate. Not enough to set them on edge, but a little looming usually reminds people that they have better things to do. It doesn't take much acting at all for her tone of annoyance to come across perfectly.

"Yeah, yeah, don't bullshit us. And remember to bring the full amount agreed on. We'll be checking that, too. Carefully."

"But of course. We wouldn't expect any less."

That naturally doesn't reassure her, but seeing the other boat beginning to row over gets the faintest of smiles from her. That's more like it, and if she can find a way to spin things so that more of their company can come ashore, the better. They aren't going to get them all, but the more they take away, the less there are guarding slaves.

He shifts where he stands, taking the moment to glance backward, and he finds it very odd how comforting it is to have Korrin looming behind him right now. Especially with another six smugglers headed their way. They'll have twelve, then. Zevran and Pel can handle six, especially the assassin. Unless the slaves get involved.

Anders finds himself considering the people in front of them now, trying to determine if instead any of them are slaves and not the mercenaries. He can't tell. There aren't any visible shackles or collars, but that doesn't always mean anything.

"You'd think we'd be past this stage," he remarks to Korrin, "but I suppose our reputation hasn't spread this far out yet. We'll have to make sure that changes; imagine how ahead of schedule we could have finished this run without the games."

Imagine how much less stressful it would be if he wasn't having to stand here watching six more armed men rowing toward them. Or if there was cover anywhere along the beach. At least they're not standing in a marsh.

If Korrin has to venture a guess, she would believe none of their current company to be slaves. Their armor and bearing don't fit, nor are there any pointed ears standing out (and sadly, that's an awfully common indicator in Korrin's experience). Which is fortunate, in that they won't have to worry about anyone being caught in the middle, less fortunate in that these mercenaries seem competent. This isn't going to end quickly or easily, with one boatload or two.

A small smirk forms on her lips, as her eyes don't stray from the boat that is steadily approaching them. "We'll just have to work on that, then. I won't say no to less of this bullshit song and dance before we get our goods." Once the boat gets close enough for a couple of the mercenaries to jump off into the water, she turns and looks to their agents. "We'll check it, then you get it ready for transport. Remember, don't get too close." They nod; thanks to the earlier briefly, all have protective clothing and scarves and whatnot, keeping the risk minimal.

Just a little bit closer....

He's never set a trap before. If this is how it feels to lay in ambush, Maker provide that he never has to do this again. Maker won't. Maker disappoints, always. But it would be really damn nice if something could be easy for once.

Focusing on breathing, Anders prepares himself to throw up barriers and light everything on fire. They have to give the other two enough time to get into position, though, and take out the remainders. The chest is brought over, lid opened, and they're greeted with pure, clear red lyrium. The hum of it is awful, though Anders works to not react at all. Yes, it's obvious he's a mage, but calm is the order of the day. Anders steps forward and nudges the chest with his foot, shifting the lyrium around a little to make sure it's not just the top layer that's good. Sure enough, the lower levels look good too.

"About time," he says, looking over at Korrin. It's almost time, is what else he's saying. Anders pulls two puches of coins out of a belt pouch and shakes them in his hand, waiting for their backup to move the lyrium out of the way and get unencumbered.

"Here," he says to the lead, tossing the first. That one's aimed to reach the person in charge, and it's got most of the 'payment' that they'll be taking back from corpses shortly here. A beat, letting the agents finish getting clear, and then he hefts the second.

"And a bonus, for being early." This pouch is sewn poorly, deliberately, and meant to burst. Pel and Zevran have had all the time possible, with two sets of people rowing over, and now it's time to act. He tosses it, aiming for the ground in the middle of the smugglers. Sure enough, it bursts open and that's the signal to move while they're distracted. Barriers snap up, and they have the element of surprise.

Fucking finally.

This moment comes as a great relief to Korrin, waiting for her chance to spring into action. She whirls her staff around and centers a static cage around as many smugglers as she can, preventing them from charging forward. What also helps that is a follow-up of her favored Chain Lightning spell, shocking those not caught in it. The three Inquisition agents also spring in action, swords and daggers coming out to strike at those nearby. They're also well-armed with pitch grenades and...yes, those are jars of bees. Don't ask. With the barrier holding, that ought to give them a slight advantage for a short time.

Bees. Of course there are bees. He will never quite understand the trend of jarring and making mad things that could then turn on you when you're needing help, but at least right now they're over there. As are several fireballs, raining down mercilessly and catching the pitch on fire.

A series of paralysis glyphs spring up as well, backup for the static cage and to catch anyone she might have missed. Every slave-using, red-lyrium smuggling asshole will die here. Their deeds have made their lives forfeit.

Surprise, with two very capable mages and three skilled-enough agents, is powerful. But that doesn't mean it's all-powerful. A mercenary in the back has managed to notch an arrow and lets it fly, striking one of the agents and shattering the current barrier before grabbing for another. Elsewhere, two swordsmen break free of glyphs and cage both and charge forward.

For once, Korrin and Anders are in absolutely perfect agreement. She has no intention of letting any of them walk away; they'll all die this night, paying for the poison they shipped and the slaves they transported. For that, there will be no hesitation -or mercy- on her part.

When that agent is struck and staggers back, Korrin moves to cover them, renewing the barrier. Knowing Anders will do his part as a healer, she'll focus on more destruction. When those two swordsmen break free, she lifts her staff and slams it into the ground. The other agents, having been told of her abilities, know what's coming and promptly get out of range. Cue several flaming meteors slamming into the ground and any smugglers on the wrong side of the spell. If any still reach her, well, that's what her glowing spirit blade is for.

For his part, he sends a wave of combined fire and earth rippling under the attackers' feet, knocking them back and setting a few on fire, which spreads a satisfying amount of panic alongside the meteors. It also gives him time to dash across the sand and get to their injured agent, putting his arm underneath the man's head and stopping what bleeding he can. There's damage. The arrow went deep. But he can stabilize this man and does, even with his attention divided.

As a couple break from the ongoing assault, Anders sends lighting streaking out from his fingertips, searing through several of their enemies and dramatically slowing them down.

"Not today you don't," he hisses. They'll be contained, and they'll die.

The panic is very satisfying to watch, and Korrin keeps it coming with triggering a fiery glyph to explode beneath the nearest ones. Perhaps it is overkill, but she really doesn't care. They can't take any chances that these smugglers will survive, and Pel and Zevran might still need them. So she'll keep the assault coming with staff and blade.

"That's right! Burn, you pieces of shit!" Beside her, one of the agents keeps those pitch grenades coming, slowing down any who try to move towards them instead of away.

Sand is turning to glass, and Anders has worked the arrow out by the time the last of the smugglers is staggering down to the ground. He stems the bleeding for good with some satisfaction, looking around quickly.

"Is anyone else hurt? If not, we need to get on one of the boats and go back up Zevran and Pel." He hadn't seen anyone else get wounded, but battle is chaos. There's not always time to see everything that happens.

Unhurt thanks to her barrier and help from the other agents, Korrin glances around. Her nearest battle partner has some minor injuries in the form of shallow cuts, but one healing potion later and they're good to go. The third agent is fine, having mostly fought at range.

Looking back over to Anders and that last agent, she nods. "We're good to go. Let's catch up, before the rest of those assholes try to get the slaves involved." This will be the messy part, and she can only hope they get there in time. Striding over to the nearest boat, she beckons and waits until others have had a chance to board before pushing it into the water. One of the agents moves to take up rowing.

With a quick suggestion that the formerly injured and still-a-little-weak agent stays near the lyrium, Anders is rushing into the boat. Not like they can keep rushing, rowing is very slow work. He peers into the water before looking back up.

"...Do you think anyone's ever safely used force magic to speed up a boat?" He won't. It's too important that they reach the ship safely and back up the rest of their group. But oh, it's tempting. Later he'll test it out. For now, the boat is making its way steadily and the ship is getting closer.

Anders touches his crystal, pulls it out to look at it as if it can tell him how Pel and Zevran are doing. It can't, though, and he tucks it back away a moment later before taking hold of his staff and taking a breath. The boat bumps against the ship.

"Would someone like to go before the healer, just in case?"

"...or Fade Step, for a short burst." Damn it, now Korrin wants to try that...but it's an experiment for a much less urgent time than this. She can only file it away for later use, perhaps dragging her hardier friends into it. For now, it's time to board the ship. At least the deck is empty, proof that Zevran and Pel haven't been overwhelmed by the remaining mercenaries. She's expected no less, but it's still a heartening sight.

One of the agents is the first to jump out, followed by Korrin and the other shortly afterward. After a quick glance around, she turns and nods to Anders. "It's clear. Come aboard and let's get below." She's not letting Zevran and Pel have all the fun, if she can help it. So she'll take point, staff in one hand and spirit blade hilt in the other, waiting to be activated.

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War table: Stop Red Lyrium Shipment in Rialto Bay

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