faderift | 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.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

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.

War table: Stop Red Lyrium Shipment in Rialto Bay

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