faderift | Tracking Smugglers

Entry tags:

Tracking Smugglers

WHO: Korrin, Fenris, Julian, Adasse
WHAT: Hunting down slavers for fun and profit.
WHEN: At some nebulous point in the first half of the month.
WHERE: Ayesleigh
NOTES: CW: Slavers, violence, to be updated as need be.

It's a long trip to Ayesleigh, but the uneventful nature of it gives plenty of time to plan for the assignment ahead. The Inquisition has tasked Korrin and Fenris -members of the Northern Powers project- with following up on some leads regarding slavers in the region. Said leads have been accused of kidnapping, but lack of evidence has them still walking free. With some discussion of plans and a bit of luck, the Inquisition's agents might go further than what local authorities have been able to manage.

That's where the trail begins, though Korrin reminds everyone that they might have to expand their search, depending on what's discovered. The use of force -lethal or otherwise- isn't forbidden, but it's made clear that they must do their best not to leave a trail of blood leading directly to the Inquisition. Whatever must be done, it ought be kept discreet. (Fenris is likely reminded of this more than once.) Force isn't the only resource available to them, however; thanks to Julian and Adasse, connections and stealth might open an number of doors otherwise closed to them.

It's early morning when their ship finally reaches port, travelers streaming down onto the docks and disappearing into the crowds. The hunt begins.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

As the ship is pulling in, it’s time to get to business. They’ve got their leads, so they know who they’re looking for, having obtained some pretty thorough information on their descriptions. It doesn’t take long to track down one of them, and start tailing him.

If they want answers, of course, they’re definitely going to want to apprehend the guy… if they can. He’s got a grizzled, rough appearance, definitely the look of someone who’s put up many a fight, and won. He carries a huge war-maul, too, and strolls along the streets with the ease of someone who isn’t afraid of much of anything at all.

The question is, how to proceed?

Spotting their target, Korrin has to resist the urge to just charge on in. She can't very well do that after lecturing everyone about the need to be at least someone discreet. The Inquisition's reputation matters, and will affect what they can do later on. But the urge to beat down the slaver ass is still very strong, so.

"He's not going to go anywhere quietly, that's for damn sure. Adasse, how do you feel about trailing him? As soon as he gets somewhere private, contact us on the crystal and we can swoop in. I can hit him with a Static Cage or Disruption Field, if we need to keep him from getting away...but he looks like the kind of asshole who'd want to stay and fight. Unless anyone has a better idea?"

Edited 2018-03-08 16:48 (UTC)

Ah, Ayesleigh. Julian hasn't often had cause to travel to this city, preferring the southern cities of Antiva, but home is home, and he strolls about, completely at his ease. Familiar smells from the food stalls, familiar accents surrounding him; it's put him in a good mood, despite what they're here to do. But success comes from going into things with a positive outlook, so he doesn't see how this won't go in their favor.

Sizing up their lead, he glances over at Korrin, both impressed by her quick thinking, and more than a little amused that it involves trapping him straight away.

"It depends on where his loyalties lie. Antivans can be very loyal, but we're also skilled at pretending to be loyal until we're given a better offer. He might be willing to talk, but until we can be sure, I would rather avoid a maul to the skull. Restraining him while we make our case is not a bad idea."

"I agree with this plan." Fenris' eyes narrow and a dark look briefly overcomes his expression as he looks off in the direction of their target. A brutal, thuggish type if ever there was one... he has no doubt as to the awfulness that his captives have probably experienced. It would be really satisfying to phase his hand through his chest and pull out his beating heart, but as Korrin has reminded him repeatedly, this mission requires a bit more subtlety than that. Too bad, really.

He sighs, reminding himself that it'll be for the better in the long run to find out more. "After all, we need to get information out of him. We need to know who else is involved if we're to put a stop to it all. I'm willing to hold back and wait while you disable him... until the interrogation." He'll have to show some restraint, but he thinks he can manage this.

Adasse's smile flicked over to amused while everyone else piled on their agreement with Korrin's plan. Not that he disagreed, not at all. Just he hadn't actually answered Korrin's request yet.

"Yeah, I can trail him. Keep your crystal up - I'll give him enough space so I can report back his movements." He flipped his hood up, tapping his crystal on, before he all but disappeared from their sights, melding immediately into the crowd.

For her part, Korrin waits to hear from Adasse himself before considering the plan in motion. As he disappears, she turns her crystal on and starts heading in his general direction. They can't be too far away for this work, after all.

"Our goal is what matters here and therefore his answers. As satisfying as it would be to crush that skull right off, we can get a lot more than just him if we play our cards right." She suspects Fenris will keep that in mind; he won't abandon the bigger picture if it means capturing more of them in the process.

Julian thinks through a couple scenarios in his head. The man -- once restrained -- should provide a good look at his character, unless he's as mysterious as a Crow. Judging by his size and demeanor, Julian highly doubts that. So can the man be threatened into talking, or no? Can the man be bought off, or no? And naturally, can the man be bought off only to turn around and try to kill them? All possible scenarios. Julian rotates his shoulders casually. He should probably loosen his muscles a little in case of that last possibility.

"You catch more flies with honey than vinegar," he adds. "If he's the bottom of the ladder, we would do well to maneuver our way up the rungs. And once we reach the top? He will receive what is coming to him."

That reminder of the bigger picture is exactly what he needs, and it doesn't escape him that Korrin has had to mention it a couple of times already, on the way here. He does relish the thought of potentially catching someone high-ranking, someone who commands a lot of slaver rings. Crushing their work from above sounds pretty satisfying to him.

So he nods. "Right, we won't take out many of them unless we reach the top. Then we can destroy them." There's a dark look in his eyes as he says that, the expression of someone with a very personal vendetta to settle. "I wonder how far this goes... I guess we'll find out soon enough."

Adasse is sliding through the crowd like an eel, watching the man as he pauses here and there. Watching coin exchange hands at one place - he whispers into the crystal - "Looks like he's greasing a few palms, paying off debts. I have a feeling this fellow gets around."

He's darting off again - secretly happy that he does NOT have all these people with him. For Maker's sake they're loud as Darkspawn. He finally pulled back into an alley, dark eyes narrowing as the man slipped into a warehouse off the docks.

"He's gone into a warehouse. I don't see any obvious guards, which probably means traps... or he's just an idiot."

"A fair point, I just hope this doesn't test my patience too much." Korrin nods to Julian; patience is never her strong point, especially when injustices such as slavery are involved. But the bigger picture needs to be considered, so she'll keep that in mind. Besides, she's just as curious as Fenris to see who's at the top of this shit-heap.

Perking up as Adasse replies, she's quick to respond. "Traps seem more than likely. Stay alert and we'll catch up with you." Glancing over to the others, she smirks. "Now it's time for some action. Let's see this through, shall we?"

"Hopefully these actions don't involve me tripping off any traps," Julian replies dryly. He's a man who walks with confidence everywhere he goes. Sneaking and scouting aren't his forte at all, so he's going to stand in the back and try not to become entangled in a net or whatever the case might be.

"Lead on."

Fenris frowns, considering what they might be up against. Then a dark but almost amused expression flashes into his eyes, for just a brief moment. There's always something especially fitting about using his powers against the likes of slavers. After all, it's possible he might be able to use his phasing ability here to disable or at the very least set off traps and avoid damage. Potentially.

"I should be able to handle the traps."

Fortunately, the warehouse is easy enough to find, a large, imposing structure not far off from their starting location, the only one in the general area. Fenris looks around for Adasse, heading in his direction as he sees him.

Adasse is leaning casually against a wall, just inside of an alley so it looks like he's just loitering about. Waiting around for, oh, maybe some other ruffians. When he spots the others, he tips his head further back into the alley and slips there, so they can talk in quiet.

"Well, I hope you're good with a bunch at once. As far as I can tell, there's just the one entrance."

"It'll have to do." Korrin would kill more time searching again for another way, just in case, but they don't know how long their mark will be inside. Better to take advantage of the moment while they have it, even with the pitfalls. "Fenris and I first, then. I'll trap him before he can blink."

With that, she nudges Fenris gently and steps forward. As soon as they're close enough, she casts Barrier over everyone before reaching for her staff in one hand and spirit blade hilt in the other. Then all that needs to be done is give the entrance a powerful kick. They might as well start this off with a bang.

Okay, that's pretty impressive. Julian has never fought beside a mage before, and while he's still looking over himself to see if he can see or feel this barrier spell, Korrin goes and kicks the door open. Not exactly what one thinks of when they picture a mage. Maybe it's an apostate thing. Oh, well; no time to mull it over now. He draws his sword from his scabbard and a dagger from his belt to hold in his off hand. Carrying his shield around here would have been too suspicious, and besides, he got used to fighting like this when he was aboard one of the family's merchant vessels. If it works against a pirate, hopefully it will work here too.

But in the meantime, he'll just wait behind the others so he doesn't set off any traps.

That's what he likes about Korrin: she's blunt and direct. She doesn't act at all like a lot of mages, relying just as much on her own strength as well. Fenris is all for her approach. The time to vent out his ongoing rage is fast approaching. Thankfully.

"That ought to draw his attention..." He murmurs mostly to himself. It seems like as good of a plan as any, though. If they draw him out, they should be able to take him down.

So he heads right in, not too concerned about stealth or any noise they're making. Still, he does exercise a bit of caution. He makes one gesture for the others to hold back, definitely feeling uneasy about the place in general. And there's good reason. He takes another step, already having his power on a bit of a hair-trigger from the tension... and there's a sudden mechanical sound of something being released, a trap set off from where he'd stepped on the floor. A large metal spike bursts out toward him from the side, but instead of going through him, it goes... well, through him. The spike ends up embedded in the wall.

As for Fenris, he's unharmed. He's intangible, his lyrium brands surrounding him with an eerie glow as he makes a motion that it's safe to follow.

"Let's hope there's not too many more where that one came from."

There's a sound elsewhere in the warehouse, and with any luck that means their mark is coming out to inspect his trap, probably certain he's gotten rid of the pesky intruder...

Well shit. Adasse really has to figure out how to close down traps like that so he doesn't have his head stabbed in half. He followed after Fenris, sticking to the shadows so he could creep behind their target.

Also, avoid any more traps that might be in front of him. He was absolutely in perfect position to drop right down on the man when he came out. Or behind him. Or around him.

As her eyes adjust to the shift in light levels, Korrin keeps her staff and hilt out. The moment their grizzled, war-maul sporting target is spotted, she smirks and gets ready as he takes the maul off his back. The intent to charge is obvious, but she makes that a bit more difficult, when casting Static Cage a moment later.

"Oops. So sorry about that."

Today is a day for Julian to see plenty of things he hasn't seen before. When Fenris just lets the spike go through him, Julian has to stand back and reevaluate his life a little. The elf is no mage, and yet that was very mage like. He assumes. He's really the last person that should be talked to about a mage's spells.

Okay, well it looks like Fenris can handle himself, so Julian follows at a more cautious pace, eyeing the floor for anymore traps. When their target is put in a static cage, however, he smiles.

"Hello, there! So sorry about this, but we figured you might not be one for conversation."

As that glow still surrounds him, Fenris’s expression turns predatory. Yes… perfect. They have him right where they want him. There's a certain sense of justice, too, in having him caught like this, the trapper being trapped and all. He approaches steadily, holding his sword out so that its point is resting on the man's neck. Oh, yes. This is the part he's going to enjoy.

Just… you know… he really does need to reign it in a little and not actually stab the man's throat yet. They have information to get out of him.

"Time to talk," he says gruffly. "Your life doesn't mean much to us, but what you know does."

The man is like a caged animal in a way, swearing up a storm and fighting hard to break free… well, he tries, but it's really no use. He keeps glaring at Korrin, the one who'd set this damned cage up in the first place. "You, mage! I've got a maul that needs to meet your skull!" When that massive sword is pointed at him, it's not like he can do much at all, though. He eyes them all warily. "What's this about? I didn't do nothing, you hear? I didn't do nothing at all, you've got the wrong guy!"

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Tracking Smugglers

First Lead

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject