faderift | Player-led plot: Sabotage the Enemy Forces

After initially casing the mine and reporting back to the Inquisition leaders on mission the numbers of hostiles within the mine, the most important thing in Rey's mind is rescuing the prisoners. She doesn't force anyone else to join her, those who would rather not waste their time breaking people out of the cages can go start on sabotage.

There are several cages of civilians- not the missing Inquisition agents- as well as a cage of people who look like they may be from the village that had the red lyrium in the tents. Several of them are either dead or severely infected by the red lyrium, and likely to die soon.

Rey looks at those with her, her hand flexing over where one of her lightsabers rests on her hip. She doesn't want to ignite it, worried the light and sound may call attention to their location, but it would be the fastest way to get into the cages. Unless of course...

"Look around, see if the keys are hanging up somewhere. Do any of you pick locks? We need to get these people out of here before the fighting starts."

[ ooc: feel free to threadhop or make multiple threads here ]

Once the prisoners are freed and quietly led away from the mine the trap setting practically does itself. It's easy to identify several barrels that have flammable materials in them, and Rey encourages the others to spread out and find good places to set other traps.

There's other sabotage to do as well, jamming doorways or cutting through the rungs of ladders, Rey believes in the creativity of those she's brought with her to get the job done.

[ ooc: feel free to do different toplevels here, Rey will pop in and out if needed ]

The giant poses a bit of a problem. Before they leave to rejoin the rest of the Inquisition, Rey pulls the group together, pressing her lips together.

"We should try to kill that giant before it wakes up. If it fights when the rest of the Inquisition force is here, it's going to cause a lot of damage. I might be able to kill it with my lightsabers but-" she grimaces, her hands hovering over where the blades lay under her tunic "I'm worried the light and noise would alert the red Templars to our location. So anyone have any quieter ideas?"

[ ooc: one thread here, please ]

"If they're simple, I can pick them," Nahariel says, peering past Rey to eye the cages as if they'd give up their secrets if she looked hard enough. "If not, I can most like figure out some other way to open them, but it'll take a bit more time and I can't guarantee it'll be as quiet."

Malcolm licks at his lips, considering the options. "I could light it up, but that likewise won't be terribly quiet or invisible." Setting things on more or less divine fire is neither of those things. "Easier to try and slit the throat or otherwise take off the head, though I say 'easier'..."

Easier said than done.

Not quite six months since Orzammar. Part of Yngvi wonders if this is a mistake because it's the same again; people in cages, taken, left, miserable and abandoned if not for the people come looking for them but if they hadn't been looking for their people--

"I got the locks, if it can't be picked then it'd be getting blasted." The shrug isn't his usual casual from where he's over to start working at one; he's Carta, not being able to deal with any lock thrown at him meant no dinner. "Need to make a decision 'bout them before we're done." He doesn't want to say it but he knows that he's already done it once out of assembled company.

"Thing is that it's big. Could set up some traps in case it wakes up." It doesn't hurt to have options, and when you're used to being in a small outfit that tends to be how it goes most if the time. Rig the field to your advantage whenever you can before you go in. "That way if it's up we get it down or...we use them to stop it getting up. If we're careful."

Literally the smallest person in this group but it could work. If they're careful. Like super careful.

"We'd need to find strategic points for traps then, if we go that route. On the off chance it does wake we could stop it from getting close to us. Getting close enough to slit it's throat might be too risky. Either way, it might still make a lot of noise." There were too many what ifs for him to be comfortable. He agreed that killing it quickly was their only option but the damned thing was just too large.

"Any other ideas for a quieter and faster solution?"

Rey has an idea but she doesn't know if it would work, and if Kylo didn't bring it up in the first place, it probably won't.

Still, she turns to look at him, raising her eyebrows

"Would you be able to um..." she doesn't know what the term is, but she holds her hand up, mimicking a choking gesture. That's something that she knows she shouldn't be doing, but that also means it's not off-limits to him.

"You want me to choke it to death. That's not very Jedi-like of you." He was being sarcastic, of course. He knew that thing had to die and he was happy to get rid of it quickly and avoid creating a scene with the Red Templars.

He raises a gloved hand, his cape drawing back over his shoulder as he does, waiting to see if anyone might object before he started drawing upon the deep well of hatred and rage he possessed, filling his thoughts with nothing else as he gestured towards the creature and cut off it's air supply. Dying in such a manner would be painful for anyone, but dying without even realizing what the cause was was surely worse. Even so, it was a quiet method they needed and one he could provide.

"I might be able to force any locks that can't be picked," Rey exhales, flexing her fingers anxiously as she looks in at the people in the cages. Most of the ones who aren't covered in red lyrium look alert but are silent as their potential rescuers work. Rey's eyes focus on the ones who are still breathing, but don't look good. She knows that's what Yngvi means.

"The dead can be collected and burned after the rest of the Inquisition arrives to clear out the mine. Those who are still alive... There are few enough of them that we can put them on a cart and drag them out." There are carts to spare around the mine, at least. Rey says it in a way that means she isn't open to debating about it, even if these people aren't going to survive much longer, they didn't deserve to die locked in a cage.

This is not any kind of magic that Nari's seen before, and her eyebrows raise slowly as the creature's chest ceases to rise and fall with its sleeping breath. All the magic she knew had something--some kind of showing, but this? Her eyes flit back and forth between Kylo's outstretched hand and the giant, who becomes first restless, then agitated, then wakes; its single red eye straining, its mouth gaping in a silent roar that has no breath to sound.

No spell lasts forever, though.

"While it's silent?" Nari queries urgently, freeing her knife from its sheath and shifting to the balls of her feet.

Rey doesn't dignify Kylo's quip with a response beyond her eyes flicking to him for a moment as her lips press into a thin line, before she pulls back to watch him work. The others may not be able to see what he's doing, but she can feel the Force surging around him, dark and angry. She starts to tamp down on it, walling herself off as best as she can when she realizes that what he's doing isn't enough, the creature is awake and not dying peacefully in it's sleep.

"Go. I'll help him hold it down!" She hisses at the others, drawing on the Force and stretching it out before her, pressing on the massive form of the creature like a net. She grimaces, not used to holding something so large still. "Hurry, we're not going to be able to hold it for long!"

"Once they're out, those that can walk... have we a clear path out for them?" Nari asks, fingers already searching in a beltpouch for the simple set of picks she carried.

He sees this is magic, but a silent, quiet, physical sort of magic, invisible to the eye. And he doesn't like it. It's no time for questions, not right in this instance. Later.

Malcolm left his bow and arrows back at camp, not intend to go shooting things and saving it for the battle to come, but he certainly has a blade on him. He's no scout, but his feet move quietly even with surety, motioning for Nari and Yngvi to follow. His aim is the same as the silent mages from another land: the throat. It's not a death from afar, unfortunately, but so long as it doesn't start swinging wildly...

At Malcolm's gesture, Nari will nod curtly and keep pace behind the Seeker half-way to their target before peeling off to the left to circle quickly around the giant's side. One blade would do well enough for its throat. She's headed for the hamstrings, just in case it's strong enough in its corrupted rage to break the hold Rey has on it.

He can't see what, specifically, Rey and Kylo are doing, that's the problem with this magic. An advantage to them all, yes, but worrying. It doesn't seem to be able to lift itself, its arms, its legs, but he's still careful in his approach, just in case. Still, it shakes in its invisible hold, trying, trying to break free.

The other issue is avoiding touching the spots of corruption that dot its form. He's just silently thankful that he is, apparently, a bit more resistant to it than most. It's an awkward angle and a little bit of a climb to get at an angle to slit a giant's throat, and he can't say he's ever been this close to one, but with one last check to Nari's position in the dark, he plunges the dagger in, dragging along with both hands.

For a while, Yngvi doesn't say anything because in the cold locks and picks aren't as reliable as they'd be under normal conditions when the metal is cold and brittle, more liable to snap, landing them in worse trouble than they were already in. The first one comes loose with a louder screech than he'd like but there's nothing much to be done about it, what little oil kept close on his person is for his traps or emergencies. People make more noise anyway.

"Might need to let them hang tight for a bit, if it comes to it. If they'll listen." He's moving to the next one as he says it with a resigned twist to his mouth because people in these situations don't always make the best choices. They might just bolt, or they might not want to leave in the first place.

Yngvi might be the smallest one here but he's also a dwarf so once he can a barrel or two moving, he's happy. It doesn't roll too well when he's concerned about losing the contents in an accident but he's got a plan here.

A plan that involves some of those ladder rungs thanks Rey don't mind him sneaking a few of those off. And some caltrops. A little of his trap hinge oil.

And a trap.

And a few other things. It's rough but when you've got a little tinderbox he's scouting out a spot for with this mess he's starting to assemble, it'll blow up pretty nicely if he can get the barrel positioned just right.

Given that the prisoners are out, the remaining contents of the mine are dangerous, and they'll be past this point by the time anyone comes, Nari has commandeered what barrels Yngvi hasn't and is busily setting up a chain of events that will at the very least heavily weaken the supports that are helping to hold up the tons of rock above their heads that she's trying not to think about. It might not bring the shaft down on its own, but with Yngvi's secondary (or primary, for that matter) explosion, the odds were good that the entire passage would cave in to crush anyone within it and trap the rest.

Edited 2018-03-31 22:50 (UTC)

Generally coming from the school of 'magic is more fun if things are on fire' because then the thing is on fire and panicking because it's on fire, Yngvi's not going to complain until the giant does something weird if Rey's still in charge. She's earned enough trust from him.

He tucks himself into a neat, tidy roll to get closer as quiet as he can, the way the Carta teaches early on and doesn't look too hard at anything red when he swings with both axes for the tendons in the wrist on the way to keep it from being able to lift anything requiring both hands if it manages to get up.

As this unfolds and each does their part to immobilize the monster, Kylo's hold tightens and with it his hand curls into a fist. The monster could try to move all it liked but between him, Rey, and the damage done to it's limbs, it wouldn't move. If the knife to it's throat didn't kill it, he certainly would.

Gritting his teeth, letting the darkside of the Force flow through him into this act, Kylo strains his hold on the beast until it can neither move nor breathe as the life saps from it.

Were the giant able to move, it would be thrashing about wildly, throwing the small creatures stabbing it's body. With the combined force of Rey and Kylo, however, it's mouth moves silently and it can barely twitch it's fingers as it's bled and choked out.

Eventually, after what will likely seem too long for the Force users and those with weapons both but in reality is barely more than a few minutes, the creature becomes still, moreso than it was under Rey's hold.

Rey lets go with a quiet gasp, her arms falling heavy to her sides from the effort of holding the creature. She's breathing heavily, but looks to the others, lifting her right arm again to wave them off.

"It's down. We should move."

Player-led plot: Sabotage the Enemy Forces

Freeing the Prisoners

Sabotaging the Mine

Assassinating the sleeping Red Lyrium Giant

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