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Entry tags:
{ CLOSED } a daring rescue
WHO: Ellana Ashara, Merrick Ashara, Araceli Bonaventura, and Jamie McCrimmon
WHAT: O Brother Where Art Thou (Part II (A)) aka Spying on the Avvar in order to rescue the missing scouts.
WHEN: Backdated to before the big scouting missions in Orlais.
WHERE: the Fallow Mire
NOTES: Violence, maybe?
WHAT: O Brother Where Art Thou (Part II (A)) aka Spying on the Avvar in order to rescue the missing scouts.
WHEN: Backdated to before the big scouting missions in Orlais.
WHERE: the Fallow Mire
NOTES: Violence, maybe?
Now that all the clues on the missing scouts' whereabouts have led to the ruined castle in the south of the Mire, the group decides to check it out. They split up before getting too close, with Korrin, Zevran, Walker, and Krem heading west and Ellana, Merrick, Araceli, and Jamie heading east. It would be suicide to just run in and attack with no information on numbers, so after a quick discussion, the east group decides to climb up to the roof top of the castle and look down through the gaps to see how many Avvar are inside.
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So far, it's going well enough. He knows Ellana, and is comfortable with working with her. The other two - Merrick and Araceli - he's not as sure about, but they do appear to know what they're doing, and he lets them take point, concentrating on keeping moving as quietly as possible. He knows well enough making noise could be a real problem, and he's more than happy to not utter a word until they can actually get to a place where they can settle in and get an idea of the numbers they might be facing.
One of them'll likely have to use the crystal at that point to get in touch with the others, anyway, and likely any plan they're going to come up with will happen then. Until that happens, though, he'll just still to following everyone else's lead.
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"Watch your footing," she whispers as softly as she possibly can, all too aware of old buildings and ships exposed to the elements and the hazards they pose. "Rot and damp eat through things and it's a hard landing."
Possibly a pointy one too.
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His ears twitch a little as he picks up on some muffled noises through the rain, and he raises a hand to halt the others so he can listen.
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"Once we're up top," she says in a whisper, "I'll contact the others." Because she wants to be useful, yes, but also because she's good friends with three of the four people who split off from their group and she wants to have her crystal close to hear them respond.
When Merrick gives them the signal, she stops, listening too, though most of her focus is on him. She doesn't know what to do to fix what's happened between them. She's always been allowed to see a side to him that few ever do, but now he's built up his walls against her. But what they're doing here is important and requires their full attention. It's no time to talk about them.
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His voice is barely above a whisper, partly because of that need to keep quiet, and partly because he wants to concentrate on making sure he doesn't put a leg (or more) through the roof. As it turns out, Araceli is right, because there's a rotten spot just ahead of him on the roof - something he finds out as he carefully reaches forward with the tip of his boot to test the spot in front of him. The wood underneath starts to give, just a little, but since he hasn't put his full weight on the spot, he's able to stop and correct himself without the wood breaking at all. He pulls back and finds a sturdier path, gesturing to Ellana as he goes to make sure she's aware of that bad spot as well.
Then Merrick lifts a hand, something that gets him to stop where he stands, a question he doesn't dare utter on his face. Instead, he strains to try and hear what might have caught the elf's attention. There's something there, just at the edge of his own hearing, but he's not sure what it is yet. So for now, he stays where he is, keeping silent so the others can listen and hopefully figure out what's going on.
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“Guards?” She asks, sotto voce, because so far, some of this reminds her an awful lot of trying to creep into old warehouses to retrieve something to bring to a fence to sell on the black market. If it were home though she wouldn’t be trying to rescue scouts or get in touch with others, she could sit and wait and watch to find if there was a rotation pattern so she could scramble down in relative safety. Her heart is a steady pounding beat high in her throat as she flexes her fingers to keep the blood in them, loosening her blades once again to be ready. She hears something, more a buzz than anything else and she frowns, moving around carefully to flank and to see if she can perhaps catch something but she takes solace in not hearing anything that sounds like a battle and the absence of screaming. It at least means the other time are doing fine and, selfishly, she doesn’t want anyone harmed given Korrin’s with them.
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He's none too happy with this assignment. Since he'd nearly drowned in the Mire he's been loathe to spend more time in it, and he has to do it so shortly after what Ellana had seen. Needless to say, he's even more grouchy and skittish as usual. A single distraction, a single foot in the wrong place, and his allies are in danger of incurring his ire.
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Moving the way he indicates, Ellana soon finds herself at a point where she can hear the voices a little easier, and though individual words aren't clear yet, she can definitely tell there's an argument of some kind transpiring down below them. She glances at the others before continuing forward to hopefully find a clear vantage point.
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Now that he's been up here for a little bit, that part of it is coming a bit easier, something he's able to associate with things that are already familiar and use to adapt to the situation at hand. As soon as he can, he finds a spot where he can crouch down, using what cover he can up here to stay out of sight and observe - still quietly, for Merrick's sake. There's definitely some sort of argument going on, and that could be useful if they're going to try and take the warriors down. With them distracted by fighting with each other, it's an opportunity for them to get the drop on their opponents. If the other group can get into the right position, they could possibly surprise them by striking from two points at once.
Still, his hand doesn't go towards his sword. For one thing, they still have to contact the others. And even beyond that, it occurs to him that if they're able to watch long enough, they might be able to figure out if the group of scouts is down there. If that's the case, more stealth might be in order. For now, his eyes flick back to Araceli, and then to Ellana before mouthing the word 'Report?' at them.
That may still not be enough for Merrick, but it's going to have to do, because they've still got to communicate in some way, and barring spontaneous magical events that lets them talk in their heads, that's all he's got.
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The landing doesn't look so bad, if it could be timed right and she knows that she and Merrick could likely make it down quietly first, if the guards keep arguing. But there are too many ifs when lives are at stake and this isn't only her backside on the line, and as capable as everyone may be, to pull off a proper ambush you need to know one another well, you need to anticipate. There's enough tension in the air as is.
Araceli can only nod though she points back the way they've come, because it gives them the best chance to report safely if someone is far enough away from them. Not too far but whatever chances they can buy for the others might spare them injuries. The Avvar all look big, even from up here and she's keenly aware of how lightly they're all armoured and outfitted.
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"We could get closer," he tells them. "I've spotted some scaffolding at the back of the room-- Araceli and I could climb down easily. Unless anyone has any other ideas."
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"It sounds good to me. While you do that, I'll contact the other group and Jamie can keep lookout for me so no one finds us."
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"Aye, and once that's done we can signal each other and see about meeting up again and going from there. Araceli, does that sound good to you?"
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"We keep low and quiet enough and it should be possible, I'm hoping that the wood won't creak or that the whole building might when you're in, easy noise to get used to and ignore. Let's go for it, even if they see us in the end, it'll be a distraction for the others."
That might be the very best they can hope for, some sort of a silver lining to the constant dark clouds overhead and she gets into position, briefly shaking out her arms and legs and stretching to make sure she's not stiff from crouching for so long.
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Catlike he manages to get to the ground level, and crouches behind some boxes and debris once he's there.
Now, it's just a matter of getting closer.
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Settling back into as comfortable a position as she can, she whispers to Jamie, "Now we wait to see what Merrick and Araceli find out."
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"Aye. Hope they'll find it soon, though. Someone's bound to come along. Not sure how long they'll have before that happens."
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One hand on her blades to steady herself, she moves to flank, skirting around and behind what might have been part of the roof once, daring to peer up and over for a better view.
A shame there's not a way for them to make the argument worse, not without potentially drawing attention to themselves before the others manage to get here because these Avvar are big and she's uncomfortably reminded that she herself absolutely is not.