CLOSED | Minrathous Rescue Operation

[faderifting]

WHO: Team 1 (Coupe, Benedict, Colin, Malcolm, Nikos, Six, Yseult), Team 2 (Anders, Arohaerd, Marcoulf, Myr) and Captives (Adalia, Gareth, Inessa, Kain, Max)
WHAT: Rescuing the captives
WHEN: Nowish
WHERE: Minrathous, Tevinter
NOTES: Probably violence? It is what it says on the tin idk

Below is an OOC overview of the entire plan as a whole, including both the parts that Team 1 planned in their discussion, and an explanation of a couple unexpected obstacles the teams will encounter along the way. We're providing this rundown to help make sure everyone's on the same page OOC about what the plan is, who's been assigned to do what, what order things are happening in, and the big picture of how it goes, while hopefully still leaving plenty of room for people to decide in RP the details of how specific tasks are accomplished. We have again provided a question comment at the top for any OOC questions related to this post.



Preliminary orders from Coupe:

• Team 1 is led by Coupe, Team 2 is led by Anders
  
• To minimize the risk of crystals falling into enemy hands, only a few will be brought. On Team 1, Wren will have one, along with Nikos and Malcolm. They can be passed between characters IC if needed. Team 2 will have a single crystal. Everyone will have strict orders to destroy the crystals if there seems to be a chance it might be captured.
  
• All members of Team 1 would be issued a vial with a very small amount of the Archon's blood, to be used to enter and exit the secret passages. Because the amount is very limited, they each must be careful to limit their comings and goings, and may have to share vials if someone runs out.
  
• Malcolm, Nikos, and Yseult would have received orders from Coupe to kill the Inquisition captives if they cannot be extracted. The others would not be informed of this.
  
• In general, the teams will have been reminded that the one and only goal of this mission is to get the captives out. They're not here to carve a path of wholesale slaughter but they're also not here to worry about the lives of those who get in the way of that mission. Do what needs to be done, no more and no less.

Members of both Team 1 and Team 2 will be smuggled into Tevinter by sea, and dropped off on the peninsula north of Minrathous. They'll have to sneakily hike to the catacomb entrance in the High Reaches and then travel underground into the city. This will require clearing an intentionally blocked passage between the natural caves and the city catacombs, and being very careful once beneath the city to identify and avoid magical alarm spells.

Once beneath the palace, the teams will split up. Team 2 will continue on to the point beneath the tower they intend to collapse, and will remain underground making preparations to blow the underground supports beneath the tower as soon as word comes. Their job will involve waiting a while and hiding from the occasional patrol, the last of which will arrive at an unfortunate moment and need to be taken captive or killed. They'll also be spied upon by a couple young catacomb-dwelling urchins, who seem too shifty to be trusted to keep their mouths shut even if paid. They'll likewise need to be captured or killed.

Team 1 will sneak up into the palace, emerging in a rarely-used back storeroom. Some will be disguised as servants, others as party goers, but they will discover on arrival (via overhearing a convenient conversation between passing kitchen staff) that the new Archon has issued an eccentric last-minute decree: all guests at his event will wear his two favorite colors: orange and green. This will require the team to get their hands on new disguises ASAP, most likely by bribing servants to steal their masters' clothing for them or to give up their own, or by choosing soft targets among those in attendance who can be quickly lured away from the group and robbed of their clothes.

Once the team is properly (if unflatteringly) outfitted, they'll join the party. Malcolm and Yseult will identify and target the two Head Guards, with Malcolm handling the one with the lyrium tattooed hand (who proves to be a mage), and Yseult acquiring the enchanted key. Colin, Benedict, and Wren will mingle among those in attendance in their roles either as servers or guests and gather information while keeping an eye out for unexpected threats. Six and Nikos will test whether the archon's blood can open the secret passage doors. It can, and Nikos will head into the passages to pursue his secret assassination mission.

Once the key and the dude with the hand have been obtained, Malcolm, Yseult, Six, and Colin will head down into the dungeons, handle the guards there, and open the door to the Special Prisoners section. Because of earlier delays in the catacombs, the passage out of the dungeon will by now be starting to fill with seawater. They'll find the Inquisition prisoners (Inessa and Max held separately from the rest) along with a handful of other prisoners. They'll get their own people free and decide whether to free the others or not. Benedict and Wren will either join them or remain at the party as lookouts.

Nikos, in his exploration, will have discovered two things: first, that the secret passages are not unused as Radonis had expected, which he'll discover when he encounters someone exiting the new Archon's bedroom into the passages. Second, the archon's bedroom is roomy and now empty and likely to remain that way since the Archon is off giving a speech, so it provides a good spot for the team to regroup and prepare for the escape.

The dungeon team and the rescued captives will be forced to swim through the last two chambers on their way out of the dungeon, with the final chamber entirely filled by the time they get to it, and extremely dark. Anyone who can't swim well will have to be ferried through by those who can. The nearest exit from the submerged room is the gate into the secret passages, which will need to be unlocked with both the Archon's blood and a normal key or lockpick before anyone can get out.

Once they've all made their soggy way into the passages, everyone will meet in the Archon's apartment, where they'll have to regroup and figure out how to either look less soaking wet or explain why they are + disguise the prisoners. Everyone will then head back into the secret passages and exit at various points throughout the palace in twos and threes to avoid drawing attention by traveling as a big group. At this point, Team 2 will be ordered via crystal to trigger the explosion.

When the ground shakes and the tower suddenly begins to collapse, the party crowd will, as predicted, freak the hell out and run for the exits, forcing their way past the confused guard. The team will blend in with the fleeing guests and slip out, hijack a noble's big fancy gondola, and make their escape.

Team 2 will have to book it through the catacombs as that section collapses, and make their way to a cliffside exit along the coast identified by the Archon, where the gondola will pick them up. They'll then all sail this boat further across open water and carrying a much heavier load than it's really built for to the smuggler's cove where they were dropped off, where they'll scuttle the gondola, get picked up, and sail back to Kirkwall. Mission accomplished, good job team, etc.

Comments

QUESTIONS

[faderifting]

[ put em here ]

[exsecutus]

what can Nikos find when he takes the time to search the Archon's apartments!

[faderifting]

Sorry for the late response!

While searching the apartments, Nikos could find the following:

A list of names—primarily not Tevinter—without explanation or label.

The Archon's literal diary, which sounds a little bit like Michael Scott's diary in tone, with nothing of concrete usefulness recorded but a particularly long entry complaining about how Corypheus said he would be the real Archon but no one is listening to him.

A large crystal sitting on the desk, red in color but not lyrium, which doesn't actually look like more than a decoration among a large assortment of other decorations, but remembering that it was there might be useful later.

THE PARTY | Team 1 only

[faderifting]

[ All the mingling, info-gathering, target-identifying, guard-handling, passage-testing, disguise-acquiring, conferring, and so forth that happens in and around the Archon's fancy party before the point where the tower is collapsed. Yes, everyone really is in orange and green. If your character would spend any significant amount of time working the crowd in one way or another with their ears open (or pursuing some specific piece of information) please let us know what they're up to in the OOC question top-level above and later we'll provide you with some bits and pieces they can pick up. ]

party! (and guard hunting, I *guess*)

[tactical_alert]

[No plan survives first encounter with the enemy, but despite some hiccups, it's actually gone surprisingly smoothly. The...attire issue was very perceptive of the new Archon (or whoever is in charge of security). But that's still a relatively small hiccup as it is. They're here. They've actually made it inside, and if he's honest, he's been trying to come up with on the fly exit strategies as they've gone.

Malcolm tugs at his sleeves and readjusts a few parts once again, then stills his hands once more. The fellow he pilfered this from was a little on the larger side, but only enough of a bother if one is truly looking.

And as part of the help, who's going to be looking all that hard? (He also doesn't care for the style, but Vint style has always had a certain...well, a certain something he's not a fan of. Too bad.)]

If our guards are smart, [to Yseult, quietly, as he takes up a serving platter and begins to load it with drinking glasses] they won't be flaunting a key, and they'll be wearing gloves. Let us pray they are not smart.

[He might have one trick or two up his sleeve--perhaps even literally--but even if he has to make up something on the fly to separate the lyrium tattooed guard from the rest, he'll find a way. For now? He smiles, and lays low, quietly going about the room ostensibly to offer up drinks. Eyes open. He'll make a point to pass by each of the Inquisition partygoers as well in case information needs to be passed by.

He's also sure they're all about as uncomfortable as he is.]

[altusimperius]

"Stop fidgeting," comes a mutter from behind Malcolm, from the still-smiling Benedict as he waves at a familiar face across the room. He'd tried to vet everyone's costume choices, and had found a fairly acceptable green ensemble for himself, but some people just cannot be taken anywhere.

[hassaran]

They're the head guards, there will be something to identify them. [ Yseult replies just as quietly, as she pretends to be looking for a full glass among those Malcolm is handling. She's dressed as a guest in orange that fits well enough but a shade that does her no favors. ] Uniform, role, or how the others treat them. Look for guards in oversight positions.

[ She drifts off again, feigning impatience, to collect a drink from a different server and move back through the crowd. It's five or ten minutes before she manages to 'accidentally' pass him again. ] Any luck?

we'll throw our hands up and yell party party party

[altusimperius]

The upside to Benedict being here is he knows what he's doing at a fancy Tevinter gathering, was both able to and insistent upon vetting the outfits chosen by the Inquisition for making them not look like total blithering idiots, and he knows who's likely to know things.
The downside is that they also know him. He vanished after the coup with the Inquisition, and now he's back, and at this party, and there are those who are Very Interested in what he's been up to. His family, as it turns out, is not here. It's difficult not to be distracted by the fact, but asking after them will only out him as having been absent.

I. Instead, he's playing it as cool as he can, keeping a glass of wine (the same glass of wine, occasionally watered down) in hand and an easy smile on his face, casually undermining enemies of the Imperium while keeping an eye out for anything or anyone suspicious. This includes

II. running the occasional damage control, stepping quickly up to a comrade and taking them by the elbow, spinning them back into the room from whence they came to demand be less insistent on blowing their cover.

III. At least once, the pressure gets to him, and he retreats to one of the balconies to gulp in some fresh air and try to still the rising panic. It's not a happy time to be a double-agent, especially when the alternative is committing outright treason in the company of every influential person he's ever known. Breathe, breathe.

ii

[swordproof]

There's an edge of something tense and tight about Six as she does what she can to settle into the party; there's nothing she can do about it, really, not when she's so tall and gangly, not when her entire presence is something that is so completely different from what those in Tevinter have to offer. Her magic has been taken from her and her strength is what she has; her arms are thick with it and her discomfort makes her feel as though she is going to snap apart.

It's when she's tugged to one side, frowning a little as she tries to make herself look a little more comfortable, as if she's not about to drop to pieces, as if she's not desperate to run her way down to the dungeons and get Adalia out now before something worse happens to all of them.

At least she doesn't demand that Benedict, just looking at him with a frown on her face.

iii

[limier]

It's a very vivid shade of orange.

One which extends to her gloves — present as ever, and luck of the draw that Benedict was able to bag some while scavenging. She's little interest in discovering the consequences of breaking dress code or pretending to bandages.

She keeps an eye to him once the others disperse to business. Artemaeus is (ought to be) within his element, it's the only reason they've sacked him along. So she gives him a moment, enough to be decorous. Enough to look as though she isn't quite yapping at his heels, though it fits well enough with the story. A personal guard. Gauche to admit to, in such a peaceful gathering.

But times like these.

"Taller than I recalled."

The balcony. Magically-raised as it's been. She keeps back, hangs in the doorway a moment before clearing it. A glance back, chin inclined in question: An exit's been granted, if he chooses to take it.

preparty + party, OTA

[exsecutus]

i- before the party.

"That one."

Observing this end of the party from an out-of-the-way spot, Nikos selects their target with a nod. This end is the entrance that leads to the privies, and their target is a young drunken noble with his color high in his cheeks, on his way to a piss. He is of average height and size. His cloak, a parti-colored green and orange mistake, billows lazily as he swaggers along. A decent target.

No servants unless absolutely necessary was Nikos' gruff order, to whoever is unlucky enough to be a part of this emergency costume collection with him. Servants will catch the abuse if they are linked to the theft. Some secondary casualties might still be possible, of course. A man determined to blame an idiot servant to save face will find some way to assign that blame. But targeting the noble directly will minimize the possibility.

"Unless you have some objection," he mutters, in way of concession, "otherwise we move now, before someone else comes along."

The last thing he wanted was to be picking out disguises. Now necessity has moved them to pick out two disguises. The world, he thinks, as he slides his knife into his hand, is deeply unfair.

ii- at the party.

It is unfair that there is wine to drink and that Nikos is, ostensibly, not allowed to drink it.

His is a personal moratorium on wine for the evening, and it is from his very limited store of personal discipline that Nikos has summoned the wherewithal to abide by his own rule. There is work to be done. He can drink for a week solid after this. He will drink for a week solid. These are the mental points he continues to make to himself, as he stands around holding a glass of fucking water in an opaque goblet, and tries to mingle with a crowd of Vints who he would rather see strangled with their own hideous orange-and-green attire.

His command of Tevene is limited, enough that what he can manage to eavesdrop will prove largely insignificant. Much of the conversation goes on in Trade, peppered with native phrases too fluid and quick for him to catch. He tries, anyways, as he works his way slowly across the room, listening for references to the Archon--especially any reference to the one currently held in Kirkwall. Likely any talk of Radonis will be especially oblique, kept carefully. Who talks of the old boss when they're ushering in the new boss?

At one point, as he comes around a large pillar, he finds himself face-to-face with a portly man who--as far as Nikos can tell--thinks that he recognizes Nikos. The man begins jabbering away, delivering accusations that favors Tevene and keeps the Trade at a minimum, as he stabs his finger at Nikos' chest. The whole scene is is very reminiscent of the way debt collectors are forever mistaking him for his fucking brother, but it is also drawing some attention from other partygoers.

One of Nikos' knives is lashed up beneath the billowy green caplet draped over the tight-fit green doublet. He could go for it. Instead he mutters, in clumsily-accented Tevene: "Not I you tit," because tit is a good universal word, and tries to step away.

The man follows, jabbering louder. A rescue may be necessary.

CLOSED to Six - opening passages

[exsecutus]

They are set to meet across the main hall, an easy point picked out before the entry into the party. It is, as it turns out, the smoking section, low sofas and folding screen, ankle-height tables outfitted with pipes and a variety of imported tobaccos.

Good: because Nikos has long ago ditched the goblet of water, and now needs something to occupy himself as he waits for Six to make her way through the crowds. He is standing with his back to the screens, occupied in packing tobacco into the thumb-sized bowl of the pipe. It leaves his eyes free to sift through the crowds, looking for Six.

When he finds her, he lets her pass by, unremarked upon. Counts backwards from thirty, and then he gives one last push to the tobacco in the pipe's bowl, a firm pack, and turns away to get a light off of a servant with far-away eyes, stood like a glazed statue. Naked from the waist up, painted gold. Nikos feels a coil of revulsion.

He sucks in a breath as the light takes, and stalks toward the side corridor that leads out to the veranda. The entrance is beyond, on the grounds proper, behind a large statue that the Archon had described in loving detail.

When he catches up with Six on the wide porch, he is still stalking, angry. He could just be an insulted noble of the Imperium. No one has to know that it was his sense of righteousness that was offended.

"We'll use the blood in my vial," he says, in an undertone. No arguing, and low enough to avoid the chance of being overheard by the couples gathered out here to enjoy the moonlight. Small knots, twos and threes, the occasional foursome. They might well be among their number. If they detour casually enough onto the grounds, they will go unnoticed and uncounted.

ii

[hassaran]

One arrives, in the form of Yseult, who steps up to the elbow of the agitated man, speaking over his jabbering in quick Tevene, tone low and soothing but persistent, a sudden wash of water over the surface, gently drowning him out. Orange does nothing kind to her complexion, and in any case she is far too tan and freckled for a lady of quality, but it is a fine gown that fits her better than a stolen thing has any right to, and she has looped her arm through his and set the fingertips of her other hand on his chest, head tilted near to speak, expression nothing but solicitous concern as she steers him, slowly but surely, away. She makes eye contact with Nikos precisely once as she does it, as she dismisses him with an imperious gesture.

A short while later, once she's extricated herself from her dear old friend, she brushes past Nikos in the crowd with a glance that, to a fellow professional, says follow. She collects a drink for appearances' sake and heads out into the garden, finding a secluded corner not already occupied. When Nikos arrives, she lifts a brow right off, but keeps her voice low.

"He said you cheated him at cards and slept with his wife. Do you know him? Is this going to be a problem?"

THE DUNGEONS | Team 1 + Prisoners

[faderifting]

[ The dungeons are built into a system of natural sea caves. There's always some amount of water in the bottom, and so they're traversed and connected by a series of drawbridges and catwalks. The cells for normal prisoners partially flood when the tide comes in, forcing occupants to stand on small raised areas in one corner as the rest of the cell floods to waist height. There are a number of chambers to get through before reaching the door to the Special Prisoners section.

There will be a number of guards to deal with along the way, some mages, some not. There are also four other prisoners in the special section, separated from the PC prisoners. They will ask to be released also, with some pleading and others offering rewards, some both. PCs will have to decide whether to release them or not.

There will be some limited amount of time to try to do basic triage healing of the captives, but they'll need to move as quickly as possible to avoid even more chambers fill completely with water before they make it out. ]

reunion. closed to adalia.

[swordproof]

[ Six doesn't hesitate when she makes her way into the prisoner's room. She's aware of there being other people - she can see them, just as much as she can hear them asking for her aid - and she knows she'll come to them soon, but there is something far more important to her right now. The defenceless will receive their aid from her once Adalia is safe, and not before; her heart is screaming at her to find her sister before anything else might happen to her, before someone swoops in and rips the prisoners from their hands.

Nothing is going to stop her, not guards, not water, not the Inquisition. She doesn't care as long as she can have Adalia safe.

When she finds her sister there's no hesitation; she practically sprints to her sister's side, dropping to her knees without any hesitation, slipping down and shrugging off her pack and putting her sword to one side. Her only interest is in making sure that Adalia is alright, that she is alive, and her fingers brush over her cheek, damp and sticky with sweat, before moving to her neck to check her pulse. Normal enough, she thinks, and that gives her some relief.

The binding marks on her wrist do not, however, and Six's jaw tenses before she reaches, drawing her sister into her arms. ]

Adalia. I'm here. [ And then, in the Elvish Six hates but knows Adalia loves - ] You're safe.

[hassaran]

I. Enter the Dungeon (closed to Team 1 people heading to the dungeons, single group thread)

[ Yseult has acquired the key, Malcolm has alerted them that he has the lyrium tattoo situation under control, Six and Colin have been informed they're ready to move, and all four have made their way to the hall leading down to the dungeon. Around the corner, two guards flank the entrance to the dungeons. They're a classic mis-match: one a dwarf and the other an extremely tall and very lanky human, both clad in the new dress uniforms chosen for the party: similar to the usual guard attire but purple, even their mail shirts and plate pauldrons made from purple metal.

Yseult is waiting when the others arrive. ]

There are two at the end of the hall, we'll need to approach openly but handle them quietly. Which of you is best in close quarters?

II. Freeing the Prisoners (open, multiple threads)

[ Once they've dispatched the guards in the outer areas of the dungeon and unlocked the doors to the special section, there's still the matter of finding the cells with Inquisition prisoners and getting those unlocked. Thankfully, security had been concentrated on that main door, so the cells themselves possess mundane locks, problematic only for being well-made and a little tricky. Yseult's necklace, a fan of dangling silver bars of various sizes that went a lot better with the non-orange dress, actually conceals a set of picks, and as soon as the cells with the Inquisition agents in them are identified she sets about working the locks open, one by one. ]

Are any of you injured? [ she asks as she works, crouched before the cell gate with a spare pick between her teeth ] We'll need to be able to move quickly to escape. The water's already risen out there.

[ As for the non-Inquisition prisoners, Yseult makes no move to open their cells, returning the picks to their place on the chain around her neck once the captives they came for are free. ]

III. Exit the Dungeon (open, single group thread?)

[ Water splashes beneath their feet as they dash along the narrow bridges that connect the various caves that make up the dungeon. Even in these furthest rooms the tide has already washed in high enough to lap at ankles, and it only grows deeper as they go. Yseult has her skirts lifted in one hand to make slogging through knee-high water easier, but there's nothing for it as the water in the next room reaches waist height and shows no sign of stopping, the distant rush of it pouring through passages in the rock echoing eerily in the otherwise-still rooms. It's still walkable for now, but clearly will only get worse ahead.

Yseult turns to look at the rest of the group, especially the prisoners. ]

Can you all swim?

Closed to Kain

[circleprodigy]

[Freedom.

It's almost unbelievable, that after nearly a month of hiding and captivity, of isolation and fear and those damned whispers in her head, that it has come to an end. A worn and thin -thinner than before- Inessa steps out of her unlocked cell and it's as though an oasis has been found after a long desert trek. No longer is her magic stifled, and that means as much to her as physical freedom. Ignoring her light-headedness, she pushes herself past the bars and scans the area anxiously. Kain must have been captured -they would want the anchor- but she hadn't been able to confirm it with her own eyes. It was time to change that.]

Kain? Kain!

[foundmyselfagain]

[ The only way to find which cell Gareth is in will be by looking into it. When the rescuers arrive, he doesn't call out, or go to the front of the cell--though the latter can be forgiven, perhaps, by the rising water.

Instead, Gareth is seated on the raised area, staring at the cell door intently, like a pale, silent ghost. There are no visible injuries, though he still looks like an underfed hobo (but that's just kind of how Gareth looks).

The look in his eyes, however, is haunted. Distrustful. Are they really here? Are they here to rescue, or just remove the hazards to Inquisition security? ]

ARCHON'S ROOM + ESCAPE | Team 1 + Prisoners

[faderifting]

[ The Archon's personal apartments are unoccupied since the Archon's off giving a speech and they're off limits to everyone else. They appear to be in the middle of redecoration, with luxurious but relatively classy bones beginning to be overwhelmed by a lot of new furnishing that take opulence to the point of ugliness. Here the team can regroup, deal with any additional healing needs, and figure out how to disguise the wet half of the team + prisoners for the way out, but they'll need to do it quickly, because once the Archon finishes his speech there's no telling how long he'll remain at the party before his next costume change. (His adjoining personal office is locked with magic there is no time to unravel, but if your character takes the time to search the apartments anyway, let us know in the Question comment above. )

Once they're ready, the team can head back into the secret passages, and will need to scatter in small teams of twos and threes throughout the various exits and make their way back to the party. How they pair off, where they exit and what they encounter on the way back is up to PCs. Once everyone is ready, Wren will tell Team 2 to trigger the explosion, they'll escape out in the crowd and steal themselves a fancy boat. ]

OTA obvs to team 1 + prisoners

[exsecutus]

[The light at the end of the tunnel is, this time, very much a light at the end of the tunnel. Nikos has left the door open to assist with guiding the rescue party and the bedraggled and newly freed prisoners.

Nikos has laid a minor trap along the passage, to alert him of an approach: a thin wire across the passage, placed low to the floor. It triggers a kind of mechanical slingshot to fire a metal pellet into the wall opposite, a few feet beyond the wire and close to the door itself. When they were laying their plans, and learned of the passage accessible only by the Archon's blood, such a trap would have seemed unnecessary. As it turns out the Archon gave blood with apparent freedom, additional caution proved prudent--which means that Nikos is aware of their approach, and is waiting with knife in hand in case the trip wire was triggered by foes and not friends. Or what passes for friends.]

Quickly--

[--Muttered, as if they need extra encouraging to get out of the passage and into the gaudy comfort of the Archon's quarters.

In anticipation of disguises, he's stripped decorative hangings and linens that match the party's ugly color scheme and has them piled in a corner. Beneath all of that, there is crumpled a set of wine-stained robes. Someone with a keener eye might notice the bloodstains beneath the winestains. Nikos has severed the cuffs from his robes and folded them over. The modification is probably unrelated.

There's towels, too. Not hospitable enough to pass them out, Nikos instead posts himself at the door to the passage, keeping count of those that enter.]

CATACOMBS | Team 2 only

[faderifting]

[ For Team 2's waiting in the catacombs beneath the city, preparing to create an explosion that will topple the tower above, dealing with the guard patrols + nosy urchins, and escape once they've done their work. ]

Patrols

[sorcerised]

[ The tunnels are dark and claustrophobic. Aro hates places like this, and has to keep reminding himself why they're here. He's already cast a spell to summon four small electrical orbs that float between and a little in front of them, casting some light on their work. This is easier than using torches, he thinks; he'll extinguish them with a thought if need be, and there'll be no smoke.

Along with him is his hatchling dragon, Iessa, who's the size of a large wolf. Her scales are a greenish yellow, which gleam bronze in the faint light from the orbs. She'll be generally interested in their group, but she's intent on what they're doing, and while they move she runs straight along with them, nose pointed forward like she's hunting for prey.

Once they stop to work on the blockage, Aro allows her to move a little more freely, so that she can warn them about any problems. She's as good as an extra guard at their back. At first, it's quiet enough for Aro think there's a chance this might all go according to plan. Then Iessa is at his side, chirping urgent and ruffling her wings. Aro puts down his hand to shush her and looks between the team with concern. His dancing lights blink immediately off, throwing them into darkness. He speaks in a rushed whisper. ]

Someone's coming. Hide!

[ Iessa seems less inclined towards that, but Aro orders her into one of the smaller tunnels all the same. He follows her and hefts his quarterstaff, just in case. ]

Setting Up the Bomb

[justice_is_blond]

We need a guard at each entrance.

[His voice is calm, matter-of-fact. What he's feeling isn't quite as steady but they've a job to do.]

We don't know when the call is coming, so we've got to set this up quickly and be prepared to hold the spot until they need us.

[The darkness is broken up by wisps quickly scattered about, adding to Aro's orbs so they can see what they're doing. Anders brings out a few bags that once opened, really don't smell that pleasant. He's just glad the wax he'd used to seal them previously had held.]

Help distribute this in a circle around the support pillars we need to destroy. A bag per pillar, no gaps. Any questions?

[He holds the bags out.]

TRAVEL BACK TO KIRKWALL | All

[faderifting]

[ For all your aftermath needs during the trip back to Kirkwall. ]

Inessa | Open

[circleprodigy]

[It's not until they cross the border -leaving Tevinter behind- that the young elven Warden can even begin to relax. Despite the daring rescue, part of her is prepared for that sudden freedom to be fleeting. Forces could catch up with them, and at that point she's already made up here mind. She won't be recaptured, no matter what.

Fortunately for her and the rest of them, that doesn't happen though it still takes some time for Inessa to manage more than survival mode. She'll go and do as requested, eager to put as much distance between them and Tevinter as possible, but rarely initiates talking, withdrawn and preoccupied with Kain's ill health. Well into the evening most nights she can be spotted by the fire, sipping tea and not even pretending to rest. Of course she must sooner or later, but she seems to be putting that off as long as possible.

At some point, her mental fog lifts enough to notice footsteps heading her way, and she sits up a little straighter, rubbing her neck as her gazes shifts from the fire to her newfound company.]

Hm? Oh, hello.