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

[tactical_alert]

[Good. This is fine. This gives him something to focus on besides getting out as fast as possible. But Colin doesn't swim, and he keeps twisting his body wrong, and before he can get his own sense of panic under enough control to get out two words, they are moving, shoving water up into orifices and generally an extremely bad time, cut off apology notwithstanding.

If there was a solid surface around them, Colin would have found himself shoved against it. As it is, Malcolm's left sputtering--and while the box helps keep Colin afloat, Malcolm can swim, and the action of kicking his legs to keep his head above water comes unbidden while he gasps for air. The horrible thought of we're going to run out of air troubles him further, but he forces his voice to work instead. Angry and frantic, giving Colin a bit of a shake.]

Do not do that again.

[Granted, if they ever need a burst of speed in or under the water, then maybe it will be appropriate, but not now. Close his eyes. Deep breath through the nose. Out through the mouth. Adrenaline still tangy on his tongue, heart still a dwarven hammer in the stone of his chest.]

Even breaths. Hold on to me. Kick your legs--not frantically. Like a child swinging his legs in his seat. I'll move us forward.

[He used to be a fine swimmer as a lad, out at the lakes of home or in the sea on trips to the shore. He still remembers how, has even on rare occasion needed to tap into that knowledge. He'll move them as calmly as he can, arms smooth through the rising water even if every breath he takes is more of an unhelpful gasp rather than the even breathing he suggested.

Colin will have to lose the box soon. They'll have to take a dive to even reach the doors with the water climbing at this rate.]

[in_death_sacrifice]

Right, I... right, I'll... let you know...

[Holding onto a bit of wood, Kain thinks he's well enough off at the moment... but that was before they made their way fully into the next section, where the water has risen to a much more challenging level. Kain gasps, making quiet pained sounds with the effort of trying to remain afloat. Oh, Maker... this is not good... He tries to keep in mind the things he'd been taught all that time ago about swimming. His mind is in such a mentally 'off' state that he at least isn't about to panic.. he's beyond being panicked at the moment. All of his motions are automatic, his mind solely focused on staying afloat. Just move. That's all he has to do. If he lets his thoughts get too carried away, he'll become pretty useless very fast.]

I'm- [He's starting to struggle a bit more and more, finding this physically demanding after the time spent locked up.] All right, I'm... having a little trouble...

[hassaran]

What happened? [ Yseult calls ahead to Colin and Malcolm, startled by the sudden commotion and not enough used to magic to guess it as the cause. ] Are you both alright?

[ There are problems nearer-by in the form of Kain that demand her attention regardless, and she turns to find a hold on the board he's clinging to. ]

Can you let yourself float, Warden? [ She asks him ] If you can just float on your back and hold to the board, I'll tow you, so you can have a rest. [ No easy feat, the board an awkward flotation aid and the skirts of her dress tied up as much out of the way as possible, but there's nothing else for it. At least there's not much meat on Kain's bones. She checks on Inessa as well, and says a silent prayer that they don't both require help at the same time.

Malcolm's intuition is correct: soon enough they're in a room with only a couple feet of air left, forcing them to mind their heads and feet lest they be scraped against the rough ceiling, and even dodge the occasional stalactite. ]

The next room should be the door [ Yseult calls. She hopes she's counted right, but at this point it hardly matters. If the next room's not the door, they'll drown here anyway. ] We'll have to dive, and it'll need unlocking first. I can pick it, but I have candle that will burn underwater and it'll go faster with someone to hold the light. Can you do that, Seeker? Can you all manage for a minute or two if the Seeker comes with me?

[circleprodigy]

[Kain admitting freely that he needs help from others? Yeah, that's a bad sign. Inessa watches with growing concern, giving Yseult a slight headshke; she doesn't need the help, not as much as Kain right now. It's not easy, but she can keep her head above water for now.

...though admittedly, their latest room makes that even more challenging. She frowns in concern at mention of diving, darting a glance over at Kain, but it is what it is.]

We'll manage. I'll stay with Kain. Please, hurry.

[keenly]

[Being shaken causes even more water to go into Colin’s mouth. He gurgles, spits, and coughs before doing as Malcolm instructs. And that’s when it hits him: he can’t do anything. He can’t aid in his own escape right now. He has to fully trust this man to keep him from dying. Apparently Malcolm and Kain aren’t the only people who have to face deep-seated fears today. But there’s no other choice.

Colin nods, kicking his legs as instructed and clinging to the Seeker who holds his life in his hands. Malcolm has no reason not to shove him off and swim unimpeded. There’s no reason to think he won’t, if things go awry. No reason except that Malcolm is a selfless man of honor. But those sorts of men are sometimes the first to sacrifice another and claim they had to do it for some greater good. Like when Uldred rebelled.]

We’re fine! [he replies breathlessly to Yseult. He finds the chain of a chandelier to hold on to while Malcolm goes on. He has decided to trust the man will come back. Fear subsides, but does not fully go away.]

[tactical_alert]

[Good thing for Colin that Malcolm is indeed a selfless man of honor--just one who is, among everyone else, having a very bad day. He squeezes his eyes shut at Yseult's suggestion, and there's only so much air in here, and he'll need much more if he has to stay underwater so that someone can pick a lock. While underwater. So they don't all die.]

We'll be back. [The reply is calm enough. Oh, the fear is still there, eating away at his insides, the long ago feeling of water filling his lungs while hands hold him under, but he cannot float here and do nothing. If he dies, then it is in the service of the Inquisition and the Maker. He doesn't have enough breath to say a prayer, but he chants it in his head, allows it to fill in the spaces deep-seated terror has not. The Maker will guide him, one way or another.

He makes his way over to Yseult and will not question what kind of magic allows a candle to burn in this wetness, even smothered under water. His hands shake, just enough for her to be able to notice, but that is all he allows himself to show, pushing through to the other side of fear to something like tranquility, or like acceptance.

With a nod, and a mental count, and a deep breath, he descends with her. He doesn't even allow the pessimistic thought of what if the door isn't in the next room to cloud his sight or crowd out the Chant. (Even if it's there. Quiet, persistent. But small. Insignificant.)]

[in_death_sacrifice]

[He nods agreement as he takes the board. Floating is definitely manageable now, and he'll keep at it even if it takes all of his strength out of him. Things get a lot more challenging with mention of going underwater.]

Right. What has to be done... will be done.

[Kain sounds a lot more confident than he feels, but that's always been his way, hiding his fears and his pain underneath all of that bravado. Appearing tough is the only way he knows to get by. Though at a time like this, that usual exterior is cracking just a little, evident as he flashes an uncertain look toward Inessa. He hardens his expression as he looks again to the others ahead of them, preparing himself for the moment to come.]

[After all, he's a Warden, a warrior above all else. He's trained and hardened himself to be able to handle the worst possible situations. If he can make it through the Deep Roads and the hellish darkspawn dwelling down there... then surely he can manage this. Right? He isn't about to complain anyway. Instead, he waits his turn, and then looks over at Inessa with a nod, before taking a deep breath... and plunging underwater. He's going to need a bit of her support, though, given how weakened he is overall... He does what he can, as much as possible. It's all a matter of keeping himself moving, kicking his legs, moving his arms, keeping that enchanted candlelight in sight ahead of him.]