[CLOSED] THE MINANTER JOB

[katabasis]

WHO: Yseult, Flint, Darras, Kostos, Adalia & Six
WHAT: A riverboat raid goes exactly as planned.
WHEN: (Backdated to) End of Justinian
WHERE: The Odovacar, a sprawling floating casino somewhere on the Minanter.
NOTES: Hijinks ensue.

"We've traced the source of the funding to the Odovacar, the personal boat of Cassir Odell, a Nevarran merchant growing in prominence. The Odovacar plies the Minanter - never more than two days from the border of Nevarran-Marches border, entertaining prominent guests around its gambling tables. I've twice heard mention of a Venatori sword being in Odell's employ. They must have some hand in managing the accounts, and may know something of the many ends toward which the coin travels."

The plan born of the report is simple enough. A small team of combatants will take a light craft along the Minanter, locate the merchant's yacht, then board and capture her under cover of night. The ship's hold shall be emptied of its funds, the Venatori "sword" sheathed and surrendered into the raiders' custody, and then they will all be on their way. With the right arrangement of fighters, it's easily and quietly done. It should take no more than six to capture the kind of boat used for day cruising by a merchant of middling reputation from a country currently arrested by the very real likelihood of a civil war.

Unfortunately, the Odovacar is not that boat.

'Boat' is, in fact, maybe a misnomer altogether. The craft that the team finds meandering down the Minanter is more sprawling floating island than it is any kind of ship. Its two visible stepped decks are festooned with live greenery and winding slate paths leading between the small village worth of brightly colored open air canopies under which gambling games of every assortment are being played by the light of great burning braziers and more delicate, intimate torches. There are no less than two full compliments of musicians flocking about, and every breed and variety of Thedas' wealthy and prominent meander between the tables. On the upper deck, a full score of men and women labor under the broad swath of canvas required to manage the boat as it creeps slowly along the Minanter; who knows what lies beneath the absurd monstrosity’s waterline.

So much for simple.

Comments

TEAM SAFE CRACKING (FLINT & SIX)

[katabasis]

Lock breakers they may not be, but there's more than one way to get through locked doors and past armed guards. Maker willing at least one of them involves the careful cracking of a few heads and creatively using the environment to make their way. Someone has to do the heavy lifting.

Once they're in possession of the vault key, finding the vault will require getting into the back cabins where all the staff operations and offices are. They'll have to get past a series of increasingly large and watchful guards and pick a couple of increasingly difficult locks (or getting past the doors some other way). Odell's office, when they finally reach it, will be easily identified both by the monumentally tasteless decor and the room off of it that's been wholly converted into a big dwarf-height vault with a complicated magic-resistant dwarven lock.

The problem? Once inside the vault, it becomes quickly apparent that there's way too much money in there for them to carry enough out to bankrupt the place, especially if they're trying to leave discreetly.

im SO LATE

[swordproof]

Six isn't sure about the idea of breaking down doors, almost literally, and smashing heads together; it's not something she had been comfortable with at home and here she just feels like... Brute force. Too much, too dangerous, against the Oath she had made to defend. She feels uncomfortable with being the dangerous one, but she'll do it - because she has been asked to and because it feels right, something that she ought to do.

It doesn't take long for her to turn to look at Flint - and at least she knows him - and hesitate, suited up in her full armour with her greatsword on her back.

"I wish I had learned some spells for stealth," she sighs.

literally impossible

[katabasis]

In direct counterpoint to her, Flint seems both perfectly comfortable with the concept of forcing his way deeper into the ship and fundamentally underdressed for it. He's wearing a coat of brocade picked with silver thread and buttons cast in the resemblance of delicate flowers, a pair of scandalously tight trousers that are absolutely a size too small in the thighs, and enough incidental glitz and shine to make a lady weep.

Very few guests on the barge have armored guards with them, but if theyre to pass Six in her plate off as one it required some effort on his part. Keeping her equipped for combat had seemed worth the trouble when they'd first gone in this direction. Now, as they stand with their backs to one of the bulkheads and prepare to make their way down further into the depths of the ship, he's beginning to rethink the arrangement. He can hardly lift his knee without a seam threatening to go.

"We won't need one. We do this exactly as discussed - I lead, you follow. If nothing I say works to get us past, then I'll play distraction so you're able to club the guard from behind. Understood?"

[swordproof]

"I understand."

It doesn't mean she has to like it, however. She is used to being the strength, the muscle, the power, but there's a note of dissatisfaction that she cannot quite hide. Being a party guest has been something she has done before, of course; missions on Riftwatch's behalf, dressing as a Chantry Sister, dressing as everything that she truly isn't...

This is the same. She holds herself high, pushes herself together and walks forward. At least she trusts Flint - as much as she trusts anyone she does not know as well as she could, all things considered.

"I will do my best."