LOG: Scoring an Own Goal(em) [closed]

[stone_blind]

WHO: Astrid, Clarisse, Hermione, Katia, and Vaclav
WHAT: Carefully extracting a piece of Minrathous' defenses, WITH EXPLOSIONS.
WHEN: Toward the end of the mod plot timespan
WHERE: Minrathous
NOTES: OOC post for reference.

Standing at the gates of Minrathous are two fearsome stone golems. These beings, gifts from dwarven craftsmen generations back, are guardians of the city; their intimidating presence has done much to dissuade would-be invaders from ever attempting to break through the city’s walls. One Juggernaut, truly, would be enough to crush a good-sized army, while two make defeat all but certain.

But the thing about a golem is that it’s only loyal to one person: whoever’s holding its control rod. And a control rod’s just a thing. It can be stolen.

So that’s what they’re here to do.

This plan was not hatched by Riftwatchers themselves. Rather, it’s come from two descendants of those very same dwarves who once gave Minrathous its terrifying protection. The first, Vaclav, is a well-dressed and well-bearded Ambassadoria member who elbowed his way into contact with Astrid and Riftwatch in turn to lay out a proposal like he was proposing a trade of eggs for tomatoes. And the second, Vaclav’s near-opposite, is Katia, a wary young woman in nondescript clothing, who keeps her hand on her knife and speaks with few words. The two of them seem not to know each other well — but nor do they seem all that keen on sharing details of their relationship with Riftwatch’s representatives.

This is a two-pronged operation. Vaclav, Hermione, and Astrid will be carrying out the theft and replacing the golems’ control rods with decoys. But opening the vault where the control rods are held will set off a building-wide alarm, and it’s imperative that no one ever knows the control rods were touched. And so this is where the second team comes in — Clarisse and Katia will be leading an attack on the treasury chamber on the other end of the building. This attack will be very public, so that the alarm sounds and draws all attention, giving the first team a chance to do their business undetected.

Comments

ACTION TEAM

[stone_blind]

The team of thieves goes into the building first. The distraction team has to wait for their signal. This is unfortunate, because it's clear that nearly no one on said team is good at waiting: Katia is perched on a bench, tearing a sweet bun into progressively smaller pieces, while Georg (a human man in his early twenties) keeps smoothing down his wispy mustache and Cato (an elf with a general air of droopiness) stares at the door they'll be going through shortly.

"You're not going to make it any thicker like that," Katia finally snaps at Georg, after the hundredth time he runs his fingertips over his facial hair. "Honestly, you're probably yanking half of it out."

Then Katia looks to Clarisse with a grimace, apparently of apology. Unclear, though, if she's apologizing for her sharpness or for her companions.

[laruetheday]

No, she's not good at waiting, but Clarisse is doing her fucking best not to make it obvious that they're up to something. She'd love to pace, get her blood flowing a bit before they start, but that would be too noticeable. Instead she leans back against a post, idly rubbing the calluses on her fingers with the pad of her thumb.

Her gaze darts from the two men to Katia, who seems apologetic. Clarisse gives her a shrug, no worries. She's waited for missions to start with far more annoying companions, many of them her own siblings. This is fine.

"She's right," she says, figuring it'll look better if they talk a bit. Kind of weird to have four people waiting around in silence, right? "And then you won't be able to grow it back."

[stone_blind]

"That's such crap," Georg replies - but he also immediately stops what he's doing and sets his hands at his sides. Even if he doesn't believe them, he's clearly not willing to risk it.

Cato apparently notices, too, because he gives a soft and melancholy sort of laugh. "Humans are vain over the strangest things," he says, and though the sentiment is lighthearted, he looks morose while saying it.

"Whatever," Georg grumbles. "With the money we'll make on this job, I'll be able to buy some Magister's magic potion for hair growth."

Katia uses her fingernails to pinch the tiny piece of bread in her hand into even smaller chunks. Cato and Georg aren't aware of the true nature of the plan; they think that the team is actually going after whatever valuables are behind the treasury door. Only Katia and Clarisse know what's actually happening, and the guilt over that fact is rather plain to see. Georg and Cato, though, don't really seem like men who are used to looking.

"I don't think Magisters are spending their time making hair growth potions, Georg," Katia says.

[laruetheday]

"Someone should. They could make a lot of cash."

For a person who's never actually tried her hand in get-quick-rich schemes, Clarisse thinks about them an awful lot. Mostly they're food-related, and probably have more to do with missing flavors from home than wanting money, but oh well.

She doesn't know Katia, but the guilty look on her face is plain to see. Clarisse is surprised that Georg and Cato haven't said anything about it yet, or brought up the way she's mangling her sweet bun instead of eating it. Maybe she's just Like That?

Clarisse is opening her mouth to say something herself, are you going to eat that?, because if not she'll gladly take the food off Katia's hands, but then—

Astrid's voice comes in over the crystal: "Mermaid's tit." The signal to get started.

"On it," she answers, and looks at the rest of the group. "Let's go."

[stone_blind]

For all the evident dysfunction of this little group while they're sitting and talking, the moment that Clarisse says let's go, they're ready. There's no moment when they gather themselves, or look around, or express any uncertainty. Instead, in just a moment, Cato has a crossbow in hand, and Georg has pulled two knives. And Katia is striking flint to light a grenade, which she hurls with deadly accuracy at the door to the government building.

The grenade by itself wouldn't be enough to blow down that door. It is, after all, a side door to the building, unused and consequently welded shut. But the night before, someone had lined further explosive putty around its edges - and this, all together, knocks down an entry into the treasury's antechamber.

Immediately, alarms start shrieking. But just for the moment, there are no guards.

"Ready?" There's a fierce intensity on Katia's face; she pulls a cloth up over her mouth and nose, then nods at Clarisse to likewise pull up the protective mask she was given against the poison about to be unleashed. And then Katia pulling another grenade from her pouch and hurling it into the open doorway. It explodes in a puff of noxious gas.

And then Katia hurls herself into that room, Cato and Georg on her heels.

[laruetheday]

For once, Clarisse doesn't have her spear with her—it would have made them way, way too noticeable while they waited—but she has a short sword and, if necessary, a knife strapped to one leg that she can use as a sidearm. Now that they're on the move, it's all business.

She returns Katia's nod, pulls the mask up over her face, and follows the trio through the jagged opening that used to be a doorway. Thick smoke obscures her vision, but that's just as well, since any arriving guards will be as blind as she is for the time being.

And sure enough, she can hear shouting, running, as guardsmen are drawn first to the boom of the door blasting off its hinges and then to the sound of the shrieking alarms. The interior door rattles and swings open, and the first guard enters, sword at the ready. He takes a deep breath of the noxious air inside the chamber, coughs once, and abruptly halts in place, his mouth gaping open, eyes wide. If Clarisse didn't know better, she'd think he was in shock over the state of the wall opposite him.

A second guard all but runs into his back trying to get through the doorway, shouts, "Move aside!" only to have his fellow turn and swing a closed fist right into the side of his face.

Clarisse laughs, delighted, though she's pretty sure no one hears her over the sound of the alarms going off. This is going to be fun.

[stone_blind]

In contrast, there's little joy in Katia. She's all tension and focus. Her stature, in the smoke, makes her hard to notice, and so she lunges forward and slices through the second guard's knee, moving past the one who's been struck with the confusion gas for Clarisse to finish off.

There's one more door between them and the vault of the treasury. It's not necessary to bust all the way through, of course, but they have to make it look like they gave it a real try. So Katia starts getting to work on that, packing the hinges with explosives, trusting the others to keep the next round of guards off her.

[laruetheday]

Clarisse sees Katia heading for the vault, good, and turns her attention back to the guard who's still standing. Now that his fellow guard has been cut down, he seems even more confused than he did just a few seconds ago.

"Hey," he starts to say, brows furrowing as he seems to register Clarisse for the first time, "what have you d—" She drives her sword through him before he can finish asking, and he reaches out to grip the blade with both gloved hands, trying to keep himself upright.

Behind them, the sound of more guards arriving. She's going to have to trust that Cato and Georg can handle that while she finishes off the two she's currently dealing with.