PLAYER PLOT ★ STORM THE CASTLE

[futurologists]

THE CASTLE ( NOV 7 ) Our resident warrior princess, Kidagakash Nedakh, has formulated a plan to investigate the castle and speak with the royals. (The OOC plotting post can be found here.) Now, it's time to put it into action. The castle itself is huge. From the outside, you can see a beautiful garden, a pond, and a statue commemorating Odette. You can also see several guards, some more invested in their job than others. A few are stony-faced, menacing men with looks that could kill. A couple just look like they'd appreciate a pretty girl or interesting guy to liven up their boring day. On the inside, all the halls look different, yet the same — different pieces of art, different wall fixtures, but everything else is identical. There's many portraits of the king and his late wife on the walls, sparkling chandeliers, and servants scurrying around. Odette's pale, smiling face and cascading blonde locks look somewhat familiar, but that might just be because of all the statues of her likeness around the city. The castle has pretty much every room you'd expect a castle to have. A library, a wine cellar, a dining hall, etc. Within them, characters can expect to find various things of interest — there are many books, fancy stationery, even some valuable coins if you look hard enough. There's also many letters to be found detailing the situation in Chantes; of course, there's also plenty of letters on far less official business. Some of them have quite steamy imagery. There are plenty of servants milling about inside the castle and out in the gardens. In the dining hall and their chambers are several of Chantes' most important nobles. And then, of course, there's you.

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PREPARATION

[futurologists]

julius visconti | open

[viscontree]

1. [video/action - username : julius]

Hello everyone. My name is Julius Visconti. I'm the former captain of Fenrir's Special Forces Blood Unit.

[He pauses for a moment and then continues to speak. Julius sounds calm when he talks.]

We'll be making our next move as a group. That's why I want to form a strategy with everyone here. We mustn't act carelessly. I'll be at the Abel Inn if you need to speak with me in person.

That's all, thank you.

[Julius bows down politely and ends his message there. He's not going to say anything unnecessary. As soon he shuts off the feed he goes back to work. You can bump into him at the inn too if you like. ]

2.wild card

[Anything you want goes tbh. ]

1. action.

[counterattacked]

[Time to get to business. If nothing else, it's good to feel like they've got direction and forward momentum again, after spinning their wheels uselessly for weeks. Even if it might be a temporary (or even an ill-advised) measure, it's better than sitting on their hands. They're still a ragtag group at best, and their odds of success will go up by far if they're all on the same page, and Eren's near enough to the Abel Inn that it's easier to duck inside than to wrestle with the—still unfamiliar and unintuitive—effort of responding over the network. He finds Julius's table and cants his head at him curiously. (Hello again.)]

Captain?

[Or "former captain," as the case may be. There's a clear question in it—Julius hadn't introduced himself as such, earlier, or he would have asked then. Mostly because "Special Forces Blood Unit" has a pretty interesting sound to it.]

[viscontree]

It's good to see you again, Eren.

[Julius waves to Eren politely. It's nice to be around some familiar faces. ]

I worked with the military for many years. However, I resigned recently so I no longer hold the rank of captain. [Who is even surprised to see military soldiers here? They're everywhere.]

Why don't you take a seat somewhere? [They'll be chatting for a bit. Both of them can sit down comfortably for once instead of being locked up inside of a loud jail cell.]

[counterattacked]

[Not as "everywhere" as he'd expected, to be honest. ALASTAIR's recruited a surprisingly large civilian contingent, in his opinion. Makes him wonder who's calling the shots, what their criteria are for the people they snatch up. If there's any rhyme or reason to it at all.

Eren takes Julius up on the invitation and takes a chair at his table. The inn is warmly lit and loud with chatter instead of shouting and Eren's not bruised or bloody on the knuckles or seething at people who are still picking fights—definitely a different atmosphere to the first time they'd met. Less tense, more productive. More conducive to getting a little distracted before getting to the reason they're here.]

You resigned?

[Looks kind of young for making Captain, even from his skewed perspective. Even younger for resigning, and you don't make Captain and then wash out for petty reasons. So he can't help but ask—]

Why?

[viscontree]

[Julius honestly didn't expect Eren to ask that question. He's stunned into silence for a moment then he replies while frowning.]

One of my friends died in front of me. He was about your age.

[Eren appears to be a teenager at least. Outward appearances can always be deceiving though. ]

I didn't want anyone else to suffer the same way so I left. After that I helped the military do some research.

[Julius doesn't mind talking about this. Eren's always been cooperative and he's relatively kind. He deserves to hear an honest answer.]

[counterattacked]

[Julius goes quiet, and it occurs to Eren a little late that this might have been a pretty personal question to ask. But Julius is free to answer it or not however he sees fit, so he doesn't rush to retract it, or even look all that chagrined by the silence.

And the answer he gets...is still something of a mystery to him. Eren's mouth presses thin before he opens it again.]

You thought leaving would stop people from dying? [It's incisive, though not aggressive. (Maybe there's something in the sentiment he can understand, regret for making the wrong decisions or guilt for surviving because others give their lives for his.) But he cannot fathom letting that go to waste. His jaw locks, but he pursues it. He's got to be missing something, because it doesn't add up.]

How can you stop anything if you're not there to do anything about it?

[Had his comrade died because of something Julius did? (Or was it something to do with the research?)]

[viscontree]

[Eren's question's only a normal one. The situation was a little complicated. Julius isn't sure where to start with this mess. He knows he has a habit of never speaking up when it counts. Maybe Eren can see that Julius is struggling to say something, even though it's clear that he wants to. ]

The military created some artificial soldiers. We used them to fight our battles, Eren.

I didn't have to physically be there on scene myself. [Julius wonders what Eren's thinking about all of this. The existence of an artificial soldier might have been okay in the year 2071, but Eren comes from a different time and place.]

Sorry if I said anything you didn't want to hear. [They started talking about people dying man. Julius would feel bad if he made Eren slightly uncomfortable.]

[counterattacked]

[He listens critically, and Julius does try to make himself understood. But there's definitely some major culture gap at work, here.]

Artificial?

[It's clear he's having trouble wrapping his head around the idea at all. Using some construct to fight your battles for you. The closest thing he has to compare it to is Pixis's lie about Eren's shifting being the result of military testing. But even then, Eren's still a soldier, he still needed to be present to use it, to risk his own life on the battlefield. (And the military testing had, of course, been a lie.)

Death, however, is a much more familiar topic. It's never a pleasant one, but it's part of being a soldier, and Eren's never needed or wanted to be treated with kid gloves. His brow furrows in a different sort of confusion at the apology. It's not like Julius is the one who started all this.]

You don't have to apologize. I wouldn't have asked if I didn't want to hear it.

[viscontree]

Alright then.

[There's no need for him to apologize, Eren's right. Julius folds his arms together and keeps a relatively stern expression during everything. He goes off and answers Eren's question.]

With the use of my world's advanced technology creating an artificial soldier was possible for us. They were faulty in some ways though. Sometimes they malfunctioned it was problematic.

[Too problematic. It's always better to just use a real soldier over an artificial one. Julius had to learn that the hard way. ]

What are your thoughts on this? [He'd like to hear Eren's opinion!!]

wildcard

[strictdiscipline]

[Between singing a strange but lively folktune and coming up with all sorts of elaborate disguises and personas, the distraction team does an excellent job of allowing the infiltrators inside, and Riza's own journey through a side door and into the kitchen pantry - in partnership with a certain Captain of the Blood - is quick and painless.

They could pick a direction and go straight from there. Or. She turns towards Julius, voice kept low.]

How good is your memory, sir?

[There's no telling if or when they'll need to enter the castle again by unconventional means.]

[viscontree]

My memory's adequate. I can remember some details with relative ease.

Do you have something in mind, Lieutenant?

[Riza must be planning or thinking about something that will impact their mission. His voice is on the quiet side as well. Julius is alert and he's being mindful of their surroundings.]

nami pls....

[strictdiscipline]

[Not a major impact but something she hopes will be useful both now and later on. Constantly tasked with fetching this piece of information and that set of maps of the storeroom, she'd gotten quite used to mentally tallying important information to hand over later.]

Do you think you could remember the general layout of the castle, in case we'll need that information later?

[The hope is that they won't have to break in again, but so far nothing really seems to have gone their way.]

:"(((( :'(((

[viscontree]

I should be capable of accomplishing that much.

[He did lots field work before. Memorizing a floor plan shouldn't be too difficult. Julius nods to Riza's words and inspects the area with her. He's taking a mental note of the layout as they walk. ]

Where do you want to go next, Lieutenant? We'll need to move quickly.

[strictdiscipline]

[Human memory is a faulty thing, and while Riza thinks she could muster up an adequate layout of the castle on her own, having a second set of eyes - and a second mind - would greatly relieve her concerns. Besides, an additional set of eyes means additional details picked up, always useful.]

If the castle is anything like Central Headquarters, the most important rooms will be at the very top.

[That's where the nobility rises to anyway, isn't it? A pyramid of people, many at the base and only a select few at the very top.

She doesn't move quite yet though, still accustomed to following behind rather than taking the lead.]

[viscontree]

Let's try going there.

[That makes logical sense. Julius goes ahead of Riza, but occasionally he'll check behind him just to make sure she's following. They need to stick together for this kind of operation. Neither of them can afford to get lost here.

The second Julius notices suspicious activity he stops right in his tracks.]

Did you hear something?

[Julius can't tell anything from where he is. Riza might know!!]

[strictdiscipline]

[Julius needn't worry; Riza's never more than three steps behind, and even though her eyes are constantly in motion, taking in an ornate picture here and a well-placed vase there, she's careful not to stray too far.

She stops a split-second after Julius, hands tensing immediately as they stray towards her gun.]

Should we investigate, sir?

kashuu kiyomitsu | action/commoner's district | open!

[hardtohandle]

[No killing! No bloodshed! If there was anything to put out Kashuu's enthusiasm for a good raid, it was that. Still, he wasn't the type to try and find a way around such a direct order. It was a habit he couldn't break. There would be a raid on the castle, they would nonlethally distract the guards, and maybe they'd get a step closer to... finding the sun? Creating peace? So long as their bosses were pleased, who cared.]

[Still, walking through the commoner's district eased his sullenness. Even a nonlethal raid was a chance to stretch and fight a bit. He was confident his body would kick back into gear immediately, but a little practice never hurt. And with a few days until the raid, why not practice in the alleys and backstreets, where there was always a willing partner looking after some coin?]

Ah. Sooooooo~rry. [He doesn't sound sorry at all, looking over another unfortunate thief. (Was that two today? Or three? They'd gotten a little more desperate.) The man was clearly out and so Kashuu did a brief pat-over.]

I outdid myself this time... plenty of bruises, but no cuts. [He grabs his fancy lantern (which now doubled as fancy thiefbait) with a big smile. Could he fit another one in tonight?...]

[sediments]

[ Since it's a raid, Bolin's going to extreme lengths to be covert. Even before he reaches the castle, he tip toes his way through the alleys as if trying to shake off nonexistent followers. It's all part of the thrill however, and Bolin's just glad to be part of something; a real team rather than the scattered, rag tag bunch that they have been so far. Maybe this night will really yield results, and they'll finally finish their business here and be on their way home.

So he's in high spirits when he stumbles across Kashuu standing over a prone body, looking all to pleased with himself.

There's a moment for the shock to register, foot caught in a step in the air while he stares at the scene. Then, almost immediately, his mind jumps to conclusions, and he's hurrying over to check on the man lying on the ground. ]

Hey! What're you doing!

[hardtohandle]

Eeeh? [He turns to deliver his perfect, rehearsed defense line. Or, rather, so rehearsed it sounds a little bored.] It was entirely in self-defense. Poor, defenseless me was atta- [Wait. He didn't know this person but he sort of recognized the face.]

Ah. You're one of us. [Immediately upon realizing, his voice returns to its natural, more rich, tone. No need to put on airs for a team member... right? Not that they could really be called a team, what with their first scattered act of cooperation happening tonight.] I was practicing a little. Warm-up, you know?

[sediments]

[ Kashuu's act earns him a stare, Bolin squinting suspiciously at him and trying to make sense of how quickly the act was dropped. His gaze drops to the man on the ground again for a moment, prodding him to realize that he's still breathing and that there doesn't seem to be an ominous pool of blood or anything.

He's probably fine. ]

So you were picking fights with people in alleys?

[ Still peering at the other man, trying to detect signs of struggle on Kashuu's own person. ]

[hardtohandle]

Eh, well... that woman in charge wanted no bloodshed. [Kashuu shrugs. Orders are orders. His scarf is a little askew and his clothes have a bit of dirt, but otherwise it looks like he didn't have a lot of trouble with the thief (There's a small cut on his jacket, too, he'll be real upset when he finds that).]

I'm used to the things I fight either not having blood or the masters not caring... But, look, see? Nice and neat! [He would pat the body proudly, but that requires kneeling down. Too much work. So instead he proudly... prods it with his boot.]

[sediments]

[ That doesn't really answer the question, and Bolin just sort of stares dubiously at Kashuu for a moment before stepping further away from the body. Needless violence isn't something he approves of, but he also doesn't really want to be around when that guy wakes up. ]

Are you an assassin or something? [ His curious gaze not wavering, looking for weapons. ] Oh, I'm Bolin by the way.

[ Since they'll be fighting together! ]

[hardtohandle]

Kashuu Kiyomitsu. We'll be in each other's care. [He doesn't make an effort to hide his weapon, after all, it's integral to his identity. The red sheath is illuminated by the soft, gold glow of Kashuu's lantern.]

As for this... I don't really like sneaking around in shadows like an assassin. A fair fight is more fun, you know? [he sighs and shrugs dramatically] "Swordsman" is more accurate. [sword. sword is 100% accurate.]

[sediments]

You're a swordsman too?

[ Like Masamune and Pearl. He's definitely seen other people walking around with swords as well, tapping against their hips or secured tightly at their backs. It's a little archaic to someone like Bolin, who hadn't seen a sword used as a weapon—ever, really.

Even if the range of a sword is shorter than bending however, there's something more lethal about it. ]

So, why did you learn? [ How to wield a sword he means, moving out of the alleyway now so that they can continue toward the castle. ]