epidemiology | PLAYER PLOT ★ STORM THE CASTLE

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PLAYER PLOT ★ STORM THE CASTLE

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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[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.]

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!!]

[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?

Yes, we should go inspect the area. There could be an important clue right beside us and we just don't know it.

[They're here to investigate anyways. Checking one place won't hurt them. It'll be fine as long as they reach their main destination later. ]

How much ground have we covered so far? [Julius has a general idea, but he thinks that Riza's been keeping track of minor details and major ones while they're here together. ]

Roger.

[She trusts his instincts as much as she trusts her own, if not more. The gun slides out of its holster into a loose ready position. Ideally, she won't have to use it, but her job right now is to keep both herself and the Captain safe.

At the question, she pauses, taking a moment to run through some internal calculations, then spits out a number that would make sense but that I don't know, welp.]

Probably only a small fraction of the entire castle.

In that case it'll take us a while to reach the top. [The distracting force seems to be holding up well. Julius is concerned about a few things. He knows this type of mission can be stressful on the people involved. Riza's still working efficiently, but it never hurts to keep tabs on things like productivity levels.]

We'll try to take the shortest route. [With emphasis on "try" because he'll completely understand if they get lost somehow. This place is pretty big after all.]

[If only they had directions.....! No doubt every servant that's worked here has memorized some sort of route inside, but they're uncover at the moment and thus unable to tap into even the most basic (and abundant) of resources.

For now, they'll have to wing it.]

That'll likely mean stairs then, getting as high as we can. [She pauses, trying to pull up her mental image of the castle from the outside.] The base is wider than the top - there'll be less ground to cover the higher up we are.

Do you want to take lead from here, Lieutenant?

[Julius thinks that Riza's more familiar with the layout than he is which is why he's asking her this instead of moving forward. If Riza's not comfortable leading then he'll carry on as usual.]

I'll watch your back so you don't have to worry.

[He's doing whatever he can to be reassuring! Riza won't get them lost...Julius believes in her!!]

[She pauses mid-stride at the offer, eyes widened a touch before her lips settle into a soft smile. (It wouldn't seem like much on anyone else, but it's quite the expression for her, given her years of practice in schooling her face into almost perfect neutrality.)]

Thank you, Captain.

[It's his offer to watch her back that surprises her the most and sets her at ease the most at the same time. She's worked with the Colonel and his men for so long she'd almost forgotten what it was like to place her trust in others, and have others place their trust in her. It's a nice feeling, one she takes a moment to savor before tucking away for a later date.

A moment's all she gets—as they round the corner, they come face to face with a patrolling castle guard. Better move fast.]

[Time to find some place to hide. They need cover...at least until the guard goes away. Julius stops in his tracks when he sees someone in the distance. Instead of speaking he makes a few hand gestures to communicate with Riza. Speaking now would seem like a terrible idea considering how close the guard is.

Riza can probably tell that Julius is just wondering where they should go now. Lead us to a safe place Lieutenant.]

[Thankfully, the guard isn't facing their direction just yet. A quick look at Julius reveals his own thoughts, by way of his quickly moving hands. It's not the same system created and adapted between her and the colonel but she gets his meaning quick enough. They're both military, and thus of a similar mind.

Between them and the guard is another hallway. With a quick wave at Julius to follow her, Riza's moving forward again, keeping her footsteps as quiet as possible as she angles herself down their current hall before veering off to the left. The first door to their left is unobtrusive and unmarked; she opens it and sequesters herself inside.

We'll hide here until he goes away.]

[Julius follows after her and the door shuts behind them quietly. Once they're safe he lets out a brief sigh. The patrolling guard won't notice them there!! In fact, there's not a lot of room within the new space they've relocated to. Who would have thought that things would progress like this? This isn't exactly Julius idea of a vacation, but it sure beats getting caught by a guard. He isn't going to complain or say a word.

A couple of minutes pass by and their situation isn't changing. Maybe they should go check outside for a bit? ]

[It really is quite cramped inside; she can feel the hard edge of a wooden shelf jutting into her lower back. Surely Julius is no more comfortable in this situation than she is.]

My apologies, Captain.

[Her voice is regretful, genuinely apologetic. Clearly she ought to have looked in the room first before heading immediately inside (though to be fair, they'd been short on time).]

Can you hear anything from outside?

It's alright Lieutnant and no I can't hear a thing. [Julius shakes his head once. A part of him expects things to go wrong. This is just one of them. ]

The guard may have left already.

[Who even knows? It's hard to tell from their current position. Since it's dark Julius awkwardly trips over something and almost crashes into a wall. Watch out Riza!]

[Well in that case, perhaps they oughta mosey on out of here. Except, before Riza can move, there's the dull thud of a body colliding with something hard, the sharp exhale of surprise, and then the barely audible whoosh of air that comes with a body falling forward directly towards—

—her.

Instinct kicks in, and instead of ducking out of the way, she steps forward with her hands outstretched, knees nearly buckling when something heavy collides with her. Thankfully, she doesn't fall and she can only hope that Julius managed not to collide on the floor either.]

—Sir, are you alright?

[No he's not okay, but he'll live. This closet is evil clearly. Julius stops himself from falling and leans against the wall for support. Then he removes any dust from his clothes and lets out a deep sigh.]

I'm fine. [Sweating nervously.]

Sorry to worry you. [He bows politely to show he's sorry too. Gomen Riza. There's a hint of concern in his voice, but after what he just went through you can hardly blame him. ]

It's perfectly alright.

[She's just glad he's okay. Now to get out of this tiny cramped closet soon and pretend like this whole ordeal never happen. Except, when she feels around for the doorknob and twists to pull the door back open, all she's met with is solid resistance.

..........

She tries again, firmly turning her wrist and pulling the door towards her. Again, nothing.]

I can't open it.

[DOES THIS DOOR LOCK FROM THE OUTSIDE OR SOMETHING what the heck?????]

What do you mean you can't?

[Are they stuck here? Oh no. ]

Look on the bright side, Lieutenant. Our pursuers won't be able to find us here.

[He's not helping.]

Let's just find a solution to this quickly.[The king might just get up and leave if they spend too much time here.]

That's one way of looking at things.

[Haha, very funny. Good to know at least one of them can still crack jokes in this desperate time of need. Not that she's panicking or anything but all of this is highly inconvenient.

She gives the door one more firm shove before releasing the knob, shoulders slumping back as she considers alternative methods of exit. There's always the straightforward method of slamming into the door and knocking it down completely, but likely that'll attract far more attention than either of them want.]

Any suggestions, sir?

[Before she barrels into the door.]

[Julius examines the door hinge and quickly shakes his heads. Neither of them can open the lock from this side. He briefly considers breaking the door down as well. Mistakes are being made.]

We should use brute force since we aren't equipped to deal with this type of situation.

[He's okay with using violence. They aren't killing people and the door won't cry if they spank it a little.]

[This entire castle break-in is probably a mistake, tbqh. What's one more door broken down when they've already stormed half the castle? It might draw some attention but they're out of options now. (She supposes she could call up someone, but waiting for rescue would take more time than they have right now.)

She takes a step back and gestures towards Julius, though likely it can't be seen in the dark.]

Would you like to do the honors, sir?

[He is taller and stronger than she is, after all.]

Leave it to me.

[He'll take the door down in one fell swoop. The door rattles a little and shows no signs of giving in, but within a moment or two it crashes down with a loud thud. Mission Success? Or not. At least they're out of the woods for now.]

I may have overdone it. [If the guards come running here it's all his fault for suggesting this....!!]

We should leave this place at once, Lieutenant. [This is such a mess. Not even a miracle will help them!]

[Cue imaginary wild applause and a large audience shouting 'encore, encore'!

Except in reality there's nothing but silence following the loud crash of the door thudding to the ground. Probably for the best; they don't need even more attention drawn to themselves. Julius' idea to leave immediately is a good one, and Riza nods her head.]

I agree. There seems to be a flight of stairs forward and to our left.

[At least, that's what she thinks she sees from the way the shadows are cast.]

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PLAYER PLOT ★ STORM THE CASTLE

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