ENDPLOT | ROLL THE BONES, PART 1

[ironwood]

Characters: ALL!
Date: Early/Mid November
Location: Under the shell
Situation: It's either Malicant or the Foreigners... and their worlds.
Warnings/Rating: Add warnings as needed.

The Foreigners had begun their counterattack by trying to possess the Great Turtle whom Malicant had taken, and although the movement had failed, some vital information had been uncovered. Under the shell lay Malicant's weakness, and inside the Dreaming was where he could be fought.

Any help from the kedan is uncommon. They're wary, watching, as a group beginning to lose sight of the community. Their family groups are more tightly-knit than ever, and any approach from the Foreigners is answered by suspicion at best and violence at worst. That makes daily life difficult, when the majority of the city refuses to have much to do with them. Why aren't you doing anything? they seem to say. What good are any of you? All you've done is make things worse. We'd be better if you'd never come.

The Foreigners are unwelcome in Keeliai. The cultists are becoming a majority. Now is the time.

There aren't many left of the Foreigners left, but inside the Dreaming the limitations of the waking world no longer exist. For every Foreigner and their worlds, their loved ones, this is the chance to make themselves safe for good. And all of them will be needed.

---

LINKS
Beneath The Shell/Midnight Hotel | Malicant’s Tools/The Vilii Stone | OOC Plot Post

OOC
There are two main headers, one for preparation at the Hotel where Milyn and Eva will be available to speak with The second section where they will be able to search the caves beneath the Shell inside the Dreaming to find the Vilii Stone, and where the boon'd characters will be affected. If you are threading something that doesn't fit one of those categories, just add it to the bottom of the post. Questions go to the plotting post, please! Once the Stone has been acquired the second half of the plot will go live in the logs comm.

Comments

ota

[onethirdthesoul]

a; diorama
Ryou was sitting over the diorama, holding a few geometric markers for groups in his hands as he spoke. At their goal was the miniature of the stone, and set aside on the table was a red marker merely labeled as "M". He knew the map well enough that he felt confident in going over his advice to anyone who cared to listen.

"Just to go over this again, I'd be wary of any intersections," he set one of the pieces down at a fork in the tunnels. "If I were trying to kill a group of adventurers, I'd set traps or attack them at places where people are most likely to linger and second guess their decisions. You should always keep an eye on your back too, sometimes the tunnels wrap around..." Ryou traced one such tunnel with his finger. "I think setting counter traps in areas like that would be a good idea."

He placed his palms thoughtfully together, "Any questions?"

b; common room
As proud as he was of his diorama and the chance to help brainstorm and give advice, Ryou seemed far less sure of himself when it came to everything else that was going on. For now, he just watched on as people gathered into the common room, and spoke aloud to no one in particular.

"Those needles are pretty scary, huh...?" He coughed, wincing a little at the sight of them. "This whole 'Dreaming' thing is really something else. Is everyone here going?" Besides the obvious support staying behind, of course.

Diorama, still ota

[i_speak_softly]

Donatello stays near the diorama too, rapidly memorizing the layout of the tunnels. In between studying the different sections, he hands out pieces of chalk to anyone who comes over. At the same time, he telepathically pushes knowledge of sewer-sign into their minds.

Mark the way. Don't get lost.

[onethirdthesoul]

Ryou picked up one of the pieces of chalk, nodding approvingly at Donatello. "Good idea, Donatello-san. Now they won't have to worry about walking in circles!"

Or at least, that was the plan. It was hard to tell how things would really go.

[i_speak_softly]

Don's been navigating underground his whole life; he chooses not to reveal that to him, staying oriented above ground is strange and confusing.

"What do you want me to do once we're down there?" he asks. Wayfinding, setting traps, fighting, and working the radios are all skills he has; delegating tasks is not.

[onethirdthesoul]

"Ah...," Ryou had never really been asked to give somebody a task before, T-RPG games aside. For a brief moment his surprise showed on his face before he steeled himself and continued on. "Well, let's see... We still haven't figure out what to do for traps. Do you have any ideas? I think something that can be used to warn everyone of possible ambushes would work best..."

[i_speak_softly]

From his belt, Don produces a nasty-looking assortment of caltrops and explosives. "I have these. Give me a few minutes and I can rig up something else."

Diorama

[whitelotustile]

Iroh nodded. "It would be a good idea to keep rear guards at major intersections, if we don't have traps. They can advance behind us, but that way we have someone we trust at our backs, and so do they. And something that could make light or noise would help to warn of approaches from behind as well as deter followers. "

"We'll want to keep at least one route clear for a quick retreat back to the hotel if needed. Especially for the wounded."

He was in full General Iroh mode here, rather than Iroh the tea-seller, studying the diorama.

"Let's hope we got as close as we could. It will make many things easier."

[lordhotman]

Zuko is standing next to his Uncle with his arms folding, looking on and listening in silence. Iroh would probably notice that his nephew is unsettled, despite his attempts to try and hide it.

Facing Malicant, the origin of his previous torment, was not easy for him. On one hand, he wanted to rid this place of him. But on the other hand, he feared him. Thus, while he tries to pay attention, Zuko is very much distracted.

[onethirdthesoul]

Ryou looked at Zuko for a bit, expecting him to add something. When he didn't, he went on, "That's a good idea, Iroh-san. As long as we don't make too many turns, we should have enough people to distribute."

He went ahead and grabbed some spare markers, setting one at each major intersection. "But we might want to think of less obvious way to warn each other. If the enemy thinks they've caught us at least a little off-guard, they're more likely to make mistakes."

Ryou frowned, twirling a pencil between his fingers. "Maybe the secondary network...? That might not work under these conditions though."

[whitelotustile]

"We won't have a chance to test them," Iroh said. "It doesn't hurt to bring them along, but I don't want to depend on them. What do you think, nephew?"

He looked at Zuko. Iroh was worried about his nephew, but he knew that Zuko would need to make his own choices. Suggesting one of the backup roles would ruffle the boy's feathers. Unless Iroh asked him to help him do something. ut even then, it might be an excuse for Zuko to beat himself up, regardless of the rationalization that he's jsut helping his uncle.

[lordhotman]

"Huh?" Zuko looked up, only half paying attention, though he tried to quickly cover that up.

"Yeah, sure. That's a great idea Uncle."

It was pretty lame, and not likely to fool his Uncle, but he tried anyway. He didn't want people worrying about him if he could help it.

Re: Diorama

[solo_patria]

"I can make light, monsieur." Enjolras offered, giving the General a nod. "I think that it may help a bit with the last of those." So saying, he moved into a darker corner, thought for a moment, quickly making a hand gesture so that an aura of light appeared around him.

"Will this do, do you think?"

Re: Diorama

[whitelotustile]

"it will. I and my nephew are also firebenders," Iroh explained. "A bit more dangerous than just light, since it will burn."

Re: Diorama

[solo_patria]

"And potentially useful if there are problems, I should think."

Enjolras has seen Korra working, and has spoken with Wan, so he knows a little of how all of those things work. Or well, he knows what they look like anyway, and that there are people who can use the elements effectively.

"Granted, I do hate to borrow trouble, but this is hardly the time to worry about something like that."

Re: Diorama

[whitelotustile]

Iroh nodded. "Part of learning to work with fire is knowing when it is helpful and when it will do more harm than good." It was a delicate balance, and one Iroh noticed many firebenders failed at. "With so many non-benders around, I do need to consider that."

a.

[solo_patria]

Enjolras nodded intently, starring at the diorama, indicating a few areas he thought would be especially troublesome.

"A trap here would be good." He answered, indicating one particular intersection with the colored chalk in his hand.

"I would be wary of sending too many to set it, and would suggest extra protection for anyone who goes. It would not do to call attention to ourselves. As you say, I would suspect the Cultists to be watching for us here, and perhaps..." He learned over a little, pointing out another, very obvious path.

"The traps would call too much attention if we used the exits too. But alone, it ought to trip them up, no? Otherwise, we ought to be able to move through here," He indicated. "They do not seem to pay attention to it,and we look to have clear access to the rest.

What sort of counter traps did you have in mind for us to set?"

[onethirdthesoul]

Ryou leaned in, listening attentively to Enjolras's suggestions. "I think a group of two to set the traps will be enough. Donatello-san seems like he knows what to do, and he can fight if they run into anything."

He pointed out another path on the diorama and set down a marker. "Some of the traps will be dangerous, but I still think we should use most of them as a way to alert us of ambushes. It won't tell the enemy where we are, but it'll give us an idea of where they are, and they might retreat once they know that. Luckily there's a lot of routes down here, so we do have options, like you said."

[solo_patria]

"Ah yes, that does make sense. " Enjolras had met Donatello previously and he certainly did seem to have things well in hand. The turtle had a sort of competence that reminded him of Leo, or Combeferre. "He does seem to have quite the handle as far as those things go." Far better than many of them here, Enjolras knew quite well.

Stepping over a little, he peered at the marker intently, tracing the path with a finger. "It is said that one should keep enemies close. I suppose that does mean...keeping tabs?... on them.

A retreat on their part would make all of this much easier. And yes, there are." He agreed. "Would it make much sense to divide our groups? There is a power in numbers, especially facing our enemy, but would we have a better chance of locating our stone or not?"

[onethirdthesoul]

"Donatello-san is going to do a great job, I'm sure," Ryou smiled with confidence before turning his attention back to the map, his expression thoughtful again.

"But it's hard to say... There's benefits to splitting into groups, and there's benefits to staying together. The faster we find the stone the better, right? But we can't spread ourselves so thin that we put ourselves in serious danger, either. A balance between the two is probably best. I think we have enough people to pull that off."

[solo_patria]

"Now that I know it is him involved, then he is sure to." Enjolras agreed, relaxing as it came to that idea. Donatello knew what he was doing, certainly, if anyone here knew what they were doing.

"Yees..." Enjolras bent his own head a little closer, blinking to clear away a bit of blurriness in his eyes, there. "I should think so, there. Two groups, or possibly three, as a good compromise? It ought to allow us all protection enough, along with potential pathways."

A - late but not left!

[theideaguy]

Sokka looks at the diorama with all due seriousness. They were running out of time to make a firm foothold against the Creep Lord, and this was the battle. All too harshly, it reminded him of the final battles him and his friends had staged against Fire Lord Ozai, Princess Azula, and Ba Sing Se. This is do or die time, and it was time to end this.

He looks at Ryou explaining the details. But a few ideas come to mind as well. "Though at the same time, we'll want to avoid these paths," he says, pointing to a specific area of the diorama. "They may be far from the major intersections here, but if we get trapped, there's practically only two ways out—this one narrow tunnel here... and through anyone that manages to trap us. Over here, it may be a slightly longer route, and the tunnels may be more complicated, but there's going to be a lot more ground for the cultists to cover, and it gives us more options later down the road."

[onethirdthesoul]

"You're right...," Ryou inspected the diorama for himself, definitely seeing the issue. After a moment he nodded. "We should definitely keep away from dead ends and bottlenecks."

He went ahead and added some flags to the areas Sokka pointed out. "If the enemy was going to find a time to strike, it would be then, I'm sure of it. Narrow tunnels in general are probably a bad idea too..." Ryou gestured towards the same one Sokka had pointed out. "Because it would make it really hard to fight as a group, so try to be aware of who's at the front and rear of each party if you enter any of the others."

[theideaguy]

"I agree," says Sokka as he surveys the newly laid out flags. "Which means we probably should take this path." He runs his finger along a specific direction, weaving through tunnels through the hallways. "The worst case scenario is that, no matter which way we go, the Creep Lord is going to know where we are... or at least a reasonable idea. This way gives us a few options of how to scatter or divert ourselves if we lose the upper hand on this. Defeat who we can if it's not risky, scatter and flee if we find ourselves in jeopardy, regrouping either here or, better yet, here."

He steps back for a moment to analyze the overall picture. "It's not the shortest path... by far, but so long as we don't get lost, I think this is the among the safer routes, even if it'll be... what, one and a half times longer?"

[onethirdthesoul]

Ryou's brow creased as Sokka explained his plan. While there was a lot about it he could get behind, he had some reservations. "Are you sure it's a good idea for us to split up? If that happens and they run into trouble in one of those tunnels, there's a small chance they could get sandwiched between the enemy."

Sokka obviously had more real-world experience when it came to this sort of thing than him though, so maybe it was a case of the risks outweighing the benefits. Even so, Ryou couldn't help but want to try and write out all possible risks, even if he knew that wasn't how things worked, and it wasn't even how he personally operated.

[theideaguy]

Sokka considers that for a moment before looking at the map one last time. "Ideally, no. Ideally it'd be fantastic for us all to get to the stone without any of the Creep Lord's goons ever knowing it was there. And if we can all make it safe and sound, that's the best plan of all. But here's the thing," he says, casually moving round to the marker for the stone. "If this little stone thing is so important, would he dare trust his cultists with the knowledge? Could the Creep Lord truly know if every single one of them was trustworthy to the highest extent? I... don't think he'd take that chance.

"I'd bet only a handful at worst, none at best, of them know about this stone and where it is. If we're planning for his goons to intercept us on the way there and stop us from reaching the room with the stone, then that means the room should be relatively unguarded. Which means... the only thing that matters is that any of us get there. If we're outnumbered and we're on the run, we'd best do whatever we can to reach the goal at all. And the best way of doing that... is to make it hard to track all of us."

He leans over the diorama, pausing as he looks back at Ryou and everyone else who's listening. "Though, I can't say I really have had any experience with the Creep Lord himself before now. Admittedly, I am guessing just a little bit on this one."