lucetimods: (Default)
Luceti Mods ([personal profile] lucetimods) wrote in [community profile] lucetilogs2012-08-17 11:40 am

Mission # 9 - Festival at Rataneran Keep

Who: Jack Sparrow, Pao-Lin Huang, Remy LeBeau, Buffy Summers, Maron Kusakabe, Raine Sage, Albert Silverberg, Trafalgar Law, Neferteri Vivi, Rogue, Pepper Potts, Cloche Leythal Pastalia, Temperance Brennan, Norma Beatty, Raven, Grune, Sokka, Kiba Inuzuka, Eusine, Peeta Mellark, Yamanaka Ino, Jiro Kusano, Rainbow Dash, Steve Rogers, Booth, Joshua Bright, Leonhardt, Syre Atries
What: MISSION # 9 - Festival at Rataneran Keep
When: August 17th to 18th
Where: Rataneran Keep
Summary: Volunteers have been summoned to Rataneran Keep to put on a festival for the time-honored “Founder’s Day Festival”. However, three assassins have been assigned to put an end to a certain Count.


Upon being deployed from Luceti, the group of volunteers were transported by private jet for three hours. Due to containment requirements, the windows were blacked out, preventing them from seeing outside. These few hours went by rather quietly, as they were given food and other necessities by a staff of worker droids. When they landed, they were greeted by a businessman in a brown suit, attended by several aides and a security detail. He looked frustrated, overworked, and unhappy to be there. But when the group had all arrived, he spoke to the lot of them.

“Welcome adventurers, heroes, and whoever else the rest of you might be. I’m CJ- that’s short for Cave Johnson. I’m the RP Manager for the Malnosso Assignment and Reward Service. That’s right, Service. Starts with an S. Makes the MARS acronym work that much better. Now, today you’re not here to save any lives or fight cultists or anything in the pursuit of science. No, tomorrow you’re going to put on stupid costumes, face paint, and put on a damn good show. Big wigs from the organization are going to be at this festival, just like every year. Now you might be thinking to yourself this is your big chance to get to know the Commandant. Or that you have a shot at rubbing elbows with the head of the science department. Well time to get that thought out of your head. You’re here for one reason. Information. Information about things that have nothing to do with those people.”

Deep breath and Cave Johnson stopped to continue, but his cell phone rang. Shushing the volunteers, he turned away and started talking. Those with especially keen hearing overheard something like, “No, Janice. I said no- okay, fine. Fine, yes. If those damn Segretarians want to keep escaping, then we’ll stop working with them. Alright. Alright. I heard you. Okay. Bye.”

Entirely unapologetic, he turned back to the group. “I’ll lay this out simple for you folks on how this is going to work. The lot of you? You’re not from Luceti. Or any other enclosure. You’re a traveling circus known as the Feathered Phenomenals. A real popular group that’s been paid to not show up. You people will be filling in for them. That means taking over their caravan, their costumes, their animals, and all the hard work that comes with it. You’ll be sleeping outside of Rataneran Keep for your first night, so if you don’t like sleeping on the ground, then you should have thought of that before signing up.”

“So what are you keeping your ears out for?” He asked. “Well here’s your spoilers, kids. Count Zompano is the one running this gig. You know him already. He’s the son of a bitch running the enclosures now. That puts him in charge of experiments, the authorization of abductions and arrivals, and whether I keep my job and the MARS project keeps going on. So you bunch need to find any dirt you can on him. Talk to the servants and guards, but don’t give yourselves away. If we can blackmail the bastard, we’ll put him out of a job and we all go home happy. Now, if you’ll talk to my aides, they’ve all got identities and roles set up for you to fill. Don’t go complaining if you don’t like what you get. Any questions?”

Cave Johnson stuck around a little longer to answer any questions in his stubborn, blunt way. But eventually his cell phone rang again and he was summoned away. This left the volunteers to get their badges that would reveal what roles they would be playing in the troupe. They were strictly forbidden from trading or to use their real names. They were also given see-through adhesives to put over their barcodes, for those with short enough hair to be exposed. These effectively made the barcodes vanish and be imperceptible.

While that lot was busy, the security quietly picked out Joshua Bright, Leonhardt, and Syre Atries at different times, separately and done to ensure no one noticed anything awry. Each were taken to a private black van where Specialist Davis was waiting for them. Each one received a private primer on what they would be doing. Perform as unimportant members of the troupe. While the show was running, they would assess the security, make preparations to corner Count Zompano, and at last knock him out and abduct him. They would then meet with Davis again, at night time of the second day, to deliver the Count for delivery to the cultists. If the assassins succeeded, they would receive an extra reward.

However, each assassin was not made aware of the other two, leaving them under the impression they would be working alone and without competition. They were sternly warned not to reveal their role to ANYONE. Should they do so, Cave Johnson had already arranged specific punishments for such an occasion.

Day 1:

The first day of the mission, besides transportation and being informed of the situation, will be spent allowing the volunteers to get into the roles designated for them. All of them will be expected to do their part in setting up the stage, high wires, cages, and other parts needed to put on the show. Some of the work by the castle’s staff will already be completed, but most of the first day will be spent doing the finishing touches and, of course, rehearsing. They will not be permitted to wander around the castle at this time. At night, they will set up tents outside the walls of the Keep.

For a ten mile radius around the castle (which extends far beyond the castle walls), a Shift preventing the use of any special powers has been erected. This will prevent anyone in the group from using special abilities that cannot be performed by an ordinary, mundane human being. Along with having no weapons, this puts the group at a severe disadvantage should they try to pick a fight. The castle is itself host to a large and efficient security detail. Although they are not members of the Malnosso Security Force, they are armed with the same sorts of weapons and use radios to relay information. Notably there are no droids being used among the castle staff. Every task is performed by a multitude of underpaid servants.

During this time they will have ample opportunities to talk to the servants, some of which will be more forthcoming than others. The security will be less talkative, but that’s nothing that they can’t handle if they’re willing to flirt a little, invite them to a drink, and lull them into a false sense of security. Examples of snippets they will provide in the comments below.

Day 2:

The majority of the Founder’s Day festivities will be taking place in Rataneran Keep’s grand hall. Although normally kept austere and severely underdecorated, a large battalion of underpaid Malnosso underlings have truly outdone themselves. There are tapestries on the walls depicting famous scenes from the Organization’s history, hanging chandeliers filled with smoky, wax-dipping candles, and great wooden tables piled high with delicacies culled from a variety of the world’s most profitable enclosures. But don’t even think about snagging a pastry or cut of meat for yourself! The help has been strongly discouraged from sharing in the master’s feast -- such pilfering will come with stern reprimands and, in severe cases, lost digits.

Squat, raked seating fills both ends of the hall and servants scurry back and forth between the food and the guests, serving them with gusto. The count and his more esteemed guests sit in a box-like seating area, flush against the long east wall. Security is also present. However, the center of the room is empty and so houses the real entertainment; it is in this space the volunteers would have set up as their stage on the previous day. Before the Feathered Phenomenals perform, there comes a choir that seemed to be made up of captured cultists. Their otherwise majestic, long wings are clipped and bound together. Most of the festival’s guests seem mildly troubled by the display; the count, meanwhile, guffaws and applauds the loudest. The man appears heartless. Why -- one servant whispers wide-eyed to the gathered Lucetian troupe before they went on -- apparently just the night before, the count had ordered the execution of an entire company of painters, one of which had displeased him by painting his nose just a little too big. It didn’t matter that his nose was big to begin with, she clarifies. Just that the count had been insulted, and that he’d felt a week of being dead would lend the painters some additional perspective. And so, she warns, the circus performers had better do their utmost best unless the count should also choose to put these mice through their paces.

Count Zompano himself will not be difficult to spot. A man with a gaudy sense of fashion, he dresses in foofy clothes and wears a pompadour wig. What makes him particularly distinctive are his pink-ish skin, yellow eyes, and large pink wings, which he decorates with glitter. With a foppish attitude and a tendency to refer to anyone he does not consider his equal as ‘little mice’, he is a man who makes himself the center of attention wherever he goes. Typically surrounded by a security detail, there are few times when he is ever alone and not basking in attention. He is extremely brutal to those who interrupt him, displease him, or otherwise annoy him. Guards who fail in their duties to him are swiftly executed and servants are often sent below the castle to be ‘re-educated’ of their role.

In the evening, before the final act, is when the Count will be successfully abducted. This final act will be the play about Founder’s Day. As the four actors put on their show, the rest of the troupe will be packing up to leave. At its conclusion, the group will be ready to leave. With the help of the Security Forces, they will be allowed to depart without incident, despite the castle security doing a sweep to find their employer. The remaining assassin will rendezvous with them later after delivering the Count to Specialist Davis.

---

OoC Information:

-You can make up fake names and identities that your characters will assume. They’re just locked into the professions revealed before. Feel free to come up with your own costume and makeup ideas too!
-Any attempts to escape or fight their way free will result in them being detained by security. Specialist Davis will arrange for them to spend the rest of the mission in MSF custody.
-For the assassins: Leonhardt is the designated assassin to succeed in capturing Count Zompano, Joshua Bright will fail but be otherwise undetected, and Syre Atries will be killed after being discovered by security. For these three assassins, we will set up threads for you to interact with the [personal profile] malnosso account so we can react to your character’s actions and set up the scenario, leading to their conclusions.
- All volunteers can talk to CJ before the mission for any additional questions they have. He will be unavailable to speak with after that point. What they do at that point is all on them, since he’ll be watching in the audience.

NOTE: Details for the play are still in the work. We’ll have a separate thread dedicated to it to be appended to the log later, which should have all the details you need. We hope to have this ready sometime tonight.



That’s all! For any plotting or questions, please use this post
herotypical: [ neutral ; action ; busy ] (✝ the odds or probability)

[personal profile] herotypical 2012-08-19 02:33 am (UTC)(link)
She held him steady with a pair of fingers sank into the cream and propping up his chin. At the first sound of a scrape, she semi-flinched; although the theory was obvious, the practice was less than foolproof. And while she probably would have been just as antsy back in the village, Buffy chose to blame her confidenceless beginning on the same thing that was draining every other drop of her confidence: the Shift.

"And yet? My act is not a knife-throwing act. You can't actually cut anyone with silk."
all7seas: (everything was beautiful nothing hurt)

[personal profile] all7seas 2012-08-19 02:37 am (UTC)(link)
Sparrow finally began to relax a bit. "No. But I don't think that makes a difference. You could have a silks act; you could have a knife-throwing act.


Relax, darling. You're brilliant. No jitters."
herotypical: [ social ; intimacy ; angel ] (✝ he offers me protection)

[personal profile] herotypical 2012-08-19 02:44 am (UTC)(link)
Powers That Be help her, she did relax. She sucked strength from his trust and faith and good will; the whole process grew smoother. Eventually, she knocked a knee of his aside to near enough to close one more inch's worth of gaping space between their bodies.

Even giving him a bath a few nights ago hadn't been as charged as this simple moment. Then, nudity had been so perfunctory. She was well-accustomed to Jack and his easy comfort with his own body. But now -- stuck behind false identities and after a week of cautious emotional distance -- she found herself distracted by the little things. His cheekbones. The dark brown eyes still so sincere amongst all the sparkle. His voice. His layered speech.

Buffy swallowed. "It's...not so tough. Even still, I think you look better with the beard."
all7seas: (not a hero really)

[personal profile] all7seas 2012-08-19 03:10 am (UTC)(link)
"Really?" This pleased him greatly. He reached out and just brushed his fingertips against her hips. "You do?"
herotypical: [ happy ; neutral ] (✝ where the lights are)

[personal profile] herotypical 2012-08-19 03:12 am (UTC)(link)
Remorselessly, she wiped the razor clean on the side of his sleeve before starting up again. "Sure. I do. I've...gotten used to it, what with us working together and seeing each other all the time and..."

She froze. Just for a moment. His touch was not unwelcome, really. "And now it's going-going-gone."
all7seas: (reshuffling one's priorities)

[personal profile] all7seas 2012-08-19 03:24 am (UTC)(link)
"But it'll grow again. It'll grow and be lovelier and better and stronger than before.


I hope."
herotypical: [ neutral ; angry ; concern ; sad ] (✝ take photographs -- have fun)

[personal profile] herotypical 2012-08-19 03:27 am (UTC)(link)
"My guy back home," the warning in her voice was forceful, "has a truly kicking beard and moustache combo."

The soft touches -- however nice -- were not helpful to the overall goal. Not unless supposed cheater was meant to be part of both of their identities. Buffy pursed her lips and went to work on shaving clean his upper lip.
Edited 2012-08-19 03:38 (UTC)
all7seas: (I disdain all glittering gold)

[personal profile] all7seas 2012-08-20 02:10 am (UTC)(link)
"You should tell him. Tell him, from time to time."
herotypical: [ neutral ; sad ; action ] (✝ guilty about feeling guilty)

[personal profile] herotypical 2012-08-20 02:13 am (UTC)(link)
"I try, but...

I'm not so hot at that kind of thing. Not like he is. He says so much and I..."

She swiped the blade clean once again. "I'm better at telling other people, I think. Like...like I could probably tell you."
all7seas: (at swordpoint)

[personal profile] all7seas 2012-08-20 02:15 am (UTC)(link)
"I'll listen for you, if you like. For him."
herotypical: [ snark ; action ; busy ] (✝ i won't let you choke)

[personal profile] herotypical 2012-08-20 02:20 am (UTC)(link)
She watched her work and not his eyes -- although, she wanted to. Because she rather liked them and, well...

"He has these eyes. They could convince fish out of the sea, I think. And I also think he knows it. I'd never tell him, but I kinda believe they're surprisingly honest eyes for a dishonest man. I get so lost in..."

Buffy used the end of her sash to dab at his chin, smearing away some cream. "He makes me feel safe. But...he also makes me feel totally independent. No one's ever managed the both at once."
all7seas: (everything was beautiful nothing hurt)

[personal profile] all7seas 2012-08-21 12:43 am (UTC)(link)
"I'll wager he would be happy to know that. Because -- from what I understand -- he wants you to feel safe and free. And loved. That's what he wants."
herotypical: (✝ great great great grey water thoughts)

[personal profile] herotypical 2012-08-21 12:51 am (UTC)(link)
"I know, Mister Kip. I know. I think that's mostly what I want, too. Only life's not like the musicals, right?"

Buffy stood back; her task was completed. "There. All smooth and not even a single slice."
all7seas: (upward glances)

[personal profile] all7seas 2012-08-21 12:54 am (UTC)(link)
"It could be. Sometimes there's singing, eh?" He reached up and drew rough, calloused fingers across his jaw. "All smooth. Brilliant."
herotypical: [ neutral ; angry ; spike ] (✝ sugar water)

[personal profile] herotypical 2012-08-21 12:59 am (UTC)(link)
All smooth. Except...except he didn't look enough like himself without the facial hair. Not to her.

Buffy tapped the blade against her palm. "You're welcome," she said in that sarcastic tone of voice people used when they were, in fact, expressing their disappointment over a lack of a thank you.
herotypical: [ neutral ; angry ] (✝ so what's that funny smell)

[personal profile] herotypical 2012-08-21 01:26 am (UTC)(link)
"...Will that be everything, boss?"
all7seas: (parley?)

[personal profile] all7seas 2012-08-21 01:40 am (UTC)(link)
"You want to go now?"
herotypical: [ snark ; neutral ; spike ; blood ] (✝ et tu reves encore)

[personal profile] herotypical 2012-08-21 01:41 am (UTC)(link)
She hiked her thumb back at the tent's exit.

"W-well, see? There's this...package I'm waiting to have delivered. Ant traps. A better bed. Promises of bread and circuses."
all7seas: (undecided)

[personal profile] all7seas 2012-08-21 01:46 am (UTC)(link)
"Very well. You're....allowed to go."

There were ant traps to look for and not find. There was a better bed to make for her. These things took time.
herotypical: [ snark ; angry ; neutral ] (✝ eighteen steps is one complete set)

[personal profile] herotypical 2012-08-21 01:49 am (UTC)(link)
"Aye aye, Kips." Buffy threw him a clumsy, sarcastic salute. She backed up towards the outer world and towards more lies. "I'll, uhm, see you around. Or tonight. Or around. Or whatever. Really. It's...no big thing."
all7seas: (breaking through bending spoons)

[personal profile] all7seas 2012-08-21 02:04 am (UTC)(link)
Later -- much later -- Jack Sparrow tried to knock on the flap of Buffy's tent. He didn't have any ant traps. He did have a thermos of hot soup and a ragged bunch of wild flowers that he'd found out in the field.

And a fluffy pillow. It was at least as long as Buffy, and was flopping over the pirate's shoulder.

"Hallo?" he called softly.
herotypical: (✝ they keep trying to row away)

[personal profile] herotypical 2012-08-21 02:21 am (UTC)(link)
Her tent was much smaller. But Buffy tried to think of it as cozier. And if she closed her eyes, she could almost pretend it was some kind of better place -- especially as she breathed in a few lungfuls and stretched her hands out and snagged on her foot. She was stretching. It came across so peaceful; however, the underlying motive was to pre-empt any foolishly incurred injuries she'd take far too long to heal from. The Slayer had never been such a health nut.

"Come in," she answered, not lifting her face up from where it was touching her knee. At least flexibility was still in the equation.
all7seas: (wear out the words)

[personal profile] all7seas 2012-08-21 02:23 am (UTC)(link)
"I brought you soup, Orensa. And...."




Oh God she was beautiful, all stretchy and bendy and golden hair falling down and


"...Pillow?"
herotypical: [ snarky ; neutral ] (✝ fit to drink)

[personal profile] herotypical 2012-08-21 02:26 am (UTC)(link)
"Soup?"

She sat up, pulling her feet close and resting her elbows on her thighs. Fingers tightened around her ankles. Buffy tried not to give him a double-take over the missing beard that she herself made missing.

"What kinda soup?"

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