☆ Event Log: Snatched, Part Two

[faileas]

Event Log: January, Snatched - Part Two

I. A Great Escape (20th, Evening) It's been a miserable six days for the Mirrorbound and refugees kept locked away in a basement cell block, subject to all kinds of torment and experimentation. They're a resilient sort, though, and their efforts to organize and bolster each other are not in vain. As the time passes with no sign of the City Guard drawing close to their operations, the Rathmore family grows overconfident, and characters can hear them talking to each other about another mass-kidnapping in the works. The best opening comes late on the night of the 20th. A few of the family's numbers are out - notably, Thomas Rathmore, his wife, and his mother are attending an emergency meeting of Parliament, and Constance is making an appearance at the Coven. This leaves the more inexperienced cousins in charge, the lesser known Rathmores with no particular skill outside of cruelty. Changing of the guard begins as usual, a handful of Rathmores delivering some sparse rations and taking their time to choose a few prisoners to remove from their cells, but this time, the Mirrorbound bite back. Thanks to the collaborative efforts of Daenerys and Asura, along with the prisoners preparing an organized revolt, a fire started in the torture room provides chaos and cover - and one dead Rathmore cousin, whose body gives up some of the keys to a handful cells. Time to play the cards you've held close to your chest over days of torture, your held-back spells, your tricks, your items that weren't confiscated. A mass escape isn't likely, with so many people still present in the building and so many of the captives injured and tired, but with enough of a distraction in the form of a prison riot, which may be enough to overpower the three Rathmores initially left in the cell block, a handful of scrappy Mirrorbound may make it out to safety before reinforcements arrive. a. The Escape Attempt There is one door out of the cell block, the main, heavy, warded door that the Rathmores enter and exit from every few hours. It's locked down tight - but it's possible to power through it, pick the lock, or charm it open. On the other side of the door, in the greater basement area, they'll find themselves free of the Bond dampening. Witch magic make take some time to return, depending on whether they were drugged or only charmed, but it'll be important to move quickly. The Rathmores' basement area is large - the size of the mansion above and the grounds put together, and they'll find themselves on the lower of two levels. The cellblock turns out to be a room within an even bigger room, with the stairs at the opposite end. The dangers are numerous: magical and mechanical traps set in areas marked off-limits, illusions intended to confuse and turn people around. There is only one completely safe path from the cellblock door to the stairs, unless they take the time to disarm the traps and illusions with their returning magic and abilities. That safe path is faster but more exposed, with two or three Rathmores in pursuit, and also the other people that could occasionally be heard outside the door - young aristocrats in on the kidnapping, who thought the Mirrorbound would be sent home. They're just as surprised to see you as you are them. In fact, it's not difficult to overpower these non-Rathmore kidnappers; they're obviously shocked to see Mirrorbound still here, in such states, and some are quite angry, or scared to learn what they've inadvertently gotten themselves into. A good handful flee instead of fight, but some others follow through on the shouted orders to go after you. Use the chaos your appearance causes to your advantage. Once escapees reach the upper basement level, up the stairs and through a hidden door, a few more traps remain, but up here, it looks more like a normal basement; servants' quarters, empty for some time now, storage rooms full of antiques, and winding hallways connecting them. It's easier to hide in this dusty maze to escape any pursuers, and eventually, they find the servants' exit out onto the back grounds. From there, freedom is just a run and a decorative, wrought-iron fence away. b. The Chaos Back in the cells, everything descends into chaos. The Rathmores are furious; while two or three of the cousins go after the escapees, the rest begin to gather down in the cell block, put out the fire, and the interrogations begin. They don't bother taking prisoners out to torment them now - they can't, with their torture room charred and smokey. Their main focus is forcing prisoners back in, and locking everything down with magic and heavy chains, to ensure no one else gets out. They grow more vicious now, and they begin speaking directly to the captives - they want to know which ones got free, how they managed it, who helped them, where they're going, who they're going to tell. Those who refuse to talk will be gagged or muzzled or simply beaten without finesse, and they'll move on to the next captive. Preying on the Mirrorbound's camaraderie with each other is the tactic they quickly turn to, hurting one to try and make another talk. The talk outside the main door grows louder in these few hours, angrier. Occasionally one of the Rathmore cousins will go out to spin some lies, or simply shout down any protesting. Some of the enchantments were damaged in the riot, though - they can hear you, just as well as you can hear them, muffled but still mostly clear. The more they hear from within, the more the confusion outside grows; all the better for the escaped Mirrorbound. ..."What's going on? Those were Mirrorbound that got out-" "We thought you were sending them home!" "You told us there was no risk, that this would make them leave-" "You don't need to worry about that! Go back upstairs!" "Someone needs to get a message to our Uncle Thomas immediately-"... They're all panicking as their grand plans, flimsy as they may have been, start to crumble around them. It's just a matter of time, now. The OOC post for the escape plotting is here if anyone needs to refer back to it! Eight characters will be escaping first thanks to a joint effort. The rescue will be underway within two hours of their escape, but those two hours are likely to be unpleasant for characters who remain in captivity. Any NPC maimings or proposed deaths need to be reported on the City Tracker; please note that mass murder / killing NPCs will still have consequences and needs mod approval first, but we're happy to work with players however we can.

II. The Cavalry (21st, Very Early Morning) The City Guard is closer than the Rathmores think. Thanks to Mirrorbound investigative help, not always strictly legal but still appreciated nonetheless, they've all followed the clues back and determined a possible address. By the evening of the 20th, several members of the Guard and Witches from the Coven, along with any Mirrorbound who followed the trail, are camped out at a manse nearby, the home of a wealthy widow eager to see her nasty neighbors knocked down a peg. Without solid evidence, the Guard can't get a warrant cleared to search the property owned by a Mr. Barclay, assistant to Thomas Rathmore, but solid evidence comes as soon as eight Mirrorbound manage to fight their way out of captivity, returning to friends and Bonded. They are the last piece of the puzzle, and now legal action can be taken. Theodore Rosethorne, leading a small group from the Coven, sends out a magical message to just the Mirrorbound - they've been found. Anyone who wishes to help bring their missing fellows home, anyone who can help with much-needed healing, or anyone who wishes to bring their captors to justice needs to show up now, because time is of the essence. The Guard can't mobilize more men quickly enough in the middle of the night to be useful and they need all the hands they can get, without a floor plan of the mansion or solid ideas of the captors' numbers. They can barely wait an hour for more hands to arrive before it begins. a. The Rescue Sowilo, Theodore's Bonded Fae and a skilled hand at illusions (and seeing through such), leads the rescue efforts, along with some of Theodore's Witches from the Coven. With information from the escapees, they plan to go through the back, take the servants' exit, and make their way down to the basement levels, while Theodore's assault team will go through the front doors, making as much noise as possible. Sowilo's illusions will keep their presence masked at least until they get into the house. The aim is to get through as quietly as possible, find the cellblock, and secure a safe route to take the prisoners out without them getting hurt any worse than they are. It's easier said than done. Magical and mechanical traps of various types litter both basement floors, and heavy illusion work has been placed to obscure the way. Splitting into smaller groups to disarm the traps and deal with the illusions will be necessary, as the entire group will make its way down to the cellblock as quickly as possible. Sowilo hopes they face little to no resistance, with Theodore's group doing their job, but a few, Rathmores and otherwise, are bound to try and stop them; in that case, they will have to fight. "Make sure you can argue a case for self-defense, if you have to hurt them," Sowilo will tell the rescuers and later the freed prisoners on the way out, wings fluttering agitatedly. "Let them be arrested and publicly humiliated in court - ruin their whole family line for generations to come." He's not happy about it either, and will overlook some of the captors getting a taste of what they deserve, but deaths are not permitted on his or the Witches' watch: anyone who takes things too far will find that the person they're attacking has simply vanished - a convincing illusion - before they're handily knocked out with a spell. They face less resistance than the assault team, but less is not none; a few of the Rathmores are determined to salvage their efforts, and some of their unwitting aristocratic cronies have sided with them. Once they reach the cellblock, dismantling the enchantments that keep the prisoners restrained and addled is the first order of business for some. Others can start unlocking cells and helping people out of their restraints. Protection for the escapees on their way out will also be necessary, as well as medical attention back at the temporary base camp. The main focus has to be on those lost friends and loved ones, bringing them back out to freedom and making sure they're tended to - not on revenge. b. The Assault Theodore Rosethorne, along with some members of the City Guard and some Witches from the Coven, leads the assault. While the rescue team goes around the back, they plan to go through the front door, as loudly and conspicuously as possible. The mansion is large and needs to be swept from top to bottom for perpetrators and evidence that can be used in court. Those joining up with this team are warned that it needs to remain legal - the Mirrorbound and the refugees, all of them, have a very shaky, uncertain legal status within the city, and a mass murder could severely harm what good will they have from the locals as well as their status here. After all, many are still neutral to positive on the Mirrorbound, but that could change in an instant. The Coven will take as much responsibility as they can, but they cannot accept the blame for a senseless slaughter. Splitting into smaller groups will be necessary in order to cover more ground quickly. The aim is to locate, subdue, and arrest as many of the culprits inside as they can. The Guard provides magic-suppressing cuffs, and the Coven a basic knock-out spell, but since many will not go so willingly, some degree of force may be unavoidable. If there's one thing the rich fear, it's a legal black mark on their family name and reputation - the Rathmores will fight back harder than their underlings, but they're also the ones they need alive to face the justice system. Those outside the family, those who only knew about the kidnapping portion, are a mixed bag - some might fight back, siding with the Rathmores, but some might give themselves up once the realization of what happened in that basement sinks in. Once they make their entrance, things move quickly. Several wealthy aristocrats either flee or fight, but their attention is thankfully pulled away from the basement and toward the upper levels. There are dozens of rooms to search, and many are cluttered with an old hoarding family's antiques, furniture piled against doors and windows blocking access to some areas, hundreds of nooks and crannies among the sheer amount of stuff provide cover for culprits to hide in. It's going to be work to ferret them all out and bring them in. Worse still, the Rathmores have collected dozens of cursed or enchanted objects that may be used as weapons against the forces of justice. Some degree of force is expected, but still if anyone tries to take things too far, they might find themselves slapped into cuffs or knocked out with a spell themselves. Any NPC maimings or proposed deaths need to be reported on the City Tracker; please note that mass murder / killing NPCs will still have consequences and needs mod approval first, but we're happy to work with players however we can.

III. The After (21st On) Activity continues all through the night and late into the morning at the former Rathmore estate. All the Rathmores and a couple dozen other wealthy aristocrats are brought out in cuffs over the course of several hours, while all the prisoners are liberated to receive medical attention and reunite with their loved ones. The Guard take statements from everyone who will give one - what they witnessed, what happened to them, what they know - and all who were affected are told they will be invited to testify at trial. A gathering crowd forms at the end of the street, wealthy neighbors aghast at the horrors they're learning had occurred right in their District. Most are disgusted with the once-prominent family. On the steps of the Parliament building, Thomas Rathmore, his wife, and his mother, all sitting members of Parliament themselves, are publicly arrested in front of colleagues and on-lookers early in the morning. Constance Rathmore is taken out of the Coven roughly in magic-suppressing cuffs, surrounded by a small group of furious Witches, students of the Coven who spent the week trying to find the missing Mirrorbound and refugees with Divination. They escort her to the prison themselves. All who are arrested are transported to holding cells of their own within the City Guard - all except those requiring urgent medical attention, who will remain cuffed to their hospital beds until trial. Nessie and Mhairi make an appearance at one point to give the Mirrorbound their sincerest apologies for what happened, and Mhairi delivers the news that they're pushing for an expedited trial in Parliament, in order to keep Thomas Rathmore from bribing any contacts. They, along with Theodore and Sowilo, and the Guard, are all open and forthright with what will happen next: public trial and a certain conviction, followed by sentencing. They don't expect that the Rathmores will get away lightly; what they did is too public and too horrific for even the anti-Mirrorbound wealthy to stomach. Those others who were involved, who weren't aware of what was going on behind that metal door, they'll still face justice themselves, no doubt. In the meanwhile, those kept hostage will need all the help they can get to reach something resembling normal again. Hug your loved ones, nourish your Bonds with each other, and begin trying to heal together.

Welcome to Part Two of January's event log, Snatched! An aftermath summary of the trial and sentencing will go up on Feb. 4, the day after the City Tracker deadline, so get your submissions in if you have them! More politically-oriented characters may find an opening in the near future to enact change within Parliament and provide their own representation within the city...

And as a general reminder, please make sure to use content warnings where necessary in your headers!

Comments

[fiddlestick]

[Lex is right in that he was lucky to be spared from being kidnapped. A good thing too, considering his healing power.]

Aha...nice to see you're still able to smile.

[Lex was always so tough. She's gone through so much and still always manages to bounce back. Elliot's smiles back, but it's a little more muted than usual. It could probably be excused considering the state of all the people he's treating.]

I'm your healer today. I'm gonna see what I can do about the infections you got, okay?

[lonewanderer]

Not the first time I've been kidnapped, [ she tells him, and while she hadn't been physically tortured that time, the emotional anguish had been worse. Kidnapped by the same man that had been responsible for the death of her father? Yeah, that had been pretty damn bad. ]

And getting the metal on my bones and then getting turned into a cyborg hurt pretty bad. During and after.

[ Lex is used to pain. It hurt. It hurt a lot, actually. But... she'll deal. She's far more worried about the others, and she trusts that Elliot and the Coven will make sure her infections are taken care of. They took care of her radiation poisoning, after all. ]

Sounds good. They'd stitch up some of the bigger incisions, but kept 'em loose so they could open 'em again - not sure how much it actually helped. [ Lex says it clinically, with almost practiced ease; she is a doctor's daughter herself, practically a doctor save for the fact that she had to go out and survive, instead. ] Was able to wrap some of them up in Arachne webbing though, I think that helped. Once they realized breaking my bones was going to take a lot more pressure than they thought, they got more curious than brutish.

[ Lucky her, she supposes. Plenty of the others were just subjected to cruelty. ]

[fiddlestick]

Wow that's....that's a really detailed account. Especially for someone reliving being kidnapped...

[Elliot pauses in surprise, since he hadn't been expecting such a clinical summary of what was bothering her. It was all horrific and made him feel a little sick to imagine, but he can't deny it's impressive how much she was able to retain through all that pain.

He swallows, sitting down next to he as he moves to start to apply some of the anti-infection creams and enchantments. Luckily, he's trained in removing Cwyld, and these infections are much less finnicky than that, so the process should go easy.

At least he tries to make conversation as he works. ]

It was good thinking with the Arachne webbing. [...] Why did you become a cyborg anyway?

[lonewanderer]

[ She really should be more traumatized, but Lex has rationalized their torture of her too much. She's angry about their treatment of everyone else, the cruelty, but what they did to her had all seemed so very... scientific. ]

Bucky's idea. We both figured it was better than nothing.

[ There's a little laugh. Of course it was better than nothing. 'Nothing' was dirt and grime and other people's blood. ]

Survival. The metal skeleton was first - keeps my limbs from being damaged as much. All sorts of leftover mines from the war, traps set up to keep intruders out. And then when I found someone who could make me a cyborg... well, it made me even harder to kill. I'm not poisoned as easily, I'm not irradiated as easily - big deal, back home.

[ Everything is about surviving, making it from one minute to the next. At least... it had been, for the most part. Maybe that was why Lex was handling being kidnapped the way she was.

The only difference was, in Aefenglom, she wasn't always worrying about survival. She would have time to process. And that would mean time to break down. ]

[fiddlestick]

[That...was pretty crazy to hear all that. Elliot's been in life or death situatons that's made him make crucial choices, but to go that far was...]

Your will to live is really extraordinary, Lex. I think a lot of people wouldn't be able to go that far...

[Sure, he let himself get injected with Cwyld to improve his resistance, but that was more to help people than anything else]

[lonewanderer]

I had to.

[ She didn't - but she had felt like she had to. She needed to find her father, needed to get the water purifier working. ]

And I had the caps for it, so...

[ A little shrug. ]

Wasn't using them on much else other than ammo, and I found plenty of that, too.

[fiddlestick]

Well, I still think it's amazing.

[Lex is strong and tough. Way more than he ever could be! But he continues working on purifying some of that infection. He'll keep talking, just to help her keep her mind off the treatment. Sure, healing magic wasn't supposed to be painful, but it might still be uncomfortable to have those areas touched]

Caps?

[lonewanderer]

[ There's a soft, surprised laugh. ]

Thanks, Elliott. [ She's never been called amazing for that before, and she's genuinely touched. ]

Caps are- well, just bottle-caps. From soda bottles. Plenty of those left after the war, so they became what people used as money.

[fiddlestick]

Ohhh.

That's a clever use for those things. [It makes him think of kids using them for stuff, even if Lex's world is a lot grimmer]

Does that mean you had a job to earn them?

[lonewanderer]

In a way. Back in the vault, wasn't as necessary, but we had jobs - had to keep everything going. Out in the wastes... I guess I was a mercenary, kind of?

[ She shrugs a little, as much as she can without disturbing his work or making anything hurt. ]

I'd do things for people who needed things done, and they'd pay me, usually. Even if it was just- running errands, or if it was helping them because it was the right thing to do. And I'd find valuable items doing it, a lot of the time.

[fiddlestick]

Haha...that actually sounds a little like a Bracer in my world.

[Which is a good thing! Lex is cool!]

What was your favorite thing you did for someone?

[lonewanderer]

Oh, yeah- you've got that guild, right? Do Bracers in your world fight, too?

[ She's curious, shifting a little so she can better look at him. ]

Hmm... probably when I helped write a book. The Wasteland Survival Guide. The person writing it needed someone to go out and test some things, and that person was me.

[fiddlestick]

[He nods] Yeah, they do. They won't fight for a military in a war, but they exterminate monsters, stop criminals, and act to protect citizens.

[So basically bracers are good dudes. Too bad the Erebonian government hates them]

Oh wow...that DOES sound like a cool job! What things did you test for them?

[lonewanderer]

I guess that's where we could differ. I'd fight with the military if I thought it was a good cause. The Brotherhood of Steel and I fought against the Enclave to try and get the water purifier going, and make sure it was free for the citizens of the Capitol Wasteland.

[ and fuck the Enclave anyway, honestly ]

Lots of things. [ She laughs. ] Moira's creative. I'd go through ruins or get radiation sickness or collect items. She made mole-rat repellent - it kinda made them explode. I went through a mine field once, which... hurt. Learned the history of a place called Rivet City. Just... lots of stuff, things that could help other people out in the wastes. Got a copy of the book when I was done, and was credited.

[fiddlestick]

Haha, that's actually not so different. They aren't against allying with military sometimes, Bracers helped us fight the Noble Alliance in October War to help protect civilians from getting caught in the crossfire. They just aren't going to join military campaigns like invading other countries like a jaeger corps would.

[You know, as militaries are prone to do]

O-Oh wow, that sounds like a thorough book if you had to do all that. But how exactly could rat repellent make things...explode?

[lonewanderer]

Oh. Yeah, no, fuck that. That's how the world got so fucked up in my world in the first place.

[ boo invaders ]

Honestly, I've got no idea. I never asked what she put in it. [ Lex laughs. ] But they were big, vicious things, so I didn't mind too much.

[fiddlestick]

[Yeah hearing that from Lex of all people isn't reassuring, considering that's exactly where his world seems to be headed right now. For just a moment, his concentration on his healing breaks, and an anxious look appears on his face. He quickly tries to shove it back, getting back to work. Patients don't need to hear about his problems.]

Y-Yeah, I can see how it would...

[He clears his throat. ]

Right, don't look a gift horse in the mouth. Still...it sounds more like a rat exterminator than a repellent.

[lonewanderer]

[ but do you have nukes, elliot, because that was kind of a big player ]

Your world's got you, though. That counts for something.

[ Patients may not need to hear about his problems, but Lex can see that anxiety, and she smiles at him. ]

And yeah, kind of what it turned out to me. She let me keep it, but hitting things with a stick isn't super my style.

[fiddlestick]

["And what good is that?" is the first thought that runs through his head, but he quickly reminds himself not to think like that. He wasn't completely useless, and Lex was being sincerely sweet here]

Aha...thanks Lex. I hope you're right and that means something.

[N-Nailed it? He's trying not to constantly berate himself, okay]

Hehe, understandable. Still, at least you're ready for any rats I suppose.

[He pulls his hands away now]

There...think I got the infections cleared up, at least.

[lonewanderer]

You've done a lot for the people here. I know you'll do the same back home, and probably already have.

[ She says it firmly, though kindly. Believe in the her that believes in you, Elliot, if you can't believe in yourself. ]

Thank you. [ Another smile. ]

[fiddlestick]

Lex...

[He wants to believe her, and hopes what she says is true. But his only real power is music, and...]

Hey ... do people still listen to music in your world?

[lonewanderer]

Yeah. All the time, actually.

[ She smiles, and pulls the arm with her Pip-Boy on it over, tapping it. ]

There's a radio built in to this, and people have radios all over. It's how we get most of our news, and I've heard music from before the war that was recorded and met a woman who played the violin over the radio. Just to share it with the world.

When Dogmeat and I are out walking, and we don't have to be quiet... I love having it on. It makes me feel less alone.

[fiddlestick]

[He listens and...can't help but let out a huge sigh in relief. The relief is visible on his face, even. Even in a world as desolate as Lex's music has found a way to survive and keep going. Violins even!]

That's...really good to hear.

[Which he knows sounds random, so he'll explain]

S-Sorry, it's just ... the last time there was a war, I remembered getting really worried that people would stop caring about music. [That everything would be dark forever. That stop caring about people like him, who'd rather play on a stage than fight in a battlefield] It didn't happen, and people told me it wouldn't, but...

Well, there's something worse coming on the horizon for my world now and someone who reassured me last time is gone. So I guess those worries were coming back a little.

But if music's still around even in your world...that just shows I should have more faith in it.

[lonewanderer]

Music is older than us and our worries. Even birds have music.

[ But it's not patronizing at all; Lex is smiling at him, turning her Pip-Boy to one of the radio stations that Aefenglom has, playing soft piano music. ]

It'll last. I promise.