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vander's rescue
Who: Vander, his lovely and brave rescuers, and a whole lotta trouble
What: Vander was kidnapped by Aetós, so the people come to save him! OOC information and plotting can be found here.
Where: “The Zoo” in the Below
When: Sometime in between the TDM and March 17th OOC
Warnings: Violence, references to human experimentation/torture
It’s a long, winding way down into the Below, and you’re being led there by what seems like a girl, though at this point you’re also confident that she’s anything but. She’s fought with Shard-Bearers and held her own but was also captured by them to be questioned. And, in that, she eventually gave a piece of information in return. Her master, Aetós, had kidnapped Vander. If you don’t kill her, she can take you to where he’s being hidden. You can save him before her master makes him wrong.
So, a rescue effort was mounted. With many Shard-Bearers across factions here either to save Vander or simple for the allure of learning more about this mysterious figure, it at least gives you confidence that it can be handled. It’s disorienting down here so far below Springstar, but eventually, she comes to what looks like a sealed-up tunnel. She holds her hands against two particular bricks, and after a moment, they glow with teal light before all the bricks seem to shimmer. Like they all suddenly break, they become floating little motes of light, and a doorway lays before you.
It's a long corridor, but it doesn’t take long before you smell it before you see anything. There’s a largely animal smell here like a zoo, but it’s tinged more heavily with the smells of blood and rot. It’s enough to make a weak stomach heave a bit or at least get the hairs on the back of your neck to stand on end. But still, the girl continues on until you can see the hallway spill out to a large room.
Laying on a dissecting table is some kind of strange animal, but standing over it is a similarly strange masked figure. Some of you know, it’s Aetós.
“Right on time, Adelfoúla,” is all they say as they stand and hold up a silver hand. A complex orb of light appears, and they crush it. In front of you, Adelfoúla only gives a dispassionate ah— that’s followed by the sound of shattering porcelain, and she simply crumbles at the waist. You can rush forward, try to meet Aetós, but calmly, they just say—
“This will be good data. Hopefully you’ll find Vander before he gets eaten.”
And with a tick like the movement of a watch’s hand, they’re simply… Gone. Those sensitive to such things will feel it, the pulse of intense, strong magic, but before you can fully process, you can hear it: the creaking of cage doors opening down the myriad of hallways that line this one large room, the rumble of growls and claws against stone. Vander is somewhere in this maze of a facility, and you have to find him. Or maybe you just have to find what Aetós left behind.
OOC Notes : This log is a catch-all for all efforts related to the Save Vander plot! Including Vander's no fun, very bad time itself! If you'd like to participate in this plot, please see the OOC post. While the text above describes the initial arrival, this log can also be used for pre/post plot Communion, planning beforehand, etc. along with the expected threads in the facility!
What: Vander was kidnapped by Aetós, so the people come to save him! OOC information and plotting can be found here.
Where: “The Zoo” in the Below
When: Sometime in between the TDM and March 17th OOC
Warnings: Violence, references to human experimentation/torture
It’s a long, winding way down into the Below, and you’re being led there by what seems like a girl, though at this point you’re also confident that she’s anything but. She’s fought with Shard-Bearers and held her own but was also captured by them to be questioned. And, in that, she eventually gave a piece of information in return. Her master, Aetós, had kidnapped Vander. If you don’t kill her, she can take you to where he’s being hidden. You can save him before her master makes him wrong.
So, a rescue effort was mounted. With many Shard-Bearers across factions here either to save Vander or simple for the allure of learning more about this mysterious figure, it at least gives you confidence that it can be handled. It’s disorienting down here so far below Springstar, but eventually, she comes to what looks like a sealed-up tunnel. She holds her hands against two particular bricks, and after a moment, they glow with teal light before all the bricks seem to shimmer. Like they all suddenly break, they become floating little motes of light, and a doorway lays before you.
It's a long corridor, but it doesn’t take long before you smell it before you see anything. There’s a largely animal smell here like a zoo, but it’s tinged more heavily with the smells of blood and rot. It’s enough to make a weak stomach heave a bit or at least get the hairs on the back of your neck to stand on end. But still, the girl continues on until you can see the hallway spill out to a large room.
Laying on a dissecting table is some kind of strange animal, but standing over it is a similarly strange masked figure. Some of you know, it’s Aetós.
“Right on time, Adelfoúla,” is all they say as they stand and hold up a silver hand. A complex orb of light appears, and they crush it. In front of you, Adelfoúla only gives a dispassionate ah— that’s followed by the sound of shattering porcelain, and she simply crumbles at the waist. You can rush forward, try to meet Aetós, but calmly, they just say—
“This will be good data. Hopefully you’ll find Vander before he gets eaten.”
And with a tick like the movement of a watch’s hand, they’re simply… Gone. Those sensitive to such things will feel it, the pulse of intense, strong magic, but before you can fully process, you can hear it: the creaking of cage doors opening down the myriad of hallways that line this one large room, the rumble of growls and claws against stone. Vander is somewhere in this maze of a facility, and you have to find him. Or maybe you just have to find what Aetós left behind.
OOC Notes : This log is a catch-all for all efforts related to the Save Vander plot! Including Vander's no fun, very bad time itself! If you'd like to participate in this plot, please see the OOC post. While the text above describes the initial arrival, this log can also be used for pre/post plot Communion, planning beforehand, etc. along with the expected threads in the facility!
Fódlan Girls Night II: Electric Zoogaloo
Of course, there was the high likelihood of it being a dangerous trap, too; he's not naive, but it was one they had no choice but to spring. What shocks him more, however, is the way Aetós disposes of the girl as though she's nothing, even though she had fulfilled her task. It's rare for Claude to show genuine anger or upset, but in that moment, what had at first been a trip to retrieve an ally and learn more about a formidable enemy has instead become something more personal for Claude.
So there's no forced cheer from him for once as he moves quietly through the Zoo accompanied by Byleth, bow in hand and on high alert for distant noises -- voices of other search parties echoing down the hall, perhaps, or a suspicious, ragged breathing noise down a dark path. So far they've managed to slip past such creatures by being quiet and careful, but Claude knows their good luck can't go on forever.]
Don't worry if you've lost your bearings. [He says it quietly to Byleth, when he's sure it's safe to speak.] If we get turned around in here, I think I'll be able to remember our way out.
[Sure, he was focused on the mission, but being Claude, he's also busy plotting contingencies on contingencies. Hopefully it will help Byleth focus on just paying attention to the monsters.]
no subject
It was due to this focused distraction - on their surroundings, on the creature Aetós had been presiding over - that it took him perhaps too long to realise there was something off in Claude's own quiet. What he'd initially taken as a battle focus seemed to be something else, and slowly Byleth halved his focus yet again: this time on Claude.
Was he afraid? Upset? Angry? A mixture of all three? Claude was an empathetic individual, as pragmatic as he was at times, and no doubt Aetós's casual disposal of his subordinate would agitate him. Or perhaps he fretted over Vander's fate? Or the monsters in general?
He mulled over it until they took a pause, where they both sensed it safe to take a rest and talk. Claude reassured him that they weren't lost, a worry that Byleth didn't share. He had an exceptional sense of direction and could retrace their steps with his eyes closed, so he didn't acknowledge Claude's words. He simply stared at him, his expression as emotive as a blank wall and his gaze unreadable.]
...Claude-
[He stopped abruptly, having spoken without really thinking, and finding he lacked the words to broach the subject. Well, when in doubt, being blunt and direct never failed - usually offended, but never failed.]
Is something the matter?
no subject
I made a mistake, and someone paid for it. [He admits, and his grip tightens on his bow.] That's all.
[It's bothering him, but there's nothing to be done, so there's no point in talking about it. At least, that's the conclusion he hopes Byleth will arrive at. It's certainly a feeling Claude is already accustomed to, as a wartime leader; mistakes cost lives.]
no subject
[Byleth had not been present for the Manon Interrogation, had heard the details mostly second or third hand. But he was vaguely aware that the subordinate Aetós had discarded had been her, and that likely, Claude - in all of his kindness - bonded with her in some way. For someone so pragmatic and with ulterior motives coming out of his ears, he was... soft.
It wasn't a bad thing, exactly. If everyone were soft the world would be better for it. But.]
There was nothing to be done. The responsibility doesn't lie so completely on your shoulders that you can claim the mistake as yours, so don't let it rest so heavily on you.
[Byleth paused, frowning at his own words. They were exactly what he wanted to say, yet said aloud they sounded almost callous, rather than comforting. But he didn't want Claude stewing in guilt over it, or claiming the fault as his own. It was pointless.]
no subject
I promised her no harm would come to her, but I let her walk right back into her own destruction. [He never promised her that Aetós woulddn't hurt her, but still, he feels at least somewhat responsible.] I don't think she was a bad person... It's just another reason we need to stop Aetós and save Vander. Enough harm's already been done.
[He turns to press on. Dwelling on regrets won't help them make progress here, either.]
no subject
[Byleth had led with an attempt at comfort, because he had a warning to deliver close on its heels, yet despite halting Claude, he didn't have any words ready. He gazed at him for a moment, his expression as placid as always, before saying, haltingly:]
Judging by the method of Aetós's execution of her, her death was likely inevitable. It would've happened anyway, no matter what promises you made. The reason why I'm telling you this is because you should keep this in mind in the future, in case we encounter anymore of Aetós's subordinates. Unless we discover the means, and the counter, to the method he used to dispose of her, it's likely that all of his subordinates can be killed in the same way.
[Ah, here was the Ashen Demon. Perhaps it was simply the darkness of the hallway they were loitering in, or maybe the shadows playing about his face harshened the edges of his expression, but there was a particular... emptiness, in both his gaze and tone, as he tried to convey the warning in words delivered blunt enough to bruise.]
No matter how sympathetic you may find them... you shouldn't pledge yourself to lost causes. You can... only save those that are within your power to do so. So, please keep that in mind in the future. You'll only cause yourself further pain and disappointment, otherwise, thinking each of their deaths as avoidable mistakes.
no subject
Logically, I know all of that. But it doesn't change that I got to know her. Not as a tool or an... inevitability. If we don't care about the victims in all this, what are we doing it for? Self-preservation?
[Maybe he's too soft, maybe he's a hypocrite, maybe it's irrational and self-defeating to ascribe guilt where, objectively, there shouldn't be any. Objectively, he knows all that. Still, for once, he thinks Byleth's advice is the wrong call.]
If you still want to talk about this, we'll table it for later. [Not when they're in a monster-infested labyrinth.]
no subject
['Yes', he did not say to Claude's rhetorical question. Survival was all that mattered, as Jeralt always told him. Survival was all that mattered, because the alternative was to walk through a battlefield and look at the faces of those who had fallen because of your own shortocmings, even when time itself bent to your will, and think-
He just didn't want Claude to feel that.]
As you wish. [His voice was soft enough that it barely carried.] Lead the way.