What would readers prefer?

  • Pure narrative quest: no dice will be used, the author will have free reign to decide what happens.

    Votes: 25 59.5%
  • New dice system: the author will design a new, better dice system to add some randomness and risk.

    Votes: 17 40.5%

  • Total voters
    42
  • Poll closed .
Any good heist is going to have those rough moments and good moments.
 
The Best Laid Plans of Manakete and Men...
[X] Plan Kansas City Shuffle
-[X] Primary Objectives:
—[X] Set fire to the ??? tent near the flattened area.
—[X] Set fire to the gathering area or some of the other tents on the right/east side of camp. We want their attention north and east because our exits are south and west, and fires tend to get lots of attention.
—[X] Cut a hole in the Sypha tent and tell her we're here to take her back to the Kingdoms
—[X] Lead her to the horse area and break out a few horses
—[X] Light fire behind the horses to have them overrun the rest of the camp while we head out the other way.
-[X] Secondary Objectives:
—[X] Avoid combat if possible.
—[X] If we come across Artemis's bow or Jack and can easily retrieve / liberate them, do so.
—[X] Evaluate other opportunities or hazards as they arise.


"Taking people by surprise in battle usually involves making them look one way while you're winding up your fist in the other direction,"
- Talon Commander Kyle of the Avalon Chapter


You watch the sun sink towards the horizon, trying to calm your slowly fraying nerves.

The plan you and Robin had come up with was good, you have to believe that. The two of you had decided that fighting at all was going to be too risky of an idea: there were just too many Talons. Instead, Robin had suggested that you make sure they were all looking somewhere else while you went in to save Sypha.

"Fire is very distracting," Robin had said mildly as he wrapped a few of his arrowheads in cloth before dipping them into a foul-smelling black liquid. "Nobody is fool enough to focus on much of anything else if there's fire in a tightly-packed camp. Get the big tent burning, then meet me at Sypha's tent."

As the camp begins to settle down, you try to shake yourself out of the memories and focus. Nobody seems to have noticed your hiding spot: the grass isn't as tall here as on the other side of the road to Glenhaven, but you're small, and so when you're lying on your belly in a divot in the ground they seem to overlook you. You think you spot the current set of sentries. They look a bit bored, some tossing their weapons to themselves while others chat with nearby friends. They are looking outwards, but it's pretty clear they don't actually expect trouble.

A bit deeper into the camp but clearly visible due to its size, the largest tent seems almost lit from the inside. You don't think there's one big fire in there; there's not enough smoke coming out, but there's clearly plenty of lights. You can also hear the sound of laughter and even some music coming from within. There must be a lot of people in there.

A lot of people that are still going to be there when you set it on fire.

Your stomach churns guiltily. It's one thing to recognize that the Talons are not good people and that it's okay to hurt them, but you remember the time when one of Father's runes had failed and a fire had started at home. You hadn't even been in any real danger, the stone had been at no risk and it had just been a few hangings in one small room that had burned, but it had been scary. If you had been trapped in the room with everything burning around you…

"It's very unlikely that anyone will actually get hurt," Robin had said when you'd brought the concern up with him. "Professionals like the Talons will have a plan for what to do in case of fire, and their officers will rally them soon enough. The point is that they'll be thinking about that, and not about anything else. At least for a few minutes, and that should be all we need."

You hope he's right. It's one thing to fight and maybe kill someone face-to-face, someone who's trying to hurt you or Artemis or someone else you care about. This… this just feels like bullying.

'They're hurting Sypha,' you tell yourself firmly. 'They're hurting Sypha and they tried to hurt Artemis and who knows what they're doing to Jack. You have to do this.'

Steeling yourself, you nod. Yes, this has to happen. This needs to be done. You have to be strong, you have to be brave. Reaching into your pocket, you pull out your dragonstone and touch it to your forehead, letting a measure of your dragon's strength fill you. You can do this… you can do this…

You do hope that you can help Jack or grab Artemis's bow, but Robin had insisted that you not make those a priority. "As much as Lady Artemis loves her bow, it is just an object," he'd said. "She can get a new one. She cannot get a new you." He'd patted you on the shoulder. "And what happened with the boys was not your fault, and the likelihood of them actually hurting this Jack is minimal. Most likely, they'll give him a few swats with a rod to teach him a lesson then send him on his way. Probably less than his parents will give him when he gets home."

When you'd asked what he meant by that… well, that had been an interesting conversation on punishments. You frown: humans do seem to be… less caring, of their children than Manakete. The mere concept of your parents physically disciplining you was completely alien to your mind, but apparently it was not considered a big deal for humans? Apparently, some people even thought that if the parents didn't do it, they weren't being good parents? You're not sure how you feel about that. Would Archduke Letoro try it if you did something he didn't like? Hopefully not: you don't think you would stand for it, and you don't want to have to push back against Artemis's father.

You're shaken from your musings by a distant, joyful shrieking noise. Jerking, you look to the sky to see a large, winged figure soaring towards the camp from the northwest, highlighted by the dying light.

For a moment, your heart stops, and you're back on the mountain, waiting eagerly at the door for Mother to come home. Yellow-gold scales shimmering as they catch the light, the faint smell of deer-blood drifts on the wind to show that you would eat well tonight. The shriek becomes a happy roar as Dragon-Mother smells you and angles down to land as fast as possible so she can have some time to nuzzle and play with you before Heart-Mother takes over again. For a moment, your life is whole once again.

Then, the illusion shatters. The wyvern is not your mother. It's too long, too narrow, a vicious-looking blade tipping its tail. The wings are lit by an inner fire, using the heated air to counteract the creature's weaker flight magic. Its bellows are as much warning as greeting, telling the people below to clear out of its way. You hear shouts in the camp, not fearful, but with an edge of caution as the wyvern swoops low towards the center of the camp. Before it falls out of sight, you catch sight of an armored, cloaked figure clinging to its back, using a pair of reins attached to the wyvern's horns to direct it. Then, it ducks behind the large tent, and you faintly feel the ground shake as it lands.

Slowly, you let out your breath and look to the sky. It's not dark yet, it's not yet time to go in, but soon. You'd half-hoped the wyvern and its rider wouldn't return tonight. More than anything else, more even than the Green mage, the thought of having to fight that thing scares you. Intellectually, you know your dragon form is probably bigger and stronger than the wyvern, and your Yellow magic will badly hurt the Red magic it is born of, but it's still something that can follow and attack you in ways humans can't.

You shake your head. If you do everything right, there won't be a fight at all. By the time the wyvern figures out where you are, you and Robin and Sypha will be far away. You'll even put up with the horse if it means moving faster.

The minutes pass slowly as the Mother's Light slowly sinks down to the ground, then below it. The camp is still calm, the large gathering area is still bustling, and aside from a few hungry screeches the wyvern is remarkably calm. From what you read, wild wyverns would never tolerate this many creatures near their lair. A part of you wishes you could get a closer look, but you shake your head: it's going to attack you if it sees you. You're not its friend.

Finally, as the last rays of light die out and your night vision starts to kick in, you start counting. "One dragonstone, two dragonstone, three dragonstone…" When you reach two-hundred dragonstones, you carefully stand up, watching the sentries to see if anyone notices. They have torches out, but you're outside their range. Hopefully the light will blind them to anything going on beyond it as you creep close enough to study your target more closely.

Once you get closer, you peer through a gap in the tents towards the larger one, which is clearly still occupied. Studying it, you spot a pile of barrels sitting out back. Those look like good targets: lots of wood close together. Lifting Thunder's Cry, you wait with baited breath for the best moment.

It takes a little bit, but after a tense minute you faintly see a flicker of flying flame on the other side of the camp. Letting out your breath, you spark up Thunder's Cry: nobody seems to be looking in your direction. Reaching into the sky, you push your magic to come from as high up as possible: hopefully the Talons will think they were the victims of a freak natural lightning strike.

A moment later, with a faint crack of thunder, a bolt of lightning falls on the barrels. You tune out the cries of shock and confusion for a moment, watching with bated breath as the heat licks at the barrels…

And then the whole pile just goes up! Whatever was in them was apparently extremely flammable!

As shouts and curses start to fly and people are looking anywhere but at you, you hustle towards the camp, spotting a gap in the sentries as an attentive one starts running towards the large tent, screaming fire. It's working, the plan is working!

Ally Group: Ryza (4s) + 1 a.s.

vs

???: ??? (6s)


Dice Results: Ryza (6, 1, 2, 10 + 1a.s) = 2 vs. ??? (9, 3>10, 10, 1>7, 10, 6>3) = 5

Event: Lose by 3-4: ???
"What the bloody void is she doing here?!"
For a moment, you think you hear something behind you, but when you glance over your shoulder you don't see anything other than a few more Talons hurrying towards the fire. Lowering your head, you raise your hood as you keep going. Thankfully the Talons all seem too distracted by the fire near their food, and from the north you start to hear a few cries of panic as the fire Robin started gets going. You can do this; you can do this!

Dodging between tents, your heart stops for a moment as a furious screech fills the air! The beating of wings heralds the rise of the wyvern as it flaps into the air, glaring around furiously at the scene of panic and confusion below it. Astride its back, missing the heavy cloak and armor from before, is a woman


"FOCUS, PEOPLE!" the woman shouts as her wyvern quiets its desire to make its displeasure known. "FORM A BUCKET CHAIN! IF YOU'RE BY A WELL OR A WATER BARREL, STAY THERE AND START FILLING! IF YOU'RE IN THE MESS, CLEAR OUT WHAT SUPPLIES YOU CAN! MARXON, GET MY TENT BEFORE OUR RECORDS BURN! EVERYONE ELSE IGNORE IT! GUARDS STAY ON DUTY!"

Oh… Robin must have set fire to where their commander had been sleeping.

Neat.

As you round a corner, you think for a moment you're about to be spotted as a pair of men stumble out of the tent next to you. Thank the Mother, however, you're able to pull back just as they move past, pulling their cloths on as the run towards another shouting man who's waiving a bucket.

"Okay, Ryza, you can do this…" you whisper. "You can do this…"

It takes a minute as you continue to dodge detection. Thankfully, anyone who seems alert is too busy rushing towards the flames in a movement growing more organized by the second. Even more thankfully, the wyvern is circling the flaming tent as the woman riding it shouts out orders.

You reach Sypha's tent just in time to see a cloaked figure you think is Robin ducking off to one side. There are still two guards at the front, though they seem distracted by the fire and so don't notice as you circle around to join your friend.

"Are you alright?" you whisper as Robin pulls his sword out.

He nods sharply. "Watch our backs, we don't have much time," he hisses, raising the blade and starting to quickly but quietly slash at the fabric.

Ally Group: Ryza: (4s + 2a.s.) + Robin (12s) - Shush! (-2s)

VS

Enemy: Guards (10) + Tent (2)

Dice Results: Ryza (3,7,5,8) + Robin (3, 3, 3, 6, 10, 7, 8, 4, 4, 9) + 2 = 8 VS Guards (4, 5, 3, 2, 4, 1, 3, 10, 1, 10) + Tent (9, 3) = 3

Event: Win by 5-6: Get through tent wall open, ???)

It only takes a few smooth slashes for the sword to cut a neat hole in the tent: thankfully the fabric is very tight so there's no slack. You, meanwhile, keep your ears pricked: at the slightest sound of movement from the guards, you're ready to make sure they can't tell anyone about you. Thankfully, they seem oblivious. Pulling the cut cloth aside, Robin pats your shoulder before stepping it. Taking one last look around and seeing nothing, you clamber in after him.

The first thing you notice is that the inside of the tent is… actually looks kind of nice. Not nearly as damp or dreary as you expected. The ground is covered by cloth to prevent dirt or mud from getting on the people inside. There are even a few chairs around.

Of course, two of them are right next to the poles holding the tent up, and tied to both of them are people.


You stare at the girl nearest to you and think back on the moment when Manuela seemed to confuse you with Sypha. You… can kind of see why she got mixed up for a second. This girl's about your height, though her body seems a little more developed than yours. She has almost the same hair color as yours, though hers is cut raggedly short. Someone who clearly did not care a bit about her appearance had taken a blade to her hair for some unfathomable reason.

What you really notice, though, is the fact that she is clearly extremely upset. Her face is smudged and dirty, her eyes are red, and as you look at her she shrinks away from Robin with a whimper. She struggles weakly against the ropes holding her to the chair even though her wrists and ankles are already rubbed raw. You can even faintly smell blood.

"Hey, hey, it's okay," you say softly, smiling as best you can as you step towards her. "My name's Ryza, I'm not going to hurt you. I'm from the Kingdoms, I'm here to save you."

Sypha squeaks as she looks at you. "Who..."

Before you can repeat yourself, a grunting noise draws your attention to the other prisoner in the room.


A young man, older than you or Sypha but not Artemis's age, is tied to the other chair next to the other tent pole. You flinch as you study him: while Sypha just looks miserable and scared and lonely, this boy has been hurt. One eye is swollen almost all the way shut, there are bruise marks on other parts of his face, and there is a line of dried blood running from one nostril, ending in a bloody stain on the gag in his mouth. Thankfully it's not Jack, but whoever this boy is, the Talons were not kind to him.

Despite all this, it is clear his spirit has not been broken. He bunks against the ropes holding him, and his uninjured eye meets yours. There is pride in that eye. Pride and determination. He doesn't seem to care that he's completely at the mercy of everyone else in this tent, you get the feeling that he will refuses to acknowledge any weakness, and if either of you were here to hurt him or Sypha he would do everything he could to make you regret it.

Thankfully, Robin cuts in. "Quiet!" he hisses to the boy. "Do you want to attract attention!?" The boy stops thrashing, though he studies Robin coolly. "Get Lady Sypha, Ryza, we don't have much time," Robin whispers, shoving a knife hilt-first into your hands as he strides towards the boy.

"Hey, did you hear that?"

Everyone freezes as one of the guards speaks up from outside. Fumbling the knife, you nearly drop it on your toes as you grip Thunder's Cry: there's no way you could hide in here. If they heard you, it will be a fight.

"It came from over there!" a different voice said. "Hey, you there! Stop!"

The sound of rushing feet… went away from you! There was still someone clearly outside, you could hear the clanking of armor, but you don't think they're focused on the inside of the tent!

Robin nods. "Good," he whispers, returning to his task.

Gingerly, you pick up the fallen knife and go to Sypha. "It's okay, it's okay," you whisper over and over again as you start clumsily cutting, praying that the Mother will steady your hand enough not to hurt her. "We're friendly. I know Danielle and Manuela and Sara, I'm not going to hurt you."

As you get the ropes around her waist undone, Sypha whispers back. "You… you're not…"

You smile up at her as you get to work on her ankles. "Nope. I'm Ryza, and I hope we can be friends too, once we get you away from these people."

Slowly, the girl gives a weak, watery smile. "Hi, I'm Sypha," she says.

You grin encouragingly. "Yep. I heard a lot about you, it's great to finally meet you!" Okay, maybe you haven't heard a lot about Sypha, but right now she needs all the warmth and love she can get.

Sypha shivers as your knife accidently brushes her leg, but thankfully just the flat rather than the blade. "You met Daniella and the others?" she asks. "Are they alright? Is Mama alright?" Her face falls. "Oh spirits I just wanna go home…"

You force back a flinch. "I know," you say, moving to saw at the ropes on her other leg. "We'll make sure you and your friend get home." And you will. Even if you have to take a detour, you will make sure she gets home. Sure, it will be a long detour, but a detour none-the-less.

Meanwhile, Robin had gotten the boy untied, even though his bonds were far more extensive than Sypha's. "So what's your story?" he asks as he undoes the gag.

The boy swallows a few times before standing up as straight as he can. "Well met," he says. "My name is Bernard Rickman, son of Baron Silvin Rickman of Wyrmbone Mountain."

Your eyes widen. "Wait, you mean-"

Bernard continues as if you hadn't spoken. "I don't know who you are or what you're doing here, but you need to get Lady Sypha out of here. I can-"

"No!" Sypha gasps. Robin immediately draws his bow and points an arrow towards the official entrance to the tent, but thank the Mother the wyvern had just given a particularly loud shriek at that moment and so you think the guard might not have heard. Sypha, meanwhile, was shaking her head and crying. "No, Bernie, no don't leave me I can't-"

"Sypha," Bernard says. "I'll just slow you all down. The scoundrels never healed my leg, and whatever distraction is going on won't last long." He looks to Robin. "I swore to get my cousin home safely. I know there is no love lost between our peoples, Agrithian, but please help me fulfill that oath. Take her and go, there is not time to argue!"

What do you do?

[] Tell Robin to use the Elixir on Bernard so he can come along more easily. You don't know how bad the injury is, and it will mean that the elixir won't be available if you or Robin get badly hurt in the escape, but you don't want to leave anyone behind.

[] Ask Robin to carry Bernard out of here. You'd do it yourself, but you're too small in heart form. Robin won't be able to help you fight, but maybe you can protect the group yourself. The fires you lit are the other way, after all.

[] Do as Bernard asks and leave him. You don't like it, but your job is to get Sypha out, and already the shouts outside are starting to lose their panicked edges. You have to go now!

[] Write-in

AN: I planned out what Mantrae's agents are going to do, and I have not changed that plan in any way after reading yours. Just so you know for next chapter (whistling).
 
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[X] Tell Robin to use the Elixir on Bernard so he can come along more easily. You don't know how bad the injury is, and it will mean that the elixir won't be available if you or Robin get badly hurt in the escape, but you don't want to leave anyone behind.

Saving him is the right thing to do, and this gives us the best chance of getting everyone out alive.

Also, somewhat more pragmatically, if we leave him behind, Sypha might fight to try and get him out while we're trying to get her safely away, which is hardly optimal under the circumstances.
 
Well, that's an unexpected addition. Might shed some more context on Baron Rickman having been at Mantrae's back when we were.

We lost that first roll with no obvious downside yet but there's invistext indicating we've been spotted - and by someone who knows us. That's not a very long list in this place and is basically down to Belle or John/Jace. Tentatively thinking it's the former.

[X] Tell Robin to use the Elixir on Bernard so he can come along more easily. You don't know how bad the injury is, and it will mean that the elixir won't be available if you or Robin get badly hurt in the escape, but you don't want to leave anyone behind.

Barring a write-in that seems better this is my vote too.
 
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I refuse to leave someone behind again

[X] Tell Robin to use the Elixir on Bernard so he can come along more easily. You don't know how bad the injury is, and it will mean that the elixir won't be available if you or Robin get badly hurt in the escape, but you don't want to leave anyone behind.
 
The good moral reasons for saving him aside, there are really strong political considerations in favor. Clearly Bernard is another hostage to ensure his father's compliance.

[X] Tell Robin to use the Elixir on Bernard so he can come along more easily. You don't know how bad the injury is, and it will mean that the elixir won't be available if you or Robin get badly hurt in the escape, but you don't want to leave anyone behind.

Hey @SoaringHawk218, can we rely on Ryza to transform where it makes sense, like if the escape by stealth plan fails at some point, or do we need to add some contingency instructions?
 
Hey @SoaringHawk218, can we rely on Ryza to transform where it makes sense, like if the escape by stealth plan fails at some point, or do we need to add some contingency instructions?

If someone she cares about is about to die or Ryza truly sees no way to avoid a death without her dragon, she'll shift, but if you want to set a specific/more liberal trigger, then go ahead.

EDIT: Just add a sub vote if you want to shift Ryza's rules-of-dragon-shifting.
 
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[X] Tell Robin to use the Elixir on Bernard so he can come along more easily. You don't know how bad the injury is, and it will mean that the elixir won't be available if you or Robin get badly hurt in the escape, but you don't want to leave anyone behind.
 
[X] Tell Robin to use the Elixir on Bernard so he can come along more easily. You don't know how bad the injury is, and it will mean that the elixir won't be available if you or Robin get badly hurt in the escape, but you don't want to leave anyone behind.

It's an Enlightened Self-Interest Buy One Get One Free Sale! Put together a plan to get ONE child of a noble for some political considerations, get one free!

Look, one of the conventions of Fire Emblem is that being nice to people pays off when they can help you later. Besides, if it's Mantrae's people dropping in on us, we can always pass them Bernard as a "sign of good faith".
 
Before it falls out of sight, you catch sight of an armored, cloaked figure clinging to its back, using a pair of reigns attached to the wyvern's horns to direct it.
Horse-reins don't have a g.

Reaching into the sky, you push your magic to come from as high up as possible: hopefully the Talons will think they were the victims of a freak natural lightning strike.

A moment later, with a faint crack of thunder, a bolt of lightning falls on the barrels. You tune out the cries of shock and confusion for a moment, watching with bated breath as the heat licks at the barrels…

And then the whole pile just goes up! Whatever was in them was apparently extremely flammable!
I thought I was joking about hitting their powder magazine!

Before you can repeat yourself, a grunting noise draws your attention to the other prisoner in the room.

A young man, older than you or Ryza but not Artemis's age, is tied to the other chair next to the other tent pole.
Point 1: I'm glad we rescued this random dude, but I'm still worried about Jack.
Point 2: Unless we quietly switched POVs at some point, that should probably be "you or Sypha".


If someone she cares about is about to die or Ryza truly sees no way to avoid a death without her dragon, she'll shift, but if you want to set a specific/more liberal trigger, then go ahead.

EDIT: Just add a sub vote if you want to shift Ryza's rules-of-dragon-shifting.
So, question is: Should we do this? Shifting a bit quicker (say, if a bunch of people start chasing us) would give us a chance of scaring off the common mercs of the camp, but would also attract the elites, like the green mage. (And it would blow Ryza's secret open, of course.)
Until that question is discussed:

[X] Tell Robin to use the Elixir on Bernard so he can come along more easily. You don't know how bad the injury is, and it will mean that the elixir won't be available if you or Robin get badly hurt in the escape, but you don't want to leave anyone behind.
Hopefully we won't need the elixir for anything else, but not needing an elixir was always plan A.
 
[X] Tell Robin to use the Elixir on Bernard so he can come along more easily. You don't know how bad the injury is, and it will mean that the elixir won't be available if you or Robin get badly hurt in the escape, but you don't want to leave anyone behind.
 
[X] Tell Robin to use the Elixir on Bernard so he can come along more easily. You don't know how bad the injury is, and it will mean that the elixir won't be available if you or Robin get badly hurt in the escape, but you don't want to leave anyone behind.
Gift
 
[X] Tell Robin to use the Elixir on Bernard so he can come along more easily. You don't know how bad the injury is, and it will mean that the elixir won't be available if you or Robin get badly hurt in the escape, but you don't want to leave anyone behind.
 
[X] Tell Robin to use the Elixir on Bernard so he can come along more easily. You don't know how bad the injury is, and it will mean that the elixir won't be available if you or Robin get badly hurt in the escape, but you don't want to leave anyone behind.
 
[X] Tell Robin to use the Elixir on Bernard so he can come along more easily. You don't know how bad the injury is, and it will mean that the elixir won't be available if you or Robin get badly hurt in the escape, but you don't want to leave anyone behind.
 
[X] Tell Robin to use the Elixir on Bernard so he can come along more easily. You don't know how bad the injury is, and it will mean that the elixir won't be available if you or Robin get badly hurt in the escape, but you don't want to leave anyone behind.
 
[X] Do as Bernard asks and leave him. You don't like it, but your job is to get Sypha out, and already the shouts outside are starting to lose their panicked edges. You have to go now!
Not our target not our problem.
 
[X] Tell Robin to use the Elixir on Bernard so he can come along more easily. You don't know how bad the injury is, and it will mean that the elixir won't be available if you or Robin get badly hurt in the escape, but you don't want to leave anyone behind.
 
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