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| Action Id: 3950 | Crisis: | Participants: Aleksei, Mirari, Fortunato, Prism, Shard, Raja, Venturo and Raymesin | |
| Status: Resolved | Submitted: March 14, 2020, 7:42 p.m. | Public: True | GM: Apostate |
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Silver: 1000000 Economic Resources: 1000 Military Resources: 2000 |
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Action by Aleksei
It's time to have a little rebellion.
Easier said than done. Aleksei has left the expert matters of smuggling to Evaristo and his team of sailors, pirates, and merchants -- both the smuggling in of weapons and the smuggling /out/ of thralls in Action #3945. Aleksei doesn't know smuggling. He's /terrible/ at boats. That is why he recruited people who were the opposite of that.
But where does that leave them? Here is what Aleksei knows: there are some ten thralls in Sungreet for every free citizen. It is perhaps the bastion of traditionalism in the Isles, meaning that the thralls there have likely not been treated softly. He knows that thralls are often controlled by the threat of violence not only against themselves, but against their family and loved ones who might be more vulnerable. He knows that these are going to be people who might be deeply reluctant to even think about something like a rebellion. These are the things he knows.
So he makes sure he has answers to these things. He has asked Brass for his help, for his magic, and for his involvement; he hopes for a number of the weapons smuggled in to be those artificed by Brass for just this purpose. As many as he's willing to make them. He'll bring Brass with them, if Brass is willing. He's asked /Prism/ for help, however she is able to; he knows that she is a powerful illusionist, and she may be able to help to move people from place to place without being seen. Certainly no lock will be able to stand against her mere presence.
But even more important are the others he gathers to help. The regular people, just like him, each with their own valuable skills. With the most vulnerable thralls hopefully able to make it out via the smuggling efforts, he tries to use the contacts and information he may have garnered from Action #3924 to give them a place to start. They'll start quiet conversations with those who are amenable and well-positioned to help influence others. The first step, after all, is convincing them to organize at all. Give them hope. Aleksei is the First Liberator, the Paladin of Freedom, and though he tries to keep his presence quiet overall -- considering who he is -- he also tries to leverage it in those private moments. He isn't there to just throw weapons at them and tell them to rebel while he slips away, after all; he will stand with them. He will fight. He tells them that House Helianthus has no intention of honoring Prince Victus's abolition of thralldom, and that Duke Ivan is surely stalling for time while the Eurusi fleet travels to his shores. That Skal'daja is a City of Slavery, built on chains and auction blocks, and matters will only become worse if their fleet is able to arrive.
It is a scary prospect, but there is also hope. They bring armament, and word that Thrax and the Faith are acting, that their fleet should arrive before Eurus. Aleksei and his team will try to organize the thralls into cells so as to keep things secure. Word has to be passed quietly. People will need to be convinced, and they will need to be trained. Signals will have to be arranged and organized. Quietly. Still quietly.
And when the time is ready? They will need to be led. Timing, of course, is tricky, and will depend on some other things. If Thrax and the Faith show up and battle breaks out -- well, then it's /definitely/ time. But if Eurus looks soon to land without anyone getting in the way? Then it's also time to act.
[OOC: Things might possibly change and adjust as people put in assists and we get closer to deadline!]
Action by Shard
Shard intends to let the others do most of the talking and convincing, while she works on helping to keep everything quiet. Secret. Organizing cells? Well, she can work on the logistics of that. Finding quiet places for meetings or safe places to store weaponry? She can probably do that too. Actually teaching willing thralls to learn how to fight? Well, Shard's not much of a teacher, but she /can/ teach, and in a pinch, she actually does have some talent to inspire, particularly when it comes to killing slavers and striving for freedom. She'll keep to the shadows when she's not needed in order to avoid drawing attention to the group, as well as to keep a keen eye out for trouble.
But mostly? Mostly Shard is here for the inevitable fight. She intends to fight by Aleksei's side, and, should things go incredibly poorly, try to get as many people out alive as possible. If they can't get out of Sungreet, then she'll have places already worked out where they can try to bunker down and wait for reinforcements, or go to ground entirely. In her mind, it's always best to prepare for the worst.
But as for the best? Well, she'll be very, very happy indeed if they manage to create a successful uprising at exactly the wrong time for Ivan Helianthus.
Action by Mirari
The Crownbreaker Wars were started when one conniving princess seduced the guard on watch, and then slit his throat so she could open the gate to the Thraxian warriors. Mirari knows this story better than most, and seduction is an old practiced move for her at this point. So while the others are inspiring the thralls to rebellion, or bringing weapons to help, or teaching the thralls a mnemonic, Mirari will be going under the guise of a recently widowed woman returning from another island to; flirt, seduce, and ensnare the guard captain and his team. Any she thinks she can either distract at a key moment or that she can turn to their side through seduction.
She's got such a pretty smile, and when her knife is hidden under her elaborately braided hair she looks oh so harmless.
She'll also be tossing in some coin to add to the funding of hiring on men-at-arms to help.
Action by Raymesin
He's no Brass and no Prism, but Raymesin has been hired to help - and helping is what he does. A master of back-alley knife-em-ups and dirty fighting in general, he's there to show people that they can and should stand up for themselves and each other. Fighting with honour only counts if the other side is willing to extend that honour to you, and it doesn't matter how good a swordsman is if ten people rush in with sticks, clubs, knives and anything else that comes to hand. But, most important, Raymesin's there to show people how to turn their everyday tools into weapons. Fish-cleaners use knives, and there's not /that/ much difference between gutting fish and gutting people. Farmers lay hedges, prune, mow, and reap - and all of that takes tools, tools that can be turned to ends other than growing food for other people to eat and keeping their land tidy for them. Why should the nobility of House Helianthus benefit so much from someone else's work?
But mostly, Raymesin's here for the fight. He got hired to show these people how to use the skills they already have, and he'll make no bones about that - no-one would believe he was here out of the goodness of his own heart, even if it was true - but when it comes down to it, having the odd professional in with the rebellion they're hoping to raise can't hurt in the slightest. He's not particularly subtle, but then he's not going out to change hearts and minds. He's working with the hearts and minds that are already in, to help them become effective.
Action by Fortunato
Fortunato cannot fight worth shit. Although he is a Whisper, he is not known for his persuasive weight. But he has brought some poetry. Poetry can enliven the heart and the like. He assumes thralls, unique among folk of Arvum, may not be literate, so he reads his poems aloud. He encourages memorization. He says that if they are hurt by someone stronger, or forced to do something they do not desire to do, that reciting one of these poems in private may give them heart.
Reprisal
I have been hurt.
You who hurt me.
Should understand hurt.
This is my plea.
Rescue
I have been chained.
You who chain me.
Should understand chains.
I will be free.
Action by Raja
Moving amongst the lowest of the low is something that Raja knows. She will be going in disguise to mingle amongst the Thralls, speaking with them, being them for all intents and purposes. She will hide her dagger and cover her leather armor in the rags of thralls. She will dirty herself and even sport a bruised cheek (which she did to herself) to blend in all the more. Using this disguise, she will help spread dissent and assist in leading away the children and infirmed to safer locales to be smuggled out. She will help spread weapons through the masses.
Action by Venturo
Venturo is only too happy to help setup distractions across the area under the guise of carnivals. He'll bring the Kismet Carnival into town, so to speak. He'll be hand picking the performers and entertainers, ones he knows and trusts well, and will give Aleksei and others the opportunity to embed some of their own agents into the carnivals as well. It will serve two points:
First is the spread of information and organization to the thralls and others who are engaged in these activities. People come and go at these festivities, everyone is drinking and enjoying themselves... and there are plenty of areas to have clandestine conversations to organize a rebellion.
The second thing Venturo will aim to do is to hold a large celebration for the /important/ people of the House there. The nobles. The beauracrats. The movers and shakers. A large celebration of House Helianthus and their lands. Drinks will be served for free to toast the long life of the House and their deeds, alcohol shall flow freely. And if a group of rebels seeking to free the thralls uses the opportunity to round up so many important, tipsy lords and ladies and dignitaries of Helianthus in one spot? Well, all the better!
Action by Prism
The Blackrose lives and she has come to help.
Result
Thralls are criminals and getting what they deserve. That's the philosophy and culture of the Mourning Isles, and particularly in traditionalist holdings such as House Helianthus' Sungreet, where thralls are just not treated softly in general. A majority of thralls are Abandoned seized from their home by war parties, with their thrall debts written as a war debt for raising arms against the Compact, even if the shav'arvani had never touched a blade or seen a member of the Compact before. And their treatment is even worse, since they are treated as murderous raiders that are ancestral enemies of the Compact.
Timing is everything, and it's hard to determine the exact right moment to start their rebellion. Weapons are smuggled in, and some of the non-combatants are smuggled out. Liberators lay the ground work. Mirari spends a great deal of time with some of the guards, and is able to help them all move freely through the city, as Mirari manages to sway a guard captain into being extremely sympathetic to their cause (though mostly to her in particular). Venturo's propaganda is proliferated through the city, priming many of the thralls for the moment, and Raja is able to help smuggle them all around the city, particularly Aleksei and Fortunato for when the time is right. Triscali, well. She is able to move herself without being seen, and wait for the moment.
The moment comes when the templars under command of Sir Preston tries to arrest Duke Ivan Helianthus.
It's unclear what exactly happened at the beaches as House Helianthus met with the templars, but a fight does break out and troops from House Helianthus move to assist and provide an opening. When that happens, Fortunato is struck by a number of chained thralls laboring as masons and working on a new building all stop and begin to recite the poem he had written, a poem they could never had heard, ignoring the angry shout of a guard to stop.
And then it all starts to happen at once.
Some of the thralls near Fortunato slip their manacles, as if their manacles were a size too large, and several guards are tackled. Cries raise up from a score of different buildings as the sounds of battle echoes throughout the city of Sungreet. Guards begin to pour out of buildings and march out from the castle of House Helianthus, and thralls are charging into the streets, frantic fights happening as the thralls are trying to get free and out of the city.
Aleksei is surrounded by dozens of thralls, giving a speech on freedom to cheers that go up around him. Raymesin shivs a Helianthus archer a moment before he would have shot Aleksei, and Mirari is ducking in and out of houses dealing with problems best resolved by sharp instruments. Mirari charges into one barracks alone to help some thralls that were trapped in there, and oddly it seems as if the entire place goes darker, and shadows seem to follow her. She emerges some time later bloody but unharmed.
Thousands of thralls are in the streets fighting Helianthus guards, though there's significantly more Helianthus troops than expected. Some of the Helianthus troops begin to fight against other Helianthus troops, including Mirari's guard captain, cheering on the liberated thralls, though the troops loyal to Duke Ivan Helianthus are cutting down thralls wherever they can, and making a push towards the gates to try to seal the city, and cut the forces of the Faith off.
Scores of armed and armored Helianthus troops rush the open gates to seal it, and are met by one woman wearing a crown and beautifully armored, holding a glaive. Perhaps a handful might recognize the artwork that had immortalized Queen Triscali the Blackrose. Perhaps a few might question why a single armed woman was there to stop them. Perhaps. But they charge all the same, swords raised and letting out battle cries at the one woman there to stop them.
There's a blast of radiant light as Triscali's glaive meets the first sword swung at her, and a dozen men are knocked off their feet. A flick of her wrist and another man charging at her is spun away with such force that him and three other men are imbedded inside a wall. Another man swings his sword at her and stands bemused as Triscali explodes into glittering pink butterflies that fade into wisps of light, and her glaive cuts him down as she reappeared behind him. Another swing of her hand and a dozen men are suddenly blinded, and she points her glaive and utters a word as the ground swallows up another group of soldiers.
And then the swell of hundreds of Helianthus soldiers and hundreds of freed thralls arrive at the gates, and it's a great melee. Eurusi are coming on land as well, and there's battle cries as swarms of Eurusi soldiers try to take the Faith in the rear. Raymesin and Mirari are fighting back to back keeping Helianthus soldiers away from Aleksei and Fortunato, as thralls trained by Raymesin are taking the fight to House Helianthus, a solid mass of armed and liberated former thralls around Venturo guarding him, many of whom are deeply grateful for the man's carnivals providing just the cover they needed for them to be armed and trained. Meeting the charging Eurusi head on is Shard, with dozens of shav ex-thralls around her as they form a wedge to stop the Eurusi from entering the city. She feathers a dozen men before they reach the walls, and then it's time for swords, as she holds a line with determined thralls who would far rather die free than return to the life they had known until today.
Queen Triscali is suddenly among the Eurusi ranks, fighting robed figures that are hurling fire and darkness at her, keeping Eurusi mages at bay. As the Black Rose fights, Aleksei hears an odd buzzing of insects and sees centipedes skittering on the ground. The buzzing gradually becomes more and more audible as he sees swarms of insects moving across the ground, "Sk... skk... skka... skaaa... SKALD. SKALD. SKALD. KIL... KILL... KILL... SKALD... KILL SKALD. KILL SKALD. KILL SKALD." In the midst of the fighting, dozens of snake-sized centipedes start trying to bite at Aleksei, as he, Fortunato and thralls around them stomp and swat at the things, as then there's a howl and a terrible snarl as a giant half-man half-wolf thing half knocks Aleksei over to get at the centipedes, tearing them apart and bitting and rending, and then leaps a solid twenty feet towards a rising humanoid form made up of centipedes, tackling to the ground and disappearing beneath a swirling melee of combatants.
As the Eurusi press in, a second force of Eurusi is arriving and attacking them, coming to the aid of the badly pressed Faith militant forces. The battle is turning as Triscali cuts down another mage trying to launch black fire towards the ranks of the Faith, and the hostile Eurusi and forces under Duke Ivan Helianthus start to withdraw, fighting a savage rearguard action as they fight their way towards the docks and beaches of the city, with both Eurusi ships and ships under Duke Ivan Helianthus begin to depart.
The battle is getting more sporadic and spread out, and the swell has left Fortunato and Aleksei as they recover an unconscious and bloody Shard with torn clothes and armor, and then Fortunato starts to have a very bad feeling. A very, very bad one he can't quite place, but a sensation of overwhelming dread. And he sees it.
One small little centipede, glowing with a sickly green, skittering through the bloody grass at Triscali, as she is fighting desperately to protect a group of unarmed thralls from a Eurusi surrounded by a dark nimbus of flame. Fortunato opens his mouth to call out a warning, even as Triscali finishes an incantation that vaporizes the Eurusi in a wave of light, and she looks up as the little green centipede wraps around her boot and bites deep, through her armor. She instinctively gestures downward and the centipede shrieks and turns to ash, but Triscali's veins in her forehead for a moment pulses a sickly green, and she tumbles over unconscious.
And then the battle is over. House Helianthus is now split in a civil war, with Lord Trevor Helianthus, Ivan's heir, has turned against him, and the Eurusi split as well, with Damik'uhl'daja the Crown Prince of Skal'daja having voiced interest in joining the Compact. Sungreet stands liberated and free... but the Mourning Isles are now at war, and two thirds of the Eurusi fleet is sailing away to the South and Southwest. Towards the Saffron, not towards Eurusi.
They are surrounded by the dead, and unconscious Shard and Triscali. Thousands of grateful thralls are free, cheering Aleksei and his friends. Many have tears of joy, knowing the first freedom since childhood. It's a victory, despite the dead, and considerable alarm over Triscali and Shard and others. And it's a beautiful day, battle aside.
Though on the horizon to the east, there's storm clouds.