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[Plot] [Open] Week 93: Pragmatism and Prominence

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"Finesse, right," Harper said with a nod. "In that case let's go." He picked up his pace, "you go in the east entrance and I'll go in the south, we can find each other inside. Use a quick Occultus spell when you approach the stairway so we won't immediately be recognized upon our exit."

Frowning, the spurii tried to think of a strategy for this seemingly impossible task. "Perhaps if we draw their attention to the exhibits on the upper level during this change of guards I can slip to the lower level unnoticed. From there we'll simply have to play it by ear. Unless..." the taciturn man trailed off, taking a few quick breaths and relaxing his stride just a tad, the cogs in his mind turning.

[608]
 
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“How about I go and take a look before you all go stumbling through like a bunch of tourists. One moment,” Furi interjected, leaving the group temporarily as she went towards a nearby building.

After she reached the roof, she unslung her rifle, peering through the scope until she got a good look at the closest entrance. As stated earlier, there were two guards outside keeping watch, and checking whomever they felt suspicion towards. Her focus however was on one, an older laicar who looked very uncomfortable, holding his midsection. Bad lunch or a poor bladder, either way it's something they could take advantage of.

The huntress walked back to the edge that overlooked their meeting.

“You may want to walk faster. One guard looks like he’s having indigestion, he’s bound to take a break soon. Distract the one that’s remaining, and you have your quick way in,” she said.

[150/408]

 
Furi's position on the rooftop was an agreeable one, as Nera wasn't sure how well she was going to concentrate with the dubious woman gabbing insults in her ear. Espionage was new territory for her, after all.

The velen leaned on her spear, which was wrapped in burlap, as was the custom in larger cities for weapon-owners. How was she supposed to enter? Her accomplice's pointed stance managed to direct her attention to the sickly-looking guard. How the heck was she supposed to take advantage of him? Her only Occultus spells were far too obvious. Disguising herself as someone the guards knew was bound to be undone as quickly as suddenly commanding fog to appear. No, these were not her tools yet, and Sarkis did just say a guard rotation was coming up.

She could already see them, down the long wall of the huge building. The two replacements were haphazardly patrolling along a brick wall. Eventually, they would pass a section of the wall that was made of large, masoned concrete blocks, which were sandy in color and comprised most of the actual building structure. Once they passed the exterior of the museum hall, they would round the large girth of the entryway, leading to the east exit door. Nera was most concerned about being trapped inside, and elected to simply 'chicken out' and remain outside. Not wanting to feel completely indecisive, she posted up nearby, beneath Furi's rooftop sniper's nest. The corner where the two buildings adjacent, and across from the east entrance to the Conexus, was covered in overlapping shadows.

Making sure her thick cloak was secure, she leaned against the wall as Harper passed by nonchalantly. The Spurii casually made his way in what appeared to be the direction of the southern entrance, presumably to pay the door fee to get in.

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Trying not to look too nervous, Harper relaxed his stride and lowered his shoulders a bit. To anyone watching, his quickened pace smoothed out into something more closely resembling a relaxed stroll. The would-be-thief resisted the urge to look at the guards as he neared the southern entrance and got in line with the rest of the people there to browse the libraries and see the displays in the Specula Sorcere. The only difference between Harper and anyone in front of or behind him was his choice of artifacts to view and his desire to leave with a souvenir.

Up close, the Specula Sorcere was a rather impressive building, towering over Harper. It made him feel small. The awe at the building helped mask some of his nerves and by the time he reached the front of the line, he looked like any other excited visitor. Hastily, he thrust a hand in his pocket in search of exa for the door fee. He smiled weakly at the guard manning the entrance, hand fluttering a little more frantically.

Harper yanked out a handful of x shaped coins and asked, “how much, sir?”

[799]
 
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The guard, a stocky laicar man with a bushy beard, raised an eyebrow. The thick plated armor he wore left little to the imagination as to the defenses the treaty would have, one hand wrapped tightly about a gleaming steel halberd.

His partner, a looming velen whose armor did not fit him quite right, grimaced lightly as he shifted to expose a sign next to the doorway. The words, emblazoned in black on a bright gold plaque, read: 'ARCHIVO ARGENTUM. TWENTY-FOUR HOUR PASS: TWENTY-FIVE EXA.'

Clearing his throat, the laicar seemed to prefer action over words, and simply extended a hand for Harper to drop his coin into.

[ 108 / 665 ]​
 
Once the others had reached the entrance, Furi let out a breath. With any luck, Harper would look more like an innocent old fart rather than a would be thief, and avoid a check.

Since all they could do now was wait, the huntress turned her attention to the spurii she knew was Aeria. Her and the girl had crossed paths due to a misinformed bounty that also had the worst timing in the world, as events from her own past resurface and nearly killed them both. She’d mentioned going underground to avoid the authorities and ANO, and yet here she was.

“So...Aeria. Mind telling me why you’re thrusting yourself back into the spotlight? I thought you were done being shot at,” she said out loud, addressing the spurii.

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Aeria watched the doors as Harper deposited his coins and looked ready to enter the building. She had the device for distraction ready to go but she wanted to wait for the right moment to strike before releasing it. Chaos would be useful but if she was too quick in her release, she knew it would make more trouble than it solved. Instead she found herself talking to Furi. The woman had once shown her lenience and she had respect for that but she wasn’t even sure she could answer Furi’s question. She sighed and gazed off into the distance.

“I guess I just don’t care any more. I’ve already destroyed any chance I had for freedom, so why not go for it? If we succeed, we’ll be well compensated. I could vanish using that level of compensation. If it looks like we’re going to get caught, I’ll just throw myself in front of the guards and hope that they shoot me. I’m not going back to prison this time.”

Hearing her own voice making this bleak pronouncement shocked her. It was so difficult to believe that she’d become so dismissive of her own life but she couldn’t deny the reality of what she felt.

[1368]
 
Harper nodded sharply and withdrew a handful of coins from his pocket. “Right, right, sorry, “ he muttered, sweeping extra coins into his free hand with a deft movement of the thumb. The spurii returned them to his pocket and gave the guard two silver coins with five bronze ones.

He flashed another nervous smile and glanced at the visitors waiting behind him as if he felt embarrassed for holding up the line. The spurii narrowly resisted the urge to glance around at the rooftops in search of Furi, Nera, or the mysterious engineering girl. It had been a long time since he had done anything illegal like this and he had no experience with an attempt so bold; he couldn't quite shroud himself in his usual cool and unaffected demeanor. With any luck, the guards would forget his face and dismiss him as just another guest. They wouldn't suspect someone who was clumsy was capable of the feat they were about to attempt.

Realizing he'd gotten lost in thought, Harper muttered another apology and hurried inside. The guard rolled his eyes at the nervous man and shouted, "Next!"
[987]
 
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The man's voice stirred Nera from a slight daze, a haze of wondering how she got here. Suddenly a wave of nervousness washed over her, and she wasn't even sure if their so-called plan would work. But how could she deviate from it now? If just one of them messed up, the rest of the group would end up in jail, or worse.

The velen had to do something though, Harper had only just entered the building along with Sarkis.

First things first, need to get inside and find them, she thought, stepping toward the door behind her two accomplices.

"Ah, where the hell is she going?" Furi spat, frustrated that these amateurs couldn't get their act straight.

"Twenty-five," the guard muttered for the umpteenth time, followed by a grunt and directions to, "leave your weapon at the front desk."

Begrudgingly, she walked in and laid her spear on the counter. The man wordlessly took it and exchanged it for a ticket with a number printed on it. Ahead of her, through the crowd, she could see Harper and Sarkis, one looking more hopeless than the other. Harper's obvious scanning wouldn't draw any attention for anyone else, but Nera felt as though he was a little too obvious.

I wonder if I'm that obvious? she mused, darkly imagining just how many guards would be bearing down upon them if she was somehow noticed.

Before she could weave through the crowd, Harper and Sarkis moved up, probably trying to position themselves closer to something.

A door, perhaps? Nera contemplated.

As she pushed her way past small groupings of museum visitors and various displays in the Conexus lobby, she finally made it to where Harper and Sarkis had just stood. They were gone, but straddling a cobblestone doorway was a slowly closing wooden door where they must have just entered. Giving a less-than-casual glance around her, she didn't immediately detect any gaze watching her, and Nera quickly slipped into the door before it could close.

In front of her was a stairway. To the right, she could go upstairs, to the left, down. She had already almost forgotten that Sarkis mentioned in the bar the document would be in the lower levels, and if not for the sound of footsteps above her, she might've gone upstairs. Quickly down the stairs she went, trying to pretend that her heart wasn't about to beat out of her chest. The circular staircase wound down, down, down, dimly lit and occasionally brightened by a wall-secured torch. Everything in her wanted to find Harper and Sarkis, so she could stop holding the breath in her lungs. How many flights, how many floors down, did Sarkis even say? The blue-skinned youth couldn't remember.

Finally, the velen, rookie-warrior reached the bottom, and a quick peek around the corner gave her what she had been seeking. Harper and Sarkis cautiously concealed behind a portion of the stone wall that jutted out asymmetrically.

"Harper!" Nera whispered loudly.

Harper cocked his neck in her direction and, even in the dark, Nysvernera could make out the surprise and disappointment on his expression.

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In the dark of the Archivo's basement levels, shadows jutted from every which way. Dim oil lamps, decorating the poorly-maintained stairwells and storage rooms, threw light against the pervading dark. The reason for Harper and Sarkis' concealment turned a corner, eyes narrowed suspiciously. The guard was built compactly, a velen on the shorter side with a pistol strapped to one side of his waist, and a longsword to the other.

Slowly, carefully, the man traced footsteps down the hallway, peeling his eyes left and right. Reports of suspicious activity had been passed to the basement level patrols. No lockdown yet, but the order would spread faster than wildfire the instant anyone turned up. One hand of the velen's remained close to his pistol, ready to draw at a moment's notice. The other traced the old furniture that took up much of the lowest floor. As the guard continued his patrol cautiously, he began to draw near the corner Nera hid behind, unable to spot Harper and Sarkis through the thick shadows they hid within.

The building, a graduated circle, gradually evened out into a square as it extended underground, the lowest level a small box of hallways and corridors that inexorably led to the center: the current holding place of the intended objective.

Above, the suspicion was more palpable and blatant. Guard presence slowly trickled in from the upstairs holding room. Two guards per door became four, then six. Another pair were posted at the entrance to the northern gallery; and the stairwell that the trio of infiltrators had disappeared down. The would-be thieves' window of opportunity was closing fast.

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There seemed to be some sort of commotion coming from inside the building. Aeria watched with mounting worry as the guards seemed to converge inwards on the interior and she knew all of the others would be trapped once they got into the middle of the place. She was unsure if this was the right time to deploy her distraction, but it seemed like the right time to her. Carefully removing the spherical device from inside its bag, she moved carefully down the stairs from her vantage point and looking left and right, she turned the mechanism on and set it down.

The moment the machine touched the ground it began to roll out at a steady pace towards the plaza in front of the building that faced her. She scampered back up the stairs and watched it move, seemingly unnoticed by the bustling crowds. It moved closer and closer until it came to a stop near the outer wall of the Archivo. The minutes ticked by silently as the clockwork device began to move closer and closer to detonation. The guards outside didn’t seem to notice it and Aeria hoped it would stay that way.

Just when it seemed like she could stand it no longer, there was a puff of smoke and then a roaring, shattering explosion rang out. It wasn’t massive by any standards but it was certainly more than enough to send people scattering as a thick pall of smoke poured from it. The device had done what it was meant to do and hopefully provided an intense enough noise, vibration and shockwave to draw the guards out of the Archivo and buy Sarkis’ little team enough time to escape.

[1431]
 
Aeria’s response was rather depressing, saying she’d either finish the job and disappear or die trying. The huntress was starting to wonder if she’d done the right thing by allowing the girl to live longer.

Before she could respond though, the third of their outside group, the one she’d heard as Nera, made her way inside the building. Which wasn’t part of the plan at all. Two inside was pushing it, but a third would make the guards even more cautious. Furi changed the clock ticking her in head, cutting the time it’d take before they would have to take action in half.

Once again, before she could call to Aeria to use her device, the spurii was moving ahead to do so. Well at least one person was paying attention. She watched as a small sphere moved across the ground. Furi wondered if it somehow been programmed to do that or if Aeria was willing it along that path. Either way, if they...when they were out of this, she’d take a few minutes to see how the spurii made it. Something like that could come in handy another day.

The sphere reached its end and stayed there for a short period. The huntress wondered if she was supposed to shoot it to trigger it, and if so why nobody bothered to inform her. Then it began to smoke, and shortly after the loud, but not so lethal explosion occurred. Nearby windows and doors opened, as civilians began to look outside to see what had happened. With any luck a few of them would start to question the guards that would undoubtedly investigate the incident.

“Well done girl, now we wait to see if the alarms start to go off,” she said quietly, positioning herself into a prone stance, aiming down the scope at the outside guards.

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Harper pressed a finger to his lips to shush Nera. It would be just their luck for guards passing by to hear her. He motioned for Sarkis and Nera to lean in and whispered, voice barely audible to the other two, "We need to stop him from alerting others."

He glanced towards the guard again, before turning back to his cohorts. "I can get him down, but it won't last long." He reached into his jacket and pulled out a small leather bag held shut with a cord threaded through the top. "Use that so you can actually see, should be a spell for it." He pressed it into Nera's hand, heart pounding in his chest. Glancing at Sarkis he added, "Back me up."

Harper took a breath to calm himself, holding both hands out with palms toward the ground. He circled his hands in opposite directions, forming a pair of horseshoes.

Locking eyes with Sarkis and then Nera, he murmured, "I'm counting on you." With one last breath, Harper threw caution to the wind and lobbed one of the horseshoes at the guard and rushed in to make sure the man went down before he could sound the alarm.

[1187]

Notes
Gave Nera 1 unit of bigatium pulveris so she can use Hunter's Eye. Tried to get the one guard with Sealing Rings.
 
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Counting on me... she thought as Harper and Sarkis wrestled silently with the guard.

"A heavy pall...," how did it go again? "bringing forth doom, a warmth of light shall... remove the gloom."

The words were quiet, inaudible, yet Nera found herself hearing them in her mind as steadily booming, rising up - first from her memory, until warmth filled her chest, and then ringing in her ears, as if she was standing in an amphitheater listening to herself speak.

When she opened her eyes it was like nothing she had ever experienced. For such a low-level spell, magic was proving its worth, with splendor. Reds and blues, purples and oranges; everything was as if a fiery rainbow of color. It was a little more than simply seeing in the dark, but she didn't have time to revel in the completion of the spell for the first time. The small leather bag Harper had handed her burned in her hand, but she only gripped it tighter as she sprung forward.

She had rushed down too quickly to observe the guard's patrol pattern, but he had turned in the opposite direction from where Nera had exited the stairwell, and so she sprinted down the hallway, peeking into only open doors to save time. The hallway was rounded, but quickly became a straight path sloping downward, squarely leading her forward. The clatter of footsteps and armor was becoming distracting, and the bag in her hand burned less and less. Sweat beaded on her forehead despite the odd humidity thickening the sub-floor air. A last crossing of the hallways forced her to stop abruptly. Down either of the passages to her left and right, groupings of guards funneled out of stairwells from above and below. She pressed her back to one of the shadowed walls, her vision still illuminated. She had only moments left, and let out a deep breath before diving across the intersection. She was losing time they didn't have.

Finally to an adjoining door at the flattest part of the straightened corridor, a sort of square foyer, she was staring at a large wooden door, wider than the others she had passed. The roundness of the hallway had taken her out of eye-line of Harper and Sarkis, but now was not the time for haphazard worrying, and she grasped the iron ring to pull the door open.

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"What th- oof!" The guard's exclamation was cut short, the silver horseshoe-like band snapping around to ensnare his legs. The guard went down quickly, and a moment later his arms were pinned behind his back by Sarkis.

The sounds of struggling echoed far, however; the clattering of his armor heavy against the stone basement. A few half-yelled jokes followed after; nearby guards assuming the noise for a stumble. However jovial, the attention was real; and the heavy footfalls of more guards became ever louder.

Nera peered through the half-open door to find a small exhibit of glass cases. The thick panes, locked tightly, contained all manner of important documents. In a rush, the woman was quick to scan each one, worriedly checking over her shoulder to ensure she had not been followed inside. In the dim light of the room, she could only hope to locate the correct document.

Above, the distraction had begun its work as best it could. The guards minding the East entrance – the one Harper and his cohorts had entered through – stepped away, calling over their shoulders for assistance before sidling up to the now-blackened wall. Another pair of guards exited with them, and a young boy craned his neck to try and glimpse the commotion against the glass window. A few other children gathered round the windows on the walls, but very little civilian attention seemed garnered from within the bustling walls.

Two more guards took up post at the Eastern doors, each casting suspicious eyes from the source of the explosion to the plaza before the Archivo.

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[roll0]

Nera's search became increasingly desperate, tossing rolled and stacked parchments on to the ground as soon as she was done. Apparently, she wasn't aware of a singular rule of sneaking that called for putting things back as close to how they were when they were found as possible.

Where is it?! she thought.

What does it look like..., where is it?! she scrambled, trying to remember to close the glass doors to the cases as quietly as she did quickly. Outside, the shuffle and clinking of guard movements were becoming more audible. They were running out of time.
 
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Harper bit back a curse at the loud noise and used his remaining horseshoe to bind the guard's upper body and pulled a rag out of his pocket. The conman motioned to Sarkis to pull the man up and promptly cut off any cries for help with the fabric. Luckily for the guard it was a clean one. Harper tied a strip of leather around the guard's mouth to keep the rag inside; then, he relieved the guard of the sword and firearm.

A light tremor made it clear how nervous the spurii was, but he took a deep breath and tried to think. "Knock him out and then leave him over there," Harper whispered harshly to Sarkis, pointing to a spot off to the side of the entrance. "Then, you need to get back so this next spell doesn't hit you."

He pulled out another small leather bag and poured its contents onto his palms, striding towards the entrance. Harper threw a hand in the air and then knelt, pressing his palm to the ground. Clouds gathered above Harper as he mumbled a prayer to Serpens under his breath. Shakily, the conman stood and it began to rain.

[1386]

spells
Used the second sealing ring on the guard. Cast Slow at the entrance after giving Sarkis time to throw the guard and get out of the way. Hopefully we can use this to make the door an effective choke point and prevent guards from swarming us while Nera searches.
 
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Well Aeria thought that sure didn’t do a whole bunch. I did what Sarkis asked though. That thought wasn’t terribly comforting because it still left the whole team exposed to danger but she simply hadn’t had the time or the funding to create a large device. Besides, the damage to civilians was a risk that the spurii wouldn’t have wanted to take, in spite of her increasingly jaded view of the nature of people. Misanthropy was one thing, actually harming other people in an indiscriminate way was another.

Her survival instincts were kicking in and she didn’t want to hang around the place any longer than necessary. She slung the leather bag that she’d carried the device in over her shoulder and waited for a knot of people to come past. Aeria stepped into the crowd and let it carry her along. She’d make her way to their assigned meeting place at the assigned time and wait for whatever happened next. It was callous but she was done running back into danger to save the others. At least, that’s what she told herself, as worry still gnawed at her gut.

The slim young woman reminded herself to be cautious when the time came to meet up with the others. If they were captured, they might spill the beans about her and the whole meet up could become a trap.

[1660]
 
With surprising grace, Sarkis took the armored man and settled him with nary a sound, producing a syringe filled with a clear liquid and depressing it into the man's neck. Without notice, the guard's eyes lolled back into his head, and Sarkis stepped away. A moment later, the man had backed into the shadows of the dimly lit corridor, and was gone. The muted gray clouds rose from about Harper swiftly, hanging just above the door frames and spreading like a thick pall. Soon, the entire hallway Harper and his captive now occupied was subject to the coming storm.

The rain fell slowly, at first, and silently throughout. As the guards turned the corner and entered the corridor, Harper could get a clear look through the slow drizzle. Of the pair, one was short and stocky; plumage poked from between the plates of armor that adorned the majority of his body, and his head was obscured by the visor of his helm. He raised a bony talon, and shouted, "Hey!"

The other was slower on the uptake. A head above the enlil guard, the laicar's eyes were half-closed and still-joking. A few moments after the enlil's shout, his eyes were wide and aware, and he made for his sword... except, his arm wasn't as swift as he remembered.

The guards fumbled for their weapons, noticing a moment too late as Slow began its work in earnest. The smoky wisps of poison began to rise in great plumes, the rain becoming a deluge that reduced the cramped hallway into a blurry mess of gray that not even Harper could glimpse through.

Above ground, the guard presence continued to intensify. The guards at each entrance multiplied from two to four, and what could be glimpsed through the large-paned windows showed an increased patrolling as the afternoon wore thin and beget the evening.

Even outside, as the commotion of Aeria's distraction wore out, patrols had been established. Three pairs of guards each patrolled in figure-eight patterns around the building.

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The situation was getting more heated, despite the fact that she hadn’t even fired a shot yet. From what could she gather through the windows, the guards were becoming more frantic. Whatever the rest of the team was doing inside was stirring up the hornet’s nest.

The huntress couldn't afford to shoot one of them now, it’d give her position away, and their numbers were greater. Not odds she was willing to take. She’d have to wait for an isolated target, which seemed unlikely unless one of them had the desire to take a piss while on duty.

She just had to be patient. Someone had to slip up. If not...well she’d already been paid for the job, so it's not like she had to kill in order to leave the area.

“Door’s closing, best get a move on boys,” Furi said quietly.

[144/990]

yeah I know not much to add, but been brainstuck for a while *__*

 
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