Letho's Blitz: The Third Echelon

[The Cinderella Man]

Yes, another Blitz thread.

This one is somewhat of a continuation of a previous one, but you absolutely need no knowledge of the previous thread to join. The summary of that one is pretty much that the Rangers tried to destroy the Radasanth City Watch, but got their tree-hugging, arrow-shooting asses kicked. The story of this thread flows partially from that one.

The Ranger intruders were defeated, but the brass is worried by the fact that they were even allowed to mount an attack in the very heart of the Empire. The Empire's intelligence has discovered that there is a spy very high on the food chain that must've coordinated the entire attack and leaked out the information. However, he is a political figure of some importance and close to one of the viceroys, and to take him down publicly would cast a shadow of doubt on the entire administration. So Victor will be put in charge of assembling a small squad of mercs who would apprehend the man if possible, or kill him if it's not and make it look like a mugging or something.

Of course, it won't be as simple as it sounds and I have a couple of twists planned along the way. A word of warning to people with good-natured characters: this thread most likely won't be pretty and we might wind up doing something you might not agree with, but I think this possible conflict can only add to the entire story. This idea was partially inspired by Amen's last post in our thread, by the way, and for that I thank him.

Anyways, SirArtemis already agreed to join this, so I need one more. The prerequisite is, as always in the Blitz, activity and these are the rules. You must post within 24 hours of the person before you (the first three posts will dictate the posting order for the remainder of the thread, but that can be changed if the participants agree, mostly the person posting after you). If you miss your deadline, you lose 1/4 of your GP total and you get one strike. Once this happens you can choose to pass on posting and let the person after you post, or you can choose to post anyways in which case the timer is reset and you get another 24 hours. Second time you miss the deadline you lose the other quarter of your GP total (bringing it to 1/2 of your bankroll) and you get the second strike. Third time you miss your deadline, your character dies, possibly in some gruesome manner. How you deal with the continuity of your character's death is entirely up to you, though I figure that most will choose to ignore it.

Also, one addition to the rules. During the thread, every participant has one free pass, meaning that you can take a day off or just buy yourself another 24 hours to finish the post.


That's about it. Any bastards out there ready to do some dirty work? :cool:

[Silence Sei]

I'm sure I can find some virtue in being evil.

After all, if anyones following the Refugees, they would see that Sei owes the Viceroys big time.

[Letho]

Either I'm becoming dull to write with or people don't like the time constrains. :(

Either way, you're in, Sei. This will probably mean that the hunting thread will be on hold for now. Anyways, I should have the thread up tomorrow.

And we won't be doing anything evil technically. It's just... war, and in war people get hurt, even though they might be innocent.

[Silence Sei]

Sounds good, Letho. Looks like between this, and me trying to help Jess speed post her way to the next level, I may be getting into Sei Mode once more :P

[Letho]

Damn your Sei mode. As if you don't have enough EXP already.

[SirArtemis]

Sei, be ready to get extra-harassment on AIM.

[The Cinderella Man]

The thread is up. (http://www.althanas.com/world/showthread.php?23301-That-Which-Can-Never-Be-Taken-Back&p=188535#post188535) Check it out and post in any order you desire.

Oh, and if you miss the deadline by a couple of hours, it's fine. I'm not that strict about these rules really. So let's just have some fun. :)

[SirArtemis]

I left off blitz 2 at post 9. I'll try to finish up today. Sei, let me know if you want to go and have something in mind. I won't know until I read everything.

[orphans]

I'm always interested, but... I have a hard time seeing Azza partaking in helping Victory potentially stage a murder at the age of 14.

She didn't have a traumatic upbringing that would lead to such actions and if anything, is rather normal (sorta). Her normal thoughts usually revolve around candy, food, and fun with her inner mind occasionally driving her to do other things that are more useful towards growing up.

:D maybe next time?

[Letho]

Maybe I do a less violent one next time, so you can join? A respite from all the runnin' and gunnin' would do me just fine. :)

Also, Artemis, you really don't have to read that one. The story is rather simple which I'll refer to in my posts (already did a bit in the opener), and there are practically no recurring characters. But it's up to you, of course.

[Silence Sei]

Post is up. Artie, could you check the mechanics on it for me? Since thats your forte and I'm hoping to get JC on our little adventure. :P

Also, Letho, I'm PMing you a question in just a moment.

[SirArtemis]

Post up.

But in all seriousness, if either of you feel that minor changes need to be made or the whole thing needs to be scrapped, TELL ME. I'd rather rework something from scratch and push the story in a better direction than let shit stain the quality of our writing. I'm not attached to anything that I'm writing here. I'm just going with it.

Also, I'll be pming both of you edits to each new post you put up as I read it.


EDIT: My friend just told me that it might be a bit rough to have you address both of our introductions at the same time, so let me know and I can end my post WITHOUT the dialogue near the end and just mention my curiosity about the gun, and you could notice me eyeing it and drag me into the conversation when you're ready, bunnying as needed.

[Letho]

No need really, it will work nicely with what I have in mind. Victor is already tired of explaining the details of the mission to every merc that sits at his table, so he'll welcome the opportunity to deal with both of you at the same time. He'll assume you're both here about the job and just lay it out for you.

By the way, guys, damn you're fast! Bloody hell, this is a Blitz, not a drag race. :P

[Silence Sei]

Doesn't one usually rush the opponent as fast as they can in blitzes?

And don't you know who I am?

[The Cinderella Man]

I thought we were working together here, not as opponents. :(


Seriously now, the post is up. Feel free bunnying Victor giving you additional information if you agree. He'll tell you the real name of the dude, tell you he's a secretary of one of the viceroys (take your pick which one, I don't really care), he has a mansion of sorts in the Govenrment District, well protected and all that jazz. We are also supposed to set the house on fire to cover our tracks and make it look... well, just like a house fire. Feel free to put in some other stuff in if you come up with something interesting. It doesn't really matter as long as this dude is a high government official and we get to go to his home and kill him dead. :P

[SirArtemis]

I'm glad you fixed the Silas thing, Letho. ^^

[SirArtemis]

You're up Letho

[Letho]

Guys, I'm taking my free pass. And this early in the game, I know. :( I had some unexpected guests today which left me with not time to write and typing this at 3am. I'll get a post up tomorrow.

[SirArtemis]

Guys, I'm taking my free pass. And this early in the game, I know. :( I had some unexpected guests today which left me with not time to write and typing this at 3am. I'll get a post up tomorrow.

No worries. We're way ahead of schedule and you can blame it on how fast Sei and I respond. I don't really care about the blitzing part of the... blitz.

[Silence Sei]

We're gonna be rich. There hasn't been an easier way to make money since Scara Brae scalpers sold fake tickets to I Want To Be Your Canary.

[Letho]

Hah, unfortunately for you, Victor doesn't have that much dough on his account. :P


Anyways, the post is up. It's a bit longish. I just wanted to move us forward a bit faster. I took some liberties with your dudes. As always, let me know if edits are necessary.

[SirArtemis]

This will be awesome. My character has some paralyzing arrows and infra vision to see in the dark. He also has an item that keeps his movements silent. Give him the side that needs some stealth I suppose.

Letho, edits sent to your inbox.

SO STOKED

[Silence Sei]

Letho, would you like me to just go ahead and advance in the....well, in the advance? Or should I stall for my post?

[SirArtemis]

I believe he wants you to go on ahead and get things going, but.. I dunno... I don't know how you would stall and then me stall too... so... go ahead so that i don't have to =p send me somewhere to be stealthy!

[Letho]

Advance away and run with whatever you feel appropriate. As I said, I don't fret much over details as long as we get to the goal. So whatever you come up with will probably be fine with me.

[Silence Sei]

Next question, how far should I go? Can I finish the post with Silas already covering his exit?

[Letho]

It's really up to you. I see no problem with it. You can take us to the exits, Artemis can make us crash in (I figure there will be guards inside after all, go figure :P).

[Silence Sei]

Well I posted, figured I let Artie pop the fighting cherry, as it were. But if either of you notcies Silas head to the balcony, I'd like you to have him jumping from the ground to said balcony, as we know that Sei has wings, and thus has easier accses to such things :P

[SirArtemis]

http://img33.imageshack.us/img33/2524/layoutwqp.jpg

How's this for a floor plan? So we're all working from the same.... thing... sort of...

Anyways, I think this will work out well. I'll take the basement, letho main floor and sei top floor. I'll get to posting soon. Hopefully you both approve...

EDIT: My post is up.

DOUBLE EDIT: Would be ironic if the guy I stuck was actually DeVir strolling through the garden late at night and he got away.

[SirArtemis]

Feel free to change some of the room layout. Just go with the 3 floors, balcony on second floor, where the exits are, and so forth. I might move some stuff in the basement for where i navigate.

[Letho]

My post is up. Not terribly happy with it, but there it is. I looked over the floor plan Aretmis posted, but I played the foyer as a significantly larger room, what with four men occupying it. Not that it matters really. Anyways, I figure Artemis can clean up the basement and rendezvous with Victor on the ground floor and Sei can take the top floor and find that Jotham isn't there. But his wife is, in the office or a study or whatever, and she's as cool as a cucumber.

Why is it "cool as cucumber", by the way? Cucumbers aren't that cool.

[SirArtemis]

Letho, mi amigo.. I really don't care about the blitz. Take an extra day if you need it. I won't take your gold or kill your character. I think Sei will leave you alone too. This is supposed to be fun, not stressful. Take the time to rework it and get in the zone if you need to.

[Silence Sei]

Why is it "cool as cucumber", by the way? Cucumbers aren't that cool.

You my friend have never worked in the food service industry.

And speak for yourself Artie. If Letho misses his post, all his gold are belong to me.

Sei - The Scrooge McDuck of Althanas.

[SirArtemis]

Okay, well, worst case, you lose some gold but we wont kill you.

[Silence Sei]

Speak for yourself.

*sharpens knife*

All your life are belong to me.

[SirArtemis]

GOD DAMN IT SEI YOU RUIN EVERYTHING! LET HIM FEEL HAPPINESS WITH HIS WRITING! (caps lock off)

[Silence Sei]

Speak for yourself.

All your happiness are belong to me

(Ok, I'm done now)

[Letho]

Letho, mi amigo.. I really don't care about the blitz. Take an extra day if you need it. I won't take your gold or kill your character. I think Sei will leave you alone too. This is supposed to be fun, not stressful. Take the time to rework it and get in the zone if you need to.See, here's the thing. When I take time to get in the zone, take it easy to get my groove, or whatever other definition you want to use, I usually end up playing computer games and watching TV instead of writing. The primary reason why I came up with the Blitz was to push myself to write regularly. Because I realized that when I encounter a writing block, if I take my time, I just end up staring at it like a dumbass. So It's all good. Don't worry about it and post away.

And Sei is a bastard, by the way. :P

[Silence Sei]

I'll have a post up in a couple of hours, just letting you guys know so you don't think I'm taking my pass yet :P

[SirArtemis]

I still think you could go back and completely rework the fight scene without changing "what" happens and thus not affecting what sei and i are likely to post just yet.

[Letho]

I could, but it's a decent sequence and I don't feel like fiddling around with it too much. It needs some polishing, true, but I'll see to that as I read through it again and do the minor edits.

[SirArtemis]

POSTED! boom.

[SirArtemis]

Ok doodz. I have a question...

So here's the thing. I want to write a thread with Orphans and my character will be in Radasanth. I talked to Letho when starting this and thought maybe Artemis needed to run for one reason or another. Now...

With where we stand now, I expect Artemis to take note of the fact that Letho chose to kill, whereas Sei and I didn't. I'll try to rationalize it as you had no options and it was do or die, but then you plan to torture an innocent women and I'm just not okay with it. After all, just because her husband is a bad person doesn't make her one, and it certainly doesn't mean she even knows he's bad.

So with that, it raises the question of how would my character deal with Letho's doing what he does? I thought I could shoot him with one of the arrows I've been using and then take her and run off, giving her some money to leave town and start life anew, and then hop the boat with Orphans' story. But... that completely ignores what Sei would do and what role he plays in all this, and how he would react. I doubt I could surprise both of you.

Now, Sei also has mind reading, though our characters don't know. He could get info out of this woman peacefully without torture, and I'm not sure how he would feel about torture either. We could talk you down out of it and get the info out of her, but that leaves us pursuing him elsewhere. Now, if that were the case, we could part ways because Letho noticed that these two guys (Sei and I) though useful companions, or at least myself, aren't the type of people who are going to just walk in and let you kill someone because you are too naive and stuck in the notion of virtue and justice.

So you could do a final blitz where you pursue him again, perhaps with or without sei and with another person or not. That's an option.

The other option is I run off with her or something similar. Or... I don't know to be honest.

The whole point of this wall of text is that I have to figure out whether Artemis is going to be leaving Radasanth in a hurry, either because he city watched is pissed at us, either because Letho is pissed and I don't want to get on his bad side since he has guns, or whatever the reason. Either that, or I peacefully leave, and if that's the case, we need to all agree on what we do (IC) and find some sense of closure in all of it.

I can't write with Orphans until I figure this out, as it becomes my first post...

[Letho]

The problem with saving the woman from torture is that it messes up this parallel story I've been adding at the beginning of my posts. I don't want to reveal too much, but the idea is that Victor totally loses himself in this vendetta. He will see that she is to Walter what Aicha was to him, and he will want to hurt her. So during the interrogation (and I don't mean to introduce another character for it, so I plan Victor to do it), he's going to lose it. First he'll smack her a little bit, and then shoot her in the leg.

Now, I've been thinking and there is a way for this to work for all of us. I understand that neither Sei nor Artemis would really be OK with this. So here's my proposition. Once Victor loses it, shoots her in the leg and then gets within a moment of shooting her in the face (I figure this is where she'll spill the beans), you two intervene. I thought that Sei perhaps could grab the woman and jump out the window with her (his wings taking them both down safely) and Artemis can shoot Victor in the back with one of his arrows and make himself scarce. By the time Victor comes around, you three are gone. However, he has the info, so he will proceed to take down Jotham/Walter. He'll put some heat on your tail, so you probably won't be safe from the City Watch in the future, but that makes no problem for Sei who kept his real identity hidden and I figure it works for Artemis as well since you need him chased out of Radasanth.

MINOR SPOILER:

Now, the kicker is that Jotham is not really Walter. When Victor interrogates the wife, he'll ask a bunch of questions, but both the questions and the answers will be vague enough to be wrongly interpreted. For example, he'll ask her if she was aware what Jotham was doing before (referring to the time he was a crime boss) and she'll respond that she was and that she understands his reasons (referring to Jotham being a Ranger spying on the Empire). So Victor will leave still thinking Jotham is Walter. However, when the two of you get away with her, I figure you'll find the truth from her. She'll tell you that both she and her husband are Rangers. Victor will not know this until the very end, when he faces Jotham (after another bloodbath). The whole idea is that the Empire used Victor's burning desire for vengeance against Walter to make him do this mission and kill a couple of their enemies.

I hope that makes some sense. Let me know if you want to go down a different road story-wise and we'll work it out.


Oh, and yes, I know I missed the deadline. I unloaded some 20t worth of stuff with a couple of guys at work and I felt dead tired by the time I got home. I'm off to write the post now.

[SirArtemis]

I think that can work letho. My arrow won't work long on you but if I get a shot on you without you being aware in the back or something, I'll have you on the ground for long enough to get away. I can shoot you first or sei can nab her first, but we can both make our way out.

now the only thing I'm contemplating about what you explained is whether or not I want my character to follow sei or book it on his own and us wrap things up. I say this because sei knows my character, even if i don't realize, and his influence might be enough to prevent the heat on my tail from persisting. But that doesn't change the fact that I might act as if it's still serious and it'll still give me reason enough to leave. Even if I'm just running from you, it still works.

[Silence Sei]

Artie, you do what you feel you need to do.

Duro, I'm thinking after the big revelation of the wife and husband duo being rangers, Sei might go back for Victor. He saw what the man would do to get the answers he needs, so he would probably try to rush back after getting the wife medical attention. After all, Sei's herorics wouldn't allow him to just sit idlely by while someone got killed and did not get a fair trial. I imagine I'd arrive minutes too late, and see the corpse and Victor, but by this time, Silas would actually have the hood off, revealing himself to be Sei.

This could also set up a kind of enemy stature between Vic and Sei, prompting for a battle down the road, perhaps? Maybe even a cat and mouse game of Sei trying to catch the boxer? Just some thoughts.

[SirArtemis]

Let's see where Letho takes the story in this next post first. All in all, I'm liking how this is turning out.

[Silence Sei]

Let's see where Letho takes the story in this next post first. All in all, I'm liking how this is turning out.

Considering Letho was who I was asking, I expected to.

[Letho]

The post is up. I didn't want to take it too far because then I'd do most of the questioning and you guys wouldn't be in on the fun. So anyways, since Sei is next in line to post, I figure he can propose to take a crack at the woman first, what with being the psychic and whatnot. However, he won't be able to break her for one reason or other. I figure, as a spy, she'd be mentally trained not to reveal any info. Then in Artemis's posts, I figure Victor could grow tired of it, say that they didn't have time for this, and backhand her across the face. I figure Artemis will confront Victor over that, get into an argument, maybe even threaten him or something. I don't know, just have fun with it, guys. Then in my post, I'll have Victor pull a gun at both of you and mess the wife up. Sounds good?

Also, about Sei coming back and forming an enmity with Victor, I'm cool with that as well.

EDIT: And also, I did some minor editing on the previous post, but it's nothing of concern and I wasn't really feeling the inspiration to spruce it up a bit more. I'll take a shot at it later.

[Silence Sei]

Works for me, should have a post up soon

[SirArtemis]

My post is up. I'm thinking this would be a good time to have vic start the interrogation and then just as artemis looks up, he sees vic about to do something he doesn't approve of, and you could try to end your post with me doing the arrow thing and sei or my guy nabbing the girl and running. You could even notice the box and have it contain something you could use.

[Letho]

The post is up. Seeing as Sei is up next, I was thinking that the woman could mutter something about the box that Victor would hear, then Sei can make his exit, taking the woman away. Feel free to make Victor fire a couple of shots after you. Just make it so Victor's back is temporarily turned to Artemis, so he can shoot Victor in the back in his post and get away cleanly. :)

Also, Artemis, I did the edits you suggested. Thanks again.

[Lillith]

Will you love birds hurry it up?

Duffy wants in on the action!

[SirArtemis]

Will you love birds hurry it up?

Duffy wants in on the action!

We're almost there. half a dozen more posts in total at most I think.

[SirArtemis]

What do you guys plan for your characters from here? I need to know because otherwise this post will be where artemis books it.

[Letho]

Victor is likely to be going for another bloodbath after he opens the box, chasing down Jotham/Walter. I think Sei is going to try to stop him, but he'll likely be too late. I figure this would be the best time for Artemis to get out. I was thinking that in your next post you shoot Victor and get away, in my next one Victor opens the box and closes in on Jotham, in Sei's post the wife tells him the husband is at the docks, getting on a boat to get away. Then in your next post, you can make your conclusion, Victor kills a bunch of people in his, including Jotham, and Sei arrives too late to stop him, but not too late to make it clear to Victor that they would be enemies from this point on.

That plan sounds good to you guys?

[SirArtemis]

Yeah that'll work. My post will likely be brief as I can't finish teh getaway all in this one

[Letho]

The post is up. A day late, but up. :P

Sei, I thought it would be cool if in your post Sei came to the warehouse and there was still shooting inside, and as he enters all he runs into are corpses all the way to the docked boat, where I think we should have the final confrontation.


I do have to apologize to both of you. The farther we got into the story, the more I realized that it focuses more and more on Victor and that kind of makes it lame towards you guys. It wasn't my intention to slight either of you in any way and I apologize if you felt that way at any point during this story.

[SirArtemis]

post looks good and edits sent ^^

and speaking for myself, I don't mind taking the back seat. I think the thread is turning out great and will be awesome, and i have a great line to wrap up the post with that I think will be the perfect closure. I'm having a good time with this and hope you guys are too. I look forward to finishing it up and seeing how we do on the rubric too. Hopefully I've at least not let you guys down, rolling with #1 and #3, and i'm not on the top 100 any more even.

But yeah, once sei has his post up, I'll wrap it up and hopefully you guys will like it.

[Silence Sei]

That sounds good to me Duro.

and no need to apologize, Sei got most of his exp being a bit player in quests. I'm used to it, it makes Sei more fun to roleplay. I'll have a post up sometime tonight.

[Silence Sei]

Used my pass for Yesterday, I was sick as a dog for the better half of the day, and only managed to squeek out one real post. I'll have my reply up here in a couple of hours, guys.

[Letho]

Frankly, I was flabbergasted when I didn't see a post. There is such sickness that can prevent Sei from posting?! Perish the thought!

[Silence Sei]

Well, I actually did manage to post in one thread with an alt, but I thought I could power through my nausea bouts and continue on to the blitz. I found myself weong.

Almost finished, by the way.

[SirArtemis]

Sei, could you please adjust your post to make the night align with my previous post, and somehow make it obvious that devir isn't Walter, unless letho wants something else

[Silence Sei]

Why does the night have to align with your previous post?

[SirArtemis]

I addressed Devir not being walter in my post in the last line. it's the only thing i added. as for the time of day, i mentioned that night was ending when artemis fled the devir mansion is all. as is, i'll give it another read and see if any other edits need to be made. hopefully you guys made the ones i already sent.

[Silence Sei]

Letho himself said it was still night when he entered the warehouse

Just going off that.

[SirArtemis]

alright well i've lost motivation. you guys can submit it whenever. i think i've sent you all the edits at this point anyways. it's been fun.

[Letho]

Yeah, I must've missed that detail about the night ending, Artemis, so it's my fault. But wouldn't it be a bit weird that the night was already ending? We arrived at the mansion around midnight, and the events within didn't take that long the way I saw it.

[SirArtemis]

It's still night when we all leave, i just sort of saw myself getting to the bar rather late and then traveling across the city taking some time and then planning our thing and attacking and then this and that i sort of envisioned it ending all around 4am or something but i can just change it. My post implies it's still night, just that the night is starting to end slowly. I don't know how long it takes to traverse radasanth

[Letho]

My post is finally up. I think I owe the two of you half of my GP. :P

Anyways, I cut it a bit shorter so Sei can have a final say (no pun intended). If he speaks to Victor, feel free to make Victor stop and listen, but don't expect too much of a reaction. If Sei reveals his true identity, you can bunny Victor smirking and saying something along the lines: "Ah, the self-proclaimed Hero of Radasanth." or something saying that he's not impressed and doesn't really care. Just have fun with it.

I have one last post to put up after Sei, to conclude his dealings with Angela, and we're off to get some EXP. :D

[SirArtemis]

have your way with it. I don't plan on making any further posts. I think I closed well enough.

[SirArtemis]

I tweaked my last post. Sent edits for Sei's last one. Letho, you should have all your edits. Once your final post goes up, I'll edit and send edits for that too.

One request. When you submit the thread, can you ask for full commentary? Also, I wanted to have this thread calculated after the first round of Serenti for experience purposes. Are you guys okay with waiting a bit before submitting it? After the recent vignette and with the first round I'll hit level 4, and I want this thread calculated as me at level 4.

[Silence Sei]

He can submit it whenever he wants, Artie, I'll just let the judge assigned to it know to wait after round 1.

[SirArtemis]

That works too

[Letho]

Done and done. A day late, but it's up. Once Artemis gives it a look and I make the edits he sends me, I'll submit it for judging. Sei, I'll leave it to you to assign it once Artemis hits level 4.

Anyways, it was great writing with you guys. Hopefully, we can do it again some time soon. Though probably not with Victor. He kind of wants to kill you both. ;)

[Silence Sei]

Indeed. Letho, could we also make this threads score aid the Empire for the Corone War? So they have a fighting chance against the rangers?

We did kill a double-agent, after all.

[Letho]

Yes, that was what I was thinking as well. In the end, regardless of everything, we did clean the house a little bit. Well, Victor did. You two didn't kill a single person in the entire thread. Damn you pacifists. :p

[Silence Sei]

Sorry we don't want to gain Dark Side points.

Force Healing is so much better than Force Lightning

[SirArtemis]

edits sent. Been a pleasure, gents.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3273/3006780451_86a22b8ae9.jpg