Debriefing

"Debriefing" is a [SEASON NUMBER] thread written on [IRL DATE].
==Summary==
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==Full Text==
“Is everyone here? Do we need to wait longer? All right, all right, very well.”
The Great Hall of Haligan Island was crowded with bodies of various size–tiny half-breeds, several able-bodied soldiers, a few tall figures, one or two of them cheating with antlers, and the unusual shapes of two very different demons. Darien, though he never had a fear of public speaking, was nervous about how his information was going to come across to the entire group that had volunteered to carry out the raid on Castaway Dungeon. On the wall behind him was a huge paper map, drawn as big as he could get with the size of parchment Chief Grey had gifted him. 
When the gathering had settled, he got to his feet, using his walking stick to help him up, and walked in front of the map, giving an awkward wave-salute.
“Ah–hello, everyone, I’m glad you could make it today.” He cleared his throat and put his hands behind his back, drawing on his old well of charisma from his youth. “Well, it seems we have an operation afoot, and although I am no war strategist, I am here to give you the information you need so that we may all plan our next moves.” He gestured behind him, at the map he had worked tirelessly on.
“Castaway. Border of the West and South. As far as dungeons go, this will be relatively easy to crack, and it should give us plenty of extra helping hands, hopefully one or two interesting crates of supplies, and some useful information from the guards.” He propped up his staff against the wall and clapped his hands together once. “Dungeons rely on their surroundings as much as their walls to be useful and impenetrable. Castaway is built on a shallow plateau, and once upon a time the guards would keep the forest burned away from the outer walls to prevent a sneak attack, but those days are long gone. The hill is overgrown, if a bit sparse and dry. But other than that, the dungeon is surrounded by flat plains, and there are guard tower both on the wall and on the keep itself. Dragons could be easily spotted. If we are prepared for a full assault, so be it, but I believe this may put us at a disadvantage for the rest of the mission if we approach without caution. I believe Akkey Black may be assisting us in terms of stealth, so the puzzle may already be solved.” He spread his hands, raising his eyebrows at the leadership. “That may be discussed.”
“Castaway. Border of the West and South. As far as dungeons go, this will be relatively easy to crack, and it should give us plenty of extra helping hands, hopefully one or two interesting crates of supplies, and some useful information from the guards.” He propped up his staff against the wall and clapped his hands together once. “Dungeons rely on their surroundings as much as their walls to be useful and impenetrable. Castaway is built on a shallow plateau, and once upon a time the guards would keep the forest burned away from the outer walls to prevent a sneak attack, but those days are long gone. The hill is overgrown, if a bit sparse and dry. But other than that, the dungeon is surrounded by flat plains, and there are guard tower both on the wall and on the keep itself. Dragons could be easily spotted. If we are prepared for a full assault, so be it, but I believe this may put us at a disadvantage for the rest of the mission if we approach without caution. I believe Akkey Black may be assisting us in terms of stealth, so the puzzle may already be solved.” He spread his hands, raising his eyebrows at the leadership. “That may be discussed.”
Picking up his stick again, he tapped the inside of the dungeon, the biggest innermost room. “Now. For the inside. This is a simple dungeon, at least from a design standpoint. Three sections–a center with two wings, and an courtyard.” He sighed and tapped his walking staff into his opposite hand a few times. “Well, it would be simple. Tulli, would you mind explaining?”
“Oh-oh-o-oh yes, I can do that.” From the back of the crowd, the only thing that could be seen was the tips of her huge ears, twitching back and forth like an excited hare as she hurried to stand in front of the map. “Hi everyone…u-u-umm, Castaw-w-w-way was hit by a big storm lots of years ago, a-an-and the ceiling fell down! It was horrible. They made us clean up the mess, but we couldn’t fix the huge hole in the roof, of course, they wouldn’t let us have access to the dragons in case of d-d-d-desertion…and High Central wa-wasn’t very…Central any more. They took forever to get back to us. We didn’t have enough th-things to fix it until they finally started sending out these biiiiiig metal bars and we used those to make a big, big cage instead of a roof.”
“From what Tulli has explained, because of the poor construction and exposure to the elements, the main hall of the dungeon is covered in vegetation,” Darien continued explaining. “It looks rather like a garden inside. This gives us an opportunity to infiltrate without needing disguises, although they certainly aren’t discouraged if we can pull them together.”
“The dogs, the dogs,” Tulli said anxiously, bapping her paws against the front of her thighs rapidly.
“Yes, I was getting to that. The dungeon is guarded by six dragons–Titan Wing Gronckles, as far as I can tell, which the guards apparently nickname…Dogs. Trust me, they are not dogs. They are creatures as big as Central’s largest wagons. But thank the gods, they are stupid when it comes to sneaking. There is a dragon chained next to every cell block.” He tapped each one with his stick, making six light cracks echo through the Hall. “They should not be engaged. Hopefully, if our pre-mission scouting teams succeed, we can avoid them entirely, but if they don’t, that is where we will have to get creative. Distract them, incapacitate them, kill them if it comes to that, but you must get past them. Six dragons, six cell blocks, I would suggest six separate teams to somehow get inside each block, release the cells inside as quickly as possible before the guards are alerted, and then…” He shrugged. “Maybe this goes without saying, but I also suggest you run very fast when that happens.”
“If we can’t portal past the doors,” Tulli piped up, “we’ll need keys. The bl-blocks have big keys and they’re all different for each door, key one to door one, key five to door five, it was such a bi-bi-b-big hassle! But it makes a breakout hard on purpose.”
“We shouldn’t need the keys,” Darien assured his audience. “But it’s something to keep in mind in case something goes wrong. Also, speaking of tracking down keys…” Another crack as Darien popped the tip of his stick against the main space of the dungeon, and then left and right wings of the dungeon. “This main space is where the bulk of the operation will be carried out. You’ve no business going in any of the side wings! You’ll get caught and killed for no reason. These are a last resort if things get thrown into chaos. Which they shouldn’t. But I believe I remember hearing about this group’s…methods of rebellion.” 
He lifted his hands to dispel any complaints. “It is not a criticism, but I don’t want these prisoners hurt, is the main point of this raid. There are a lot of innocent people in those cells. So far as the Chief and the Commander agree with me, this should be an extraction, I think. There is nobody important to hunt, nobody with a price on their head or a target on their back.
“So.” He held out a finger for each of his next sentences. “A way to approach the dungeon. A way to get inside. A way to navigate the Dogs. And a way to break the prisoners out with as few casualties as possible, and get them out again.” He put his staff on the ground in front of him and linked his fingers around the top of it, surveying the room. “What do you think?”
Jul 3, 2019
Lila's mind was already spinning with possibilities. They had several different infiltration points as well as several obstacles to overcome. 'Take one thing at a time.' She thought. "So, say we can't portal in or out of the cell blocks for one reason or another, where would we find the keys we're looking for?"
“The keys are all on different guards,” Darien explained. “Tulli knows who has which keys, at any given time during the guard shifts, and can point them out if needed.” The half-breed nodded vigorously, ears flapping.
hubwalker1
Jari spoke up. “Tulli how would the guards react if there were, saayyy, oh I don’t know, an explosion, in one corner of the dungeon?”
central-is-growing
“Oh!” Her eyes were huge. “O-oh, I don’t know, oh dear, that’s never happened before…um…we-we were taught to protect the prisoners if that happened, at least I was…I think…I think the guard was supposed to split if the dungeon was attacked, half to the cell blocks, half to the walls…”
“In a dungeon as small as Castaway, I doubt there would be an escape route for the prisoners to be escorted, or any safety measures of the sort,” Darien added. “Their only option would be defense.” He laughed slightly. “I don’t know what you would have in mind, but I’m certain they wouldn’t be ready for that. But we don’t want to put the prisoners in harm’s way.”
hubwalker1
“No I don’t think any harm would come to them.” She said. “Well, not from the bomb at least. My plan was to tunnel under with Rockbreaker and plant a bomb right under that guard tower. Draw the guards away.”
akkeyagentofhelheim
“How many?” A voice suddenly piped up from above. Heads turned to look at Akkey perched on one of the lower beams, flanked by the demon Firkugaan. A few rebels directly below them squirmed nervously when they realized he was over them. She had one leg swinging freely and the other bent to support her head on her arm. She still looked tired, but her mind was running and doing calculations.
“Do we know our count? How many guards? Rebels, prisoners?”
hubwalker1
Lila spoke up. “We have 25 coming with us.” She said. “Some of them will be staying in the back line while others will be part of the raid proper.”
central-is-growing
“About tw-twenty per block,” Tulli stammered, craning her neck to look up at Akkey, “prisoners, I mean, but it was tight last time I was there…maybe thirty at most?” She started counting slowly on her paws. “Which makes…um…”
“A hundred and eighty, if we are generous,” Darien said automatically. “Between a hundred and fifty and eighty, more likely.” He pulled a sheaf of notes out of his coat and consulted them. “And I remember Tulli estimating between eighty to a hundred guards, though never all on guard at once, they are on rotation…well, they’re very much below their quota…official Central policy was to have at least twenty-five percent more staff than imprisoned…sorry, anyway, we’re likely working with about fifty guards at most at a single time, with the rest sleeping, eating or doing other work for the dungeon.
“Tulli,” Milae spoke up softly from the side of the room, looking seriously out from under his hood. “How many of the guards were from the Sleipnir Squadron?”
Her expression dropped a little and she hugged her elbows, tapping a finger against her fur while thinking. “A few,” she said quietly. “Twenty? At least?” 
Darien swore quietly under his breath. Milae’s grip tightened on his staff and he dipped his head, staring at the ground. “We cannot afford to harm them…”
“Hey, need a quick refresher on what that means,” Liam spoke up, having been translating for Kendra during the entire conversation. She wasn’t familiar with the term, and neither was he.
“Half-breed guards,” Darien clarified. “Guards raised from childhood that are being forced to work under threat of extreme punishment. They were shipped out to the dungeons in small teams.”
“Well, great,” Liam muttered, quickly signing his explanation to Kendra. Her eyes widened and she rapidly signed back to him, and he translated aloud, “Milae’s right, we should try to save them, too. Sorry, hang on, Liam talking here, how would we even do that? This is going to be tricky enough as it is. How can we tell them apart? What if there’s humans that don’t wanna be there, too?” Kendra sighed and fumbled her fingers together while she thought, unable to come up with an answer. “Sure, it’s nice that we’re thinking of them, but we can only do one thing at a time.”
“The guards are just as captive as the prisoners themselves,” Milae contested, meeting his gaze from across the crowd. “Explosives are unnecessary.” Liam shrugged with both his hands.
“Sorry, but I signed up for a jailbreak, not a psych evaluation of every guy that’s gonna try to kill me. I’m down for blowing up a wall or two.”
hubwalker1
“That was actually something I wanted to address.” Lila said. “Kill by necessity, capture by design. As has been said we don’t know which of these guards are here by choice and which have been forced into it. I want to prove to those bastards that we’re better than them. That being said I don’t want to lose any of you to Central. So try to disarm and incapacitate them, but if push comes to shove and it’s you or them… Do what you have to.”
akkeyagentofhelheim
The Arnason siblings felt a familiar squirt of water on their cheeks, something that happened at times during their childhood, and they looked up towards Akkey, who seemed to listen to everyone speaking intently. She glanced very quickly towards them, giving them a ghost of a wink, then turned her attention back to the discussion.
“Alright, well…” she called out after Lila’s point, “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves.” She stood on the beam, and walked the length of it to the front. Firkugaan followed her quietly, tail swinging below him. She jumped down lightly beside Darien and Grey, studying the map in front of her intently.
“Portals. Definitely going to be useful. But!” she raised a finger, turning towards the crowd, “I am not 21 anymore. 300 people is a lot. We all know what happened with Hel’s Bunker.” She grinned humourlessly as a few of the original rebels nodded seriously, “So here’s a few ideas I came up with, as long as the upcoming scouting mission goes smoothly.”
“One, I portal the 25 rebels directly from Haligan right into the cells, provided Nala gets me a visual. But I won’t be able to teleport everyone back to Haligan. Not with those numbers. And you still need a way to get the keys.”
“Two, we travel there and sneak in normally, and I teleport the 180 prisoners, 25 rebels, and 30 half breed guards out. The farthest I can bring them is…” she squinted at an empty spot before her imagining a map in her head, then wrinkled her nose upon realizing, “To Port Krum. Even then, there might be some half breeds averse to portals, like the dragon half breeds. They’d have to escape the traditional way. We would need people to stay behind and escort them back.” A thought passed in her head, “If this becomes the option we follow, I can stay behind.”
“Third, again we come and go normally, but we use Jari’s idea for a distraction and lure the guards to a trap, where I can sustain several portals to suspend them in, and give us ample time to go in and out. That one’s tricky because it’s a gamble on who gets trapped where amongst the regular guards, the guards with the keys, and the Sleipnir Squadron.”
“In any case, we would still have to swipe the keys, and deal with the gronckles in all three situations.” She ran a hand through her hair, “Also, Liam and Lila have a point, but…” Hel’s words echoed in her mind. Could you ever imagine winning this, or another war like it, without killing one another, or divine intervention? “I would like to finish this with the least amount of deaths as possible.”
lbigreyhound13
The Chief and Brandt had been listening to Lila, Darien, Tulli, Akkey, Milae, the Arnason kids, and Jari intently. Grey nodded as Akkey laid out the three options in terms of sneaking into the dungeon and sneaking out, and Brandt sat with his arms crossed. 
“I agree, Akkey,” the Chief finally replied. “Like Lila said, we need to show that we want to make a difference. We lost quite a few people in the Grounded Dungeon Rebellion, and the last thing we want is for history to repeat itself.”
“I agree, too,” Brandt replied, “and given that Orskaf is dead, perhaps, our safest bet is for Akkey to get us to Port Krum. We could even rest and feed the dragons there as well.”
hubwalker1
“Well…” Jari offered up. “I have something of an idea. I don’t know how great it is but…” She paused for a second. “Anyways, I could always tunnel just under the dungeon. It might be easier to get at the prisoners there, and it might be easier for akkey to portal down a few feet into a tunnel than miles and miles away. It could be a stealthier option at least with the lowest bloodshed.”
akkeyagentofhelheim
“I said Port Krum as a mark on the map, but that place is gone.” Akkey spoke up gently, “Nothing but wasteland there now. A good place to hide, but not to resupply and get resources.”
She glanced towards Jari, “Tunneling under the dungeon is a marvelous idea, but–” her eyes flicked to Nala for a brief moment, flashes of Fenrir, Frigga, and the dungeon crossing her mind, “–I would like to stay above ground if I can help it. Maybe putting the biggest possible distance between us and Castaway in the shortest amount of time would be better as well. It’s still doable.”
demon-in-the-dungeon
The Warden shifted her weight for the first time since the meeting started, her large body moving from one leg to the other. There is an option for me to possess the key-bearing guards into opening the doors for you, so that you may get in quickly and keep those guards from raising an alarm if you were to steal them. Perhaps the dragons, as well, but that will be very difficult and require time and effort on my end. Her eyes shifted to Akkey. This will free your options regarding how to reach the prisoners. I believe escaping without being able to be tracked would be optimal, and thus we should find a way to break in and then vanish with Akkey’s portals. A halfway point would also provide a way for prisoners that wish to leave and live their own lives without fear of recapture. But I believe this also means we shouldn’t leave anyone behind, if possible. If someone is going to hold back with prisoners unable to travel, it will be me. I can protect multiple individuals easily and cloak them from detection should we end up being pursued by mages.
hubwalker1
“We could always just portal the prisoners down to the tunnel and Akkey can meet us somewhere.” Jari offered.
Then Kettil spoke up. “I have clinics in Wuntne, Crestwill, and Orilon that I’ve been using as fronts to help Half-Breeds who are looking for a better life. We can take anyone who wants to move on to any of them and get them situated.”
moe-lazyeye
Opie played with his fingers distractedly, and the spoke up. “This is all good…” he said, his eyes pointedly not looking at anyone. “But if we really want to cut back on potential deaths…then I know one Hel of a distraction we could use.”
He glanced at Grey. “Rhenco is hated in Central as well. If he showed up, and more importantly never died, the whole gaurd units gaze would be divided at best, if not solely zeroed in on him. It would make turning this raid into a covert op a lot easier….”
"No." Lila said immediately. "Hel no. I'm not letting the son of a bitch leave the prison let alone the island to go on a mission of such importance."
Jul 4, 2019
The Chief thought for a moment pursing her lips in deep thought. If they could use Rhenco as a diversion since he’s so hated in Central, they could use that to their advantage. However, there was a huge risk of him getting away and escaping, putting more people in danger.
“It’s a huge risk, Grey,” Brandt said to his wife as if he could hear her thoughts.
Despite how rocky their relationship was when Brandt revealed...the truth to her, they fought through it and found their way past it and back to each other, and Grey was more than thankful for that. She and Brandt had come to work so well together as Chief and second-in-command in addition to being husband and wife. He could tell what she was thinking and offered the best advice he could.
She sighed. “I know,” she finally said, “but it would be a good idea.”
“If he tries to escape...” Brandt began.
“I’m aware of that, Brandt,” Grey said trying to keep her frustration in check.
Jul 4, 2019
"If I may," Ander spoke up. "I believe using Rhenco as... bait of sorts, might be a good idea. Potential dangerous, but a good idea. Is there some way we can... combine the ideas? Disguise someone as Rhenco or something similar? I don't know if it's possible, but I'd like to make the suggestion."
Ander had been listening quietly, taking in all the information, but when he felt tension between Grey and Brandt, he decided he had to say something in Hope's of smoothing it over.
Jul 4, 2019
"I don't care what we do as long as he stays in his cell." Lila said seriously. This was not something she would budge on.
Jul 4, 2019
“Illusion of control…” Opie said, and gave a sympathetic shrug. “He got shook up and then found safety through arrest. It speaks volumes to your abilities that you were even able to scare him…but hes far from subdued. Hes only in that cell because he wants to be.” The young man tapped his chin. “Still…all made points are valid. It would be incredibly effective. But come at a great risk.”
Jul 4, 2019
That bastard is not leaving Haligan, the Warden said flatly. If anyone wishes to release him, no matter the motive, you will answer to me as well as Commander Ericson.
"Uh, if I may add..." Darien said uncomfortably, "personally, I hadn't heard a whisper of this man until I came to Haligan. Had you, Tulli?"
"I d-d-do-don't get out much," she said apologetically. He gestured to her in example.
"Perhaps such a scare tactic would be of use against a larger dungeon with more Central communication and awareness of who this man is. Castaway has been isolated for years. If this is a plan that needs testing, this would be a poor starting point."
Jul 4, 2019
Deoiridh's brow furrowed. "Nala iffin we can getcha teh the dungeon and ye possess the guards wit the keys... Couldn't ye just have 'em walk past the dragens?"
Jul 6, 2019
That is an option. But we still need the best way to remove the prisoners, be it by portals or an ordinary breakout. The guards can unlock the cells, but they can only do so much.
Jul 6, 2019
Deoiridh frowned slightly, trying to think. "Ah could... Try 'n' persuade 'em." She said unsure.
Jari piped up. "Well worse comes to worst I'll give you some bombs just in case so you can bust them out."
Lila nods. "Sounds good. Now that we have that covered what are we going to do about the Sleipnir Squad? And am I forgetting anything else?"
Jul 7, 2019
"W-w-well, if we could somehow g-g-get someone to talk to the guards," Tulli piped up, "we have a c-co-co-code phrase we used in the squadron...bu-but I don't know how you'd get in without alerting everyone!" She looked terrified at the idea of walking back into Castaway.
Jul 8, 2019
"Well, we wouldn't need to talk to all of them, just one, they would spread it around to the rest." After thinking she frowned. "We could have someone be captured and put in the dungeon, then we break them out with everybody else." She tried to think of who they could use. She didn't want to risk someone she cared about. Her thoughts drifted the "Family", so called. She hated the idea of using them in any mission, but they were the most expendable. "What about... What's his name?" She murmured to herself. "You." She pointed at Opie. "You're going to be the inside man in the dungeon. Can you handle it?"
Jul 8, 2019
"That was what I figured would be best ma'me..." Opie replied. "Me and my families services are at the disposal of the Rebellion. It poses the least risk to you and your own."
A ghastly look came to his eyes. "And there's nothing that Central can do to me that I wont be able to handle."
The statement wasnt one of bravery or confidence. Just a grim fact.
Jul 8, 2019
"Alright, then," Seems like we're opting for option two. She squinted, putting a hand to her temple. All this thinking on top of her tiredness was giving her a headache, "So if Opie can infiltrate and find the Sleipnir Squad, that makes things easier. If you guys tunnel in as Jari mentioned and get everyone gathered, I can teleport everyone from where I'll be, that includes rebels, prisoners, and the Sleipnir Squad, to Wuntne all in one go. Timing and positioning's going to be crucial."
She turned her head towards the Warden, "Nala, you're gonna have to coordinate that with me when you project. I'll need exact connection points for the squad and all six cells, all at the exact same time." Akkey snapped her fingers, pointing to where Milae and Dario sat, "Ah, almost forgot. I need a water source as well. Anyone with water magic needs to go in, too. We can hope for rain but I'd rather something more reliable."
Jul 10, 2019
Lila began walking towards the front, speaking as she moved. "Alright so here's the plan. We'll all fly towards the dungeon. Once we get close we'll split up into two groups. The main group will continue on to Castaway, the second group will go on to Wundne and set up a rendezvous. Kettil, you take the lead of the rendezvous group, Grey, Ander you're with him, take two more with you. Make sure you have the clinic prepped I have the feeling you'll have plenty of new patients.
"Once the rendezvous is ready we'll split up again. Akkey, Milae, Tulli, and myself, will stay behind to secure a quick route out through Akkey's portals. Jari, William, and Nala are going to start to tunnel underneath the dungeon and under each cell. Then Liam, Kendra, Verdandi, Brandt, Dario, Vox, and one other person will break them out of their Cells."
She looks at the deer Half-Breed. "Dario, you're going to have to coat the cell floors with water so that Akkey can make a portal for them. I don't know how many dragon Half-Breeds there will be but I'd rather be prepared rather than unprepared, so Da-..." She frowned a little bit. "Deoiridh, I'm going to have you go from block to block and either persuade the stragglers into the portals or help them into the tunnels. Worst case scenario you bust a hole in the wall. I'd rather not go so far, but if it needs to..." The redhead nodded.
"Once everyone is out we'll all meet up back in Wuntne. Anyone who wants to join the rebellion can, but if they just want a fresh start on life Kettil will help facilitate that. Jari, one last thing. Make sure you collapse the tunnels once we're finished. I don't want Central to know where we came from." After a few moments of paused, allowing the info to sink in she spoke again. "Any questions?"
Jul 10, 2019
“Not so much a question, but I do have a suggestion, if I may Lila,” Grey began as she stepped closer to her niece. She turned to the people in the room. “While we do have a plan that’s fool-proof, I do think it’s best to have a small back-up plan just in case something goes awry. If someone encounters any problem...any High Central soldier or mage...or anything that sparks danger, I encourage you to send out a distress signal. As soon as anyone sees it, help out the person who needs it.”
Category:BOTGD 2
Category:Act I
Category:Events
Category:Grey Bergman
Category:Darien Whiteland
Category:Lila Ericson
Category:Liam Arnason
Category:Kendra Arnason
Category:The Warden
Category:Ander Haralson
Category:Opie
Category:Deoiridh Tuathanach
Category:Akkey Black
Category:Brandt Felman
Category:Jari Ericson
Category:Tulli
Category:Yun Milae
Category:Dario Hjort