He was a smoldering mountain of a man, half the size of the vehicle, and obviously trying to keep his emotions in check based upon the intensity of his eyes. His French had a distinct Quebecois accent underneath it - only if you knew. This was not an errant farmer or even a local Bûcheron.
Isabella had been foolish not to have a revolver at the ready from inside the car. And yet, what good would it have done if there had been a full patrol? She had shifted from the driver’s seat on the right side, to the left passenger’s spot - the gear shift positioning allowing the easy movement. The gentleman could see more of the blonde’s attire - herringbone wool hunting trousers and jacket with a white silk scarf peeking out. She cocked her head slightly, especially as he flashed his menacing grin and spoke in English. It was clearly a variation of the resistance code that Aramis was supposed to speak. It was also a challenge.
“I prefer Macdonald Gold Standard to Reemsta.” She responded back in English with the slightest of accents, with a variation of her own referencing the cigarettes that were issued to Canadian soldiers over the German equivalent. “But I have only Gauloises….” The brand often associated with the Resistance. She held his gaze steadily, then winked coyly. “If you wish to kill me over our choice of vices - there are better conversations to be had, sir. I am Isabella….and you are not Aramis. And this is not the best location for those conversations.”
Jean-Jacques heard the woman's clever turns of phrase and felt both unnerved and sheepish. This Isabella indeed seemed to be the ally they'd expected and he felt gauche about his thoughts and behavior. She was clearly of quicker mind than him, and possessed a steely confidence that was unexpected to him and admirable. But he possessed the rogue's wariness of anyone who seemed like they held far more cards than he.
It took him a beat to reply. When he did, he first lowered his head to give her a semblance of a bow in the cramped quarters. "Excusez-moi, madamoiselle," he said, then continuing in English, "But you know we got to take no chance here." His tone was of embarras réprimandé.
He holstered again the Welrod and held a fist upward, clear enough to signal the Captain but not above the roof of the Delahaye which sheltered him from view of the chateau.
While he waited for whomever else would approach, he said, "You got good taste, lady, seems like, eh? Cigarettes are no cause de la bataille but whiskey, now..."
He chuckled. "Jean-Jacques Lupien du Québec, Marine royale," he introduced himself and then continued in a husky whisper. "And, no, we need to find Aramis. Do you know where is the safe house? Bad news if he was one of those taken in that chateau just now, I think, eh?"
Jean-Jacques Lupien Insight + Observation Diff 1, Target 10 Vryx rolled d20,d20 and got 3, 3 Two Successes Two near misses for a crit if "Instincts" is a relevant Focus, but near misses only count with hand grenades in WWII
[OOC: As the group acquaints itself with each other. Each PC/NPC gets to make an Insight + Observation test difficulty 1. As they watch the troops and the town.]
"Enchante, mon ami." Isabella smiled slightly as Jean-Jacques relaxed slightly. "I have not heard word from Aramis. The safe house is in the village nearby. I was supposed to meet him at the inn’s brasserie. How many of you are there? I obviously can only take one. It is only a ten minute drive from here. Though I am surprised the Black Suns have not taken it over and focus on the chateau."
[OOC: Sorry, I got distracted this weekend. Isabella Insight + Observation Lionhawke rolled 1d20,1d20 and got 13, 5. Not sure what that means. I'll focus on story. Thanks.]
As the group continues to observe the troops, they note that there aren't any heavy vehicles, yet the road seems to have seen plenty of traffic of late.
Captain Swan looks about and notes that if he were setting up the troops, he would put snipers up high, probably on a roof or two.
There are no lights in the area. The only light provided by portable standing spot lights.
As they back off of the road they can just make out a farmer out in a field trying to herd some recalcitrant cows back towards his barn.
[OOC: You need not worry about how things will go. Play your characters and I will take care of the rest. ]
Jean-Jacques grunted quietly. Then he said, with some heaviness, "We only got five left. Wait here, please."
He extracted himself from the car window and slipped off into the shadows back to the Captain and the others. As he shrugged back on his pack and grabbed his axe, he reported, "Yeah, that's her. She called Isabella. She say she don't know where Aramis at. He was supposed to meet her and didn't show up. She know where the safehouse is but she didn't go there yet. She said it ten minutes in the petit car."
Jean-Jacques huffed a laugh. "No sir, not even with the contortionist dwarfs I used to work with in the cirque, we get more than one in that car there. But if that's where Aramis be, somebody got to go there, even if it's walking in this rain, no?"
The Captain knew that Aramis as their local resistance contact would have the most up to date intelligence on the Black Sun troops. He would have an idea of where they would be their weakest and strongest. If they could find him, he would be an invaluable resource. He was also supposed to be their boots on the ground support too.
She sat there as the big Québécois headed back to his unit of five. She looked at the car and laughed. It was definitely not a troop car, the bit of vanity she had retained to keep up appearances with the Reich. As the minutes drifted, Isabella checked back on the status of the Black Sun troops taking over the chateau. There was something there that the Nazis wanted. And that meant there was something that she needed to protect.
"Merde." This was taking too long. She reached back into her bag and pulled out a map and a pen. Then, with a look around for any other movements, she grabbed the entire bag and exited the car following back to where she had seen Jean-Jacque disappear. "Venez ici." She whispered at the forest edge.
[OOC: The troops are on the north end of the town, the farm that Aramis is supposed to be at, is at the south end. Burned out Farm is where the resistance is supposed to be.]
Last edited by Pandemonium; Tue 24/10/2303:17 UTC.
Jean-Jacques heard the whispered call from Sven that Isabella had gotten out of the car and was already getting to the forest edge when she herself called out.
"Women, eh?" he muttered to Sven, ignoring the disapproving scowl from the Australian Corporal Sarah Walker. He emerged from the shadows, now wearing a large backpack and carrying a hefty long-hafted logging axe.
He attempted to hustle her under cover and growled, "You gotta stay in that car, lady. Someone drive by, they see an empty car, they start looking around. We don't want that. You Germans... Austrians... whatever. So impatient."
He had a point, as she huddled down, but Isabella didn't like to be manhandled and stiffened a bit before shoving the map at him. "Open it. We are here." She circled the road to the chateau. "And you need to get here." She circled the burned out farm.
"I'll meet you there. That is now the plan." She didn't wait for another answer, before checking her passage back to the car.
[OOC: I was just going to make something up. This is much better. hope that the scene helped.]
Jean-Jacques showed some amusement at the smaller woman's annoyance. After she had marked the map, he raised an eyebrow and commented, "The country roads here must be like Emmental français if it takes ten minutes to drive a kilo, eh?"
But when he looked up, the woman was already gone, stalking back up through the mud in her fine clothes. With a chuckle, he folded the map up into his jacket to go and share it with the Captain.
[OOC: Not far from the Barn on the Northern Road is where the group is located at the moment. They will have to go around the town to avoid patrols, or sneak through if they want to take the straightest and most dangerous route. That is what I meant by they parachute landed on the wrong side of the town. Now you can see it. ]
He looked over the map quickly, picking out the potential routes.
"We will head south along this hedgeline in the field for cover and then through the woods before crossing the road and heading for that burned out farm." he said, folding the map and tucking it away.
She returned to the Delahaye and got back in, starting it up, keeping the lights off until she was headed the opposite direction from the Chateau. Isabella did not like how this mission already seemed on the wrong foot. She cautiously made her way to the rendezvous point at the burned out farm. Pulling the car off into a semi-destroyed carport - it gave some cover.
Exiting the car, Isabella pulled out her messenger bag from the passenger seat, but then went around to the trunk and pulled out a large shotgun and shells arming herself. It would be a few moments before the mission team arrived, but she was curious that none of the Resistance had revealed themselves yet.
[OOC: So they are bypassing the farmer and not asking any questions?
Each player can make a Agility + Stealth for their trek. Also please make an Insight + Observation test. Both are Difficulty 1, so only 1 success is needed. ]
[OOC: Actually, I made an assumption that it was burned out and therefore abandoned - which is why the Resistance would use it. Do you want to write a scene with a farmer ambling up? Or, do you want me to include something?]
((OOC I believe he's talking about the farmer herding cows near the Barn to the northwest. I am not sure what the Captain's orders and the mission are, regarding this. I'd assume we're not supposed to make ourselves known to anyone? But maybe we're supposed to get whatever info we can from the locals, too? Even if one has an exclamation point over his head asking for help gathering cows?))
†Restricted forums can only be accessed by DreamLyrics members of the age of 18 years or older. Access which is granted by the Behind Closed Doors Procedure. ™DreamLyrics Play-by-Post. DreamLyrics Play-by-Post does not own copyright on DreamLyrics texts or graphics, except trademarked DreamLyrics logos and logotypes. The works contained in DreamLyrics are copyrighted (automatically, under the Berne Convention) by the original authors and may be available under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Licence. (See Copyrights for details.) Privacy Policy
I don't know how else we'd be able to tell these krauts apart?]
Thanks.]
![[Linked Image]](https://www.dreamlyrics.com/forums/gallery/757/full/19622.png)
