Young Writers Society

"I believe it ultimately comes down to whether we want this robbery to be a lot of stealth, a lot of careful planning and the absolute minimum risk or do we risk it all just for the chance at a more daring heist that has the potential to embarrass these sore losers."

Sling(s) drummed his thighs, and began to sway their head for a moment as if hearing foreign music. "The heist will take elements of planning whichever way you slice it. But theft alone may not cut us enough Consensus of respect." It was hard for Sling to sit still ever since becoming in tune with the Region's biome. "Regardless how the crew of you move forward, i plan on abducting a pair of souls and letting the Forest slopes bother their hearts to confession. If any of you are interested, I'll bring an extra one here and ya can pressure them from another angle."

Camilla blinked, squinting at Sling. “English, mushroom man. I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

They turned to Sa. “What do think, love? You know I’ll follow you.”

"I mean you don't want to start an outright war of Mushroom CLOUDS between the King's vassals eh? The King at least will have to be convinced that Strongmeadow cheated. If not, he may disband Vanora altogether if he comes to think they are going rogue. This dilemma seems to require gleams of persuasion as much a show of stealth."

"Now just wait a minute." Pratik stood up, putting his hands up to command attention. "No one said anything about any abductions or anything like that. This is to prove a point, nothing more. We're not going to be allowed to keep it afterward, nor should we ruin a ceremony honoring the king's son if we want him to see our side. This should be embarrassing for Strongmeadow, but ultimately harmless -- I want a "sorry" to be enough if it ticks off the king, I'm not interested in seeing the inside of his dungeons for kidnapping his Knights. That's near an act of war. Probably violates a convention or something. We need to make clear where our boundaries lie 'cause I ain't charging into a heist with people wanting to commit crimes... actual crimes. Not just ha-ha-took-your-trophy crimes."

"I agree with Pratik there," said Sa, smiling at Camilla for a second before turning to Pratik. "We DO NOT want to commit actual crimes. We're not trying to become the ones everyone hates and considers sore losers. We want to prove Strongmeadow are a joke and clearly inferior, and then be able to wink and be like hence proved and back away without so much as a slap on the wrist from the king."

Callista side-eyed the strange knight. “Yeah, I’m not planning to prepare for war as a result of this action,” she said slowly, though she was wondering what is a mushroom cloud supposed to mean? “There’s been plenty of petty rivalries between Vanora and Strongmeadow, but they might have all been fought with wooden swords for all the harm it did.” She lifted her chin slightly. “If we need to abduct one of them to embarrass them, we’ve failed at our goal, which is just putting them right back in their place, no more. It shouldn’t take that much, and I have no interest in getting in that much trouble, or hearing more ideas that will lead me there. So, what else can we do?”

"True Pratik, I forgot we can't drag a royal son into the humiliation. So it sounds like we're going for the vault after all. I can settle to deface a few pictures in the Meadow hall along the way. I'll carry a couple bottles of ink."

"I won't grudge you that." Pratik dipped his head, then glanced around. "... Then it sounds like we're agreed on the level of mischief we want to cause. When shall we strike? It should take about a week to travel to their halls -- perhaps a bit longer if we're to travel unseen and unknown. We need to make sure we are well-prepared for the journey ahead... perhaps we can leave on the morrow? Or the day after?"

"I believe the sooner we leave the better. As much as it'll make the preparations a little tight on time we shouldn't wait much longer."

"Tomorrow it is, then." Pratik dipped his head. "I can make a trip to the village this afternoon to gather supplies, if anyone wants to accompany me?"

Camilla turned to Sa. “You down for joining him?”

"I don't really have anything to be doing this afternoon." Sa smirked. "And getting ready for some sweet sweet revenge is beautiful."

Camilla smirked right back. “Then I say we join. It could be fun. Give us some ideas. A walk is always good for brainstorming.”

"I don't think any of us would miss the fun of shopping, Pratik. Are we going to take a wagon? It could be useful to seek out pry bars, drill bits, cloaks, nets, masks, gloves, maybe even a hound or goat to cause a bit of a spectacle."