[open] some Kenoma come up to Godsblood the other day...

[baltimores]

WHO: Amos, Gen, Eustace, Childe, any Pleroma
WHAT: Amos wants a gun, Eustace wants to make a portal, and in order to make it happen they go to...
WHERE: Godsblood.
WHEN: Towards the end of Visoseri/start of Soviseri
WARNINGS: None, unless you count bullying of various Pleroma; will add as necessary


The content of this entry is intended to be an OOC explanation of what's going on to keep everyone up to speed; any characters who may be in Godsblood during this time period are free to top level or tag out. This is not an event and simply a unique instance that some characters are kinda sorta technically in enemy territory, which opens itself up to thread opportunities that would not otherwise be possible.

Basically: four Kenoma are journeying up to Godsblood, albeit not all together and through different means.

Amos and Gen will be arriving via a boat directly from Achamoth, and accordingly, will be outed as Kenoma Aions right from the get-go — the populace should know who they are, and word of their arrival would likely get around. Amos is there because he wants to build a higher quality gun than what they have in Achamoth and Godsblood is the place to do it; Gen is there to serve as backup/moral support/because they're friends, okay. Story plotting link here for more details.

Eustace and Childe will be sneaking in via carriage from the Artisan shrine/a portal and will therefore not be known as Kenoma Aions upon entry to Godsblood — unless there are characters there who already know who they are, that is. Eustace is setting up a portal to facilitate travel between Achamoth and Godsblood. This is not public knowledge and non-Kenoma Aions/NPCs are unlikely to know about this. Story plotting link here for more details.

The mods have also provided some guidelines for how interactions could go between characters so that any Pleroma wouldn't necessarily have to out themselves as Aions when it comes to interacting with Amos or Gen, who are publicly declared as such. Highlighting what was said further down in Amos' plotting comment:

It wouldn't be unreasonable for a visiting Aion to be chatting up people within Godsblood so sharing a meal ... wouldn't be a dead give away, but it might tie them to the Aions on the rumor network if they do it in public. Whether they are just strangers Gen and Amos are dining with or whether they are connected to Achamoth won't be clear, but it would definitely have implications ... It's definitely a risk, at any rate.

As for meeting in a busy street or a public park the connection is still possible but a lot less likely, since the odds of them chatting up some rando in the park is a lot more likely than sitting down for dinner with them. It'd also be a lot more obvious if someone was spying on them, unlike a closed environment like a pub or eatery, so that'd probably be the safest option without going somewhere deserted or private.

Comments

[lockedon]

[ The mention of a little flyspeck village earns a small - real - smile out of him. He can't exactly say he relates, having already cemented his own (fake) backstory, but he's a country boy at heart, far more at home among sheep and cows than bustling city streets. ]

Sounds like a peaceful life.

[ There's a hint of longing in his voice as he says that, tempered quickly by a return to more practical curiosity. It's not so strange, to long for a nice idyllic life especially after everything that had happened, but best not too draw too much suspicion towards himself, especially around someone technically qualifying as 'the enemy'. ]

Why'd you leave?

[ The real reason he left is obvious, visibly marked by the white aura that radiates out from around his collarbones. He's not here in this world of his own free choice. But Eustace can't exactly say that without revealing much more than he intends. ]

[dragonmount]

[ rand has no reason to doubt eustace's story. he isn't so perceptive that he can tell the difference, really, between when this so-called veneran is being genuine and when he's speaking half-truths. or full untruths, for that matter. but the ring of sincerity to that answer, to that smile, reverberates in rand regardless. and he responds, some of the affectation in his own expression giving way to genuine sentiment. the longing in his own voice is impossible to miss. ]

It was. More peaceful than you can imagine.

[ a life he never, ever would've left if it'd been up to him. but he blinks back to the conversation at hand at the question about exactly that. he's been answering its like since before horos, with varying levels of honesty. rand al'thor isn't much of a liar, but in this he's at least come some ways since his clumsy half-truths in breen's spring. ]

I wanted to see more of the world. [ he's taken to borrowing egwene's answer, these days. ] I'd never traveled before. I wanted to before settling down for good.

[ he double-checks the map, ushering them to cross a street. ]

Godsblood seemed like as good place as any to start.

[lockedon]

[ It's in these small moments that Eustace curses the ugly war that they've all been drawn into. How many lives had been disrupted because of it? (Of course, he has no reason to know anything that had happened in that little town before Rand had been whisked away, all his assumptions based on what information he's been provided so far.)

As much as he's been trained to do exactly this his whole life - analyze his enemies, sniff out information - he's never enjoyed it, always slightly resentful of his line of work despite the many benefits it had offered him. Working for the Regent is no different, though slightly more tolerable given the amount of space and personal freedom given. But the collar is still there around his neck, invisible but looming, and he knows it'll tighten again before too long.

The answer Rand gives is believeable as any, said smoothly enough that Eustace would have believed it if it hadn't been for the telltale mark of his Pleroma connections. ]

Did your parents complain? You don't seem like the kind of rowdy son they would have wanted to see go. Or are they here with you?

[ Setting out to see the world doesn't seem like the kind of thing to do as part of an extended family vacation, but he could be wrong.

They cross the street, Eustace swerving slightly to the left to dodge a man red-cheeked and drunk, humming off-tune under his breath. (Isn't it too early for this kind of thing...?) ]

[dragonmount]

[ he's gotten this question before.

so it isn't so startling that he slams into the drunk man that eustace sidesteps (light, that he's used to this sort of thing now), even if thoughts of his parents make him swallow. (his parents, not whoever that mysterious aiel woman on the mountain had been.) eleanor had asked him this, not so long ago. he's not sure if it hurts more or less to think about since venera. ]

My mother died when I was a kid. [ as they reach the other side of that street, and continue down a sidewalk. ] And my father had to mind the farm.

[ all true. he shrugs, and says with a sideways glance, ]

But I doubt you've come to the city to hear my life story, either.

[lockedon]

[ He turns automatically when the bodies next to him collide, arms already lifting in the event that Rand goes toppling to the ground. (Despite the fact that they're technically enemies, despite the fact that the sudden motion highlights how his reflexes are a little too smooth for some country bumpkin on vacation from Venera.) But Rand stays upright and even manages to keep sauntering down the road after it happens, answering the question asked without much hesitation.

How much of it is true and how much of it is made up to deflect, Eustace wonders, though based on what he's seen and heard thus far, his eyes and ears on alert for every slight twitch and inflection, this young man doesn't seem like the sort inclined to lie. It's easy to fake words but harder to control the instinctive physical reponse to pain, longing, joy.

The air around him turns melancholy again before he forces an apologetic smile. ]

I guess not. Though I hear you can learn a lot about a place by watching the people who live there.

[ But Rand's right. He's definitely getting a sidetracked from his original mission. ]

I'm not really looking for anything in particular. [ A lie. ] Maybe a few place with nice scenery though. There aren't any mountains or ocean back in Venera. Must be nice to be able to climb up somewhere and see the whole city.

[dragonmount]

[ it is hard to fake emotional responses. and rand has never had any need to be anything short of sincere; it's what makes him such a bad liar. so what he does in horos is tread carefully, answering truthfully whenever possible — half-truths, when he can manage that. what doesn't occur to him is that, effectively, he's using moiraine's style of deception. aes sedai cannot lie, so they've mastered the art of speaking the truth, but only conveying what they want to convey. the truth that a person might think he or she hears from an aes sedai isn't, necessarily, the truth. ]

There are a lot of places with views in the city. They aren't hard to find.

[ godsblood's rocky terrain lends itself well to that, unsurprisingly. they're weaving close to the shrine that eustace had wanted ('wanted'?) to see now; the structure is in view, though they aren't quite there yet.

idly, ]

You're the second person to ask me about views of the city lately.

[ it is, genuinely, a comment made without deception or suspicion. yeah, the last person to ask him was gen, but he'd have to be pretty paranoid to think that any stranger who asks about features of the city is kenoma. ]

[lockedon]

[ Oh?

His ears perk up a little that, tilting slightly forward with interest. Interest and wariness, because though Rand has no reason to suspect that anything might be up, Eustace has always been an overthinker, careful to investigate all traces of anything that might have an impact on whatever mission he might be on at the time. And his trip to Godsblood is still a mission, self-imposed though it might be.

Better to be overly cautious and alive rather than carefree and dead. ]

Another tourist? Were they also from Venera?

[ His voice remains nonchalant, his strides easy as they approach the requested shrine. Looks like their time is coming to a close, and it's best if Eustace lets this young man go his separate way lest he be forced into maintaining this facade for even longer. ]

[dragonmount]

[ he shakes his head. ]

Achamoth.

[ there are people who might wonder about that. who might suggest the city name as an accusation or a trap. but rand isn't one of those people. he glances over with a brief eyebrow raise, something of an i know, right? expression — learned from the people around here, really. fairly standard response, around godsblood, to allusions of people who'd willingly work for the regent. mild, honestly, compared to the acrimony some people are comfortable expressing in this city. even when some of them are still around here, theoretically in earshot.

he doesn't linger on the point. adds, ]

The shrine's up ahead, here. This is the one you wanted to see, right?

[ since rand did....start them off.....going the wrong way ]

[lockedon]

[ His eyes slide over at the mention of Achamoth, but otherwise nothing about his demeanor betrays his overt familiarity with the name. Rather, he nods along, his own widening in mock surprise over this little tidbit of news. Venerans not might harbor the same deep-seated dislike of the Regent as those in Godsblood might, but neither are they wholly supportive either.

But enough about that. It looks like his destination is right up ahead, which means that their time to split apart also draws near. First things first though! He dips his head once as their strides slow, a show of gratitude. ]

It is, thanks. I won't take up more of your time though. I'm sure you have other things to do.

[ And so does he, truthfully, so it's really better that they part ways here. ]

I'm sure I can find someone else to ask about views.

[ Like this mysterious visitor from Achamoth, for example... ]