EVENT #1: THE EMPTY THRONE (PT 2)

[aionmods]

The Empty Throne Pt 2

ESCAPE

As more and more of the prisoners awaken to the Pleroma's power, it soon becomes clear that conflict is inevitable. Strength that was locked away blossoms once again, and simply waiting is no longer an option; those that remain in the cavern have made their choice, and they will not be kept there so easily.

By means that may not be immediately apparent, the Pleroma have found themselves able to cast a spell that will ensure their freedom... but only if they can last the half hour it may take to complete. Whatever this power, Xishen, the Aion orchestrator of the Kenoma's ritual, seems able to sense it. As it begins, she will appear at each of the Kenoma's sides.

"The Pleroma has taken hold of them," she says. "Stop them now, or when you see them again, it will be as your mortal enemies. If you believe in the Kenoma's promise, take a stand. The Regent is watching."

For those that heed her, it will not be hard to find the congregation of Pleroma, the first seeds of their teleportation magic taking form. What's more, the fires of their hope have been stoked by this new chance at survival, granted them a surge of energy born of the Pleroma, compensating for the poor state of their bodies. The tension comes to a head, between those that would follow the Regent's path towards a better universe, and those that would seize the wild power of the Pleroma to escape.

Whatever violence ensues, eventually it will come to an end. Despite the Kenoma's efforts, the teleportation spell will come to fruition, enveloping the Pleroma in a sea of light and warmth. The Kenoma can only watch as fractals of blinding color whisk the Pleroma away.

VALLEY OF INNOCENCE

You will find yourself at the Shrine of the Innocent, surrounded by a valley of flourishing wildflowers. As you step from the shade of the monument, you will find your arrived here just in time to enjoy a warm spring spring morning, the sound of birds and gentle breezes tickling your ears. The sun slowly drifts past the horizon, its rays reaching out to you, as if in comfort. The air itself is alight with a strange aura of peace, as if committing violence here would be a sacrilege. There are no man made structures as far as your eyes can see.

Flowers of all shapes and sizes can be found here, and so can fresh water and various fruits and berries. All of them are safe to eat, and seemingly grow in abundance. There are animals here as well, all the common types one would expect from a place like Earth, with the occasional odd addition. While you can try to hunt them, you will find yourself unable to follow through on any attempts to hurt the creatures here. In turn, they regard you as familiar, and will fearlessly wander close as they inspect these new arrivals. In the distance, you may even catch sight of what appears to be a unicorn, only for its ephemeral shape to disappear from sight just as quickly.

The Pleroma will find safety and comfort here for a time, before they recover enough to travel onward. At some point during the afternoon of the first day, they may spot the occasional humanoid figure moving in the distance; when attempting to move in their direction, they will find an assortment of clothing set out across the grass as if in offering. It will come in many sizes but in mostly plain colors, fitting a general aesthetic of 'things a fantasy peasant might wear'. There will also be some blankets, wrapped cheese, jams, jerky, and bread left alongside them.

While there are trees and brush enough to find shelter, the Pleroma will find they hardly need to while resting here. The weather will be picturesque, a comfortable temperature even at night, and there will be no disruptive rain or aggressive wind. Of course, nothing lasts forever, and even though there could stay here for days, what if the Regent's forces are on their way? Once again, they must find the strength to carry on.

THE TRIWATER

As the Pleroma vanish, those claimed by the Kenoma are left in the darkness of the throne room. The Hylician soldiers are clearly agitated by the fighting, but Xishen herself seems unflustered. She will only sigh before quietly coming to the aid of any Kenoma that still need it, providing some light healing magics and explaining that their work here is over. With the Pleroma gone, all that's left to do is to return to Achamoth.

Things move quickly from there. The camp grounds are packed up, and soon enough the Kenoma will be ushered towards the river at the edge of the forest, to board a particularly large river vessel. As the Hylician soldiers prepare to go their separate ways, you will be told that you are to take the Triwater river to the capital city of Achamoth, where you will finally meet your new master, the Regent. The vessel is big enough for all of you, and it will set off the moment everyone is boarded. Suddenly, the world of entrapment and ruins you've been living in since your arrival will be left behind, leaving you to ponder the nature of your future.

The boat itself is well equipped and comfortable for what it is. A variety of colorful hammocks are hung in the lower decks and are open to be claimed for the journey back, which will take a day or two. The Kenoma will be offered a change of clothes of a similar style to what they already have if necessary, and there are plenty of blankets and cushions available to make life in the hold more comfortable. There are dice available for games of chance as well as some mystifying decks of cards that seems to have twelve suits with five cards each, themed around the Legacies. The twelfth suit is for the Regent.

Though the sailors controlling the vessel will mostly keep to themselves and leave the Kenoma alone, one of them will occasionally play harp music on the deck. Though they probably don't actually need help running the ship, they will let the Kenoma help them with chores and ship running tasks if they are so inclined; generally speaking, these sailors just seem like normal people, albeit a bit shy of their passengers. If you're polite to them, they may even gives you a river tour of Horos. On this ride alone, you'll get to see several magnificent bridges spanning the Triwater's width. At night, you are treated to a clear spring sky filled with stars.

As you make it closer to Achamoth, you'll notice the landscape shift, becoming mountainous and dotted with more and more military watch posts. The land becomes increasingly lifeless in a way that's hard to put your finger on, nature giving way to man-made creations of impressive architectural prowess. Soon, you will meet the person behind it all.

QUESTIONS

Can my Kenoma character fight against other Kenoma and/or help the Pleroma?
Yes, though if you do this you must describe what your character has done in a reply to the "Committed Actions" top-level below. This way, the mods can be aware of what happened and have your character treated accordingly. They are unlikely to receive immediate consequences if they don't hurt their fellow Kenoma, but their choices will follow them into Achamoth. If a Kenoma vs Kenoma conflict escalates into serious violence (attempted or successful) committed by the Kenoma rebel, Xishen will intervene and consequences will happen immediately which may restrict their actions until the next event post.

Can our characters leave the valley?
They can, yes, but really this event is just meant to cover the day or two they spend recovering before finding a more permanent place to go. You are free to have your character investigate the valley and probe the spaces beyond it, but please save any plans for large scale travel to the next event, which will be happening on April 2nd. The game will move into a 1:1 time ratio as of then.

Can our characters leave the boat?
Technically yes, but any Kenoma who wander too far will get in trouble. You are expected to report to the Regent, and behaving as if you are considering doing otherwise will not make an good impression.

Does the hope-based Pleroma boost last into the valley?
The boost to Pleroma characters will fade shortly after arriving in the valley, like coming down from a high. They'll have to recover the normal way from there.

Comments

[expiera]

The Regent, the ruler of this continent. Supposedly their voice is what we all heard, when the offer was first made to us.

[She explains without missing a beat, aware that she's technically offering information. It's extremely basic stuff any local would know, however, so it shouldn't make any difference to convey that much to those whom the "Pleroma" had taken hold of. That's how Xishen called them, as meaningless as the word otherwise was to Ciel. She's been learning Horos-specific terminology bit by bit though, the past few days spent among the soldiers did yield a good deal of information.

Caitlyn is left to move at her leisure, at least for now. The eyes watching her remain nevertheless sharp and alert, ready to strike at any moment.]

[superbshot]

And you're accepting orders from a ruler you've never met, who set soldiers on you.

[Shifting again, keeping out of easy reach, Caitlyn plants herself firmly now. She's got an angle to retreat now, so for the moment she's occupied an enemy combatant, though the information is appreciated. More puzzle pieces for when all of this is over.]

I ask you again, as I did before, why so eager to find a master?

[expiera]

[Now that they can see each other's faces clearly, maybe Caitlyn will be able to get more in ways of answers from observation rather than Ciel's words alone. These are not the eyes and expression of someone who enjoys cruelty or pointless combat. If anything, the lack of emotion and drive are more telling of other things; devoid of ambition and morality, she appears and acts like that of a mere tin soldier, whose own will may as well not exist next to her master's.

No different from the Hylician soldiers, who only did as they were ordered. What good would it do to hold a grudge? Same as Xishen too, most likely, but being honest about why she doesn't resent them the slightest could potentially give the other woman the wrong idea. So she doesn't talk about it.]

Nothing has changed since, the same for my answer. If you must have a reason to cling onto, simply attribute it to how conflict shall always arise between two opposing sides.

[A dagger is flung with remarkable accuracy as she finishes speaking, aiming to graze the other woman's right shoulder. She's rolled back the whip and 'sheathed' it at her side; this is one opponent she'll not posture toward with that demeaning piece of prop "borrowed" from the soldiers.]

[superbshot]

That makes...

[-No sense she's about to say, when she spots the glint of a knife coming up. Caitlyn is by no means unfamiliar with combat, self-defense, and getting the hell out of the way, and she'd been half expecting the whip. That was something she didn't really have a prepared defense for. A knife, on the other hand, she understands. Twisting as it flies towards her, she evades it narrowly, letting it whiz by her arm.]

...Uncalled for, but fine. If that's how this must be, so be it.

[She's not completely defenseless, even unarmed. She'd palmed a flat rock earlier and had kept it clenched in her fist. Continuing to move, Caitlyn flicks her hand out, throwing it with real precision towards the woman's left knee. Hardly anything serious, but it's meant to off-balance her opponent and give her an opportunity to retreat towards the knife.]

[expiera]

[But life often makes no sense, too. All the injustice, all the cruelties, all the tragedies. People don't necessarily get their just desserts, good people suffer while bad ones walk free. Just see this as an extension of that; it'll make things easier.

It's rhetoric she doesn't get to spew, but the dagger served its purpose. It firmly declared the period for chitchat as over, marking the start to a pointless fight simply because the tyrant's representative willed it so. Besides, she's told the other woman already last time: she's unable to reinvent herself, so all she can do is continue as she's had before.

The rock finds mark. Not at the knee exactly, but slightly above on the thigh. It's hard to tell if any attempt at dodging it was made, the only sign Ciel gives that she's felt it being a slight furrowing of her brows. It doesn't seem to have affected her balance, however, or anything else of significance at all, as she's rushing forth towards Caitlyn the next moment. She may well recover that dagger for herself before Ciel gets too close, however, the other woman clearly doesn't care and is singularly focused on getting in melee range to deliver a punch to her abdomen.]

[superbshot]

[Caitlyn isn't exactly an amateur in hand to hand combat, she's had to fight people hopped up on Shimmer more than once, and her opponent doesn't seem to have that going on at least.. She continues her dive for the weapon, grabbing up the dagger and juking to the side to avoid Ciel's charge. It's another near thing, and she keeps backing up, angling away from the other woman and towards the more open center of the cavern. More angles to avoid, more possibility of backup, and less chance of being cornered and pummeled.]

I won't let you stop this.

[Not allowing herself the luxury of looking back to check on the spell's progress (or what she hopes is progress) she keeps her eyes fixed on her assailant.]