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

[superbshot]

[Caitlyn isn't badly hurt, but when Himeka walks over and offers her services, she rises, offering up a weary smile. The battle, such as it was, had taken quite a bit from her. She'd fought as best she could, and she'd had a few cuts for her trouble, along with the bruises.]

...Thank you, Himeka.

[Rolling her arms, she dipper her head.]

Magic like this is common for you, isn't it?

[aquaveiled]

[ Having her magicks at hand again feels good, makes her feel alive almost as much as the battle itself had been--no, definitely more. It's only being without did she realize just how much she's come to rely on them and link their use to her identity.

It's nice not to feel stunted. To be useful.

She smiles and offers a nod to Caitlyn. ]

Mhmm, it is, with some training in the Twelveswood.

[ She moves to stand as well. ]

It can't fix everything, but it works well as first aid. I'm glad that it returned when it did.

[superbshot]

Totally the opposite of where I'm from.

[Closing her eyes in thought for a moment, she goes on.]

Apparently, I have it now. Strangely, it seemed to manifest during the skirmish.

[aquaveiled]

Really?

[ A new ability? Estinien's had returned at much the same time as hers, so Himeka had only assumed what had been previously locked was now unlocked. But to suddenly show signs of being able to manipulate aether...or whatever is is that people did for magicks. ]

What can you do? I'd like to see.

[superbshot]

Alright. No harm in that.

[Caitlyn inhales, holds out her hand, and wills the gun back into being. A faintly glowing rifle appears in her hand, an old style bolt-action affair that catches the light in interesting ways.]

I can, apparently, conjure up a gun.

[aquaveiled]

[ That? That is pretty neat. Himeka pulls back in surprise, eyes widening and her tail pops behind her. ]

...That's amazing!

[ And then her face is all up in it again. ]

One that really works? What powers it?

[superbshot]

It does work, but truth be told, I have no idea what powers it, or how.

[She flips it around, sliding back the bolt to show Himeka the bullet nestled in the chamber.]

It always seems loaded, and...

[The weapon shimmers, becoming a pistol.]

I can change the shape if I want.

[aquaveiled]

[ She tilts her head this way and that as she admire the machination, the sort of thing she would expect to find in the Skysteel Manufactury. But through that, they channeled aether through a cartridge which used it to explode rounds. They didn't conjure it up entirely. ]

You can use Creation Magicks...

[ Himeka says it aloud as it occurs to her. ]

That is immensely powerful, Caitlyn.

[superbshot]

I...uh...

[She flips the weapon over in her hand, sending it away.]

...Is that powerful, or rare? Himeka, I don't know the first thing about magic, you understand. It seems to work like any other gun, no more power than the one I own back on Runeterra.

[aquaveiled]

Where I'm from? It's very rare. At least more than it was some thousands and thousands of years ago when the world was whole.

[ That's definitely a story. But the point being, this is not something people of her time are able to do easily or at all, in most cases. ]

Is Runeterra your star?

[superbshot]

It is, yes. I'm from Piltover, the City of Progress. We...are more technological than magical, I'm afraid.

[It's all crazy for her.]

...what's your home called?

[aquaveiled]

Piltover?

[ No, that's not something she's heard of either. But at this point it's kind of exciting, having been to the edges of the universe now. ]

I've been to a star that was run entirely by robots--or, well, the shard of the star that had been. Does yours have robots?

[ There's likely some in-between there, but she is curious. ]

I'm from Etheirys, but specifically from Sui-no-Sato in the Ruby Sea.

[superbshot]

Robots? Oh, no. We don't have constructs or anything like that, if I take your meaning right. Those exist, but they're more the purview of private inventors than our society.

[She looks at Himeka, curious all of a sudden.]

Are all the people of your world scaled, like you?

[aquaveiled]

[ Himeka nods, putting the picture of Caitlyn's world together a little more easily. So maybe it isn't all that different from her own? The Garlean Empire were the one that employed such things, not other nations. ]

There is a nation on my star that uses machines to take place of magicks. I imagine it must be similar?

[ Wherein that magicks are, of course, the norm.

Then she shakes her head, but she's smiling. Her tail does a little happy swish behind at the question all the same. ]

No. And that's too bad for them, isn't it?

[ She's proud of her scales! ]

But my village was only Au Ra like me, though our neighors were Kojin. There are Hyur all over the star--people who look like you.

[superbshot]

Piltover is probably like that country, then, yes. We use technology to take the place of magic, some of it even emulates magic, and perhaps it is too bad. Scales might be nice.

[Himeka wears them well, in Cait's...relatively inexperienced-with-scaled-folk estimation. The tail swishing is cute, too.]

Au Ra are your people, then, alright. I'll remember that. I'm Human, but we have a few other species around Piltover. Mostly Yordles.

[aquaveiled]

[ Ah, so it is! Himeka nods several times in sequence with budding understanding. It is decidedly familiar than an entire star that is inhabited by robots, even if she's now aware of how that came to be.

The attention brought to her scales does get Himeka to smile wider, her tail doing an even larger swish. She's quite proud of them, thank you. ]

They are very useful.

[ For what? Who knows. She just prefers having them over not, she's decided with no experience otherwise.

(Well...technically one experience. But let's not go into that.) ]

Yes, the Au Ra. "Human" I've heard before, but whta are Yordles?

[superbshot]

Yordles are small, furry little people. Maybe two feet tall, usually a little stocky, with a knack for working with machines.

[She reaches out with her finger and doodles a rough approximation of Professor Heimerdinger.]

This is a Yordle that I know well. He's a professor, and he's absolutely tiny.

[aquaveiled]

[ Himeka watches with visible interest, ever curious and eager to learn new things. She cannot think of any creature that looks quite like that, which only makes a Yordle all the more appealing. ]

A Yorlde Professor...I have to admit that I'm very taken in by his mustache.

[ Actually, they do suddenly strike her as familiar. ]

Ah! Their heads look like an upside down dwarf!

[superbshot]

A dwarf? What's that?

[Explain, Himeka. This is a new word, and she's really hoping to learn more from others. It might be helpful, it might be nothing, but it'll help her feel more comfortable if there's less things out there that she doesn't know.]

[aquaveiled]

Oh, well...a dwarf is a Lalafell that's decided to wear a beard and a hat. They're not allowed to take it off, for some reason.

[ Crystal clear, right? ]

[superbshot]

...A lalafell being another creature from your home?

[As smoky quartz.]

[aquaveiled]

They're another race, yes.

[ "Creature" sounds like the way that Emet-Selch may describe them. ]

Like you and I! Just...smaller.

[superbshot]

Fair enough.

[noted!]

Are there other people from your home here?

[aquaveiled]

[ Himeka nods, smiling. ]

A few, yes. I realize that makes me lucky, doesn't it?

[ Though it pains her to admit to the few on the other side... ]

Estinien Wyrmblood and Cid Garlond are friends of mind. Actually--Cid would probably be very interested in your new ability as well. He's an engineer.

[superbshot]

Yes, I suppose so. I have one friend as well, and...an enemy on the other side.

[Silco was scum, so she didn't really mind him being on the other side.]

I've met Estinien, though. He seems fair-minded. I'll keep an eye out for Cid.