EVENT #5: SOVEREIGN CITIZENS (GODSBLOOD)

[aionmods]

Sovereign Citizens

GODSBLOOD

At the height of the Sovereign's moon, Vaeka Lovenskol's execution is announced. Outside of the City Hall, a dignitary of Achamoth is flanked by an entourage of Kenoma, reading the words of Regent from an unfurled letter: Vaeka stands accused to conspiring against the Regent and abetting the fugitive menace known as the Pleroma. Though the details are not made public, rumors spread quickly, some far more wild than the actual truth. The full truth, after all, is something only the Regent's agents and the Pleroma themselves know, and even to them the manner of her exposure is unclear.

Though losing a proud daughter of an influential family, there seems to be little that the people of Godsblood can do besides accept it. After all, they are still a city of the Regent's empire, and for all the freedom they've enjoyed, there are limits. If she was truly aiding the Pleroma, the sworn enemies of the Regent - and in an organized manner, if the rumors are to be believed - can they truly object? Or would challenging the Regent's claim simply invite more death?

As with many things, the families of Godsblood are torn. Tensions are thick for the five days leading up to Vaeka's appointed execution by hanging, with everyone having an opinion and few wanting to go on record talking about it too loudly. As such, the people's frustrations come out in other ways. Bloodites are uncharacteristically unfriendly to strangers in this time, keeping to their own and treating everyone else with overt skepticism.

Those that have arrived as part of the Regent's official envoy, or seen guarding Vaeka, will receive a particularly icy reception. No longer are the Kenoma curious wanderers on personal business. Now, they are here as the hands of the Regent; few of the Godsblood citizens are foolish enough to challenge them outright, but they are ever an honest people.

Early on, the Kenoma and the rest of the Achamite contingent sent with them will be able to take over a jail in downtown Godsblood to hold Vaeka until her execution, clearing out all other Bloodite prisoners and employees in the meantime. This means they have a relatively secure position to guard their prisoner from, which is a good thing; after all, the Regent did outright invite the Pleroma to stop them, and Pleroma are nothing if not stubborn.

EXECUTION DAY

After five agonizing days of waiting and several high visible conflicts between the Pleroma and Kenoma, finally the hour of Vaeka's execution arrives. A gallows is set outside of City Hall, ready to welcome its newest victim, and a massive crowd has gathered in an spirit of anxious anticipation. Some worry that violence may break out in the streets, even without the Pleroma's agitation, but gradually the minutes tick by and the gallows remain empty.

First one minutes passes. Then five. Then fifteen. Slowly, it becomes clear to the people of Godsblood that Vaeka will not be arriving. Are the rumors true? Has she been saved? Have the Pleroma been successful, despite all odds?

As the hours pass and the crowds disperse, Vaeka Lovenskol is not officially reported as either living or dead. Fortunately, Godsblood is a place where information has a way of getting around, whether those in charge like it or not. Some are saying that she was seen being whisked away as if by powerful magic, following a bloody fight at the jail in which she was being held. Where did she go? Maybe her supposed connections to the forest people did her good, some surmise.

The days following Vaeka's failed execution carry a strange and uncertain energy. Where before there was tension and distrust, Godsblood now finds itself in a surreal reality where the Regent's word is apparently not absolute. Then again, do they really want a repeat performance?

QUESTIONS

What is the best way for Aions to travel to Godsblood?
For Pleroma, this is very easy, as they are likely to either already live there or be able to easy take Greentruth's portal. For Kenoma, they may come directly from Achamoth by boat as part of the Regent's envoy or arrive via Eustace's portal which is set up in a shed a fairly long jaunt outside of town. Once there has been some time to get established, Misa will be setting up another portal leading straight to the prison where Vaeka is being stored.

Are the Kenoma permitted by the Regent to kill other Godsblood citizens?
Though the Kenoma are authorized to kill any Bloodites that try to physically fight them, they are expected to keep things clean. The Regent prefers to only punish the guilty, and having the lines be clear will create less of a hassle in the future. Generally, Godsblood is not in a state where physical resistance is likely to happen unprovoked.

Comments

day 3... sometime

[gravings]

[ The day after Rand's capture, he'll hear the door to the prison cells opening. The footsteps that approach are light and careful, doing their utmost not to disturb the fragile silence of the room. When they finally arrive at Rand's cell, he'll find that they belong to a small, thoroughly cloaked girl, probably familiar to him as one of the Kenoma who contributed to putting him in this mess.

When she sees that he's partially petrified, she hesitates, suddenly unsure of what she should do — because the things she's brought along on a tray (a rudimentary sandwich and a cup of tea) have suddenly been rendered problematic. Never mind if he can use his hands; can his body even process food like this?

... Well, in the end it's all magic, so it's probably not worth puzzling over.

More importantly, it seems like Rand is currently in a state of extreme discontent, which she thinks is fair. He would be justified in wanting to kill her. Even so, he needs to eat at some point, and so she sets her tray down and speaks up, her soft voice making its way politely through the room like a cotton ball on a shallow slope. ]

I brought you some food... and tea. It isn't poisoned.

[ Which is just what a liar would say, she supposes, but he'll just have to trust her on this. ]

[dragonmount]

[ curiosity gets the better of him this time.

the footfalls of the people who come this way — to guard him, mostly — usually are louder, heavier. even misa, fairly petite, with her regular visits to keep him helpless...she approaches with more confidence than this. the sense that she has every right to be here. and in some ways, she does, doesn't she. by order of the regent, and that's the only thing that seems to matter to everyone he's seen here.

but gray's approach is different, so he does watch until she comes closer into view, until he recognizes her. the memory of his capture is a little hazy, and is disjointed and frenetic, but he does remember her. sweeping in to fight abel, to give amos the clear chance to knock rand out and bring him here. she's so small, and so diffident, and the tray is so incongruous with every other way he's been treated in here. he can smell the tea, even before she mentions it.

is he worried about poison? not really. there probably isn't much point to poisoning him if they haven't killed him already, if they intend to take him back with them. and he's aware on some level that he hasn't eaten since — he doesn't remember, sometime before the scouting mission gone wrong. but all it takes is a flash through his head of his sword biting into flesh, of amos snapping the blade to pieces in his bare hands, of where he is and where he's going, to rob him of any appetite. and he doesn't want to accept anything from his captors, no matter how politely it's offered.

so, he returns to looking away. just off to the side, to the row of empty cells and the wall where they eventually end; but it is a dismissal of gray. ]

I don't want it.

[gravings]

[ Unexpectedly, she's reminded of Hiccup -- how he tried to offer her food once, but she initially refused it out of distrust. This is a twisted reversal of roles compared to then, wherein Rand is entirely founded in his suspicion, but she was touched by Hiccup's kindness then, and that feeling has stayed with her since.

Rand doesn't want food now, but there's a chance he'll change his mind... so she sets the food down for now, hovering a little awkwardly in place before speaking up. ]

My name is Gray... Could I have yours?

[dragonmount]

[ the silence after she asks that question stretches on.

in fact, rand doesn't immediately make any show of having heard it at all. why should he? nothing good's come of talking to any of them. there is nothing good coming for him, at all. hadn't amos made that clear? he'll be in this cell until he isn't, and when he isn't, that'll be worse. achamoth doesn't sound to him like a city, hasn't since his arrival and moiraine spelled out the kenoma for darkness and torture; achamoth sounds like worse than death.

and for him, it would be.

still, he does stir sooner or later. it's not as if amos and misa don't already know his name; there's no purpose to keeping it from this girl. ]

Rand.

[gravings]

[ Gray waits in the silence uncomfortably, wondering if this was a mistake after all. But remembering again how tough a time she gave Hiccup, she swallows her nervousness and doesn't yet excuse herself, giving Rand more time to think whatever it is he's thinking. She wouldn't be too surprised if he told her to bugger off in the end...

But instead, he actually does give her his name. She perks up, but makes no move to get closer or pretend that this means they're friendly. Though... now what? She didn't really plan that far ahead, other than hoping that he would open up a little. ]

Then... Mr. Rand. Is there anything you need?

[dragonmount]

[ well, that gets him to really look at her, at least. ]

Are you really asking me that?

[ disbelievingly. he is, after all, sitting in a prison cell...while partially petrified...awaiting being dragged back to the regent...after being violently taken by amos...which gray helped with! there are a lot of things he needs right now. ]

[gravings]

[ He does indeed need a lot of things and that's why she's asking?? But she realizes with his scathing look that she perhaps could have worded her question better, and with a meek shrink of her shoulders, she partially hides behind the low dip of her hood. ]

I... um, can only do little things, of course, but...

[ The more she speaks, the more she feels that her question really was a dumb one. But in a valiant attempt to justify it, she offers, ]

I can put you on your side if you're tired of standing. Or I can move you over if you want a different view...?

[ Maybe the sun hits him in the face at certain hours (if he even has a little window) or it's stuffier on certain sides of his cell, who knows. ]

[dragonmount]

[ she has to know as well as he does that what he needs, really needs, is nothing she's going to willingly give him. he needs to be released from petrification. he needs to be let out from this cell before he can be taken to achamoth for light knows what torment. he needs to be seen by a healer, for that matter. so being asked about matters of small, meaningless comforts — tea or snacks or being moved — seem both trivial and insulting. ]

I don't want your pity, either.

[ like, just hurt him if she's going to: that'd be more honest. ]

[gravings]

[ She can't say that his blunt rejection is unwarranted. It cuts, just a little, but she's in no position to cry foul.

She isn't here to pity him, exactly; she's probably here for her own benefit, a blend of curiosity about the person Abel was so prepared to fight for, and whom Gray consequently had to disappoint Abel over. Rand did also happen to kill an Achamite and bloody Amos, so she feels that he is someone who must be or will be significant to the Pleroma, if only for his willingness to bring violence to the cause. ]

I didn't come to give you pity. You did kill someone...

[ So he's earned his way to jail. Those are just the rules in any civilization. ]

But Father Abel seemed concerned about you, so I thought you might not be so bad.

[dragonmount]

[ there's a moment where he's tempted to point out that gray is about to kill someone, by her own actions. vaeka lovenskol is little better than a civilian who disagrees with the regent, and for that gray is taking an active part in her impending death. in whatever torment she might be facing before then. and yet: rand is the one inside these bars, and gray is the one on the outside. despite her youth, despite her diffidence, that doesn't seem wrong to her.

and that tells him everything he needs to know about gray.

but then,

she mentions abel's name and he does swallow, hard. forget what rand is or isn't — he doesn't know anyway, and he couldn't tell her if he wanted to. but he can't stop himself from looking at her now, and asking, ]

Was he hurt?

[gravings]

[ It's his first show of interest in just about anything. It should probably be her cue to use Abel as his weakness... but she's mostly just glad to see that he cares for Abel as much as Abel seemed to care for him. ]

No, he left soon after you were taken.

[ It doesn't even occur to her to keep this information hostage, or to try to play with Rand's mind by feeding him something false. She is not very good at being menacing or manipulating people. In fact, ]

I think he would have liked to rescue you, but the circumstances were too complicated.

[ She tacks that on lest Rand think Abel a coward or uncaring. ]

[dragonmount]

[ he can't sigh, exactly, with the petrification. but he can close his eyes and lean his head back against the wall, face tilted upwards, relief writ plain across his expression. if gray should be more manipulative, then he too should be more worried about such open displays of emotion. but what a horrifying thought that'd been, that he might have gotten abel hurt, or worse. how much harder to take, than his own predicament. ciel will identify later, correctly, how little he cares about his own hurts and how much he feels for other people.

that abel might've willingly left him doesn't even cross his mind, before gray ever clarifies. he wouldn't have cared even if the priest had, truthfully — so much the better if abel had prioritized his own safety. but he knows well enough. of course, he would've tried to help. thank the light that the mess rand made didn't go poorly for him. ]

It's better that he was able to leave.

[gravings]

[ She privately agrees, and decides not to mention that if Abel hadn't made the decision to leave for himself, she would've been the one tasked with doing the hurting. No point in complicating things.

In any case, she feels like this is a good note to leave him on. It wasn't her specific goal to cheer him up, but she feels like it would be a waste to spoil and improved mood. ]

Then... I'll let you alone now.

[ Though she isn't quite sure what to do about this food and drink she brought with her. After a second's thought, she tears off a corner of the sandwich and sticks it in her mouth, and chases it with a sip of the tea. Then she places them both by the bars of the cell, just in case he eventually unpetrifies long enough to reach them later. ]

Um, they really aren't poisoned.

[ Just saying. And with that, if he makes no move (heh) to stop her, she'll scurry off. ]