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

[lachtara]

Seeing such things will blunt the edge of the peril you feel. It will help you endure, but it is not enough.

One needs something to fight for. Something that will steel your resolve through all else.

[ He stops and takes a sip of his drink. ]

So tell me: For what, or whom, do you fight?

[lifespanned]

[ Misa smiles, tilting her head a bit with a light laugh— as though the answer to that question is obvious. It brightens up her tired expression nicely. ]

To make the world a better place, of course! I want to make a world that is kind and just.

[ After the Kenoma's increased influence over her soul, the want is about half her own and half the desire of someone she loves, but in the end, it's the same, right? It's what she's here, fighting for. Risking her life for. ]

There's someone I love, too, that I want to save if our worlds are really gone... someone I'd gladly die for. He means more than the world to me. [ Her smile warms. ] So you don't have to worry about me ever giving up.

[ There's a breezy confidence to the way she speaks— as though these motivations are more than enough to carry her through the conflict, and that they'll never falter. ]

[lachtara]

[ His expression and voice soften in reply. Ah, a motivation he can understand so well. ]

Love is a truly powerful motivator.

Admittedly, I also fight for those that I love. [ He sighs through his nose. ] How I long to see their smile once more and feel their welcoming embrace.

[ The look he gives her is much more amicable than the stuffy teacher's mannerisms that he had back on the training field. He could not help but be woefully sentimental when talking about topics that are so important. ]

Now, tell me of the person you care for?

[lifespanned]

[ Perhaps unsurprisingly, his reaction perks her up quite a bit. As does his request to hear about her beloved. So even someone as powerful and out of reach as Emet-Selch has someone he loves that he's fighting for, huh? She gets the sense it's someone (or several someones) who have been lost, based on his wording, and she understands that feeling of longing, wishing to see someone again just once. Their worlds allegedly being destroyed aside, the newly rekindled grieving of her parents has brought those feelings to light again - knowing that he, too, has a drive similar to her own makes him seem all that more, well, down to Earth, to her, and her very pleased expression shows it. ]

I knew you were a big softie underneath that scary teacher act. [ With a wink and a playful gotcha-esque snap and point, she leans on the table with her elbow to prop her face up. ] You'll see them again when we win. Though I wouldn't say no to hearing about them...

[ And she speaks of the certainty of the Regent's eventual win like it's nothing - just pure fact to her. ]

But if you want to know about my Light, he's my boyfriend! He's smart, cool, handsome... and super serious. They say he's the top student at his university.

[lachtara]

[ The words may not get the reaction she expected. He doesn't scoff or look away, but he meets her gaze with a lazy half-smile. The comment about being a 'softie' is completely forgiven for the accompanying positivity in their success. God, how he could use the positivity sometimes.

But he says nothing and listens to her description. Ah, young 'love'. How it can brighten every facet of the world and be so simultaneously foolish.

He returns to his food while continuing the conversation. ]

Oh? How did the two of you meet?

[lifespanned]

I met him randomly on the street one day. I was out shopping, and I saw him walk by with his friends... it was love at first sight! I just knew I had to talk to him...

[ She says this with exactly zero irony, looking gradually more and more perky the more she is encouraged to talk about her darling, darling boyfriend. From the looks of it, her companion seems to be cheering up a little, too— so maybe she's inadvertently accomplishing what she set out to do? Without even trying? ]

I was able to meet him again a few days later, and I asked him out. The rest is history, hee hee.

[lachtara]

[ Ah, love at first sight; That silly and childish notion. With such optimism and enthusiasm, he could hardly think of anything more fitting. Still, he does not make to damper her spirits.

Though Emet-Selch does give the faintest sound of amusement that she was the one to approach him. ]

How assertive of you. Fortune favors the bold, after all.

[ It almost sounds like a verbal gesture of approval. ]

I assume he treats you well?

[lifespanned]

He does! He said he'd love me forever, so that's all Misa can ask for...

[ ...Does she have any further proof to back this up? Not really, and it seems his words alone had been enough to convince her of the surefire longevity of their relationship. Nonetheless, she's happy just to get his approval re: her methods, slightly far off from the truth as they are. ]

Don't you have a special somebody like that? I never got to play at asking questions about your type at the party.

[ Or, perhaps, those people he'd been speaking of earlier are a different kind of close to him. ]

[lachtara]

[ He snickers a little and rolls his eyes at the very notion. His 'type'? Gods. But the look of exasperation subsides as he considers her question. More precisely, how to answer. ]

I have someone much of the same, yes.

[ Emet-Selch looks at the table in silence. It's almost as though his entire presence begins to warm at the thought of those he cares about, from his posture to the look on his face. Sentimental, nostalgic, something only real love weathered by the ages could provide. There is a time in his youth when he lacked the words to comment on it, but years have given him time to think. ]

Talented, reckless, eloquent, and beautiful - as much of a force of nature as the wind itself.

We promised that when our lives were at an end, we would return to the Star with one another so that we may spend our eternal rest in each other's company.

I cannot bring myself to break that promise.

[lifespanned]

[ Is Emet prepared for the amount of fangirling Misa is about to do over this lovely, heartfelt answer? No, probably not, because her eyes are practically sparkling when he finishes speaking, her body unabashedly leaned closer as if swooning. ]

Oh, I think I had you wrong all along.... you really are a sweetheart....

[ She clasps her hands together, looking truly moved. How could she have guessed that the slightly intimidating, disgruntled magic professor of the Kenoma was this romantic and sentimental? She can see it plainly in the softening of his eyes, but far more in the careful, flowery words he chooses to describe the person he loves most. Maybe they're two peas in a pod. ]

Can't you please show me them? [ Misa is not above begging. She puts on her very best pretty please eyes, phasing her shard through her clothes and into her hand. ] Please? I wanna see this "force of nature" that captured your heart so wholly...

[lachtara]

[ Oh, her interest is very obvious in both tone and posture. But at her question to know more, to see their face, Emet-Selch looks to withdraw. His expression turns rigid, tone changes. Obvious distrust. Trusting anyone here with something so personal and precious goes beyond what he is willing to do. No one hear has earned that trust yet, assuming anyone ever could. ]

My memories are my own.

[ He turns back to what he was eating as if to ignore the shard on offer. After a small amount of debating of whether to drop the subject or not he does surrender a little more. ]

What I may say is that they perished some time before the end of our worlds. Unlike you, I was never bold enough in my misspent youth to make my appreciation known to them.

[ It’s certainly something about her that he will admit to appreciating. At least she would not spend years in contemplation over love lost. ]

I fight so that they live again in a world that deserves them. Somewhere that they may be free, happy, amongst our own people, surrounded by all the wonders of the world. Whether they will ever return that affection..

[ Emet-Selch sighs, sets his fork down forcibly, and leans back in his chair. ]

..Perhaps I’ve said too much.

[lifespanned]

[ Her puppy-dog eyes drop pretty quickly when he refuses, well on her way to pouting before he starts elaborating on his justification for denying - and easily, she slips her shard back into place, keeping her lips pursed. In actuality, it annoys her to be treated with such open distrust when she feels she's done nothing wrong, though she's smart enough not to speak that into plain words.

Besides, if what he says is true, then the Kenoma overtaking the Pleroma is the only way he can bring that person back, right? It makes sense that he'd be so gravely serious about it. Still, she can't help but feel like there was no way for her to know that's what was laying beneath his initial description. ]

I was only asking because you seemed so serious about it. I would've shown you Light...

[ She mumbles under her breath. ]

Do you want me to forget what you said, then? It's not like I'm gonna tell anyone, dummy. Besides, I don't think you have anything to worry about...

[ About that person returning his affections. Who wouldn't, after going to the ends of the earth like this, as he is for them? Misa's always believed that if she tried hard enough, if she did enough, then Light would eventually come to love her back. The same must be true for Emet and his sweetheart. But she doesn't look at him when she speaks, instead pinning her gaze listlessly on her plate while she messes around with the food there with a fork held much too loosely, digging her heel of her palm into her cheek in a show of lessened enthusiasm. ]

[lachtara]

You may do as you will.

[ She's obviously deflated by his refusal. Even with her expression and insistence, this is not something he could share. What he shared could potentially be reshared with no adverse consequences. Trusting people to keep 'secrets' beyond that is not a risk he's willing to take, and thus had he reached the limit of what he could reasonably provide.

And quick as it had shown itself, the earnest sentimentality vanishes again in favor of the grouchy aloofness that he usually shows. ]

Training and skills can be learned. However, I cannot teach you to have motivation. As long as you stay true to what - or whom - you desire most, then the rest will come in due time.

[lifespanned]

It's a good thing I don't need to be taught then.

[ She gets what he's saying— that so long as her conviction is steadfast, becoming stronger would only propel her further down this past. If she had to guess, it's the Kenoma's conviction that will have the most to do with their success or failure. That's how it'd seemed in the cavern, at least, and the way that the Regent has embraced those with strong wills rather than raw power. Misa gives a sigh, leaning back in her chair and going as far as to tip her head back over the chair's backing, letting her hair hang loosely back - as if she's stretching. ]

It's like I said. Nothing could change my mind.... I'm never giving up on the Kenoma.

[ Big words, perhaps, but she seems effortlessly confident of the fact, as if it's not a question to her. ]

I don't think that's true for everybody on our side, though. Not everyone has something they're fighting for like you and I.

[lachtara]

You have the right of it. Tasks like the one we have been given will push their mettle. I imagine that many will not be able to summon the wherewithal to persevere.

[ Not everyone has a strong motivation. Not that he had garnered everyone's complete motives yet, but he's heard enough to know that many won't endure. An assumption supported by the preliminary reports out of Venera.

Emet-Selch looks up at Misa and gives her a small smile. ]

But you'll keep a keen eye on them in case they falter, won't you?

[ Is that a joke, given her abilities? Perhaps... ]

[lifespanned]

[ As quickly as her mood had dipped, it raises a bit when he decides to joke a little with her, since she takes it as a sign he's not like... Actually mad or irritated with her. So, maybe he's just really sensitive about his past? ]

Sure thing. [ She gives him a little 'OK' sign with her fingers, raising her head back up from where she'd been leaning it back. ] I'm not letting anyone get in the way of me and Light. That means the Kenoma, too.

[ Which means she's intends to keep her allies on a short leash, and doesn't mean to fraternize with those that won't take this as seriously as she does.. ]

Though I'm pretty sure "those people" are gonna make it obvious on their own really soon. Everyone here in Godsblood seems to have their head screwed on right though, huh? I'm not worried about anyone here.

[lachtara]

Indeed.

[ He gives her a small smile of reassurance. Ah, naivety. She could be unbothered about their "loyalties" here, but he had experienced too much betrayal for that not to be of constant concern.

He says nothing more on the matter and resumes eating his food in peace. ]