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

[aquaveiled]

Himeka and Abel were ambushed by Ciel and Emet-Selch on the docks in Godsblood at night. The intent was for the docks to be further away from the main thoroughfare of the city, but they are still connected.

The battle that followed included several explosive displays of magic in the air (mostly flashy lights) but also the docks themselves were set on fire during the battle. (Emet-Selch puts these out after so they would have stayed contained to the docks themselves rather than spread to buildings.) The water was also superheated for a minute. Not a lot of battle banter/dialogue to be heard shouting at one another, but Himeka did have something of a visceral scream when she got innocenced.

Figures could have been seen in the sky for a minute or two, one of them with large wings.

[aionpcs]

We did an effective "stealth roll" for this for this on behalf of Emet-Selch and Ciel, which ended up being a 3. Unfortunately, this means that any attempt at doing this discretely completely fails. The explosions draw the attention of the local populace, thinking that it might be gunpowder exploding on a docked vessel.

Citizens are fairly inclined to follow up on it, and so there will be a number of eyes on the proceedings, even if seeing what is actually happening halts any attempts to intervene.

[aquaveiled]

Thanks, mods! Just checking regarding the stealth roll: is this just for if the commotion is being noticed? Specifically we're wondering if the identities of the Aions involved will be clear to any NPCs. (Will they know which Kenoma were involved and will Abel and Himeka's statuses as Aions be revealed to the NPCs?)

Also in regards to locals following up, does that mean following up with other NPCs on what happened? Trying to intersect Aions? I guess we're not entirely sure what this means.

Thank you again!

[aionpcs]

Our apologies for not being more clear!

In the first part, at least a few NPCs will be able to identify notable characteristics of the people following the fight, but not down to the level of being able to recognize their faces. What they've made note of is more in line with unique features that you could pick out from a distance, in dubious lighting. For example, they'd probably pick out things like bright hair colors, Himeka's horns and tail, and Emet-Selch's third eye/shard. It'll be harder for them to pin Ciel and Abel (they'd notice Abel's wings, but since those are a transformation, that might just confuse matters) though they could make guesses.

The major thing that was clearly identifiable was that it was a magical fight between two sides, and that one side loses and is taken away. Any who identify Emet-Selch (given he was part of the envoy) may realize that this was a Pleroma loss.

As for following up, we just meant in terms of "how many of the NPCs near enough to notice were actually inclined to come check things out and see things in more detail." None of them will trust their odds of intervening after seeing what they could do, but some consider this to be valuable information and may pass it on. It won't be to the point that they are recognized city wide, however. It's still information that would have to be sought out, given it wasn't at a busy location, and the number of witnesses are still relatively small. The rumors also have high odds of being distorted with time.

[aquaveiled]

That helps a lot, thank you so much!!