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

cw: more of the same!

[wolof]

[ The display is... truly bloody and if she'd been younger, or more naive, she may have been more stunned by it. As it is, Akua looked at all of it -- the bruiser with those severe cuts to his neck, blood bubbling and spilling, and Ernesto with the stoned foot, and his arm hanging limp at his side, clearly broken, maybe difficult to repair without a true healer. They couldn't do anything about it now, not without getting them free. As soon as Ernesto gets close, her hands spread wide, she sent another array of sparks, creating a wall -- trying to make it difficult to see. They're fire, not Light, but they're still bright, and it's better than an impenetrable wall of darkness that could only be dwarfed by night.

She looked between the two of them, and nodded. ]

Right there --

[ She pointed at the wall, where her steps and layout matched up with the outside, her other hand taut at her side -- the one that still held desiccated scars on her dark skin, practically necrotized. ]

We'll get your arm sent once we're free.

[ She nodded at Ernesto, and then down to his foot. ] Will you be able to move okay?

cw: blood, throat trauma, mental trauma....we're doing great fam

[dragonmount]

[ he's taken a few steps that afford him a clearer view of what's happening in the fight, and that means he does see that gruesome turn of events. the blood, those steps amos takes before collapsing, the tenor of misa's scream: he won't ever forget any of that. a thought that flashes through his mind, here and gone, is that he's not worth this. he's just — not.

but he almost isn't aware of having thought that. because the bigger part of him is having a hard time looking away from the spill of red pouring out of amos, flecking ernesto's front. there's visceral horror, of course, that swells in his throat like it might choke him. but the bigger part of him is standing in a darkened alley, a man falling at his feet, and oh light, there'd been so much blood

misa screams for help, and ernesto shouts, and akua directs him, and the only thing worse than anything that's happened already would be if this was for nothing.

he breathes, sharply, unaware that he'd stopped for a long moment. and then he flings the Power at the wall.

it's unbelievably tempting to blow up the entire wall, the entire prison, especially with the power to do it burning through every fiber of his body. but, he has friends here. but, they still have to protect vaeka. but, they can't afford to make the kenoma want to move her to light knows where. so instead,

he grits his teeth, and a careful section of the wall shakes loose. all that blazing light and reeking darkness swirl around him as he pushes enough stones loose to make a man-sized hole, the rectangular piece of wall suspended in the air as he pulls it inside. ]

I'm right behind you. Go!

[ ernesto's bound to be the slowest with the stone foot, so he shouldn't be covering their escape. akua's a better option, but with amos hurt and misa distracted and rand's intimate understanding of how her petrification works — they're not going to be followed. the jail's large enough that it's possible no one heard her. and he is, after all, holding the wall; and he is, after all, going to put it back once they're all out, all the better to prevent them being followed. if there's any incredible irony in the martyr insisting on being the last outside in his own rescue, well. it doesn't occur to him. ]