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Entry tags:
- !event,
- #innocence,
- archduke j: visionary,
- barnaby brooks jr: lover,
- estinien wyrmblood: firebrand,
- eustace: firebrand,
- father paul hill: martyr,
- kaeya alberich: lover,
- kim dokja: martyr,
- kim kitsuragi: martyr,
- liem talbott: champion,
- majorita: firebrand,
- makoto ("m"): firebrand,
- meteion: innocent,
- ryunosuke naruhodo: champion,
- tartaglia (childe): firebrand,
- yuya sakaki: lover
EVENT #5: SOVEREIGN CITIZENS (VENERA)
Sovereign Citizens
VENERA
In contrast the Aion's last visit, they now arrive in Venera on a completely average day... or so it seems. Unlike Godsblood, Venera has been given no warning as to what's about to befall it; the Kenoma are simply authorized to arrive and begin their bloody work without fanfare. Even their entourage of Achamite soldier don't stick out that much; in the time since the plague left, the city has refilled with occupying forces. Notably, the Hylician ones seem to be keeping out of the way, almost as if they've heard some things and would rather not be involved too closely in what's to come.As opposed to the ghost town it was during the plague, Venera is now reasonably active, with most attending to their usual business. Shops are open, and its people are withdrawn but superficially friendly when meeting strangers. Initially, the targets of the Kenoma hit list will have no way of knowing what's coming for them, but after the first couple attacks word will begin to spread. Those that have recently been engaging in seditious behavior will become harder to find, leaving their usual homes and workplaces to stay elsewhere, and making other attempts to escape the Regent's attention.
Once those alerts have been raised, the Kenoma will have to engage in more detective work to find their targets, questioning other Venerans and seeking out fugitives in the homes of their family and friends. In the meantime, some of those who believe they are in danger may become desperately enough to seek out the Pleroma directly, imploring them for aid. Unfortunately, seeking out one sect may just as easily draw the attention of the other. Most uninvolved Venerans will be too terrified to intervene one way or another, reluctant to aid in the persecution of their neighbors but fearful of consequences. If your Aion travels openly, it will take some effort to pin them down long enough to hold a conversation.
SEEDS OF DESPAIR
Several days into the culling of Venera, the Aions will have witnessed the city gradually withdraw into itself. The streets become vacant as more and more people decide it isn't worth the risk to be seen outside, abandoning work and play alike to hide out in their homes, refusing to answer their doors to all except the most desperate pleading. Those that can't avoid their daily obligations are quiet and morose, trying their best to remain unseen and unremarked upon.
If your character has been observed as a Kenoma, either now or in their previous visits to the city, the citizens will look upon them as if they are the messengers of death. If you are seen as a Pleroma, they will resist your gaze, as if fearing your presence alone might leave them marked. In rarer cases, you will see those with stronger spirits, with glares of hatred or determination. They are powerless now, but seeds have been sewn, and whether they are the seeds of despair or of action are yet unclear.
By the time the Kenoma's hit list has been fully addressed, several have been killed and several more have been rushed from their homes to flee the city entirely. There have been holes left in the tapestry of the community they were once part of. One way or another, their absence will be felt keenly by those they left behind.
If your character has been observed as a Kenoma, either now or in their previous visits to the city, the citizens will look upon them as if they are the messengers of death. If you are seen as a Pleroma, they will resist your gaze, as if fearing your presence alone might leave them marked. In rarer cases, you will see those with stronger spirits, with glares of hatred or determination. They are powerless now, but seeds have been sewn, and whether they are the seeds of despair or of action are yet unclear.
By the time the Kenoma's hit list has been fully addressed, several have been killed and several more have been rushed from their homes to flee the city entirely. There have been holes left in the tapestry of the community they were once part of. One way or another, their absence will be felt keenly by those they left behind.
QUESTIONS
What is the best way for Aions to travel to Venera?
Estinien has plans to get an early start for the Pleroma by teleporting to the Lover's shrine and flying somewhere closer to set up a portal from the ocean caves near the Godsblood Lodestone to a spot of farmland closer to Venera. Paul will be setting up a portal directly from Achamoth to one of the Achamite outposts in Venera.
How much force can the Kenoma use while interrogating Venerans?
While they are generally not permitted to kill Venerans who haven't tried to physically fight them, they will be permitted to apply both physical and mental pressure upon those that refuse to provide them with information regarding the whereabouts of their targets. This duress should be proportional to the resistance the Veneran is offering. The Regent is not inviting them to terrorize Venera on a level to a level they cannot reasonably blaim themselves for.
Estinien has plans to get an early start for the Pleroma by teleporting to the Lover's shrine and flying somewhere closer to set up a portal from the ocean caves near the Godsblood Lodestone to a spot of farmland closer to Venera. Paul will be setting up a portal directly from Achamoth to one of the Achamite outposts in Venera.
How much force can the Kenoma use while interrogating Venerans?
While they are generally not permitted to kill Venerans who haven't tried to physically fight them, they will be permitted to apply both physical and mental pressure upon those that refuse to provide them with information regarding the whereabouts of their targets. This duress should be proportional to the resistance the Veneran is offering. The Regent is not inviting them to terrorize Venera on a level to a level they cannot reasonably blaim themselves for.
Kim Kitsuragi | Pleroma | Martyr
[The ship from Godsblood wouldn't remain in the port for long. Even for an unremarkable trade freighter, it would start to raise suspicion if the crew didn't act with enough urgency to get their return shipment back home.
Kim worked alongside them to unload their cargo, and shuffled off to the tavern with them at nightfall. Instead of retiring with a tankard of ale, however, he slips out the back entrance and into the darkness of Venera's alleys.
They're much easier to navigate without vestigial wing bones poking out of his back and feathers fluttering at his wrists. He also left his more conspicuous tweed jacket at home in favor of a long, black coat that all but swallows him whole. The collar obscures his face, and the train of it behind him muffles his footsteps, which he keeps light against the cobblestones on his way to rendezvous with the other Pleroma who'd taken up the call to organize a rescue operation.
He sticks to smaller streets and alleys, slipping into shadow at any sign of guards on the prowl. Once he reaches the appointed meeting place, he doesn't emerge immediately, and instead lets out his signal-- a low whistle the untrained ear would mistake for the call of an owl.]
II. Extraction (final day)
[Compartmentalization is a skill that Kim has always taken pride in, for better or worse. In his line of work, allowing every little atrocity Revachol had to offer to crawl under his skin would only make it harder to get out of bed every morning.
However, when he looks out of the window from the safe house he and the Pleroma had acquired, the sight of barren streets makes the locks on the firmly shut filing cabinet of his mind rattle. The events of the week press down on him like stones at his back, and for a moment, he's rooted to the spot, imagining what eerie calm his parents may have seen before conflict knocked on their door with the butt of a rifle.
A ripple of Communion drags Kim into the present, and he slams those open drawers shut. There were people here with a boat waiting for them.]
((if you're looking for a more specific starter, hit up my plotting comments or the contacts within!))
II
…
[ although he doesn’t say anything, through communion or gestures or otherwise, the way he silently comes over to stand just slightly behind and to the side of kim suggests a form of concern. the air, perhaps the mental landscape, is odd. ]
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We need to get everyone moving. The ship weighs anchor in just over an hour.
[Whatever's happened, he will get the people they did manage to save out of this. Even thinking of failure isn't an option.]
Are you ready?
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…
[ rather than nodding, dextera continues to look at kim, as if gauging where his companions all stand on what’s happened. kim just happens to be the one who’s currently here. ]
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I'm alright.
[They could all save their worrying for when this was done.
The rescue team had split into several smaller groups to remain inconspicuous, and Kim checks on the survivors in his and Dextera's care before they make their way out the back door. Kim charted an escape route to the docks that kept them in cover as much as possible, but they needed to be quick.]
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for the moment, though, he complies with getting people to safety. no one will feel better if they lose any of the people they’ve saved. ]
…
[ he pulls his hood forward over his features, quietly following kim’s lead while never actually taking his eyes off the man’s back. ]
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Some stubborn merchants remain out in street markets, providing some cover on their way to the harbor, but just as the smell of salt starts to tinge the air, they pick up a guard on their tail. Kim pretends not to notice, but beneath his coat, presses his hand to his shard and sends a note of alarm to Dextera bringing up the rear.]
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he’ll fight if he needs to, or use all the little traps he kept on hand for this exact purpose, but if they can just throw the guard off their trail… ]
…
[ their shards tucked away, they can only communicate in vague forms, but dextera responds to kim’s warning with acknowledgment and a questioning restlessness—he’ll act if he needs to. ]
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The smartest thing to do would be take who they managed to get and run. Instead, Kim, still bundled up to obscure his features, falls back. Only once the guard grabs for the wrist of one of the refugees does he move in, wrenching the guard's hand away with surprising strength. He looks up at his charges.]
Follow the others. Go.
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dextera can’t hang back to protect kim, as much as he would like to. there would be no point in abandoning the people they managed to save, but dextera knows he only needs to escort them as far as the docks before he comes back to make sure kim is all right. that’s the least he can do—and unfortunately, given circumstances, it’s also the most. ]
…
[ with a harsh exhale from his nose, dextera reluctantly separates from kim to ensure that all the people they’ve brought this far are able to move on unharmed. some of them may be fighters in their own right, but none of them are aions, and those powers do make a difference against regular guards. ]
I hope you don't mind a wildcard?
He is quickly finding that being constantly on the edge like this is, in fact, exhausting. He's had a long day of sneaking about and eavesdropping on the guards, and there isn't much time for rest... Yet rest is necessary all the same.
He needs to take a breather somewhere secure and out of sight, and the safehouse is obviously the best place for it. It's probably mere coincidence that he happens to return while Kim is there, but it's not an unwelcome one. Ryunosuke offers a short greeting as he walks in and takes a seat on one of the beaten old armchairs present in the musty basement entrance room, sinking down with a groan.]
totally fine!
That doesn't make finding the Regent's targets any easier, though-- most of them were already making themselves scarce in a city he didn't have as firm of a foothold on as he does of Godsblood.
He and the other Pleroma had at least secured a safehouse in the seedier part of town, enough so that his hackles raise when the door opens. At the sight of Ryu, he relaxes and goes back to his notebook, going over the street maps he's been sketching out, along with information gathered on Venera's resistance. He doesn't look up when Ryu makes noise, but he does offer a sympathetic grunt in return.]
No luck?
I swear I'm trying to hit a faster turnaround on these too...
None whatsoever, I'm afraid. And it's so nerve wracking... I'm always worried my glamor is going to fail me at a moment when a guard might be looking. I don't think any of them know what I look like, but still...
[He shudders at the thought. If the guards ever come down on him, his only hope will be to run; he couldn't possibly try to fight them. Even though he's been throwing himself at his training, the idea of getting into real combat is... Harrowing, to say the least.]
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Kim finally looks up at Ryunosuke, thoughtful. This was the boy who'd commiserated with him on coming from a world without magic. He'd been making his way without the glamors, and while his disguises are far from impenetrable, they don't fail on him when he gets tired or anxious.]
Do you have anything more... practical? [In the strictest sense of the word-- something that wouldn't quit on him like a poor quality painkiller.]
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Um... I, I'm not sure... [He rubs the back of his neck awkwardly.] This sort of thing is rather far outside my usual realm of experience, if I'm being perfectly honest. I try to at least dress inconspicuously, but... Sometimes, I swear, it's as if... The harder you try to blend in, the more you actually stick out!
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[Kim nods to Ryu's stressed posture.]
People notice behavior that doesn't fit in, as well. Thinking too much about it chips away at any confidence you have towards pulling it off. [He raises a brow.] Who's noticed you?
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[He huffs out a little sigh, shaking his head. He'd gladly take a hundred days in court against the Reaper over this.]
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[He looks younger than most of the ones Kim has met, but he chalks it up to the typical cultural difference-- slogging through the Revacholian legal system ages law school hopefuls almost as quickly as the RCM's junior officer program.
Either way, not really suited for field work. However, now wasn't the time to get choosy.]
You could pretend you are in court.
[The look on his face makes it completely inscrutable whether he's joking or not.]
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That... Might actually work...?
[Probably worth a shot, at least?]
Ah, but... Yes, I'm a defense attorney. Or... Er. Was a defense attorney, I suppose...