EVENT #5: SOVEREIGN CITIZENS (VENERA)

[aionmods]

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 Shops are open, and its people are withdrawn but superficially friendly when meeting strangers.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.

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.

Comments

[subsist]

For a moment, Kaeya can only hear the loud thundering of his own heart. It's erratic in the way it beats wildly inside his chest, as if threatening to leap right out because he has no idea if he's going to die right here and now. And while his attempt to rattle Estinien's focus is enough to spare him from a fiery end, he knows that this isn't over. He still has to break free of the dragoon's grasp, and—

Sharp claws descend upon his neck, strangling out any noise that he could ever make. He doesn't have much time to deal with that, because the next thing he knows, Estinien's roar cuts right through to him like a blast he has no way of avoiding. Everything hurts. His mind feels like it's being spliced into two. He feels the coil of Estinien's tail tighten around him, making this much worse than it already is.

There's no escape. Not for him, but he's going to make sure that Estinien has nowhere to go either.

It takes a great deal of effort to hold onto the Pleroma's arm, gripping him tightly with his hands and with every little bit of strength he has left, he begins to freeze them both in place. There's barely any finesse to this attempt given that his emotions are going haywire, so it happens quick and desperately fast. Spikes of bitter cold ice branch out from where he's holding on and spread outwards, gradually increasing in size as it tries to encase the two of them in a wintery prison.

(And if Estinien cares to look, amidst the chaos, there's Kaeya's shard peaking from underneath the eyepatch.)

[coerthantorment]

Estinien only realizes at a delay, as his victory becomes assured, how satisfying this has been. Kaeya is one of them, after all - one of the Kenoma that had dragged him earthward, who had used the fragile peace he'd offered against him. However Kaeya saw it at the time, to Estinien the perception of his slight has been magnified far beyond simply aiding another of his sect in a chance encounter.

Gen had practically said it himself. That he was a threat to them. He'd been taunted. Humiliated.. They'd wanted to take him down all along, hadn't they? To break him, to capture him, to drag him back to their Regent to be flayed of everything that held him together. Is this not justice?

His tail wraps tighter, its spines piercing flesh. His claws bite flesh at Kaeya's throat as he squeezes, rivulets of blood breaking free at each tip. He could, he should end it here, he realizes. He came here for his comrades, after all, and Kaeya could be handled at their leisure if he's captured.

It's that desperate burst of ice that tells Estinien that victory is not yet assured. He feels the cold of it claw at his limbs, threatening to trap him with his opponent. It hurts, but that isn't the primary concern. He will not allow himself to be bound, to be forced into stillness. Not again.

The flash of a shard beneath that eyepatch is all that he needs. He knows that without a shard, an Aion is nothing. If he claims it, every other part of Kaeya will be superfluous.

With a snarl, digs his claws deep into Kaeya's eyesocket, wrenching his shard free.