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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 Shops are open, and its people are withdrawn but superficially friendly when meeting strangers.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.
no subject
Figures they would reunite again now, under these less than ideal circumstances.
Ryunosuke can't help himself from doing a quick little double take towards the 'shoelace' in question, but he goes right back to staring and scowling lightly at the other aion after that.
"It's not as if I have anything else to do," he sullenly points out, sighing and giving his whole tail a petulant little thump against the ground. He doesn't really want to antagonize his jailers, but this is also the only form of entertainment that's left to him? So. Sorry bud! He's just gonna keep watching! And observing. And commenting.
...How about that pile of cigarette stubs you've got there?
Ryunosuke tilts his head slightly and squints at them next, scrunching up his nose a bit. Given when and where he's from, he's pretty used to being pretty immersed in someone else's second-hand smoke at any given time, but that doesn't mean he particularly likes to be.
"...Are you even old enough to smoke those?" he asks skeptically, one brow going up.
no subject
"... no." His tone of voice is ironed completely flat. "What, you gonna go tattling to the teacher on me?"
Because Ryunosuke's probably just another (former) student like him, right? With how the guy looks, there's no way he's any older than him; if anything, he wouldn't be that surprised if Ryunosuke is actually younger, maybe not yet out of middle school.
And while he'd originally planned on stopping smoking there -- fuck it, if Ryunosuke's going to waste his breath pointing out how he's technically underaged, he's going to smoke one more out of spite. Gen huffs as he retrieves his (now mostly-empty) pack of cigarettes from his pockets, tapping one out with practiced flair to park between his lips.
"And is that really what you're gonna be wasting your breath on, prisoner?" Instead of trying to dig up information about how to free himself? Gen shrugs, a deliberate show of apathy. "Not that it matters to me if that's how you wanna spend your last moments."
no subject
And he'd sort of gotten the information he'd wanted, at the very least: Confirmation that this guy is younger than 20, which makes him at least, what... Three, four years younger than Ryunosuke himself? Then there's the delinquent behavior, the macho posturing... The signs pointing to 'angry teenager' are really building up here.
Not that any of it really helps him in his current predicament, but. Again, he has nothing better to do, and it certainly can't hurt to learn more about these guys.
"You're... Really convinced they're going to execute me or something, huh," Ryunosuke observes, unsure how seriously he should be taking anything that comes out of this kid's mouth.
no subject
"Maybe. You'll come back, after all." Even if Abel had made a point that returning from 'death' is an unpleasant process, the fact remains that it's possible. "Probably on our side. -- or maybe they'll just force-feed you more of that black shit. Turn you over to this side while you're still alive. You got a preference?"
But it won't take any supernatural ability to see that Gen doesn't seem terribly thrilled by either prospect; nor is he particularly invested in that question. Whether Ryunosuke is converted to a Kenoma or not, regardless of method, isn't really something to do with him unless the responsibility lies upon his shoulders. And while he's not not going to be grieving the loss if Ryunosuke is killed ... he doesn't find any triumph or satisfaction in the prospect, either.
Mostly he's just tired. And it's all too easy for him to fall into his usual bad habits of bullying and provocation; seeking some sort of entertainment to keep himself going.
"You're pretty calm about this all, considering how lame you acted last time. You grow part of a backbone along with those new animal bits?"
no subject
Not that he's entirely unaffected by Gen's continued provocation on the subject; he does look a little bit queasier at the speculation on his specific fate, and he can't keep his eyes from flicking away and back at least once. Naturally his preference is 'neither of those things', but he knows that answer will only get him laughed at.
"...I don't know," he says sullenly at the latter question. "Maybe I did." He certainly hadn't imagined himself capable of going off on Kaeya the way he did, but that sure did happen...
He keeps frowning at Gen a moment longer, the tip of his tail resuming its flicking without his realizing it.
"...What about you, then? You seem... Eeeehhhhhh..."
no subject
"The fuck's that supposed to even mean. You traded in your brains for that backbone? Or are those horns not leaving enough room in your tiny head for proper thoughts."
Insults like these are almost reflex, so the words come easily to him. But his delivery's half-hearted -- Gen's words are muffled around his cigarette as he continues at a listless deadpan, staring into the middle distance. He's obviously exhausted, what with his general dishevelment and the slump of his shoulders, his hair a tangled mess threatening to slip free from the messy ponytail he's been tying it back in.
"I'm just doing my job here."
no subject
It's hard to take insults like this too seriously... Ryunosuke's not particularly sensitive about his appearance, even now, and the more Gen focuses on surface level features like that the less impactful they start to become. Yeah, yeah, he looks like a little freak now, he gets it.
"You just don't seem particularly enthused about your... 'Job'... I suppose is my point," Ryunosuke says musingly. "And I'm not referring to the fact that you have to spend time sitting here with me."
He adds that last bit on quickly, before Gen can use that as a setup for what he expects is the most obvious snarky response.
no subject
"... what did you expect? I was just a highschooler before I ended up here."
Well. That's not entirely true. He was a student, but he knows he wasn't a normal one. Still, his point stands. Gen keeps his gaze trained off at the opposite wall as he continues flatly.
"Even if I was a delinquent, s'not like I usually did much more than get into fights. All this shit here, with magic and the war ... I'm not like some people here, where they used to be soldiers, or mercenaries, or knights, or whatever. Why would I be hyped about this shit? Aren't you the same?"
no subject
"...Yes," he confirms quietly. "Well... S-sort of. I, I've been out of high school a few years now, but the rest..."
He's not a soldier, he's not used to magic, he's not keen on war. He can understand all too well how out of place he must feel.
no subject
"You're out of highschool? And you look like that?"
To his very meager credit, Gen actually does sound genuinely taken aback by that revelation instead of simply insulting Ryunosuke for the sake of it. Because he really is surprised -- and now also a little disappointed that someone he'd thought was close to his age just turns out to be another adult. He huffs a sullen noise as he sinks back into his chair, the wood creaking in complain from his rough movements.
"Get your shit together if you're an adult. You don't act like one."
no subject
Good grief. This guy really is like Gina, in a lot of ways, isn't he? She'd completely mistrusted him at first too, based on his being of adult age. At least she'd been able to tell he wasn't a teenager, though.
Meanwhile, people in their forties continue to call him 'boy' and 'lad' and 'guttersnipe'. He's absolutely cursed by his baby face.
"I am still a student," he blandly points out. "I'd even show you my imperial university badge, if I still had it.... Not that it means much here."
no subject
"Whatever."
He taps the ash off the end of his cigarette before taking another long drag, returning his gaze back towards the far wall. Though he'd glanced back briefly just to confirm that yes, Ryunosuke doesn't look anything like an adult, he otherwise has no interest in looking at their prisoner. Whose fate is unknown, which he'd rather not think about.
"... uni student or not, if you really were just normal, then -- it's just bad luck you're stuck where you are. And it's my job here to make sure you stay there. S'all."
no subject
He completely understands feeling overwhelmed by the circumstances, personally. It never made any sense to him why he of all people would be brought here to Horos, and that sure lends some credit to the argument that winding up here is actually a completely random thing, because surely no higher power would look at a fledgling lawyer like him and think he'd be of any use in a battle for the fate of the cosmos.
....
He doubts this next point will go over well, but he has to say it:
"...It doesn't have to be your job, you know."
Back to staring directly at Gen again, his expression serious. He'll just leave the obvious implication hanging there.
no subject
That obnoxious implication hangs in the air in silence for one, two long moments. Then Gen laughs -- a guttural bark that's far more derision than it is amusement. A laugh out of spite, rather than any genuine pleasure.
"... some adult you are. Or student. 'It doesn't have to be your job,' is it?"
Gen laughs again before abruptly rising to his feet, the movement so abrupt and violent that the chair he'd been sitting on judders, its legs scraping against the floor before it collapses to the floor with a raucous clatter. And close on the tails of that sound, there's the harsh thump of Gen slamming a hand against the pillar that Ryunosuke is tied to; he bears his whole weight into the blow, and it lands hard enough that the pillar shudders the slightest.
"Not all of us are spineless cowards, Ryunosuke-san." That honorific drips with disdain, and Gen's gaze is fixed into a vicious stare as he looms directly over Ryunosuke; the cigarette in his lips threatens to drip ash onto Ryunosuke's head, and he clearly doesn't care. "Dunno what kind of cushy, spoiled position you're from, but I take it seriously when I have an obligation. We can't all just start running when we run into a job we don't wanna do."
no subject
He's not deterred, though, even though he's very conscious of the fact that Gen could make things very painful for him right now if he wanted to. A dubious groan rumbling deep in his throat, Ryunosuke scrunches up and tilts to try and avoid the ash, cautiously craning his neck to frown up at Gen.
"But there's a difference, isn't there?" he counters. "Between running out because you just don't want to do something, and resigning an obligation because you no longer agree with the cause." He continues to stare at Gen, pointedly, fiercely. "The latter takes far more bravery, in my opinion."
no subject
"And what makes you think I 'no longer agree with the cause.'"
Those last few words are said in an obnoxious imitation of Ryunosuke's cadence before Gen breathes the rest of the smoke in his lungs in a streamer right towards Ryunosuke's face. It must sting at the eyes, but he doesn't care.
"Did you think I'm just some poor idiot that got swept into things like you did? I know where I stand. I know where I'm meant to be."
And how he feels about his duties within that capacity are irrelevant.
no subject
Weren't you literally just telling me that you resented getting 'swept up' in all this?
Blinking his streaming eyes, his Insight activates, trying to get a hint by looking at the kid's aura while he's making all these big claims.
Vivid. Vivid red, but at the center the blue is just as strong, just far less plentiful. So what does that mean? On its own, it'd be easy to take it at face value and assume he has conviction in the Kenoma cause, but... Combined with everything else they've discussed...
...Is he perhaps just, extremely determined to convince himself that he believes in it?
"Alright. Fair enough," Ryunosuke says, trying to keep his tone as even as he can manage while he's still coughing slightly. Really sucks to not be able to rub his eyes, too! "If you're really that devoted to the Regent... That's... Great for you, then, I suppose."
Reeeeally hard to make that last bit sound convincing, but he's doing his best.