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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 Shops are open, and its people are withdrawn but superficially friendly when meeting strangers.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.
IV.
He's aware of Cid this evening, of the way Cid's hand longs for his weapon. And honestly? At this point, better Paul than someone else, if he's going to draw that weapon at any time.]
If you have something to say, you're welcome to it.
[It's calm. Even-tempered, as he always is, even if the words are practically a dare.]
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There isn't a single thing about Cid's posture that doesn't scream tension, but to his credit, he doesn't take a step towards Paul, though he does turn to face him.]
I'm not certain there's aught to say.
[Given he'd shouted at the Regent in front of everyone about a version of himself who spent his entire life trying to undo a world-ending cataclysm, of course he would be here, hoping to protect the people of Venera.]
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[It's said in the sort of way that implies he doesn't particularly care if Cid does or doesn't; he's in no way claiming this as a victory, just as something they're doing to make themselves useful to their sect. Nothing more, nothing less.
Is that all this is for him? Possibly. It's hard to say.]
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[Despite the words, the tone makes it sound like it's not supposed to be a dig.]
I left the life bringing death to the masses behind when I defected from Garlemald.
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Why were they doing that? Garlemald.
[It's curious, but not trying to pry; answer or don't, it's not like the world exists anymore anyway.]
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If not fear, then despair.
[He folds his arms across his chest.]
It's always the same. Era after era.
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Resistance is one of those things that's admirable in its own way. I won't deny that much.
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I'm sick of it.
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[He doesn't exactly blame him for that interpretation? It's a valid interpretation.]
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There's someone who means more than anything to me. If he's really gone, if he's really dead, I can't think of anything more disrespectful to his memory than creating some hollow copy of him from my memories.
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[More, definitely.]
I wouldn't want them recreated as you're describing. As some shadow of their former selves, made from something as incomplete as my memories of them. I don't want that for them, and it's not what we're being promised.
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Too many times in the history of my world have people come around thinking they know what's best for everyone else, that they alone have the solution to every problem.
Every single time, it's only made things worse.
Thousands of years ago, when an Empire was in the process of collapsing, one man, Amon, proposed a solution: bring the first Emperor back from the dead to rule over them once more. He succeeded, but the Emperor was a changed man, one preoccupied with death and ending the world. And it seemed Amon had come to believe the Emperor's desire was the correct course of action.
Meanwhile, Amon was given a promise of immortality and knowledge of a previous life he had forgotten. Far from making him see things differently, he realized something else: he had caused the near end of the world. And because it failed the first time, he would do it again, and kill the god created to protect the world to do it.
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You're deciding, just as much as anyone else, that you know what's best for the world, and what's best for the world is everlasting suffering. I can't allow that.
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There are dragons in my world. Dragons who did not originate on the star, but fled from another, with the unhatched eggs Midgardsormr could save. He was the only survivor of his star's destruction at the hands of a completely different race from a completely different star, the Omicron.
Upon realizing there were no longer "worthy" worlds to destroy, the leader of the Omicron destroyed its civilization, with the exception of one sole entity, which strangely enough, found its way to Etheirys.
[.......]
If people are as weak as you think, this world should have succumbed with the countless others. But it hasn't.
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[Again, it's even-tempered to a fault; it's the sort of thing that he probably should be getting at least somewhat emotional about, but he...isn't. Just that same unnatural calm.]
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[The unnatural calm is deeply unsettling, but still Cid is going to try.]
The Ascians committed terrible atrocities, but they did so because they were as desperate to save their world as we were ours. Though their loved ones perished millennia ago, it was still as raw as if it had happened yesterday. Had we failed and they succeeded, it would ultimately have changed very little. Just who became the victors, and whose story continued to be told.
The best we can do is keep pressing forward with hope tomorrow is a better day. Joy cannot exist without sorrow, and to think otherwise is the height of folly.
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[He shrugs. Shifts a bit, though he isn't moving to approach.]
I've seen it in others; I've been there myself. It's a position I wouldn't wish on anyone, and it's one that far too many experience solely so others can have the privilege of hope.
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Joy cannot exist without sorrow. Your "new" reality will be naught but an empty husk whence there was once beauty.
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He just turns to leave.]