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 Shops are open, and its people are withdrawn but superficially friendly when meeting strangers.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

[coerthantorment]

[Well... he tried.

He kind of thought she might react like that, as someone who has never really been allowed the luxury of empathy for other people. What good was it if it hadn't saved her from her own plight? He knows the pull, the desire to not be alone in suffering.

He just hated the idea of her thinking that her worldview was one that he shared, in that regard. That thinking of women purely in terms of what they might sexually offer you was somehow natural. It's repulsive.

Inspiring people has never really been within his skillset. He only wants her to know the truth.]

Whether or not you take their heads, I can already tell the Regent's forces will come to fear you. I know I'd hate to be in their position, facing a shot like that.

[warmare]

[She hasn't said it... and maybe Hayame wouldn't ever think to be so open and vulnerable-sounding for no reason beyond verbalizing appreciation, but. Whether he knows it or not... She did not think that Estinien shared that worldview. At least, to the extend she believed a man was capable of.

After all... He had put a knife in her hand as if she were a man, his equal. And rather than demand something from her in exchange for it, as honestly would have been his right, he had offered his service to her instead. She wouldn't be here beside him right now if she considered him to be the sort of two-legged man she was familiar with.

She wishes she took more satisfaction from the idea of the Achamites fearing her. That the bloody head brought her pride. But at least if they did begin to know her, fear her-]

Do you think if we kill enough of them that the Regent himself will appear in person... ? Or at least one of his lieutenants...

[She gives him that, at least, even if she didn't realize. "We".]

[coerthantorment]

[Estinien gives the question serious contemplation. They've still never seen the Regent in person, and with the way they are spoken of with such an air of mystery, he wonders if they ever leave Achamoth. There weren't even there to manage the ritual meant to enslave that first batch of them...

But there's someone who was.]

They do have lieutenants... two, at least. A woman named Xishen, who cast the spell meant to enslave us when we were first captured... and another named Dionys, who seems to... punish Kenoma who stray from the path.

[He only knows that much because of what Howl shared with him. It still makes him uncomfortable to think of it.]

With enough pushing, it would stand to reason that one would emerge. We have not yet been able to test our strength against them.

[warmare]

[Hayame has never seen Achamoth. The idea of her alone, of even everyone counted as a "Pleroma" being enough to invade a city or even make a targeted attack on such a powerful figure in a city they could not easily surveil or understand... It seems almost impossible to her, despite how much she wanted to put an arrow in the Regent's heart, to feel their dark armor crumple beneath her hooves. If she had to... She would even resort to the bestial actions of an Armless, and sink her teeth into their neck to rip out their throat.

But if they cannot easily enter that fortress...]

Perhaps that is what I will do...

[Her jaw tightens, her fingers quiver just slightly as she sheathes the blade on her harness, laying out the cloth from her saddle bag and moving the severed head onto it, beginning to tie it in a way that would enable her to carry the gruesome trophy with her from this place... until she could decide where it would end up.

She thinks of that dream she'd once had, before everything had gone wrong. Or rather, before she'd been forced to admit how wrong everything had always been. Thinks of the heads of criminal exposed along the riverbanks, the signs beside them laying out their crimes for anyone who might think to do the same.]

If I take enough to strike fear into the hearts of the Achamites... Perhaps we will have that chance.

[How many would that be? For the Regent, who treated the citizens of this world as disposable ways to send messages... how many heads would she have to take to make it worth their while?]