aionlogs | EVENT #5: SOVEREIGN CITIZENS (VENERA)

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 Shops are open, and its people are withdrawn but superficially friendly when meeting strangers.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

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.

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[Basil scrambles within the bubble, completely out of his depth in this situation. Where does one even begin, fighting against magic like this? What paltry few spells he'd learned are nothing in comparison...

As his fate sinks in, though, that helplessness shifts to anger. A teenager dreaming of rebellion can't help but spit some venom at the face of oppression he had wanted to take action against.]

You... You won't stop the movement, you bastards! Eat my shit!

[Unseen, a scaled creature is drawn to the sound of Basil's upset, creeping across rooftops until he can see the glow of the prison Matt's created. Slowly, his wings begin to unfurl.

Before Matt can enjoy his victory, Estinien strikes. He leaps down from his perch, aiming to crush Matt beneath his clawed feet.]

[ Matt skitters to a stop before the gilded cage, breathing hard. That sense of rightness tingles electrically over his skin.

He can't help a twitch of a smile at Basil's outburst, though he immediately feels guilty for it. Should he really approve of anything this kid has to say? Defiance is life in the face of overwhelming odds, an assertion of I am--what is that, if not the Pleroma's malignant multiplication?

Matt's not about to resolve that question anytime soon. He casts one breathless smile over his shoulder at Paul, an unmistakable I told you so--

And next thing he knows, he's on the ground, borne down by a sudden rush of claws and weight. Matt makes an undignified sound, something that comes close to a yowl, as his stump hits the ground and brings with it a lightning bolt of pain.

The shield spell remains up and active, but Matt's not really thinking about that right now. ]

[Okay. Somewhere in the time it takes him to register exactly what he was hit with earlier (doused in paint like he wore fur to a PETA convention) and the notion that Matt has actually done what he was sent out to do, that is when the massive bundle of What The Actual Goddamn Fuck that is Estinien decides to join them. Which is...great, really, and also ensuring that he can't get too close to Matt because then they're both going to be dealing with that.

But you know what, fuck it, perhaps he's here to deal with this today. Perhaps he's dealing with some sort of weird primal adrenaline rush, perhaps it's the knowledge that the Angel's blessing burns hot through his veins; either way, when he approaches he's got blades drawn - long ceremonial knives from the church, blessed in the blood of his followers and normally kept concealed under the darkness of his robes.

You're getting slashed at pretty hard on the approach, Estinien, nowhere vital and certainly in such a way that it's fairly obvious that while this person does have some idea of how to kill a person, it's not exactly in combat situations. He's used to the ritual kills, the sacrifices that happen inside Achamoth's churches; he's still not a combatant, but then he's done dumber things in his life. He's hard-pressed to think of them now, but he's sure they exist; right now he's focusing on getting Estinien off of Matt more than anything.

After all, what is he going to do, kill him?]

[Matt goes down in a pile immediately, and Estinien is fairly certain that he's come across one of the Kenoma's noncombatants. In other circumstances, he might feel somewhat bad for engaging so viciously, but not when the life of a young man is on the line, and not when there's a chance that he could take their shard and remove them as a threat indefinitely.

This means that his next move is to draw his lance, lifting it above him with the full intent to deliver a killing blow on Matt right then and there. It's a small mercy that Paul arrives on the scene: that killing blow is diverted towards blocking those knives, metal clashing against metal as he expertly deflects each strike. His mastery is still in melee comment, his new bestial accouterments aside.

In the meantime, his long spiked tail attempts to worm its way around Matt, preventing him from fleeing as his claw talons dig into flesh. He snarls.]

Preying on children? A new low for your kind.

Edited 2022-07-27 23:50 (UTC)

[ Matt's hurting too much to process what's happening very well. He perceives it in flashes: the glint of Paul's knives, the clangor of metal meeting metal, the lash of a spiked tail. By the time the pain in Matt's wrist has dulled from a scream to a bright throb, he realizes things have gotten extremely bad extremely fast. His life starts to narrow before his eyes, a blood-red pinprick closing over him like a lake's vanishing surface. ]

Fuck--

Don't hurt him. [ The latter comes out on a croak. Matt sucks in a breath, the hurt jangling all the way down through his missing fingers.

And then, like every other time he's felt his life to be in danger, his survival urges coalesce, all soothe and stop. Something sings in him, the way it did when he was trying to jolt Childe out of the Innocence's grip. Instead of trying to writhe away from Estinien's tail, Matt flails his good hand out to try and grab it, praying: please stop, stop, stop him. Like he did with Childe, Matt lets the dark energy flow through him. Its facets flicker like a gem: vitality withering to exhaustion, certainty giving way to fear, affection weakening the knees and staying the hands. Matt pours the entropic urges into Estinien. ]

[Earlier on in all of this, Matt's cries for mercy might have given him pause. Not now, though, not when he's seen what the Kenoma are willing to do in return. The only mercy they need, he thinks, is that of a swift dissipation - something he'll be happy to give, he decides.

He can tell from Paul's movements that he has only a base-level familiarity with those weapons, and with Matt already on the ground, practically defeated, there is little standing in his way. He'll claim both their shards: due punishment for the evil they were about to commit.

He unleashes a series of brutal lance slashes at Paul, aiming to break through the defense those blades offer with sheer physical force. With the hope that Paul will be left reeling, he returns his attention to putting Matt out of his misery...

...Only for that touch against his tail to send his instincts into red alert. It's the sort of fear reaction that comes from someone accustomed to mastering such things - not a wild panic, but instead a gut instinct that he is inclined to follow through on. He feels very strongly, in that moment, that someone is about to be unleashed upon him, something he's not expecting.

He'll not be caught vulnerable by the Kenoma again.

He abruptly pulls back, stepping off of Matt and backing towards the bubble containing Basil. No... No, something bad is happening, and his focus needs to be on protecting the boy. That's more important than anything else. He braces his spear in a defensive position and growls:]

Run.

[It's partly showmanship, the defensive posturing of a spooked beast. However, that doesn't mean he lacks the bite to follow up on it. A bolt of fiery heat rises from his lungs and up his neck, flames lighting at his lip. With a truncated roar, he spits a concussive fireball in their direction, set to explode with a radius that will be hard to avoid in such confined quarters.]

[So, the sole problem with any of this is that literally none of it has been communicated to Paul; his defense breaks to an extent that the lance manages to hit him, not hard enough or anywhere vital enough to kill but enough to get him to jerk back, and he can feel the regeneration starting to take place - even if it wasn't he'd still be doing what he does now, and that's preparing for another go at Estinien when...

...Well, when all of that happens.

He has no idea what went wrong in Estinien's head but it's very obvious that something has, and as soon as he's gotten off of Matt, Paul's grabbed his arm and is pulling him up to his feet with little care for any protests Matt may have at that.]

Drop the kid and go. It'll be fine.

[He's not going to linger long; he just figures that he has a better chance of not fucking dying to whatever Estinien may throw at them in the interim. The fireball is nasty and he doesn't like the idea of taking it any more than anyone else does, so he'd really quite prefer it if we fucking go, now.]

[ Lucky for Matt that Paul grabs him; he catches some of that fireball, but nowhere near what he would've gotten without the intervention. Matt gasps as the blast knocks him back, as flames lick at his clothes and his shoes. He bats at himself as best he can while stumbling after Paul. ]

It's not, [ he croaks, which is the closest he can come right now to saying that spell will wear off on its own after a few minutes, or faster if that guy hits it enough. For now, he'll focus on running, which is hard when everything hurts, emphasis on his stump.

In theory, he could power up an invisibility spell to shield them. But all he has the energy for right now is for the thought to flicker in his mind. If he's backed into another intractable corner and has to pull some dark miracle out of a hat, maybe he will. But his energy now seems best spent on fleeing. ]

[Normally, Estinien would be inclined to keep pursuing them, to try to take the opportunity to tear them apart and imprison their shards... as is it is, though, that burst of paranoid fear has him settling for protecting Basil. He keeps backing towards the bubble, his eyes set on the fleeing Kenoma, until he feels himself bump up against it.

He glances back to find Basil staring at him, boggling.

Any lingering thoughts of pursuing Matt and Paul go out the window. Instead, he waits for them to disappear from sight. He thinks about spitting another fireball, but decides that, in the end, he'd rather not take another chance on starting a house fire. He turns to Matt's spell sphere, digging in his claws and channeling the destructive energy of the Ala Morn. It bursts within his hands, leaving Basil to slump onto the pavement.

The boy is completely in awe as Esitnien sheathes his lance, stepping forward to reach out a clawed hand to help him up.]

Come. I am of the Pleroma. We will bring you to safety.

[Not long after, Estinien will take to the air with a very confused teenager in his arms.]

[Once Estinien has gone and they're a decent enough distance away, Paul reaches out for Matt; he manages to grab him, to drag him back to a stop - something that's alarmingly easy for him, far easier than it should look, but it is what it is and the Angel's blessings are many. But for now, it's a matter of stopping, of not being aimless, of assessing injuries and working out what's going on here for now.]

We should be fine here for now. Let me see what he managed to do to you.

[ Matt's not exactly difficult to drag around, as a rule. He's a weedy dude, and he has an intuitive sense for bodies and how they move. But when Paul tugs at him, it feels effortless to follow, like Matt's feet are barely touching the ground. Paul comes to a stop, and Matt stops too before he realizes.

He's thoroughly preoccupied with whatever he just did to Estinien--the same thing he did to Childe in Venera--when Paul's voice penetrates his mental fog. ]

Oh, uh--yeah.

[ Matt's stump has started bleeding again, scraped up from Estinien tackling him to the ground. The Pleroma's reptilian claws and spiked tail have done some damage to his side, ripping his shirt and leaving red slashes across his stomach. And his left leg is noticeably singed. Still, adrenaline is keeping him from noticing the worst of the pain, so Matt offers, ] I think I'm okay to get back.

No, you aren't. [It's said with all the patience that one might expect from someone of his station, just...as spoken to a very small child that's trying to insist that it didn't do what it was clearly observed in the middle of doing.] At least do me the favor of staying here until you're no longer bleeding all over the place, I hate it when people do that in front of me.

[...Paul, for the love of god.]

Besides, it will give me time to ensure I'm not bleeding all over the place. I'd be lying if I said I loved that lance of his.

[ Paul's response is so--parental? paternalistic??--that it manages to shock Matt into stillness. He gusts a laugh of surprise. ]

Okay, okay. Fair enough.

[ He focuses instead on getting his breath back. He'll need to be in control of himself if they run afoul of any other Pleroma. Matt counts as he inhales, counts as he holds the breath, and counts as he breathes it out.

... Which does kinda hurt, now he thinks of it. ]

[He doesn't ask before making contact with Matt, not in the same way he's asked everyone else; his touch is light and easily withdrawn, easily pulled away from, and he imagines Matt will get the point once he feels the tears to his skin and otherwise begin to knit together. It's likely not the most pleasant sensation - it's uncomfortable, there's a sort of strange sensation to it that doesn't quite itch but still manages to feel kind of wrong in its speed, but it'll happen well enough as long as Paul maintains contact.

...That said, he's not really interested in just standing around in silence, either.]

So what did you do to him, exactly?

[ Matt's reaction to the touch is small but pronounced: a ticklish straightening of his spine as the strange/wrong sensations make themselves felt, a quick indrawn breath. After a moment, when the uncomfortable, itch-adjacent feelings fail to resolve, Matt starts breathing into them, coaxing his shoulders to hang slack and his limbs to relax.

Paul's question draws a frown. Curious, rather than pained or upset. ]

It's not a spell, [ he answers slowly. ] It affected his emotions, though. It felt like ... sending energy through him, like raw will, and I wanted him to just. Stop.

[ He blinks at Paul, grimacing sheepishly. ]

Did that make any sense at all? I think I did the same thing to Childe last time we were all here.

...It makes sense, I think, yeah.

[It also sounds like you attacked Childe for no reason, which...damn? But go off, he supposes.]

This was ideally not how you would get a display of the healing abilities, incidentally. You'd said you wanted one some time ago. I know it doesn't feel spectacular or anything, but it's better than having to wait everything out.

[ Matt doesn't realize how incriminating his explanation sounds, so he only nods in relief when Paul seems to understand. In fairness, he's a bit distracted by this healing process, as well as ... all of the everything that's just happened. ]

It feels fascinating, [ Matt assures him, with an itchy twitch of a smile as something around his waist knits itself back together. He nearly shudders from the pure weirdness, but manages to stay mostly still; only his shoulder lifts in a jerky half-shrug. ] I definitely prefer it to trying to power through, so, thank you for the demo.

[ A pause. ]

And thank you for saving my life.

[His nerves still feel frayed, in some weird way; maybe that's why his tone is so all over the place. He can't decide what he wants it to be, so it's just going to cover the range.]

...You can't be reckless like that. We could have taken the kid without a fight, and without catching that guy's notice. Next time, don't move until you're told.

[ Matt's eyes widen abruptly, a ruffled frown replacing his more placid look of a moment ago. It's a little puppy-doggish, to be perfectly honest, right down to "doing the bad thing, then surprised by negative feedback."

Matt's not sure they could have taken the kid in without catching that dude's notice. He came from out of nowhere and also can fly? But now is clearly not the time to advance that position. So he just says, meekly: ] Okay.

[He's quiet for a moment. Sighs, sort of.]

Sorry, I just... I don't know. Like I said, I don't like people bleeding all over in front of me. Puts me on edge.

[Among other things.]

I also don't like it when people that are important to me go and get themselves into situations like that. And you're important to me, I'm pretty sure that goes without saying.

[ This earns another look of surprise. Matt knows Paul is important to him--he's the person who pulled him out of helpless misery in the cavern and helped him recall his purpose. He's integral as a pillar. But when it comes to what Paul might think of Matt, he's tried not to think about it. He always prefers to give love without thinking what he might get in return; it saves a lot of painful accounting. ]

Oh, [ he says. ] Well, um ... I'm glad you did say it.

[ If he doesn't seem wholly pleased by the reveal, it's mostly due to guilt. He could've gotten them both destroyed just now. Are those the actions of somebody who deserves to be thought of as important? The rest of Matt's hesitation is an old wound: a gentle certainty that all connection is fleeting and no intimacy can really stay. If even your family doesn't want you, who else would?

Still, he does like Paul. He likes him a lot. His expression softens slightly as he adds, ] You're important to me too.

So ... I really am sorry. I'll do better next time.

[Paul initially doesn't say anything in response.

In all honesty, he isn't sure why Matt is looking at him like that - as though he didn't know, as though this is something that isn't obvious - and when the words hit it takes him a moment to find anything to say. Everything he can think to say immediately is invalidating in some way, and he wants to avoid that before everything else; thankfully enough, Matt seems to move on eventually, and Paul's own voice has softened a good amount from the taut, agitated tone he'd carried before that.]

I know you will. And it's okay.

[He does seem pleased with the outcome, if nothing else.]

...You don't ever have to question that, all right? Whether you're important to me. I'll try to make it clearer to you.

[ Matt exhales, relieved but a little bit sheepish. There's a quiver of leftover nerves in the sound. ]

Oh no, no, it's okay--

You do great. [ Matt means it, but it probably can't help but sound hollow at this point. ] It's a me problem.

[ He feels like he should say something else to be more convincing, though he can't think what. There's a tangle of years behind all possible answers. Luckily, another strange, presumably healing-adjacent sensation tickle-itch-aches down his leg, jarring him off the tangent. Matt swallows a groan. ]

--And ah, this is also great, for real. But do you think I'm good to get back? I wouldn't say no to more healing in a safer location, but ...

[It takes him a moment to shake it off, to pull away and make himself stop; he manages, though, gaze darting away immediately.]

Yeah. Let's go.

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EVENT #5: SOVEREIGN CITIZENS (VENERA)

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