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 Shops are open, and its people are withdrawn but superficially friendly when meeting strangers.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

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Meteion skitters in, wringing her hands. She doesn't speak yet, not so much as a whisper, but it does seem to have upset her to hear Liem call for the Achamites' death so readily.

She bears them no love, but they were only doing what they were commanded to do...

"You have us at your mercy. And what Liem says is true...but is it also not true that these soldiers were doing what they were ordered to? I am not saying it was right, but they might have families to consider and protect. Not everyone is in thrall to the Regent."

Even she gets thin-lipped at speaking the name, because the bird certainly spares them no love, now. If she had ever done so.

Once all parties are inside, he shuts the door behind them, content to leave them in the literal dark for now. What little light filters in through the shades of the window are all that will be allowed.

Barnaby's request is met with a curled lip. "Keep them as prisoners? Where, exactly? They came here to kill me. You think I should show them leniency?"

Barnaby can make his case, though whether or not this young man will entertain it is still up in the air.

His gaze darts between Liem and Meteion, distrustful but willing to listen.

"I was hoping you could tell me that." Cid will continue to play the part of his hostage and he places his free hand on the man's shoulder as he steps in closer. "I'm not the only person that's been targeted, right? They're moving in the shadows, trying to pick us off one by one. They don't care about families. They don't need to be in thrall to the Regent to be complicit."

Slowly he looks from each member of the assembled team.

"So tell me...are you? Where do you stand?"

"Then I'll take them off your hands -- or better yet, he and his allies with the Pleroma can," Barnaby nods to Cid across the room, ironically a prisoner himself for the time being. "They might have valuable knowledge that will be worth keeping them around, or other Achamites could be willing to take them in an exchange."

The Regent might not care for the lives of their followers, and he doubts many Kenoma Aions do, but it isn't necessarily true that their followers will all share that same attitude. It's worth exploring all avenues, if nothing else.

"As for where I stand, I no longer have any allegiance to the Regent, and--" He hesitates, wondering just how much he should say in present company, his eyes flicking across the assembled group. He decides to throw caution to the wind and continues, "...I can feel the Kenoma's grip on me weakening by the moment. All I want is for the people of Venera to be safe, free from the Regent's tyranny. Everyone's suffered enough."

Regret colours Liem’s cautious expression at the effect his suggestion seems to have on Meteion, but he doesn’t rescind it. Regardless of what compassion or even justice might dictate, thwarting the Achamites’ efforts remains his main priority in this city. If these soldiers possess dangerous information, it would be foolishly sentimental to allow them to return to their fellows. Though he will freely admit,

“Chances are good that if these soldiers have the location of your home, others do as well.”

If this man is to successfully disappear into the city, he’d be better served to at least not leave behind soldiers able to recognize him on sight. Nonetheless, he doesn’t object to Barnaby’s attempt to persuade the young man otherwise. The Pleroma might indeed find use in a pair of Achamite prisoners, after all.

“In this, he and I are of a similar mind.” He nods toward Barnaby. If he’s surprised to hear him admit to a lessening attunement to the Kenoma, he doesn’t show it. “The Regent has taken things from all of us, and would have us be complicit in their cruelties as well. The only thing keeping me here is the desire to undermine them however I can.”

Though the blade is at his throat, he doesn't want to remain silent. He's been careful trying to avoid outing himself as an Aion, but given everything that's happening in the city, it's probably obvious to those paying attention anyway.

"My allies and I have secured a means of swift egress out of the city," he says carefully. "We're bringing as many as we can with us."

It's a multi-layered offer; to keep the soldiers alive but captive, should the young man be receptive to it, and also an offer to lead him out of the city. Cid doesn't say any more on it, because though the others have all indicated their discontent with the Regent, so long as they remain in the grip of the Kenoma, he can't speak too freely about the Pleroma's actions.

Meteion wrinkles her nose, brow furrowing. "The Regent is mean. I no longer believe they have anyone's good in mind, except their own. I reject them, and the Kenoma they stand for!" She stomps her foot, petulant.

She's rejected the Kenoma in thought and in deed, and now the words complete that triad. As to whether or not anything will happen, only time will tell. But it's a worried glance she casts at Barnaby and Liem. They need to be careful, so careful. Meteion remembers that something happened to Howl, though she isn't certain of what, exactly.

"It's hard for normal people, though. You've already seen what's gone on here. I can't blame normal Veneran citizens for fearing the Regent. But even that gives them power. What if killing these soldiers also helps push the pendulum closer to their goals?"

To have four Aions in his home and three of which are so clearly willing to defy the tyrant that would have their heads if they found out... He narrows his eyes in the darkness, almost unbelieving. A stroke of luck? Or is it fate?

After a tense moment, he finally lowers his sword and takes a step back from Cid. The man can finally move without a blade to his throat.

"Do what you want with them," he says with a nod towards the unconscious soldiers. Barnaby will be able to work unbothered by their assailant. "But I see them again, I won't be as nice as you want me to be."

He keeps the blade at his side and at the ready should he need it but he now regards his guests with a more open sense of curiosity. The Kenoma in particular, all of whom are supposedly throwing their orders to the four winds. Whether it's brave or stupid is something he has yet to decide on.

"So...you weren't sent here to get me. But that means you were here to off someone else, isn't that right?"

Once the sword is lowered, Barnaby moves to tend to their wounds, tearing strips of fabric from their clothes to make makeshift bandages and try to stem the bleeding. It's hard to tell in this dim light whether their wounds are fatal, but perhaps intervention now will stop them becoming so.

Besides, if these two ever have the gall to come after the man again after being so soundly defeated, they'll be foolish indeed. Saving their lives now poses little risk.

"We were provided a list of names, but I have no idea who you are, so I can't say if you were one of them," Barnaby answers frankly, looking up only briefly from his work. It's difficult to see in the dark, but he's managing. "Are you suggesting someone else lives here?"

He doesn't expect him to reveal any information about himself or any other Veneran, given the circumstances, so his questions are more curiosity than anything.

“You’re right to think we would be seeking the Regent’s targets,” Liem adds, relaxing only slightly once he sees the blade lower. He glances down at Barnaby as he begins to work, but he seems reluctant to draw near them and offer any form of assistance. His gaze returns to the young man after only a moment.

“But only to help them evade capture.”

"I'm not very good at fighting, so the most I would have been doing was reporting to others who were better at it," Meteion admits, moving to help Barnaby tend the fallen soldiers. More because she can sense what still pains the soldiers, and respond accordingly. And let him know if they're going to regain consciousness any time soon. It seems to be getting hazy, though, her empathy, and she's a bit confused by that.

As for the soldiers' waking? Meteion hopes that does not happen soon.

"I wasn't, though. If I saw people helping the accused out, I tried to show them safe ways out, or warn them if there were guards or soldiers coming. Finding another way. He knows, he was one of the ones I helped." She gives a nod to Cid, then.

He can't help his eyes widening at Meteion's outright rejection. It actually distraction him from noticing the blade lowered from his neck for a moment, but he does glance back at the young man just the same.

...Hmm. He's quite good at defending himself. No wonder the Regent was after him. It means he's a powerful ally for his fellow Venerans. "Meteion is telling the truth. I was able to get someone to safety because of her." And he's incredibly grateful. He couldn't so easily fight off anyone and protect Elise.

As for how he'd come across the young man in the first place... "I knew if there were soldiers about, someone must have been nearby." As a Pleroma, he didn't have a list, but he'd been summoned by the Regent along with everyone else. He glances at the sword pointedly before continuing. "It seems you're quite capable of taking care of yourself, though."

Despite their opposing missions it does seem that these four have all come together with a similar purpose. His measure of their worth and trust is slow and calculating, but they clearly have piqued his interest.

"No. If they came here, I'm the target," he says with a sense of finality. What furnishings they can make out of the house would indicate that it is an abode that has been lived in for several generations, though whether or not it is usually a lively and packed house is left unanswered.

"'Tristan' should be on that list."

Cid's comment gets a huff. It is harsh but minutely amused. His free hand goes to his hip and his grip on the sword in his right tightens.

"I have to be. The Regent would see my family wiped out if they could."

Tristan turns the sword over and stabs it right into the stone floor. Strangely enough, there is no sound of cracked stone or reverberation from the sword. Instead it seems as if a perfectly formed sheath for the swords tip has conveniently formed in the very floor before them.

"And now, you four will make sure that doesn't happen."

Barnaby gives a slight smile of gratitude as Meteion moves to help him tend to the soldiers, and decides to leave the second soldier to her while he finishes tending to the first, ensuring sufficient pressure is applied to the most severe wound to staunch the bleeding.

To Tristan, he nods in confirmation -- his name is indeed on the list, even if Barnaby's own personal investigations hadn't taken him this far. He pauses in treating the soldier and looks on in surprise at the way Tristan stabs the ground, a magical sheath seemingly forming around it.

"Of course. We'll do everything we can to protect you and your family." Even if what that entails, he isn't yet sure.

Tristan's words make Meteion frown, even as she does her best to tend to the wounded soldier. The entelechy didn't get any lists, but that's likely for the best. It's doubtful she'd have followed it anyway, as whimsical as she can be on a normal day.

"Is there a reason why they'd single you out? I mean. Not that the Regent needs one." Meteion knows they have their own motivations, but it had always been difficult for her to follow.

Though when Barnaby says they'll do what they can to protect Tristan, Meteion nods in agreement. She's not entirely sure what she could do, but that definitely does not mean that she won't try.

Liem watches Tristan plunge his sword effortlessly into the floor, the stone yielding like soft butter to accommodate it. The certainty with which he asserts his own guilt in the Regent’s eyes makes him curious in the same vein that Meteion expresses; what exactly has this man done to earn a place on that list?

“No—there would be one. The Regent may be a despot, but their targets aren’t random. There must be something in particular that attracted their ire.

“Do you have kin who need assistance as well?”

Though he doesn't know nearly as much about this world as he should, he can't help stare at the sword. That is a really effective trick. He's also almost positive it has to be magic. He doesn't exactly want to ask, not before they've found a solution for the most pressing problem.

"That the Regent was so determined to stamp you out is evidence that we must needs move quickly. My allies and I can get you and yours out of the city."

The Pleroma can't let this infant rebellion die; Venera has only just started to recover hope at all.

Though he doesn't want the soldiers dying on his watch, ultimately protecting Tristan is his priority.

Liem is correct and Tristan nods his head in the other man's direction. The Regent may be a tyrant, a despot, but their actions are always pointed. He won't make the mistake of underestimating them.

"My grandmother," he says. "I sent her to stay with a friend. As you can see why..."

He makes no attempt to hide the sneer the bears towards the guards on the floor. The blows he has dealt to them will heal with time, nothing more than what was necessary to incapacitate them both. Barnaby and Meteion should find their ministrations sufficient to stabilize them.

"And I do know why. But how much do you know? What has the Regent told you of the rightful patron of this city?"

"I heard a legend that there was once such a figure," Barnaby says. Satisfied he seems to have staunched the bleeding for the time being, he gets to his feet, leaving the soldier on the ground for now. (Just because he wanted to save their lives doesn't mean he's interested in making them comfortable, knowing what they tried to do to this man and his family.)

"But no one I've spoken to knows any more than that." Or they've been unwilling to share, which seems more probable. Though he hasn't had the time to do more digging, it seems unlikely that someone of such local importance, whether they were real or imagined, would fade from collective memory entirely, even with the Regent crushing the population under their heel.

"That is about the sum of what I've heard as well, in my travels through your fair city," Meteion adds. She's a little more soft-hearted, so her soldier gets tucked up in a corner--though if she can, she'll find a scrap of cloth or string to bind their hands together. Should they wake, the bird doesn't feel the desire to give them any advantage in tracking Tristan or his grandmother down, in the future.

Meteion feels as if Venera might have just ignored the prior existence of their Aion, as painful as that thought might be. She knows that having your sense of self shattered, and the need to rebuild it, is more than traumatic. She's experienced that herself. But even pointing that out to the others might be painful, and she'd rather not inflict that.

When Liem sees Meteion start to drag the soldier over to prop them up in the corner, he crouches automatically to assist her. Perhaps the bird-like girl has strength beyond what her size would indicate, but it still seems thoughtless to expect her to drag a full-sized person around by herself.

“I have heard this legend as well,” he agrees, looking back up at Tristan. “Though not from the Regent. The last time we were called to Venera, I lingered for a time to track down historical information. That is how I came to learn of your patron aion.

“Though I heard that they were killed generations ago.”

Cid's eyes go wide, suddenly looking at Tristan in a new light. "Are you saying you're a descendant of Helico?" His hand goes to his chest briefly before he glances away awkwardly. "I... know very little. Only their name, that they were an Artisan," the way he says it, it's almost sadly. As far as he knows, he's the only Artisan in Horos. He can't help but feel a little lonely over that fact.

"...and I know they were assassinated by the Regent."

If Tristan was gearing up for a more dramatic introduction, he sees that he doesn't need to. Each person offers a bit to the puzzle until Cid hits the nail on the head. Tristan nods once, a sharp and pointed motion.

"The Regent's done everything they can to erase Helico and her influence from the city. I'm just the last piece."

There is no real sense of pride in his voice despite such a prestigious lineage, but there is audible irritation.

"If they can get rid of Helico, they can get rid of what Venera could be. That's got to be the plan. We've lived under their rule for decades now, it was only a matter of time before they tightened the noose."

Barnaby's expression softens in sympathy. He understands all too well what it's like to have family assassinated, and even if Tristan never knew Helico personally, to suffer under the Regent's influence since then is the kind of thing that would scar a family for generations.

"Then it's all the more reason for you to flee. It might seem like you're abandoning Venera now, but you stand a better chance at saving the city's future in the long term, if you wait to return when the time is right."

"And for us to facilitate that." It's a good way to foil the Regent's plans. Throw a wrench in the works, so to speak. But Meteion does have a bit of curiosity, and she can sense Tristan's irritation. He might balk at the idea of leaving the city, if he considers it his home.

"Do you want to put one in the Regent's eye, so to speak? It is not as if I don't understand that urge, but it might be better to pass on that for the moment, and return when their gaze has passed...elsewhere."

Not that she is sure it will. Then again...

She glances at Barnaby and Liem. It might be that Tristan won't even trust them. Since most of them are Kenoma. What if he thinks they're trying to trap him?

Meteion won't give voice to it, but she doubts the Veneran is an idiot, by how he's acted already.

“If the Regent’s soldiers found you here, they’ll be able to find you again elsewhere in the city, given time.”

Liem knows well how thoroughly someone can disappear into a busy city, but he also knows how easy it is to slip up and get caught if one continues to live in the same place they did previously. It’s not enough to simply move to a different address; keeping ties with an old friend, maintaining business with a certain vendor, or visiting a favoured plaza could be enough for those seeking Tristan and his grandmother to find them again.

“But why is the Regent so keen to exterminate her line? Is it just because you still know who she was?”

EVENT #5: SOVEREIGN CITIZENS (VENERA)

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