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 Shops are open, and its people are withdrawn but superficially friendly when meeting strangers.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

[locumstudentesquire]

...This is only the second time we've ever met?? Ryunosuke thinks indignantly. How can you possibly know?

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."

[epiprocta]

University student is still basically an adult, and Gen expresses as much with a dismissive snort and an almost charmingly cliche retort:

"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."

[locumstudentesquire]

Ryunosuke falls quiet for a minute, leaving an uncomfortable silence hanging between the two of them.

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.

[epiprocta]

Ryunosuke's guess is right.

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."

[locumstudentesquire]

Ryunosuke is a flinchy, jumpy guy by nature, so it's really not surprising that he jolts, in as much as his bindings will actually allow, when Gen strikes the pillar. He wasn't expecting such a quick escalation, or such a volatile reaction. Though considering how their last interaction had gone, maybe he shouldn't be so surprised...

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."

[epiprocta]

Ryunosuke really is in the perfect position for a good kick to the sternum right now -- so he's lucky Gen's anger is a more sullen simmer at the moment, less a vicious hunger for a violent outlet and more something bitter that lurks the edges of his words. Case in point, though he does narrow his eyes at the gall Ryunosuke has to talk back at him from that position, he only stares down at him for a long moment. Then, slowly removing the cigarette from between his lips and leaning in, his voice pitching just a little lower --

"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.

[locumstudentesquire]

He instinctively tries to lean back when Gen gets up in his face, but of course he's already pretty much at his limit for that. And then he doesn't have much tolerance for smoke, either, so of course that sets him coughing... Ryunosuke at least tries to turn his head so he's not spluttering it back in Gen's face.

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.