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 Shops are open, and its people are withdrawn but superficially friendly when meeting strangers.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

[sterngaze]

[Liem doesn’t look back at Matt until he speaks again—until he’s confident that his unfairly-inviting look has shifted into something less dangerous. He slows his breathing in an effort to combat the eager thudding of his heart. When he meets his eyes again, his expression is slightly sheepish.

Though his look both softens and steadies when Matt offers him his cloth-wrapped arm.]

Oh… Please do.

[Even with the invitation, he hesitates at first to touch it. The offer can’t erase his suspicion that he’ll inadvertently make the limb feel worse, regardless of his best intentions. For a moment he just looks, using his eyes to map the way muscle and bone terminates abruptly at the site of his missing hand.

But he does reach for the arm then, his fingers alighting first over Matt’s elbow, and skimming slowly along skin and then black cloth as he moves down his wrist. He stops before he reaches the stump itself, instead pausing his fingertips as gently as moths’ wings on the bandaged section just before his wrist bone. And he looks back down to meet his eyes.]

How’s this?

[semicharmed]

[ Matt's own feelings of uncertainty begin to melt away, starting as Liem looks at him. There's an intelligence behind that look, a careful weighing--and when Liem begins to touch his left arm, that's careful too. Part of Matt half-expected that it would hurt, the way it's hurt sometimes when his retainer bumps him the wrong way, and he'd have to try to manage the fact. Instead, it's just ... a lot. Surprisingly a lot. ]

That's good.

[ Murmured. After a long beat, Matt looks up to find Liem looking down at him. He exhales on a soft sigh, urging ease through his limbs--from his lungs through his veins, out to the tips of his fingers and blunt throb of his stump. ]

You're gentle, [ he adds, softer. Barely above a whisper. ] I like it.

[ No intentional provocation this time. Just the facts: Liem is gentle. Matt likes it. ]

[sterngaze]

[There have been many occasions in Liem’s life when by necessity, despite his own wants, he had to be cold, had to be hard and cruel and uncaring. And there have been occasions when he chose to be cautious, when he strove to do no harm—only for those in his life to question or even criticize him for holding back. For offering care and consideration when what they wanted was passion and warmth.

He has so rarely ever found himself to simply be enough, but Matt looks up at him with a kind of wary softness, he feels like in this instance at least, he has done the right thing. His fingers stroke the underside of his wrist, where his pulse beats beneath the sheath of bandages, and close loosely around it in a cool, pallid bracelet. Carefully, he coaxes the arm aside, back down to the roof beside his head.

And he leans down, gently, to find his lips again.]