EVENT #6: BY HEAVEN OR HELL

[aionmods]

By Heaven or Hell

THE BURNING

Achamoth, as it turns out, is no stranger to public killings... the burning of two Pleroma, however? That's special. Abel and Himeka's upcoming execution date seems to be regarded by the city's populace as something akin to a holiday, with the upper crust of the social stratum fighting for positions of prominence in the festivities, including the best possible seats. It's been decades since any Pleroma have been brought to heel in Achamoth, and it would only be prudent to place yourself at the forefront of this exciting new trend. There's a sense of pageantry to it: ritualized ceremonies, public sermons, and strange religious 'décor' are all part of the process.

The city is in the throes of these preparations when the two Pleroma captives are finally brought to a central square not far from the Citadel's front gates. Two burning pyres have been set up for them, about ten feet apart. While Abel and Himeka's bodies are chained to their stakes, their shards will be handed off to Silco, Ciel, and Makoto to be brought along separately. The set up of the execution is thus: while their bodies are ravaged by flames, their shards will be bound to an altar in advance of the pyre. Via a kind of alchemical 'fuse', the pyre being lit will trigger a reaction that will gradually result in a explosion on the altar just large enough to destroy the shard in turn. The shards will be bound in position with a series of jewelry-like metal prongs that could be pried away, but would take some time to do carefully.

As the Pleroma make it to the city, the sun will be setting on the 17th of Firaseri, with the execution about to be underway. The pyres will not yet have been lit, but are fully prepared. All Kenoma will be called upon to guard the city, with the warning that the Pleroma are mounting a raid to rescue their imprisoned comrades. For Kenoma both new and old, it's a time to test your mettle. Those that defend Achamoth valiantly can expect to be rewarded.

INNOCENCE ON FIRE

The city of Achamoth looms ahead, a seat of power in Horos in every fashion. It sprawls outwards, claiming the lands around it in a lazy confidence. The spires of the city grow up and up like a mountain, dragging the eye towards the Citadel. The walls that surround it are modest in height as if offering a challenge to any foolish enough to attempt to climb them. Who would? The Regent's eye is ever-present and the guard towers that line it like beaded pearls on a string are reminders that nothing goes in or out of the city without notice. Openings in the towers and the walls threaten the use of projectiles while dark, shimmering crystals float above with the quiet hum of protective magics. Only a fool would breach these borders.

Initially, getting into the city unmolested will be a considerable struggle for the Pleroma. It's military is robust, its fortifications solid, and even without the Kenoma's added resistance, the sheer numbers could be considered insurmountable. Stealth could get them some of the way, but its sentries are watchful, and immigration is strictly controlled. With faith alone driving the Pleroma towards their goal it's fortunate, then, that something is there to answer their call.

Estinien will feel the presence of the Innocence Entity rise up in him again, and this time it is offering him a choice. He may utilize its power to save the ones he loves, while risking both the brutality of the Regent's defenses and the threat to his own soul by channeling such power. It will stand with him against the darkness, it says, if it is truly his will. Emboldened by the power of the Firebrand and his love for his comrades, it is no surprise that he accepts.

Light will flood the sky above Achamoth, an ethereal aura combatting the encroach of the night. From a great miasma of wings and flame, a colossal dragon emerges, coiling above the city skyline. Its luminescence rains down upon the city, and all Achamites exposed to it will be enchanted into finding the idea of committing acts of violence unthinkable, at least so long as no violence is brought against them in turn. With much of Achamoth's defenses having lost the will to fight, only the Kenoma will stand in the Pleroma's way as they penetrate the city, making their way to Abel and Himeka's pyres.

As the Pleroma forge ahead, this draconic being that was once Estinien Wyrmblood will guard from the skies, drawing the attention of the Kenoma towards it and it threatens to bear its might against the Citadel itself. Fortunately for the Kenoma guarding the city, they will know that the Regent has a plan. All they must do is hold off the beast long enough for the Regent to wield their own strength in turn. The battle against this creature will take place here, with combat rules being explain in this OOC post.

As the power of the Innocent washes over Achamoth, those of its Legacy, or those marked by its Promise or Touch, will hear it speak on the winds in a chorus of voices:

Aions of this new dawn... I have honored your choice... fight... if you will... and I will follow...

FIREBRAND RISING

Beneath the moon of Firaseri, however, the Innocent isn't the only force at play. Firebrands of both sects will find themselves spurred on by a rush of Legacy-based power, as if inspired by the tumultuous environment of an anti-authoritarian raid. How precisely this manifests will depend on which side they are fighting for.

❖ PLEROMA
The Firebrands among the Pleroma raiders will feel a sense of vindication and rightness come over them, set as they are to challenge the Regent's rule. Their powers will be amplified during the battle, and those that witness them and are inspired may find their performance boosted. The nature of these enhancements is fairly flexible. For the Firebrands, the use of their regular skills and abilities may be amplified beyond normal boundaries, whereas those following in their wake may find themselves with usual endurance that allows them to push their their usual limits.

❖ KENOMA
The Firebrands of the Kenoma's inspiration is more complicated in nature, given their roll in defending Achamoth's status quo. However, they will find themselves bolstered while facing the pacifying might of the Innocence Entity. Firebrands will experience a natural resistance against any Innocence based attacks that would stop them from fighting, and will be able to use this blessing to rally NPCs that would otherwise be rendered useless to their cause, in defiance of the entity's command for peace. In general, they will see a boost in strength while fighting the raid boss in particular, unable to be deterred from their goals.

In general, all Firebrands will feel untethered by their regular inhibitions, fighting for their desires at all costs. Abilities intended to bind them or control their will, will be largely ineffective, and they will find shields both physical and magical particularly easy to break through.

QUESTIONS

Q: What is the best way for Pleroma to travel to Achamoth?
A: Akua and Estinien are both setting up portals from Godsblood to the outskirts of Achamoth from which to begin mounting the assault. Caitlyn will be providing a back-up in the case either of those portals go down.

Q: Can my character make use of the chaos and try to raid the Citadel?
A: They can try but there will be mod rolls involved for any attempts. NPCs inside the Citadel will not be affected the same way the NPCs outside in main area will be. We do not want it to seem like the Citadel is defenseless otherwise.

Q: If Kenoma cause damage to the city during the raid, how will the Regent feel? Will there be consequences?
A: It should try to be avoided, but the Regent will understand if there is collateral damage in battle as long as they aren't being careless about it.

Q: Is the "no-combat aura" completely incapacitating NPCs?
A: No, it is only stopping them from aggressing the Pleroma. If they or their property are attacked they will defend themselves, and are otherwise operating with a normal level of cognizance. Kenoma Aions can order them out of the area to avoid being hurt if necessary.

BOSS BATTLE:
Q: I would like my character to take part in the battle but want to limit the outcomes in a way that isn't too devastating. Is that possible?
A: We think in that case we would basically only be acknowledging the possibilities between the "The attack either misses, is ineffective, or it triggers a counter attack from the boss." and "The attack hits with moderate effectiveness, as determined by the nature of their action." range. So, you can't get taken out, but you also can only deal moderate hits at best. You could still trigger a counter attack from the boss, but the damage taken from that is more flexible and free form than the 1-5% zone. If you make an attack with this restriction just add a little OOC note to your initial attack tag.

Q: How can a support character engage in the combat?
A: If your character is providing support, you may team up with an attacker to submit a "group attack". This means that your character is putting their effort towards supporting that attacker character that round, and will not be able to submit their own separate action. In exchange, that attack will receive two mod rolls instead of one, and the attack itself will be based on the more favorable of the two rolls. (Sort of like rolling with an advantage in modern D&D.) We will make as many rolls as there there are character combining their effort and select the best of them.

If any character rolls in the 1-5% zone they will still be taken out, however. Click the link above for more information.

Q: Can my character take a hit for another character after a mod roll?
A: We would be willing to accept this in the case of the defender taking the hit for the attacker, which would mean that if it's a 1-5%, they would be taken out in the attacker's stead.

Comments

[warmare]

[She says that... That no one should be here who is not fully prepared, but when she does... It will not be difficult to track the somewhat disdainful glances that dart about to certain examples of people who she obviously thinks are not prepared. People she certainly would not count to watch her back on a battlefield.

Her gaze, stormy gray and dark, not in the iris but in the baleful, desperate shield of vengeance behind it, turns back to the man who has approached her.]

Either the Regent will die, or I will.

[It was simple. Someone had to pay for bringing her here against her will. Though she longed to believe her world was not dead or gone, a part of her could not hope, and so someone had to pay for that, too. Because if she didn't have that drive, that mission...

There would be only despair. (Perhaps it was a wonder... perhaps even confusing, that the Kenoma had not claimed her for themselves.)]

... What is it to you?

[heavybreaths]

[His attention follows Hayame's gaze, picking out those people, noting them. He says nothing of that, only allows her to continue to speak uninterrupted. She has a lofty goal, at least, and he'll not try and dissuade her from that. Go big, or go home.]

I simply wish to know the motivations of others in this fight. I would not wish to come between a hunter and their quarry.

[He certainly has no intention of getting in the way.]

Nor would I wish to leave a fellow warrior's flank open to ambush while they are on their hunt.

[warmare]

[It is not wholly nonsensical, this claim. It could be useful to know what drove your allies, even if Hayame was not particularly used to needing it. She had been property all of her life but two precious months, and a jinba’s motivations, publicly, at any rate, were… what they were told by human masters. She’d never had to ask, herself, when it was all the same.]

And you?

[She regards him, still unsure what to think of a man hiding his entire face so.]

Do you go to Achamoth to exact revenge on those that would keep you here and end the world with you in it, or do you go to save two people who did not have the courage to bite off their own tongues before allowing themselves to be held hostage?

[If her words seem provocative… He would not be wrong. But still, she says them with a surety, a sense of judgement moral and clear, honor dictating which of those two options was the more nobler.]

[heavybreaths]

[Her query would likely have been provocative if asked to any of the other Pleroma. To Vader it doesn't even merit a moment's thought. His answer is simple, his words blunt.]

I go to Achamoth to bring war to my enemies and take my revenge. I do not know these two, and their fates are of little consequence to me. If those two happen to be rescued in the process, then that is just as well, as it denies the enemy something they wish for. If the enemy wishes to make a show of their deaths, then it is simply a convenient time to strike. They are all in one place, anticipating one thing.

[He rests a gloved hand on the pommel of his new sword.]

What they will get is another.

[warmare]

[... A promising answer. Not one she expected, either. Though she has only ("only") been in this world she did not ask to live in for the space of a single season's turn, Hayame has fast grown accustomed to being seen as... an outlier. She barely even considered herself a part of these Pleroma. It is difficult, to believe yourself one of many when no other in the entire world looked as you did. When no part of Greentruth or the rebels' villages were made for a woman like her to navigate easily, when she attracted stares and gossip in the cities of Godsblood and afar.

But though what drove her was not hope, but despair, luck or fate alone she had avoided the Kenoma.... and her despair became rage, and the target of that rage was the Regent, who claimed responsibility in the court of shadows for their worlds' deaths. Their goals simply aligned in this one way...

Perhaps her goals aligned more with this man. Time would tell.

Her dark gaze follows his hand, finds the pommel. She herself had a blade at her "hip", but it was more hunting knife than sword, the more obvious weapon her six foot long bow.]

... You are a swordsman, then?

[heavybreaths]

[Again the dark man nods, masked expression as neutrally menacing as ever. His thoughts turn outward as she asks, and a part of him debates how much to say.]

I am that and more. There are few weapons I cannot use with efficiency, but the sword is the most familiar thing available on this backwater rock of a world.

[The Force was less something he saw as a weapon and more something he saw as an intrinsic part of himself and the world around him. However in this case it probably wouldn't do to withhold such information.]

My real power is an understanding of the mysteries of the Force. Perhaps you will see it today.

[warmare]

[It is a grand boast, but Hayame is in no position to disbelieve it. Not with the capabilities of some of the people she's seen in this place, let alone the magics. "Backwater", too, takes her attention, because though she is unfamiliar with the magic and technology of this place, which is both foreign and more advanced in some ways than her own...

The amount of people at least seems correct. What he says that truly gives her no indication is,]

"The Force"?

[Not... "a"?]

[heavybreaths]

The energy of life. All living things are a part of the Force, and some of us are gifted with the ability to sense and manipulate it. Its will guides me, and it flows from me.

[It is, rather pointedly, not Magic. His own views on it are more scientific than spiritual than most other Force sensitives, though there is an inherent mysticism to it as well.]

It is a power not unlike the things I have seen other Aions do. But it is...difficult to explain fully...without a great deal of time.

[warmare]

[In all honesty... There is nothing that his man has said yet that makes this "Force" seem different from magic to Hayame, who hails from a place that is fully mundane in nature. At least, as far as she knew. He is sensing and manipulating something he claims is unseen, some sort of life energy...

She doesn't want a full explanation, though. It's true. She is a warrior, not a scholar. What she does care about, is-]

Then just show me. What you "manipulate".

[heavybreaths]

As you wish.

[Vader raises his hand and several large stones the weight of himself or more rise with it. They hover briefly before a flick of his wrist sends them sailing off down the plain.]

A crude demonstration of one thing I can do, but perhaps the easiest to visualize.

[warmare]

[Things rarely happened as she wished, and people rarely offered such services to people who were born into possession meant to be sold and to serve. There is a certain irony to hear something like as you wish, even in passing, that does not escape her.

Naturally, it happens just before the battle in which she expects to die.

Maybe that's why she just... accepts what she sees. Despite her great strength, capable of feats far beyond humans were, she would only be able to move those stones with a great deal of rope and harness dressing, hauling them behind her. Yet he makes them fly as if they weighed no more than dandelion seeds...]

It seems your opponents will have little chance to test their abilities against your sword.

[... It is a good thing, that this man is not with the Kenoma. How did you defend yourself against such a thing, if you were not of the same abilities? Hayame does not begin to know.]