EVENT #2: HEARTS LIKE YOURS (ACHAMOTH)

[aionmods]

Achamoth

A DEITY'S WELCOME

After only a day or two on the river, the newly christened Kenoma will arrive in the city of Achamoth. The architecture is the more striking things about it, as if its skyline has been built up and constantly improved over many centuries. It's clear from even the riverside view that there is an artistic tendency towards building humanoid shapes into the supports and detailing of structures here, creating the strange effect of placing hundreds of silhouettes in your peripheral vision. If you ask the sailors why its like that, they will simply say it's the way its always been. Any metaphorical seed was planted long before anyone here was born.

The Citadel can be seen even from the entrance of the city, a towering spiral that looms over the rest of the land around it, lit from within by various magical energies. That's your destination, you are told. Soon, you will be passed into the care of the Citadel's staff, and will be sure to meet with city's elites not long after.

They aren't wrong. When you show up at the port closest to the Citadel, the street are always lined with people waiting to greet you. It's easy to recognize now how diverse the population of Horos can be, with many of those waiting showing off unusual heights, colors, and appendages, though appearances that are typically 'human' are still the most common. Most of them wear dark outfits with a gothic flare, with mask-like facial adornments apparently being fashionable. They cheer and chant as you come down from the boat, tossing flower petals and small gemstones onto the path you walk upon. This continues all the way to the Citadel.

Once you are inside, up winding paths of stairs, you will be shown to your new quarters to rest. You're each assigned a lavish bedroom with servants stopping by ever so often, offering to bring you food, clothing, or other items of comfort. There are a variety of soaps in your room's private bath. You are told that if you take a liking to any individual servant that you may claim them as your permanent retainer, though you are not required to. Their dispositions range from euphoric to be serving you to quiet and shy, but there is a notable lack of resentment.

After about a day of rest, you will be brought an official invitation by one of the servants. Apparently, the Regent has requested your presence for supper that evening. It is not optional.

THE FEAST

A few hours before suppertime, one of the servants will arrive to take you 'clothes shopping' for something appropriately formal to wears for your meeting with the Regent. In practice, this means taking you to one of several changing rooms filled with costly formal wear. The styles and sizes are diverse, which makes sense when you are informed that they are a collection of offerings from local weavers and seamstresses, some of which have been waiting for an owner for quite some time. From an Earthly point of view, there is a wide spectrum of cultural aesthetics, though most of them lean towards the same dark colors and gothic sensibilities that you saw the citizens of Achamoth wearing. Headpieces and artistic masks are plentiful, but not mandatory though the servant will tell you they are in vogue. A servant will be able to make alterations to your clothing with magic to achieve a proper fit.

After that, you have a couple more hours to prepare before you are invited to a lounge-like area for pre-meal drinks. You can get almost any kind of cocktail you can imagine, including some you can't, and will be allowed to chat each other up for about an hour before the feast begins. Some small appetizers are available, and soft, rhythmic music plays in the background. If you look for her, Xishen is present as well, dressed in a black evening gown with golden accents that flicker like stars in the night sky, her long hair pinned up into a messy bun and decorated with hair-sticks. As usual, she seems to be avoiding company for the moment, though she is keeping an eye on everyone. Perhaps she's counting heads to make sure there are no stragglers.

When the time arrives, two huge doors are opened, leading you into a room that looks like a mixture of a dining room and a cathedral. Ahead of you, three long takes are connected together in the shape of a triangle, with a large throne positioned at the point furthest into the room; it is presently empty. You'll be instructed to take a seat, basking in the multicolored flames of the candles and torches lighting the room. As you find your places, all seats will be filled except for the throne up front, with Xishen at its side. All you can do now is await your host.

[Mealtime interactions with the Regent can be threaded here. They will arrive right after the first course has been served.]

EXPLORATION

Having survived supper with the Regent, the next few weeks are essentially yours to plan. Though the Regent indicates that there is work for you to do on the Horizon, for now your orders are to simply rest and prepare. You'll have access to the Citadel's armory to acquire any basic armor or weaponry you could need; though none of what's on offer seems to be enchanted, it is undoubtedly the work of a master. Clothing is much the same as it was for the formal wear you picked out, though you will find there are more practical offerings available as well. If you don't find anything to your tastes, you are also welcome to go out on the town with a generous allowance from the Regent's own coffers.

Clothing isn't the only thing you can get out in the city, though. While there are material goods of many kinds available, the most tempting thing for many residents is the raw hedonism of the city's entertainment district. It has just about anything you could imagine, from day spas to gambling to brothels, and none of it is contained by the burden of law. Any Achamite entertainment seen as too intense to face daylight would certainly not be for the faint of heart.

The locals haven't had enough time to recognize the city's new Aions on sight, but if they see your shard or or any other sign of your status, you are bound to attract a lot of attention. You're a celebrity in these streets, and while it can get you plenty of favors or even unsolicited offerings, it can also be quite overwhelming. In many cases, Achamite's religious fervor exceeds their survival instinct, at least in terms of the ones most likely to bother you. They will back off if threatened by you, but they will take politeness as an invitation to continue.

When leaving the Citadel, a servant will usually try to accompany you, though they will stay behind if you order them to do so. They insist that it will be easier for you to get around with a dedicated guide, but in the end you're the one in charge.

QUESTIONS

How does my character picking a retainer work?
All Kenoma are offered the opportunity to take on an NPC retainer after arriving at the Citadel. This retainer will be an NPC created and played by you. They will be available day and night to attend to your character's needs. These servants understand the Regent largely from a religious perspective and will not have any outspoken anti-Regent sentiments, though they may or may not be nervous about their new master. Generally speaking, though, this is in a new job jitters sort of way, as working in the Citadel is considered to be a job of great cultural and religious significance. They want to do a good job! You are free to develop your retainer's personality and relationship with your character. If your character (or you) are not interested in having a personal retainer, they will instead be served by a rotation of unattached servants.

How much money are Kenomas given for shopping?
They will be given an emerald's worth in jools, which is 1000 units. This is about how much a minimum wage worker makes in two months. They will continue receiving spending money on a monthly basis, though the Citadel itself will take care of all of their needs. On an OOC level its safe to say that average city expenditures will be covered by the money they are given, though they are welcome to invest that money in making more money if they have to skills to do so.

What sorts of things are there in the entertainment district? Is anything illegal?
Almost everything is legal in Achamoth when it comes to entertainment, and there is not much government oversight in the way anything is run. This means that most 'entertainment' you can imagine is both present and largely unregulated, and it doesn't need to be underground on account of how permissive Achamite law is. Brothels, drugs, and even bloodsport are all fair game... technically, participants in brothels and bloodsports must be willing but that 'consent' can be pretty nebulous. 'Extreme' bloodsport is generally hush hush (those that are particularly graphic and unpleasant, or basically torture) and behind closed doors mostly just to avoid causing a fuss.

The one thing there is official rulings on, straight from the Regent, is the enforcement of 'age of consent' and laws against child abuse. Children are generally not allowed to participate in those skeevier activities and there is a cultural expectation for people to raise their children properly, though this still goes wrong fairly frequently. It's just one of the things that is actually punished. Adults, however, have fewer innate protections.

Comments

[aionpcs]

"With the Kenoma," the Regent says. "Partaking in the Kenoma will allow you to corrupt and manipulate the Pleroma's own strength... for yourself, and even against Pleroma themselves."

"In the end, it will be those loyal to the Kenoma that will be there to shape the Pleroma's form when it is given the chance to live again."

threadjacking briefly with ruki's permission

[lockedon]

Eustace has been sitting silent in his seat for the entirety of dinner thus far, his attention split between the antics of his fellow Kenoma and the heavy atmosphere of the dining room decor around them. When the Regent appears, seemingly out of nowhere, his attention refocuses on the - person? living being? - seated calmly before them.

As before, he remains silent, letting his fellows speak first. He has questions, plenty of them of course, but if others are willing to ask for him, then all the better. Eventually though, snippets of conversation interest him enough that he finally speaks up.

"And what sort of shape are you hoping to create?"

His tone is business-like, not brusque but neither is it deferential and fawning. Surely this Regent, decidedly creepy though they are, has a personal investment in seeing the world end and potentially be reborn. Why go to all the effort otherwise?

[aionpcs]

"That will depend upon you, and the many Aions that have come before."

There's a clear soberness to their response that hasn't been there otherwise.

"Every generation of Aions that arrive here have taught me more and more of life and its foibles. I have known suffering, more suffering than any individual should. A life without suffering is what I offer a new cosmos."

[expiera]

So they ARE encouraged to interact with the Pleroma, and not just in a combat capacity. How the Regent speaks of the Pleroma confirms Xishen's claim that they are still useful to the Regent despite the stance they've taken, and how destroying their shard would only fall as a last resort. It indirectly also answers what kind of role non-combatants may have in this... struggle.

Having gotten more than she already bargained for, she glances aside at Eustace's question, and listens attentively at the Regent's answer. ...It's a non-answer, she thinks, but as one accustomed to following orders, she stays quiet and lowers her gaze again.

She's said what she wanted to say, accomplished what information she wanted to convey. Eustace can keep going, if he so wishes.

[lockedon]

He expects—well, he's not sure what, but the sudden solemnity that fills the Regent's multilayered voice isn't it. His brows twitch once in surprise, furrowing briefly before smoothing back out. There's a part of him that wants to believe in the claims, the part of him that also resonates with the ideals of the Kenoma impressed onto him, but he's always been too bull-headed and pragmatic to accept anything at first glance.

Besides which, there's still too much he doesn't know about this Regent to be able to fully trust anything they say. But he's no bull in a china shop, to charge blindly ahead without thinking, and so he pulls back slightly for the time being, opting to focus on something else.

"Were you the one that brought us here? Us," he mouths the word careful clarity," Aions."

Or is there some even bigger power at work behind the scenes?

[aionpcs]

"Yes," the Regent says. They also seem completely content with leaving it at that, even as they sound pleased to say it.

[lockedon]

They're really gonna leave it there, huh?

Eustace stares at the Regent for the space of a few seconds, deliberating on how far he wants to push his luck tonight. Unlike some who shall not be named, he doesn't have any particular flair for the dramatic that might land him in hot water. But at the same time, the Regent is an unknown quantity, and Eustace doesn't feel like pushing any further, not when his wrist is still twinging from his fights back in the cave.

It's fine. There's time yet to dig around for more answers. For now, he's content with returning the majority of his attention back to his meal, one eye and ear still pinned on the Regent as someone else steps in with a question.