aionpcs: (regent)
Aion Teleos NPCs ([personal profile] aionpcs) wrote in [community profile] aionchat2022-07-10 02:52 pm
Entry tags:

THE REGENT'S ADDRESS [OPEN TO ALL]

[It comes on fast, once the Regent has your spirit in their hold. Around you, you may see other Aions stumble in the same moment, as if shaken by the same tectonic motion. An inexorable darkness claws at your senses, and you have only a few moments, hard fought, to reposition yourself so that you don't simply drop to the ground when it overtakes you. It has similarities to Communion, to the way another entity's thoughts and words reach out to your mind, but by the same token it's entirely foreign.

This presence is not like another person, it is like a raging, screaming cacophony that drowns out everything else in its path. Whether you be Kenoma or Pleroma, the Regent's presence in this metaphysical realm is staggering. To the Pleroma, though, it also feels caustic, as if the movement of their aura is enough to erode your own, with time.

Gradually, a new world forms. Unlike other Communions, where you are ultimately grounded in reality, here you can been dragged to what seems to be its own distinct psychic realm. A vast, void-filled courtroom, where only the throne at its front has a defined form. Around you, you see shadows of other people, other Aions, that have summoned along with you... but for the moment they seem spectral and unclear, their identities obscured by the realm's aggressive focus on its master.

The Regent sits at their throne, their body swathed in dark fabrics that drift and flutter like smoke. They have no face to be seen, only a faceted silver mask, without any markings or the barest indication of what might be beneath it. Their size is indistinct, maybe a bit taller than you are. They at first sit reclined, but straight up as their 'guests' arrive.]


It's been a long time coming, my subjects.

[At first, they are the only one that can be heard. Though you feel as if you have some physical presence here, a shadowy body of your own, if you attempt to speak no sound emerges.]

To the Pleroma: well done surviving thus far. Granted, I feel as if my Kenoma have made things easy for you. How strange, that most of you were allowed to wander a city within my empire without recourse. Able to summon that wretched creature to your side, even.

I hope you've enjoyed yourself, in the time you've had, because this will be no more. You've spread your infection in Venera, in Godsblood, and it is only necessary that these wounds be cleansed by the touch of the Kenoma. Your presence gives the people ideas... ideas that would disrupt the fragile peace they've come to enjoy, after so many years of suffering. As a kindness, I will only trim the vine, rather than burn the vineyard. What Venerans have taken up your cause, I will see shorn from my empire. And in Godsblood... an example will be made, as of the Sovereign's moon.

My Kenoma will do this for me. Fight them, if you want. But know that I am no longer asking for your fealty. I am demanding it.

[As if opening their court for questions, you will find yourself more able to act. Those that speak or take action will find their physical forms taking shape, standing in the court as people rather than shadows. If you want to question the Regent, now is the time to do so.

OOC: This post is a free for all! We will try to response as the Regent to people who directly engage with them, but you are also allowed to threadjack and interact with each other if you like. Please note that we will not be responding to tag ins done later than the 12th.]
killandrecycle: (Demon general)

[personal profile] killandrecycle 2022-07-15 09:49 pm (UTC)(link)
[The sort of look the girl shoots Barnaby could bore through steel. She seems very much unhappy at the sound of his voice.]

My words were not for your ears. Having them wasted on the likes of you pisses me off. Make sure you stay out of my way this time. I haven't forgotten the way you acted before, I won't hold back if you bother me again.
hundredpower: (067)

[personal profile] hundredpower 2022-07-15 10:09 pm (UTC)(link)
[He laughs softly, a sound that's forced, incongruous to everything going on around them.] That's kind of you. Maybe next time? There are plans to take the children on monthly outings.

['If they get through this' is a very big if. But he is genuinely happy, all the same, that she was able to find some enjoyment in the circumstances they've found themselves in.]
hundredpower: (178)

[personal profile] hundredpower 2022-07-15 10:15 pm (UTC)(link)
Then I see no reason to waste my words on you, either.

[He turns away, dismissive, to focus on the Regent once more. If it comes to it, they can settle their differences next time. Whether or not the Regent will approve of such infighting is no longer a concern to him.]
semicharmed: (084)

[personal profile] semicharmed 2022-07-15 11:53 pm (UTC)(link)
[ As soon as Amos comes into view, Matt's simmering anxiety spikes. When he calls out, Matt nearly flinches, the bottom dropping out from his stomach.

He's been avoiding people since he gave up his hand, obviously. There's been a lot of adjusting to do. Adjusting to pain, adjusting to the difficulty of doing basic tasks, adjusting to things as stupid as like, the fact that he has to reach across his body for communion now, right hand seatbelting for the crystal on the left side of his neck. Adding other Kenoma into this humiliating equation was a total nonstarter. He barely wants to look at himself right now, he's been in no hurry to watch other people's faces as they realize what's changed.

Now he sees everything he was afraid of in Amos. It feels weirdly like having the hand cut off again, only this time, the severing is taking place purely through the lens of Amos' perception. Matt can feel himself morphing in front of him, his silhouette wobbling for the worse. ]


I'm fine, [ he protests, which is all he can think to say despite how objectively untrue it is. ] I mean, it was--consensual. I wanted to do it.
wolof: I craved the taste of it (A poison so sweet)

[personal profile] wolof 2022-07-16 05:33 am (UTC)(link)
[ Her smile is hesitant. She can't hold that kind of hope. It's too...

It feels like believing in circumventing too great of odds. She understands, though, after being... shaped so much by being around other people, she can't help but find those that reflect the virtues that Catherine had wanted her to hold dear.

None of the Pleroma were...villainous enough, of course. Most of them seemed to err towards heroes, but that had never stopped Catherine, and even her in the later years of the war. It's important to find those who will uplift virtue, rather than simply fight for the sake of fighting.

Abel fit that, so she pat her hand, gently.
]

Well, hopefully I can...help, with that. If you need your back watched, I'm surprised you're even willing, given...

[ She gestured, outward.

She'd talked to the Regent, instead of yelled, asked questions, instead of postured. She could feel it in herself, the Role settled. The eyes of Above and Below might not reach her here, but she could feel it, that purpose, and foolishly, perhaps, she'd had her eyes fixed to the Regent.
]
zauneyete: (smug)

[personal profile] zauneyete 2022-07-16 07:04 am (UTC)(link)
Oh, quite so.

[ Silco agreed, and his eyes wheeled across the plane, taking stock of all of their companions thus far. He certainly didn't doubt that some of them either lacked the resolution to take the necessary steps, or doubted their purpose thus far.

Silco had already found that there were many who were willing to deny the Regent's wishes -- or that of Kenoma in general. Certainly, Silco saw the Regent as an avenue for power, and he was nothing if not constantly obsessed with the pursuit of it. However, the mission itself?

If only he could burn the world down in this moment -- as revenge for... everything that had happened to him -- and as for revenge for ending, without his daughter at his side.
]

I'm sure those who lack the conviction will find themselves in hot water soon enough. [ His single eye blinked, before he focused his eerie, dual-tone gaze on Misa. ] I'm certain that we'll find some fair-weather friends on the other side soon. We'll have to be prepared for that eventuality.
baltimores: (058; (give nothing in return))

[personal profile] baltimores 2022-07-16 08:17 am (UTC)(link)
[ He blinks up at him in surprise. I'm fine is clearly just some reflexive shit, but this is drastic enough that Amos doesn't want to just give him a flat look, as though that'll be what makes Matt course correct.

Everything he says after that is already too fucking weird for him to comprehend, anyway.

He looks back down at the stump. ]


At least it's not bleeding.

[ There's a forced casualness to his voice, like he's almost trying to make a joke, but he can't really hide his discomfort at the way things around it are fraying on a spiritual level. He didn't think he was signing up to perceive shit like that, but now that he can, it's so disconcerting—

Back up at Matt, even though, shit, whatever's going on there is putting him on edge. Not like he's never seen someone lose a body part. That part's normal. Not great, but normal. But—

Ah, fuck, he needs to get over it. If Matt's not freaking out about it then it's probably fine. ]


Why would you— [ He stops. He doesn't know how to word this, but he is trying to be supportive. Fuck, he really hopes that's coming across. Amos' voice is soft and sincere as he starts back up, like he's afraid he's going to say something that's gonna send Matt into hysterics. Last thing he wants to do is upset him. ] Why did you want to do it?
inutilis: (✞ partners.)

[personal profile] inutilis 2022-07-17 12:07 am (UTC)(link)
[ there's something in her response he takes in with a light tilt of his head; it is a measured silence, one filled with a brief contemplation. ]

Miss Akua... I trust you.

[ he feels she needs it said as much as Abel feels like saying it. he wants there to be no uncertainty, no open-endedness in this: they stand where they stand, and he feels strongly about his security with her at his back. ]

With my back or at my side.
semicharmed: (chiaroscuro)

[personal profile] semicharmed 2022-07-17 03:00 am (UTC)(link)
[ That, is ... a surprisingly multifaceted question.

Amos' tone and his bearing seem to soothe Matt sufficiently that he can actually contemplate the answer, which is good because he needs all the help he can get. It's less a matter of finding the why, more a matter of carving away the parts that wouldn't make sense. Like how can Matt explain how it felt to cut through the veil? To really transcend, the sharpness of the transgression stinging salt against his eyes? It'd be like explaining a seventh sense to someone who's only known five, a problem made thornier by the fact that once Matt leaves the hyper-clarity of these moments, his conscious mind can't really wrap around them.

He settles for the answer that's comparatively straightforward. ]


Xishen asked for my help with a spell to track down the Innocence.

The first time we tried it, she seemed to kind of shake us off. I asked Xishen if there was another way to try the spell, and she told me ... she has the ability to turn sacrifice into magic.
aquaveiled: (himeka-582)

hmmm...some doubt

[personal profile] aquaveiled 2022-07-17 04:36 am (UTC)(link)
Understandably so.

[ She finds it hard to believe that so many of them actually want to see the end of everything. It has to be a rouse, right?

Himeka takes a step closer, lowering her voice further. ]


...You don't have to, you know.
subsist: (pic#15626817)

don't doubt your breastie...

[personal profile] subsist 2022-07-17 04:51 am (UTC)(link)
[ when she steps closer, kaeya begins to turn the other way. ]

... Take care of yourself, Himeka.

[ this almost feels like a repeat of their previous conversation from not too long ago. it hadn't convinced him to move away from the kenoma's reach, and he doesn't think anything is going to change that now, but—

it would be nice if he could feel as if he's worthy of her kindness, but a sinner like him isn't allowed such luxuries. ]
aquaveiled: (himeka-490)

don't turn around by ace of base plays

[personal profile] aquaveiled 2022-07-17 06:04 am (UTC)(link)
[ Mayhaps it was a poor decision to try again, but after seeing how unenthused Kaeya had looked after the Regent's address, she had to try. They'll all have to keep trying if it means getting through to the Kenoma. To the people that may still have a chance.

Himeka exhales out of her nose and doesn't try stop him, nor does she respond in kind. She'd rather leave him with her final statement, if it's something he bothers to consider at all. ]
baltimores: (114; can you get us there?)

[personal profile] baltimores 2022-07-17 10:47 am (UTC)(link)
[ He's that much more alert the second Matt mentions Innocence.

Amos' eyes flash, gazing up at Matt from down in his crouch. And it's. He's glad he isn't fucking this up. Glad he did get Matt actually talking, eventually. But this is now, officially, so much bigger. And if Matt doesn't want condolences — not like Amos is the type to be able to offer them properly, anyway — then he can jump right into the practical, which is where this answer seems to have been headed, anyway. ]


Did you find it?

[ There's a... sort of hopefulness to his voice that should be out of place with this whole situation. Amos stands back up, rights himself. After a moment he decides to sit down next to Matt — on his left side, sure to keep at least some distance between his own body and whatever is going on with where Matt's hand used to be, but if Xishen had a part in this, then maybe it's okay.

And he searches his eyes again. He'd told Matt he'd wanted to kill that thing. If he knows where it is...

The sacrifice is weird. That part he'll never understand. But he gets the basic principles behind it — losing something to gain something — and this would be. This would be a good gain.

C'mon, man. Please. ]
perfectlygoodbird: (is all your own)

[personal profile] perfectlygoodbird 2022-07-17 02:33 pm (UTC)(link)
It's a deal! I'll look forward to it!

[Meteion usually is the type to look for that silver lining, and now is no different. Not really. Likely, it's part of her personality (and thus, her Legacy, also), but the laugh she offers in turn is, while quiet, free and unrestrained.]

Still. Please, take care of yourself, Ser Barnaby? And I'll do my best to do the same.
aquaveiled: (himeka-540)

[personal profile] aquaveiled 2022-07-18 01:36 am (UTC)(link)
[ "He owns me" is an exceedingly troubling way to describe someone. Dextera is nothing short of a mystery and this bodes ill for what has led him to be the person he is today. ]

...

[ Himeka gives his shoulder a gentle squeeze. ]

He may think he does...but that doesn't mean it has to be true, does it?
vivificantem: (086.  master grant that i may never seek)

[personal profile] vivificantem 2022-07-18 10:27 pm (UTC)(link)
[He's more than willing to accept any shows of even-handedness, but any handshakes outside of the metaphorical are going to be declined; he isn't willing to do anything of the sort with the Regent right there.]

Likewise.
vivificantem: (089. to be understood as to understand)

[personal profile] vivificantem 2022-07-18 10:43 pm (UTC)(link)
Personally? It's as I've described to you. It's not so much a feeling as it is an absence.

Silence is a blessing, as much as anything else that exists. Unless you believe I'm lying to you, or trying to mislead you somehow... I'm willing to follow the Kenoma to its end, because that's more than enough for me.
wolof: (Kneel)

[personal profile] wolof 2022-07-19 05:33 am (UTC)(link)
[ She smiled, then. Perhaps a touch sad, but it was there all the same. ]

Thank you.

[ More honest than a Villain like her should be, she thinks, but... she'd learned to be honest with her allies. At least with most things. She may restrain from information at times, but... They were the type that could be trusted, or else she would find better allies. ]

I feel the same. It's...not often I've found those that I could trust.
passio: (pic#6016793)

[personal profile] passio 2022-07-19 01:51 pm (UTC)(link)


[ what himeka says isn’t wrong. he knows that, and he understands it every time people tell him something similar. it just never seems to sink in; dextera is still punishing himself with the archangel’s ownership. ]

I don’t know another way to be. Even if he isn’t here anymore, I have to… I can’t think about myself any other way.
vapour: (pic#15074487)

[personal profile] vapour 2022-07-20 12:39 am (UTC)(link)
[ Childe has no counter for that. If they so truly cared for the people, ending the world they live in isn't a way to show it unless the people can be saved prior and brought forth into a recreated one. There's no give for an argument there.

Childe doesn't really care one way or the other now with Lumine gone, and he has no plans to get close to anyone here to change his stakes on this place and its ultimate fate. Perhaps that's why none of this bothers him like he can clearly see it bothering a decent number of other Kenoma. He just doesn't have the heart to care. He also knows he doesn't have the strength to care and actually make a difference. That's for heroes, not people like him.
]

That's why being weak makes us useless. If we don't have enough power to stand up against those that do, it doesn't matter how right or wrong either side is. Even children learn they have to eat their vegetables.

Life is never fair—ironically death is.
inutilis: (✞ sympathetic hearts.)

[personal profile] inutilis 2022-07-20 12:55 am (UTC)(link)
Then I hope that you look about you, now, and see many more in your future.

[ he sends a glance beyond them to the shadowy shapes of their allies - people who are standing in passionate plea as much as in staunch protest to the Regent's declaration, fighting for all they're worth against the cold, hard press of despair. ]

I have a feelings things will only get harder from here. I trust you to have my back, and I trust you to help me have theirs, too. Some of them... I don't think they're yet prepared for this.
wolof: (You're stupid (I like that in a woman))

[personal profile] wolof 2022-07-20 05:54 am (UTC)(link)
No, I think you're right.

[ Not just Rand -- suspended above them -- some of them hold their principles so tightly, uncompromising, unwavering. She doesn't think they're ready for the sacrifices that would need to be made in wartime. It feels odd, being associated with so much Good, Akua feels it will rub off on her, make her weak. Make her compromise who she is, to be useful to the cause.

But she knows, seeing them now, that they won't be willing to do That which must be done. Like Catherine, strong-arming a continent's worth of heroes to pull their world, kicking and screaming from the Age of Wonders (And Akua by proxy), she would help pull this world kicking and screaming as well, if she must. The Kenoma, as well.
]

They will need people like you, or I, to do that which must be done -- or guide them to become strong enough to stand against the Kenoma.

They have the power here, we'll have to topple their proverbial tower, brick by brick, if we must.
inutilis: (✞ avid listener.)

[personal profile] inutilis 2022-07-20 04:16 pm (UTC)(link)
The cost it will ask of them might erode the parts of them that make them strong.

[ sacrifice - personal or otherwise - is an inevitable part of battle, of war. when they fight against those they have forged bonds with, it becomes even more taxing and trying; there are some (like Akua) that might not have strong ties to the Kenoma by way of friendship, but even so--

surely she, too, can see signs of innocence, signs of the misguided, blinded and influenced by forces beyond their control among their enemy. they do not fight some nameless, faceless evil. these are people - people who have been twisted by their own pain and sometimes blinded by it. she understands. she keenly grasps what that is like.

but it must be an... experience, to stand on the other side of that line in the sand again. ]


You have something to give them that is far more valuable than your magic or your wit, Akua. What they'll need is an anchor to keep them grounded... and you are uniquely placed to be that for them. You know what it is to be their enemy, and you know what it is to lose everything.

[ to teach them a better way so that they... enemy and ally alike... do not have to suffer in that manner. ]
tohell: (pic#15585299)

[personal profile] tohell 2022-07-21 11:40 am (UTC)(link)
If that's all you have left to say, then let me give you one piece of advice.

[ Sure, his grubby paws have been batted away with more tolerance than most who've had their space invaded thanks to J's handsy nature. Try as Barnaby might, that doesn't provide any guarantees to keep them or his schemes at bay. In fact, those hands spring into action not even a minute after they've been cast off. Both appearing with the same irritating precision as a weed poking up in the exact spot it'd previously been evicted from. He fusses at the front of Barnaby's shirt with every intent to neatly straighten it, with all the impotent stalling typical before a meaningful departure. ]

You draw a little too much attention to yourself, Bunnykins. [ While trapped within this mental landscape, he doesn't doubt the possibility that their conversations are being monitored. This is the Regent's home field, where the limitations and control their overlord exerts is presently unknown. (With the few exceptions provided by the foolhardy lot that chose this moment to attack.) So he prunes his every response to be far removed from what it is now: conspiring with a soon-to-be traitor. And what better way to do that, than to provide a distraction from the truth? A domestic dispute over a fictitious affair that others have already assumed when trying to get a read on the nature of their relationship.

If the walls have ears, J will provide little but fodder for Achamoth's next great country hit, entitled Shardbreak at the Citadel. And if not, they do have an audience of one other than J to entertain. While his fellow demon lost track of him for a while there, J has been keeping one very central eye on Makoto long enough to catch him staring. ]


Now that you're washing your hands of this, it looks like someone else already has their sights set on you. [ J doesn't need to spell out the warning to make it clear. Barnaby is being watched in a way very different from how the Aions present, both friends and foe, are sizing each other up. And while he will readily alert him to a potential threat, J won't expose Makoto's observation of them in such specifics. ]
Edited 2022-07-21 12:42 (UTC)
hundredpower: (203)

[personal profile] hundredpower 2022-07-21 03:44 pm (UTC)(link)
[Slightly more exasperated now, his brow furrows and he pushes one of J's hands away again to indicate he should stop, as if he's not dealing with a demon but more like an attention-seeking child who doesn't know when to leave well alone. His shirt doesn't need fixing up. He's even less interested in playing along with the charade J is inventing, and less still who might be watching. ]

Please don't call me that. [He says it quietly, trying to keep the anger from his voice. However much he had once hated it, Bunny belonged to Kotetsu and Kotetsu alone. He didn't want anyone else using it, least of all when the Regent had just admitted to being the one who destroyed his world. It was just another gouge at an open wound. And the Kenoma, all of them, were now accomplices in whatever happened next.]

Have you considered you're the one drawing attention to the both of us? Or perhaps you want an audience. [He did say he was bored, after all.]

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