THE REGENT'S ADDRESS [OPEN TO ALL]

[aionpcs]

[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.]

Comments

i'm so sorry about him

[vivificantem]

[Paul says something eventually, the words passionate but not cruel; there's no true vitriol behind them, it just is what it is, and what it is happens to be something he has a lot of feelings about.]

You of the Pleroma act as though your presence isn't the reason that we're doing this to begin with. As though your existence and your influence aren't rendering this necessary.

The more you resist the pull of the Kenoma, the longer your suffering will be prolonged. The longer the suffering of these people you claim to care for will be prolonged. We wish to quell their suffering. I don't find this concept difficult. The peace that you've found here is only temporary compared to the eternal solace that awaits you at the end of days.

You're short-sighted. I do not fault you for this, and I do not hate you for this. But your suffering, and the suffering of all those here, will only cease once you understand, fully.

[And then to the Regent:]

May it be done according to your will.

Re: i'm so sorry about him

[locumstudentesquire]

[Ryu's not normally quite this confrontational, but the whole situation has him just, SO aggro.]

THAT-- [he points, dramatically,] is complete and absolute poppycock!

[vivificantem]

Believe what you will. I'm sure I wouldn't want to believe that my actions were prolonging the suffering of those I care about, either. Those I claim to love.

Others suffer so that you can live. This is just fact; it always has been, regardless of what world you find yourself on. How many here have suffered, have gone to great difficulties to keep you safe? How many wouldn't be in danger right now, were it not for you?

Is it worth it?

[aionpcs]

[The Regent isn't going to interrupt, but they are listening intently. Keep going, you're doing great.]

[locumstudentesquire]

Have you considered for a single moment that far fewer people would BE in danger and suffering in the first place, if you would just leave well enough alone and cease with the plots to attack and torment innocent people?

[vapour]

Calm down, puppy. No one listens to a dog that can only bark 100% of the time.

[locumstudentesquire]

[Ryunosuke jerks his head towards the familiar voice, bristling.]

I'll bark all I have to if it means drowning out all this... This sanctimonious... [He splutters for an appropriate word for a moment;] twaddle!

[chronosynthesis]

[Syrlya doesn't even have the words to respond to this, he just stares at Paul an expression caught between bafflement and incredulity.

What the hell is that.]

from across the metaphysical room,

[dragonmount]

[ you good, dude? ]

[youngprodigy]

[Do you ever have the sudden realization that someone you thought was merely misguided is completely fucking insane?

Cid can't even glare, because this is easily one of the craziest things he's ever heard anyone say.]

[galdorleod]

[ A+, no notes. ]

[goldendeceiver]

Gotta say, Chamo, that'd all be a bit more compelling to us if your boss hadn't just made literal threats on the well being of those people you're looking to "keep from suffering".

[vivificantem]

Just as your own argument would be more compelling if you had chosen to listen properly. The threats made are not against those that are under our protection as a whole, but rather those being corrupted by your influence. If you fail to prune the branches that are infected with rot, you kill the tree.

Our necessary reactions cannot be said to be the fault of those spreading the infection, as it were.

[goldendeceiver]

Yeah? Guess cutting off a whole finger is one way to try and address an infected splinter, if we're gonna use nonsense metaphors that don't apply to human lives here. Kinda a stupid way to do it if you ask me though.

we love him

[aquaveiled]

[ This man is absolutely...




...lost in the sauce. ]

How much of it did you end up drinking?

[vivificantem]

Nothing is making me believe as I do.

[seriously, what's a bit of religious fervor between friends- ]

It isn't a matter of being forced into anything by the Kenoma. It's a matter of finding resonance in it, of reaffirming things that you already know to be true.

I'm after eternal peace. That's all.

[baltimores]

[ Fuck yeah, Paul.

He's really happy to see he's feeling better. ]

[semicharmed]

[ Okay, finally someone's talking cogent philosophy. Matt perks up in a way he definitely did not through the Regent's entire address. He doesn't "move" across the space, but he does incline towards Paul, giving off an impression not entirely unlike that of a flower turning towards the sun.

Can the man get an amen?? ]

don't be, he offers a perspective that enriches the whole conflict

[hikikosaurus]

[Alphys doesn't reply then and there, still recovering from the ups and downs of the whole intense conversation. Maybe the people in charge are jerks and trouble-makers, instigating and mocking the Pleroma... but the ideal of the mission itself is a good one.

She has to keep reminding herself of that.]

[lifespanned]

[ tbh..... slay

Misa's brows raise as she overhears his little speech, smiling in approval. You go king!!! ]

no this is good

[comelately]

[ okay, he has to say something about this. piping up from his wheelchair: ]

Fuck off, man. Suffering's part of life. It sucks, but that's how it is. [ if he's learned anything these past few months, it's that - that life is a balancing act between pain and pleasure, and only God can decide which one you'll get at any given time. That doesn't mean the moments between aren't worth it. He couldn't trade any of it away. ] The end of days isn't "peaceful," it's just the end. Don't drag the rest of us into your cult suicide pact.

[youngprodigy]

[Oh, he knew he liked you for a reason, Johnny.]

[vivificantem]

You're welcome to speak about things you understand little of, even if you're blatantly wrong about them. I never said otherwise.

[Like, seriously, tell him you don't understand without telling him- ]

[inutilis]

...Please tell me. The end that you speak of - the one you're striving towards alongside the Regent...

[ Abel's voice is soft, but carries with it his Deep Concern. Paul, did you know you're Deeply Concerning? this whole thing is definitely Deeply Concerning, for the record. ]

Can you speak to what it means? What it really means for all the souls sacrificed to reach it? How you know their suffering would result in solace...?

Do you know what awaits us at that end? Or... do you simply believe what was promised to you?

[ it isn't accusatory. if anything, Abel's inquiry is sincerely probing: he wants to know if Paul speaks from a place of faith - or if he has seen, come to know something definitive the Pleroma do not. ]

[vivificantem]

[He can read the Deep Concern, though he can't quite gauge what it's for.]

Several of those with you seem to believe that I'm either determined to lie to you or that I simply don't know any better, due to either being some kind of deranged or just not knowing what I'm talking about. But you would trust the answer I give you?