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

[lifespanned]

Mm... that's right.

[ When she thinks of it that way, yes, it does seem an effective way of throwing a wrench in things. There's the matter of this being a two pronged assault, and the matter that they have little time to organize an airtight defense. Whereas the Kenoma will likely receive instructions and orders, not to mention support. Misa makes a soft hum. Overall, she agrees that the address had been an excellent distraction and upset. ]

I think saying the exact time was important, too. Surely the Regent could make an example now... but it'll be worse for them if there's a date.

[ Though she is sure to say these words with an air of flippancy, as if this would be the obvious conclusion to anyone - not the way someone would speak with experience. ]

I mean, look, they're feeling pretty stressed right about now. I bet the Regent knows that's going to get worse over the next week. They're pretty clever, huh?

[zauneyete]

It makes them wait, and what's worse than anticipation and dread?

[ Silco asked, his lips curled in a smile. ] Particularly when you know the swing of an axe is coming, and then there's the Regent, smugly telling you that whatever one does, it won't matter.

[ Tap, tap, his finger tapped on his thigh, thinking. ]

I'm sure they do know. It's quite clever -- and I think they might be enjoying it a little bit.

[ Only sometimes though. He pointed up at the ceiling. ] But only when they aren't being completely foolish.

[lifespanned]

Hee hee. I don't know, I don't think it's totally foolish... it's kinda funny.

[ Holding up the Pleroma like that, with such ease? Besting their enraged outbursts with little more than a flick of a hand? Kinda embarrassing for the Pleroma, she feels, so she honestly finds the entire display entertaining. ]

I know I'd be really frustrated if I got held back so easily. I bet those two feel stupid right now. [ Poor Rand and Estinien. More importantly: ] I could tell a little bit before, but now I'm sure— the Regent has a sense of humor, doing stuff like this, don't you think? I don't find them so scary.

[ sometimes finding it so easy to look past war crimes is something that can be so personal, ]

[zauneyete]

Mm, I think you and I, however, know what it means to be loyal to a cause, don't we?

[ He may not agree with Misa's reasoning, signing on to help someone he thought was...undeserving. However, the two of them did have something in common. The need to do something important. To change their lot in life in some way. Although, in wording, he meant their loyalty to the Kenoma, but... they haven't talked, since their encounter in Venera. ]

We likely see the Regent's virtues, while they're so mired in their own... [ A wave of his hand. ] Self-Righteousness that they can't see what they're caught up in. They'll continue to drag this out, continue to force the Regent's hand, and then they'll be mad, when the Regent makes the hard decisions. I, too, would have a little fun with it, if I were in their position.

Wouldn't you?

[lifespanned]

[ She absolutely thinks he's referring to what he saw in Venera, or at least hinting that he hasn't forgotten about it. But here wouldn't be the very best place to bring all that out in the open, would it? And it'd be very stupid indeed to show any sort of negative reaction to his words, so she just smiles dumbly, nodding once in total agreement to his first question, instead. Playing oblivious is her best bet, for now. The second, however... ]

I guess I'd have a little fun. Or try to spook them.

[ And she's been in that position before, or at least one similar to it; perhaps that's why aligning herself with the Regent as they're acting now comes so easy. Is Silco the same?, she finds herself wondering. An ease at accepting the Regent, particularly in this moment, must come from having had control over others at one point. Having to put people in line, that kind of thing. It's easier to see it their way, having done that... ]

But only for their own good. Since I think it'd be better for a lot of them if they just stayed out of the way... [ Less painful in the end, if they didn't swim against the current at every turn. Under her complete assumption that things will play out in favor of the Kenoma, at least. ] Though I guess their message was equally for us on this side, huh?

[zauneyete]

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.

[lifespanned]

[ She's not surprised to hear this from Silco— she knows from their shared distaste for Matt's behavior in the cavern that they're both aware that just being in the Kenoma doesn't guarantee loyalty. No, if she thinks about it, it's far more likely that people will begin to stray from the pack among orders like these. Silco fixes his gaze on her, and she returns his look with a carefree, easy one - as though it doesn't worry her that it's near guaranteed some among them will be singled out soon. ]

Got any guesses as to who those will be? It kinda feels like I have a few myself... just intuition.

[ It's a casual offer, while she casts her gaze about the room. There are already a few she has doubts about, which only leaves her to wonder just how soon those people will fall under the scrutinizing gaze of the Regent. But she's curious to hear Silco's opinion on the matter— he does seem like he'd be good at sniffing out those types. It's his obvious experience in dealing with the not-so-savory that keys her into it. ]

[zauneyete]

I do have a few ideas, yes.

[ It's self-confident, and he held his hands behind his back, considering the answer as to who. He didn't want to give too much away, and he didn't want to share too many of the discoveries he'd sent toward the Regent -- not that he thought the Regent needed the information --

But regardless, he didn't want Misa to know too much about his... ability to sneak information to the Regent.

What good is it, if everyone has discovered you're the team snitch. ]

Let's see... there are a few who seemed... weak of spirit, or mind. Those that struggled a bit during the training... and those who seem to be unwilling to cause harm.

[ He shrugged. ] There are those who will think we are harming "innocents", and they won't wish to participate. Then there are those who will want to support the Pleroma they've become fond of.

All are ample possibilities for betrayal.

[ Silco had his suspicions, of course. Plenty of them. However... letting the cats out of the bag early wouldn't do. ]

[lifespanned]

That's the thing I'm wondering about.... to be in the Kenoma, to really be in it, you'd have to see these people as not innocent, wouldn't you?

[ Even conspiring against the Regent should be ample cause for being taken care of - that's just... common sense. Or, she thinks it's common sense. She doubts everyone will see things that way, too focused on the fact that these people are not Aions, but rather civilians. It doesn't make much a difference to her, though, evident in the casualness she treats the matter with. ]

I just feel like we'd be better off without those types? They might get in the way. And in a mission important as this, well...

[ The failure will come down on them all. Silco must think similarly, since he has such a clear picture of the archetypes that may stray from the pack - so she doesn't mind saying that they don't need such people to begin with openly to him. ]

[zauneyete]

I think that it depends.

[ Silco knew something Misa didn't, after all. He knew of those that had betrayed the cause already. He'd seen how they had... changed, after the Regent had tried to force their compliance. ]

It seems that the Regent would rather know of their betrayal, and deal with it accordingly, than let it go.

I suspect that the Kenoma has its ways of... preserving our resources.

[ He had no clue what had happened Thu Hotel, but the man had changed, afterward. He'd seemed...sharper, and less keen on betrayal. ]