HAYAME ➳ PLEROMA (VOICE)

[warmare]

[One member of Pleroma has intentionally avoided Communion for months, but now... perhaps it can actually be of use. Now, she actually requires something that she cannot accomplish through strength or stubbornness alone, so-

A hard, cold voice barely comes through, mixed with an inexperienced jumble of vague (violent, dark) images until the words solidify as:]

Who amongst you has the ability to write?

I require a posting for the Achamite heads.

[OOC: please be warned there will be (cw: beheading) in this post]

Comments

[warmare]

Do you think that despite the Regent's rule, this is the first displayed head they have seen? Surely they are not so delicate.

[Sounds fake.]

[youngprodigy]

Hayame... not everyone is as strong as you.

[Even without the emotion sharing, it's obvious he's including himself in this.]

Many of them are elderly or infirm, or far too young. They're artisans, not warriors. It's noble of you to find ways to inspire them, but we must needs understand they've long since grown used to their oppression. It will take time for them to gain such courage.

[warmare]

I am not trying to inspire them.

[To her dubious credit... she refuses to be called "noble", even in passing from a relative stranger. She isn't a hero, or a leader, or some Ishikawa Goemon...]

I am sending a message to the Achamites. Whether the Venerans find courage or not is no business of mine.

[youngprodigy]

And if they send a message back to us with the heads of Godsblood's soldiers?

[warmare]

Did something about the public execution and rebel hunts not already tell you what sort of messages they'll be sending?

The Godsblood soldiers should already be ready for death. So should the Venerans.

[youngprodigy]

Has it occurred to you that the Achamites do not fear death?

The message will be wasted on a people who already long for the destruction of the universe! All you'll be doing is providing more propaganda for the Regent.

It's war. We'll killing more of their soldiers before it's over, and I've no doubt the Aions will suffer casualties as well. But this accomplishes nothing in the long-term.

[warmare]

Every single one of them? Every one of these foot soldiers for the Regent is a monster who does not fear death?

[She refuses to address the rest until that's answered.]

[youngprodigy]

If they're as swiving insane as Father Paul was during the meeting? He would have shattered his shard then and there if it would bring about the end of all things.

Even if they're not... is it satisfying killing a conscript forced into a war against his or her will? We can't inspire hope, we can't tell the masses that life is worth living if we're making theater out of slaughter. We'll be no different than the Kenoma.

[warmare]

Do you think I do this because it's satisfying?

If I wanted satisfaction I would find a lord to serve, who would praise me for my service and bravery when I placed the heads of his enemies at his feet.

This is a message for those guards who serve the Regent. If it inspired the Venerans to know someone will execute the men who press their boots onto their necks, then that would simply be a bonus.

You mistake me to even say "we".

[youngprodigy]

When I say "we" I mean the Pleroma.

I won't pretend to understand where you're coming from, but I have far too much blood on my hands, have seen far too much death, to believe your message will do aught but cause even more bloodshed.

Mayhap your experiences have taught you otherwise, I shan't argue if that's the case.

Do what you will; I'm not interested in stopping you. I just hope I'm wrong.

[warmare]

And I never called myself one.

[... nevermind that she is technically serving alongside their general cause, and that she lived in Greentruth.]

"Pleroma" has not done anything for me. They certainly don't have a leader who will take these heads from my hands, nor a way to send me home.

Use "we" once that changes.

[What she will do now... Is unknown. But he said his piece.]

[youngprodigy]

....The Pleroma don't have a leader. Nor should we. The Kenoma want obedience, control. Here, it's individuality.

I've no interest in telling you what to do. All I ask is for you to consider what others have had to say.

[warmare]

Everything needs a leader, what are you talking about?

[says the woman who has never heard of democracy]

[youngprodigy]

Certainly, but it needn't be a single individual.

In my adoptive land, there is an Alliance of many different nations and tribes. They make decisions as a collective, though I'll admit the current form of the Alliance is very, very recent.

Even in the nations, there are many people making decisions. Ishgard is a new republic, and Limsa Lominsa has several pirate clans who can object to the Admiral's decisions. The nation I now call home, Ala Mhigo, has become a republic as well, abandoning the kingdom it once was entirely.

That isn't even including the tribes, who all have different structures as well.

[warmare]

And you expect me to believe that multiple men of the same standing all come together and agree? They do not fight about inheritance or land or power?

Hah- Do not make me laugh with such a poor joke!

[youngprodigy]

From what I understand, the Eorzean cities have almost always been at war with each other, and with the tribes they share their lands with. It's only recently they've come together, because they've found a common goal: protecting the realm they all call home.

It's a fragile thing, built primarily on trade and a desire to end bloodshed. That isn't to say they're all friends, far from it. Decades of war and all that comes of it can't be healed overnight.

[warmare]

It's new and it's fragile... Yes, a very good example for your point.

[youngprodigy]

I think it's a perfect example.

The Pleroma is a new and fragile group. At most we've only known each other for a few moons. I've known Himeka for years, but that's quite the unusual circumstance.

[warmare]

Even more reason none here are capable. If that Tehri woman would step up, or the Greentruth tree hoppers had a proper general...

But no. Let us all debate.

[youngprodigy]

Does this mean you're volunteering for the position?

[There's no sense he means this as a jab or as cruelty, he just sounds and feels genuinely curious.]

[warmare]

No.

[Which might sound like a cop-out, someone willing to complain but not willing to be the solution, but... It is actually more sensible.]

I am but a warrior. Not a general. I do not have the training in strategy or tactic necessary to claim I could lead an army. Or a village.

[youngprodigy]

[For what it's worth, there's no sign from his end that he's taking it as a cop out. No anger or irritation, just the same curiosity.]

I'm not so sure there are any among us who have such training. Tehri has been here the longest of all of us, certainly, but seniority alone doesn't make for grand leadership. I've no idea if it's even something she'd have any interest in.

That's why I believe a collective is the best solution; no one person's voice has more power than the others'.

[warmare]

[Her lack of control over communion will perhaps... make her absolute derision over the idea fairly clear by accident. Because truly... leave it to a human to say-]

You truly believe that? That if we formed a collective that every single person's voice would have the same weight?

[youngprodigy]

Why wouldn't it?

[He sounds utterly baffled.]

If the Vath, the Ixal, the Kobolds... if all of the tribes of Eorzea were given a seat at the Grand Eorzean Alliance, of course every voice would matter here. Perhaps more would agree with you than with me on the current matter, in which case I would respect that.

[Once again there's no sense from him that he's lying. It's more than obvious he's very much against the idea of displaying severed heads in the middle of Venera, but he would respect a majority rule.]

I owe the Ixal a great deal towards the creation of Eorzean airships.

[And then Cid does the telepathic equivalent of having a light bulb flash over his head.]

The Ixal are a race of birdlike people. They're different from the races of mankind, but no less vital to the realm. It's true for all the tribes.

[warmare]

There will always be people who are less than others. There will always be people who consider themselves better. There are slaves and masters and untouchables and nobles...

Even if you all call yourselves "Pleroma" and unite under that banner... you think everyone will just abandon such notions and consider everyone in the group equal? Even those too weak to contribute? Even those who do what others do not like?

I cannot imagine what kind of fool would believe that.