Mana: And so it was written: Pokiehlember 1st, Year 1, Salamander's Day. The sun, clouds skimming by, shines proudly down upon the heavenly tower of the Jinn Emperor. There's a procession of guards heading out into Wisp - they're paused to let a contingent of holy amblers pass.
Mana: (Those men and women in white robes who walk the gardens.)
Vladislav makes his way through the streets with a solemn face and his book tucked underneath his arm. His destination wasn't a particularly pleasant one, but it was an event he intended to see through to the end. He squints up at the sky upon leaving the tower, shaking his head once as he descends the steps to get into line for Wisps gate.
Mana: Wisp District. (In front of the Hall of Marble.)
Mana: Big crowd. The guillotine is wheeled out by a pair of guards - a garish thing, mahogany and gold and brass, with a tremendous, sculpted bird's head welded to the metal slab that bears the blade.
Mana: One might, perhaps, consider who is present:
Mana: Commander Ibex, ramrod straight, in blue armor, at the forefront of the row of guards that separate crowd from spectacle.
Vladislav 's gaze lingers on the guillotine for a moment. Rather ironic sculpture all things considered. The crowd around him likely wasn't sympathetic, but who wouldn't come to such an event when the entire city has been on lockdown for the day?
Mana: Erinee, the court doctor. Flanked by her shadows, as always. She watches from near the back, by the steps up to the hall.
Vladislav continues to scan the crowd, frowning slightly at the turn out. Would the Emperor be so bold to execute one of his own Sages and not even show up to the event?
Mana: The Emperor, indeed, is absent: A stage has been built for him, to announce the judgement. In the seat by the Emperor's, a minor official, the acting judge, a woman with ram's horns, waits anxiously.
Vladislav chews at his lip irritated. He pushes his way to the front of the crowd as needed, slipping about with a few excuse me's and light shoves when one is unresponsive.
Mana: The old man is brought by guards out to the guillotine. He's shackled into place, he looks up at the blade. He looks over at the official - he has a brief smile for Vladislav, out of the corner of his eyes, too quick to be noticed by anyone else.
Mana: After some time, he speaks up: "You there. In the chair. He's not coming, you know. The Emperor."
Vladislav stares back with a stern expression, eyes drifting between the man, the empty podium and the official.
Mana: The official shouts down: "Silence!"
Mana: Joch tilts his head. "We both know you can't back that up."
Mana: (With what degree of freedom he has.)
Vladislav tilts his head to the side, monitoring the crowd as the discussion goes on. With this many people it was unlikely he could do anything alone. Perhaps if a riot of some sort started, but there was no need to get ahead of things.
Mana: Definitely a rabble. But a cowed rabble, all of them waiting to see what happens next.
Mana: Hell, when one of those Salamander street kids opposite you, on the far side of the crowd, starts talking, the short one next to him nudges him in the gut. There's rapt attention here, like standing on the edge of a cliff.
Mana: "So you have to do it." Joch says. "You have to play your part."
Mana: "…It doesn't have to be what I wrote down. But you have to do something."
Vladislav takes a better look at the official. Why put someone with such minor influence at the head of an event? Other major players are present and could easily fit the role. Was the Emperor unable to come, or was he refusing to based on what was written in the book?
Mana: She's dressed in the robes of office of the court Judge - not of the same quality, but a good mockup, given short notice. The horns of a ram are tautly coiled on the side of her head, and blonde hair curls at her shoulders. You don't spot any of the known gems on her jewelry, either.
Mana: "…While we wait," Joch says. "I'll name the apocalypses. People of Oberon…" He turns his palms upwards, in their stocks.
Mana: "What does the world end in?"
Mana: "Monsters!" Someone shouts. "Winter!" Shouts another.
Mana: "These things are true." Joch admits.
Mana: "…Titania." Joch says. "I meant Titania." He looks, aside, to someone in the crowd.
Mana: "You should've picked up on that, you know."
Mana: A woman in a turban shouts back: "I… thought you were being poetic!"
Vladislav: "You seem to be running under the assumption that this world must end. All it must do is change."
Mana: The woman in the turban shouts back: "Please! You've read the book, haven't you?"
Mana: "It's a litany of every single fault in the earth boiling up to swallow the Empire whole. Oberon or Titania, whatever it's called - this city we live in doesn't work!"
Mana: Joch looks at her, mildly flabbergasted. The official does, too.
Vladislav narrows his brow slightly, actually focusing his gaze on the woman in a turban. "And so you propose that the people of Titania should be aware of these events and do nothing to fix them? Is it not human nature to cling to life, delay the inevitable?"
Mana: She's awfully nondescript - black hair folded underneath a wrapping of white cloth and white robes, looking like any number of traveling merchants from the east. But there's a terrifyingly certain fire in her clear, brilliant blue eyes. "Of course. But you've been set up."
Mana: "If people here had any sense, they'd be ripping the gates from the walls and rushing out as fast as they can."
Mana: "…But as it stands, we're buried under a million tons of earth, the seams are showing, the ice is coming, the goblins are rising up, the beasts are stirring… and I don't even know what you've got going on in your so-called Shade, but it's bad."
Vladislav: "And so the people stand silently as they watch the one man in the city that is trying to save it get put to the blade. Yet one blatant question remains. Where is the Emperor? Is Titania really so unsafe that the Emperor cannot leave his bedchambers? The gates before you are sentencing the city to death."
Vladislav: "People of Titania, has your Emperor forsaken you? Has he found the path to paradise while we are left behind in our crumbling world?"
Mana: And the crowd turns to look at Vladislav. And Joch. And the official, and the woman in the turban -
Vladislav: "Sage Joch has warned us of what is to come. Has our Emperor kept this to himself, tried to conceal the truth and use the opportunity to save himself?"
Mana: Who bows, stepping away, flourishing back to Vladislav…
Vladislav grins slightly as she exits the stage. If the official does not wish to take the stage, he will direct the story instead.
Mana: Commander Ibex lowers his helmet, levels his spear at Vlad. His feathered tail fans out behind him.
Mana: "I'm sworn to protect the order of this city. If you and her speak must speak such things, I won't have you speaking them to what could be a stampede."
Vladislav offers a wide grin in return, brushing his bangs to the side. "To be perfectly honest, it would be more convenient all around if one would just open the gate for me. Somehow I don't think we are open for negotiations."
Vladislav: "Alternatively you are more than welcome to offer the citizens a valid explanation as to why the Emperor has not shown up. Assumptions and curiousity can only be stomped out by hard evidence and practicality. Until then the seeds of doubt have already been planted."
Mana: Ibex shoulders his spear, taking a step forward. "There's no explanation. But the machines of this city are not the Emperor alone."
Mana: "…Even if through a flawed vessel, it's good that there's judgement in this city."
Mana: "Even if through arrogance, it's good we have a gate to Paradise - even if through unbearable heat, it's good that we forge iron."
Mana: (Somewhere in the background, Erinee's mouth has fallen agape.)
Mana: "If you won't sentence Joch, milady Gen -" the commander nods to the official, politely "- It falls upon me to do it for you."
Vladislav purses his lips at the mention of a flawed vessel. His expression only shifts for a moment before shaping back into a grin. "And what crimes is the Sage being sentenced for? Is it not a Sage's job to foretell?"
Mana: "Exactly. And his job is to foretell for the purpose of the Court."
Vladislav: "So you are sentencing the man because he told the people what was to come?"
Mana: "Clearly, this means that we cannot execute him for his prophecy."
Mana: Ibex flexes the shining gauntlet upon his fingers. "That was unwise. But not illegal - certainly not guillotine illegal. No."
Vladislav: "Then why have we arrived at this farce?"
Mana: "He published in secret. In order to do so, he disappeared deep into the Shade - derelicting the Court for some time."
Mana: "In so doing, he abdicated his duties to the Court. Likely, he feared the Emperor's response."
Mana: Joch nods his head, a bit. "You can't say I was wrong."
Vladislav: "The same Emperor who has closed the city gates and gone into isolation? I could never fathom why."
Mana: "Naturally. To speak of seven disasters is a ridiculous claim which demands response. Especially from our, hmph, flawed vessel."
Mana: "…But if Joch spoke of one, would we not be facing it together? Would there not be such horrifying whispers running through the cities? And then he might live to speak of another, and of another, until the matter is solved."
Mana: "As a sage, he can be expected to know the chaos his chronicle would sow. In this fashion, he can be considered to be obligated to dispense the information better."
Mana: The woman in the turban chews her lip. "That's a little ridiculous, isn't it?"
Vladislav: "I take it you are mighty confident in the Emperor's copy of the publication being able to solve your problems if you are so keen to execute one of the most helpful parties to the cause for high treason."
Mana: Ibex stomps at the ground, widening his stance. "Keen, no. But don't you think Joch deserves paradise as much as anyone?"
Vladislav: "If you would be so kind, please explain to the people how you plan to alleviate the pains of those left behind without the Sage's assistance. I am not so sure his role in this story is finished yet."
Mana: "I believe such matters are better left to the city's master of medicine." He turns and shouts: "Erinee!"
Mana: She's there, caught off-guard: "Ibex, you-" "Besides the point, milady."
Mana: And Erinee steps onto the hands of one of her shadows, held aloft above the crowd. She clears her throat.
Vladislav shifts slightly to look at Erinee. His gaze still drifts to the general and that spear, though.
Mana: "We believe the recent sicknesses to be caused by a particular phantom that's been traced to the sewers of Undine."
Mana: "As matters of exorcism are my purview, we are preparing a mission to eliminate the risk it poses to the people of Titania. Are you happy, Commander?"
Mana: The commander lifts his visor a bit. "I am, in fact."
Vladislav: "While reassuring, I do believe the Sage spoke of seven disasters, not one."
Mana: Ibex rolls his shoulders. "Can you name them?"
Vladislav: "I would be more worried for the city if you can't, ser."
Mana: "Victory against the goblins may be accomplished through our military and magical superiority, or by diplomacy, graced by the above."
Mana: "The City Heart provides a considerable source of heating, and our reserves of sea salt will allow us to thaw out from the worst ice storm."
Mana: "And, of course, let us not underestimate the effort of our brave penguins in blue, who, serving as our fire brigade, will certainly prevent all but the most unavoidable of fire damages."
Mana: "The Empire has defeated the Moon Kingdom once before. If a war comes to our doorstep in this fashion, we will be forced to address it."
Mana: "…But I don't doubt we will."
Mana: "Devils are, naturally, the purview of our exorcists to address. But the will of the Empire is supreme under heaven, and all spirits must bow to it."
Mana: "And… well, angels bleed, don't they?"
Mana: The woman in the turban sucks in a breath.
Vladislav smirks slightly at the mention of the fires. They have been having some issues with that as of late, haven't they? He offers a firm nod to General Ibex, gaze slipping past him to the woman in the turban.
Mana: She looks mildly offended at something or another, and draws up a bit of her shawl about her face.
Mana: Ibex points his spear at the sage. "Sage Joch. Under the will of the Emperor, and with greatest compassion for your situation - for the judgement of Heaven, I must sentence you to death by guillotine."
Vladislav glances over at the man under the guillotine settling on him with a firm stare.
Mana: Joch nods, closes his eyes. Ibex gestures to him.
Mana: The bird's head slides down the track, settling in front of Joch's neck with a damp, slicing noise.
Vladislav doesn't blink, although his expression shapes into a bit of a scowl as he speaks up. "His soul to paradise."
Mana: Ibex nods, repeating the words, with more or less the same feeling.
Mana: The official winces, hiding behind her robe.
Mana: The woman in the turban turns.
Mana: Erinee is downcast.
Vladislav stands still for the moment, offering a brief silence.
Mana: Ibex nods to the guards. A black cloth is thrown over Joch. He's loaded into a coffin, carried with honor.
Vladislav takes this moment to slip back into the crowd, emerging by the steps to the Marble Hall. The court was likely still quarantined, so if he was going to speak up now was seemingly the best time. "Erinee, may I have a word?"
Mana: She presses her fist against her cheek - a sullen, out of character gesture. A shadow lifts a parasol over her. "After that scene? I suppose."
Vladislav: "While unsettling, the clock is still ticking as these foretold disasters loom over us. Your mention of the phantom has intrigued me. Your investigation, could it perhaps use some assistance? I admit I am the type of person who would wander into the sewers alone if my drive got the better of me, but collaboration of sorts seems like a more beneficial route."
Vladislav: "I know my own share of spells and have held my own against the lizardmen of Dryad."
Mana: "That explains the tirade, doesn't it? But, audacious challenges to the rule of law aside, I can't claim you don't have the city's interests at heart."
Mana: "And a magician, too." She straightens herself uot.
Mana: Out, I meant to say.
Vladislav brushes his bangs to the side. "I was just recently in holding in the Joch case. I've acquired a pass already to Undine, so the paperwork on your end shouldn't be very troublesome should you be interested. While we may have different methods, I believe our interests could share a similar story."
Mana: She fans out her fingernails, examining them. "No, wouldn't be troublesome at all. Pack for an expedition into the Shade. We'll meet in Undine."
Vladislav offers a firm nod in return. "I will be by the sewers. Until then."
Mana: She smiles. "Until then."
Vladislav takes a few steps back down the courts stairs, vanishing into the crowd.
Mana: And so it was written.
Mana P1y1s18