let fury have the hour,

[agogemod]

WHO? Everybody!
WHAT? Agoge's third TDM! And the death of an important guy. And some very upset royalty.
WHEN? Late 1792, Paris.
ANYTHING ELSE? Violence, as always. Please warn in subject lines for anything beyond physical violence, and move to a personal journal if things go beyond PG-13.

IT'LL BE FINE;

Paris, 1792: revolutionary france.

read the France setting infopages

arrival for new recruits

(Note: If you were one of the people who used the previous TDM and want to use that as canon while still participating in this one, feel free! The following will still happen, though the guide will apologize for a malfunction in your BCE causing you to zap through the intervening month instead of joining your comrades like you should have. You'll be assured the glitch is fixed now, and it probably is. Probably.)

You wake up in a Parisian hotel room with a kind woman standing near the door, waiting for you to awaken. You have none of your clothing, just black military-issued underwear, and none of your previous possessions beyond the one you chose (if you remember choosing) to bring with you.

The woman by the door speaks French, and if you didn't understand the language before, you do now. If you have questions as to what's going on, she'll answer: you are a member of COST, a paramilitary organization of time travelers fighting against the Regency, a tyrannous kingdom of the future who are trying to stamp out freedom and individuality in the name of peace.

She will provide you with the clothing necessary to fit in at this time, and show you how to use your BCE implant to look up information on this time period and its social and political mores. She won't let you leave until you're properly dressed to fit in, but once you are, she'll wish you luck.

KILL THE KING

It doesn't matter if you're new, or if you've been here a while. You'll hear about the execution going on today. It's as though the barely restrained urban chaos of Paris has ground to a halt. Everything is about the king. Is it really going to happen? Are they really going to do it? Can they do it? Is it even possible?

Anyone out of the loop will be filled in, but with no small amount of ridicule: Today is the day of the king's execution. His trial has wrapped up, and the National Convention voted to execute him for treason and tyranny.

The crowd at the execution is enormous, a riotous mob of passion barely restrained. Everyone is jockeying for a better view, with children and adults climbing up on nearby statues, lampposts, the sides of houses, rooves, some even hang from windows. Everyone watches the scaffold.

The prison cart arrives with no fanfare save the yells of the crowd. Within it sits a small, fat little man, looking like he's doing his best to remain composed. He's brought to the scaffold, and his crimes are read out: colluding with foreign powers, and the crime of royalty, which is anathema to the republic of France.

When asked for his final words, Louis Capet, known to some as King Louis XVI, speaks in a quiet voice. "I forgive my enemies."

When the blade comes down, the crowd errupts into cheers. Many rush forward to touch the blood of a king, dipping bits of cloth in it in an attempt to save it.

I PREDICT A RIOT

It's as though all the built up tension in Paris exploded when the king was killed.

Who knows what started it. Rumors spread like wildfire, and it doesn't matter, does it? In the end, most of Paris is swarmed with chaos, especially in the areas nearest to where the king was executed. There's no doubt that the riot and the king's death are directly related; no peasant currently throwing stones and breaking windows will deny it.

Fights are happening with great frequency. It only takes a word, a half sentence, for someone to decide you're some kind of counter-revolutionary. There is a current of anxiety in Paris that hasn't gone away; after reaching a fever pitch, it has expressed itself with violence and chaos.

let's visit the tuileries

The Tuileries was the royal palace in Paris, the last residence of the king before his death. Of course the people of France end up clamoring at its gates, screaming profanities and attempting to scale them.

The majority of the guard let them do this, making only the most token of efforts to keep the peasantry back. But one guard, a man by the name of Antoine Colin, seems to become spooked and shoots repeatedly into the crowd before someone knocks him out.

By then, though, it's too late. The crowd was rambunctious, but not murderous. Now it's bloodthirsty, and the gates are stormed. It isn't long before the common people of France are trampling through the corridors of power. Inside, they'll mostly find servants running and hiding, and lots of valuables to steal.

Most are content with that, but not all. Some clamor for the deaths of the queen and the royal children-- per the laws of inheritance, Marie Capet's remaining son is now King of France. Should he not die as well?

The queen is hidden in a safe room, a hollow wall inside her apartments. Do you try to find her? Try to save her? Try to kill her yourself?

...And what about those kids hiding in there with her?

BRING IN THE TROOPS

The riot in the Tuileries lasts several hours, well past nightfall. It's beginning to peter off, people loosing their energy or vigor, when the sound of gunfire echoes from the front courtyard.

General Lafayette has arrived to save the queen, and brought with him a retinue of personal soldiers. All on horseback, brandishing firearms and sabers, they stream through the expansive halls of the Tuileries and attack anyone who looks out of place. They're here to clean up this mess with no concern for more filthy peasants getting in the way.

Aftermath

The night is a long one. Several fires break out in various parts of Paris, shops are looted, and several die in the Tuileries. The queen has disappeared, along with Lafayette. Some say she and Lafayette died, and they'll show you the bodies for a couple sou. Others claim they saw them riding off into safety just before sunrise. There are already talks of hunting them down, trying to find the traitors.

Only one thing is known for sure: It may be advisable to stay inside for the foreseeable future.

read the France setting infopages

NAV NETWORK LOGS OOC PLURK DISCORD

Comments

[mylawn]

[Yeah, this is kind of nuts—and he feels kind of nuts, trying to interpret the responses of an animal. Still, it seems cognizant enough to know it’s being spoken to, if the way it creeps out from the underbrush is any indication. 76 finds himself taking a large step backward, still half-expecting to be attacked (even if the more rational part of him knows it would have happened by now). He tenses visibly the closer the animal gets, until he looks about one step away from running off himself.

76 tries not to show it, even as the tiger responds inquisitively. Should he even keep trying to reason with this thing?]

Look, just…let me know I’m not wasting my time. [Said more to himself than anything.] Nod if you understand me, or something.

[fernbeleafer]

[ she tries nodding again, speeding up the motion of her head and getting three bounces of it out.

then she stands gingerly and takes a step toward him. and a second. and so forth, if he lets her keep approaching. ]

[mylawn]

Okay.

[Okay. Maybe that was just lucky—the coincidental synchronization of his command and…tiger behavior, but 76 is grasping at whatever he can get here, if only to convince himself that he’s not out of his mind. He pinches the bridge of his nose between two fingers.]

If you are with us, you can’t go running around like that.

[You’re…a giant tiger. That shit doesn’t fly in Revolutionary France.]

[fernbeleafer]

[ she grumbles and keeps moving forward until she's able to circle him. but instead of completing a full circle, she bumps into his side and crosses behind to stand at his other side.

keyleth lets out a frustrated huff. nobody told her no giant white tigers allowed, dude. pout pout. ]

[mylawn]

Stick with me.

[This is his life now, he guesses. At least the tiger seems to be obedient--if it does understand him, that's already an advantage. Just because it understands him, however, doesn't mean it's going to listen. He tries to frame the situation to the creature's benefit, then chastises himself internally for how ridiculous he must sound.]

We should get you somewhere safe.

[You know, out of the way of people who might be shocked to find a tiger in the streets.]

[fernbeleafer]

[ can big cats seem bratty? yes-- keyleth yawns to show off her very large teeth. sort of saber toothy, actually.

and then she huffs, and puffs herself up. look how big she is ok. she's totally safe. she's the dangerous one, darn it! ]

[mylawn]

[76 might not have much dealing with tigers, but he's not exactly a stranger to cat body language. This is that, but bigger, right? Bigger, and this thing could definitely kill him at the first misstep.]

I guess COST is hiring animals now, huh?

[He motions for the tiger to follow him, apparently uncaring that this might be a little insulting.]

[fernbeleafer]

[ she seems just fine with it, plodding along close at his side as if she's done it before. as they go, she bumps gently him now and again, giving light chuffs here and there.

and then she yawns in earnest and groans a little. it's been a long day, beastmaster. which pillow's hers? ]

[mylawn]

[He's still trying to wrap his mind around not only the hiring of apparently intelligent animals, but also the fact that he is now friends with this tiger, or at least partially responsible for getting them both to a safe place without being spotted by the natives.]

Our orders are to sit tight until this blows over.

[Again, he feels unbelievably ridiculous trying to brief a giant intelligent tiger, but he imagines that if he were the giant intelligent tiger, he'd want to know what was going on--most notably, that running around with little concern for being spotted is not a good idea.]

Got an abandoned building where we should be safe.

[fernbeleafer]

[ the lack of concern on her part is crystal clear. she perks up at the prospect of sleep soon, and begins to pick up speed ahead of her new buddy, forgetting she has no idea where exactly they're off to.

left into this busy little square, right??? ]

[mylawn]

[76 isn't slow by any means, but a four-legged animal on a mission is naturally going to be faster. He has to resort to calling out when she goes a little too far, though whether or not the tiger decides to listen is completely up in the air.]

Not there.

[He sounds a little urgent, trying to catch up before she ends up smack in the middle of more people. 76 supposes he could immediately ditch and make this someone else's problem, but here he is, trying to wave her down a deserted alley instead.]

This way.

[fernbeleafer]

[ huh? ears perked and head cocked more like a dog's than a large beast of prey's, keyleth turns back pretty quickly to redirect toward the alley. after a few strides in, she pauses to sniff the air a few times.

amid the fouler smells of a city without any sort of organized refuse removal is something only her fine-tuned nose can pick up. here, nice man. you open the satchel. she doesn't have thumbs.

is that ... bread? ]

[mylawn]

[76 lets out an involuntary sigh of relief. Whether the tiger understands him or not, it's still an animal, and animals are unpredictable. Then again, if it decides to dash out into the main square, he could easily decide she's not his problem anymore.

Something else, however, catches his attention, and though he's a little loath to open the bundle, he does so, on the off-chance it's important.

It's--well, maybe it's important to her.]

Hungry?

[He sounds a little skeptical--like he certainly isn't going to be the one to eat that. It was just lying around! In an alley!]

[fernbeleafer]

[ ok well she gave him the chance. sure it could use a little butter but who looks a gift trash in the mouth like that?

but sometimes she does forget her teeth are very large. chomp! 76 is quick enough not to lose a finger, right? ]

[mylawn]

[His reflexes are pretty good, but it doesn't stop him from hissing a little as he pulls his hand away. It's clear that animal sentience doesn't come with manners in this case, but thankfully he manages to keep all his fingers.

Doesn't mean he isn't a little peeved.]

Watch it.

[fernbeleafer]

[ there's a flash of purple (blink and you'll miss it) swirling in an intangible fog at 76's feet. the large white tiger disappears suddenly, and left stumbling onto her butt is a deer????

no, of course not. there's just a young redheaded woman, limbs all akimbo with antlers sprouting from her temples. a rush of words spew out before she even attempts to get onto her feet. ]

Holy crap I'm so sorry are you OK?

[mylawn]

[The tiger was bad enough, but he's good at rolling with the punches. COST wants to hire animals? Fine. He'll make it work. The tiger spontaneously turning into a person? Not on the list of things he expected to deal with today, and he's quick to let out a shout.]

What the hell is this!?

[76 has all but fallen backward, managing to keep his feet under him, but only barely. His blunderbuss is out, pointed at her, and from the look on his face he seems to be some combination of shocked and very, very angry.]