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

[horsepowered]

[The first order of business is to see if anyone is injured. Not bruised or anything, but needing actual medical attention. With keen eyesight, it still requires some walking and talking in a hushed tone, making it clear he's only a man with good intentions.

The answer to the question of injuries sustained is a resounding no, and that is an absolute relief as far as Chiron is concerned. That also gives him a moment to look back in Ryuji's direction. Again, there's no injury, but the look about him is concerning none the less.

So he walks over, and comes to stand at Ryujis' left side. He says nothing, only offers a polite nod of the head. There's no point in doing more until words are found.]

[ryuji]

[He's not the most perceptive person in the world when it comes to knowing how to read his surroundings, but by the way Chiron just comes to stand next to him, not attempting to accost him or offer ridicule as to why he's not off swarming the streets like everyone else, he has a hunch that this guy is alright. Maybe even one of his group. Just network posts to go by, it's hard to discern faces, and even then, it takes a bit of conversation to tip off speech patterns to know if there's an inkling of a chance that Ryuji actually sort-of-maybe knows someone.

Straightening his posture as much as it's going to get (he's the poster boy for bad aesthetics), he raises an eyebrow to the other. Something about him exudes a presence that he can't quite put his finger on. Calm? Maybe. It's too hard to figure out.

Oh.]

H-hey. Was that you up there?

[horsepowered]

It was, yes. It's easier to predict the flow of the mob from that vantage point.

[Chiron folds his arms over his chest, and dares to lean casually against the wall that is behind them both. It's very much on purpose, to reinforce the suggestion that the worst has run past and will be destroying property elsewhere, and that a little bit of relaxation is permissible.]

It's also been worth the effort.

[ryuji]

[Ryuji scratches the back of his head, indicating a lack of surety at the entire exchange between the two. It's hard to figure out what the angle is here, so... Ryuji just stops trying, and opens up freely- like he always ends up doing.]

Thanks, man. You might've saved my life.

[A slight pause, and he turns to Chiron, eyebrows casting downward.]

What're you doin' anyway? Shouldn't you be like... enjoying the riots or something?

[horsepowered]

I'm not sure that anyone finds such things enjoyable from the outside looking in.

[Chiron's voice is soft, and he phrases it all like an observation rather than opinion.]

Nor do I have any wish to be caught up in momentum that can't be stopped.

[ryuji]

It's kinda nauseating...

[Everyone in COST has seen their fair share of battle, wars, atrocities- Ryuji's only ever experienced ones that exist in the heart, so when Chiron states that he's not going to follow the flow of this, he softens around the edges and lets out a sigh.]

So many people goin' off to fight, 'n do dumb things. I wanna stop them, but... I know I'm not strong enough to do anything.

[He looks up to Chiron, unsure of himself, to say the least.]

[horsepowered]

There's wisdom in knowing when your efforts are better spent elsewhere.

[Chiron's face is impassive, his entire stance calm. Cool. Nearly detached, but not quite. For him, the emotions that run so high are a natural part of man, something that would be a fool's errand to try and stand against. It'd be like trying to stop waves in a storm.]

Leave them to it. This city's people need to work out their complex feelings on what is happening right now.