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

aftermath

[gerechtigkeit]

[The door he's pounding on happens to be a resting place for Siegfried, currently recovering from assisting others and needing to make sure he doesn't overextend himself and his mana. Having a Master at a time like this would be so much more useful, but he's not about to take that chance- he can manage otherwise.

He isn't expecting someone to come knocking, much less yelling in desperation- but he's not going to turn someone away. He slides out the chair from under the doorknob and opens it, blinking as he sees Noctis and immediately nodding.]

Get inside.

[That's all he says, really. They can't attract attention or people will come tearing after them, and he doesn't want the other to face danger if they can help it. He shuts the door behind Noctis once he enters, and pauses for just a second. The chair is then discarded as he finds an armoire to shove in front of it, hoping that it'll have enough weight to keep anyone out, should they come barging in. And even if it doesn't, it'll still buy them some time.

With that out of the way-] Are you injured?

[Not even a demand to ask who Noctis is, and he's already asking a complete stranger how he's doing. At least Noctis isn't alone in looking so odd- Siegfried is 6'2" and sticks out like a sore thumb with his silver hair.]

[fessus]

[ Thank every god he knows and a couple more he definitely doesn't. Someone who isn't brandishing a weapon at him and is instead actually welcoming him inside and asking about his wellbeing?

He quickly drags himself across the threshold when allowed, turning to offer some help in boarding the door back up but it seems the other man already has it under control. He's tall, that's for damn sure, and with an expression -- and hair color, even -- that reminds him of Ravus, but luckily without any of the bad associations. Definitely seems like the kind of guy he wants on his side. ]

... Hah? No, I'm good. Thanks, though... Just tired, but I guess everybody's at least that by now. [ And it feels wrong to just leave it at that, glancing up at Siegfried with a slightly awkward pause. ]

... I'm Noctis.

[gerechtigkeit]

[Noctis is lucky in that sense, and that Siegfried isn't the type to simply leave people hanging.]

Good. All I know is that the riots keep getting worse.

[He does pause at looking at Noctis, however. Definitely a new face, and he doesn't quite seem to fit in with the locals of Paris. The fact that the other mentions his name causes Siegfried to raise a brow. Noctis. Definitely not Parisian. Still, he looks relieved.]

Saber. [It's offered with Siegfried gesturing openly.] I take it the word COST means something to you?

[fessus]

[ Noctis avoids eye contact but it's clear quickly that that's more just his body language in general, attempting to wipe at his face and even comb fingers through his hair to fix up his appearance but it's a futile gesture. He's as much a mess as everyone else is. ]

Rider, Saber, Akira, Hei... People around here really have some weird names. [ It's meant to come across as a joke but it falls flat in his tired tone, pride all but abandoned as he slumps abruptly against the wall. God help him. ]

Yeah, it does. Guess we're all in this together... Are you new too?

[gerechtigkeit]

[Siegfried doesn't mind how Noctis avoids eye contact, he understands it as he sometimes does it himself. And the both of them look ridiculous, so that doesn't bother him either.

When Noctis mentions Rider, however, Siegfried frowns just a little.] You've met Rider? [He doesn't recognize the other names, but Rider is someone he knows and... he's not quite sure how to explain his fellow Servant's presence, other than possibly "annoying."

He might also be a little irritated still that Rider beat him in their encounter. Minor detail.

Siegfried shrugs at the question, however.]

Somewhat. I've been here for a month.

[fessus]

[ Noctis notices the change in Siegfried's demeanor as soon as he mentions the man he apparently knows but it doesn't put him on guard yet; it seems that it's not too serious. Maybe. From what he's seen of the guy, he'd guess that his new buddy here just finds Achilles chatty and maybe a little over-the-top, like he had. ]

Oh. I should've figured, since you're so calm about everything... Makes me feel like I'm the only new guy.

--ah, and yeah, I met him. Kinda' weird. Friend of yours?

[gerechtigkeit]

[Noctis' dry humor actually causes Siegfried to pause for just a second, before snorting back something that seems a little like a laugh. Which then he thinks the other may take offensively, so it's quickly followed with-]

Ah, sorry.

[He shakes his head at the mentioning of Achilles.] Not exactly. We're from the same world, if that counts.

[fessus]

[ The laugh does get his attention... chiefly because he hadn't been telling a joke, or at the very least hadn't meant to be funny. He stares at him for a moment or two, briefly confused but placated by the apology either way. ]

The same... world? What, like Earth? That's the one I keep hearing from people around here...

[gerechtigkeit]

[The question causes him to pause, but he nods, slowly.]

Yes. The same location, at least for right now. Earth is the planet. Paris and France are also on Earth as well.

[But someone from a different realm entirely doesn't surprise him in the slightest.]

Where are you from, exactly?

[fessus]

Somewhere really different, I guess... Least that's what I'm gathering.

[ Which is jarring, to say the very least. ]

Eos. The country's Lucis, though.

[gerechtigkeit]

More or less, yes.

[Even if he were to arrive in a realm he wasn't familiar with, being a Servant at least allows him to adjust enough to acting accordingly.]

Eos. [Not the goddess of dawn from Greek mythology, but he can't say it isn't familiar.] Is light an important part of your world?

[fessus]

[ That question's strange enough to make him pause, again really looking this man over. It's... weird having such a relaxed conversation in this setting, and as if on cue he hears another shout from outside that has him tensing up. ]

Ah... Mm, yeah, sure, I guess... As much as it is in any world. Why are you asking?

[gerechtigkeit]

[Siegfried's head snaps towards the sound of a yell- and instinctively jerks his head back towards the end of the room.]

Back here. [The noise grows louder, and then there's banging on the windows as he motions with a hand for Noctis to follow him. There's a smaller back room that holds an exit towards the sewers, should things get too hairy for them here.] We have a way of getting out if they break through.

[He really hopes they don't.]

Ah- [He scratches the back of his head for a moment.] Because here, Eos is a goddess of the dawn in Greek mythology. I was curious to know if there were any similarities.

[fessus]

[ Noctis doesn't need further encouragement to hurry his footsteps along after him, painfully aware of the fact that his ability to call his weapons at will is forbidden to him here for some reason... and yet still he attempts it. Just a flex of fingers to the eye followed by a click of his tongue, instead shifting his grip to the cheap dagger at his waist. Desperate times... ]

--seriously? I guess... Well, "Lucis" means "light". I never thought too hard about why they picked that as the name though.

... how long have you been holed up here?

[gerechtigkeit]

[Desperate times, indeed. Siegfried has Balmung, but there's no way he really wants to call upon his greatsword if he can help it- that's asking for trouble in too many ways to count. His armor isn't with him though, and it's a sore spot currently.]

Sometimes names of cities reflect a past, or a future. It varies between cultures, from what I've known.

[This conversation is almost eerily normal, what the heck.]

Not long, no. Only a few hours, and I've tried to keep myself as low as possible until our retrieval.

[fessus]

Ah, probably smart... Getting dropped into the middle of this I don't feel like I got a ton done. Too busy asking questions. I figure a lot more of them will get answered once we're out of here, at least...

[ This is a pretty horrendous place to port newcomers too, however, and he has to wonder if it was intentional or out of necessity. He hopes for the latter. ]

Lucis is a country name, though. The city's Insomnia. [ Yeah. ]

[gerechtigkeit]

You just came in? [That's surprising. He'd been brought in on the previous month, but there was much more coherency here than where they're at now.] I'm sure when we leave, the both of us will have questions answered.

[Namely, how bad it looks with them failing their missions here in France.]

That... [A brow raises.] I see. It makes sense, at least.