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let fury have the hour,
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.
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 KINGIt 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 RIOTIt'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 tuileriesThe 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 TROOPSThe 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.
AftermathThe 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
no subject
Aren't you supposed to keep souvenirs?
[Now he's just being facetious.]
no subject
(WELL, this works out just fine for him in the end. got it off his hand and the guy's not even irritated at him. two birds, one stone.)
Ah. I suppose. (a pause, checking back over his shoulder through the throng of people.) They seem fixated on that blood. Symbolism?
no subject
He shrugs.]
I've heard some places think the God chooses who to lead their country. They just killed their god's chosen one. It's probably why they're so eager for a memento, if I had a guess.
no subject
(god, that's so uninspiring. if a deity existed, surely they wouldn't be playing house with all of their creations and spitting in their faces — a very tidy summation of his life so far. he feels like a barbie getting their hair chopped off by an amoral child learning their wrongs and rights.)
...
Is that your belief?
no subject
My country- [That doesn't sound right, he's no patriot, he's a tool, a weapon.] Where I'm from, Kings are just pawns for a stronger arm. The weak ones, anyway.
[And maybe that will change and soon, he hopes. He's set enough in motion, Logan just has to take what's his. But will he end up stumbling like his father or actually rise above and finish the threats against him? Kylar isn't so certain and he waves the thoughts away. This isn't the time or place for any of Cenaria's problems.]
Guess you're home has none of this.
[Should they move away from the crowd? Maybe they should move away from the crowd. And the blood.]
no subject
a shake of his head, though, both agreeing and disagreeing with him. on one hand this is his world, just a very old peek of it. on the other, )
There are no Kings and Queens anymore. None that have supreme executive power, anyway. They're just titles held by people trying to protect traditions.
no subject
[He's not sure why he should care. Trying to get Cenaria a good king has been trouble enough, trying to get it something completely different from a monarchy would feel impossible. Besides, it might not even be better.
Kylar gestures for them to move. Somewhere, anywhere that isn't a pool of blood drying beside a crowd.]
no subject
In the twenty-first century? Presidents, Prime Ministers, Supreme Leaders, Chancellors. (an empty gesture.) It depends on the country. Governments, as well as their officials, are prone to corruption. Common theme in all eras.
no subject
[Poison would till be cleaner, prevent the riots. The people would be mourning the loss of their royal family's death to illness, rather than reveling in their rolling heads. But different place, different culture. Weird, all of it.]
no subject
(eyes the shoppes as they pass them, old doors ajar and splintered by the rioting. it'll be difficult to find a quiet, untouched place to sit and they may have to settle for something stripped bare of amenities. fine by him.)
Maybe we're here to change all that.
no subject
[It's pleasant, to think you can make the entire world and apparently others a better place. But how realistic could that be? How many good rulers, good people were actually out there and would be in power each and every generation? It sounded like Elene, and as much as he wanted to believe in it he saw the darkness of it all too easily.]
no subject
(at least that much is a mutual fact. none of the people he's met so far have been too eager to completely throw their lot in with him or COST. it's only a matter of time before they start seeing each other as a team, though; he's not ready for that.
he's just trying to stay alive for some reason. despite wanting anything but.)
I signed up regardless. So did you.
no subject
How much time did they give you to decide? They give you that prophecy shit, too?
no subject
(a nod for the next question, placing a hand on the next door they come across. it doesn't take much to push it open, less effort taken to enter. eyes cast around the room, the foyer of a home with upturned rugs and ransacked cabinets, soon deeming it safe enough to roam.)
They told me it was in my best interests, then I was ported to France. What was the prophecy they told you?
no subject
The people I cared about would be hunted like criminals, every generation.
[He rubs the back of his head. He wonders if this guy would think him crazy for believing them. But he'd seen prophecy before, it wasn't wrong the last time. Why would this be different? As much as he wanted to protect everyone, he knew he couldn't. He couldn't even protect Uly.]
They didn't really give more than a minute.
[He doesn't mention the assassin they sent or the wyrm that was in front of him beforehand. Not even the sa'ceurai or the blademaster. He nearly had Curoch, too! There is obvious regret in his voice. Just five more minutes, that's all he needed.]
Now or never, they said. So I guess I just went with now.
no subject
(and perhaps that's the stark difference between them.
standing there, he's forced to wonder why — again — he signed up. they arrived at the end of his life, gave him the option to escape it all. did he take it because there was nothing else, or because he actually wanted to live? he doesn't know anymore. it's hard to say after all that's happened.)
I guess we'll just have to ride this out. As always. Do you have concerns?