AMIA ARCHIVE • View topic

This evening, several city guards and high-ranking Law Knights are seen entering and exiting the Commonwealth Center. Many government clerks are let out of their bureaucratic, paper-pushing work early for the day, claiming some incident that occurred within the Commonwealth Center itself, but they're scarce on the details purely out of ignorance.

The guards, on the other hand, mostly refuse to talk about it - save for many of them stopping by the north gate of the Eastern District or by the Guard House to give Captain Yance, recently promoted to lead the Adventuring Division, congratulations on a job well done.

Or, alternatively, to give him dirty looks while muttering about breach of protocol and glory-hogging.

All in all, the high-up chains in the Ministry of Law are in a tizzy, but no official word is released yet about what has happened.

While waiting to be tended by Weston Carter in the Salandran temple, after being brought straight from the lottery draw, Warrick quietly seems to examine a document he has had on his person for some time, going it over carefully and making notations, corrections and adding in additional information.

Last edited by Yossarin on Thu, Aug 20 2009, 3:20 AM, edited 1 time in total.

On the following morning, the bells chime atop the Commonwealth Center in the Eastern District of Cordor. Unlike the usual pomp and circumstance that comes with a Councillor speaking, this time the array is very different. Several Law Knights stand at parade rest in front of the doors to the Commonwealth Center. The Adventuring Guard are requested to post at an equal parade rest before the Guard House. The City Guard form into loose phalanxes around Cordor Square.

A stoic Mark Dorne opens the doors to the Commonwealth Center. The vast majority of the Law Knights look displeased as Captain Yance, the commander of the Adventuring Guard, steps out in an honorary regalia of the state, escorted by two Mage Guards. Several citizens step forward, all clamoring to know what's going on.

Dorne barks a proclamation. Yesterday at eight chimes of the evening, Enemy of the State and known terrorist Mynna was captured in an attempt to assassinate Minister of Labor Elijah Cromwell. She was subdued and arrested, the Law Knight pauses, and the corners of his mouth turn downwards, single-handedly by Captain Yance of the Adventuring Division. This comes as a great relief to many citizens of the Commonwealth, as the Ministry of Law works vigilantly to not only protect the People, but to uphold the Law and let no lawbreaker go unpunished. Captain Yance, a few words, if you will.

All right, all right, settle the hell down! Yance demands, throwing up his hands to shut the people up. An exaggerated, hideously smug grin mars his crude thug's face, and with his nose tilted up, he tells the story. Well, wouldn't you know that the terrorist Mynna was hanging around Cordor Square like so many other adventurers, just mingling in with them, doing her best to hide. If it weren't for the adventurers there, she wouldn't have had that luxury, but that's beside the point.

A few faces in the Adventuring Division of the Guard darken. And most especially those of the handful of adventurers listening from the gathering, still dwarfed by the common people.

She claimed to be a Chauntean from North Cordor, but thanks to a tip-off from Chief Clerk Christophan Warrick-Kenlyl, one of the city's mage guards had a suspicion that the woman was a threat. She was escorted into the Commonwealth Center here and kept demanding to speak with Minister of Labor Elijah Cromwell. She said that she had an appointment. The Minister knew of no such thing. She refused to see anyone but the Minister. The Mage Guard handling her case - my partner - notified me.

Yance clears his throat and scratches at his chin where stubble he completely missed during that morning's shave grows like a cancered blotch. My sense of duty to the Commonwealth demanded, you see, that I act, and that I act quickly. To hell with bureaucracy, he waves a dismissive hand at the Law Knights behind him, some of whom appear ruffled. A small cheer does come up from the crowd, however, in honor of a man who knows how to take action. There wasn't any time to waste. She was already in the Commonwealth Center, and she could have started throwing bombs or something crazy like that. So my Partner and I, we used the resources we had at our disposal. He glamoured me to [i]look like Elijah Cromwell. Yes, citizens, for the Minister - and for all of you - I was more than willing to put my life on the line. My head in the noose. Stick my neck out on a limb while the hammer was ready to, uh, fall.

The crowd remains quiet, listening. Yance frowns and goes on.

So I says to her, I says, tell me what you've come for. And she says to me, she says, thank you for coming Minister Cromwell. I knew my acting must have been incredible if she was buying it. Which doesn't surprise me. I once had an opportunity to join up with the Sphere Theatre troupe, you know, to be a star of the stage, but duty called! I got what it takes to serve and protect, not just to entertain.

Yance throws out his hands and narrows his eyes, really getting into the storytelling now. Anyhow, she stands up, starts moving around, getting ready to pounce, and then she pulls out an axe and takes a swing for my head! Remember, I looked exactly like Elijah Cromwell at the time. But oh ho, unbeknownst to her, she didn't know who she was really dealing with! Deftly, I dodged to the side and, already having my hands on the chair, swung it up and bashed her face in with it. This only stunned her for a moment, giving me enough time to draw my own weapon.

With a dramatic quickdraw, showing the Captain's clear familiarity with the weapon, Yance draws his cudgel before the crowd and slaps the brute end of it into one hand. The second blow I blocked with my axe, but her blow was so powerful it brought me to my knees. Whoda thunk a woman coulda been so strong! But I kicked her in the shin to throw her off balance, and then tried to subdue her, but she forced me away with that axe. Then she pulled out some crazy piece of Thayvian machinery and sets my partner on fire! Clearly she had help from those sons of bitches, who we've all seen have a vested interest in bringing the Commonwealth to its knees!

A few gasps of disbelief issue forth. The Thayvians working with the terrorists, Mynna and Yurioji? Mumblings roll through the crowd, most declaring that it is only a matter of time before the Thayvians begin supporting the Noble's Army and make an effort to enslave everyone.

Only then did I realize how dangerous she truly was. If Mynna wanted to, she could have murdered anyone and everyone with the same heartless cruelty that she murdered the former Duke and all of our guards. And the prisoners, too. With my partner screaming in pain and debilitated by her wicked machinations, I stared into her face, into her eyes, and I saw that she had no soul. I saw into the mind of a killer. And, feeling my heart pounding in my breast, I leapt like an ancient warrior into mortal combat with her! She barely missed me with her axe, but I landed a blow so square between her eyes that she instantly fell over, dazed and subdued. Then I instantly had her hogtied and shipped off to the maximum security prison.

"Oohs" and "aahs" come up from the crowd as he, with dramatic gestures, not only visualizes but performs the scene for the crowd. No one ever knew Yance to be so brave and valiant a fellow.

As soon as she is interrogated for her connections with the Noble's Army and the Thayvians, people of the Commonwealth, she will be executed in South Cordor! Drawn and quartered and fed to the gods-be-damned fishes! Let the mullet and seagulls sort her out after Justice... he cries, thrusting his cudgel into the air, bolstered by the hoorah and throwing of caps from the crowd, is done!

The Captain of the Adventuring Division lingers to answer personal questions asked by the commoners, but gives adventurers and those without certificates of citizenship dirty looks. He hob-knobs with the guards, but is otherwise ignored by the Law Knights who, after the pronouncement is done, do a martial about face and return to the confines of the Commonwealth Center.

Weston gets Warrick cleaned up back at the Salandran temple in the late 'eve. He learns from Warrick that he didn't win the lotto, and that Cordor had some commotion but things looked under control.

It's by rumors that Weston starts picking out tidbits of Yance's speech. A few that cause Weston to grit is teeth too. He remembered seeing an illusion image of that Yurioji fellow. Weston had figured them gone. And now Thayvians involved? What he could get of the news didn't really bring any sense of comfort. Yance just sounded like an egotistic fart from how long the speech was said to take.

A red headed female in a discreet, simple blue dress and black cloak groans to herself amidst the commotion after the speech, and turns on her heel walking out of the city.

Warrick slept half-peacefully in the Salandran recovery word, unable to properly get rest as something seemed to plague his mind.

He briefly awoke with a start, grabbing his cheek and wincing in pain, sighing a little before realizing the pain was gone, he tried to get back to sleep, but something plagued his mind.

".. I can feel it... the slow approach.. the sands falling from the hourglass." he thought to himself as he tried to get back to sleep.

Warrick quietly lay in the Salandran Temple, eyes closed as he pondered the news he'd recieved.

~Checkmate, a state of finality in the game of Chess. A state in which your opponent has manipulated you into a position. Some questions I need to muse upon before I evaulate my options: Who is my opponent truly? This does not sound like something Yance would cook up on his own accord. So, is it Maximillian or have I truly underestimated Elijah Cromwell and in my lack of focus towards him overlooked the true Megalomaniac in this entire affair. ~ he thought to himself with a quiet sigh, continuing to ponder.

~Or, is Reyes somehow maniuplating all from a distance, controlling Maximillian through puppet strings which cannot be seen or so readily cut that it will take a complete unveiling to make the puppetmaster pause in this. Bringing the light of day to those who would hide in darkness is the ideal, but what good would that do for the Duke and for Mynna, especially if they cannot be saved until after it is too late for them. They do not deserve the fate befallen them. While the Duke may have erred in his policies, I may not have had the proper chance to evaulate them with neutral information, not that which is presented now.~ he continued to muse, balling his fists up briefly before relaxing them.

~The next question to ask is: What is my goal? I know that I must deliver the people of Cordor the South's reconstruction as I had promised myself and them I would. I owe them, and most of all Johnathin that much at the very least. He was manipulated, used, and then slain. Not a fair fate for such a Martyr Saint. Should I be worried about the South now, and solely focus on survival? That is what those whom put me in this position would want. I will not be their puppet, their toy to use as they desire. If they send an assassin, they best send one quiet enough to be sure the job gets done right. ~ he thought to himself, tapping the edge of the bed frame with his fingertips.

~In my current state, flight isn't an option, fighting.. even less so. If I can get proper rest though, at the least I might have a chance if one or the other becomes nescessary. The money I have collected for the South Cordor Project does need to get back to Cordor, but how am I to do that and in whom can I trust to keep it safe on my behalf until such time as it's proper dispersal? Normally, in such matters and situations my own life is something I would give up, but to do so now would render any hope for seeing things happen in a fashion outside of the future I saw nil. No, I have to survive, and i have to find a way to make the situation they have lain before me work to my advantage, even if I may lose the trust of the others. ~ he continued to think, pausing a moment as he opened his eyes to look at the ceiling.

~ .. In some of us I trust, but I know that trust is at best teneous, especially in the cases of those with more extreme views. Mynna, you damned deranged woman, what possessed you to think your disguise would hold? It was only time before someone got wise to you. Avadon, I pray for all our sake that we succeed on your behalf especially, for to see this through would be the start of redemption for you, a new road which may give you hope and some peace of mind for your past. Nevaeh: Young and asked to all but lead groups both into battle and into subterfuge. So capable, almost too much so, in that at times she makes me feel useless. A frustrating feeling it is, but nonetheless. Kamelia.. also young, an perhaps a little airy but willing to help and wanting to do what is right, even if perhaps you have a certain affinity for explosions which is preturbing me. Vyashir and Alanna, two people whom at least from what I can tell thus far have things a bit more together on their end. I know not what happened when our attempt failed in reaching out to the Zeitgeist. The Zeitgeist, the 'Spirit of the Times' .. a frightening thing which I daresay I hope can be sated by what must be done. Darby , a young Elf walking in shadows that has been pulled into the shadow of one of the greatest threats this island has ever known. ~ he pondered, closing his eyes once more.

~ Checkmate, a state of Finality in the game of Chess. How can one defeat Checkmate? ~ he asked himself before trying to sleep.

On a ship heading through the Silent Bay from the Salandran temple, towards the Shrine of Eilistraee Warrick quietly muses a moment before smiling.

~Checkmate, how does one break it? Accept defeat and play a new game. ~ he muses , quietly entering the Shrine and settling down for the time being.

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