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+---- Thread: [Mini Event] a war to end all wars (/showthread.php?tid=6638)
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a war to end all wars - Finn - 01-04-2022
It's clumsy. It's very clumsy, though Finn won't realise that until later, when he's failing to scrub the sight of this from his mind. The screams and panic echo all the way up to the highest points of the Trinity Temple, and horror quickly sweeps through the Tower. Finn is certain he's not the only member of the Order on their way, but he is the one who can do what others can't.
So it's with quick, sweeping strides and his glasses already on his nose that he rushes towards the source of the panic, barely believing the rumours - and perhaps needing to see it for himself to rationalise it. [say]"Stay back,"[/say] he says, sounding uncharacteristically brusque as he steps through the Dragoons flanking the... er... head, drawing to a stop only a few paces away from it.
And it isn't the sight of Cian's sightless eyes and rictus expression that causes the blood to drain from his face. Well... it does, but it's not the first thing. No, its the slick and slithering aura around the head. An Ascended demigod did this. He doesn't say it out loud, of course. But it doesn't make it less true.
[say]"We take this to the Tower,"[/say] he mutters. [say]"If you would, please."[/say]
It has been... he does not know how long it has been since then. Long enough to send out word to all members of the Order, long enough for those letters to (hopefully) arrive, summoning them back.
The room that Cian usually had them meet in seems too large and too quiet now, even with a crackling fire at Finn's back and clustered notes and files upon the table. All of them ransacked from the ex-Eye's office, they still hold desperately little information compared to what Finn wishes he could know about the circumstances of the man's death.
He has no idea if anyone will even show up. The Order is without an Eye now. Did it even stand at all?
RE: a war to end all wars - October - 01-05-2022
Despite wanting to go to Finn, to wrap her arms around him and kiss away the deep lines of concern that have overtaken his features, instead the doctor enters silently and offers the Spyglass a nod that fails to communicate all the things she wishes it could. I love you, she thinks at him so hard that she's positive he'll be forced to hear it, before taking her place at the long table.
Finding the room feeling larger and emptier than it had with Cian at its head, now Tobi turns to Finn and tries to keep her smile clear of all the questions that stir behind her teeth. Are you the Eye now? What happened? And most selfishly, Can we run away?
RE: a war to end all wars - Gideon - 01-05-2022
Gideon arrived clutching his arm, the wound barely bandaged before he'd leaped off the table and into the streets, rushing up into the meeting. He wasn't sure how Finn would know of the events, but even if it wasn't about that, it was about to be.
Bursting in through the door, sweaty, bedraggled and still wearing the blood-stained shirt, he stumbled forwards and slammed a hand on the table. Looking to Finn then to October in turn, his eyes were wild and desperate, his face almost locked in a manic smile that wanted to be a grimace. [say]"Cian is dead. The Voice has killed him in the form of one of her Ascended."[/say] He panted out, all the words coming at once.
[say]"I just escaped. We need to act. They cannot go unpunished."[/say] With this last statement he used his good arm to slam his fist hard against the table, his voice cracking.
RE: a war to end all wars - Seraphina - 01-06-2022
She doesn’t have time to change before the meeting is called – making sure that Gideon’s arm is at least somewhat looked at before he’s rushing up to the meeting and she’s straggling behind, running through the streets so fast that the heels she wore before are lost in the shuffle and the Artificer finds herself barefoot as she steps in a few seconds after Gideon, breathless as well, with blood from Gideon on her shoulder.
She steps up behind Gideon, pressing her hand to his shoulder of his good arm, casting a sorrowful look to Finn and Tobi. “[say]Where do we start? What do we even do now without Cian making the moves? Who… We’re blind, who becomes our Eye now?[/say]”
RE: a war to end all wars - Falke - 01-07-2022
From the looks on his fellow members’ faces, Falke knows the rumors to be true. He’d been in a session with a patient when it all went down, but had hurried back as soon as the messenger came for him. A bit of a sweaty mess given the season and leaning more than he’d like on his cane, but he is, nevertheless, now present.
[say] “Let’s all take a deep breath,”[/say] he says after a moment, perhaps more for his benefit than anyone elses. And even if no one else joins him, Falke takes an audible deep inhalation and then exhalation, his eyes fluttering closed briefly to try and gain an extra sense of calm. Nothing good would come of this meeting if they were all frantic and shouting questions.
[say] “Before we decide who the next Eye is or how we’re going to punish anyone, can we get a run down of what led to this? How it… happened?”[/say] Dark eyes land on Gideon first, then Finn, then Sera and Tobi. All the Fixer knows is that he is most certainly out of the loop and it would be irresponsible to continue without knowing the full story.
RE: a war to end all wars - Ronin - 01-08-2022
[say]"I'd like to know that as well."[/say] Only having heard the last bit of Gideon's raving, Ronin walks in on the back of Falke's question, his blue eyes lacking their usual warmth. He looks as though he's not long gotten out of bed, which is true, and that he's pulled on the first clothes he's been able to find, which is also true. Sinking down into a seat near the fire, the notes, and Finn, Ronin rakes a hand back through his dark hair and regards them all.
[say]"You were there?"[/say] This is directed to Gideon. [say]"Could you tell us all that happened? I appreciate the situation is difficult, but before we can make any concrete decisions, Falke is right - we need all the information."[/say] And even with all of that, the outcome might still be muddled and uncertain.
RE: a war to end all wars - Finn - 01-11-2022
They walk in one by one, in silence, or with their questions (or demands for blood, in Gideon's case), or with confusion that Finn completely shares. But when there is finally quiet enough for a response, he speaks up. It's been a while since he had to make his voice carry - lecturing is a thing of the past - but he tries his best. [say]"Cian is dead,"[/say] he agrees. [say]"His head was left in the Pacifist Plaza. The aura on it indicates that it was an Ascended demigod who dropped it there."[/say]
Gazing at Gideon, because of all those standing (or sitting), he is the only one who seems to have any information in what has been a very upsetting turn of events, to put it mildly. [say]"Escaped from where?"[/say] he asks. [say]"You said the Voice herself took over one of her Ascended?"[/say] Like the others, he needs more to go on, Finn rubbing at his eyes under his glasses.
RE: a war to end all wars - Noah - 01-11-2022
Noah was the last to arrive, and it was not surprising.
The letter reached him at King's End and he came as soon as he fumbled the compass from his pocket. He was still not as quick as the others, that was true. He stepped up into the room quietly as Finn began questioning the other frantic man -- Gideon, he assumed. Noah settled quietly near Ronin, though remained standing. He listened as Finn questioned, and the hunter's brows raised and he looked down to the Huntsman.
His glacier eyes said it all -- Noah was assuming the attack came from none other than Wessex. While he knew Nate was also a demigod, he wasn't sure that the brat had the gall to carry out such a thing. He knew the Wraith did, however. Noah, of course, had no information on Azrael -- the Sentinel didn't even know the youngling existed, in honesty.
but rather than jump forward on it all, the Paladin remained quiet, and turned his eyes back to the others, waiting for Gideon's response.
RE: a war to end all wars - October - 01-11-2022
A lot happens in a very short amount of time, but at least for the doctor, her priorities could not be more clear. Happy to take Falke's suggestion, as Tobi rises from her seat she joins him in taking a deep breath before making her way toward Gideon. [say]"Talk all you like, but you'll be no good to anyone if you pass out here and now."[/say] She murmurs, her words both a warning and her way of quickly explaining that while he could continue talking, she was going to tend to his wounds.
Frowning at the deep slice to his bicep, Tobi glances from Sera and then back to the wound. [say]"Gideon, what did this?"[/say] The doctor asks almost hesitantly. [say]This...doesn't look like a wound made by a weapon.[/say] Tobi thinks, and because she's unused to not being the only attuned in any given room here in Stormbreak, Ronin and Noah will hear this mental mumble clear as a bell.
Tobi tends to Gideon's wounds.
RE: a war to end all wars - Gideon - 01-11-2022
Their questions came, for the most part floating around his fevered mind and bouncing off the rage and panic in his heart. When October finally came to look at his wound, he stumbled to the side until he found a seat to collapse into.
[say]"..What happened...yes."[/say] Gideon cleared his throat, tried to clear his mind too. [say]"Cian and I went to the Draig Cordillera on a mission. To attempt to find the relic in the Lighthouse. It...didn't go as planned."[/say] That much was obvious. He shuddered as his bicep was touched and shook his head, wanting to tell the story in order.
[say]"We intended to use bodies of the Ascended as distraction for the dragons. At first, it worked. But then...we were ambushed by an Ascended...no...something more powerful than that. She descended upon us and at the same time, the one in the box...the Voice herself sunk into her body. I heard her speak."[/say] He looked like he might be sick, the idea of hearing the voice of the fake 'Goddess' revulsive. [say]"Cian was dead in seconds. I would have been too, if I hadn't had my compass."[/say] To punctuate his point, he took it out of his pocket and slammed it on the table before him, then stared at it's edges as if they might tell him something about the incident.
[say]"...I don't know if they looted Cian's body. I had to leave before the powerful Ascended killed me. She had these blades that flew..."[/say] He gestured to his arm, but said nothing else, trailing off and staring at the compass again.
RE: a war to end all wars - Ronin - 01-12-2022
It's a lot, and the shock on Ronin's face isn't something he can hide. [say]"You went to find a relic in the Draig by yourselves? Why?"[/say] he blurts, unable to help it. Demigods had been involved in the recovery of most - if not all - of the relics thus far, and he can't understand Cian's reasoning for this. Had the Eye gone mad? Had he known something the rest of them didn't?
Choosing not to voice his opinions on using Ascended bodies, because it would not do to fight now, not in a place like Stormbreak and not with a man like Gideon, Ronin instead catches on what the Priest says and exchanges a glance with Noah. A powerful Ascended. Blades that flew. Cian's head was left in the Pacifist Plaza by an Ascended demigod.
[say]"Wessex Theskyra,"[/say] he murmurs, rising to his feet almost as if to stop anyone else rushing out, however unlikely it might be. [say]"The Ascended demigod responsible for leaving Cian's head in the Plaza. I... Ordinarily I would say something like this is throwing the first stone in a war. But she wouldn't have been at the Draig if you hadn't been there. If you hadn't been using Ascended as disposable distractions. I can't help but think that Cian invited their ire..."[/say]
RE: a war to end all wars - Finn - 01-13-2022
With Ronin adding his own information, Finn stands by and absorbs it all quietly - something he's quite good at, admittedly. [say]"If they did loot Cian's body, is there a possibility that they have his Knowt book?"[/say] he asks, voicing something that is doubtlessly worrying to every single one of them. There is no Eye without that book, after all. [say]"If it was Wessex Theskyra, then we must assume she has done whatever she will with the rest of Cian. We have to assume the worst."[/say]
Which is that the Ascended now have Cian's most valuable item, an upper hand, and access to information that could well put them at an advantage. [say]"What would you see happen?"[/say] he asks - to anyone, really. Gideon will want blood, he knows that much, but what of the others? Finn, of course, has his own machinations and ideas, but they can wait.
RE: a war to end all wars - Gideon - 01-13-2022
Honestly, Ronin did have a point. Gideon had questioned the plan himself when he'd first heard it, but he'd assumed Cian had to have had his reasons. He had his book, after all. [say]"...I.."[/say] He shook his head and huffed out a deep sigh, trying to calm the initial anger that wanted to rise up in him at being challenged right now. [say]"I was overconfident and believed Cian had a plan. Believed the Gods had a plan. It was pride."[/say] He'd have to ask for forgiveness, he knew that much.
He didn't know details, didn't care much who the Ascended interloper had been. She was a machine like all of them, blasphemous in her very existence. Looking up again, interjecting seemingly at random, Gideon yelled: [say]"We cannot do anything without the guidance of the Gods! All of us need to go and pray. That is the only way forward. To pray to the Gods and ask for a way to attack these monsters before they grow too confident. We as men alone cannot know the best way forwards."[/say]
RE: a war to end all wars - October - 01-13-2022
As Gideon says that as men they couldn't know the best way forward, Tobi clears her throat loudly and tightens the bandage she's put on his arm perhaps a bit more vigorously than is strictly necessary. Despite that, the Priest is patched up as best he can be without coming to the hospital (which she will absolutely make him do).
Rising but not taking her place at the table, Tobi instead stands with her arms comfortably folded across her chest. [say]"If they have Cian's book, no amount of punishment is going to matter. Not if they're able to know all the things he did, and could."[/say] Indeed, the Knowt Book was what made an Eye; the information it contained made it perhaps the most dangerous and powerful item in all of Caido.
[say]"Do we know if it will work with an ascended? So many of our items are unique to us..."[/say] The Knowt Book might have been passed from Eye to Eye, but the Eyes were always Accepted. [say]"Maybe for Wessex it just appears as blank pages, if she even knew to take it in the first place."[/say]