username: deimar

[jatharin]

( On this occasion, King Deimar in silvered splendor: tussled, armour scratched and drenched in blood and soot, surrounded each way by his men or Rathakku's creatures. He screams, just as harpies swing in: )

Fall back — fall back, fall back — ( An infantryman politely keels over, arrow driving through his ribs. Deimar stops to stare — ) ...maybe with less enthusiasm than that.

( But then, he's led to take cover off the field, and he can mutter into his pendant: )

Greetings, greetings. Your king speaks. Deimar. ( As if, perhaps, some need the reminder. ) Let's cut through pretence: Alem is lost. The merchants are offering their... obscenely costly help with evacuation. If we had any alternative or dignity, we would decline. It won't surprise you that I've agreed, gratefully. Go to Hassir. Yes, it's a monastery old and true. No, you cannot bring your wine.

( And gentler, firmer: ) It will have you. All of you who go, Hassir will have you, and it will save you. Make a new life, away from this mountain. Away from our blood's burden, away from Hell.

( Then lighter, in this breezy tone: )

...which, I regret to inform you, is opening nice, creaky and wide beneath our floorboard. You've heard the old stories: the Motherless Children beget their devastation, bolstered by whatever souls they consume in their putrid wasteland. They're breaking through. Terrible creatures. Filthy. Ugly, too.

To all men and women of Alem who are strong, gifted and able: I won't tell you to take up your weapons and join me below in glory. If you die there, no one will mourn you, no one will weep over your bones. No one will even remember you. No, they'll live peacefully, happily and oblivious to your sacrifice. But they'll live.

So. You have your choices: Hassir or Hell below. What say you?

( ooc: brainstorming post if you want to ICly figure out where characters are headed. Hell officially starts to open on March 18, but feel free to forward-date responses & threadjack at will. Good luck saving humanity! )

Comments

un : deft hand of little deaths (voice)

[scrapgege]

Hmmmm, probably better if I stay here.

video; un: owllady

[traaaaaash]

... I gotta see these "filthy, terrible creatures" for myself.

[ Listen. Eda doesn't trust monarchs. And she is, for this particular moment, reminded of the way Emperor Belos has hunted her as a supposedly destructive wild witch for ages. ]

in person

[stephanivien]

[ When Deimar first started broadcasting, the din of the surrounding battle sounded familiar, and as he moves to retreat, Stephanivien begins to put his firearm and aetherotransformer to good use, making his way steadily towards the cluster of knights defending their king, and cutting his own path to reach Deimar. By the time Stephanivien makes it almost to Deimar's retreat, his aetherotransformer is overheated and sparking, and in intervals his gun seems to transform into some sort of automated crossbow, blasting down harpies and other undesired creatureas of Rathakku's armies alike by littering them in a broad cone spread of arrows. As the enemies clear away, he reaches Deimar's side, and as the transmission speech ends he turns to Deimar with grin. ]

You have such a way with rousing speeches. Truly inspirational.

un: mansbane

[bravelyrunsaway]

Lightning take you, that's where you're headed, isn't it?

( what the searing SHIT is going on, he helped lend energy to patch that nonsense up for longer and now deimar's about ready to leap down into its throat. )

Time to what, go shove a few demon orphans around, love? Of course it is.

un: ut malum pluvia | audio

[somebadnews]

[ Five wondered if Deimar would come up with a real plan, but it's not hard to see right through his speech. 'Living peacefully' isn't a real option and he knows it. ]

You expect it'll be contained to Alem if Hell breaks loose, or are you that confident we can stop it?

un: wei wuxian

[weifinder]

They consume souls?

( a pause. )

Deimar, in your understanding, what do these Motherless Children appear as?

un: doubletap | audio

[dog_eat_dog]

There's no reason to think it'll be contained. If they could barely hold it back at the throat, what makes you think the mouth will do any better?

[somebadnews]

I don't. [ Most of what Deimar said was bullshit, but it'd be nice to hear him admit it. ]

Which camp does that put you in?

[dog_eat_dog]

Getting the fuck out of here. Alem's been at war for what now, a year? We could be across the fucking continent by time the army spreads past the next city.

[somebadnews]

You aren't too familiar with the apocalypse, are you?

[dog_eat_dog]

Fuck off. [There's a laugh on her voice, though, and there's no heat on her tone.] I've been putting bullets in the "undead" for twenty years. It doesn't actually end like [a snap of her fingers]

video. un: a_civil_serpent - set on the 18th.

[inferus]

( well, this was the least inspiring and unmotivating speech he has ever seen any king or general or royalty make - evidence of his age, of his lack of experience as a king, of his numbness to the world around him. it has entirely failed to express why those sacrifices are truly important - only to speak of how they will be forgotten and how anyone who runs can live freely as if it would be that simple.

Wrath is in the room of seals: waiting, feeling as the fractures grow larger and Hell stronger beneath it. it is to be expected. )

The people- this world will only survive should enough soldiers go below to prevent Hell from spilling out.

It isn't about being remembered.

This is the battle against the end of times. Running away does not guarantee happiness nor freedom. Soldiers swear their oaths to give their lives for their kings, but this is the battle for yourself, for humanity itself. Pick up your swords or doom your families and this world to what happens when Hell breaks free from its cage.

( and the video turns toward the Hell as it fully opens up below - the creatures start to spill out, claw out, some swerve to avoid him entirely recognizing him for what he is, and the video cuts. )

[somebadnews]

[ She obviously hasn’t experienced an apocalypse where he’s involved. They’ll get a week, tops. ]

Last I checked, zombies and demons are two different things. You might want to think again if your plan is to outrun them.

[dog_eat_dog]

Same shit, different details. I'll manage. And you're going to do what, exactly?

[This guy sounds like he's either ninety pounds soaking wet or twelve.]

audio | un: off scarlet

[westviews]

So it's come to this. I don't think you're going to get enough volunteers to buy enough time for an escape, and I doubt Hell stops at city boundaries once it's poured out.

[Is this helpful? No, but it's realistic.]

[somebadnews]

[ Some of you haven't lived for decades alone in a wasteland and it shows. ]

Whatever I have to. This isn't a game, everyone is going to die if we don't stop it now.

[dog_eat_dog]

Yeah, I got that. What are you planning to do about it, specifically?

[somebadnews]

I'm going down there to look for another option. [ Aside from calling in a favor from a death lord, or activating a possessed artefact in Hell, both of which will arguably make it worse. ]

Unless you want me to go back in time, when I have no idea when it started, we've got to work with what we have.

[dog_eat_dog]

[She has zero fucking desire to be anyone's savior –– she's feeling sated on what's waiting for her at home, the inevitable smug success if she can just get out of this snarl.

But...]

Is that what you normally do, just go back in time?

[This is a little skeptical, but whatever, stranger things have happened.]

Do you have any idea what you're looking for, at least?

audio | un: manic marbles

[saintclaire]

I just don't understand what we can do about this. It feels like we're being asked to stop a natural disaster.

[In the next city –– if there is a next city –– she swears she is going to be useful against this sort of thing. Can demons be made to respect the law? The thought is completely ludicrous, but it's there.]

[westviews]

Essentially.

[It feels a little familiar, this need to stop a force beyond them all, but she's not keen on sacrificing herself again. Self-sacrifice is becoming more and more of a joke.]

Hell now, or hell later. Those are our options.

[somebadnews]

[ Her questions are valid; exactly the kind he hates. The truth is that he's never fully escaped the apocalypse. ]

...Going back is how I averted the last two. It didn't ultimately prevent it, it just appeared in different ways and different times. Like it is now.

I don't know what I'll find, but I do have an in with a demon. I'll start there.

[dog_eat_dog]

So it's your fault, then.

[She'd get attitude for what she's about to say next, but she's here on her own, so maybe it doesn't matter.]

Want company?

[Tess may not have a lot of firepower, but she knows what else she has.]

[saintclaire]

Later. [Obviously.] I'm leaving with the caravans to Hassir. Are you staying to try to figure something out?

[somebadnews]

[ He can't deny that. Especially when he's leaving out that his family were the cause of every other one, including what's waiting for him if he gets them back home. It gets old, and so has he.

So he's genuinely surprised if that's the thing that makes her change her mind. ]

I thought you were running?