destinystrings | Paradisus Perditaque

Paradisus Perditaque

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What: Closing Arena Ceremonies
Where: Aries Arena & Televised
Summary: 1/24/10AC
Warnings: This could get serious...but who knows.

The last week and a half had been, at best, an insane blur of lights, colors, Persona and celebrations.

And while your own victories have been appreciated by the population, you are, after all, Visitors. No playing in the main competition. Not even proper brackets, you were just lucky to be allowed to be IN the tournament as a main show at all! It was a great honor, and you should accept it as such.

That's show business for you.

The main news that had been on everyone's lips was that the longtime champion, Blue Sky Dragoon, had been beaten by his long-time rival, Royal Red Lion for top honors this year. Red Lion (real name Bunrakuken Karube, although they couldn't say that in public due to the new rule this year) had created the biggest upset since the event's creation ten years ago. For him, it was a monumental victory, as it meant he would be, more or less, the hero for the city for the next year. For Blue Sky Dragoon, it meant his reign of five years had finally come to an end.

Needless to say, the second place contestant looked rather bitter as he was ushered into the podium for the main division.

In the end, there had been no interruptions. The entire Games had gone off without a hitch. Your efforts had been appreciated during the course, however, and you were all invited for the final closing ceremonies. Kiyoshi Suou was still on alert, unwilling to relax even a little.

For the most part, closing ceremonies were trivial, and, dare we say, boring. The energy from the tournament had been slowly declining, and by the third national song and a kabuki reenactment of the final battle between Dragoon and Lion, most were trying not to doze off.

And yet...you...as Visitors. There's a strange feeling around you. It's not the lack of energy from the civilians, no.

Something isn't right.

Unfortunately you can't prove that and you can't stop what's going on but...you can try looking around. But you should probably be as discreet as possible, all things considered. While you can't just search the arena during the ceremony, there is still the underbelly of the stadium, athletes you could talk to, policemen on the job...

...it's like trying to finding a needle in a haystack.

[OOC - Alright timeline of events: Tonight is going to be just mingling, assessing the crowd and seeing what you can find. Create closed or open posts, or just watch the show and comment between yourselves. We have some NPCs that can talk with you (anyone who has an NPC, or was given NPC info for this log are free to have them be around), or you can talk amongst yourselves; this is, after all a celebration, although an apparently boring one.

Once this post is done, there will also be a mod post going up with a few additions about what is going to go down tomorrow, and some announcements! Our tentative hour for the main event will be the 24th at 6-7PM EASTERN tomorrow. Be there!]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Well, she had to have come here for a reason.

"You should have said so, then. Personas grant a lot of things. You'd be surprised what some people can do with them."

He fought a user once who could sometimes read his moves before he even made them. ...That had been tricky. Ah! But her question.

"But of course." Peace like this wasn't peace. It was the calm before the storm. "The wolf's been at the door the whole time. Never figured this event would go off without something happening. And with the Anoli, it's never gentle. You take their threats seriously." He's seen many of the previous mayors die first-hand. He holds no illusions that this tournament will end without a single complaint.

Considering she hasn't even awakened to her own yet, he's probably right in saying that she would be surprised. But that's not what she's interested in.

"You have known this entire time?" She cannot help the surprise that enters her voice. It's one thing for Visitors who know next to nothing about the threat they face to sign up for such a risky event, but a native? And a fairly well-known one at that?

"... Why do they feel the need to make such threats, do you know?" She still doesn't quite trust him, but his frankness is getting her to open up, just a bit.

He purses his lips in thought. "So you're a Visitor then? Interesting." It's said almost offhand, as if he doesn't expect her to answer, like he's questioning a ghost with no voice.

This visitor's either that, or a very good actor who's pretending to be ignorant to Hinoto-Ri's problems. That's still possible, of course. Could be Anoli still, but he likes his first assumption better.

If she (or he) had been born here, she would have known who the Anoli were and what they stood for. Their creed.

But he'll answer her question, though perhaps not directly. Turnabout is fair play, after all.

He sips at his drink, letting his statement from before hang for a moment. Have its time in the sun—or lack thereof. "...Why do organized groups usually make threats against another established power?"

Really, thank the Goddesses this disguise hides so much of her expression, because her teeth clench when he makes his assessment. After being outed as someone merely masquerading as security, it was only a matter of time before she was outed as a non-native as well. But the way he says it, the way she can't get a read on what his thoughts on her Visitor-status are drives her up the figurative wall.

She doesn't answer, of course. Again, there's no reason to. But his second question...

"Greed. A desire to hold that power for themselves." From the sounds of it, she has some experience in this matter. Though Ganondorf was only one man, he was a very powerful man with very high ambition. "Occasionally there is a legitimate cause, but those tend not to use such extreme and violent tactics."

Her state of dress hardly helps in his assumptions. It's not so much eccentric (he has seen his share of oddly clothed eccentrics) as it is notably foreign.

"Correct. It can also stem from a legitimate cause and become corrupted as it gains influence, even while still holding to the core it strives for. Ideals become twisted, and suddenly no option is too harsh. Political statements turn into displays of power and intimidation."

It happens. Used to happen more before their world withered away. It's all in the history books.

"There are a lot of things at work."

... Hm. She listens to his words carefully, a story of slow corruption and unresponsive governance forming in her mind. There's no way to make sure it's the right story, at least not without directly asking (and it's clear she doesn't like doing that), so she keeps her own assumptions to herself for now.

For the most part.

"You make it sound like this has been a problem for a long time." But how long? How long has it been since they abandoned peaceful method in favor of extremism? "What is the city's general opinion of them? The citizenry, I mean, not the government."

What is your opinion of them?

"Years. Killed our previous mayor four years ago, during the tournament." He had been there. He remembers seeing him die. "But they haven't been as loud as they have been now." A sort of gathering storm. They hadn't interrupted the past three tournaments, though they had threatened to, but the rumor was that the Anoli leader would be here. Rumors like that often came true. And where he came, chaos usually followed.

As for the rest. "They're terrorists, as far as the government is concerned. They do very little to make themselves appear otherwise, so that what most of the city believes, and rightly so. Some of their ideology has merit, granted," he says, rubbing a hand under his chin in thought, "but their beliefs are buried under their preferred tactics and preference for force and threats in place of debate and peace. They do not make themselves seem very becoming."

They have a history of assassination and the mayor still dared them to appear in the exact same place? Goddesses, there's a fine line between bravery and stupidity, and the more she hears, the more she believes this man's hobby is skipping across it.

But, well, at least it seems like they won't be fighting outnumbered. Fear is good for keeping people in line, but not so much for recruiting.

"Such men are common to every world, it would seem," she mutters, just barely above her breath. Men who believe violence and force and power are the only way to achieve their goals. And to think she thought she was done with such men.

After musing on that, she bows slightly once again, this time a bit more genuinely. The Red Lion has been helpful, after all. "Thank you. This conversation has been enlightening."

Paradisus Perditaque

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