hadriel_logs | Event Log: A Hope for the Future

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Event Log: A Hope for the Future

Who: All characters participating in the event
What: The event log for the A Hope for the Future event
Where: All over the city!
When: April 15th-April 19th
Warnings: Stealth Rock

It's finally time to reap the rewards you've earned from all that hard work collecting and returning the Hope orbs! Be careful walking the streets during the small earthquakes, but feel free to admire the scenery as your beautiful city reassembles its way back into its former glory.

There are new houses where the destroyed buildings once were, and they're perfect for a single person or pair of lovebirds. In addition, you'll find that the electricity to these new houses, and all other homes and shops in the city is restored. The food is better, the monsters are gone- hey, this city might be livable again!

To cap it all off, we've got a feast waiting for you on the 19th! Come one, come all, and enjoy all of your favorite foods, drinks, and party games. It's been awhile since we've all gotten together to celebrate something good, so get your party on and toss all your troubles away!

► This log covers April 14th-April 19th.
► Feel free to make your own logs as well!
► Please tag headers of threads with content warnings where they apply
► Please put your character's name and open/closed in the subject line of your starters!
► If you get hit by levitating rubble or eat a food that wasn't meant for you, please let us know here.

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He really wishes he could hang you Caedra. You are a common thug and you deserve to be treated like such. But as he's been told, Hope resurrects people here, your death would not be permanent. Kelson prefers it when the people he has executed stays dead.

"That seamstress was a Queen and should be treated with respect. I see you show that to no one, however. Do you have a reason for your actions or did you simply enjoy it?"

Kelson easily slips into a cold mask, almost wishing it didn't come so easily after so few years as king but he was glad it did. He also wished there was something he could do about Caedra, but he didn't dare use his powers against her. He still wasn't sure how her power level and what was Deryni or Haldane magic against an actual demon?

"I think the description you have provided is more than enough. I had hoped to give you a chance Caedra, but I see now that you deserve none."

"You know, it's funny," Caedra says around a mouthful of soul larva, which she began eating during Kelson's little speech. She swallows, licks her lips, then smiles. "Funny, I mean, that you act like you have any authority here, and that I owe you anything at all. I don't care if you give me a chance or not. What could it possibly matter to me if a child with a crown thinks I'm worth anything, when he's so far away from his kingdom?"

Goodness, not even William Farwater is this insufferable - thankfully, since Lionde's crown prince is a nice pawn to have in one's pocket. Of course, William was the one who had approached Amamot first, so it figures that he's far easier to deal with than this one, of similar age but evidently much too hung up on right and wrong.

"I am aware I don't have any authority here to back me up, save for any respect you might have for me. I had hoped to that you might display an instance of remorse for your deeds, but I see now that might not be possible. You do not owe me anything Caedra, besides the friendship I thought we could have built. You are going to need them here and if you keep going around murdering people you will have none left. So, I'll ask you again and while I obviously cannot demand an answer from you, I would ask that you answer. Why?"

Kelson took a sip of wine, wishing he had the council of Morgan or Duncan or anyone who could help tell him what to do. Or what not to do. Most likely too late he took a breath, and tried to think before he acted.

Kelson trying to guilt her into friendship is particularly funny. Is he so naive to think she would ever have any loyalty toward any of these people? Even the few she has met so far who she finds interesting or even just fun to talk to aren't friends. But... If he doesn't have a handle on what the tanar'ri are, and if he thinks she might have any hint of morality or allegiance in her whatsoever, she can use that. She knows how to fake remorse, how to bait people into trusting her so that the next time she's in need of help she can throw someone into the fray while she escapes unharmed. She has no reason to want Kelson in particular to be one of these pawns, except that he seems interested in some idea of guilt and redemption and is probably easy to manipulate.

All right, Kelson, she can play this game. She brushes aside a stray hair from her face and shrugs a little, seeming to drop some of that combativeness she'd been wearing so openly. "I don't know," she says with a small sigh. "To tell you the truth, I just thought it would help me find a way home. It wasn't personal and I don't mean her lasting harm. She was just in the wrong place at the wrong time, really. And - if it had worked, I have the means at home to return everyone else to where they belong as well. I just had to test it first. Clearly it failed, and clearly it was a mistake."

Kelson had started to truth read her before she opened her mouth, as, well, no, he didn't trust you Caedra. But it was that as much as it was habit really. It was a skill that didn't take much power or effort, but the end result was really dependent on the subject's ability to evade as well as Kelson's ability to ask the right questions. And at the moment, he wasn't entirely liking what he was seeing. But he refused to accuse someone when his reading wasn't entirely clear. She was telling enough of the truth mixed in with what he assumed were half truths to confuse his reading. She was good. It was annoying. And so was her remorse. If he wasn't Deryni, if he wasn't truth reading her, if he wasn't a king and had learned not to take things at face value, he probably would have fallen for it.

He decided to go at it piece by piece. What he thought was true. The attack on Margaery wasn't personal, she probably was in the wrong place. Not that just made it right though. What he thought might be a lie, her plan, the deaths and injuries were not a mistake. And she did know why she did it. But.....there was enough of a mix in there that he wasn't entirely sure.

"What was a mistake?"

Caedra rolls her eyes, though the movement is hard to distinguish given the lack of features other than solid black. She truly wants to lash out verbally, ridicule him for trying to interrogate her during a public feast. Isn't everyone just here to enjoy themselves? And still she owes him nothing. His crown may as well be made of paper to her, not just because they're far from his kingdom but also because there is no monarchy that could ever hold real sway over her actions.

But she bites back her irritation and tries patience for just a moment longer. "It would be hard for me to tell you exactly what I wanted to achieve when your world and mine are so wildly different. And I'm sure you know by now what I am. The question then becomes: how deeply do you believe in forgiveness and redemption? Is there any point in questioning me if you, as a chosen ruler by the gods of your land, can only ever accept my answers as evil and without value?"

She waits, eyebrow raised, and has a sip of coffee.

He's never met a real demon before, and while he really wished he could talk to Father Duncan about it, nothing she has done so far was particularly surprising. Now that he knew what she was of course. He wondered why she had black eyes. Was it because their sin and evil was so great they could not be forgiven? Of course demons had no souls. Was that why? If that held, would angels have black eyes as well? Duncan would know. Or he'd say something wise and philosophical. Why was it always when he wasn't there that Kelson realized how much he relied on his friend and confessor?

"I believe redemption and forgiveness is between a man, his confessor and his God. I know exactly what you are now and while I would not begin to think I could speak for the divine and your own forgiveness, I will not allow you to influence me."

He guessed they both had their answer. No. He could not afford to accept her answers as anything other than evil with the assumption that she would try and hurt or tempt him.

Dammit Duncan where were you? Kelson fingered his Saint Camber medal that rested against his skin, idly tracing the round edges over his tunic, and made a silent prayer to the heretic Deryni saint who had so often intervened in Kelson's affairs.

Good thing she's not a man and answers to no gods, then. Phew! What a tragedy that would have been, to be someone who could be redeemed!

"Kelson, you're a smart young man. You've probably learned quite a lot about my people, through your studies and what your priests must have told you. I don't know what it is they teach, but I'm willing to let your attempt at guilting me into apologizing slide, as well as your patronizing attitude in doing so, because I expect that comes from your elders, and not from you. You have a lot of responsibility on your shoulders, and you probably have to balance demands from a variety of interests constantly. So, as a king, you know that you can't be friends with everyone, and those you choose as friends probably are selected because they can offer you something, and not just because they're nice to talk to."

Ugh. It's hard, saying some of this with a straight face, but she's probably not wrong about a lot of it. Hopefully this will get through to him better. If not, then maybe he's hopeless after all. She pauses, one finger in the air to tell him hold on, not done yet while she has a sip of her coffee. Hot, thick, incredibly relaxing. Good.

"If you can cast aside all your teachings, likely wrong anyway, and show that willingness to cooperate with me that you yourself suggested a moment ago, then firstly I'll be very impressed, but secondly you might find yourself with a useful ally, given the sorts of things I can do. But in return, you would have to be able to provide something of use to me. What do you have to offer?"

Kelson was doing fine with everything she said up until she started trying to make a deal and telling him everything he knew about demons was wrong. He set his jaw and watched her, waiting a bit after she was finished to ensure she was in fact done, and then just to be a little patronizing. He was not amused.

"I don't offer anything. I was willing to work with you Caedra, to try and help ensure you don't hurt any other living soul here, but I don't make deals. And I certainly prefer ally's I can trust. And I can't trust you. I can't trust that you will do the right thing, because that is something so far outside your nature. I may not have known literal demons, but I have known humans with evil in their heart and you only care about you."

Kelson shook his head, sadly. "I will not put myself in a situation where those who do have reason to have faith in me will doubt it. I don't make deals with evil."

What had that ancient monk said in that old 200 year old message? Holy Saint Camber, deliver us from fearful evil. He thumbed the medallion again, wishing the Door was open and Saint Camber could help. He always seemed to like Kelson.

She just laughs at that, because look how serious he is! The righteous always do cling to their gods and idols, hiding behind them for protection from the predators that lurk at the dark edges of the world.

That's all right. One little boy king doesn't gain her much when there are plenty of others here who don't know any better - because yes, Kelson, she may not say it aloud, but Caedra agrees with you. She laughs at you, but people with less conviction have had their lives ruined and their homes, families, and souls utterly destroyed by her kind when they were unaware of the threat. Whatever the boy has been taught, he was clearly taught well.

"Then Kelson," she says, tilting her head slightly as she looks up at him, "Perhaps next time try not to suggest friendship with someone who you are so certain is incapable of it. You'll save yourself some trouble. Enjoy your peacock."

With that, she walks off, but before fully disappearing into the crowd she speaks a few words of Abyssal and traces a pattern in the air. Her hand makes its way back to her coffee cup in one fluid motion, and she turns, not bothering to watch for Kelson's reaction.

The finely-roasted peacock, skin a perfect crispy golden brown, now has the biggest, blackest charcoal dick branded boldly onto it.

If Kelson hadn't been king with four years of experience under his belt, he might have rolled his eyes. "Friendship is offered freely Caedra, you'd best learn the difference."

He had no doubt that if his cousin Conall were here he would have taken the deal. Jesu, he had taken it, maybe not with a literal demon but the difference was all for none. Once he started on that path there was nothing Kelson could have done to keep him from tumbling down into the executioners sword. Not that Kelson saw it that way, but Kelson was an angsty teenager who had to kill his cousin.

He looked down, pushing his dinner away in disgust and taking a sip of his wine. The wine was at least still good. A nice Fianna red. Perhaps Queen Margaery would be kind enough to share her venison. The company was surely better.

At least he could live with a clear conscience. Yes, he had been taught well. If he hadn't been taught well he would have been tempted to do something back to her. Conall would have.

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Event Log: A Hope for the Future

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haha ignore my mishap :D

aww goodbye exciting new accidental cr!!

LOL