Event Log: Assassin

[hadrielmods]

Who: Everyone!
What: The Assassin event
Where: Throughout the city
When: April 15th-23rd
Warnings: Inevitable character death, potential horror and gore and unpleasantness. Please remember to tag for warnings in the header if it things get too bad!

The morning of April 15th in Hadriel is cheerful, with artificial light streaming through your window. Your blankets are warm, jabberjays are shrieking, and you're probably going to experience a murder attempt today.

Maybe it'll be from a stranger, maybe it'll be from a friend, but the bottom line is that everybody is after somebody and nobody is safe (...okay, twelve people are safe, but that's beside the point). Time will only tell when you'll be overcome by that murderous rage and try to kill someone else. The best thing you can probably do at this point is stay calm, keep your head high, and try not to die for the next eight days.

Helpfully, Rage will have restocked her armory for the event, for those of you have yet to arm themselves. Additionally, for a limited time only, the armory will be stocked with bear traps, tripwire (in both 'general wire' and 'barbed wire' flavor), and voice recorders. Use all of them, use none of them, just get on out there and kill each other!

Oh, and one last thing...

► This log covers April 15th-23rd.
► 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!
► Did your assassin catch up to you? Please remember to hit up our death post!

Comments

arya stark | open and closed

[whichend]

april 16: open.
[ It takes Arya longer than most to realize that something is going on in the city of Hadriel. Something wrong. Arya has always been guarded, slow to trust and prone to attack. But she's also observant, and by the evening of April sixteenth, it's impossible to ignore the murder in many of the resident's eyes. And if she needs any further proof, well, there's always the blood trickling out of alleyways every so often.

So Arya does what she always does when she's in danger: she disappears. Arya keeps to the back alleys, the shadows, a small, hooded figure in a large coat. She's armed to the teeth, with her sword and several concealed daggers. She moves quickly, talking to no one but watching everyone.

She has several little cloth bundles, as well. She'll visit the houses of her friends in the night, leaving the bundle on their doorstep. Inside is a dagger and a folded note, reading, in Arya's chicken scratch: just in case.

Maybe you notice the figure slipping past you. Maybe you decide to follow Arya, but be careful: coming too close will get you a dagger pressed to your throat. ]

april 20: closed to amos kamiya.
[ The city has never been as dangerous as it is now, and Arya knows one of the reasons why: Amos, the liar, the snake, the man of false smiles. Neither Arya nor the people she holds close will be safe while he lives, so Arya has spent the last few days trailing Amos, waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike. The Faceless Men taught her how to be an assassin, and it's sickeningly easy how well Arya slips back into being no one.

On April twentieth, Arya finds Amos in the woods. This, she knows, is her territory. She's spent more time here than anywhere else in Hadriel. Disregarding honor, disregarding everything but the task at hand, Arya springs out from behind a tree when Amos comes near, driving he sword straight at Amos' gut. ]

[liquid_serpent]

[Liquid was on edge as it seemed the whole city was right now. It was in the air. The cold malice and need to fight or to kill. It seemed everyone was out to get everyone else. Rage must be laughing herself silly right now. He snuck into an alley then felt someone brush past him quickly. He whirled around and half-expected the young girl to attack him.]

Watch where you are going, young lady.

[whichend]

I'm no one's lady.

[ Arya snaps back, angrily. She pulls away the dagger, though. She has no interest in harming this particular man -- he's a nuisance, not a target. ]

And you are not allowed to call me that.

[ Those people are long gone. ]

[liquid_serpent]

[She had an attitude problem for sure. Liquid wasn't sure if he should be impressed by it or angry at her.]

What should I call you then? Since, you nearly stabbed me with that knife you are holding. [He saw it wrapped up. Nothing escaped his keen eye.]

[whichend]

[ The knife or the sword. Arya is armed to the teeth, but at least this man isn't wasting his time telling her she shouldn't be, that it's not suitable. ]

I am called Arya.

[ There's a slight uncertainty in her voice. The name is still strange to her. ]

[liquid_serpent]

Arya. [He nodded in greeting. No need to make new enemies especially when it seemed the whole city was out to get you.]

You seem a little young to be wielding a knife like that. For self defence? I don't blame you, since this city feels off. As if it wants it's citizens to attack one another. Have you felt that too?

[whichend]

[ Arya bristles. ]

Since when has my age ever been relevant to what weapon I carry?

[ Since when has anyone tried to spare her, because she was younger? Arya ordinarily wouldn't get this angry, but the whole atmosphere of the city is making her tense. She barely forces out: ]

I have. Felt it.

april 16th

[circumitus]

[Arya isn't the only hooded figure wandering Hadriel as of late.

[Rey's hood covers her head of short hair as she makes her way through the streets, not allowing her emotions to dictate her patrol schedule. Her rather successful endeavor has her feeling nothing much at all as of late. Feelings are a necessary sacrifice if it means not murdering a teenage girl.

[That's when she recognizes the shape of Arya Stark as she passes by. Once again, she is not haunted by the rage upon seeing the child, leaving Rey to assume pretty fast that her target is specific to the one teenager she saw the other day.

[She stops, turning around to face the girl. Her head lifts to reveal her own scarred face behind the hood attached to her armor.]

You sure you should be outside? [Her words are unwavering when she speaks, like a machine.]

[whichend]

[ Arya is not one to flinch away from mysterious, hooded figures with scarred faces. Not after she's spent weeks traveling with the Hound -- that's as scarred as a person gets.

So Arya stands firm, not wavering but not attacking either, asserting that she's got every right to be here, letting the other woman know she is unafraid. ]

Quite sure.

[ Arya frowns, disliking the implication -- that she is too small, that it is not safe for her here. ]

The houses are little protection, and besides, I am used to protecting myself outside.

Do you think your patrol really does anything? Do you actually think you are keeping people safe?

[circumitus]

[People here seem less put off by her scars than many civilians back home. It's an interesting change of pace, but not something she balks at with Arya. The girl seems like she's seen some shit.]

Apologies. Did not mean to offend or be condescending.

[Considering this is the same child who offered sword lessons not too long ago, she doesn't doubt Arya's capabilities.]

As for keeping people safe... Am not certain. Was not made to protect. [Not deliberately, in any case, though one could argue that some of her past actions had protected someone in some underhanded way.]

To be honest, been doing this more for selfish reasons than for other people.

[whichend]

[ Arya nods, accepting Rey's apology. There's no use getting in a huff, not with the situation at hand. ]

That does not mean anything. I was not supposed to do anything but learn how to be a good lady and a good wife. And now I am neither of things, and that is why I am still alive.

[ Selfish reasons are fair enough. Selfishness keeps people alive. She thinks of Gendry, of his decision to leave her. It was the smart one. The selfish one. ]

I understand.

[circumitus]

A fair point.

[It's good enough, and not even Rey can argue with that. There are many things that she was supposed to be, but isn't any more. Weapon. Soldier. Murderer. Definitely not a living, breathing person with her own sense of self, no individuality. And yet...

[She nods.]

Are you looking for anyone in particular? [Someone to kill, perhaps?]

[whichend]

I am running.

[ It pains Arya to admit that, but it's the truth. She knows there's someone out to get her, and right now, Arya cares about her safety more than the fate of her target. She doesn't know who she's supposed to be killing yet, but she figures once she does, that person will be good as dead. ]

Are you looking for someone?

[circumitus]

[Rey doesn't need to ask what it is Arya is running from. She already knows the answer, and she nods, understanding.

[At the girl's question, she just shakes her head.]

More like something. A... distraction.

[Anything to keep her murderous urges stifled.]

[whichend]

[ Arya nods, thinking. What would be a good distraction? Especially from these urges? Arya is consumed by a need for revenge on a normal day. She doesn't need this. ]

What if -- what if we fight each other? We are both capable, and we are not the targets of the other. It might make us less of a danger for the others.

[ Arya knows she's a danger. She figures Rey is painfully aware, too. ]

[amos_moses]

[Amos has been twitchily aware of everyone on edge these past few days, and has been trying to decide if he's justified in feeling followed. As many people as are creeping about, lying low or in wait, it's hard to say if he's just being overly paranoid or not. He's slinkng along in the woods, going to find a private place to think and feed the birds, when one of the jabberjays screams in warning: a woman's shrill scream but the mental cry and projection that go with it is much more informative.]

[Amos dodges away, and the glitter of metal in the corner of his vision prompts him to pull his knife from his pocket, even as he settles into a fighting stance...and catches sight of his attacker.]

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph!

[whichend]

[ Arya doesn't know who Jesus, Mary, or Joseph are. She's had a lot of names, but she hasn't had any of those. Maybe those are the names of Amos' family, or his gods.

Hearing him speak is almost as bad as seeing him, and now, she knows that she doesn't want this to be a quick kill. She wants to hear Amos scream in pain, scream for the mercy she will not give. She slashes across Amos' stomach, not especially deep, but enough to hurt. ]

You cannot hide forever. You cannot lie forever.

[amos_moses]

[Amos has already faced Arya and her sword and Rage's magic, and came out on the losing end. He has no illusions that this encounter will end any differently if he lets it play out to the end. He's already searching for an escape route, even as he dodges back with a curse hissed in Japanese. Arya's blade tears through his shirt and catches skin in passing; heat but he can't tell if there's blood yet, heart pounding to the adrenaline rush.]

[It'll hurt later. If there is a later.]

Arya, wait, stop, it's the gods' game...!

[He doesn't think he'll reach her but it's worth a shot. He guards with the knife in his hand, pitiful five inches of steel against her sword.]

[His other hands dips against his waistband, and in a practiced motion his shobo is palmed: a slim needle of matte steel, with a ring for his middle finger. A concealed weapon, an assassin's dirty trick. Amos does not fight fair, he fights to survive.

[whichend]

[ Amos' words fall of deaf ears. Of course Amos would want her to stop. Why wouldn't he? He's a coward. And Arya firmly believes that this is not the gods' doing -- this is hers. She is seeking control, and more than that, she's seeking justice. Everything, including lying, has a price.

Arya sees the slip but does not recognize the weapon, although she does recognize the dirty trick, and calls him out on it. ]

You are a coward. I always knew.

[ Arya darts, side to side, cutting as she goes, never staying in still for long. Catch her if you can. She's got her eyes on the prize. ]

[amos_moses]

[She won't be stopped, and Amos can see that now, but he really doesn't want to accept it. He wants her to stop, not just because he doesn't want to die but because she might regret being a pawn in the god's games.]

[He can't answer her and still dodge, can't spare the attention for it if he wants to live. He's not a coward, he's a survivor, and there's a difference.]

[Arya has the advantage of range, with her sword's length, and Amos is going to have to take control of the range if he wants to survive. She's fast, but so is he, and her slash rips his jeans and nicks his hip. He staggers and tries to get in closer, push her back, gain some kind of control.]

[whichend]

[ Arya keeps feinting, tempting Amos in until she's close enough to strike. She gets some cuts of her own: one on the leg, a frightening one on her lower stomach, one on her back. A few of them will scar. Arya doesn't care. She's spurred on by something much stronger -- relentless anger and adrenaline.

When Amos is close enough, Arya plunges her sword directly at his heart. ]

[amos_moses]

[Amos fares much worse, and is more bloody and a damned sight more desperate, fighting a losing battle. So far he's managed to stave off immediately crippling or life-threatening blows, but it's cost him both in blood and panic. It's not until the last possible moment that he realizes what Arya's managed to do, and though he wrenches aside, it's not enough to escape the blow.]

[Just enough to make it not immediately fatal, and for a moment it doesn't even hurt, the force of the stab staggering him back as the blade glaces over a rib and gouges through him. Chest wall and lung, not heart, a slower and more gruesome death. Amos catches his balance, loses his breath, and stumbles to one knee. His face is white with panic, but it doesn't hurt yet. Not yet. He knows it's bad, though, from the immediate way he can't breathe, one lung rapidly collapsing, blood pouring down his side.]