The Aeson
14-09-2006, 15:00
OOC: Just for the record, Keene and Claudio are both Council Members as well.
A week ago…
He stood on familiar ground. A desert, vast and unending as infinity. A huge figure stood before him, making him seem a toy.
The voice seemed to come both from the figure and from the desert around him.
They are weak. Corrupt. New Aeson must be swept clean that it can rise, glorious.
He nodded. “I know what I must do,” he said.***
Claudio woke up. Gods, he thought, I’ve never had a dream of that intensity before. Perhaps I’ll ask Keene about it next time we play chess. He has always seemed wise about such things.
***
Today…
New Aeson City. The glittering jewel of the nation. Huge buildings reach for the sky. Look closer. Down among the streets, there is an open market. People thronged and bustled. Looking for a deal. Going about their lives, as always.
The baby-blue van stopped at the barricades designed to keep drunken or insane drivers from running down the marketgoers. The door swung open and men poured out, followed by one of the members of the Council itself. Suddenly, there was the stutter of machine gun fire. The security opened fire indiscriminately. When the gunfire finally died down all of the security officers were dead, along with the assassin, the Council member, and forty-three civilians. And that wasn’t even getting into those merely wounded.
***
Keene sat across the chessboard from Claudio, and moved a pawn forward. Claudio frowned and examined the move.
***
Another Council Member had just finished enjoying a young man’s intimate services. As he zipped up his fly and left, the young man called out, “Wait.”
The Council Member half turned, and saw a small pistol in the young man’s hands. He glanced down, and was surprised to see a blossom of blood on his perfect white shirt.
***
Claudio finally moved his queen forward to take the pawn and threaten Keene’s White King. Keene smiled, and rested his hand on a bishop.
***
Three Council Members were meeting in a lavish hotel, discussing the recent appropriation of certain funds marked for public charity. One glanced up irritably as the black helicopter flew. Her glance quickly turned into one of horror as the huge skylight shattered under a hail of bullets.
***
Keene moved the bishop, taking the Queen, and threatening both the King and a rook. Claudio’s frown deepened.
***
The final five members of the council were in a closed meeting about the approval of a new highway when the door swung open. They looked up, and relaxed. It was merely the chef and serving girls bringing the lavish dinner they had requested.
And then the chef and a number of the serving girls took the covers off of the dishes and produced firearms. A number of other serving guards somehow produced firearms from among the small amount of gauzy material they wore and dealt with the guards.
The rest of the serving girls died, along with the Council Members.
***
As Claudio set his hand on the King to move it out of harm’s way, and Keene’s heavy oak doors swung open, revealing thirty-nine Shadowmen with weapons leveled at Claudio’s back.
“Councilmember Claudio, you are hereby placed under arrest for the murder of ten of your fellow Councilmembers.
Claudio stood up and whirled. At that point, who knows why what happened did? Perhaps the Shadowmen panicked. Unlikely, considering who and what they were. Perhaps they thought he was going for a weapon. More likely. Perhaps they had orders to panic? Well, no one knows exactly who those Shadowmen were, or if they do, they aren’t saying. So we’ll leave what caused it to happen to your imagination for now, and focus on what did happen.
Which was that the Shadowmen opened fire. Claudio stumbled back and fell, crashing into the chessboard and sending pieces flying. As his body was removed by the Shadowmen, Keene looked at the single chess piece left standing. The White King. He picked it up and turned it over in his hands.
***
“The exact events leading up to today’s events are still under investigation. What we do know is that uniformed troops have been seen in the streets, and that martial law has been declared. This is believed to be connected to the assassination of at least ten of the twelve Council Members. Behind me is the balcony from which Keene is soon expected to explain the situation. Wait… there he is now!”
Keene stepped out onto the balcony.
“A great tragedy has occurred today. Fifty-three Aesonic citizens lie dead. Another three dozen have been hospitalized. But their deaths were not in vain. The corrupt governing council has been swept clean.”
There were murmurs from the crowd.
“At the moment, the book entitled, The Not So Holy Church, or One Hundred and One Arguments for Aesonic Anarchy is being shipped to every bookstore in the nation. This book details the corruption that plagued the government. This cleansing has come by the most unlikely of hands. Perhaps the most corrupt of them all, Claudio, attempted a coup by assassinating ten members of the governing council. Claudio himself died when resisting arrest.
There is a saying that power corrupts. However, I believe that the whole system of power is corrupt. Corrupt Council Members put into power by corrupt church officials. As such, the whole system must be swept clean!”
He had been speaking calmly until now, but he now began shouting.
“With the aid of the Gods, we will purge the system! With the blessing of the Gods a New Aeson will arise!”
A huge cheer came from the crowd.
“AESON WIL PREVAIL! GODS BLESS AESON!” Bellowed Keene.
“AESON WIL PREVAIL! GODS BLESS AESON!” Responded the crowd, the very ground shaking under the force of their cheer.
***
“Keene has announced a period of isolation. All foreign citizens are required to leave. Your airfare will be paid by the Aesonic Government. I repeat, all foreign citizens are required to leave. Your airfare will be paid by the government.”
The message was broadcast over every television and radio in the country, more or less continuously for five hours.
***
Keene stood in a dark courtroom, as a man was dragged before him. “You are accused of embezzling money meant for public gain, for accepting bribes from criminals, and for murdering Maxwell Stolio when he discovered this. How do you plead?”
“Everyone was doing it,” said the man frantically, “I didn’t realize…”
One of the men who had dragged him there snapped his neck. Keene looked over the new Purifiers. Very little was visible under the gleaming white armor. They each stood at precisely seven feet and six inches tall, and were exceptionally fit. Behind Keene in the shadows, stood two almost identical men, with the exception that their armor was a dark crimson color. The Holy Guard. Keene smiled. The Gods would be pleased with their new servants.
***
A message was transmitted to Cravan, offering a meeting to discuss these events.
OOC: No, this isn't an excuse to invade me. This is The Aeson drawing into isolation for a period. Not to worry, I'll be back.
A week ago…
He stood on familiar ground. A desert, vast and unending as infinity. A huge figure stood before him, making him seem a toy.
The voice seemed to come both from the figure and from the desert around him.
They are weak. Corrupt. New Aeson must be swept clean that it can rise, glorious.
He nodded. “I know what I must do,” he said.***
Claudio woke up. Gods, he thought, I’ve never had a dream of that intensity before. Perhaps I’ll ask Keene about it next time we play chess. He has always seemed wise about such things.
***
Today…
New Aeson City. The glittering jewel of the nation. Huge buildings reach for the sky. Look closer. Down among the streets, there is an open market. People thronged and bustled. Looking for a deal. Going about their lives, as always.
The baby-blue van stopped at the barricades designed to keep drunken or insane drivers from running down the marketgoers. The door swung open and men poured out, followed by one of the members of the Council itself. Suddenly, there was the stutter of machine gun fire. The security opened fire indiscriminately. When the gunfire finally died down all of the security officers were dead, along with the assassin, the Council member, and forty-three civilians. And that wasn’t even getting into those merely wounded.
***
Keene sat across the chessboard from Claudio, and moved a pawn forward. Claudio frowned and examined the move.
***
Another Council Member had just finished enjoying a young man’s intimate services. As he zipped up his fly and left, the young man called out, “Wait.”
The Council Member half turned, and saw a small pistol in the young man’s hands. He glanced down, and was surprised to see a blossom of blood on his perfect white shirt.
***
Claudio finally moved his queen forward to take the pawn and threaten Keene’s White King. Keene smiled, and rested his hand on a bishop.
***
Three Council Members were meeting in a lavish hotel, discussing the recent appropriation of certain funds marked for public charity. One glanced up irritably as the black helicopter flew. Her glance quickly turned into one of horror as the huge skylight shattered under a hail of bullets.
***
Keene moved the bishop, taking the Queen, and threatening both the King and a rook. Claudio’s frown deepened.
***
The final five members of the council were in a closed meeting about the approval of a new highway when the door swung open. They looked up, and relaxed. It was merely the chef and serving girls bringing the lavish dinner they had requested.
And then the chef and a number of the serving girls took the covers off of the dishes and produced firearms. A number of other serving guards somehow produced firearms from among the small amount of gauzy material they wore and dealt with the guards.
The rest of the serving girls died, along with the Council Members.
***
As Claudio set his hand on the King to move it out of harm’s way, and Keene’s heavy oak doors swung open, revealing thirty-nine Shadowmen with weapons leveled at Claudio’s back.
“Councilmember Claudio, you are hereby placed under arrest for the murder of ten of your fellow Councilmembers.
Claudio stood up and whirled. At that point, who knows why what happened did? Perhaps the Shadowmen panicked. Unlikely, considering who and what they were. Perhaps they thought he was going for a weapon. More likely. Perhaps they had orders to panic? Well, no one knows exactly who those Shadowmen were, or if they do, they aren’t saying. So we’ll leave what caused it to happen to your imagination for now, and focus on what did happen.
Which was that the Shadowmen opened fire. Claudio stumbled back and fell, crashing into the chessboard and sending pieces flying. As his body was removed by the Shadowmen, Keene looked at the single chess piece left standing. The White King. He picked it up and turned it over in his hands.
***
“The exact events leading up to today’s events are still under investigation. What we do know is that uniformed troops have been seen in the streets, and that martial law has been declared. This is believed to be connected to the assassination of at least ten of the twelve Council Members. Behind me is the balcony from which Keene is soon expected to explain the situation. Wait… there he is now!”
Keene stepped out onto the balcony.
“A great tragedy has occurred today. Fifty-three Aesonic citizens lie dead. Another three dozen have been hospitalized. But their deaths were not in vain. The corrupt governing council has been swept clean.”
There were murmurs from the crowd.
“At the moment, the book entitled, The Not So Holy Church, or One Hundred and One Arguments for Aesonic Anarchy is being shipped to every bookstore in the nation. This book details the corruption that plagued the government. This cleansing has come by the most unlikely of hands. Perhaps the most corrupt of them all, Claudio, attempted a coup by assassinating ten members of the governing council. Claudio himself died when resisting arrest.
There is a saying that power corrupts. However, I believe that the whole system of power is corrupt. Corrupt Council Members put into power by corrupt church officials. As such, the whole system must be swept clean!”
He had been speaking calmly until now, but he now began shouting.
“With the aid of the Gods, we will purge the system! With the blessing of the Gods a New Aeson will arise!”
A huge cheer came from the crowd.
“AESON WIL PREVAIL! GODS BLESS AESON!” Bellowed Keene.
“AESON WIL PREVAIL! GODS BLESS AESON!” Responded the crowd, the very ground shaking under the force of their cheer.
***
“Keene has announced a period of isolation. All foreign citizens are required to leave. Your airfare will be paid by the Aesonic Government. I repeat, all foreign citizens are required to leave. Your airfare will be paid by the government.”
The message was broadcast over every television and radio in the country, more or less continuously for five hours.
***
Keene stood in a dark courtroom, as a man was dragged before him. “You are accused of embezzling money meant for public gain, for accepting bribes from criminals, and for murdering Maxwell Stolio when he discovered this. How do you plead?”
“Everyone was doing it,” said the man frantically, “I didn’t realize…”
One of the men who had dragged him there snapped his neck. Keene looked over the new Purifiers. Very little was visible under the gleaming white armor. They each stood at precisely seven feet and six inches tall, and were exceptionally fit. Behind Keene in the shadows, stood two almost identical men, with the exception that their armor was a dark crimson color. The Holy Guard. Keene smiled. The Gods would be pleased with their new servants.
***
A message was transmitted to Cravan, offering a meeting to discuss these events.
OOC: No, this isn't an excuse to invade me. This is The Aeson drawing into isolation for a period. Not to worry, I'll be back.