gamemakers: (Default)
The Gamemakers ([personal profile] gamemakers) wrote in [community profile] thecapitol2013-09-02 11:22 am

The Crowning of Maximus Decimus Meridius

Who| Everyone
What| Maximus' crowning
Where| Victory Hall
When| Today
Warnings| Violence.


Prior to the Crowning, the Stylists and Escorts were given information: the color scheme for the Crowning is brown and gold, the theme is fire, and for Tributes, Games Staff and Victors in the Capitol alike, attendance is mandatory. No exceptions.

The Victory Hall has been completely refitted to the theme. Great brownstone pillars reach up from the floor, now made of polished marble. Rose petals and dying embers flutter from the ceiling like confetti, and long panels of fabrics embroidered with Maximus' kills pour down the walls. Rather than tables, Tributes are given wooden chairs to sit around fire pits in groups of four, where pigs and sheep are roasting whole, tended by attentive Avoxes. The smell of charring flesh and rosemary wafts through the hall.

In the center of the hall is a pit, fifteen feet deep, ringed with brick and filled with sand. Torches line the inside wall, casting light in every direction. A circular screen up above lets those not close to the edge view the contents of the pit in real-time video.

Maximus' private table has a theme of anachronisms; Tributes from 'less-developed' timelines and worlds are seated around a long table, facing the gladiatorial ring where, at the moment, a full-grown, well-fed Bengal tiger paces. Compared to the muttations of the Arena, it may seem positively demure, up until it bares its fangs and reveals that it's been modified to have saber teeth gilded in gold. Occasionally an Avox will dangle something into the pit and jerk it away if the tiger looks bored and lays down.

Occasionally, with fanfare of music pumped in to announce it, a challenger enters the tiger ring - a hologram of one of the Tributes who were cuffed and marked by the Capitol. The hologram must be affixed with smell, too, as the tiger takes note and attacks like a kitten following a laser pointer, making dramatic roars as it does. The holograms put up valiant fights, and their deaths are brutal, illusory blood flying and the sounds of death rattles and bones cracking coming from speakers embedded in every table.

"A speech," Maximus' Escort says to Maximus. "The General must give a speech."

Tributes who attended Wesker's Crowning ceremony should notice a remarkable increase in security. Visibly armed Peacekeepers lurk behind the panels of fabric, and bulbous, obvious cameras dot the ceiling. Even the Avoxes seem shiftier than usual, and are equipped with discrete tape recorders pinned to their rough-hewn tunics.
gluteus: (over shoudler)

[personal profile] gluteus 2013-09-03 12:13 pm (UTC)(link)
He let out a hard breath, resting his chin against his chest as his hand went to his forehead and slowly pried off the laurels he found there. He set them back down on the table, their stiff golden leaves making gentle metallic noises as they touched the edge of his plate, his glass.

"My tribtues," He repeated dully. "As if the districts has ever held any wait on any of us." He didn't want to talk about the future - knew that he was unlikely to see it. But he didn't want to tip off the capitol to his plan, so... He turned his eyes up to meet Wyatt's. "They can try to keep me from keeping an eye out, but they would fail."
the_marshal: (wyattStare)

[personal profile] the_marshal 2013-09-03 01:03 pm (UTC)(link)
Wyatt looked at the laurels, and after a beat reached out slowly to touch them, callused fingers taking in the feel of them. A quick, curious brush of flesh against metal before they withdrew again, knitting around his wine.

"Tributes," he echoed softly. "Is what I said."

And that was what he'd meant, even as a man who actually came from the land he was represented... though he did sometimes wonder what the Districts thought about them. How angry they must have been, that the Capitol could bring them back, but not the children they'd killed for so long. How relieved they must have been, to know they would take no more.

He leaned back in his chair - refusing to give the tunic the satisfaction of acknowledging the way it bunched and pulled - and met Max's blue stare with his own.

"For one, I sleep easier knowin' yer out here."
gluteus: (wait)

[personal profile] gluteus 2013-09-03 01:16 pm (UTC)(link)
Maximus couldn't quite reach his eyes, not knowing what what coming. So instead he just reached out and grasped Wyatt's shoulder fondly, looking out to the crowd instead.

"Let's forget it for now," He said, forcing a smile to his lips. "It isn't every day I have a party thrown in my honour where they have a tiger tear apart my friends," He mused drily.
the_marshal: (wyattBemused)

[personal profile] the_marshal 2013-09-03 01:37 pm (UTC)(link)
Max smiled, but Wyatt well knew now which were real and which he forced. Exhaling, he reached out, taking Max's shoulder in turn and squeezing.

"It'll be over soon," he promised, hoping it would be true. His hand dropped to the back of Max's chair, rested there easily. "If I'd had pockets, I'd have smuggled in some cards for ya."

If he'd thought he'd even be close to talk to him, much sit beside him, he'd have brought them anyway. Pockets or no.
gluteus: (downcast)

[personal profile] gluteus 2013-09-03 01:46 pm (UTC)(link)
"I'm not sure I would advice you to gamble when you've so little to gamble with," Maximus said, tugging at the shoulder of Wyatt's tunic before his hand dropped to reach for his glass instead. He let out a slow breath as his eyes fell over the party. Even the forced smile disappeared.

They simply could not keep living this way.
the_marshal: (wyattUncomfortable)

[personal profile] the_marshal 2013-09-03 03:43 pm (UTC)(link)
There was a retort waiting on his tongue, but Max's face continued to fall and it died a quiet death on his lips.

Instead, he curled his fingers into the back of Max's uniform, tugging and rocking gently.

"Next time then," he murmured, another quiet promise before his hand fell away, returning to the chair, and silence settled over them.

A pocket, just the two of them, as the tiger roared and the Capitol cheered another bloody death.