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.
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.