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.
doc_holi: (smile)

[personal profile] doc_holi 2013-09-05 01:58 am (UTC)(link)
Holiday nodded and patted a place not too far from her side.
leavewiththegame: (uh oh)

[personal profile] leavewiththegame 2013-09-05 04:38 am (UTC)(link)
Her escorts protested, saying something about "district solidarity" and "consorting with rivals", but AndrAIa ignored them and kept moving towards Holiday, taking the indicated seat.

"Hello," she greeted. "That was not you down there, was it?" Blunt, and not wasting time.
doc_holi: (smile)

[personal profile] doc_holi 2013-09-06 01:11 am (UTC)(link)
Holiday wasn't surprised in the least that young AndrAIa ignored her escorts easier than flies. The girl was steadfast and down to Earth, but that worried Holiday.

Still, she smiled to the girl. "No, it wasn't. They're just putting on a show to entertain some of the more... bloodthirsty party-goers. Don't worry. I doubt they'll have a hologram of you in there, too." Took her about two seconds to realize that it was just people who had been cuffed that was in there.
leavewiththegame: (shrug)

[personal profile] leavewiththegame 2013-09-07 08:04 pm (UTC)(link)
AndrAIa made a face. "But the tiger always wins! It is always the same! Why do they find this entertaining? I do not understand humans."

She looked down at the tiger, currently between tributes. It almost reminded her of Frisket, the way it went from docile to violent, but even at his worst, Frisket wasn't as vicious. "It is good that nobody is actually being harmed. They are all holograms, right?"
doc_holi: (worried)

[personal profile] doc_holi 2013-09-07 08:06 pm (UTC)(link)
"They are," she reassured the girl first before shrugging. "Humans find entertainment out of violence. That's why we have the Hunger Games, after all."
leavewiththegame: (goodbye my friend)

[personal profile] leavewiththegame 2013-09-07 10:20 pm (UTC)(link)
"And the game cubes. I have wondered, if humans would still play games if they knew how much damage they did to systems. I guess this means that they would." AndrAIa looked away, neither at the spectacle nor the woman next to her.
doc_holi: (worried)

[personal profile] doc_holi 2013-09-08 02:09 am (UTC)(link)
"Some would. Not everyone enjoys violence. Besides... it's a more a means of control than it is for entertainment."

It didn't take her long to put two and two together once Holiday had heard about the history of the Games and how they came to be.