The Crowning of Maximus Decimus Meridius

[gamemakers]

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.

Comments

[splendid_roman]

Ian laughed at his description of the games. "I wonder what they see in it. I can't see the appeal of watching people who don't want to be there. It's just as if they're watching professional sportsmen at the top of their game fight."

[savedbyasong]

"I'm not sure, I never learned much about how people think. Past the basics. My friend... Safu... she would have been fascinated with why they liked it, what they were thinking, how they reacted." His stomach clenched at the thought of Safu, but thinking of her would always be painful, and it would be more painful to put her out of his mind.

[splendid_roman]

Ian nodded. "It's hard to understand how people think when they've come from such a different culture. But I can see how it might be interesting to study."

[savedbyasong]

"It is, though it was not my main focus of study it is interesting, even if it can be... worrying. Knowing what make people think the way they do." Knowing they weren't just crazy evil people, but had valid opinions and thought patterns that made them enjoy watching them fight and die, prisoners to this system.

[splendid_roman]

"I suppose so." Getting into the mind of people who wanted to kill you might not be a pleasant place. "So what was your main focus of study?"

[savedbyasong]

"Ecology, though I haven't studied it formally since I was a child." Shion told him with a smile.

[splendid_roman]

"That's interesting." Ian stood up a little straighter at hearing that. "What made you choose ecology?"

[savedbyasong]

"I like knowing how the world works." Shion said though in truth he hadn't chosen at all. He had gotten the highest scores in the preliminary tests needed for ecology when he was a very small child and his path had been set.

At least for a while. "The way everything exists together, and how fragile it all is."

[splendid_roman]

"I do too," he said excitedly. "That's why I did science. Chemistry mostly." He grinned as he added, "Chemistry means you get to blow things up."

[savedbyasong]

"You studied science too?" Shion grinned at him, "Chemistry is interesting too, are you a chemist then?"

[splendid_roman]

He shook his head. "Not technically. I ended up teaching, rather than going into research." Not that he regretted it, but chemist was a more useful title than teacher here.

[savedbyasong]

"Teaching is really important." Shion told him, "If no one bothers to teach other then all knowledge just dies away."

[splendid_roman]

"Yes, it is." Ian smiled, happy he agreed. "I like teaching."

[savedbyasong]

"Do you get to teach at all here?" Shion thought it was one of the few things people could keep doing, even after they were brought here.

[splendid_roman]

He shook his head. "There are more important things than school," he said sadly. "Much as it would be nice to have some quiet, uninterrupted time."

[savedbyasong]

Shion shook his head, "But people should be taught things, even if it is just things practical to the arena."

[splendid_roman]

"There's the training centre for that," he pointed out. "It's useful for teaching you what's edible and what's not and what's useful and what's not." Assuming you had any of those things in the arena.

[savedbyasong]

Shion nodded, "I've been teaching Cindy. But there are a lot more things people could learn."

[splendid_roman]

If he was teaching Cindy Ian was sure he could too. "I usually taught teenagers, but I'm sure I could manage adults too," he said thoughtfully. "They can't be too much different."

[savedbyasong]

Well a lot of us are still teenagers. [He pointed out with a smile] So it wouldn't be very different at all.

[splendid_roman]

Ian smiled back. "No, it wouldn't. But I am sure there are adults who'll want to learn too. Maybe I could set up a table in the training centre."

[savedbyasong]

"I am sure there will be, people come from many different worlds so there are lots of different skills and abilities represented." Shion would happily learn from others, even if he might not use the skills learned in the arena.

[splendid_roman]

Ian nodded. "And there are things I could learn too." In some ways he'd prefer to learn things that wouldn't be useful in the arena - although given how much they differed almost anything could turned out to be useful.

[savedbyasong]

"Maybe we can find some others, and work out how to teach each other what we know." That would probably be the best way to do it.

[splendid_roman]

"That's a good idea," Ian said nodding. "There are bound to be people who want to learn and some that are willing to teach. We probably don't know what range of skills we all have between us."