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.
gruesome: (Grue - nervous)

[personal profile] gruesome 2013-09-07 02:07 am (UTC)(link)
Reluctantly, and prancing anxiously like a snake-bit horse, Some let him guide him because they were at least heading away from the light. He kept tugging anxiously at his costume, dropping parts of it as they went, chain links and bronze scales.

"I can't... They know I can't be in there... I cannot."
brother2dragons: (Default)

[personal profile] brother2dragons 2013-09-08 04:03 am (UTC)(link)

Dan nodded a bit. "Yet, you're still expected to be there," he said. "Talk to me about what I can do to help you cope."

gruesome: (Grue - What?)

[personal profile] gruesome 2013-09-17 12:30 am (UTC)(link)
He whimpered, a flutter of a sound from that lower chest. "I- Fire- I-" He grabbed his own head, fingers clawing in his fur. "I am t-too afraid to be there, I kn-know they have done s-something so I d-don't- but I am too afraid... I will just... scream."
brother2dragons: (Default)

[personal profile] brother2dragons 2013-09-18 07:29 pm (UTC)(link)

Daniel nodded and put a calm hand on Some, touching him to give him a strong connection. Then his hands moved to Some's hands, trying to stop him from hurting himself. "What about a calming drug? Something that will help you suppress the panic?" he asked. "I don't know what's safe for you to use, Some. Talk to me."

gruesome: (Grue - What?)

[personal profile] gruesome 2013-09-25 10:35 am (UTC)(link)
He jerked at the touch, but drew towards Daniel, not away as he had from Chris. He was too wound up, too terrified by now to deny any comfort. "I- I- Oh... I can't... I can't have anything made of plants... Can't. Please, can't I just not- who will care if I am not here?!"
brother2dragons: (Default)

[personal profile] brother2dragons 2013-09-27 02:02 am (UTC)(link)

"Synthesized then?" Dan suggested. He stayed close, offering a strong base for Some to lean against if he needed to. He pulled out a communicator to request that a medic come to the party with a shot in hand.

gruesome: (Grue - What?)

[personal profile] gruesome 2013-10-01 10:42 pm (UTC)(link)
He leaned hard on him, like a dog in a thunderstorm, the whole upper body held low to the ground.

"I don't know what that means... Look, please, just let me stay out here!"
brother2dragons: (Default)

[personal profile] brother2dragons 2013-10-02 03:04 pm (UTC)(link)

"I can't," Dan said. "I know phobias aren't easy to control, but by cowering you've proven you have a weakness that can be exploited, Some." He explained all of this carefully. "You need to be able to walk back in there to prove that you're strong enough to handle it."

gruesome: (G - Running)

[personal profile] gruesome 2013-10-02 10:01 pm (UTC)(link)
His shoulders hunched up high. "I'm not!"
brother2dragons: (Default)

[personal profile] brother2dragons 2013-10-03 05:52 pm (UTC)(link)

"Then let's make it look like you are." The medic appeared then with the shot. Dan took it and shooed them away, glaring in an authoritative way that his uniform helped to back up. He turned to Some. "Where's the best play to apply this on you?" he asked, still not 100% sure he understood anything about grue biology.

gruesome: (G - Running)

[personal profile] gruesome 2013-10-09 08:30 pm (UTC)(link)
Some stared desperately at the little syringe, his crest fully up and all eight of his eyes perfectly round. They had no whites to them, black as drops of ink. The claws of his feet scratched restlessly at the floor with high little shrieks of sound on the tile.

"... I don't know! Lance gave me a needle here..." One hand was shaking as he pressed it to the upper thigh of his foreleg, raking claws through the thick fur there.
brother2dragons: (Default)

[personal profile] brother2dragons 2013-10-13 03:22 am (UTC)(link)
Dan set his jaw and gave Some the shot where he was pointing out. He held onto the grue's arm gently as he did it and kept a hold of him as it started to settle in.
gruesome: (G - Running)

[personal profile] gruesome 2013-10-14 07:57 pm (UTC)(link)
His leg jerked, but the shot got in, and Some rubbed the site as he leaned hard against the human. He was a head taller, and probably outweighed him, but couldn't stop himself from seeking that comfort. "I don't... I don't want to go back..."

But the drug was working. His shoulders drooped, the line of his back relaxing into a weak curve. "Oh."
brother2dragons: (Default)

[personal profile] brother2dragons 2013-10-28 01:04 am (UTC)(link)

Dan moved close to support the grue. He didn't seem to worry at all about touching him or supporting him, even if others might consider him a monster. "It's okay," he told Some. "I'll stay close by, okay? I'll watch over you. If it looks like anything is going to happen, I'll get you out. For now, though, you need to make an appearance."