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.
savedbyasong: (serious)

[personal profile] savedbyasong 2013-09-09 12:30 pm (UTC)(link)
"Oh..." Shion nodded, "So pigs can't fly and winning is like waiting for them to..." He thought he had understood that right. He nodded.
shambler: (097)

[personal profile] shambler 2013-09-09 12:34 pm (UTC)(link)
R bobbled his head in a nod. "...I think...so."

Unless they really could fly. R was pretty sure he'd remember seeing flying pigs dive-bombing the airport back home, though. Come to think of it, he hadn't seen actual pigs in awhile. Maybe between the survivors and the zombies they went extinct? Funny, he hadn't noticed until now.
savedbyasong: (serious)

[personal profile] savedbyasong 2013-09-09 12:46 pm (UTC)(link)
Shion frowned, "I don't think it's impossible though, if we got people to help you... you could win..."
Edited 2013-09-09 12:46 (UTC)
shambler: (044)

[personal profile] shambler 2013-09-09 12:49 pm (UTC)(link)
R takes a longer pause than before, swaying there with Shion's hand in his.

"Want...Julie and...Ho-ward to win." R actually sounds sure about something for a change.
savedbyasong: (serious)

[personal profile] savedbyasong 2013-09-09 01:00 pm (UTC)(link)
"I don't know Julie..." He explained, "But Howard... he should win." He nodded, Howard deserved to win Shion thought, and was probably capable of it.
shambler: (048)

[personal profile] shambler 2013-09-09 01:14 pm (UTC)(link)
R could wax on and on and get incredibly sappy about Julie if he wasn't reduced to these moans. Shion could die of old age before he finished. R gives his own wobbly nod of approval.

"He's good...people. Friend," R says before he catches himself. Wait, he doesn't know for sure if they're friends still after what happened in that cave - he could be jumping the gun here. Assuming things.
savedbyasong: (serious)

[personal profile] savedbyasong 2013-09-09 01:20 pm (UTC)(link)
Shion nodded, even if any emotion Howard had ever shown him was pretty far away from friendship.

"We can help him win, since us winning is not likely..."
shambler: (064)

[personal profile] shambler 2013-09-09 04:13 pm (UTC)(link)
R would normally be down with that - if Julie hadn't been taken. Still, he has to ask: "How?"

He can't go around biting every single Tribute here.
savedbyasong: (serious)

[personal profile] savedbyasong 2013-09-09 09:18 pm (UTC)(link)
"I... don't know..." Shion frowned, "But I'll think of something, to help him and Julie." Surely one of them could win.
shambler: (022)

[personal profile] shambler 2013-09-09 09:34 pm (UTC)(link)
"Thank...you. For...helping," R groaned. He really was thankful. It was the thought that counted. R guessed maybe they were still friends, zombification or not.
savedbyasong: (tiny smiles)

[personal profile] savedbyasong 2013-09-09 10:16 pm (UTC)(link)
Of course they were still friends. "When I have a plan I'll let you know." He smiled, working situations in his head.
shambler: (077)

[personal profile] shambler 2013-09-09 10:37 pm (UTC)(link)
Good, because R was still struggling behind him on the plan front. When his method of attack was bite-and-keep-biting, it didn't leave a lot of wriggle room. He'd need to shuffle off and think about it. If he did things his way, he'd just end up setting new, starving zombies on his friends.

"R...roger that." R actually tried to smile again behind the muzzle. It wasn't as nightmarish as before. Practice made perfect?
savedbyasong: (cute smiles)

[personal profile] savedbyasong 2013-09-10 07:26 am (UTC)(link)
Shion beamed back at that smile, practice made perfect indeed. He felt a lot happier with a plan. Or at least a plan to create a plan. It couldn't be called a plan yet.