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.
whoseesbynight: (not feline up to it?)

[personal profile] whoseesbynight 2013-11-26 08:04 pm (UTC)(link)
Perhaps she should know, but she's never been one to always listen to Equius. Sure, she listens more often than not, but that doesn't mean she always, and in any case, she's willing to give Karkat and Signless some time to figure things out. After all, they haven't been at it for nearly as long as she and Equius have.

"If he's not listening, then shouldn't it be Karkat's purroblem to deal with?
pythianjudgment: ([alt] >8/)

[personal profile] pythianjudgment 2013-12-03 02:05 am (UTC)(link)
"Because Karkat has always been dutifully aware of problems with his quadrants." Even as the words leave her mouth, she regrets some of the biting sarcasm in them. Not all of it, but some. She's not being entirely fair, but... She doesn't like the way things are shaping up. If only she had her Seer powers working, she could feel more at ease with this whole situation. Or else have the proof she needed to fix it.

"I don't like him." There's a moment before she clarifies: "The Signless. I don't like the way that he thinks, and I don't like the way that he doesn't think. And I don't like the effect that he has on Karkat."
whoseesbynight: (wow why does that have to be a thing)

[personal profile] whoseesbynight 2013-12-09 04:35 am (UTC)(link)
Nepeta has never had anything in the way of precognition. But she knows hearts, at least to some small extent, and as a Heart player she sort of has to believe in people's ability to figure things out on their own. Otherwise, there's not really a whole lot she can do, and certainly not with her powers also on lockdown.

"That doesn't mean that they aren't good meowrails," Nepeta counters. "Just beclaws you don't like someone isn't a good enough reason for them to break it off. He's not your meowrail, after all."