tushanshu_logs | [EVENT; TRUTH COMPULSION] AFTERMATH OF CLAN JAGAIZ BATTLES

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[EVENT; TRUTH COMPULSION] AFTERMATH OF CLAN JAGAIZ BATTLES

Characters: Everyone, NPC and Foreigners alike!
Date: February 12th-18th.
Location: All over Keeliai, with a grand party in the Courtyard of Public Opinion on the 17th.
Situation: As the main family heads return to Keeliai, they bring with them a very strange thought virus that seems to spread rapidly throughout the city. Before long, anyone who's been exposed to the source of the virus finds themselves not only incapable of lying when asked a direct question, but actually compelled to tell the truth.
Warnings / Rating: None yet; please warn in individual threads as necessary.

OOC NOTE: This is an opt-out event, but the compulsion will still affect Keeliai as a whole. That is, even if you choose to leave your character unaffected, nearly every kedan your character meets will be affected, and will act accordingly. Questions regarding this event can be asked on February's itinerary, located HERE.

The Inciting Incident:
In the Jagaiz exhibition matches - the ones the Keeliai family heads were invited to - several Tavimbian natives present kedan and Foreigner combatants who win their matches with odd little crystals. The crystals aren't very different from the Xunutane, for those who have been lucky enough to take a tour through the Artery Levels; they're meant to be little good luck charms, or souvenirs (though no one actually uses the word souvenir.) Each family head's combatant takes that little crystal home when they return to Keeliai.

The Problem:
Within twenty-four hours, anyone who's touched one of these crystals directly is physically incapable of lying, and strongly compelled to tell the truth when they're asked a direct question. The strange virus seems to spread by touch as well; within twenty-four hours after that, anyone who's come into contact with anyone who's touched a crystal is also affected, and so on and so forth, spreading out across the city.

The more removed a character is from the little crystals, the weaker their compulsion to tell the truth. On top of that, variances in the crystals themselves can also dictate how strong the compulsion is, which means how badly a character is affected is entirely up to their player. Has your character been fighting in Jagaiz matches? Chances are they're telling the truth to anyone who even looks like they're about to ask a question. Has your character been avoiding Hatal completely? Then they probably aren't affected, or are only affected at the lowest level. In between those two extremes, there's a lot of wriggle room for determining how affected you want your character to be and how badly you want them to screw up.

Please note that if a character is affected, then they are physically incapable of lying. The compulsion to tell the truth is what varies. Some people might get by simply by keeping their mouths shut tight; others might wake up one morning and feel so compelled to tell the truth that they can't stop themselves from turning on a console and telling it all their deepest secrets. (There's a spate of console posts from the kedan combatants who fought in the exhibition matches, for example, confessing everything from trips into the red light district to open hatred for the Snakes.) It all depends on how exposed to the source they've been, or on variances in the crystals and in the Dreaming -- how badly a character is affected has nothing to do with the character's own mental resilience, though characters are free to ICly assume that!

The really odd thing about this strange virus is that it seems to affect everyone regardless of circumstances. This means even characters without organic brains can be affected.

Anyone who asks the residents of Hatal about it will receive congratulations! Apparently it's not an uncommon effect, but not always a reliable one; the stones can be passed down but leave entire generations unaffected. Unsurprisingly, the effect has been appropriated by the Sabonile as evidence of the Xunutane's favour -- the priests will assure the residents of Keeliai that it's an opportunity for them to prove their character to one another (or an opportunity to change it, if need be!)

While the Sabonile can't cure the effect (and won't understand why you'd want to, being radically honest themselves), they will be able to reassure Keeliai's populace that the effects wear off given time. They also willingly provide 'comfort rooms' in their temples. These rooms are places of solitude for those who would rather meditate on their truths than blurt them to everyone they pass. Physically they don't really do much, but they're an option for those who are driven to interact with others yet don't want to embarrass themselves, and provide assurance that the Sabonile won't let anyone be bothered if they want to ride out the effects in (relative and non-harmful) solitude.

The Coping Mechanism:
Party!

No, seriously. The family heads, about halfway through the week, decide that if nearly every kedan is going to be compelled to tell the truth, then we might as well celebrate that fact and get everyone's dirty secrets out into the open.

All day on February 17th, kedan gather in the Courtyard of Public Opinion for a grand party. Several have bandanas or scarves tied over their mouths (or around their heads or necks) to indicate asking them questions might be dangerous; others gather in large drinking games, to which they'll happily invite any Foreigner who wants in. Each of the family heads will be in attendance, and each will be -- however grudgingly -- open to questions.

There will be a starter for the party below. For all other shenanigans related to the truth compulsion, please feel free to put up starters for your own characters! Threads can take place anytime during the week, and anywhere on the turtle's back or in Hatal.

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The moment Valdis realized what was going on, mostly by virtue of a helpful resident of Hatal and the fact that she not very tactfully told one of the Igheeri that they were unattractive and arrogant, she was headed, perhaps ill advisedly, toward Yunxu's mansion. It was a chance to learn some things about Enon that she would probably never find out otherwise and she had very few concerns about the affects of the virus, doubting that Yunxu could ask any questions that she would truly regret answering.

At the moment, Valdis really didn't feel like playing politics with Meisheng or messing with the lesser Snakes, so she bypassed them, her voice brisk as she made her way into the mansion and tried to get to Yunxu's office.

"I need to see Yunxu. No, I won't speak with anyone else, that would make him unhappy. Kindly move before I make you. Try to touch my sword again and I swear to God you will regret it. I'm really not in the mood to dance with you pathetic underlings. I said I need to speak with Yunxu. You know, your handsome, but incredibly annoying leader?"

Wow, who knew telling the truth could be so freeing?

Edited 2016-02-13 16:41 (UTC)

Meisheng didn't spend very long trying to stop Valdis's inexorable journey into the mansion. If she were a kedan, she absolutely would have been cut down where she stood by now, but the Foreigners required a subtler touch, and Yunxu had spent a lot of time making sure every last Snake was aware of that.

So by the time Valdis made it to the stairs, Meisheng had already left to tell Yunxu of her arrival. By the time she made it to the top of those stairs, Yunxu was waiting for her.

"I'll take it from here," he assured everyone in her path. As they - somewhat reluctantly - dispersed, Yunxu turned his attention back to Valdis, but this time there was no smile. There wasn't much of anything, really, except perhaps a small helping of irritation. Yunxu couldn't outright lie, but he had years of experience hiding the truth in a myriad of other ways. "What do you want, Lady Valdis?"

Pity, Valdis had been hoping for a bit more resistance, but then again, picking a fight with the Snakes wouldn't be very good for the rest of the Foreigners. Unlike Yunxu, Valdis found it in her to smile, not at him, more in a cocky, proud kind of way. She waited until his underlings had completely dispersed before answering.

"I want to talk about Enon."

Yunxu's expression didn't change. He couldn't smile, but that didn't mean he needed to wear his heart on his sleeve. His manipulation of emotion was such that he could fool even himself in the rare circumstances when he needed to.

"Of course," he said shortly. "And I suppose it can't wait until next week."

Next week, the truth compulsion gripping the city may well have faded. Valdis wasn't going to take that chance, not if she was here for the truth. So even as he asked, Yunxu was already turning to lead the way into his office, resigning to another of their friendly little chats.

She didn't deign to comment on his statement, simply following a few steps behind him despite knowing the way to his office quite well by now. If the man thought this chat would be like their others, he was mistaken, for once, she held the majority of the cards right off the bat. There was risk involved, but her willingness to take it couldn't waver. Valdis waited until they were in the office and the door firmly shut behind them before saying another word.

"When did Enon die?"

Best to confirm what she already knew before adding new knowledge.

"I have a proposal," Yunxu countered, turning to face Valdis. He didn't sit down or offer her a seat, nor did he make for the refreshments which usually sat on the side table - mainly because today, there was nothing there. "Since it seems you're hardly in a better position to lie, and since you seem to consider me your personal source of information which has nothing to do with you, I'm not going to say another word until you tell me something I don't know. How does that sound?"

It was a little more direct than Yunxu was used to, and certainly more than a little petty. But after two days of having to force himself to talk in circles, he was understandably irritated, and hardly in the mood for games he couldn't play.

"Not another word?" She asked, keeping that brilliant smile on her face. So, this was now a challenge as opposed to a conversation. Valdis quite enjoyed challenges. "Very well."

She most certainly wasn't going to tell him outright about Enon, she would play with his head first.

"I suppose I'll just have to do the talking." She would normally have sighed and played it as if she were resigned to his stubbornness, but the truth thing kind of prevented that.

"It would be...16 years ago now, that Enon disappeared. You were a suspect because of biological evidence found on the body and you lacked an alibi and were arrested. But of course, you were later released due to the sample being contaminated." Her emerald gaze sharpened, "Milyn probably wouldn't have screwed up the tests, but she was under investigation as well, because Enon had worked for her."

None of that was news to Yunxu. The fact that Valdis was so well-informed merited watching, if only because very few people dared to toy with Yunxu the way Valdis absolutely reveled in doing. But none of it was news to Yunxu, and so he didn't say another word.

He simply stood and watched Valdis, brow raised in silent encouragement to continue.

Yunxu was good at this game, managing to keep quiet despite her quip about Milyn. Valdis' smile shifted into a thoughtful one, crossing one arm across her stomach and resting her elbow on it. She didn't move deeper into the room, keeping a good distance between herself and Yunxu.

She hummed softly to herself for a moment, closing her eyes to call up the memory of walking in Dardul's soul. "Your relationship was special and feelings like that doesn't just go away so easily, even after they are gone."

A frown passed across her face as she thought of Dante. If Yunxu had cared for Enon, then he wouldn't have left the man to the mercy of the Cultists, so it was entirely possible that he had no idea that his past now very much did involve her, since she now had Enon under her care.

"Since you most certainly didn't murder him, well...one has to wonder what Enon was up to that night..." She hummed again, "You were trying to discourage him from doing something. From listening to someone, or something, you didn't trust."

"How could you possibly - ?"

Damn the truth compulsion. Speaking so impulsively wasn't an important setback, but it was still a setback, and a setback in response to something Valdis could not have known. She was a Foreigner, yes, and undoubtedly had powers Yunxu couldn't begin to guess, but to know even the vaguest of details regarding that night? No one else had been around then. No one could have told her. She couldn't have read the thoughts of anyone alive.

He'd already spoken, so Yunxu threw caution to the winds. "You haven't told me anything I don't already know. Until you do, you'll get nothing from me. Might I suggest explaining how you've come to know all this?"

This was far too much fun. The truth compulsion and her knowledge of things that she shouldn't have knowledge of really made this far too easy. Her smile returned.

"Something you don't know..." She began to hum again, collecting her thoughts. "When all the colors of the physical realm fade away, your soul shines bronze, with a shimmer of emerald."

Though it wasn't exactly a straight answer to his fairly vague question, he should be able to infer that she could see souls and that led to a whole new set of fun.

"How touching," Yunxu responded, his tone both faintly bitter and more than a little sardonic. "You sound very much like a fortune teller. Do I need to specify everything I ask, or must I ask Meisheng to throw you out?"

Interesting, however, that Valdis wasn't compelled to offer up the truth. That was going to make this a little harder. If Valdis could see souls as well as minds, did that change the playing field? What knowledge did colours offer? More importantly, whose soul might have told her anything, however vague, about what happened that night?

Not Milyn's. Milyn was craftier than that. Yunxu's? His gaze drifted over to the sideboard, stormy and - for the first time when dealing with a Foreigner - uncertain.

"Do you remember Evidet?" she asked, "The black mist that rolled over the cliffs like a waterfall?" Valdis tipped her head, a sly glint in her eyes, certain that he probably did. She didn't expect Yunxu to understand the danger of the mist, but it was as much of a threat as she would make. Besides, it would be quite a mess to clean up, not to mention the fact that certain parties would disapprove.

"You asked for something you didn't know and I obliged." She teased, "The other part was only a suggestion, but if you insist." She arched a delicate brow, "I learned this from Enon himself."

Edited 2016-02-24 05:17 (UTC)

His gaze snapped back to Valdis's face, all traces of uncertainty utterly vanished. "How dare you," he said quietly. It wasn't a tease or an arrogant prod. It was dangerous. His face shifted, enough for his eyes to flash, his pupils to narrow into slits. "How dare you use that as - "

- no. She couldn't lie.

Yunxu fell silent, watching Valdis, still as a statue. For a long moment, he didn't say anything - barely let himself think anything. Then he forced a single word through clenched teeth.

"How?"

Her irises shifted from green to a bright scarlet and the shadows in the room seemed to darken in response to his tone. Valdis had no concerns, there was no anger in her eyes, his anger, however, was intoxicating. How fortunate that this truth compulsion forced him to accept what she told him, it made everything so much easier. The truth was more powerful than she thought.

"Life, Dreaming and Death," she replied, "are not the only planes in existence."

Now she moved deeper into the room, her body language non-threatening though her irises remained scarlet.

"The fourth plane," she continued, stopping a few feet from him, "called the Spirit plane, exists within every living being. Not only can I see this plane, but I have the unique ability to enter it."

She was infuriating when she was smug. Even more infuriating how, in this particular instance, at this particular time, she did hold all the cards. Yunxu's anger would gain him nothing but her amusement.

"To enter souls," he clarified, gaze unwaveringly on hers. "The way you enter minds. The longer you take to answer my question, Lady Valdis, the less patient I'll be when you finally ask yours."

He didn't back up at her approach, he didn't even lean away from her when she stopped. There was no sign of flight or fear in him at all and Valdis had to admit she was impressed.

"Not exactly,," she replied, moving past him to cross to his desk. She sat down, pulling open a drawer to take a piece of paper. "Minds are easy, souls carry some risk."

She took a pen and absently began to sketch as she continued, "There is a man known as Dardul staying at the Midnight Hotel." The scratching of the pen filled a brief silence, "Or at least, that is the name that most people know him by." More pen scratching. "I first stumbled upon him by following a scent that I found both in the alley where Anton was attacked and where Jintou was found by your men."

She continued to draw, her hand sweeping across the page as she darkened the shadows. "He is a broken man...in both mind and soul." The pen stopped moving. "Almost as if something entered into him and played with the shape of his essence...twisting, breaking, rearranging..."

Valdis put the pen down and twisted in the chair to look at him.

"Due to the state of his soul, the memory was too fractured to make out completely...but as only two people where there that night...well..." she trailed off, another smile forming.

Edited (spelling) 2016-02-28 02:56 (UTC)

Dardul.

The name meant nothing to Yunxu. How rarely that happened. How rarely it affected him as much as this. He had someone watching the Midnight Hotel, but he'd never heard a single report of a kedan named Dardul under Shudder's protection. Someone was going to pay for that.

For a full minute, Yunxu was silent. By the time he spoke again, the half-shift of his face had reverted back to normal, and he sounded level - almost pleasant. "Thank you. What information are you after in exchange?"

His silence did not bother her, she merely watched him, her irises still bright scarlet, her demeanor still calm, her smile still oddly amused. Yunxu's shift, and the now pleasant tone of his voice, showed only his apparent lack of understanding. The shift of his features was fascinating, how he had begun to show the essence of his name. Though well aware of the importance of the information she had just given away, Valdis believed that the outcome favored her in the end.

After he spoke, the room darkened as if a cloud passed over the sun and she felt the Void rise up to peer out at him. Valdis made no effort to prevent it from satisfying its curiosity.

"Evandau," she said slowly, mostly to see if Yunxu would react to the name "He was the one who led the investigation into Enon's supposed murder. But seeing as Enon wasn't murdered...well, it makes me wonder if Eshai was simply covering up something else."

She paused, letting it sink in, watching him for any reaction.

"What was Enon so determined to do that had you so worried?"

But seeing as Enon wasn't murdered...

Yunxu turned away from Valdis and walked over to one of the curtained windows, unwilling to trust his own face not to betray his reactions. How much of that betrayal was the truth compulsion and how much was genuine, he couldn't even begin to guess. It didn't matter.

The urge to answer Valdis's question rose up and threatened to overtake him, but after only a brief second of fighting it, Yunxu relinquished control. He was too tired to be so careful. Too tired to care that he would very likely regret letting Valdis into his office so easily, during this week of all weeks.

"Milyn," he said, glaring at the thick curtain over the window. "He was doing some work for Milyn."

Valdis settled back in the chair, crossing her legs and feeling immensly satisfied as she felt Yunxu's emotional surrender, it was perhaps the first true victory she had over him and she certainly hoped he knew it. His words, however, caused her eyes to widen with shock, the red almost fading, though it flooded back in with the renewed suspicion of Milyn. The chair creaked when she shifted, half glad he was looking away, and half annoyed by the same thing.

"I am not your enemy, Slangen Konge," Valdis said, her voice softer than even she herself expected. "Unless you make me one."

She stood and crossed to stand next to him, gripping the curtain and pulling it aside in a single fluid movement. "And trust me, I am not a good enemy to have." For a brief instant seven pairs of bright red eyes were reflected in the glass alongside Valdis', but they vanished in the next heartbeat.

"If Milyn is to blame for what happened to Dardul, to Enon..." Valdis trailed off, not willing to speak her mind. She took a breath. "What kind of work was he doing for Milyn?"

"You're not my enemy, you say," Yunxu repeated flatly. If he'd seen the red eyes in the window's reflection, he gave no indication of it. "And yet from the moment you first introduced yourself to me you have been looking for ways to undermine my authority, my goodwill, and whatever trust might have once existed. You may believe this, Lady Valdis - and you do believe it, if our current situation is anything to go by - but you're wrong. You are a Foreigner, first and foremost, and Foreigners are never concerned for anything beyond their own wellbeing. The only thing you and I agree on is that you shouldn't be here."

He spoke without thinking, only half-listening, the passion implied in the words utterly failing to enter his voice. For a few moments, there was silence between them, and then he turned to look at Valdis properly.

"I don't know," he admitted. "Enon wouldn't tell me. It was the only thing he wouldn't ever tell me. The very last thing he said to me, before they discovered his - " Yunxu paused. "The body."

The red faded from her eyes and Valdis sighed, "And how is my dedication to my people any different from your dedication to yours? Perhaps if you made more of an effort to work with us, then we wouldn't have to go behind your back." She raised a brow, "You should also be careful to not lump all foreigners into the same category as I."

She would give no explanantion for that comment. As to his words, it wasn't that she didn't believe him, but the lack of emotion in his voice indicated he was very much focused on something else. Unsurprisingly, it was Enon that was on his mind and part of her longed to reach over and find out exactly what he was hiding, but that was more ill advised than she was willing to risk. In addition, she was confident that he had little idea of what happened that night, she would have to find the answer for herself and she had an idea of how to do it. But he should be able to help with who had covered it up.

"Who identified the body as Enon?"

"His family," Yunxu replied. "His mother. His father. His sister. None have any reason to lie, and we can't hold shapes that don't belong to us past death. If this was a trick..." He turned away from the window with a sigh. "Then I have no idea how it was done."

Normally, that fact would irritate him. By the end of the next day, it would likely infuriate him. But that moment, alone in his office with Lady Valdis, it was suddenly easy to see that the stress and exhaustion of leadership let no one go unaffected.

"I'd like to ask you to leave," Yunxu added. Whether or not he'd told Valdis everything he knew, he'd done enough damage for one day with this cursed truth compulsion, and he at least had enough self-awareness left to realise that.

Valdis frowned. She doubted that his own family could be wrong and if they couldn't hold shapes that didn't belong to the, then it was becoming more and more likely that some sort of magic had been involved. She inclined her head at his admission, knowing that it would bother him until he gave in and pursued the lead she was giving. He was tired, his polite request that she depart a sure sign of it.

"If there is anything i can do for you regarding this matter," she said over her shoulder as she turned away, "Do not hesitate to ask."

She exited the office without another word, closing the door gently, but firmly behind her. Looking around to see that no one was around. She quickly flipped her hair to frizz it a bit and undid the top two buttons on her shirt before heading down the hallway to the stair and out of the building entirely.

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[EVENT; TRUTH COMPULSION] AFTERMATH OF CLAN JAGAIZ BATTLES

Yunxu | Yunxu's Mansion | (This is a horrible idea, what am I doing?)

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