open | The Emperor's (?) Audience at the Palace of Landed Sky

[alderwood]

Characters: The Ironwood Emperor Alderwood Commander and anyone who came to speak with the Ironwood Emperor.
Date: January 12th
Location: The Palace of Landed Sky
Situation: The expected holding of an audience for any that care to speak with the Ironwood Emperor, though they will be met instead by the Alderwood Commander.
Warnings/Rating: N/A; to be updated if necessary

The hall is still and white, strung with softly glowing lanterns that are strung up high beyond reach. Outside, the sun is at its zenith, and it filters down through the cloudy glass roof to create a brilliant, nearly blinding ambiance.

The floor is marble, inlaid with mother-of-pearl and ruby quartz. It catches the light, and casts strange patterns on the walls.

The room itself is almost eerily silent. No noise, no echoes. No one and nothing vaguely human, excepting the presence of Evandau. The commander of all law enforcement in Keeliai and its surrounding areas stands before the Emperor's empty throne with patient expression and posture reminiscent to the at-ease bearing of a soldier. He waits to receive the petitioners, kedan and Foreigner alike, in Eshai's place this one day. As with her audiences, those wishing to make their case must approach him and he will make not move to shorten the distance between the grand entryway and the throne that he defends.

The 'audience' is an open one, and no one will be turned away. So come one, come all, to the Palace of Landed Sky.

[Actionspam or prose are both acceptable! The Emperor has delegated the audience to Evandau this month and he has been temporarily granted many of the authorities that she naturally holds. Why is that? Well, telling y'all would be too easy, wouldn't it?

Characters will only be admitted into the hall one by one, so there won't be anyone present for anyone else's conversations, and there won't be any 'mingling' in the chamber itself.

By popular demand, we will continue to allow mingling for those waiting for an audience in an antechamber. There is a thread header below to allow for that!]

Comments

[histruename]

Something inside Hellboy stirs, his tail lashing behind him at the emotion. The Commander was talking in the most annoying, vaguest way possible. But he really shouldn't have expected anything better. For some reason these people were hellbent on keeping everyone in the dark, and it was really starting to piss him off.

"Who is this enemy?" He asks, irritation creeping into his voice.

[alderwood]

Evandau sees the motion and hears the irritation, though neither much inspires sympathy in him. The lack of information is, to him, what a soldier is to expect and he sees little wrong with it -- there is a matter of efficiency to it also, as the Foreigners are proving an unstable population. What good is it to explain things if that person may disappear before it becomes necessary to know it?

"Call it what you will," he said. "Just know that it is dangerous and, like with any war, its form cannot be predicted until the attack. Had with the personnel for intel, that may be different, but our resources very obviously lack."

[histruename]

Yep, Evandau definitely has a talent for getting on Hellboy's nerves. There is no way he could phrase his questions any more clearly. And this is the second time he's tried getting the name and nature of this so-called 'enemy' out of these guys, the thing they're supposedly expected to fight, and both times have been equally infuriating. This time he refuses to leave without some kind of tangible answer.

This is the second time in his life he's been summoned to win a war, and he's not interested in doing anything for anyone until he's sure he's fighting for what's right.

"You know, I'm trying to ask nicely, but all you do is keep beating around the bush." His eyes narrow, his right hand grating into a fist with the sound of fractured tombstones. "So let's cut the crap. The Foreigners were brought here to fight. We have a right to know what the hell that is and why. Tell me what you know, or I just might start getting angry."

Hellboy is not above putting his hands on the man. He's well aware of the Emperor's magic, but even in a weakened state, he's still formidable. And if that means he can rough up some answers for the benefit of everyone, he'll do what he has to do. It's worth the risk.

[alderwood]

"Threats will not hasten the information, Foreigner," is his mild reply. "You know all you need to know until such time as I know what form the next attack will take." Evandau pulls straight the front of his outfit, cut in the style reminiscent of a dress uniform, though there are no campaign decorations or commendations to be had in this world. "This is an ancient enemy to which the names I know may no longer live. It has plagued us for generations, as wars will. The form it takes cannot be predicted, be it an army, an explosion, or a sickness. That is why there is such variety to you Foreigners -- so that we can react according to what next tactic is employed against us."

[histruename]

Now we're talking. It's a shame he had to pull out the threats to get this far, but you can't argue with results. And just like he expected, Hellboy didn't much like the answers he's rewarded with.

Whatever this "enemy" is, it sounds more supernatural than anything. Just a nameless, ancient thing that's, for whatever reason, had its sights on these people for a very long time.

Hellboy relaxes marginally, just enough to communicate that he might be rethinking making due on that threat from before. "Nameless force of ancient evil. Would've been easier if you just said that in the first place."

Which would really suck for a guy like him. He needs something to hit, something tangible. Simple. This doesn't sound like any of that, but he can make due.

"You said you needed the personnel for intel. I volunteer. You find out more about this enemy, we get one step closer to sending these people home. Everybody wins. Just tell me where I need to go."

He is seriously offering to just drop in on enemy ground. It wouldn't be the first time he's done it, and he always lived to tell the tale plenty of times over. He's not afraid of risking his own skin.

[alderwood]

"And yet to call it just that is to understate what it fully encompasses," Evandau noted coolly. "As for intel--" A pause as he looks Hellboy over. "--I'll keep it in mind, Foreigner." He will not outright dismiss one which actually offers assistance over the passive resistance that the rest so love to display, though he will hardly implement it. "Should there prove an opportunity to gather intel, that is."

[histruename]

That was kind of the point there, pal. Oversimplifying all the ridiculous, convoluted crap people have spouted at him all his life is just what he does. He never did have much respect for the details. All he knows is there's something bad lurking out there, trying its best to kill a hell of a lot of people, and the foreigners are held captive here until they find a way to get rid of it.

Far as he's concerned, he'll do everything he can not to help the Emperor and anyone who serves her, but to prevent the deaths of more kedan and to send the Foreigners home.

"I'm guessing that's your polite way of saying thanks, but no thanks," he says with no small amount of bite. Seriously, what more could this guy want?

[alderwood]

Evandau's expression cools, his smile thin. "It is my way of saying the offer is noted, but the opportunities thin," he clarified. "I cannot send you to tasks when there are no tasks to be had."

[histruename]

His tail lashes irately behind him, sarcasm heavy in his voice. "Right," he growls. "So your plan is what, the Emperor just keeps kidnapping people from other worlds hoping they'll do her dirty work? And we just wait to clean up the mess the next time this thing hits." His eyes narrow, teeth bared in an ape-like sneer. "You guys are idiots."

"I'm telling you right now, pal. We need to know where these attacks are coming from and how to stop it. Just reacting to it isn't going to do crap."

[alderwood]

"We do not have the personnel needed to do anything about it," he counters simply. "I won't have you run off on a wild Kirin chase simply because you think it best."

[histruename]

"At least we'd get a better idea of what the hell we're up against."

He has no problem risking his own neck for that. There's not much in the world that can hurt him. He's not even sure if he can die in his world, never less here. And with things as they are now, he has nothing left to lose.

Even if he goes back to his own world... what is there for him? More running. More sticking his head in the sand. Ignoring and denying everything he's learned about himself. That's the best he can do.

Here he can do so much more.

"Trust me," he says with easy confidence. "I do this kind of thing all the time."

[alderwood]

"Then how do you propose doing this, Foreigner?" Evandau shifts his angle, thinking that perhaps the hand is not the only stone-hard thing this one possesses. "How can one gather intel when limited to Tu Vishan?"

[histruename]

When Hellboy gets determined enough to do the right thing, stubbornness can sometimes outweigh logic. He's the kind of guy that crashes through life and never lets anyone tell him otherwise. He'll find a way.

"Ever heard of a boat?" He says dryly. "Sure, there's the spell over the place, anyone caught wandering too far gets washed ashore. Didn't seem to stop us from getting on the mainland. So I'm guessing the spell can be lifted when the Emperor feels like loosening the leash."

He cocks his head, eyes narrowed. The severe angles of his features make his expression that much harsher. "So you tell me, pal. You have a handful of indestructible people and almost no information about what we're facing. Figure you could spare one to send out as a spy, actually get some info instead of just playing cleanup crew every time this thing hits."

The sound of stone scraping against stone echoes oddly through the massive room as Hellboy's hand clenches into a fist, his frown deepened. "Or this is another ploy to keep us all in the dark. Then I'm just wasting my breath."

He may be stubborn and hard-headed, but that doesn't mean he's an idiot. Years of working out on the field coordinating missions has lent him some knowledge about military tactics. Even though he's still mostly left in the dark about everything, talking like this seems to be the only way to milk out any answers from this guy. He'll take all the blind stabs he can, because it's what he has to do.

[alderwood]

"You've overlooked a detail," Evandau warns him. "You think Eshai traps you, when it is her magic and her link to the turtle that keeps you and everything here alive."

Too many assume they are prisoners by force of containment, but Evandau knows the limitations of Tu Vishan. He knows why the Foreigners could walk the mainland, and why their powers failed them. Life and all its energies are tied to the great turtles, a fact that he fiercely guards to keep Tu Vishan safe from exploitation.

[histruename]

Yeah, that throws one hell of a wrench in that plan. Hellboy's posture straightens, lifting one heavy brow and searching Evandau's face for any sign of a bluff. How much can he really trust this guy? It's hard to tell, but this as close to getting answers as he's come so far.

"Yeah? So what kept us from kicking the bucket on the mainland?"

[alderwood]

"Tu Vishan's strength can flow through channels long dead, but even that peters out with distance." A truth, for if the turtle's life and blood were to flow through all of the locket shells, it would become too thin to sustain anything.

[histruename]

Which would explain his declining strength and healing ability the farther out he got. That's not especially good news. Not only does that mean he's died and come back when he tried getting off the island the first time, it means he'll be stuck here playing the Emperor's janitor for the foreseeable future. All of them are.

"Great."

[alderwood]

"Hardly," is the dry reply.

[histruename]

"Right," he replies just as dryly, letting the word hang as he studies the Commander's face one more time. It's still possible he's just pulling his leg, but right now, this is the closest thing to the truth he has. "I think I'm done here."

[alderwood]

"You know the exit." Evandau nods in that direction, ready then to see the next petitioner seeking a moment of Eshai's time or pity.

[histruename]

"Sure," he snarks and turns to leave, raising his left hand in mock salute. "Always a pleasure, Commander. Give the Emperor my regards."

He'll be back. You can count on it.