The Propaganda of Freedom..

[TheBrogueadier]

Giacomo sighed and set the last block down on the desk, his hands were splattered with the red and black ink he’d been using.

Someone else’s posters had given him the idea, he’d caught sight of it in town. He hadn’t really thought of it until later, when he’d heard about the enforced registration of those with Diminished Blood.

The phrase rankled him, typical law mongers, claiming to fight oppression and evil yet dolling out the same to it’s own citizens.

He’d read what he could find on the Veritas, the reason why they fought the legion. The politics had bored him quickly but freedom fighters. Now there was a topic, romantic, nostalgic even. Something that could be spun into a great tale: a tale of good free men fighting tooth and nail against the forces of corrupted law that sought to oppress the people.

Diminished Blood. The Greater Good.

Time to fight fire with fire, use the words of the legion against them, show up the hypocrisy in their actions.

He shook his head and gathered the scrolls that dotted the room, he’d bought scrolls from stores, acting the part of a mageling serving a master, ensuring he bought some other more expensive scrolls at the same time, others he’d scavenged from fallen foes.

He bound them up and stowed all but one of the scrolls. The last one he wrote his name and how to contact him on, this he would need to find a way to get to the Veritas, somehow.

He’d need to do some shopping first, new clothes and a hood, maybe something to help disguise him. The clothes could be binned afterwards, save the risk of being recognised at a later date.

He washed the ink from his hands and got ready to leave, taking a quick last look at the scroll with his name on before packing it inside his jerkin.

[Peridan]

Mirumoto walks by the poster and shakes his head. "Foolish Westerners. They are more barbaric than I could have ever dreamed."



((OOC: I'm a little disturbed, I won't lie.))

[Gabryal]

As a result of the posted scrolls, in dark allies throughtout the city of Sundren, the letter V, in various forms appears on stone walls, more than done in paint, these letter's seem to have been made with Acid, symbolically burning into stone of the Sundren Heirarchy

[Saulus]

Irritated, a Legion sub-commander notices the posters. He rips them down and posts several guards on corners around the city at all hours.

Several hours after a young bard was caught posting profanity on a nearby civic building and was summarily jailed overnight.

[TheBrogueadier]

Giacomo Smiled as he wound his way through the crowds of Sundren City, heading toward the Inn for some well earned rest.

Refugees were gathering in the city, pushed out of the countryside by the threats that the Legion so ineptly failed to deal with. At Exigo campfire he’d heard discontented murmurs from those who’d been forced to register simply due to the luck of their birth. He wondered how long it would take before the elves were called to register, or dwarves, hin… Anyone the Legion considered less than human.

So this was the great Legion? Allowing it’s civilians to suffer the horrors of a powerful enemy force, let them the plague spread while they busied themselves with the obviously far more important task of rounding up those is considered undesirable, sending out those it thought of as disposable mercenaries to do the hard work while they cowered behind fortifications and stone walls.

He looked at the beggars, the destitute, the refugees; all those failed by the Legion, those probably considered not worth enough to even think about saving in the first place.

He’d heard about a bard being jailed for daring to go against the legions sensibilities, extra guards had been posted to crack down on those who dared to deviate from what the Legion considered the norm.

Were these the reactions of a rational government? When threatened by mere posters and words they did nothing to calm people’s fears, merely gathered into an iron clad fist and struck out with fury against any civilian who opposed it and cowered from anything approaching a real threat. He hoped the people saw it to, saw that this was a government that opposed all free thought, where expressing your thoughts could result in beatings, arrest or detention.

It was time for the populace to be made aware of the Legions failings, to have the truth of the matter shown to them. The first posters had been aimed to fire the mind, the next would fire the heart. The last, he hoped, would fire action.

[TheBrogueadier]

Giacomo stared at the box in front of him, it was crudely made, more of a model for a concept than a working device. Despite that it scared and thrilled him in equal measure.

Words were his normal weapon, a well sharpened truth could do as much damage to a ruling group as a sword could to a man. But there were times when words failed, and action became needed. Actions were signs, a clarion call for people to gather around, take up the cause and fight for freedom. This box could be a sign.

Beggars and peasants couldn’t hope to stand up against the military might of the Legion in a straight fight, underdogs rarely could. He’d wracked his brains to come up with something that could be hidden, a simple device that could strike fear into the hearts of the enemy and give a sign to the populace. This was it, no magic that could be easily found, just something small, innocuous and deadly.

The box contained a few phails laid out in a row, some rocks and straw underneath and a hammer suspended by string above. A few holes for air and the device was complete. The timing mechanism had confounded him for a while, bit in the end it was simple. Coat the string holding the hammer up with fat, add a rat, close the lid.

He cut the string with a knife and the hammer dropped, shattering the phials below. The blue liquid of healing potions oozed out onto the desk.

The real phials would be Alchemists Fire.

He rubbed his face and sighed, partially hating himself for even contemplating such a thing. The device was random, you could set it next to your target but you’d never know who’d be walking past when it went off, or when it would go off.


He’d hate to have to use it. But if it came to it…

[Chiangtao]

A man in a green tunic, invisible, carefully looks around the town where he finds one of these posters. Assuming no one is watching, he quietly takes down one of the posters.

In his bunker chamber, the man shows the parchment to his superiors.

"Think we can find out where this paper came from? How about the ink and paint? We need to track this man down--he'll fight with us."

[Gabryal]

A figure watches the hornet nest being poked and frowns "I suppose "examples" will be made of now, and in the end more people will suffer needlessly" A soft sigh is heard "No one listens, no one learns, will anyone ever pay attention beyond the moment?"

[TheBrogueadier]

Giacomo stole out under the cover of darkness, two new sets of posters under his arm, relying on both his natural stealth and a selection of potions purchased from the Grove.

Cruder than the first posters, rushed pieces worked out to catch the moment. The more interesting ones would follow. For now it was enough to show what he though, that the legion cared for no one save itself and had no regard for those not human.

In all his time in Sundren he’d only seen the race of men in the Sundren Legion uniform, at first he had thought nothing of this, but with the recent treatment of some races it had become clear this was no accident, this was design. The Legion was full of humans, for humans. Everything else was just beasts in a field.

[Larando]

Larando catches glimpse of a poster as he skulks about hiding from any number of agents that may be following. Surely Cirion still has it out for me, he ponders anxiously. And Katie must be around the next corner. He begins to pant heavily. And there's Tamryn. That paladin is hunting me for certain!

His chest began to heave as he sucked the breath in and his anxiety rose so high he could do nothing short of stopping to empty his stomach into some nearby bushes almost spraying puke onto a sleeping vagrant. Scrambling back to his feet, he scurries to the nearest shop door and ducks through it...forgetting all about the poster he had just read.

[cmosier]

Sehron smirks at the posters.

This is going to get messy.

[TheBrogueadier]

Giacomo smiled, still mulling over the words of Hano’s speech..


So, the Triumvirate stood in when the legion refused to speak, used religion and oaths to blind the people to the truth of the matter.

This was dangerous, having Hano speak directly meant that someone at least was paying attention, good in many ways but the more attention people paid the more this could end up like that little incident in Amn. His back still hurt when the wind was right from that and the clicking in his neck had never truly left.

He sighed and finished up his reply to Hano’s little speech… The Triumvirate made a deal out of being the weapon and shield of the Legion, then so be it.

His weapons for now would be Truth and Vision, when they failed Humour and Irony would suffice. He finished packing and getting ready for the latest poster run, smiling as he picked up the four daggers from the bed. He’d have to stop giving them such stupid names…

[Urithrand]

Leck wandered through the city, tired yet alert. A full week he'd meditated in the forest, just as the Keeper had told him, though he needed rest and food before he could make any real decision as to how successful it had been. He would return to the Druids of the glade later, but first, on to the Sundren Comfort for a good meal.

As he walked, Leck saw out of the corner of his eye a brightly coloured poster, The Legion Protects Itself the poster read, The Legion Prevails. Leck scowled at the poster and walked towards it, tearing it off the wooden board. "What is going on, Resia." He mumbled. Another poster caught his eye, and another and another! Everywhere they were, slanderous posters spreading lies about the Legion.

"This is what they get for protecting the weak." He whispered sadly. "Why must mankind tear itself apart so?"

"Human nature." The silent voice responded in his mind. "They need an evil to fight, no matter how distorted their point of view is. Both groups are determined they are doing the right thing, and in some sense maybe they are. Who are we to judge? Law against chaos, but all marching under the banner of good and right." She seemed almost to sigh.

"We should make someone aware of this." He mused. "But who? If we choose someone to tell, we're choosing a side. I really don't know if we should get involved in the internal affairs of the city. This will get much, much worse before it gets better." He shook his head, rubbing his eyes before he stumbled off in the direction of the Comfort.

[cmosier]

Sehron is out and about with Jenny. He catches Jenny looking at the wall of a near by building.

"Que'alla? What are you looking at?" Sehron sees the poster and frowns.

"What does that mean, Mister Sehron?"

"Nothing. It is what happens when ignorance meets stupidity."

The young girl takes the elf's hand and they walk on about their business.

[TheBrogueadier]

Feelings long idle

How long had he been away? Months, maybe longer..

The break had been refreshing, touring with a talented troupe of performers far from Sundren had provided some respite, a chance to learn more tales and to relax again, but returning to Sundren had been depressing.

It was as if things hadn't changed - The same stern laws still held an iron grip on the land, conflicts still raged. A trip to Mirakus post served to confirm the worst of the rumors he'd heard. Sestra was lost, and far from serving the public it seemed the Legion were intent on nothing more than ensuring that their on fortifications held.

Expendable, collateral damage, acceptable losses. Terms he'd heard a hundred times from various governments in various wars. He wondered if anyone had tried to explain them to the huddled and fearful refugees crammed into Mirakus Post.

Maybe it was time for a fresh season to shine on Sundren, and a fresh government to take hold.

Pictures told a thousand words it was said, so once again he set to drafting posters and setting them around the towns.