The City of the Specter, Atem's Palace

[metagame]

The corpse sinks to the floor
Even the brightest gold, even the sharpest blade
Becomes sand, becomes dust

Comments

mural enjoyers

[metagame]

You may not recognize many of the figures present on the mural, except for various animals such as snakes and birds—some even with human heads or feet—and one person in particular: Atem. Though he's hard to recognize at first with the lack of his perfectly coiffed hair, instead the mural portrays him as he was a child, mostly bald with a single tied knot of hair customary for the time. His reddish eyes are impossible to miss.

Atem stands at attention beside another seated figure, taller and quite older, in what appears to be the palace's throne room. The seated figure is Atem's father, Pharaoh Akhnamkhanen, and he wields the Millennium Pendant Atem usually wears in his hand. Six other figures, all priests, stand in a row holding other similar-looking items.

The purpose of the mural becomes clear; it depicts a court proceeding with Pharaoh Akhnamkhanen presiding as judge. Another figure, a criminal, stands before the king. Though their crime is unclear, the punishment is not. As your eyes trail down the mural, following the sequence, you see Pharaoh Akhnamkhanen and his priests extract a shadow, a Ka—what Atem frequently calls the Persona you have all been granted—from the criminal and locks it away. And without his Ka, the criminal perishes.

Justice is in the Name of the Gods.

[townmusician]

[...Hm.]

Hey.

[He looks over at the other people looking over at the mural.]

So, like... what are we going to do if they try to execute us?

[Also...could they remove their personas from them?? That would be a horrible nerf, but...]

[bloodweapon]

I was hoping someone had a plan after dragging us into this.

[Clearly that was too much to hope for.]

[townmusician]

I think the plan is just "try talking to the Pharaoh", but after that? If we piss him off?

[""""if""""]

Don't think anyone thought that far ahead.

[bloodweapon]

["""if"""]

I suppose we'll have to think on our feet, then. Though let's try to avoid being arrested and potentially condemned next time.

[townmusician]

If there's a next time I think we should just start blasting and skip all of the scheming entirely.

[beautifulknight]

[ HELP

He hears this and he isn't sure what to comment or what kind of face to make. ]

[bloodweapon]

[heedless of his bf's reaction:] Agreed.

[beautifulknight]

If they do not listen to reason, we engage them in honorable combat.

[ Argenti refuses to die in here...! As for if they can take away their Personas, though? uh...hm. ]

[townmusician]

[HOW IS THAT MORE HONORABLE THAN BLASTING FROM THE GETGO, ARGENTI]

...Of course. Violence is always the answer.

[beautifulknight]

[ IT'S SUPER HONORABLE NOW BECAUSE IT'S LATER- ]

...Always? I should hope it is not. But in such a case where our lives are at risk, I would agree that it would be the answer.

[ Argenti will not hesitate to resort to violence when needed but he prefers to actually solve it by being non-violent. ]

[townmusician]

I mean in these palaces! Everyone always jumps to beating the hell out of everything...

[Which. He guesses their lives are always at risk in these... so maybe Argenti has a point? But he doesn't want to admit that, so he won't.]

[beautifulknight]

Hm? Oh!

I suppose it also depends even here, as there are usually enemies available to beat upon in palaces like these. So it isn't entirely surprising to see everyone go on the attack.

Yet, in the end, I can only hope we are able to resolve it all as peaceful as possible...even while knowing we will inevitably fight for our lives, and solve it all in a most beautiful as well as heartwarming fashion!

[ Argenti says firmly, the b word slipping into there, almost like he's really about to start Yapping. ]

[prozaic]

That's a surprising sentiment, coming from you.

[townmusician]

Is it really that surprising?

[prozaic]

Yes. You're not truly the bloodthirsty type, are you?

[prozaic]

[Well, that's.

That's messed-up, isn't it? Not a single bit of what Atem told him even alluded to such a thing... But then again, why would he ever tell Shalem? That bit about extracting souls-- no, wait, Ka, as he put it-- is so obviously immoral and terrible, who wouldn't want to keep it a secret?

He crosses his arms over his chest, and taps a finger on his elbow.]

Enlightening. [His characteristic softness is gone, he's more stern now.] And perhaps a valuable clue to solving this entire place and saving Atem.

[chimken]

[ Falin also tilts her head at the mural. ]

It is enlightening. I am...a little nervous that this is what he's going to do to us in this palace. It may make it hard.

Should we try to think of a strategy to combat this? Can we?

[metagame]

Now it's the guards turn to be a bunch of eavesdroppers! One even laughs at the group's suggestion of fighting.

"Pray your ancestors remember you, because the last guy who tried met his end in the waters of the abyss."

[finalmix]

[ the temptation to throw something at the guards is like. | |.

except that it's not temptation because thanks to skyler permission joshua whirls around and picks up a nearby pot that's within arm's reach, and proceeds to fling it at the guards (17). ]

Do you mind? I don't recall ever inviting you to this conversation. We are trying to plan a coup here, after all.

[ :) ]

[prozaic]

[Shalem raises an eyebrow at the guards, especially at his fellow serpents-- he's especially unimpressed at them, where the fuck are your manners. Him versus them. Perhaps... He should continue with Joshua's line. It's entirely a bad idea, but bad ideas are what got them here. Surely, if they keep going with it... Surely something good will eventually happen.

Then he raises one finger. And slips back to being a pretentious little prick with his accent because Englishmen just sound smarmy all the time.]

He is correct. Have some decorum-- do not jump into a conversation that does not involve you. [And then he's going to go even further. Because they're serpents, and he is one as well, he's in a unique position to really hit them where it hurts. (18)]

You're all embarrassments to your own kind, our own kind. But I suppose none of you haven't any pride anymore, if you're all bowing and scraping to a singular mortal-born brat.

[prozaic]

We could find a way, but... [He casts a look at the guards, then looks back at her.] Let's not say such things out loud.

Discretion... and some attempt at grouping is important, I think. But there's nothing stopping us from thinking of ideas right now.

[chimken]

[ Falin blushed and covered her mouth, especially because the guards said that they would end up in the "waters of the abyss", whatever that means. ]

S-Sorry. I can try to think of things.

[prozaic]

[He gives her a smile to settler her nerves.]

No, don't be sorry about being worried out loud. It's a natural reaction.

[cleansewithfire]

[ This sure is something for her to be looking at when the state of her soul is Something. ]

...Hm.