poly_chromatic | [ αиσиумσυѕ ] || [ ѕєνєитєєи ]

[Video Post;]
[The video begins and it seems...inexpertly done. There's a view of a city street and passing people--fewer than usual. The device itself seems to be serving as a paperweight on a stack of papers that flutter into view occasionally.

Here's the important part: an elderly man in long and tattered robes (or what might pass for robes if one pretends that they're robes) is standing in view of the camera, surrounded by propped up signs and sandwich boards.

"Standing" isn't really the term for him, though. He's agitated, clearly. He is in a state of constant motion. He is waving his hands, waving sheets of paper, pleading with the very sky, demanding answers of sick passersby. He is a frenzy of motion. And he is shouting.]

The people of the City have forsaken the Deities! And the Deities have therefore forsaken them! The people of this City have turned their backs on the rightful guardians of this place! And as punishment for their wickedness, the Deities now rightly and justly send down this plague to be upon you!

Behold! The Seals are broken! The Clock itself fell silent and the meaning is clear!

The end is near, the end is near, the end is near!

[In a high and quavering voice:]

I watched as the Lamb opened the first of the seven seals. Then I heard one of the four living creatures say in a voice like thunder, "Come and see!" I looked, and there before me was a white horse! Its rider held a bow, and he was given a crown, and he rode out as a conqueror bent on conquest.

When the Lamb opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, "Come and see!" Then another horse came out, a fiery red one. Its rider was given power to take peace from the earth and to make men slay each other. To him was given a large sword.

When the Lamb opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, "Come and see!" I looked, and there before me was a black horse! Its rider was holding a pair of scales in his hand. Then I heard what sounded like a voice among the four living creatures, saying, "A quart of wheat for a day's wages, and three quarts of barley for a day's wages, and do not damage the oil and the wine!"

When the Lamb opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, "Come and see!" I looked and there before me was a pale horse! Its rider was named Death, and Hades was following close behind him. They were given power over a fourth of the earth to kill by sword, famine, and plague, and by the wild beasts of the earth.

[Stronger again]

Behold! We have been witnesses to these signs and visions! Have we not seen Conquest? Have we not seen War? Have we not seen Famine? Behold, now we witness Death and Pestilence! They ride among us! They ride among us as the Deities have set them forth!
Do you not feel the fever in your very blood? Do you not feel the Hands of the Deities upon your very body, upon your very soul?

You! You, weak and sick with plague and pestilence, you feel the Hands of the Deities upon you! Throw up your hands in gratitude that they should touch you so! Magnify the Deities who, in their justice, strike you down!

They shall cleanse this City of its wickedness! With disease and with death and with fire and with war, they will cleanse this City! They shall drive out the interlopers and they shall drive out their sin! And so shall we all be given unto death for our wickedness and the deceit of the interlopers!

[He is also handing out tracts of literature to anyone passing by. You know you should always take whatever literature someone's handing out. Here's what it reads:]

[Interesting reading, isn't it?]

None shall stand before them! None shall endure!

Repent! Repent of your sins, Citizens! Repent and be spared not from death but from torment! From torment eternal! There is no mercy at the hands of the Deities! There is only justice!

They are right and just and this is their punishment for our wild disobedience! We have fallen prey to the wiles of the wicked and the wrong! We have let them lead us so far as to depose the rightful leaders of the City! The Deities! And now we are like foolish children and justly do we deserve to be punished.

Forgive us! Forgive us, O Deities of the City! Forgive us our foolishness! No, we know not what we do! We have done those things which we ought not to have done! Forgive us! Our hour draws near and so we feel it and we tremble with fear! You will have no mercy upon us! We do not ask it! We ask only that you forgive us!

Forgive us!

Repent, City!

[It continues in this fashion for some time. But, as all things must, eventually it endstime runs out, memory runs out, power runs out. One never knows. These things happen. And the video, as it must, falls into the darkness.]
[//video post ends]

[ooc: Caution: cut for large religiously-related image and Apocalyptic religious language--please use whatever caution is best for you! Post is made to the Network anonymously, too, for the record. Please feel free to encounter "Ralph the Street Preacher" in person. Action threads are very much welcome. Just know that this is actually Flagg...wearing yet another face. Hey, in the absence of the real Monster-Shouter, he'll just be his own Monster-Shouter. Desperate times and &c. Yes, he's just trying to stir up trouble. It's what he does.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Interesting. [Says the virus carrying blond who owns this print.]

Repent! The Hour of Reckoning is near at hand!

How cliche.

[Hei had given Pai some money and told her to buy clothes that she liked and be back in three hours. It's pretty ridiculous, considering the closets worth of clothing he bought for her yesterday, but she's a Contractor (and a spoiled younger sister) -- she's not going to say no to free money and the chance to not be under his constant watch.

She buys an ice cream cone and licks it as she walks down the street, contemplating the best thing to do with the money she's been given. She certainly doesn't plan on buying more clothes, except for maybe one or two pieces to make Hei happy. Put it in a bank? She's never used a bank before (she's never had money before). Find a safe space to squirrel it away? But where?

She notices the man screaming about death and destruction, but he's clearly a lunatic. She won't pay him any mind unless he approaches.]

[He does approach. Because of course he does. Pity this one looks somewhat unflappable.]

You! You squander your time with frivolity! Your time is running out! You must repent of your sins! You must beg forgiveness!

[Unflappable is right. She watches him scream with mild surprise, nothing more.]

From who?

[The people she's killed can't hear her.]

From the Deities, the rightful guardians of this place! The Deities who were wrongly expelled from this City by the forces of deceit and wickedness!

[Not impressed.]

I wasn't here for that. [She only arrived yesterday.]

[Whatever. Doesn't matter to him and his little street performance here.]

Then there is yet hope for you! You! And perhaps you alone!

All right. [Whatevs, dude, it's no skin off her back or bones. You are clearly craycray. She continues eating her ice cream and keeps walking.]

[Kind of a bummer that she's so calm. A little panic would've been nice. A little worry. A little fear. That's what one gets in this place, though. Seems like, anyway.]

[A few steps later, she stops walking. Hei's already told her everything he could about the City, but it couldn't hurt to gather a little more information. And while this man might be completely bonkers, he might have some new information.]

What happened to them?

Deposed! Deposed! Cast out, cast out of their own land and country and kingdom by those who would choose sin and ruin over righteous leadership!

Are they dead or could they come back? [How unstable is the political situation here?]

[He has no real idea, though he has some suspicions. Point is, his answer is meant to be significant even if he doesn't know.]

You can always get them back.

How? [Not that she really cares.]

With prayer and with sacrifice! They can be recalled to their City!

[Sacrifice. How typical of a religion, to demand sacrifice from others when so often they sacrificed nothing themselves.]

What kind of sacrifices?

It must be of our very blood! Of our very bones! We cast them out to seek an end to our suffering and by our suffering must we draw them back

Will you do it?

Yes.

Show me. [There's nothing smug or challenging in her tone; this isn't a dare, issued because she's certain he won't do it. Her voice is wholly, almost eerily, neutral.]

Shh, shh. Not here, child. Not here.

Why not?

There needs must be a sacred space. And this is not it!

What makes a space sacred?

It must be cleansed and made holy with fire and water and salt and incense. It must be named holy with thought, word, and deed. Only then can it be put to use.

Maybe you should prepare a space before you ask people to sacrifice themselves.

The place will be made ready.

[Pai looks distinctly unimpressed. Shrugging slightly, she steps aside to move on.

Loon.]

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