dramatispersonae | CARNELIAN

CARNELIAN

[You are standing in an amphitheatre constructed of off-white marble with several rows of seats surrounding you on all sides; in the performance space at the bottom is another banquet table, with fourteen different crowns placed upon it. They are, in no particular order:

A jeweled tiara lined with diamonds
A crown of wheat
A faded kokoshnik
A coronet with its jewels missing
A gold diadem
A civic crown made out of oak leaves
A mural crown
A naval crown missing a sail
A hoop crown missing the top insignia
A crown of thorns
A striped nemes
A crown of dandelions
A plain modius
A coronation crown with beading on the side falling off]

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[oh well, more role-playing!]

Listen up you lower life forms. As your princess, I expect quality entertainment, food, drink, and protection from all of you. Immediately, without me having to ask twice!

Shiny! You will make all of the meals and do the dishes. Leo! You will wait on me hand and foot and do the laundry. Teir and Tohsaka! I have a special task for you: fight to the death for my amusement.

Hurry up and prove yourself useful, slaves, or suffer my scorn for a thousand years!

Edited 2012-07-08 00:36 (UTC)

[rrrrgh silent glare.]

[waves]

Hahaha! Not bad, not bad at all!

Slave! Perform a pleasing dance for your Princess, immediately!

[ that was terrible ]

. . .

[takes a deeeeep breath.]

I don't really know what I'm doing, but I'm in charge-- [hhhhesitates] maybe, and there are some rules you need to follow. Carnelian is probably important, and so we need to-- should… win. The Personae make this difficult with their arbitrary rules and their inability to create a simple game that functions as such, but we'll… need to try to win anyway. For our memories.

[UGHHHHH]

Also, if you're cooking meat, I don't want any of it, and I'm not coming near the cabin. Don't even try. It… makes me nervous.

[takes a deep breath and stares down at the floor.]

There, that's all. And a visibly anxious leader is an incompetent one.

I agree.

No one will follow that.

Obviously, because it's a speech given by a terrible leader.

[he takes off his glasses and straightens his hair a bit, so his face is completely visible. His body language shifts too, chest slightly puffed out with confidence and a calm smile on his face.]

A ruler... what is a ruler without his people, mm? No one, of course. Nothing. But a ruler who governates with an iron fist, telling his subordinates how to live and what to think is perhaps even less than that.

So I turn to you, my people—no, my brothers and sisters, invaluable friends who with all their hopes and dreams shape me into the person I am. Do not ever let anyone take away your autonomy. Many will try, without doubt, to enslave you with their ideas, to restrain you with foolish rules, and make you believe they know better. But no one knows better than yourselves and you should trust your judgment—which is my judgment too, to be the best.

Together, we will stand up against anyone who chooses to oppose us. Because rules were created to be smashed and replaced with our own ideals, our own choices. Together, we are invincible, and as long as our trust in each other does not falter, no one will be able to rise higher than us.

[then just sort of... deflates]

Ahh... that was terrible.

Impressive! It was like you were a different person!

Not bad.

Thank you, though I don't think I'm very good at charisma.

You're a decent enough actor.

Thank you, thank you!

[ Stands with feet spread apart, hands clasped behind his back, and with the precise pronunciation of someone used to giving bossy speeches and expecting them to be obeyed to the letter. ]

There is a good deal to explain about rules and regulations that you will never be old enough to appreciate fully. The universe itself has rules which branch like the limbs of a lightning tree, more minor ones splitting from the most fundamental. Without them, everything you know would be less than dust, floating randomly across the cold quiet of a void. Laws govern the birth of every star and every pump of your hearts. You could no more violate these than you could stop time.

The governance of any part of the universe must take instruction from the greater whole. Obedience to law is essential to stability and longevity of these smaller entities. And so, here and now, I am required by the rules of this game to regulate you. Carnelian is hardly as complicated as the universe, and its rules may be stated succinctly.

Keep yourselves and your living spaces neat. Be peaceful. Know your place. Failure to comply will be met with revocation of meal privileges.

[ Dead serious. ]

Edited 2012-07-08 01:07 (UTC)

Listen up, Carnelian.

I just arrived and my first impression of you was dismal. After getting to know you better it's still dismal. I'd tell you my expectations for you as vassals but what's the point? It's not like any of you could make anything of yourselves anyway!

Rules are meant to guide and boy do you all need guidance. Especially you [ fingerjab at Shiny ]. Maybe there's some slim hope that you'll eventually accept some, but I doubt it.

Where are we going to go from here? With a group as pathetic as you does it really matter? My first and last statement as ruler is this: We're all doomed.

[ Affronted. ]

Well, at least it all wasn't a lie!

Aw, it's so sad!

I hope it's pessimistic enough.

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CARNELIAN

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[tiara, hateful]

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