shellphones | [Open] A Bit of Rabble Rousing

Type: Text
Sender ID: Anonymous
To: Public
Subject: Check it out!
Warnings: Descriptions of dead bodies, unjust imprisonment.

(The text is anonymous: Sidestep has no desire to attract the attention of corrupt, pissed off paladins.)

So that field of flowers the Paladins have... beautiful, right? Real romantic. Absolutely perfect place to bring a date if you're one of the privileged few allowed to visit Elah, though if you aren't you needn't worry, I've taken plenty of pictures for you.

(And as stated, there are a bunch of images attached to this post!

The rotting body of a man. His facial features are no longer recognizable but the layers of rags that still cling to the bloated corpse suggest a life of poverty and struggle. Around him, Emberblooms blossom in a stunning array of fiery oranges and deep purples.

A badly mangled body. The Emberblooms surrounding it are like gems made of pure fire.

This one is an awkwardly angled shot of the smashed up remains of a person's skull. In addition to the blooms growing around it, a single scarlet flower is sprouting up through an eye socket.

In this one, the flowers are starting to overtake a shallow and poorly dug grave. A curled hand lies uncovered. It looks like it's been picked at by scavenging birds.

A blurry closeup of some dirty and bloodstained rags trapped among a patch of Emberbloom flowers of a stunning shade of royal purple.

A paladin guard standing near a patch of flowers. Among the flowers, bones can be seen.

A thumb covers part of this picture but it doesn't manage to obscure the body that seems to have been dumped without even a cursory effort to properly bury it, only the stunning array of flowers growing over it acting as cover.

There are more, of course. Dozens upon dozens of photographs of the dead dumped among the sunset fields, corpses in every possible condition and state of decay. Some are blurry, others weirdly focused, and still more are partially blocked by clumsy fingers but one thing seems clear: this had to be the work of multiple individuals.)

I suppose dying for love is a trope for a reason...

But of course, the real sight to see is Dead Kracken Island. Normally a trip there requires one to commit a most grevious crime, but this month the Paladins have been providing trips to their most dreadful of prisons entirely for free! No age or health requirements, the children and the infirm are all welcome to have a stay in a cold cramped cell for an unspecified length of time with terrifying spectres for company!

Wanna enjoy the feeling of having your wrists bound by manacles? What about a nice relaxing period of unconsciousness while you're being transported to the middle of nowhere surrounded by ocean? Maybe you really like not knowing why you've been imprisoned or what your captors intend to do to you? Then go wander innocently through literally any area where Paladins can be found today!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Actually, yes. Do you know how panic works? You're inciting discord between paladins and corsairs when the majority currently get along, as far as I know. It's one thing to say you found something terrible that people need help, and you'd get help to deal with it. It's quite another thing to cause chaos for no reason.

You shouldn't do that, you find those that deal in these kinds of things and go deal with it.

[ It's not just distress. As one of those who suffers so others are protected, this has upset him greatly. ]

Nor should you, if you don't know what you're doing.

Where is it exactly?

Edited 2024-06-04 21:06 (UTC)

Easy to say when you're not one of the ones consistently suffering under systems that rely on public ignorance.

(The bitterness probably doesn't come through the text here. Or maybe it does.)

The field of flowers is on Elah. I don't know how to navigate to Dead Kracken Island but the seas around it were boiling, if that helps.

Edited 2024-06-05 00:40 (UTC)

I wouldn't make assumptions about strangers if I were you.

Boiling seas. That's a new one.

Easier to get arrested, I think.

If you are then your a fool.

(There's no safety until the system is dismantled. No matter what you do, you'll just get dragged back in.

They learned that the hard way.)

You lose your powers if you're brought there, they've got some kind of dampener.

Maybe so, but you don't know my circumstances. You don't know what my job is, or why I do what I do, or whate I've suffered. You don't even know my name, so it's probably wise to stop making assumptions.

[ There's a bit of a pause, that's valuable information. ]

Some kind of power dampener. Something that reacts with the tattoo, it has to be. Kind of rules out being arrested then because you wouldn't want to lose whatever you bring with you to compensate for that.

And you don't know mine, asshole.

(And they intend to keep it that way.)

Or you send people who don't completely rely on their powers.

Edited 2024-06-05 01:32 (UTC)

I know you made a terribly shortsighted, awful decision.

[ He's seething, he's angry and the moment he realizes that and that he is sniping back and forth with someone in anger, he has to take a moment to breathe. He's not allowed to do that. ]

Are you trying to piss me off or something?

(They don't admit he's right. Oh well, it's not like stupid decisions are unusual for them.

They've got the fucked up leg to prove it.)

You're the one who came in here ready to fight.

If calling you an idiot is starting a fight, then I stand by it.

Fortunately, my opinion of you has no bearing on my opinion of this situation. It obviously cannot be left alone as it is. Without a doubt you'll have volunteers to deal with this and you can count me among them.

The Paladins that guard the field don't want the bodies dug up because it could harm the Emberblooms. Putting pressure on them to allow investigations and looking into the guards would help. Even if this doesn't turn out to be an organization wide cover up I doubt it could work without some of them being in on it.

Finding the person who handed out the false charges might be more efficient than attacking the prison, there might be inmates we'd all regret letting out.

Plants can be transplanted carefully. It would take a long time, but it would be possible, for recovering the bodies. Recovery isn’t my specialty, but plants are.

You’re right about that. I’ll see if I can get someone I trust to ask around. I’m going to have too difficult a time doing that myself.

Hopefully a little public pressure will convince them to allow such a thing ...as well as make the flowers less profitable for poachers.

(Yeah, they're being passive aggressive there. Just a little.)

Alright.

[Open] A Bit of Rabble Rousing

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I apologize for Sidestep being a fatalistic edgelord asshole

Ha, it's kind of funny how hard he set Toge off, he's not the most assertive

People do tend to get mad when it feels like their suffering is being minimized

Yep, he's definitely angry.

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