Jun 22 04.06.16 108 PA - Rally for Resistance and Freedom from Oppression
From Chronicles
Jun 22 04:06:16 108 PA.
PLAZA PARK
It's a gorgeous day, an hour before noon. The temperature and southerly breeze couldn't be more pleasant. A few fluffy clouds cross a bright blue sky as if chasing unicorns. The parts of the Park that have grown in with green grasses are stippled with wildflowers that seem to have come out in an extra-special display for this one rotation of the Earth.
The Kingsdale Plaza Park stretches out to the west approximately sixteen-hundred feet until it meets with a residential area. Deep craters from some long-ago weapons fire cover this area; one of the larger craters has been filled with water where ducks and other waterfowl come to roost or rest.
Here and there are stands of conifer trees that so many people have come to know. Today they are decorated with various cloth streamers that when put together show images of Coalition death skulls and other human faces having been crossed out by a simple X symbol in red paint.
The northern border runs into the very wet, muddy and boggy area of the River Walk as well as the eclectic commerce of the Merchant's Plaza, forming a mucky, strange wall of wood, concrete and steel. To the south and southeast is a combination of commercial and light industrial sectors along a nice portion of Main Street. The western boundary of the Park merges into an upscale residential neighborhood of pleasant homes and attractive, low-story apartment buildings, including the very fashionable Coventry Place further to the west near the river itself.
A small group of greeters is at the entry, inviting people in, but not really speaking about the purpose of the assembly, just that there's a speaker, music and free refreshments. Today's gathering is near the western border, with a speaker up on what would be perhaps a pitcher's mound on steroids. Just like most people who use pitcher's mounds. There's a good-sized gathering of people around the mound, perhaps five-hundred already and slowly climbing. A much smaller - but also growing - group is separated from the large group by a pair of semi-alert KDPD officers. The Monument has been given a respectful distance, though the refreshments are in that direction. The Graveyard, however, is somewhat crowded in the northwest corner.
Was there a scheduled event today? Valeriya looks a bit oblivious from her tree be the lake. Bleary eyes too, like all the activity has woken her up. Jerkily she makes her way out of the tree, doing some stretches below it as turns to consider the greeters by the entrance and finding out what this is all about.
Erica walks into the event dressed up in her usual military fatigues and combat boots. She looks fairly interested in the gathering and she smiles at the person that hands her a flier. She walks over near one of the bands playing and starts taping her foot along with the music as she listens and looks around at the rally.
The orator is still fairly hidden by the slowly gathering throng, even from the elevated position. Indeed, the affair doesn't seem to be completely ready for whatever exactly the event is going to be. The people at the entry are happy to hand out fliers and point out that there are non-alcoholic drinks available. The words coming from the speaker are your fairly generalized and cliché ideals about anti-Coalition sentiment. Erica does however receive a bit of an odd glance by the flier-handers upon entry.
Finishing her wake-up routine Valeriya grabs her helmet and weapons for the tree, attaching them in their usual places. Her helmet goes on her hip for now, a bright red reptilian tail hanging from it as she makes her way to the park entrance.
Erica continues listening to the music while she waits for the event to start. She finds a good place on the grass and settles down. She takes a sip from a water bottle she brought with her. She smiles softly as she watches all the people gather.
"Hello!" echoes out from the elevated mound of dirt in a dozen different languages. The person inside the growing mass of people is still obscured due to distance and bodies in the way. It's safely guessed however through the tone and timbre that it is a man doing the speaking. "Welcome to the Rally for Resistance and Freedom from Oppression!" A loud and approving cheer goes up from the crowd.
Valeriya helps herself to the refreshments offered at the help desk, collecting a flier as well. Her expression gives not complaint about beverage nor pastry, though sours when she looks to the flier. This is enhanced as the loudspeaker comes on and she shakes her head.
Erica lets out a cheer along with the rest of the crowd. She leans back on her hands as she sits in the grass. She listens to the speaker while taking the occasional sip of her water.
"WHO LIVES HERE?" comes a shout from the megaphone. The crowd answers with a loud, "We do!" At that moment, an absolutely gorgeous elven man rises before the crowd. Perhaps on a hydraulic lift, on the backs of others, or just doing it himself, it's tough to see through the mass of bodies. They don't call him 'El Poco Guapo' for nothing. The beings at the help desk take a moment to whistle and applaud.
Valeriya is indeed impressed. That so many gullible people could be rounded up into one place is surely a marvel. Indeed she probably doesn’t look like one of the crowd, a fully armed wolf amongst protesting sheep. Taking another pastry she looks to the exit again. Probably considering leaving in search of the more sensible riots offered at Moe's.
Erica cheers along with the crowd, and claps as the speaker comes up. She looks around before letting out a loud whistle to encourage the speaker and the crowd. She tilts her head to listen to the speaker, but keeps her seat at the back of the crowd.
A couple of D-bees give Erica an odd glance as she whistles, but a slight nod of approval as well. Valeriya on the other hand does not get nearly the same kind of reception. They apparently do not take kindly to someone who is clearly looking down her nose at them. A few grumbles ripple through the crowd, but their attention remains largely on the man for a moment as his head and shoulders are clear. "Thank you, thank you! For those of you who don't know, my name is Juan Montoya. Born in the south, but true to my roots!!" Cheers follow, and a brief chanting of, "True to my roots, true to my roots..."
The man who is the center of attention in the Plaza Park at the moment is well over six feet, and in the way of a male gender, even more attractive than the women who are sitting around him with musical instruments. Truly an aura, even for an elf as he spouts his life philosophy through a giant, electronically amplified megaphone. Not even reading off a script, just talking. He has a head of short-cropped hair and tanned skin, as if he spends just the right amount of time out in the sun. Some loosely fitting pants are obvious beneath a long and earth-toned coat that is synched tightly from his groin all the way to the base of his chin.
Many capable people find roads to power through such flocks and throngs. So it seems to be with this elf as Valeriya looks on him with some approval. It's not her style but one can hardly argue with results. The fellow probably doesn’t have to do much for himself and that is admirable.
Erica doesn't seem affected by the odd looks she gets from some of the other people at the rally. She takes another sip of water as she listens to Juan Montoya speak to the crowd. She claps and cheers along with the crowd seeming to enjoy herself.
"Thank you again, Kingsdale! As many of you know, I've been traveling North America for months now to deliver my message. A message of peace -" he gestures strongly once toward the crowd "- a message of respect -" another gesture "- a message of honor -" another gesture "- a message of understanding -" gesture "- and above all, a message that all are created equal!" A microphone appears in his other hand and is pointed at the crowd, amplifying their own applause and cheers. Only a small handful of humans are anywhere other than the quietly growing group that the police are politely separating.
Valeriya sighs over her coffee at the message. A man may look impressive, but that only goes so far. Especially when he speaks such obvious lines. Looking bored she diverts her attention from the handsome speaker and finds her gaze on the small group of humans. Clearly unequal to the rest of the crowd in many ways. Calmly she walks to join them.
Erica cheers and applauds along with the crowd as she gets into the speech that Juan Montoya is giving. She whistles and cheers at the message of peace and equality. She keeps sitting though, and doesn't get to her feet.
"You, you sir. Please come on up. Oh, I'm sorry. Miss. Please come on up anyway." A four-legged creature that looks like a four-place table with a torso and arms moves through the crowd, parting it just enough so that outsiders could see five women clustered around the base of the mound playing various instruments. Auburn hair with a drum, black hair with a flute, a blonde with a guitar, a woman with platinum-white hair and a set of bongos (and musical instruments, too), and finally a girl with flaming red hair and a tambourine. Close to where Monotoya is... levitating... is a cute-as-a-button little kid. The four-legged toad-faced being climbs up. The elevated elf asks, "And where are you from? Your name?" In a bashful voice, she answers, "My name is Rulanda, and I'm from Colorado."
Valeriya is focused on the group of humans for now. Walking right up close she'll get a feel for what they think of the presentation so far before she decides to actually mingle. A cautionary glance is given to the KDPD as well. But since she's not a disturbance she has little reason to look at them any longer than a second.
Erica applauds briefly as each new person takes the stage to encourage them. As Rulanda starts to speak she quiets down so she can listen to what the four legged person has to say.
The mob of almost completely humans, with only a smattering of very humanoid D-bees pays little to no attention to Valeriya's inspection, save to inspect her back and wonder what her problem is, coming to a rally in the Park clad in armor and weaponized. Other than that, they continue to grumble and complain, but no one has reached a point of actively voicing anything loud enough to try to shout down the speaker. The police themselves seem pleased, as neither crowd seems to have any animosity toward the other; not physically at any rate. Erica's applause and continuing approval garners her an approach by a little D-bee who's obviously a grown woman, but looks like a four-foot tall pixie. In a tinkling tone, she inquires of Erica, "And why are you here, dear? Bad childhood? Raised by someone such as ourselves?" No, it's not sarcasm, it's honest interest.
If Valeriya had come for the rally maybe she would have chosen less imposing leathers, maybe. But anyone who knows her knows she just doesn’t go anywhere without being prepared for action. So it's not like the leathers make a huge difference. Noticing the disgruntled traits among the human and mostly human Valeriya smirks, considering trying Juan's talent for herself. "None of you are equal to the rest here." She mentions to them at Juan's next pause.
"I was raised in Lazlo, and there are many different types of creatures that lived there. We all got along well, and we learned a lot from each other. I want peace and understanding between all peoples regardless of what they look like." Erica says with a brief shrug of her shoulders. "I want to show my support just like the rest of the people here." She says with a smile to the pixie like woman that is talking to her.
The people in earshot of Valeriya, and the smaller subset of those who care just look at her blankly. One man manages to break himself out of the spell holds his hands out, uttering a serious and amused, "What the fuck?" He then returns to his regularly scheduled protesting, as does everyone else. The large pixie-like woman settles herself - and her fairy-like wings - on the ground next to Erica. "That's wonderful, dear, and I think it's great that you believe that, honest I do. But there are far more who don't see it that way - the way that you and I agree upon." She gently lays a hand on the other woman's shoulder and says softly, "It might be best for you if you left, and just caught the gist of Mr. Montoya's speech on the news. But have a soda and crumpet to take with you?"
Valeriya frowns at the unusual reaction to her words. She wasn’t expecting success but she didn’t look to be expecting that either. Pausing her intentions a moment her gaze turns to the park as a whole. Her senses searching for any sources of magic that arrived with the gathering.
Erica looks slightly confused at what the pixie-like woman has to say. "Why should I leave? This seems like a fairly peaceful gathering and all. Is there something that is going to happen?" She asks with a slight look of concern. "It seems like this rally could be helped with more humans helping to support the cause of peace and understanding."
The pixie-woman speaks quickly and quietly. "Mr. Montoya's speeches sometimes get out of hand. He knows how to whip up the crowd, you know. Sometimes they get rather... violent." She shrugs and holds her hands together in apology. "He's more than just anti-Coalition. You'll hear that if you go where it's safe and listen on the news. You don't look... entirely prepared against that kind of thing right now?" Across the way, the mostly-human crowd continues to ignore a single tall woman.
Valeriya frowns as her gaze rests on Juan. It certainly doesn’t look like an simple speech to her from her expression. Immediately she starts walking away from the crowds, making herself less of an eyesore.
Erica frowns deeply as she looks at the stage. "That seems like it would hurt the cause for peace. All it would do is enforce the beliefs of all the anti-human bigots. A violent riot would just hurt the cause that you are all working for. Why would you have a leader that would hurt your cause? Please don't let this cause be dealt such a serious blow by giving the CS such ammunition for their propaganda." She looks horrified as she speaks.
It's very early for Valeriya to slip away from the crowds, for two reasons. First, because she's moving away. Second, because she's one person - admittedly strange-looking - and nobody cares. The pixie-woman frowns and nods as Erica talks. "No, no, you're right. But Mr. Montoya has been speaking all across the continent. From median places like this city, to Dunscon, and even down in Lone Star. He's very strong, and so is his bodyguard. People generally leave him alone because of that, and his violence is always just far enough on the fringe, and just small enough that it's left as a horrible thing, but not something that sticks in the minds of others." She shrugs sadly, "Of course, he's getting worse. Those of us who stay with him do so mostly because we have no other home to go to."
Valeriya turns to make a round about move towards the stage and perhaps get closer to the tricks Juan's playing over the crowd. The closer she gets to touching and understanding the weave of the magic he's using the more determined she gets. Of course all that will probably mean nothing to his security. But maybe they are touched like the crowd is.
"If the violence is getting worse then the response will just get worse. He is playing right into the hands of the Coalition States. He is endangering all who follow him. I don't want to see innocent people come to harm." Erica says with horror. "This rally must be stopped, or at least the violence must be averted." She says as she comes to her feet.
The crowd is mesmerized by the speaker, that's obvious. But because of their devotion, they do have certain twitchy nerves out for anyone who might want to pull a Bobby Kennedy on him. As Valeriya attempts to maneuver around their north side, she's spotted by a number of D-bees who quickly raise a vocal alarm, accompanied by hand motions. She may not be aiming a weapon, but people trying to sneak toward the person you're fawning over are never looked on with a kind eye. The blonde sets down her guitar, and the white haired woman rises from where the bongos were placed on the ground. Their dresses begin to loosen and their hands reach inside as they move north. The cute little kid begins to jump up and down, and even Juan takes a momentary note out of speech to say, "It's okay folks, things are being taken care of. Now, do we have anyone here from Pecos?" The pixie-woman rises with Erica. "But you can see them! They'll do what he wants, whether he does it by magic or through words. It would be best to just close off the Park than to cause a commotion." She's very sad, both at the situation, and because she can't think of anything to do, even though Erica's words ring true.
As the crow seems to find her a popular spectacle Valeria decides to do her own magic trick. Muttering a dark phrase and making a gesture she vanishes from conventional view. A second phrase and her heat signature follows, making her completely invisible to most.
Erica lets out a deep sorrowful sigh as she shakes her head. "There must be something that can be done." She says as she tightens her hands into fists with her frustration. She turns her head to look from the human protesters to the crowd and to the speaker.
The crowd who had been pointing to Valeriya gasps as she vanishes into thin air, and a number of cries of "Assassin!" and the like are shouted. The throng itself begins to move to protect Montoya with their own living D-bee wall. The five women don't seem to care. In fact, Valeriya's disappearance seems to alert the other three musicians, who rise quickly and hurriedly follow their sisters, all of them pulling off their loose dresses and displaying a variety of weapons strapped to their bodies, from pairs of swords and knives to things that look like large beverage thermoses, one to a each woman. Valeriya's disappearance doesn't seem to bother them, even if perhaps they are only going to her last known position. As for the pixie-woman, she whispers across to Erica, "Maybe, just *maybe* if you can talk to Hinkeldewey, you could end this. Not forever, but just this one rally. He'd be able to stop Montoya from being violent himself. Of course, he couldn't really stop the talking..." her voice trails off as she thinks about that additional problem.
Valeriya grins to herself as the crowd moves to protect its leader. Walls work both ways after all. Being the patient sort of lurker she doesn’t look for the direct path, turning back to circle the way she came is not what they'll expect after all. Before she advances again she'll be at the front of the presentation. Where one would least expect.
Erica looks up at the crowd as they react to Valeriya vanishing. She growls in frustration and then shakes her head. "Who is Hinkeldewey? Is that the kid up there? I guess I'll try to talk to him. See if I can convince him." She sighs again. "I'll see if I can make my way through the crowd, but it doesn't look good. Some really dumb idiot appears to be making matters worse." She waits for a response before she tries to make her way up to Hinkeldewey.
As Valeriya moves off, the five women reposition themselves, and the crowd tightens up under a few gestures from a handful of beings who had been up front trying to keep the crowd off the man anyway. Not armed, just limbed. The women though, seem quite determined to protect Juan Montoya, arraying themselves in a protective curtain. The pixie-woman nods to Erica. "Yes, Hinkeldewey. Little boy over up next to Mr. Montoya. He's a little slow, but very sweet. Juan seems to have a love-hate relationship with him, but I guess as long as the boy is happy, that's the important part." She then looks up and gasps her own gasp as the people move. "What's happening up there?" The mostly-human crowd is now milling around in an agitated manner, uncertain of itself as it doesn't know what's going on. Even the cops look uncertain, and their hands hover closer to their weapons.
Valeriya edges the crowd at the front end of the stage. Bravely protecting their leader. If only they knew what their leader was making them, they'd strip him bare. Which is far less than she intends, but how could they know that? She does intend to get closer though. So another uttered phrase and gesture ahead and she sends out a web of her own influence. Sowing powerful fear into the ground ahead of her.
Erica tries to appear nonthreatening as she makes her way through the crowd trying to get to the young boy. She hopes her small stature will help her make her way as she tries to appear nonthreatening.
For about twenty feet around the invisible Valeriya, D-bees panic, falling to the ground or breaking into a run like cockroaches from light. Despite this, there's still a good fifty feet thick with people between Valeriya and the front of the crowd. They're obviously jumpy and panicky from what's happening behind them, but still have sense enough to stay in one place to defend themselves against whatever is happening. Hinkeldewey jumps closer to Montoya as a frightened child, and the women tighten their security - one of them starting to move through the crowd toward the now semi-clear area. As for Montoya? He murmurs a few words, makes a few gestures, and casts at least one spell.
As the crowd parts Valeriya moves ahead, but stops after a few feet as her foot refuses to leave the ground. Getting annoyed now she reaches down to touch the ground that holds her, focusing her energy there for a moment.
Erica almost cries in frustration as she tries to make her way to the boy, but it seems hopeless now as someone is making things even more difficult then she thought possible. She continues to try to make her way to the stage stripping off her knife, so she won't look threatening.
Sometimes chaos and looking innocent is a good way to do things. Erica makes progress through the crowd who are neither helping nor hindering. It will take another moment or so before she breaks through the front of the crowd. Dropping the knife probably helped. As for Valeriya, it may have only stopped her for a moment, but that was enough for the clearly non-hippie musical women to nearly encircle her, having plowed their way - assisted - through the crowd, weapons drawn. Essentially the only unblocked route out of the hemisphere is out, back toward the entrance to the park. Hinkeldewey is still standing scared near Montoya's legs, and Montoya continues to hover and watch.
Valeriya grins as the five girls encircle her, shaking her head slightly. "Your going to need more call girls." She notes as she takes her helmet up to put it on. This dumps out a large bright red lizard that is quite visible as it scurries over the armor plating to affix to her rest where it disappears again.
Erica walks close to the boy or as close as she can get. "This needs to end. There are a lot of people here that can get hurt. Please don't start a riot. Too many people could get hurt. It will be a problem for your cause."
The first women, the one with blonde hair definitely got he jump on everyone, and comes down with swords on the invisible Valeriya. Two swords hack, twice each. Two of them find purchase, slicing into the invader's armor.
The girl following her weaves two large nets from behind her back, expertly, like a Roman gladiator and hurtles them at the invisible mage. The wrap themselves perfectly about their target.
Apparently the girls aren't feeling like taking prisoners anymore after the goading. The third woman frees her swords and attacks as did the first. Her blades crash into Valeriya's armor four times in quick succession, destroying her armor.
The auburn-haired woman seems to have no trouble seeing Valeryia's armor crumble, and has equally no trouble kicking her helplessly netted self in the gut. Whether she goes down or not, there will be a sword pointed at her throat, and at the lizard.
The man up on the mound allows himself to lower to the ground, with a clear line of sight, the crowd having parted like the Red Sea. His hand makes a gesture and he quickly points to where the hacking and stable swords are obviously pointing to the attacker. A large flash of light goes off.
The little guy is stuck in between Montoya and Erica, turning back and forth toward both of them. A father figure, and a brand new mother figure. Who to move to?
Erica moves closer to the boy as she glances at the combat going on and grimaces. "Please violence will only harm the cause. We must ask for calm so that their isn't rioting. Too many people could get hurt." She pleads with the boy. "Talk to Juan please."
Valeriya could use some more time, She doesn’t go down with the kick but an umph is given as she takes a short step back. Just before two more phrases are muttered. Demonic horns and scales erupt from her flesh to cloy her in armor just before a blinding flash exactly like the one used on her erupts, consuming her attackers in the flash.
The blonde leader and black-haired follower go down to their knees, dropping their weapons, afraid of the ugly mass that Valeriya has become. The others are unaffected, by both the hideous armor and the flash.
The final girl in the circle, one who was not terrified by the appearance of the squirming armor, doesn't take kindly to any of this. In fact, that lizard seemed to be a large part of this whole problem, as it squeaked out immediately before combat. She hacks at the thing, two blades, twice, and the lizard is quickly diced into five separate pieces as if a master chef had attacked a carrot.
The auburn-haired woman smiles as the lizard vanishes beneath her sister's blades. She lowers her own to scrape twice across the writhing armor, causing obviously severe damage.
Little Hinkeldewey runs over to Erica as if she were his real mother, hands raised, a big silly and frightened grin on his face. "What do I say? Take his magic? He's always nice to me, he saved me from the humans." He points toward the woman with a mildly-accusatory finger. "Like you."
Erica is at a loss for words since there is the insane Valeriya attacking Juan's bodyguards. "I don't know. I don't know what is happening and why there is this fighting. Please ask him to stop. Not all humans are bad. I don't want innocents to be harmed. We are all in this together trying for peace. Juan is causing too much violence for there to be peace if he keeps causing riots."
Valeriya can tell when she's outmatched. She's been able to tell for a bit, but now she actually admits it to herself and survival kicks in. A phrase and gesture and the nets fall off her. Then she starts running, crawling if need be. She can't really tell where, blind as she is. But she is attempting to back track, there were cops back there after all.
The red haired woman brings her blades down on Valeriya's squirmy armor, but does little else, allowing her to crawl in what is vaguely the direction of "out". The hideous magical armor is in the metaphysical version of being in tatters.
The woman who'd been playing the bongos and her auburn-haired partner keep a close eye on Valeriya as she moves slowly out, pacing her at a reasonable twenty feet or so, weapons drawn. After all, this person has proven itself to be dangerous.
Up on the podium, Juan has set the megaphone aside, and does a few quick weaves with his hands. After a moment, he laughs heartily, loud enough to be heard even without the megaphone. "This mage wants to be the center of attention? Let him, or her *be* the center of attention!"
Hinkeldewey looks into Erica's eyes for a moment, then bonks her on the shoulder with his forehead. "Okay, I'll try to talk to Juan! But he doesn't like other people much. But I'll try, he likes me!" The cute little boy hurries off, waving at Erica as he departs toward the dirt podium.
Erica frowns deeply as she watches Juan cast a spell at Valeriya. She has nothing on her that will help the mage. She pleads with the boy. "Please ask him to calm these people down. Too many will get hurt."
Valeriya has better places to be, heck even Juan's suggestion is better than here. But she's not going to make it blind, no she'll have the better part of a minute stumbling around first.
The remaining woman looks between the man she's charged with protecting, and the clearly defeated mage crawling her way out of the park to places unknown. The look on her face is one of trying to decide to kill or not - then her head suddenly twitches, and she moves back toward the speaking dirt podium.
It's a bright and happy day, at least as far as the weather is concerned. Fluffy clouds, singing birds, even running chipmunks. A couple of kids are over using the skate park, though one of them is using levitation to do it. The crowd of mostly humans that had gathered at the beginning of this speech has largely broken up at this point, broken into thirds. Two-thirds of them have chosen to mumble and groan, but leave the Park where all the violence is happening, probably none to pleased with the actions of the D-bees, even if only because of a side-relation to the elf. The gathering of mostly D-bees is still jumpy and nervous, but happy to see the violent mage leaving, some of them even cheering on the security women. The Kingsdale police officers have largely disappeared, though with a mild eye on the moving Valeriya. Erica is over near the south end of the D-bee crowd, while Hinkeldewey is up on the mound with Montoya, speaking to him animatedly, but quietly. Elsewhere, refreshments are still offered, though at the moment they aren't very popular. The sad thing is that barely forty minutes has passed since this licensed gathering began.
Erica watches the boy talk to the elven mage, hoping that he is able to talk the mage from starting a riot. She looks towards the elf and speaks loud enough to be heard. "Please do not give the Coalition States what they want. Don't have anyone else be hurt."
The D-bee mass looks at Erica cryptically, but makes no motion to stop her, though there are a few expected shout-downs. As the boy continues to speak to - or at - the powerful mage who is the center of attention, and the man turns to Erica. In a raised voice sans megaphone - he seems to have found his stride - he calls out, "We didn't do this! We were gathering for a polite, quiet discussion in the Park. We didn't even quarrel with those who came to protest! But who attacked us? Who I ask you?" The last is aimed at the D-bee audience, who murmurs back a slowly growing sentiment, "A human. A human mage! Humans!" Various shouted questions about whether or not the Coalition is the problem, or just humans in general.
"I know you are trying for peace. Please don't use this one person as an excuse to start your anger." Not everyone is like here. Many wish to join you in peace. We can get along if we try. We can live in peace." Erica calls out to both the elven mage and to the crowd. "The people of Kingsdale are not just human. They are people like yourselves.
Late to the gathering, Sage has missed the main action but it seems clear enough from appearances that something bad had happened to this so-called peaceful rally. She doesn't look like a vision of peacefulness herself, but she has no weapon drawn herself. She manages to approach close enough to overhear some of the debate happening now. "Peace is also something that must be struggled to achieved... misunderstandings and violence are likely to happen... but that is only a small obstacle to those that truly wish peace."
Up on the dirt podium, Juan is still speaking animatedly with the boy. Getting more animated with him, in fact, as if someone getting ready to scold a child. The crowd is turning some ears toward Erica, giving her the benefit of the doubt of actually being there, but not many people are actually listening enough to pay attention to her words. Sage is similarly met. Still, the crowd itself was never actually riled up to violence despite Valeriya's actions, and other than a few ne'er-do-wells, it's actually quite peaceful. Of course, lots of talk about how humans are rotten and can't be trusted, recent actions possibly making the point. The dwindling human protesters were close enough to Sage that some of them are calling to her, "Monster lover!" or "D-Bee freak!" and so on.
"If peace is what we all want then we have to work hard for it. We can't let malcontents and close minded people lead us to violence. I know that each of us is important, and I know not to listen to those ugly ones that don't appreciate your kind. Let us keep this a peaceful rally to show that we are better then those that would lead us to violence." Erica calls out to those people that might listen to her.
When Erica seems to address the people at large, Sage turns her own attention to the shouts that are directed towards her. "To those that wish to work with me in friendship, I will not worry about what I am called by those that do not understand... to those that wish to harm me or my friends, those will not be my friends... ask yourself if it matters what your friends look like or act like as long as they stand by you."
Juan Montoya smirks and calls, "Look at us!" He elevates into the air. "Which among us was violent? Which among us turned on our human brothers? Our obviously misguided, untrustworthy human brothers?" His feet touch the ground again. "None! None of us!" He opens a set of all-encompassing arms. "Why should we trust humans? Their governments. Their cultures. Warriors! Barbarians! Are there monsters, yes. Are there demons, yes. But we, the sentient, how many of us have been PERSECUTED?!" Most eyes and ears are on the man, but there are some who are on Erica and Sage. The humans who had shouted down Sage initially are basically gone at this point. Even if they were furious at the center of attention, what kind of fool would walk into a crowd of D-bees being riled up by an obvious elf mage, particularly when surrounded by a troop of bodyguards?
"There are bad people everywhere. We can't let those bad elements cause our people to hate each other. Kingsdale is a home for many people of all kinds. Let us not cause innocents of all races to suffer for the mistakes of a few. Please let us work to peace." Erica calls out to try to calm the crowd and not let Juan rile the crowd up.
Sage turns her attention towards the speaker, before shaking her head a little. "And it is talk like that which fan the flames of ugly emotions when calmer heads should prevail." She comments, "If this was meant to be a peaceful rally, would you rather have someone that can rise above an ugly moment or incite you into hasty action that you may regret later after he has disappeared with no consequence to himself?"
The elf on stage is laughing, mocking the two human women trying to be reasonable. Little Hinkeldewey still stands beside him, but looks once more confused as this point. The women - including those who had been struck by Valeriya's magic and have now recovered - are patrolling the area, but making no over action toward anyone in the Park. Not too many of the D-bees are yet paying attention to Sage and Erica, but the small group who are listening are boisterous enough that they form isolated little pockets of people in a true discussions. Montoya looks quite disgusted with everything, and bends down to pull a large blanket from beneath a layer of dirt where it had been hiding at his feet.
Erica turns to look at what Montoya is doing. She gnaws on her lower lip in worry as he pulls away the blanket. "Please let us all live together in peace. There is no reason to cause problems with each other. We have much to learn from each other."
Sage takes a moment to consider the situation and the mocking speaker. "It is up to them to decide what they want, Erica..." She comments before addressing the crowd at large. "To those that wish to speak among those that want to make new friends and have a true peaceful gathering, you are welcome to come with me back to my place... where we can simply talk amongst each other instead of listening to a loud mouth that's telling you what to think and feel."
Juan Montoya grumbles at the crowd and calls out. "You saw what happened. A human mage attacked us! Now look at these two women trying to fill your ears with lies. It's disgusting. Clearly, however, that mage managed to break your concentration, and there's no sense in continuing. You know where to get further literature, and we will make you aware of our next time and place of meeting." He sits down on the blanket, which rises high into the air, then calls, "To victory!" Then ZOOM he's off, the flying blanket carrying him west toward the river, little Hinkeldewey just barely hanging on. His five bodyguards take off after him at a sprint through the residential area, leaving little behind save for their musical instruments and dresses. The crowd, as it remains, then begins to generally break up on its own. Some people talking to Erica and Sage as they leave, some just... leave. Whatever this was supposed to be, it's over, and obviously far sooner than planned.
Erica speaks softly to the various people that come talk to her. She smiles and listens to what they have to say. She does her best to be supportive of the people that do indeed want peace. After a while she eventually makes her way home, exhausted from the days events.
Sage relaxes a little once the inciter decides to leave, and offers a little small talk to those that offer it to her. She doesn't bother to speak out about the inciter any further as it seems that people will already have their own decisions to make. She'll likely arrange for someone to wander with her, even if it turns out to be just Erica, when she leaves.
