Sergios quickly walks up the same platform as Andronikos, a look of grave determination upon his face and deep enmity. However, instead of acknowledging Andronikos, he turns to the crowd and spreads his arms before breaking into speech.
"FRIENDS! ROMANS! FELLOW COUNTRYMEN! Brothers in arms, honourable men who are loyal to their people, their glorious leader, and to the ideals of justice, honour, and freedom!"
"Here we stand at a crossroad of life. There are selfish, greedy, and powerful dark forces on the rise against the legitimate leader of the Empire! This selfish, traitorous man seeks that which he does not rightly deserve, and did not rightly earn!"
"Kousinos Sophianos, who deserted the holy lands and let the Levant go to ruin, now seeks to ruin the entire Roman way of life! He is a traitor and an outlaw, one who seeks power through illegal and non-traditional ways. We Romans are a proud people, the only TRULY civilized nation on earth, and this barbarian scum wants to rule over all of us and send us to our deaths, tearing from our families our lands, titles, wealth, property, and livelihoods, and remake the empire in his own image."
"He claims that he will bring back the Era of greatness of Aleksios Komenos, who held the Empire together and brought strength from unity! But the coward has done nothing but bring us strife and cause more and more territories to rebel, and not even to his cause!" Sergios takes an moment to glibly gesture to Andronikos with a steely gaze, before turning back to the crowd. "His opportunism and greed spread like a plague to all corners of the Empire, and it is up to us, good citizens of the Roman Empire, to halt this cancer before it consumes us all!"
"This is a most grave time for the Roman people. We have stood as a beacon of civilization for over a millennium. This foul creature will not be the next leader of the empire so long as I draw breath. There is no time to stand on the sidelines, now is our moment when we must strike at the very heart of the enemies of the empire. The Venetians and Turks can wait, and unless our empire is whole, we are vulnerable."
"WE MUST STAND UNITED AGAINST TYRANNY AND DIVISION! Can you honestly say our Emperor is a tyrant, who wishes to gain power through despicable means? Has he tried to divide us, make us weak, in a lust for power while we have enemies beating down upon our gates? No! He wishes to lead us to greatness, as has his entire family before him. Now this... stunted slimeball... seeks to destroy all that we have made together. It is you, good citizens and soldiers of the Empire, you who have laid the stones that created this Empire, it was you who bring out the greatness! Yet this man Kousinos seeks to claim the throne, and take away what you worked for! Will you stand for that?!"
"The time for speeches and debates is over. Now we must defend the Roman empire, together, as brothers in arms, seeking justice. IF WE DO NOT CRUSH THIS REBELLION NOW, IT WILL BE THE END OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE!!!"
"A wise man known as Efstratios Monomachos said that Romans fighting against Romans would lead to our downfall. He is most prophetic, for now we are seeing his prediction come to pass. But it does not have to be so, and I will not let that stand!"
"JOIN ME in supporting the LEGITIMATE RULER OF THE EMPIRE, and I am certain the rewards will be greater than you can imagine, and you will have your honor intact. You will have the gratitude of your fellow countrymen, of the Empire itself, and that of the Basileus!"
"I trust my honorable brothers more than I trust rebels and outlaws who want to steal an empire instead of build one themselves. Let us now sally forth and AND FIGHT IN THE NAME OF THE EMPIRE!!!"
Re: The Hippodrome
Reply With Quote
Bookmarks