French Revolution Mafia [Concluded]

[GeneralHankerchief]

"By sealing our work with our blood, we may see at least the bright dawn of universal happiness."
~ Maximilien Robespierre

Night 3

In many ways, Paris's Temple of Reason, located on the old Île de la Cité on the Seine, symbolized the various turns the Revolution had taken since 1789. Formerly known as the Notre-Dame Cathedral, one of the religious keystones in France, the old building with the famous gargoyles and rose window had taken some damage through the various riots since 1789, and then fell into general neglect and disuse since the various governments of France - including and especially the National Convention - pursued a policy of dechristianization.

The building had seen more use in recent months, ever since the Powers That Be had decided to promote a new belief: The Cult of Reason, designed to keep national unity strong and provide a more enlightened, time-appropriate replacement for Catholicism. Thus, Notre-Dame was repurposed: Out went the old name, all statues of kings (French, Biblical, or otherwise), and many old Christian relics and symbols. In came shrines to Liberty, Philosophy, and Reason; food, as parts of the old cathedral were being used as storage; costumed women, filling the old statuary role (but for Liberty, etc. as opposed to Christian symbolism) for a government that wanted less of an emphasis on statuary and idolatry.

The effect was very off-putting for Renata as she entered the Temple of Reason to calm her feelings. Not pray, you understand, as she was a good Revolutionary citizen who followed her government's directives, but to just... center herself. To reason, if you will, a solution to the mess she found herself in.

Thusfar, the Convention had been quite successful at weeding out and terminating the Royalists that had infiltrated their ranks, disposing of three within a 24-hour period, but they had gotten nothing but false positives since then and she knew that there was at least one still lurking. In addition, the factional game had started. Just as many people predicted, at least some of the factions were using the state of emergency as an excuse and advantage to advance their own particular agenda at the expense of everyone else - among other, more nefarious things.

Renata walked down one of the Temple's side aisles, giving the living statues little more than a single glance. They were weird, yes, but the actors hired to serve as representations of the essences of Liberty, Reason, et al. were good at their jobs, not betraying an inch of movement. She paused before the main altar, to that of Liberty, unsure of the procedure that was to happen next.

"So, uh, do I kneel? Do I pray? Is Liberty actually a divine figure, something that needs my worship? I'll be honest, I wasn't paying too much attention to the Festival of Reason they had here a while back. Of all the Catholic traditions you could have kept, ceremonial wine might not have been the best choice. You know what? I'm going to kneel. It's an altar, there's a statue and important-looking stuff on it. Doesn't seem right otherwise."

She knelt. Even this act seemed to calm her down a bit. "Anyway, still don't know if I'm supposed to worship you or not... you're Liberty, right? Then I could really use some help liberating my paranoia here. I'm doing the right thing, right? I'm on the right course, right? I mean, my faction's taken some hits, we all have, but I'm wondering if the people going after us are truly Royalists or simply just opportunists... maybe you could liberate my confusion on this issue while you're at it. You know, if you're divine and I am supposed to be doing this right... if you're not, then don't worry about it since you can't hear me anyway. God, this is confusing. Er, Liberty, this is confusing. Supreme Being, this is confusing? I hear that Robespierre's trying to start up an alternative, we'll see how that goes..."

As she was rambling on, one of the living statues finally moved, taking off her sandals while still remaining poised on her pedestal. The next action would require silence, and, deep in thought as Renata was, wooden soles still made a sound on a stone floor, especially in a building with excellent acoustics.

"...and that was how we lost that particular battle. Logistics matter, just ask those dead chickens! So the next campaign was later that autumn..."

The statue stepped off her podium and drew closer to Renata, who by this point was pretty deep in... thought? Prayer? She was certainly deep in trouble.

"...so then, later on that night in the Jacobin Club, Mirabeau comes up to me, and man, he is drunk as a skunk, and he starts stumbling over, almost knocks over the bust of Rousseau, and he walks right up to me and says..."

Taking off her sandals was a good choice. The statue made hardly a sound as she approached Renata for the final blow. Luckily, all of her coworkers were, as previously mentioned, very good at their jobs, not betraying an inch of movement no matter what. She walked right up behind Renata.

"I just want what's best for the country, Liberty. We've been through a lot these past years, and the people deserve to settle down. I hope one day I can lie down and rest and not have to worry about factional politics, or foreign invasion, or Royalist counterrevolution, or any of that other nonsense. Lying down peacefully just sounds so nice."

"It'll happen sooner than you think," the statue said, and silently slashed Renata's throat. Blood pooled before the Altar of Liberty in the Temple of Reason, another casualty of the Revolution.

----

The meeting of the National Convention was very fraught that day, the agenda being unusually packed. After repeatedly gavelling everybody into order, the President began to speak.

"Right, citoyens, I have a few announcements to make. First of all, independent investigation has made some progress onto the threats that lurk among us. There are as follows:"

NotACop: Girondin
seireikhaan: Montagnard
Montmorency: Montagnard

"None of these people are Royalists. This is an unchallenge-able truth." NAC, khaan, and Monty looked around, somewhat relieved for the time being.

"Now, the second order of business. In addition to your daily suspect vote, there is a piece of legislation on the agenda: The Law of 22 Prarial. This will greatly streamline the legal process and give us, the members of the Convention, even more power in dealing with enemies of the realm. This is a simple 'yes' or 'no' vote, so please give it in addition to your normal suspect vote. Any questions, ask me for clarification." Everybody nodded at this, it seemed fairly straightforward, even though the proposed law was oddly light on the specifics.

"Right then, in the name of liberty, equality, and brotherhood, let's get to it!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Renata has been killed! She was:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Jeanbon Saint-André, a Militarist!

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Not a Royalist.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

As detailed in the flavor above, you will be voting on the Law of 22 Prarial today in addition to the normal lynch vote. In-game, the Law of 22 Prarial uniformly supplies the factions with additional abilities if the vote passes. The exact nature of these abilities will remain a mystery until when and if the law passes. Voting for this is as follows:

Vote: Yes

Should you change your mind:

Unvote: Yes
Vote: No

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It is now Day 4!

Voting will end Sunday, March 19, at 5:00 PM US Eastern time (GMT-4). Drift may or may not continue depending on my schedule, but we'll probably keep it at this time for a little while.



Feedback will go out shortly.

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Still alive (13):
Al Sipsclar
autolycus
Choxorn
Csargo
El Barto
Lewwyn
Manasi
Montmorency
NotACop
seireikhaan
Snerk
Winston Hughes
Zack

Killed:
Fenn
Monstrdude
Logic
Kagemusha
Arakhor
BSmith
Askthepizzaguy
Renata

Guillotined:
Jabbz
atheotes
Dp101