RP:Jaize Betrays

Part of the Vakmatharas' Jar Arc

Part of the The End's Not Near Arc

Summary: The naga react to the curse that affects Alithrya, which became accelerated after Chartsend "cured" their plauge. Vakmatharas' Jar has blessed them with a panic inducing Hydrophobia, which causes Jaize (the current matron in power) to seal off all the city entrances and exits. No one gets in or out! Killian, the leader of a demolition crew, starts a resistance chant and pays for it with his life.

Extravagent Water Garden

The Queen has been having trouble sleeping. All night long she heard the drip, drip, drop of water flowing past her bedroom walls. The city of Alithrya is entirely encased within that life giving liquid, which now for reasons not even the highest Ha-Naga could deduce, had become detrimental to their health. There have been mass reports of nagas attempting to swim out into the ocean, only to faint or claw their way back in the middle of psychotic episode. All the nagas recovered have been treated but...the entirety of the city is water. The streets are practically PAVED with water. When news reached Jaize, she’d thought the idea was insane. They are naga, by Aramoth and there’s no way they could fear something as necessary and all consuming as water. But when her normally clean scales brushed against the first ripple on the palace floor, she’d screeched in unholy refusal to accept it’s presence and had to be transported to a higher level in hopes of escaping the impending flood. She demanded hastily that all city entrances and exits be sealed off. They were already being manned against foreign invasion since she’d killed her sister, in the case of allies come to support Reginae’s claim. Bah! What a joke. No one even -tried-. It’s the only thing that gives her peace in these stressful times. This morning, Jaize is curled up on an algae covered marble statue of a naga woman taming a giant snail. No part of her tail is touching the ground. Several male nagas have been lined up and outfitted for demolition, with heavy mallets and ponchos to protect their delicate skin from the poisonous water therein. “You vowed to serve your queen in times of need!” She reminds them in a shrill, high pitched tone that makes those closest cower as their ear drums are torn to shreds. “Your queen demands you remove this terrible fountain from these gardens immediately!!” All sorts of water sources have been removed / destroyed to combat the growing aggravation with the phobia. As far as Jaize knew, this was a test from the gods to perceive her leadership abilities. She would destroy all the water in Alithrya! And then the world!!

The male naga are hesitant to start and the leader of them, handsome snake man with dreads and rippling torso muscles which blend beautifully to his black mamba tail. They all hiss and wish to follow through for Queen Jaize, but their phobia taking over cause more arguing between them of ‘no, you first!’ The leader, Killian, looks up at Jaize as if the answer is so simple, “yer majesty, isn’t there a knob somewhere we can just turn to shut the water off?” The worker men around him nearly berate him with hisses and ‘shut uuuup’ ’s, but he wasn’t worried about them as his long tail uncoiled and he towered over them, “you were all thinking the same thing!” Eyes like decorated spun glass studies the fountain with a shudder, “yer majesty, my humblest apologies,” he bows his head, “but if we start hammering at this thing then we might bust open a pipe within and the streets would be flooded again.” Strong arms outstretch around him at the dried up streets to add to his point of ‘we just cleaned this up’. He lowers down on his tail as if kneeling before the queen to await her response, fully expecting to be reprimanded for his insolence. One of the men gets so anxiety riddled that he just throws himself toward the fountain and starts hammering away causing the rest to scatter when water started spilling out from the cracked edges, including Killian. So much so that he was fighting for space on the marble statue with Jaize while the brave, more like dumb, worker went into a complete panic attack and just froze when the water reached his tail while also spraying up into his exposed face. Some of the workers quickly drag that one away from the growing puddle with nervous yelling when the dumb one started to convulse.

Jaize looks at Killian from atop her pilliar with a scowl. “If there was a switch…” She hissed slowly, shaking her head with insult. “Are none of you water mages!? What is the point of our magic prowess if we are asking for switches and knobs?” She growls, pointed nails digging into her palm with visible frustration. Had she come back to rule naga or fermin!? “How -dare- you question my decisions so plainly…” She starts, the pupils of her eyes devolving into thin, ebony slits as they focus on the male. Fear had made them bicker and irrational, most of all the so-called ‘queen’. The tip of her crystalline tail lifts, as if preparing to swat the back of his bowed head for his insolence when the sole naga, riddled with anxiety attacks the fountain in a rush. Her head spins in his direction, a half formed “Wai-” on her lips before he’s burst the main line and water is spilling into the garden. Her tail retracts, accidentally giving Killian room on the column beneath her. She hisses at the rising flood like an agitated cat and keeps her eyes on the water levels as the rest of the destruction crew flails and flees and convulses. “I’ve come back to rule idiots….” She mumbles behind her fanged grimace before casting an illusionary ‘raft’ on the water’s surface for the workers to occupy. A few of the other nagas notice immediately and scramble towards it, tipping each other off in a show of mindless panic. Jaize sighs, shoulders slumping and eyes skyward, an unspun curse on her breath. “Killian…” She looks at the handsome male with nothing but ire in her expression. “Get your men under control.”

Killian was attempting to scramble further up the pillar near the Queen, forgetting social protocol with royalty and how indecent this is. Surely being knocked down by her or swatted at he ducks, loses balance and tumbles in. This rose up a panic attack within Killian now and in his scramble to stand within the rushing waters of the fountain he found a shovel. In his fight or flight state he shoved the wood and metal object into where the water was spouting from stemming the flow, but in such an adrenaline rush he does something he will probably soon come to regret. Narrowed eyes and his tail flicking wildly within the waters brought him before Jaize to which he points up at her, “this is all because of YOU!!” His deep voice booms throughout the garden causing everyone to stop and hush on the raft they found, “because of you and what you have done. Immoral and wrong!” His tail never ceasing its flicking within the waters and in doing so flicked some water up at Jaize when he points again while raising his fist up high, “NOT. MY. QUEEN!” The worker crew on the raft try to hush him up because it was due to her raft that is saving them from the horrible water below, but a few of them join in, pointing and pumping their fists in the air along with Killian. Now he’s addressing the small mob on the raft and glaring at the faces within the safety of windows, “our gods are punishing US! Because of HER betrayal!” Glaring back up at her he starts another chant, “JAIZE. BETRAYS! JAIZE. BETRAYS!” The entire area was gaining an audience while there was a perfect harmony of ‘not. My. queen’ and ‘Jaize. Betrays’ while Killian was smiling victoriously.

Jaize deflected the small amount of water that Killian flicked in her direction with the back of her hand. Her blue eyes narrow on the male, fangs breaching the rim of her frown. Jaize had quite a few traits that followed her around. Constantly talking was one of them, so when she fell silent and the tip of her tail rattles violently with annoyance, some of the naga on the raft take notice. The raft itself vanishes, previously supported by her concentration, which is now all focused on this future corpse. Her nails flex out of her palm while she cackles menacingly over the growing chants. Suddenly the water is not the scariest thing in the garden. She hoists herself up with the strength of her muscular tail and surveys the small crowd that’s gathered. “You think -I- and the punishment?” Another deafening cackle sends shivers through the naga below. Her eyes trace over each one of them, as if marking them ‘traitor’ in her mind. “YOU have grown weak in my absence! Letting outsiders in!? Making ‘peace’ with other races instead of waging war to take what is ours by BIRTHRIGHT!” She hisses loudly, gesturing a long clawed finger across those gathered. “We are NAGA. We fight or we die, and if you think you get to walk away after defying my orders, you are dead wrong.” Her steely eyes lock on Killian. “And if you decide to lead your charges to their death, so be it. Decide now, cowards, who it is you wish to fight for. My sister is gone.” She spits. “DEAD, never to return for you unimpressive lot and if you don’t want to join her, you’ll need to grow a BACKBONE and help me appease Aramoth by achieving our full glory as warriors and conquerors!” As she speaks, Jaize launches herself off the column and into Killian’s direction; fangs bared, claws extended on all ten of her digits. Her aim is his throat. She is not a woman who pulls punches and won’t stop until his blood stains the water they all so greatly fear.

Killian was watching as some naga start to scurry away, “cowaaaards!” He was now glaring at them, too distracted to see Jaize advance and he was caught off guard especially since he is not an adept fighter in the least. She got in close and nipped his neck just as he went to back up, but the only weapon near was that shovel he just rammed into the flow of the fountain water. His hands grip around the wooden handle and he's trying with all his might to pull it out, but that adrenaline rush he had before was gone by now. “You will all rather see me DIE than to speak your minds about the INJUSTICE!” The crowd wasn’t thinning although they fell quiet, it was a trainwreck you know you should look away, but a dark part of your mind wants to watch the destruction and death take place. He was seething, angry and although the metal of the shovel didn’t pull free he at least got the long wooden handle out… This will work as a nice staff or broke ass javelin but there is no sharp end, quickly fixed when he strikes it at the wet ground and it splinters at the end, “come at me, bitch!” The sharp stick aimed directly at the queen because if he’s going down in front of this crowd as some pathetic martyr then he is going down with a fight. Jabbing and slashing at the air towards her wildly with brute force, but making sure to use the length of the javelin to keep some distance between them. All the while using his quick black mamba tail to flick water her way from behind him.

Jaize is so blood thirsty, the water is barely perceptible. Her nails run aground in the splintered handle, breaking two on the right while her left swipes, aiming for his neck and face like a giant cat paw. She didn’t retort, because all of her senses are focused on the prey. Water trickles down her face and her hair. She pretends its blood and ignores it. Ah, to bathe in the blood of your enemies, still warm while their heart fades to black in their chest. Was there a sweeter sight? While she’s tangled in the hilt of the shovel, her tail snakes through the pooled water to pull Killian under. Sweep him off his ‘feet’ perse. Jaize leans in close, a wicked smile on her lips. “There is no justice.” She whispers, tone rich with morbid humor. “There is only life and death. Whatever we have to do to survive.” Then she leans, pushing all of her body weight into toppling the male back into the water.

Killian was failing horribly, but if he were to die as a martyr he’d better do his right. At least he has her in the waters with him and once she realizes they're surrounded by water and not blood they will all see this farce of a Queen is just as scared as the rest, she’s not immune, she’s just as cursed as the rest and nothing is her birthright. Their small grapple is enough time for him to call out one last time, “NOT MY QUEEN! JAIZE BETRAYS!” Causing an uproar from their audience and he knows now, in his heart, some of these naga are with him in their distrust of Jaize. He’s being pulled under the waters because his tail falters in its balance by her doing, he’s done for. Then a sudden rush of new fear plagues him, drowning… In water no less! Oh how the fates have turned on him this day and when he’s in Jaize’s grasp he sees something beyond her head, his wife, and with tears in his eyes he shouts to her, “tell the boys their daddy loves them!” It’s sappy, I know, cliche? VERY, but this is the lot his soul is given and the hand he’s been dealt. Just as Jaize was forcing him under his gaze was ablaze with a glaring hatred, “FOR QUEEN REGINAE!” He dedicates his death before the naga, at the hands of Jaize, in the blinding fear of this curse - to the late and righteous Queen… Reginae. Hands and claws digging at Jaize’s biceps and forearms while his tail and body was in a violent wrath under her… Until there is no more movement… Killian's arms fall limp to float in the water and his essence leaves its shell unto the afterlife via the last few bubbles ascending within the water. The naga audience fall entirely silent at the sight, sadness and hatred upon their expressions before a quiet, “.... No…” comes from the wife of Killian and the women next to her have to hold her back from running to his lifeless body for fear of what Jaize would do to her, too. Agony filling her lungs when a loud bellow of, “KILLIAAAAN!!!” A hard gasp and sob to follow so she may bellow another, “NOOOOO!!!” The utterly distraught wife was being ushered away Sean Penn in Mystic River style, but the rest remained silent and have no interest in what Jaize might try to say after. Most, if not all, the naga people hang their head in the loss and scene they just witnessed while turning their backs to slither away in the sound…. of silence.

Jaize can’t feel Killian’s claws but they do cut into her flesh to leave gray slits, where no blood streams. Her smile continues to twist into an unrealistic angle as the last bit of life is drained from his eyes. “Tell my kids…” she mutters, lackadaisical and disinterested, before releasing his body to wherever the water will flow. She sends her wrathful gaze over the crowd. “Does anyone else want to stand up for my dead little sister?” She flexes her claws as the crowd remains silent. “I didn’t think so.” She smirks, pretending to dust off her shoulders. The pull of the water reminds her that she is, in fact, not waist deep in the blood of her enemies and she quickly slithers back up to the column top to wait out the worst of the flooding while the crowd disperses. Insufferable weaklings, she scuffs privately, while the gashes in her tail and chest slowly reform into fresh, unblemished skin.