*comment Prologue - Sienan Burning
*image header_c0.png center Prologue, Sienan Burning. It begins with the scent of sulfur and ash.
*page_break

The sky is mockingly clear today.

You gaze upon the fertile lands that stretch into the horizon, and are stricken anew by the city's beauty. There's a serene spring breeze blowing in for the first time in the year, casting a gentle sway over the grasslands just outside of town. The rustic buildings, at once sturdy and worn by weather and time; the well-tread stone pathways that snake into a million hidden alleyways; the glittering spires of the Old Cathedral, visible in the distance as its sacred walls crackle with the sheen of holy protection.

This is Sienan, the blessed capital of the Kingdom of Param. It is the place you've finally gotten used to calling home.

It is also the place where you'll die.

"Burn the sinner!"

"Blackguard! Traitor!"

"Pay for your crimes!"

The onslaught of curses and insults have yet to recede since they began this morning, when you left the confines of the royal dungeon and were dragged, weakened and broken, to the crowded city center. Children hide behind the folds of their mother's skirts as the city's commoners jeer and pelt you with anything within arm's reach.

What expression did you show them in response?

*choice
  #Humility. These people have been through much; they need an outlet for their anger.
    *set noble %+ 15
    *set prenoble %+ 15
    You try your best to put on a display of shame and regret, lowering your head and avoiding eye contact. The crowd is galvanized anew by what they perceive to be an admission of guilt, and the insults they hurl seem to heighten in cadence and intensity.  It takes a toll on your emotional capacity, but you'll cease to exist in a few moments anyhow. These people are the ones who will live on, carrying their pain with them. You hope this can help assuage their anger somewhat.
    *goto walk
  #Contempt. The extent of their ignorance makes me want to hurl.
    *set noble %- 15
    *set prenoble %- 15
    You put on a menacing scowl, and much of the crowd were chastened into silence. Let them never forget that you are the Demon of Sienan, the one whose name they have been whispering in fear for the past week. If they are so inclined to paint you as the villain, you may as well look the part.  
    *goto walk
  #Guile. I'll make them think that this was part of my plan all along.
    *set charming %+ 15
    *set precharming %+ 15
    They may have painted you as the villain, but you are still able to control what [i]type[/i] of villain you'll be remembered as. You shoot a knowing smirk at the crowd, letting them know that the worst is yet to come—all a bluff, of course, but let it never be said that the Demon of Sienan's reign of terror ended with a simple burning.
    *goto walk
  #Despair. I'm on the verge of tears from the unfairness of it all.
    *set emotional %+ 15
    *set preemotional %+ 15
    Indeed, they should be [i]grateful[/i] for all you've done. Yet the crowd jeers even as your tears threaten to spill forth, hurling produce and insults alike at your trembling form. A voice in the crowd shrilly demands an apology for the death of his family; another wails curses for you to burn in hellfire for eternity. And there is nothing you can do to deny their condemnation.
  #Nothing. Reacting in any way will only give them what they want.
    *set charming %- 15
    *set precharming %- 15
    You maintain a stoic facade as the crowd continues to hurl produce and insults alike. A voice in the crowd shrilly demands an apology for the death of his family; another wails curses for you to burn in hellfire for eternity. Your chilly demeanor never fades throughout. You might have pitied these fools for their plight, once, had they not irresponsibly sought whatever outlet they could access to assuage their selfish anger.
    *goto walk
  #Nothing. I feel numb as the knowledge settles in: this is how it all ends.
    *set emotional %- 15
    *set preemotional %- 15
    The world around you blurs into background noise, leaving you numb against the crowd's loathsome jeers. The heavy anvil of reality sinks with a depressing finality, as you come to fully realize that [i]this is it, you're really going to die today[/i]. After everything you've done, after everything you've been through—you'll die a traitor's death, burning as the most wretched criminal the city has ever seen.
    *goto walk

*label walk
*line_break

The imperial guards are silent as they guide you to the raised platform, your bare feet scraping against the cold timber floor. The wooden construct is tall, taller than most buildings; they needed the whole city to witness the end of the Demon of Sienan. You are treated with surprising gentleness as your body is fastened against the stake. The tinders they have placed are mercifully plentiful—you will die of suffocation long before the flames reach you.

*page_break

As the knights depart from your pyre, you sneak one last look at His Majesty, King Leomar Nantael de Param, by whose orders you will be reduced to ash. He is standing upon a balcony over the gathering mob, surrounded on all sides by his entourage of knights. Many of them had been your confidants, once, sword brothers and sisters upon whose hands you would place your life. You cannot make out their expressions from this distance. It is still painfully easy to guess that their once-friendly gazes have turned severe.

The king would traditionally address the crowd in this moment, galvanizing them with an address about the purging of evil from his blessed kingdom. Public executions, after all, are as much a tool of assuaging public anger as they are actual punishments. Yet he remains gravely silent, and only gives a solemn nod to the mage who is to become your executioner.
 
With a wave of the mage’s hand, flames erupt upon the kindling and morph into a mighty blaze. As the haze obscures your vision and your consciousness slips away, your last thoughts are painfully lucid:

How did it get to this point?

*page_break Darkness takes you.
*set memorypoint "complete_stake"
*goto_scene Junction