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[Shootandrun]

Persuade Populars to vote for my bill.

[6+1, 3-1, 6, 1, 4, 2] After a short discussion with the Populares, the majority agreed with Crassus that voting in favor of his bill was the wisest option at the moment. However, a problem arose when the matter of the consulships came up. Of course, the overall thing looked bad to vote for if only for moral reasons - many senators felt like the Optimates had manipulated Hetairos to put forward his bill so they could present a less extreme one afterwards, boosting the latter's chances to be approved by biasing the senate's view of the matter. The overall technique was displeasing at best and insulting at worst, but there was another greater offense: the 'extreme' bill had been apparently used that way because it introduced the notion of giving more power to the plebs. Of course, the Populares were not pleased.

For a time, it seemed as though they would simply withdraw their support of the bill proposing the consulship, but then another problem arose - doing so would associate the senators with Kaeso, the dwarf who had voiced his opinion against the bill in the first place. While that may look like nothing, some senators still felt offended by the verbal smackdown he had addressed them during the last session. This caused a new argument - many of the older, more experienced senators were outraged at the simple idea that their partners could let themselves be influenced by petty feuds such as these. All troubles could have been avoided there, with the senators voting divided on the consular matter, but then one of them chose to speak a little louder than before against his fellow Populares.
[6,6,1, 5, 6, 1]

"Do you truly expect us to support Goatface over there after he insulted us in public, old fool? We are patricians of Hadria, and we will not tolerate a troglodyte to-"

And he would have continued, but two other senators interrupted him at the same time.

"What did you call me?"

"What did you call him?"

The first was Kaeso, of course, but the second one to speak was a dwarf from the Novi Homines who had jumped up at these words, for the senator across the room had just insulted another dwarf using two racial slurs at once, one of them formidably insulting. These two dwarves who had gotten up and spoken in outrage, however, where surprisingly amongst the more calm and reserved members of their party - the others were already halfway across the room before they were finished.

As the unfortunate senator who had insulted the Houses was brought down from his seat and beaten up by two dwarves who were both twice as strong as he, the senate imploded.

After that, confusion became too great to fully understand what was happening. For reasons unknown, an Isolationnist hit an Optimate with a scroll, thus increasing the chaos as the two factions jumped in, and after that point the ones who were bothering to follow the action either rushed to the door or ran to the emperor in order to make sure no ambitious rascal thought he could try his chance while the guards were busy with something else.

The senatorial session had devolved into a brawl.

[filiusenox]

Fae calmly picked himself up from his seat, dodging a thrown scroll and calmly making his way to the exit. His dwarven guard followed him, silently, a small grin on his face at the chaos that was around them. An Optimate blocked his path, and he politely tapped the man on the shoulder.

"Excuse me, may you p-" then he ducked under the swing and drove his fist into the man's gut, sending him sprawling, "That was quite rude."

Then, Fae heads out, calmly and slowly, dwarf bodyguard in tow.

[Taricus]

Such an event would not go unnoticed by the public, if due to the extra guards being called into the senate. And it would no doubt garner outside attention. For one group of legionaries, under the command of of Titus Severus, they would be treated to an entertainment event that would be hard-pressed to replicate. One by one, they all climbed onto the roof, peering into the carnage of the senate below.

"Ha, Would you look at that. Less disciplined than the barbarians!" Titus said, before a reply came back at him from a dwaven legionary. "Pffft, Easy for you to say, speartip- Ooohhh, That's one dirty senator. kicked his foe right in the nuts!" Another legionary, this one a human, interjected into the conversation: "Look at that one dwarf senator, he's tearing right through anyone go- Oh, oh, someone just thumped him with a chair!"

Titus felt obliged to say the next thing, if only out of boredom; "Twenty denarii says the guard doesn't intervene for another ten minutes atleast." "Deal, I'll collect my money in five." The legionaries laughed, before turning back to the mayhem in the senate hall, Today was a pretty amusing day for this unit.

[Urist_McDrowner]

This sort of violence in a place of law and oration appalled Hetairos. He stood up and attempted to leave.

Hetairos tries to leave.

[Sheb]

((Who said combat skills were useless for a Senator? :p))

While all hell was breaking loose, Lucullus ran to the gong that was used to mark the opening of sessions and gave it a few good hit, trying to get some quiet.


"Senators, senators! Such a conduct is not fitting to this assembly. While some Senators may have let their tongues outrun their brains, those that let their fists outrun their manners commited a graver offense still. I pray you'll all regain your seat now!"

Try to calm things (Legislation +1)

[Ardas]

((Tari, you got onto the roof. how do you look inside? through a closed roof? I don't think there are any windows or open bits in the roof of Basilica))

Crassius was overwhelmed by the insane response. This place had to be cleared before someone gets gravely injured, or worse, Crasssius loses more political influence. Fae and hetaior were already leaving, clearly

Emperor was not here, but his praetorians were a large unit and no doubt someone had to be at hand.
Crassius pulled a servant to him and told him "find a praetorian captain or officer and tell him to come here and calm the senate chamber. Onlookers should be removed too."

Then he called upon his supporters. "Stop this, right now! Where is your dignity? Get a hold of yourselves, lest we are no different from pleb in a tavern!

Try to bring order to the chamber. Ask for praetorian guard to come and remove onlookers if there are any and calm the chamber.

[Azthor]

"(...) Praefectus, return order to this most illustrious fo meetings at once, I will not have Hadria's seat of power stained by petty infighting; you are free to do as you feel necessary, but do try and keep the brutality to a minimum, I will return once the issue has been dealt with"

The Emperor stands there for a few seconds, both awed and shamed by the events unfolding before him. After a brief pause, he hands the Praefectus and heads out of the Senate building to only return once the men inside stop acting like the savages they'd have enslaved.

[Caellath]

Durant bowed respectfully before putting on the black helmet with the royal purple crest which indicated his status as member of the Guard and the fact he now "meant business".

"Your will be done, Emperor Septimus." he said before turning to the nearby praetorians - a good number, if not almost the entire Guard, was guarding the Senate while leaving the protection of the capital to the town guards - and starting to roar orders in a thundering, confident voice that gave his soldiers no doubt about that to do.

He pointed at a small group of his men and motioned outside. "Bring some buckets of cold water and drench the more dedicated 'combatants', but be careful!" he spun on his heels and pointed to the rest and kept barking commands as the last men ran outside to do as ordered. "Bear your shields, abandon swords in favor of scabbards and bang with them on the shields! Produce noise and disorient them until they are too confused and dazzled to fight! Separate contenders, swirl and use your cloaks to confuse them but avoid violence at any costs!"

"Guard, you are my men. My blades, shields and blood. Make Hadria and our Emperor proud, move out and pacify this meeting!" he completed, taking the head of the peacekeeping formation.

Bring order to the Senate, using the whole Guard (one regiment) to bring order, separate fights and keep the brawlers away from each other.

Since the Guard is well-armored, they won't use their weapons - they will subdue the fighters without any violence, making use of mental tactics, and if needed, grappling combined with pinning to make people stop fighting.

[Ghazkull]

The Svebe Guard had kept back up to now, making space for the Praetorians to  break up the fights.

" That is more to my liking. "civilized people" ripping each other apart, ten denarii on the dwarves."

Hmpf, ten denarii on the Praetorians. Keep tally for me, i have to make way for the Emperor.

Signalling a group of ten more Svebes, Rurik and the Group of Guards formed a Cordon around the Emperor, burtally shoving and beating their way through the fighting senators. The Svebes, each a head taller than the average Hadrian towered like an island of calm in the Storm of Fists surrounding them.

Escort the Emperor outside, brutally shove, kick and beat our way through the senators. Whoever doesn't get out of the way is at his own fault. The Svebe Guard is there to protect the Emperor not to make friends...

[micelus]

As his fellow senators fought it out, Marcellus hid by one of the supporting columns, waiting for the fight to end. It was intriguing how the rulers of a whole empire could be so...foolish.

Really now, another brawl in this most august assembly? We should really charge the plebs to watch actually, good money out of that now.

[thatkid]

[6] As Fae attempts to calmly walk out... +1 to ???

[3+1] Heitaros accidentally bumps into him, and, blood thirsty as always, the dwarven bodyguard pounces on the poor man...

[3] Rurik tears through the brawling the senators with his men, seeking to guide the emperor to safety (+1 to Emperor's Fleeing Roll, -1 to All Calming Rolls

[5+1-1] Meanwhile Lucullus begins to call for peace and order among his brethren, bringing his considerable charisma, not his nonexistent knowledge of law, to bear... (+1 to Next Calming Roll)

[1+1] And Crassius seeks to calm the chamber as well, though earning a fist swung his way for a perceived insult to someone's honor, forcing him to scramble to safety rather than continue...[/i]

...Ordering his men to use sheathed swords, and then only if they must, the man of the hour, Durant, seeks to bring order to the assembly. [6+1-1] However, while the use of sheathed blades-on-shields certainly bewilders many of the brawling combatants, causing many to come to their senses, or as close as they can, the din, in conjunction with the actions of others, only further heightens the chaos.

[6+1] The Emperor, meanwhile, makes his escape in all haste. To all onlookers, it would appear that he is fleeing for his very life, no matter how calmly he attempts to exit the venue. Certainly this will have an effect on his public image...

[6] Seeing Fae's bodyguard in the midst of pounding the ever-loving shit out of Hetairos, several of the Novi Homines dwarves all too happily join in. Within moments, while the Praetorian Guard is still working to restore order, the senator is soundly beaten. [4] By the time the Praetorians reach that section of the chamber, the Senator Hetairos lays, heavily wounded but very much alive, upon the floor, having been stabbed, somehow, several times. The bill he carries is shredded, and what remains is soaked in blood.

[1-1] Rumors quickly spread that the beating Hetairos took was in direct response to racist remarks he had been making, perhaps in someone's attempt to discredit him, but nobody seems to believe them.

[4-1] Ultimately, the brawl is quelled, primarily due to the actions of Lucullus and Durant's Praetorian Guard. But not before quite a bit of blood is shed. Luckily, it does not appear that anyone has died. Though rumors vary, the word on the street is that at least one senator was stabbed, and several times at that, though nobody is quite sure why.

Hetairos has been gravely injured in the line of duty, and will take a -1 malais on physical actions until the end of the season.

[Urist_McDrowner]

Hetairos brushed off the men that tried to attend him. "I came in here on my own two feet, and that's how I'll leave." He stood up, helped along by his bodyguard that had been waiting in the hall before the brawl, and carrying his bill. Then they opened the door for him, and no sooner were both feet past the threshold, and the chilly winter air stung his face, that he collapsed. His bodyguards improvised a stretcher, and after staunching his blood, he was carried down past the crowds of protestors (OOC: Didn't shoot say there would be people protesting?), still clutching the tatters of his bill.

He said, loud enough to be heard, in a clear voice.

"Damn Populares.", coughed once, then closed his eyes and rested, still conscious, but certainly hurting all over.

Levy blame at the people who stabbed Hetairos for stabbing him.

[thatkid]

Levy blame at the people who stabbed Hetairos for stabbing him.

[1+2] In all of the commotion, the crowds nearly fail to hear you. But, as you nearly collapse from your wounds, one commoner, perhaps someone who had heard and favored your earlier speeches, steps forward to catch you, and in the process hears what you have to say. It isn't much, but within a small section of the common folk, word begins to spread.
Though it is a sentiment largely only shared by your followers, a seed of anger and mistrust, directed at the Populares, has begun to form.

[6+1] In the days following the brawl, word quickly spreads, largely through the mouths of drunken dwarves of the Novi Homines: It seems they were so keen on beating on Hetairos for one very simple reason. They had been asked to ensure Senator Fae's protection, when they saw his bodyguard brawling with the Senator, they decided to get involved.

[Shootandrun]

Spoiler: A letter to Hetairos (click to show/hide)

Senator Hetairos,

By now you must have heard of the reasons why you were attacked. I wish to assure you that albeit I had informed my men to come to Senator Fae's defense should anything happen in the senate, I had not predicted that they would be so zealous in doing so. When they saw Fae's bodyguard brutalizing you, they assumed he was defending his master's life, and as such they joined in. One of them got, sadly, carried away. Although saying that I am sorry may seem like a feeble excuse now, I feel it is necessary.

Consequences will be dealt amongst the ranks of my followers, and the Houses will investigate to find out whether or not someone deliberately involved you with Fae's bodyguard.

I hope you will have the wisdom not to press charges publicly against any of the Houses after such a terrible misunderstanding. Once again, I apologize for my brothers' mistake.

Sincerely,
Kaeso Peregrinus

[Sheb]

Lucullus stood up once more in front of the tattered, battered crowd of Senators.

"Shame on you my fellows! What happened to day is what we would expect from a barbarian festival, not this august assembly.
Worse than mere fighting, some Senators tried to kill one of their fellows, trying to force their ideas through strength of arms rather than strength of mind, like the worst of the Svebians.

Before we go any further, I demand a commission of inquiry into this abject murder, and the immediate suspension of the suspects in the meantime. We cannot allow the salt of the earth to be murdered inside this very chamber!"