OPEN: We Vow To Keep Pressing Forward

[hextechhead]

WHO: Jayce Talis and you
WHAT: Jayce is new, come meet him!
WHERE: Cadens and the Horizon
WHEN: April, will add event stuff later





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[monomachy]

Diana hasn't been in such a big rush to return to her own world for reasons she considers selfish; Ares is dead, but so is Steve Trevor. So are so many other people, because of the War. This new adventure, removed from her own world, had seemed almost a boon, a means to step away from the horror and pain, even if only for a brief time. Ares was dead, so men could begin to heal; she has faith that they will do so. And that selfish part of her wants time to heal, too. Or at least forget for a little while.

She doesn't supply that her people were literally created for that purpose; she's comfortable enough to let the subject drop. For some reason, people don't seem to grasp the enormity of the charge laid upon the Amazons, and she's tried explaining it one too many times over the past weeks to want to try again right now. Instead, she smiles; "Then I think my consideration will have to become a reality." Meeting people sounds like exactly what she wants to do in this place, especially more Summoned. She's curious to know about their worlds, their lives. Hopefully, they'll be as kind as Jayce is right now.

"I'm sorry to hear that." Something in her soul shudders at his words, but she keeps her expression from showing it, only letting her sympathy show. His isn't the first such tale she's heard since coming here. More worlds than she could have imagined seem to have some kind of active war or conflict. It makes her wonder at the cause. "Communication, negotiation, and reciprocated shows of good faith." It's a rote repetition, some of the basics she'd learned of diplomacy while working with her childhood tutors. "But it is hard work. There is no one perfect solution to be found without cooperation. But I know in my heart that it is possible." Maybe she sounds naïve (even a little to her own ears), but it's still what she believes.

[hextechhead]

"Our situation is complicated." So very complicated. "The split is steeped in inequality. Piltover, where I'm from, is on the top level, it's called the City of Progress, technologically advanced and full of hope, beautiful." Jayce loves Piltover, he truly does. He has to, it is his home, and it's made him who he is. He saw it as a place of opportunity and brilliance, and that is what he strove for, he gripped onto. It's not as if Piltover is perfect for someone like him either, he was working class before everything happened. But it's not the same.

"The Undercity, the other part of the conflict, is literally beneath Piltover, poor and corrupted, treated as lesser or just ignored entirely. My Undercity partner was constantly brushed off or looked past as our work in Piltover became prominent. But still ... I didn't really get the depths of it." Jayce did try to make everyone see Viktor. He made certain to talk about him constantly, he always made certain both of their names were on everything, maybe that's when he started 'we' instead of 'I' instinctively in group conversations. So it never seemed like he was alone. But he still failed, despite being aware.

Jayce realizes he's talking too much but sometimes he really can't help it, he thinks and so he speaks. "I really do believe our city can be whole. I think that the majority of our people, if they understood how bad things were, they would want to fix it." Now that Jayce sees it, it's all he wants to do, and he's not as good as others. Especially not these days.

"I don't think there's a perfect solution. I thought maybe ... if I could help bring the Undercity equal to us in power, that might help, but now I'm not so sure." Jayce had the authority to at least try that, and he doesn't know if Silco would agree. He looks a little sheepish. "Sorry I'm talking so much, I never get to talk about it with someone outside of the situation. And you seem confident and wise."

[monomachy]

Diana had hear similar stories of inequality among people, both in her own world and here in this one. She thinks of Sameer, who wanted to be an actor, but was "the wrong color," and instead became a soldier. Of Chief, whose people lost everything to Steve's, and went to war to make a profit. All of it was so wrong, but she doesn't yet know how to make it right. Her people's edict seems simple on the surface, but the longer she's spent among men, the more she's realized that it isn't so at all.

And Jayce, the way he talks about his Piltover and the Undercity, helps her believe that he's right; once people see the inequalities, truly see them, they will want to help fix it. How could they not? There is only so much those in power can benefit from keeping others below them before something in the system breaks. And Diana has studied politics enough to know that such a break would be catastrophic for all sides.

"You cannot simply give someone power and expect everything to right itself." Her voice is gentle, but there's true belief in her words. Not to immediately shoot his idea down, but it sounds like a way to just enflame the tension between the two cities. "Your heart is in the right place," she assures him. He clearly cares a great deal, and she admires that. She isn't trying to deter him from his cause. "But a solution must have some advantage to both sides, else discontent will fester."

Diana smiles, kindness and affection diffusing her expression despite only having known him a short time. "I am glad you chose to confide in me." The sentiment is genuine. This is what Amazons are for, after all. It's what Diana has prepared to do her entire life: help guide others towards finding solutions to their problems, and to becoming their best selves.

[hextechhead]

There were a lot of problems to solve and of course Jayce just threw himself into the situation as soon as he got the authority to. The Council gave him that job, which was genuinely a stupid idea for someone who had no experience at all, and they'd mostly been ignoring it until then. Maybe they thought he'd change nothing substantial, only catch the people in trouble and be the end of it. As time went and he grew in power, he still had his eye on changing things, rooting out corruption. But the fact is, Jayce thought he could fix everything, and he definitely can't. One person can't. It was always going to end badly.

"I knew it was a long shot, that Piltover would be okay with the drastic change, but I felt like something had to be done. Things had to change. Progress wasn't happening fast enough. They weren't going to let the Undercity have power naturally." Humans don't live for centuries, he told Heimerdinger, before they kicked him off the Council. Jayce is young and bold and arrogant in this way, he wanted to take aciton, push what he saw as right. Now he wonders if he will ever get it right.

He messed up. His intentions had been good but he didn't act correctly. Now they're going to struggle more because of it. Jayce feels a lot of responsibility and guilt for all of it. "I know we just met, I have a tendency to latch onto people quickly, I appreciate your kindness." He has remarkable self-awareness about his flaws!

He pulls open the door to Mag's Inn and gestures inside. It's a nice place that has essentially become Summoned central. "I think it's pretty much all Summoned who live here at this point, with a few exceptions. The owner is really kind."