aionlogs | EVENT #3: THE COST OF INNOCENCE

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EVENT #3: THE COST OF INNOCENCE

The Cost of Innocence

INVESTIGATION

As the Aions arrive in Venera, they will find the natural beauty of the city in sharp contrast to its uncomfortable aura. Though the sun still shines and flowers still bloom in a place filled with physical vibrancy and life, the air itself is impossibly still, as if wind no longer blows. You can taste the stagnancy of it when you breathe, and the pleasant sights only make that feeling of absence more haunting. The streets are mostly empty, with most of the city's residents hiding away in their homes, fearing the touch of whatever illness has caused this. That is, all the citizens besides those most affected, who wander the streets in a lifeless and painless daze.

Normally, Venera would be occupied by both Hylician and Achamite soldiers, but it quickly becomes apparent that both have abandoned the city, only guarding its furthest outskirts. Their reasons vary: the Achamite soldiers seem to take religious objection to the feeling of the city, believing it to be some trickery of the Innocent, while the Hylicians simply see it as a plague they have no interest in catching or spreading. Because of this, it will be easy for Aions of both sects to explore with little pushback from any form of law enforcement. The Kenoma will be directed into the city with warnings about the potential physical and spiritual danger while Pleroma will be able to sneak in mostly unbothered. After all, no one is eager to follow you.

Most shops and businesses are currently closed, though some uninfected individuals still nervously keep watch over their workplaces, fearing potential looting. It's difficult, but not impossible, to find people to talk to, and while the most plentiful wanderers are the infected, the reactions from those with their minds still intact will vary. Some will be eager to speak to anyone who looks like they're trying to do something about their situation, desperate for any source of outside help. If revealed you are an Aion, this may either entice them even further or cause them to retreat, as if fearing that you are somehow to blame for their plight. For those that are enticed, it will become clear that they hold onto faith that Aions are in Horos to save them, and will tell these new arrivals whatever they can without discriminating between sects.

The base level information that can be found is thus: the infection began at the same levels it has been in the rest of Horos, only for the numbers of the afflicted to rapidly accelerate upon the coming of the Innocent's Moon. Some see it as a form of divine punishment for their cooperation with the Regent, while the less cooperative citizens see it as a malady brought about by the Aions themselves, their only hope being that they will be able to clean up the mess they made. Some citizen have managed to corral their inflicted loves ones into their rooms and will be willing to introduce you; most of these individuals are past the point of conversation, and seem fully lost to whatever fantasy world they are experiencing. They are disinterested in eating or drinking and it seems like, without help, they are destined for a slow death of starvation and atrophy. That is, if their apathetic state doesn't result in a severe accident, as it has in many cases already.

Any other clues will take more dogged investigation. It will be a day or so after the majority of Aions have arrived in the city that the first signs of their own infections become clear.

HEAVENLY BODIES

The first to feel its effects will be the Innocents, Lovers, and Celebrants; like a voice has fully awakening to them, whispering of how their touch can be the cure to the others' pain. It bids them to take their fellow Aions into their loving embrace, to share this gift, as only suffering lies ahead. It expresses without words that it will be a shield for their Aion kindred, and that those that accept will become their outstretched hands to a cosmos that craves peace. Any form of physical contact with those three Legacies will either introduce or rapidly accelerate the infections experienced by the others, this effect only becoming more intense if the wielder intentionally forces the power of this strange entity into their victims.

Even without that accelerating touch, however, other Aions are not necessarily safe; the infection will still seep in, albeit more slowly. All Aions may experience a growing feeling of connection to the infected Venerans, as if the energy within them is being drawn into their their own bodies. As the Aion's symptoms worsen, the the ones suffered by the Venerans will gradually lessen, though not go away entirely. It seems that the Aions soaking up this strange power is enough to take the edge off of what is happening to the citizens: but at what cost?

Various symptoms will manifest in afflicted Aions with outcomes far more diverse and devastating than what the Veneran civilians have experienced. Visionaries, Firebrands, and Artisans will suffer the most catastrophic symptoms, the clash between their spiritual natures and that of the Innocence being the most extreme. This malady is characterized by its innate desire to quell its victims of their resistance, smothering them in artificial peace, even if it has to deprive them of their bodies and minds to do so.

It is not without treatment, however. It will gradually become apparent that feelings of intense suffering or upset are capable of purging the infection, that clash with painful reality seeming to wake them up from their trance and reduce or eliminate physical symptoms. The more intense the distress, the more effective it will be. Fortunately, this heightening of Aion spiritual energy has the added consequence of making empathic communion connections far more acute. Instead of just transmitting and receiving emotions and thoughts, Aions will find themselves more easily able to enter the delusions and memories of their kindred, drawing them out and manipulating them for this purpose. The catch is that they will only be able to access what is on the surface of the other Aion's mind.

When an infection is reduced or expelled this way, the energy causing it seems to be dispelled from the city, lowering the intensity of its ambient effects. While similar can be done to Veneran citizens to help treat them, the energy will not leave, and will either go into the Aion casting it out or return to the nebulous source of Innocence and eventually infect someone else. Something about going through the Aions specifically seems to act as a filter, as unpleasant of a way as it is to help.

IN THE SILENCE

For those unlucky enough to develop complete, or near complete, infections (IE. a full Innocence petrification) a presence will awaken within them regardless of their Legacy. It will urge them to join with it, to embrace the peace it offers, and to become the extensions of their will in this ravaged world. With an infection of this intensity, there will be little they can do but to hear its call. What exactly this would ultimately entail is unclear, but there is the sense that his entity is looking to join with you on a spiritual level. If your character becomes infected to this degree please let us know under the Committed Actions toplevel below along with the context of that transformation and whether or not they are being cured from it. You may receive some additional information in return!

QUESTIONS

What is the best way for Aions to travel to Venera?
The quickest travel paths are for Kenoma to take a boat from Achamoth, which will take about a day, and for Pleroma to teleport to the Celebrant's shrine and take either a carriage or river boat to the city (there are offshoot rivers not marked on the setting map). The riverboats would be the faster option option of the two, and would also take about a day. The carriages/delivery carts would be slower and take a couple days, but have relay access to horses and therefore could keep going overnight. Characters with flight are also able to use that, though flying right into the city might cause a bit of spectacle. Then again, none of the local law enforcement is eager to chase you at the moment.

Are Veneran civilians experiencing the same symptoms as the Aions?
Veneran civilians are only experiencing apathy/loss of self/daydreaming and maybe the loss of pigments/color for advanced cases. The more body horror orientated effects are Aion only and are being caused by their body's spiritual makeup.

Can 'cured' Aions be reinfected?
Yes! Even if cured or treated, symptoms can return or worsen again. This will keep happening until the build up of Innocence energy in Venera is entirely expunged, at which point the illness will fade away across the continent. Whether or not the Aions mere presence will be enough to trigger that is yet unknown, but it does seem to be helping lessen the effects suffered by the civilians, at least.

How long does the infection period last in Aions?
Chronologically, we are considering the infection period of the plot to last 2-3 days.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I. investigation... attempts

a.
[ Misa's number one tactic when trying to snoop for information? Act pretty and cute until people let their guard down. The thing is, it isn't working as well on the people of Venera, or at least the specific people she's trying to worm her way into talking at length with. When she makes it obvious she basically has no extra information on the disease and is only trying to prolong the conversation, and also when another character happens to pass by behind her, the citizens slam the door shut, wary of the Aions that have so quickly been pouring into the city. ]

H...Hey!! You can't shut the door in my face!?!

[ She looks shocked? Appalled? Disgusted? Shutting out Misa Amane, beloved by the masses? This is so offensive. Perhaps even more offensive is what the says after they shut the door: ]

I'm not even with... [ Sensing your presence, she glances quickly over her shoulder, not really quick enough to see who it is, but rather just to confirm that a person is there. ] This person!

b.
[ Once the symptoms start to take hold of more and more Aions, Misa is careful to keep to herself as much as she can. And careful to look for a certain... opportunity. Pleromas who find themselves near her, infected or not, will be met with the same (rude) reaction. She overdramatically raises her arms in an 'X', leaping one step away. ]

Ew, no, no, no! Don't get any closer. It's already getting you. I can tell!

II. daydreams

[ There's only one thing Misa daydreams about: and that's her boyfriend. The good thing about this is that most of the time throughout her illness, she's been content sitting down on the ground staring off into space with a dopey blush on her face. The bad part about this is... she's really in love with her boyfriend.

Characters unlucky enough to be in her vicinity during certain bouts of her daydreams will be straight up jumped at, like she's expecting them to catch her. ]

Oh, Light!

[ She's clearly infected, evident through the complete washing out of her skin and hair. But she's also completely set on making contact with the person who's become the center of her daydream, arms thrown wide and eyes glassy. The choice is up to you: will you catch her, and risk being infected? Or will you let her fall to the cold, hard ground in an embarrassing heap?? ]

III. the memshare jumpscare prompt

[ Towards the height of her infection, Misa can be found laying out in the grass somewhere, lines of thick feathers running down each of her limbs. Gone is the overexcited energy she'd had before in the thrall of her daydreams — it's now been replaced with a dazed vacancy, her eyes fixed on the spot just above a branch in a tree. She won't respond to being called to, apparently lost in the winding roads of her own thoughts.

A gentle prod in to the surface of her mindscape will supply anyone with a brief flash of the memory at the forefront of her mind. Characters may be just able to make out the shape of a strange, ghastly figure in the tree, all sharp teeth and dark, feathery wings. Misa doesn't seem scared of the vision in the slightest - no, quite the opposite. There's a pleasant smile on her lips as she takes in the sight, her expression undoubtedly one of recognition. ]

IV. wildcard + closed starters

( anything else goes here! i have a few closed starters lined up for some of the threads i've planned, and will be pinging people accordingly. if you'd like to do something that doesn't fit in to any of the above prompts, feel free to reach out to me on the plotting post and we can work something out! )

— What?

[ this person being a brand new face to her, likely — she certainly is to him, with his limited exposure to the aions with kenoma — who had paused at the sound of the door slamming and then, you know, the call out. he's all tall, plainly clothed, the shard at his collarbones safely covered by his shirt. not as put together as misa looks, but also not so rumpled to spur people closing doors in his face on sight, probably.

he's had no better luck than misa in getting information, truthfully...between the ill, the frightened, and the just unfriendly, it hasn't been easy to find out much. he's kept quiet about his affiliation with pleroma, about his faintly understood status as aion, but he's obviously a newcomer in the city, and, well...who would come here willingly, now? ]

What happened?

[ he approaches with some concern, despite the whole.....blaming......thinG. she seems kind of upset! and besides, maybe she's learned something he hasn't that she's willing to share. he should probably be more wary of strangers, but that doesn't occur to him now. ]

[ It only takes a few seconds for Misa to completely abandon the idea of continuing to knock and bother the residents inside, at which point she turns to face the person she'd brushed off fully. Oh, someone she's never seen before...? Perhaps one of the newer Pleroma? There's only a faint sense between them, given their different sects, but Misa decides she won't bring it up right away. No need to make things weird. ]

Oh, you know. They're all just freaked out by people coming in from outside their city so they won't talk to me...

[ Misa makes a sour expression, clearly more put out by the residents than Rand himself. Actually, she seems to be complaining solely for the sake of getting those complaints validated by someone else. Then, after considering him for a moment, she tilts her head, asking as casually as she can: ]

I mean, you're not from Venera either, are you?

[ he doesn't oblige on the validation front, just breathing out and saying ruefully, ]

Suppose I'd be scared in their shoes, too.

[ tempted as he is to say, well maybe door slamming is a bit excessive,,,

but more to the point. there is a faint sense between them. and it's something he's been getting better at noticing, spending much of his time in horos in another city, meeting other aions by chance as much as anything, if much dimmer than what he's grown used to. so he notices, but doesn't exactly notice, until she admits to not being from venera. the way he hesitates is likely answer enough; he starts to open his mouth, pauses, and eventually realizes that the time's come and gone to pretend otherwise. never mind that he did, in fact, literally just admit it. ]

No, I'm not. [ the party at greentruth was recent enough that he's already expecting her answer when he asks, ] Where did you come from?

misa amane | kenoma + lover

i - a

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✦ closed to ERNESTO

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✦ closed to DEXTERA

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✦ closed to EUSTACE

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✦ closed to SILCO

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ia, hijacked for nefarious bread fairy purposes,

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