EVENT #3: THE COST OF INNOCENCE

[aionmods]

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.

Comments

[lachtara]

Ah. Dalamud. So is that the memory that haunts him most.

Emet-Selch dramatically motions to the sky as if the red moon still hangs overhead. It doesn't matter if it does or not; Cid is not in his own mind enough to tell the difference. "If the moon falls, then the blood that spills across Eorzea is on your hands."

He turns back and flicks his eyes to Cid's hands to imply he look at them. "Unless there is blood on your hands already...?" There is nothing there, but he is curious about what madness he could encourage.

[youngprodigy]

Cid shakes his head.

He stumbles, then seems to recover. The scenery around them shifts, more like a waking dream than an outright delusion. Not that it stops Cid from internalizing it; after all, this is his mind.

Though indistinct, two figures emerge from the haze of Cid’s memory. A younger Cid, and a much older Solus. Bafflingly, the area around them appears to be the inside of the Citadel, even though for all the meetings they had, they never once spoke in Bozja.

“No… no, it was you. You bloody Ascians, you who…”

He grips at his head, scowling.

[lachtara]

Emet-Selch smiles faintly at the sight of this illusion. Is this what he supposed he saw?

He takes a few short steps to the shadow of the Emperor and steps into it, giving the illusion of sliding into his old role in every sense of the word. Emet - or rather Solus - holds his hand out toward Cid.

"Is it we Ascians who forced your hand? Or is it man who always lends themselves to their own destruction." Solus reaches to his side, pulls out the illusion of a pistol, and points it directly at Cid. There is an ominous click of him setting the hammer to aim.

[youngprodigy]

Cid scowls. At Emet-Selch, at Solus, it's not clear. "Taking advantage of a desperate people clinging to hope at the edge of the world..." The torment in his words is illuminating, more evidence than Cid can ever properly show normally to indicate just how much his heart aches for his homeland.

Though Solus' aim is true, there's the sound of a gunshot from a distance behind him before he can actually shoot. To Cid, it's not illusion. His hand goes to his side, blood blossoming from the wound just above his pelvis.

For Cid Garlond knows the truth: it was Midas nan Garlond who shot him that day, his eyes blazing with the madness of the tempered. "The Meteor project will not be stopped by the likes of you." Midas might vanish into the haze of the dream-memory, but the wound doesn't, bleeding profusely like he was actually shot.

Cid collapses, barely able to catch himself from falling onto the ground, the near-petrified fingers of his hand cracking audibly. "I'll carry my sins for not stopping him for the rest of my days."

[lachtara]

"You could have." Emet-Selch motions around them. "Instead, the world was ruined. The cries of those who perished were nigh enumerable." He smiles wickedly. "Can you not hear them, even now?"

Perhaps the mere suggestion could conjure something to that effect.

[youngprodigy]

It is enough, the setting of the dream-memory shifting, the blood staining Cid’s clothing vanishing with the Citadel. He still clutches at his side all the same.

The vision of Carteneau is as impressive as it is terrifying; the carnage on the ground as the Eorzeans try to repel back the invading Imperial force. Dalamud hangs low in the sky, already starting to break apart as Cid watches, completely transfixed with mounting horror.

[lachtara]

Quite a sight to behold. It is not the first time he has witnessed a world meet its end but it's something one could never become complacent to.

Emet-Selch motions a hand to the sky with a flourish. "Then let this world be at its end." He lets his palm fall, motioning to Cid with an open hand. "Let you never forget your part in its undoing, assuming you survive." Given the look of him, it seems rather uncertain.

Perhaps this event would prove his undoing after all.

[youngprodigy]

At this point, it's incredibly difficult to tell if Cid is even really listening to Emet-Selch. Not consciously, at least. "No, no, no," he groans, clutching at his head, at the mess of feathers sprouting between the cracks on his face.

Even through it all, Cid is transfixed, watching the Dreadwyrm emerge from Dalamud as the fire from the sky starts to pour down on the battlefield. He doesn't even have the presence of mind to notice he's in tears. He's too absorbed in what he's seeing, the carnage reigning down upon the battlefield. Eorzean, Garlean; volunteer soldier or conscript. It hardly matters, because they all fall to the flames. To the chunks of the moon that rain from the sky like a nightmarish egg, twisted and melted metal.

His fault, his fault. He'd been the one to find the Lunar Transmitter simply couldn't handle the power hidden within the moon. He'd known it could only end in tragedy. And then his father— all of the people of Bozja...

It was his research that allowed van Darnus to turn the Transmitter into a weapon, to use it to unleash the horror that became the Seventh Umbral Calamity.

Cid makes a wretched noise, hands over his eyes, shaking in silent sobs.

[lachtara]

The illusion proceeds apace around him and Emet-Selch smiles in spite of it all. As the world around them burns.

"Well, this has been fun." He remarks fondly. As the engineer lies broken it seems there is almost naught else to do but leave him to his fate. "I will leave you to your world's end."

[youngprodigy]

There's a moment where Cid says absolutely nothing, like maybe he has been broken irreparably. The vision fades, and it seems he's been left even worse off than the illness taking him. There's some sort of ripple of energy that pulses away from him, but Cid seems oblivious to it. He slowly raises his left hand up in a smooth motion that would have been quite impossible mere minutes ago, with the progression of the illness rendering his arms largely petrified.

"Interesting," he says. It's murmured to himself than to Emet-Selch, as he pushes himself up from the ground, though he doesn't stand. He peels off the bandages meant to disguise just how far the disease had progressed to reveal fleshy skin. Though it seems he hasn't come away completely unscathed. Angry keloid scars run down his arm in patches, mimicking where his petrified skin had broken and bled.

"I should thank you. It seems you've unintentionally cured me." There's no bitterness to it, no sarcasm. Just the fascinated curiosity Cid nan Garlond had been known for as Chief Magitek Engineer.

[lachtara]

Emet-Selch looks back over his shoulder and shrugs. "So it seems." It helped him test the cure and find out about the fears Cid harbors - Seems like it was worth the sacrifice.

So he walks off without saying anything more than that.