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.

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This time, Dextera consciously recognizes himself as being sort of like a new puppy, and the moderate embarrassment of being forcibly guided to Emet-Selch’s side keeps him there. He’s just not used to his input being desired, let alone actively sought.

“S…,” Dextera says, a tentative apology with the few sounds he can make.

His head is down when he’s at Emet-Selch’s side, though, his shoulders hunched as if he’s anticipating beratement at any moment. It’s a bit different from their first encounter, where Dextera seemed to be comfortable with the impression he was making. Now, there are stakes.

Now that they are within view of one another, he moves them and the conversation onward. "Have you been to the city's center yet?" He asks, ignoring the apology completely. As far as he's concerned it's something that needs no apology.

It’s as an efficient a way as any of getting Dextera to stop trying to apologize. He understands that being ignored on that front was not an accident; no response is an answer in its own way.

He shakes his head. Recovering some of his poise, he gestures around them. His eyes follow his index finger as he points around to the vague perimeter of the city—he has looked around, a little, but he’s been cautious about going into the center without anyone else on his side.

"Then you've covered the Perimeter." It's said in a tone that is ...approving but not as a direct commendation.

Emet-Selch continues on his way and, within a few long moments, they pass through a flower-draped archway that borders the city center. The wide-open area in the heart of the city is no different than everywhere else: People lie in the middle of the square, some stand looking up, and others are covered in sticky feathers and wings.

His eyes look to one side where a few citizens aware enough to grasp their presence hurry indoors. "There are more afflicted here then on the city outskirts. None too unexpected, given this is meant to be a hub for activity."

Like a flower in the sunlight for the first time in days, Dextera visibly brightens in response to Emet-Selch’s incredibly indirect praise. He knows better than to preen at a time like this, and it wasn’t strong enough to pull that out anyway, but it’s evident that Dextera isn’t used to words like this.

Those that hurry away, Dextera doesn’t think to bother. It’s the few who are standing lost in thought that unsettle him, but being unsettled doesn’t have to mean running away. Although he glances at Emet-Selch to seek either permission or guidance, he doesn’t actually wait for a signal before approaching one of the citizens who seems particularly deep in their delusion.

He splays his palm across their face, to no reaction.

Emet-Selch's eternally furrowed brow lifts when he sees Dextera's expression brighten. Just like a child in terrible need of encouragement, they thrive when they are given the recognition they so desperately need.

He crouches down beside the person that his Pleroma acquaintance decides to investigate further. At first, he is fine with looking and trying to see what it was Dextera searched for, but his expression turns urgent when he puts a hand on their face.

"No." Emet-Selch reaches for the boy's hand in an attempt to pull it away. "Their affliction can be taken from them if we venture too close. Do not touch them, just observe."

Dextera is genuinely, strangely, surprised that Emet-Selch interrupts him. It’s another unexpected bit of concern, when everyone from his own world is content to let him discover various incredibly lethal dangers on his own. With relative immortality, Dextera has lost some sense of self-preservation.

“Ah…”

He looks to the individual again, who is utterly unconcerned with being investigated in this way. Whatever has them in its thrall, a mere hand to the face isn’t going to drag them out of it. Contrite, Dextera nods, and instead just leans in to examine the afflicted citizen’s expression.

Good. He sits back now that his acquaintance seems to listen to his advice.

"They all bear the same traits with differing severity. The discoloration, change in demeanor, manifestation of feathered appendages, and - " Emet-Selch reaches for a sleeve and pulls it back to reveal their forearm. " - they solidify into crystal for more severe cases."

He looks to Dextera, "Have you ever seen something like this?"

Edited 2022-06-01 14:09 (UTC)

Dextera would give anything to be able to say no, but Emet-Selch’s detailed description of the illness brings up too many similarities with a disease—the disease—that ravages the world he left behind. He doesn’t know if it exists anymore, but it’s a plausible sickness to burn through any citizenry capable of thought.

So he nods, his guilty expression turning grim as someone who only knows too much can make.

He can’t speak, but he does have a mouth, he knows words, and so he turns to Emet-Selch and points to his lips for one carefully-articulated explanation, even in silence: “Home.”

Emet-Selch, in turn, faintly mimics the mouth shapes to affirm the intended sound. Ohm. Home? Home. He's seen it at home. "Have you, now." He says. Hm. "And what was the cure?"

Dextera isn’t sure he can call it a cure. Perhaps there was one, when life was still trying to engage the disease rather than passively live alongside it, but all that was lost in the catastrophe of the Blaze.

Again he mimes the word, and the detail of it feels excruciating considering the content.

“Death.”

To which he watches and considers. Death, is it?

Emet-Selch looks back at their subject of observation and hums. "That is truly unfortunate." Not in the sense that each one of them matters, but more in the context that there will be fewer bodies to produce resources. "However, It may be the only reasonable method to prevent its spread if we cannot find a cure quickly enough."

The answer is coldly practical, but not entirely surprising. Emet-Selch has been kind to Dextera, but he has the command of someone who has had to make decisions like this before. The even demeanor, the consideration of the citizens as a group rather than as each individual people—in the most objective of ways, Dextera is reminded of the Archangel. He traitorously thinks he would rather follow Emet-Selch.

He returns his gaze to the person they’re dealing with, and something seems to click. Catching Emet-Selch’s attention, he gestures to the Shard on his own body. Maybe it’s obvious to a member of the Regent’s faction, but it only really now seems meaningful to Dextera that other people do not have Shards.

Silently, Emet-Selch considers the reference to the shard. It could be a question of whether these people regenerate as Aions do, or the noticeable differences between them, but 'regeneration' may not be known to the Pleroma. Best to steer the conversation away from such a comparison.

"Yes, a reasonable observation." He says, commending it without explaining it. "Have you noticed any other differences between us and them?"

Edited 2022-06-06 16:14 (UTC)

As before, Dextera is encouraged by Emet-Selch’s commendation. He doesn’t think to pry for information exclusive to the Kenoma, but despite the baby steps he’s taking here, his mind is quick.

He takes a moment to examine himself, and the person they’ve chosen as their specimen. Their bodies—

“Ah,” he says, a small moment of realization, and a subsequent flinch that he should not reveal his own powers so openly to someone who is not technically his ally. After a second of coming up with something else, he still nods.

To which Emet-Selch cants his head. "Well?" It seems apparent that his Pleroma friend seems to come up with some idea or another. "You seem to have some idea that needs share. Speak your mind." An ironic choice of words, but still.

Dextera flicks his gaze from the person to Emet-Selch—a few times, actually, the resurfacing of a nervous tic. Luckily, his necessitated silence means that it’s not immediately obvious if he’s obscuring information or just thinking of a way to express it.

He was told not to touch the infected individuals and so he instead tries to play a morbid game of charades. He motions for Emet-Selch to look, to listen, indicating the slowing heartbeat. He mimics a beating heart in his hand, until he stops twitching his fingers entirely.

Dextera can’t explain it, for obvious reasons, but they were all in that cave together. These people are really and truly dying, but what the Aions went through under similarly dire circumstances never led any of them to the end of their lives.

Emet-Selch looks to one side as he tries to figure out the finer details of what this could mean. He stays quiet through the little game of charades and considers what he perceives to be the 'answer'.

"They are dying, and we are not...?" He guesses.

"I have not heard of an Aion that has perished from the affliction yet, but that does not mean it is impossible." His tone perks up in a bit of grim humor. "We may be hardpressed to find volunteers willing to test that assumption."

It is just an assumption, but Dextera feels as qualified as anyone to speak on the spectrum of life until death. He knows his own limits, he knows when he should have died under the circumstances they faced upon their initial arrival here, and he also feels comfortable saying he’s hardier than the average human resident of Horos.

But he hasn’t really had the time or the reason to investigate that further, and a plague is probably not the best time to do so in a controlled environment.

Although he nods to confirm the contents of Emet-Selch’s guess, a slight frown—a scrunch of the nose, different from the woeful expression he always wears—crosses his face at the conclusion. It’s not evident whether he’s frowning at the humor, or the acknowledgment that it’s still possible for them to die.

If his goal had been to get an Aion to truly test that theory, letting this one continue pawing at this afflicted native would have served the purpose. He is a Pleroma, after all, there would have been no harm in it.

Emet-Selch looks back to the person they observe with decidedly less cheer. "I fear it may be too late to save this one. Leaving them as they are will only ensure the affliction spreads to others." A pity, really.

He motions toward a nearby brick archway that is draped in several kinds of colorful flowers. It would make the perfect place to stay out of sight. Or, more precisely, not play witness to what he would need to do to put this one out of its misery. "Wait over there while I see to them."

Dextera understands what this probably means. It's a choice that he's made before. Baroque Syndrome is not contagious any more than a bad mood is, but putting an end to someone's suffering when they're too gone to even realize what's happening is a merciful crime that has bloodied his hands any number of times. Whether or not Emet-Selch sees that assumption through, Dextera doesn't hold even the thought against him.

He would do it himself, if not for the fact that he can't reveal his power to a Kenoma.

With a short sigh, the kind of breath one takes and releases when they're trying to hold back nausea, Dextera nods and stands, allowing Emet-Selch the space and privacy to do whatever he thinks he needs to do.

He watches as the boy saunters off elsewhere. When it seems he has been left to do as he wishes, he turns back to the afflicted.

With all of the remorse of throwing away trash, he lifts a hand and snaps his fingers. The afflicted are engulfed in a searing wall of flame that burns through flesh and bone until nothing remains. The only indication that there was anything there are all is a black mark that has burned into the brick where they had lain. Where an entire being once was, their experience, wants, wishes, and hopes all culminating nothing but a pile of ash.

Emet-Selch stands up and lets out a soft sigh. Hopefully, investigations hereafter would have more promising results.

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EVENT #3: THE COST OF INNOCENCE

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cw: fire death :c