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

[aionpcs]

To the entity's credit, it does listen. It falls quiet as the others speak, its wings shifting and turning with something almost reminiscent of a ponderous expression, like the metaphorical gears of a mind doing hard work. For Abel and Himeka, there will still be that note of distress. It is clearly being given an answer that it struggles to accept.

One thing it does seem to take very seriously are the commitments being made by the people offering their words: promising the fallen one's wellbeing, promising things will be made right, promising their way is true. It's apparently frustrating for it to hear, as if it has witnessed this world long enough to know its faults.

Even so, what may be surprising is its sense of empathy. Though it was seemingly incapable of fully understanding the cruel effects of its artificial peace, the emotions of the gathered Aions portray it in a way it was incapable of perceiving otherwise. The silence that follows as it works through all of it may be especially daunting, given the inhumanity of its physical gaze.

...Then prove this to me...

It speaks to the group as a whole again, its communion somehow sullen, yet comparatively subdued. Even to those feeling its deeper emotions, much of its thoughts are ineffable.

Keep your promise... Your word... Live this truth...

The wings behind Abel thicken, additional limbs sprouting and extending, as if its power is building. Additional hands emerge to grab at Abel, Himeka, and Alphinaud, as the ones standing closest.

Or when my time comes again... I will reign... Reign eternal...

A surge of energy goes through Estinien's shard, jolting through those being touched like the remanence of an electrical charge. It feels like an imprint of the being's power, with a command written into it: a contract being forged.

I will see it done.

And then, the power dissipates. Like a host of individual birds, the wings separate into a flock, fluttering up to rejoin the heavenly cloud that spins overhead. As it does, the sight of those wings will grow more and more abstract, until they appear as only a trick of the light, and then nothing at all.

[sageguidance]

What a sight to behold.

When the flock vanishes, Alphinaud gently exhales the breath he didn't realize he was holding, eyes eventually dropping back down. A solemn gaze fixates on Estinien's shard for a long moment before he turns away from the two with him.

"Take care of him," he says, voice low; with the immediate threat over, Alphinaud makes his way to the next closest person—Ryunosuke, who has been rendered unable to move in the crossfire.

"If there is aught that needs healing, allow me to assist you." A beat follows, and Alphinaud looks up at those around in view, and speaks louder, clearer: "That goes for the rest of you, as well. Stay put if you need it, and I shall be with you momentarily."

[locumstudentesquire]

Ryunosuke shivers as he watches the entity leave. He's glad that it's gone, and that it hadn't taken Estinien's shard with it... But it has also left about a million questions behind instead. He isn't quite sure what to make of any of it yet.

It's at that point that he realizes... His legs... Despite the entity's departure, the effects of whatever it'd done to him are still lingering. Both limbs are still dead weight, completely unresponsive. His stomach does a sickening twist as his panic rises, the worst of it hitting just as Alphinaud approaches.

"I-- I still can't feel my legs," he says at almost a whisper, voice hoarse and haunted. Widened, desperate eyes flick up to meet Alphinaud's.

[devilmancrybaby]

Luo Binghe hisses out a breath through his teeth, the wild crimson gleam in his eyes fading a few seconds after the feathers in the sky disappear. He stays tense a few moments longer, but... whatever exactly that entity was, it seems to be finished with them--at least, for now.

He's just starting to take stock of everyone around him when Alphinaud offers healing, which makes him sneer a little. For his own part he's still bleeding in multiple places, but he's confident in his blood's ability to take care of it, and he doesn't need help from anyone else. His eyes linger on Ryunosuke and his unfortunate leg situation for a moment, brows furrowing absolutely minutely, but he looks away almost immediately.

"I think we can take care of our own," he says, apparently confident speaking on behalf the rest of his sect in this even though he's barely ever spoken to either of the Kenoma Aions present who are still conscious.

With that he crosses the rest of the way to Makoto's prone body and nudges it with the toe of his boot.

[subsist]

With the creature gone, Kaeya feels the tension leave his entire body, finally allowing himself to breathe in and out. Relieved is an odd word to describe how he feels, but at the very least, it doesn't look like it's going to bother them. That'll have to be enough for now. He spares a glance at Alphinaud when he offers healing, looking away once Binghe stole the same words he'd been ready to say.

After all that, that's the first thing one of them says? How curious. He can't decide if it's meant to be a trap or if they truly are that foolish.

For now, he turns his focus to the blind (and deaf?) erune beside him. There's a split-second where he realizes that Eustace had been glaring at something else entirely rather than where the creature had been standing, forcing him to stifle a soft laugh. Now that's something he's going to keep a secret. He reaches for the erune's hands, careful to graze his fingers along that white-knuckled grip, a gentle motion meant to soothe. To tell him that it's all over how.

He'd tell Eustace that he's going to be the one to lead him back, but instead, he looks towards Binghe and where Makoto is still crumpled on the floor.

"Think he'll wake up?" Probably rhetorical, but what else is he supposed to say here.

[devilmancrybaby]

Binghe huffs and crouches to touch two fingers to Makoto's wrist.

"He's still alive." He doesn't exactly sound disappointed, or anything, but he doesn't sound relieved either. He supposes the Regent would probably prefer it if they brought all their Aions back alive. "But I can't say whether he'll wake. Hm."

He lightly-but-not-as-lightly-as-would-perhaps-be-ideal slaps Makoto's cheek to see if it will wake him up. His Shizun was especially fond of doing this to unconscious people...

here to be like: what the fuck, y'all

[dragonmount]

He'd seen the birds.

Or, no. It'd been apparent even from a distance that they weren't birds, not really, just like what happened here hadn't just been some illness, in some city. Still — he'd seen the birds the come in the direction at a walk, and then a run, only to come upon

well.

He's not actually sure what he's seeing right now, besides a big group of people and a lot of destruction. He'd come by an alley that brings him near Ryunosuke, and it's by him he kneels, even as he's still taking in the whole scene.

"What happened?"

[locumstudentesquire]

The appearance of a familiar face is, if nothing else, a very helpful distraction from Ryunosuke's doom spiraling.

"Rand?" he says, gaze shifting to blink up at him in surprise. His question is a valid one... Ryunosuke has no idea where to even start with answering it, though.

"I... I think we just met the entity responsible for this plague," he says slowly, eyes flicking back up towards the sky above where it had disappeared to just moments ago.