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

[gravings]

[ Gray hates to cry, despite how much she ends up doing it. She's fragile — too afraid, too sensitive, too soft, though she doesn't know why she continues to be this way. She was taught how to be tough and survive, but those things never penetrated down to her personality. She feels often like she's only being tolerated, first for her gravekeeping skills, then for her apprenticeship to a Lord, and now for her status as an Aion. She sees no reason otherwise why anyone would want such a dull, drab girl around, who only knows how to shy away and be awkward.

So she really doesn't know why someone like Eustace would come to care about her well-being. It could just be his natural sense of obligation and kindness. Aside from that, she couldn't begin to guess. But she, selfishly, isn't strong enough to do without the comfort he offers. The slight tightening of his hold on her is a trigger; her arms squeeze desperately around him and her face buries into his shoulder. She should feel sorrier that she's using his clothing as a handkerchief, but for the moment she finds solace in the solid warmth of his hug, poor facsimile as it may be.

She sniffles into his shoulder for a bit longer, but eventually her tears subside. When it feels like she can face him again without being a complete blubbery mess, she wipes her face on her sleeve, taking off the last feathers hanging on there at the same time. She'll probably be shedding the feathers stuck in her clothes for a while yet, but at least they and the small horn on her forehead are on their way out.

She finally draws back, readjusting her hood out of habit, and takes a steadying breath. Though it's embarrassing and her face is probably a splotchy mess, she does her best to look at him directly, her expression a restrained wobble. ]

... Thank you, Mr. Eustace. I'm sorry you had to see something so pitiful.

[ Crying as a child, crying now... maybe she hasn't changed that much after all. ]

[lockedon]

[ A little bit of moisture is nothing compared to everything else that has stained his clothes up until this point and he lets her cry without fuss, only loosening his hold when Gray starts pulling away.

He leans back, giving her room to breathe, his own expression solemn. ]

You went through a lot. It's normal to react strongly when faced with a sudden loss.

[ Of both her original face and the place where she'd grown up, even if it hadn't been the most joyous place after a certain point. How often had he cried in his room alone after Ronan had taken him in, wishing vainly for things to go back to the way they had been?

Even if it had been just a memory, the reopening of old wounds is just as painful as the creation of new wounds. He can hardly judge her for her grief when he's suffered through similar not all that long ago.

For a moment he hesitates, unsure if he should leave things be or potentially make them worse. But Gray, honest and accepting as she is, deserves his true feelings more than anyone. ]

I'm sorry too. For intruding. But I didn't want to leave you behind.

[ He can't say that he'll forget what he saw because he truly doesn't think he can, a little bit of her past now etched permanantly onto his heart, but he can at least apologize for infringing and resolve to not speak of it again if she prefers. ]

[gravings]

[ "I didn't want to leave you behind." Gray nearly starts crying again, her already tenuous composure taking a vital hit. She drops her gaze (so soon after trying to look at him directly) and vigorously shakes her head. ]

No... [ Her voice breaks and falters before soldiering on. ] It's okay. If it's you, I don't mind.

[ She isn't proud of that memory, but she can trust him to keep it safe. His (mostly) even stoicism is much preferable to an overreaction. It may have been a pivotal time for her, but in the grand scheme of things, it was about a small girl in the middle of a small celebration in a small village nearly forgotten by the rest of its world. ]

And... you don't have to keep disliking my face. I realize it was a selfish request.

[ Pinky promise rescinded... ]

[lockedon]

[ Selfish or no, he can understand the reasoning that had driven her to say it. Maybe it's a good thing then he's never paid much attention to outward appearance except for the sole use of being able to profile and identify someone later. Hard to like or dislike something he doesn't consciously think about on a day-to-day basis.

It still seems like cheating to just dismiss the promise they'd made just like that, even if it had been in some sort of illusory dream and even if Gray had given him permission. So! ]

You'll just have to show me other parts of you to like instead.

[ Of which there are plenty and of which there are several he likes well enough already. But it's one thing for him to appreciate her and another thing entirely for her to feel comfortable with herself. The latter he only has so much influence over.

Standing back up, he stretches a hand out towards her. ]

We should get going.

[gravings]

[ Other parts of her to like instead... what would those be? Other than cleaning and fighting, she doesn't know what else she has to offer. But she feels now like she has to try, if only because he's asking to see it. He's looked after her time and time again. Even if she's used to disappointing people, she doesn't think she could bear to disappoint him. It's a heavy responsibility in her mind, but for some reason her heart feels light -- maybe at the notion that beyond liking or hating her face, Eustace might not care about it at all.

When she takes his hand, her hood remains downturned, but there's a wobbly smile on her face. Her grip is warm and comfortable in his hand as she rises to her feet. ]

... Alright. I'll do my best.