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]

Maybe...

[ Glancing around, she sees that he's right. The place is worse-kept than she would tolerate of any cemetery she'd be taking care of. But they are here to investigate first and foremost, so she leads them over to what she wants to call a gravekeeper's hut but is more like an office, much more "modern" than what she's used to. A quick peek informs her that it's inactive, and after a moment of hesitation, she invites herself in. ]

Pardon me...

[ She announces herself just in case there's anyone ducked out of sight. But with no answer forthcoming, she begins to snoop around for anything like a ledger. ]

[emblazer]

[ With the sky starting to darken, it doesn't help his unease trekking around a bunch of graves, so he quickly grabs a piece of wood and uses his pyromancy to light the other end before following Gray. There are a few more distant rustling sounds that he tries to keep convincing himself is just the wind, but he does spot one of the dazed villagers through the window lurking around the surrounding gate.

His gulp is slightly audible as he unconsciously scoots closer to Gray. ]

Did you find anything of use yet?

[gravings]

[ She looks at him sympathetically and allows him to scoot closer, showing him a worn notebook she's begun leafing through while he's near. ]

It seems like there was a slight jump in graves that needed to be prepared in the first half of this month... but the records suddenly stopped not long ago.

[ What does this tell them? Not anything especially important at the moment, admittedly, though it tells a story of the rate of proliferation in the city. ]

... The gravekeeper probably won't be around, then. I wonder what everyone is doing with their dead.

[emblazer]

Do you know when all this started? Does it line up with the beginning of the month?

[ He couldn't confirm how well it correlated with their own arrival, so he's been wondering if this at least gives them an exact window for the first infections. It would certainly lend more credibility to the theory that outsiders like them brought the disease/enchantment with them. ]

It could be that whoever was doing the record-keeping got afflicted so there was no one to move or inter the bodies, no one to take the names either after a point.

[ How sad... though he hasn't had the misfortune of running into corpses. Yet. Almost all the afflicted he'd seen had been alive but sickly-looking, so he isn't sure how much longer they'll be able to sustain themselves in such a stunted state. ]

[gravings]

I think you're probably right. And it does look like things started changing around the beginning of the month...

[ The month of the Innocent. Maybe the Regent and the rest of Achamoth have a good reason to feel lukewarm about Inoseri after all.

Gray gently closes the notebook of records and palces it where she found it. She can only hope that the gravekeepoer will be back to care that she did so. She considers the hut for a moment, thinking about what a mess the graveyard's affairs must be. ]

... I think I'm going to stay for a while longer and see if I can help straighten things up. You don't have to stay if you don't want to.

[ She wouldn't blame him at all for wanting to go, considering how nervous he seemed coming in. ]

[emblazer]

[ While he should look after her, there doesn't appear to be any immediate danger. The Venerans are too far away and too dazed to be a threat to her at the moment –are probably more of a threat to themselves–, and there are other places he wants to investigate while he has the chance.

He nods after giving her words enough consideration. ]

I should catch up with some of the other Pleromas and take a look at some more of the nearby shops and restaurants. Something is bound to still be open.

[ He thinks he'd seen a light on just a few blocks away, so he should definitely follow up on it and check it out. ]

Will you be okay in the meantime? You know you can call out if you need help. I may not have the weird head-link with you, but I'll still come running if I hear you.

[ And if not him, maybe Kaeya or one of the other nearby Kenomas. ]

[gravings]

[ She smiles slightly at his concern. He really is too nice... ]

I'll be okay.

[ Though if she does run into trouble, she will, admittedly, try very hard to not bother anyone and take care of the problem herself. In matters of the graveyard, she has to maintain at least a small amount of pride. ]

Please be careful. If you need help, I'll probably be here for a while.

[emblazer]

Alright, I'll come check on you later and bring you some more food when I find some. See you around, Gray!

[ He waves at her before taking off in the opposite direction, sprinting a little noticeably quick because he's dying to get out of the cemetery and visit somewhere a lot less spooky... Hopefully, Gray really will be okay on her own, and all his worries would have been just a product of his own unfounded paranoia.

If not, he'll come running back as quickly as possible. ]