EVENT #1: THE EMPTY THRONE

[aionmods]

The Empty Throne

DESCENT

Nearly two weeks after being dragged from shrine caverns, you hear along the grapevine that the "the throne room is complete." It doesn't take long to figure out what that means; the ritual grounds that you have been hearing mention of are finally prepared, and it's only a short while before you are once again being gathered together for travel. As a small mercy, at least this time the journey is short.

Through a passage that has been blocked by a gathering of soldiers for the entire length of your stay, a stairway is revealed to you. It leads deep into the ruins, through unfamiliar structures and into the bowels of the earth. Though your feel your are mostly going downward, the walk is still long on account of how many stairs their are, and the soldiers escorting you are restless. They are now being led by the stray, mask wearing Achamites that have been accompanying the group till now, silently observing. Whatever place this is, it seems that they now hold court.

Funneled into the chambers below, you are greeted by a massive, domed enclosure of stone. Positioned around its circular radius are twelve thrones in various states of disrepair, sized as if meant to seat giants. The backs of these thrones all differ slightly in design, though most have great cleaves of stone broken loose from their architecture, as if subjected to some great cataclysm. Each is engraved with a sigil, though some have been obscured by the destruction wrought. The throne closest to the entrance has been almost entirely demolished, making it impossible to glean much about.

The dome's ceiling appears to be hundreds of feet tall at its apex, its smooth surface disrupted by stalactites that puncture through its form like teeth. As a result, many chunks of the original structure seem to have cracked and collapsed in to the floor below. When examined closely, these fragments of the domed ceiling seem to be made of a material strangely reflective in quality, though caked in many years of dirt and grime. If large enough sections are cleaned, patterns may emerge, revealing designs that look almost like star maps. The floor beneath your feet as a similar, but subtly different quality, covered in wreckage and ruin but can be cleaned to reveal complex patterns of intersecting lines.

A careful eye will indicate that these lines all lead towards the center of the room - the one space that has been cleared and scrubbed prior to your arrival. Here, the lines converge, with carefully preserved marking in the stone that bely increasing levels of runic complexity the closer you look. This is where the ritual will be held, you are told.

THE RITUAL

There is not much time to regain your bearings before you are being shuffled forth towards the ritual space; no, all the waiting has already been done. Under the command of the smaller group of Achamites, the Hylicians will make heavy use of the whips in leading everyone to their places along the rune-inscribed circle. Before that, however, small cuts will be made to each prisoner with an athame, either on their hand or arm. With a sharp, burning sensation in the afflicted skin, these cuts will spread into wounds reflecting the image of one of the eleven sigils displayed on the thrones encircling the group, and matching the shrine they were originally pulled from.

With this accomplished, they can finally be taken into the circle. With a design comprised of four triangles overlapping, the design of an open eye carved at its center, all prisoners will be led to separates points on its design where the lines cross. Seemingly arranged by their shrine sigil to be closest to whatever throne represents them, they will be brought to their designated positions one by one. Any attempts to flee or disrupt the process will be dealt with swiftly and harshly, exacerbated by the increasing levels of paranoia and fear in the soldiers themselves. Whatever is being done here, they don't seem happy to involved with it either.

When everyone is in place, the seeming master of ceremonies will finally emerge. A dark haired woman will appear from the shadows, motes of golden light fluttering about her otherwise darkness-clad visage. Moving towards the center of the circle, she will stand over the marking of the eye and begin working her magicks. As if on cue, the soldiers will withdraw any remaining whips and scurry to the outside of the circle, only for new bonds of ethereal energy to lash out of the ritual circle itself, binding each and every prisoner and dragging them down to their knees. Among the soldiers, you can hear mutterings identifying this woman as "the Aion."

"Come," she says to the coterie of robed Achamites, who will approach the circle with an assortment of vials collected into cases. There is enough for each prisoner to be given a drink, and so they will; a vial of abyssal liquid will be forced into each one of your throats, no matter how uncomfortably it must be done. While no less ruthless, the Achamites have a different way about them as they work, forcing themselves upon you with a strange familiarity that feels more akin to a mother forcing their child to take medicine than the suspicious hostility of the soldiers. As the foul liquid touches your tongue, it takes on a consistency almost like a living thing, crawling down your throat even if you refuse to swallow, all while the Achamites stroke your hair and make saccharine assurances.

Once all the prisoners have been fed their vial, the Achamamites too will retreat from the circle - all except for one. Joining 'the Aion' at the center, the two of them will begin enacting a planned ceremony of sorts, that culminates in the following scene:

The Achamite kneels before the Aion, lifting their masked face to meet their dark gaze. They speak, in practiced tones.

"To the Kenoma my body, to the Kenoma my soul."

In response, the Aion holds the Achamite's face between their hands in almost a loving gesture. She speaks softly:

"By the blood of the Martyr, I accept your sacrifice."

From the Aion's hands a darkness spreads across the Achamite's body, as if they are melting and dissolving on a cellular level. She kneels along with them, cradling them as their body breaks down, pooling in a void-black liquid around their knees. It drains into the lines of the ritual circle, surging out towards the prisoners.

Within moments, the ritual is complete.

KENOMA SICKNESS

As this dark power surges throughout the ritual circle, you will find yourself almost consumed by the tide. Whatever foul creation you were forced to swallow wakes within your chest, and you can feel it move within your veins, inside you lungs, behind your eyes. As quickly as it begins, the flood of darkness washes over you, but not without leaving you stained.

Something has changed in its wake. As you return to your senses, you will notice the magical bonds of the circle have fallen away, leaving you free to move; for once, the soldiers will not move to lead or restrain you. Instead, the Hylicians warily back away from the ritual space, retreating towards the only path upwards, where they form a defensive line. The Achamites that linger make a series of ritual gestures, praying in voices too soft to hear. The Aion woman stands in the center, her hands blackened with residue from the person you just watched fall to pieces in her arms.

"You will be given time to find your truth," she says. "Use it well."

As you recover from the experience enough to stand, she and her Achamite entourage are already retreating to join the Hylician guard. Gradually, your situation will become clear: they intend to keep your trapped down here. However, it will not be the same as when you waited before. Instead, the soldiers simply intend to block your only exit out, and otherwise leave you free to roam the full diameter of the throne room, seemingly free to do whatever you want as long as it isn't trying to break free of the cavern's confines. Each day, they will offer to their prisoners a limit supply of food, water, and firewood, but nothing more. Beyond that, you only have your increasingly dirty white robes and the same bedrolls as before.

❖ COMMUNION
The first change you will experience is an itching darkness in your mind, like a psychic wound that is becoming infected. The sort of thoughts you would normally try to force down become increasingly hard to resist; despair, hatred, and fear will plague you, and requiring great feats of will to silence even temporarily. Phantoms of the things you'd rather forget will become a constant companion, all while a presence seems to whisper: when you accept your fate, the pain will stop.

Worse than this, the darkness of your mind may not remain private. As if awakened by the ritual, your empathetic sense has become impossibly strong, to the point that you feel the broadcasted emotions and thoughts of others, and in turn, your darkest thoughts will be psychically projected to others with a volume proportional to the intensity with which you feel them. This effect is most potent between those sharing Legacy, with the capacity for their identities to become momentarily confused. In all cases, this connection may bleed into your dreams, or manifest as hallucinations.

❖ TRANSFORMATION
Yet, your mind is not the only thing that ails. In proportion to the strength of your emotions, your body may begin changing to match your state of mind. Physical transformations akin to those mentioned here will begin to manifest, themed to your inner suffering and the most negative aspects of your self conception. These alterations may shift from moment to moment, depending on the turbulence of your emotional state. They may or may not be painful.

❖ AFFLICTION
Along with the above effects, characters may also experience various more mundane ailments; essentially anything traditionally associated with illness could fit. Weakness, nausea, body aches, and chills are all common options. Along with this, void-black ooze may start to trickle from virtually any orifice. While it may stain clothing and skin, the material itself will dissipate after a few minutes in a manner reminiscent of ectoplasm. This effect may also appear around your Shard, as if the stone itself has begun to bleed.

RESISTANCE

Even as the Kenoma threatens to overwhelm you, you still have the power to fight. Though it may be a grueling war of attrition, you can force back its advances with sufficient will to survive and resist the darkness. Of course, your captors are not going to make this easy for you. Those that fight hard enough to expel the Kenoma from their bodies and spirits will take at least a week to do so, and for that duration they will be trapped within this chilly cavern, haunted by their worst thoughts and emotions.

The bedrolls barely strand up against the cold, your clothing doesn't at all, and to be comfortable you'll require fire. Yet, there is a limited amount provided to you, along with food and water, and the soldiers do not seem to be making any effort to distribute it evenly. Achieving basic warmth and sustenance may become a battle against your fellow inmates, all while you struggle against the enemy infecting your body. Cracks in the dome of the cavern lead into some smaller caverns and crevasses in the stone that can offer some privacy or protection, but the more splintered the group becomes the less the supplies will hold up. Fortunately for you, neither the cold nor starvation will kill you, but it will make you suffer.

Yet, you may still persevere. As you fight back the Kenoma, something else will be cultivated in its place. Bit by bit, a comforting and warm presence will grow within you, gradually disrupting the maladies afflicting your body and mind. Your faith and perseverance has been rewarded with an attunement to the Pleroma, the Kenoma's cosmological opposite; given enough time, the Kenoma will be forced from your being entirely, in the form of void-black sludge. Only then will your power begin to shine through, the abilities of your past life slowly returning.

You must keep your guard. With or without otherworldly power, escape will be a struggle.

ACCEPTANCE

Or, you may choose the easy option. Maybe the Kenoma resonates with your history and emotions in a way that makes it seem like it isn't the enemy. Maybe the depths of your despair are too deep to escape. Maybe your simply lack the strength to fight. Whatever the reason, sooner or later, the Kenoma claims you. The more you let it in, the less it feels like a poison and the more it feels like strength. The darkness settles comfortably into the cracks and holes of your spirit, and you awaken to its power. You feel the change viscerally.

This world is not good enough, a voice seems to speak through the Kenoma. This suffering you feel, the cruelty that has birthed this darkness in you... it is simply the rot that is consuming this existence. A better universe awaits, one forged by your own hand, and all you need do is first bring about this broken reality's end.

Whatever effects you were suffering from the Kenoma's presence will fade away, and in its place, you will feel your endurance bolstered. The clarity is stark in comparison to the mire you were trapped in before. As the other prisoners suffer around you, the Aion woman from before and an accompaniment of a couple Hylician soldiers will approach you among the ruins, as if summoned straight to your location. She looks you over, her dark eyes impassive, and then asks:

"Did you feel it?"

She doesn't actually wait for an answer, your expression alone enough to assure her. She'll tell the soldiers that you are free to go, and that you are to be given a share of their food and a change of clothes. She'll escort you out of cavern and towards the upper ruins, where the soldiers and Achamites have set up camp. This feels natural to you, somehow, like you and her are on the same wavelength in a way that is hard to comprehend. She is like you, you sense. That dark power is within her as well.

She doesn't linger with you for long, but she will see that you are on your way before heading back to the caverns. She'll say that the voice you heard, that promise, was the Regent, the ruler of this land. They spoke of a power that could birth a new, better universe, and they weren't misleading you. It's within their reach, closer than ever, and if you help them achieve it you will be rewarded lavishly. For now, you are free to regain your strength while the others make their choices. She only asks that you stay in the area and be ready to join the Regent in Achamoth when all is prepared.

If you're prone to boredom, though, she will mention that you'd really be doing the prisoners a favor by convincing them to accept the Kenoma like you did. You could convince them with words, or by making their situations so unbearable they won't have a choice but to break. However you'd like. It won't be worse than what's coming for them if they carry on this way.

When she parts ways with you, you are left to your own devices. Somehow, you feel inclined to cooperate. After all, the Regent did have a point.

QUESTIONS

Are the involuntary transformations during the Kenoma sickness period temporary afflictions or permanent ones?
By default they are temporary, but characters can also keep a couple keepsake changes if you'd like! An Aion's physical appearance is something that is generally in flux, and so even if you keep something from this event, you can always alter it later.

What kind of supplies are going to be distributed to those who accept Kenoma and leave the caverns?
They'll be given food, water, and clothing. They'll be given more/better rations than they were as prisoners, but it's still the sort of food that is limited by the fact that they are out here on a mission. The soldiers will have some fresh meat from prey they've been hunting in the forest, and will generally be having a lot of stew-based food going. There are actual spices in it, though, so that's cool. This is all set up where the Hylicians are camping.

As for clothes, they will get a fresh set (including boots or shoes) and some soap to clean themselves up in the nearby creeks and ponds. Hylici has an aesthetic that leans towards ancient Greek/Roman, so while they won't have anything fancy with them, you are free to assume they are able to acquire anything in that general ballpark. They do also have pants, though. While it is now spring and Horos has a generally temperate climate, it can be chilly at night.

Will Pleroma attuned be able to escape once they've regained their powers?
Yes, they will be allowed to escape at that point, and a second log will be going up to cover that part of the event. This log should generally cover up until shortly after Pleroma start ejecting the Kenoma's influence. Characters are permitted to escape by their own power if they somehow devise a plan to do so, but as we know the Pleromas are at a significant disadvantage in this situation, some characters who have fought against the Kenoma particularly valiantly will be given some magical assistance to help the survivors escape.

Will the Kenomas be able to try to stop them?
Yes! The second log will be set up to contain some PVP, though given the Pleromas do need to escape, we ask that you play nice. There will be a battle, but it will be structured in the context of the Pleromas having to hold off the Kenomas long enough to escape, so it will be relatively brief.

Can we speak to "the Aion"?
Yes, she will be around for the full length of the event. All characters will have the chance to find her watching over the group whether they are Kenomas or soon to be Pleromas. She will not be that talkative, though, so anyone tagging her will have to lead the conversation. She will not make small talk. Martyrs will recognize her as one of them.

Comments

Acceptance

[hippocarnival]

[It's just as well it's impossible to tell the days down here, because every hour seems to blur together as he tries to hold off the sickness coursing through his body. He's curled up with his back to one of the thrones, a small section of bread in one hand he's been tearing small pieces off. It's the only thing he can manage to keep down.

He looks up only once Amos speaks, weary. He sounds almost... kind, and it forces Yuya to avert his gaze again.]

I don't really want to give them what they want, after all this. [It sounds petulant, the way he mumbles it out. It's a lot more torturous than that, but if he admits how much it's making him suffer out loud won't it be all that harder to resist?]

[baltimores]

[ Kindness isn't something that comes naturally to Amos even in the best of circumstances, which these decidedly are not. But he's capable of making an effort when he wants to, and with Yuya. With someone younger. He really, really wants to.

He frowns as Yuya looks away, but doesn't press that matter further. He's talking, at least, and that's going to have to be good enough, at least for now. Petulant, sure, but it almost reminds Amos of someone from back home. Who's dead now. Because he felt that, weeks ago, when they were all first brought to... wherever this is.

So, on some level, he thinks he might get it. That instinct. He doesn't understand it personally, but it's not a totally foreign concept.

Amos sits, intending to stay. His voice remains gentle. ]

Sometimes it can't exactly be helped. All you can really do is ride it out, try not to drown along the way. [ A beat. ] Drowning doesn't help anybody, least of all yourself. You don't get anything out of it.

[hippocarnival]

[... Yuya takes a heavy breath, swallowing down the nausea. He doesn't do a lot of helping anyone does he, anyway? It's usually him who needs to be helped up.]

What did they say to you? About... this.

[Maybe at least Amos has some answers for him. Something to make sense of all this outside the waves of anguish and hatred he tries to keep in.]

[baltimores]

[ He takes a breath. Hadn't been expecting that question. ]

Not a lot. I more got the sense that this is what I was supposed to do. And it'll lead to something better in the end. It's hard to describe. You kinda just... feel it. [ His expression turns rueful. ] I'm not the kind of guy who feels a lot, but I felt this. Feels good. Comforting. Natural.

[ He glances over in the direction of the exit, a tilt to his head to indicate it. ]

They want to give us time to rest, after. They'll probably say more then. It's new, but... I dunno. I think all this might be for the best.

[hippocarnival]

[Comforting, huh... Yuya can't say he's found the same. Just a lot of bitterness and distrust. That's now who he wants to be. These feelings... he thought he'd finally had them conquered, and they've brought them all back up.

His fingers dig into his knees.] But they're the ones doing this to us.

[He wants the pain to stop. He also wants an answer.]

[baltimores]

[ Amos looks down. At his own lap, at the ground between them, at Yuya's fingers digging in. Up at his expression. He wants the kid to feel better, and the only way he really knows how is to just accept it. Which the kid doesn't seem to want to do, so, he's at a bit of a loss here.

Especially considering that particular objection. ]

Yeah. I don't really got a good answer for that.

[ He's not going to try to sugarcoat things; it is fucked up. It just so happens to be a brand of fucked up he's used to. ]

So. I grew up in kind of a shithole of a city. Gangs, crime, you know the drill. Just the way life was. The gangs ran the place. Sometimes the authorities would come in and act like they were the ones in charge, but as soon as they left, it went right back to the gangs. They fucked me over pretty good, but they were also the only real game in town, so I joined up. Didn't have any other options. It's kinda how these things work.

[ He sighs. ]

Wish I could give you another answer, but I don't think there is one. When someone makes it clear they're the ones in charge, that's who you go with. [ Amos pauses for a moment, though, like he's remembering something. ] Sometimes you can find an opening. But you gotta accept it first. Keep all the doors closed, and all you're gonna do is trap yourself.

[hippocarnival]

[As Amos talks, Yuya finally brings his attention back up. He's still tense with pain, but he listens intently.]

... Sorry you had to live with that. [It's earnest, because it sounds like hell. However much Yuya struggled socially, he didn't grow up having to feel so unsafe and trapped.

At least, not as long as he's been Yuya.

He looks down again, a little ashamed Amos is trying to help him and he's just being a brick wall. He deserves at least an explanation why he's being so resistant, doesn't he?]

I... can't... [He shakes his head, swallowing to choke down his miserable feelings. It makes him sick he can even be this way.] If it means doing what they've done and having to hurt someone else, I can't accept it. I... I don't want to be like that anymore.

[baltimores]

[ Amos shrugs at the apology. He gets it. Hell, he accepts it, because Yuya seems to really mean it. It's not just a platitude. He offers a soft thanks, but otherwise, there isn't really much to do with it, is there? Still happened, still helped shape him into the person he is today. Not a whole lot can be done about that.

But Amos offers Yuya the same level of focus he gave him. Probably more, since he doesn't have to deal with fighting anything inside of him at the same time. It's a good thing there's enough in him to speak this much, but something in his own truth just. Hits Amos.

He sucks in his breath when Yuya finishes. Anymore. He gets that.

Pauses before shifting a little closer. Just to be someone there if Yuya needs that; nothing more. ]

I don't want to see you going through this. And the only way I know to get out of it is to accept it. [ He shuts his eyes for a moment before re-establishing eye contact, and his gaze is open and honest. ] But it's a good thing if you don't want to be like that. You should hold onto it.

[ Some of us never had the chance. ]

I don't know if we're ever going to have to hurt anyone else. I mean, being realistic, probably, but that isn't restricted to this. Everyone gets hurt eventually. It's just life. Sometimes there's no getting around it, no matter what choices you make.

[hippocarnival]

But I can't make a choice to hurt less. [That's right. It may not spare him, but it spares someone. How will he prove he's not longer that person if he goes against even trying?

He takes a shuddering breath, pursing his lips into a tight smile.] I can't accept this. They're better off... sending me home, than trying to get me join them if this is what they do.

[baltimores]

[ Amos exhales, soft. Yuya doesn't want this. He's not going to want this. And as far as he can tell, Yuya is a true believer in his own reasons, and he has to respect that.

Except it leaves him at an impasse, and Amos is left without a clue as to how to help him. ]

I don't think there's a going back home for any of us. I don't know why we're here, why it's us specifically. I mean, I felt my entire universe die, so there's nowhere for me to go back to anyway. I dunno if it's the same for you. I'm guessing probably; that's gotta be the only reason any of us are here to begin with.

[ He grimaces. ]

Only way I see anyone getting out of this is dying. It's not a great choice to have to make, but, I mean... it's still yours to make. It's two shitty options, but at least you can pick one. [ A beat. ] Accepting it's not so bad, if you don't want the other choice. I can help you. But I get it, if that's not what you want. I just can't help you there is all.

[hippocarnival]

[Yuya flinches.] There's no way that really happened.

[No, he knows how potentially true that really is. But if it was, if they really were all just gone...

Well, his second (third?) chance isn't much of a mercy anymore.] They... if they'd hurt us to get what they want, they'd lie too. Right?

[baltimores]

[ For his part, Amos has his own internal wince about making Yuya flinch. This isn't helping. Even if Yuya doesn't accept the Kenoma, the least he can do is not make the kid feel worse, and yet here he is, doing just that.

Fuck if he knows how to backpedal on this. It's all he can really do to offer a shrug. ]

Guess you can't discount the possibility. Before all of this, when we were waiting in those ruins, I did talk to someone who thought maybe it was a warning sign. Like maybe our universes are all going to die, but it just hasn't happened yet.

[ Though he's pretty sure his is gone. But that's just his. ... And probably everyone else's, but hell, Amos actually is trying now, even if he's not any good at it. ]

[hippocarnival]

[It would be so unfair, if they went through all of that... if he went through all of that, only to lose everything in the end.

He nods, slowly, biting his lip.] I have to get back. They're gonna wonder where I went...

[baltimores]

[ Man, Amos really doesn't know what to do with that. He sucks in air through his teeth, uncertainty written on his face, in his body language. In all likelihood, kid's world is gone. His they are all dead. And he doesn't seem ready to accept it, so just blurting that out isn't gonna do any good.

... He moves to put a hand on Yuya's back, slow enough that Yuya can draw away if he doesn't want it there. But if he does, then it's. Shit. Amos doesn't know. Seems like the kind of thing someone else used to do for him. ]

You should focus on yourself first. [ He's not good at platitudes, but that much is definitely true, so he's got no problems saying it. ] Can't do anything about anyone else until you know you're okay.

[ Except he only knows one path to okay. It had been an easy enough choice for Amos; he hates that that's not the case for everyone else. ]

[hippocarnival]

[Yuya doesn't pull away, at least, even if he's not terribly mobile otherwise.]

I'm... okay enough, right now. [He's alive, not actively dying. It seems like they don't want that for them.] I'm not giving up.

[baltimores]

[ Amos leaves his hand there, well aware all he's really good for is being a steadying presence. At least he can be a physical representation of it. ]

Okay.

[ It's a simple acceptance on Amos' part. He believes him. ]

Look, I know I'm not any good at this, but if you want someone to ride this out with, whatever ends up happening, I can stay with you. If you want me to get out of here, I can do that, too. Your call.

[ Yuya's made his choice. Maybe he'll reconsider later, maybe not. Either way, if this is all Amos can actually do to help him out, then he'll do that much. At least it'll be Yuya's decision, and really, that seems most important. ]

[hippocarnival]

I... I think I'll be okay right now. [He reaches to wipe his eyes with the back of his hand.] But I don't mind if you ever want to come back.

[He offers a weak smile.] I'm Yuya.

[baltimores]

[ Amos doesn't even try to smile back. It's just not gonna happen with him. Still, his sincerity should be evident enough — in his eyes, his voice, just... him. ]

Amos.

[ He gives Yuya a light, if awkward, pat on the back. That's his cue, then. ]

Sure thing. I'll probably see you again sooner rather than later.

[ Shit, maybe he can bring some of the stew from the camp down. Who's going to object to him doing that for the kid? It'd at least be something.

He keeps the thought to himself, though. No point in getting anyone's hopes up if it's not gonna happen. And with that last bit of contact, that last thought, Amos pulls himself up. For a moment, he's reluctant to leave Yuya — it really feels like he should be doing something more, even though there's nothing he can do — before accepting their shared circumstances, moving on himself. ]