Player Plot: The Salvation of Geardagas, Part 1

[faileas]

Event Log: January, The Salvation of Geardagas: Part 1

The Evergreen Circle Something is happening in Aefenglom. A rash of disappearances has finally caught the attention of the authorities, but only thanks to a strange twist: a handful of the missing individuals are starting to turn up again, and not as they should be. It began with a harpy. After a week of nothing she returned, fully transformed into a Shade and too far gone to save. The same happened with a trader the next day. And the next with a witch. All three were infected, albeit to varying degrees, and only one of them was able to be brought back from the brink. Naturally, this is a huge cause for concern. There's little sign that the Bright Wall is damaged and none of the victims were known to have left the city. Questioning the survivor, Owain, doesn't produce any leads either as he can't remember anything before his disappearance. It's only after he's had some time to recover that he notices something off. As the blackening of the Cwyld fades, a small tattoo on his palm that wasn't there before becomes visible. To the concern of the Coven, it's a symbol that's familiar to them as the emblem of a rising spiritual movement favoured by the wealthy called the Evergreen Circle, led by a witch called Cillian Alder. Their purpose, he claims, is to provide hope through interrogating the Cwyld from a scholarly and philosophical perspective. In spite of this, Alder has developed more of a cult-like following than anything. Mirrorbound of standing (business owners, members of parliament, public figures, etc) might have already received one of their pamphlets. Naturally, it's an incredibly sensitive subject. The Evergreen Circle has been entirely peaceful up until now, and with such influential and powerful figures among its numbers, the Coven is reluctant to make any outright accusations. Instead, the task of investigating them has been covertly passed to the Mirrorbound. As outsiders, they stand less of a chance of causing political unrest. However, they explicitly warn against taking any hostile actions for the time being: this is an information-gathering request, nothing more. They can provide basic information about the Evergreen Circle meetings but that's about it. a. Preaching to the Choir (Every Friday Evening, Mid-Ieneuer to Early Feoveuer) Cillian Alder Art by Rachel The hall is buzzing. Though there aren't even enough people here to fill the place, everyone seems to be bubbling with excitement, exchanging loud greetings and introductions. They're particularly friendly to newcomers and are quick to offer up their experiences with the group: "Cillian is a truly free thinker!" "I haven't felt so positive about our future for a long time." "There’s a real sense of hope and community here in the Circle." The meeting convenes at 8 o’clock sharp and silence descends upon the room as a figure takes the stage. With his commanding presence and charismatic smile there's no doubt about who this is: Cillian Alder. A man in his late fifties with greying hair, he speaks with an accent crisp as cut glass and a strong voice, no doubt amplified by some kind of spell to reach around the room. He's hypnotising, those cool blue eyes of his impossible to look away from and piercing in their intensity. "How wonderful to see you all tonight, both familiar and unfamiliar faces alike! You are all welcome. I have only one request." He brings his hands together with a smile. "That you keep your hearts open. How else might our minds grow Evergreen?" Alder's speech is nothing if not passionate. He paces and proselytises, responding to the audience's interruptions and cheers with enormous enthusiasm. Throughout, his message is clear. "Who are we to immediately decry the Cwyld as a curse? Fear of the unknown, of what we have yet to control, can only hold us back! We must instead seek to understand it and be at peace with its presence! This is a test of our conviction! Our will to survive!" It goes on for the better part of an hour and, afterwards, he descends into the audience to receive their praise and questions with the gracious smile of a beloved king. He might even turn that magnanimous presence on you, affording you a few crucial moments of conversation (limited to 2 RNG characters). Will you stick around to find out more or try and slip backstage while everyone is distracted? For such a warm, welcoming atmosphere, there seems to be a lot of security around the doors leading back there so it might take some quick thinking to get through without conflict. Those who are caught will have to face the consequences, but the results might be… unfavorable. b. Spirited Away (late-Ieneuer to mid Feoveuer) Those less inclined to subterfuge won't have any problems finding trouble to get into either. As the month goes on, more and more people disappear, and that might even include Mirrorbound. Whether you're intercepting a kidnapping or fighting off your own, you're more likely to get caught up in it the longer the month goes on. It's easy enough to fight off the attackers but nigh impossible to actually catch or identify one: each is dressed in black and smells of the tell-tale decay of the Cwyld. But even assuming you do manage to apprehend one, they will refuse to talk in anything but vague, confusing comments about salvation and new beginnings. c. Cast Out (mid-Ieneuer to early Feoveuer) Likewise, the number of locals who have been abducted and released continues to rise. The victims, anywhere from badly infected to fully transformed into Shades, require subduing, healing and, in the most dire of circumstances, permanently dealt with before they can hurt anyone. Without exception, they're aggressive, reacting violently to attempts to heal as well as harm them and there are no discernable patterns when it comes to victims. However, the eagle-eyed might spot the Evergreen Circle's symbol on some of their palms if they're not too heavily corrupted.

[ ooc: More information about the event can be found on the plotting post along with comments for questions, and RNG sign-ups for directly interacting with Alder! ]

Comments

cast out;;

[oathkeeper]

[Sora is no newbie to things infected with cwyld. But he's more used to dealing with animals and creatures in the wilde being infected than he is actual people. All of this stuff that creepy old guy is spouting about embracing the cwyld? It's just completely nuts. And now people are vanishing and reappearing sicker than Sora's ever witnessed before.

He's trying to do his best to help who he can too. Trying to shake people into their senses, take them to a healer or in some worst cases just knock them out and take them somewhere safe. This isn't good at all.]

Styx?!

[Sora spots the other orphanage normal with a shout, his ears perking straight upwards. He starts to run for the man.]

Careful! Don't get yourself infected too-! Do you need a hand?! Ack-!

[He's more than used to a fight. So he leaps over to help the other at least try to restrain the infected person. They better be careful!]

[tothemetal]

[huh? Styx turns at the sound of his name, distracted enough by a familiar face's arrival to allow the turnskin in his grasp the opportunity to kick out and very nearly free itself. the drummer grunts, biting down on the pain radiating from his legs and turning the wobble into more pressure applied to the infected victim's neck. shit. he needed to stay more focused than that!]

's fine! Got, uh, got gloves on 'nd shit.

[typically he'd tell anyone - especially an acquaintance - not to potentially expose themselves to real and pressing danger in a situation like this. but given what had just nearly happened...well, it would be more irresponsible to try and tackle this alone. the turnskin deserved to be subdued as quickly as possible, so that they stood a real chance of being saved.]

He's just...nng. Real big.

[oathkeeper]

[He really hopes there's a way for these people to get help. Seeing them sick and wild like this is sickening to Sora's stomach.]

I'll try to help you! Hold on!

[Sora is small and he is more on the fast side than the strength side of things but he's going to do his best to grab this turnskin and restrain those arms. This means Sora is jumping on the turnskin's back and grabbing both arms back from the under the armpits!]

What should we do? Should we knock these guys out cold?

[Just for now??]

[tothemetal]

[the help is appreciated, although initially it appears as if Sora's presence has just made things worse - with a literal prey animal breathing down the beast's neck, the turnskin's addled mind whips itself up into a frenzy. with a pained howl it starts to thrash wildly, trying to desperately wrench itself free and claw at the puca on its back.]

Think we don't got a choice!

[there's no way they're getting someone like this all the way to the Coven without incident if they're still conscious. squeezing tighter around the monster's neck, Styx cracks its head against the wall again in an attempt to slow the resistance. fucking come on! he doesn't want this creature or Sora to get hurt.]

Can't do nothing here...gotta get them to the Coven somehow, yeah?

[oathkeeper]

[Sorry, Styx! He's trying his best to help! Even if his rabbit nerves call for him to book it as soon as he hears a howl and sees claws and teeth. Rabbit has to be brave! At least having two people try to pin the turnskin down does seem to keep him from being able to slash or smack anyone.

Sora growls himself and he keeps tight with his grip. The smash that the turnskin gets against the wall does seem to stun him hard. He wobbles!]

Yeah- Yeah! Come on! Let's go-!

[One more good shove against the wall...! And the male passes out with a slump. Sora lands on his feet and tries not to drop him.]

Geeze- This guy weighs a metric ton...! [Huff.] Are you okay? This is so crazy, what's gotten into everyone right now?

[tothemetal]

[Styx huffs in hollow triumph, happier for it all to be over than the actual win. he allows the inert turnskin to put most of its weight against him, larger of the two as he is, although it's quite the bulk to be supporting all the same. dead weight always had a habit of feeling about double whatever it actually was...]

Yeah, 'm fine. What about you?

[because in Styx's opinion Sora had definitely been in the more dangerous position up on the dude's back. he huffs, shifting a little so that they could lift him more easily. if they did it like this then most of the bulk would be against his own back...that should be fine, right?]

Wall's not down or nothing, 'nd we're kinda far in for that anyway...been seeing a lot of them lately though, yeah?

[oathkeeper]

Sorry, guy! That was for your own good!

[He feels just a little bad for knocking the turnskin out cold. He hopes they didn't rattle the guy's brain around all that much or that some healing magic can fix him right up. He shifts so that Styx can take most of the brunt but still helps him support the guy up.]

I'm fine too aside from being super confused. Because yeah, there's a lot of this going on. What should we do?

[Drop this guy off somewhere safe!]