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

[yesdoubt]

[Momo has been trying not to get involved in these interventions too publicly, since he's deep enough into investigating the cult that it might be suspect, but in this case he's wrapped up heavily and on his way to go help out with the Coven's curing efforts when he catches this situation. The combination of the struggling Turnskin and the sight of what looks like healing magic is enough to get him to run over, already in the process of drawing an ice spell on his arm.]

Normal healing magic's gonna worsen it if you're not careful, he needs to go to the Coven. Can you get his arms together? Or at least close to, I can help push them the last bit.

[The Turnskin might need to be knocked out still, but it might be easier to do if they're not simultaneously having to restrain it by hand. Thankfully, since Momo was already off to be handling infected patients, he's covered just about everywhere except the face and thus prepared to lay hands on their impending patient if he needs to.]

[tothemetal]

[Momo's bundled up heavily enough that his friend doesn't immediately recognize him until he speaks, although that may be for the best; distractions could be fatal for anyone involved in this tussle right now and were best kept to a minimum. the drummer smiles when he does manage to recognize the other man, strained though the expression may be.]

'm trying to be careful 'nd shit, 's just - [he grunts, shifting as he prepares to start trying to restrain those dangerous limbs] - he's getting hurt while we're going, yeah?

[it was bad enough for this poor guy to be infected to begin with...Styx's soft heart can't bear allowing the injuries he's inflicting on the monster to linger as well. he's having a hard enough time just fighting to begin with, even as he slams the turnskin against the wall in order to stun him long enough to force his arms behind his back. stupid though he may be, he can tell what Momo's aiming to do here.]

[yesdoubt]

[Momo can see the reasoning, though it only makes him more intent to restrain the Turnskin before he can hurt himself more. So as soon as Styx gets the arms behind his back, Momo's hands encircle them and he lets the spell free, encasing the limbs in a lump of ice. It's not exactly ideal long-term, but he imagines someone in the Coven can get him a restraint that's less likely to cause frostbite.]

I'd try a sleep spell, but when he's this resistant it's probably just gonna backfire... [Unfortunate fact of most compulsion spells is that if the subject isn't willing, it's going to have just about the opposite effect. Quickly, he bends down and casts the ice spell on the feet as well - he's not focusing so much on getting them together in this case as just encasing them completely so the Turnskin won't be able to get purchase on the ground with his feet, though if he can get them both locked together then he will. Slippery feet is just the priority here.]

Think we can drag him there between the two of us? [Turnskins are very strong, but to employ that strength most effectively, he'd need to be able to dig his limbs into something, or plant his feet to fight back. Beyond that, he feels like two strong Witches should be able to handle this transport. Hopefully.]

[tothemetal]

[there, that's...well, it's not fantastic, but it does mean that Styx's own hands are free to better restrain the beast in other places. the faster that they can get this done with the quicker this poor guy can be released from those frosty shackles.]

Yeah, might as well save the energy...

[to do things like sharply check the turnskin when it tries frantically to bash them in with its iceblock arms, for example. the timing ultimately works out to their advantage as Styx's blow knocks the creature back, causing him to lose his footing thanks to their new icy encasings and fall snarling to the ground.]

Um... [shit, he hates seeing people like this.] Pretty sure we can, right? 's only one dude.

[yesdoubt]

[Well, that tells Momo they should probably be dragging it by either the legs or the arms to make it harder to try and beat them in that way. The arms might be a better grip, he thinks, so he moves to one side in a sort of flanking motion.]

Yeah, even if it's a Turnskin, without being able to brace it should be more an issue of his weight now than his strength.

[Momo gestures to the other arm.] Want to pull by the arms so he can't keep trying to swing them at us? We might need to do a count in and grab at the same time, though.

[So it can't try to bean one of them for going in earlier than the other. Momo seems plenty ready to go for it whenever Styx is, though.]