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

[stopfen]

[She could indeed hear the difference. The strange echo of it, like how she could see him and his illusion at the same time. The illusion was just a faded overlay, but she could see it. Feel it... Well, not actually feel. But she could tell something was there.

For now, it was unimportant though. If he wanted to use illusions she wouldn't stop him, there was probably a reason. Mikasa was unarmed, mostly. She still had herself and those large barbs on her raptorial arms that were stretching out to show themselves in warning as she squared her shoulders. The cultists hadn't yet done anything other than follow, which was enough for Mikasa to notice and not want to lead them back to the house.]

They're the kidnappers?

[She doesn't look at him, keeping her attention on the cultists as she took a step forward. Rolling her neck slightly. Then she pauses, legs still tensed, ready to lunge.] ...These are those guys who like the Cywd aren't they?

[Which meant even if she was ready to throw down, it was a bad idea.]

[yesdoubt]

[Momo would offer her his throwing knives, but he learnt from his mistake with Grace not long after he arrived. It's just unfortunate he hasn't gotten around to getting ones that aren't made out of steel. For now, the fire is fine either way - even a glancing hit from a fireball has a good chance of putting someone's limb out for a few days at the absolute minimum while the burn heals.]

Sure are. Pretty sure I've seen some of the other kidnappers infected with it. [Which is a sneaky way of saying he's seen cult members infecting themselves with it for fun, so he's aware it's a risk. He's never seen exactly how quickly a fae goes down to Cwyld, but he really doesn't want to find out on Mikasa.

The cultists look like they're on the brink of reconsidering now that there's two people, but they're also likely factoring in that fae are weaker to it, so Momo has his doubts they're actually going to stop. Sure enough, one of them darts out of the group like they're going to chance it - and immediately earns themselves a fireball to the right shoulder, careening backwards with the force of it and sprawling in the grass with an ugly, raw burn across their chest and dominant arm.]

That's your one warning. I didn't put them up for show.

[stopfen]

[One day, Mikasa would look into getting a rifle she could use. Or a bow... Okay maybe not a bow. She could use one but- there were too many memories there. Mikasa huff, a small curse slipping out as he confirmed her thoughts on her attempted kidnappers. Her noise wrinkling as she scrunched it. Either at the smell of charred flesh or the sheer audacity of the cult member.

Her eyes narrowing at the group. Antenna giving a flick, then flattening against her head.]

The one that ran is infected. There's magic hiding it. [Which meant that hiding the infection to spread it was a part of the plan.]

...The one at the back is too.

[She tensed, lips curling back to show gritted teeth.] Do the guard have a way of arresting them?

[Because they couldn't just be wandering around, infecting people as they passed. But Mikasa had no way of stopping them. She couldn't get near, not even her fairy rings would work.]

[yesdoubt]

[Momo lets out a slightly irritated breath, though it's at least useful that Mikasa can identify the ones who are infected.]

Not sure. Or if they're even going to know they're infected if they're hiding it. Those two are the biggest risk for you, right?

[Murmuring something, he begins to reshape one of his fireballs a little, planning to aim it at the guy at the back to take him out of the equation.] If you're sure they're the only two with it, then it might be a way of evening the odds.

[Since in theory, she could fight the ones that don't have the infection. He says this all to her rather quietly, because all of the cultists present at the moment appear to be human and he's figuring they don't have sharp enough ears to pick up any scheming. The group is starting to fan out a bit, as if considering trying a flanking maneuver but still a bit wary of what happened to their companion happening to them.]