☆ Event Log: Snatched, Part One

[faileas]

Event Log: January, Snatched - Part One

I. The Fires (14th) Though it began this month with petty vandalism, before long, things escalate. On the evening of the 14th, when many are settling down for the night, fires blaze to life simultaneously all over the city, though they seem to cluster in places that Mirrorbound and refugees frequent. Homes, businesses, market stalls, the Barracks, the Residential Districts, they could pop up anywhere, but the worst of them seem to hit different locations within the Haven. The refugees stand to lose a lot in the fires, everything they've built up since arriving here at the end of September, and Mirrorbound stand to suffer damage to the homes or businesses they've built in Aefenglom. No doubt everyone is quick to catch on, but with so many locations burning at once, help is thin on the ground. As soon as they're alerted, the Coven sends out a call to all Witches, Merrow, water-based Dragons, anyone who can manipulate water or ice to help put out the fires across town before they can spread. With the city plan so tight and buildings so close together, it's a real worry. They'll accept all hands, even those with no particular water-based talents - anybody can carry buckets, after all. Bucket brigades made up of mostly Monsters form from the River Temese out to pass water to where it's needed most. Others with fire magic or resistances are asked to search the buildings still on fire for anyone still trapped inside. On the streets, more set up stations to treat burns and smoke inhalation, and to check people over for worse injuries. It takes a couple of hours to put out the last of the flames, but thanks to quick action, no lives are confirmed lost. The City Guard is present at the sites of the fires in the hours afterward, questioning witnesses and determining the sources with both magical and Monster-ability-based methods, but as the chaos calms down, it quickly becomes clear that 1. this is a case of purposeful arson, and 2. not all witnesses are present. Maybe it's your friend, or family member, or just an acquaintance you know you saw go into their house at the end of the day, but they're conspicuously absent from the crowds gathered on the streets. Those who are Bonded to a missing person feel it first, though - a horrible sensation like a pillow over the face or a tightening in the chest, smothering their Bond to barely anything, except the very rare flicker of something, a tiny spark lost to the darkness as soon as it's felt. The sudden absence of them is like a case of phantom limb, something that should be there suddenly isn't, but yet it isn't quite an annullment or breaking of the Bond. It's still there, just muted and tamped down. It feels a little different for everyone, maybe painful or maybe just uncomfortable, or maybe, in the cases of new or less-close Bonds, it simply feels as if it never existed. Regardless, those Bonded can't be found through Bonds. It's like those loved ones have vanished, without a trace. The City Guard and Coven representatives alike will seek to make a comprehensive list of all who have gone missing, but Mirrorbound cooperation will be needed for that; they would know better than anyone, because the missing ones are all Mirrorbound or refugees.

II. The Lost Souls (14th - 20th) CW: Torture, captivity, restraints. You were spirited away in the middle of the night. Maybe you were out, or maybe you were safe in your own home, but either way, someone managed to get the drop on you. Upon waking, everything is fuzzy, until clarity returns suddenly and violently. It's possible to remember a struggle, an enchanted darkness that might have enveloped you, maybe even a glimpse of the face of the human or Witch who grabbed you, but now you're stuck in a small, stone cell, the only entrance covered in shiny new bars thick enough to hold back a rampaging Dragon. The hall beyond is also stone and dimly lit by sparse magitech lights and the soft, runic glow of spells drawn on the walls and floors. There are more cells like yours, filled with more Monsters and Witches like you. What's worse, maybe you're alone, or maybe another poor soul is trapped with you - the space isn't exactly large enough for two, but the comfort might be nice. Witches will find their magic restrained, tamped down with a spell similar to the Coven's punishment for lawbreaking. Monsters' restraints are more traditional - muzzles, chains, manacles, and particular weaknesses that differ from Monster type to Monster type, such as silver or iron, water, or the lack of water. Even if, by some small mercy, a person finds themselves with their hands free, all of the captives' Watches have been taken, along with most other belongings on them. The uncertainty of your new location doesn't last for long. It's only a matter of time before people pass through the cellblock in pairs or trios, talking to each other and ignoring the captives behind bars, checking up on the spells that line the room. Those with keen memories will realize - these are not the same people who took them in the first place. All are human, and they all share a familial resemblance - black hair, violet eyes, pointed noses, and unpleasant sneers. Over time, with observation (and what else are you going to do, while you wait for the worst?), maybe frequenters of the Coven will pick out a familiar face, a haughty, unpopular Witch named Constance Rathmore who refuses to associate with Mirrorbound in classes, or those familiar with the law might pick out a mid-ranked member of the City Guard named Godfrey Rathmore, who perhaps looks the other way when refugees are harassed. As the hours tick by, it becomes obvious that there are maybe 22 of the Rathmore family, the only ones with access to this corridor. Other voices, maybe familiar from the kidnapping, can be heard outside the main doors at times, but they never enter, and seem none the wiser as to what is actually happening. a. The Torments And what is happening? Something sinister. It's usually a different set of family members, a pair of cousins, the daughter or the son, occasionally even the matriarch and her son and daughter-in-law (who may be recognized as long-time members of Parliament). Their methods and motivations may be a bit different, but they share one thing - innate cruelty, and a hatred for those they see as a plague on Aefenglom, those harbingers of unwanted change. Sometimes they inflict pain on captives right there through the bars of the cells, with nasty spells or physical instruments, but more often, they choose a victim or two to remove from their cell, still in restraints, to take down the hall, through the heavy door at the opposite end from the entrance. The wide room at the end is a place of horrors: instruments of torture lining tables, heavy restraints, and glass jars to receive any bits or blood they might separate from the original owners, to sell on the black market. The runes on the walls and floor in this room are different as well - this is advanced, forbidden magic, practiced by the daughter Constance on brand new test subjects. When the family members have grown bored or tired themselves out, they return their current playthings to a cell - not always the same cell with the same cellmate, not always with the same restraints, but every time they ensure that it will be difficult to escape or fight back. b. The Whispers While the Rathmores do not often speak directly to captives, they speak to each other quite a bit, as do the others who occasionally pass outside the heavy door at the entrance and simply seem to serve as watchmen outside the corridor. It's easy to get snippets of conversation between the horrors. What else are you going to do, besides wait, and listen, and plot your escape? "Shame about Uncle Rodolphus. Scarred by the mist, his Black Market business raided." "None of it would have happened if they hadn't provoked Dorchacht. It was Drummond's Witch in our city who unleashed that awful gas, as retribution for what they did over there..." "...-Destabilizing a whole city like that, and there are only a hundred of them give or take. Imagine what they'll do to Aefenglom if we don't stop it." "They'll all want to leave after this, surely. We'll go for another batch in a couple of weeks, once Godfrey convinces the Guard to stop looking." "Good. Maybe Dorchacht will take them. Them and their brutal revolutionaries..." "...-Father thinks we can control them if he manages to get in touch with his contact in Dorchacht. They had that spell, you know? Like the collars, but better. Maybe then we can sell them off, make some money back to cover our losses..." "...-All this pushing for equality. The whole economy will collapse. Everyone has their place in a functioning society, right, sister?"... "...-heard from Mr. Rathmore himself they're doing magic in there. A spell to send the Mirrorbound home, and the refugees along with them." "Then why did we have to grab them like that? You'd think they'd want to leave." "The Coven wants them here, obviously. It's a power-play, there's no way they'd allow Mr. Rathmore to do this..." "...-I don't know about this, the Rathmores always seemed a little extreme-..." As a reminder: while this prompt contains a general content warning for torture, please make sure to leave decently specific content warnings in your headers for anything that may be uncomfortable for other players to stumble across. The level of torture experienced by each character is up to the individual players - please respect each other's limits!

III. The Ones Left Behind (14th - 20th) Meanwhile, out in the city, the atmosphere is a new kind of tense. The papers pick up the story pretty quickly, so before long, it seems that everyone knows about it. In the days since the fires, repairs seem to be on the backburner; the remaining refugees especially worry for their missing friends and loved ones, and the missing Mirrorbound. The graffiti stops entirely, as do nasty comments in the streets. The upper-class, when they come into contact with the remaining Mirrorbound, cannot meet their eyes, or even react with genuine sympathy, a rare few even saying in hushed murmurs that they hope they find their people. Vandalizing their property is one thing, it seems, but people simply vanishing, Bonds being smothered... that's another. Even if they don't worry for the Mirrorbound, they worry for their own safety in Aefenglom now. On the other hand, residents of the Western Residential District, primarily Monsters but including a fair few humans as well, stop by the Haven more often, bringing food and kind words, and asking after the disappearances with real concern. The City Guard is an increased presence on the streets, trying to track down witnesses who may have information, but without warrants, their hands are tied in a lot of cases. Some Mirrorbound are asked quietly by the Lead Investigator if they wouldn't mind looking into some of the sources of the fires, and trying to track down anyone who might have seen something - they can operate a little more loosely, not being bound by the same bureaucracy as the Guard. They're promised Guard and Coven cooperation and support in this. The demand for artists increases in the days after the abduction. Many of the refugees especially will seek out anyone who can draw to help them create fliers about the missing people to post around town, to raise awareness. Maybe they want to make posters of another refugee, or maybe they want posters made of particular Mirrorbound faces who helped them in the past. They're distressed, but they're pulling together as a community - and it's clear they consider all the Mirrorbound a part of it, judging from how they'll try to pull anyone in to their efforts to put the 'missing' posters up around the city. The Coven, too, is in a flurry of worry, second only to the refugees, who are missing some of their own as well. Many of the regular classes are disrupted and become impromptu Divining sessions, circles of Witches holding hands and chanting in rooms filled with incense smoke, making concentrated efforts to determine the location of their missing fellows. After all, many Mirrorbound are their classmates, and they want to see them returned safely. Anyone passing through the Coven may get pulled into one of these sessions - Witches to lend their magic to the circle, Monsters who know any of the missing to act as foci. Unfortunately, nothing concrete turns up in the fleeting visions they do get, and the backlash is immense, resulting in splitting migraines. It's magical interference for sure. Luckily, Miss Aerianna, the middle-aged Arachne caretaker to the Dreamers (who, she'll say, are currently unreachable - they're trying to suss out the missing Mirrorbound as well), is well-versed with Divination headaches, and is around distributing her supposed cure-all, which smells like swamp-water and tastes twice as bad. At least it works on the headaches. While the part of the city who wanted to see the Mirrorbound gone have quieted down some, the part of the city that welcomes them has grown louder, providing what support they can to try to find those lost souls who have vanished. The investigation briefs will be posted under location-specific headers down below! Feel free to thread underneath them with others investigating the same area, or collaborate with other teams to share information. We decided to go ahead and allow for everyone who signed up to investigate whichever area they're interested in rather than splitting characters into mod-decided teams, but we encourage working together!

Welcome to Part One of January's event, Snatched! The sign-ups thread is here - it's not too late to get involved. Only the kidnapped characters who will escape on the evening of the 20th is closed out to new sign-ups. Headers for the investigations are here. Part Two of this event will be posted on the 21st and will include the escape, rescue and bringing the perpetrators to justice.

And a note for all! If your character does anything significant during Part 1 or Part 2, we want to hear about it on the city tracker! Make sure your submissions are in by Feb. 3rd, because a special aftermath post will go up on the 4th.

Comments

[unyieldingmarch]

Much the same. Though still a touch worn out from all of the...theatrics...but otherwise I am well.

[Relief, for Marianne. For Azura. For Corrin...]

[bergamotrose]

I am certain there are many of us who could say the same.

[Himself included. Keeping Lapis in check while they searched for her Peridot as well was no easy task.]

But it's good to see that you are well. I do worry for you and Hubert, you realize.

[unyieldingmarch]

I believe you.

[Lorenz, at least, has come around to her way of seeing things.]

I am glad of that. And for Marianne's safe return.

[bergamotrose]

As am I, for the return of those who are close to your Bonded.

[Though he wasn't close to Corrin, he had seen enough to understand the circumstances.]

But, I imagine that exchanging pleasantries isn't the only reason why we're here. What is it that's on your mind?

[unyieldingmarch]

I want to know what you think would be the most suitable punishment for those involved.

[Simple enough, probably predictable. But important all the same.]

[bergamotrose]

[How direct. Clearly, he didn't know Edelgard well enough to not have expected it.

Lorenz sighed.]

Were we in our realm, the answer is simple: see that these fiends are permanently removed from the picture by whatever means is necessary.

[Execution. Exile. Ruin their reputations badly enough that they have to flee for their own safety. He didn't care, and he was well aware that there were times when the rule of law couldn't be trusted to enforce the justice that was due.]

Here, are we not bound by the laws of this land? What is it that you intend to do?

[unyieldingmarch]

Were we in my realm, they would be hanged. Such crimes are unforgivable. They are beyond simply a crime...they are monstrous.

[A cold, almost cruel smile tugs at her lips.]

We may be bound by the laws of this land, but as you well know I am a bit of a revolutionary.

I intend to wait and see what sort of punishment is meted out. I would know what penalty they ascribe to such crimes were the victims their own...and then judge for myself whether or not they are treating us as equals.

If these wretches get a lesser sentence because we were the victim, then that might be taken as encouragement to try again, would it not?

[bergamotrose]

It would be.

[Lorenz smiled as well, glad to see that they were thinking the same thing. He was too savvy and self aware to try planning something on his own. Without the right systems in place, it would be too easy to find himself targeted for the blame.

They needed a plan, and it looked like Edelgard had one.]

Considering how law makers in Fodlan can be quite useless when they're needed the most, I find that I do not have high hopes for the ones here. There are reasons why people vanish in the border territories, you know.

[The laws were just vague enough in those areas that they were impossible to decipher with any degree of consistency, and they were dangerous to those travelling unprepared. It was the perfect place for bandits.... or worse.]

[unyieldingmarch]

It would be tragic if these individuals all suffered accidents, would it not?

[Edelgard's smile is sharklike. She does not relish killing, but she does feel a sense of righteous satisfaction at dealing with those who would hurt people she had begun to consider under her aegis. She had less resources here than home, certainly, but she'd done with less too.]

Perhaps tripping into a well...or being caught in a house fire. Some of those arson materials they used to set those fires might well have made their way into basements and the like...

[bergamotrose]

Indeed. Looting is often a problem in disasters. There's no way of accounting for all of the materials.

[Justice was a curious concept, for it was mutable even within the confines of the law. A honorable judge and jury would certainly deliver the correct verdict, but Lorenz found himself recalling how the Noble ranks within the city couldn't even make eye contact with the Mirrorbound who were left behind in the wake of the madness. He had seen that look before among Fodlan's nobility, who preferred to stay within their gilded towers and away from the trials of the soldiers and the citizens while they struggled and toiled with fighting unnecessary battles and defending their livelihoods from raiders and bandits.

It lit a spark of anger within him. And, while he found no primal satisfaction of killing, there were times when it was necessary.

He found that he didn't mind being a tool used to deliver what was necessary.]

....For the time being, while we're still able to be allies united under a cause, feel free to direct me however you wish when you determine the proper course of action. We know not what the future holds... but I see in you the qualities of a fine leader.

Had events worked in it's favor, I don't believe I would have minded siding with you in your campaign to bring change to our world.

[unyieldingmarch]

[That. Is a surprise.

Not a total surprise. Not in the slightest. Lorenz had always been a little sympathetic to her cause, as had his father, but an open offer of alliance? Unexpected, to say the least.]

Would that others were so willing to listen. I would have welcomed Claude, Dimitri, and any of our classmates to my cause with open arms. But once things had begun being set into motion...

[She sighs.]

It's quite sad, thinking of what could have been.

[bergamotrose]

[Lorenz quietly sipped at his tea and nodded, recalling his recent conversation with Hubert at the beginning of this crisis.]

It honestly is. Please, bear in mind that in Fodlan I would always place the good of my friends and the Alliance first, but I have also witnessed how hard the common people work just to maintain their livelihood and keep their families safe. They put forth so much effort for so little reward that I at times feel shame for not being more of a support to them.

[It was why he took pains to support Raphael as best as he could on the battlefield, why he stood by Leonie despite their differences in opinion on a variety of matters, and why he felt the urge to take Ignatz under his wing just so his old classmate could see the possibilities that existed for his talents. They were friends-- but he felt an obligation to see that they were able to achieve their dreams no matter what they were.]

....Your proposal, however, may also contain the keys to fixing that particular problem as well. Not that we would have the time to speak so frankly on the matter in our realm, nor even that I would have considered listening back when we did have that opportunity.

[unyieldingmarch]

Of course. I think that at times, all of the problems in our homeland could have been solved if the others would simply have read the proposal that I put forward. If they had opened their eyes...and seen beyond their own ambitions.

[It was not the power grab that Dimitri seemed to think it was. And it was not even that her goals did not line up with Claude's.]

Claude wanted to be the one to unite our land. Dimitri was driven mad by his own ghosts. But neither of them knew the whole truth, nor deigned to consider what I had to say...and what goals I had set.

It's a pity. The Church had its claws in deep, and our society rotted for it. I would have give anything to have found a way to deal with the Immaculate One and her influence peacefully.

[bergamotrose]

There may not have been a way. Even within the Alliance, there are many who are deeply pious. Those like myself, who go through the motions of piety for appearance's sake, don't speak much about it-- Truthfully, I cannot say how many there are who think this way.

[It was a double act he didn't mind playing-- there was something nice about the pleasantries of church-going, but when the lights were dimmed Lorenz knew he thought too deeply to simply rely on Faith.]

A thousand years is a long time for any single philosphy to maintain it's hold. I'm seeing now, since we've arrived in Aefenglom, that people are too varied to united under a single umbrella for very long. Barring some magic I'm not yet aware of, I cannot imagine how the Church of Seiros was able to achieve such a feat.

[unyieldingmarch]

Simple. Because Seiros herself is it's leader.

[Edelgard isn't sure if Lorenz knows this yet, so perhaps it is time to enlighten him.]

Rhea was Seiros. She was also a dragon known as the Immaculate One. I believe, but cannot verify, that Seteth and Flayn were also dragons. Likely Saints themselves. They are immortal, and clever, and were in a position to control what research was done, as well as what knowledge was allowed to spread.

I do not think that Seteth and Flayn, mind you, were evil. Rhea...Seiros...however, is a bit more debatable.

[bergamotrose]

[He was not aware of such things-- and the news had him carefully setting his cup down to avoid spilling it in his surprise while he took in the details.]

--That's hardly a religion if that's the case, [He blurted inelegantly, losing his usual composure in his astonishment.] Rather, it is an elaborate ploy to boost the Archbishop's own ego.

[Huffing irritably, he reached for a nearby spoon and twirled it in his long fingers. Seteth and Flayn were of little matter, but little surprise to him. Their presence and relationship seemed beyond the ordinary, and there were moments when Flayn displayed a wisdom that seemed beyond her years.]

No wonder there were rumors of Seteth removing books from the library. Lady Edelgard... do you know how many were even aware that this was happening before you found out?

[unyieldingmarch]

I...cannot say whether or not that Sothis, the Goddess herself, is a false being. I don't believe so, personally, but I do think that she has long abandoned Fodlan.

[She won't go into why, and so rambles on forward.]

But, yes, I think so. Rhea, Seiros, had her own designs for humanity and the Church was a way to appease her vanity and maintain control.

[Edelgard reaches for her own tea, dropping a single sugar cube in and stirring quickly.]

I knew that Seteth was doing that, yes. But the number of people aware that Rhea was more than she seemed was limited to myself, Hubert, and my father. It was a secret, one of several, passed down through the Adrestian Royal line. Though, it was not specific about what exactly Rhea was.

She took the field though, casting off the false name, and that confirmed everything.

[bergamotrose]

[Lorenz listened intently, brows furrowed as he put the pieces of this convoluted narrative together.]

A generational secret... how long has your family had these plans in motion?

[unyieldingmarch]

My family had no hand in this. These plans were all my own.

[Her father had been too weakened by political strife and age.

And he had not suffered as she did.]

My apologies, but the catalyst is not something I feel comfortable discussing. It is...deeply personal.

[bergamotrose]

[He was so accustomed to his father's schemes and expectations that Lorenz hadn't even considered the possibility that Edelgard was acting alone.]

I understand... And I will not press further on the matter.

[unyieldingmarch]

Thank you for understanding. There are still some things, even after it all, best left behind closed doors.

[She inhales a whiff of tea.]

But know that...when things are less harried and stressful, I would revisit this conversation. I have some things I would share, things that threaten the stability of Fodlan that few are aware of.

But that is not a topic for today. Today, we should decompress.