☆ 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

[rightfoot]

[ He makes a face at that. Of course it means something. Maybe not to those out there, but to Louis it does. His life is being prey. There's ingrained instincts that he's never been able to rid himself of, that he always has to fight through. Because of a lifetime of it isn't quite the same thing.

And, the implication that his being prey wasn't necessarily a great thing kind of crawled right under his skin. He does his best to bury it, brush it off, seem unbothered. It's not worth debating over right now. ]

Are humans not the top of the food chain at home?

[kuroi_taiyo]

[ That... Actually wasn't the easiest question to answer. Sure, humans would like to believe they were, but most were just living in a place where they could get away with their fantasies and lifestyles. If it weren't for the help of something non-human and beyond magical, they would be far more middling than the average person would like. ]

That'd... Depend on context, really.

[ There were too many environments where they were smaller fish. Some have used that to their advantage, using it as a barrier between them and other humans. Then you had the Dark Continent nonsense in general. ]

What's it matter as to how it is back in my home world, anyway?

[rightfoot]

[ Louis knew why he had asked: to gauge how this kid (yes, kid, for now) was using the word 'prey'. Was he using it as a way to insult them. Or, was it simply a matter of fact thing. It's mostly just curiosity, though. So, he'll make his answer as simple and straight forward. ]

I'd never met humans before getting here. I was under the impression you were, but you never know.

I'm mostly just curious.

[ Easy enough. ]

It may have been different for you, but you'll get used to being prey.

[kuroi_taiyo]

[ It was more 'matter of fact' mixed with how he knew their captors were deciding and doing things. So... Bitterness. It's not unusual for some of the monsters to have predatory instincts, and they were playing with that by using the 'prey' monsters they'd collected, to see how easily they could utilize that. ]

My world's pretty different from the other human-based ones. Where they stand on the food chain depends on whether they're too close to something bigger's territory, and try to act like they're more. Then you've got the added thing of different kinds of humans. The dynamic's just... Different.

[ That's just how the world was in general though, now wasn't it? ]

For me... I was kind of neither. Well, what my kind is intended to be is neither.

[rightfoot]

[ Stories distract, right? Well, now that Judar's opened the door. Louis will pry. Pry as much as he is able because they keep his own mind busy. His bitterness at being back here again. His bitterness at not being able to stop this from happening. Yeah. He's used to it, but he also always has fought so hard through it that being cornered is harder to manage. ]

So you have monsters, or something like them, then?

[ There's a curious stare, because that's all that he can imagine. ]

Or larger animals. I mean, I don't know that I would consider humans higher up than lions, but I've heard they hunt them on some worlds, so it's impossible to say for sure.

[kuroi_taiyo]

[ A distraction for them both, at least somewhat. Having to focus and answer things that weren't related to what was going on right now won't take away the pain, but at least he's unable to keep thinking about it. ]

Larger animals, yeah. Monsters are something specific to a type of space we call 'dungeons,' that're different from these kinds. There's enough animals that're as big as a ship, or even longer with the sea creatures.

[ But lions are something they can talk about, as Louis is more familiar with them. ]

I don't know if you've got gladiator arenas, but while they're not really hunted, they're captured to put against humans in matches. The results are mixed enough.

[rightfoot]

[ Still - any time there's a stray sound, ears will twitch, his body will shift a little. An instinct he can't seem to fight back. But, it is much easier than having to constantly think that yeah - he could die in here, and yeah - he actually cared if he did. There's a first time for everything. ]

Huh, interesting. [ He's never gotten to interact with sea creatures, before. ]

We don't. Every lion I've known carries guns and can fight. And most of them are pretty big compared to a lot of humans I've seen. You guys have those four-legged ones fight?

Pretty unfair since they can't hold a weapon. [ So that's where he's going to go with this. ]

[kuroi_taiyo]

[ ... Wait, was all of this a lead-up to how now everything can arm themselves in other worlds? Judar's a little confused, but mostly because his world was still different enough from others. ]

No one carries guns in my world, because they don't exist. Even the four-legged kind have as much of a fighting chance with what they have. Also, there's more than one kind of lion, technically. Fanalis are... A lot more, in several ways. I'd say that the only differences is that humans have magic, but most creatures have their own unique things going on as well.

[rightfoot]

I mean, I know there's a few different types of lions. I've never heard of Fanalis, though. Are they a type of lion in your world? What do they look like? [ Just distracting, is all. Plus, Louis is always ready to hear about predator type animals at others homes. His home is unique in that humans are a nonexistent species, and he's been a little fascinated because while they are the same species, they seem all... pretty unique to one another. ]

[kuroi_taiyo]

Fanalis are... Red lions, originally from another world- The one where my world's creator is from, and they migrated over. They're the strongest kinds of beings, and the women seem to just be ridiculously fast by nature as well. They've got a tolerance to any kind of magic that can affect the mind and body, like control and manipulation spells, which is probably why they can't have magic themselves either. Mm...

[ He's thinking of what else to bring up about them, but things like the Fanalis Corp didn't really mean much, as that was just a specific group. ]

When they're not on their proper continent, they can walk around like any other human. It's just easy to tell what they are because of the red hair and eyes. Plus, the guys always seem to be huge.

[rightfoot]

...Oh. They sound pretty cool, to be honest. I mean, from where I'm sitting. [ He's not really able to tell from the way Judar explains, whether he considers them bad or good. The words he's using might seem like a bad thing to most. But Louis hears that there's a lot of power there. ]

I mean, pretty amazing, honestly. [ Basically: tell me more ] A type of person you'd want on your side.

[kuroi_taiyo]

[ It's less that he has a particular opinion of Fanalis and more that he doesn't really know that much, despite how much he's said. Really, he struggled to think and recall that much, without going into embarrassing stories from when he was growing up, and stayed at a place where there was one. ]

Yeah, most people would want one on their side. It's why so many people would try to enslave them. Not that it works- You can't really break them, and as I said, mind control doesn't work. So you'd want them on your side with more honest means.

[rightfoot]

[ That makes him a little, well, sad to hear. Maybe he should have stopped the line of questioning because someone being enslaved was just disappointing. ]

Well, an honest ally won't stab you in the back anyway. You might as well make sure they want to be there, first.

[ That? He means that. He means it because he knows it's true. ]

[kuroi_taiyo]

[ Judar's world would be disappointing to a lot of people, with how much of it still had legalized slavery. ]

Mm. Most slavers don't think about that kind of thing, or they leave the care of raising a slave in the worst hands. It's pretty common in my world.

[rightfoot]

You know, you seem like a pretty good guy.

[ Louis knows it seems like it's a bit of an out of the blue thing to say. But, he doesn't seem to condone the things that were happening. Also, it's just on a first glance, a single meeting. It's hard to really tell, but for now - this is Louis' conclusion. ]

[kuroi_taiyo]

[ Well, that gets a scoffed laugh out of Judar. One that drifts off as the pain starts flaring up, but hey, you got him to laugh. That's something. Good job. ]

I don't get what makes you think that, but whatever.

[ And this is what plants the seeds for Louis calling him nice things. ]

[rightfoot]

I have good instincts.

[ That's up for debate, but maybe Judar will accept the answer. Don't argue with it, Judar. ]

Maybe you'll prove me wrong, I don't know, but you meet the most basic requirement of not speaking positively of a slave trade. It's a good start.

[ Hah - ]

Though if you want to prove me wrong, I'm sure you'll have plenty of time while sharing this cell with me.

[kuroi_taiyo]

[ He'd argue it if he were in better shape, or if he thought it wouldn't just attract attention back towards either of them. Just for the distraction and sake of arguing. ]

You set a pretty low bar to start with, if that's a basic requirement. Most people in my world know better than to talk about their thoughts on slavery while in other countries. There's so many that had it outlawed for a long time, or were recently forced to abolish it, you'd never know who you were talking to.

[ Not that Judar thought any way about it. It was just... a system of using people. His country had protection laws to make sure that slaves also had livable standards, but that's not everywhere. The trade business itself was notably terrible, and was easy to take advantage of back when he worked to aggravate political situation around the globe. ]

[rightfoot]

[ Louis knows the bar is pretty low. But when you're so frequently disappointed by the world, you just kind of forget what standards are sometimes. He's always worked to improve where he's from, and sometimes done it in questionable ways. But, he knows that there's always going to be badness. But it did matter what the badness was about. Some things were forgivable. ]

Yeah, I have pretty low standards, so I think that's a pretty basic requirement. "Don't sell people". It doesn't matter what you sell them for, don't do it. We don't have slaves where I'm from, but -- well, I'm sure if we did, it'd be the same. There's just some things you don't talk about. It's fine.

I figure if someone can't even decide that's wrong, there's no hope for them.

[kuroi_taiyo]

[ So Judar should find whatever unforgivable thing he inevitably had done in his past to ruin any chances of things going well. Given his luck, he'll manage to stumble upon that. ]

Well, given the way humans are, you'll definitely come across some of those kinds of people. Aside from these Rathmores, with some of the things they've been saying.

[rightfoot]

Here, yes. I have.

[ He remembers easily. ]

A few months ago when everyone went to the other city - they were selling monsters here, too. My bonds and I broke up an auction. It was worth it, but as far as I'm concerned, no one here starts off trustworthy.

They have to earn it. Especially people who let things like this happen under their noses.

[kuroi_taiyo]

Mm...

[ He's definitely listening. That's just having him think a little, after not hearing much about how the cities were before his arrival. No one really mentioned selling monsters, or auctions going around. ]

I wonder if those things were still going on, just further underground.

[ It certainly seems like it could be. That, or maybe there was another location that was known, that the Rathmores could haul off their 'trash.' ]

[rightfoot]

[ Judar's suspicion is right, in Louis' opinion, because he doubts that they stopped. He truly doubts it. ]

Probably.

[ The answer comes easily. ]

The more we attack them, the further underground we drive them. But we still should attack, make it harder, you know?

[ Personal experience with that life. ]

[kuroi_taiyo]

Sure, sure. Go for whatever aims you want.

[ Judar has other things to work on to help people, even if it's nothing like that. ]

Pretty sure I'm not attacking anything for a good while, so good luck with you and whomever you get.

[ If they get out of here, Judar knows that he's got a long recovery after all this. ]

[rightfoot]

That bad, huh?

[ Louis sighs deeply. ]

I'm not either, really. I'd like to, but I doubt it. Maybe everyone else can while we're recovering. If we get out of here.

[ A big, ol' if. Yes. If. If they get out of here. Louis has doubts still lingering because he can't help but doubt it a little bit. ]