aionooc | EVENT #3: WRAP UP

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EVENT #3: WRAP UP

Event Wrap Up

CONCLUSION

After the Aions have been susceptible to infections for a few days, it will seem that the illness has finally lost its hold on the city. Infected civilians will slowly start coming back to their sense, those the ones most deeply consumed will take a while to recover. Much of this was accomplished by the Aions simply being present and available to absorb the overabundance of Innocence energy, neutralizing its power by experiencing the thing it resists most desperately: suffering.

This isn't the only outcome, though. Across the city, certain scenarios were enough to summon forth the presence of the entity causing it all. Though characters will have to learn the details from those involved ICly, we will provide some short summaries for everyone's OOC benefit. Please note that we will not be able to provide any further NPC encounters for this event, unless they are rooted in material that has already been discussed with us.

❖ KEY EVENTS

◆ SACRIFICIAL OFFERING: Towards the very end of the infection period, the sky will briefly become alive with the illusory impression of hundreds of flapping wings, hovering above the city like a cloud. This will last for about ten minutes before they disappear again, giving no easy means of determining their source. The uninfected citizens of Venera are not capable of perceiving it. As it will turn out, this was actually a manifestation of the Innocence Entity that caused all of this, brought forth by its dismay at having Estinien, then fully petrified and overwhelmed with infection, be killed by Makoto in an act of revenge.

After a brief skirmish, it was determined that it was not there to fight, only to 'protect' what it considered to be its charge as one of the drastically infected Aions. The Pleroma that were present managed to convince it that the plague it was causing was not the way to spare the people of Venera their suffering; or rather, they convinced it enough to make it relinquish the city and Estinien's shard for the time being, demanding that they prove the truth of their convictions and leaving several Aions curiously marked.

◆ GATHERING OF INNOCENTS: This thread has not yet been started, but there is intent for the three current Innocent Aions to meet up, which will cause another appearance. This will be summarized when it happens.

◆ THE EMBRACE: Yuya became petrified early on and remained that way for the majority of the event, resulting in a strange phenomenon occurring around his unmoving body. Infected citizens were drawn to him like an idol, basking in the Innocence that built up around him.

AFTERMATH

As the illness fades from the city, the Aions infected by the Innocence Contagion will gradually begin to lose all physical and mental side effects, before finding that the disease has vanished from them entirely. Bodies that have been broken via petrification cracks will find it healing at a highly supernatural rate, which can be sped along even further by healing magic. If entire limbs have been lost, those will gradually begin to reform by means of crystals beginning to form on the stub, growing in the shape of the lost limb until outside of it peels away like a chrysalis, revealing a new limb within.

At that point, Kenoma will be expected to return home, while Pleroma are free to do as they will. Things in Venera will be a bit strange for a while, with its resident still completely staggered by the plague, but also celebrating its seeming disappearance. Aions returning home will discover that all signs of the Innocence Contagion have disappeared from the rest of the continent as well, with only the scars it left behind remaining.

❖ IMPORTANT NOTES

◆ TRAVEL: Any Aion with a returning stone from the TDM will find that by the end of the event it's charged enough to make a trip back to their sect's lodestone. Alternatively, they can return by teleporting to a shrine and hoofing it the rest of the way.

◆ VENERA: This city will now be considered open for Aions of both sects to visit, though Pleroma will have to do so undercover. Some events have caused the citizens to the wary of the Aions that visited, but for the most part, they do seem to associate the Aion's arrival with the plague ending, for better or for worse. Opinions on why this happened are very mixed.

◆ GREENTRUTH: If any Pleroma share news of what's happened with Tehri, she will sound relieved that they made it back, but concerned with the findings. After she's done offering them what support and medical attention the settlement can offer, the Aions staying in Greentruth will find out that she has apparently left without much word for parts unknown, and it will be at least a week before she is seen again.

◆ THE REGENT: Xishen will reconnect with the Kenoma as they return to Achamoth, apparently having been on a separate but related quest from the Regent. She will gather the results of everyone's investigations and report them to the Regent on their behalf, and our default assumption will be that the Kenoma are cooperative in that effort. If your character would not share the information they found, please let us know below. After the reports have been delivered, Xishen will let it be known that the Regent seems 'satisfied enough' with the results. However, they are very curious about those that interacted with the entity itself...

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Ask the mods any lingering questions you may have about the above information.

Would it be a problem for Emet to lag behind a bit and try to make sure the soldiers camping outside the city know to go back and guard it again? To make sure it's secure before heading back.

He'd also like to maintain some contact with them from a distance since the city is such an important resource, but I'm not sure if that would require additional plotting.

It wouldn't take long to inform them, so if he only lags around long enough to do so, it should be fine. As for communication with the guards, he could write them letters, and they would reply, but they don't have any faster means of speaking to him.

Will Xishen offer any answers if asked about the quest she conducted for the Regent?

She'll say that it's the Regent's private business, but that the general idea is that she was pursuing an alternative way of interacting with the force infecting Venera. It seems like they may have been more successful, though.

Thank you! Then for handwavey purposes, feel free to assume Barnaby asked her about it, though he won't prod her for more detail when she says it was private business.

On a slightly related note, now they're aware the contagion was presumably caused by an Innocent entity, if Barnaby were to drop by the Lover Shrine on the way back to Achamoth and try to commune with an entity related to the Lovers Legacy, would he be able to sense/learn anything?

If any Lover Entity exists, he will not feel any evidence of it. The shrine definitely seems to have energy within it, but not with a will of its own.

Thank you! And hopefully my last question: if he were to dig through the library in the Citadel for any evidence of other entities tied to the Legacies would he find anything?

It's hard to say. For one, the Citadel's library is mostly about the Regent and the general history of Achamoth, so it isn't the best resource for researching the Legacies. In the books that do talk about them, however, it can be hard to tell the difference between literal entities and metaphor. Most of the accounts that are strictly historical only refer to Aions that are facets of a Legacy, but the myths are a bit more diverse in how they present them conceptually. Sometimes the Legacies are referred to as if they are a single god that embodies the Legacy's traits perfectly, but that often seems like it's just a literary device to make a point. Some books of a more occult leaning make it sound literal, but who knows how accurate it is.

There isn't really any information dated to earlier than several hundred years ago.

Wanting to clarify a timeline thing re: Xishen reconnecting with the Kenoma — Amos will end up back in Achamoth probably a little earlier than most, but it'll take him a while to return to the Citadel (at least a couple of days, probably) as he's very busy hanging out in the seedier parts of the city being depressed.

I just wanted to know if she'd know he was back earlier and go out to find him/summon him, or if it wouldn't happen until after CR finally get him back to the Citadel, though he'll be cooperative regardless (although if he's being called back while still on his bender, he'll provide a better recount when he's actually sobered up).

Xishen would have no way of knowing where he is by default, and wouldn't hunt him down unless he was gone for longer than it sounds like he'll be. So, you can have his CR bring him back if you want. Honestly, if he's late, she'd mostly be inclined to ask people if something happened to him in Venera and whether or not he needs help.

Thank you, mods! He's definitely going to be a few days late, but he's got CR that should drag him back, at which point he'll give his report to Xishen looking worse for the wear and without a single remark on it/how late he is (if asked about that he'll just shrug it off), but he'll be fully cooperative otherwise.

How explicit is it that the Kenoma are supposed to return immediately after concluding their business at Venera? Since it was Liem's intention to do some information-hunting once the libraries and book stores open up again, he would want at least a day or so to do that.

Libraries and what not won't be opening again immediately given there are other things Venerans need to deal with first, but as long as he's back within a couple days it should be fine.

Hi mods! Wasn't sure where else to put this, so hope it's okay to note a quick lil handwave-y interaction with Xishen here. When she pulls him aside to ask about his encounters with the entity, Gen will gruffly cooperate and answer truthfully (no direct encounter), but also make a point of disrespectfully giving her Estinien's dismembered, petrified hand (missing a finger). He'll say this time she can't snitch on him for not doing his job, and to make it clear to the Regent he'll always do what he has to do. :')

(Estinien's player OKed having his petrified hand picked up after the whole mess!)

"...Great, thanks," Xishen will say, taking the petrified hand from him. As for his snitty comment, she'll let it go.

I imagine Venera will be trying to recover from this mess for a while, but I'd like to ask about the city's general state in the aftermath, and if they would be more or less accepting if Alphinaud were to linger for some days to assist those who need it. And a dumb newbie question - can native npcs tell who is and isn't an Aion?

Only Aions that are Tier 2 or above have any way of seeing what sect people are. Regular citizens have no way at all of knowing, besides clocking them on account of very strange appearances (a fairly high bar) or their suspicious lack of knowledge about basic Horosian customs. No player character currently have the ability to perceive whether or not someone is an Aion at a glance, but that will change at the start of June when characters from the first app round will be able to apply to rank up to Tier 2 attunements.

At any rate, if he doesn't make a show of being an Aion he will be able to help without much trouble, and if he does let the citizens know what he is, about half of them will be willing to accept his help. Others will behave as if they are afraid they might catch something from him, while the worst are some that are just downright cynical and hateful towards the concept of Aions. Venerans definitely have mixed opinions on Aions and some are quite fearful. Others, however, are extremely tired from this and want any help they can get.

Awesome, and duly noted. Thank you for your response!

sorry for the delay in asking this! I'm still catching up. Silco won't be withholding any information from either Xishen or the Regent. What can I expect from the encounter? Just questions or mind reading, etc?

More for Seiko's knowledge, since I'm sure Silco will give out information about the interaction willingly. He'll probably give a report but not explicitly sell Childe out unless asked directly. Not concealing information, but that he expected Childe to fess up. Although if he hears wind that Childe would hold that information back... Well...

If Silco tells Xishen that he saw the entity, she would ask him to show her what he can remember via communion. Would this include Childe's presence, based on his perception of the event?

Xishen wouldn't immediately say anything about how Childe neglected to mention this, but after she's had the chance to report her findings to the Regent, she will be returning to ask for Silco's presence more officially. The Regent, he will be told, wants to review his memories first hand.

If Xishen asks, he's probably not going to think anything like "Childe didn't say anything" so yeah, I think he would probably have Childe's presence be a part of it. He's spoken with Childe before as well, so he recognized his voice, as well.

And of course Silco would comply with any Regent requests!

Coming after Binghe's PSA about what happened, can Ciel seek to consult with the Regent directly without going through Xishen or any other middleman? She'd like to know what the Regent thinks of targeting/harming/distressing Estinien in particular, which could provoke the Innocence entity but also incur consequences for the many Pleromas contracted to it. She does not have a concrete plan in place nor does she intend to act upon the idea ASAP, she would just like to know the Regent's opinion over the matter.

She would try to willingly skip over Xishen for this because the very idea feels too callous and calculating to put her through it. This is a purely professional and hypothetical proposal, and she'd like to avoid distressing Kenomas with softer hearts over a "what if".

EDIT: This depends entirely on what of the Innocence entity's words and actions were perceivable by the Kenomas present at the time, which I am not 100% OOCly sure on. Please disregard this if there was no way for the Kenomas to infer that some sort of contract/oath happened, sorry for the confusion!

Edited 2022-05-31 00:28 (UTC)

All that the Kenoma that were present would concretely know is that the entity was essentially stating its purpose in eliminating suffering, the Pleroma objected by making promises and arguments about how their perspective on the world was the 'true' one, and the entity reacted by exercising some kind of power while commanding that they keep their promises. One of those promises was to look after Estinien, of course.

It'd be a bit of a shot in the dark, being relatively unsure of what the being's intent was, but the Regent would be willing to hear her proposal privately and interested enough to suggest she go ahead with it. They would also assure her that the creature is not actually going to take over the continent. It's not powerful enough.

The Regent is going to be calling in witnesses of the event so they can review their memories, so they'll end up with a fairly full picture of what happened.

Perfect, thank you! Would the Regent offer any suggestions if asked how to handle the Innocence entity if it appears again, since while it may not be a threat to the continent, no one was successful in trying to neutralize it without resorting to appeasing it?

...Also unrelated to this and I am OOCly very sorry we must ask: would the Regent entertain giving their signature as part of the training exercises' top prize, if asked very politely for it? To "motivate" the Kenoma Aions into putting their best showing, it's all in the name of productivity. Emet-Selch may have made the suggestion sarcastically, but Ciel WOULD try asking seriously, since she has a legitimate reason for consulting the Regent already. Admittedly it has uh, high odds of getting sold by the winner, so maybe a price estimate may be good for reference too, if the Regent may actually humor the request?

Thank you very again for everything, mods!

The Regent will mostly say that if they were somehow able to summon the entity in their immediate presence, they would be able to do something about it, and this is what would be most useful to them. As it is, there is no way that any of them would be powerful enough to counter it directly, were it to fully manifest... though, they also believe that it would be less likely to do so now that it's no longer Inoseri.

The Regent will have a big laugh, first and foremost, and then say no. Does Ciel truly believe that their name is 'The Regent'? What would such a signature even mean...? If they truly want to be rewarded for their performance, they should be brought to the Regent's presence afterward. That can be their 'reward'.

Just a heads up, as requested, that even though Childe has encountered the presence, he won't bother giving this information out to anyone (so the only one who would know is Silco,) especially since (I'm assuming because the presence is weak when he encounters it vs when the Kenoma involving Estinien encounter it) it will not be really worthwhile to tell compared to the other Kenoma and their experiences.

He's not hiding it particularly, but he's also not feeling it's anything worth reporting on when there are better sources.

Even if it ends up worthwhile information somehow before the presence disappears, unless the presence shows it understands things better than a little kid would, he's feeling weirdly low-key protective of it.

Hey there! Since Xishen will pointedly being taking reports from each Kenoma, we do want to clarify that Childe won't really be able to make the excuse of not bothering to share or not finding it relevant. He's completely free to not share, but in the context of being asked about the entity and if he encountered it (which is what Xishen is doing), he'll have to intentionally decide to lie rather than just omit his testimony.

The Regent won't be reviewing people's memories if they claim not to have seen anything so it won't necessarily result in immediately consequences, but it will have to be an intentional choice on his part. Let us know if that fits.

Oh! My bad, I didn't know they would actually be specifically asked about the entity. Sorry.

Okay, yes, so he will intentionally lie about it in this case. He'll say he saw the thing in the sky but had no idea what it was or where it came from until the others explained (since it seems like from the info the entity was pretty obvious at that point.) Any consequences are more than fine whenever they come around. o7

Idk if this matters or not, but if asked if he encountered any Kenoma aions infected he will only say that he came across Meteion and Majorita and helped them. Since he's lying about seeing it, he will specifically not mention his interactions with Silco in case Silco mentions the entity. If Silco cans him by revealing be was there, WELP!!

Regardless, he will go that one step further now since he's intentionally lying about the entity.

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EVENT #3: WRAP UP

QUESTIONS

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