EVENT #3: WRAP UP

[aionmods]

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...

Comments

[expiera]

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!

[aionmods]

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.

[expiera]

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!

[aionmods]

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'.