epidemiology | EVENT ★ SYMPATHY FOR THE DEVIL

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EVENT ★ SYMPATHY FOR THE DEVIL

Following the sudden entrapment of a group of ALASTAIR diplomats, it's clear the true threat to Chantes is still afoot. The sun's disappearance may have been what was on the mission tin, but the man behind the plot is still alive and kicking.

On the day the people inside the castle go incommunicado, King Christophe's head is unceremoniously tossed out from one of the towers. The word travels like wildfire from there: the Order of the Chimera's leader, Michel, has taken roost on the throne. But he doesn't seem keen on leaving much to rule — he's been busy littering the city with symbols from his grimoire. And with the king's death, they begin to stir.

If ALASTAIR sent the recruits here to save Chantes, Michel and his rituals are why.

THE DEMONS

All around the city’s landmarks (and a few within the castle), runes have shimmered into existence. Remember those? Bothersome little things that nullify powers. But they’re not nullifying powers this time. These runes shimmer a low, sinister red, even by the bright light of midday. They wait, complacent, not really doing much of anything… that is, unless you try to destroy one of them.

The moment a rune is tampered with in any way it flares brightly, and a thin red mist seeps out into the air. Each entity from the rune is a little bit different and fights in a different way, but all of them are unquestionably demonic. Some of them manifest physical forms and attack with claws and bolts of energy, but many of them are not so blunt. In fact, most of these demons are much more insidious, as recruits will quickly discover.

POSSESSION

Most of these creatures use possession as their main tactic, although their methods vary. Some demons keep themselves invisibly after that initial red leak of mist, choose a target, and begin to whisper in their ear. They’ll promise anything — power, riches, fame. Their words alter what might otherwise be sound judgment, making their target believe that not only are these demons perfectly capable of delivering, but they will impart their gifts just as soon as the recruit takes care of this one little task. Attacking your friend isn’t really so much to ask, right? Just think of the reward, just around the corner!

Some demons spark a frenzy in their target. An unquellable rage rises within them, urging them to lash out at anyone around them. Maybe they see a nemesis from their past transposed over a friend, maybe they’re trapped in an unpleasant memory and trying desperately to fight free of it — whatever it takes, these demons relish provoking an uncontrollable need to fight.

And finally, some of them will outright inhabit the body of their target and control all of their actions and words. The recruit will be fully aware of their actions, but unable to prevent any of it. They can only watch as the entity within them does whatever it takes to disable the friends around them — treachery, outright attack, whatever is needed.

In each case the demons can be exorcised if you happen to be with someone with a knack for it, but otherwise impossible to drive out. The demon will remain in its host until someone else successfully destroys the rune it came from, which will finally kill it. The demons know this, of course, and will focus all effort on stopping any damage to their rune if it seems under threat.

The destruction of runes inside the castle will open a thin breach in the barrier spell over it, allowing those inside to slip out (or those outside to slip in). They’d better move fast, though, as the breach will heal itself again in about 30 seconds. Miss your chance and you’ll have to hunt down and destroy another rune. (NOTE: Characters trapped within the castle may escape with enough time to take part in the possession aspect of the event with the rest of the game.)

Anyone with a sense for magic can easily tell that the longer these runes go without being destroyed, the stronger their energy pulses. Eventually even ordinary folk will feel it. Townsfolk in the area become uneasy and restless, and proximity to intact runes will begin to fill you with a sense of dread and unnamed anxiety. Something is coming. Something that must be stopped before it can be let into the world.

THE SUMMONS

No matter how quickly the recruits move, there always seems to be one more rune to find, one more demon to defeat. And still that energy is building. When the town clock strikes 12 noon, the runes are at full strength, and they begin to launch into a coordinated ritual. A summoning spell, to be exact. The demons disappear, their energy sacrificed to bring forth something even worse.

All over the city portals begin to open and beasts begin to claw out of them. These are chimeras, straight from myth, each one half the size of a building. They have vast wings and three heads a piece, a lion, a goat, and a dragon — plus a live snake for a tail. The tail’s what you should really look out for. A bite from the snake turns the bitten limb into solid stone, which will take either three days or a splash of blood from one of the chimeras to return to flesh and blood.

It can be discovered that these monsters have an odd vulnerability to pure iron. If struck or stabbed by something made of iron their skin blisters and burns — enough of this could prove lethal to it. Or you can murder them the old fashioned way, if you’re good at killing giant monsters.

Attacking them isn’t the only thing to be worried about, though. They’re smashing down buildings and attacking indiscriminately, so some characters might find their time well-spent evacuating citizens rather than partaking in the fight directly. The structural damage might be inevitable, but it’s at least possible to mitigate loss of life.

THE AFTERWORD

A few hours after the final chimera is killed, un-summoned, exploded, whatever its fate might be, recruits will find their ALASTAIR-given jewelry coming to life. It looks like they’re finally breaking their silence. Words scrawl across whatever surface you see them on, written in ornate purple script:

On behalf of this land, thank you for your diligence and hard work. You have ten days to settle your affairs in this world before your return to Oska.

Just that, then the jewelry dies out again. It’s a bit of an underwhelming show of gratitude, but it gets the point across. Say goodbye to any non-recruit friends you’ve made here, get the last word in on any arguments with the locals, settle your bar tabs — or rack them up, as per inclination.

In ten days every ALASTAIR recruit will simply fade away into a white mist from the perspective of the locals. But until then the city is yours, and most importantly, safe.

OOC INFO

Welcome to the concluding log of Chantes! There's been quite a few pieces to it, so here's an overall list of the week's noteworthy plot posts:

Peaceseeking player plot

Loki and Ahad addressing Michel's disappearance

A request from Arthur

Event follow-up with the fate of Michel. Please note that regardless of Michel's end, we will be reading player suggestions and taking them into account for the overall fate of Chantes.

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[ ...is that where it is?

Clutching the wound at his side, the open injury stinging as much as the rest of it hurts with constant pain, he watches and listens to her. This will be hard, and he may treat her like being part of the dragon family but she wouldn't be able to withstand an elemental attack.

Can he reason with her? Or can he provoke the demon— ]

Where will you go if not back with me?

[ lets go, demon bastard. he'll play right along with you and beat you at your own bullshit if that's what it takes. ] Does the outside world really deserve your sacrifice of discovery and achievement? What has it done for you now? You're alone.

[It sounded so familiar. Hadn't her mother said such things? Asked her why she was even upset when she'd created such an amazing thing... Told her that the outside world offered her nothing, that she owed them nothing-

But how could that be, even as the demon in her mind urged her onwards, don't listen to her, she'll use you again, and Sieglinde knew that but why, why couldn't that woman just understand-]

The outside world-

[Her voice was choked up but she tried to get past it, tried to tighten her grip on the knife, tried not to think about the blood that dripped from the wavering tip. She hadn't wanted to hurt her but she had no choice-]

Doesn't deserve what you made me do- you lied to me-

[She had too many things to say to that woman and yet couldn't say what she wanted at all, no matter how many times she'd gone over it in her head.]

I'm not alone! You couldn't kill me- or Wolfram- or the visitors... And I'm not alone here, either!

[She had Masamune, and Kida, and Riza, and Sakura, and Merlin, and Rin, and Gilgamesh, Julius, Olivia, Loki, Steven, so many names and people she never would have met, tears blurring the edges of her vision, torn between her own reaction to her mother saying such things and the demon urging kill her, kill her, or you'll have to kill yourself.]

Aren't you, though? How did I manage to get a hold of you in the first place if you aren't alone?

[ he's not sure which way this will go (will she second guess him or will she second guess her eyes? demon influences are powerful and no one is an exception to their influence, so he wouldn't find it disappointing she couldn't do the latter, but all the same if she can... he'd be stupid not to make sure it's something he can't exploit). Regardless, though, he figures either way works so long as he can get her to move far enough away from the rune. He drops his hand from the wound to set his palm flat on the ground, looking towards the girl but not seeing. Rather he's preoccupied trying to feel through the ground and find if there are any potential conductors that he could get away with using that can avert the current around her if worst comes to worst. ]

[That stung- it was obvious, how Sieglinde winced away from it, shut her eyes briefly, swaying where she stood and barely managing to keep her balance amidst the unsteady terrain that was a cobblestone street. Or, what used to be one, now littered with cracks and pits, chunks of rubble from the surrounding buildings, all things for her tiny feet to catch and trip on.

She's trying to manipulate you again... Like she always did... You can't reason with someone like that-]

Silence! I won't listen to you anymore-

[But her voice wavered, just as her body did, torn between the demons whisperings and her own innate nature. It had been easy to stab when she'd been so close, been physically held captive, but now...]

I hate you! Why couldn't you have just died back then- !

[Before she'd even been born. Before the demon could whisper it's your duty, she's your mother, so it's your duty to kill her before she hurts anyone else. Before she screamed, cried, lunged forward with the dagger held close to lunge, try and stab for that woman's chest.]

[ Well, it works. Admittedly, he hadn't expected that to be her reaction so quickly (if at all), but from a different perspective it's actually potentially a good thing. A growing point.

From the current perspective, though, it's just really inconvenient and painful. Masamune shifts in react, if only to make it not seem this mother of hers she is seeing as him is being a martyr of some sort. She's in reach and that's all that matters to him, so he lets her come at him.

It, of course, helps that even in his lighter armor he has a chest plate to catch that weapon. She's small and not skilled with balancing herself nevermind thrusting a weapon so while it will sink and dent and possibly injure due to grinding friction, the main damage is the pain from the impact against his chest to begin with. Masamune wastes no time, though, flinching from the impact but reaching out to wrap an arm around Sieglinde's back and yank her forward up against him. His other hand still on the ground, crackles to life with the previously subtle static before it erupts and darts itself forward to the rubble pile, like a viper lashing out in attack. It sounds like the gnashing of teeth, sharp and powerful and once it reaches the rubble, the visible blue lightning current jerks and circles, spinning itself larger until it takes the form of a dragon's head with teeth open and slams into the rubble headfirst, ripping debris apart and scorching the earth in the radius of the pile, leaving nothing above it anything but smoke and charred remnants broken down to pebbles. ]

—Hey, calm down and breathe!! It's OK. You're okay. I won't let her take you anywhere. [ just like he won't let these demon fuckers screw around with his baby girl and live. and it being a demon didn't even matter; human and anything else attempting the same would fall to the same fate without second thought. ]

[In her rage, her fear, the panic stirred up by the demon inside of her to try and force her to these ends, Sieglinde isn't fully aware of anything in that moment, just unsure why she didn't feel the blade sink in, (her mother wore no armor, after all), unsure of what she could do to make her leave, to kill her or hurt her or anything at all, and the demon was urging her on, again, again, if you don't kill her she'll take you and you'll never see the outside world again, you'll live there and die there and none of your new allies will ever-

Before she was pulled fight against her mother's chest despite her struggles, before everything was lightning and the demon screamed, (or maybe that was her screaming), a flash of pain that wasn't quite hers, before...

It was gone, along with the rune it had sprung from.

The world focused, retightened so fast it felt like whiplash, as Sieglinde realized several things at once. There was a dagger in one of her hands. Masamune was holding her tightly. Her legs ached. Something was wrong. Her mother was gone, and-]

Masamune... ?

[And there was blood on her hands, warm blood, and her voice trembled, barely audible.]

Are you bleeding... ?

[ his sigh of relief is more audible than he intended and he lowers his head down to bury his face against her mess of hair. While he hadn't had any doubts he would be able to bring her back from under the influence, his adrenaline dying down with his magic finished, the fear of her being in such a situation apparently bothered him all the same. She's not a fighter and it makes him sick thinking about her being constantly subjected to dangers, nevermind dangers like possession that make her reckless too.

His fingers are still feeling a little numb from the passing of the electric current through him but he curls then against the dirt and ground all the same. ]

Yeah... [ lying wouldn't work here even if he tried it. He doesn't want to lie to her anyway, even if he would like to spare her from the reality. ]

Nothing major and definitely nothing you can't heal, though.

[Sieglinde is a smart girl- a genius, she's been called, and raised to be even better than that, but it takes her time to connect the dots, to register what had happened. Not because it's difficult, but because she doesn't want to. But she has to, and she can't deny that something has happened, that the voice was gone but now Masamune was here, there was blood on her hands, a knife, and her mother...

Her mother couldn't be here. It seemed so simply a fact now, when moments ago the demon had made her believe it so easily, but she... She couldn't.]

Was-

[Futily, tears hot on her cheeks, right hand dropping the knife to instead grip his arm, left moving to shakily press against the wound and apply pressure, do something-]

Was it me who did it... ?

[The memories were there, but it wasn't Masamune in them, it was that horrible woman, and surely, surely she hadn't... But the evidence said she had.]

[ her applying pressure to the wound at his side gets him to wince a little, having had to forego nursing it in order to deal with the situation. He knows she deserves the honest answer but it doesn't make him feel any less unwilling to see her cry like this over something so insignificant. To see her crying over him. ]

Hard to say, but it's not as if you had any choice, Sieg. Don't cry, everything's gonna be all right.

[ He moves the arm she isn't clinging to now to gently settle on her head before sliding it appropriately to proceed to push pieces of her hair that have gotten messed and otherwise tangled together out of her tear drenched face. He'll even take the extra seconds to move the stubborn single strangles plastered against her cheeks that don't budge before attempting to give her a reassuring smile and press his forehead affectionately against hers. ]

Hey, don't worry. The Head of Oushuu is pretty sturdy, ya' know? And you were just protecting yourself.

[Was that was it was, to be seduced by a demon? Not in the sense of the bedroom, but the mind, that could make even someone who had been her caretaker for months seem as her worst enemy? The person she hated most in the world?

She tries not to cry, like he says, blinking the leftover tears from her eyes with a sniffle as he gently pushed the hair from her face, pressing her forehead likewise against his, gulping down the reaction to panic, to reject what had just happened, instead looking down at the wound concentrating.

Now wasn't the time. She had to accept it. It happened, and now all she could do was react. Fix what she'd done.]

As I see the weltering in thine blood, I call upon the goddess who governs, whom I beseech to aid thee now...

[The old languages wove together, the spell forming from her palm, pressed against his injured side, and spreading outwards, flowing through his blood and veins to reknit the torn flesh and muscle, stop the bleeding and leave only that which had left him already behind, slick and warm on his ribs and on her fingers.]

Mm... I'm glad the Head of Oushuu is sturdy... and strong-

[And here with her.]

[ it's hard to face things we've done that were not intended. Masamune knows this too well from his own experiences. A world that overwhelms even an adult whether in their twenties or in their eighties. For a child to be alone after stepping out from a fake world she was born and raised in, everything must seem infinite—

—and relationships like priceless glass and crystal never possible of being mended or replaced. How to say she won't ever be alone again no matter what happens or what she does?

Those are not words for someone like him to say. Masamune, although twice her age, is barely considered old enough on the battlefield to be heeded with any wise reputation. His five years mean nothing compared to the decades the other grand generals carry. No matter how good he becomes, he has a long way of proving any such worth.

It's okay to say nothing, then, right? He can reside on her level and be a pup, too,needing to crawl and dog his way through learning still. They can learn from each other.

Her healing spell creates a relief both mentally and physically: one less injury against him and one less thing to worry about. He smiles more now at her words, hugging her a little tighter so he can lift her up with him without separating. ]

You, too. As a princess of Oushuu you'll be just as much before you know it. [ this is a part of being dragon family. lifting his head, he presses his lips to her hairline before pulling back and adjusting his hold with one arm to better demonstrate he's now fine. ]

See? Good as new, thanks to you.

...Besides, I'm proud of you for facing your fears back there. [ not necessarily the stabbing part but just the general effort to stand her ground. ]

[Sometimes saying nothing was better. Unlike the last time she'd been hit with the realization of what horror she had wrought, now Sieglinde has the ability to actually do something about it. The ability to fix it, to make it better.

Not like the Ultimate Magic... finding a cure for that... she didn't know how long it would take her. Years, perhaps.

But she fixed it- and he offered her words like family. A thing like kin, to someone like her whose only blood relative she had just been prepared to kill, or kill herself to prevent being in her grasp once more.

Someone like her.]

Mm.

[She nodded, wiping the last of the tears from her eyes with the hand not stained in his blood. She didn't know what to say- wouldn't, until she had actual time to sit and process what had even happened, but... she nodded, burying her face against his neck, holding tight.]

- I'm sorry.

[But she at least had to say that, even if she didn't want him to say he didn't need it, or that it was alright. Fixing something didn't change that it had happened...

But it would do for now.]

Can we go?

[Away from here, from that rune.]

[ he closes his eyes when she buries her face against him and apologizes, wondering how he's supposed to reply, if at all. But not saying anything seems dismissive and he doesn't want to do that. ] I accept your apology.

[ even if she didn't need to do so even if it was all right. He turns away from the area they had ended up wandering to, perfectly happy to go anywhere that isn't here. ]

Yeah, let's blow this joint. [ He'll walk even still but give a sharp whistle all the same for his horse to pick up on and come find them. ]

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EVENT ★ SYMPATHY FOR THE DEVIL

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