{EVENT #2} ADVERSITY 168518.2092

[expiationmods]

THE ROOT OF THE PROBLEM

MOD NOTES: Please direct any questions to the corresponding comment below. Note that characters can be involved in multiple prompts (whether you choose to thread that out or not), and that character decisions and actions taken on these prompts will affect future events, storylines, and relationships with other peoples of Expiation. You can find the OOC poll here. Please pick from the corresponding options with the appropriate character journal. If you use a personal journal or a journal not part of Expiation, your votes will not be counted. Remember that if your character did something different than what is in the prompts given, leave a comment in the OOC poll entry and link to your comment in the option made available. Our State of the Game, which will include results of this event and changes of the world, along with some future goals and events we would like to work towards will be posted 1 week from today (May 26, 2023). The various prompts are, of course, optional. Consider that taking part and not taking part both have their potential effects on the world and how Expiation moves forward in terms of overarching storyline.

A FAMOUS DISAPPEARING / REAPPEARING ACT

Those who were plagued by nightmares and visions after venturing into the forest awaken to find that a mark has appeared somewhere on their body. It’s unclear what made it, but its function quickly becomes clear. Upon discovering the mark, whispers begin to sound in their minds, beckoning them to a secret clearing in Pessiria Forest. Something awaits them there.

After some time, a faint image of an unnaturally tall, lanky man appears in the mind. He wears a hooded robe that bears several runes resembling the strange marks and is surrounded by acolytes wearing identical robes. Raising a single hand, he calls the afflicted his Branded, and presents them with a simple offer: “Pledge yourself to my glorious cause, and you shall be granted overwhelming power to twist this world into your personal paradise.”

The offer repeats itself in the minds of the afflicted, slowly intensifying over time. It's clear that this man will not relent unless he gets what he wants. Those with strong willpower, however, may be able to reject his dark offer.

I. A TEST RUN FOR NEW POWER

     

For whatever reason, you have chosen to accept the whispers’ offer. Some may have been overwhelmed by the mental link that demanded your fealty, while others found the offer of overwhelming power appealing. Regardless of your reasons, this decision finally brings you a strange peace, as the intense demands are replaced with your promised reward. Now, the brands start to feel like a blessing as they begin to spread across your body. They feel good and natural—almost as if you have found a missing part of yourself that you had never known.

You begin to feel an unknown power coursing within your body, but you aren’t entirely sure what it is. Some will gain powers associated with the mind, allowing for psionic powers ranging from telekinesis to possession. Others will gain a mysterious power to cast elemental and blood magics that they had previously never been able to use. Once you reach the secret clearing, its nature and usage will become clearer to you.

Things are odd at the place you’ve been summoned to. In the clearing, you’ll find strange stone monuments and tablets containing text in an indecipherable language. At the centre of this collection of monuments, descends a pit-cave with several winding paths, each containing cells with bruised and battered prisoners. The more perceptive among you may notice that these are the people who have gone missing over the past few months.

You and your fellow Branded are free to do as you like. Will you make these prisoners into experimental pawns to test your new powers with? Or will you try to resist the power you’ve accepted?

---

II. ABDUCTION

     

Unlike your possessed fellows, the brand doesn’t take. The whispers intensify with each passing hour, demanding that you give in. Still, for some reason, you never accept their offer. Perhaps somewhere in your heart, you know that this is wrong and have managed to hold on through pure force of will. Maybe your latent powers managed to hold the brand’s influence at bay despite their constant demands. Either way, the hooded figure knows that it has been denied a thrall, and it does not take rejection lightly.

A piercing shriek can be heard from the forest before all hell breaks loose. Shadowy figures emerge from its depths and press into Aldrip. If you are claimed by the shadows, your character will be enveloped in darkness and pulled back to the hidden grove. This will take you out of the action for the duration of the event, only to reappear in Aldrip sometime after the chaos subsides. However, others may choose to flee from the shadows and seek help from other Chosen. This is optional, primarily for those who need a reason to be absent from the event for a portion of the time. For characters who are present and unbranded, consider this an opportunity to interact with those who are, and to be susceptible to their abilities, or experience an odd desire to serve or otherwise demonstrate loyalty toward them.

SPEAK NOT OF THE OLD ONES

Unfortunately for those who were marked, their struggle mostly goes unnoticed in those critical first moments. For most people, it just seems like just another day. Some strange people are rising at strange hours of the morning to venture into Pessiria forest, but for the most part, life goes on as usual. While some of the Chosen may find themselves struck by a sense of unease, the locals go about their normal lives, unaware of what is to come.

However, that quiet was only the calm before the storm. After some of your fellow Chosen venture into the forest, a piercing shriek can be heard across the entire region as a gargantuan creature emerges from the earth a mile away from Aldrip. At first, all you see is a giant tentacle made of dark crystal. However, the abomination’s upper body soon emerges, flailing its limbs in an absolute frenzy. Golden tendrils course across its frame and into the ground, draining the life from the surrounding land and leaving rot in its place. Meanwhile, its many tentacles could fell a tree in a single swipe.

This unnatural event causes Aldrip to erupt into absolute chaos. Most of the Aldrip locals take to the street, taking anything valuable they could find in their homes before sprinting away. Others cry out for some kind of divine intervention to save them from their trial. However, there is no order to the escape effort, leaving most either trapped at the city, or at risk of being trampled in an onslaught of fleeing locals.

III. TAKING ON THE UNKNOWN

     

If the Chosen are to have any hope of dealing with this impending crisis, they need to act soon. For now, the strange beast flails about clumsily, almost as if it is unaccustomed to its corporeal form. However, there’s no telling how long this will last. The golden tendrils emerging from the creature’s body seem to be sapping the life out of the nearby land, strengthening the monster as it prepares to finish climbing out of the ground and destroy Aldrip.

Several opportunities seem obvious at first glance. Brave Chosen may choose to take the gargantuan creature on directly, banding together to bring it down before it can reduce Aldrip into a lifeless husk. However, those who are not as proficient at fighting may instead try to do something about the spreading golden roots that are sapping the life from nearby area. It might not be as glamorous, but it will buy valuable time, nonetheless. Either way, this is not a one-person kind of job. You will need help from your fellow Chosen if you want to see this through.

---

IV. WHEN CHOSEN CLASH

     

Characters who have accepted the brand’s offer will hear a call in their minds. It’s the hooded figure that granted you the power you’ve been gifted. His order is clear—the creature’s rebirth must not be disturbed. Protect it at all costs. This will give you a fantastic opportunity to show off your new powers. Band together with your fellow Branded to cause a little mayhem or face off against the unbranded as they struggle to stop the behemoth.

Fighting against former comrades will not be easy for the Chosen. Those bearing the brand have all gained strange powers based on their personalities. They include possession, mind control, elemental and blood magics, the ability to create areas of silence, life draining, or even the ability to capture others in shadowy grasps. Worse yet, the Branded are becoming stranger by the minute. As the Brand spreads across their body, their behaviour becomes increasingly violent and erratic, drawing out the worst of their personalities.

Some of the Chosen may discover a strange quirk about the new abilities that have appeared among the Branded. While the abilities may be powerful, Chosen who act selflessly to help their enthralled comrades will discover that they have become entirely immune to their influence. It won’t remove the mark itself, but it will equalise the playing field for those who want to convince their comrades to renounce the hooded figure.

THE ONE WHERE THERE’S A WILDCARD

V. LEADING—OR BENEFITTING FROM—THE SITUATION

     

As the creature’s scream resonates across the nearby area, residents of Aldrip begin to panic and flee from their homes. Unfortunately, such processes are often messy. In fact, plumes of smoke are even emerging from a few houses that were left just a little too hastily.

Whether you decide to assist in the process or decide to take advantage of the mayhem is up to you. The evacuation effort could almost certainly use some people to arrange the panicking mass into an organised exodus. Alternatively, you could try and attend to people who can’t get out on their own. Whatever you choose to do, people rarely forget the faces of those who personally come to their aid, and the villagers will almost certainly feel indebted to you if you ensure their safety.

Chaos can also bring opportunities. With everyone leaving their homes, there’s almost certainly plenty of unattended valuables left in the town. If thieving is up your alley, the opportunity to loot to your heart’s content is ripe. Just make sure that no one is watching. It would be a shame if one of your more justice-minded Chosen saw you doing something naughty, after all.

---

VI. FUCK IT, WE BALL (WILDCARD)

     

Just because there’s not a prompt for it doesn’t mean that your character’s actions aren’t acceptable. If you wish to do anything that hasn’t been directly addressed by the prompts, leave a message for the mod team to say what your character would do. If you choose to go down this path, note it as a comment on the OOC poll when it goes up, and leave a link to your threads so that we can take all actions into consideration for the next State of the Game.

Comments

marianne von edmund | fe3h | branded

[snowslip]

[ starters below! if you'd like to plot something, feel free to drop me a message on the cr plotting post. ]

foreboding call | open

[snowslip]

[ In the days leading up to the incident, Marianne has become more withdrawn than usual. Often cooped up in her inn room, bags under her sleepless eyes, emerging only to go to work uncharacteristically distracted, then excusing herself early stating illness. During evenings, she can be seen head bowed walking towards the forest, where she'll disappear for hours before emerging again with mud clinging to her dress.

The evening before all hell breaks loose, her hands shake as she drinks tea in the inn's dining hall. ]

I just have a bad feeling.

[ The call in her head has become deafening. She knew it was in her blood all along, that compulsion for destruction. Was this how her ancestors felt before they succumbed to the curse? If that's what's happening to her, she...she needs to tell someone before something terrible happens. ]

Will you hear what I have to say?

[hemlocked]

[Ven's noticed the strange behavior of people since the claims about the brands appearing. The forest felt... off to him, but even with his magic, he hadn't been able to find a cause.

He's come back to the inn to drink and think, when the woman speaks up her warnings. Oh, he's absolutely going to listen.]

A bad feeling, you say? What's on your mind? [He's definitely going to need this drink after this talk, isn't he?]

[snowslip]

Lately I feel like...I'm not myself.

[ She tugs subconsciously at the cuff of her shirt sleeve, the black marks on her skin concealed underneath her long sleeves. The tattoo-like marks have spread down her arm so much that they've become just visible on the back of her hand. She knows what she's saying is going to sound mad, but her eyes implore the man to listen. ]

I can't understand the birds anymore, and the animals are frightened of me.

[inemeraldfaith]

[Aerith knows that Marianne isn’t the first person to express some concerns over what may linger right around the proverbial bend. She has tried to remain optimistic, but it’s so hard to do when she doesn’t know how to help or what to expect. It is considerably more difficult to be prepared for something when she’s unable to foretell what may come.

She’s thought that perhaps some tea would soothe some of those nerves, but Marianne’s heavily-weighted words leave her feeling uncertain and wary at best. Her companion’s condition doesn’t help. Marianne’s looked more tired as of late. And that is surely understating whatever may truly be going on.]

You know you can always say anything to me, Marianne.

[She tries to sound reassuring, but she doubts that she’s hitting that particular note this time around.]

[snowslip]

Thank you, Aerith.

[ Marianne sighs out gratefully. Aerith's presence is steadying, and Marianne trusts her...enough that she begins to roll up the sleeves of her shirt. She had considered the mark that had appeared on her a shameful sign of ill omen and kept it carefully concealed under her clothes. Now the sleeve is pulled back to reveal black lines that form undecipherable symbols. Without a doubt, she is one of the marked. ]

Something's not right with me.

[inemeraldfaith]

[Aerith leans over to get a better look at what she suspects will be on the arms. What she's greeted with is... Well. There are others who have had strange markings. That's probably not going to bring anyone a semblance of comfort, though. Aerith doesn't know what the marks mean. She doesn't know where they came from or what they're going to do to the people who are marked with them.

There's the deal with the forest. She thinks about the number of dreams she's had about the place even before the markings ever came to be. Like she should have known something like this would happen. She couldn't possibly figure that out, however.

Aerith reaches out and pauses before she offers her hand, implying she means to touch. If Marianne will allow her to.]

It's not you. There are others who are experiencing something similar. It's not your fault. How long has it been like this? Was it always this bad...?

[snowslip]

[ Marianne withdraws her hand nervously, pulling her sleeve back down. Her frightened expression says everything. She can't— what if she passed her affliction onto Aerith? ]

It's been getting worse ever since we returned from the expedition.

[ She doesn't know what the others are experiencing, but she knows the blood that runs in her veins puts her at risk of something terrible happening. With the voices in her head growing louder each day, she thinks she just might lose herself. ]

I think...I think there's a reason why it chose me. Do you remember when I said I'm bad luck?

speak not of the old ones | open

[snowslip]

[ While the town erupts in chaos, Marianne walks through the streets as serenely as a saint might make the rounds giving their blessings. From afar, it may appear as if she's trapped in the mass of moving roots around her, but the tendrils don't touch her even as they burrow into the ground and drain life from everything. When she sees someone who hasn't evacuated, her eyebrows furrow in what appears to be genuine concern. ]

Excuse me, you need to leave right away.

[ It's clear that she's branded, the dark lines having snaked its way past her dress up to her hands, face, and neck. If that's not telling enough, her smile is fond and sickly with affection as she looks towards the horrid beast. ]

This child will be feeding soon.

[ Or, if she sees you trying to take out the monstrosity, she'll get in between you and her giant eldritch abomination of a friend to bodily block your attacks. Her eyes look at you, pleading. The beast's pain is her pain. ]

Please stop! Can't you see you're hurting it?

[illumiknight]

[As Młynar approaches both Marianne and the beast, it’s clear that he’s ready to do anything necessary to protect Aldrip from this menace. His hands had already been stained with plenty of blood in the past, due to the merciless battles he had fought in, after all. His long blade was held at the ready for the dirty deed, radiating a soft golden aura as the knight looked for an opportunity to strike.

Still, seeing a girl who was around his nieces’ age gave him pause. She seemed gentle, without any real hostility. Could he really kill her in cold blood? No- at least not immediately. No matter how hardened the knight believed to be, he could not murder someone who was so young so easily.]

Please, stranger. You clearly aren’t in your right mind. This thing will likely cause far more pain than you could imagine.

[It doesn’t seem like reason will be effective. Still, it’s worth a try.]

[snowslip]

Why do you say that? Why do you all hurt it?

[ Marianne turns to the stranger, her eyes fearful at the sight of his shining blade that looks as if it could slice her friend right through. She stands her ground, protecting the living roots with outspread hands. ]

This one's only... [ Only trying to do what? Her eyes go in and out of focus. There must be a reason behind the creature's rampage, she just needs a moment to work out the inconsistencies in her thoughts and memories. ]

Only trying to live!

[ As she says so, the golden limbs shoot out from behind her, using her for cover as it strikes. ]

[illumiknight]

[Marianne’s outburst is strange enough to make Młynar pause and stop to stare at her in confusion for a moment. He couldn’t just kill her under these circumstances. There had to be something he could do…

However, the barrage of golden roots snaps Młynar out of his thoughts quickly enough. Light arcs from the knight’s sword in a brilliant wave, melting through the tendrils before they can reach him and reducing them to ash. A frustrated, piercing cry sounds out in response from a mouth the eldritch beast doesn’t have, disappointed with the realization it had been denied its meal.]

Damnit, you foolish girl, do you not see that I’m trying to live too? Or everything living in and around this forest, for that matter?

[He immediately swaps to a soldier's coarse speech once the first blow is launched. His gaze has sharpened too, as he takes a ready stance and prepares to launch another slash of incinerating light towards the newborn creature.]

Don’t make this worse than it needs to be.

[snowslip]

[ Marianne cries out when the beast's limbs are severed as if she had been cut by the blade herself. ]

No... Don't!

[ Her hands glow as she gathers a spell, but even under the brand's grip, she's reluctant to unleash it. She doesn't wish for destruction. She only wants to see her friend happy and healthy. Yet everyone's trying to hurt this child. It breaks her heart. ]

You don't understand. You don't hear the call, or you'd join us. [ She also adopts a fighting stance, raising her glowing spell hand. ]Just... Leave us alone!

[ She doesn't sound threatening. She's never been able to sound threatening, but she's raised her voice in upset the first time in a long while. ]

[baldrshand]

[Ethlyn is doing her damnedest to try and keep the townsfolk from panicking and get them evacuated in an orderly fashion. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she knows that this is what's keeping her from panicking, but there's no time for introspection--and then she sees Marianne, standing in the midst of the hellish tendrils.

Ethlyn draws her sword at once and rushes forward, only to see that Marianne isn't actually trapped. She's just... standing there... with the marks crawling up her face....]

Marianne... Marianne, this isn't right. Can you come out of there?

[snowslip]

Oh, Ethlyn.

[ Marianne turns to her with a smile that's all wrong in this context. She seems to not understand the words spoken to her. ]

I'm sorry I've been so absent. I needed to look after this one. [ Her hands caress a golden root. It curls around her arm, not hurting her but not letting her go. ] Will you walk with us?

[ She offers casually, like she's taking her horse out for a stroll instead of accompanying a monster on a rampage around town.]

[baldrshand]

[What Ethlyn wants to do more than anything is hack this cocoon of roots apart with her sword and drag Marianne out of there. The only reason she isn't already doing it is because she's sure that Marianne will get herself wounded trying to intervene with her own rescue.]

I don't think that would be a good idea. [...] I think this one will be okay without you. But the people here won't be. Do you want to come out and help me?

[snowslip]

[ The people need help. Ethlyn will see Marianne hesitate, seeming to consider the suggestion. The desire to assist others is in her nature. However, the brand's hold wins out, and her eyes cloud once again. ]

But I can't leave him. Everyone seems to hate my friend. If I go, he won't be safe.

[ Meanwhile, the roots burrow along the ground in between Marianne and Ethlyn, uprooting cobblestones and carving a fissure into the path as if to separate them even further. ]

[feintofhart]

[ Claude has kept his eye out for Marianne in the past week, having seen that she was acting curiously, whatever illness she was suffering from a plague upon her. He only hoped it was an illness of the body, not of the mind.

But seeing her trying to stand between a villager attempting to attack the monstrosity invading their town and the monster itself gives him a sinking feeling that something worse has happened, brain addled, courageous in all the wrong ways. ]

She's right! [ He calls out, intercepting the two of them. He addresses the villager first, voice stern enough to get him to listen. ] You need to leave. It's not safe here. The rest of the evacuees have settled to the East of here -- if you hurry, you can catch up with them.

[ The villager looks between them and, seeing that they alone cannot defeat a monster such as that, quickly scurries away, leaving Claude and Marianne alone. ]

Marianne, I know you love animals, but this is... [ As he finally takes her in properly, he's able to see the physical markings upon her, crawling up her face, spreading to her hands, otherwise pale and sickly and wrong. He's unable to stifle the gasp that rises in his throat. ]

What happened to you?

[ She practically looks like she's turning into one of those Demonic Beasts -- no, no, they're in a different world now. It can't be that. But whatever it is, it's isn't good. ]

[snowslip]

Thank you, Claude.

[ Marianne returns a smile that is at once genuine and unsettling. She's truly grateful for his help in clearing the area. Now there's all the more room for her friend to feast and grow without hurting anyone. ]

I'm alright now. I'm sorry if I've worried you.

[ She feels a lot better after embracing the call, but even so, there remains an undercurrent of sadness in her heart. Because accepting herself and the darkness inside her meant accepting that she would never be like the others. Her curse would always separate her from the rest, from the unmarked and Claude.

She hears the concern in his voice, but it doesn't quite register, save for the thought that she is fortunate to have had a wonderful house leader. But now they must say goodbye. ]

You should hurry and leave, too. I can't go with you, though. I need to look after this one.

[feintofhart]

If you think I'm going anywhere without you, then you have another thing coming.

[ Something's wrong. Marianne is an animal lover, yes, but this goes beyond even her usual disposition. It takes so much for her to hold her ground; he cannot imagine her holding her ground like this of her own volition for the sake of something clearly doing so many people harm. Her new home harm. Hell, even the animals won't make it out of here unscathed. ]

You're not okay, Marianne. Look at your hands! What is that stuff all over you? Did you -- talk to someone? Touch something you shouldn't have? What's going on?

[snowslip]

It's alright.

[ Marianne replies quietly, looking down at her hands and the black marks beginning to swallow her whole. It's not fear but resignation that fills her expression. ]

I've been marked. I'm one of them now. But it's okay. I've known for a long time this would be the fate of someone with my Crest.

[ She begins to back away into the mass of roots, and the limbs reach out as if to claim her. ]

I can't remain with you. I don't think I'll be able to return to Fódlan or see the others again, but this is for the best.

[ Her voice trembles unwittingly. She had thought she'd made peace with it, so why did the thought of leaving everyone pain her so much? ]

[menancia]

[Dohalim is not surprised to find Marianne out among the people once the chaos has begun, but the nature of her presence there is not what he'd expected— he had expected she might be doing the same as Ethlyn and himself, out to heal and aid those who have been injured, but when he comes across her walking serenely among the roots, her brand plain to see, it is clear that he had been mistaken.

His brow knits with concern; he is tempted to reach for his staff, but stays his hand even as he puts his guard up, cautions. Whatever follows, this situation must be handled with care.]

This 'child.'

[He watches her warily, giving a brief shake of his head.]

And what will the cost of its feeding be? It is already too great.

[Damage has already been done, people have already been hurt.]

[snowslip]

It doesn't mean to hurt people.

[ Whether that's true or more likely the projection of her own confused feelings, Marianne stands her ground and doesn't move from shielding the creature. Not that the beast needs protecting as its massive limbs crawl through town, tearing apart whatever it makes contact with. Her eyes are tired as she meets Dohalim's gaze. ]

It's just trying to live. Is that so wrong? It didn't ask to be like this.

[ Plants turn to the sun, predators hunt prey, a beast has no choice but to destroy. It's in its very nature. She doesn't want to hurt Dohalim, but the blood of a monster also runs in her veins. She must protect this creature, that is the single thought that grips her. ]

Please, just leave us be!

[menancia]

Perhaps not— but even if it does not intend it, harm is still being done.

[Intent, he knows full well, does not always matter as much as one might hope it does. The creature hardly needs the aid it has received from the branded Chosen, he thinks, and yet Marianne seems to be far from the only one acting as steward. He meets her tired gaze in turn, his own expression tense but patient— this situation, he knows, is hardly simple, and those who have been marked do not seem to be in their right minds.]

By protecting it, your hands will be stained by the blood of countless others— all those it chooses to destroy in its efforts to feed itself.

[Dramatic, perhaps, but he has always been so.]

You are a gentle person. [That had been made clear to him during their first meeting.] Could you truly bear such a thing?

cave depths | open to branded

[snowslip]

[ Marianne sits on the other side of the cell, grasping the hand of a prisoner through the bars as she applies healing magic to the wounds the unlucky soul has sustained in captivity. ]

It'll be alright. [ She coos gently, smiling as though things weren't so horribly wrong. ] Just wait a little longer. It'll come to an end soon.

[ The man looks up weakly, hopeful, only for Marianne to pick herself up and walk away to rejoin the branded, leaving the prisoner to ponder the ominous meaning of her last words. It's not the lure of power that's drawn her to the pit, but that she is tired of fighting it. Accepting the call has given her new clarity. The hooded figure promises them paradise. Once this all ends...so will everyone's suffering. ]