eastbound | video. un: a_civil

This is what lies beyond the living-but-not walls in Chricter's secret room. ( The video starts with the sharpness of Wrath's voice in the dark cavern. Wrath and Fei continue forward with dim magical. Fei's sword is drawn, Wrath's serpent-dagger is in his hand. There are 20-25 mannequins in various states: burlap to human-like with defined features and soft skin.

A splash is heard as they step into dark water, and Wrath's jaw clenches at the realization they are being drained from the contact, but they have little choice but to push onward. Fei looks similarly displeased but determined. ) It is the dark water as it was in the volcano, as it was under the sea, infusing into the burlap sacks and making beings who are-

( Wrong. Unnatural. The video lands on the dog tags on the mannequins with a name on one, with a phrase on the other: hello, birdie, squirrel, eat your nuts!, the train goes, choo-choo on the other. ) Like the phrase left for Arabella.

( Before more can be said, chaos. The mannequins wake in a panic. They attack, rushing forward. Wrath and Fei work together to fight them off. She has been drained of stamina, and he has been drained of magic. They are worn from the waters, but they work in tandem - two experienced fighters, slashing through the burlap and false skin. It'll be difficult to tell what exactly is happening through the flurry of movement and sharp blades and burlap and skin and blood and features but not.

The mannequins rush out through the opening. Screams and shouts are heard from outside the room - distant. Fei and Wrath (bloody, torn, dripping dark water) step out of the wall. Fei spits out blood and wipes it from her chin, and then the video focuses on Magnus and Xingchen, waiting on the other side. The two were protected by Xingchen's talisman, which prevented the dark water from going any further. Magnus has his portal ready, and he speaks sharply: "Everyone into the safety hole now," and through it they go.

The echoes of chaos are left behind, and then there is darkness and silence. )

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ That's almost creepier than dealing with the undead. Which only leaves the question of why? They already made droids to keep their city running. ]

Do we know if it's spread to Eidris? There has to be some way to tell.

I would imagine it has though I have no evidence other than what was observed within that room.

( And the strange behavior they have seen from citizens, from Arabella as well. )

If they can successfully implant these individuals into Minaras, why wouldn't they do the same in Eidris? They can control both sides of the city this way. If that were the case though, why wouldn't they use that control to bring the city together as they claim their goal is?

[ He has noticed people seem to be in a forcibly good mood around here. He'd associated it with the link to the dragons, possibly not wanting to upset them, but now he's wondering. ]

That would explain why they don't feel either alive or dead. I just don't know what we can do about it. [ Are any of them real people? Would the city collapse if they broke whatever spell is making this happen? ]

We should probably call a meeting about all this, once you've had time to recover.

It's difficult to say how many of those around us are mannequins. I will say when the mannequins beyond the wall were more flesh than burlap with defined features... they did read as being alive. But perhaps it only sticks for a certain amount of time.

( And there are lapses in how human and alive they may seem. )

They were worried about the Unwinding - something coming up, but they were vague on the meaning.

[ That's going to be nightmare fuel later. Marcos has met mutants with all kinds of unique powers, but usually this kind of thing would be the result of inducing visions and actually making life. And they all saw the mannequins. ]

I don't love the name. [ How are toy references so creepy? ] You spoke to them before they attacked? ...Should we be asking around about it?

We infiltrated the Remembrance group prior to accessing the locked room. It was members of the group that talked about the Unwinding, but I did not ask them any questions because we were supposed to act as if we were one of them.

( He took note of the conversation but knew better than to inquire further without giving themselves away. )

It would be a good idea to find out more information. If it is an event like the previous one, we could prepare those who attend and ourselves better than the previous time.

[ He can't argue that. Fei and the others did them all a favor finding out this much, but he's not planning on sitting the next one out if he can help. Preferably before this all goes sideways. ]

Do you know how often they meet? Or any of their names that we could keep tabs on?

Chrichter is their leader. They appeared to have headquarters which could be accessed at anytime by those who were members. It would have been difficult to find if not for following members down who were attempting to kidnap us.

Otherwise, we were all wearing masks. I believe with the intention to remain anonymous.

[ That sounds familiar. ]

It also makes it easy to infiltrate them. I guess nobody thinks about that when they decide on masks. [ But back up a second... ]

I missed the part where they were attempting to kidnap all of you. What were they after?

That is apparently one of the ways they recruit others to their group.

( It does not appear like this should be remotely effective. )

They kidnap them, or they hijack someone's body to either kidnap or give the pitch to join them.

[ Hijack someone's... Marcos really hasn't been as careful as he should be. He can't assume that they're contained to Minaras. ]

Must be one hell of a pitch if they have to go through those lengths to get members. How many are we talking about?

There were at least forty there, mulling about. I would imagine there are many more in number than those who were at the headquarters when we showed up.

It's clear the headquarters are meant to be secret - less clear what they would have done to those they kidnapped who did not wish to join.

That's a pretty substantial operation. [ He doesn't ask what they did to escape the kidnappers, but no judgments here. ] Do you think they were brainwashed or under some other mind control?

No. The mannequins certainly are. However, I think most people who join genuinely believe in what this group wants to fight for - the two sides of the city reunited so they can see friends and family again.

Their objective is not a bad one, but their methods leave something to be desired.

[ That is potentially more of a problem. Brainwashing is something they can deal with, try to snap them out of it, but it's a lot harder to change beliefs. Marcos would know. ]

No kidding. [ He isn't sure what he can offer, but if that's their only goal... ] Do you think they just don't know what's going on? It might be wishful thinking, but you did say it was a locked room. Maybe they don't realize what they signed up for.

If they do not, they're not paying attention, or they are being willfully ignorant for the sake of following this cause. There are burlap mannequins left outside of the room. Chrichter came out with one clawing at his back. Not to mention what occurred when we arrived with the fear bullets and people who are dragged down to the group against their will.

( People make choices, and regardless, they have chosen to align themselves with this group whose methods involve terrifying people, kidnapping them, and hijacking their bodies for their cause. )

[ So much for giving them the benefit of the doubt. He knows how that goes. It's what had caused a major rift between him and Lorna when he wouldn't do whatever it took for a cause. ]

It'd be a challenge to dismantle something like that, if they're aware of everything they're doing. [ Hopefully it won't end up with a bunch of casualties. In his experience, that's what it took, and it still doesn't feel like winning. ] We'll have to figure out where we can go from here, but I'm glad you all got away before something worse happened to you.

There is a great deal to learn about the group still, and we will have to do so carefully - undoubtedly they'll be moving locations now, ( and wrath would like to find it and destroy it and all of them before they can continue this falsity of life ) but thank you.

video. un: a_civil_serpent

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