The Unity Syndrome

The presence of an unusual cage on Avechna’s peak seemed to pique attentions around the Basin of Life. Soon after its appearance, odd pustules began to be coughed up by the dying, and the cage seemed to be absorbing some sort of energy in their last moments. An odd attempt by many in Magnagora was placed to ‘feed’ the cage as well, a slight worship of it apparent by the most radical of the city’s supporters.

Those who stood in proximity to it began to feel odd symptoms, including forced thoughts in their mind referring to a Unity and the odd need to perform certain actions. Like puppets on strings, the plague controlled their very thoughts and emotions, and soon synchronised actions followed. So immersed in this vision of bliss and euphoria, they sought to share the ‘Unity’ with all, thus further spreading the plague in a misguided attempt at saving friends, family and loved ones.

As symptoms continued to progress, so too did the growth of the cage as it seemed to spawn a large, root-like system of tendrils upon the peak. Despite the best efforts of many, however, no harm seemed to come to the cage or the tendrils. In further months, the odd illness seemed to slowly progress, and the coughed up pustules began to grow in size. Eventually, even the living were coughing up the odd fleshy objects from time to time.

The pustules were revealed as eggs after a time, growing simulacra who bore a resemblance to those who coughed them up and seemed to mimic their actions. Some adventurers seemed to react first by killing the creatures, while others chose to speak with them. Regardless, their deaths, in the end, held the key to weaken the tendrils, and a large number of driven adventurers began to systematically eradicate the simulacra and tendrils, culminating in the destruction of the cage and providing a cure for the dreaded plague.

Some months later, a young dracnari researcher named Druetba Tleem started making rounds between the cities and communes of the basin, offering her research into the creation of the simulacra and modification of the plague into its new form. Her presence and research offer many unanswered questions though: Who is this Mister G. who funded Druetba’s experiments? What was the final goal of this endeavour? What trouble is going to come of this scientist’s creations in the future?