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The Unbirthing

The Unbirthing was a catastrophe that transpired in Veskovia's capital city, Talczelava. It became a major case study for the dangers of unchecked Sculptoris propagation, Manikin outbreaks, or somatomantic mishaps.

Order of Events #

Contaminated Fish #

In 295 DHT, Legion of Thunder naval operations intruded upon Veskovian waters. While no open conflict started, Veskovian fishermen began to move to new spots in the Wattamp Ocean to fish. Many of these vessels moved far enough eastward to begin catching aquatic creatures that had spread from the Bloodcoast Sea.

Once brought back to Talczelava's port, the fish would be distributed and eaten by the populace, beginning to infect various individuals with Sculptoris.

Oobor's Recollection

I recall that morning... seeing some fishermen unload a net full of fish onto a nearby dock. Some of the fish... no, many of the fish had extra eyeballs growing out of their sides, bones sticking out of wounds, small appendages that look like fingers. One of the fish in the net split into two halves and then sprouted spider-like legs. The two halves wandered about on the dock before falling into the water.

I do not know why I didn't think anything of it at the time. If people were eating these... I don't know why they didn't think anything of them either.

Police Investigation #

In 296 DHT, manikinism began to slowly spread through Port Pietr, and the Royal Veskovian Police launched an investigation. While manikinism itself wasn't reported, the manikin attacks were coming to be known as a major string of violent assaults and murders. With much of the city guard being relocated across Veskovia (specifically to Stavrogosk and Calawon) as emergency preventative reinforcements to handle the sudden influx of ships and people from the Cloudlands, the police began to send out lancer contracts to reputable lancers for assistance in the investigation.

Lietenant Borislav Volkov was the lead Veskovian officer in the investigation. Among his reports were:

Volkov's primary theory was that addicts were responsible, caused by the spread of Chimera through the maritime district from elevated pirate activity.

Oobor's Recollection

We first visited Duncaz's friend, the shipwright. Something... Popov... was his name. He'd seen a few people hanging around near his boats at night time. He was worried they were tampering with his work, so he confronted them by light of torch. But instead of scaring them off, they turned on him.

The shipwright said they started screaming bloody murder and flailing their arms wildly. He thought one of them had their eyeballs hanging out of their sockets. He was probably right about that last bit.

Popov pointed us toward a dun sailor. Stonk, his name was. Manasseh knew him. He was the captain of a fine vessel, but Manasseh made it clear to us that Stonk was indeed a pirate. This was an excellent chance to ask about the movement of Chimera.

Stonk's story was that his men were drunk one night and were attacked while singing shanties on the street. An old woman leapt upon them and tried to bite one of their throats out. Stonk never answered what happened to the woman, and I was worried about pushing the envelope while surrounded by Stonk's men.

With only more questions from our time with Stonk, we set out to chase down a new lead. One of my old friends, George.

Chaos Erupts #

At noon of the day, a wave of fully transformed manikins loosed themselves on the afternoon crowd in Port Pietr. Widespread chaos bled throughout the maritime district as people ran wildly through the streets and alleys to escape the horde. Massive throngs of civilians crashed into each other, causing multitudes of people to die from crowd crush. Manikin numbers grew exponentially, and within the hour the entire port was overrun.

During the chaos, a gunpowder magazine along the boardwalk caught fire, causing a massive explosion that resulted in over a hundred casualties while also destroying many sea vessels that might've been able to be used to escape.

Military Response #

Veskovian soldiers and the Royal Veskovian Police attempt to stem the tide of manikins charging through the streets.

As manikinism spread like wildfire through Veskovia's streets, the city's garrison mobilized as quickly as possible to contain the threat. Numerous lines of defense were established, but were continually pushed back as manikins numbering what must have seemed like the entire population of Talczelava surged.

The Lance of Godemir, a major Veskovian war vessel, is hijacked in an evacuation attempt. However, uncontrolled crowd movements allows several manikins to get on board, dooming all aboard the ship.

![[Talczelava#^77be98]]

Temporary Containment #

The royal arcane advisor of Veskovia and agent of the Arcane Hand, Miruna Jovanovi, quickly recognized what was happening to Talczelava. She dispatched her fellow mages across the city to aid in containment efforts while she sent word to the Hand.

As night began to fall, massive lines of wooden spikes were arranged at each city gate, skewering crowds of manikins as they would run straight forward. On Jovanovi's orders, the men stationed at the city gates did not let anyone escape the city, shooting upon those who attempted to leave.

Oobor's Recollection

I remember waking up, head pounding, in partial disbelief that I was alive. A couple--Yavor and Rostina--they had gone out of their way to rescue so many people amid the city's chaos. They were so kind. I regret leaving them behind, but... perhaps that was for the best. I hope they made it to Kroville.

I saw many horrors as we hurried through the city's streets. Slain animals' intestines wriggled out of their corpses. Eyes sprouted from the city's walls, watching our every move. People, women, children... all deformed and twisted by the damned flesh.

When our band of survivors reached the south gate, we were met with a massive line of Veskovian soldiers and their fortifications. At first we thought that their purple cloaks signaled our salvation. I watched, stifling my horror, as the Veskovian mage electrocuted each of my comrades until they were nothing but scarred, steaming corpses.

The mage was called Noc. She served Veskovia's court mage. I'm not sure what else I should've expected from a naga nuivian caster.

Arcane Response #

That night, Director Mosso Solren of the Bureau of Classified Arcana arrived at the borders of the city via teleportation. After assessing the situation, he devised a plan to encircle the city in a massive wall while guarding the Bay of Veskovia with ships manned by BCA agents.

While evacuation of civilians was considered, the risks were too high. Kroville was established to provide some relief to those who would be trapped behind Solren's Wall.

Royal Family Evacuation Attempt #

The following morning, elite Veskovian knights from Talczelava's countryside rode on horseback to Castle Lazovich to try and extract the royal Sedlasky family. Swarms of manikins slowed their progress significantly, and they only arrived at the castle's gates at sunset. The exhausted knights found themselves facing a massive Carnite, dubbed the Red Knight, which ended up killing them all.

The Sedlaskys would never be found.

Garden Club #

Mistress Liu rallies Talczelava's surviving criminal underbelly to secure what resources are left in the city. This group would eventually become The Gardeners of Paradise.

Major Carnites #

There were 3 carnites that made major contributions to the Unbirthing.

The Flesh Mass #

The Flesh Mass was born out of the hundreds of corpses that floated through the waters of the Bay of Veskovia. It crawled out from the bay during the middle of the night and severely hampered rescue operations.

The Mass moved extremely quickly through the Forsaken City's streets, crushing anything in its path as its rolled itself as a ball. It was difficult to catch because of how fast it moved, but eventually it was destroyed by a BCA vasamancer.

The Red Knight #

The behemoth Red Knight drew its name from the twisted mixture of flesh and metal that made up its body. Created from the bodies of the royal guard protecting Castle Lazovich, the Red Knight was credited as the executioner of the Sedlasky family. Scholars believed that if it weren't for the Red Knight's presence, the Royal Family Evacuation Attempt would have succeeded, and at least some of the Sedlaskys could have been rescued.

The Red Knight was not slain, and withdrew to hibernate in the Womb once activity in the city began to dwindle.

The Viscera Hound #

Once a stray dog that roamed the streets of Talczelava, the Viscera Hound became a ravenous carnite that stalked the Forsaken City's streets exclusively at night. Those from Kroville claimed that out of the three most infamous carnites of the city, the Viscera Hound has claimed the most lives.