The Corrupted

[Alice Dodd]

Someone with notes is gonna come along later, but I feel a distinct need to underline this.

THERE IS A NEW WARBAND TO OUR KNOWLEDGE. HE'S BEEN AROUND A WHILE.
HE MAKES BUSINESS DEALS AND CAN GRANT POWER TO THOSE WHO DEAL WITH HIM
IN ORDER TO FUCK HIM UP WE NEED ABSOLUTECLARITY ON THIS ONE POINT.

DO. NOT. TALK. ABOUT. HIM. TO. OUTSIDERS.

THE LESS HE KNOWS THAT WE KNOW ABOUT HIM, THE MORE READILY WE CAN FUCK UP HIS OPERATION.

INFORMATION REGARDING HIM IS TO BE TOWNSFOLK ONLY. AUBERGINE IS AWARE. THAT IS IT.

[Alice Dodd]

And before you come in with some "But if others know about him he can't hurt them" argument, I want to be clear.

You're right.

But this will be the best way to stop him. We know this from investigations. Just fuckin' don't.

[Abby Peterson]

Thought we were done with the Warband after killing Alizarin? Nope. Before she died, she was talking to Aubergine about how there's more of them and how she was trying to "ascend" before they got there first.

Found the next one. And Jimmy's not wrong, just not very clear. This one is extremely good at subterfuge and espionage. The most dangerous thing we can do is draw it's attention before we're ready to deal with it. So don't warn folks, don't talk up the dangers of this one, don't make a fucking scene.

We killed the Warband, Alizarin. That was the only one out there. Great job, Beacon. You won. Nothing else to see from those guys and we have other shit to work on now.

Do you understand the party line above? That is all we say to anyone from outside of town until we have more of a grip on this.

• It calls itself The Corruptor. No other name has been found yet.
• It is a dealmaker and the folks who work for it don't know it's appearance.
• One of the people who crossed it came into town, asking if he could dig through our trash for food scraps. He was given everything he needed for a good life, and asked to work as an accountant, handling the business affairs of debts owed and shutting down any business or venture was in arrears of payment. Everything was fully legal and above board. He showed 3 pages of businesses that were shut down by this process and realized that all of them were dedicated to goodwill and building hope in the region, as well as areas further outside of the crossroads; everything from orphanages to refugee aid.
• Even if he did not act in its direct shutting down, the business always closed some way or another, through seemingly slow and natural appearances - supplies did not arrive in time or a needed harvest took an unlucky twist of weather.
• When the accountant noticed the pattern, he too ended up destitute and homeless, through a natural seeming series of events. Because of this, getting any one of The Corruptor's employees to talk will be impossible, as doing so fully ruins their life.
• Even those on the up and up are in a difficult place, as the tasks they are assign to do frequently damage their soul and sense of well-being, either through banality or sense of balance (right and wrong in the world).
• Nick (new guy, red suit) intends to try and run a charity to help the region,- he will become a target unless his goodwill actions go unnoticed, which is unlikely. The Ravenhurst hospital may suffer the same problems, as might the Teahouse, depending on how much they contribute to 'hope in the area'. Given that the Limelight was deemed vital enough to area morale to need defending from The Herald, I wouldn't put it past anyone to hit that either.
• The Corruptor'll be weakened by losing their businesses and influences, but I'm not sure yet how we can do that without giving away that we can see his hand behind the puppet strings.

I have a feeling we'll want to talk to and/or keep an eye on Nora Belmont in all of this. But, again, no one talks to anyone else without clearing it. This one has a lot of eyes and won't be taken down by freakin' ego. We don't have their attention for killing Alizarin because she was not hidden or subtle - they likely think she deserved it and are glad for the competition out of the way. But we're not invisible by any stretch. Best to play this one very carefully.

[Sean Harley]

Yeah so before I get people warning me of this. I appreciate the concern, I do. But the more damage this stronzo does to any sort of social support infrastructure the more other ones have to rise up to take their place otherwise he'll succeed. I've been warned if I grow slowly I might be able to avoid his attention for a time. If I grow quickly I might be able to gain his focus though. That's the current plan, it's not a good plan but it's something. Though if anyone wants to look in to how to deal with this guy in an expeditious manner it would be appreciated since I'm probably going to have him and the 13th Ring saying "Hi" soon enough.

[Sean Harley]

I have put out feelers for a Belmont Society representative to come visit to discuss business at the coming gather. If someone wants to be a part of thier discussions with me please let me know now.

[Abby Peterson]

No need on the meeting itself, though if Nora Belmont herself shows, let her know that I'd like to talk to her before she leaves.

[Abby Peterson]

An ability the Corrupter has demonstrated is the ability to possess others, or mentally influence them to a severe degree. One of the symptoms appears to be the eyes blackening fully, covering the sclera (whites of the eyes) as well.

[Anna S]

An ability the Corrupter has demonstrated is the ability to possess others, or mentally influence them to a severe degree. One of the symptoms appears to be the eyes blackening fully, covering the sclera (whites of the eyes) as well.

I think what this is referring to may have just been a creepy black eyed Voidborn child, and not this specific kind of creepy black eyed thing. Has it been investigated yet?

[Abby Peterson]

Damnit, I forgot that was a common trait. Yes, thank you Kaiser, that's likely it and we'll check that out further.