therookery | REPORT: Where Lies the Strangling Fruit

SUBJECT: Where Lies the Strangling Fruit
PARTICIPANTS: Tony Stark, Richard Dickerson, Joselyn Smythe, Vanadi de Vadarta, & Wysteria Poppell
CLASSIFICATION: Public
DATE FILED: Late August
STATUS: Ongoing
SUMMARY: At the request of the neighboring village of Ansburg, a team traveled to investigate the mysterious illness afflicting the residents of the village of Bierstagg and the strange alterations occurring in the landscape surrounding the area. Upon arrival, they found the flora and fauna of the forest to be seriously mutated and poisonous, and that the residents of the village itself were dead. A rift in the orchards - seemingly motivating the changes to the woods as well as enabling a number of minor spirits to possess some of the villagers - was closed and the dead burned.

REPORT:

Rifts & the Thinning of the Veil's Alteration of Local Flora and Fauna:
A Comprehensive Account of the Investigation of the Village Bierstagg
and its Surroundings in the Year 9:46

Having received word from the villagers of Ansburg recounting the strange tale of the recovery of a Bierstagg child on the road, her reports of an illness ravaging her home, and the subsequent attempted and failed investigation by an party of Ansburgite villagers into the nature of their neighbors' distress (see attached copy of record number, 9:46-FM-W.Ans.I), a team of Riftwatch agents (see roster addendum) was dispatched in order to investigate the mysterious malady and reports of strange unnatural phenomena in the forest surrounding Bierstagg, including the corruption of harmless fruit typically known to be edible, and to close a rift reported by the wayward child.

Traveling first to Ansburg, we met with the original investigation party who recounted to us their initial attempts to reach Bierstagg and the sickness that had overtaken them after the consumption of a most common berry (a sample of which, among others taken from the afflicted area, has been preserved for further study; please see appendix C for complete indexing of samples and their archival status). The affected individual claimed to have eaten no more than a handful of the berries, and described his symptoms as having included vomiting combined with a clarity and brightness of vision. His companions described an altered mood, and that their fellow had been prone to long stretches of silence. Further, all of them reported a sense of uneasiness while attempting to traverse the forest (see appendix A for further details).

As to the Bierstagg girl, she reported the same trance-like state, and that her mother lay in bed. She was unable to corroborate any vomiting, but did report a certain loss of appetite in those afflicted. The rift, which she noted was in the orchards East of the village, had been there for some time but she was unable to say exactly when it opened save that it had not been present during the previous harvest season. A full copy of her account is attached for reference (appendix B).

Having gathered all information we might from the Ansburg locals, Riftwatch set off for Bierstagg. Once we reached the overgrown sections of the road which ultimately deterred the infestation prior to ours, we immediately determined the Veil to be quite thin. In a number of places, it was necessary to open and reseal Rifts in order to repair it. This thinning of the Veil likely seems to have contributed to the alteration of the plant life - indeed, sampling and testing reveals a great majority of the growing things in the area to be varying degrees of poisonous -, and to the strange alteration of the creatures living there. Full details of the aberrations observed are attached (please see Appendix D), including but not limited to freshwater eels with strangely human eyes, a two headed wolf, insects moving in coordinated figures, and a two headed wolf whose assault on our encampment during the first night earned Mssr. de Vadarta what first appeared to be a minor wound only to suffer subsequent complications of organic growths in limb which required extraction (please see the drawings attached).

When we reached the village of Bierstagg, it was immediately apparent that the poisonous qualities of the landscape had also affected the village itself. While not obvious on our initial arrival - there being some individuals employed in their daily work -, the discovery of numerous corpses bearing organic growths (flowers, vines, etc; samples also noted in appendix C) and a closer examination of the active residents revealed that all of the Bierstagg villagers had sadly succumbed to the affliction and that any instances of persons going about their daily business were instances of possession - albeit seemingly benign insofar as any invasion can claim to be, as no spirit attempted to harm us either as we passed through the village or during the closure of the orchard's rift. Upon closure of the rift, all spirits vacated their host corpses or were encouraged to do so via light physical altercations.

Unfortunately, closure of the rift and repair of the Veil did not revert any of the alterations to the life (or lackthereof) surrounding it. In an effort to deter further growth and with respect to common Thedosian customs, all bodies were carefully burned (after some testing which determined the material to be both highly flammable and potentially noxious). As there is no current solution to the corruption of the landscape, it was determined that the best course of action was to return to Anbsurg. An account of what Riftwatch discovered was relayed to them, and Ansburg has agreed to mark the perimeters of the afflicted area so as to discourage travelers from entering it until such a time that Riftwatch can return in order to set the place more definitively to rights.

NEXT STEPS: Send a follow up team to do additional research on the afflicted landscape in order to collect more data; ideally either cleanse the corruption, or organize a more permanent containment measures to discourage anyone from wandering into the splash zone.

NOTES & LINKS: OOC Information; IC Log