• Small scale production of more permanent treatment for AVs
• Look into synthesis of the chemical compounds of the AV treatment or alternate ingredients, using jay as a test subject
• Study the psuedoflora given they have provided resources and granted permission to enter
• Construct a long range tap or communicator to breach the communications blackout

• No public motions

• We seek a project to transmute the magical radiation above the city so that it protects like the ozone layer without polluting our air or obscuring our view of the sky.
• Provide AVs with an overground path out of london, a safe distance from anomalies

• All survivalists should be informed that choices made wrt AV problem and radio problem are short term with further long term solutions in mind (aka: we are gonna get there I promise)
• Would like to do a “census” (of own people) to know who is living where and where large populations are, etc etc – preparation details for war with the purists (framed as a war thing to avoid libertarianism)

• If possible, combine UNDER COVER with WIRE UP (run new wires underground)
• In addition to driving out the AVs, we propose to monitor the AVs who the summit has been in contact with to monitor response to treatment and track as it unfolds
• 102 log corps and knights avalon to be dispatched with medical corps support to locate and non-lethally subdue lissa harper to hold as test subject

At the exact second the final bell of the Summit rang, the Administrator Mind contracted. All vessels abandoned in an instant. Then it expanded. Flooding out into London, it seized hold of every vessel it found, every corpse and dead thing that could still retain its shape. Insects and humans and birds and warlocks and rats and cats and Domus-born. It sank deep into the soil seeking worms and moles and badgers, high up amid the skyscrapers for butterflies and pigeons and lonely deaths. It took all of this and more. London shook with the dead things that were dredged up and filled with the Administrator Mind. It did not matter what it was or how big or how long it had been dead, if it held together, it was of use.

This death was lashed together with intent and direction and began to move.

Heralded by Major Wheeler’s forces, dead flesh and needle darts were sent into the hoards heavy with the hunger suppressant.

The treatment spread like wildfire amid the Artificial Vampires thousands treated in just a few days.

There was horror, joy, fear, anger, regret, but most of all panic. 

As the First Battalion Grenadier Guards routed out the Artificial Vampires from their hidden lairs, the Belfast sweeping across the Thames to remove any that hid within the water, the walls of dead flesh blocked the Artificial Vampires from going anywhere but out. 

Most were sent North though some were driven out west, the ways were the quickest and most efficient routes with the least risk of anomalies while within London’s borders.

The reactions were mixed. Many fled as was intended, in panic, fear and terror toward the unknown. Many attempted to fight and were either gunned down or found themselves fighting in vain against uncaring meat. Some froze and had to be guided out of London by whatever was nearest. There were a few that attempted to plead with their escorts. They begged for news of loved ones, for an understanding of what was happening, for a chance to try again. These requests were ignored.

In a matter of weeks, the vast majority of London was cleared of the Artificial Vampire threat. The streets became far safer to walk, the anomalies easier to avoid. Scavenging and building and restoration projects became possible.

Most of the dead returned to the earth with enough remaining to support the First Battalion in locating and expelling stragglers.

Border patrols prevent any Artificial Vampires from returning en masse and they report the signs of initial settlements forming in the wasteland. These settlements rapidly collapsed as the treatment ran out.

There have also been reports of the corpses of beasts spotted in the distance. Whatever monsters lie beyond London’s borders, they are having to deal with a sudden influx of deadly predators.

London is now free of the Artificial Vampire threat. The work can now begin.

Over the course of many months, with London largely free of artificial vampires, efforts were underway to link each of the factions’ territories together into a greater communications network, repairing or replacing existing telephone networks and telegraph wires to form a single unified grid.

Of particular interest here is the approach of the Traditionalists, who took great care to ensure that cables entering their territory, and within it, were placed alongside existing transport routes – in particular ensuring underground cables ran alongside subterranean transport routes – and so were easily accessible by maintenance teams.

The immediate result of this development was wildly positive. Communication between factions has been massively facilitated, resulting in a degree of cultural exchange between factions, sharing methods and stories. Previously separated friends and families have been able to re-establish contact and, along with the city’s newly restored transport routes, have been able to reconnect and meet in person for the first time in years. 

There was a complication, however. For some time now, Survivalist communications technology had been plagued by a phenomenon where it would uncontrollably transmit ghostly voices. Though Survivalist researchers had been able to largely understand the functioning of the phenomenon, they had not been able to fully suppress or end it, and indeed many of them had turned their work towards harnessing the phenomenon for the purposes of espionage, rather than properly ending it.

This phenomenon of ghostly voices was, therefore, still fully active as the Survivalist communication network was connected to the wider networks of London. And, as messages were passed in and out of Survivalist territory to the holdings of other factions, the phenomenon was transmitted with them. Very rapidly, the ghostly voices spread beyond their initial confines and now seem to be active across the entirety of London’s communication infrastructure. As in survivalist territory, the phenomenon is at its height at dusk, and then fades in frequency over the course of each day, before rising to a new peak with the next dusk. Similarly, across the entirety of London, Warlocks are most severely affected, while Dusk Vampires are affected far less than other genuses.

While extremely disruptive to clear convenient communication, the phenomenon was not without its benefits; many in the intelligence community realise that the conversations overheard are generally plausible, and so useful information might be gained by sifting through recordings of these ghostly voices. Various projects were set up to capitalize on this, including wiretaps established by more than one opportunist.

That said, the voices proved far more detrimental than beneficial. If some intelligence agency could potentially harvest useful data from a ghostly conversation is little comfort when it’s interrupting an important conference.

Efforts to suppress the phenomenon as it spread across London largely failed; excising it would have required tearing out existing infrastructure and implementing an uninfected replacement, which would only have only helped until the next communication re-introduced the phenomenon. For almost all factions, this proved impractical. The exception proved to be the Traditionalists; their infrastructure was already built to be easily accessible along transit lines, allowing maintenance workers to replace infrastructure easily. Though they can’t totally ward the phenomenon away from Traditionalist territory, they’re able to periodically isolate and replace the Traditionalist network, purging the phenomenon temporarily. In this way, though not fully isolated from its effects, the phenomenon hinders Traditionalist communications far less than other factions.

Fighting across the streets of London took considerable time. More time still was spent cleaning up the mess, tending to wounds, and looking with great concern at the river, and at all sides of the city, wary of what might enter now. Scouts and militias returned to their homes, and for a moment, there was quiet. Quiet, first, then the whirring of machinery, the clanging of tools, and the murmur of voices.

Work, in earnest, had begun.

Survivalist volunteers, Pilgrim scouts, Traditionalist civil servants, Erudite planners, Evolver labour specialists, all came together. Bit by bit, they erected walls, created guard posts, and dug steel lines into old roads cracked by the bombardment. Uncollapsed Underground and Overground lines made the work somewhat simpler, but it was a large project, and communication was largely managed by the Administrator mind, each faction given an area to carve out, and workers assigned. 

When all was done, long, thin lines stretched through London. Protected from outsiders, though not from the unfiltered light of the sun. Disused tram cars were taken, transported, and now used for shuttle transit to a central station, lines running under the Thames and over parks. It’s best used for cargo, or groups of one or two people, unable to sustain large scouting bands, or migratory settlers. Nonetheless, it is the first step to a physically united London, and in time may be used to connect the Factions more and more… or tear them further apart.

Taking the opportunity, the Erudite station connects directly into their civilian tubes, with a pair of large metal gates to control access. The Evolvers cut free a small area around an old Overground station, just a short walk away from the hospital. The Survivalists have two entrances, one inside the Heathrow compound, and one replacing Kingston station. The Traditionalists used their lines to connect to a single hub, running their radio wires through it for ease of access and maintenance. The Pilgrims have built next to the bridge, ensuring it is on their Southern border, and best accessed near the Council of Faith rather than the civilian areas.

The Erudite Council were more prepared than most for the conditions of a wartime Britain, a wartime London, but nobody could be prepared for the postwar fallout. The Campus District maintained defences, enough to keep them relatively safe for a while, but these would not last forever. A combined effort of the Erudites, Survivalists, and Traditionalists saw the training of Erudite students into troops specialised in magically enhanced urban warfare. Machines were unearthed, rebuilt, and even newly designed, stimulants and short-term repair drugs were synthesised, and soon the Guard, nicknamed Potentia, for the phrase scientia potentia est emblazoned on their uniform, became a celebrated position within the Erudite hierarchy. They came complete with full works detailing their methods, and one day their successes. At the same time, Survivalist militias brought weapons, and aided the construction of stone and metal walls, interlocking chokepoints, and automated traps. Techniques designed to protect the vast swathes of Survivalist territory now turned to the small, concentrated Erudite land made for a practically insurmountable obstacle for any would-be invaders. Along with that, great metal gates were constructed, a set below ground to control access to the transit system, and two sets above ground in the north and south of the territory, all operating as a portcullis, or an airlock. Further bulkheads were placed at key chokepoints.

With everything constructed, the Potentia squad began distributing basic safety training materials, with simplified instructions of how to defend the walls. Whilst civilians could take over in the worst-case scenario, the guards themselves operate a rotating system of two guards to any one point, in six hour shifts. Unless something were to happen to all of them at once, and no pupil or student stood up, the Erudite territory seems completely defended, at least in its current borders.

Upon the delegates’ return to Erudite territory, orders were quickly dispatched to various research groups within the Erudites. With assistance from the Administrators, after two weeks the students were tracked to a location just outside Erudite borders. The eight students had found an abandoned medical facility. There they had set up wards and hooked Ramiel up to a recovered intravenous drip that they were using to consistently feed him their own blood while also keeping him restrained to a bed. This bed had been affixed to the floor in front of a pair of large windows ensuring that he suffered no malnutrition during his capture. The students did not harm him in any way other than the force feeding of their own blood.

Initially, it was almost impossible to gain access to the facility, however, a group of Pilgrims had accompanied the recovery teams. Using theological debate and discussion, they were able to convince a number of the students to temporarily lower the wards allowing entry. 

When recovery teams entered, the students attempted to fight but they were all incredibly weak from starvation and blood letting to feed Ramiel. They were quickly subdued. While the facility was searched thoroughly, the missing books were not recovered. While additional resources could have been spared, Ramiel and the students were prioritised.

Upon return to Erudite territory, all nine individuals were thoroughly questioned after appropriate medical procedures had taken place.

The Students

When questioned, all students gave the same answers with little variation. When asked why they took Ramiel, all stated that it was because his connection to the sun offered true salvation. When asked to elaborate on what this meant, they failed offering only nonsensical answers. When asked how they came upon this knowledge, they all said it had been revealed to them ‘in dreams’. When asked to elaborate on these dreams, they all described a golden light that had filled them with this deep and intense understanding. All students show extreme agitation and distress if they cannot see Ramiel. They ask constantly after his safety and struggle to accept verbal assurances that he is well. The longer they go without seeing Ramiel, the more this distress worsens. Periods of over twelve hours without visual exposure to Ramiel causes the students to begin violently attempting to break out of whatever room they are in to the point of self mutilation.

It has been concluded that the students are not in their right minds and are currently in psychiatric isolation from the rest of the Erudite community. They have been receiving daily treatment from various healthcare professionals for the past few months. To ensure they are kept calm, Ramiel is brought in sight of their windows every five hours. He does this willingly. Despite this, the students’ health and grip on reality has been gradually degrading. By current reports, they rarely speak with any clear sense and often ramble into nonsense words.

The students affected have been identified as:

• Logan Rath, 23, Warlock, College of Arcana
• Luella who Weeps, 31, Domus born Lycan, College of Floralists
• Taia Levensby, 22, Warlock, College of Arcana
• Edward Wakes, 28, Human, College of Arcana
• Kaz Trassey, 19, Human, College of Floralists
• Petals Upon Unblemished Stone, 25, Earth Born Fae, College of Arcana
• Shaina Laxley, 24, Human, College of Arcana
• Benjamin Tate, 41, Human, College of Arcana
• Laura Newphill, 35, Warlock, College of Culturalism

Ramiel

When questioned, Ramiel has been adamant that he has absolutely no idea why any of this has occurred. He has been thoroughly interrogated and examined, so far there is little indication that is lying or that anything has been done to him. He shows none of the behaviours exhibited by the students. When describing his imprisonment, he claimed that the students did not seem to want to hurt him, however they refused to listen to anything that he had to say. He also claimed that it was as though whenever he spoke, they heard him say different things to what he actually said. Due to the worsening health of the students further research on this has not been held.

Some Peers have expressed concern over the loss of the books though it is generally agreed that it was better to get the students back alive.

Shortly after the completion of the Summit, the Floralist College of Erudites set about investigating the species dwelling in the tunnels below and beside them.

Sightings and attacks had, until this point, been infrequent but that frequency had been growing. Initially, all that was known was that the creatures stayed out of sight, thieving from any supplies left unattended. There had not, yet, been records of them directly attacking living people. However, there were many cases of corpses going missing attributed to them. More worryingly, there were some cases of vulnerable people – children, the sick and the elderly – abruptly vanishing if they ventured into certain areas of the undercity alone. It’s unclear how many of these incidents were truly these creatures doing, compared to the other hazards of the underground, and if they were actively killing or merely taking the carcasses of those who died by other means – the undercity has plenty of its own dangers. 

However, what was known is that there were areas of the underground where supplies – particularly food supplies – went missing, as did corpses. It had become a serious problem.

The effort involved two teams; those working in the field, and those conducting controlled laboratory research, with the field team passing data back to the laboratory team for further study.

In the field, the methods were slow and careful. The tunnels were never a completely safe environment at the best of times, with sites of magical fallout and strange monsters an infrequent – but never totally absent – threat whenever exploring the undercity. The field research team were, therefore, mostly composed of seasoned explorers, spelunkers and naturalists already at home in an underground environment, and able to negotiate the strange, claustrophobic maze below London’s streets.

They began by locating signs of the creatures; tracks, spoor, nesting materials and similar. Sites of interest were identified, and these sites were monitored with hidden cameras to identify what, exactly, might be lurking in the dark. Hours of footage were poured over by experts to identify anomalous creatures, and pin down which might be the species of interest.

Before long, they had identified their targets. The creatures were – like the field team – stealthy and careful, and seemed adept at negotiating the tunnels and avoiding drawing attention to themselves. They were mostly glimpsed in footage rather than clearly seen, and a picture of them was put together bit by bit from these indistinct sightings.

The creature seemed to be, from the footage, a species of rodent with a body some twenty to thirty inches long, and a tail accounting for another ten or so inches. It seemed to be pale and hairless, its body narrow and elongated similarly to a ferret. Its skin had the delicate pink colour and smooth texture of an olm or axolotl, and like them its eyes had grown vestigal and useless. Instead, the creature seemed to navigate through scent and echolocation. Most notably, though, the creature’s front legs ended in distinctly large, dextrous hands, which they were often observed to use to carry objects.

Further investigation located a number of nests where the creatures dwell, although all of them were in tunnels too narrow to be accessible to human-sized investigators. Footage from within was instead mostly gathered by fae and lycanthrope explorers able to shift into smaller forms that were better suited to these tight quarters.

Eventually, clear footage was gathered of the creatures behaviour within their nests, and it was startling.

They appeared to be highly social – far more so even than other rodents – and had complex, dynamic hierarchies within the colony. They seemed to be omnivorous, hunting other subterranean creatures where possible, and scavenging carrion and human refuse when live prey proved elusive. Their nest-building was elaborate and sophisticated, with different chambers of their nests used for sleep, for storing food, for social life, and other functions. Most notably, as well as more normal rodent habits, the creatures seemed to bury dead members of their colony within the walls and floors of their nests, incorporating their carcasses into the structure. 

Starlingly, they also showed signs of – by animal standards – sophisticated tool use. Within their nests, shards of metal and chipped stone were used to form blades that they use for various tasks. They butchered prey with little blades, and used crude spikes to pry open tin cans and jars. 

Analysis of the footage by experts in human evolution lead them to estimate that the creatures had technology equivalent to the acheulian in human prehistory, although – unlike human ancestors – despite their surprisingly sophisticated tool use, they had no use of fire. 

Later footage captured a small swarm of the creatures hunting a much larger subterranean creature, a mutated fox-like beast. Their tactics were – like everything they did outside their nest – slow, patient and clever. One of their number feigned being easy prey to lure the target into tight quarters where the rodents had an easy mobility advantage. Here the remaining swarm split into two parts – some simply taunted and baited their prey to keep it disoriented, while the others used these distractions to dart in and cut it with glass shards. As the wounded prey-animal retreated, they simply tracked it from a safe distance until it bled out and was exhausted enough that they could swarm it for the kill and drag it back to their nest to feed the rest of the colony.

This was, it must be said, remarkably similar to the tactics experts believe human ancestors used to hunt large prey in our own pre-history.

At this point in the process, the question was raised by many researchers; are these creatures sapient? Are they people? Footage of them in their nests was poured over for signs of higher culture. Vocalisations were analysed extensively for patterns that indicate language, and their tools were examined for signs of artistic expression.

The conclusion the experts arrived at, eventually, is not quite. These animals were highly intelligent – alarmingly so – but they hadn’t quite made that leap to full sapience, existing instead at a stage similar to Homo Erectus in human evolution; they were certainly some of the most intelligent non-hominid animals, outstripping elephants, corvids and cetatians and even great apes, but they weren’t capable of the sorts of sophisticated reasoning a human or lycanthrope is.

The question after this, then, was how they got like this. To answer this, the field teams waited until one of the rodents being observed was killed in a hunt, snatching the corpse up and retreating to safety before the now-enraged hunting pack could respond. The response from the other rodents was instant, as the focus of the rodents immediately snapped onto the researchers attempting to retrieve the corpse. There was a scramble to grab its corpse and flee before the rest of the pack – some dozen individuals – were able to reach and attack the research team. Reportedly, the hunting party was pursued for well over an hour before they could put a safely locked door between them and the rodents.

Analysis of the carcass indicated that the creature was most likely descended from the common European brown rat – Rattus Norvegicus – but rapidly adapted to fully troglodytic life, showing many adaptations similar to the Olm of the Dinaric Alps. Likewise, their intelligence had developed significantly; while the brains of the creatures had a similar structure to their rodent ancestors, they were larger and displayed much more dense and complex internal structures. The autopsy confirmed that the creatures were blind, with a sense of smell that outstripped other rodents, and limited but effective echolocation. Their life-span was estimated to be limited to around five years, with young reaching full maturity after perhaps six months. The carcass being dissected seemed to be a pregnant female, confirming that they seemed to produce litters of around three or so young.

Six hours after the carcass was taken, anomalous activity was observed on the surveillance footage of the creature’s nests, in every nest surveilled across the entirety of erudite territory. The creatures gnawed complex patterns into the floors of their tunnels, spiral shapes and cobweb-patterns. Into these scratched out grooves, the creatures cut themselves with their crude tools, and let their blood trickle in.

And then, something happened. Surveillance footage shorted out in a burst of static, and the underground subtly rearranged itself. Practitioners of leyline magic in erudite territory reported a subtle shift, mostly around the Grey and Red elements. Access to the sites being surveilled was cut off, as tunnels flooded, or collapsed, or simply vanished. The creatures seemed to have performed some simple, instinctive form of energy magic to protect their nests. 

Attempts to set up further surveillance equipment failed. The rodents seemed to rapidly locate and destroy them. Attempts to penetrate the tunnels leading to their nests likewise failed; mostly, the tunnels were no longer navigable, but where they are the rodents responded with startling violence as soon as an invisible threshold was crossed, swarming down any intruders to force a retreat.

Further sightings of them were indistinct and inconclusive. They were still down there, and they were hiding from any Erudite researchers that might be looking for them, and they seemed to be able to harness some simple, primitive energy magic to avoid attention.

The research team’s conclusions are as follows:

None the less, they seem to have grown more hostile to people. In the areas they’re known to frequent, its advised to never be alone, and to avoid bringing explorers who might prove particularly physically vulnerable.

The species is dubbed Rattus Watkinsi, after Alfred Watkins, the English antiquarian who first posited the concept of leylines in the early 20th century. Colloqually, the creatures come to be referred to as Wombles.

They seem to be a mutated offshoot of common rats living under London, affected by magical fallout that has caused them to develop into this new form. Their form seems to be stable, and at this stage they seem to follow the natural laws of evolution once more.

The Wombles seem to possess rudimentary pre-human intelligence, roughly equivalent in development to early Homo Erectus. If evolution were to take its natural course, they might well reach human levels of intelligence one day, but this would require similar timespans to historical human evolution; a matter of hundreds of millenia. Their fast reproductive cycle and short lifespan might speed this process up to merely tens of millenia.

They have been observed to possess rudimentary access to Energy magic, having performed some sort of primitive leyline adjustment to hide their nests. Likewise, they seem to have some method of communication across the whole population undetectable by the researchers.

Though startlingly intelligent, and possessing simple magic, they remain animals, not people. Perhaps one day, thousands of years in the future, they might become people, but they aren’t yet. 

They are alarmingly capable of violence, hunting similarly to humans through ambush and persistence. They prefer to avoid direct conflict where possible, picking off isolated or weak prey. They seem to view people as being too strong to attack directly unless the individual person is notably vulnerable, or they’re extremely provoked.

They seem to want to avoid contact with people where possible. Frankly, after the first instance of violence, they seem terrified of people. Human scents should deter them from venturing into areas they need to be kept out of. Where this fails, ultrasound broadcasts that interfere with their echolocation effectively blind them, causing them to avoid these areas. Where a swarm has gathered, a single sudden, loud noise causes instant disorientation followed by the Wombles fleeing. 

Given their intelligence, traps seem unlikely to prove effective, and their sophisticated navigation of the underworld suggests that they have access to much more of the undercity than humans. It seems lucky that, for now, they’ve chosen to avoid contact. 

As no additional food was procured during the Summit, the Evolvers relied on dwindling food stores for quite some time. As the worst of winter arrived, a number of the existing trade routes collapsed from danger and lack of infrastructure further straining stores. By early spring, deep hunger had set in with poor health from malnourishment and widespread unrest as the last of the food stores began to run dry. The finishing of the initial trade routes with greater London eased some of the strain but tensions remained high and the first spate of deaths from starvation began among the sick and elderly.

Despite it all, hope persisted.

Spearheaded by Sebastian Rolmarer, hundreds of Evolver survey groups spread out into the now Artificial Vampire free areas around London. Using Rolmarer’s establishment, the Lowline as a gathering point, the survey teams were able to map out many of the old tube and sewer tunnels to seek out new fertile areas. At first, there was little hope. Even without the Artificial Vampires, the No Man’s Land of London is dangerous. From strange wildlife to dangerous magic to deadly plants, it seemed like there was nothing to be found for miles around. Morale sputtered as the months dragged on to no avail, as the thick snows buried old leads, as survey team after survey team returned empty handed.

Finally, on February 16th, the 32nd Evolver Survey team returned to the Lowline with several satchels of apples, pears, wild onions, garlic, parsnips, artichokes, and cabbages as well as twelve freshly caught rabbits. Amid the wilds south of Evolver territory, a mostly safe stretch of woodland had been found that was full of wild plants, fruit trees, and thriving game. Custodians of this grove were named and an outpost began construction.

Shortly after this, old farm land further to the east was recovered growing wild rhubarb and chicory. While it will take some time to restore this promise of agriculture fully reignited Evolver moral. Chicory flowers have rapidly become a symbol of hope and prosperity among Evolvers. Silk chicory flowers have become a popular token to wear. In the following weeks, two more agricultural areas were found as well as an underground cave system filled with a vast amount of different fungi.

While there is still a long road to cultivating the land, the initial influx of food and the promise of a secure future has settled minds as well as stomachs.

To celebrate this new land, a fae seed has been planted in each of the new sites alongside the new outposts

To the east of Evolver territory, the urban sprawl of London gives way to the countryside. Here, the rural terrain has turned from carefully managed farmland and nature preserve to a ragged wasteland, scarred by the aftermath of the war and filled with its own dangers.

Nonetheless, while their control over it is only nominal, this is Evolver territory, a soft border fading into the wilderness. It holds significant value as a source of food; on the border with London, the land can be farmed, and further out there’s good foraging for experts who can avoid the dangers that roam the countryside.

Until recently, one well-travelled route by the foraging parties had been the A2, allowing easy access to various stable and productive sites within easy foot-travel. However, lately the road had become the hunting ground of a particularly dangerous monster that had made leaving the city risky. 

Interestingly, in a quirk of post-summit cooperation, most of the actual man-power towards identifying the creature came from help offered by the neighbouring Pilgrim faction. Perhaps as a quirk of the theologies of the individuals in question, an attitude quickly emerged that whatever was responsible was – in its own way – as much a child of divine forces as any of the people involved, and so efforts were made to approach it peacefully and to find a harmonious solution that suited the holistic worldviews of the Pilgrims involved.

Identifying the monster proved tricky. It seemed adept at avoiding attention, seemingly able to strike without warning and vanish equally quickly, and leaving few signs of its presence behind. However, experimentation by Pilgrim researchers allowed them to draw a few conclusions. It exclusively hunted living prey, which it seemed to track more by sensing minute tremors in the ground rather than by sight or scent. It likely didn’t kill its prey, instead capturing them and taking them back to a hidden lair somewhere. It was likely extremely large, based on the size of prey it was able to carry and defences that had proved ineffective against it. It was able to somehow stun prey before attacking, resulting in disorientation and poor records of its activities.

Based on reports, the teams of explorers were able to pinpoint a single spot where the creature always attacked, a small stretch of the road passing by the ruins of a destroyed petrol station. This, it was concluded, was likely the creatures layer from which it attacked, and so the area was – cautiously – investigated.

Initial exploration rapidly revealed the source of the problem. Among the rubble, a large circular fake floor – some twenty feet across – was discovered that could be lifted up, revealing a tunnel beneath. From its shape, this tunnel seemed to have been naturally burrowed, and it was lined with densely packed, fine silk.

Further within, feasting on the silk-wrapped body of a horse that was slowly liquifying from the inside out, was the creature itself. About eighteen feet across and standing ten feet high, the creature was an immense blue-black trapdoor-spider. Its initial response to discovering explorers in its nest was not overtly hostile, instead responding with a wary threat display and content to watch the explorers leave. 

Behind it, the explorers noted, was a silk-wrapped mass of several dozen football-sized spider eggs.

Reportedly, the team of Pilgrims that first entered the nest did so unarmed, despite knowing the creature was predatory and highly effective. Reports differ as to whether a deliberate choice by these Pilgrims to present themselves as tranquil and unthreatening resulted in the spider ignoring them, or if its indifference was a product of their faith causing some invisible hand to guide it. Regardless, most who’ve gone over the reports conclude that it not attacking the first intruders in its lair was deeply unusual.

Once the nest had been discovered, further observation was much easier. The creature waited below its trapdoor until it detected the sound of suitable prey above, at which point the trapdoor was lifted and the spider emerged with a sudden, high-pitched screech. Recordings of this screech were subsequently analysed, and the current theory is that the noise contained fractally complex, highly dense patterns of sound which – combined with the ear-splitting volume – were able to overwhelm the minds of the creatures prey, stunning them into helplessness. This effect also explained the disorientation experienced by humans whose parties had been attacked; by the time the spider emerged into visual range, they were already in a dazed state, and they only came to their senses long after the spider had retreated once more to its hidden nest.

Following further investigation, a simple solution to the problem of the spider’s attacks was found; since it detected prey by the vibrations they sent through the ground by walking, avoiding creating these patterns would prevent its hunting instinct being set off. Though some evolvers suggested “walking without rhythm”, it turned out that the sound of footfalls was easily avoided by simply riding a bicycle. Indeed, bike-riding researchers were able to interact with the spider on the rare occasions it emerged from its nest without it seeming to register them as prey at all. 

Following this discovery, a perimeter was established around its nest, which remains in place in the present. The spider seems capable of learning, recognising that the humans who have begun to visit its hunting grounds are neither a threat to it nor prey, and has come to tolerate their presence so long as they avoid walking in ways that set off its hunting instinct. 

This perception has been reinforced by researchers who have provided live prey – mostly vermin caught around Evolver territory – to the creature, causing it to slowly form positive associations with people it encounters. The creature’s mind is very different to those of people, and it is very much a solitary creature. However, it seems to have come to recognise people as unthreatening, helpful, and potentially even ‘friendly’. Whether it experiences ‘affection’ towards them – or is even capable of such anthropomorphised emotions – is hard to say, but it is content to let them come and go, seeming to regard their presence positively.

Further, the creature produces strong, fine, high quality silk in massive amounts, using it to bind its prey and line its nest. Foragers equipped with specially padded shoes have been able to enter the mouth of its nest while it eats and – with care not to alarm the creature – harvest large amounts of this silk. The spider seems not to object to this, quickly replacing the silk taken, so that over the course of a week many tons of the stuff can be gathered.

The silk has proven extremely valuable. Rope and cloth both require either significant industrial infrastructure of massive time investments to produce in meaningful quantities, but the spider silk shortcuts this. It can be produced faster than hemp, wool or similar fibres, and is incredibly strong. While the evolvers may struggle with food, they have found clothing themselves has become far, far easier now that they’re able to turn to spider-silk, and have begun trading the stuff with other nearby powers.

Finally, the creature seems territorial. Though it has learned not to register people as a threat, and formed positive associations with them, the same does not extend to various other wild monsters living outside of London. Indeed, its presence has slowly become something of a blessing as it captures and devours various other dangerous beasts that stray too close to Evolver territory, making it something of a massive, eight-legged guard dog on the Evolver’s doorstep.

What the future holds is unclear. It seems likely that more of the creature’s line will hatch soon. It seems – by the standards of a spider – relatively intelligent, albeit in a simple and alien way. While it may not be possible to truly tame it, it seems to be forming a friendly – perhaps symbiotic – relationship with Evolver foragers that move through its territory, and it’s hoped that these behaviours will be passed on to its young when they emerge. The process is slow, but it’s hoped that the giant spider will prove to be a valuable asset to the Evolvers in an otherwise hostile world.

The Fellowship understood that the delegates had greater priorities. After all, it was hardly a priority to undo all the progress made in generating biofuel. It would be a simple turn over to new technologies and they would never worry again.

The civilian population, however, did not agree.
In the first two months following the Summit, technology began to fail. First, it was just pre-Exodus technology. Old radios crackling, ancient generators struggling with a new fuel, televisions breaking under radiation, probably. Nobody worried too much at first, even if a few outposts began to talk a little less. Conserving energy, probably. They’d realise soon.

Then even basic pre-War tech began to fail, and the pre-Exodus, the entirely earthborn technology broke entirely. Anything that required power and wasn’t built in an air imbued with magic sputtered, sparked, and fell dead, one after the other. The less evolved, less magical outposts went completely silent. 

It’s a frustration, day to day, to deal with unreliable communications, printing devices, all manner of things. Fortunately, anything produced after the War seems to function just fine. If only there were more of them.

It does make the radio operators question, though, why there’s screaming coming down the line from the other factions…
Screaming, and strange songs, voices, and things slipped out of place and time.

The day the Delegates returned from the Summit, the Devout of the Council proclaimed  that all should have faith. Those trusted to aid them have done so, and soon this disease will blight the Flock no longer. The announcement was met with excitement, jubilance. Not even two full weeks later, the Council of Authority began to distribute a treatment, and a week after that, a vaccine came, too. It worked, well enough, and for most people. Nobody else got infected. 

The old, the frail, the young, and those who had suffered the disease too long, however, continued to suffer. Some clerics and healers were dispatched to comfort them, to try to make them eat, but they continued to wither away. Nobody was sure why, until Ovierius suggested weakness to the disease or prolonged exposure could give it space to mutate, to become resistant. Tests proved they were right. 

Without the proper resources, there was no time or material to build hospitals or treatment centres. Even the distribution of the cure was rushed, but most were still saved. Without hospitals, those that couldn’t get constant attention, constant help eating, drinking, continued to wither away, continued to die. If nothing else, they did so surrounded by their communities and families, with the knowledge nobody else would suffer as they did.

Some were able to get proper attention, and survived until the disease died of its own accord, a body forced to make energy able to fight it off, slowly. Those people still ended up frail and sickly. The Council of Authority was questioned, relentlessly, as to how they could allow this to happen. The response that the resources for further treatment simply were not there satisfied some, but not all, with the Council of Faith relying on having guided the Pilgrims through the disease, emphasising that it would never return. Still, some of the laity look on the Councils, or the Summit, with some suspicion now.

Prior to the summit, scouts from the Pilgrims identified a potential anomaly north of their territory, due to a high number of disappearances and strange events correlated around a particular location. In particular, the site seemed to be another informational black hole; things and people might go in, but even if they returned, they never brought useful information with them.

Further research identifies the epicenter of the phenomenon as St Pancras Old Church, in Camden. Recognising the seriousness of the potential anomaly, a cross-factional team of investigators was assembled, with representatives of the Erudites, Traditionalists, Evolvers, and Survivalists all lending their expertise towards the investigation.

Initial forays into Camden suggested that the area was largely physically unchanged. Buildings remained intact, and the processes of decay that had overtaken most abandoned areas of the city had taken place as would be expected. Similarly, vegetation and wildlife were present in the area to a normal degree, and no obvious supernatural effects were observed.

Two unusual signs were observed. Firstly the area seemed to support a far higher population of corvids than might be expected. Secondly, the area displayed large amounts of graffiti, in the form of a crescent.

Given the assumed information-swallowing nature of the anomaly, this research was conducted slowly, over the course of many dozens of expeditions which probed ever so slightly closer to the epicenter with each journey, returning to record their findings before setting out once more.

Eventually, the Camden neighbourhood was successfully mapped, and anomalous properties were ruled out everywhere save the exact epicenter; the church itself.

Externally, the church appeared much like expected; a run-down abandoned building, with vines growing up the walls and crows perching on the roof. Then, it only took an investigative team to venture within and determine what might be happening here.

The first team to enter was not, it seems, sufficiently prepared. Contact with them was lost.

The second team to venture within did so connected to cables that would allow them to remain in contact with the outside world, and – if necessary – let them be physically hauled out. Shortly after entering, contact was lost, with the cables seeming to have been severed by the researchers.

The third team to enter were instead placed in hypnotic trances, causing them to effectively sleepwalk into the building while narrating what they saw to teams waiting outside. They reported that within the church, the missing citizens – including the recently-entered research teams – could be found sitting calmly on the pews, facing the church’s altar. 

The altar itself had been stripped bare of its previous catholic accoutrements (and indeed other catholic iconography inside the church had been removed or defaced), and instead the altar displayed a simple icon of veneration. This icon was made from scrap wood roughly nailed into place, and stood some twelve feet high. Its highest point was an upward-pointing crescent, onto which a human figure had been nailed by its ankles and suspended, leaving the human to dangle, either unconscious or dead. The figure’s arms hung down limply, reaching the altar’s surface. Perched on the figure were various wooden crows, who were depicted mostly at rest. 

The people in the church’s seats seemed to be fixated on this idol, each gazing unblinkingly at it. Many were observed to be murmuring prayers, and many were slowly performing the motions of supplication for whichever faith they had initially practiced, as if in a trance. 

With this information reported, the third team withdrew from the church, and were woken from their induced trance. They reported no memories of what they had seen within.

A fourth team was sent into the church for further investigations, similarly hypnotised. They reported a passageway leading to crypts under the church that showed the signs of activity. Further, they examined the worshippers in the church. All were unresponsive. All seemed physically healthy; although they seemed to have no means of sustaining themselves, none displayed signs of starvation or exhaustion. Examination of the worshippers suggested that most were indeed members of the Pilgrims, although a wide diversity of faiths were present. Some individuals were determined to have been present in the church for many years, some even dating back to before the formation of the Pilgrims as a coherent movement.

The fourth team withdrew, and were likewise woken from their trance.

After this, an experiment was conducted. A volunteer was selected who was physically weak and would have difficulty resisting attempts to forcefully remove them from the building. A fifth team was placed under hypnosis and sent into the church to observe as the volunteer willingly, consciously walked into the place, so that they could report the effects on him, and then extract him.

Reportedly, upon entry, the volunteer seemed struck by some idea, as if realising or remembering something important. With a shrug, he removed his monitoring equipment, offered a prayer towards the altar, and moved to sit calmly at the nearest available pew, slowly moving his fingers across a set of prayer beads. 

At this point, the hypnotised researchers were instructed to retrieve him, which they did by physically overpowering him and carrying him out. As this was occurring, he reportedly struggled and thrashed, injuring himself in his efforts to escape and return to his pew. 

Upon leaving the church, he seemed to return to his senses, and debriefed the other researchers on what he had experienced. Reportedly, upon entering, he felt a sensation as if waking from a deep sleep, as some idea occurred to him that he struggled to put into words. His speech became incoherent as he tried to explain the idea, only able to express a sense of grandeur and beauty associated with it. Attempts to explain further resulted in nonsensical ideas and then, before long, meaningless word salad. Despite his inability to express it, the volunteer insisted that he had experienced something profound and life-altering that his words, or perhaps his mortal mind, were totally unequipped to deal with.

He has subsequently been isolated from further research on the topic, and gone on to live a very normal life working for the Traditionalist bureaucracy, where he displays mild catholic religiosity in keeping with his reputation prior to encountering the anomaly.

A sixth and final expedition of many hypnotised researchers were then sent into the building to retrieve the members of the first and second expeditions, who reported similar experiences to the first researcher to be recovered.

Finally, a second volunteer was put to sleep (through the consumption of narcotics) and pushed unconscious through the church door on an improvised trolley, before being retrieved. The second volunteer reported no awareness of anything odd in their sleep, and seemed totally unaffected. It was concluded that the anomaly only affected conscious minds.

Following this incident, similar measures were taken a few days later to recover the remaining worshippers within the church, several dozen individuals in total. Again, all reported similar experiences of a sudden realisation that they were unable to coherently express. All reported little experience of time passing within the church – some believing that they had been present for perhaps a few hours when they had been missing for many years – and reported little awareness of their surroundings while within, failing to notice the activity of the research team.

Steps have been put into motion to reunite them with their families and loved ones where possible, and to provide therapy for those experiencing distress as a result of their disappearance.

Several of those recovered were, it turned out, artificial vampires, who needed to be tranquilised by use of the Summit’s cure. These individuals reported that the idea thrust into their mind within the church induced in them a similar serenity to that of the cure, completely overcoming their overwhelming hunger and instinctive violence. These individuals were handled much like any other lucid artificial vampires within Summit-controlled territory.

Once all the worshippers had been removed, a second expedition was sent to explore the church more thoroughly, including venturing below ground. This team were equipped with strong magical defences, and their minds were likewise fortified by hypnosis that would allow them to behave somewhat autonomously while not being fully conscious and so not vulnerable to the anomaly’s effects. 

The team’s investigation of the upper levels of the church suggested that it had come into its current state some time during the war, with the observed stripping of religious iconography and construction of the icon on the altar likely being by the first handful of worshippers found in the pews. The icon itself seemed to have been constructed with materials scavenged from within the church; picture frames, maintenance equipment, and torn-up seating were all used in its creation. Though the church’s exterior was overgrown and home to many nesting crows, the birds did not seem to have ventured within, and indeed other wildlife was similarly absent. 

Following this, the team ventured below ground, into the church’s crypt to investigate further. During this time, they were – as with previous researchers – mic’d up and narrating what they encountered to their support team outside the building. Their narration had been effective and coherent in the upper levels of the church, but as they descended below ground, rapidly became incoherent and hard to parse.

They spoke about darkness and emptiness a lot. They spoke about the darkness in the depths of the ocean or within the grave, they spoke about the void between atoms, they spoke about the emptiness between stars. They spoke about the total cold of absolute zero. Many began attempting to communicate using sophisticated scientific, philosophical or mathematical jargon, despite having no training in those fields and using terminology that should have been unfamiliar to them.

The exact layout of the space under the church remains unclear, as is what they encountered there. However, their microphones picked up snatches of conversation with some unheard third party. They appeared to be arguing, invoking their own religious or political convictions, their duty to their factions and the summit, and various oaths sworn. From what could be made out, it was an argument they seemed to lose, and at the conclusion, each concluded that they had been persuaded. To an outside observer, much of the argument seemed to be entirely nonsensical, straying at times into total gibberish. However, as each investigator admitted defeat in their argument with whatever they had encountered, they concluded by stating they were going to wake up, at which point communication with them was lost. 

After some debate, the investigators decided against sending a second team in to recover them, and they were declared missing, presumed dead. 

Following further debate about what to do, the church has been totally sealed from the outside. All exits have been bricked up, and the site has been cordoned off with barbed wire and an armed guard.

Following the debacle, research was conducted into the nature of the anomaly and any similar occurrences elsewhere. Parallels were drawn to the deadzone over the Thames barrier, however while that anomaly seems to actively push people away from the barrier, the Bow anomaly instead drew those affected in and entrapped them. 

It seemed that the initial effect was caused by some location-based memetic agent, an idea that those affected by it struggle to express but which seemed to overwhelm its hosts with religiosity, all directed towards an object of veneration within the church itself. Whatever the nature of this idea, mortals seem to struggle to comprehend it, leading many to surmise that there is some connection to primordial magic.

Further, there is the matter of the entity encountered beneath the church. It’s surmised that this entity is non-physical, appearing in the perceptions of those who encountered it rather than possessing material form. This entity is assumed to be the object of veneration of those above, and the man hung upside-down from a crescent may be a representation of it.

The presence of crescent symbolism in the area suggests a connection to the moon and its madness, although the nature of this connection remains unclear.

The area has been strictly quarantined, and further contact with the church has been forbidden to contain the intrusion. Those who ventured within the church seem to have returned to their former selves, moving on from their entranced state swiftly and easily. Psychologists examining them describe it as if a hold over their mind had been abruptly released with their removal from the building. 

Whatever is in there seems to be quiescent. 

Concern has been raised, however, that the phenomenon is not, and was never, limited to the church’s interior. They point to the presence of crescent-shaped graffiti around the church, and the unusual number of crows living nearby that also appeared in the icon within the church. Questions have been asked as to if the influence of whatever is in the church has truly left the minds of those recovered, or if it merely remains dormant.

Concerns have been raised that those who have had the idea experienced within the church explained to them sometimes – very occasionally – express an understanding of what is being communicated to them, albeit incoherently. Concerns have been raised that the gibberish idea of the church might be spreading among the population, although spiritual and psychiatric experts say that no evidence of this has been observed, and this is likely mere paranoia.

What is known is that something is very, very wrong under Saint Pancras Old Church. It is, hopefully, contained for now, but it remains waiting there, with a handful of captives alongside it. 

Crescent-shaped graffiti has been seen here and there across London. Ravens nest over the tower of London in increasing numbers. It probably means nothing.

This seems to be something beyond mortals. Perhaps the aid of Queen Cassilda might be of use here. You merely need to invite her presence.

With the assistance of the Administrators and Survivalists, Pilgrim mages were able to carefully analyse the magical frequencies that the Thames-Snakes respond to. Furthermore an in depth study was performed to discover what can soothe, anger, attract or repel them. It was found that certain magically attuned plants when used in conjunction with certain rituals and song could create a wide spread scent that signalled kinship to the large serpents. The Survivalists assisted in supplying vast numbers of these flowers, a magically mutated form of jasmine. It has been named ‘Jasminum Anguis’ or, more colloquially, Snake Blooms. They are a white flower with an iridescent sheen that glows when exposed to certain magics. They have been cultivated in beds all along the river in Pilgrim territory. It is theorised that after long enough exposure, the Serpents will no longer need the flowers to view the Pilgrims as friends. It has become commonplace to sing Serpent soothing lullabies most evenings.

As well as ambient magic from the rifts, the Thames-Snakes eat many other foods and seem to be especially food motivated when it comes to bonding with kith. They have been seen lazily floating beside Canary Wharf waiting for food to be thrown to them. There is some effort to prevent people from randomly feeding the snakes themselves and instead training up specific handlers to direct their feeding in place of the general public. In a short time, the Thames-Snakes have already seemed to acclimate to kith though they become agitated when crowds gather.

Additionally, charting the old sewer and waterways has led Pilgrim scouts to a number of other magically rich areas. With the use of magic, song and flower scents, they have been able to lead the vast majority of the serpents to these more remote feeding locations. These efforts were greatly aided by the Pilgrim Olivine Sand Tumbling Through Deep Waters.

Despite this, a number of Thames-Snakes still travel back to Pilgrim territory even when they do not seem particularly hungry. Two Thames-Snakes have become especially attached to Pilgrim territory and have even allowed researchers to examine them for short periods of time allowing unprecedented looks into their physiology. These two Thames-Snakes have been dubbed “Castor” and “Pollux”

It took significant convincing for Montague to allow the homeless, the refugees, and the children to be housed at Heathrow compound temporarily, but the assurance of the quick construction of new houses – and the fact that someone else would be paying for it – put the vampire at ease. Traditionalist civil guard members, under the direction of Comrade-Lieutenant Parvati Welles, arrived in Survivalist territory, just North of Richmond Park. Over some weeks, the guard along with a great number of Survivalist volunteers constructed sturdy, comfortable dwellings. Most bore the distinctive style of the new millennium houses.

After the first few became livable, the new residents began to stay over, mingling with the construction teams. The parade of unionist activists from the Traditionalists were more than happy to talk, at length, about their ideas, their plans. They gave out pamphlets, and newspapers detailing what they thought about the goings-on in Traditionalist territory, and what could be gleaned about the rest of the city. Not everyone was convinced, of course, but by the time the houses were completed, a large proportion of the residents had come to sympathise with the Traditionalists. Instead of forming a new militia, they formed the Thamesside Union. Every Saturday they cook, bake, and have street parties. Walking down the roads, it’s not uncommon to hear the tune of the Internationale or Bandierra Rossa, or to see flags of the Republic, or red flags, flying from walls and windows. Overall, though, they seem a kind, pleasant community, and the spirit of cooperation helps with the mysterious children many of the families have taken in, as even split up between houses, they’re never too far apart.

Some in other gangs worry that this marks an encroaching of Traditionalist values into free territory, of the government returning, but for now, at least, the Union seems content to manage its own affairs and not push itself on others.

As to be expected with traumatised children, many put up a great amount of resistance to the plans made for them. A few of louder and older ones were adamant that they should simply be given supplies and allowed to return to where they had been before. Furthermore, a vast amount of the children displayed behaviour considered highly antisocial or even ‘feral’ such as viciously fighting over food, refusing to bathe, and biting anyone who approached them. This led to an unfortunate number of unplanned Lycan transformations among initial scouts and caregivers. With assistance from visiting Evolvers and Pilgrims, a large-scale rehabilitation process took place. Furthermore, many of the leaders that were among the children were more willing to help once they learned that the group wouldn’t be shipped off all across London.

While the children shared temporary group housing during rehabilitation efforts, a committee was formed to properly distribute the children. Due to the infrastructure crisis being rather solidly addressed, it was a lot easier to keep groups of the children together as families or groups that took in the children could be given larger accommodations as necessary. All potential families or groups were carefully evaluated on means and ability to correctly care for the children and the committee has remained to oversee the integration over the next few years. There has been one major issue when it has come to placing the children with their families. None of the indicated families have any knowledge of the children and there is no evidence that these children were ever actually part of these families at all. Some children have vivid memories of aunts, uncles, cousins and even grandparents or siblings yet the people these memories are of do not seem to share them. Despite this, many of the families have taken the children anyway. All reports and investigations show these to be malnourished but normal children and few wish to turn them away. Those that have been turned away have been found alternative homes. Psychologists, therapists and other pediatric specialists are preparing to investigate how these memories have come to be.

Some children, particularly the younger ones, have integrated well with their new homes. Others however are struggling and there have been a few cases of runaways. Some simply left their assigned home to join another, in which case they were often permitted to remain, however some have vanished back into the wilderness. A few have been recovered while three children aged 13, 15, and 16 remain unaccounted for.

It has definitely been a rocky start but according to reports, the children seem to be gradually acclimatising to life among society.

There have been a few startling reports of some of these children displaying odd, undocumented forms of magic. But these reports are sparse and difficult to corroborate.

The Survivalists were faced by a problem: their communications network was plagued with ghostly voices. Their phones, radios and other lines of communication worked, but they picked up too much. Sometimes it was merely snatches of voices, at other times streams of gibberish, at other times whole ghostly conversations being eavesdropped on.

The initial gossip among various survivalist groups was that this was the result of ghosts; that the phone lines were haunted, and needed exorcising. 

This theory – that the problem is remnants of the dead lingering in the telephone networks – was quickly disproven, however. Detailed research into the phenomenon confirmed that, while in many instances the voices on the line could be identified as being deceased individuals, others were of people confirmed to be alive. In one instance, a Survivalist woman even reported hearing herself on the line, holding a conversation with another iteration of herself. 

Researchers studying recordings of the phenomenon confirmed that the voices were always plausible imitations of the people mimicked, and that their conversations always seemed believable, even though they often referred to events that had not happened, or which had turned out differently in reality.

Further analysis demonstrated that the phenomenon peaked in frequency around dusk, and slowly tailed off over the course of the night, growing increasingly infrequent during daylight hours before peaking the next dusk. However, a series of unexplained, dramatic pauses in activity continued to puzzle researchers.

Eventually, though, these pauses were connected to the movement of communications satellites in the Earth’s orbit; activity tended to cease as those satellites passed directly overhead, resuming once the satellite in question had moved further on.

A theory for the phenomenon was put together; some magical anomaly had caused the communications network locally to start synthesising and then broadcasting alternate possible conversations that could be held over the line, but never were. Some researchers theorised that the network was effectively dreaming them into being, others that it was somehow tapping into alternate timelines. One compelling theory, that was most accepted among those studying the phenomenon, is that the communications network had effectively become subject to a sort of wave-like phenomenon – somewhat akin to the double-slit experiment – where rather than a single message being communicated across it, every possible message is communicated at once, and contradictory messages cancel each other out; the message received is, in effect, a linguistic interference pattern. Dissenters, meanwhile, angrily pointed out that this isn’t how quantum mechanics works, and called those most strongly advocating this model pseudo-intellectuals. A final theory, posited largely by refugees of Domus, suggested that this phenomenon resembles the more malleable reality of that world, and is another instance of Domus’s more highly morphic nature seeping into Earth.

Regardless, the practical outcome was clear: if a conversation might conceivably happen under different circumstances, then it might be transmitted along the wires. 

It was at this point that various hackers and spies among the Survivalists began rubbing their hands together gleefully and licking their lips, as it became apparent that these potential conversations could be mined for useful information on one’s political rivals. In essence, the phenomenon allowed Survivalist engineers to wiretap alternate timelines, and work began on means to efficiently scan the babble for useful information.

A final quirk seems to have been noticed among researchers; exposure to the phenomenon varies by genus. Warlocks, with their propensity to cause technological malfunctions, seemed to be most heavily affected. Meanwhile, humans, dawn vampires, lycans and fae all seemed to experience the phenomenon at similar rates. Dusk vampires, however, suffered the least from the phenomenon, and seemed largely able to use the communications network without interference. Where the phenomenon did affect dusk vampires, they were also disproportionately likely to hear information they found interesting or useful. Researchers have theorised that the phenomenon must, therefore, be in some way tied to their magical resonance. 

Though it’s far from a perfect solution, petty magic practices have been developed based on this that can help keep the phenomenon under control; these tend to involve invoking blood magic, often utilising blood donated by dusk vampires. Vials of dusk-vampire blood proliferate across survivalist territory as charms to keep the telephone-ghosts under control; sometimes it even works, although this success is unreliable. 

Though the phenomenon was thoroughly researched and largely explained by scientific and occult investigators, and ways of exploiting it were being developed, a way to end it had not been found. This, it would turn out, would have serious repercussions as wider technological projects across London unfolded.

Following the discovery of an unexploded arcanobomb in a fulham greenhouse that had caused the flora within to mutate dramatically and dangerously, the site was quickly locked down. Following the summit, further investigation was conducted on the location and its contents, producing alarming results.

Research teams rapidly found that the whole site was blanketed in toxic spores, necessitating gas-masks in order to investigate. Within, the ground was a swampy morass, and the plant-life formed a thick, dense tangle that blanketed the greenhouse structure and began grasping beyond it.

The plants’ growth was vigorous and lush, far exceeding what would be expected based on the site’s available nutrients, sunlight and water. Supernatural mechanisms were, it seemed, the only explanation for this rapid explosion in vegetation.

Most worryingly, the plants moved. Like Triffids or Audrey 2, they were rooted to the ground, but capable of writhing and lashing about at their surroundings. Many proved to be carnivorous, similar to sundews and venus-fly-traps but with a baffling diversity of hunting mechanisms. The researchers observed local animals drawn into the garden via the scent of slowly-decaying fruit and other chemical lures, before being intoxicated by the spore-laced air, leaving them groggy and weak. This made it simple for the clumsy tendrils and fronds of the various plants to wrap around them and draw them in, where digestive enzymes slowly dismantled their animal prey for nutrients.

Avoiding such a fate themselves proved not to be trivial, requiring researchers to move fast and avoid lingering. If they stayed too long, it seemed the plants began to respond to their presence.

The initial forays into the greenhouses – by teams equipped with rebreathers and hazmat suits – proved fruitful and significant useful data on the plants’ biology was gathered, but subsequent expeditions proved far less easy. Where once the plants responded to intruders slowly and tentatively, their movements now became much more rapid and decisive. Where once their responses were simple slow grabs, now their movements were coordinated and subtle. They would lure research teams deeper into the greenhouses only to cut off their retreats with clinical efficiency.

A horrible conclusion was drawn. The plants were learning, and they were forming plans.

After a researcher – a Dawn Vampire botanist – was successfully subdued by the plants and dragged into a buried digestion-chamber before she could be rescued, the researchers logged their first casualty, and no further journeys within were attempted.

Observation from outside, however, gleaned further worrying insights. 

Where once the plants had been a chaotic tangle, as time went by their placement grew more orderly, forming a lush, maze-like garden. Each plant seemed to send roots and tendrils to its neighbours, forming a vast network that, researchers theorised, could form the basis for communication between the plants. 

Then, two weeks after the first casualty, another development. Observers outside the greenhouses saw the pitcher-formation of one of the plants twitch and heave out a lumpy fruiting body. This, in itself, was not unusual, but this one’s shape resembled a humanoid form, like a crude rodin-statue. A few days later, another fruit; this one unmistakably bore the visage of the sunsinger who had been devoured. 

The fruit spread roots into the muddy soil, and now stands as a seven foot green statue of the deceased, swaying gently as it gazes blankly at the outside world.

More such fruit-statues emerged in the coming weeks.First of the plant-devoured casualty, and then her fellow researchers that survived her. Then people who had never entered the greenhouses, but who had been known to the dead woman, their images somehow harvested from her memory as she was digested.

Another worrying conclusion. The plants could learn not just by interaction, but by absorbing the knowledge of their prey. At first, they’d only been able to integrate the minds of simple animals, but now they had a person’s mind to work with. 

It is at this point that most investigating the case began stating how disastrous it would be if they learned to uproot themselves and walk about. Thankfully, this has not yet happened.

The plants remain contained within their greenhouse, where they are intently studied by increasingly worried researchers just outside their glass walls. Luckily, they seem unable to spread far beyond this point, seeming to rely on the magical fallout within the greenhouse to sustain themselves. While resistant to defoliants, and largely unaffected by physical damage save the most devastating, they can be burned, and soldiers with flamethrowers are stationed nearby, just in case.

There is one final incident that complicates an otherwise increasingly concerning situation. Some months after the plants began displaying fruit-statues, a young fae child – under the care of one of the researchers and at a similar developmental stage to a six-year-old human – wandered away and found his way into the greenhouse. Though this prompted significant panic, some time later he was seen tottering back out the way he had entered, and reported that he experienced no threat or danger within. Indeed, he described the garden as welcoming him in, foliage parting invitingly before him and various plants wiggling and twitching as he passed; he describes it as “like the ducks at the pond hoping you have breadcrumbs”. The accuracy of his account was hard to ascertain – he was, after all, a young child – but he had certainly emerged miraculously unscathed.

Following this incident, the child’s guardian, also an earthborn fae, broke protocol and herself entered the garden alone. Her report corroborates her ward’s; the plants seemed not to view her as a prey or threat, and she found the visit comfortable and pleasant, as if exploring an orchard garden where all the plants animated to welcome her. She describes a sense of being, in some way, among peers, albeit extremely alien ones who still did not yet fully understand who or what she was.

However, a subsequent attempt by a team of researchers to re-enter the garden – comprising a mixture of various genuses – was once more violently repelled. As predicted, the tactics of the plants had grown in sophistication, and the intruders were only able to make it a few meters into the garden before they were forced to retreat before a mass of thrashing venomous thorns that sought to drag them into the mulch.

It seems that visitors to the garden are only welcome if they are fae, and are alone.

What is there to conclude? Scientists among the Traditionalists are cautious to offer any concrete statements. All that is known is that the plants are magically vigorous, that they are changing rapidly, and that they are learning in ways plants otherwise fundamentally don’t. Whether they are a single mind or a community is impossible to say. There seems to be some connection to or affinity for the fae, but the nature of this connection seems inscrutable. While they cannot leave their current home, they’re highly dangerous.

All the researchers involved with the case share a single conclusion; the plants are still learning, and still in the process of becoming. What they might become is unknown, but their evolutionary ascent is rapid and shows no sign of slowing down. What should be done about them is a topic of much debate among the traditionalists’ intelligentsia.

In an isolated area within Traditionalist territory, a new structure was built away from prying eyes. Roughly the size of an average barn, this enclosure has been outfitted with a vast array of different terrain depending on what manner of creature emerges from the shell. There is a large rock pool, several small trees, a sandy burrow, and a large moss lawn. The egg itself has been placed into a carefully padded nest with artificial heaters to keep it warm until it is ready to emerge. While there were some concerns among Traditionalist leadership that no efforts have been made either to investigate the egg or hasten its arrival, they have kept their word to abide by the delegates’ decisions.

While most of the resources were gained from trading with the Survivalists, the Traditionalist Delegate Jet has had more hand than most in the egg’s careful treatment.

So far the egg remains unhatched but its care givers have reported strange clicking sounds from within the shell and even, on a few occasions, something that might almost be singing.

The weapons are torn apart and pieced back together. They have the form of rifles, only with overlong stocks, and strange metal rods that morph into a silvery spearpoint instead of barrels. Inside of each is etched a serial number, and a maker’s mark.

S.P.E.A.R.

None of them have locations of manufacture, and in all of Parliament’s surviving records, nothing that explains this origin can be found and verified, though some citizens have begun to worry that the United Kingdom hid dangerous secrets under London. This could be proof of that.
In any case, researchers are able to work out how the weapons function; loaded with crystals that slowly absorb magic, cracked under pressure that causes a bolt of energy to rush out of the front, obliterating anything in its path. Their destructive power is unmatched by any other small arms, not damaging a body or structure so much as removing a hole roughly ten centimetres in diameter until too much stands in the way, or up to 50 metres, with a rapidly diminishing effect. Parliament, Minister Woolfe, and the Guard all agree that these weapons are unfit for civil conflict, but the Summit did provide the resources to keep them safely locked away.

Beneath the chambers, a great secure vault is dug out and sealed. Seven keys are distributed, with three needing to be used at once to open the door. For now, only these ‘energy spears’ are kept in there, but should more monsters of the old world appear, the Republic stands ready. So too does it stand ready if anyone forces their hand from peace, to protect its people at all costs.