Story Arc 1: The Hidden Corruption

“The best leaders serve until they die. But what if dying means becoming the threat you’re sworn to fight?”

Arc Summary

Overview

Elder Mira Thornwell, the beloved leader of Skyport Eos and the Aetherium’s most respected political figure, is hiding a deadly secret: she’s Rot-corrupted. Stage 1, early progression, contracted during refugee screening two years ago (285 S.). Black veins climb her left arm, concealed beneath long sleeves.

She knows she should step down, quarantine, seek treatment. But: - Political vacuum: No clear successor, Council would fracture - Refugee crisis: Ongoing and worsening, needs steady leadership - Panic: Public knowledge would destabilize Eos - Personal guilt: She caused this (close contact with infected)

So she serves in secret, hiding her corruption, leading while dying, hoping to find a solution before transformation. But Stage 1 doesn’t last forever. The Rot advances. And someone will discover the truth.

The question is: Will it be you? And what will you do?

Key Characters

Elder Mira Thornwell

Role: The corrupted leader
Age: 67
Corruption Level: Stage 1 (early)

Motivations: - Serve Eos until her last breath - Find cure without revealing corruption - Maintain stability during refugee crisis - Protect her legacy (servant leader, not corrupted failure)

Fears: - Discovery (political crisis, panic) - Transformation (becoming the monster) - Harming others (spreading corruption) - Dying without successor in place

Secret: Corruption contracted 285 S., accelerating recently

Full Character Profile →

Priest Valeria

Role: The healer who suspects
Age: 44
Alignment: Constellation Clergy

Motivations: - Heal the sick (including Mira) - Prevent Rot spread - Balance compassion with duty - Protect Eos

Conflict: - Knows Mira is ill (treats her secretly) - Suspects Rot but can’t confirm (Mira conceals extent) - Torn between patient confidentiality and public safety - If confirms: must report to Clergy (who will demand quarantine)

Relationship to Mira: Close ally, friend, physician

Full Character Profile →

Merchant Vex

Role: The opportunist
Age: Unknown (30s?)
Alignment: Black market, self-interest

Motivations: - Profit - Leverage - Survival - (Hidden) Protect Eos from catastrophe

Conflict: - Discovered Mira’s corruption (blackmail opportunity) - Could demand favors (lucrative) - But Eos’s fall hurts business - Torn between short-term gain and long-term stability

Relationship to Mira: Business relationship, mutual distrust, grudging respect

Full Character Profile →

Supporting Cast

Elder Lysara Kind (Second-in-Command) - Would succeed Mira - Competent but lacks Mira’s consensus-building skill - More hardline on refugee issue - Discovery would empower her faction

Elder Joram Steele (Pro-Guild Faction) - Sky-Guild sympathizer - Wants economic control - Discovery would create opportunity for Guild takeover

Captain Deryn Fastblade (Guard Captain) - Loyal to Mira - Duty-bound to quarantine infected - Personal conflict if truth revealed

Arc Structure

Stage 1: Rumors and Observation

Trigger: Player arrives in Skyport Eos, observes Mira

Events: - Mira appears tired, distracted during public appearances - She avoids physical contact (doesn’t shake hands anymore) - Always wears long sleeves (even in warm weather) - Occasionally cancels meetings (sudden “illness”) - Some citizens whisper: “Elder looks unwell”

Player Actions: - Notice details (CUN check to observe sleeve-covered arm) - Hear tavern rumors about Mira’s health - Witness moment of weakness (trembling hand, quickly concealed)

No immediate resolution—just establishing mystery

Stage 2: Investigation

Trigger: Player chooses to investigate OR stumbles upon evidence

Quest Paths:

Path A: The Medical Record

• Priest Valeria’s assistant mentions “Elder’s treatments”
• Investigate Chapel records ((Cunning) to access)
• Discover: Frequent visits, unnamed ailment, expensive rare herbs

Path B: The Blackmailer

• Merchant Vex approaches player (if reputation neutral/positive)
• Offers cryptic hints about “valuable information”
• Demands favor in exchange for knowledge
• Reveals: “The Elder hides more than stress beneath those sleeves”

Path C: The Accident

• Witness Mira’s sleeve ride up during Council meeting
• Glimpse black veins (PIE check to recognize Rot)
• She notices you saw, quick damage control
• Choice: Confront or stay silent

Path D: The Confession

• High Clergy reputation + multiple interactions
• Priest Valeria confides suspicions to player
• Asks for help investigating discreetly
• “I fear for her. But I fear more what she might become.”

Stage 2 Outcomes: - Player learns (or confirms) Mira’s corruption - Must decide: Investigate further? Confront? Report?

Stage 3: The Confrontation

Trigger: Player has evidence, seeks answers

Scene: Elder’s Hall, private meeting with Mira

Mira’s Response (varies by approach):

If Compassionate: - Admits corruption (relief at confession) - Explains timeline: contracted 285 S., Stage 1, slow progression - Pleads: “I’m seeking a cure. Give me time.” - Reveals fear: “If Council knows, Eos fractures. Refugees suffer. Vask gains pretext for war.” - Asks: “Help me. Please.”

If Accusatory: - Initially denies - Then admits when pressed - Defensive: “What would YOU do? Abandon them?” - Bitter: “Easy to judge when you don’t carry the weight.” - Demands: “What do you want? Coin? Favor?”

If Threatening: - Cold, calculating - Reminds player of her influence - “Who will they believe? You or me?” - Offers deal: “Stay silent. I’ll make it worth your while.” - Underlying desperation: “I’m trying to save this place. Don’t destroy it.”

Player’s Major Choice: 1. [Expose Her] → Report to Council/Clergy 2. [Protect Her] → Keep secret, help find cure 3. [Exploit Her] → Blackmail for favors/coin 4. [Mercy Kill] → End it before transformation (requires (Strength) or Corruption 30+) 5. [Time Limit] → Give ultimatum: “Find cure in X days or I report”

Stage 4: Consequences

Outcome A: Exposure

Immediate: - Emergency Council session - Mira quarantined (forcibly if necessary) - Public announcement - Panic spreads

Political: - Elder Lysara becomes acting leader - Hardline faction gains power - Refugee policy hardens - Guild seizes opportunity (Arc 2 accelerates)

Personal: - Mira contained in isolation - Treated by Priest Valeria - Either: Cured (expensive, time-consuming) OR Transforms (executed) - Player’s reputation: +20 Clergy, +10 Citizens (safety), -15 Outland Clans (betrayal)

Long-term: - Eos survives but more divided - Mira (if cured) retires, broken - Trust in leadership damaged

Outcome B: Protection

Immediate: - Secret kept - Player helps Mira manage symptoms - Quest chain: Find cure components

Medical Path: - Visit Alchemist Kael (Glimmering Spire) - Acquire rare ingredients - Risky experimental treatments - Success chance: 60% (based on player skill)

Political: - Mira continues leading (unstable) - Must make increasingly difficult decisions under stress - Corruption progresses (time pressure)

Personal: - Close relationship with Mira (confidant status) - Moral weight: You’re complicit - Player’s reputation: +15 Outland Clans (loyalty), +5 Elder Council (trust), -10 Clergy (if discovered)

Long-term: - If cured: Mira survives, grateful ally, stable Eos - If fails: Forced to expose her later (worse crisis) - If she transforms: You’re blamed for concealment

Outcome C: Exploitation

Immediate: - Blackmail Mira for favors - Access to: Council decisions, Elder’s Treasury, political influence - Mira complies (desperate)

Benefits: - +50 Aether-Coin (initial payment) - Priority access to resources - Political favors (recommendations, pardons) - Inside information

Costs: - Mira grows desperate, paranoid - Eventually exposed anyway (she breaks) - Player’s reputation: -20 Clergy (immoral), -15 Citizens (betrayal), +10 Sky-Guild (pragmatic) - Moral stain: You exploited dying woman

Long-term: - Short-term gain, long-term disaster - Mira transforms or dies (blood on your hands) - Eos unstable regardless - NPCs remember your cruelty

Outcome D: Mercy Kill

Immediate: - Confront Mira privately - Option: “I can end it before transformation. Clean. Quick.” - She must consent OR you force it

If Consensual: - Emotional farewell - She writes final letter (legacy) - You end her life (poison, blade, “accident”) - Staged as natural death

If Forced: - Combat encounter ((Strength)+) - She fights back (doesn’t want to die) - Victory: She dies, you frame it - Failure: Guards alerted, you flee

Political: - “Natural death” announced - Public mourning - Smooth succession to Lysara - Eos stable

Personal: - You carry secret forever - Mira’s ghost (guilt) - Player’s reputation: +5 Clergy (if they suspect euthanasia), variable others - Murder flag: NPCs with high CUN may suspect

Long-term: - Eos survives intact - Your conscience doesn’t

Outcome E: Transformation

Trigger: Waited too long OR chose to observe

Event: - Mira progresses to Stage 2 during public event - Visible corruption manifests - Horror and panic - She flees (or is contained)

Resolution: - Player must hunt Hollow-Mira - OR join her (if Corruption 50+) - Tragic boss fight OR alliance - Eos traumatized regardless

Interconnections

Arc 2: The Guild’s Gambit

• Mira’s absence/weakness allows Guild takeover
• Factor Marlena Swift exploits crisis
• Exposing Mira accelerates Arc 2

Arc 3: The Voice Beneath

• If Mira transforms, becomes cautionary tale
• Rot-Touched claim “she could have embraced it”
• Corruption vs. resistance philosophical debate

Arc 6: The Eos-Ironhold War

• Mira’s removal weakens Eos diplomatically
• Hardline successor more likely to provoke war
• Ironhold’s Commandant Vask uses corruption as propaganda: “See? Eos is contaminated!”

Quest Hooks

Primary Quests

1. “The Hidden Sickness”
   • Discover Mira’s corruption
   • Multiple investigation paths
   • Major decision point
2. “A Priest’s Burden”
   • Valeria’s perspective
   • Medical ethics dilemma
   • Assist or advise
3. “The Blackmailer’s Price” {#the-blackmailer}
   • Merchant Vex’s demands
   • Moral compromise
   • Economic consequences
4. “The Cure Attempt” {#the-cure-attempt}
   • Gather rare ingredients
   • Visit Alchemist Kael
   • Race against time
5. “The Succession Crisis”
   • If Mira removed
   • Navigate political fallout
   • Support new leader

Side Quests

• “The Witness”: Someone else saw corruption, convince them to stay silent
• “The Corruption Spreads”: Investigate if Mira infected others
• “The Council Fractures”: Mediate between factions during crisis
• “The Public Face”: Help Mira maintain appearances (stressful)

Player Motivations

Why Expose

• Duty: Protecting community from Rot
• Safety: One person vs. 8,000 lives
• Honor: Truth and transparency
• Pragmatism: Corruption spreads if unchecked

Why Protect

• Compassion: She’s victim, not villain
• Stability: Leadership vacuum dangerous
• Loyalty: She’s earned protection
• Hope: Cure might work

Why Exploit

• Greed: Blackmail opportunity
• Power: Political leverage
• Pragmatism: Benefit from situation
• Cynicism: Everyone’s doomed anyway

Why Kill

• Mercy: End suffering before transformation
• Prevention: Stop spread definitively
• Corruption: Embrace darker solution
• Pragmatism: Cleanest resolution

Thematic Elements

One vs. Many

Classic trolley problem: - Sacrifice Mira (one person) to protect Eos (thousands) - OR risk Eos to give Mira chance at cure

The Weight of Leadership

Mira’s burden: - Servant leader ideal vs. self-preservation - Duty vs. survival - Transparency vs. stability

Corruption as Metaphor

Not just supernatural plague: - Political corruption (Guild’s encroachment) - Moral corruption (exploitation, blackmail) - Physical corruption (Rot) - All three threads intertwine

No Perfect Solution

Every choice has cost: - Expose: Crisis and suffering - Protect: Risk and complicity - Exploit: Profit and guilt - Kill: Murder and cover-up - Ignore: Eventual disaster

Design Notes

Player Agency

• Arc can be ignored (resolves without player)
• Multiple entry points (investigation paths)
• No “correct” solution
• Consequences persist throughout playthrough

Pacing

• Early Game: Establish mystery (rumors, observations)
• Mid Game: Investigation and confrontation
• Late Game: Resolution and aftermath
• Endgame: Long-term consequences manifest

Replayability

Different playthroughs support: - High-Piety character: Expose (duty) - High-Cunning character: Exploit (leverage) - High-Corruption character: Kill or transform - High-Endurance character: Protect (long cure quest)

Related Topics

• Elder Mira Thornwell - Complete biography
• Priest Valeria - Medical confidant
• Merchant Vex - Opportunist
• Skyport Eos - Setting
• Sky-Rot Overview - Corruption mechanics
• Arc 2: The Guild’s Gambit - Political interconnection
• Arc 6: The Eos-Ironhold War - Diplomatic impact

Quest List

• “The Hidden Sickness” (primary investigation)
• “A Priest’s Burden” (Valeria perspective)
• “The Blackmailer’s Price” (Vex exploitation)
• “The Cure Attempt” (protection path)
• “The Succession Crisis” (aftermath)
• “The Witness” (secondary complication)

Arc Status: Active
Urgency: Moderate (Months until crisis)
Player Impact: High (defines Eos’s future)

“She served until dying. The question is: what happens when dying means becoming the enemy?”