kaisou | Krusnik Mission Log (CONTENT WARNINGS AHOY)

Krusnik Mission Log

CONTENT WARNINGS: The following log will involve discussions of kidnapping, stalking, child abuse, and human experimentation. Proceed with caution.

So let's take a moment to recap: amongst the numerous groups connected to the paranormal, one of the more infamous ones is Krusnik. For years, Krusnik's name was synminonous with the darkest parts of the world. Known for taking children no one would miss and other such people to do God only knows what to them, they're a group that seemed more like a horror story than anything real. There's been many efforts to try to stamp them out, some more successful than others, but they always managed to slink away into the shadows and survive another day.

In the past, Krusnik didn't usually go stateside. Too much risk, was the theory. However something must have changed, as they've decided to try their luck in Kaisou. Perhaps it was the active Spirit Vein that led them here, or more possible... the otherworlders that no one would think twice about if they disappeared. Gaining their hands on some of those would be a great benefit to Krusnik. And if they happen to get their hands on one or two escaped prisoners in the process...well. So much the better.

Like hell they will.

Thanks to the combined work of many factions and people; the alarms have been sounded. Alba, the researcher who asked for help a few times, has been revealed to actually be Georg Weissmann - a high ranking member of Krusnik. Now it's time to gather the wagons, make sure those vulnerable are protected, and as for Krusnik itself? It's time to root out these demons wearing human-skin once and for all.

Within the City

While only one Krusnik member had been identified in July, it turns out there's a sizable crew of them within the city. There's several operatives scattered throughout the city. Alba himself is no where to be found in the city, but plenty of his lackeys are. They primarily target the young (or young looking), though it's possible they may go after some slightly older people if they have particularly strong magical energy. It's never very many of them at a time, usually only one to three, and they seem to be focused in areas with a high concentration of supernaturally inclined people (except, notably, the Zodiac apartments and Cathedral Hill). Usually they will attempt to strike when they think someone is alone or their guard is down, so staying in groups and making sure there's someone keeping constant watch is a good way to deter them.

Though the groups are small, they are dangerous in their own right. All of them have been trained for combat to an extreme amount. Not only that, but they have magical abilities in some form or another, some who may rival the Libra app users thanks to years of experiments done to their bodies. Their modus operandi leans towards using stealth tactics to get the jump on their target. Not wanting to make their presence too known while in the city, they will tend to flee if they're met with a confrontation that'll draw attention. These aren't people who can be reasoned with, as they are nothing short of fullblown fanatics to their cause. Though, if you wish to capture and get information about their operation in the city, certain interrogation methods aren't out of the question.

In Hyrule

Hyrule was a dangerous enough realm on its own, but the presence of Krusnik operatives have heightened that danger even further for some. Just like in Kaisou, they will try to strike potential targets when they see an opening in groups of one to three. Since they are away from the prying eyes of the city, these Krusnik members will be more willing to have more drawn out fights in order to obtain their targets. Most of them are more than willing to fight to the death for their cause and have the combat ability to back that up, so you best be prepared for a challenging fight.

However should you manage to capture some of them alive, it may be possible to obtain information about their operation using interrogation tactics. As it turns out the leader of their operation and the target of the Black Order, Weissman, is in Hyrule itself. He's set up camp at the Coliseum Ruins in the southeastern part of the Hyrule Fields. The Black Order has been ordered to kill him on sight, so that'll be their destination. If there's anyone looking to dissuade them from carrying out their mission, they're going to have a tough argument to sell.

When you arrive there, you'll find that the place is covered in a red sludge that is toxic and painful to the touch. You'll have to do your best to avoid contact with it as much as you can. Once you get into the coliseum itself, well, it turns out Weissmann knew you'd be coming for him. This isn't the first attempt to take him out, after all. So as soon as you step into Coliseum, Weissmann will call down to you from his ledge he's using as his vantage point. Before you can react, he'll cast a spell that conjures an evil-looking eye before everyone who looks upon is magically immobilized. Now that he has a captured audience, he'll go into a full villainous speech mode. From mocking the Black Order's shortcomings, to emphasizing that all Krusnik is doing is trying to unlock humanity's full potential. "You could have the power of gods," he says "But instead you hold yourselves back with pointless barriers you call morals". He'll even callously speak of the "progress" the former victims have made: first lamenting that Johan would give up the power of his possession after failing to control it - a true failed experiment. Subject Zero, he notes, has clearly allowed her growth to stagnant while in the outside world. Kohinata, on the other hand... well, the Water Spirit he possessed himself with was weaker than Weissman would like, but it was still some progress.

When he's finished saying his rage-inducing, sociopathic piece - he'll decide that's time to finish you all off. Not by his hand, but rather the Silver Lynel he found living in these ruins. It's a massive centaur beast, wielding a claymore emitting flames. He'll release it from his spell, which it's now angry enough to charge and attack everyone who are nothing more than sitting ducks while under Weissman's Evil Eye spell.

Fortunately, for those who came prepared, there are ways to counteract the spell. Barrier spells will deflect the spell entirely, and extremely strong willpower stands a chance to make the spell's hold break. And if someone manages to break Weissman's concentration (by say, shooting him)- that'll break the spell entirely. Whatever ways you manage to free yourself from his magic chains, it's now up to you to fight off the Lynel and get to Weissmann. Weissmann himself, caught off guard by the surprise resistance, will use elemental magic to defend himself. How you deal with this man is up to you, but it's clear he'll be a threat as long as he keeps breathing.

The Base

Once Weissman and the Hyrule team are dealt with, there is only one more thing that needs to be dealt with: the demon's den that is their base of operations. You can find out information to its location either through interrogating captured agents, tailing their agents, or looking into a trail of breadcrumbs in the form of undertown gossip. Eventually, enough leads will bring you to a cluster of warehouses. Most seem to be just regular warehouses, filled with various stocks for businesses in town and for more illicit business ventures. In the middle of these stands a warehouse which outwardly doesn't seem any different from the others. By design, it is made to fit in, be inconspicuous. The inside, however, is a much different story.

You are not alone, first off. There are plenty of Krusnik goons to fight- who will quickly leap to defend their organization. They will fight back with weapons, elemental abilities, with everything they have. And they will fight tooth and nail. Worse still are other, younger members of Krusnik- former captives who have been beaten down and fully indoctrinated into Krusnik's cause. They will not listen to reason, and they will die for this. There's a couple among them that seem to no longer even have presence of self at all and act more like mindless weapons - results of Weissmann's handiwork, it'd seem. Some are exceptionally powerful- if you have the ability to sense them, you will quickly realize these people have been possessed by monsters and demons. There is no benevolence here. Mercy might not be an option.

The bottom floor of the warehouse is filled with rows upon rows of shipping containers. They all have padlocks and chains around them, but none are currently locked. Opening them, you will find a mattress in the back corner, with chains and shackles bolted to the side of the metal wall. Almost all of them, thankfully, are empty- but there's a few that house the three app users (Takame, Vergil, and Rose) who managed to get grabbed. All three of them are alive, though their harrowing physical and emotional states serve as a stark realization that the horror stories about what Krusnik does to victims are anything but stories.

The upper level of the warehouse has a few rudimentary lab setups. It's clear this isn't anything high-tech or powerful, but the remnants of something that once was. Mismatched equipment can be found everywhere, vials and medical equipment scuffed and cracked- things grabbed in a hurry from a crumbling coalition. It's not all scientific, of course. Ancient tomes line the walls, equally damaged and hodgepodge together. Pages are marked which indicate powerful deities, sheets of notebook paper pushed in amongst the pages, with scribbled theories on the best methods to give a "higher rate of spiritual contact". As any former Krusnik captive could tell you, and as is plane in front of you now, all of the methods are grizzly. Means of pushing a person to the brink of death, to try and induce a possession of a spirit. Ideally, of a god.

The furthest room on the top level is an office. Sitting in a chair is a well-put-together man. He's clearly heard the ruckus of all the fighting but hasn't stepped into the fight himself. He welcomes you with a smooth, relaxed voice, like you've dropped in for a cup of tea and not to root out an evil organization. If given the chance to talk (and oh boy, will he talk) he'll explain he is Philip, he's the second of command of this current operation, and you Libra users have it all wrong. Krusnik is trying to understand the Spirit World, the GODS, better. They are simply reaching out to touch the heavens, to bring this power down to mortal folk. He had memories of a previous life, where this was used to better another world. A lost world. That the touch of a god would give everyone an equal playing field, would rid the world of pain and suffering, why would anyone not want that? He does his best to make kidnapping children and forcing them to become vessels for powerful beings by bringing them to the brink of death a reasonable thing to do. Of course, it's not and you can deal with him as you see fit. Once he realizes you're on the attack, he will lash out- his arms turning into green goop - which he can mold into spikes or just straight-up try and suffocate you with it.

Work together to take this guy out. And make sure you do a thorough job doing it- there's always a chance he might reform if not eliminated completely.

Aftermath

Eventually, once Philip is defeated (be sure to be VERY thorough with taking him out) you can check around the office. There's a computer where the attempts to hack Libra originated from. From the scattered paperwork, they will find candid photos of the escaped Krusnik members- there are also candid photos of current otherworlders, especially the minors. All have scribbled notes, times, days, places- an attempt to work out a routine. The beginnings of a plan to try and capture them.

Further investigation will yield Weissmann's personal logs, as you can always count on the evil scientist types to write down their crimes. Amongst the various records of stomach-churning experiments, unhinged manifestos, and detailed crimes against humanity- they'll gain context to why Krusnik was here of all places. It would seem the previous attacks on Krusnik facilities, those carried out by Abel and Zero, were basically fatal blows to the organization. What is here in Kaisou is the splintered remains of the survivors, trying to start again. There are notes of smaller pocket cells out there in the world- but it's clear this was Krusnik's last attempt to get a foothold and gain power once more. With this crushed, they have no hope of truly resurfacing again.

The last thing in the office is the filing cabinet. Weissmann had the key, so unless you looted it off his body, you'll have to pick the lock. Once inside, you'll be rewards with a treasure trove of documents about the organization. Not just their heinous experiments, but information on who gives them funding, who would help them get new victims, and so on. Perhaps Alba was planning on relying on these contacts again, or was holding onto it for blackmail. Either way, it's a treasure trove of evidence to help pursue justice against those who helped Krusnik. And in the very back of the filing cabinet, there's also a notebook containing information on a glyph Krusnik developed to help conceal their presence throughout the years. Maybe this could come in handy...someday.

With everything explored and dealt with, there's only one left to do: figure out what to do about the warehouse. Maybe it'd be good to alert the proper authorities or the Black Order or Zodiac to figure out--

Oh what you want to burn it? Well... okay, that works too. You did just take out a nefarious cult so...yeah, you can burn this building, as a treat.

OOC Notes

This is the catch-all long for the Krusnik subplot! Should you post about this event outside this log, please remember to use relevant content warnings. The original OOC plotting post for this event can be found here.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[He will eat a french fry. This time. Zhwoop, down it goes. He tickles Venti's fingers with his tongue.]

It isn't just a shirt. It's [... a tiny squeak of a yawn] ... armor. It was made to fight wars in.

[...]

Perhaps I'll hand wash it and see where that gets me...

[He tucks his head into Venti's collar and falls silent. Chances are he'll nod off soon.]

[He's so CUTE. If Zhongli hadn't gotten tired going all Old Testament earlier, Venti would be cooing at him. As it stands, he just starts to pet the old, tired dragon.]

Isn't there a tailor on the app? He might have an idea on how best to clean it.

[Venti then starts to nibble on another fry.]

Mm, how're you holding up, Zulius?

[It's honestly as adorable as fuck. It's fine, Bestie, Zulius will do call the cooing for you. ]

So. Flunking. Cuuuuuute. And yeah! August. You could probs convince him to help you out.

[The mental image of Zhongli hand washing it IS pretty amusing though. At Venti's question, he gives an idle wave of his hand.]

About ready to sleep for six billion years. Maybe soak in the tub for a further two million. Buuuuut what matters is we got our people back. How about you?

[Zhongli does not respond for a looooong minute...

... and then the sound of tiny dragon snores come from Venti's collar. Not unlike a cat, really.]

[Venti can't help giggling when he hears those tiny dragon-cat snores.]

Don't worry, I'll help him figure it out when he's awake.

[He leans back against his chair, looking at his half-eaten fry like it holds some kind of existential meaning. The bard then sets his fry down away from the others. Maybe he'll finish it later.]

I'd love to take a nap for the next hundred years, you know? And take a nice, long shower. Get your comfort where you can. But I'm mostly okay. I'd been hanging back and keeping myself out of harm's way for Zhong's peace of mind. We pretty much came straight here after The Order took care of Weissmann.

[Zulius lets out another little awwwwwwwwww, but he does at least let Zhongli sleep. The guy buried a building today, he's ALL tuckered out!!]

Give him some time to be like, unconscious for a while. He's earned it. And oh god. I am so looking forward to not-existing for a little while. I'm gonna Nap with a capital N.

[Zulius lets out a thoughtful little hum. Because that really does track with Zhongli.]

Yep, pretty sure he'd have flipped out way more if you got hurt in that mess. [The Order are not Zulius's favourite people; at least Venti is aware of that. But this time? They actually really did some seriously important work here. ] Okay, good. That guy sounded like the ABSOLUTE worst. I'm not gonna lose any sleep knowing that asshole is gone. That cut way too close to home for comfort for me.

For sure. Heaven knows I'll be joining him in dreamland once I get home. I'll drop a line to Xiao, see if he's willing to spend the night, too.

[It'll do Zhongli a lot of good to have his son nearby, at the very least.]

I've seen him freak out once or twice about my safety being at risk, and that was before everything happened. I wasn't about to take chances when he was clearly at his limit.

[The brunet definitely got dangerously close to having something inside him snap, though. A rest is absolutely necessary.]

Man even tried to have an evil, megalomaniacal villain monologue. But we don't have to worry about that guy anymore, and I'm happy to let his name be forgotten.

Gooood plan. It'd probs do you all good to be under the same rood tonight, right?

[Comfort in family, and all that. He nods in understanding. ]

It's been... a lot for him, probs more than he's willing to show to most of us. You know how he is better than anyone. I don't know, maybe once he's alone with you and Xiao he might open up a little? Get some of it off his chest?

[Because he IS worried about Zhongli there. The destruction of the base was... well, it needed to be done. But it's clear it hit Zhongli hard. He knows the chances of Zhongli opening up are horribly slim, he's not good at talking about his problems, but boy does he feel the guy needs it. ]

I HEAR that. That asshole can be stricken from everyone's mental records and no one will be even slightly sad about it.

For sure. They've treated me like I've been part of their family for a long time, you know?

[Venti gives a thoughtful nod to that.]

I hope so. This brought back some pain for him, I think. Some old wounds from this life and the last one. But I'll open the door for him to talk about it, at least.

[It's been a very, very long time since Zhongli's had to don the persona of warrior god. Zulius is absolutely right to be worried, and Venti's right there agreeing with him.]

Well, I think that at this point, you probably are part of their family. Like, probs seriously locked in there, Babe.

[What with the centuries of hanging out and all the Zhongli pining and whatnot.

Zulius lets out a soft, worried little hum. ]

Think that's all you can do? It'll probs take him a while to get there, he moves with the speed of a racing glacier when it comes to emotional vulnerability. Buuut so long as he knows that door is open, then he can figure out when he wants to go through it himself.

[Venti giggles at that, though he's careful to not jostle his sleeping scarf too much.]

Yeah, I'm pretty sure I've been married into this family for, like, a while. Just gotta wait for Zhong to catch up, really. And, hey, they're a good family to marry into, I think.

[Maybe it's a strange thing for a free-spirit or god of freedom to say, but it's all a matter of perspective.]

Exactly. Sometimes, it's just a matter of waiting for the dust to settle before stirring it up again.

They sure are! I'm totes calling your best man when Zhongli finally figures it out and you get married. Assuming I'm not a shrivelled skeleton by then.

[Zulius that's something people ask you about, you can't call it like it's shotgun in a car.

But hey, he gets it. One day he'll tell Venti about the time he very almost asked a man to marry him. You know, before he got extremely screwed over by the aforementioned man anyway. Different kinds of freedom, and all.]

Natch. He'll get there. It's just...Zhongli, y'know? He doesn't work on the same timeframe as literally everyone else in all the possible universes.

Hehe, I don't plan on him making me wait that long, honestly! We've both made good friends in Kaisou, you know? But I'm all for you being either best man or my zebrataur of honor!

[Not that Venti's seriously planning a wedding yet. It's on the table, and he'll certainly talk about it with Zhongli before their current friends become old and grey. For now, though, he's just enjoying their dates being actual dates.]

Unfortunately, I don't think he was any better in his past life. C'est la vie.

Good! You've waited long enough! [Venti's shown an insane level of patience here!] And good. You know I'd do a great job.

[That's not even him being facetious. He's freakishly good at organising stuff. He'd have it running like CLOCKWORK. It would be the wedding to end ALL weddings. None could beat it! Still, there's time for that. ]

Probs not. But it is endearing in a "hey that's my old grandpa friend" kinda way.

[Guys he's right there.]

Krusnik Mission Log (CONTENT WARNINGS AHOY)

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