Location: Quebec, Canada
EST: Mid 18th Century
Population: 120,000
Religion: Ash Maiden Worship
Language: French and English
Environment: Mountain Forest
Industry: Winter and Summer Tourism
Mayor: Jean Napelle
Locations:
City Hall
Town Square/Ash Maiden Fountain
Bellard Library/Clocktower
Canal
Altar of the Maiden's Ashes
Angelique Cemetery
Abandoned Hospital
Sawmill
Green Mountain Lodge
House Residents:
Augustine(Matriarch)
Constance(Mistress)
Nora(Acolyte)
Pauline(Maid)
Sharla(Maid)
RIna(Maid)
Easton(Butler)
Julien(Groundskeeper)
Estate Holders:
Alarie Family
Alarie and Desjardins Family
Blood of the Acolytes
Geneviève(1755-1776)-The Maiden of the Ash Tree, a young woman who's family settle in the mountains after an exodus from France to avoid persecution. She found a sacred ash tree, and used its parts to make medicine. She is burnt on the stake for witchcraft, and her ashes are given to the tree.
Angelique(1753-1778) Genevieve's Older sister, one of the Acolytes of the maiden.
Fayette(1758-1813)Genevieve's younger sister, one of the Acolytes of the maiden.
Angelique's bloonlines: Biron, La Ruelle, Poirot, Alarie, Graham
Fayette bloodlines: Arel, Laroy, Rancourt, Desjardins
Deceased:
Brigette Alarie(1938-1995)-Former Matriarch of the family and Augustine's twin sister. Died of a heart attack.
Ellen Graham[nee Alarie](1960-1997)-The youngest daughter of Brigette, and the young sister of Constance. Died of an severe illness that plagued the town at the time.
Lucinda Alarie(1956-1977)-The only child of Augustine. Died during Childbirth.
Susanna Desjardins(1934-1945)-The elder sister of Mina, died in a fatal accident.
Mina Desjardins(1937-1992)- The young sister of Susanna and former Mistress of the house. Died of a sudden illness.
Melody Desjardins(1971-1990)- The only child of Mina and mother of Nora. Went missing, but is considered dead.
Living:
Augustine Alarie(1938, 67)- The current Matriarch of the family.
Constance Alarie(1958, 47) The current Mistress of the house. Ashley Graham(1984, 21) The only child of Ellen, she lives in the US with her father.
Nora Desjardins(1990, 15) The only child of Melody, and the adoptive daughter of Constance.
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Family Symbols:
The Maiden
The Sacred Ash Tree
Keys of the Acolytes
The Sacred Butterfly
Family Heirlooms: Dagger of Mercy: A ornate knife with a precious green gem in the hilt, it is said to have been blessed by a mysterious plant to fight the enthralled drunk on Sacred Blood.
Emerald of the Heiress: A necklace with a emerald in the middle, given to the heiress by the matriarch.
Hierarchy:
Matriarch-Head of the household, also known as the Lady of Ceremonies.
Heiress- A daughter chosen by the Matriarch to become her successor.
Mistress-Second head of the household, and protector of the Heiress and Matriarch. Chosen position from Acolytes.
Acolyte-Daughters of the family that are not chosen heirs. Can become mistresses later in life if not becoming Heiresses.
The Research notes of Dr Gregory Jeno, Virologist at St. Juliette Hospital
The Ash Tree
A 54 ft tall ash tree, very old, but still sturdy. At some points during Spring and Summer, it produces large quantities of its sap that seeps out that are devoured by a certain insect species that colonize the tree.
Sacred Blood
The ash tree's sap color is a deep crimson red similar to blood. The sap contains a specific virus that is toxic to other animals, causing death within 12 hours. It is harmless to a specific butterfly species and human females that carry the immunity for it.
St. Fayette Butterflies
A butterfly species, they are crimson with faint white spots, wingspan between 2.8-3.7 inches. Like all butterflies, they start out as caterpillars after hatching. Black, fuzzy with a single deep orange spot, and at least 5.0 in long. Larvae starts out as herbivores, its diet consists of the sacred blood and other plants before the next stage of metamorphosis. As adults, they become omnivores, strictly feeding on the tree sap, galls, and blood. Like all butterflies, they produce dust from their wings, but contain the infectious virus of Demon Dust.
Demon Dust Plague
A fatal infectious plague born from the dust of the St Fayette Butterfly.
Infection
Humans directly digesting the sap or dust from the St Fayette Butterflies into the eyes, nose, mouth, or open wound guarantee infection. Symptoms are as follows: Blacken veins, bloodshot eyes, severe illness, developing painful red boils, loss of motor functions, and eyes flooding with black liquid which causes blindness. Animals carry the same symptoms when infected, lasting as long as 12 hours while human infection can vary depending on their immune system. Death is absolutely certain unless treated with a specialized cure.
Stage 1
Once infected after an hour, the virus causes veins to bulge and become black in the hands, neck, and head.
Stage 2
Eyes become bloodshot, victims will start to become tired and dizzy, then painful migraines set in.
Stage 3
Within a few hours, red boils start to form along the body, and can swell up to the size of tennis balls, mostly found on the stomach, forearms, neck, thighs, and underarms. It emits odor that attracts the butterflies to the source and feast on the boils.
Stage 4
Loss of motor function, a black liquid floods the eyes that causes blindness. The body is flooded with this toxic, resulting in death.
Immunity
Besides the St Fayette Butterflies, there are some human females that have natural immunity to the virus, and it can be passed onto their daughters. When first introduced with infection, the immune female becomes sick, but doesn't show the typical symptoms. She becomes fine afterwards, but a side effect causes her eyes to become crimson red which will fade after a couple of days and would return to its regular color.
Cure
Records show an old recipe to cure the virus called the Tea of Mercy, created from a long extinct berry plant that was found around the forest. Boiling the berries and its leaves along with healing herbs into a tea will rid the victim of the virus as long as it is below stage 4. No other alternatives have yet to be discovered.
Maiden's Curse Mutation: Experimentation on the sacred blood virus resulted in creating a man made virus that is capable of mutations.
Biology:
Humans go through the same infection stages up to level 3, and then afterwards, their bodies mutate instead of dying. They are violent to those who are non-infected like themselves. Certain animals can also undergo mutations depending if they are a suitable species. Common appearance is that the infected loses their hair from their bodies, developing pale white skin with blackened veins, and sharpened fingernails. They gain enhanced smell to seek out their victims, having an uncontrollable need for non infected blood and sacred blood, and endurance. Despite this, they have basic intelligence, and are still vulnerable against weapons.
Variants:
Thralls: Humans who are mindless, violent beings that are controlled by their thirst. They are by far one of the weakest, but makes up for it using numbers to overwhelm their victims.
Fanged Thralls: Infected dogs that are nimble and vicious, usually in a pack of three or more.
Communion: Two or more thralls somehow melded together into one blobulous entity.
Blood Maid: Female thralls with elongated arms and has the ability to spew dark liquid from their mouths to use as a weapon.
Scarlet Orbs: Infected birds with glowing red boils on their bodies, whenever they see prey, they dive, upon contact explodes.
Black rock Clots: A human with a hardened black substance completely encasing its upper body, and used it for a battering ram. They are blind, so use their hearing to seek out prey.
Huntsmen: Human Thralls that are more beast than man, moving on all fours and mutating into large beings.
Lady Sanguine: A unique mutation of a woman who is quick and stronger than the typical thrall. She has more endurance, and has a sense of self preservation when she is taken too much damage, but can go berserk to save herself.
Immunity: Once again, certain human females are immune to the experimental virus, and the same symptoms occur. However, direct experimentation can cause mutation.
Cure: Blood drawn from an immune woman can be synthesized into a cure to only fight the Maiden's Curse called the Maiden's Salvation.
