The Midway Incident
A summary of events that took place in and around the city of Midway, adapted from historical accounts. These events predate the current era and are relevant as context for several factions and figures still active today.
Background
Midway is a mortal city with an unusual concentration of supernatural activity, owing to its proximity to a thin point in the Veil. The city attracted the attention of the Germaine Foundation, a private organization dedicated to investigating and cataloging supernatural phenomena. A team of Foundation operatives was assembled from civilians with latent abilities or prior exposure to the arcane:
- Professor Bethany Riendeau: academic with connections to the courts of the Melody
- Rowan "Ro" Winters: EMT and arcane construct created and altered by powerful entities
- Matthew Carson: musician, and latent Shaper whose abilities awakened during the events
- Grace Lemieux: a Shifter with pack ties to the Wilds
- Tilki Farrier: a Shifter with connections to Melody entities
- Jackson Mann: stage magician turned debunker turned Stranger
The team was directed by Colin Earl, a Foundation handler, and supported by Nicolai Eltsin, a researcher who disappeared during the events.
Key Events
The Midway team confronted a series of escalating supernatural threats over an extended period:
Early Operations: Investigation of hauntings (the Good Shepherd Lutheran Church incident), spirit encounters, and a vermin Skulk incursion at the Goblin Market. The team established contacts with local law enforcement and began mapping Midway's supernatural population.
The Brotherhood: The team's primary adversary was Decimus, a senior figure in the Brotherhood of Diocletian: an ancient organization dedicated to hunting and destroying supernatural beings. Decimus operated in Midway with a cadre of soldiers, pursuing his own agenda alongside the Brotherhood's mission. His lieutenant Mr. White eventually betrayed him, collaborating with Matt Carson to orchestrate an ambush. The Brotherhood's forces were significantly depleted during these events.
Domain Incursions: Multiple Domains exerted influence on Midway simultaneously, some having established themselves in Midway long before the events and others arriving through newly opened tears in the Veil:
- Entities from the Melody pursued Bethany, culminating in an assault on her personal life and an attempted abduction. She was ultimately forced to seek patronage from a powerful Melody figure for protection.
- Entities from the Wilds and feral Shifters entangled Grace and Tilki.
- The Valley drew Rowan into increasingly dangerous territory as her constructed nature was modified by an entity called Mazira
- The Abyss contributed ambient threats, including spirit-eaters and entities that defied classification.
The Temple: A persistent background thread concerned a structure beneath Midway connected to the thin point in the Veil. This "temple" was sought by rival Aeons: the god-sisters Bel and Asura, each hoping to exploit the temple's potential to sunder or strengthen the Veil.
Casualties and Consequences: Several operatives died. The events established the Germaine Foundation as a significant player in supernatural affairs and demonstrated that mortal cities could become battlegrounds for Domain-level conflicts without their mundane populations ever understanding what was happening around them.
Unresolved Threads
Several elements from the Midway Incident remain unresolved:
- The fate of Nicolai Eltsin, who disappeared into a subterranean passage
- The status of the Keepers, entities who served as wardens of the temple
- The ongoing rivalry between Bel and Asura over the temple and its contents
- Rowan's final fate and whether she achieved humanity or remained bound to Mazira
- The Brotherhood of Diocletian's survival and reorganization after Decimus's defeat