Baronjoe Serpent's Hand

The Samhain Massacre

The Day of Orange Sorrow, the Whitewater Gathering Attack, the Third Sin of the Bookburners¹

Conspectus

On October 29, 2005, a week-long gathering of anomalous individuals to celebrate Samhain, commonly known as Halloween, to the isolated town of Whitewater were attacked by The Bookburners.²³⁴ It is a day of unspeakable evil that we will never forget, and has come to be known as the Samhain Massacre.

Over 106 were killed while 589 were injured in the ensuring chaos.

Illustrations

A few images of the town of Whitewater taken on the day the massacre took place.⁵ The first is of a hotel that is extradimensional. Many pay a visit to such places during Samhain to find a place to stay for the whole week. The hotel in the picture is one of several many went to find shelter.⁶ The second image is a row of shops before being damaged from the attack an hour later.

A section of the stadium comprising of simple anomalous and non-anomalous humans⁷ waiting patiently for a concert to begin.⁸ Most of the individuals depicted in the image would be wounded or killed four minutes after the photo was taken.

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Shaniko_Hotel.jpg
https://pixabay.com/photos/storefront-shops-night-time-evening-215283/
https://pixabay.com/photos/audience-crowd-people-persons-828584/

Knowledge

Traits: The Massacre occurred at the town of Whitewater, New Mexico, which was within an artificial nexus to conceal its location.⁹ The town's architecture had been updated to modern standards and had a large outdoor stadium, where the massacre began. The town had various shops, hotels, and attractions.

Nature: The annual festivities were being performed, and approximately over 1,000 individuals¹⁰ were present, though the exact number is unknown.

While a majority was within the stadium waiting for a performance by The Jive of Koch'a,¹¹¹² a large explosion occurred at the northern side of town. It was revealed that charges were placed on the stone pillars generating the nexus.

Immediately after, a strike team of the GOC equipped with flash bangs opened fired within the stadium from one of the entrances. Throughout the town, three Ultra-Heavy Engagement Chassis (Orange Suits)¹³ units were attacking at the south. Multiple reports then came of additional strike teams arriving along with Merlin Series Aerial Drones.¹⁴

Many began to flee as some attempted to defend against the Bookburners. Members of the Hand that were present opened Ways, and brought assistance to help combat the threat and defend fleeing innocents. The event concluded when evacuation was successful, though there were efforts made in retrieving the deceased. Unfortunately, the Bookburners began to incinerate the corpses along with destroying buildings after searching them.¹⁵ Nonetheless, some were successfully retrieved for friends and families of the deceased.

History & Associated Parties: The incident had significantly impacted various anomalous communities in one way or another. It would also be brought up often when in discussions regarding the Bookburners.

Alexylva University had prohibited their students to attend events outside of their universe that did not meet their security standards.¹⁶ There was only one student who was attending the event that died, and spiked protest among the student body. A fundraiser was also started for the victims by the University. The Mages Academy also went through similar circumstances due to multiple students present at the event.

Herman Fuller's Circus of the Disquieting was scheduled to arrive as an attraction on the following day.¹⁷ Upon hearing the news, Herman Fuller offered to give a donation to the victims' families, and a free performance at his circus in honor of the victims. The Circus had one of their acts, Virtuoso, sing We Will Meet Again by Vera Lynn.

The Caecus Carneliana-Collective¹⁸ began using the event to motivate new recruits. A few members of the group did arrived to aid the Hand during the massacre.¹⁹²⁰

Multiple people also started to plea with patrons of Anderson Robotics to boycott them due to the presence Merlin Series Aerial Drone in the attack. A letter campaign was started to demand Anderson Robotics cease all ties with the Coalition.

Approach: A memorial was constructed in honor of the victims located within the halls of the Wanderer's Library. All the names of the victims are inscribed on it to always be remembered.

There is nothing else that can be done besides say to the victims we are deeply sorry we could not save them.²¹

Observations & Stories

"My father was at the stadium when it happened. He saw the flash bang go off and the explosions. He described the screams and how the sound of bullets tried to drown them out. He managed to escape and immediately went to the hotel where me and my mother were staying. His jacket's right arm was torn when he arrived said my mother. I was too young to remember much. He apparently lost an arm while on the way, but he grew it back.

"He took out of the hotel to try to find someone to open a Way. At this time, the strike teams were at the other side of time. One could hear the chaos. We found a member of the Hand opening a Way and we went to it. My father told us to leave while he stayed. He wanted to search for my uncle who was out shopping with his girlfriend. Despite my mother's protest, he went anyway. We were pushed through the Way and at the shelters of the Wanderer's Library.

"I sadly never heard from my father or uncle again, and their bodies are believed to have been incinerated or melted. The Coalition has their way when handling entities with regenerative properties."

- Excerpt from Martin Roslow Hendrickson: An Autobiography

Multiple stories exist about alleged sightings of a man wearing a black coat and hat was present during the massacre. Despite what was happening, he was described as calm and wrote within a notebook several times as he was seen throughout the town. This started various debates on who is the individual, and their possible involvement in the massacre.²²

Doubt

Many have debated the motive of the event and spawned various claims. Some claimed the event never happened and it is the Hand and Caecus Carneliana-Collective's doing to acquire support.²³ Another similar claim was that it was not done by the Coalition, but by the Foundation. The Foundation and Coalition have a slight distrust towards each other, which would be why they would want to frame the Coalition.^24252627

1. "Never forget who did this." -Trünan

2. Known mostly as the Global Occult Coalition.

3. "They can never be forgiven for that day" -A

4. "Sick bastards" -N.S.

5. "If anyone want more images please let me know." -A.Z.

6. "Sadly, it was one of the places destroyed after the evacuation was completed during the whole thing." -A.Z.

7. Supporters of the Serpent's Hand ideology. Some are from other universes.

8. Elaborated further in the next section.

9. This was done via five stone pillars engraved with thaumaturgic symbols around the town.

10. The numbers would vary but it would be between 1,000 to 1,500 attendees.

11. "Awesome band. They don't incorporate anomalous stuff in their work, but it is great nonetheless. Seek Library services if you are interested in learning more about them. Also, sorry if I sound like I am being disrespectful by promoting the band. I mean, we promote knowledge of things." -KAR

12. "It's find. Be more careful though." -A

13. For information on the "Orange Suits", please view the recovered documents detailing Coalition gear and equipment. Please ask a Librarian for assistance.

14. Created by Anderson Robotics. The models seen during the attack had an appearance similar to a Lockheed SR-71 "Blackbird".

15. "Some of the buildings were anomalous in their own way. As mentioned, the hotels were extradimensional. One building, which was a candy shop, was made from candy that resembled common materials. The place would repair itself if you took a piece though that cost you. Another example is a building that played music even though there was no speakers or anything. Anyway, that's why." -A

16. "A little complicated it was but it has gotten lax a bit." -G.

17. "The Hand have protested against this due to the cruel practices of the circus.

18. A group with similar ideals to the Hand but more radical.

19. "Cool since they don't like us very much for some reason." -Kunj

20. "Well Kunj, they don't like how loosely we work. They really try to be like an organized military force. That's how I see them. Also, they don't like how we have non-anomalous human members." -A

21. "Efforts could be made to better destroy the Coalition." -Trünan

22. "Sounds like some creepy nobody to me. Also this leans a bit into conspiracy theory territory for me." -Trünan

23. "I always found these types of conspiracy theories stupid. People that believe this don't believe anything happened. It is ridiculous." -KAR

24. "I doubt that. The tech was definitely Coalition stuff. Also, the Foundation can't own Merlin drones. Anderson Robotics don't sell anything or allow their products to fall into their hands." -A

25. "It is also not the Foundation's modus operandi." -KAR

26. "The Coalition already look bad to the anomalous communities already." -Trünan

27. "Honestly, the doubt is bad. The Foundation one sounds like it was written by those Sigma-13 conspiracy guys. Let's move on." -G

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