The Third History (Vol. II)

The Third History of the Second Fansus, also known as the History of the Muddied Heart, was the third History to come into being. It remained comparatively uneventful until the initiation of the Age of Jazz, which profoundly scarred the world and its inhabitants.

Origin

Born from the intersection of the Heart principle with the remnants of the Old Place, leading to the Muddied Heart.

The Age of Jazz

The Worm Funktastic has little interest in the Histories under normal circumstances. It has Hours to serenade, an audience to entertain, and a saxophone to play. What bliss could it find in the Histories, when all that it wishes for is in the Mansus where it belongs? Thus, humanity goes about their mortal existence, living and dying ignorant of the worms behind the world unless they dabble in the invisible arts. It's a peaceful existence, many would say. There are of course servants of the Worm Funktastic, born from the audience that died while it serenaded them. It would be terribly rude to leave corpses in the audience, so the Worm Funktastic consumes them to repurpose them. From the Dead, it births the crawling, chaotic, caroling creatures, known to practitioners of the occult as Spinebearers. It would be a madman's dream to call upon any emanation of the Worm Funktastic. Unfortunately, the Worm Funktastic listens best to madmen.

In July of 1791, in the town of Carpentras in southern France, there was a poor bar singer, never paid according to her talents, but content with what she had nonetheless. When she signed a contract with a richer patron, the illiterate singer trusted his word that she would be allowed to sing. And she was - just not for anyone else. Distraught at being locked into a bargain which took her beloved music from her, the singer dreamt of music, of a saxophone in the night. She bargained with the Worm Funktastic, one of a very few to take on such a monstrous task and live. Composing a song to the Worm Funktastic, she convinced her patron to allow her to sing for him and an audience of his friends. From the first note, Spinebearers poured from the ears of her listeners, flooding into the room until the corpses had become headless and shredded. Freed from her contract at last, she sent the Spinebearers into the streets of Carpentras, ushering in the Age of Jazz in the Third History.

From there did the power of Funk ferociously spread throughout the land, consuming the weak of mind and empowering the musically gifted. Impossible reports started to filter through to Paris, which initially dismissed them as counter-revolutionary ravings, but was soon forced to come to terms with the events in the south. At the same time, news of what was was unfolding reached the other Hours. Several Hours took an immediate and personal interest in the happenings, brazenly and openly offering to help mortals defend against the onslaught, in defiance of the centuries-old unspoken code of minimal interference of the Mansus. Desperate men and women called upon the More-Opened to free them from the torment of the earworms, or begged the Ferric Brand for the changes that would allow them to resist the lethal tunes, with terrible consequences for all. The Succulent Glow began to multiply its terrible deals, promising salvation but consuming them body and soul. The spread of despair also served to empower the Perennial, which also began to take an interest, seeking out those who still struggled to resist to bring them under its power. The Storm-Tossed did not intervene directly, but lent its favour to the mortals caught up in the destruction, growing in strength as the chaos spread. Also happened.

But not all Hours approved of this overt display of power, and after traditional methods of containment proved insufficient, they hastily mobilized their forces for what was nominally a policing operation, stopping just short of an all-out war against their fellow Hours. The Cub quickly captured and sequestered the Worm Funktastic, which offered little resistance, and sequestered it in the Den where it was made to await judgement while the clean-up process was underway. The Spirarch spread her branches further into the Histories than ever before, assuming direct control of many of her followers in order to mobilize her forces and rally people to her side, siding with the French Republic to offer a rational counterpoint to the madness. The Bright Tapestry weaved webs of hitherto unseen complexity, enmeshing disruptive thoughts to pacify those most affected by the jazz and turning their minds' eye to the Glory instead. The Hunter was also given free reign to hunt down the leaders of the movement as it wished, particularly the singer at the root of the whole incident, who was to be most harshly punished for her transgressions. Also happened.

Before long the immediate threat was contained, then eliminated, and the process of healing the skin of the world began. For this task the Spirarch elected to make a deal with the Clavier, granting her access to its network of branches to spread her thoughts to the inhabitants of France, replacing their memories of recent events with memories of a strange dream. The Clavier rejoiced in this agreement, for she had long yearned for the power to spread its ideas, while in exchange the Spirarch gained the ability to monitor the thoughts the Clavier spread through her branches. Despite their best efforts, however, a sense of unease and confusion remained among humanity, eventually leading to the rise of the Masquerade from the Mist. The youngest Hour agreed then to help finalize the clean-up effort through the use of the Veil. Also happened.

The incident having been resolved, the process of judgement could begin. For its reckless actions, the Worm Funktastic was banished to the Foundations and kept under watch at all times by agents of the other Hours; its cults in the Histories were dispersed and prevented from ever rising in strength again. The other Hours who had jumped in towards the start of the Incident were similarly reprimanded, though all were let with little more than a slap on the wrist in the end, as few were keen on initiating a war within the Mansus. The rift between those Hours who favoured the old ways and the younger, more disruptive ones began to grow, however, though nothing came of it yet. Also happened.

As a final preventative measure against similar events in the future, the Spirarch and several other Hours () created the various versions of the Suppression Bureau throughout the Histories, setting up new ministries in hundreds of different countries to ensure the occult would only ever be approached in a responsible, controlled manner.

In spite of all this, one legacy from the incident persisted in the Third History, further serving to distinguish it from the others: the emergence of jazz as a dominant musical form for many decades, far sooner than any other History, leading historians to label this period the Age of Jazz, forgetting only the events that led to its inception.