Toragay Epidemic

"A terrible plight."

- Elluka Clockworker

The Toragay Serial Killings was the name given to the serial murders and massacre in Toragay, Elphegort caused by Marchioness Margarita Blankenheim. After poisoning her husband and father, Margarita went on a psychopathic rampage, decimating a majority of her hometown's population.

Origins
Following her arranged marriage with Marquis Kaspar Blankenheim in June, EC 608, Margarita eventually discovered Kaspar's purely economical motivation behind their union, as well as his open philandering with other women. Distraught by her failing marriage, she lapsed into a depression. Sometime after, Margarita was introduced to her husband's business partner Mayrana Blossom, presenting herself as "Elluka Clockworker", and the Marchioness began confiding her troubles to her.

Becoming friends, Margarita eventually joined the woman's criminal organization, Père Noël, as "Third Sleep Princess". Later on in EC 609, Margarita was tasked with developing a cure for a Gift contagion that Père Noël planned to monopolize on the black market. On August 25 of that year, Mayrana passed on the task of developing the airborne Gift disease to Margarita, along with a sample of her Third Gift and instructions to make the poison.

On August 30, Hanne Lorre interviewed Mayrana, posing as Mayor "Julia Abelard", at her mansion in Calgaround for Shurburke's article on the Flower of the Plateau. During the interview, Hanne was directed to the former royal library in town to see a portrait of Countess Mikulia Calgaround and find more reading material on the noble's  alleged murders.

After witnessing the portrait and examining the library for more information, Sixth Venom, posing as the librarian, left out the original copy of Yukina Freesis' Flower of the Plateau as Mayrana ordered. Once she found the lost storybook, Hanne interrogated the "librarian" and learned he illegally purchased it from a masked, blue-haired man in Toragay, claiming he was "First Santa Claus". The reporter then immediately departed for Toragay.

First Murder
By August 30, Margarita developed the Fourth Gift. To test her experimental creation, the Marchioness mixed the poison in trauben jam, spread it on toast, and gave it to her husband as a birthday "gift" during that night. After Kaspar and his mistress, Eleanor, ingested the present, the two succumbed to the poison's effects and died in bed together soon after.

Later that night, Margarita's father, Dr. Marx Felix, arrived early that morning and unlocked the main gate with his spare key to the manor. After entering the home, he entered the Marquis' room with Margarita and discovered Kaspar and Eleanor's corpses. Once he examined the two, Marx publicly diagnosed Kaspar's death as a result of his smoking habit while Margarita confined herself to her room.

Investigation into Kaspar
On September 1, early that morning, Shurburke Newspaper reporter Hanne Lorre arrived and discovered the Marquis' recent death. After interviewing Dr. Felix about Kaspar's condition, the reporter remained in town for several days to investigate the incident before returning to Aceid. During the same period, the World Police investigated the potential crime scene and interviewed Marx, Margarita, and the remaining servants at the mansion.

With the two claiming they heard mysterious sounds in the middle of the night, the World Police stationed a night guard at the mansion to protect the Marchioness from any intruders. Around the same time, the World Police called upon Lucifenia's Dr. Puerick Rogzé to help in the investigation. After an autopsy of Kaspar's corpse, Puerick determined there was no apparent anomalies in the Marquis' organs or bloodstream. Puerick also examined Margarita's medicinal herbs and confirmed none of them were poisonous.

In the succeeding weeks, Bruno Marlon received instructions from First Santa Claus to choke off the investigation and sent orders to prevent further investigations into Kaspar and Margarita's suspicious circumstances. While investigating the basement, Constable Ein Anchor discovered a page from the Freesis Fairy Tales' Lost List in a hole in the wall. Shortly afterward, the constable's boss halted his investigation into the case. With Dr. Felix and Rogzé's analyses, the World Police reported Kaspar died of tobacco.

Second Murder
Sometime after, Margarita developed the Fifth Gift. On September 18, during dinner at the Blankenheim Mansion, Marx warned his daughter not to associate with First Santa Claus anymore. In retaliation for his "troubles" about her "mother", Margarita gave her father some toast spread with trauben jam mixed with her experimental poison. After Marx returned home around 11:00 PM that night, he lapsed into a coma in bed.

The next day, Hanne Lorre returned from investigating Kaspar's past and learned of the World Police's investigation from Ein. Later that day, she went to the Felix Mansion to interview Marx and discovered his "sleeping" body in bed. During the World Police's subsequent investigation, Marx was moved to a hospital in Aceid. Afterwards, the local doctors in Aceid determined there were no apparent causes for Marx's condition.

Investigation into Marx
After being updated on Marx's condition, Hanne arrived in Lucifenian, Lucifenia for an interview with Dr. Rogzé. During the interview, Puerick related his findings on Kaspar compared to the autopsy reports for Dr. Felix, suggesting the symptoms were similar in effect to the Gift developed by his family; he clarified that the poison was detectable by today's standards and that it's formula. At the conclusion of the interview, Hanne departed home for Aceid.

On September 28, during Kaspar's funeral, Hanne witnessed Margarita reveal her face during the eulogy. Recognizing her remarkable resemblance to Mikulia among others, Hanne suspected the involvement of a Demon of Sin. The next day, the police announced they would examine Marx's body closely to determine the cause of his coma. Suspecting an undocumented disease was the cause of his and Kaspar's symptoms, Constable Ein volunteered to stay behind and investigate the chances of further infection.

In October, Hanne visited the Blankenheim Mansion for an interview with Margarita and to press the investigation into her. Following a tour, Hanne failed to find any vessels of sin or any poison for Marx. The reporter then investigated the La Bula pharmacy and found Margarita acquired no poisonous materials there. Directed to the local Charity Institute the pharmacist, Egmont, saw Margarita and her friend "Elluka" heading to several months prior, Hanne went there afterward.

Interviewing the manager, Rita Flohn, Hanne learned that the woman once directed the red-dressed Elluka to the local inn sometime ago. Once the reporter returned to the inn, she learned from the innkeeper, Brigitta, that the cloaked woman left behind some red liquid she had kept and presented Hanne with vial of the Third Gift. The next day, Hanne delivered the poison to Dr. Rogzé to analyze its contents for her.

Decimation
"Through her failure, Margarita was able to further refine the Sixth Gift. It is a wonderful thing. There is no need to even drink it. It infects you through the air, leading one after another into the sleep called deathShe magnificently created a greater epidemic than the Gula Disease!"

- Mayrana Blossom

By October 14, EC 609, Margarita successfully developed the desired Sixth Gift. After administering the contaminant to the orphans at the local Charity Institute, Margarita departed for Aceid. On October 17, after Shaw Freesis's death that morning, Bruno was contacted by First Santa Claus and ordered to eliminate Hanne and Heidemarie Lorre from further meddling with the situation.

Later that day, all 23 orphans at Toragay's Charity Institute slipped into a coma and died. As crowds gathered around the institute, the local pharmacist Egmont attempted to neutralize the mysterious disease with continual failure. Constable Ein and Officer Heidemarie Lorre arrived at the scene shortly after. While Heide remained behind, Ein rushed to Aceid to call for a proper doctor. Soon after his departure, the manager, Rita Flohn, also succumbed to the poison.

Later that day, a secret police unit arrived to inform her of Shaw's death earlier that day and escorted the officer back to Marlon. At the same time, Hanne received Dr. Puerick's analysis of the Third Gift sample she provided and the two theorized the poison's potential dilution in the blood stream. As the reporter left that afternoon, another unit of the secret police arrived to inform her about Shaw and escort her back to Marlon. Shortly after, the World Police began pursuing Heidemarie as a witness to the 24 deaths.

Around that time, Margarita began working on the development of a Seventh Gift which could fully awaken her jumbled memories of past lives that had slowly been resurging. As the Sixth Gift quickly spread among Toragay's populace, the death toll increased exponentially. Within days, the Elphegort government sanctioned the World Police to step in and contain the threat. On Bruno's orders, the World Police set up barricades at the surrounding checkpoints and quarantined the city, halting traffic to and from town.

On October 19, while Hanne and Heidemarie Lorre mourned over Shaw at the Freesis Foundation headquarters in Bariti, Bruno ordered the secret police to arrest the women. Charging Hanne for causing the Lioness Burning Incident as "Elluka Clockworker" and Heidemarie for the Charity Institute murders, the two were imprisoned. Later, Constable Ein and Justea Chief Hob Homer entered the prison while security was laxed and freed them from their cells.

After returning their belongings and updating them on the developments in Toragay, Hanne and Heidemarie knocked the two unconscious and fled to Aceid. Around the same time, Margarita left Aceid for Toragay until she spotted the World Police at the checkpoint. Heading north instead on instinct, she arrived in Calgaround and found Mayor Julia Abelard's mansion. Once she linked up with Mayrana, Margarita set up her lab on the second floor and began working on her planned Seventh Gift.

As Toragay's populace swiftly dwindled from the Sixth Gift, Egmont discovered Margarita's remedy he purchased on the black market delayed the epidemics effects. The pharmacist, along with dozens of other afflicted, gathered in the Blankenheim Mansion basement to avoid further spreading the infection. While ingesting the existing stores of the medicine, they waited for help.

Confrontation and Suicide
On October 21, the two shed their false personas as Shaw's long dead great-granddaughters and resumed their identities as Elluka Clockworker and Gumillia. Once they finished their preparations at Elluka's apartment in Aceid, the mages departed for the local hospital to confront Margarita. With Margarita already gone, the two prepared to leave when Marx awoke from his coma.

Shortly after, Marx suffered a seizure and succumbed to the poison. The two mages then headed north toward Toragay before stopping at the checkpoint. After spotting a coachman arguing with the officers there, Gumillia attacked the officers and escaped with the coachman. He then agreed to take them down a secret route around the checkpoints to Calgaround.

Once they arrived, Mayor "Julia" allowed the two inside. Entering battle, Fourth Shadow managed to hold off Elluka before being overwhelmed by Gumillia; as she attempted to escape, she was killed by the mage. The two then rushed upstairs as Margarita finished developing her Seventh Gift. Despite Elluka's insistence, Margarita refused to create an antidote for her "sleep" and ingested the poison, dying as a result.

Aftermath
By the time that Freesis Foundation's investigation team arrived, Toragay had become a ghost town. With the death toll reaching over 300, Toragay was reported to have been completely eradicated. While investigating the devastated town, Elluka and Gumillia discovered the 72 survivors in the Blankenheim Mansion basement and they were soon after transferred to the hospital in Aceid for further treatment.

Learning about the medicine's origins from Egmont, the two asked Dr. Rogzé to extract tree sap from the Millennium Tree and analyze it; using the sap, the doctor developed a proper cure to the Sixth Gift, effectively neutralizing the poison from those afflicted. With Margarita's death, the slumbering Eve Moonlit reawakened and met with Elluka at the forest in the guise of Margarita.

After discussing the mysteries surrounding the serial murders and revealing her true nature, Elluka attempted to extract Eve's soul from the Clockworker's Doll and disperse it within herself. Following their subsequent magical battle, Elluka and Gumillia traveled to the Lucifenian Republic to further investigate Père Noël. They later infiltrating the criminal organization to learn more about its leader, the actual Julia Abelard, and the vessels of sin she carried.

Civilian Perception
Due to its inexplicable nature, the sudden string of deaths plunged Toragay's citizens into total panic, unable to apprehend the source of the homicides. The incident's sudden and increasing number of victims immediately drew the attention of the international community as apprehension spread over a potential outbreak outside of Elphegort. Following the World Police's quarantine and Dr. Puerick's discovery of a cure, the disaster's potential spread was seemingly averted and the populace began to calm down.

Although having extensive news coverage since the death of Marquis Blankenheim, the investigation into the incident was largely kept private from the public eye, as well as its numerous cover ups of what really transpired. "Hanne Lorre's" own investigation was never made public, leaving Père Noël, Margarita, and her Gift's connection to the murders lost to history. As a result, the deaths were officially labeled as the cause of a "mysterious epidemic", though Kaspar's death was previously reported as caused by his smoking habit.

Conceptualization and Origin

 * The incident is inspired by a similar event caused by Marie-Madeleine-Marguerite d'Aubray, albeit only poisoning several of her family members.