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ABRAXAS MODS ([personal profile] abraxasmods) wrote in [community profile] abraxaslogs2024-04-17 10:07 am
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EVENT #18: EMERGENCE - IC EVENT LOG

Event #18 - Emergence
Whether voluntary or by force, you find yourself transported to the Singularity's crater. There probably aren't many resistors - officials have taken great pains to convince you to come voluntarily, reserving force as a last resort - but it's clear that everyone is required for this to work. It takes multiple mages to stabilize the portal, but you make it there in one piece. If you cooperate, you'll be asked to walk towards the ancient relic. If you resisted, you might be forced to do so while restrained. Regardless, a heavy fog soon descends around the area, obscuring you and your vision.

If you have thoughts of turning back, it's too late: for some of you, the second you step across the threshold, a force pulls at your chest and absorbs your psyche at once. For others, a mystical call beckons you to walk a little further before the same effect takes hold. And for a rare few, the call brings you to the Singularity itself, where you're compelled to touch it - and are subsequently swallowed up like the others.

The Horizon doesn't greet you like you might expect. Instead, something far stranger awaits.

Please communicate with your fellow players as needed! We also recommend discussing with us if you plan on a major environmental upheaval. As a rule of thumb, you should avoid changes to the landscape that will significantly alter the established map.

We've also posted comment sections for WORLDBUILDING and HANDWAVED submissions. Instructions can be found at the respective links.

Year 20,879
When you open your eyes, it feels like you've only blinked. If your body has transformed or you're someplace that shouldn't exist, it doesn't strike you as odd. You were always here. Everything around you was always here, and your physical alterations and new abilities - while perhaps not originally there - have been a part of you for a long, long time.

The world of Abraxas isn't completely foreign. Familiar territories remain, as well as the familiar faces of those with long lifespans. But a lot has changed in 800 years, too, especially where the Gods are concerned. Alongside the Old Gods of the Ancient Pantheon and the Cardinal Gods of the New Order, a third class of deities formed from you and your fellow Summoned: the Ecesis Gods of the Iterum Pantheon.
Politics, People, & Gods
Abraxas's political landscape remains complex, with continued tensions over land, worship, resources, and power. Nonetheless, since the Free Cities is no longer intent on destroying the Singularity, conflict over the ancient relic has lessened. All territories agree that the Godlands - and the Singularity - belong to the Gods themselves.
Beliefs and Gods
The active presence of the Summoned confirms the existence of the Gods. As a result, most Abraxans turn to the Summoned and other Gods for aid or protection. Extreme reverence exists in certain areas, especially on the Isle of the Lost and in parts of Solvunn. In other places, though, the Gods are merely acknowledged as a facet of life - a force that helps or hinders depending on temperament and should be respected, much like the sea. The Gods play a crucial role, sure, but so do the rain and stars. This is particularly true in the Feywilds, the Nether, and the Free Cities.

Small pockets of non-believers actively denounce the Gods. They claim the Summoned should be wiped from the world and the Singularity destroyed to prevent future invasions. Labeled dangerous heretics by Thorne and Solvunn, and "regressives" by the Free Cities - whose scientists and philosophers liken such thinking to be as foolish as declaring the sun unworthy or the earth to be flat - these people are shunned from society. In Solvunn, the consequences are more severe: heretics are exiled to the Barren, where they are subsumed by the desert, the Maw, or whichever Gods may punish them.

At the other end, some sects revere the Godlands so much that they believe feeding themselves to the relic will enhance Abraxas' good fortune for generations to come. Such cults are quite rare, but there are reports of mortals throwing themselves into the Singularity's crater and disintegrating as a gesture of their devotion to the divine.
International Relations
Due to the combined change in their priorities, Thorne and the Free Cities are less at odds. The Free Cities believes in protecting the Singularity; Thorne no longer seeks to control it. Nonetheless, mistrust flares on occasion.

While things are peaceful during these three months and have been for a few decades, Abraxas hasn't found a cure for war in the Gods. Conflict has broken out in the past and will again. Eyes are on the Nether as it grows in power, and who knows how long Thorne will be content with its losses? Will they convince the Velan Republic to reunite and turn against the Free Cities? For now, though, the territories have found their stride and appear more interested in progress than fighting.
Magic & The Singularity
Magic is relatively unchanged and is a vital part of Abraxan life. The small kingdom of Thorne continues to practice Academic Magic. Meanwhile, Wild Magic plays the same important role in the Velan Republic (formally Nott). Meanwhile, the Free Cities has developed New Magic further. The goal of decoupling magic from technology is less of a focus. Instead, researchers are eager to find new ways to fuse magic and innovation, including aspects of the Gods. Portable shrines, for example, are popular with traveling merchants.

High Magic no longer exists as a specific school of magic now that offerings, pacts, and requests to the Gods are a part of everyday life across Abraxas. Solvunn has returned to its roots, using the ancient Academic Magic practiced by the Lunae for standard tasks while turning to the Gods for greater blessings.

The Singularity has been relatively stable for the past two or three centuries. While occasional disturbances rumble, for the most part, the presence of the Summoned has strengthened it, alleviating its displeasure and ensuring that Abraxas - and possibly the universe itself - continues to exist. Indeed, academic writings from Thorne and the Free Cities across time suggest that the Singularity's devouring of the world has considerably slowed. It is now as much of a threat as the eventual collapse of the sun, something that is bound to occur but not for eons.

Of course, this could quickly change if the Summoned or any other Gods provoke the Singularity by rejecting its connection or denying its magic...so all should take care not to upset the nature of things.
Old World, New World
The map of Abraxas has undergone some notable shifts, although many names and places are the same.

Setting descriptions are HERE for your reference.

Mechapolis, the Witchwood, and the Barren/the Maw contain prompts related to the event itself. Information about those areas can be found under "Exploring the Land" in the section The World as the Divine (Month 1-2).


Month 1-2: Submersion
What do you last remember? Well, that depends. You might recall most things perfectly clearly. You might have new memories that don't feel new at all. Or, you might only remember the most recent year or two. Regardless, there is something missing: an important face, a handful of key events...maybe you don't remember having ever lived anywhere except Abraxas. You might find this unsettling, or you might accept it as just the way things are.

You've transcended those old memories, anyhow. You feel a little distant from the person you were centuries ago, and you most likely look different, too. Perhaps you've sprouted giant wings, become a formless void, or you're now a shapeshifter with no permanent appearance. You've gained a substantial amount of power and influence, the type that people of this world attribute to the Gods.

The first half is a more sandbox-like environment designed for scenarios that emphasize CR and personal character moments. Active conflict between the emergent reality and the world will not arise until the second half.

The World as the Divine
The mortals have bestowed you with a title and possibly a new alias. Do you know your mortal name anymore? Some of you might've taken on a new identity, or you might have held very tightly onto who you were. Regardless, your abilities have grown. Your new powers and appearance are as unique as your dominion, influenced by your interests, subconscious desires, or personal relationships.

While in your full God form, you'll move through the world unperceived. Only when you're sought by a mortal - followers, believers, cultists - can you consciously make your complete divine presence known. To be seen freely by all, you'll have to take on a less overwhelming shape to the mortal gaze. Those who have met the Old Gods or Cardinal Gods in the past finally understand why they seldom reveal their true selves, often arriving in hazy visions or speaking through animals.
Exploring the Land
The Witchwood
As the Summoned continued to ascend, their power began to coalesce, creating a new ecosystem never seen before. The dense woods, originally a temperate climate, warmed and grew into a thriving jungle. The air is humid and heavy with magic, the sky locked into an eternal sunset. Reds and oranges filter through the thick canopy. Birdcall and animal cries echo throughout the jungle. Trees and rocks seemingly move at night, meaning the Witchwood is impossible to map. Foolhardy souls who venture too deep are rarely seen again - unless divine intervention prevents a tragic fate from befalling them. Perhaps one of those intervening Gods is you?

The most dangerous beasts in the Witchwood are the demigod spawns. Creatures born from the Summoned, demigods are powerful enough to affect the world around them should they ever leave the magic-encased forest. See Impact & Consequences for more details on the demigods and how, as the Summoned, you can help maintain Abraxas' ecosystem.
Mechapolis
Heartwood Syndrome persisted in Fomalhaut long after the quarantined population died out. The port city stood as a monument to loss for nearly a century until about 200 years in when the Summoned gained notable influence as Gods. This resulted in a slow but steady acceptance of the Singularity's power as a positive force for potential advancement. New Magic boomed, leading to increased sophistication in technology and the refinement of automatons.

Originally designed to clear and guard Fomalhaut, they were eventually used to rebuild it. Fomalhaut became known as the City of Machines and was renamed Mechapolis. Although humans are barred from entering for safety, the automatons gather soil and air samples for study and perform fishing duties. The clockworks require routine maintenance and must return to a hub city or outpost for recalibration. Clockwork birds are used to communicate with Mechapolis. They can broadcast through the Free Cities's primitive "radio" towers.

You can enhance clockwork performance, boosting the towers or providing additional energy to the automatons. Scientists often have "rituals" when performing maintenance or experiments to earn the Gods' favor, hoping this will prevent their inventions from breaking down.
The Barren/The Badlands
Once contested territory between Thorne and the Free Cities, the Badlands was split into two by a large ravine shortly after Thorne retreated to Hayle. With neither side able to breach the gap, Solvunn naturally laid claim to the western half while the Free Cities retained its eastern half. On the eastern side, the chasm swallowed several well-known bandit camps and the presence of a new entity further drove them away. Bandits now occupy the mountains northeast of Aquila. Due to the entity's threat, the Free Cities increased its military presence in the Badlands to keep careless or foolish travelers from straying too far.

Meanwhile, Solvunn has named its portion of the wasteland the Barren and sought the Gods' assistance to form an enchanted forest. Those who enter are lost forever. Meant for more than just protection, the forest and the Barren serve as a place of exile. Heretics are taken into the woods and left to wander towards the Barren's harsh desert. There, they will face the elements, be devoured by the waiting Maw...or encounter a God.

As a God, you can lead the exiles to their salvation or doom, but choose carefully: the Maw is hungry and must be fed. These exiles want you dead. They don't care for you, and should their lack of faith spread, they might revive attempts to destroy the Singularity - and with it, your home. Is it so wrong to leave them to their fate? On the other hand, saving them might convert them by demonstrating your kindness.
The Maw
The Maw lurks beneath the chasm dividing the Badlands. Named for its gaping jaws, the Maw waits at the widest part of a jagged canyon, mouth open and salivating in the desert heat. Rows and rows of teeth as tall as a man spiral downward into a bloodshot throat. When sated, it retreats deep into the gully, barely visible aside from the shine of a tooth. When hungry, it draws closer to the surface. Hot and heavy winds often carry the putrid scent of its half-digested meals.

Solvunn is not the only territory that uses the Maw. The Free Cities will occasionally march criminals and bandits in that direction, as well, tossing them into the gaping mouth, although this method of execution is much rarer. Desperate exiles from Solvunn will try to cross the chasm despite the danger. None ever make it - at least, not without divine intervention.
Horizon, "Death," and Dormancy
Your domain in the Horizon is no longer constrained by size. How it's changed depends on you. The more detached from your mortality, the more likely it'll have surrealist elements: bizarre statues, physics-defying architecture, odd visual or psychological effects. The Horizon feels like home to all Gods, although you ought to take care not to heed its call beyond reason. Shutting yourself off from the physical world can result in unintended consequences...but completely refusing to enter the Horizon will do the same.

Additionally, Gods are beyond true death, but that doesn't mean you can act with impunity. Engaging in an exhaustive battle with other Gods can weaken you into dormancy. In this state, you will enter an ethereal void inside the Singularity. As you heal, you'll slowly be able to return to your Horizon domain and then the physical world once more. Depending on the extent of the damage, this process could take anywhere from months to decades. For instance, losing your head could take a few months, total dismemberment might take a year, and being vaporized into atoms can take a few decades.

Mortals cannot achieve this level of damage, even if they seemingly "succeed" in striking true. Only a God can weaken another God into dormancy. If a mortal removes your head, you can merely pick it up and put it back on.

Impact & Consequences
In the early years of your ascension, you might've wondered why the existing Gods seemingly intervened so little. Why did they not demonstrate their powers more blatantly over the thousands of years? Is it apathy? A desire to watch rather than act? As you come into your abilities, you realize that the Singularity and the universe are significantly more delicate than you thought. You begin to understand why the Gods have behaved the way they do.

Of course, whether you care to keep the world (and yourself) in balance is another story, but to be sure, some of the other Gods and the Summoned do - and you may have to defend your choices.

The equilibrium mechanic is described in OOC terms HERE. The Singularity and a character's ascension will not inherently sway them one way or the other. Any temptations will result from individual personality and development.

Instability Effects
To maintain the universe's equilibrium, you need to be cautious of when and how you interfere when using your status to alter the state of the world. Conversely, you'll also need to take care not to withdraw entirely. Several Gods have undergone periods of instability, though others haven't. Which category you fall under is up to you. It depends on who you are, your experiences, and your desires.
◎ Should you refuse to ACKNOWLEDGE your Godhood or enter the Horizon, you'll find yourself losing time. You may forget how you got from one place to another, or names you knew yesterday slip your mind. Lapses in memory or time can be temporary or permanent, but one thing they are is certainly confusing. With magic building inside you and nowhere for it to go, your power will begin to spill over, causing the Singularity to exhibit bursts of power that spawn demigods in the Witchwood.

◎ Should you give into the temptation to OVERINDULGE your Godhood or retreat to the Horizon for excessive periods, you'll lose more of yourself and your history. You may make decisions that feel unlike you, forget larger chunks of old memories, or struggle to distinguish what's real. Unrestrained use of magic will cause you to absorb yet more power, causing the Singularity to lose power in brief spurts, which can spawn demigods in the Witchwood.
These effects can be halted or even reversed in some cases. You might need someone's help to bring you back or convince you there's another way, or maybe you're the one seeking others out to assist. What you do soon understand is that your ability to manage your powers and stabilize your connection to the Horizon directly affects the Singularity and Abraxas...something that may have been true the moment you were summoned.
Demigod Spawns
Under the red haze of the Witchwood, monstrous creatures known as demigods or spawns emerge from crimson waterfalls and claw their out through the mossy soil. Born out of instabilities caused by careless actions from all Gods, they're usually contained to the Witchwood. For the most part, the older Gods - and the Summoned, if they choose - keep the demigods from leaving. However, now and again, one or two might escape, damaging towns, destroying villages, or causing ecological destruction in ways that are similar to natural disasters.

Demigods are not sentient. How they look can vary, but their appearances are often corrupted and disturbing: twisted animals, amorphous blobs, or alien-like parasites. They may resemble a monster you recognize from home.

Defeating one is possible but a challenge even for the Gods. Most crucially, you cannot kill your own spawn. Another God must deliver the killing blow, so working together is imperative. Should too many demigod spawns be allowed to invade the Witchwood, they will overwhelm and disrupt the Singularity further. Culling them is the only way to maintain stability.

You can submit demigod spawns you create to the WORLDBUILDING section if you want. Similar to using character powers, just keep the scale of destruction at a reasonable level.

Hearing Echoes
Echoes are a form of prayer that resonates through your connection with the Singularity. Solvunn has dedicated a monument to where the "First Echo" was heard, though the accuracy of this is debatable. Like the Network, you can hear an Echo regardless of where you are and can shut them out with concentration. However, your ties to Godhood may compel you to listen every so often. Mortals can entreat you through more formal methods (rituals, offerings, seasonal ceremonies) or in a moment of duress or desperation. They may seek you specifically or call to any God who will listen.

You can answer or ignore these cries for help as you like, but your choices carry consequences. Answer too many too eagerly, and your increased interference in mortal lives can upset the world's equilibrium - and the Singularity. Ignore your impact on the world, and your refusal to accept your ascension will equally destabilize the land as prayers go unheard.

Interacting with Other Gods
The Old Gods and the Cardinal Gods are an equal part of this world. For the most part, you coexist peacefully, though personal pacts and tensions can play a role. Each of you is aware of the impact of your actions on the Singularity: extreme displays of power are reserved for substantial transgressions, considering the price it carries.

Further, the older Gods have also walked the earth for centuries before you came. To them, you're still young, and rising against one of them won't end well for you. Nonetheless, many older Gods are more interested in giving advice or guiding you, ensuring the health of the Singularity and the universe so as not to doom all of you - Gods and mortals alike - to the void.

You can REQUEST AN INTERACTION with a God. Interactions will be brief but informative.

You will not be able to request a specific God. For logistical reasons, we have curated the list of Gods available ahead of time. However, we'll do our best to pick one from the pool that suits the purpose of your request.


Month 3: Awakening
Over the past 2 months, you've existed in the emergent reality without question. As you enter the third month, however, everything you've known over the past many centuries begins to shift. You might decide to investigate further, wondering if there's more out there that you aren't seeing. Alternatively, you might choose to ignore it, believing that your awakening is damaging the world and your life.
Catalysts
A catalyst can occur at any time through any circumstance. Do you see a familiar face you've forgotten in the eyes of a stranger? Do you recall a moment in your past while watching the mortals? Has a friend approached you specifically to try and remind you of the things you've forgotten?

With each memory returned you'll gain another piece of yourself. Depending on how much you've lost and how hard you'll cling to this reality, the effect may be clarifying or it might cause you distress and confusion. You might begin to encounter temporal cracks: buildings or areas that normally don't exist will flicker in and out of existence, or your reflection will briefly show an image of you from before your transformations took hold.

If you allow yourself to doubt your abilities or divinity, you might have trouble controlling your powers. If you've made alterations to your Horizon domain, it might start to revert to its original design.

These cracks are difficult to ignore, but if you bury your head, you can make them disappear - briefly, at least.
Shattered Skies
The effects go beyond the individual. As more of you and your fellow Gods reawaken, the sky also begins to form cracks that spread like broken glass. Through the fractures, you glimpse flashes of lightning and a swirling fog. The fissures only grow larger.

Soon, you realize you can see the Singularity itself, reflected upside-down in the crater. Disconcerting though it is, it may serve as proof that something is very wrong. Of course, you can also refuse to acknowledge this disturbance, closing your eyes to the crumbling sky. Doing so will let you remain unaware to the very end, but your friends who are seeking the truth might find your denial distressing.

The sky won't hold, though. Eventually, it does shatter completely - and you awaken abruptly, your body and others scattered several feet away from the Singularity's crater as if you were physically thrown out. The fog begins to dissipate. The lightning has stopped, the unrelenting storms fading across Abraxas. Whatever you went through, it seems to have done exactly what the territories hoped: stabilize the Singularity.

Characters will be returned home afterward. They will be thanked for their assistance regardless of if they cooperated.

Resistors will not face any consequences, as long as they don't cause excessive trouble upon their return. Officials will issue an apology for the heavy-handed action, stating that they saw no other way to keep the world safe. With the portals and weather returning to normal, it does seem to have worked...even if characters may not find the method agreeable.



techmaturgy: (pic#15348853)

[personal profile] techmaturgy 2024-05-20 02:19 am (UTC)(link)
No one here eats.

[Which is at least part of the reason why the pumpkin is so offensive, outside of its size (which is also offensive). Jaskier knows full well that this will simply go to waste in this workshop, except nothing Jaskier grows ever rots, which means this pumpkin will exist, forever. And it's going to be Viktor who has to figure out where to put it.]

Surely someone else has better need of it--no trees!

[He will try, futilely, to quash that thought before it takes shape. It's not that he doesn't like trees--he just doesn't want one in the middle of his laboratory.]

What are you here for, really?
respiting: (o20)

[personal profile] respiting 2024-05-20 02:21 am (UTC)(link)
[ It's nice to be understood without his having to say a word, so points to Jinora for that one.

But now he huffs as though the idea of being 'small' is a preposterous one.

It isn't, but Rocket likes to be a pain in the ass for fun sometimes. Still. Always. Whatever. ]


Can I be a tall person?

[ He's kidding, he'll shrink down to match Jinora's height once they get to it. ]
smilefornow: (censoring the truth)

[personal profile] smilefornow 2024-05-20 02:39 am (UTC)(link)
Ah. Yes. Of course.

[What the fuck is that unholy thing? Arthur isn't going to pursue it right now. Ed knows some very strange things. If he isn't having him on about this platypus thing. Even the name sounds ridiculous.]

Oh no, I'm not that bad off. I don't want it to end, just...to take a little break. [A pause.] I did do that.

[It had been nice. He likes words. He knows where he stands with words. Alright, so his hobbies are on the bland side. He can admit that. None of it's terribly stimulating...

Maybe that's it.]


I think I'm just not stimulated anymore. Nothing excites me! I miss being excited.
respiting: (123)

[personal profile] respiting 2024-05-20 02:41 am (UTC)(link)
I don't remember you bein' the type to give up.

[ She never gave up on him, after all, and he'd given her and everyone else around him plenty of chances enough to do so. ]

But to answer your question — 'course I have. We all had our moments, getting used to all of this extra power we got. I answered an Echo once about a temple some of my followers wanted to build for me. [ It was one of the first temples, if not the first. ] Thought they could handle it when I gave them a blessing, one of my first blessings, but — it didn't end well. Lost a handful of lives that way, and I don't go to that temple anymore. The point is: I didn't get to where I am now without running into a few obstacles along the way.

A few fuck-ups.

[ Rocket shrugs now as though to shrug off the weight of the effects it'd had on him over the decades. ]

Sounds real moronic, but it's ... part of the journey. It gets easier. Or maybe you just stop caring so much.
Edited (actually i changed my mind) 2024-05-20 02:44 (UTC)
wwrench: <lj user=wwrench> (pic#13592047)

[personal profile] wwrench 2024-05-20 02:41 am (UTC)(link)
Even as Wrench can feel his own body reacting, he knows there's no logical reason for surprise. This is, of course, entirely within the realm of possibility. It's the inverse he's more familiar with himself. Then again, isn't it always easier to destroy than it is to create? To demolish, rather than to build? He finds himself shooting Claire a sidelong gaze, but his eyes seem to look past her. For a moment something seems close, like a memory haunting the periphery of his consciousness. It feels distinctly human though, so he assumes it must have something to do with the fate of one poor devotee or another he's encountered in the last several hundred years or so. The notion is easy enough to convince himself of that he pushes the whole thought away with a shake of his head.

Funny thing is, she probably wasn't the one asking for it. He doesn't know this for a fact, of course. There's nothing saying that the dead couldn't find ways to beseech the Gods on their own behalf. But it's a curious notion, that the ultimate blessing that could've been granted to her might have been one she didn't request. He pauses to see how the notion of that might strike Claire.

[[OOC - Oh no; Wrench was just starting to really like those bees. ROFL. He will, of course, want to help in any way possible once he finds out.]]
respiting: (o24)

[personal profile] respiting 2024-05-20 02:56 am (UTC)(link)
Yeah. You know, people. Lackeys. Minions.

[ He has none of those things. But he does have loyal followers who sometimes leave him gifts in the form of food, just as she supposes, and he's got his family.

Besides which, Nebula knows well enough about Sam's dinners which are still on-going, even to this day. That's always an occasion with plenty of food and drink. Luckily for him, he's never had a hungry day in his god-life. ]


You ain't wrong though. Those five minutes will be worth the amusement.
furibund: (whatif11)

[personal profile] furibund 2024-05-20 03:09 am (UTC)(link)
You weren't "gone" for long enough for it to matter.

[ The counter comes quick, even if it lacks the edge that would have once been tracing any words she spoke. She still puts emphasis on gone as if she's rolling her eyes as she says it, finding the word disingenuous for the situation he's claiming. ]

How else am I supposed to take it?

[ The woman watches him out of the corner of her eye. Notes how he only appears to move the one hand for anything he wants with a huff. It covers the beginning of her next statement well, ]

A demigod's been scratching at the nearby border. It's decently sized.
gynvael: (015)

[personal profile] gynvael 2024-05-20 03:10 am (UTC)(link)
[ No. And when they vanish and fade, others will take their place. Some have deemed them gods, but Geralt isn't sure they're much of anything except witnesses to the same refrain. Borders shift and change, they have taken new forms, but the world remains as it is.

Perhaps there's some comfort in that. He doesn't know if he would want to be capable of shaping its fate. This, here, existing alongside humans, absent until called on—it's familiar. He knows it well.

Hooves click steadily in the beats between the Doctor's words. Despite what he saw, he is not concerned about what the Doctor might do once they part. They've known each other for a while—and it would take a lot for him to ever doubt the Doctor's intentions.

There's a vague noise in reply. ]
Depends what crosses my attention.

[ In the end, that's what it boils down: can he turn away? More often than not, the answer is no. But there are times he's left them to their monsters, to the graves of their own making. Sometimes, there isn't anything left to save. ]

If you need me—you know how to find me.
sophos: (pic#4583192)

[personal profile] sophos 2024-05-20 03:13 am (UTC)(link)
[ annabeth slips into the hug as easily as she has a thousand times, just grateful she doesn't have to jar his memory this time. it lasts a little long, and she doesn't not notice, but she only notes the irregularity idly and allows herself to simply appreciate it while its there. ]

[ she's not unused to joint festivals for herself and percy - they've answered plenty of echoes as a unit, and their togetherness is no secret - but it's not often cassian calls to her alone for one. ]


I never understand how you're so sure about these things. Me? Live here? [ she rolls her eyes (affectionate). there are the rumors, of course, that she and the herald of telluric springs made their start in this small town - but annabeth has no memory of it. it hasn't stopped her from occasionally blessing their festival. ]

It's today? I thought it was... never mind. [ her sense of time remains terrible. she tucks her arm into his. ] Maybe I'll even spare an hour, depending on what you had in mind.
furibund: (whatif20)

[personal profile] furibund 2024-05-20 03:15 am (UTC)(link)
[ For a moment, if only that moment, the look she shoots him is as harsh and deadly as the days she was known as the biggest sadist in the galaxy. Not that she remembers those days - not that she is that person. But there's an insensitivity in the question that makes even her pause. ]

No. You can't.

[ With all the emphasis of an aghast, "dude, really?" level of unacceptable. ]

[ She's never cheated in the sense he deems - avoided the truth a little to work in her favor, yes, but Nebula has always known work and hard work. And what doing - or not doing it (successfully) - would mean. The image in front of them reminds her of that. ]

What is it you can help with exactly?
furibund: (whatif)

sorry this is so late!!!

[personal profile] furibund 2024-05-20 03:19 am (UTC)(link)
Nebula snorts, but chooses not to say something. She gets his meaning about passion, but she has no interest in it (or, at this moment, the man who flaunts it so readily). There were some people who could show and wanted to play so easily, but she wasn't one of them.

It was still far easier to use brute force to get what she wanted.

"It was just a question," She remarks with a one armed shrug, "I only care about flavour."

A true enough statement, at any rate, she'd never been one to intentionally lose her composure. "I'm sure you have plenty in that variety."
ordinar: (♛ 002)

[personal profile] ordinar 2024-05-20 03:25 am (UTC)(link)
It's hard to remember the shy boy he used to be all those centuries ago. Wilhelm feels like a completely different person now. As a god of evolution he knows that you don't really shed your past selves like snakeskin; who you are grows from who you have been.

"It's not my fault you've made missing you so easy to do."

If Jesper's presence is like the sun, then when he's gone it's like the day has closed. But the thing about the sun is that it always rises the next day. Wilhelm's lips slip down Jesper's neck to nestle in the hollow of his throat, where he hides his impish grin as he pretends to think over the question with a prolonged:

"Hmm...why not both?"

To demonstrate, he twirls himself in Jesper's arms, except instead of completing the circle, he stops halfway to press himself spine-to-sternum flush against Jesper. Folding their joined arms around his middle, he casts a low-lidded look over his shoulder as he sways his hips purposefully to the rhythm of the music.
furibund: (whatif20)

[personal profile] furibund 2024-05-20 03:28 am (UTC)(link)
There's no choice in survival of the fittest, kid.

[ "Kid," like he's not 800+ years old now. Still a kid to her, when you're technically older. ]

[ Though, from the way she says it without missing a beat, she means it. Even if the actual context of why she'd think in such a manner is lost on her. ]

I miss my peace and quiet more.

[ She counters lacking heat as they cross the boundary and into the fray. She could summon a weapon - that electrified spear in a second - but she doesn't. There's plenty of ways to fight if it came down to it. Instead, she cocks him a venomous grin of amusement and challenges:]


There's no monster scarier in here than me.
ordinar: (♛ 051)

[personal profile] ordinar 2024-05-20 03:28 am (UTC)(link)
He does not sulk. Sulking is for children, and although Wilhelm may not have aged in several centuries, he has long since outgrown childhood. With it, he has left behind the powerlessness that used to fetter him. So, he does not appreciate being underestimated. All of this finds its way into the frown he slices Michael's way.

"Sure," he answers like it's a challenge rather than a suggestion.

A breath, and he melts into the shadows cast by the crowded trees as his own shadows gather around him. Though his magic renders him invisible, Michael can likely still sense his presence — but the demigod lurching through the underbrush remains unaware of Wilhelm as he hews closer and closer. He listens for the rustle of leaves and snap of twigs, pauses and feels for the faint energy that's emitted by the spawn. Other than wrong, he doesn't know how to describe it.
furibund: (whatif24)

[personal profile] furibund 2024-05-20 03:35 am (UTC)(link)
You better not be counting me in that number.

[ Nebula remarks without looking at him, but the challenge in the tone is just as much teasing. She knows better (she hopes she knows better). He's the longest connection she has here, anywhere. A tether that reminds her of a long forgotten past, of who they were and who they are. And what they can't give up. ]

[ For her, anyway, if she ever lost him - that's not a question she mulls on. Allows in the slightest, because that answer would be the cause of suffering for generations. Not for her. ]

[ She sighs around the lip of the bottle as she overdramatically rolls her eyes. ]

Fine, but you're not allowed to complain once it disappoints you.

[ Yes he is. ]
gynvael: (ml: 026)

[personal profile] gynvael 2024-05-20 03:38 am (UTC)(link)
[ Might be both.

Geralt tilts his head. It isn't something he's thought of about himself, but he won't reject it, either. It's easy to know where you belong once you accept that that place is nowhere. Then you simply carve out your corner and tell the rest of the world to fuck off. Perhaps that's why his forest manifests as it does—impermanent on the land but forever attached to his feet.

His breath frosts on the air. Whoever this might be, they're hardly the first or the last to close themselves off from grief and heartache. ]


I don't recall my mother's face anymore. I do remember the pain of her leaving. [ It reminds him of the one thing he never wants Ciri to feel. ] Is it about the pain or the face?
seaweedbrain: (053)

[personal profile] seaweedbrain 2024-05-20 03:43 am (UTC)(link)
[ It's almost kind of nice, nostalgic even, to fall into the sibling pattern like this. As a very serious 800+ year old god who spends most of his time within the ocean's depths, it's not so easy to assume this kind of silly banter without seeming very out of character.

But in his current human-looking form, it's easy. And it's fun.

Even if Jinora's tangent about flying has absolutely nothing to do with the kind of experience he's referring to. He's almost about to argue that exact point, but something she says has him pausing. ]


Yeah? [ His expression sobers a little. ] You remember stuff from before?
seaweedbrain: (135)

[personal profile] seaweedbrain 2024-05-20 04:08 am (UTC)(link)
[ There's a questioning look on his face when she pulls back to meet his eyes, a little bit as if she were studying him, considering what she should say, and looking for cuts and scratches that aren't there anymore. Thank you, ocean powers.

He even thinks that she might try to argue with him, and not with the usual light-hearted banter they often slip into because this is not that kind of situation. For that he's ready to defend his position, to tell her again and again as often as she needs to hear it: that none of it matters as long as she's come back to him.

But she kisses him instead — with the fervor of what she probably meant to say or what she wants to say but can't. He can almost taste her replies on her lips, and he responds in kind, leaning into her space until there's nothing left.

If they run out of breath now, it would have nothing to do with being underwater. ]
earthborn: (Default)

[personal profile] earthborn 2024-05-20 04:22 am (UTC)(link)
Flinging herself around at great speed has been Shepard's natural talent for a long time, longer even than she's been doing it wreathed in fire. The pheonix blooms out from her, streaking behind in plumed tails and the trailed edges of wings, spreading with a strange, impossible weightiness. Something this heavy, this large, ought not to be able to get airborne, and even if it could, should not to be able to turn and twist in the air so acrobatically. But she does, falling back and flirting under his wings to send gusts of hot air and send Archangel off-kilter, spinning away to avoid the playful retribution...

...it's a good flight. She loves this, the freedom of it; she's going to thorne because she wants to, and because it's the right thing to do, not because of anything that tells her she has to. And if she hadn't? She could have gone anywhere else, and it would come to much the same.

Freedom, that's what she has here. Freedom, and him at her side. Who could want more?
earthborn: (Default)

[personal profile] earthborn 2024-05-20 04:25 am (UTC)(link)
She sees it as it hits him; most often the echos whisper, or whine, little nagging sounds at the edge of your mind. It's not often they hit you like that, like being a rung bell. She grimaces in sympathetic resonance; their domains of influence aren't that different, after all.

"What is it?" Shepard asks, studying his face. He is stillness and she is ceaseless motion, fire moving in a constant, slow roil under her skin, even if she does nothing, "You hear something."
abraxasnpcs: (Default)

[personal profile] abraxasnpcs 2024-05-20 04:31 am (UTC)(link)
[ It seems like Serenity is almost catching on to Umbvagher's point of view, but he recoils when she puts it all in such a negative light. Umbvagher waves the notion away like someone might with an annoying fly, dismissing it entirely. ]

Don't think about it that way. The truth is that we're different, we're special.

[ He holds his hands out and the movement stops, each human frozen in time. ]

They can pray to us and ask us for gifts and blessings, but ultimately it's our power that they want.

[ Umbvagher holds it for several seconds until he slowly lowers his hands and, just like that, every mortal starts to regain their senses. Families and friends come together in comfort, confusion, and ultimately relief. ]

But we get to decide who we lend that power to. You just need a little...fine-tuning in that area.
wiedzminka: (one hundred & sixty.)

[personal profile] wiedzminka 2024-05-20 05:05 am (UTC)(link)
[ Ciri moves through space without ever being tied to it; when Serenity disappears, it only takes Ciri a moment to do the same, blinking out of existence only to reappear a moment later just a few feet away.

She sits on a stump nearby, without trying to reach out again to touch the other goddess -- not unless invited, this time. ]


We're in a forest in the north. Near the old borders of Thorne, above the lake.

[ She explains calmly. It may not be a real question, but she answers anyway, keeping them grounded. Giving Serenity something real to hold onto.

Picking up a twig nearby, Ciri leans forward and begins to draw in the dirt in front of her. A rough rendition of the continent takes shape, slowly filling in with little mountains, the shape of the lake, squiggles for trees. ]


This is my home. I like the forest. The mountains. I like the cold, crisp air.

Do you like it too?
diametrically: (pic#17142522)

HANNAH I'M SO SORRY THIS GOT LOST

[personal profile] diametrically 2024-05-20 05:29 am (UTC)(link)
[ Over the course of eight hundred years Cassian had learned that he and Bahamut shared more similarities than either of them may have initially thought, least of which was their propensity for the heaviness in their hearts and self-sacrificing nature. Neither should be things that someone ever bonded over, but it had drawn them close nonetheless.

And perhaps it's because he knew that Bahamut ailed from a similar pain that he made it a point to ensure that, whenever they were together, that he could do whatever he could to relieve some of that. Even if it means doing it in subtle ways. The nature of his powers means that he would also take some of that heavy heartedness on - but he'd found that he didn't mind. Especially if it meant a chance of bringing a smile to the other god's face.

It isn't so often that the lightness in his voice matches the way the sun catches the sunlight. ]


You have. Along with her not-so-subtle ways of motivating people.

[ Without fail the idiot sandwich incident was always one of the first memories involving Azem to return to him. ]

You helping defeats the purpose of me cooking for you.
aquaveiled: (himeka-484)

[personal profile] aquaveiled 2024-05-20 05:34 am (UTC)(link)
[ She can't help it, Azem doesn't even try to hide the chuckle that escapes at Nebula's somewhat for show exasperated explanation. So she's pleased with them both instead, it seems. ]

Well...you're right! You know me so well, Nebula.

[ She turns back around to give them proper attention once again, since they are a gift of sorts, aren't they? Kneeling down once again, Azem unclasps her hands and reaches out gently stroke one of the petals. ]

Do you know what they're called?
wiedzminka: (seventy-three.)

[personal profile] wiedzminka 2024-05-20 05:35 am (UTC)(link)
[ The beast makes a god-awful noise, thrashing under the blade and reacting to the lightning at the same time, its long tail swinging back and forth through already-torn structures. Ciri's blade twists viciously in its spine, molten light flowing from the sword into the wounds, burning away skin and flesh.

When the lightning nears, Ciri waits until the last moment before vanishing again. This time, it's not immediately clear where she's portalled to. ]