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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.



blackeyedprince: (wine)

[personal profile] blackeyedprince 2024-06-26 09:44 pm (UTC)(link)
I would never.

[Of course he would, and they both know it. Once a smuggler, always a smuggler. Mara can't help himself.

Lucky for him, this time there was very little danger involved. Nobody would look for something they're not expecting to find. The only other person that knows one of the mushrooms survived is personally invested in keeping the truth hidden.]


Honestly, it might eventually die here too.

[Mara hovers his hand over the mushroom. It takes effort, but he can feel the faint trails of air and magic swirling around it. Both come in, but only air comes out. Stripped clean of dust, pollen and everything else that gets picked up by the wind.]

I don't really know what it needs.

[As much as he hates admitting to it, the little thing is a mystery. He never planned to, but he learned a lot about things that grow while caring for his garden.]
techmaturgy: (pic#15429922)

wrap soon?

[personal profile] techmaturgy 2024-06-26 10:44 pm (UTC)(link)
Hopefully that doesn't happen.

[Biology and mycology are not necessarily his specialties, but if there's one thing that remains true about Viktor, he wants to help. If there is something sick or failing to thrive, he wants to solve the problem.

And it's important, that he's being trusted with this. Viktor offers a nod.
]

I'll do what I can.
funbreaker: (thancred-court-025)

[personal profile] funbreaker 2024-06-26 11:11 pm (UTC)(link)
[ As Azem recalls it, Aegis can almost relive the way the walls had closed in on them. I've squeezed through my share of tight spots before. Perhaps he would have said something like that, thinking it a humorous remark to cut through tension.

Tension.

Tension because... ]


We were looking for someone, weren't we?

[ He glances to the soil and stone at his feet, frowning as he tries to place it. It feels like every time he gets close, the details dance right out of his range once more. ]

Perhaps we should see if we can find our way into the cave system here. It might help us remember.

[ Is it that important? Perhaps not. Sometimes things are forgotten in time's steady march forward. But he's fixated on this for some reason. ]
thedreamer: (0569)

[personal profile] thedreamer 2024-06-27 01:42 am (UTC)(link)
Nathan.

[ It's just one word, just his name, but the way the Doctor speaks it, there's layers upon layers of emotion beneath it. There's everything in the utterance of his name — there's understanding, empathy, an ache that his friend should have to go through this at all, all at once like this, that any of them should.

The Doctor looks at him from his standing position, but then slowly crouches down with him, lacing his own hands together. ]


I know. I know.

[ The way he's crying now, it's so familiar, it's a feeling he's known for so long, buried within himself. It's a feeling he shares in one way or another, but can't quite express the same way. Though, as he watches him, there's just a hint of glassines in the Doctor's own eyes, thinking of all that's been lost and found, and — in a way — lost again. Nathan remembers it all, and here he remains, still trapped and separated from that life. ]

Do you — well — sometimes...it's not much, but I've found that a hug can help. It doesn't cure all ills or magically fix everything at once, but it's not being alone for a moment. A sound remedy for what hurts most.

[ If he needs it. ]
thedevilwhorose: (Default)

maybe wrap here? time has escaped me

[personal profile] thedevilwhorose 2024-06-27 05:17 am (UTC)(link)
He doesn't want to talk to Yennefer right now, or anytime soon, or maybe ever about this, but maybe one day he will. Maybe one not-day he will.

Maybe he'll ever have a day where he simply talks to Yennefer without them both playing several constantly ticking timebombs of games at once, but he sincerely doubts it.

He buzzes with appreciate at Istredd's wings and its a farcry to a distant past at the vehemence he felt at witnessing Dean Winchester's wing envy display.

"Well," he says loftily, chiming through their mind, his grin not so much witnessed through the skull as felt, "why don't we give them a test run?"
karsiteweave: (22)

[personal profile] karsiteweave 2024-06-27 10:23 am (UTC)(link)
[ Ah, the psychological aspect. How people react to their own arcana, and to other people's.

Has his own arcana impacted him in some way? He wonders. It's hard to say. It seemed... frustrating, at first, but would any other arcana have been less so? If he had been assigned the same as Crane, would he have been pleased or still found fault? ]


Are most people content, do you find?

[ Perhaps Crane knows this? ]

Or do some feel ill suited? I suppose it's easy to find patterns that seem to match you when the descriptions are broad enough. Most people can say they have felt loyalty to something, or someone.
judgmentbolts: (33)

[personal profile] judgmentbolts 2024-06-27 01:58 pm (UTC)(link)
[ He's not trying to harm Viktor, so even when Cid manages to straddle his body he is — for the most part — just trying to hold him down. ] If you would just think it through before—

[ It's been a long time since Cid has grappled with anyone who could truly match him. There's little need for a god to spar beyond the occasional pleasure of it, and he relies far more heavily on his levin when it comes to dealing with Demigods near the wood. It's for that reason that Viktor's third hand manages to get a grip on his shoulder unimpeded.

Viktor's metal chassis is too smooth for Cid to get a good grip, but he runs a faint current through the palm of his hand. It's not enough to shock Viktor, but it'll generate enough magnetic pull for Cid to keep his purchase — or yank Viktor on top of him, if he wants to be stubborn about throwing him off. ]
Edited 2024-06-27 14:00 (UTC)
funbreaker: (pic#16108638)

[personal profile] funbreaker 2024-06-27 06:44 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Cassian is no more.

Aegis will not so quickly believe this. Perhaps they have all become more than they once were, but that doesn't mean that it's at the cost of their previous selves being completely consumed and superseded. Does it matter that he can't remember every detail of the life that came before this one? Not necessarily. He still knows things as absolute truths.

For example: it is his duty to protect. He won't let a friend consume themselves like this.

The burst of sand and dirt in a localized tornado crashes up into him as he dives down, a bold attempt to throw him off-course as the gusts catch in his wings. Aegis is agile, however, and finds a way to twist and maneuver mid-air as if he were diving down through water.

But then the heat comes, and it could be intense enough to burn his feathers clean from his wings if he's not careful. Aegis surrounds himself in a protective shield yet again, a blue sphere of energy that encases him, and closes the distance against his better judgment, taking El Povo's bait despite the smothering heat.

No human could take hold of a supernova, but perhaps a god could. Aegis crashes into the swirling white-hot energy vaguely shaped like a person and pins it to the ground, gritting his teeth as the heat becomes so overwhelming that it hurts even him. ]


Let us see.

[ He tries to keep the mass of light and heat pinned with one hand as he thrusts down with his gunblade, aiming to pierce right through El Povo's chest. ]
godshattering: (pic#16265572)

[personal profile] godshattering 2024-06-27 08:27 pm (UTC)(link)
Exactly.

[ Whether that's to the idea of never enough cheese or Azem's very valid question of why not both when really, it fits for both. It certainly fits his own bias towards believing (most) all dishes are made better with cheese in there somewhere. But when they're planning to add even more cheese into something - or rather, Sidus is doing his best to make it so with Azem's enthusiasm matching his own - it feels all the more fitting for the future of the wheel within his hands.

The wheel which he hands over, then has to contemplate the finer details of assembling the bread with cheese stuffed inside. Even in all his years of investigating things, cooking's never been top of the list. ]


Good question, I think it was some kind of... crusty loaf? I remember it had seeds on top of it for a little texture and maybe some herbs.

[ A pause because that's not much of a description and he knows it, then - ]

You know, it might be better to ask Sylvain about the specifics since he's much better at recreating things even if we could just will it into existence here. But from my many experiences of eating rather than being on the cooking side, why not try it with as many breads as possible?

[ Speaking of replicating things, here's a wave of his hand and suddenly several of those cheese wheels are stacked in an empty space out of the way of Azem's current meal preparation. Might as well have some run, right? ]
blackeyedprince: (sometimes i wonder)

[personal profile] blackeyedprince 2024-06-27 08:44 pm (UTC)(link)
Mara shakes his head. It wouldn't have been so much easier.

"It can't be. I would know if it was," he starts, then sighs, his shoulders sinking. "You know how you sometimes have a very realistic dream. So much that you don't even realize it's a dream while you're in it. Then you wake up and seconds after you remember nothing of it. Only that it was so realistic, and you're tired and shaken from it, and have this weird feeling that it must have been important. But the more you try to remember, the more it eludes you."

He knows he is rambling, but he also knows that his brother will understand anyway. It's almost funny that given who their parents are, they are far from the most eloquent of the gods. They both see much, feel much, but words are just not their domain.

It makes figuring things out together a bit challenging. And they can't even share minds like others. Like with Sabine, Mara never has to hunt for words to express himself. She knows all whether he wraps it in words or not.

"It like that. I can't figure out where those fragments come from. Only that they seem important. Like something I should know and recognize."
techmaturgy: (pic#15429931)

[personal profile] techmaturgy 2024-06-27 11:31 pm (UTC)(link)
I have thought it through--

[He hisses through gritted teeth, trying to push Cid away. Viktor doesn't exactly want to hurt him, either, but he's starting to get the idea that he'll have to bodily remove Cid from the lab.

The truth is that Viktor never really learned to fight. He doesn't hunt demigods, he abhors violence--he's able to defend himself, but he's far from competent, especially when he doesn't actually want to hurt anyone.

That's what allows Cid to get the upper hand, even though he has one fewer. The electricity doesn't stop him, but it is uncomfortable, and suddenly Cid's weight on him seems that much more. He thrashes, trying to put some distance between them...but finding that he might be a little bit stuck.
]
spiritread: (033)

[personal profile] spiritread 2024-06-28 07:25 am (UTC)(link)
It's so romantic.

[ She sounds... happy and dreamy. Even if it's their parents - it's the kind of idea that people write stories about. So many stories, she can't possibly embrace them all. ]

That would make for a long trip, but I think that makes sense... Love has to be enduring.

[ She presses another bite to her lips thoughtfully. It's never really bothered her - even if Dustin was closer than most - that it wasn't something she'd truly gained in this long life. She likes living (and dying) and the normal passing of time. It makes her think, though, what that kind of long-lasting love would be like. Percy and Annabeth have it too, she thinks, as she glances at her brother: ]

Don't they have some festival for you guys, too?
sophos: (pic#4324831)

[personal profile] sophos 2024-06-29 05:03 pm (UTC)(link)
[ as he commands her to wake up, something cracks, both inside her and briefly in the sky. she can see it above her in the peripheral, but she refuses to look upward. ]

[ there is a lot about this life that annabeth is very proud of, and there is a family here among the other gods that makes her feel whole. when cassian says this isn't their lives, the feeling that slips in through the cracks is abandonment. it's people leaving. it's cassian right now trying to tell her it isn't real, and it feels personal in a way he certainly doesn't intend but she can't help taking as such. ]

[ she takes a few more steps further away from him. ]


Then tell me what you think is real instead! Because right now it just seems like you're trying to piss me off enough to leave.

[ he isn't and she knows that, but it's much easier to lash out, which feels like a very, very old defense mechanism. she's started by it, and wondering how he managed to pull it out of her. ]
blackeyedprince: (burn)

[personal profile] blackeyedprince 2024-06-29 10:44 pm (UTC)(link)
Kell is sure of his path for the first time since very, very long. Months, maybe even years. It does and doesn't feel like time lost. It is clear to him now, that he always knew the path. He just didn't want to follow it. There were so many things holding him back. So maybe no time is truly lost, maybe this was just what he needed to finally come to his own.

As much as he needed the older god's blessing and guidance.

He bows a lot deeper now, ready to leave, but not wanting to be rude by just walking away without expressing gratitude for opening his eyes to the truth.

"I will keep this in mind from now on. Thank you."
blackeyedprince: (fine)

we can wrap on mine or yours, whichever you prefer

[personal profile] blackeyedprince 2024-06-29 11:03 pm (UTC)(link)
You know what else I think?

[Mara passes his hand over the mushroom once more before letting it go. There were a few other things that came to his mind when he first seen it. Alchemy has long been one of his many hobbies. One of his most favorite hobbies.]

If it lives, and can be cultivated, it can become a very potent alchemical ingredient. The way it is able to concentrate magic in itself.

As a source of magic it could help those that have none, or very little, of their own. It would require for it to survive, and on developing a way to get rid of all the bad stuff it sucked from the air too. [He smiles and waves his hand.]Don't worry about. It's pure speculation anyway.

[Mara looks from the mushroom to Viktor. He has set his trap, so now he can finally move to the real reason he came: socializing. The mushroom was only a bait for luring the Machinist from his lair.]

And you still haven't told me what you were up to lately.
judgmentbolts: (43)

[personal profile] judgmentbolts 2024-06-30 09:30 pm (UTC)(link)
[ He doesn't particularly like doing this to a friend, but he doesn't see much of a choice when it comes to keeping Viktor still. It's still his workshop, and he has ways of seeing that even Cid doesn't disturb him — ways that Cid would rather not let him take advantage of, right at the moment. ]

Have you? And you've decided that you're the sort of man who's happy— [ There's a tickle at the back of his throat, the beginnings of a cough. He shouldn't be doing all of this without his staff in-hand, but he really can't be bothered to worry about it now. He clears his throat, pressing on. ] Happy to live forever and let even the memory of the people you cared for rot, for the sake of your work? Is that what you've thought through? Is that who you are?

[ He shifts his focus, keeping one hand on Viktor's chest to keep him stuck to the floor while the other reaches for the face plate of his helmet. ] I remember who you were, now. It's about time you did as well.
ordinar: (♛ 022)

[personal profile] ordinar 2024-06-30 11:18 pm (UTC)(link)
The feeling of dread in his ribs metastasizes as Kell describes with unsettling accuracy what's going through Wilhelm's head right now. There's a name on the tip of his tongue, a face slowly settling into clarity, warm eyes and a golden smile. He has the feeling that he has known him for a long time. Who was he?

"Yeah," he agrees slowly. His gaze drifts skyward, where pale cracks knife through the blue like lightning. His heart thuds heavily. He grabs his brother's shoulder and points.

"What the hell is that?"

While the Horizon is a world that the gods can shape to their liking, the sky hanging over it has always mirrored the one outside. They might make it night or noon, storm or shine, but it has always remained whole.
wiedzminka: (two hundred & eighty-one.)

[personal profile] wiedzminka 2024-07-01 02:54 am (UTC)(link)
[ She's done this before. She's been here before.

Not this place. Not this time. But evil men are the same across all time and space -- brutality, greed, lust for blood and flesh, all the same base desires no matter the context.

The girl trembles in Aegis's arms, tearstained and dirty. Blood spatters the front of her dress, clings caked around her fingernails; Ciri can tell it isn't hers. That she fought.

A piercing scream leaves Ciri's lips, a cry of rage and vengeance torn from deep inside her lungs in a place she had forgotten existed. Her sword slices through the caravan, shears the top clean off; wood splinters beneath her voice, glass shatters, metal twists. The humans cower and shout, pulling swords and muskets as she reveals herself. ]


You would stand against a goddess? You, who are the lowest scum beneath the worms in the dirt, beneath even their shit?

[ Her voice is all around them, vibrating through air and bone.

She didn't find any other prisoners in the wagons. That's all that matters to Ciri; the rest is worse than trash.

The Keeper of Doors lifts her hand, the ethereal form of her shimmering against the desert sky in the mirage outline of a woman in armor and helm. The men scatter, and she laughs like fire roaring into an inferno, desolation none of them can escape. ]


Run, run, little maggots. A quick death is too good for you.

[ Her hand comes down. The earth beneath the ruined wagons sinks, sucking everything into the hole. Ciri watches the men scramble, and lets them get away, lets them realize they have no supplies, no water, and no hope.

Aegis can stay and watch as she plays with her prey-- or he can try to stop her, this vicious falcon of a goddess he's never seen before. ]
Edited 2024-07-01 02:56 (UTC)
wiedzminka: (two hundred & eighty-six.)

[personal profile] wiedzminka 2024-07-01 02:56 am (UTC)(link)
[ Ciri looks up, brows raised. A beat, while she makes sure the beast really is dead this time, before she yanks her sword free and swings it once to shake the blood and brain matter off. A proper cleaning is due later; for now, she simply lets it disappear again into somewhere only she can reach, and hops back down off the demigod's head to land gracefully in front of Sidus. ]

A demon queen? Impressive.

[ She smirks, meaning it only has a joke when she adds: ] Does that make you a demon prince? I don't know if I'd say you're that intimidating...
northerndragon: To punish me for my contempt for authority, fate made me an authority myself. (contempt)

[personal profile] northerndragon 2024-07-01 09:46 am (UTC)(link)
[He is quiet for a long moment.]

You and Jesper, you're happy, you've always been. You were before. You will be still.

This isn't real. None of it is real, nothing since that time. At least, I don't think it is. I saw that wall, and I remembered my old life. I'm no god. Claire, she's not my wife. She's married to some other man, back where she came from.

[And Jon hates him. Mat may see a flare of that in his eyes -- but there are flares of many things. Anger, confusion, dismay, loss, and resentment that it should be so.]
Edited 2024-07-01 09:46 (UTC)
diametrically: (pic#16919516)

[personal profile] diametrically 2024-07-01 06:13 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Cassian knows lashing out when he sees it. He understands why, or at least he thinks he does (it's hard to parse out what's real from what may have just simply manifested during their time here). And while he's good at pretending that things that aren't worth his time don't matter, it's impossible for him to forget when something obvious is right in front of him. In this case, it's the source of Annabeth's fear.

He'd long suspected that she was terrified of abandonment. They had never spoken about it at length, neither of them the sort to address that sort of thing. Maybe if there had been more time, maybe if he hadn't disappeared so frequently, he would have found a way to bring it up.

But there was no time for that now. ]


Our lives before we came here, Annabeth.

[ His mind grasps for something, anything to remind her of her world and where she came from but he predictably comes up short. Because of course he would. They aren't siblings. This bond they share is nothing more than a dream. ]

Whatever life you had with Percy. Being Summoned to Abraxas and being kept like caged prizes to be gawked at. Not having people adore and pray to us like some sick, false idols. That was real.
diametrically: (pic#16919557)

[personal profile] diametrically 2024-07-01 07:39 pm (UTC)(link)
[ If notices Viktor's lack of concern, he doesn't question it. There's other things that race through his mind, demanding his attention. He wants to learn more. He needs to learn more. The hunger that reaches through every fibre of his being demands it. Cassian knows this hunger though. He's had eight hundred years to understand it, and there's something distinctly different about it this time.

An emptiness. A yearning that couldn't be filled with mere food or emotions or power.

Just as he's about to speak more there's a deafening crack so loud that he thinks it has to be the glass of the ship's window. As he gazes closer he realizes that it's not the glass that had shattered but the sky. ]


The sky is -

[ Before he can finish his sentence however, memories begin to flood his mind making him clutch his head and cry out in pain. ]
godshattering: (pic#16265555)

[personal profile] godshattering 2024-07-01 09:30 pm (UTC)(link)
[ If he wasn't lost in contemplating this odd bit of honesty he couldn't have summoned forth if asked about it minutes or even seconds ago, Sidus might've done more than simply blink at Ciri as she appears in front of him. His hands are still around the bow but his usual brazen confidence isn't while his mind turns that puzzle over and over. ]

I was a prince. [ That is - not what he expected to come out of his mouth when there should've been some joke, a quip, anything but whatever this is from some past life he can't remember. Because it must be from even further back when looking for whatever memories these are reveals nothing from before Abraxas any longer, and he blinks his gaze back from being unfocused to look at Ciri with a small furrow between his brows. ] Or still am even though I left home, but not because of that. But my mother's always had a temper, and my name was something else.

[ None of which answers anything, and even less that some part of him is aware Ciri was teasing him and now he's responded with seriousness. How very ungodlike, and any other time this would be where he'd offer a shudder of feigned disgust. All of this makes more sense than he wants to admit, but it seems something is going to get him to admit it anyway. ]
seaweedbrain: (046)

wrap here?

[personal profile] seaweedbrain 2024-07-02 05:12 am (UTC)(link)
[ Again, it’s hard to refute the fact that Percy’s got a lot of respect for Steve, for the way that his purpose as a god is generally a fair amount more charitable than many of the others that he comes across on a daily basis.

Many of them get carried away with their powers and the influence that they hold. Percy might even include himself amongst that sector of gods, were he not confident in his own ability to keep himself grounded. (Unfortunately this is not actually always true, but a god’s delusions are their own.)

Nevertheless, Steve’s enthusiasm and the small smile that plays upon his lips is infectious; it has Percy suddenly itching for a little action himself. And what better way to exert some well-spent energy than hunting monsters and keeping their patrons safe? Perhaps they might even earn some new ones along the way. It’s a win-win for everyone. ]


Yeah. Sounds like a real adventure. [ The salty scent of the sea seems to strengthen for the briefest moment, a reflection of Percy’s sudden excitement. ] Let’s do it.