abraxaslogs | Singularity Study Sessions

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Singularity Study Sessions

WHO: Castle Thorne residents!
WHAT: A catch-all study room setting for awakening connections to the Singularity through meditation, and all other things Horizon. When not in use for group meditation sessions, the room is kind of Kylo's... office? where he will be working on his own projects.
WHEN: wibbly-wobbly ongoing, sessions began some time after the prison break and will be open for newcomers in the latest app round to join in too. Kylo's more generalised top-level is a catch-all, feel free to come visit at any time.
WHERE: Castle Thorne
WARNINGS: None at present! If something comes up in your thread, please warn in the subject lines and/or let me know so I can add them here.

(This is something of a mingle log, so feel free to use this space for anything you like. I'll be putting up top-levels for interacting with Kylo specifically, please feel free to do the same if your character would be willing to help others get to the Horizon for the first time or would otherwise have use for a relatively private environment in Castle Thorne!)

Accomplishing anything at all here in Abraxas will require better understanding of the Singularity— and if Kylo and the other Summoned brought in during the first wave of Ambrose's project to touch it by proxy have learned anything, it's that the answers to their questions are much more likely to be found beyond the border of the Horizon than in Thorne's library. There's only so much to discover by studying the effects of the Singularity on this world, or even the countless others it touches. Perhaps it's better to go direct to the source.

For this purpose, Kylo has secured one of the castle's many rooms for use by the Summoned— a space where they can gather and explore their shared connection to the Horizon in relative safety, avoiding the potentially hazardous trek to the physical artifact at the very heart of the world. During sessions, the room is open to anyone who would like to visit the Horizon. Outside of them, the room is reserved for Kylo's personal efforts to study the Singularity. Sometimes, the work goes on behind closed doors. A group of Thornean mages — Kylo's recently formed task force — gather here on occasion, but are notably absent unless specifically requested.

Beyond the common architectural notes of high ceilings, intricate stonework and rich (if somewhat faded) tapestries, the main feature of the room is the collection of sumptuous cushions spread across the floor. Drapes cover the tall windows, while the soft illumination of magical lamplight lends the space a still, restful air. Alongside one wall is a table laden with pitchers of water and tall glasses, bowls of fruit and similar light refreshments, while a pair of long couches have been set up along the other.

Meditation is the key to entering the Horizon, and that's far more easily achieved when everyone's comfortable.

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Today is not the first time at which Yennefer has sensed the ward at this particular door. She's come to know how others avoid this hallway, when it comes to be. How even the most well-meaning of courtiers will take completely opposing routes through the castle just to avoid that feeling of wrong that emanates from the closed door. Yennefer has stepped through the corridor a time or two - first on accident, second and third by choice. She wants to know what is causing it, how someone is causing it, and what it's supposed to mean.

It is not much later that she comes to find out whose room it is, and who is - more likely than not - on the other side.

That is the primary reason she finds herself coming to a stop outside said door, today. Feeling that odd buzzing in the air, the thickness that seems to solidify around her as she grows closer. Despite the feeling, knowing exactly its intent and attempts to push her away, Yennefer closes the distance between her and the wood, reaching a hand out to set a palm flat to it. She supposes she could knock, could make her presence known to its occupant, but something tells her she needn't do much of anything. Instead, she closes her eyes, allowing the pressure of the magic push against her, studying the pressure and the feeling it presents.

Another impressive feat, she thinks with a near-smile, as she attempts to guide the density around her like a rock disrupting the flow of water in a stream.

If she had attempted to breach the ward on a day when Kylo's task force had remained inside, she might have encountered far fiercer opposition— but this is an enchantment without its master at hand to keep it securely in place, and Yennefer is a powerful and persistent challenger.

It's also an enchantment primarily designed to contain and resist pressure applied from within, for reasons that aren't immediately apparent. As the static field splits and flows around the smooth press of Yennefer's palm, the great wooden door releases its hold on the latch and yawns inward on its hinges, revealing the room beyond. Lamplight glows in a dim, restful amber, just enough to illuminate the improbable solidity of Kylo Ren sat on a luxuriously plush couch, the generous height of Ronan Lynch taking up the length of it as he lies sprawled in comfortable repose, head resting on Kylo's thigh.

"Close it behind you," Kylo suggests without turning to face her, though his fingers pause in place from their idle drift over Ronan's scalp— an indication of his attention now directed elsewhere. "If you're coming in."

If he's surprised to see her, he's doing a masterful job of hiding it.

Part of Yennefer had been expecting that opposition, having seen enough of Kylo's task force come in and out of this room, and that part is almost disappointed to find that the magic of the thing adjusts to move around her, rather than push through. It's a small part, something that Yennefer is used to ignoring - the need to push, to explode, to use everything she has to fight back.

As it stands, the door creaks inward and Yennefer allows herself a few moments to stand perched in the doorway, examining what she can see before her. The room itself isn't anything extraordinary, beyond the thick magic that hangs in the air, but her violet eyes scan it all the same - books, papers, a desk, a couch. Ronan Lynch, asleep, spread across it with his head perched in Kylo's lap.

She feels a smile tug at the corner of her lips at his acknowledgement of her, and easily steps inside the space, waving her hand and allowing her chaos to reach out and close the door behind her. It's not entirely necessary, the simple flourishes in a room so layered in more complex rituals, but ever since leaving the dungeon Yennefer hasn't quite found it in herself to hold back.

Her eyes, after she is content enough with her scan of the room, fall back to Kylo. To his attention on Ronan. And to Ronan, fast asleep. Ronan, sleeping. Because while she's heard of it, of what is possible when someone like Ronan Lynch allows himself to dream, this is the first time she's getting to see it first hand.

"Is now a good time? Or should I come back later?" She knows the answer but asks the question all the same - if she hadn't been at least in some way welcomed into this room, there is very little chance she would have made it in here. Or, at the very least, it wouldn't have been as easy. That is when, simply because she can, Yennefer steps further into the room. Sends her eyes back around to the details of the space, rather than staring solidly at Kylo - the source of this enchantment - and Ronan, something else entirely. Her curiosity almost cripples her; almost, but not quite. Not yet.

She glances over her shoulder, having found something else to catch her interest for the prior few moments, to see if Kylo has decided to shift his gaze at all. Waits, for a moment, before asking, "He's dreaming, isn't he?"

Kylo's lips pull into a slight curve, his fingertips skating a light caress over Ronan's scalp. There's a tenderness in the touch, undeniably, but more than that too. It pleases Kylo to demonstrate his closeness to Ronan this way, to revel in Ronan's vulnerability and the sheer depth of trust he has placed in him. Kylo Ren, feared and hated throughout the galaxy. Kylo Ren, the one Ronan chose as his keeper and protector.

He looks up, catching Yennefer's curious eye, and gestures for her to join them. Not that there's room left on this couch, but there is another, which— yes. Kylo reaches for it almost absently, and with a beckoning curl of his fingers it glides across the floor and comes to a rest comfortably opposite. There. His hand drops back down to Ronan's shoulder.

"Yes. He's dreaming. My task, and yours, if you like, is to take care of anything... undesirable that comes back with him when he wakes."

She recognizes the easy way in which Kylo shows off his closeness to Ronan. Sees how, even in the smallest moments, he expresses their proximity. Yennefer has been fairly aware if it, since meeting them, so at the gentle way Kylo’s fingers brush across Ronan’s scalp, Yennefer simply watches. Holds the easy smile she has - this is nothing surprising. If anything, it is exactly what she expects.

His beckoning finger is curious, though, and Yennefer almost comments on how there isn’t any room for her when the second couch moves across the room. Her brow arches, part in an easy impressed nature and part in obvious acknowledgement that it wasn’t, exactly, necessary. She recognizes the urge to use the magic, the urge to show off, so without much comment at all she walks the few steps she needs and settles into the couch, leaning back into the cushions and spreads out her dress and makes the space her own.

“If I like?” She smiles at him at the question, some part of her acting more impressed than she really feels that she’s been allowed here at all. There is something else to her tone, though, that preens at the chance to be here. That enjoys the welcome Kylo has given, but also is excited by the idea of being able to - equally - show off. “Shouldn’t Ronan have a say if I’m to be helping assist his unsavory dream things?”

Edited 2021-10-24 05:08 (UTC)

Kylo returns the smile, slow and conspiratorially amused. He's definitely pleased for the opportunity to demonstrate his power and the position of responsibility Ronan has placed him in— but there's something especially gratifying in feeling Yennefer's interest in particular settle on the both of them, too.

"Not that kind of taking care of. You can help me... deal with any unwelcome stowaways. Unintended creations. If Ronan brings a nightmare creature back with him to the waking world by mistake, he won't be able to ask for our help before he'll need it."

There is an air of satisfaction from Yennefer as Kylo returns the amused smile, enjoying the sense that they both - in many ways - know exactly what the purpose of her, being here, means. Or what it could mean, is perhaps more applicable. Still, Yennefer's eyes fall to Ronan's sleeping face as Kylo explains.

Nightmare creature, Kylo calls it. Unwelcome stowaways. Her curiosity builds as she watches the tranquility of Ronan's expression, of sleep, holding him in some other place. Her understanding of Ronan's dreaming has, until this point, been relatively theoretical. But this room, the feeling of Kylo's magic around them even now, is much more literal.

"These unintended creatures- how often does Ronan bring them back when he wakes?" There is an urge in her to continue to ask questions, to pick apart the way chaos must bend and meld to Ronan's own desire to allow for creation like this. Kylo can probably feel that need to know, despite the nonchalant expression.

At least until her eyes lift up to Kylo again, and that smile of her's curls just a bit more. "Oh, and of course, I am happy to offer assistance. Should you need it."

"Of course."

His fingers drift idly over Ronan's short-cropped hair, eyes fluttering shut for a moment as he lets himself spread beyond the borders of his body just long enough to try and catch a hint of Ronan's dreaming mind— just the shape, the mood of it— but he's still too distant for such a grazing attempt.

"Ronan's only had one such accident since he asked me to watch over his dreaming, and it was while I was otherwise occupied, supervising a dangerous mining operation in the mountains near Hayle. An inanimate nightmare, fortunately. Thousands of swords, suddenly pierced through every surface in our dormitory."

Yennefer watches Kylo focusing, his fingers over Ronan's brow. She can feel something - some shift in the chaos of the room, some attempt at...something. Something that is specifically Kylo's own powers, twinged with the very same feeling that surrounds them both. She can tell he is reaching for something, and that when he speaks again, he hasn't yet found it.

"Only one?" Her eyes drift to Kylo's face, then, a single brow arched not quite quizzically, but close. A room full of swords is a concept she hadn't quite been imagining, when Kylo had described nightmare creatures. But she supposes it isn't all that far off. "I should limit my expectations, then, though I wouldn't mind a new sword." It is woven, somewhere in the intention of her words, that if Kylo has this handled all well and good, why he had bothered to invite her in at all - but her own curiosity most likely would have led her inside whether he'd wanted her there or not. Which, of course, leads her to at least one of the many questions she feels pulling away at her.

"Does he only dream in your office chambers? Or does this enchantment move with you?"

"This is a relatively new development," Kylo explains, indicating the enchantment of the study room with a slight lift of his fingers. "The wards on this room are Kerrick's creation— you may have seen him with me recently. Sign of the High Priestess, one of the mages assigned to my task force. Before we had access to his services, we relied solely on Ronan's own ability to control the content of his dreams... and my ability to take care of any accidents."

It's enough of an answer, really. But, catching a glimpse of Yennefer's unspoken question, he adds:

"It's possible introducing these defenses could have made it easier for Ronan's mind to get... caught on the idea of them. Of what they are for. If he is ever going to slip into fear and bring back a nightmare he will need protection from, this could be the time."

Yennefer nods, her eyes drifting around again as if looking into the enchantment with a new perspective. Kerrick. She's seen him around, just as she's seen most of Kylo's task force - curious native Thorneans under Kylo's direction. Yennefer had been witness to quite a bit of the Thornean magic in the study rooms and among the other mages, so she's not surprised by the level of control around them.

"Was this something Ronan dealt with back home, as well?" It's asked very simply, though there is some more weight to it. Depth to what information she's trying to gather. "Or has this been the Singularity's influence?"

And then, at Kylo's addition to his explanation, Yennefer brightens - almost as if excited by the concept of something happening. She seems to sit up a bit where she's been lounging on the couch. Something to fight, something to do - of course she wouldn't want anything to be born of Ronan's fear, necessarily, but Yennefer has felt more than just a bit stifled since the escape, not quite having a reason to really use magic beyond simple things while she's been working her way through the lower level mages.

"And we certainly wouldn't want anything to escape into the castle." Especially not with what is to come, for her. Kylo can probably sense that - a tilt of anticipation, of Yennefer's mind briefly turning to a meeting set in the near future.

Dreaming something into being is a phenomenon that could go easily unnoticed by the average person. After all, it happens so quickly that it's already over by the time the human eye can register it. But to two magic users, the shift in reality is a tangible thing. The magical energy in the room flickers like electricity during a thunderstorm, a stutter in the Singularity's breath as the dreamer seizes more than rightfully belongs to him.

Ronan's lifeforce flickers, too, as a piece of his soul splinters off to manifest as the object clutched to his chest. It's a simple manila envelope with his own writing scrawled in fat black sharpie across the front: TOP SECRET - DO NOT OPEN!!! It's the only thing he's brought back with him. In spite of Kylo's concern, it seems as though Ronan was comfortable enough in this vulnerable position to avoid conjuring a nightmare.

Ronan is less comfortable now, although his paralyzed body is incapable of expressing that just yet. He's observing this scene at a distance, unhappy to find that he and Kylo aren't alone in this room. Not only is there someone else here, but she's seated very close, and Ronan doesn't like the way she's looking at Kylo. More so than usual, he feels outside of this picture, a prop being discussed by two people who are really just trying to find an excuse to talk to each other, like a painting on the wall.

It's a pity Ronan can't feel the responding swell of pride and pleasure as Kylo finds himself interrupted with Ronan's success— his delight in failing to witness yet again the very moment that Ronan's dream asserts itself on reality the kind of excitement that ought to be expected of a magic trick. Kylo has mastered many kinds of power, but this? He's the opposite of a creator. Ronan's abilities fascinate him.

"Ronan has been dreaming like this his entire life," Kylo murmurs. His fingers curl a loose grip on the dreamer's shoulder, thumb smoothing a possessive caress. His lips pull into a slight smile as he looks Ronan's creation over.

"And it seems we won't be fighting any nightmares today. He can answer your questions himself in a moment, once he's recovered."

She notices the manifestation, she assumes, not even full moments after it's happened - something made of parchment, with large block letters across the top. Compared to the images that Kylo's words had been conjuring, the simplicity of the item catches Yennefer a bit off-guard. Still, there is an excitement in it - in pure creation, in the sensation of something of Ronan - his chaos, or possibly something else - flickering and splintering, in pulling something from nothing at all. It contradicts all that Yennefer had been taught about chaos, and yet when faced with it here, it excites her too. That it's possible, that Ronan can do it so simply.

Yennefer is not aware of the limitations of Ronan's process, of what he can and can't hear or do and for how long. So she is fine to wait, still marveled, still curious, watching the way Kylo's hand curls over Ronan's shoulder. Possessive, present.

"I've never come across anything quite like this." She says - mostly to Kylo, but also making it known her attention has now shifted to Ronan, as well. She's not interested in talking around him, if he can now - or will soon - be present enough for the conversation. "Chaos, from my plane, requires a take before it can give. A balance."

For a dream so small, the remuneration doesn't take long, and Ronan's back in his body only seconds later. He sucks in a breath through his nose and exhales through his teeth, eyes sliding open to examine Kylo first, then Yennefer. From the sneering curl of his lip and the drawn set of his eyebrows, he doesn't look very flattered by all this attention. He looks like a grumpy boy who's woken too early from his nap.

"I missed the question," Ronan mutters. He doesn't have enough strength yet to push Kylo's hand away and sit up, but the urge is there. After all, he wasn't supposed to wake up to a surprise interview, and he has the distinct impression that Kylo's showing him off to impress her more than he's doing it out of any actual pride for Ronan's accomplishments.

The most he can do right now is take his new dream and toss it aside like it's garbage, which he does with a careless flick of his hand.

Kylo's not about to let Ronan shrug him off, no matter how irritable he decides to be about Yennefer's attention. His gaze is steady and unblinking, focused entirely on Ronan's face— though he is watching their guest with different senses.

"No matter," he murmurs. "Yennefer didn't come here to interrogate you about dreaming, Ronan. She wants to know how it works, yes. But that's not why she pushed through the ward to see what was on the other side."

He glances over to her now.

"What game are you playing, to have such a need to know where all the pieces are?"

Yennefer had been prepared to ask the question, at Ronan's comments - noticing the drawn brows and less than enthusiastic tone to his voice. She'd even had a thought on the direction she'd want to take it - asking about Ronan's dreaming, complimenting the story he'd been told about the swords, the nightmare creatures. It would be a process, she assumed, but through it she'd learn what she'd leave here with a little more information, another piece of the puzzle that would help paint the picture she was so painstakingly putting into place. The Singularity's effect on their powers, yes, but more than that.

Except that before the questions can even begin to leave her lips, Kylo speaks for her. Or, rather, not for her, but directing more fully in her direction. When Kylo glances to her, she is watching him in return, her expression a bit more still than it had been moments before.

"I've always found it helps to know where the pieces are for any game you wish to play." The expression that tugs at her mouth is a fraction of a bit tighter, and there is a more pointed glint to her eyes when she meets Kylo's. Yennefer pauses here, watching Kylo with a different sort of look in her eyes. Curious, but hinted with the feeling that she may have an idea as to what might be happening. "Though by assuming I'm playing a game, you must think I have an opponent to play against."

It can be two things, Ronan thinks, although he doubts the real objective is either of the proposed options. Yennefer may be curious and she also might be scheming, but the expression she wore a moment ago told Ronan something Kylo probably hasn't even noticed yet.

The new topic of discussion, however, doesn't interest him in the slightest. He's not suited to plotting and conspiracy — politics being the absolute most boring of all human preoccupations. Deciding not to shove Kylo away after all, Ronan rolls his head back and shuts his eyes as if determined to go back to sleep. But he remains very much awake.

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Singularity Study Sessions

the locked door.

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