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ABRAXAS MODS ([personal profile] abraxasmods) wrote in [community profile] abraxaslogs2024-08-15 09:43 am

EVENT #20: ADVENT - IC EVENT LOG

Event #20 - Advent
The Badlands has remained contested territory between Thorne and the Free Cities for many years. During a mediation two years ago, a resolution was attempted but fell apart. The Badlands is valued for being the direct route toward the Singularity...meaning it was only a matter of time before conflict broke out over it.

Early in AUGUST, Thorne and the Free Cities begin to march on the Badlands. The clash is bloody and violent, taking place exclusively on the ground. Although the Free Cities military has its share of firearms, such things are still rare and expensive. Most of the fighting, as expected, makes use of horses, swords, arrows, and - of course - magic.

The territories won't call upon Summoned like yourselves. You are meant for something more important. If you insist on joining the fight, they may approve depending on who you are and what you plan to do. Soon, however, a powerful force emerges, one far bigger than just another clash of swords.
This event draws on a previous event involving the Heralds of War. Knowledge of this past event is not necessary, but you may review the information for added context if you wish!

The consequences of Solvunn's choice in Event #18 occur at the end of the event. The result of this act will be further detailed in the Wrap-Up.
Overture
The return of the Heralds might stir familiarity within some of you. You may recall how they whispered in your ears, planted visions of death, or corrupted the Horizon. This time, although their coming spreads across the land, you as the Summoned are remarkably resistant to the Gods' influences. Newer arrivals might be more susceptible, but those of you who have been here for months or years won't find yourselves afflicted much, if at all...until you start to make your choices.

As the Summoned, certain actions may open you up to vulnerabilities. Everything you do carries a weight. If you experienced the emergent reality, you'll likely have learned that lesson. You're not fully one of the Gods yet, but your connection to the Singularity means the magic that flows through you contains both a great capacity to help others and a cost that comes with it which you must consider.
A Taste of Blood
It begins sometime in mid-August, around the 16th onward. Not everyone will experience it at the same time. You might even believe you're spared until days afterward when you're visited by an unusually vivid dream.

The dream starts the same for everyone: you are going somewhere, anywhere, walking to your bedroom, or enjoying a stroll on the beach. You might be driving down a familiar neighborhood. Wherever you're headed, you find that the world around you shifts. Thin red veins spiderweb across nearby surfaces. As you press on, they become engorged with blood until they form a fleshy tunnel. A light at the end beckons you. You can turn around if you want, but aren't you curious?

If you proceed, you eventually come upon a beating human heart with your Arcana painted in gold. A swarm of large mosquitos quickly encase the heart, sucking it dry. As their abdomens become fat with blood, more and more join the swarm until it becomes a whirlwind of insects that gradually take on a large humanoid shape: bright red with blood with horns bent upwards like a lopsided crescent moon.

This is Zorne of Last Blood, the eldest of the Heralds of War.

The veins are pulled in by the insects, connecting one to the next and holding them in place like latticework of sinew. No longer obscured, the world that surrounds you is bleak and gray. A large sword materializes in Zorne's hand. Holding it aloft, he measures your resolve.
If you have spilled blood, the blade begins to drip with it. The steel beneath glows hot, then begins to harden.
If you have not spilled blood, the blade turns brittle, eventually falling to dust.
Zorne accepts you regardless. He sits down on his simple stone throne, laying the sword against the armrest. His eyes are thinly veiled sockets in a skull made of insects, downcast towards where you stand below his form. A thin layer of red skin stretches across his mouth with every word he speaks.
"The path...has been chosen. The snake has found its tail. Each new age rises from the ashes of its grave. It is...as it always has been."
Zorne holds the sword up again. Behind his throne, you glimpse the rays of a rising sun.
"A sword hardens in the fire. In the darkened hearts of mortals. Destruction heralds purification from madness.

All things end before they begin. Mortals, Gods, the smallest insect. And when it ends...we will be there. I will be there. And you...little godling...must find your place in that end."
The sun reaches its apex. It is blazing and fierce, as though it might soon swallow you in its fury - and then it does.

Do you feel at peace from its cleansing fire? Strengthened by it? Or is it purely unimaginable pain and fear that consumes you?
Zorne's sword measures the blood on your character's hands as perceived by them. A character who took only one important life to save the world may see as much blood on that sword as another who killed many to do the same.
Making Your Choices
Whether you believe Zorne or not, you must still do something, even if that something is nothing. As things unfold before your very eyes, you can decide whether you will aid the Heralds for what you may believe is the greater good, help the individuals you can't deny, or decline any involvement at all.
General Effects
Each territory will have a set of circumstances brought forth by a combination of human actions and the Heralds. Those who experienced the afflictions in the past may recognize that the Heralds never implanted or controled your thoughts. Instead, they showed you visions, whispered in your ear, or coaxed you to indulge the darker impulses that live inside you.

The same effect will take hold of the regular citizens now, whose dispositions play a large role in what the Heralds can influence and how much. This is made most obvious by the fact that children are the least impacted. The younger and the fewer their worries, the less vulnerable they are. Of those who are afflicted, the effect might manifest in ways that are more fitting of a child: dreams of a beloved pet dying, bullying a sibling, or giving in to the desire to steal a toy. Adults who are naturally and genuinely carefree may also fail to be affected by Koth's despair or Adlewyrd's poisonous thoughts.
Vulnerabilities
Your status as the Summoned affords you some protection. The longer you've been in Abraxas, the less open you will be to influence. However, depending on what you do, this might change.
◎ If you choose to counter a Herald's influences, you may inadvertently absorb the affliction's effects or experience a "bleedover" from the person you're helping. The more you do this, the more severe the impact will become. You might also be concerned by the new ability you're exhibiting when countering an affliction. Though the ability is small, you feel its power coursing through you. When you try to call on it outside of aiding others, however, nothing comes. It seems this ability only manifests when interacting with an afflicted individual.

◎ If you choose to enhance a Herald's influences, you may inadvertently absorb their abilities as yours and thus, in turn, spread them toward individuals who are nearby. This could occur deliberately or accidentally, depending on how much you desire to act as an extension of the Herald in your chosen territory.

◎ If you choose to ignore a Herald's influences, you'll receive no effects either way...but you might find it difficult to disregard what's going on around you.
For an OOC explanation of the mechanics regarding being a countering, enhancing, or neutral force, please review the Deciding Your Actions section on the OOC Plotting Post.
Patchwork Horizon
Luckily, the Horizon isn't intent on trapping any of you this time. Its instabilities instead manifest in your own domains. It might revert back to a previous state or older elements might resurface that you thought you got rid of. Or, it may take on transformations from a future version - the domain that you had as a God in the emergent reality. The more you've made yourself vulnerable, the more unstable your experience in the Horizon will become.

Further, these instabilities aren't limited to your domains. Effects from other domains might overwrite yours, or perhaps pieces of your domain are showing up in another's.
◎ For some, it might just be a minor inconvenience. Perhaps your flowers have transplanted onto somebody else's yard across the Horizon or your pet keeps teleporting around to everyone's domains except yours.

◎ For others, the effect might be more troubling. You could find private letters surfacing in a stranger's desk or you might open your closet to find another's buried skeletons.

Anything that ends up in someone else's domain will be missing in yours. Rather than a duplication, the effect is more like a jigsaw or a patchwork quilt. You can put it right, of course, with some concentration - but it's best done with a partner, especially someone who knows your domain well enough to help you reform it.

Setting a domain right will also repair any vulnerabilities its owner might've exposed themselves to, so it's a good idea to try and assist each other. Of course, if your concentration's off, attempts to fix a domain might actually make things worse, so be careful!

Arrival
The sections below will contain more specific prompts to help players jumpstart threads, but you may use the broad descriptions of each Herald's impact here to inspire your own ideas and scenarios.
The First Shadow
The arrival of the Heralds of War is subtle. For many citizens, they might not realize that there is a force exerted throughout the world. Indeed, how much of what happens can be attributed to the Heralds, and how much is simply human nature? That's a question even the Heralds can't and won't answer. They are only here to carry out the same task they have done since the dawn of time, each time a war brews.
Koth, the Kingdome of Thorne
Koth of Festering Lands brings with her death and rot. This affects vegetation, wildlife, livestock, the already dead...and the soul itself. She does not bring literal death to living people - she only brings it to the things around them and within them.
Missing Warship
In Borrel, a naval warship on its way home to resupply goes missing. Led by an experienced captain and with no fighting taking place at sea (surely, even the Free Cities can't sail that quickly toward the western coast), the mysterious disappearance has many concerned. Unfortunately, some mages who attempt a common tracking spell report visions of bloated corpses sunk to the bottom while others dream of drowning, an effect so real they must be shaken awake. Many mages refuse to try the spell again, leaving it in your hands instead.

Each tracking spell can only vaguely locate an individual or a part of the ship, so multiple attempts are necessary. If you're not skilled in magic, you can take a more active role and board a rescue ship off the coast of Borrel. This ship will venture out based on the coordinates according to the spell...but take care: the sailors with you are prone to similar visions of drowning when they look into the blackened depths below. Others claim they see the faces of the dead in the ocean's surface. All of this leads to high tensions amongst the men and women on board.

It'll be possible to rescue a few sailors, but others may be lost entirely. The ship itself appears to have broken into pieces. Survivors report a grotesque undead leviathan that cannot be harmed or killed, though it's difficult to tell if this is true or another hallucination.

Dukewood Lumber Mills
Previously a site of a dangerous rift, the lumber mill in the woods by Nott has since returned to normal. Unfortunately, that ends quickly when the trees begin to rot. Workers report a horrible smell that comes from the trees themselves, and that the normally clear sap has turned into a putrid black-blood substance.

To make matters worse, the rotting stores of food and now the dying trees are putting the workers and locals around Nott under great stress. Thoughts of despair are amplified by both the situation and Koth, leading to higher rates of drinking, which in turn has increased the amount of accidents at the mill, including mismanaged safety protocols and mishandled equipment.

Lumber is of great value during wartime, especially for the construction of naval ships, outposts, and weapons, so Castle Thorne is determined to help restore the trees, as well as calm the workers. You can help with everything from checking equipment to ensure they're safe, searching for any missing mill workers, providing first aid where necessary, or confronting beasts that might've been disturbed by all the commotion.
If you happen to fall under Koth's sway, you might also see the dead when looking into the waters as you rescue the other sailors. The bodies might reflect something you fear or they may be a reminder of a death that's already passed. You could also sink into despair or experience haunting dreams as you try to help another recover from their hopelessness.
Adlewyrd, the Free Cities
Adlewyrd of Poisoned Tongues brings with them words that poison the heart and mind. This affects thoughts and emotions, a slow and subtle influence that spreads.
Untold Secrets
In Libertas, where underground networks thrive, sudden slips of the tongue, rising tempers, and impulsive actions have caused the black market to collapse into disarray. Between power struggles, accusations of betrayals, and missing transactions, the violence has spilled into the open.

Preoccupied with the battle, the number of guards and soldiers keeping order is reduced. Venturing into Libertas can be dangerous and those who live there, including artists and orphans, are struggling to go about their day-to-day without disruption. You can help calm tempers or break up fights...or maybe, if you're a bit more vulnerable to the influences yourself, you might become drawn into the chaos yourself.

Because of the limited number of hands, the Summoned are allowed to make an arrest, but you must bring the culprit to a guard outpost for formal processing. Taking matters into your own hands too severely can lead to scrutiny. Given the circumstances, however, a bit of non-fatal violence will be overlooked, especially if it takes place in the darker corners of Libertas.

You don't have to enforce the law, though. In Libertas, this enforcement is rather loose, anyway. Instead, you can mediate as a neutral party, take advantage to make a deal of your own, or simply offer your services to fill in any gaps that might've occurred in these networks. This could involve more illicit activities like transporting underground goods or something more above-board like searching for a missing person. Just be sure you don't draw too much attention if you're acting outside the law.

The Red Path
Previously a site of a dangerous rift, the scenic Red Path leading between Cadens and Libertas has since been restored. Unfortunately, that ends quickly when conflicting reports cause an accident involving merchant wagons carrying silk, spices, and wine. Some claim the merchants are spies while others insist they were bandits in disguise.

Regardless, the accident leads to several fatalities and disturbs a monster nest: that of the dangerous Copper Spine Wyvern. It also draws swarms of hungry Kaskadura, the latter of which are lured by the corpses. While not normally aggressive towards the healthy and living, the Kaskadura seem to be in a frenzy and will bite just about anyone they see - and there's a lot of them, gathering over the area like a black cloud.

To make matters worse, a clerical error has slowed down the cleanup and identification process. If you're not inclined to fight monsters or locate missing bodies, you can help at Portam Hall to manually match names to surviving family members, as well as locate said family members to deliver the somber news. As for Portam Hall, the main hub of government activity might not be under threat from beasts, but isn't calm, either. Gossip, secrets, and missing paperwork plague the various departments and offices.
If you happen to fall under Adlewyrd's sway, you might read too deeply into an innocent comment or mishear a remark that raises your ire, leading you to snap wrongly at a friend or attack an innocent. You might also give into lurking temptations that surface as you try to help others overcome their dark desires.
Sannleikr, the Solvunn Commune
Sannleikr of Many Faces brings with him deception of the soul. This affects faces and minds, causing appearances to become distorted, untrustworthy, or altogether unrecognizable.
Lost Herders
In the Secondary Settlement, a woman named Eydis has lost her prized herding dogs and her flock of sheep. They left one morning as usual to herd the sheep out to graze and never returned. She worries that rumors of livestock sprouting teeth are true and will harm her dogs. She isn't the only one, either. Several other sheep and goat herders have claimed their dogs and flocks have gone missing, too.

The dogs themselves have scattered across Solvunn. There are roughly a dozen dogs and several flocks that failed to return home. Should you run into any livestock, it would appear the rumors are indeed true: the normally fluffy sheep have grown wicked claws or horns while the goats bear their sharp fangs. Despite their fearsome appearance, however, they are not aggressive except when frightened. Keep them calm when herding them lest you provoke them to bite or claw.

As for the dogs, some might be wounded while others will growl at you. They don't recognize familiar toys or faces and will attempt to run away or behave apprehensively. You can use any abilities or techniques you have on hand to try and bring them home. After all, the Solvunn woods are dangerous, and there are many creatures within those dense trees that will strike.

Living Statues
Previously a site of a dangerous rift, the Feintak Ritual Site, located just outside the Primary Settlement, has since returned to normal. Unfortunately, that ends quickly when confused citizens of the Commune begin to wander toward the area at night in search of their "missing" loved ones.

Unable to recognize familiar faces, some begin to see those faces imposed upon the statues at the site instead. You can find children playing with their "mother" or an elderly widow spending time with a "relative." While this would be disturbing enough on its own, the sacred area contains an ancient magic that, should any missteps occur, could be released into the world and spell disaster.

The Council has asked the Summoned to help bring home the lost folk of the Feintak site. They must be guided gently, as any negative energy could be absorbed by the dark power that lives in the earth and the statues. Victims of the affliction might become frightened of you or fail to recognize you even if you've been neighbors for months or years, making your task more difficult.
If you happen to fall under Sannleikr's sway, you might also begin to see faces in the statues at Feintak and forget the real figures around you. The faces might be friendly or they could be adversarial - an enemy or a source of shame. You may also see a twisted reflection of yourself in the mirror, representing something you've been trying to hide from.
The Final Coming
Zorne first spoke to you in your dreams, but his presence is noticeably absent for the first few days. Then, one week later, after one of the most fierce and bloody battles in the Badlands in recent history, a red sun rises over Abraxas. The morning's dawn is cast in a red glow across the territories.

If you met Zorne in your dream, you may recognize this very sun. You remember feeling its heat over your skin and the emotions it stirred in you, whichever they might've been.

By noon, the blood-red hue will fade...but Zorne's coming has only begun.
The Last Affliction
Unrestricted, Zorne's influence travels across the land and joins forces with his siblings.

The Badlands
Forces from the Free Cities introduce a new prototype to the war: a semi-automonous suit of armor armed with a piece of technology derived from something that came through the rifts: a unique firearm that launches explosive discs imbued with New Magic.

The weapon's destructive capabilities wreck havoc on both people and the environment...inadvertently setting loose yet another creature of the rift - the swamp-like creature that researchers had been studying in the Badlands before the war broke out. Its giant mouth is lined with numerous teeth. Its breath can paralyze, blind, poison, and weaken anyone caught in it.

The morbol will move toward the borders of each territory throughout the event, so the Summoned in all locations can encounter it when arriving at the front lines to deliver medicine, supplies, or news. Zorne's influence appears to prevent it from dying. When killed, it respawns in another location - sometimes miles away.

Forging the Soul
Zorne's influence can affect those who are already under the effect of one of the other three Heralds. A shopkeeper angry about a misspoken rumor might begin to have disturbing and violent dreams of confronting the offending gossiper. A soldier who sees his death at the hands of another may start to feel the urge to kill first before his turn comes.

Aggressive wildlife will begin to invade city borders. While most are stopped or killed before they enter a major city, one or two predators might slip through. Trade routes are disrupted. Nearly all caravans are halted except the most critical transports. Hunters and farmers begin to report disturbing sights of deer scavenging on corpses or butterflies biting as mosquitos do.

You, too, may experience similar dreams or desires if you've allowed yourself to become too vulnerable or exposed to the Heralds. The more you entertain such thoughts or let your guard down, the harder they become to ignore. As you move through your days, surrounded by turmoil and conflict, you may have to ask yourself if you're as above it all as you first thought.

And what about your friends? Your neighbors? After all, you might associate frequently with the other Summoned, but you've made connections with the native population, too. Perhaps the kindly innkeeper is now treating you with a suspicion she didn't used to exhibit. Maybe you hear that the baker across the street, who once offered you free sweet rolls, has been gravely injured by his own son.

As Zorne said, this is about forging peace through madness - or so the Heralds believe. Maybe, in the pandemonium and bloodshed around you, you begin to understand something important about yourself, your friends, or the world.
Beyond the Heralds
It's tough to deny that even without the Heralds, this conflict would be ongoing regardless. Neither Thorne nor the Free Cities has demonstrated any desire for peace. Solvunn seems to be considering their role, as well. Despite the war, life must continue for Abraxans: parents have mouths to feed, farmers have fields to sow, and professors continue to lecture and hold classes while they're able.

As the Summoned, you can engage in any of these elements. You can agree to take notes for a fellow student who's suffered an unfortunate attack after being mistaken for someone else. You could babysit for households who need an extra hand while their partner has been sent to fight. You can pack medicine, offer healing abilities, or bring supplies to units stationed by the Badlands.

You can also take on acts of diplomacy. This is not restricted to communicating with the leaders of your territory. Both Nocwich and the Nether have a relationship with the Summoned, which is something you can utilize. You might have to begin by sending a letter instead of meeting them directly, but if you're determined to find a peaceful solution, it's worth trying.
Individualized actions are entirely possible! We will discuss it on a case-by-case basis. You can SUBMIT YOUR REQUEST by replying to the comment with the form.

Please have a concrete goal in mind and try to keep your requests concise. We will do our best to accommodate everyone, but we may have to ask that you hold the request for after the event or ask you to revise it, depending on what you've submitted.

Departure
When the Heralds withdraw, it's quiet and as difficult to notice as their arrival. Did they vanish near the end of one of the battles? Did they leave days ago, the seeds they sowed flourishing without further intervention?

For the Summoned, it may be a bit easier to tell. Steadily, as the month comes to a close, the Horizon begins to stabilize once more. If you have been countering the Heralds, you find your ability no longer triggers, even if there remain those around you who behave as though they are still being influenced. You suppose it's fair to remember that the Heralds don't need to exert their powers for people to behave as they do.

The battle in the Badlands continues to wage...but on AUGUST 30, Thorne's troops receive abrupt orders to return home. It appears that, while the kingdom's forces were occupied on land, her naval warships were dealt a serious blow, handing a sudden victory to the Free Cities - but not by who you might predict.
The Hands of Solvunn
Solvunn has often refused to pledge for one side or another. The Council maintains that they are devoted to protecting their commune and their way of life, nothing more. They certainly have no army or weapons to speak of. Their disinterest in the Badlands conflict is expected, and neither Thorne nor the Free Cities consider it unusual that Solvunn has remained isolated.

What you might've wondered, however, is this: why have the Heralds visited Solvunn twice now when they spare genuinely neutral lands like Nocwich and the Nether?
A Guiding Light
After Thorne's retreat, news begins to travel. It moves through Solvunn and Thorne first, eventually reaching the Free Cities. Multiple stories surface about the sea in Borrel, not about the storm wall or Koth, but something else - a mysterious lighthouse and a thick fog that's obscured the waters for days.

Survivors of one destroyed warship, The Queen's Secret, return telling tale of a light that beckoned them during a heavy storm. But the lighthouse keepers in the western sea swear they saw no ships come their way. The ship itself seems to have crashed into a massive sea stack that should've been easily avoidable. What lighthouse could have drawn them near?

Over the next few days, this happens again and again. Sailors looking out from shore confirm that they can indeed see the flickering beam of a lighthouse. It stands proudly in a spot where no lighthouse was ever built.

Then, on the final day, the lighthouse moves.
Blessings Granted
Citizens gather seaside despite sailors and guards ashore attempting to send them home. They watch as a naval officer and his men are sent to investigate. As the lighthouse grows brighter, its hypnotic pulse begins to pull others forward. Fishermen and noblemen set sail on their own civilian ships. Sailors of the Royal Navy break rank and order, as if under a powerful compulsion, and set forth in Thorne's prized warships. One by one, ships big and small pull out of the harbor in the dead of night.

Witnesses report strange limbs emerging from the base of the lighthouse. The limbs do not strike or attack. Rather, they open up like a waiting embrace. They gently accept each vessel that sails towards the light. Then they enfold the ship and pull it down into the depths. To onlookers, it's a silent but horrifying affair. Each ship disappears until only bits of wreckage are washed ashore the following morning.

A surprising number survive by abandoning ship, though some captains choose to go down with their vessel. Having made a crippling dent in Thorne's Royal Navy, the lighthouse vanishes. Back on shore in the Tertiary Settlement, the storm wall finally vanishes.

The incident above will lead a few changes in Solvunn and to the borders of the Badlands. We'll detail those changes in the Wrap-Up!


bealufull: (yd8khGu)

Kaz Brekker | Grishaverse | Free Cities

[personal profile] bealufull 2024-08-16 12:26 pm (UTC)(link)
[ open starters beneath. if looking for anything individual or for plotting [plurk.com profile] mythotica ]
bealufull: (YuL0nWY)

Free Cities

[personal profile] bealufull 2024-08-16 12:59 pm (UTC)(link)
A tunnel of flesh and beings borne of blood would have, at one time, been Kaz's undoing. That was before years of working through his phobia, his own personal affliction, with Jesper. It was before a time when he had left all of that behind to emerge as something new. He may remember it all now, but he remembers as well what he's fighting for.

For him a sword dripping with blood is indicative of more than the blood he's spilled, never once questioning the damage he's done by his own hands or directing the hands of others. Yet he stands strong, forcing himself beneath the gaze of this eldritch being to hold that bizarre gaze. Waking doesn't leave him in a panic but with a chest right with something so much worse. Hope that all he's working towards can truly become reality.

In the days after the nightmare, Kaz turns his attention to listening in on the conversation of others as he begins to realize he wasn't the only one with that image seemingly burned into their mind. Subtle as he can be he isn't even trying to hide his interest whether it's at Mags' place, Portam Hall, or various places throughout the city, there is nothing hiding that Kaz's interest is piqued. His appetite for information and the power it yields has only grown in recent months.

While exploring, Kaz can't help but hear other conversations. Bickering and harsh words, fights spilling out into the streets of words if not fists. Accusations of lies, betrayal, and the more he hears, the more it draws on that which holds his thoughts the most. Stepping in on a fight between two merchants, head high and bearing as regal as it might ever have been in that time when he was more than he is now, Kaz's words are soft but firm, an energy to them as he twists a gift he had gained early on from mockery to cutting words to use that magic to mimic the affliction of his godly state.

Yet he feels something in that moment, something familiar welling up within him. Memories of anger and pain, of a betrayal against him, and that time when he was new here and he hadn't known where he stood. It's those memories and that pain that draws him away from searching for answers and instead sends him to where he needs to be most.
bealufull: (YnOrqQU)

Horizon

[personal profile] bealufull 2024-08-16 01:09 pm (UTC)(link)
The memories and that power still seem to burn through him, sharp words lying heavy on the tip of Kaz's tongue when he seeks the Horizon and the magic there. It bolsters him in ways only one other seems capable of and it's why he seeks the Crow Club.

The sound of the chips, of the voices that aren't real but ebb and flow around him as he gets a drink and settles in at the bar. There's a peace in the noise of the casino, one that should remind me of the man he had been and not who he has become but that he still finds strength in. It represents all he can accomplish, no matter the odds. Whether that is an empire back home, or lounging about as gods with Jesper and Mat. It's a reminder of the man he will always be at his core, because being anything less will mean losing it all.

He hears someone approaching, a different sound than those that populate the club because of Jesper and Kaz's efforts.

"Can I get you a drink?"

It's only later during the month that he goes further than the main floor of the club to his office. Climbing the stairs, no pain here as there is when he does it physically in his original world, but the limp remains even in this realm without his physical body.

He opens the door and finds nothing. The door opens to possibility and magic and no room with his notes and maps and journals. All he's hidden away in his place of his life before. Their maps of this place are in their apartment, but this office had been everything of his life in Ketterdam and it's... just gone.

After tracing his steps, making sure he focuses and that it's nothing he nor Jesper have changed, he finds himself tearing apart the club as if he could find the pieces lost in that room. He ventures out from their horizon space, finding himself in other's domains as if he could find the office transplanted whole somewhere else.

It's reminding him of the talks he'd had after the emergence about not having to forget the past to move on, but had he done this? Had he banished all he had been in an attempt to become something more? The thought leaves him agitated to say the least. More so than the nightmares of blood and flesh tunnels had, oddly enough.
a_better_man: (d!mat really don't like this)

[personal profile] a_better_man 2024-08-18 09:10 pm (UTC)(link)
It's one thing when madness takes hold in the waking world. It's awful, usually, but it's real and physical and can be dealt with.

When said madness infects the Horizon...well that's another bucket of fish entirely. Mat's domain is his sanctuary, his sacred place. In this place, he controls everything. No one can take that away from him.

Except for now, when he's struggling to keep pieces of his domain together. A whole damned cave is gone. There's bits and bobs he doesn't recognize here and there, missing parts of other people's domains. This is chaos, and he hates it. Things seem mostly stable for the moment, and he's having a rest on a marbled, crystal-like boulder, smoking a pipe. Gizmo is seated beside him, holding a Mogwai-sized parasol to keep the light off of him. The little creature looks as displeased as his human companion about the state of the Horizon.

The pair are well placed to spot their visitor. He lifts his hand to his...whatever the hell Kaz is to him, there's no quick and easy title, and pitches his voice loudly.

"Well enough met, Kaz! Watch where you step, bits of the landscape currently have a habit of fucking right off."
bealufull: (yvwYPrL)

[personal profile] bealufull 2024-08-19 02:39 pm (UTC)(link)
He didn't think he would find what he was looking for in Mat's domain, he still found himself wandering his way there. Everything was still so nebulous since their time in the future and he couldn't say just how he felt, but he knew that he trusted Mat even after their rocky start. Or maybe because of it given who the fight had been over.

"Mat." He manages a tight look that is more smile than anything. It's still not an easy motion for him. "I had... I'm having much the same issue. As in a large part of the club is just gone. The door to my office opens to a fall that would have reminded me of an injury in the past. "And another broken leg is not something he's interested in.

His gaze goes to Gizmo for a moment. "Not a fan of the sun, hmmm?" Not even knowing the half of it, just unable to help himself. At least he's attempting at easiness in that moment.
a_better_man: (d!mat who me)

[personal profile] a_better_man 2024-08-22 11:39 pm (UTC)(link)
"It's utter madness, I'm afraid, and I do not enjoy it. I do not enjoy it at all, my friend."

Mat shakes his head. He's worked so hard for control, and even here, he finds it taken from him. To say it's frustrating would be to put it mildly. Moreso, to hear Kaz is suffering the same problems.

Gizmo makes a few burbling noises of agreement.

"Yeah, he and sunlight do not get on well. But he has his charming wee parasol for that." He knows he could change that, but it feels wrong. While yes, technically, the little creature is a figment of magic and mind. But he's real, and exists independently of his creators.

"Come on, sit a spell. Little else we can do, it seems."
bealufull: (x1PDZcl)

[personal profile] bealufull 2024-08-23 02:52 am (UTC)(link)
"Well look at that," he says, stepping in closer to peer around at how things have ended up for Mat. "You and I having something in common, because I hate it too. Everything of my life before was in that room."

And he knows there's a statement there about his life here and talks he and Jesper have had about leaving that behind, but that doesn't mean he actually was ready to do that.

His attention comes back to the little creature, eyes narrowing slightly as he realizes that it very likely was answering his statement. Huh.

He comes over to settle in on the crystal near Mat but giving him space, still testing things between them but finding that this feels right to come and find him, to talk with him about this.

"So, what is it?" He gestures at Gizmo. "Are they something native here?"
a_better_man: (d!mat count on me)

[personal profile] a_better_man 2024-09-01 10:32 pm (UTC)(link)
"It'll come back, I'm sure. Things usually do."

Mayhap not till things settle back down, but Mat has faith they will. Always have before, and one can argue this is nothing they haven't dealt with before.

"Gizmo? Nah, he's a mogwai. They come from some other world, a friend gave him to me. She knows I like animals and creatures I've never seen before. Got quite a few from folks running around, but Gizmo here..."

The mogwai turns his head at his name, fixing big eyes on Mat and Kaz.

"He's less an animal and more a very fuzzy and long eared little friend. He understands us just fine, says some words himself, he can play music and all sorts of things. And he does not enjoy our current circumstances, either."
bealufull: (Default)

[personal profile] bealufull 2024-09-03 01:38 pm (UTC)(link)
He's quiet a moment, thinking of something he might not normally put into words, but then he just lets himself say it.

"Do you ever wish they wouldn't?"

It's a stupid thing to say given they can change and reshape things at their whim, but there's a difference between the ability to do it and the strength to let go at the same time. Letting go has never been Kaz's strong suit. Banishing and hating certainly, but certain things he is too tenacious with. His past in Ketterdam is the replacement for the years of revenge and hatred that had fueled him for so long.

"Gizmo."

He repeats the name, shifting slightly to consider the creature a bit more closely. "Interesting little thing," he admits softly. "We have some unique beings in our world, I would say by how few of them their are, but nothing like this. Not that I paid much attention to them."

He had heard legends but nothing small and cute and able to communicate. "You like animals then? If he and the other count as animals?"

He knows so little about Mat and he needs to change that, he knows.
a_better_man: (d!mat who me)

[personal profile] a_better_man 2024-09-05 01:20 am (UTC)(link)
"Wouldn't what? Come back?" Mat shrugs. "No. This place is the only place in all of anywhere that's only mine. I've got control of everything - usually. All that exists here is what I want and what I put here or let be put here."

And that's important. He hasn't recreated anything here, he's made it all from his own mind. It shifts and changes according to his whims and fancies. He is still, in a way, a god in his own domain.

He's curious what prompted the question. He doesn't know Kaz well enough to discern it himself.

"Then again, I can just make anything over again. Or something different, if I want. Mine bit here's always changing anyhow. But yeah, I like animals. That's why there's so many about, though many are keeping themselves metaphorically close to ground. Too much upset, it unnerves them."

And they are more animalistic than Gizmo, who thinks much like a person does and has a greater understanding of things.
bealufull: (ylBLTAw)

[personal profile] bealufull 2024-09-09 12:24 pm (UTC)(link)
Kaz nods at that, because it makes sense. It's why he'd done all he had with the office, changing those things that Jesper wouldn't have known, put in the secrets and notes and items that were all that existed in this world of Dirtyhands.

And then, over the years, he'd paid them less attention, moving into his new life. Until they were gone and now he finds himself caught more between who he had been and who he is now more than ever.

"All that is missing from ours is my office. Nothing in it is of this world. It's purely Ketterdam. From the maps on the wall down to the last knot in the boards on the floor. It is literally everything of the Bastard of the Barrel," he says with a flat sound that is a laugh and literally nothing of that sound either. "Who I knew didn't exist here but I hadn't realized how much I had let go of him as well."

It's more than he's shared with anyone but Jesper in this world. It feels weird and yet not wrong. Even if it's likely more than Mat wants to be dumped on him, but at least with Mat he doesn't worry about him taking it wrong or coddling him. Maybe because of their beginnings, but likely more because of the future.

"Understandable. This is their home more than it is even to you and not right they're screwing with them." Bad enough they were screwing with the people that they brought to this place. "You think when they leave again it'll set itself right?"
a_better_man: (d!mat count on me)

[personal profile] a_better_man 2024-09-12 02:32 am (UTC)(link)
"It's funny, sometimes, what we keep with us and what we leave behind. Metaphorically speaking and all." Mat isn't much of a philosopher, but he's not an idiot. He understands some things about the mind and the heart and all of that stuff.

"But this place can be good for that. You can call things to be and unmake them as you please, many times as you want. See how you feel."

Sometimes it helps, or at least it helps him. And he doesn't mind Kaz opening up some, sharing a bit of himself. They ought to be doing that.

"I think it will. It's them that's doing it. And it's gotten all fucked up here before, on account of gods or strange magic, and it goes back mostly all right after that's all taken care of."

Or just goes away.
bealufull: (x1PDZcl)

[personal profile] bealufull 2024-09-14 08:18 pm (UTC)(link)
"I don't think I thought about it until I went to to find the office and nearly fell, but I really have left so much behind."

He lives his life here, not thinking about Ketterdam much at all in the years he's been in the Free Cities. He thinks of the people often, but not the life he'd once led. It's like another man, especially as he focuses on trying to find the future here that he'd experienced for that short time. That they had. Together.

"Maybe that's what I'll have to do if it comes back. So I can decide if I want to redo it all, or keep that it as my own link back to who I was."

Or maybe, just maybe, let it all go. Like he's talked to about letting himself have the freedoms he did in the future.

He's quiet a moment before truly feeling he was opening himself up to anyone even a tiny bit as much as he is open to Jesper.

"I miss that life we had. With all of us."
a_better_man: (d!mat count on me)

[personal profile] a_better_man 2024-09-15 02:25 am (UTC)(link)
"Hey..."

They can revisit the first bit of that later, right now Mat wants to focus on the last thing Kaz has said. He scoots over, stretching out a hand in a request to cover the other man's in companionable comfort.

"You don't have to miss it that much. I'm here. You're here. Jes is here. The most important parts are still right here."

That much he's certain of. The key elements were the three of them, and they still remember and hold those memories and that time with them. It's not really gone, it's just...changed. Different, but that's the nature of life. Things change.

Even in that future, they'd changed.
bealufull: (YuL0nWY)

[personal profile] bealufull 2024-09-19 12:26 pm (UTC)(link)
If it had been anyone else, that would have been it and Kaz would have made his excuses and pushed himself back to his body and wake up. Even if it was in the Horizon and not truly physical contact, it was enough for him. Especially with all the hours he's been spending there, working to find not only answers but strengthen his connection to the Singularity.

Yet it's Mat. Mat who he barely knows and yet cares for more than almost anyone in this world and Ketterdam.

He wears no glove in the Horizon, and after a moment's hesitation he slides his bare hand into Mat's grip.

"I knew being an absolute ass to you would get me what I wanted," he says, entirely deadpan and without barely a hint of a smile. Because it's easy now to make jokes about the first things that Kaz had ever said to Mat. Especially now. "Though, you know, if we tell Jesper about this he might actually combust."
a_better_man: (d!mat count on me)

[personal profile] a_better_man 2024-09-24 12:22 am (UTC)(link)
"You're just lucky I'm so used to assholes that it didn't put me off!"

Mat only grins in the face of Kaz's straight faced humor. He's more happy about the fact that the other man accepted his offer of physical comfort. He's not an idiot, he knows that's a rare gift indeed.

"Oh, I think he'd be too thrilled to combust, he'll want to enjoy this. It was a regret of his, I know, that you and I didn't used to get on. But it was just a messy situation, and we both are men that dig our feet in."

It's all water under the bridge as far as he's concerned. Done and over with. It's not as though Kaz's anger, at the time, was wholly unjustified.
bealufull: (ySe2hbd)

[personal profile] bealufull 2024-09-26 02:04 pm (UTC)(link)
"What a fun life you must have led to not write me off entirely," he admits with a soft twist of his lips at that. Smiles are still odd to him but they're more common than they've ever been.

He suspects words aren't needed, and apologies aren't really something he's good with but it feels as if that moment needs more as his fingers squeeze slightly against Mat's.

"I understand you looking to protect others. I've only ever protected mine, and that means by any means necessary for those that I've collected." Mat had hurt Jesper. That was all that Kaz needed to know to attack. "I can't say I don't still think he's worth whatever it takes, but I understand your position even if I didn't like it at the time."

It was practically sorry and asking for forgiveness in Kaz's life.
a_better_man: (d!mat who me)

[personal profile] a_better_man 2024-09-26 09:39 pm (UTC)(link)
No, apologies aren't needed.

But it's probably a good idea to at least talk about the whole thing, calmly and with fondness between them.

"I understand. I...don't have the best history, with effectively protecting the people I care about," Mat admits. It's not something he talks about, barely even got into it with Jesper. He understands, though, that when someone like Kaz opens up and shares a bit of themselves, it's fair and right to do the same.

"In fact...and I'd like to state now that he's fine, he got better, but...back home, I accidentally killed my best friend. Again, he is perfectly well now. It lasted maybe five minutes, ten tops. But not everyone is going to be that lucky, should something like that happen again."

His fear of hurting the people he loves isn't born from nothing. He has hurt the people he loves, unintentionally, time and time again.

"We're both just trying to keep the man we love safe. Just in different ways."
bealufull: (YnOrqQU)

[personal profile] bealufull 2024-09-30 02:27 pm (UTC)(link)
It's not funny. There is nothing that should be funny because he's talking about someone dying. At his own hand, apparently, and yet how he reassures Kaz that it's no big deal because, in the long run, he lived, and he can't help himself.

It's a raw sound, something rough and squeaky, a sound made from muscles unused to making that sound but he can't help himself.

"Oh, well. I mean, if it wasn't more than ten minutes..."

Though he holds tighter to Mat's hand, turning a bit to face him more fully as his expression sobers.

"If you want, I can order you not to screw up like that again but I doubt it will work as well as it does with Jesper. And I'm not laughing at your loss. I know the things I have done over loss, and your actions are protecting others. Just so long as you don't keep him... or me... at arms length over it. Because next time I will storm an entire city and start a war to fix things. I spent nearly ten years exacting my revenge on one man and in the process ruined countless others. Don't think I'm not capable of it."
a_better_man: (d!mat count on me)

[personal profile] a_better_man 2024-10-06 12:00 am (UTC)(link)
Mat laughs in turn.

"It really was, we were lucky enough to count one of the greatest healers in the world as a friend. Fixed him right up, thank the Light."

Still. He's not going to ever forget those moments between, holding Rand in his arms as the other man bled out. His own knife in his chest.

He shakes the memory away, keeping himself grounded in the present and focusing on Kaz.

"I won't. I know better. And I am working hard on controlling my powers. I've gotten better. But I am afraid I am a man very ruled by his feelings, and my magic is the sort that reacts to strong feelings."

At least he's more prone to freeze things or shroud them in shadows then blow them up. He's only ever blown anything up once, and it was a very small explosion.
bealufull: (ySe2hbd)

[personal profile] bealufull 2024-10-08 12:17 pm (UTC)(link)
"I think we all live on by those we keep near. I know I wouldn't have gotten where I did without those I kept by my side. Not always sure they felt the same but then that hadn't mattered at that time."

But as time had gone on, he knew he needed them as much as they might need him. The difference had hit realizing those he wanted in his life... and that he was there before they wanted him there, not because they needed him.

"I lived a lot of years only ever letting others see one emotion from me. Anger. No, that's not true. I showed disappointment a lot. Nothing else though. Even if everything I did was based in emotions. I understand that better than I want most to know. The one thing I did learn from Jesper and the others? Something I should probably let him know, though he probably already does? I only came out on the other side of that pain with my humanity kind of intact because of them. He's why I became a new man here as well."

He pauses, maybe a face as if the thought he's had is that distasteful. "Maybe I should one day tell him that."
erosive: i'm a soldier not a thief (pic#16676204)

[personal profile] erosive 2024-08-30 06:26 am (UTC)(link)
It's impossible not to know where she is. Although she's only visited the Crow Club once, Ketterdam has a certain taste in the air that's impossible to forget. The sounds of the club fall sharply upon her ears; she's never liked being in such suffocating establishments where the air feels thin and overly hot, but she makes do, understanding that this isn't real. This is not Ketterdam, not really.

But it's close to home, even though Kerch will never be home to any Grisha.

She glides through the throng of patrons to the bar, where she recognises a tall, thin man.

So he's truly here. (No, she hadn't believed Nikolai lied.)

Taking a seat at the bar, Zoya drums her nails against the countertop and smiles. "The Dirtyhands wishes to make me a drink? I'd prefer it from someone else."

This is 'hello' in Zoya Speak.
bealufull: (YuL0nWY)

[personal profile] bealufull 2024-09-03 12:43 pm (UTC)(link)
Zoya isn't the only one that had heard of the presence of another from their world. Jesper had made sure he knew Zoya was there and then, recently, Nikolai had made mention of her feelings about the gifts this place had given him.

"Now is that truly fair? I haven't poisoned anyone in months," he says, as if he's poisoned anyone at all. At least not here in this place. "Besides, there's never been anyone in this city by that name. He is a product of the Barrel and we're a very long way away from there."

It's odd even hearing the name now. He hadn't thought about it until hearing someone speak the name for which his newest tattoo on his shoulder blade is based.