[open]

[techmaturgy]

Who: Viktor and special guests and YOU
When: end of January/February pre-event
Where: Cadens, the Horizon
What: it’s canon update time baybe and things have become…weird…
Warnings: potential references to suicidal ideation, and also a manslaughter. arcane season 2 spoilers through episode 6.



[open and closed starters in comments! If you want a custom starter or something specific, just hit me up. Details on the canon update, including new powers are here. I’m on plurk at whitticus and on discord also at whitticus.]

Comments

closed; kyle

[techmaturgy]

[Viktor knows, objectively, that this is a not-uncommon occurrence for the Summoned. That it is a possibility for him to sleep, and experience days or weeks or months or even years worth of time back home, sent to him as an especially vivid dream. He remembers Tony, wandering back into the workshop with new memories and new scars, and together they'd tried to piece together just what, exactly, the Singularity had done. He supposes it was always a possibility, that something like this would happen to him, but as time passed it always felt more abstract, than anything. He should not have let his guard down.

He awakens, slowly. It takes him a moment to come back to himself--to realize that the bed he's in and the room it occupies are both familiar. Viktor brings a hand to his chest and feels that it's warm and pliable, rising and falling as he breathes. The dip in the mattress next to him indicates the presence of another body, and when he looks over to seek Kyle, he realizes what must have happened.

Viktor breathes out. The implications are staggering, of course, but he finds himself too disoriented to make sense of it. Instead, he reaches out into the metaphysical space, the cosmos blossoming in his vision, only to find that he is alone. There are no other minds, no apparition. That in itself is disorienting, too, even if some part of him knows it's the logical conclusion, given the apparent absence of the Hexcore. He remembers where his corporeal feet are in relation to the actual floor, and slips out of bed quietly--Viktor is not so far removed from the physical world that he doesn't remember his crutch, even in this state.

The goal, of course, is to head down to the workshop, hoping that it will ground him further--that he can start to make sense of things. If he's lucky, he won't disturb Kyle as he goes.]

open; horizon

[techmaturgy]

i. orb temple (fine and normal)

[The first indication that, perhaps, something is different, is the state of the ravine. Most visitors to Viktor’s domain are likely accustomed to climbing the rickety metal stairs up the wall, to the overlook, then deeper into the laboratory. Now, the fissures are pleasantly lit, beckoning anyone who wanders in deeper into the gorge. The grotto appears unchanged, but instead of the wooden door leading into an ominous laboratory, there is a new passageway, an opening in the rock. Following the path eventually opens to the bottom of a fissure, light illuminating the cavernous space from above.

At the center is an orb-like structure, a strange mirror of the colossal Hexgate that is visible all the way back at the top of the cliffs. All around are clear pools of water, brought to the surface by enormous pumps with no discernible power source, and unoccupied buildings that seem to serve various purposes—one has an idle forge, another, baskets of supplies. And there are flowers, too, vast swaths of strange yellow blossoms

Perhaps you find him on your own, or perhaps Rio leads you there—Viktor is inside the central greenhouse, looking slightly out of place surrounded by foliage. He’s tending to the largest, most central plant, its large fronds nearly reaching the ceiling of the structure, and it seems he already knows you’re here.]

It’s beautiful, isn’t it?

[The plant. His gaze follows the curve of the leaves upwards, to the circular skylights, apparently not interested in explaining much more about what’s going on here.]

A marvel of bio-magical engineering.

ii. there is also an astral plane

[Or, perhaps you take a step forward only for the ground to dissolve beneath your feat, upending you into a vast expanse of stars. There is no gravity here, no discernible landmarks and no up or down, only the cosmos and what seems to be an endless fractal webbing. If you were expecting a (relatively) normal, corporeal Horizon domain, well. This is not it.]

Don't be alarmed.

[Says Viktor, who appears entirely at home here. He does, however, seem a bit solemn, as if he understands that all of this is very new, especially in comparison to the usual state of his domain.]

I suppose I should explain.

open; cadens

[techmaturgy]

i. the workshop

[Despite everything, the workshop is open. Viktor himself seems to be going through the motions when it comes to dealing with customers, but he does understand that there is still a need for his services between the damage from the earthquake and the relatively new arrivals. His reputation may precede him—if any recent arrival asks about where to go if they want something built or fixed or improved, it’s likely that veteran Summoned will point them in his direction. You might hear of his exploits involving his business, his various innovations, the one time the government raided his lab to seize an illegal experiment. All of that feels very long ago.

The inventor himself is currently perched on a stool, hunched over a worktable piecing together something complicated and delicate. The buzz of the soldering iron in his hand disguises the noise of someone entering, but Viktor is not so absorbed in his work that he doesn't notice. He sets down the tool, momentarily, and pushes his goggles up his forehead. His eyes are strange, shifting through different colors like an oil slick—or maybe it’s just a trick of the light.]

Do you have something for me?

[A project, a request, anything. He needs to busy himself—needs to work.]

ii. sarstina

[Things are beginning to settle in Cadens, though he doubts anything will ever go back to normal, not with the way the Singularity is acting and not when so many of them are still displaced. There’s still no word from the various governments about how they plan to solve this, which is fine by Viktor, because he has enough to handle.

It’s a day or two after he awakens from a new dream of home, with new abilities and a greater understanding of the arcane. His own future had been given to him in fragments, first by the few days’ time by which he and Jayce were separated, and then Violet’s account of the attack on the Council. At the time, Viktor had only been worried about Jayce’s involvement—why would he have been in the room? Now he knows how wrong he was. He may only have dreamed it, but knowing how things progress back home is enough. He needs to find a way to return, even if what awaits him feels more uncertain than ever.

When he goes to the Sarstina in the evening, it’s not to occupy his corner table with a notebook and a mug of hot tea. Viktor makes his way upstairs, all the way up to the roof where he can have some privacy, gazing out over Cadens. He has a scrap of paper in hand, and scrawls something on it before folding it almost reverently.

Set alight, the paper sets aloft as glowing red embers, carried away by the desert wind.]