EVENT #7: THE SIGHT

[abraxasmods]

Event #7 - The Sight

go to the OOC event info and plotting post

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The night before APRIL 18, your dreams are disrupted by a vivid image of the same eclipse that occurred last month. The black sun seems to be an endless void in the sky, growing ever darker - until it suddenly opens into an eye that stares straight at you.

When you wake up, much of your night seems a blur except for the vivid dream of that eye. Whether you find it unsettling or try to ignore it, the image is something you cannot get out of your mind. If you ask, you will discover that none of the locals of your faction saw another eclipse. Speak with your fellow Summoned, however, and you may learn that while there was no eclipse that formed over the world, you were not the only one who had this dream.

Of course, dreams don't need to mean anything. You can't feel or see any immediate effects, and nearly everyone around you is going about their day as usual. Maybe you should do the same.

The Awakening

It might happen that very morning or a day or two later. You could be discussing the dream with a fellow Summoned or perhaps you simply brush shoulders with them as you walk by. Whatever it is, as soon as you make brief physical contact, one of you is struck with a sharp pain in your temple that grows into a terrible headache. It's disorienting and painful as the world around you shifts to someplace you may or may not recognize. Like an old film reel, you watch the events of the past play out before you: the past of the other Summmoned. It might be something they would rather hide, a moment of failure or despair, or something they are immensely proud of and brings them great joy - or even a jumble of several images over the course of a person's life. But you see it as if it were real and right in front of you all the same. When you come to, you'll likely find yourself on the ground or bent over, possibly with one or more people around you to see if you're okay. It'll take you a bit to gather your bearings, and the subsequent pounding in your head could last from minutes to hours.

Or, maybe you aren't the one who receives the vision. Instead, as you watch, another Summoned might grasp their head and crumble in front of you. They may go silent or groan in pain. They'll be impossible to shake out of their stupor until it's over. If you ask what happened, they may be inclined to tell you the truth - that you, you were what happened to them.

Or, if your Arcana signs happen to line up in a specific way, you'll see each other in the shared memory itself. You may also find that for certain Summoned, you can help soothe the effects, calm their emotions, or help draw them out of the memory before it consumes them for too long. It's not entirely clear what determines which effect, but one thing is for certain - within each memory, every Summoned as they appear in the past seems to wear the mark of their Arcana somewhere on their person.

For some, they might experience this only once. For others, they might experience it multiple times: with the same person, with several other Summoned, or with a different memory each time. Over the next 7 days, you'll find the Summoned around you are all receiving a glimpse into each other's past, as if the Singularity has awoken an eye within each of you.

Flee for the safety of the Horizon if you want, but you'll find that in there, it's much the same. In fact, inside the Horizon, the other Summoned don't even need to be anywhere near you - just existing in the Horizon space itself together will be enough to possibly set off a headache-inducing vision.

The Factions

What has occurred between the Summoned will not go unnoticed within the factions. While it's difficult to say how faction officials have picked up what's happening, it'll be obvious they do know.

In THORNE, characters will be asked to remain in the castle walls until further notice. Characters will not be allowed to leave the castle grounds, not even to go into the surrounding city, and anyone who is already outside will be requested to not leave again as soon as they return. If asked, they will be told it's for their own safety, given the Singularity is behaving unpredictably and the Summoned have a unique connection to it. Soothing potions and healers are on hand to offer assistance, if anyone is particularly suffering from ill effects.

In the FREE CITIES, characters will find the army by the outposts show more activity than usual. A higher number of guards will patrol the streets throughout the event, particularly in areas frequented by the Summoned. Anyone who publicly and visibly experiences the effects of the memory share (pain, doubling over, etc.) will be offered assistance by the guards. They are generally there to help, but they are also there to maintain order and ensure anyone behaving erratically due to this incident is properly contained. This might include confinement for a day or two if anyone is especially posing a risk, but no one will be punished except in the most extreme cases, as the locals are aware this is not within the control of the Summoned.

In SOLVUNN, the locals will be watching what's happening with a mixture of trepidation and curiosity. Host families and neighbors will be on hand to help with charms meant to offer protection, as well as general care and assistance (soup, blankets, and so on) if your character seems to be especially under the weather or afflicted by the event. Towards the end of the event, more elders and mages will be out and about to check up on the Summoned to make sure they're doing okay. If asked, the mages will say they aren't sure what's going on, but that they are currently divining with the gods and hope to have a definitive answer soon in the upcoming days.

None of the factions appear to be doing much more than keep a watchful eye on the situation - but as the week comes to a close, officials will start making a decision as to what they want to do and how to handle the Summoned who have demonstrated this unforeseen connection to the Singularity.

Comments

[righteously]

( Dean's smile is small and a little bittersweet. A little sad, as it plasters over the uncertainty he feels within himself. Not that choosing humanity was wrong, so much as... most days, he's not sure he was the right choice. All the crap Cas has been through, all he's lost, there's no way Dean's worth it.

But they're here. It is what it is. He swallows it down, and they move on.

He sways, nudging Cas's shoulder companionably with his own. )

You better not. I'm a friggin' gift.

( A beat later, he pushes to his feet and holds out a hand to help pull Cas up after him. )

Come on. Let's go find you a liquor store.

[chosenfordarkness]

Anakin shrugs, because honestly, Kylo has it right. Who they are here matters because only a tiny fraction of the Summoned are from their own world. They don't have to be what everyone expects.

"Not originally my droid, but Threepio was better suited to helping with politics than R2." He pauses, then belatedly, "I made him, you know. Threepio. Is he still around, too?"

[gynvael]

[ Dean only gets another vague grunt in return to that. Tired is something he does not remember a time when he did not feel. Sometimes it feels like he grew up fucking tired. Maybe he did. Does it really matter?

Probably not.

He does, in fact, stay—not for the entire time, but for an hour or so. Enough time to finish a bottle. Converse of nothing in particular. He senses Dean will go through a couple more bottles; Geralt is tempted, but while he's content to let himself get properly drunk in the Horizon, he's more cautious of it in the real world. As a general rule, he prefers to be what is not sober where humans are considered, but sober enough for a Witcher.

So before long, he slips out the door. Leaves Dean to it. He has people he needs to talk to—people he isn't certain are aware of what's been happening. ]

[princessvegas]

[ His heartbeat is so slow, but she's gotten accustomed to the odd pace, can tell when it picks up speed. She presses her hips down and her own heart thumps in her chest, feels like it rattles her ribcage.

He rests on the wall and her teeth graze over his skin before she straightens to slip free from the top half of her dress. It puddles around her waist as she takes his face back in her hands, kissing him with slightly more insistence and a soft noise. ]

[gynvael]

[ His head bumps something hung on the wall, and he reaches up on instinct to steady it, before his hand returns to her.

He helps slip the fabric off. Kisses her bare shoulder until she pulls him back to her lips. He deepens the kiss, feels that spark jolt through him every time her teeth scrape or her nails bite.

Fuck. He might be distracted from making the bed his goal, for the moment, but this is perfectly good, too. Walls are a fine surface. ]

[impressionism]

"I know it like I know the back of my hand. I've been dreaming it since I was ten, but good luck explaining it with words."

Even if she wanted to, which she doesn't. Talking about the Lace risks summoning the Lace when she's asleep. When she's awake, it just summons mild nausea and an extreme dislike of her entire existence to date. It can't get her out here, but that doesn't mean it isn't waiting. One more mistake. That's all she gets.

Suppressing a shudder, she shrugs it off.

"Trust me when I say that you do not want to encounter the Lace long enough to describe it. If you're a mind-reader too, hang around me long enough and you'll probably get a glimpse."

[provenforce]

"You made Threepio?!" Rey looks a combination of surprised and impressed. She hadn't known that one of Leia's constant companions had been built by her father. Letting out a small laugh she runs her hand over R2's dome before standing again.

"He's Leia's personal protocol droid, usually right in the way of everything. He actually helped me translate a lot of the Jedi texts."

dont worry, here's an even later tag. Dx

[vixening]

It would not be difficult to hear about Yennefer around the castle. The rumors of her great deeds, proximity to the Queen, and presence among the younger mages would very easily make her a known persons where it concerns magic (particularly for the Summoned), second only to Kylo.

And even before she'd left on her quest, she became quite used to having Summoned approach her unannounced, having been directed to her for their questions, curiosities, or anything in between. At first it had almost annoyed her - she was busy and wasn't some Thornean Welcome Committee - but as the months went on and it continued to be a thing, she's come to accept it with a little less aggression.

Which would normally mean that being approached like this is something she's come to almost expect. Even with her weeks out of the castle itself. So at first, the hand on her shoulder, but it isn't until too late that she remembers. Too late, that the headache cuts in.

Rey will see brief flashes, at first. Of Yennefer walking out into a battlefield, of fire and screams and the sounds of metal against metal. Yennefer, bleeding from her gut, helping Tissaia to her feet, let your chaos explode. There is that strange feeling of skipping ahead, too. Of moving to a different place, where Yennefer stands upon a hill, holding her hands out to the burning forest, absorbing the flame, the chaos, the heat. Then, moments after, the image of her standing before an army, thousands and thousands of soldiers in black armor, and then a wave of fire descending upon them all.

Yennefer steps back away from the girl, then, pulling herself out of the touch.

[techmaturgy]

Well, I don't have any powers, but my involvement with Hextech was...inconvenient, for many people.

[People don't necessarily fear him, they'd just rather he wasn't there, or inextricably tied to Hextech and everything that means. He's found it refreshing, to be here and be treated on his own merits, and have his face and name tied to his work in a way it couldn't be back home. He imagines she appreciates the fresh start as well, even if it's for slightly different reasons.

He has no real problem talking about the circumstances that lead him to Jayce--she's seen most of it, after all, though of course there's no real way for her to know his intentions, watching it from the outside. Viktor can't help but smile a little at the question, as if he's reliving the memory himself.]

I was the Dean's assistant. A comfortable position, for someone of my status, but not a career--not a way to do the work I wanted. When Jayce explained his Hextech theory, I knew it could be used for immeasurable good. I never would have forgiven myself if I'd simply allowed them to throw him out of the Academy and destroy his work.

[Viktor has never been complacent. When the opportunity arose, he seized it. The rest is history, mostly.]

[carmesi]

[these things he says, like being an inconvenience for many people, these are the kinds of worries—anxious thoughts—that they don't have the luxury of expressing. there is no general audience that won't look at their position in the world, however lowly it is, and not say they deserve less. it was 'inconvenient' for the world at large that a former sokovian rioter had powers that put her in the same league as iron man and captain america.]

You made something of yourself. Despite the odds, sounds like.

[it's intention, isn't it? not knowing what 'these people', them, would want to do with the power that was removed from them because they were born in the 'wrong' place. selfish thoughts breed selfish solutions, and wanda doesn't think she could ever truly remove herself from that anger.

she personally never could make a lot of her life. there was no school for her and her brother outside of a few classes in the orphanage. there was never anywhere to climb to, and the destruction of sokovia basically meant that she and others from her home would slowly have their identities erased, absorbed into other countries to start their lives over as if war hadn't already broken them beyond repair. perhaps their grandchildren won't hold these same scars.

it was nice to dream a little about being able to leave it all behind without repercussion when she had arrived in the united states, when she held on to vision's promises of a future together. it was all too good to be true.

viktor, on the other hand, speaks of how he did have that opportunity, of becoming something more than the place given to him by the universe. she can only imagine how difficult that journey must have been. even as he sits here across from her, his words always polite and measured, his thoughts a logical string—]

We made it out, didn't we?

[fractured, struggling still, but they made it out. out of the war that governed their lives, out of the social stigma that dragged in their every step. for better or for worse, they made it out. her words are quiet.]

My brother — Pietro — he was killed a few months before the memory that you saw. Sometimes I... think of my family, and how they never got to have a foot away from the war. This freedom doesn't feel earned when it's just me who gets to have it. [she wonders if viktor is alone, too? despite jayce, despite other friends in his world.] Even with my powers, I am powerless, limited.

Unlike you.

[unlike his drive. if only she weren't pulled down again and again by grief, by sorrow. perhaps she could do more than just enough to survive.]

[carmesi]

[with the absence of the darkhold in abraxas, wanda can only hope to understand and evolve with her magic with looking inward at her own harnessing of it. perhaps, she thinks, she can gain new insight from the word of others who see chaos as a more abundant element within the magic of their world, and not just a unique manifestation in a sokovian orphan.

it unties some of the knots of worries inside her, to be able to trust and count on others, even if it is, currently, a promise of talking about it at a later point.

breathing is a little easier.]

Look for the wolf. Got it.

[wanda nods, her eyes on geralt. he can trust that she will keep quiet on her end, and the friendship they both have on sam can be what binds that tight.]

Be well.

[their conversation drawn to an end before wanda's lingering comment was made, she knows now that it is best to remove themselves from the horizon. and so she does.]

[carmesi]

Please, I am hardly an expert.

[in case thane has reason to imagine her judging him for what he did or didn't do, as inferred from the memory that she witnessed. truth be told—she was barely a parent, and yet the sentiment remained with her. she had given birth to them, after all, even if it was inside the hex and propelled by magic; a part of her was with the two of them.

she smiles at his supposition that two sons must be exciting.]

Oh, yes. They have a mind of their own, but when they work together, I know that I cannot win against them.

[she is weak to them, after all. how much she loves them, how much she would drop everything to just hear them go on about their silly stories and arguments. she wonders if most of her memories are really just the vivid dreams she has of them, living through scenarios she wishes she could belong in.]

Apparently we can share memories if we touch, but I wouldn't recommend the side effects of it.

[shadowthief]

She's sure now that they have met, they'll notice each other out here more often. Inej usually takes to the rooftops at night, personally. Easier to learn secrets that way.

"Not really," she shakes her head. "Just thought I could escape whatever's going on with all of us right now for a bit," she smirks a little. "Apparently, that didn't work so well."

[meiren]

[ The Singularity does seem to be making some sort of statement, and one that Zhou Zishu is not particularly impressed with. He makes a low, annoyed sound of agreement, but most of his attention is on scanning the street in front of them. It takes a moment or so before his focused attention finally lands on one particular figure sitting quietly at an outdoor table.

There's nothing of note about the man that he's staring at. In fact there's nothing remarkable about him at all. Plain face, plain robes, slightly hunched shoulders and a tired expression as he sips at his tea. ]

That one. [ Zhou Zishu nods in the man's direction, anticipating the probable question. It's not a mask he's worn in a while, but he can recognize it well enough. ]

[wickedprayers]

[ That makes two of them in the barely a parent department, even if for two completely different reasons. But it's nice to hear someone else talk about their children — it's not a discussion he ever held at length with someone who understood. Especially considering he was never very social before he served aboard the Normandy — and even then he struggled.

As an aside, a stray thought occurring to him on the topic of parenting, he hopes Samara is doing well.]

Ah, the headaches. To be honest, drell memories are...different. We can get lost in them very easily, and relive them as if they were happening to us in the moment. That includes the pain. This whole experience has been more or less normal for me.

Though we don't tend to see the people's memories.

[ Basically, ain't no thang. ]

[meiren]

[ The intensity and bloodlust don't earn much more than a blink--it's nothing he hasn't seen before. At least this time it's directed at someone who most definitely deserves it rather than the all-consuming, directionless rage that had worried him before.

The question, however, earns a mildly wry look. ]

Who else? [ As if he wouldn't recognize his own zhiji, no matter what state he's in. But he shakes his head slightly. ]

That's not something I would imagine. Not of you.

[carmesi]

[then her spell shall linger to keep her thoughts on the same happy, warm energy of the memory wanda was able to pull out from amidst all the darkness she threaded her way through. she nods in understanding, pulling away back enough so she can at the very least keep holding onto julie's hands.

(pietro used to hold her hands a lot, especially when words were not enough.)]

My one regret of being in Solvunn is that I cannot be with you outside of here. [—or to be there for sam, or peter, or sephiroth. will they be alright?] Can you promise me you'll be with someone after we leave the Horizon?

[she pauses, then squeezes her hands.]

We can talk about what happened— about anything, anytime you want. Okay?

[carmesi]

[thancred doesn't chastise, doesn't ask for explanations, just— accepts it as something that happened, and with that manages to quells wanda's concerns about whether her actions would change his opinion of her. the world has taught her that because of who she is, there is reason to judge and politicize her every move—deemed dangerous, unstable—but she gets proven wrong again and again, as people come into her life with nothing but understanding.

he says he got lucky, but wanda feels that she is the fortunate one to find people like this despite everything.]

I wish you had seen something happier. [like what they saw with his daughter, bittersweet as it may have been.] Their names — are Tommy and Billy.

[wanda takes a seat, her hands still holding onto his, arms stretched in front of her.]

They could only exist within the walls of the hex I had created—within my magic. The man, he was their father. [a light shake of her head.] They are always on my mind. I wish they could be here.

[—like himeka is here? oh, her eyes raise to look at him.]

Himeka. I live with her in Gardsbruk Farm in Solvunn. I didn't realize she was from your world.

[unnecessaryflourishes]

It is my Domain, yes.

[There's a nod with the words, for all that the Domain looks almost outsized with him in his present form. But he seems reasonably enough at home in it, all the same. Enough to suggest that it's somewhere he happens to be familiar with, at the very least, even if he doesn't offer any explanations as to how he might be.

And that assumes it is a recreation of somewhere he knows, rather than something that has been made up whole-cloth.]

Emet-Selch.

[By the way he offers it, it's most likely his name, odd though it might sound.]

And you need not worry about the intrusion. Had I not wished for it to be possible to do so, you would not have been able to.

[bloomly]

( there's a certain part of her that thinks this feels familiar, in some way, when she opens her eyes to the sight before her--maybe it's the architecture around her, or the fact that it reminds her, vaguely, of her church back home, the great lofted ceilings and all the beautiful flooring, cracked in some places, but still worn with love. there's a feeling that it invokes that makes her feel a little homesick: like she's getting a glimpse of something familiar, yet different in a way that makes everything feel far away.

the church has never looked like this before: burning, broken, charred as though it will crumble all to the ground; there are people here, running, screaming, seeking solace in escape--she can feel their terror, feel their despair, and worse than that there's a feeling of desperation that even running will not fix. a pair of people, hands clutched together, dart past her; they don't seem to notice that she's there at all, and her steps force her backward, nearly stumbling into a pile of rubble.

something creaks, breaks and tumbles into a pile of smoldering flames and stone and wood, from above--her hands lift, cradled to her ears, hugging close to her head as though she can stop it from happening; nothing touches her, though it feels like she can nearly feel the flames on her skin.

determined, her eyes narrow, forcing herself up to stand tall--she shouldn't be so afraid, should she? taking a gulping breath, she moves forward, walking towards the calamity, instead of away from it; maybe she can help some of those who are too scared to move, huddled together in despair, although something tells her, deep down, that she can't change any of this at all. it isn't real--or is it? a nightmare? )

[techmaturgy]

It's...complicated.

[As much as Viktor wants to agree with all this, there's still context she's missing. Too much he's not sure he can fully explain without delving into uncomfortable things about himself. You made something of yourself, she says, as if he isn’t just going to be a footnote in Jayce’s biography. Unlike you, she says, like he hasn’t spent his entire live lining the pockets of the Council while his people see none of the benefits of his work. All he’s done—clawing his way into Piltovan society from the depths of the fissures—is still not enough. It will never be enough, not until he can enact real societal betterment, something he’s coming to realize is far too big of a task, even for the level of technological innovation he and Jayce have heralded. On top of that, he’s run out of time. He simply won’t be able to do what he needs in the months he has left.

She’s not wrong when she says that Viktor made it out, ostensibly. Pulled himself up by his bootstraps and secured himself a place, but it’s not worth anything if nothing changes. To hear someone with such incredible power say that he’s the one who accomplished something is almost laughable.]

Everything I did was with the hope that my work could enact real improvement for the Undercity. I’m not sure what my accomplishments will mean, in the long run. [Viktor spent too much time playing by their rules, trying to make incremental changes under the thumb of the Council while those he left behind continued to suffer. He’s not sure if he can trust Jayce to carry out his mission after he’s gone, not that it matters, anyway, trapped in this other world as they are. Still, there’s no making it out, for him. Zaun is with him, always, in the most visceral way possible.] When you leave a place like that, you don’t—you don’t leave, not really. I still carry it with me. It was foolish to think I could escape it.

[It’s not just a metaphor, for Viktor, and at this point he’s not necessarily talking about the city itself. He realizes, maybe a little too late, that he’s revealed more about himself than he might have liked to. His fingers lace together in his lap and his gaze drops to meet them.]

I’m sorry about your brother.

[meiren]

[ Taverns are familiar enough ground, and it doesn't take long for Zhou Zishu to find what he's looking for. If Geralt is hard to miss, Zhou Zishu is very good at making himself easy to ignore, and all it takes is a slight nudge into a conversation about the local Summoned to put himself in a position to overhear everything he needs.

The stealth games probably aren't needed, but old habits die hard. And honestly, Zhou Zishu needs to get his entertainment here he can. If that means playing games with himself, so be it.

Still, the result is Zhou Zishu appearing out of the crowd one evening, two cups in hand. One gets set down in front of Geralt as he passes, the other at the empty spot across from the man as he helps himself to the seat. ]

Geralt. [ He nods a greeting, one eyebrow slightly cocked. ]

[chosenfordarkness]

"Yeah, when I was a kid. I initially rebuilt him to help my mother. I took him back after she died. Tatooine wasn't the best place for him."

Anakin huffs out a laugh, rolling his eyes. "Right in the way of everything definitely checks out." His eyebrows raise. "Oh? Anything else interesting?"

[carmesi]

[there's a soft smile, grateful for his words, but here is also the grim understanding of their circumstances. they are barely the first ones to be part of something that is different, and their souls cry for change—for things to be better for their people, for their homes, right away. the reality is that they will likely not see it happen at all in their lifetime.

wanda knows that things will not be better for her people, not until sokovia is allowed to be a word to describe nostalgia, a far-off story for young children to learn about, to be proud of.

it doesn't ever, ever leave them, but he's working towards something. of course, she doesn't know that his time is running out.]

What... was your home like? And I don't mean Piltover. [jayce had already told her a lot about it]

[carmesi]

[oh, that's interesting. wanda can't particularly imagine how it works for his species—definitely not human—and so she tilts her head, looking back at him with furrowed brows. it almost sounds like he wouldn't mind at all.

alternatively, wanda could just use her magic to implant memories onto him. makes the process easier and less randomized.]

I can't imagine you would be so open to it. Has it not bothered you that others can see your memories, too?