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

[carmesi]

[not being part of their anymore implies one of too many things. only a couple seem the most viable: one, that peter himself is dead, which wanda highly doubts; two, is him cutting off his bond between them, which also seems unlikely. still, peter is not one without sincerity, and the glimpse she had gotten of his life after his aunt died is actually enough for her to try and connect the dots.

the memories changes around them, and instead they are brought back to her domain. the tall, dark trees of her foreboding forest line at their sides, the crows cawing a few times before quieting.]

What did you do?

[it might feel disproportionate, his pain in comparison to her own, but it is not for him to try and compare them. wanda knows there is a story here, relating to his aunt, somehow, that he is careful about sharing.

she holds his hand tighter, and reaches for his other one.]

It is better for who, Peter?

[carmesi]

Your past, too. Though I've seen it from Geralt's own memories as well.

[much like ciri, there is no interest in hiding it. wanda trust geralt because he is sam's friend, so, by proxy, she trusts ciri. hardly it is the chance that the offspring of someone trustworthy pushes away from similar values.]

The world falling apart with the power of your screams.

[still, much of it made very little sense. she lacked context, but from what she saw, and from what geralt has told her? perhaps it is a power worth fearing.]

I promised your father I would tell no one of it. I extend the same promise to you.

[wiedzminka]

[ Unfortunately, Ciri really doesn't care if Sam is offended or not. She only shrugs. How is she supposed to know how he'd feel or what he might think after this? It's why she said it, preemptively. Considering she's under the impression Sam likes to poke his nose in everyone's business -- being helpful, of course, and kind of infuriatingly heartfelt about it -- the last thing she wants is for Sam to start asking more questions and trying to 'help' her with anything he might have seen.

The part about Geralt narrows things down a little, but snow is hardly uncommon, and Geralt uses his potions on a regular basis as well. Either way, Ciri is satisfied he hasn't seen anything that would be problematic here. ]

Effects of the Witcher potions he uses sometimes. [ Used, rather. On the Continent. Clearly, he doesn't have that here. ] Nothing unusual, for him.

[hextechhead]

"I think technology and magic are very similar, this is coming who proved exactly that in my world. But seeing New Magic used in Cadens proves it further. The two can work completely in sync."

And be more dangerous because of it. Magic on its own is dangerous, he's seen it, but then you get someone like him who used both to devastating results. Jayce is very aware now and far more cautious than he was before. He didn't used to shy away from risk, he was reckless always, but guilt does a number on anyone.

"We did. The plan was to make things everyone could use, eventually."

But it wasn't the truth when it came to the Hexgates. You needed a charter and permission from the Council. Only the approved types could use it. Jayce is more aware of how many compromises they made to keep their work going. Jayce waves at him and gestures toward him.

"Come up if you don't mind floating, watch this."

The gear is an obvious trick but Jayce instead leans down to pick up one of the Professor's books that went wild in the room. He aims right for the center of the magic storm, and Kell can see for himself that it zips through one side of it, disappears entirely, and a second later shoots out the other end safe and sound. It floats toward him. This was the beginning, it took time for them to figure out how to make the same machines on either side of a Hexgate, and sync them all up together. It was an incredible project though. He is very proud of them.

[monomachy]

[Despite her headache, she can tell that he's more comfortable talking about this city, and she finds that curious. She doesn't yet know much about the other areas, the other factions, but there seems to be a deeper conflict than the threat of war she's heard about.

It takes her a moment to realize what he's offering. Diana has been staying in the barracks, a place familiar and yet not to her. But perhaps a move is in order, especially if there are more Summoned there; it makes sense for her to try to meet others who aren't from this world either, doesn't it? So she nods, squaring her shoulders.]

Thank you. I would like to meet Mag. [And see if she has any available lodging. She'll just have to figure out how to pay for it.]

[cointosser]

[He can't help the way he lights up, even a little, to hear the name Sandpiper spoken with some degree -- even if it should be impossible -- of respect. Even when he had come up with the idea in the first place. Even when he had managed to convince his benefactors. All of it still felt as if it should be impossible. That one man cannot change this much. He relied too heavily on his music to change things, even as the war changed him.

But it had. It had worked. It had worked, in some ways, almost too well, until it had stopped. Until the mage, and his broken lute; until that flare of alcohol across his skin, burning it sharply, the smell of ripe, cooking human skin in the air. When he feared, knowing they may get away now, that the mage was likely to return. That this, being exposed, would ruin it all --

Jaskier eyes her. He knows well how to read between lines. He also knows which lines were not meant to be read.]

Most of them. The Cities have their own drinks of choice, of course, but I can admit their wine leaves that taste of real, rich sunshine to be desired. The sunshine there is more akin to a battering ram, especially during the hotter months. [He sighs, giving a short laugh.] Gods, I really do miss the kingdom's baths.

[a_better_man]

Ah.

[Mat, on the other hand, immediately knows what Anakin has seen. Well, not the worst thing floating about in his head that could be shared.]

Logain. A man who could channel, and had already fallen to the madness. He killed...thousands of people. Because that's what happens. Not generally the whole caged parade affair, that's only because Logain led a campaign of death and destruction across multiple countries and the world was terrified of him. He thought his madness was divine. That happens, sometimes.

[He'd told Anakin that no good end comes to a man who channels. Now Anakin's seen it for himself.

But now Mat's partially distracted, curious about Anakin's arm. He's never seen anything like that...]

How?

[funbreaker]

[ While it's said with some dry humor, that response is enough to give Thancred some cause for concern. He's turned to the bottle himself in rough patches in his life, and it never led anywhere good. He's seen others turn down the same path, like Magnus, and he'd done what he could to dissuade him from such behavior as well.

He doesn't know Zhou Zishu particularly well, but he recalls the bottle of liquor he'd had with him when they first met. Besides, he hadn't known Magnus very well either.

Ten years is a long time to do that sort of work, and Thancred doesn't begrude Zhou Zishu his retirement. He crosses his arms over his chest, taps one foot against the colorless floor, and shakes his head. ]

I've turned to drink in the past myself. To try and forgot, or to cope, or simply to feel sorry for myself. [ He lets out a breath through his nose. ] You won't be finding anything of use at the bottom of a bottle, I assure you.

[ Hopefully it comes across as genuinely concerned advice, rather than a lecture. ]

[chosenfordarkness]

Was there another reason for him to believe that his madness was divine? Something must have driven him to such a length, surely?

[ Though it really doesn't matter since it's not Mat, and he'd love to believe that something like that wouldn't happen to his best friend. That he's stronger than someone average like that. Either way.. ]

It sounds like they were justified, then. Even if it doesn't make up for what he'd done.

[ Anakin holds out his arm so Mat can inspect it if he'd like. The sleek, black exterior is exposed enough he could see the inner workings of Anakin's forearm and the delicate wiring underneath the housings of his hand, ending in gold fingertips. There's not much damage Mat could do by hand and he trusts his best friend with it. ]

Where I'm from, losing a limb is more of an inconvenience than a hurdle. I wasn't about to let it slow me down, so I designed it myself. The arm is connected to my nerves so I can move it, the durasteel makes it strong, and the gold at my fingers allows me to feel. Kind of.

[chosenfordarkness]

"Then we'll have to agree to disagree." His viewpoint won't change just as hers won't, so it's probably best they move on from it. He does hope he can at least get her to see that the Jedi weren't as great as she's been led to believe, but something that drastic will take time. Something they have plenty of in this place.

Anakin follows her down to her speeder, looking over it with interest. He takes the books when they're offered, but doesn't make a move to read them just yet. Later.

"This will be fine for now." He pauses. Belatedly, "thank you."

[itookashot]

"Oh good, I like stars better than lightning." Like he said, Anakin's domain seemed a bit depressing. This is far more lovely. They're more in space, something he's only learned about recently from Shepard. He's looked up at the stars before in Ketterdam, but never even thought about what was out there, past the planet. He could barely see past his city.

"They technically call it a science instead of magic, but it doesn't feel like science to me, I'm not putting things in test tubes." Nina feels strongly about this, but she was raised in the army, they have certain beliefs about anything involving Grisha. Since Jesper was on the outside of it, he can only go with what he feels, what his mother told him to do. He takes the piece back and does it more slowly this time so Anakin can see what is happening.

It does appear like the molecules themselves are breaking apart like they're all shards of matter, tiny tiny bullets, and he can move them, morph them. They're not being destroyed but just reshaped like they were never made of anything solid in the first place. "I can do this with all objects. I am a perfect shot with a gun too, because I can move an item without having to look at it, I feel them around me." It's beautiful. So this time when he moves the object back to solid, Anakin can watch those same molecules piece together like a zipper, or a puzzle.

"Until I got here, I've rarely used them. My father made me hide them, there are dangerous people who kill my kind. But it feels so good. Letting myself be who I really am."

[chosenfordarkness]

"I could show you more than just some distant stars if you'd like." It's only depressing because it's a representation of what he was feeling at the time and hasn't seen the need to change it. He's not committed to anything in his domain, really, so he's happy to oblige the suggestion to change it. Honestly, he doesn't know what he wants.

Anakin listens with interest, watching the process as Jesper goes through the motions of shaping the matter to his whims. It's fascinating, magic or not. Certainly, nothing that he'd ever seen before.

"What does it feel like to use your powers?" He understands someone hiding their powers because of Mat, but it's a relief to know that Abraxas is a place no one seems to have to hide who they are. "Nobody should have to hide who they are."

[itookashot]

"The Wraith wouldn't have waffle parties with her friends. The Wraith wouldn't even have friends. And she definitely wouldn't be crying and wondering about whether she's a good person." He means the symbolic version of her, the assassin and spy, Dirtyhands' favorite tool. Inej is lethal the way he is, in a different way, although she's still kinder in his opinion than either of her beloved Crow boys. If she was nothing but the killer, they wouldn't be here like this.

Jesper has multiple layers on, as per usual, so he runs fingers over his shirt and separates some of the fabric from it, pulling it up and it looks like a nice handkerchief by the time he offers it over to her. He doesn't have any on him, but luckily she knows a Durast who can make that sort of thing on a whim. For her tears.

"You are made of love, Inej. And love can never truly be evil."

[funbreaker]

[ Emet-Selch's response isn't of any real shock to Thancred, not after his conversation with Hythlodaeus. When Thancred had told him of what Lahabrea had done, the reaction had been one of genuine unease. The idea of an Ancient possessing another living creature had been foreign to Hythlodaeus, so far as Thancred could tell.

No, that unfortunate habit had only formed after the Sundering, after the Ancients became the Ascians. No doubt Emet-Selch would have any number of words to justify it. Thancred can already more or less gather what he would say, and so there's little point in dwelling on it.

Besides, they are now being transported to another memory, and there's little surprise that they end up in Amaurot — though the version of it that exists in only one place: Emet-Selch's own recollections.

Due to that, everything is to scale rather that being three sizes too tall like what Thancred had always experienced of the place. It's odd for all the proportions to be off from what he himself remembers, but it makes sense.

Thancred glances over as Emet-Selch lets out that sigh, then gives a small shrug. ]

Believe me, I would have rather been spared this as well. Yet it seems we have no choice but to see it through.

[ He watches the Ancients as they walk down the streets, clusters of them gathered together and engaged in lively conversation. Truly people, rather than the wandering ghosts that Thancred and the other Scions had seen in the Tempest.

It seems even an Architect could only recreate so much. There's an odd comfort in that. ]

[blackeyedprince]

It's like the first time crossing to another world. It requires a certain amount of faith. Faith, that there will be something on the other side. This here is nowhere near as dangerous. Still, the mind doesn't see much difference.

All he has to do to take a step is to ignore it. So he does. Curiosity wins. The same curiosity that made him collect maps, trinkets, and odd mechanisms with unclear purpose. Already, the first step takes him quite high. It takes a few more to get the hang of the way he should move to float closer to Jayce.

The book flashes out, disappearing in the light, then shoots out the other side. Kell laughs. Rhy would love it.

"Impressive," he admits. "How far are you able to send things?"

And people... don't forget about people. To transfer inanimate objects is one thing, to transfer living beings is something a lot more complex.

[itookashot]

"Absolutely. Show me where you came from, unless it's boring, in which case show me something city-like. I miss cities." Cadens is a city, of a sort, but it's in a desert, and it's not Ketterdam. Bright and dark all at once. He's definitely homesick for those winding back streets. He's seen the Citadel but he wonders if there are other extraordinary places like that.

"You know how if you hold your breath, when you first gasp in some air, there's this relief that comes with it, because breathing is natural and stopping it was unnatural?" Jesper isn't sure that makes sense as a metaphor but it's the one he has in front of him. "That's how it feels." He's been basically suffocating himself for all of his life, and using them means he's sucking in air again, all of his life becoming better because of it.

"I didn't want to hide them, but there's really no safe way to exist as a Grisha. It's walking around with a target on your head."

[chosenfordarkness]

Anakin nods. "The Force is kind of like that, too."

"Well.." Sighing, he steps back and rubs his hands together. "I don't know how Mos Espa compares to your cities, just be warned you might be underwhelmed." He concentrates and everything bleeds away from cold machinery to buildings carved from the sand itself. Two suns appear overhead and the dry heat of the afternoon saps away the storm's humidity. Around them stands a bustling space port, a dozen or so unmemorable faces milling about accompanied by the dull murmur of activity.

"Welcome to Tatooine." He gestures grandly around them. "The most miserable place in the galaxy."

[a_better_man]

He was a madman, Anakin. Madmen believe all sorts of things. He could have just as easily believed himself the king of cattle as the man who should burn the world.

[Who knows how the minds of madmen work? Logain thought he was important and chosen, and acted on those delusions. And had, indeed, burned a noticeable portion of the world.]

Huh...we have...nothing like this in my world. You lose a leg, you get a peg. Lose a hand, get a hook. And it feels things?

[chosenfordarkness]

You're right, sorry.

[ He offers a shrug. It never hurts to try and understand the why. ]

That's.. unfortunate and not very practical. [ He shakes his head and offers the wobble of a hand. ] I.. kind of? I can't feel sensation, but I can feel pressure. It helps me know how much force I need for something like this.

[ He takes up Mat's hand so he can entwine their fingers together before giving his hand a gentle squeeze with his own mechanical one. ] I can tell I'm holding your hand and that the grip is pretty gentle, but other than that? No.

[vixening]

[ maybe she is testing him - his patience, his interest in pushing a topic that they both know she doesn't want to broach. it is hardly surprising, given that yennefer has proven herself to be the type to push back if she feels it necessary. that, along with her strong will and equally stubborn nature means that until kylo speaks, she would have been equally fine to walk in silence. to let their path take them around the castle itself.

his comment has her eyes dashing to her side and up to his, catching the twist of his lips. the words he's chosen. the mountains he says, and she knows he's making reference to the portal. to the trip she'd taken ronan on that kylo had needed to come rescue them from. now it's her turn for her lips to twist, her eyes back to the path ahead of them, jaw tight. had she been in a better mood, it's possible that she might have laughed at his attempt to get under her skin. now, her response is all the answer he needs that it's worked.

the sound of her name has her pausing, and then there it is. i know something has happened. i can feel it. yennefer comes to a stop and turns to face kylo, a different kind of tension keeping her back straight as she looks back to him. frustrated? frustrated? she wants to scream, is how she's felt since that morning she'd woken from that dream. since she'd reached, and reached, and reached, and found nothing in return. yennefer's violet eyes are bright and almost angry as she searches his face, trying to see if there is more he isn't saying. ]

What do you feel, Kylo? [ it's not a test, exactly - there is something a bit too defensive in her when she asks. but part of her needs to know just how much he can sense of this. how far his awareness goes. it's clear she's not going to answer him until he answers her first. ]

[vixening]

[ anakin does not look at her, but he doesn't need to. it's not difficult to see the emotions play across his face - the shame, the anger, the disappointment in not quite finding what it is he's looking for. yennefer feels the heat in his words when he says i trusted him! and she finds, for whatever reason, very little else of it matters after then.

she watches him react to this woman, his wife, and the fear in her eyes as she looks back at him. watches as his lifts his hand to take the breath from her. she watches him as this obi-wan approaches. their exchanged words, their circling around each other. it all happens, and through it all, all yennefer finds herself thinking is that feeling around his words. he was my master. just as she'd looked to tissaia, just as she had crawled her way across that gods-forsaken continent because tissaia must know something, and what had she gotten in return? she knows it is different, knows all of this is different, but that is what sticks.

that, and the tears. his tears.

the memory fades around them, and yennefer finds herself stepping around to anakin's front, looking up to him with determined, undeterred eyes. there is a moment there where she just looks at him, to see if there is anything more he wishes to wish, anything more that she'll read in his eyes if not his words, before she reaches up a hand to his face. if there are tears still there, it might be to wipe those away, but if there aren't any, it will simply be to brush her fingers across his cheek.

it's a little ridiculous, she knows, to feel in any way protective or defensive over what it is she's seen. anakin is powerful, powerful to a degree that she is sure she only barely understands, but still, here she is. ]

[vixening]

[ yennefer makes a thoughtful noise, not exactly judgmental but not exactly impressed either. she knows very little about that woman other than the chaos she'd so obviously been able to control, and then the overarching feeling of respect, of power.

it is more that somewhere in the comparison, yennefer feels the loss of her own chaos even more. and she can recognize that as childish, something she pushes down as quickly as she can as she watches him sigh, press a hand to his forehead. her own aches, a side affect she's become fairly aware of with these dealings, but her's isn't as damning.

instead, she steps closer, checking him over as if there could be some other symptom. like there could be something else wrong. she hasn't heard of that being the case, yet, but they also know very little about what this magic even is. ]

Is she? [ yennefer lifts a brow, only slightly joking, before it falls. ] That memory frightened you.

[vixening]

Yennefer thinks for a moment if she's ever heard that name before - Rey. The conversations between her and Kylo have been lengthy, yes, but had also rarely about their personal lives. Names, places, specifics - it hadn't mattered nearly as much as the concepts of chaos, of the force. So it shouldn't surprise her that she doesn't recognize this girl, her name, but even so...

The conversation they'd had. The connection. Had it beens before everything, Yennefer would have gone directly to Kylo to ask him to explain what this was, how it worked, but now?

I hope you won't hold that against me she says, and Yennefer snorts. Shakes her head. "No, hardly. He's not the worst person to be connected to, while you're here in the castle." A beat, and then Yennefer's head tilts, curious. "You can-" She purses her lips, tries to correct her vocabulary for this. "Use the force, too?"

[vixening]

[ he can't help the way he lights up, and yennefer can't help but watch the brightening happen, the way his whole face shifts, expressive, lighter, even if only slightly. it reminds her, in an odd, vulnerable sort of way, how his voice had done much of the same for her as soon as she'd stepped in under that very tavern. even if it should be impossible.

her eyes return to the spread between them, the wine. she supposes she had come here to discuss more specific matters, but she doesn't find the urgency in her to press. just as jaskier had predicted, she doesn't really feel any reason to leave. the way jaskier describes the sun makes yennefer think of nilfgaard, os istredd, but she pushes the thoughts away. ]

They are something, though to your credit, they can also get quite old. [ she tilts her glass, watching the wine shift back and forth within. ] At least the Cities allow you to leave without need of an official pardon. If it hadn't been for my more recent quest for the High Mage, I would be tearing away at my skin just for a chance to be somewhere else.

[ there is a very specific tone around the way she says that, which jaskier should be well aware of by now. though it feels a bit more loose, here. like she knows her dislike of the high mage can be fully shared. ]

[itookashot]

Jesper had a suspicion that Anakin had fun space options like Shepard, considering the droids and everything, so his eyes are bright and curious as everything changes around them. He laughs when he sees it though. "Oh my friend, there are a lot of great things about Cadens, but it looks like a more lively this. So much sand." It may not be super exciting, but he still likes it, he likes all new things.

"I don't know if I can change anything in your domain to show where I'm from, but picture an almost opposite of this. Very dark and winding small back streets, smells like the sea, everything is scrunched together tight." This place is bright, spacious, although not very colorful. Jesper himself is the most colorful part of Ketterdam sometimes, with his bright clothes in contrast to most people wearing more neutral shades.

"It's a sea port ... there's probably no oceans here, huh?" It's a desert, that seems unlikely.