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]

[how can she be mad when she sees this kind of display of affection—of love found, so pure and so genuine? it is an impossibility for her now, she knows, but she does not stand without sympathy for the feelings that emerge from witnessing this.

wanda holds on to his hands even as he helps her stand. she squeezes them with her own.

home.

that's the word that rings with her as she takes in the rest of the mansion, outside of the picture that the friends paint together. she grapples with this for a moment, allows herself to be weighed down by what this evokes.

to be torn apart, so early into what she can only assume is a new beginning.]

He isn't in Abraxas, is he?

[itookashot]

[ It's a beautiful house and a beautiful moment. Inej looks so happy too, she isn't yet reunited with her parents, but it's soon after this. She has her plans to head out to sea, Kaz got her a boat she doesn't know about, but Wylan told him was coming. The only real tragedy of this was Nina and Matthias not being with them, the true waffle queen. ]

No, I wish. Selfish as that may be, I miss him.

[ At least Jesper knows it's selfish, although he thinks Wylan would like it here. Not a whole lot, but somewhat. He didn't want to be the new merchling lord, the only thing he'd probably miss would be his mother, but this isn't the worst place for him. Still, it's not the right thing to want. Jesper hasn't gotten out of the habit of wanting wrong things. ]

I was finally going to do it all right, you know. I stopped gambling, I quit being a criminal, mostly.

[ Jesper has never outright said what he did, but he did say mercenary. The rest of it could be filled in with whatever, but he knows what he was. That's what a gang is where he's from, crime is everywhere. ]

I promised I'd learn how to use my powers, he was going to discretely get a tutor. I was going to be a better person, for him, but also for me.

[ It's important that it was for both of them, Wylan always told him. It couldn't all be about him, otherwise Jesper wasn't doing it for the right reasons. His merchling has such a strong moral code, for a demolition expert. ]

And now I don't think I'm ever going to see him again.

[carmesi]

You don't know that.

[she pulls her hands away and cups his face instead, a gentle touch—from someone who was once a sister, tending to the times pietro's teenage heart was broken by affections from girls that were never returned; from someone who was, briefly, a mother, willing to welcome whatever romantic venture any of her boys would have wanted to pursue.

she says it as someone who had found her soulmate in vision, and who, much like jesper, it seems, learned that she could be better, because—cheesy as it sounds—love does mend a lot of what was once broken.]

You can still do all these things, and one day you may very well return home. Wylan is what motivates you, and—

[is she being presumptuous, barging into his personal life like this? her hands lower, but she allows herself to hold on to his hands. wanda's voice is a little quieter.]

You can be that person for him, even if he's not here.

[itookashot]

[ The problem Jesper has with emotions is that most of the time he prefers acting like he doesn't have many of them. He's the laughing one, the side kick, the comedy relief, and Inej sometimes has to roll her eyes at him when he tries to push off real moments because she knows better. Jesper is truly a soft-hearted person who loves and feels deeply, but his humor has become a defense mechanism, finely tuned over the years as a shield.

Wanda is enormously skilled at pushing right past it, from their first meeting something connected between them, and when she touches his face, Jesper looks startled and then breaks. He blinks away unexpected tears, he's been holding tight to his sadness about Wylan until now. ]

We were just beginning. I didn't tell him how I truly felt, I was always joking and acting like it wasn't a big deal. He needed the words.

[ Obviously they knew it was a big deal, Jesper moved into his house, he turned his entire life upside down as he just confessed, all his actions were dramatic and spoke clearly. But he still couldn't find the words to tell Wylan, seriously, how he felt about him. And after an abusive background, Wylan could have used someone genuinely loving him, telling him all the good parts about him. Jesper looks down, rubbing at his eyes.]

He was the first person to really seem to accept all parts of me, you know? He knew all the worst parts and still believed in me.

[ Too good for him. Way too good for him. Jesper takes in an unsteady breath and lets it out. ]

I keep thinking I have to force myself to push past it. I can't live in his house in my head forever.

[carmesi]

I know.

[is her response, finding in his words and experiences parallels that she's lived through. words that were never said, needing to be said, moments taken for granted. there is a lot of loss amidst the summoned of abraxas, not just of permanent deaths, but from being stolen from a time and place of when and where things were turning up.

she can't stand to see him like this, and instead of pulling away, ushers him closer to wrap her arms around him. wanda hugs him tightly, his height looming over her, only her eyes managing to surface past his shoulder.]

I know. [she repeats, closing her eyes a moment, as this moment of physicality lets her read his emotions that much easier, thanks to her telepathy.] But you don't have to rush yourself to do that.

[when she opens her eyes again, the world around them is shifting, into a hotel room in edinburgh, rain outside the windows, wanda on the bed, nursing a cup of tea and a biscuit, while a blond man walks around the room, pacing towards one of the windows. there's a conversation, concern, and wanda getting off the bed to meet him where he stands.

wanda, the real wanda, pulls away, her hands remaining on jesper's sides.]

I just... feel you..

[unspoken feelings, loud in the room regardless, as she and vision share a kiss. a promise of forever, of understanding. though the memory is painful, she knows their truth—hers and vision's—and there is no reason for jesper to throw away something that hasn't yet been lost.]

You'll return to him. I'm going to make sure of it, Jesper.

[itookashot]

[ Jesper is so much more comfortable offering love and comfort to other people, it is difficult for him to accept it for himself. He really wishes he could look at this scene and only see the love, only see how happy he was, but instead it highlights how far away he feels from it. He's never been in love before so he's never had to yearn like this.

Still, he accepts the hug when she gives it, putting his arms around her waist and putting his chin on top of her head since he really is ridiculously tall. Jesper's surprised when it shifts around them and he watches the memory. It is that kind of love too, he can see it. Maybe more so, they seem like they've had the time together, but that just means that there's more to lose. ]

I can't go anywhere as long as Inej is here. At least not by choice.

[ So Jesper isn't even letting himself wish for that. He would pick Wylan coming here over him going back and leaving Inej all alone. Divided loyalties are difficult, but in that he feels confident. She was right there in the memory with them, eating waffles and lighter than she'd ever been. ]

She was about to be reunited with her family for the first time since she was stolen by slavers. Her plan was to sail around and stop slavers, rescue kids like her. Being here has been hard for her. She needs me.

[ Inej would never voice that she needs him, she is too selfless to admit to being relieved he's there with her. But he knows. He lost a first love and a new life, but she lost closure and healing. Jesper is revealing a little more of Inej's past by admitting to that, but it's context, the extent of which he'd go to in order to be there for her. Why he can't leave her now, to exist in this world witih so much lost. ]

If there's a way to send anyone home, she needs to go first.

[carmesi]

[this reminds her very much of one of sam's very real goals in this place: to send home whoever needs to be sent home—whoever doesn't want to be here, be it for whatever reason. inej sounds like she has a noble reason to get back home to, and wanda would be loathe to deny the certainty in that fact.

she tries to offer him this very small comfort.]

Sam, that's what he wants to do— If someone wants to return home, they should be able to. Someone like Inej, even yourself; you should be allowed.

[but they need to be steadfast in their convictions.]

We have to look after each other, and I know that you got Sam to do so in The Free Cities.

[itookashot]

We should be allowed to go back. [ Jesper agrees. ] They kidnapped us. It's astonishing there hasn't been more pushback if you think about it.

[ They kidnapped a group of strangers, some of who have great power, and no one has tried to murder the people who did it, as far as he knows. Or force them through pain of death to turn it around. Yes they'd probably only get arrested, but still. It's lucky for them that most people seem to be willing to chill and wait for what comes. ]

Julie thinks it's too dangerous to keep messing with the Singularity, that even our fiddling with it to get back could be bad. But surely if it's just reversing a spell already done, it shouldn't be that risky.

[ Jesper is not going to put everyone here at risk by pushing the Singularity, that much he is confident about. If Inej asked him to, he would, because she's his priority, but generally, he doesn't know enough about magic to make a good assessment of the danger. Or maybe there is a way to piggy back onto the magic already existing out there so it's not annoying the Singularity. He doesn't know! ]

Saints look how cute he is.

[ Jesper sighs, looking back at Wylan. Golden-red hair, soft features, intensely vivid blue eyes, all sweet and lovely. ]

He's a flutist. It's ridiculous that I love him.