abraxaslogs | EVENT #7: THE SIGHT

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EVENT #7: THE SIGHT

Event #7 - The Sight

go to the OOC event info and plotting post

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.

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I see. I had not yet heard anything yet.

[He's not sure what to think, honestly. Jasper's reply doesn't make it sound like he himself has had the dream, but he's trying to be mindful about not assuming.

He turns slightly in his old friend's direction, intending to say something, his elbow brushing against Jasper's hand as he sits back. It's a fairly innocent touch.

And yet.

His head immediately aches. Painfully. Confusingly.

What begins as a slight shift in his chair ends with Hendrik very unceremoniously falling forward, right into Jasper's lap.]

[Sitting against his chair, chewing syrup and sugar to starve a leaden head, he winces and wriggles in discomfort. Last night's dream occupies his waking thoughts; that uncomfortable fear of the unknown figure with it's evil eye. He hardly notices his old friend react in pain. He fails to feel him slouch in his chair. He does feel movement in the air - and the cumbersome weight that now burdens his thighs. His knees jerk in reaction and he jumps in his chair.

Panic floods his nerves. It leads him to push back his chair, cutlery dropping against his plate as his hands change place. Fingers probe and touch around temples and jaw, turning his old friend into profile. Eyes focus upon the way the fool looks unconscious yet inhales and exhales at a normal pace. What to say? What to do?

The only thing he can do.

He takes his glass of water and empties its contents over Hendrik's face.]

Edited 2022-04-20 03:47 (UTC)

[The splash of water does not so much shake Hendrik awake as it does help him find something to focus on in the strange malaise that pulls at him; while the initial pain of the headache has, somehow, decreased, he still has to drag himself to consciousness. Slowly. Slowly, or he'll...

---

He falls as he misses the practice dummy by a good three inches, tired joints buckling on him and sending him to the practice cobbles with a bitten-back yelp. His knee stings as he flips himself to sit on his rear, the moon offering just enough light for him to see his inflamed scraped knee. Not a good idea to practice in his shorts, apparently.

His hands ache as he pries his fingers off his sword, bigger and longer and closer to a real weapon than what they used back in Heliodor. He's so tired, but he can't afford to fall behind.

It's so quiet, sitting alone outside the swordmaster's manor and away from the barracks. He never had to stay so late at the practice hall back in Heliodor. He would be back in the barracks with the other boys, or back in the room in the castle that he and Jasper shared during the holiday breaks so they aren't alone.

He finds himself reaching up to clutch his pendant through his shirt as he tries to concentrate on a healing spell. What's Jasper doing now? Probably getting a good night's sleep. Or probably reading and studying, the overachiever. Probably not worrying about falling behind because he's so clumsy and slow on his feet. Probably not yearning to go back home because everyone else is so talented -- or at least not relying on childish muscle to win sparring sessions.

"...'m trying... 'm trying, but it is so hard..."

He's what, thirteen years old now? He thought he was finally over crying so much. But he smudges tears against his cheeks as he rubs at his eyes, sniffling and abandoning his spell to instead continue sitting in silence.

---

He levers himself up to try sitting right in his chair. His face is wet and he doesn't know why.]

[Jasper is as cautious and careful with his old friend as he is replacing his glass. He elbows and prods the man, nudging him out his lap, gentle as though he were guiding a child. He prods the other shoulder for good measure, prods his side, pokes his thigh. He ignores his breakfast and focuses on another. It is not surprising that Hendrik keeled over the way he did - it's extraordinary.

His attention, focused upon another, becomes hard to focus. The man feels hard to reach though they sit together. Pain floods his nerves towards the front of his head; eyes wincing as memories of something play out behind them. He leans forward with an elbow on the table and rests his forehead against his palm. He makes a difficult effort to compare the pain of his headache to that of twisted joints and scraped knees.

Imagining does nothing to rid himself of realising those are not his memories.]

Collapse on me again and I will throw you on the floor.

[The threat is hardly there - his concern masked with exhausted frustration.]

[The headache seems to slowly subside as Hendrik rests heavily against his chair, opting to sit back while Jasper leans into the table. He makes a faint sound of acknowledgment to ... whatever it was that Jasper just said, brows knitting together in slowly growing confusion without the overwhelming distraction of that headache. Anything they had talked about, anything they were doing -- none of those specifics are in his head at this point.

Instead, his mind traces over what he had seen like it might fade if he doesn't think about it for longer than a second. A body bent over in an uncharacteristic show of wear and ache. Written words. Frustrated words.]

What just...

[The last word just fades into confusion as he slowly, carefully shakes his head.]

Ah. Apologies for that.

Speak nothing of it.

[He at least appreciates the apology and attempts to steer the conversation towards happier times. His ideas of what he witnessed are limited - but he at least knows who was under observation. The discomfort of the experience is obvious as he turns towards Hendrik, mood low and eyes wincing. It's a rather painful experience for a man who attempts to hide his pain with his pride.

It is nothing he would have shown twenty years ago.]

Are you going to finish your breakfast?

[The question brings with it a different focus, and Hendrik finds that he actually has to battle between good sense and his aches and confusion. Though his appetite has taken a strong blow, he reaches for his fork and manages to sit up more.]

...I should. I very much should.

[He goes quiet after that, concentrating on eating more of his food. Maybe a little time focusing on something else will provide some clarity.]

[Taking a deep breath, Jasper says nothing as he collects his knife and fork. His mood is sour, too bitter for food. His stomach cannot possibly fit another bite. Looking makes him full and the sweet smell of lemons and sugar makes him nauseous.

He wrinkles his nose in a thoughtful mood. It displeases him that one of their first days together - on better terms, at that - is being tested by outside forces. His life has been disrupted enough by those. One breath of frustration and he leans back in his chair. His head turns towards the ceiling.

People have been talking about strange visions lately.]

I had not thought it sudden as all that.

[Breakfast is almost tasteless to Hendrik at this point; he eats because he knows he should, because not doing so will affect his performance for the day.

He blinks when Jasper again shifts his position, pausing in his eating at that sigh of frustration. His actual comment also is strange, and he soon finds himself warily asking a question.]

Were you expecting that?

[Jasper grimaces over his knife and fork - laying both aside before setting them straight in a fastidious manner. He positions his plate symmetrically between and clasps his hands upon his lap.]

Only to somebody else. I never thought it would happen to me.

[His voice is quiet and mindful of nearby eyes and ears.]

People have been whispering, you know. Seeing things.

[Silence. Hendrik stares blankly at Jasper as he processes those whispered words, and then goes right back to eating his food. At least he's mostly done at this point.]

The sudden headache was very unwelcome.

[But now he's thinking about what he actually saw. Should he ... broach that subject?

Perhaps lightly. Carefully.]

I did not know you wrote down your thoughts.

[That observant comment prompts an untimely pause; his thighs slowly parting and leaving his hands to slip between the gap. He is aware of why he writes his thoughts - and wielding them to further his aims - to claim ignorance of what is meant. They had always been private and he looks away for a second. Then he is narrowing his eyes and glaring at his food.]

It helps me think.

[He wrinkles his nose and thins his lips.]

What exactly did you see?

[Hendrik frowns as he tries to piece together a good way to describe what he had seen. He knows -- remembers -- that time in their lives, though without the apparent frustration Jasper had.]

It must have been shortly after returning to Heliodor from our time abroad. Snatches of time when we were adjusting to being full-fledged knights. You were ... reflecting on a sparring session we had.

[Frustration. Hurt. Wounded pride.

Finished with his meal, he pushes the plate away and rubs at his face, feeling out some patches of hair still damp with water.]

I did not know you conflated my growing stronger with ... forgetting our oath.

[And he's not sure how to feel about that. What was he supposed to do? Not have improved over the years?]

[Jasper looks pointedly at Hendrik as he regales him with emotions, feelings lifted from a page twenty years in the past. His eyes flash in disgust - revolted by his own weakness - with an intensity he struggles to control. He is not overly fond of thanking anybody for anything; and he cannot forget the beauty of the anger written within his journal.

He leans back and looks to throw his feet upon the table. But he lets the matter go - not out of manners but practicality. There is hardly any space.]

You knew nothing about most things.

[Frustration colours his voice, a drop admist an ocean of sadness.]

Same as I. Childhood dreams must end for us all.

[And, well, he cannot blame Mordegon for that.]

[There is confusion building in him again, and he remains quiet while he works through it. If this wasn't further proof that they saw aspects of their shared past differently, he would probably not see anything anything more convincing. It leaves him somber.

They were boys on the verge of adulthood. That was half a lifetime ago.

And Jasper already thought that way about him.

With a sigh, he pushes himself out of his chair.]

Would you like to continue this outside? I need some air.

[With one hand gripping his chair and another pushing off the table, Jasper forces himself to concentrate on his old friend. Putting his feelings aside; attempting to find a way to communicate. He glances towards his feet out of worry of starting something new. It is a challenge he cannot research or fathom. He inhales deep and hopes it might quell his nerves - or at least force them to settle.

Running out of time, he decides to worry later. He hardly protests as they walk side by side, choosing to say nothing more. First the security of the door. Next the freedom of the corridor. Three minutes to find a quiet courtyard. His body visibly relaxes and he sits upon the iron bench, resting his arm along the back. Regal fingers slide across his knee and resist the urge to fret.

He tightens his hold and settles his lips into a line. Here he is, sitting in silence when Hendrik had wanted them to continue talking.]

Do you feel like continuing?

[His mind settles somewhat as they move outside, churning its way to some form of acceptance as they walk. He can't do anything about the past but try to accept and understand it. Even if it made him sad, just being sad wasn't helpful.

He seats himself on the bench beside Jasper, leaving room between them lest he do something dumb and fall on top of the other man again.]

I am not sure there is much else to say. You did not stop talking to me or cancel our sparring sessions at that time. You were very tolerant, considering your feelings.

[A tolerated friendship.]

[Tolerated friendships. Tolerated friends. His lips thin at the implied thought, given the importance of his friend to everything that had happened in his life. He is not a man to tolerate anything unwanted in his life. He can only think of how he had become unable to tolerate his feelings, including the fact he had turned his back on everyone. Tolerance? Yes, because he wanted to find that meaningful connection.

He begins to speak. His confidence had never been an issue.]

Do you not suppose that was because you were important enough for me to tolerate? You know that you were my friend.

Were.

[He doesn't hesitate to repeat the word, past tense as it is. Hendrik cards his fingers together and leans his elbows onto his knees, eyes roving the greenery.]

I do not know, Jasper.

[He's going to think differently about those teenage years now. Like those years before Dundrasil that he considered precious were steeped in a new unhappiness, making them even more bittersweet.]

What use is there being a friend if you cannot be a good friend?

[Concern keeps him quiet a long time. It might be ten seconds, it might be twenty. All of the guilt and defeated expectations of being in a grand friendship, losing his sense of self and finding it in a loved one, in the ideal of people unquestionably supporting each other. The weight burdening his old friend's shoulders is enough to pressure his own.

But sharing the burden is what friends are for. To help each other in difficult times. He remembers those years of feeling isolated and alone, his face twisting with emotion. No wonder Hendrik is beginning to beat himself down.]

Do you suppose friendship is easy? I doubt I have any right to speak on the matter after everything but I believe His Majesty would tell you it can be difficult at times. He had to break up enough of our squabbles, after all.

[There are a few seconds of silence as Hendrik processes what Jasper is saying, a short huff escaping him as he bows his head with a wry smile.]

Ah. I suppose so.

[The king was even more careful with what he allowed to show. He understood that now, in how King Carnelian did not allow the weight of sixteen lost years to keep him from holding the survivors, not to mention himself, together.

Feeling low as he does now, that admiration helps lift his spirits.]

I feel like he would have eventually noticed, had he been around.

Indeed. But I advise you not to travel down that path.

[Jasper does not smile the way Hendrik might, his eyes narrowing in recollection of a man he struggles to comprehend. He could speak of being abandoned since before his master intruded into their lives. But he cannot fathom how to move on past the idea his thoughts had been guided along that path. So he chooses to advise and do what Carnelian cannot, trapped on Erdrea as he is.]

Regret is not a pleasant emotion.

As I am reminded constantly.

[There was a point, sitting in the dark and wondering if King Carnelian would actually wake up after what happened in the heart of Yggdrasil, that he wondered if he was in fact cursed. Being a survivor of three fallen kingdoms was not a title that anyone should bear, and here he was with it in his middle age.]

That is why I said there is probably not much else to say. It is in the past.

[The rather open statement hangs on the air. The look on his face as he leans forward shows his skepticism.]

Is it truly? Did you not wish to speak about the past?

[He says nothing for a moment and sighs in resignation. It seems he shall have to speak about the past, after all.]

You know it would be easier for us both if we were to forget about it. I thought the same, back when I followed Mordegon. Ergo why I doubt it should do either of us any good.

I did not say anything about forgetting it.

[Hendrik glances in Jasper's direction before again turning his eyes to the gardens at large.]

I cannot fix things that happened in the past, but I can learn from it. This is one of those cases where I ... struggle to find much else to say. It was perhaps naive of me to think that our friendship would not change.

And then it did. Into nothing.

[That was how it had felt on his end, at least. Like a piece of fabric gouged out of a fading tapestry.]

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