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

lmk if this is ok!

[monomachy]

[Diana hears someone approaching, not so far away from where she sits, but before she can turn to see them, she's caught up in her own memory. London, hideous and fascinating, looming around her with its great, tall buildings and smoggy sky. She knows where this is going, remembers these moments so clearly, but when she sees Steve Trevor, the breath is still knocked from her lungs.

The scabbed wound on her heart tears open, and she presses a hand to her chest as if that will stem the pain of seeing him energized and exasperated and alive. It doesn't, but the distraction of a man she's never before seen does the trick for the moment. The pain that was no doubt on her face fades to confusion as she looks to him, his height, hair, and clothing making him stand out among the everyday people of this memory.

She answers without thinking, surprise at the man's appearance overtaking her distress.]

He was very focused on his mission, even if it was the wrong one.

it's perf!

[subhuman]

[ Not just on her face--maybe it's a facet of being in a memory that isn't his own, but he can feel it too, that lingering sense of loss despite the humor in the scene. Dante doesn't comment on it, of course. He holds his own hurts close to his heart and instead offers a placid, lazy smile as he files that away.

Dante inclines his head in a silent question. The wrong one? Though he voices it instead after a moment. ]

Not the war, I take it?

[monomachy]

[Diana doesn't realize how easily she gives away her emotions; on Themyscira, she'd been taught to embrace them, to be open to and with them. They weren't seen as a weakness. Give her a hundred years, though, and she'll change her mind.

She shakes her head, trying to find better words.]

The war, but the wrong part of it.

[Had it been the wrong part, though? Had she not been with him, would the information he worked so hard to acquire have been better received? There's no changing the past, and wondering about what-ifs won't help anyone, but she can't really help it.]

His intentions were good. They always were. [Steve was a good man, even with his flaws. Maybe even because of them.]

[subhuman]

[ Ah...always a shame to find someone you care about standing on the other side of the tracks. That is definitely something he can relate to all too well. Not something he'd wish on anyone else, either. Duty over friends or family...it's a rough one. Especially if they think what they're doing is right.

Dante purses his lips as he nods quietly. Prone as he is to making jokes of most things, even he can read the room, maybe a little too well. ]

Well, you know what they say about good intentions...

[ She does, doesn't she? ]

[monomachy]

[Diana's eyes track Steve's and... her progress down the street, past the soldiers and the couples going about their day. He tries to steer her through it all, though she can hardly keep her wide eyes on one strange thing before they move on to the next. Seeing the two of them like this makes her smile, despite her sadness.

Her attention lands once more on the man beside her, and her brows draw together.]

What do they say about good intentions? And who are "they?"

[Sorry, new friend. That phrase is a little too modern for her.]

[subhuman]

[ He follows the actions as well, watching how excited she is to how Steve tries to keep her in line while not completely diminishing that spark of curiosity. That is the sort of thing you'd want to encourage, isn't it? Overlooking the grim and grime of a busy city and focusing on the new and bold...

Well, it should be that way, says the guy who is used to living in grim and grime in part of his own volition and also lack of planning.

Her question draws his attention back as Dante raises a brow. ]

Ah...

[ Why does he feel like it would drag her down? Maybe Steve was onto something. Dante thinks better of it and waves his hand in the air like he's shooing the annoying thought away. ]

Just some hokey guys in a backroom who can't think of a better moniker than "they". Wouldn't know good intentions if it hit 'em square in the face. I'm Dante, by the way.

[ He extends his hand to shakes instead. ]

[monomachy]

[As her past self and Steve move through the city, she walks along with them, the street fading behind her as they go. A baby!, she exclaims, and she lets out a little, breathless laugh at the way Steve corrals her, exasperated. That one's not made of clay. He hadn't believed her, not yet, but she hadn't been bothered by it. Amazons had been away from the world of men for so long, and their lives and memories were short. She couldn't blame him for not knowing.

A shred of doubt surfaces at Dante's dismissal, but she's a little too overwhelmed by being here to focus on it for too long. Instead, she takes his hand to shake, a greeting she's finally starting to get used to.]

I'm Diana. [She looks again to the pair walking away from them, and smiles a little bit.] But you probably figured that out.

[subhuman]

[ He offers a lopsided but genuine smile, something meant to be a bit of a reassurance even if he's dropping the previous topic. Her hand is strong, he can tell from the shake, his own a little lazy in comparison. ]

The woman herself.

[ Though his gaze does stray a bit to the memory once again. As much as he's taking most of this in stride, he does have to ask... ]

"Made of clay"?

[monomachy]

[Ah, right. She watches her past self and Steve walk down the street, and offers:]

My mother told me that she sculpted me of clay, and Zeus breathed life into me. [I have no father. That's what she had told Steve, once. But how true is that, still?] I was the only child ever born on Themyscira.

[subhuman]

[ Clay and Zeus. Not really the story he was expecting, but it's probably not the strangest thing he's bound to hear in this world. Or his world, really. He knows better than to think that myths are only that. ]

Sounds like that makes you something special, Diana.

[ He tends to say most things in a laid back nature, but there is something genuine in that appraisal. ]

[monomachy]

[The memory begins to fade around them, but a smile touches her lips as she notes the sincerity in his voice.

She laughs a little.]

He told me it was "neat." But he didn't believe me, at first. [She turns to face Dante, tilting her head.] Why do you?