abraxaslogs | 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.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ Apathy. Despair. She has seen so much of it. It's a story that was told countlessly over the time they had wandered the darkness of Ultima Thule and heard the words of the creatures there. And though Y'shtola hadn't been there until the end, she knows the tale likely never changed: these worlds became aware of what was the inevitability of their descent, their loss, the end of their lives, and they became twisted by the agony of their grief and the depths of their fear.

In truth, she cannot blame them, nor can she particularly blame Hermes or Fandaniel of that emotion. Is it not common enough? She lived through the descent of Dalamud, after all, where any who saw its fall thought the end was nigh. Acceptance and despair linger on a knife's edge, and any can slip to one or the other.

But she is sure what she would do - and did - and so she lifts her shoulders in a not-quite-shrug. ]

The despair consumed you. And rather than look for hope, the hopelessness was your weapon, as it was when you returned to Eorzea.

[ She doesn't bother with asking when he is from. She'll know soon enough, she thinks. ]

And how have you bided your time here, with no Convocation to speak of and no connection to our home? Or does your desire to see the end extend to worlds you do not call your own?

[Fandaniel listens patiently, still kicking his heels against the orb structures beneath him.

Some mortals are always trying to analyze him and understand his relationship with his despair. He never bothers to correct their false assumptions. What good would it do? Explaining the agony that comes with countless lifetimes of torment to a mortal being would be like explaining color to the blind.

His expression pulls into a dramatic frown.]

You ask too many questions.

My turn!

What were you hoping to find just now when you were poking your nose around my machines, hmm?

[ Ah, a disappointment. Y'shtola does shrug this time. It's surprisingly not a dismissive gesture but, perhaps, more along the lines of acceptance. At least she tried, didn't she? ]

Answers, like you.

[ And not so different ones, really. ]

Who would give up the chance to look at information from a bygone era, to see the truth as it stands, not distilled by the passage of time or the writings of others? [ In that, perhaps, they are a little too alike. Curiosity. ] And how else would I understand where I am and what I am wandering through? Perhaps your other self would have been disturbed; perhaps not at all.

But it was worth looking, just the same.

[ And perhaps he'd discovered something she could use. Perhaps she would have been better able to understand. If nothing else, maybe she would have seen Amon for who he truly was, without frills or fetters, without putting on an act. ]

Who indeed?

Spoken like a true scholar.

[Fandaniel leans back, bracing his elbows as he peers at Y'shtola.]

Well, far be it for me to stand in the way of another curious soul. You will not find a way to forestall the Final Days but you may examine the readings anyway if you wish.

...If you can read Allagan, that is. Otherwise you may not glean much.

[At the base of the spire, Amon finally lifts his head and shifts back just enough to brush his fingers through his hair as he looks down at the console again.

"Tau cluster, no readings", chirps the machine.

Fandaniel slowly tilts his head to the side. Thousands of years later, thinking about the vast, lifeless emptiness of the sky has only gotten easier because the last of his hope is long dead.]

...And you may need to convince me to move. I seem to be a tad preoccupied.

[ Ah, there it is. Timelines are finicky things here and she has never been more hopeful to hear that he has no idea of what is to come, that they will succeed. But this now begs the question: if Fandaniel becomes aware, will he change things when he possibly returns to their star? The possibility is too great, too frightening, and so she chooses not to say anything at all.

The irritation that flickers across her face is genuine and not feigned. Even the reminder that this man tried to orchestrate the downfall of all things is enough to trouble her. But she ignores him for the moment, making her way to where Amon still stands with the machine.

She is no G'raha Tia and Allagan is not, as a matter of fact, her specialty. But she is a learned scholar through and through, and she is at least aware of the dialects. The difficulty is trying to get around the tall man to better see what's there. The consumption of his work, the despair, is a difficult thing to watch; for all that Amon's work had been cruel, she can at least empathize with the desperation when it comes to looking for any answers, any hope.

Amon doesn't seem to register her presence. That's just as well. But this close, she's tempted to reach out and see if she can even interact with him. Instead, she looks to the console as best she can, the blinking of colored names and numbers the better draw. ]

[The numbers seem to flash the same information that the mechanical voice speaks dispassionately to Amon.

They indicate star clusters scattered around Etheirys, each of them scanned for sentient life by Heimdall-class vessels. All of them are silent.

Fandaniel watches Y'shtola quietly for a while before loudly clearing his throat.]

Well? What does the data tell you?

Are you seeing hope in that machine?

[Amon stares upward. Even through the mask, his despair is obvious.]

EVENT #7: THE SIGHT

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all I read was /thancred voice MY TURN (I'm so sorry)

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sorry I had to really think about whether she would know Allagan at all lmao

Sorry for the wait!