abraxasmods: (Default)
ABRAXAS MODS ([personal profile] abraxasmods) wrote in [community profile] abraxaslogs2022-04-16 10:46 am

EVENT #7: THE SIGHT

Event #7 - The Sight

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.
a_better_man: (tired)

[personal profile] a_better_man 2022-05-01 11:30 pm (UTC)(link)
"S'not your fault," Mat manages, groaning. Oh light, that had been a lot. He shifts, extricating himself and sitting with his back against the wall. He tips his head back, breathing heavily, head still pounding.

Alright. That had happened. Nothing to be done for it now.

He has a great deal of questions. But also enough sense to not start asking them here and now.

"So," he continues, not quite looking at Rhy as he speaks. He has to let him know what he saw, he can't just leave that untouched between them. Someone he wasn't as close with...oh yes, he'd lie and leave it and pretend he never saw anything terrible and traumatic. But not with Rhy.

Anyhow. He can relate. As fucked up as that is.

"Looks like we've got something in common. Dark magic getting into your head's a bitch, innit?"
londonbound: (seventy-nine.)

[personal profile] londonbound 2022-05-05 03:53 am (UTC)(link)
Shaking, Rhy sinks down beside him. He wants to reach out again -- he's always found comfort mainly through touch -- but thinks better of it, scooting a little further away and wrapping his arms around his own ribs instead.

"What--?" It takes him a moment to understand what Mat's said. Rhy's head snaps up, amber eyes wide. Realization sinks in, dropping into the pit of his stomach like lead.

"You... you saw." He swallows, scrubs a hand over his face, somehow sweaty and cold at the same time.

"What did you see?"
a_better_man: (tired)

[personal profile] a_better_man 2022-05-06 02:30 am (UTC)(link)
Mat shakes his head.

"Doesn't matter. The details, I mean. I just...I know. What that's like. I got fucked up like that, too. Just got better a little before I came here, actually."

As 'better' as one can be, from that. He understands that something may still remain, may always remain, but only a remnant. A fragment, if anything. His mind's his own, thank the light.

"It was a dagger," he goes on. "It was cursed. Turned me...well, turned me into someone I'm not, who did things I'd never do. So I don't think any different of you, and I don't judge anything you did. Same as I wouldn't want to be judged."
londonbound: (seventy-eight.)

[personal profile] londonbound 2022-05-10 04:48 am (UTC)(link)
A dagger.

Rhy looks up again, though his hand remains at his temple, trying to soothe the headache uselessly.

"A dagger with a ruby in the hilt," he says quietly, watching Mat's face.

"I saw it. And... you, not as yourself." He shudders. "I know what you mean."
a_better_man: (saddened)

[personal profile] a_better_man 2022-05-14 11:43 pm (UTC)(link)
Mat's eyes flick to Rhy before he gives a quick, terse nod. How nice, they'd evenly exchanged their magical trauma. Well. He supposes it saves him having to explain much more from his end.

"Yeah. It called to me and I was too stupid or too greedy to ignore that obvious warning sign. I was fucked up for a couple of months."

At least as far as he can tell. Maybe it had been longer? Things blurred together during that time.

"There were...other consequences, too. But I get it. I do. Even if the magic's out of you, you still remember. Still carry all that around inside you."
londonbound: (thirty-eight.)

[personal profile] londonbound 2022-05-18 07:38 am (UTC)(link)
"Months?" Rhy gasps, horrified, brows knitting as he watches Mat.

"Mat... That must have been truly awful."

He wants to reach out. Offer a reassuring squeeze of his shoulder, an embrace, even just a touch-- but he can't, and Rhy clenches his fists against his thighs and grits his teeth instead.

"I... sympathize. I'm sorry."
a_better_man: (tired)

[personal profile] a_better_man 2022-05-24 10:37 pm (UTC)(link)
"I...well, I wasn't having a very good time before I ended up here, let's leave it at that for now."

There's too much to get into, and Mat doesn't like to talk about it. It had been a terrible time, all of it, from the moment hell broke loose in Emunds Field that awful festival night. Particularly after this little shared experience between him and Rhy.

There is an immediate urge to just slink off and drink his distress away. But he won't do that. He'll drink for boredom and for friendship and to steel his nerves, but he won't turn to drink when he's angry or sad. He won't fall into the trap, he won't end up like his father.

"And now, my dear darling Rhy, my head is killing me. I think I need slouch back to my room, take a draught for the pain, and try and sleep the rest of the day away. We...we can talk more about it all when we're both in better shape for it."