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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.
photophobic: (051)

[personal profile] photophobic 2022-05-15 05:39 am (UTC)(link)

Mm. It wasn't made for two.

[What has he gained here? Kylo's smile is similarly shallow, but his reservation isn't born of fear. It's simply difficult, it seems, for anyone to realise just how new the concept of having anyone choose to side with him is— and that isn't something Thorne or Cadens or anyone from Abraxas can take from him. He's discovered a truth about himself, freed from the trappings of his past and the context that kept him tied into a singular role. He knows now that he isn't inherently unacceptable, undesirable or impossible to love (or even like).

And, of course, he's more than familiar with evil tyrants who kidnap, torture and direct their subjects to do the same and worse to prove their loyalty. If anything, he assumes most leaders will do the same given the opportunity. Better to work with those who have already tipped their hand.]

I imagine Cadens has its own priorities and methods for seeking compliance... and I hope you are able to outsmart them when the time comes. You certainly have a better chance of hiding there. Perhaps it will be enough, if you take care to hide your gifts. The Free Cities have a lot of soldiers to choose from, after all. You could disappear with ease.

[Not, Kylo's expression suggests, that she should have to. It seems a pity for someone with such capacity for radiance.]

If that is what you want.

princessvegas: (118. but you don't care)

[personal profile] princessvegas 2022-05-16 12:06 am (UTC)(link)
I just want to live my life. I know that sounds stupid, but...

[ She trails off, unsure of how to explain just how unstable things have been for her, to make her crave the ordinary. Or how she feels like she wasn't a whole person until she was brought here and became aware of the fact that she had spent two decades sealed off from the thing she was supposed to do, the power she was supposed to have. That's she's afraid to lose this place because there's nowhere else she can go, and even if there was, she might lose her magic again.

She's glad that he didn't have to see any of her memories. No one should have to see what she's seen. ]


I'm safe. I have people in Cadens who'll protect me. And I've always had a plan, if I need it. Where to go, if things go sideways. I know you have power in Thorne, just -- just be careful. We're always gonna be the outsiders they turn on first. If you ever think you need to get out, let me know. I'm kind of an expert at it now.
photophobic: (053)

[personal profile] photophobic 2022-05-16 04:32 pm (UTC)(link)

It doesn't sound stupid. Not to me.

[The unpracticed curve of his mouth is awkward but not for a lack of sincerity, heavy in the dark hold of his gaze. It's possible, with his particular abilities, that he doesn't need to see Julie's memories to catch some glimpse of understanding— and he's always felt a strange commonality between the two of them, if not a host of direct parallels.

At her suggestion, his smile widens further: mild surprise, amusement, even a twist of fondness. Whether or not she knows about the work he's been doing behind the scenes it's a kind offer, and one he wasn't imagining she would extend to him.]

I can read minds and sense intentions, and I have made myself useful to the right people. But I am being careful, and if I should sense a threat to my safety... or yours. I will contact you. And you should contact me, if you want. I'll help you. Perhaps we can help each other.

princessvegas: (119. what they say about me)

[personal profile] princessvegas 2022-05-18 05:06 pm (UTC)(link)
[ To someone able to sense people's emotions, their frame of mind, Julie is an easy read. She has simply been through so much, in such a short period of time, that there is no way for her to hide the trauma, the fear, the lengths to which she has been manipulated (in a very literal way, by something not from her world). Even if she had the awareness to see it as a weakness, it would still be too overwhelming to actually conceal.

Julie smiles back, though she has no awareness of what he's actually doing in Thorne. She knows they trusted him to portal to Nott and back, to take at least one person back to the castle, and that they sent other mages under his command. Nott is not a big enough city to keep information like that quiet, particularly given their distaste for the crown. But even that soon after the first summonings, Thorne had placed Kylo into a position of power, at least as far as foreigners could be concerned. She doesn't know what he did to earn that, but she knows that she has not heard of him misusing the power, either.

But most importantly, he has always been kind to her, even when she was completely out of her gourd because she was still struggling to cope with being brought back to life. Julie comes from somewhere that has little kindness left in it. That means a lot to her.

She nods, looking up at him, where he must be close to two feet taller than she is. ]


We will. All of us who want to stay in Abraxas, we need to work together.