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

[wiedzminka]

[ Ciri walks with her, wincing and squinting a little in the sun, and keeps her distance just enough so they don't accidentally brush shoulders. She glances over at Julie, considering. Thinking back on what she'd seen, she hadn't understood most of it, but she does know it had surely been far more horrifying for Julie than for her, even without knowing all the people involved. Considering all Julie's told her about the world she comes from and her reactions to this one, Ciri knows enough to realize that a creature tearing open a man's chest to eat what's inside is far from commonplace.

In truth, it hadn't rattled Ciri all that much. She's seen worse things. Not that she is callous enough to say so. ]

Don't apologize, Julie. You didn't do it on purpose.

[ She hesitates, but Ciri knows she would prefer to know. Not to wonder, at the very least. They're still outside, but Ciri speaks quietly, enough for Julie to hear but difficult to catch unless someone nearby is very determined. ]

I saw a... monster of some kind. I'm not sure what it was. It looked like a man, but he couldn't have been human. He was chasing someone named Bobby-Terry. Killed him in a glass shaft of some kind, I think. You saw the end of it, after going down all those stairs.

[ The entrails. The heart. The blood on the monster's mouth. ]

[princessvegas]

I know I didn't do it on purpose. But I'm still sorry. I know what I've seen.

[ Truth be told, the Bobby-Terry incident is one of the lesser terrible things she remembers, not least because she didn't actually witness the most of it. It also probably would have been much worse if the victim had been anyone else. It's hard to care very much about what happens to terrible people.

She's quiet for a moment, then sighs heavily. All in all, it's better that Ciri saw what she did, instead of Nadine's death, instead of the bodies, instead of -- ]

Bobby-Terry was a piece of shit anyway. [ Julie says it with a scoff, kicks up a bit of dust with her toes. ] Not like it was a big loss. And it was in an elevator.

[ She doesn't elaborate otherwise. No explanation of Flagg, who he is, that he was in Abraxas, what was really happening. Of what her part in all was. ]

[wiedzminka]

[ Well. At least there's that. No love lost over the dead man, and a memory Julie doesn't appear to consider that bad, comparatively. It's... something. An acceptable outcome, all things considered.

Ciri doesn't ask for details. If Julie wanted to share, she would. Even if she does want to know what manner of creature that humanoid was, it feels wrong to pry, and if Julie didn't see fit to explain further or correct Ciri's assumption, she will leave it at that. ]

Right.

[ But since they are on the topic now-- ]

We can wait until we get somewhere quieter. But I would like to know what you saw. And probably owe you a similar apology as well.

[princessvegas]

[ Julie shakes her head, drags her feet a little. Ciri doesn't owe her an apology, and honestly, Julie doesn't want to talk about what she saw. She and Ciri have always understood each other on an eerily similar wavelength, for two people from such different worlds, but only now does it make sense. Between Geralt's memory, his explanation, and Ciri's... memory? It's not really a memory, is it, since it wasn't real in the first place, but it's close enough.

She was still a princess, had everyone she knew, dancing at balls and feasts and whatever else. Her parents were there. Ciri's never mentioned them at all, only her grandmother, so Julie always assumed they were out of the picture earlier than Ciri could even remember, but clearly she wanted them. A demon offered her everything she ever dreamed, a world where she could live the life she lost, but even better.

And it wasn't real. Just like Vegas, it was a dream built on a lie. A role handcrafted to satisfy the demon's needs. The only difference was that Julie didn't have anyone to pull her back out, to make her see the truth of what was around her before it was too late.

It doesn't change anything. There's nothing to talk about or apologize for. ]

Um, it was just a monster, I guess? I mean, I never saw a monster that looked like that, but Geralt killed it. Nothin' important, really.

[wiedzminka]

[ Well. That could be... just about anything. Ciri eyes Julie, a bit uncertain, but she doesn't exactly want to call her friend a liar. And her head fucking hurts like her brain is trying to vibrate out of her ears.

She swallows, one hand pressed to her temple, and tries to catch Julie's gaze with watery eyes. ]

You seemed... quite shaken. It frightened you?

[princessvegas]

[ Julie prefers to call it partial truth. She did see a monster, and Geralt killed it, and she had been genuinely frightened by it. But there's nothing to say about the demon's illusion, not without calling back up a lot of grief that neither of them need right now. Julie already knew about the demon, knew it wanted Ciri -- she'd known that days ago, thanks to Geralt. All this new knowledge does is color in the framework.

Despite herself, Julie can't help but let out a snort of amusement. ]

Well, yeah. I ain't never even heard of a monster like that... it was like a huge fuckin' centipede but with goat horns and people hands? And you were... not a little girl, but younger, and we were trapped against a cliff. [ Her eyes flick down, her brow knits up. ] I tried... I couldn't put you behind me. And then Geralt came from the fuckin' sky and cut its head off.