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

[earthborn]

"Sure, a lot of these people... They don't think violence should even be an option," Shepard says, as the memory starts fading at the edges, blackness closing in first around the balconies, obscuring the diplomats and onlookers, shadowing the branches of the trees, and slowly drawing a curtain over the view of the ward-arms far out beyond the windows, "Meanwhile, you and the kneecaps— look, a bullet in the head can solve a lot of problems."

Most of them people, and the persistent, selfish way people would do their best to step on one another just to get another few inches out of the mud. Shepard could understand the desperation; you had to know hunger, real hunger, to know for sure what you valued more than food. But if you'd never seen the bottom of that cup, you might assume it was a different color, just because you wished that it were so.

So, some people were redeemable. And other weren't. And often, there wasn't time to figure out which was which before you had to make a choice.

"You know, Jesper, this is why you and I get along."

[itookashot]

"I know. I'm very fond of a few of them, so I try to be nice about it, but it seems a waste of energy to be hard on yourself over killing a bad person. I'm not going to put a bullet in someone who steals from me, but a slaver who deals in children?" He whistles. "World's better off. I wouldn't think twice." Jesper likes everyone, most of the time, and he is playing well by the rules set out for him here. He misses the thrill though. Inej was taken by slavers. It meant she met him, which he's grateful for, but he would murder all of them if he could, and so would she. Righteously.

"And what, you put the slaver into jail and he gets out because it's good business, and that's when I'd have to shoot him all over again. Bullets don't grow on trees." Jesper is fairly blase and cheerful about all of this, but he genuinely does not have any bloodlust. He's fine with shooting kneecaps, especially if it's a skirmish between gang members, those things happen and not everyone has to take it seriously. But slavers. Nah.

He winks at her. "I know. It's why I don't worry about talking so freely with you. We're similar. I think I'd be good on your crew." Saints he misses being on a crew. He misses Kaz. "I don't know if you'd like my boss, he's difficult for most people, cold as ice, but a brilliant mind like no other."

[earthborn]

"I've known an ice queen or two in my time," More than once, that kind of personality was more about being a pain in the ass than actually causing problems, in Shepard's experience. The black-fuzzed edges of the fading memory are closer now, nipping along the stairwell, swallowing the memory of Shepard's past self as she marches up into the void, towards the top of the council chambers, "Most people don't see me smiling, or talking about old times. I've been called cold, myself."

She considers Jesper with a weather eye, the blackness rushing in around their feet, the memory fading out, and the bright normalcy of the world beyond returning. Well, for a given value of normal, very loosely defined. There isn't much about this fucking planet that's got to do with actual normal.

Damn, but Shepard's head hurts.

"Jesper, I like you. If I could see a bit more of your skillset, I might take you on. But you would have to understand what that means. My crew is to the death, and that's usually because I'm walking them right into it. It's a hell of a ride, emphasis on hell, but I can promise you won't do better for people at your back. It's not fun and games— well, alright mostly not. I'll introduce you to Garrus, he'll be happy to tell you the horror stories."

God forbid someone take a damn short cut in an all terrain tank, after all.

[itookashot]

"Kaz makes you seem like a heatwave." There is something utterly still about Kaz that few people can replicate. Shepard has a lot of life in her, the way she talks, the way she moves, her energy, etc. "Not many people like him, but everyone respects him." Jesper loves him. He doesn't even really bother to hide that. Their relationship is not boss-employee or a question of respect. But everyone on the other end of loving Kaz has to accept they may never know what he thinks.

"My skillset." Jesper smiles at her, oh she has no real idea, he mostly keeps to saying he's a perfect shot and everything. There are no visible knives on him until he seems to bring one out of his jacket, where his pockets are hidden. He keeps his eyes on her when he throws a knife to the side, not even looking at it. It sails through the air just missing several people and cutting into a wood stall. He walks over to it and comes back, showing her the point, where a fly has been pierced without him having to look.

"I can do that with any bullet from any distance to any target." He can prove it when he gets his guns, which is soon. "I also have supernatural abilities that manipulate matter and modify types of matter, so I could turn this into goo with a touch, and then back to a knife, or change it to suit what I like." Jesper's abilities are known within their community but not in the public large. He was warned to be careful, and he is, outside of selling trinkets he's made for a nice little profit.

"I'm useful, believe me. Anyone would be lucky to have me on their crew." Jesper says that with utter belief in himself and his worth, and that is part of the package to be honest. Confidence can be a good thing, when put into situations that needs a cool and quick head. "But I can't guarantee you to the death option, because my life is Inej's. She's my best friend and gets to call all my shots."

It was funny at one point she was waiting on Jesper's orders, as Kaz's second, but he's always followed the other two. "But I'm sure we can at least be helpful to you when you need things done, and also, I'm the fun and games it sounds like you could use more of."

[earthborn]

Shepard regards the display of prowess with raised eyebrows and an appreciative consideration. Alright, so he was a sharpshooter, that was one thing. Hand to hand, that was another. More to the point, he was quick, and clever. Fair point; his skillset had the value.

"You make a good sell," Shepard observes, her mood in fine fettle about the concept. She'd always been rightly proud of her ability to judge someone's character based on short acquaintance, "But I don't have a lot to offer, right now."

No ship, no mission, not even pay— and as much as she did not like most mercenaries, she also didn't disrespect them. Keeping Jesper would mean paying his keep, same as anyone else. The whole world wasn't made of people like Garrus, who would stick by her for free, no matter what happened.

"That said, I do take care of my people, in the end. What if you introduced me to this Inej person? If you're worried about breaking up the pair, I'm willing to be impressed, assuming she's as good as you are."

[itookashot]

"I know, I'm of high market value," Jesper says with a smile. That's how Kaz put it, once upon a time, when he dragged him out of the gutter and into a job. He's fairly sure Kaz knew he was a Grisha long before he admitted to it, he adapted way too fast to suggesting jobs he needed Jesper and his skills for. Sometimes it was simple; finding counterfeit coin in the gambling sections. He can tell with a touch. But it was really about the guns and the fact Kaz never had to dirty his own hands when he had Jesper and Inej.

"Oh she's better than me. In a different way. Inej is called the Wraith, she's a spy. I've been her friend for years and she can be standing right next to me without me knowing until she speaks. It's amazing." Jesper even has super abilities that should be able to detect her! And she still shocks him! Kaz seems to be the only person who knows. "You'll find few people faster or more agile. We held opposite but similar levels of importance in our gang."

He was the long-distance, guns ablazing, right out front member. She hit people in the back. "There's not a lot of mercenary work here, no. Unless you want to go into the Badlands, where apparently the bandits and monsters are."

[earthborn]

"You say high-value, I'm hearing expensive," Shepard laughs. Oh he's a merc alright, "You want in on this or not, Jesper?"

But he is painting a lovely picture— a familiar one. Stealth and sharpshooting, covering all the bases for close, mid, and long range. She loves a well-rounded fireteam, and having an extra hand isn't bad. But then, there's always the question of money, weapons, a base of operations...

...It isn't as if there's going to be a convenient paramilitary organization to lean on, in these desperate times. But Jesper keeps going, supplying the answer and the question in one breath. Bandits and badlands; there was more than one kind of scum in the world, and what else did you call outlaws other than fair targets?

"I'm the Butcher of Torfan. I'm not afraid of monsters, or anything else out there."

[itookashot]

"Always ask for what you're worth and nothing less, Shepard." Jesper winks at her. Honestly, she couldn't afford him as she is now, so this is all just playful, he'll work for her regardless of whether she has the starting funds. It's fine, he has plenty of money himself, now that he's no longer gambling it all away.

"I do, and I think Inej will too, we're both restless." She'll still have to ask Inej though, he doesn't do anything without her. But Jesper has been here longer so he is a valuable asset. "For you and your boyfriend to get guns, you need to either save money, or sell your services to the military or see if you can get a deal with a gunsmith. You want to talk to Geralt, Ciri, or Dean, they're all Summoned here in Cadens and they're hunters. They've been making a living off of it already, and I suspect at least one of them might have gone against bandits by now."

They do tend to lean more toward monsters, he knows that much, but if the bandits are a serious problem, he suspects they've been hired for that kind of thing too. Jesper actually has a lot of connections, he's always been good at this part too. It's why he was Kaz's legs. "It's possible the military hires to take care of these things, you'd have to ask. Then we'll have to gear up, get good advice, and head out."

He smiles. "High risk, high reward."