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

cw: choking

[chosenfordarkness]

[ He wants so desperately to believe that they would have been okay if Padmé had just taken his hand and accepted. The could have changed everything. Seeing things from the outside looking in gives him less perspective than he was hoping for. It doesn't keep his heart from beating almost painfully behind his ribs nor causes the lump in his throat to cease.

Anakin barely feels those hands digging into his arms as his failures play out in front of him. How tenderly and caring Padmé caresses his face, trying to get him to just go with her. His lips are drawn in a tight line, his jaw clenched the longer they stand there and watch. He feels ashamed for what Yennefer is forced to watch and he can't find the strength to look at her, afraid of what he's going to see.

He's such a coward..

His eyes are locked onto the scene continuing to play out and hot, angry tears find their way down his face as his attention turns to Obi-Wan. ]

He was my Master. [ He shakes his head. ] He was supposed to be my brother. I trusted him!

[ In front of them, Padmé whirls around to look at Obi-Wan, shaking her head. "No!"

"You're with him. You've betrayed me! You brought him here to kill me!"


Her attention turns back to Anakin as she starts to back up as he advances a few strides. "NO! Anakin... I swear..I--" She freezes in place, eyes wide as she struggles to find her breath when he raises his arm, hand out and fingers curled as if grasping at something.

"Let her go, Anakin."

His attention turns to Obi-Wan as he descends the loading ramp, though he doesn't stop. He looks to Padmé, her eyes pleading. "Let her go." He releases her, looking at her collapsed form. She's alive, at least.


He scowls at Obi-Wan. "You turned her against me!"

Obi-Wan looks at his former apprentice gravely. "You have done that yourself."

Anakin stalks away from Padmé in a wide arch, shedding his outer cloak. "You will not take her from me!!"

"Your anger and lust for power have already done that." Obi-Wan does the same, throwing his cloak off. "You have allowed this Dark Lord to twist your mind until now . . . until now you have become the very thing you swore to destroy."

They circle each other, and when Obi-Wan is close enough, he crouches down to place a hand on Padmé. Anakin turns away, unable to look at them near each other, that rage bubbling beneath the surface. "Don't lecture me, Obi-Wan. I see through the lies of the Jedi. I do not fear the dark side as you do. I have brought peace, justice, freedom, and security to my new Empire."

"Your new Empire?"

"Don't make me kill you."

"Anakin, my allegiance is to the Republic. To democracy!"

"If you're not with me, you're my enemy."

"Only a Sith Lord deals in absolutes...I will do what I must." He ignites his lightsaber as Anakin does the same.

"You will try."

The memory fades around them. ]

[vixening]

[ anakin does not look at her, but he doesn't need to. it's not difficult to see the emotions play across his face - the shame, the anger, the disappointment in not quite finding what it is he's looking for. yennefer feels the heat in his words when he says i trusted him! and she finds, for whatever reason, very little else of it matters after then.

she watches him react to this woman, his wife, and the fear in her eyes as she looks back at him. watches as his lifts his hand to take the breath from her. she watches him as this obi-wan approaches. their exchanged words, their circling around each other. it all happens, and through it all, all yennefer finds herself thinking is that feeling around his words. he was my master. just as she'd looked to tissaia, just as she had crawled her way across that gods-forsaken continent because tissaia must know something, and what had she gotten in return? she knows it is different, knows all of this is different, but that is what sticks.

that, and the tears. his tears.

the memory fades around them, and yennefer finds herself stepping around to anakin's front, looking up to him with determined, undeterred eyes. there is a moment there where she just looks at him, to see if there is anything more he wishes to wish, anything more that she'll read in his eyes if not his words, before she reaches up a hand to his face. if there are tears still there, it might be to wipe those away, but if there aren't any, it will simply be to brush her fingers across his cheek.

it's a little ridiculous, she knows, to feel in any way protective or defensive over what it is she's seen. anakin is powerful, powerful to a degree that she is sure she only barely understands, but still, here she is. ]

[chosenfordarkness]

[ Anger and grief sit heavily in his chest, an impossible weight attempting to crush his ribs. It had been so different at the moment, all that had consumed him was rage and paranoia, unable to look past the incident to the picture at large. And how could he have? He'd been alone on his island of torment and done what he'd thought he had to. Watching Padmé react to him with fear hurts so much more than he thought possible.

There are things that he knows about what comes after this thanks to Kylo. What will happen to them. Their children. Their grandchild.

He can feel the sob caught in his chest that refuses to come out. Anakin doesn't bother trying to scrub the tears off his face, too caught up in the tidal wave of emotions, feeling as though he's going to drown all over again.. But then there's Yennefer, looking at him with such unwavering resolve- as if she's unbothered by what she's witnessed. He's caught off guard by her kindness, mouth agape, not really sure where to start his explanation when her hand reaches up to brush the offending tears away.

A shuddered exhale is about all he manages, leaning into her touch because he can't remember the last time someone had touched him with such care. Unable to help himself, though if she pushes him away he'll let her go, Anakin wraps his arms around her smaller frame in an embrace. His chin rests on her shoulder for a brief moment, but he hopes it conveys his gratitude toward her. ]

[ Quietly, ] Thank you.. [ He clears his throat and releases his hold on her. ] I'm sorry for putting you through this, too, my lady.

[vixening]

[ there is a part of yennefer that recognizes what it is anakin is feeling - anger and grief, pain and regret, a weight that feels impossible to hold and breathe through. she knows how it feels to be drowning, to feel like you're dying under it all. and maybe that is why she can look back at him now with that resolve, why there is something almost protective in her own chest as she does it.

yennefer wipes the tears away and watches as anakin tilts into the touch, watches as he shudders an exhale of his own. there is a sort of wistful needing to the way he leans into her, the way his arms wrap around her and his chin goes to her shoulder. yennefer knows that feeling, knows the almost-ache in need to touch, which is why she will not push him away when he does it. why her own arms circle around his back as well. her hold on him is tight for that moment, as if to say in response to his gratitude that it is no matter. that it's okay.

when anakin pulls away and thanks her, releases her and clears his throat, yennefer finds herself smiling. it is small, a little playful. ]

It's hardly your fault, but I suppose I can let you make it up to me.

[chosenfordarkness]

Well.. that was traumatizing. How about a stiff drink or ten as a start?

[ At the very least, he knows he needs something to numb all the emotions sitting tightly in his chest- or get him to refocus on something else. He laughs quietly, but it's about as lackluster as he currently feels. If he could proceed to not talk about it, he would..

Yennefer deserves any explanation she asks for, simply for being dragged into his mess. ]

I--um. Whatever you want to know, I can try to answer.

[vixening]

[ yennefer snorts, slipping her hand back into the crook of anakin's elbow - something she's fairly used to doing by this point. and maybe it also gives her somewhere to squeeze, too, when his quiet and lackluster laugh breaks through. ]

I can always go for a drink. [ she says, gesturing out towards the hallways. leading them, if anakin doesn't take the first step himself. and it's only when they're walking that yennefer hums, considering, because while she knows that he's offering what he's offering because he feels he has to, the questions that come to mind might not be what he's expecting. ]

The Force. Tell me more about it.

[chosenfordarkness]

Then we'll get you something good to drink and a better view. Maybe the gardens?

[ Somewhere a little more private than out in the middle of the hallway. Yennefer's hand on his elbow helps as much now as it did amidst the sand and sulfur. He lets her lead, though once they get their hand on something a little stronger, he'll lead the way. ]

Ever since I was little, I could feel it. I could do things I knew nobody else could. To me, the Force feels like.. safety. Like I can do anything as long as I have the Force with me. [ He pauses, backtracking a bit. ] Where I'm from, we're taught that the Force is what makes up and connects everything in the universe. Where nothing truly dies, it simply rejoins the Force after death. It binds the galaxy together and what gives a Jedi their power. There are two aspects, the Living Force, which is the energy of all life, and the Cosmic Force, which is..I guess its will? It's why we're always taught to listen to the Force through meditation.

[vixening]

Yes, I think the gardens.

[ there's a small smile on her face as he suggests a drink - because gods, yes, she always needs a drink, and the ensuring pressure behind her eyes at the shared memory isn't going away any time soon - and she takes the lead to get them both there. her hand on his elbow is present, comfortable, though she does get the sense she is acting as a tether for their walk. at least up until they get the drinks in hand.

yennefer lets anakin lead them to the gardens soon after, glass of wine in hand. as he speaks, though, her focus is on him. on the tone he takes when he describes it, answering a not dissimilar question that she'd posed to kylo ren all those months ago. she can see the similarities, between their descriptions, but there is something different about anakin's. something lighter, more...awestruck.

she stays close to him as they walk, letting herself take some comfort from the proximity. ]

If the Force is really that all-present, binding all life and cosmos together, that sounds like endless power. Endless safety. [ she doesn't mean to sound sardonic, doesn't mean to sound entertained. but the basis of it is so...impossible. improbable. ] And you're taught how to use it in by your...master?

[chosenfordarkness]

[ There are plenty of quieter places to tuck away into in the lush gardens that are similar to the Room of a Thousand Fountains, but different enough that it sets him at ease. He does miss the waterfalls the room held, though.. Either way, surrounded by green and with Yennefer at his side asking questions without sounding judgemental. Who is he to deny her knowledge? ]

Most people aren't born with the ability to feel it. We call the people that are Force Sensitive. [ Anakin offers a nod, taking a sip of his wine. ] Initiates are taught in the temple at a young age until they're chosen by a Jedi Master to begin their apprenticeship. I was kind of a special case, but Obi-Wan took me on anyway. He taught me everything he knew, but he never--

[ It's so easy to feel anger toward Obi-Wan, the bitterness of their last meeting tinting everything else in murky shadow. ] I wasn't exactly an easy student to have. We're taught to seek balance within the Force. It's comprised of both the Light and Dark, with emphasis that only the weak fall to the Dark Side.