EVENT #10: AFFLICTION - IC POST

[abraxasmods]

Event #10 - Affliction

go to the OOC event info & plotting post

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With tensions heavy across Abraxas and all the destruction that's happened, it's no surprise that the dark shadows which sweep over the land go unnoticed...at first.

Winds initially stir in Solvunn, where the influence of the Old Gods remains the strongest. Slowly each Herald infects Thorne and the Free Cities, as well. The Summoned are the first to feel its effects and are the most heavily impacted.

Though no one will realize it until well afterwards, Nocwich remains unaffected. After all, the Summoned don't reside there.

NOTE: This event will deal with themes of death (people and animal) and horror imagery.

Emergence

It begins sometime in mid-October, around the 18th. Not everyone will experience it at the same time. You might even believe you're spared until days afterwards when you're visited by an unusually vivid dream.

The dream starts the same for everyone: you are going somewhere, anywhere, walking to your bedroom or enjoying a stroll on the beach. You might be driving down a familiar neighborhood. Wherever you're headed, you eventually come upon a stone tablet engraved with your Arcana. Laid on the tablet are three objects:

◎ A dead moth trapped inside a wilted rose, symbolizing Koth of Festering Lands
◎ A teacup inside which sits a single nightshade berry, symbolizing Adlewyrd of Poisoned Tongues
◎ An ornate cracked hand mirror that contains no reflection, symbolizing Sannleikr of Many Faces

Make a choice. Something inside your soul will be drawn towards one of the objects. Maybe you spend hours in the dream deliberating, but sooner or later, you'll pick one of the items up. The moment you do, the other objects vanish and the chosen Herald appears before you. Where one might expect a god to seek subservience, the strange figure instead extends a friendly hand towards you - as though it's greeting you as an equal.

Whispered around you, you hear its name. Then it fades and with it the dream. You awaken.

Affliction

You go about your day as usual. That's when you realize something isn't right. Creatures and people around you behave strangely. You begin to sense that you are the cause.

Depending on your chosen Herald, you'll experience at least one of its afflictions. The effects might start small, then grow. They might rush you all at once. You can't shake what haunts you, though you can try. Spells, potions, and willpower can help keep the afflictions at bay but you won't ever be completely free.

As the afflictions seep into your mind, you start to find shadows of it following you: a dead moth here, a nightshade bloom there, a cracked mirror elsewhere. You may even wonder if it's following you in the first place. What if instead, you are the one leaving these signs behind?

Corruption

The first time you inflict your ability on someone else, you don't mean to. It might be a stranger, some unsuspecting soul, or it might be another Summoned. Regardless, the afflictions that ail you seem to spread through you into another. Someone falls down as if in the throes of an invisible death or secrets spill. You brush by someone and they're suddenly upset and confused.

The more this happens, intentionally or not, the better you feel. You may grow full of life and energy, gain a renewed strength of heart, or radiate a charm that turns heads and garners compliments. The afflictions haunting you could even start to fade or completely vanish. And if you use your newfound power deliberately? You'll feel better even faster for longer. Of course, these boons are temporary, lasting at most an hour or so. When the feeling wanes, you might miss having it.

You are not possessed. You can't control this power that spreads through you, but how you respond or behave is up to you. You could be attracted to the allure of power, enjoy the boons you are granted, or realize you can gain relief from your afflictions if you choose a victim. Not everyone will fall headfirst into the pull. Some are not easily swayed by power, some struggle to overcome their dark impulses, and others would rather endure their suffering than inflict it on someone else. But others still might succumb to temptation and turn on those around them with purpose: once, twice, multiple times. The choice you make is yours alone.

Blight

With the call of the Herald at your fingertips, the world around you twists. No one knows whether this stems from you and your newly imbued afflictions, or if the Heralds are exerting power on their own. It's for sure easier to think of what occurs as the influence of something monstrous beyond your control. No matter the cause, the earth is changed all the same.

Omens

The omens arrive shortly after the initial Summoned receive their dreams, but they don't come to every faction at once. SOLVUNN is first, being home to the Old Gods' shrines, before THORNE and the FREE CITIES follow only days afterwards. Depending on where you are, the omens will affect things a bit differently.

Solvunn

In Solvunn, the ground stirs. A desiccated hand breaks through the grass, a cloven hoof. Human or animal, they crawl forth, animated against their will. Some might attack, but most do not. At the same time, crops around the settlements begin to fail. Some chickens lay rotten eggs while cows produce spoiled milk. Any livestock that perishes overnight will surface in the mornings with empty eye sockets - pecked out by crows or gnawed on by rats. From a distance, the ocean can be seen bubbling as leviathans beneath thrash.

Worth noting is that many of the dead are concentrated around the shrines, especially the ones deep in the woods. They're too decayed to recognize, and some might not even move from the site, as though they are waiting for the earth to take them again...or as though they once chose to give up their life at this very spot.

Summoned can assist by helping to cast spells or place warding charms around shrines, farms, and gardens to protect crops and livestock. As a commune, the Solvunnites will share their resources as much as possible and would appreciate those who might lend a hand bringing supplies, herbs, and offerings to neighbors who are lacking. The Summoned can also brew a common herbal remedy to aid any animals who have fallen ill or to help purify the well water.

Free Cities

In Libertas, the dead buried under the rubble dig themselves out. More crawl forth from graves in Cadens' cemeteries. Beasts and bandits slain in the desert wilds rise, hungry or searching for the ones who killed them. At the same time, dead fish wash up onto the shores of Aquila while birds fall dead from their perch, dropping like flies from an unknown illness. Vultures and other scavengers begin to prey upon the eyes of the dead, leaving behind hollowed-out corpses.

Worth noting is that in the Badlands, a few very old and skeletal corpses rise with a metal plate or two screwed onto their bones, which are also oddly elongated. Only one or two make their way near the city. The army is quick to dispose of them before many can notice. They will not disclose any information about this and will claim these are just monsters like anything else.

Summoned can assist by going on patrol with the soldiers to put down any risen dead. Merchant caravans are also hiring escorts for their journeys. Additionally, they can help look through any received supplies and packages to make sure the food isn't rotting or worse, use a special dissolving compound to purify the waters, and donate staple food items to refugees and the less fortunate who can't afford the rising prices.

Thorne

In Thorne, the dead emerge only from the outskirts of the castle city. Thanks to information from one of their Summoned and their recent monitoring of the Singularity, Thorne was able to act swiftly and was able to ward any royal or otherwise significant burial sites. Graves and tombs of less importance, though, will not be protected in the same way. There are fewer encounters with eyeless corpses, though some animals might appear outside the castle in such a state. Normally extravagant dishes from the Castle's kitchens use simpler ingredients as they struggle to ration their food stores.

Worth noting is that a few unexpected corpses make their way up from deep under the castle in places beyond the dungeons. These are twisted and mangled, missing limbs, heads, fingers. The castle guards are quick to dispose of them before they get too far into the rest of the castle, but one or two may be spotted.

Summoned can assist by contributing to the wards around Castle Thorne and the city, using spells to put down the dead without mangling the corpse, and taking inventory of food stores. Further, in Nott the situation is more dire for anyone who is traveling there to continue assisting with repairs following the attack. Nott will welcome help with any problems caused by the omens. It'll be clear the kingdom has neglected the city somewhat. Thorne will claim the Castle takes priority, of course, due to King and Queen residing there along with the entire royal court.

Apprehensions

Across the factions, locals are beginning to catch on that something isn't right with you, the Summoned. No one will say it outright, but there's an air of caution and wariness around you where you go. Merchants might be quick to hand you your wares so you'll leave or locals give you a bit of space when they walk by. Chatty innkeepers are more reluctant to hold lengthy conversations.

Much of the time, it may not be conscious. The natives might simply sense something off that instinctually makes them want to put some distance between them and you. The only exception? If you've chosen Sannleikr of Many Faces, you'll continue to exude your charm towards people you encounter. At least for as long as you continue to inflict that ability you've been gifted.

Displacement

Everyone responds differently while in the Horizon. You might exert better willpower over your afflictions or you might feel its effects more strongly. It all depends on the individual and their mindset. Regardless, the Heralds are only one part of the equation. There's a much bigger disturbance going on.

It could happen as soon as you enter or it might be as you're stepping over the threshold into another's domain. Whatever the case, you are suddenly not where you're supposed to be. Instead, you're in one of two places depending: transported into a domain you never meant to go into or in a foreign setting altogether.

Visitation

Whether you're the one transported or someone teleports unexpectedly into your space, the Horizon becomes unpredictable for the next little while. Rooms normally locked to strangers, areas you yourself may not even realize exists - you and your fellow Summoned continue to pop in and out despite your intentions.

The effect isn't painful, just disorienting, like missing a step you didn't see or stumbling through a door into a too-bright room. The person whose domain you've inadvertently visited might sense an unwanted presence, whether they're inside the Horizon or not, or they may be completely oblivious. This will depend on the strength of their connection to the Singularity and the Horizon.

Not to worry. You won't be trapped or anything in these cases...unless the domain you land in happens to seal from the inside. You might stumble on secrets you weren't meant to find, though, locked away in someone else's mind.

Ensnared

The less fortunate will be pulled into a space that they've never encountered before. The bizarreness of it resembles the glitchy visions that flashed through a few months ago, but rather than an image flickering by, you are now inside the space itself.

Trapped between minutes to hours, you can't use the Horizon's creation magic as normal. Attempts will falter or go sideways: trying to fly out might cause you to tumble, tools and objects are broken or not quite right, wounds don't vanish or heal completely, etc. More significantly, you can't seem to send or receive messages through your connection. Anything that manages to come through will be garbled and distorted. It's as though the place you are in is just out of the reach of your control.

Luckily, you may not be alone. Someone else may have gotten lost alongside you. They might already be there when you stumble through or they might arrive after you do. They might even fade out sooner than you, unintentionally leaving you behind.

Eventually, you'll be released back into the Horizon proper, spat out in a random place in the Horizon. While you're stuck, though, you can try to survive, explore, sit and wait it out, or make friends with your fellow trapped partner. Each area has its challenges and quirks that you'll need to deal with.

Scenes to Explore

JUSTICE ◎
FULL IMAGE

High in the clouds, these snowy peaks are as cold as they look. Giant marble hands reach out, though their sheer scale means you might not recognize them as hands from up close. You can scale the mountain, but if you try to go down, the hands will flip the mountain, which sends you tumbling to the top again.

It's up to you whether you can be injured when you fall. Maybe the snow will feel like marshmallows, or you'll break a bone on the jagged rocks. No two experiences are the same. If you have a partner, they could end up faring better than you despite being in the same place.

Conjure some warm clothes or a log cabin even if you wish - they might not manifest perfectly, but it'll be better than nothing. At least the view's fairly nice...while the sun is up. A blizzard will come through by nightfall. With it arrives a strange hovering light that entices you or your friend to follow it into the frozen darkness. What draws you out depends on you. It could be a familiar voice, an image, or a simple compulsion. If you're lucky, the person with you is unaffected and can try to stop you. Or maybe you're the one desperately chasing after the other person?

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THE CHARIOT ◎
FULL IMAGE

From a distance, it's hard to tell if they're shipping containers or houses stacked atop each other. A gooey mess covers the ground below. Oddly, the smell isn't as unpleasant as the goo looks. It smells like bubblegum or cotton candy, artificial and sweet. When you first fall in, you might land inside one of the homes, on top of the stacked structure, or the ground. You can try to reach anyone else who's there with you, but be careful: the ooze is spreading. Climb if you must or move from room to room. If you don't keep moving, you risk getting sucked into its sticky mass.

Each block of a home is different. Some are furnished, whereas others are empty or filled with strange knickknacks. Some might even have subconscious creations spawned by you. Keep ahead of the gloopy substance, and you'll be fine, probably. Or you can try to fight it back or block its path by sealing yourself in a room or otherwise, which can slow it down significantly. Mostly, you'll have to hope you fade out before the pink mass completely consumes the landscape.

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THE WORLD ◎
FULL IMAGE

The hazy neon glow obscures a nothingness that seems to extend forever. In the middle of the wet ground are several stacked television sets with wires plugged into nothing. Inexplicably, there's also a cat. At first, it appears perfectly normal, but keen observers will notice that its behavior is on a loop where it will walk a certain path, pause at specific intervals to lick its paws, and meow at set points. It does not acknowledge any of its intruders. You can break its loop by picking it up, at which point it'll go limp as a ragdoll. As soon as you set it down, it'll resume its actions as before.

While you can see the same images as someone else on the screens, it's also possible you'll each see something different despite being in the room together. What you see is up to you. It could be an old fuzzy movie, home videos of your childhood, trivia questions you have to answer correctly, or even a memory or vision you wouldn't want to share. Words or faces taunting you could appear between staticky flickers, or maybe your very thoughts are projected onto the screens for anyone with you to read.

Break the televisions if you want, but given a few short minutes, they'll reform between one blink and the next. Looks like you'll have to keep watching until you're released.

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THE FOOL ◎
FULL IMAGE

Sprawling and massive, you're unlikely to recognize at first that you're trapped in a labyrinth. Stone walls rise around you, and your surroundings are pitchblack. Manifest a torch or a flashlight if you can, though these will be prone to going out at inopportune times. Escaping over the walls will only send you into another section in the maze.

As you navigate the twisting corridors, you'll encounter any variety of trials and troubles: gaps in the ground, spiked traps, haunting whispers, monsters, decaying corpses. Some of these might've formed from your mind, others might've spawned from anyone else who's trapped with you.

If you aren't alone, do your best to locate your fellow Summoned. Voices do carry and echo over the walls, and there could be landmarks that help you find each other. Finding the exit, however, is another matter. Walk and climb all you want. A way out is impossible until the Horizon chooses to set you free.

Players can pick any scenario that interests them from the four choices above. Unlike the visions from before, characters can accidentally be trapped in as many of the scenes as you want, as many times as you want. Another option is that they can stay trapped in only one scene while a variety of characters fade in and out to join them, or some combination of the two. Choose what works best for your plans.

Each scene will once again carry an associated Arcana etched somewhere inside it, which can change from person to person or instance to instance. It might be on a wall, a table, or on the ground. Characters with a stronger connection to the Horizon are likely to be trapped for longer but the extent of this is your choice and it won't ever exceed a few hours. It's also your choice whether the afflictions continue to haunt them or not. If you want characters to deal with both problems while stuck together, you're welcome to!

Generally speaking, there are no restrictions other than that they won't be able to communicate with anyone outside the area, they can't escape it until the Horizon chooses to release them, and their creation magic will go wrong just enough that it'll make things tricky.

Comments

[carmesi]

[it takes no time at all for realization to dawn that she's not alone in this room, and wanda isn't too sure if this is reason for comfort or not—regardless of the person she finds herself with. fortune or not, the fact of the matter is that they're both stuck in this endless kaleidoscope of homes and doors that lead everywhere but the exit.

it doesn't help matters much knowing that there's pink goop rushing at them from the bottom of the building and upwards. from the way the door was shut behind the other woman, wanda can only assume that they've reached a dead end.]

Ciri.

[whatever differences they may have, however, is no reason to put it over what's infinitely more urgent. soon after speaking ciri's name, wanda walks in a circle around the room, searching for a way to keep moving; the doors, as it were, wince under the push and weight of the goop trying to push through.

through the ceiling?

wanda packs a ball of scarlet magic under the palm of her hand and sends the flare of it upward, the magic dissolving at the material until there is a hole for them to get up through. she turns to ciri.]

Go.

[familysucks]

To think, his brother is actually smiling around him about something that's not actively harmful to him. Michael wouldn't have believed it possible this morning and he's not sure how he feels about it now. Foreboding, maybe. The good things never last. He'll figure it out later.

"Because I am renowned throughout Heaven for my creativity," he deadpans and then leans back in his chair, unimpressed rather than at ease.

Michael doesn't have any illusions about what he is. Imagination has never been one of his talents. It's hard to feel robbed of something his Father never gave him in the first place. Lucifer, on the other hand—

"Big talk for someone still wearing that, for that matter." He gives Lucifer a look. So far as Michael is aware, his appearance in the Horizon is as subject to his will as his domain, and Lucifer still chose Nick? He'd have figured Sam's face would be more his style, if only for the possibility of tormenting Dean with the sight. "What have you done with your cut of the Horizon?"

[carmesi]

Every sixty days or so.

[there's no real telling with the calendars of this world, but in keeping with her own counting of the passage of time, it does feel like these fluctuations—this disruption of magic—occurs almost in a pattern. like pulses of a cyclical nature.

as it were, it's not the first time magic has gone awry, but it's usually—inward. not quite the world around them, the physical world, falling to the poison of the negative effects.

clearly, though, she thinks too soon of that disparity. his fingers brush against her own but for a moment, and it happens almost immediately. her hands become skeletal, skin darkening against the bones, in similar fashion to when agatha took her powers; it feels like the life is being pulled away from her—and for a witch like herself, perhaps that is the only way to kill her. she knows that there is no logical reason for this to be happening.

and yet wanda witnesses the corruption spread from her hand to her arm, and she's stepping back in bewilderment, a mutter escaping her lips.]

No. No— no.

[the charms have been dropped to the ground by this point, and it feels too real. just as the charms have dropped, so does her strength, and she's falling to her knees, shoulders hunched as she slumps to the ground.]

visitation

[assembles]

There's a reason that Steve has never been particularly interested in spending a lot of time in the Horizon, which is that he really can't trust it to behave in any way he can predict or understand. This is just more proof of that.

The place he's found himself, even if he can't remember how he came to be here, isn't all that unfamiliar. The ambient noise and the whirring of machinery puts him into the mind of being on a quinjet, except this room is completely enclosed, meaning it's probably part of a much larger vessel.

A vessel armed with impressive artillery, on top of that. Steve's about to step forward to get a closer look at the two guns, except that's when the voices cuts in. It takes him only a moment to realize they're being broadcast into the room, probably through one of the monitors. He doesn't recognize either of the voices, but that's no surprise. Something about... hair tentacles?

It's at that point he hears footsteps and realizes he's not alone. Steve doesn't have time to issue any sort of warning before he unintentionally scares the person who must be the owner of this domain — who looks distinctly alien, though that comes as no surprise. Putting all of the context clues together, he assumes they're on the facsimile of a spaceship.

"Hey, sorry, I... uhh..." He lifts his hands up in front of him as a sign he means no harm. "I just sort of ended up here. The Horizon's acting up today."

[assembles]

[ In truth, this isn't that much of a shock. Given that Matt had been brought here from his world, draw in alongside a whole host of Avengers, this makes a lot more sense than him just being an attorney.

There's the question of how he can do all this when he can't see, unless that's some sort of cover, but Steve figures he can pry into that when they're done busting heads.

Matt full-on tackles one of the undead to beat it into submission, and Steve isn't about to slack off either. He falls to a kneel to slam the edge of his shield down into the zombie he'd knocked over, severing its windpipe and ending that horrible wheezing noise it was making.

They're slowly being surrounded, and so he flings his shield out, sending it in a wide arc that at least hits and unbalances two of them. If Matt really is relying on sound, that should also guide him toward the closest targets.

This isn't a vibranium shield, though, and it can't only do so much. It clatters to the ground about twenty feet away, meaning Steve has to move to collect it.

He's working with what he's got. ]

[funbreaker]

[ Thancred doesn't receive much of a response, but he's learned by now this is typical. It isn't that Geralt won't speak, but he doesn't waste his breath when it's not necessary.

He watches as the wall between them actually grows taller, which is rather counterintuitive from where he's standing. Yet he's already observed how the Horizon is not responding to their whims quite as it should, so it could be as simple as that.

Either way, he can hear the scuffling noises of Geralt scaling the wall, and sends him a wave as soon as he sees him appear up top. Geralt smartly takes his opportunity to get a lay of the land, and soon enough joins Thancred back on solid ground. ]

My thanks. You saved me a back ache. [ Not that their injuries here will last, but he can't help making a cheeky comment all the same. ] Not long, only a few minutes or so before I heard you. Did the view from up there grant you any clues?

[ He suspects they won't get very far wandering around at random. ]

iii. Labyrinth

[hextechhead]

It has been a stressful time lately and Jayce can tell almost right away that something is going wrong again with them and the Singularity. Maybe he is used to the feeling it brings or he just automatically suspects when something strange happens. He remembers that Himeka mentioned the dead walking recently so reports of that are disturbing but it sounds like it's echoing the past. Jayce does not volunteer to go hunting for those; helping injured people, yes, fighting the dead, no.

The nightmares made him exhausted and twitchy, fraught with fear and anxiety, but this has made him cranky. Jayce has been trying to keep out of the way of others after finding out unfortunately quickly what happens when he touches them. The startled, terrified look on someone's face is more than enough reason to try and stop it. Unfortunately, he is a big man and he is not quick enough to avoid contact, so eventually he hides himself inside their workshop or their house. He has to avoid contact with Viktor too, which obviously adds to the grumpiness. Not to mention the edge between the two of them is sharpening like it was right before they came here.

He feels angry for no discernible reason; angry at their situation, angry at having to avoid touching his boyfriend, angry that this keeps happening and no one seems to be able to stop it. Jayce has been struggling with his anger problem and now it seems to be radiating out of him. When he gets home he really does not want to pick a fight, but he is in the mood for one. Until he sees Viktor meditating, clearly in the Horizon, and decides to follow him in. He sits down next to him and focuses, hoping seeing Rio will at least soothe him.

What he does not expect is this insane labyrinth to stretch ahead of him. He thought about going into his meditation room to be calm, but now no matter where he turns, it's a long path, never ending, winding around. Jayce murmurs a simple spell since it's dark in there and it glows into brightness, not a torch but light in his hand. "Viktor?" He says loudly, having followed him into the Horizon, and now he's lost.

[thedevilwhorose]

"Never too old to start," Lucifer says.

And then he flinches.

Michael would be the only one who'd know. The only one that would point it out.

"Crowley locked me into this vessel," he admits in complaint, slowly, like he hadn't just reacted poorly to the words. "And I can't--seem to exert my control over this appearance here." That and his "mood lighting" in his domain.

He's wearing the same outfit Michael would remember as his appearance in the Cage, Nick and all. Something even he never understood sticking with him since by all accounts it should've been Sam's mug for the Cage to sidle him with. If he would've guessed it was just his Father taking another thing from him.

He grabs irritably at the embroidered Devil's arcana over the collarbone of his overcoat. "This joke, too." The symbol slapped to his appearance, unable to ever really be free of it even in another world.

... He'll get to his domain in a moment. He's having a Time. And they were doing so well.

For them, anyway.

Jesper Fahey | Free Cities | Adlewyrd

[itookashot]

[Plotting is best on plurk!]

[nightwash]

"Wouldn't be the first time," Ronan mutters without looking up. Burying bodies had been an unfortunately frequent pastime during his high school years. But the hole he's dug with his bare hands is far too small and shallow to contain anything human-shaped, just deep enough to place a cursed mirror where no one else is likely to disturb it. Much less work than burying one of his night horrors.

He finishes patting the fresh earth flat over the tiny grave, then sits back on his heel. He doesn't seem to mind that his knees and hands are now grimy with dirt. His mind is elsewhere.

That thing in the mirror...

Free Cities - OTA - tw for gambling addiction

[itookashot]

Jesper has been here long enough that he's suspicious when he gets weird visions in his dreams. He remembers the nightmare and memory shares all too well, so when the creepy figure shows up, after he looks into a teacup, all he can think is fuck, here we go again. The thing is when he wakes up, it isn't immediately obvious whether it's real or not. He doesn't get hit with anything obvious. It takes him a day or so before things begin to happen.

Jesper walks by gambling halls every single day and he has learned how to move past them. He always goes quickly. It doesn't have to be just full gambling areas, anywhere that people are playing games, their eager faces waiting for a win, it calls to him. He catches his breath because no matter how long it's been, he's still who he is. It isn't easy, but it is something he's been controlling.

He is walking down the street when the whispers come. Since super hearing has become an occasional problem, he wonders if it's that, bracing, but instead the whispers are clear as day. Look, they say, and he does, twisting his head around to see a gambling table. You're better now, aren't you? It's been so long. You can prove it to yourself, prove it to everyone. You can play without going too far. Don't you want to know? Jesper hasn't felt this compulsion in months and it makes it hard for him to swallow.

The problem is that he never really has impulse control. With those words, it cuts through his logic, because he does want to prove it. He does want to know. It's an easy way of convincing him. Jesper looks almost like a moth to a flame, unable to stop himself, and having no interest in doing so. He sits down at a table, gray eyes glowing with pleasure he'd been keeping away so long, his smile brittle. "Let's do this."

Maybe you catch him before he goes in, but he has this hungry look, like nothing can stop him. Maybe you catch him at the end of the first night, when everyone else has gone home and the business is closed, and yet Jesper hovers outside of it, still starving. All his money is gone, promises made for more tomorrow, but he wants to bang on the door, demand more. He doesn't make it home that first night. He sleeps right there, back against the nearby wall, his jacket put around him like a blanket. He sleeps on the street a few times, afraid of going home.

Over the next few days he can always be found there. He wins and he wins and he wins and then he loses just as much. Every time he is on a roll, Jesper reaches out to touch the other people playing, telling them to stay. One more hand. Tempting. If you come to see him, he will do the same to you. Just one time. It'll be fun.

Jesper usually is difficult to catch when he decides to steal, and he has been avoiding doing that since coming to Cadens. He has to live here, he has to do the right thing. But as his desperation grows and his eyes get a little wild, his attention is brittle. He still can telekinetically take things when the person isn't looking, but anyone could bump into him and find he has items he shouldn't stashed in his pockets and his hands.

Horizon - OTA - tw for gambling addiction here too

[itookashot]

Jesper finds himself in the Horizon out of pure desperation. He has gone too far. He feels it under his skin, crawling, he's still so needy. He thinks maybe if he goes to his shooting range or the gambling dens in the Crow Club, he'll get it out of his system. This is how he's been safely scratching that itch, but it's not working anymore. Winning and losing, it's all his choice, there is no chance, there is no challenge. There's no real money in his hand.

When he shows up in other people's domains, he's relieved. Anything to distract him. Jesper seems jittery and unsettled, unable to sit still for more than a second. He paces from one side of the Horizon to the next when he isn't teleported there, trying to lose himself. If he finds himself in someone's domain he intentionally walks into it, not even apologetic.

Every time he ends up in one of the strange different locations, he feels that relief again. Freezing on a mountain, followed by ooze, lost in a maze, it's all helpful, the only way to be freed of his torment. He is too close to stealing from the people he loves. This is the only way.

Istredd | Thorne | Sannleikr

[magicalarchaeologist]

[Throw me a message on plurk]

Thorne - OTA

[magicalarchaeologist]

This is Istredd's first brush with the strangeness he has heard from others, so the omen of the strange dream does not strike him at first. He is curious though, as always, and remembers everything that happens while there. The arcana, the symbol, the entity, whatever it is. When he wakes up, he writes everything down, just in case.

The first time he sees Stregobor, he's shocked and then dismayed and then angry, in quick succession. He truly hoped he wouldn't see his former mentor any time soon, his resentment toward him very strong. He goes up, somewhat hostile for him, only to find that it is only a local mage, confused as they look up at him. He releases them with sincere apologies, confused. It makes more sense when he keeps seeing Stregobor's face around him, his mood souring each time. If a Summoned crosses his path, they may see him glaring at them, muttering under his breath a name that sounds more like a curse.

Istredd is usually pretty graceful as he is a tall person and has been avoiding smacking into people all the time. Now he is frazzled or perhaps distracted by seeing the wrong faces, and when he runs into people he's apologetic, as fear and confusion crosses their face. No one looks familiar to them, only him, and he has never seen such sudden trust in another's face. He is radiating charm but has no idea, trying to apologize instead.

After realizing nothing is going to help this, Istredd decides to distract himself with work. He immediately goes back to helping the mages with wards, strengthening them with his own abilities, and helping them put down the dead with polished skill. This at least he can still do.

Horizon - OTA

[magicalarchaeologist]

Istredd's domain is impossible to miss in the Horizon. It is a safe haven for books and academics, but it's dark in there, barely enough light to read by, the staircases sometimes going to absolutely no where. Where it once was warm and welcoming, it seems like it's gone a century old in a day.

Istredd's domain is also a place where something very strange and specific starts to happen. Unlike any other domain but one. His relic-like structure as the monolith gives off a very distinct hum. It sometimes rattles and shakes as if something is beneath it, a small earthquake only felt within his boundaries. There is nothing underneath, as far as people know, but it feels like there is when there. Visitors will be able to experience this but as soon as they leave his domain it stops entirely. It is only on his grounds that it happens. Come visit, if you dare. Because of this many books fall to the ground and the exhausted owner of the tower can be found at the bottom, rubbing his eyes and trying to concentration.

His time in the Horizon and with the Singularity means that he is more often caught than others. Without realizing it, he is sucked into strange scenario after strange scenario. Maybe you find him in the snow, creating a shield of fire around him as he looks for anywhere to go. Maybe he is at the top of a strange building, watching as goo raises toward him. The labyrinth is thoroughly explored though, and this at least he finds interesting.

b. terror in the woods

[nightwash]

The Greywaren doesn't look like a victim trapped in this place. Rather, it could easily be just another piece of it — magic gone wrong, terror made tangible. It's a creature made of the deepest shadows, coiling itself around the sparks of magical energy that nourish it, and whether it was summoned here on purpose or by accident, this forest is its feeding ground now.

This is exactly why Ronan didn't want to attempt crossing into the Horizon.

Well, not exactly. But a part of him had understood the risk. The Horizon is too close to dreaming, and this entity — this thing inside him — was already trying to claw its way into the world before he went and opened the door for it.

What he didn't understand, before coming here, was that the thing inside him was not a thing that wanted to exist outside of him. Ronan Lynch is a name for something human-shaped. The Horizon is not a place for human shapes. The illusion of Ronan Lynch can be discarded here, as it was in the beginning, and the Greywaren can flourish once more.

It was supposed to appear in the volcano. Its bargain is with Kylo Ren, the man who created the mountain, so it's Kylo Ren's duty to feed the Greywaren. Instead, the entity finds itself in an unfamiliar forest. Unfriendly to it — or perhaps it's the Greywaren that's the unfriendly stranger. The invader. The virus.

It's an enormous creature, this cluster of shadows weaving through the trees like threads of smoke. A silent storm rolling in from another world, bringing with it hunger rather than weather. It wants, and it stretches its yearning out into this domain, reaching for any creature that might answer it.

[subhuman]

[ No, definitely not possible. He gets that this place works on different laws of reality or whatever, but even that's a little on the iffy side for him. Messing with cats? Just uncool. ]

I'm honestly not sure if it's really alive. As much as anything here is.

[ Dante rubs his chin as he takes a step back from the animal, just watching it for a moment as his gaze flickers back up to the stacked tv sets.

There's a long awkward pause before he feels compelled to say something about it--the TVs, not the cat. Surely they both know Dante's seen and heard it all by now. ]

Cute kid.

[stations]

Yeah, nobody would really be able to blame Inej for not knowing whether she's looking at a boy or a man. He's at a weird age, he's skinny, he's got a mild demeanor. That last bit's apparent in the way he twists to look back at her — not a startle, just a curious glance.

"Oh, hey," he greets, his tone slightly more hollow than normal. "Um, no. This isn't mine, I don't think it belongs to anybody. It's kind of a shithole, actually, but I haven't figured out how to leave."

[monomachy]

[Diana had come to the Horizon as an escape, but it turns out that right now, it's just as much of a mess as the waking world. Nothing in her own Domain is quite right, and it doesn't just stop there. Between one blink and the next, she's no longer in her own domain, instead in the midst of some kind of maze. And whenever she tries to will herself back to a familiar place, she instead finds herself in another part of the maze.

Her lips pull down into a frown, and she clenches her jaw. Alright, then. On foot it is.

She feels as if she's been wandering for eons by the time she hears something up ahead. Diana picks up her pace, and rounds a corner to see a young woman running at her full-tilt. But that isn't the only set of footsteps she hears--it sounds like a veritable stampede is coming around the corner behind her. Diana's eyes go wide with alarm, and she's already reaching for the sword at her back. It's a good thing she always appears in the Horizon armed. She calls down the corridor, continuing to move forward.]

What's coming?

[harmonian]

Sasarai quietly walks over to Ronan and leans against a nearby tree, not wanting to dirty his silk clothing.

"I've already seen you out here a few times this week," he sighs after a long moment of silence.

"Something's wrong."

A statement, not a demand for answers, though he hopes Ronan will admit that something is bothering him. If someone other than himself is suffering from unusual phenomenon then maybe Sasarai's visions are not from the True Earth Rune after all.

[magicalarchaeologist]

Istredd came here to actually visit the Singularity, as he does every time he goes into the Horizon, but something is playing games with him. Maybe it? Who knows. Every time he tries to go there, he ends up somewhere else. He tries to visit exact people, and ends up at a stranger's domain instead. It's frustrating so he decides to simply stay in his own for now, writing notes about the vision he had before all of this started.

The thing about his domain in particular is that Istredd is a telepath, so there is an underlining vibe there sometimes, a way that he's connected to all of it at the same time. He can't read people unless they want him to, and he wouldn't try regardless, but he senses a presence. The ground shakes again and he sighs as books fall off their shelves. The one thing that's been true is that everywhere he goes, no one else is doing this. What it means, he has no idea.

If it was Wanda, he would reach out and invite her in, but they share that bond willingly. So Istredd chooses to go outside and see if whoever visiting is okay. He doesn't know if the thing messing with his domain is trouble, and people have been struggling, he knows that much. He looks very tired as he steps out of the doorway that appears, spotting the woman he met in Nocwich.

"Ciri," he says, nodding his head at her. It was a brief meeting, but Istredd doesn't talk to many people, so he remembers. "I'd say sorry about the shaking, but I'm not doing it."

[wiedzminka]

Perhaps the last thing, of many unlikely things, that Ciri expected the mysterious and uncomfortably familiar monolith to do upon being touched is... open.

Two parts at a seemingly arbitrary point in the monolith slide apart into a doorway; the suddenness of the unexpected movement makes Ciri jump back like a startled cat, reaching for her dagger.

Only to see that it does not reveal some sort of untold horror or monster from realms beyond, but rather just the awkward mage with social anxiety she'd met in Nocwich.

Ciri stares at him. Then, she repeats, very eloquently and also very loudly:

"What the fuck?"

Weird Temple Buddies

[magicalarchaeologist]

When Istredd is not in his own domain he keeps accidentally teleporting around, unintentionally, walking onto domains he doesn't mean to, and it's very frustrating. He usually feels in pretty firm control here in the Horizon, and he keeps trying to visit the Singularity to see if he can sense something is wrong, but it apparently doesn't want to be visited. He's been keeping busy at the castle, making wards and helping the mages, but coming here is usually soothing. Instead he keeps getting caught or shuffled around. Annoying.

And that's when he isn't in his own domain and it decides to quake all around him, buzzing. Istredd has accidentally gone to many different spaces and no one else seems to do that, so that's why when he finds himself here, he actually pauses instead of moving on. He hears that humming noise and approaches the temple. It is interesting looking, as drastic in design as his monolith except quite beautiful. No one would call his monolith beautiful, more foreboding than anything else.

Istredd comes closer because he has no idea where this is or what it means. So far it's the only other place he has felt like this, and when the ground shakes underneath him, it seems certain. He approaches the two large doors and steps inside. It seems calmer in there than in his, with the books all off their shelves and the light dimmed.

"Hello?" He says, reaching down to pick up one of the broken crystal apples, curious.

[magicalarchaeologist]

Istredd probably should just make a normal door, it has crossed his mind. Sometimes it is normal and sometimes it seems pretty closed like now until someone steps closer. His domain usually reacts to whoever is there, opening naturally when a person is seeking to come in.

He looks genuinely confused. Is she swearing because it's a bizarre giant rock? Is she swearing because it's basically in the midst of an earthquake off and on? There is a long list of possibilities!

"What?" He replies very, very eloquently! (Not.)

[wiedzminka]

The gears are turning. But there's clearly something that's not clicking.

Ciri straightens up again, and drops her hand away from the hilt of her blade. She doesn't step closer.

"Where did you just come from?"