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]

[the cycle will continue, she supplies to herself, the same thought that himeka has. wanda wonders what is the source, if there even is any, or if this is something that has to do with the singularity and—thus—another fluctuation they just have to ride out and hope it doesn't destroy too much?

wanda sighs, but not at the proposed offer.]

Yeah. [with a short nod, she picks herself up to stand again.] We could go further upstream to see if there's anything there.

[—but, with the disease plaguing the land, with the dead concentrating along the shrines, she wonders if maybe they should try to cleanse those instead? she offers her hand to help himeka up.]

There's something amiss in the Horizon, too. People are acting odd, and — [she bites down on her lips, drawing a thin line for a silent moment. she remembers the scathing words matt had told her, and she wants to believe badly that it isn't something he meant, but—] Could the Singularity be at fault? Has it ever — poisoned the minds of others, or their words?

[aquaveiled]

[ Himeka takes the offered hand without second thought. Whatever Wanda's plan is, she's willing to go along. Upstream makes sense if the sickness is really spreading with the flow of water, but she has a feeling they both know it's more than that.

Still, streams are important--for the wildlife and for the towns. Natural irrigation feeds the land even in these cooler moons.

Yet the hope she has for their mutual effort dims a bit as Wanda speaks of the Horizon. She nods, having seen a bit of it herself. Geralt's domain has always been wild, but in a way that's unmistakably Geralt. What afflicted his land was not his doing. ]

It could. Or maybe something is affecting the Singularity. Maybe it's us...? And everything we're having to deal with here reflecting back there.

[ But she has to wonder... ]

Did you see something?

[carmesi]

[as they make way against the current of the stream, the draw further away from the settlement's path and towards more wooded area, where vegetation grows wilders, the canopy of the forest incurring a chill despite the sun atop their heads. it's quieter here, but for the tweeting of birds, the scurrying of squirrels and other forest critters.

the stream babbles beside them, growing a little wider and changing their path at times, as they follow it under mossy logs and stones.]

Our connection with the Singularity is still too vague to know exactly how much of an influence we have on it. Or it on us. Still—

[wanda takes a moment to step up onto a sizable rock blocking their path; it strains her knees a bit. she offers her hand back for himeka, who is much shorter, though more than capable.]

I found myself in a room with — TV sets. The object you saw in my memory some months ago, playing out memories, with the buttons and the antenna? There were so many of them, and—

[up she pulls himeka, but she keeps her hand holding her friend's.]

Matt was there. He said... [she shakes her head] things. Things that are true, but I thought, that he— I want to think he didn't mean them, but I'm just ... tired of people hating me. Specially him.

[aquaveiled]

[ Quieter, yes, but there is yet life. That is part of the hope that keeps all this going despite the death and decay that's suddenly wrecked the land. Himeka won't pretend that it's easy to watch--though she didn't choose to end up in this world, Solvunn has become her home here. The people, the land, all the creatures in it--they don't deserve this.

She takes Wanda's extended hand as she listens to her friend talk, allowing herself to be assisted up onto the rock without much trouble. She's right--they really don't know which way the water flows when it comes to the Summoned and the Singularity. All they do know is their connection to it is special, coveted. It's why they're here at all.

But when the Horizon itself is affected...it feels strangely more personal. That special place they can retreat to and make their own. Mayhaps it's not as safe as they thought.

Himeka tilts her head at the explanation. Her own world is a strange mix of magic and technology, though she finds the later far more foreign. Seeing words of Allag and Garlemald are impressive, but it's only when Wanda reminds her what a TV is that she makes the connection. She nods in understanding. She's seen big fancy screens like that before--more Allagan technology.

Then she frowns, giving Wanda's hand a squeeze. ]

...Things that are true? What did he say?

[carmesi]

[honesty comes easy with himeka. the other woman never pushes, never pulls, never forces anything from wanda; she's a steady stream of expectations, calm above the surface and clear enough to see what lies beneath—no secrets nor hidden agendas.

so when her hand is squeezed, questions are asked, wanda finds herself bolstered by this friendship that spreads into something more akin to sisterhood.]

That I don't— [her voice catches for a moment, but she swallows and continues, voice quieter] —deserve happiness. Not after what I've done. That I was just... thinking what I wanted to think.

To make me feel better.

[it's no secret that wanda's been through a very rough patch recently, and that she still continues to struggle with this in the quietude of days. busywork at the farm is a welcome distraction, but there is so much that can be done. wanda isn't blind to himeka and nero's efforts of trying to keep her company when she sways towards listlessness.

it's no secret, either, that she's found someone who makes her happy. the letter on the dresser of their shared room being something she continues to read every other day, having let himeka know about it, too. she's found a kindness that she didn't think she would have been allowed to ever have again.

her hand slips from himeka's, curling both of her own towards her middle, uncertain.]

Even if something happened to him to make him say those things, they're not— untrue. I killed people just because I wanted the sons of another Wanda. I killed people who had families and friends and children. [with a shaky sigh, managing to keep the tears at bay, she glances back towards their path through the forest, gaze downward; she isn't proud of what she's done.] I can't undo any of it. I can't—

[bear with all the guilt and shame, and all this anger she feels at herself. this one good thing she had — it feels so pointless.]

[aquaveiled]

[ Patience is something that she has in excess, mayhaps to the point of allowing some things to delay or fall by the wayside. But when it comes to people, particularly in difficult situations, she's found it a boon. And for those she cares about? Those close to her? She will gladly let them take all the time they need.

What Wanda says doesn't come easy--but it's something that has weighed on her for some time, that much is certain. Himeka thinks back to not long after Wanda returned from her short (to those in Abraxas) break back to her star. That had almost broken her. She sought solitude, penance, haunted by horror, grief...

Things Himeka would not say were "okay". Wanda doesn't need to hear that. They both know it isn't. But they are understandable. When you're driven to the brink, mad with loss and desperation... you do whatever you can.

If she could look Emet-Selch in the eye and empathize with him, she can do the same for Wanda. Tenfold.

She keeps her gaze on the other woman, letting the world around them take a backseat for now. Quiet, waiting for Wanda to put it all out, pull into herself. She begins to falter and Himeka reaches out instead to place her hands on Wanda's shoulders. ]

They weren't good things. And...there are things that we have to live with. Our regrets. But...what you did, what happened--it wasn't...it wasn't malice or hatred. It wasn't a love of blood and sport. It was despair, wasn't it? You wanted something you lost. And you've no desire to do what you did before again.

[ Tall, darkened towers against the gentle blue light of a sea kept far at bay. Ghosts of the past, recreated with the attention to detail and care of a heavy heart. What was cannot be truly remade.

Himeka shakes her head. ]

...You do deserve happiness. Now more than ever.

[carmesi]

[himeka has become one of wanda's close friends here—if not her closest one; they live together, they share a bed, they talk about small things, and do so much for each other each other as if they were sisters. even if their worlds are so different, even if himeka's life is unlike anything wanda's heard before, there as an unequivocal bond between them.

and himeka always seems to know the right things to say.

it was despair, wasn't it?

wanda nods in agreement because she feels seen, because she finds this kind of sympathy often, but never quite vocalized. so easy to aim her towards the path of forgiveness, even if she doesn't feel deserving of it, so easy to want something good for her.

the hands on her shoulders are just a catalyst for wanda pulling the other woman into a tight hug. wanda still feels her pain, this grief over a life that could have been her—one life she would give anything to get a chance at. you do deserve happiness. it gives her peace to hear someone say that.

wanda needs time, and solvunn has a lot of that to give, despite the things that happen within it. wanda thinks himeka understands more than anyone that that's something wanda needs and deserves.

pulling back, she swallows, sniffles.]

Thank you. [for seeing me.] I... I still don't want to make any excuses for myself. [after a pause, they start walking again, side by side. and then wanda speaks up.] ...I think I can find happiness with Matt. I just — I'm afraid of talking to him while all this is happening.

[aquaveiled]

[ The hug is a bit of a surprise, but not an unwelcome one at all. Himeka returns it immediately, making sure to give Wanda a very good squeeze, her tail moving to wrap around her as well.

To say that mistakes weren't made would be a disservice, even in an attempt to assuage her fears. Wanda recognizes them more clearly than anyone else. That pain and loss drove her to such a point...Himeka has seen it again and again in her own world. To see it take a friend, specifically, cuts a bit deeper. But it's what she does from hereon out that speaks of Wanda as a person.

Himeka smiles, smoothing out a bit of Wanda's hair as they pull back. ]

The work you're doing now, the help you're giving everyone...that's who you are, not your mistakes. You don't need to forget them, just work from them.

[ These conscious choices and efforts made despite the pain. ]

Mm, yeah... [ Maybe not the best idea. ] It's possible he'll feel like he's made a mistake too in what he's said. Mayhaps he will need time as well?