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?

---

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.

---

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

[londonbound]

[ A desert? Rhy looks around, desperately, as if just by turning in every direction he might manifest a desert he knows isn't here. The sky is just as dark, gray and ominous as the sea. ]

The shore of a horrible ocean.

[ When he stares out into it, in the distance, he can make out the blurred shape of-- something. It takes him a long while to realize what he's looking at, like a mirage low on the horizon, shifting with the clouds. The Magician. A jolt of recognition runs through him -- Kell's Arcanum -- but in the end, there's literally nothing he can do with this information.

He's just as trapped. Like one of those visions from a few months back -- he'd seen an ocean then, too. Unsure if it's the same. There hadn't been the corpses then.

He tells the unknown voice. What else can he do? Defeated, edged with hysteria. It comes out breathless, one of those sounds that seems like a laugh but isn't. ]

Surrounded by the dead.

[princessvegas]

[ An ocean. The dead. Her heart sinks. There's nothing like that anywhere in sight. She's already tried to walk away from the blob, and she doesn't really get anywhere -- certainly not far enough for there to be an ocean or bodies, or anything that isn't just the dirt and the blob.

The sky is otherwise empty. The clouds don't even move.

As always, when she's most lost, Julie resorts to dry, dark humor. Clings to the last shreds of her sanity with it. ]

I bet at least the dead don't make an earthquake every few minutes.

[ Another bottle of vodka appears in her hand. She takes a drink. ]

[londonbound]

[ Rhy isn't sure what to say to that. He doesn't feel like shouting about how awful it is to look at these corpses washing up on the oily shore, the black ichor that drenches the sand, how cold it is even when he tries to manifest himself a warmer cloak or how nothing comes out right. He's walked for hours, and nothing changes. The black coast continues, endlessly.

Instead, after a moment, Rhy raises his voice again into the wind. ]

Who are you?

[princessvegas]

[ She doesn't actually mean to be dismissive. In fact, she's probably one of the few people in Abraxas who can truly understand what Rhy is going through, being surrounded by corpses. Her default to this kind of thing is just a kind of blank glibness borne from helplessness.

She is also genuinely afraid of the way the humming sends cracks through this earth, opens giant gaping fissures that seem to go nowhere. She can't tell how long she has before there's no ground left to stand on and she falls to her death. ]

Julie. [ The brief hesitation before she calls her name into the air is irrational fear that she is somehow being tricked, that the voice is just another cruel piece of all of this. She knows that's probably super stupid, but she can't help it. ] You?

[londonbound]

[ There is a beat of silence. It's surprise, though she wouldn't be able to know that; he takes a sharp breath, blinks against the salt-soaked wind and squints into the distance. If he heard that right (if he's really hearing anything at all and not simply talking to himself because he's lost his mind), there is the smallest flicker of relief at the recognition.

Not just a voice in the distance. A person. Someone he knows. A friend.

(Whether or not Julie considers him such, right now, it's exactly what he thinks of her.)

A laugh escapes, incredulous and a bit hysterical, but also genuine. Loud enough to carry. ]

Julie.

Saints, Julie!!

It's Rhy. I'm here. I can't see you, but I can hear you.

You're not alone.

[princessvegas]

[ The silence nearly makes her heart stop beating. Imagining voices again, next is the phantom shadows in the corners of your eyes, she tells herself. She's done this before, she knows how it goes. It had taken longer, last time. But then it's no surprise she's going into this with an already broken mind. Her stomach sinks.

But then there's another response. ]

Rhy? [ She says it like she doesn't understand, like she's so confused by the name that she has to question it. She's just shocked.

You're not alone, he says, and he has no way of knowing just how much that exact phrase means to her. ] Rhy... did you get stuck tryin' to get to the Horizon too? I was just tryin' to go to my domain and I fell here instead.

[londonbound]

[ Maybe he does know, a little. He says it because it's what brings him the most relief too -- the realization that he is also not alone. Even if he can't reach her. Or see her. Sometimes, he thinks he sees a shadow, a movement that doesn't go with the water, but among all the other bloated shapes floating up on it, there's never any certainty.

Maybe she can see him, though. The faintest shadowy figure, a whisper of a silhouette. It never lasts long. ]

Yes. Yes, that's- that's exactly what happened.

I can't do anything. Or go anywhere. Or make anything. It all breaks or comes out wrong or vanishes immediately.

[ He thinks about going to her. Whatever that place is she described, it can't be worse than here.

He closes his eyes and tries and tries, and nothing works. ]

How long have you been here?

[ At this point, he's honestly not sure. ]

[princessvegas]

[ In the relative quiet, in the stillness, she doesn't see anything. No shadows, no phantoms, not yet. The only noises are the blob's humming and Rhy's faint voice. She glances at the arm of her chair, at the broken glass of the empty vodka bottle. ]

It let me make a chair, and a little table, and some vodka. Maybe I could make some bread or somethin'. Everythin' else is broken or wrong for me too, anythin' that I could use to get somewhere. Anywhere. Even just shoes have holes in the bottoms.

[ She's not sure exactly how the distinction is being made -- ladders and ropes and shoes all appear to be verboten, but whatever's happening, she's allowed to drink through it. (It also probably says something about her that she knows she can make vodka, but not whether she can make bread.)

Squinting, she looks from side to side, for anything that indicates any kind of passage of time, but there's nothing except for the things she's caused. The broken glass, footprints, various broken manifestations. There hasn't even been a breeze to blow sand or dirt onto everything else. ]

I don't know. There's no -- the sun doesn't change. Clouds don't move. I think it's been a while, but I really can't tell for sure. You?

[londonbound]

Same for me.

[ He calls back, with a resigned sigh. He is absolutely trying to make some alcohol again now, though. He's already tried everything else: shelter, thicker clothing, a boat, except it all crumbles away or doesn't even form at all.

The bottle appears, cracked through like lace. It breaks in his hand the moment he tries to lift it, and Rhy swears under his breath, blinking back tears. ]

I have no idea. Hours. Days? I don't fucking know.

There's no sun. Just clouds and wind and ocean.

I'm freezing. I can't get anything I make to stay. I can't make a fire that doesn't get blown out. Nothing.

[princessvegas]

[ It wouldn't surprise her that his bottle breaks. Julie has always had control over the Horizon in a way that seems to exceed that of everyone else -- it would make sense that even here, wherever she is, that still holds true. But it's not much of a comfort either way; she's still stuck here.

She also is feeling worse the longer she talks to Rhy. It's not his fault, really, but she feels helpless. There's nothing she can do for him, and maybe he's stuck in a worse place in terms of setting, but he doesn't understand that what she is stuck with is something that she can't explain, that's very much alive and unstable. ]

I don't know how much longer the ground is gonna stay. [ She doesn't know what else to say. ] The blob keeps makin' it split open like earthquakes. There's huge cracks, and nothin' but... blackness when I look down there.

[ In other words, it's probably only a matter of time before it cracks so much that she will have nowhere left except to fall. ]

Is there anythin' you can use to make a fire the real way? Like driftwood and rocks?

[londonbound]

You'll be okay.

[ He says it even though they can't in any way be certain. Normally, he's been told no one can really die in the Horizon -- but is this even the Horizon? Do the same rules apply here, wherever here is? Wherever she is.

Still, the reassurance is automatic. Foolish and naive, but not empty. ]

I'm sorry. That sounds terrifying.

[ Though it's hard to sound reassuring when he's shouting over the wind. ]

...the fire isn't working. I tried. But- but I'll try again. Something has to work eventually.

I'm sure there are people looking for you. For us. We're going to get out of here.

[princessvegas]

It don't make it any easier, but I don't think you'll freeze. [ She's grasping at straws too. ] Don't make yourself crazy tryin' stuff. If it's a beach, there should be like, sticks and stuff. That long grass that grows in sand. If you can make some kinda lean-to, at least that should help with the wind.

[ Julie is from the kind of place where children are taught basic survival tips as part of everyday life. Just enough to keep them safe if they get lost in the woods or on the plains, at least long enough for them to be found. ]

I'm sorry if this sounds horrible, but is there anythin' you can take off the bodies? Like clothes you can layer?

[ It sounds to her like he has access to slightly more resources than she does. There's nowhere for anything to grow here, nothing to even use as basic aid. Most of what she happens to know rests on the idea that there will be more than just dirt and rocks and a fucking jellyfish abomination wherever you get lost.

Her head falls back against the chair and she closes her eyes, swallows roughly. She's sure that he'll be rescued, eventually. At worst, surely Thorne will haul his body to the crater and toss it in, hoping that when it gets returned in a few weeks, he'll be in it.

For her? Well, it just depends on how long it takes anyone to realize she's not there anymore. Hopefully it's before she falls through the ground. ]

I know we will.

[londonbound]

[ It's lucky she has ideas for what to do. Rhy has never been outside on his own, at the mercy of the elements like this. He's rarely been outdoors for any length of time without the benefit of an entire caravan or an entire ship, all complete with servants and guards. Thorne might feel limiting to many, but to him, it's been a familiar sort of gilded cage he hasn't even thought to complain about until what had happened with Libertas and Thorne.

Out here, all alone, panicked and cold and uncomfortable, he really has no idea. Even the fires he'd tried to start, he'd attempted magic first, then methods he's only read about. ]

Th-there are sticks. Yes.

[ It's a good idea. Julie is helping him, even from however far she is, and what's he doing for her? Nothing but complaining.

He glances at one of the washed up corpses, then quickly looks away. ]

Rags, at most. All wet.

I'll try to build a shelter.

I'm sorry... you're stuck where you are too.

[princessvegas]

[ She doesn't know how good her ideas are -- the first time she'd ever been to a beach had only been months ago. But she learned all the same Girl Scout and 4-H bullshit as everyone else she knew had, and shelter is always the first step. Protect yourself from the elements as best you can.

Gazing at the broken glass, she has a thought. It's half-baked, and maybe only occurs to her because she's drunk, but. She knows that she is able to things in the Horizon that are seemingly impossible for anyone else. She knows that, wherever they both are, it's still subject to the Horizon's magic, at least in some ways; they were both capable of at least the act of manifestation. Maybe not successfully, but they still got the broken pieces.

She knows that, when she was afraid and desperate back in Cadens, she called out to the Singularity. She's pretty sure it answered. And if she could do that, then...

Sighing, she closes her eyes tight. Rarely does she have to actively manifest like others; usually she can just have a passing thought and whatever she wants appears in conjunction with it, like her mind and the Horizon are working as partners. Here, it's not so simple, but it seems to be possible. She pictures the warmest, fluffiest sweater she can. It's navy, cable knit. A bit fuzzy. She gives it a silver zipper up the front. A hood, to protect ears. A pocket on each side for hands. There's a little stitched butterfly in silver, where there might usually be a Polo horse or a Brooks Brothers sheep.

And she pictures it on Rhy. Covering his arms, his head, his body. Summons every mental image of him she can, all the details of his face and skin. She hopes he's not taller than she remembers.

The blob hums furiously at her, enough that she has to cover her ears from the buzzing. The ground quakes, crumbles on the edges of some of the cracks.

(She doesn't say anything about it to Rhy. She doesn't want him to be upset if it didn't work.)

When she can't take the shaking anymore, she stops. The tremors continue for a moment, then quiet to a tolerable drone. Her brow knits. ]

Rhy. A few months ago. With the nightmares. Did you... did you try to come to the Horizon back then? Did you see somewhere else for a second?

[ It flashes behind her eyelids. The statues, the red strings, the tall grass. The Magician hanging in the sky. She'd been so caught up in the dreams that she'd barely remembered it, but it happened. ]

[londonbound]

[ He is almost distracted from the words. The garment appears around him, rather startling at first, the confusing sensation of suddenly being dressed in something else taking his attention while his brain catches up. ]

Julie? Did you just--?

[ He calls back, tentatively. She's talking to him, but not saying anything about this. But there's certainly no one else who could have done it. That's when he realizes she'd asked him a question. ]

Y-yes. I saw something. Just a glimpse. [ The realization crashes in, so obvious he should have seen it before. He hadn't thought about that in some time. It had been odd, but with everything else going on, those glimpses of a different place had slipped his mind. He should have made the connection sooner. ]

I saw an ocean. A boat.

[ Not exactly like this, but an ocean nonetheless. It can't be a coincidence, can it? ]

Did you see something too?

[princessvegas]

[ Did you just-- ?, he asks, and she perks up more, yells back. ] Did it actually work? The sweater?

[ She sounds just as surprised as he does. It was just a dumb idea she figured she'd try simply because she couldn't imagine it would hurt anything. But she didn't really think it would result in much.

An ocean and a boat. And he's on a beach now. But Julie isn't in the dark or near grass. There are no red strings anywhere. So are they related or not?

Her response is hesitant. ] Yeah, a few times. Always the same place. A field, at night. The grass was long. And there were two statues. Of people, but no one I know. They were connected by all these glowin', red threads. And every time, they were in different positions, but I never saw 'em move.

And there was an arcana in the sky. The Magician, I had to look it up later. I don't even know if I know anyone with that sign.

[londonbound]

It did. Julie-- [ His voice breaks, as he huddles into the sweater. It might not have come out perfectly the way Julie envisioned, but any imperfections are minor, and he has no idea what they might be. He doesn't exactly have a mirror; all he cares about right now is that he can put his hood up to muffle the wind a little bit, and he can tuck his freezing fingers in the sleeves and pockets. ]

Thank you.

[ It takes him a minute again to find his composure and keep his voice from cracking again. This time, when he speaks (he's gotten used to raising his voice without it feel like he's quite yelling all the time by now), there's a note of confusion. ]

I saw the Magician sign here. In the sky above the ocean, very faintly. I recognize it because it's Kell's-- my brother's. It's his arcanum.

I'm not sure what the one I glimpsed back then was. It wasn't mine or his. It wasn't one I recognized.

[princessvegas]

Oh, good! [ She really is a bit stunned, but apparently whatever power wants to keep her here doesn't care if she helps other people, just herself. Or maybe she just came up with a loophole -- at this point, she doesn't care very much. She's just happy she was able to do it at all.

Her brow knits, and she squints into the sky, looking for a symbol, any symbol. It's not like there's much of a place to hide, with the light turning the sky soft pink, the few clouds frozen in place. She wants there to be something, anything that could show a pattern. Maybe whatever arcana Rhy saw all those months ago.

But there's nothing to see. Only the blob.

She sighs and furious tears prickle at the corners of her eyes where she's screwed them shut. When she answers, she tries to steel her voice, but a hint of the brokenness shades her tone anyway. ]

There's nothing here. Just the sky. I... Maybe it wasn't important after all. It's just the only thing I could think of. The red strings, they were in my nightmares too.

[londonbound]

[ Rhy finds somewhere to sit in the lee of a large rock, curling his knees up to burrow into the sweater. He still half expects it to vanish, but it's staying surprisingly in one piece and consistently warm. However Julie did that, he's not going to question it. ]

It was really difficult to make out. I only noticed it because it's a familiar sign.

[ He tries to be reassuring, though what difference it makes is inconsequential probably. What does the sign in the sky matter? What does Julie's theory even point to? They have no answers.

But at least they have each other to talk to, for now. He's grateful for that. Better than shouting at the ceaseless sea. ]

[princessvegas]

[ It's not even a theory, so much as a desperate grasp at any kind of logical clue to help save her. Them. But logic is clearly not an element in play here, which makes it impossibly frustrating. The anger and fear courses through her veins, makes her tremble when she breathes.

She makes another bottle of vodka. What else can she do? ]

I guess. I don't know what it had to do with anythin' in the first place. I mean, not that I understand the arcanas much anyway, but they must mean somethin' when we see 'em everywhere, right? [ She takes a drink. ] At least zodiacs make sense. Just have to be born under 'em.