event log: a summons

[moustre]

Event Log: July, By Invitation Only

You're Invited The morning of the 19th hears Nessie's voice ringing out over the city, calling a summons of all mirrorbound, Wilders, Parliament members, and Master Witches to the Parliament proper; the 19th also sees regular Witches, presumably those not invited, heading around the residential districts and The Haven to help spread the word and get people up and going for something that's been talked about in brief over the week: A summons for information. The Parliament building is one rarely entered by those without clearance, and its inside is just the same as its outside: made of the same quartz blocks, everything feels clean, official, and new. The hallways are quiet and empty, save for the guards posted to keep people from moving off the path. The room everyone is herded into, however, is made entirely of an old, dark hardwood, a deep contrast to the white walls that lead the way. Nessie stands at the head of the room, dressed in her usual; Mhairi stands beside her, a little more formal and with her cane hooked in the crook of her arm - she is The Coven's ambassador to the Parliament, after all - and the leaders of Parliament themselves have seats behind the two of them. Once everyone is inside and seated, Nessie grins and steps forward, clapping three times; the third is particularly loud, a shiver of magic running through the room, and despite the fact she doesn't raise her voice it carries effortlessly. "Good morning, and thank you all for coming! We're right grateful, we are." A brief pause, gazing out at the gathered crowd, before she continues. "But this isn't a tour or pleasure visit - unfortunately, it's quite serious business, it is. We've summoned you all here today to talk." "Nerissa Bell," one of the Parliament leaders behind her calls, sounding worn, "enough of your dramatics. Please get on with it." Mhairi's ears twitch backwards as Nessie frowns slightly at him, but she laces her fingers in front of her and steps forward, head raising as she begins to address those gathered properly: "We've looked into a lot of things over the past two or so months since the lot of you arrived, and this is what we've come up with. Feel free to talk amongst yourselves and share what you've managed to find too - if we work together, I'm right certain we'll be able to figure out a couple of mysteries. With all that out of the way -" Some Coven Investigation Results The Shared Dreams • They seem to only affect the mirrorbound. While sharing a dream isn't technically unheard of, it isn't in the same capacity that the ones experienced each month by the mirrorbound (and, last month, by the city as as whole). While she isn't sure if this pattern will continue, or if the city will share the same experience again - or if that was an effect of Litha - it's something they're going to keep a close eye on, especially as continuous dreamwalking can prove fatal. • The few, true dreamwalkers that Aefenglom's Coven are in possession of are present; however, they're in and out of consciousness in their seats, and don't have much to offer in regards to the situation, staring with unseeing eyes as they speak of the dreams that they've been walking through. They're evidence that caution is advised regarding this situation, but their handlers and those that study their exploits and the concept of dreams make their best attempt to offer their insight. • However, they nor the Coven's diviners have discovered the source of the dreams. If the mirrorbound arrivals perhaps have any theories, they would appreciate hearing more, and are prepared to compile all of the information everyone has to share. Offers of learning under the diviners are open, as well. Dewaint Forest • Information about the long lost Dewaint Forest has begun to be uncovered, along with theories about it and the goings on that many mirrorbound have dreamt of. The majority of Parliament is less inclined to believe the tales, and their doubt and skepticism is fairly evident, but there are still those that ask for more - more knowledge, more theories, more investigation. • A possibility of Dewaint Forest falling on the node of a leyline - and a powerful one at that - has been brought up. Leylines run throughout the entire world of Talam, and Aefenglom was settled atop a node, as well, due to the magical power that they carry. The Coven (and the Parliament, to a small degree) want to see just how true this theory is. • The possibility that civilization still exists in Dewaint is something that they'd like to know, as well, considering the fact that within its depths was once the heart of the Fae civilization. But it now rests as the heart of the Wilde, and subsequently... the heart of the Cwyld. Was it the source? Is it safe from the blight that affects them? It's knowledge that they need, especially if there's a way to fight the Cwyld within the forest depths. The Meeting of the Fae • Some old folklore states that the Fae courts only come together in times of impending crisis; this lines up with the spread of the Cwyld seen by those who had this dream experience. The mention of the High Queen is particularly important though, as she is said to reside solely in the heart of Faeryland, slumbering in order to keep her youthful appearance. For her to have awaken and attended a meeting... Well, it doesn't spell the best of news. • There are a few Fae in the city, and after speaking with them, it's been deduced that - despite their long life - none of them remember something like this, so it's likely this particular meeting was much further in the past than anyone might imagine. This implies that it's possible that this isn't the first time the Cwyld has broken out, but she isn't entirely sure of that - it'd be best to take the idea with a grain of salt. • Regarding the Courts: it would seem the Fae used to divide themselves into two of them, though Fae nowadays hold no allegiance or importance to anything of the sort. Information about these specifically are sparse however, as the Fae were notoriously secretive about where their loyalties ultimately laid. The Looking-Glass House • There isn't much to report here - all records state the house has been around for quite some time now. What has been noticed is that inductees into The Coven cannot spell a mirror that is connected to one of the mirrorbound. This isn't too much of a problem, given the house's ever-expanding inside, but it's something to note. • Nessie's written to the heads at other branches of The Coven and found that none of them have an outside housing area for their mirrors - the rest of them have them inside their building proper, in rooms or hallways. Curious, but just another thing that makes Aefenglom's branch stand out from the rest. • If anyone has found out anything additional about the mirrors or the house itself - more likely the mirrors, Nessie thinks, since she feels as if they must have a special meaning to be bound so tightly to those who have come through them - then they're welcome to share it, be it fact or theory.

Welcome to your meeting log! No question thread this time, and no making your own logs either - as this is a one day affair with a very specific location, for the purpose of sharing information and the like. Feel free to make your own top levels presenting information, tag or threadhop into relevant threads as necessary, and so on!

Comments

[silentsavant]

Soren soon finds his chance to bring up the major concern that has been plaguing him. That no amount of research can sufficiently conclude. There's nothing in the books about people emerging from other worlds through mirrors, after all. At least, none he has access to.

"Often, when we share dreams, we share them with those who have not emerged through the mirrors yet. But what does it mean when somebody dreams of someone important to you, but they never manage to come through into the Looking-Glass House? Where might they be now? Trapped in the plane of these dreams? Or..."

He doesn't want to arrive at the fatal conclusion. Ordinarily composed and level-headed, a drop of the underlying anxiety that couples with the desperation to understand seeps quietly, so subtly into his bearing with his bated breath and intent eyes as the harrowing notions worm about in his chest, even though he speaks at an even and controlled tone. His whole life's meaning hinges upon this question. His throat tickles suddenly, as it has been ever since the magical cold snap, and he coughs into his sleeve out of politeness before continuing.

"I have... my own hypotheses, of course. But I would appreciate the insight others might have to offer."

[fifty]

"I figured they were back at home." Judging by the slight confusion in America's expression, it hadn't occurred to him to think anything different. He's not really the type to come up with extra things to worry about. "I know when I had the dream I still woke up in my own place and only got dragged here later, so it'd just be that getting dragged here part that didn't happen, right?"

[silentsavant]

"That would be the best-case scenario, yes. But that doesn't rule out other possibilities." He tilts his head to cough into his dark shoulder capelet before resuming.

"But let's assume this is true for a moment. If these other dreamers, these potentials who never make it to this side of the mirror can return home, might we be able to? Would it be too far-fetched to speculate that the secret of our mirrors... our entrance, our escape, rests somewhere in this dream world? After all — save Litha's events, only the 'mirrorbound' share these unique dreams without being made dreamwalkers. And we are the irregular elements that don't belong here."

He spares a long glance to the vegetative diviners and their handlers who stare right back, a flash of interest quick through his reptilian eyes, but his attention wanders back over halfway to his current conversation partner. "It might be in Parliament's and the Coven's interests to study this in greater detail. If our dreams truly can turn the key for us, we won't be getting tangled in their hair any longer."

[spaghettimonster]

"Maybe, it's not really them."

He's seen some familiar faces, in and out of dreams... And the ones in the dreams were nearly all facing the same sorts of changes he is. As much as it'd be nice to see some more familiar monsters, he doesn't wish being monsters on any of them.

"The first dream I had, some lake monster made itself look like people - I even saw it look like me. So I'm sure some of them are illusory! I just don't know how many."

Ideally, anyone who doesn't arrive from the mirrors is just an illusion. The notion that these dreams might be killing people is a lot to consider, especially when they don't know what's causing the dreams, or how to stop them.

[silentsavant]

"That reasoning might hold water... if the dream I was described didn't cast me as the lake monster trying to deceive the man I'm looking for," he counters.

[spaghettimonster]

"Or maybe... both of them were illusory," Papyrus says, in the somewhat halting way of thinking aloud. "The deception you and that man."

Could the dream have been filled with pretend people who were in turn deceived by other pretend people? That seems... a little convoluted, and a good way for the lake monster to give away its technique without even catching anyone. But nothing says there weren't two sorts of illusions going on. After all...

"Because! Even the trees were coming to life," he remembers. And as much as those flickering lights and sounds in the tree tunnel weren't a good memory, it's good and possibly relevant intel, enough that he gets energized as he talks. "Those dreams might have been full of dream people, and tree light people, and lake monster illusions, and... who knows what else. Is the main you're looking for someone you know?"

[silentsavant]

"Of course he is," Soren asserts, almost snapping his retort, holding back his tormented emotions for the sake of levelheaded discussion. He remains a little more animated, though, the occasional gesture of his hands emphatic. "But why would the dream itself create an illusion of him if I am nowhere present? Why would one monster create an illusion to try and deceive another illusion? And how would it know to take our shapes, specifically? What would the point be? Don't you think that's a little bit far-fetched?"

It might not be, given the trees; after all, the forest had been able to reach into his memories and draw out one of his worst. But it still seems ridiculous to envision two monsters engaging in mutual deception, if not disturbing, all for the sake of a third party who has never met either of them. He adds more before Papyrus can respond.

"At the very least, either him or I should have been present. Take the trees, for example: they were only revealing the memories of any dreamer who was standing there. And as for me? I never once encountered an illusion of Ike while dreaming. That leaves him. That's how the monster knew to mimic me."

[spaghettimonster]

His eyesockets widen a little at Soren's certainty, and by the end of the analysis he's nodding. "That all seems to add up," he says, mostly out of politeness. Given the lengths Papyrus has gone to for some slowburning puns, and the kinds of pranking antics he and his brother have gotten up to, he can imagine someone putting effort into such elaborate illusions. But Soren's right that it seems like a lot of effort for a small, obscure payoff.

"Maybe the simpler truth is truer. If you're sure he was there... Then he was surely there! But if he's not here..." He draws the sound out, thinking, then lights up in a lightbulb moment. "Oh! Maybe... there's other mirrors in the world? And he did fall in a mirror, but found himself... in a whole other city!"

If Papyrus had paid more attention to the communications of the Coven with its sibling organizations, he might know that so far Aefenglom is the only one with mirrorbound. But he's been preoccupied with other questions - more to do with people disappearing than appearing.

[boneofsword]

"It took a few days between the Dream and finding myself here, so it's safe to assume they're still where they should be. The Dream alone isn't what brings us here."

It's something Archer considers quite obvious. On the other hand he's so used to the idea of being summoned somewhere he tends to forget others may not have such knowledge.

[silentsavant]

"How can you be so certain?" Soren challenges, a flash of vehemence charged in his otherwise level voice. He coughs the heat away against the back of his hand. "That he's where he belongs? What if he isn't? We're not here discussing these dreams because we know everything about them, now are we?"

Of course he has no reason to worry, his bitterness gripes. What does Ike mean to him? He could bring up another point, but even he is aware of how tricky it might be to express it without sounding like a loon. Not even he is completely sure of his sanity — but the instinctual certainty had definitely been there. Even now, the intensity of it bothers him.

"During last moon's fullness, I... felt him," he starts, quieter than before. "This close friend of mine. All at once. Nothing I can say could explain it aptly enough." He shakes his head, tilting his chin down as he focused more on parsing his thoughts than the person he speaks to. "It was a strange and overpowering sensation that told me one thing was certain: he was here somewhere. But I haven't seen him at all... He should have come through the mirror if he were here. That's how it's supposed to work, whether we've dreamed or not."

In a way, he wants to be called stupid for thinking this or crazy for feeling that, even in front of all these people. Reassured that Ike truly is right where he belongs, not somewhere dreaming or mysterious, that it really is the only option.

[boneofsword]

Archer listens in silence. He can understand the anxiety. Honestly, if he was in similar situation he'd be as worried about those he considers close.

"I won't say that I know how dreams work here. What I'm certain of is how summoning works, and the fact that there's at least a few days between the dream and being summoned here."

Of course the rules of time and space do not apply to his 'home'. Yet the pause between dream and the summons had felt deliberate.

"Based both on experience and knowledge I can say that summoning won't trap its target inbetween their original location and the intended summon site. However, from what I've heard about the dreams, time between the dream and summoning can be much longer. Then sometimes it happens that those we meet in the dreams do not get summoned."

[silentsavant]

He swallows his fears down further, and the tempest that had begun to warp his expression pacifies some.

"I see. Your confidence lends credence. I'm interested to know more of your past experience with summoning in greater detail, if you don't mind. It would seem that this is a concept I lack knowledge in that is customary for ALL OF YOU FATE/ CHARACTERS others here. I'm probably not the only one."