kenoscomm | kenotebook post | ota

[ Yep, this is going to everyone–Matt couldn't think of a way to filter to "only folks who might be interested." Written out in full, it takes up multiple pages of the notebook, so he'll parcel it as needed. ]

Apologies for the long message.

This is twofold: I wanted to share the results of surveying native Kenosians re: which Faction's goal they support, and also share some less organized notes on issues that affect all of us.

[ First up, a section entitled SURVEY, with "special thanks to Gavial, Dimitri, and Ryouma for their contributions." The main points are:

Purpose of the survey, which is to see if residents of Kenos express a clear preference for one Faction's goal or the other.

Limitations, which include timespan (a week), number of respondents, and possible biases due to lack of cultural familiarity with Kenos and lack of trust.

A summary of the survey questions, which include things like I enjoy change in my life, the bigger the better and I often think about regrets I have or things/people I've lost.

Results: Answers track perfectly, with city of origin being the determining factor for alignment with Meridian or Zenith. This held true across Alenroux as well, in contrast to Matt's hypothesis that there might be more variance due to geographic dispersal from centers of Faction power. In a direct vote, Meridian would sweep through population of Springstar alone.

Final notes include the following: The divide in answers is so clean that it represents either serious methodological error or an unusually homogeneous population. On earth we referred to a phenomenon of "political polarization" to indicate deep divides. In this case, I would call the polarization more like that of protons and elections–two forces that repel each other on the level of cells and molecules. ]

SHADOWS/OBLIVION
The groundwork for my understanding is: 1) Our worlds were destroyed or eaten by a vast darkness. Forever? I don't know. 2) When Shards are destroyed, that's for good. My world has a concept of matter and energy converting back and forth, with nothing able to be created or permanently destroyed. But the type of death that comes from Shard destruction is fundamentally subtractive. For the sake of simplicity, I'm going to refer to this concept of subtractive death as oblivion (credit for this term to Set).

Portents:

Shard-Bearers have received at least one vision from the Tree of Life about being forcibly ejected from their bodies while something else walks around inside.

I had a dream recently about being hunted.

Maybe less a portent and more a rumor, but a longtime resident of Kenos has stated that these types of shadows (see below, "Phenomena") are a new occurrence.

Phenomena:

Disappearances across Kenos (not all necessarily attributable to shadows or oblivion)

Shadows (and star/moonlight) of unusual properties that include weird size, burning or slashing, mood changes

I was informed about an oracle trial in which dissipated Shard-Bearers were mimicked by shadow beings who utilized their Shards to do so

My own experience/thoughts:

I have memories of running or fleeing from things made out of darkness before Yima brought me here.

Was almost dragged by shadows into Yima's reflecting pool; subsequent conversation revealed people had died that way and the bodies were never recovered (see above, "Phenomena," bullet point 1).

I saw a facsimile of my older sister at the market in Highstorm. She looked, behaved, and sounded exactly like her. I am not the only one.

I've tried some preliminary attempts to scry into the shadows in Springstar, and wasn't able to find out anything before one of them got me pretty good in the chest. (I'm okay.) I'll update if a future attempt is successful.

There are creatures from my own world that mimic familiar voices/faces to lure prey. There are also creatures that require consent before they can pass certain thresholds, such as those of a home.

Tentative conclusions: Something unique and hungry is coming for all of us. I understand things have been set into motion that can't be taken back, but I would urge anyone reading, if at all possible, to put fighting on hold until we figure out what the hell this stuff is and how to combat it. Or else there won't be a winner left at the end of all this.

Failing that, stay safe. Use the buddy system. Bring a durable light when you go out. Please send any of your own experiences, bad dreams, hunches, clarifications, or corrections. I'll update my own notes as needed.

[ ooc: BLESS YOU IF YOU READ THIS WHOLE THING. Feel free to comment with questions, brainstorming, dragging Matt, whatever. Or equally, feel free to just have your character know the things in here, if you want them to! ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ Matt doesn't know much about radiation either, but the comparison seems to enlighten him. ]

Oh, [ he answers, ] sure. Back where I'm from, there's a small amount of that that everybody gets exposed to, but if you get a really high concentration or stay exposed for a long time, and you don't get effective treatment ... also really scary diseases.

Something like that. It's usually just fatal, though.

[ You know. No coming back from it. ]

Or you get turned into a zombie. But, uh, that's also fatal...

[ Matt's brain goes nnnngh. ]

Well ... so far, at least, I don't think anything like that has happened. The Shard-Bearers who were possessed or mimicked by shadow creatures came back from dissipation without any lingering effects that anybody's aware of.

As for the people who've been presumably eaten, it does occur to me that there's a way to potentially figure out where they are. If we could get our hands on something that belonged to them.

Oh yeah? What's your thought on that?

[ Color her interested. ]

Some kinda magic thing?

Some kinda magic thing, [ Matt agrees. ] Basically ... if a missing person is alive, something personal that they owned could help us find them. Or if they're dead, it could help us talk to them.

[ Which would be sad. But at least it might provide their loved ones with some closure. ]

...unless this oblivion thingy just annihilates every part of 'em, right?

Right, [ Matt murmurs. ] Which ... I guess it comes back down to what you believe about whether our worlds are gone for good, on one level. But there should be a way to design a spell to ask basically--

Is this person alive, in the afterlife, or undetectable. Not sure about how to refine the latter to rule out--for instance, let's say everyone the dark has taken is actually in a magical cage, and it's warded so a casual scry wouldn't let you see into it. That might show up the same as "annihilated for good."

I'll have to think about it.

...I guess that's true. But how the heck do you even get around something like that? You'd need to be practically sitting on this thing's doorstep to find that out!

Maybe if there's like a basic aura-reading layer on top of the inquiry, [ Matt muses. ] In my experience, even a really good magical ward or barrier will leave some trace of itself. Like, you know--you don't need to be able to see past a wall to know there's a wall there.

Hm. Maybe. I don't now anything about that kinda stuff...

[ There's the sensation of a frown. ]

Guess I'll leave it up t'you.

I appreciate you talking to me about it anyway, [ Matt says. It's the kind of sentiment that could be rote, but it's clear from his thoughts that he means it. ] I need all the help I can get. Plus, I tend to think there's a reason we're all here, that we all need each other on some level. So any amount of time or effort you give ... I'm grateful for it.

[ He doesn't entirely mean to say that last part. Matt's had some success keeping certain thoughts and associations under lock and key--things relating to Sebastian's collar, for instance--but that involves a specific technique, sort of like meditating. Things that are merely inconvenient to share can still filter through unbidden. ]

I dunno if there's really a reason. But sure, I guess. Might as well work together while we're here.

[ He's being kinda schmoopy, but she appreciates people praising and/or thanking her, so... bit of a wash really. ]

[ Matt's flutter of mental chuckling is somewhere between embarrassed and resigned. ]

And uh--if I come across anything that can be solved with punching, should I let you know?

Heh. Of course. That's what I'm good at!

Then you've got yourself a deal.

Perfect. Good luck with whatcha got goin'.

kenotebook post | ota | tl;dr

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