( the landscape of fear is not a static one. as times change, so do the prevalent fears that swim through and choke the arteries of the global human consciousness — mankind did not know how to properly fear the potential of utter devastation of fire until they had first tamed it, learning only over time and through pain and loss to dread what might happen if they lost its control. in the modern era, the last Fear to emerge in full had been that of the Flesh — fear did not belong only to human beings, and as they began to industrialize the process of farming meat for consumption, so did the livestock they processed learn to fear what it meant to be flesh raised for such an end.
before his world had ended (and then ended a second time, landing him here), it had been a concern among servants of the Dread Powers that a fifteenth was preparing to emerge into their midst: the Extinction, born from the rising fear among the masses that technological advancements and mankind's neglect and waste would eventually make the world so uninhabitable to them that they would ensure their own end. john can't help but think about that whenever he overhears a bit of conversation about the Blight, about the concerns that it would not for long remain constrained to smaller animals and plants.
he frowns. they are right to be worried. such a corrosion rarely finds itself content within its banks, instead hungering to reach beyond them.
there are two eavesdroppers on the conversation the small group of highstorm citizens are having at a streetcorner — tighnari is the far more active of the two, going so far as to approach and crane an ear to listen in. john, sitting on a bench nearby, can hear just fine where he is and is instead focused on scrabbling notes down in a small hand-held notebook, working through his thoughts of which of the fears this rising dread might feed and... if all of that even really mattered, now that they were nearly dead and gone.
but he can sense that the stranger with the tall, fuzzy ears and animal-like tail (congratulations, tighnari, you're the first furry he's seen! it's really weird!) is a Shard-Bearer, and a new one, if he had to guess. he glances over to him, one brow raised. )
You're making it a little too obvious.
( his voice filters directly through the stranger's head by way of Communion — perhaps a bit of an overstep when it comes to privacy and boundaries, but the citizens closest to tighnari have taken note of his proximity. the flow of their conversation shudders and halts, and they turn to look at him out of the corners of their eyes. push a little too far, and they might move on to a new place to chat. )
ii.
before his world had ended (and then ended a second time, landing him here), it had been a concern among servants of the Dread Powers that a fifteenth was preparing to emerge into their midst: the Extinction, born from the rising fear among the masses that technological advancements and mankind's neglect and waste would eventually make the world so uninhabitable to them that they would ensure their own end. john can't help but think about that whenever he overhears a bit of conversation about the Blight, about the concerns that it would not for long remain constrained to smaller animals and plants.
he frowns. they are right to be worried. such a corrosion rarely finds itself content within its banks, instead hungering to reach beyond them.
there are two eavesdroppers on the conversation the small group of highstorm citizens are having at a streetcorner — tighnari is the far more active of the two, going so far as to approach and crane an ear to listen in. john, sitting on a bench nearby, can hear just fine where he is and is instead focused on scrabbling notes down in a small hand-held notebook, working through his thoughts of which of the fears this rising dread might feed and... if all of that even really mattered, now that they were nearly dead and gone.
but he can sense that the stranger with the tall, fuzzy ears and animal-like tail (congratulations, tighnari, you're the first furry he's seen! it's really weird!) is a Shard-Bearer, and a new one, if he had to guess. he glances over to him, one brow raised. )
You're making it a little too obvious.
( his voice filters directly through the stranger's head by way of Communion — perhaps a bit of an overstep when it comes to privacy and boundaries, but the citizens closest to tighnari have taken note of his proximity. the flow of their conversation shudders and halts, and they turn to look at him out of the corners of their eyes. push a little too far, and they might move on to a new place to chat. )