Editing Questions/Question 601

{{Question
|QuestionFaqPage=Log - February 2026/Pre Event FAQ
|Link=https://kelesis.dreamwidth.org/10698.html?thread=12342730#cmt12342730
|AskedBy=istandwithmycancelledwife
|DateAsked=2026-02-03
|QuestionText=Is it possible to get through to any of the citizens of Kelesis about the fact that it's an illusion, even just on a one-by-one basis?
|DateAnswered=2026-02-04
|AnswerText=<b>cw: death, body horror</b><br>It'll take quite a bit of convincing... And will require giving a bit of a history lesson, if the character's up for it. If this is an illusion and they're dead, how did they die?! Kelesian citizens will need to be reminded of arcane radiation poisoning; they'll need to be told that they died from it, and may even need to be given an explanation of some symptoms to really help them recall the experience of dying.<br><br>... Doing this will create <b>sudden, intense nightmares</b> around the particular soul. As the guardians of Kelesis will explain to any curious Augmented, this construct is made not of one large dream, but many pockets of dreams; each pocket is a moving, malleable thing that has been being carefully safeguarded and let to become harmonious with its fellows, but this sudden jarring into reality shatters the peace, even if it doesn't quite <i>wake</i> them. These nightmares will be sickly, with vivid memories of mutated dead bodies (a la intense exposure to arcane radiation), foul odors, loud and discordant cries and voices, and <i>pain.</i> Even Augmented Ones will be subjected to the kinds of pain this soul endured in death, as though they seek to share in that experience.<br><br>Merely shattering the illusion doesn't quite free them from the grasp of Kelesis's guardian. After a bit, Augmented Ones will find themselves forcefully ejected from the entire city, just to get them <i>out</i> of that nightmare bubble. (They're free to reenter the city immediately afterwards.) Augmented Ones won't see the Kelesian guardians, but they will <i>feel</i> as though they're being watched and judged while they tend to the disturbed soul, as though tucking it back into bed. The soul will return to a more peaceful dream after it's tended, the shroud pulled over their eyes once again.<br><br><tt>"Please do not do that. It causes suffering."</tt> That's all the guardian has to say.
}}