The Call of the Void

TW: This article contains mentions of suicide.

Causes

The Call of the Void describes the urge to jump while standing at an elevated point. This is a phenomenon that can be experienced at high altitudes and is most likely caused by one's own mind. To this day, it is unclear what exactly causes the Call.

Prognosis

Typically, the Call of the Void goes as quickly as it comes, leaving behind a perhaps somewhat shaken-up - but otherwise fine - Humanoid. Sometimes, however, people find themselves unable to ignore the Call, giving in to its whims and hurling themselves from whatever great height they were standing upon.

Oh, to hear the sweet call of the void, but once more... Never have I felt so seen, so wanted.

— An adventurer who grew addicted to the Call

In exceedingly rare cases, those who spend much time in high places become addicted to the Call. Such individuals find themselves drawn to the edge of a roof, a tower, or maybe the side of a cliff with increasing frequency. If the accounts of one such individual are to be believed, tempting fate and staring into the void like that, feeling it stare back at you, beckoning you, is a rush unlike any other.

Affected Groups

The Call can affect Humanoids of any species, age, and gender. What little research has been done on this topic shows that at least every other Humanoid seems to feel the Call at least once in their life.
As far as scholars are aware, animals and beasts do not experience this urge.

History

Looking down into the sheer endless plunge of the Chasm is like coming home to the home I never had. The Abyss, it sees you, it welcomes you, accepting you as you are. It is... almost comforting.

— A citizen of Bellfort, that shortly thereafter gave in to the Call

The first proper research of this was only done early in the Age of Solitude, after the disruption of the Ley-Line flowing through Kysa late in the Age of Dread. Researchers and scholars still believe that Humanoids have experienced the Call of the Void since the beginning of time.
At first, it was believed that those who followed the Call were simply despondent after many decades of war and did not know how to cope. Two years passed, then five and eventually ten, and still, people gave in to the beckoning. Scholars were concerned and equally fascinated by this. After some research, they found out that this phenomenon was, in fact, not limited to the Chasm and could be experienced at any elevated point. Eventually, it was established that something about the Chasm seems to amplify the effect of the Call, making it much more difficult to resist it.

Type

Mental

Origin

Natural

Cycle

Short-term

Rarity

Common