kenoslogs | TDM + GAME OPENING 🎉

Entry tags:

TDM + GAME OPENING 🎉

Who: Shard-Bearers, new and old
What: Seeds take root
Where: The Tree of Life, Highstorm, Springstar
When: October 14th and onwards
Warnings: Potential for (mild) body horror, death, dismemberment

I. BEARING FRUIT (new characters only)

It starts out as a pleasant dream. You’re in your favorite place, with your favorite people. It’s a moment of idyllic comfort.

And then, it goes wrong.

The sky turns dark above, and as you look up, you see the black expanse of space spotted with faraway pinprick lights of stars. Yet, they’re not stars. You’re certain. They’re watching you. A billion eyes all looking down, and they spill forth as if sky itself was a dam holding back those dark waters. You reach back to the people you’re with, but they’re frozen in place. Their eyes are black, reflecting only the expanse of dark eyes.

So you run, even though you know you won’t escape it. You glance back and see it not overtaking, but consuming. The landscape around you is being devoured, and you can see it cracking apart. The world itself is breaking, and it cracks under your feet. You fall, and the billion eyes chase after you until the darkness swallows you whole. There’s agony as if you’re being ripped apart, and then—

You cannot see. You cannot feel. You simply are. Yet even so, impossibly, a woman’s voice speaks gently.

I’m sorry it couldn’t be saved. But, come, it’s time to wake.

You wake with a start, cradled by soft, velvety plants, and sticky with a sap that smells faintly of honey and iron. You can see the veins of the leaves that hold you, lit warmly and gently by what looks like a crystal embedded above you. Yet, it’s odd, because that crystal calls to you. When you reach out to touch it, it’s warm. Familiar. Important. You don’t know why, but you know you must hold onto this, because now it feels wrong for it to be suspended in these leaves. So, you pull it out.

The light starts to fade, but only in time to see as the leaves cradling you immediately start to soften and crumble, and with it comes a torrent of dirt. Soft, loamy soil starts to fill the space around you in the dark as you’re buried. Or, rather, you already were. You reach out through the dirt desperately, and your hands finds a root, so you pull while you clutch that precious crystal so close that it almost feels like it sinks into you (in your panic, you don’t notice that it does). You reach out again, and this time, your hand hits open air and plenty of sturdy roots around to grab.

From a seed you’re born, and like a sprout, you make your way out of the ground.

And once you’ve clawed your way out of the soft earth and the roots, nearby, you see the soil shift. Another hand comes up to grasp desperately for something, anything, just as you had been.

II. MORAL HAZARD

There are new Shard-Bearers at the Tree of Life, and Yima has asked that the earlier arrivals go to greet them and help them. These aren’t people from Horos, after all, so they’ll have many, many questions. As Yima explains, the roots of the tree rise up to create caverns underneath, and it’s there you’ll find the new Shard-Bearers. And indeed, with careful steps to not slip on the mossy roots, down you go. Perhaps Communion will help you find the new Shard-Bearers, but it might be a confusing process for them.

The roots all start to look the same, to the point that you’re sure that you’ve already been through this passage. You turn around, and most of the people you had come here with are gone, if not all of them. It’s confusing and unsettling, and strangest of all.. You’re starting to feel ill, even if that wasn’t something normally possible for you. But continuing forward, you do eventually find an unfamiliar face of a new Shard-Bearer. They look no better than you feel.

Before introductions, however, roots around you shift suddenly until you’re enclosed in a room together. From the roots, a face forms in the wall. It speaks in a creaking, uneven tone, as if it weren’t used to speaking at all.

Give to take. A sacrifice. To live.

LET'S PLAY A GAME...

As the Dryad will explain, characters are now trapped in a room and have been poisoned by the spores that the lichens underfoot release. An antidote lays beyond the roots the dryad has curled around you, but to access it, you must make a sacrifice.

Characters can pick one of the following options, but the decision must be made unanimously. If one character takes a drastic action (such as murdering another), it’s counted as a failure for the group.

Each of you must offer up a personal/treasured memory. The memory will be shared in Communion with all characters assembled, and then will be destroyed. No character will retain the memory or memory of its Communion.
Each of you must offer up something physical. A finger, a toe, an ear, it’s your choice. The dryad will offer a knife if this is chosen that will sever the body part of choice cleanly and immediately stop any bleeding.
Offer up another. Kill one person in the room.
Refusing is also a valid option. Characters will get more ill as they debate until they start to find it difficult to breathe, and they’ll die quickly after.

The following is OOC knowledge that will not be known IC: The consequences of this game are about intent, and thus are not real. When characters are freed from the tree’s thrall, they’ll have their memories/body parts/life intact.

This can be done in groups of 2 to 4 players, and Loremasters recommend three if you can swing it! It’s more fun when you get in philosophical debates, right? Regardless, when your group comes to a decision, please record it here. These don’t have to be fully threaded out to be recorded, so the conclusion can be discussed OOC if you prefer. Actions can be submitted until October 21st, after which groups will be informed of what comes of their choice…

When a group receives the antidote, they'll be released from the tree's thrall... But will have a hard time waking up. It feels like something has grabbed onto their spine.

III. DREAMING OF HOME

You may wake with a start from your deliberations (or arguments) with a jolt of pain from the base of your spine as something is pulled away rapidly. A dark-haired man who looks to be in his thirties or so holds you carefully, but as soon as you start to regain your senses, he sets you back and holds up his hands.

Woah— Woah there, it’s fine! The tree was, uh, trying to take you back is all. You’re fine now.

As long as you’re not going to attack him, he offers a friendly smile and a hand to shake.

Name’s Cyrus. Sorry about the rude awakening. Let’s get your friend here unhooked too.

And indeed, glancing over, you can see the person you met in that room laying nearby, and it looks like a vine has snaked underneath them to exactly where something had just been pulled from you… Best not to think about it, maybe. Or if you've been unlucky enough to be one of the last people rescued, you might find vines and roots starting to grow into your skin. It's fine!

CYRUS, THE TRIBUNE

Cyrus is the NPC heading up the Meridian Faction, and is available to thread with under this header. Cyrus has come to the Tree of Life to help rescue the Shard-Bearer’s from the Tree, so he’s not going to be inclined to explain too much right away, since he’s on a mission, but he’ll stick around once everyone is successfully freed from Prompt 2 to speak with anyone that wants to. The following is just an OOC summary of information in case you do not need to thread with Cyrus:

Cyrus will gladly introduce himself to everyone, and will further explain his position in Meridian and Springstar (see the NPC Page) and the goals of Meridian itself (see the Faction Page, save for the italicized section). But most importantly, he’ll explain that he knows it sounds like something overly optimistic. It’s fair to be skeptical. He’ll produce a small glass bead from a bag he’s carrying. It looks like the necklace he wears, though not lit up. He’ll explain that the force of Meridian is a gift and can be a tether to your home, if you let it. As his fingertips light up, the energy is infused into the bead, which he’ll hand to you.

Taking the bead into your hands, you’ll take a bird’s eye view of your home world as if your consciousness is split, since you’ll still perceive standing in front of Cyrus at the tree. Rather than a vision, the view of your world is absolutely real, you’re certain. It’s a glimpse at the world that you thought destroyed, and if you focus on a particular place or a particular person, you’ll find the view shifting rapidly to it. No one you watch is aware of your presence, but simply continues about their daily life, whatever that is. But after about a minute, the view will fade as the light in the bead also fades.

That’s an iliachtida, a sunbeam, and when infused with Meridian’s light, allows someone Harmonized to it to check in on their world, he explains. It also acts as an anchor that tethers their soul to their world in the Timestream. With it, their world can’t entirely disappear, so eventually, they can go home. It’s a gift he’ll allow anyone that wants it to keep it, but indeed, they’ll be unable to use it again without first Harmonizing to Meridian.

To help manage threadload for the Loremasters playing Cyrus, we ask that you only tag him with the character you are most likely to app. Similarly, new tag-ins will not be accepted after Monday, October 17th.

III. SPRINGSTAR, αιώνιος ήλιος

After your ordeals at the Tree of Life, perhaps you’re drawn to Springstar, the city of eternal sun and the seat of Meridian.

It’s currently (and fittingly) Spring in Springstar, and the bustling city is coming back to life after finishing up winter. It’s not as if the winters are especially harsh here, but you’ll quickly get the sense that the people of Springstar are vivacious and happy to celebrate. You’ll find the Entertainment District to be the liveliest, whether it’s at a rowdy bar or a brothel, but no matter what, you’re welcome with open arms and without question.

Of course, if you’d just like to use the chance to explore the city alongside your fellow Shard-Bearers, that’s fine too. It’s easy to get lost in the crowds of Springstar and see all the city has to offer.

IV. HIGHSTORM, луны-близнецы

Or maybe Highstorm, the city of twin moons and the seat of Zenith is more to your liking. It’s certainly the quieter of the two cities and is a relaxing, meditative place if that’s what you prefer. The chill in the air is constant, since it’s Autumn in Highstorm and the eternal night doesn’t help keep things warm, exactly. Snow isn’t out of the question at this time of the year, but it’s beautiful in the moonlight.

Because of the cooler weather than Highstorm is prone to, you’ll find many of its delights inside rather than outside. Libraries and museums are popular in the more introspective city, though it’s easy enough to find something that might please you. For example, the indoor hot baths are popular at this time of the year too. You’ll find the people are kind, if cool-tempered, though if you mention the fact that you’re a Shard-Bearer or allied with Zenith, they’re more likely to warm up.

Though much like Springstar, it may just be more interesting to explore the city with a fellow Shard-Bearer. And as a resident may warn you, it’s best to stay in the city. Wandering out into the marshes and forests isn’t advised. Of course, if you do, just contact a Loremaster to find out why. ♥

NOTES

Welcome to Kenos! As a reminder, all players are required to fill out an application, which are now open. This does include characters/players from Aion Teleos, so please don’t forget to fill one out! Any character/player that does not submit an application will be swept from the communities and the Discord after applications close.

Activity Check is optional this month, but is highly recommend ~~so Christy can check her fancy program~~ so that you can earn Activity Reward Tokens! Activity will be able to be submitted shortly after applications close. You can find more about how we do AC here.

This log is Game Canon. Any characters who are not apped to the game will disappear. If Cyrus or Yima are asked, they’ll explain that this happens sometimes, since not every soul has a strong tether to Kenos and sometimes return to the Timestream. They’re fine and may even return to Kenos one day, but for now weren’t able to make the full journey.

As a reminder, your character has a Shard somewhere on their body that encompasses their soul, so keep note of where you're sticking it on their person for reference! Additionally, they have a tattoo of their Aspect somewhere on their body. Please be mindful this Aspect will be assigned to you upon approval and whatever you choose for the TDM may be temporary (for new characters)!

For the Highstorm and Springstar prompts, both cities will be fully open and accessible to all characters once they are saved from their rather harrowing ordeal at the Tree of Life. For prompt ideas and any general information about the cities and what you can find there, please see the Navigation page and check out the locations!

FOR NEW PLAYERS:

New players are welcome to join our Discord Server if you haven't already!

When they emerge from their cocoon/the ground, characters may be wearing their normal clothes, or they might be nude. Up to you!

At some point in the days after leaving the Tree of Life, new Shard-Bearers will have a dream, even if they're usually not capable of sleeping. All new players should read this post, since this details how they'll learn about both factions and their goals and should help them make a decision in which Faction they'd be drawn to.

New characters will not have access to any canon abilities on the TDM.

Your character will be offered temporary housing either at the Heliopolis district or Yima's manor for the first few weeks after their arrival. They will also be given a stipend for basic supplies like clothing and personal effects, and food is served in the cantina (Heliopolis) and at regular meal times in the Dining Room (Yima's manor). Once they Harmonize, they will get personal permanent chambers and a fancy retainer in their Faction's city. Wow! 🌈

FOR OLD PLAYERS:

Characters may be Harmonized to their Faction (if that makes sense for the character, of course!) by the time of this log. This is more for IC reference, and just wait until application acceptance to do the OOC paperwork!

General reminder that your character won't have access to their powers until they have Harmonized.

CODING

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

— A FLOWER OF SIN

[ You didn't even LET me keep my promise, he howls at the watching eyes upon him, his hands and arms spread wide; even before the encroaching darkness, filled with the presence of the end and those who are there to witness it, he will not flinch. His life ended so long ago, his existence naught more than a footnote in the wake of a better future. In this, he would accept being eradicated, erased — he was ready then, why not now? But, it remains: How dare you. How dare you recant your promise, maat. I gave my word, I was judged —!

He will not run from the loathsome end that comes for him. ( In another life, he would pursue it — the grandest hunter aboard Ra's solar barque, in pursuit of the world-ending serpent of chaos. )

For so long, it is dark. Even with his limbs drawn tight, eager to maintain the fleeting warmth that bleeds from his diminishing existence, his inner heat is sapped away. Steady, slow. Until he hears a voice, until he jolts into sensation once more. The memory of curling petals, the heady taste of sweetflower and sap in between the sharp points of his eyeteeth. Dirt below his nails, as the audible sound of stone and root crunching herald his rebirth from the ground itself. ]

Fuck, [ he rasps, spitting grainy earth from his mouth. His fingers immediately sink into whatever he finds next, clawing his way up. A low rumble heralds his next round of low cussing. A string of fuck, FUCK, before he seizes handfuls of his own hair and tucks his body in upon itself like a hinge. ]

Is this how it is to be, then? How many trials will you contrive to set before me!

— DELIBERATION

SPRINGSTAR |
[ It would be a lie, if he were to say that Cyrus's words did not find some meritless hope within him. He decides to examine Meridian's base of operations with pitiless eyes, to take in the make and wealth of the city the way he had Athens, Ur, Babylon, Tyre -- it is different, for sure. Esoteric in a way that he has not seen, yet is unalarmed by. Even Set will admit to the ingenuity of humanity, for he had seen them rise from the muds of chaos and grow, grow, grow. With that in mind, he takes to the various districts.

AKADIMAÏKOS. [ The first of many places he goes, following a cursory examination of the residential areas, the bounteous markets, the solar-powered industrial zone where he laughs himself bitter and sick -- Ra, even like this, you are still the most unstoppable of us all -- before he settles into place among the tomes. The information is anemic, he finds. Naught more than a cursory line of description here and there, leaving the deeper workings of foreign lands and foreign peoples to the imagination.

He takes with him a sheaf of notes, however, written in the divine script of the gods, rather than the script of mortals. For the unaligned individuals who look upon his written word, they might find their head swimming after a few moments -- a ringing in their ears, the faint sense that continuing on might make them collapse. Some things are not to be known by others.

Ultimately, the things he appears to be taking copious notes upon are : the history and mythology of a world called 'Earth', several tomes of tactics and styles of warfare from numerous dimensions and worlds, a slim volume of occult materials -- curses, hexes, anathema -- and lastly, a volume by a scholar named 'Te Velde'. ]

I'll trade with you, [ he says, to anyone in passing; wrapped in a long, light coat and barefoot, the faint, stern earnesty in his voice betrays him. A god of war, as hungry for knowledge as a common scholar! ( Thoth would laugh his fool head off, the idiot birdbrain that he was. ) ] I'll trade, I vow it.

HELIOPOLIS. You're -- kidding me.

[ It haunts him, even here. That place he cannot return to. Heliopolis, the heart of power, the seat of control. This is not his home, though it holds the same name. The same authority. Some impatient part of him demands he walk in, demands he reclaim even the echoes of what was his - even before he sat the throne of Heliopolis, it was his home. He grew under sandstone arches, stretched out in the sun along the Nile, he played with the crocodiles and hounds, he watched his siblings grow flowers together effortlessly -- for him, to drown him in greenery he would one day be the bane of. ]

Let me in. [ There is an acolyte who immediately begins to seem alarmed at the vehemence of those snarled words. ] I want to see that man again. He said nothing of this. He said nothing about plucking my city from time for you all to --! To! To what! You don't deserve it!

[ Where is Isis to command Egypt? Where is Horus, to steward its people?

Why is Heliopolis only here in name? How dare they! What savior takes the echoes of a place!

( There is a redheaded man, and he's about to launch a one-man assault on the oldest building in Springstar -- wrathful and stricken with some manner of hateful grief. You see him, definitely. ) ]

PSYCHAGOGIA. [ In the end, he leaves Heliopolis feeling worse than ever. A deep, unsettled sentiment within his chest that aches of meritless grief and hatred. He has always been a poor god, unkind and unfettered for countless centuries. There are no humans who prayed to him then, there are none who would now. Why take him from Egypt? Why choose to draw him forth from the inevitable destruction of the world, instead of a god who truly loved it?

Unsettled, Set turns to blind himself -- other Kenomites will find him readily given in to drink and illicit substance in Madam Dee's, a sneering, inebriated quality to his tone as he laughs bitterly from the toes up, draped across a cushion while one of the girls whispers to you: He has a pretty face, but everyone's a little scared of him. There's something wrong with his head, please make him leave. We'll throw in something special, if you do.

Or, if they're lucky -- there, in the Coliseum. Limber and furious, even without a scrap of divine power to him, he's a menace to those with an axe to grind and entertainment to embody. A single-minded fighter with bright teeth and a passion for tormenting his opponents, doing what he does best: bringing disorder to order. Nobody wants him there, either. He's ruining everything! Maybe he'll even ruin one of his fellow Kenomites, if you don't get to him first. ]

HIGHSTORM |
[ In the days after his UNHINGED DISPLAY within the hallowed, bright boundaries of Meridian's core, he visits the cool, dark land of the Zenith faction. Highstorm is far too cold for him, even tucked into the light colored wrap he'd picked up in the markets of Springstar. There's likely a bruise or seven upon him, from the violence he had enacted within the city -- hopefully, the Meri's would forgive him for his ugly display. Set doens't mind if they don't, if they ban him from their land and force him to shelter in the darkness of Highstorm instead.

It is a far more somber place, one that does not immediately invoke anger within him. Their ruler promises no grandiosity, only practicality -- where that man had slid a tether into his palm and urged him to think of the entire world, the lady of the Zenites makes no illusion. She only promises one thing to them, and Set knows what he would ask for. Anubis. Give him Anubis, give him one more chance to repair what he'd tarnished between them - to keep his vow. ( But oh, his vow was to atone and return home. What to do, then, without a home at all? It devours him, the choice he will have to make. He is not a selfless god. He is an evil, horrendous one. ) ]

ANTIQUES. [ Hailing from a land that would one day become the source of antiquarian authority, Set finds his way to the markets of Highstorm again. This time, to trade. Between the ripened stalls of bits and baubles, he pauses at a particular stall ( -- no more than a rug thrown into empty space between two vendors feverishly hawking their goods ) and finds his way down, down to the ground before the rows of delicate pieces of metal and jewels. The conversation between he and the shoptender leads him to that unique store, the nervous, rabbit-like shopkeeper that will not speak to him.

Within, his heart crumples again. This time, he cannot even find the anger to defy the misery ( the spark of clarity, of relief ) -- and instead, begins to barter with anything he has, to become the owner of the only item he's found that strikes him as worthwhile. It is barely anything, naught but a little effigy so badly worn by time and dirt that it is nearly a shapeless blob; the dark green faience feels familiar under his thumb, as he strokes the pad of his finger over the amorphous head of the falcon amulet. ]

I don't have currency.

[ He says it without shame, to both the shopkeeper who urgently points to his sign and to the other Kenomite in the room. ]

But, I won't lie to you -- this has enough value to it, that I will owe you anything of your choosing, if you can help me.

GREENWOOD YARDS. [ At the end of all things, he takes himself here.

Shameless, one of the local Zenites laughs, did you hear? A redheaded newcomer with the attitude of a prince! He demands what's not his, he's just lucky he's never spoken ill of Yima. / Like he spoke of Cyrus! He should just join us, if he hates that man as much as he does. ]

They're loud, [ Set breathes, from his corner of the bathhouse. Old injuries from his stint in Springstar stand out bold in the crystal waters, and he makes absolutely no attempt at being modest. Naked as one might be at birth, he lounges with his arms stretched along the walls of his bath, his damp hair pooling across his shoulders, sticking to the column of his throat.

Immodest creature! ] I don't know where to go. I need to choose though, but why? What's the point in it, do you think?

[ He'd never really stopped to think about any of it, save for in passing. In fits and bursts of mania and grief, following the way he'd clawed out of the dirt and tore off through the end of time and existence -- a madman, honestly sick in the head and lacking such direction. It's a question he poses to the Kenomite(s) with him, without irony to any of his words. ]

What will you choose? Or, what did you choose?

[ OOC | If you have any questions, lmk! You can reach me right through DMs on the game discord, or just @ me. I'm sorry he's so dramatic and miserable atm, he'll continue to be dramatic and miserable for the foreseeable future but with a little more spice and comedy once he makes His Choice of Faction. As always, please take a look at my permissions post, especially the content warnings, for a general look at what's up. ]

Edited 2022-10-15 21:48 (UTC)

Who's to say?

[ It is the greeting that he gives the cursing person. Massive white wings curl around him as he sits on the ground, absently licking at his fingertips. Archangel gives the man a brief smile before he holds his hand out to him, to help pull him up. ]

It seems like we both must continue to redeem ourselves for the sins that others have committed. [ Well, he intends to force redemption on the world itself, but there's no need to get into that just yet -- or perhaps, ever. ]

[ The rasp of metal jewelry across root heralds the unfurling of Set's body, his head rising until he's able to peer through the sheet of red hair -- wrathful, resentful. Rationally, one might find a measure of solace in the companionability of those words. They mark the pair of them as individuals who are required to seek atonement and redemption, and Set hates it with a burning, biting resistance that smolders within him.

( Pathetic, that he cannot relinquish the embers of his pride, though the Ennead had stripped even that from him. ) ]

That others committed? Speak for yourself. Let them squirm under their own evils, I don't care.

[ Bitterly, he won't even allow himself to clutch at that much -- the blame has been placed upon his head, a dark crown of damages wrought and sins committed. He just went mad, the other gods whispered behind their cupped palms, slaughtered his brother, what an envious god. Why does he even exist? ]

They keep putting barriers in my way, trying to force failure. Even this - it's just in my way.

[ does he mean archangel's offered hand??? he is glaring at it balefully.... ]

Your face says otherwise.

[ He doesn't quite sneer at the expression that he sees beneath the red hair. But the soft smile he wore before fades to something a little more neutral. Already the gears turn in his head about how he can use the person before him because the two of them are alike in one thing.

There is but another barrier in front of them; there is yet another means to force failure but neither one of them are willing to give up. I will have my paradise. His hand remains outstretched. ]

So it is... but you can only ever do so much on your own. Even I know that much.

[ And he hates it. ]

LET'S PLAY A GAME...

CYRUS, THE TRIBUNE

FOR NEW PLAYERS:

FOR OLD PLAYERS:

set | ennead | undecided & unknown!

— A FLOWER OF SIN

— DELIBERATION

SPRINGSTAR |

HIGHSTORM |

a flower of sin.

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Highstorm antiqueing;

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greenwood yards

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highstorm - greenwood yards

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Highstorm- Antiques

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1 - A flower of Sin

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PSYCHAGOGIA

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heliopolis

cw brief suicidal ideation + some gore

greenwood yards

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