The Seeds of Unrest: the Iconoclast Oracle

[beleos]

RUNNING OUT THE CLOCK

The situation is bleak.

The Blight - and the massive labyrinth of roots tearing both cities asunder, spreading deadly flowers wherever they penetrate - have progressed to a point beyond catastrophe. People are dying in rapid numbers. Bearers are having difficulty keeping up with the spread of infection - even among one another. The collapse of Kenos seems inevitable; a cure will not come in time. You can do nothing but watch as each new day brings further disaster, ticking down the seconds until it all falls apart.

And then, you feel something seize your Shard. As if physical fingers have wrapped around it, as if it is being clutched through you by invisible hands, you feel invaded. You feel wronged. But before you can panic, a voice enters your mind through Communion.

“Excuse the dramatics, but there isn’t much time for pleasantries. The Trees are about to hit the point of no return. But there's still work to be done. The Tree of Life will take you where you can find it: the Oracle and the creature causing all this mess. Fix this when you find them. However you'd like.”

Have you heard Aetos’ voice before? Perhaps it is the first time; perhaps it is familiar to you. Either way, the last thing you will remember is a confusing jumble: a spell of immense and incredible power, one utilizing the Tree’s strength to shelter you. The sensation of every cell in your body coming alive, yet seeming to break apart and render you into billions and billions of tiny pieces, all hovering in different times and places across all the different iterations, timelines, and realities in which you have ever existed. A voice that speaks not through words asking your forgiveness, unspeakably sad.

And then, there is nothing.

AWAKENING

Your eyes open, gritty with the feeling of a long, deep slumber.

Perhaps it takes a moment to shake off the heavy veil of exhaustion, to recollect what you were doing before you fell into this state of hibernation - but as soon as you do, you feel an immediate sense of foreboding around you. It is thick in the air, oppressive and pervasive, and you aren’t left long to wonder at its source. You lay beneath the branches of the Tree of Life, but as your bleary eyes focus… you see it. The Tree is all but bereft of life. Its bark has withered down to gnarled wood, the soft lichen dried up, and the grass that should be alive beneath you is long dead and gone. There is not so much as a single leaf on its decaying branches.

It has been this way for a long, long time... you realize this with a feeling of intense dread as you see it - the beautiful expanse of stars, of the cosmos, of universes scattered like starlight above the tree's boughs, gone. In its place hangs a sickly, ominously low-hanging, and dying sun ready to sing the end of everything.

You can't help but wonder how long Kenos has been in this state, but a sense of gratitude fills you as you realize that the Tree expended the last of its energies to protect you, the Bearers, during your state of rest. Had Aetos worked with the tree to see you sent here?

The next question comes quickly: how much time do you have left…? And can you find the Oracle before that time expires?

ABANDON HOPE (DAYS 1 & 2)

The cornerstones are still active and will take you to whichever city you wish to see.

Highstorm and Springstar sit like empty monuments to the cities that were once filled with life - yet the first thing you will notice is they are strangely absent the signs of the Tree’s overgrown roots, the Blight, the catastrophic damage that you can recall all too easily. Instead, each city sits as those they were summarily abandoned overnight, leaving nothing but their shells behind. There is a stillness in the air that is unnatural and unsettling. Despite the lack of any sign of the citizens of either city, you cannot help but feel… watched.

Something terrible happened here. Best you find the Oracle before something terrible finds you, instead.

The burning of a dying sun beats down on you wherever you go, unbearable heat sending waves off the aged cobblestone streets. Perhaps it is your instinct to seek refuge in the shade - but linger too long about the shadows and that feeling of eyes on your back, of being unable to breathe, of your world closing in around you will grow untenable and drive you back into the light. If you hope to explore the ghostly shell of your city in search of the Oracle - or to sate your curiosity, some problem-solving might be in order.

And while you acclimate yourself to your circumstances, you cannot help but note you feel wrong inside, somehow…

EXPLORATION

• If your characters choose to explore previously unreachable areas, please use THIS TOPLEVEL to report when they get there in the thread! We will get back to you with what is discoverable in that location.
• The following areas are off limits for exploration: below Yima’s Manor; below the Church of Heliopolis; Alenroux; Kowloon.
• The Great Trees of both Highstorm and Springstar are in a similar state to the Tree of Life and will not respond to Communion.
• Generally speaking, items will be of poor quality. Most will look as though they’ve aged thousands of years. Others will be in half-decent shape, but sparingly so. Oddly enough, it doesn’t seem like the whole city has aged at the same rate, so especially diligent rummagers can find worthwhile supplies. Please consider this should be rare and don’t go overboard!

NOTES

Here are some prompt reminders - see the full thing at the OOC Summary!

• Characters will have a diluted connection to the Zenith or Meridian.
• There will be periods powers are weakened or non-functional during days 1-2 (up to player discretion).
• The sunlight results in scorching; the shadows cause claustrophobia and fear while outdoors.

THE RITUAL (DAYS 2+)

The place you started your journey to Kenos is also where it seems it will end. As soon as the first Bearer makes contact with the Iconoclast effigy, you are collectively drawn to the roots beneath the Tree - like a pang sent through your Shard. Your objective has been found. The Oracle awaits.

Trusting Aetos seems like a fool's errand, but you must put your hope in the Tree. What choice do you have left? It's time to find what lies at the end of this.

Bearers descend, your steps echoing in the dark, cavernous space. Once brimming with life and vitality, the roots are now dried and brittle like the bones of some ancient leviathan that died long ago. As you make their way deeper into the earth, the deadened roots twist, leading you to a vast chamber deep within it; the air here is thick with the smell of decay, and the faint glow of luminescent fungi and mosses barely illuminates the space.

To your left, the Bearers will notice what has drawn them here - and the object of their search.

An effigy sits on the ground between two darkened tunnels. The effigy is made of gnarled, dead branches woven together in a humanoid shape; its hollow, empty eyes are sightless, yet you cannot help but feel it is watching your every move. Branded on its forehead is the Iconoclast symbol carved into the rough wood.

Once all Bearers are present, the Ritual will begin. Your means of exit have been sealed off, and you are trapped, slowly deteriorating together…

NOTES

• Bearers will have access to the Ritual Chamber which is a very wide, open space with the effigy situated against the far wall from the entrance. Several smaller tunnels off-shoot from the Ritual Chamber. They all run to dead ends; some are very small or narrow. This may afford you meager privacy away from the group.
• Once a Bearer steps into the Chamber, they can no longer head back out the way they came. They’ll find themselves automatically walking back into the Chamber as if of their own volition.
• For brevity’s sake we won’t list them out again here, but the complete description of effects Bearers will experience days 2+ is available in the OOC Summary.
• The effigy is impervious to damage.
• It Is Watching You.
• In a dead-end root tunnel attached to the Iconoclast’s Chamber is the Blighted statue of an Otter that may be familiar to some… Please see THIS TOPLEVEL for more information!

THE PURGE (DAYS 5+)

The sap has festered in your veins for what feels like days. It’s impossible to tell how much time has passed; this place has no sunlight. The effigy watches as you remain trapped, huddled together around it, unable to leave as you find yourself sick with the affliction of the Meridian, Zenith - or both.

And then… something finally gives.

Though it does not move and speaks no words, you feel the effigy offering you guidance. Knowledge. Much like the Tree speaks to you in impressions and feelings, you are conveyed wisdom you did not have before: a way to take what you want and rid yourself of what you do not. A way to make your convictions known to all who would hear them. A way to be known. To write your path in blood, be it yours… or theirs.

When all is said and done, only one force - Zenith or Meridian - will gain its favor.

Show it who you are. Show it what resolve looks like to you - and what you are willing to do to attain it.

NOTES

Here are some prompt reminders - see the full thing at the OOC Summary!

• You can Purge your alignment through various methods: Trading, Corrupting, or using the Effigy itself.
• All characters will understand the end goal is for everyone to Harmonize; the alignment with the higher rate of Harmonized Bearers alive when time’s up wins the Oracle’s favor.

NOTES

• A reminder that the Harmonization tally will take place on Friday, the 19th and be open through Monday, the 29th. The results will be released on Wednesday, the 31st OOCly.
• Don’t forget to submit any deaths to the Death Tracker, with a gentle reminder characters will remain dead until the event conclusion!
• Reminder to fill out the SETTING POLL ASAP if you haven't already!
• Have some MUSIC if you'd like. LYRICS here!
• HAVE FUN!!

CODING

Comments

vultures - C

[wolof]

[ It stops her. The words he spits, his tone hateful, and she feels her own heart throb with pain. He is bitter, and she wonders if that is not how she felt as well. Even now, she teetered on the edge, and no amount of trading off the Zenith seemed to eradicate the last of it from her, and as it clung to her, it grew, multiplied in strength, like a parasite that lived off of her very energy.

She does not want it, but she knows why it clung to her, and she sat next to Set despite his bitter words, and looked over the last of the Shard-Bearers all still gathering, speaking, trading. Many of them now had chosen, and eradicated the energy from themselves, but some of them still remained, unable or unwilling to finally solidify their connections to one or the other. She did not hold out a hand, but one rested next to Set, palm down, but an open invitation to hold, regardless. ]

Have you been asked to do so that many times?

[ She asked, her tone tight, but understanding. ] Do they see you as a force of nature, dear heart?

[redsoil]

No, but. This trial, it forces shackles upon us. Toys with doubts that ought to be our private struggles and airs them before the eyes of others to prey upon. I have seen so many lost to it, lost from one another — people whom, we ought to be able to have reached.

[ Meridian or Zenith, what use is making a choice to join with one side or the other, if those within it are incapable of holding fast to their own. He knows Liem Talbott is lost. John Gaius, too. Byleth(?) and Dimitri persevere, as does Hayame, and the Zenites he knows would hold fast to their convictions — Amos, Amane Misa, Silco — are unfathomably resolute. Many more have died; not because they wished to, but because they fell to the possessiveness of one side or the other. ]

We should have been freer to make our choices. And not killed, even if we faltered. I was ready to kill for the Meridian, before entering this place. Here — there is nothing good, to come of slaughter. We are only denying one another the ability to explore, to learn, to grow.

[ He is infinitely disappointed in the Shard-bearers. The god of war, who will kill and rage. Who speaks cruelly and aims to injure others' hearts, is disappointed at the end of all things. Violence is his domain, and he draws upon the surrounding agony and chaos as though a divine sponge — and it holds no meaning. A zero sum game, where it was proven that they could not be there for one another.

( He thinks of Zenith's path. He thinks of Silco's words: destroy everything, and the idea of robbing each and every person of their dream has never sounded sweeter. They do not deserve what they seek. They are rotten, all of them. Blind and dumb. Failed, miserably. )

He has given and taken both energies, passing as much Meridian on to the people he has wanted to give reason to hold fast — because, he cannot trust himself to do so. He is dark, but that kernel of light persists. Waiting to potentially be purged. ] I cannot stop thinking of this world. What it means, what it hides. I feel as though I am forming a picture with its pieces, but it is still so far. I feel the need to show them, not to sway them to a side, but to shake their hearts. To wake them.

[ As far as the people? Trading and corrupting and killing? ]

They pass through me. My wife told me to understand them, and I still... cannot.

[wolof]

[ Gods had always been so far removed -- whether Above's or Below's -- and having them walk amongst them must be a harrowing experience, for someone who should have been removed from the frivolities of being mortal. They worked through proxies, always had, and though Akua cannot be certain, she thinks a god of war like Set would be one who thrives on the pursuit, no matter what it was. Veneration was born through the pursuit of power, whereas for Above, it is protection, chastity, and strict morals that show appropriate reverence.

Here, there is none of that. They fight, they sneer, the mortals among them slaughter those who fall to the whispers of the other faction, and those that get out, find themselves swayed to the other side. She knows that this is wrong, because she felt that tug at her own heart, Zenith still promising that sick, despairing power. Giving up, and just laying waste. Would Yima offer her Catherine's shard? Would Catherine want it to be her shard? No. Catherine would look at her with such disappointment, even if she signed on with Zenith.

Save Masego, she would say. Hells, save Indrani, or Hakram, or if you must -- The Bard -- but do not destroy that many souls for me.. ]

That is what an intercessor is for, dear heart.

[ She says, and reaches out to place her hand on his. ]

They are short-sighted, mortals. They see the pursuit, the victory, the act, and they think only of the now, or their retribution. Look at Hayame, and tell me she is thinking of the long game? She is fire, and power, and great acts, but she would have killed Sebastian, and shattered him, if given the chance, and would not willingly understand the escalation it would cause.

They are hurting, and confused, Set. They do not know what it is, to hold to a path because one must, even if everything within us screams otherwise.

[redsoil]

[ It irritates him, the way he cannot fully fasten himself to convictions of his own. They exist, certainly — save Anubis, atone for his crimes — for they come with the clarity of his child's voice, the faith that child placed in his failure of a father and the vow he had made, that he would wait. As far as Set cared for sensibility, for reality, his child was still waiting. It is the last thing he said, that breaks him in half and leads him to straddle the line between Meridian and Zenith: We can all start anew, from the beginning. Can't we? With Meridian, he can return and struggle. He will never redeem himself, though; what he rights will be righted, and he will still go to the Barge to serve Ra. He will serve her forever, in the night while his child sleeps, in the day while his child plays. With Zenith, he can create that new beginning for those lost, rotten people — the ones he is more like, the wild-eyed children who have accepted loss. Anubis would forgive him, in time.

( Horus would not. Horus would stand to the last, alongside the sun. The blessed hero, beloved by the Ennead; beloved by Nut, as Isis was. Nut, who would bless them and cry for them but not cast her eyes upon her own child as he was torn apart, coveted by his own king and brother. Not one of them had come to him, to protect him. And Horus, Horus was the only one who had looked him in the eye after betraying his mother upon the body of his enemy and said — I will never hurt you again. I will not feed this cycle of pain. How could he,

not be moved by that? ) ]

It is my fault, that Sebastian was here. [ He doesn't feel sorry for the demon, but he is a little contrite that he did not present the best playing field for him to maneuver upon. ] And that Hayame was driven to act so before the eyes of others, who will use this as ammunition against her. Against Meridian.

[ Still. He is a creature of contradictions, and simultaneously REALLY liked watching it go down. ]

I find worry less about a victor. I worry about their will. Doubts will come to all of us, and we will falter. Just as hope will return, as the coming of the dawn. Mortals are not creatures meant to stagnate under one or the other, but find reasons to doubt and hope throughout their lives. Akua Sahelian, is there not a way to be both an evil god and a beacon to which they may look when they falter?

[wolof]

Hm. Hayame has been appraised of the consequences of her actions. [ Akua said, her tone somewhat...disappointed, when she said it. She had explained to her, what it would mean to escalate it without reason. In battle, over an oracle? That held the winds of Providence, or perhaps the tight fist of Calamity, pushing her along. It was not revenge, but it was necessary.

Revenge had to have weight to be achieved, and Akua did not see that in Hayame's path at the moment. She hated -- oh she hated -- but what was that? Hate did so little, to tip the scales, unless it was against one. ]

There is a way, however difficult it is, to become the beacon you seek. [ She looked over them, the weak and shivering masses that spread before them. Her fingers twitched as she looked at them, trying to weigh the possibilities, but there were so many, and so many unknowns. She did not dally with everyone, like Catherine had, for she'd been truly a woman of the people. She'd liked people, and if it had been her here, instead of Akua, wouldn't that have been better? Wouldn't she have been able to stop the wanton violence? Wouldn't she know how to guide people towards the paths they needed -- desired -- deserved?

She was not Calmity, yet. Not quite. She still teetered over the edge of Intercession, her toes curled around the precipice, and looked down at the vastness of it, nearly swallowed, but not quite yet.

Guiding Set, guiding them all, would perhaps be the push she needed, to finally take the plunge. ]

Do you wish for worship? Or do you wish for devotion to be enacted through pursuit of power? Making themselves stronger? Pushing harder toward their goals?

You must inspire them, nudge them, if needed, toward the pursuit. They need something more concrete than what Meridian offers, I think. We will have to inspire them toward the short-term, to achieve the long-term.

[redsoil]

I want them, [ he falters, then.

What does he want, from anyone? Validation, acceptance. To be real in their eyes. To defy his brother's unwavering truth — that Set only possesses authority, only derives power, from Osiris's good graces. He wants power, absolutely. The might to conquer, the strength to stand once more as the damnatio memoriae that broke the faith of armies with his mere presence. ]

The second. The second thing you said.

[ In his life, unlived but part of the whole of him, he is the strength of kings. The name of calamity and power, whom assists in upholding the absolute authority of the pharaonic power within Egypt; the complex, conflicting outsider-god whom roams far and wide and sits at the right of the kings of men and gods. These are things he does not know, he cannot grasp. They linger in the infinite pool of his existence, and he has not the net to cast into the darkness to draw on his experiences — he is young, younger than some know him to be. And he turns to Akua with bruised eyes, blood drying in his hair and in the hollow of his throat, from the battles. His battles. ]

If they cannot wholly find purchase in Meridian's promise alone, I want to be what they can entrust to. I cannot be the shining, perfect light as our Tribune must be, but I can be his shadow. I do not think I have ever sought their worship, when I think of it. I only want — to be wr pḥtj ḥr ptrt šnwt ḥꜣ m snḥmw. For myself, and them. As a bonus.

[ tsundere mode ]

[wolof]

[ Her lips curled into a smile then, and she leaned closer to Set now, like a sinuous advisor, whispering advice and guidance in his ear. She could feel that Meridian was the place they belonged, but at the same time, they were not of Meridian. Shadows that darkened their doorstep, villains that would readily and easily slip through the side doors, and commit the greatest atrocities, if they only but needed it.

They did not even need to ask, for Set and she were villains, darkness at the edges of their vision, the things that Meridian did not wish to look at, but necessary all the same. It was a hard lesson to learn, to accept, that there was darkness and villainy in the world, and what better than those of that same cloth to hold the tide against it? ]

Then you will need to find a way to entrench that to both yourself, and them.

An act, that draws their eye, that they cannot refute as wrong, but all the same, something that they find detestable, or unappealing. A job that none of these heroes or bright lights in the sky could ever commit, but necessary all the same.

We need to show them that there is a way for them to be Other here, and that there is a place fo them. That Meridian will accept them, and that if their wish is to bring their worlds back, it does not require Heroics.

It can be the path of power, that paves the way just as well.

[redsoil]

[ Part of him wants to curl away from her, from the beautiful curl of her voice and the things she says. He cannot tell if Akua wishes to manipulate him, or truly advise him. In some ways, she is harder to read than a demon who excels in twisting his own words. In other ways, he hears what he has begun to desire reflected well in her words. To be a villain and a beacon, something upon which people and Shard-bearers alike can fasten their eyes upon and dread-love for his usefulness, for his power and prestige, so that none will ever feel their hearts falter to the point where they must flee their own despair into the dark —

It is an intoxicating idea. To be as dark as Zenith, to learn patience and prudence, and to stand firm between those who would seek to leave Meridian and take them by their hearts and tell them you are where you ought to be and be believed in. He does not need to be trusted, just impossible to ignore. ]

Are you entrenched to my image, Akua? Will you waver in this place, and seek Zenith's power again? Will you falter, and concede to a second failure — or will you persevere, irrefutable as you seek to make me. If you wish to assist me in this endeavor, you must be the first to prove yourself. I can do this. I know that I can be this, even for you. I will force myself, I will break and bend myself and become this.

[ He leans to her, curves himself to her and pushes his mouth into her disheveled hair, breathing in deep the innate scent of her body, her soul, the things within her that are abstract sensation and crux of her. Slowly, he slides his fingers over her knuckles. He dips himself into the crook of her throat, kissing a mote of Meridian's light into her. A golden star, against the rich brown of her skin. ]

You do not need Zenith. Let Zenith despair that they cannot have you, and that you stand in the same way for Meridian as you would with them. Hope and despair are not opposing things, they are waves. They will always come to us, ebbing and flowing. If ever Meridian, or Zenith, ask you to run to them to stifle the strength of the other — know that both are necessary.

[ To her, he draws back. To her, he aligns his red gaze with her own. ]

I can think of a hundred acts to perform. Strike at the heart of Highstorm. Elevate our Tribune to King. I tame the Beyond in preparation for the installation of Springstar's armies, to enclose Highstorm when time comes in a noose of its own passivity. Name it, Akua. And when you name it, you will also promise you will not waver from my side.

[wolof]

[ He speaks to her own weakness out of desperation. He knows her, knows that she had faltered once, and saw her secret sin laid bare. Akua Sahelian did not need to lie here, as she had rarely needed to even in Calernia, save for her plots. She was one of the most adept sorceresses in her land, and she felt little fear of her life. She had few weak spots, only one in fact, and the woman she'd loved had ordered her father to cut Dumisai's ears off, and then her cohort had killed Akua's father in one fell swoop.

She had no weaknesses left, but there were moments in her past that still...echoed. They resonated, and they called to her. The deaths of all of those souls, the hundreds of thousands of souls, Catherine had balked at the number. What would she do, if she heard of some of the bodycounts of these Shard-bearers here?

'It doesn't matter, they're all dead, aren't they? Whole lot of good you did, trying to take out the Bard like that, huh?' and Akua can only close her eyes for a moment, speaking as if she cannot hear the words of the Warden accusing her of faltering, when she had done nothing but stay true to her promise. ]

Hundreds of thousands of souls keep me in Meridian, dear heart. [ She opened her eyes, and reached out, to place a hand on his cheek. ] I swear to you I will not falter. We are the dark hearts of Meridian, and though Zenith would ache to have us, we would not stand out amongst them. Here, in Meridian, we are Wolves among the flock of sheep -- ready to defend our pack -- whereas with Zenith, we would be only another pair of wolves among the rest of them.

I swear this to you. We will find acts to make them tremble, and quake. We will raze their cities, and make their people know what it is to fear for their mortal lives. We will promise absolution to those who join us, and become the power that Meridian needs to seal our pact, in the end.

This, I promise you, Set. I am a guide for Below, but even Below does not wish to see the Last Dawn.

[redsoil]

I think, [ he whispers, to her alone. ] There is something wrong, with this world.

[ He is Savant. The Aspect burned upon him speaks of puzzle-solvers and grand detectives, of those who will mire themselves in a path and pursuit it as hounds in a hunt. Something is off about the world they find themselves in. Light and darkness ought to be in balance, co-existence; even if they war at times, it is the chaos of war that both require to elevate themselves to authority. Why then, is the ideological war that the Shard-bearers fight to suppress and deny one, over the other? ]

I will stand for Meridian, but I will not stop seeking answers. Irrefutable truth of what we are truly being asked to do may sway hearts to, or from, our cause, but I will not stand to be a blinded god leading and fighting with ignorant little morons. Above all else, I want to destroy the veil that remains cast over it. I want to expose what is obviously hidden in Springstar, the truth of Yima's origins. I want answers, and then I will take hold of those unassailable truths and make any still-ignorant buffoon choke on them.

[ She vows herself to Meridian, and that is enough for him. ]

— I, [ he breathes out, then. Akua is an Intercessor, which she described as a particular role that permits her knowledge of someone. Allows her to glean their story, the truth of them, and guide them towards the fullness of their power. ] I need to know, all that I am. Kenos has pinned me into this consciousness, but when people speak of their foreign knowledge of me, of the linear 'future' of my world... I can feel it is true. There is no alternate or parallel of me, only me. I have become student to a demon, I yield all that I am to you, villainess. Anything that I must do, I will do it.

[ He holds fast to her hand, drawing it to the center of his chest. To slide her fingers below the golden collar he wears and fit them across the unpolished surface of his Shard, just below it and above the throb of his heart. ]

I went to the warehouse, Akua.

[ which he will detail..... once i have the DEETS ]

[wolof]

I know.

[ She says, that there is something wrong in this world. She feels it too. She can see it, as clear as day. As Set is a Savant, she is an Iconoclast, someone who aches to rip the old and put together anew into a shape that was more durable. Reformation through destruction. She had done just that in her own world -- guided by Catherine herself -- and she would do so here, if she is allowed the place to it. She was also... somewhat a Savant, or there was the path for her to be so. Just like Set, she wanted to find the intricacies and pull them apart. Figure out what there was in there, and use it. They were a pair that worked in a way, the intercessor who would rend the world asunder to make it better, and the god that explored the mysteries within.

In a way, there were parts of the both of them, reflected in one another. ]

Is it a surprise, that a world that collects the refugees to it, would be stable? The fact that we are brought here alone is proof that this world is broken. This amount of power being brought to this world can only go poorly, unless we find a way to temper it.

[ Her fingers find the edge of his shard, and her thumb caressed it, instinctively. Akua's shard is apparent at her left breast, above her heart. A place that should be obvious, for though she was a villain, her heart was eternally on her sleeve. ]

I promised to make you who you are meant to be, Set. I will not step from that promise. My guidance is not kind -- has never been kind -- but I will make you who you are to help temper this world. Things are out of balance, and it is you who will help delve into their secrets, and rip them out, and bear them for the world to see.

[ A pause, and she leaned forward, if Set wished, he could touch her shard as well, for they were already close. Silco is probably somewhere like "gross" ]

What did you find, in this warehouse? What secrets lie hidden by our own faction?

[redsoil]

[ Akua knows. Akua understands. The relief that he feels is tangible, it sinks into his lungs and allows him to breathe, to know that he is not the only one who cannot simply look upon the needs of Faction in terms of win Oracles and be undeniably loyal. They are necessary things to obtain an ideological goal, but how had those goals come to be? The Tree had been trying to warn him of something. ( To see his brother drawn from its roots and offered a place among others, to be given the same attentions that Set had by the Lady — it is a potential, but the potential for it curdles his respect for her. Is it truly love she feels, if she turns a blind eye to the unique intricacies of the individual? Is she even seeing the Shard-bearers, or just the distant image of the children she says were once hers? )

Conversations of precarious balances. His innate knowledge of ma'at, the balance of order and chaos. There is something deeper.

As if called to, he also finds his fingers upon her. Tracing the edge of her shard, feeling the likeness calling to him; a villain, a woman seeking to be difficult and terrible for others, someone who he can speak with about not simply past, or future, but the issues facing them in the present. ]

— it was a machine, and knowledge. That the Church of Helios may be involved in more than just the creation and trade of shards.

[ And he'll just update her on the contents of the whole thing, even if they haven't yet happened, which is funny because it's just me giving info one of jill's characters experienced to jill's other character ]

[wolof]

[ Her fingers continue to stroke against his shard, idle and open, accepting of the edges and planes, accepting of the parts that are sharp, considered dangerous and undesirable. Those things that make them as Meridian to be other, but she does not touch it with hesitation, but instead she touches his shard like it is precious, hesitant only because she does not wish to snap the pieces of it it. She does not fear cutting her hand.

Her shard, in contrast, is heart shaped, and smooth garnet, a veneer that belies the deep, darkness at the heart of it, spiraling outward and into bright red planes and shifting patterns within. She is dangerous, but she is hidden. Where Set is bold, and outright in his villainy, Akua is seen as soft, almost kind. She has worked hard, to deceive those who need deceiving, or allies that may turn them away otherwise. She is the soft guide, the advisor to Set's godhood, a woman who would trick or sneak to find their goals.

She does not need to be hated -- but she would be, and has no issue with it -- but she will do what she can to support him, her fingers allude to, when she touches his shard. ]

I am unsurprised that they are involved in something even more than that. That they indulge in the first is unsurprising in the first, but...

Do we know what they are involved in? What could they be getting from such a... device?