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

[sterngaze]

[When Sebastian draws closer, there is some part of Liem that tenses, as if in readiness of some danger yet to show its face, born from his present vulnerability and the instinctual pull of a predator toward floundering prey. He finds no comfort in the handsome face and the genteel speech, regardless of the presence of the makeshift eyepatch that disguises the ruined eye. Alone and spiralling into despair is never a good situation in which to be — but with a devil companion, it is abjectly worse.

And yet, Liem does not take Sebastian up on his offer. Perhaps it is the knowledge he has of Set's deal with Silco, and thus with him. Perhaps it is that the depths of his misery have made him desperate for any voice that might break through the quiet. Perhaps in his heart, he is tired of caring for what is wise.

Regardless of the cause, he cannot muster the will even to send his visitor away. He can only regard him distractedly from his place huddled on the ground, clutching at his knife as if it is an instrument of comfort instead of injury.]

It reminds me very much of my welcome to Horos.

[The hours of isolation spent in guilt and self-loathing had been features of that experience as well, right down to his helpless inability to prevent his misery from spilling out of him to infect those that drew near. Though of course it is not entirely the same. But if the flavour of his loneliness and his despair is slightly different, born from thoughts of abandoning his world rather than it abandoning him, it is similar enough that it doesn't much matter.]

But what is life if not a parade of such tests?

[At least for one such as him — a creature who was born to thrive in the dark, like a dead thing, thirsting for the blood of the living, but who insisted upon living like a human man: in the sun. It is not the vision of his world's demise that makes him so wild with despair, but the feeling, in the depths of his weakened and wearied soul, that not only will his struggles never end, but that they will wear him down and rob him, inevitably, of every principle he has. He has no choice but to bear it, and yet, in this moment, he simply does not have the strength.]

[cutlery]

[ Liem’s instincts are sharp, and they’re not wrong. When Liem doesn’t dismiss him, Sebastian draws closer to come take a seat near Liem. He’s still not crowding or intruding, perfectly polite as he settles himself in, but it’s more of an act this time around than their previous cordial conversations. He’s never needed or wanted anything in particular from Liem before, though. ]

Ah— I heard a bit about that.

[ He had never gotten a full account of everything that had happened in Horos, actually. He had at least gotten the “high” points, but most of his interest at first had been how people had arrived. So, the first group had been interesting and something he had wanted to learn more about, but… It had also quickly become irrelevant. The mysteries of Horos were left behind for yet another world, and the further apart the two get, the more he feels that they truly have little overlap.

But from what he had heard about that first arrival, well. He couldn’t disagree, really. ]

I suppose we have had it a bit easy in Kenos… [ He trails off, but there’s a little joke in his tone. It hasn’t all been easy here, but definitely compared to his one month in Horos, it was largely a breeze. ] Though this does feel like a test of convictions, I will admit. To be touched by the other side’s energy is… Troubling, I shall admit.

[ He cants his head lightly, trying to catch Liem’s gaze and pull it away from that knife and to him instead. ]

I admit, I was a bit surprised when you chose Meridian, if only because I came to know you from Kenoma.

[sterngaze]

[Liem tolerates the presence of the demon sitting politely nearby with apathetic equanimity. What point would there be in rejecting the company at this juncture? He may as well talk, instead of simply attempting to drown himself with the contents of his roiling thoughts.

Have they had it easy in Kenos? Easier than Horos; easier than his own world before that? He had thought so for much of his time here, but the past few weeks have been a trial to equal any he'd experienced in worlds previous.

At the slight change of movement on the edge of his vision, he returns his gaze back to Sebastian, regarding his expression pensively.]

There was someone there, with Kenoma, whom I wanted to save.

[It doesn't really matter who it was anymore; he never saw that person again after he was pulled to Kenos. If Meridian succeeded in its goals, and brought everyone's worlds back, would he be returned to where he'd come from?

Would he be happy there?]

He was the reason I went to Achamoth. But if I had known what a spider's web it was, I wouldn't have set foot there.

[cutlery]

[ Sebastian makes a thoughtful noise and nods, and he can’t help but wonder just who it was. He’d not been there long enough to get any sense of the various interpersonal relationships that characterized the Kenoma, though, so he can only really guess essentially randomly. He has a guess by Liem’s tone that it might have been someone who didn’t come to Kenos, but it truly is only that. It’s wondering that’s shared in Communion, but it’s at least indistinct in its details and light. ]

A difficult prospect indeed, from what little I experienced of Achamoth. [ He breathes out a laugh that’s lightly humored, though it’s with a sardonic edge. ] Perhaps it is a bit ill-fitting for me of all people to say so, but no good deed goes unpunished, I suppose.

[ Though it’s clear that it’s not a comment meant to mock Liem’s efforts. In his way, Sebastian actually respects it, but that feeling is one better left unexamined. ]

And now? Does Meridian feel a better fit?

[sterngaze]

[Liem gives a low, mirthless laugh in response to Sebastian's dry observation. Liem has heard similar sayings before — and he's right, after all. Trying to do the right thing has often landed Liem in trouble in the past, but especially over the past year. Much as he does try to be wise about his commitments, there are times when Liem can't help but act foolishly for the sake of people whom he barely even knows.]

It is kinder, to be sure. Though for that matter Zenith seems kinder, too, compared to that place.

[Being a part of Kenoma had been… harrowing. It was not a faction that valued kindness, or gentleness, or dignity. For the months he had spent in the Regent's service, Liem had spent much of his time searching for peace, and he hadn't found much of it.]

It has grown on me. Many things about Springstar remind me of Oppara.

[A little shiver of guilt ripples out from him as he admits this, and his thoughts turn again to his home. The longer he is here, the more he misses it, and the more poignant the glimpses he catches in his sunbeam become.]

Also, its goal just seems… more achievable. What is destroyed can be returned. But how can an entire existence be free of something as broad as cruelty, or war, or injustice? Of wickedness, and discord?

[cutlery]

[ Sebastian nods in agreement to calling the factions kinder, and there’s even a little breath of a laugh that implies he likely has more to say about Kenoma and Achamoth. But those he keeps to himself, if only because it’s a bit of a side topic. He had his own thoughts about both from the moment he’d seen the Regent’s heavy hand in action, but they really do amount to petty complaining at this point… ]

From what you told me, I can see how. I imagine much of Springstar is meant to inspire nostalgia, but its “default” of sorts certainly hearkens to what I would call the classics.

[ The ripple of guilt is odd to feel, if only because it’s a foreign emotion for him. It also gives him a little more purchase in that idea of offering his “trade”, most likely. For those that desire Meridian, the feeling of Zenith here in these roots must be terrible. It was certainly so for him in reverse. Though before he gets to that, he can’t resist commenting on the philosophy of Zenith’s goal. ]

…Though I do agree with you, at least about what would be ahead for Zenith. I imagine that is not very surprising, though. Some might call it cynicism, but I do not think it is possible to make that sort of world so long as people are in it. [ There’s much that could be said about that, and indeed, there are countless books filled with musings on such a topic, but Sebastian just shrugs slightly. ] It is not one I would enjoy, certainly.

[sterngaze]

[That the demon sitting beside him would not like a world free of strife is, of course, a given. Liem imagines that in any world, for all that Sebastian professes to love humanity's ability for innovation, he would ultimately wish to prey upon the weak and the foolish and the dissatisfied. A world of peace and plenty would not be his dream.

So of course, it makes sense that a demon would not be tempted to stray from Zenith's side. What could Meridian offer him that Zenith could not just as easily provide? Perhaps a world without his fellow demons would even be to his taste. Fiends are not particularly known for getting along.

It is the feelings of the humans under Zenith's sway that so troubles him.]

I don't think any of those who actually care are interested in a world without people.

[And yet, Zenith's ranks seem fuller than ever.]

That so many would still choose to leave everything they've known to dust…

[He shakes his head.]

[cutlery]

Oh, no. I would be surprised indeed if there were any among us that wished for such a thing. It is not impossible, I suppose, for Kenos truly seems to bring all types, but…

[ He trails off, since that’s answer enough. At the very least, he’s definitely not spoken with any Zenites that would desire such a thing. ]

I believe most just simply find their worlds lacking. “Good riddance,” as it were. Or if not that, simply taking that the worlds we all left are truly gone, then Zenith’s promise is a logical way forward. I tend towards the latter personally, but I do find Kenos itself charming.

[ If this were to be his new realm, he wouldn’t complain at all. There’s no shortage of interesting things here that genuinely delight him. There’s also no shortage of people who are perfectly willing to take a demon’s deal. Though the latter will never be a worry so long as there are people, really. ]

If I may ask, and I do mean this of genuine curiosity— What is it that drives your belief that what is destroyed can be returned?

[sterngaze]

[Despite himself, Liem finds some measure of peace in speaking this way with Sebastian. Focusing on the demon diverts his attention from his inner troubles, and for all that he cannot (would not) trust the other man to provide any sort of trustworthy guidance, he cannot help but fall into the trap of letting himself take advantage of having someone to speak with, to voice his thoughts aloud to.

Hayame would be disgusted with him, but then, there are other things he has not shared with Hayame, things that are not simply the result of his own questionable decisions, that would surely disgust her just as much, if not more.]

Well… At least on a small scale, I know it to be true. It’s a matter of fact that, by the grace of the gods, the dead of my world could be returned to life.

[The Cathedral of Coins was an old and wealthy temple, located in an old and well-populated city. Its Archbanker was powerful enough to call upon Abadar’s grace for such matters, and in Liem’s many years of life, he had known the men in that position to provide that service a number of times to grieving clients — for the appropriate fee, of course.]

If the power of the Oracles can be used to create an entire existence and spark divinity in new beings, it stands to reason that the capabilities of existing gods would also be within the grasp of those to wield them. And, I have read that the magic of the gods can revive even those like yourself: denizens of the Outer Sphere, whose bodies and souls are one, and for whom death is a final end.

There is a pervasive belief among Zenith that our worlds have ended, and a belief among the Meridian that they have not yet met their final demise. But my belief that the worlds can be returned is not dependent on such uncertainties.

[cutlery]

[ Sebastian listens with interest, and it’s rather sharp and attentive. Maybe even curiously so, but it actually has nothing to do with the Oracle or even Kenos, really. The world that Liem explains is simply surprising. It’s not something that he would have called impossible before Kenos… But he had only recently discovered that it was possible. More ironic would be that he found the raising of the dead rather detestable, but there’s no need to get into that. ]

Hm. I admit, it sounds strange to me… But if it is as you say, I cannot find fault in the logic.

[ Honestly, even he sounds surprised to admit it. There’s something to be said about the fact that somewhere, it could be done. Not his world, certainly, for such revivals were a matter of a single Grim Reaper’s… Well, he’d never gotten to figure out what drove him, exactly. But it was a small-scale effort for sure. ]

Though it would still be beyond a miracle to restore a whole world, would it not? Even if the dead can be revived, to restore millions, if not more, is… Well, beyond my imagination, certainly. Even if Meridian's promise were to be true, it would seem more likely that perhaps only a world or two would be granted such mercy. Perhaps not for any malice, but simply for a calculus of what it must take to do so.

[sterngaze]

[The supposition that Sebastian raises is troubling. What has been driving Liem to such extremes of despair is the thought that perhaps the old worlds shouldn't be brought back, given the rampant suffering many of them included — but he had not previously spent much time considering that perhaps reviving them all wasn't even achievable.]

I don't know. I… couldn't begin to guess about such things. The gods rarely intervened in their Creation in dramatic ways, but I was taught this was by agreement with each other, to avoid conflict — not because of an inability to do so.

[How did one calculate the toll required to revive scores of doomed existences and all their inhabitants? And how could he really guess what the limits of the Oracles' power were? All he really knows is that Zenith claims one thing and Meridian claims another. He is just a mortal man, and despite a knowledge of religion that would be considered extensive by probably anyone in his own country, he doesn't remotely have answers to the questions of what might truly be possible in the hands of the gods.]

Miss Akua said something similar to me once — that the toll for resurrecting every single world would be astronomical. [She had said it confidently, and just as confidently asserted that she was eminently qualified to make such judgements.] Still, that didn't stop her from pursuing Meridian's promise. She is an intelligent and learned woman; I don't believe she would make such a decision baselessly.

[cutlery]

[ Sebastian makes another thoughtful noise about the agreement between Liem’s gods, if only to wonder if that’s what was at work in his own world… Gods (and God, singular and much more powerful than the rest) existed in his world, but they were even more separate from the realm of demons than even humans were. Save for the one famous example, they had never interacted, really. So, lightly, he at least adds: ]

Well, I do not know if it offers assurance, exactly, but I could not guess either. The divine and the infernal kept their business quite separate in my world, and I would not be surprised if they had a similar accord in place for humanity. Rather unbeknownst to mankind, unfortunately, but…

[ He shrugs slightly. It’s both better for him if the divine didn’t interfere and not quite the topic at hand. More just an expression of understanding the point. ]

I would at least take Ms. Akua’s opinion with more weight though, yes. I find her shrewd and discerning in many things. [ And probably one of the only Shard-Bearers that Sebastian genuinely respects, but. Don’t worry about that. At least Liem is also included in that category! ] Of course, it is all idle supposition for me… Besides my lack of affinity to Meridian at a base level, I would be quite happy to never return from whence I came, personally.

[sterngaze]

[Liem isn't surprised at all to hear that the divine might have had an accord with the realm that Sebastian originally hailed from. He recalls the other man saying that demons were scarcely even known of in the world of mortals; surely that would not be the case unless there was a reason that demons couldn't visit it whenever they liked.]

If there were not such agreements in place, I have to assume that the results would be apocalyptic. There would be no peace anywhere.

[How could anything last, if gods capable of shaping reality itself warred without restraint? It almost makes him think of their situation in Kenos — but there are no gods here, as far as he can tell. At least, none other than those who have been pulled here as shard-bearers. There is just Meridian and Zenith, pulling at pushing at the world like twin moons circling the same planet.]

There aren't… investments that you would be vexed to lose, along with the place you came from? No unfinished business?

[Surely even someone like Sebastian could care for such things. And if he was an old demon, Liem would expect him to have schemes, vendettas, even a domain of his own to return to. Greed and envy and pride were hardly just mortal failings.]

[cutlery]

[ Sebastian nods in simply agreement, since he can only think that Liem is absolutely correct. It’s probably why the two of them get along rather well, all things considered. While he was still a demon and was hardly excluded from what made them wicked, he was still much more firmly on the side of order than chaos. So, it’s easy to assume that lacking whatever truces were in place, the human realm would likely have become the realm to bear the brunt of apocalyptic clashes.

However, rather than respond to that, he’s a little surprised that Liem asks what he does. Not unpleasantly so, not does he think it’s an unreasonable question in the slightest, but it’s just not simply one that he’s been asked. Enough people just accepted that he was a demon that didn’t form attachments, so obviously not.

…Which is true, of course. But. ]

Well, of a sort. My last contract was left unfinished, and besides that being a mark upon my otherwise perfect record, there was an intriguing set of mysteries that came along with it. I would have liked to see them solved, though that is really only for my intellectual curiosity.

[ Genuinely, he would have liked to know what all of the strange connections with his master’s family and a Grim Reaper turned undertaker were. With his brother’s return, the web had gotten stranger and more complex, so he would have liked to see it done. And, well. He would have very much liked to take Undertaker’s head, but that part need not be said. ]

But those feel like a trifling concern. Otherwise… Even Horos offered me far more than “home” ever could, and Kenos well beyond that. I see the situation as a gain rather than a set of losses.