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

[zenwhoberi]

[it's not in her base nature to trust; how could it be? maybe it had been once, when she was a child, but her memories of that are scattered at best, powerless against the cold corridors of sanctuary that had been the only place she could call home for nearly twenty years. for all that time, life had been a fight, with nearly every other living being cast as her opponent. wariness had been forged into the foundations of the weapon that thanos had made.

no, trust is something she's had to learn in the years beyond that life; learn, relearn, maybe different in name but the same in practice. and she tells herself, with all the conviction she has to muster, that she's done the right thing — even as the woman raises her brows at her in question.

the knife remains carefully tucked away as the woman takes a seat, as gamora watches her, taking in more details (she wouldn't look out of place on xandar, is one thought that comes), carefully considering her words. something approximating half a wry smile tugs on the corner of her mouth before dropping again.]

This kind of torture never works as well as they think it will. [her voice is calm as she says it, as certain as one could be.] It's their weakness.

[then, after a beat, so she doesn't have to dwell in the thought:]

You've aligned?

[wolof]

Yes.

[ She admitted, even as she wrapped her arms around her knees, and looked at the bronze bracelet at her wrist. She sniffed, as if there's humor there. ]

Or I had, but my connection to Meridian feels as far away as my gift does.

[ It's a test. She may look wound upon herself, but her eyes are searching, body coiled. She may not be an expert in combat, but she knows enough to make a stand if needed. Her mother had spared absolutely no effort, to make sure her daughter would have been the greatest Dread Empress since Triumphant. She'd had the wealth of education that any Praesi could have asked for. So she waited for a moment, to see if the woman would lash out, or take the opportunity.

Akua Sahelian does not say things simply to say them. It is all well, and truly targeted.

After a moment, she says: ]

If they wanted to change my alignment, there are better tortures, than merely making me feel for them, or simply taking my gift away.

I find that a weakened, caged animal, often bites back, if the opportunity presents itself.

cw: thanos....

[zenwhoberi]

[she can extend trust — but it doesn't mean she'll let her guard down. not completely, at any rate. it'd be a mistake to underestimate this woman, she thinks, and it's a mistake that many would make; they'd fixate on her crisp appearance, on her demeanor fitting of a diplomat or a politician, and they'd dismiss her as any form of threat potential in seconds.

but gamora knows better. glinting in the low light, there's a ferocity visible in the woman's eyes — the same that's reflected in her voice. there's much more to her than can be gathered in an initial glance.

it'd be a mistake to underestimate her, and there's a reason not to get complacent — but there's also, at the same time, more of a reason to not regret her decision to trust.

for a time, she just listens, considers; notes: meridian, gift. more than that, though, she notes something familiar. enough that, long after the words have died out, she has her own quiet offering into the silence.]

The first time I lost a fight, my father locked me in a sensory deprivation chamber. [there's a shudder down her spine at her own use of the word father, but it's the only one she has without making this skeleton of a story more than she wants to tell.] No food, no water, nothing but my own thoughts for three days. He thought it'd break me down, give me the disadvantage I deserved against my next opponent. But the instant he let me out, I attacked him directly, and I made sure it bled.

[tilting her head, she glances back at the woman.]

He was a fool.

[it's said with more certainty than she actually feels, because the truth is — thanos been a step ahead of her at every turn; he had, in fact, known exactly how to break her. the thought goes down sharp and bitter when she swallows it, but she makes sure none of that shows on her face.

there are better tortures.]

[wolof]

[ Her eyes are probing, looking at the woman before her, who speaks of solitude brought on by her father, as punishment for losing a fight. Her lips quirked, in a sharp smile, at the thought of her making her father bleed in punishment, and it's all so very...familiar. Akua's mother had not put her into solitary, but she had chosen other ways, to sharpen her daughter. In Praes, they had a saying: Iron Sharpens Iron. ]

Any parent who would refuse to recognize the strength that they force into their children with...delicate lessons such as those, is clearly a fool.

[ "Delicate" she says. ]

Three days is quite a long time, for a child.

[ It does not sound like torture to her, anymore. How could it, when her very soul had languished in just that? Nearly a year, trapped in a cloak, left in solitary, only pulled out when she was of use. She knew what it was, to be left alone for so long, to hear only ones thoughts and nothing else. It had been a punishment to her, but to a child who lost a fight? Little motivation to do more than lash out. ]

And not quite effective. [ A shrug. ] It is a shame, when we emerge greater and more terrifying than the fools that tried to shape us into weapons, hm?

[zenwhoberi]

[it's surprising to her, the ease with which that story leaves her — because it's one she's barely told before; nebula had been present for it, of course, so she knows it by default, and it had taken years before gamora had found it in herself to tell it to peter.

then again, in some ways, it isn't surprising at all; understanding tends to draw even the most reluctant of things to the surface. this woman, who's name she doesn't even yet know, doesn't regard her with shock, or even pity. the look in her eyes, the tone in her voice, the shrug with which she casts off her words — it's all familiarity.

questions form in her mind, but remain unasked; she would never probe too deeply about something like this, especially without consent.]

A shame for them, [she says instead, with a light hum of her own, with the ghost of a wry smile pulling on the corners of her mouth, too.

shifting just slightly, she turns to face the woman more directly, offering an outstretched (knifeless) hand.]

I'm Gamora.

[wolof]

[ The difference between them, even now, is that Akua would speak of her childhood proudly. Lady Tasia Sahelian had put her daughter through every cruelty she could, because it was expected. Because that is what Praesi did. Because that, she had thought, was how she would become the Chancellor, and power behind the throne to her daughter's Dread Empress.

As if Akua would have ever let her control her, truly. As if the Iron she'd sharpened her daughter against would not cut her just as easily as any blade.

The poison her mother had consumed had been a kinder death than she had deserved, and kinder than Akua would have levied against her, after the death of her father. ]

It is a pleasure. I do not think we have had the opportunity, before now.

[ She held a hand to her heart, over her shard, a heart that glimmered in the dim light -- her dress cut low enough to show it off -- and she offered: ]

I am called Akua. At least, in this isolation from the rest of the world, we are at least not alone, hm? Although it could be considered just as bad, to be trapped together as one, given the... personalities within, hm?

[zenwhoberi]

Likewise, Akua, [comes the immediate reply, with a softness that hasn't easily surfaced since her arrival. her smile, wry, softens some at its edges, too, halfway to something she would show a friend.

because it is, genuinely, pleasure — or, at least, as much a pleasure as anyone can find in this situation. it's enough for the last of the tension in gamora's shoulders to ease; when she exhales, they sag just visibly.]

I'm afraid I didn't have much chance to see the rest of this world before we were sent down here. [a hint of amusement tugs at her smile, and creeps back into her tone, with:] But I'm guessing these personalities would usually be easier to avoid? Something to look forward to.

[somehow, like the story, it all seems to come easily.]

[wolof]

Well, most of them.

[ She says, with a slight roll of her eyes. There are many here; they are violent and they are steadfast in their beliefs. Between the lot of them, it's easy to see how many are... truly beyond help, especially in this moment, under the tree. ]

At least by merit of there being two cities, instead of being trapped down here. Spread out, I think shard-bearers are more... bearable.

Here, without our powers, mixed faction?

[ She shrugged. ] We have let blood and fought amongst us, and now we must be restrained to a small space. It is better, when one can leave, instead of festering in their petty annoyances, don't you think? [ And then, after a slight moment. ] The tree truly brought you here at an interesting time, did it not?

[zenwhoberi]

[in another place, at another time, maybe, the smile on her mouth could be accompanied by the quietest of laughs, upon catching a glimpse of akua's rolling eyes. they come much more easily to her, laughs, than they once had, a side effect of being surrounded by a family with endless antics, contained and safe; far beyond the reach of a shadow that had considered such things inessential, and had done its best to crush them forever.

(a shadow that had caught up with her again, in the end.)

as it stands, here and now, her smile is short-lived, fading naturally as she considers what she's being told, and reads between the lines. tensions between the factions are seemingly at an all-time high, along with the stakes in their fight, and pettiness on both sides. it isn't enough to give her clarity on a choice, at least not yet.]

How fortunate for me. [she can't quite suppress the bitter twinge in her voice at that.

but that won't accomplish anything, will it? so she swallows it down, and glances back up with:] Close quarters can bring out the worst in people. I'm glad to find some who remain sane despite them.

[wolof]

It is difficult.

[ She says, and her tone is frank. ] We are all... varying degrees of haunted. Either by our pasts, or by what we left behind -- or what we choose to, if you chose Zenith.

[ Akua is unique in that she is... Harmonized, and if she had to choose, she knows whom she would go for, but she does not feel the...pull. The drive, to further deepen her relationship to Meridian. She knows what a high price zealotry will tax from them all -- she's seen it time and time again -- when Heroes looked to Villains like Catherine and called her the Arch-heretic of the East all the while she tried to wrest control and peace for her country.

Because heaven forbid the other side achieve a victory.

Akua, however, is unusual, and she knows it. ]

This is an unusual opportunity, for all of us to be...pulled. By one faction or another like this. Some of us dance the line between Meridian and Zenith naturally, but others spiral ever-further into their zealotry.

As someone new, you'll have a fresh opportunity to choose your path. Do either... feel stronger, now?