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Entry tags:
- !event,
- baroque: koriel xii (dextera),
- bastard!!: dark schneider,
- black butler: sebastian michaelis,
- ennead: set,
- expanse (the): amos burton,
- fire emblem: byleth eisner,
- fire emblem: claude von riegan,
- fire emblem: dimitri a. blaiddyd,
- genshin impact: tartaglia (childe),
- genshin impact: zhongli,
- granblue fantasy: eustace,
- jinba: hayame,
- legend of zelda (the): link,
- made in abyss: bondrewd,
- magnus archives (the): the archivist,
- marvel: gamora,
- oc: liem talbott,
- star wars: cassian andor,
- star wars: jyn erso,
- trigun maximum: vash the stampede
The Seeds of Unrest: the Iconoclast Oracle
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.
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?
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…
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…
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.
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!!
no subject
[Hayame is not a skilled orator. She has tried to convince several unharmonized shardbearers to come to Meridian, and none had. She’d had the evidence, damning evidence in the debate over Manon’s shard, and still Meridian had been forced to concede to some sort of compromise. When she tried to express how she felt in words-
She failed every time. Maybe it isn’t surprising, for a woman raised for violence and silent obedience to struggle to convince or inspire others, but-]
We are not gods! How could these oracles make us into them? Going back is one thing-
[She could believe that, conceptualize it. The power to return home where she belonged. The power to remake the universe? Jod’s shard once again becomes some sort of prop in her hand as she points angrily at Liem’s face, her own twisted in an expression of offense and rage, anything to cover that what she really felt was-]
You have gone mad, Liem Talbott. You are not yourself!
[Not the man she had followed into the light in Horos, not the one she had awkwardly tried to get to read to her from his holy book so that she might have an excuse still to spend time in his presence.]
You will surrender yourself to my custody and return to Meridian, or-
[What? The shard in her hand proves she has already killed another traitor. Will she kill him, too? She doesn’t-]
Or else I will ensure you do not contribute to a Zenith victory the only way I know how.
cw suicide
He's never wanted to become a god. It wouldn't change what he is, he'd think, not at his core. And if he's not strong enough to overcome even the perverse needs of his mortal flesh, how could he be strong enough to wield the power of the divine?
Abadar could do it, if the Oracles could bring him back. He would know what to do.
But although his Lord might be pleased, Hayame would not be able to save the ones she'd left behind, and Set would still be alone, and Gen and Voryn and Gray and everyone else in Meridian would never be able to see their homes again. And neither would he.]
Hayame.
[He lifts a hand, rests his fingers gently atop the fist clutching John's shard, as if to urge it gently back into its place in her pouch.
Choosing Zenith has not afforded him new loyalty to its cause, or conviction with which to fight in its name. If anything, it is the opposite; what conviction he'd possessed has crumbled under the onslaught of Zenith's seductive promise, broken his belief in what he'd thought was right and left him with no strength upon which to rely on turn. He does not have the will to raise a fist in defence of the mission he's claimed, or even in defence of himself. Especially not against Hayame, who has never been anything but steadfast in her desire to be strong for him.]
I cannot go back with you.
[He cannot return to Meridian when he knows in his heart that he doesn't belong there. Instead, Liem reaches for the belt at his waist and retrieves the long, rust-scarred knife that he'd found in Springstar. The blade is in execrable condition, but he has honed the edge sharp again. When he takes a breath, turns the knife around so he can press it between his ribs, the point bites cruelly through the dust-soiled layers of his clothing. His eyes hold hers, intent.]
If you want to return home, then…
[His knuckles whiten on the knife's hilt, his hands trembling slightly as his grip tightens. Nerves shiver down his spine as he tries to envision the motion it would take to drive the blade home. His fear tells him that he won't be able to go through with it. Although he keeps it from his face, it radiates out into the communion space between them.]
Help me.
no subject
It was not supposed to go like this at all. He was supposed to give her the Zenith energies he could not handle, and return to Meridian where he obviously belonged. If not that, he was supposed to rebuff her properly, to fight so that she would at least have justification for doing what she must, but instead... She stares in a mixture of shock and disbelief as Liem simply gives up in front of her very face, pulls a weapon-
And points it inward instead of aiming it at her.
For some reason, her words desert her. She thinks she will question his sanity again, she will demand to know what he is thinking, she will incite him to battle... but in the end... she finds that her hand has gripped his over the hilt of the fragile blade. His fingers tremble and hers tighten as if to shore up his resolve, yet she doesn't guide his grip into a thrust or a cut... and she doesn't urge him to put the weapon down.]
So you have honor left in you, if nothing else... ?
[What she has to do hasn't changed. There are too many Meridian who have proven weak-willed or tired, in a way she has never allowed herself to be, and if she does not neutralize them then who will? They will lose the Oracle, again, she will be forced to feel that awful, Communion-deep sense of defeat, they will be another step away from possibly returning home...
Her hand leaves his and instead... both of them then find places on Liem's temples, her grip tight and ready. If there is one thing she understands, it is the way honor demands death. Has she not been struggling all this time to return to her own world so that she might give her life to cleanse her own stain? Had she not devoted herself to the path of the honorable warrior since she'd realized that it was the only way out of the life she'd been born into?
Hayame's lips twist, so that she will not let them tremble. Help him?]
You must make the first cut yourself.
[She makes her voice cold as steel because she has to. Because it has to be done. Someone has to do it.]
But I will act as your second. You will not suffer long.
[There should be a proper blade, one sharp enough to cleave his head from his shoulders once he has shown himself honorable enough to slit open his own belly. In the absence of such a fine weapon, here amidst the roots and dirt... Hayame's fingers spasm in Liem's hair.]
plasters the rest of this thread with cws
But his fingers are cold as ice as they grip the handle of his blade, and he is pathetically grateful for Hayame's hand overtop his, even if it is only for a moment.
If he was stronger, if he had more courage, he wouldn't need Hayame's promise in order to do just this one thing for her. He might be able to save her from needing to raise a hand against him, to kill someone she had wanted to consider an ally. But he cannot. All he can do is to lessen the sting for her — so that if she must take his shard (and he knows he cannot prevent her from doing this), then at least he can relinquish it willingly, so she won't carry the memory of him struggling against her for his life.
Liem's country has no concept of honour in suicide. He has no notion of there being a right way to die, and he seeks no penance when he firms his grip on the knife. For him, there is only bitter remorse and a fear he cannot banish, despite having succumbed to dissipation once already.]
I'm sorry, Hayame.
[He is sorry — sorry that he would not choose to stay with her, and fight beside her still. Sorry that he would rely on her even now, to use her strength to shore up his weakness. Strength that he knows comes at cost, as he stares into her eyes, and her fingers spasm against his scalp.
His trembling muscles clench, and shove the rudely-sharpened blade into his chest; not far enough, not nearly far enough. A strangled breath chokes out of him — and for all that his hands jerk against the knife's hilt, there is only the jagged pain and suffocating feeling of a torn lung, followed by the warm, slick feeling of his own blood-sap coating his fingers.]
no subject
But Hayame does not.
He should be sorry. Sorry that he wasn't strong enough to resist the lies and false promises of Zenith, sorry that he'd traded away the hope Meridian offered all of them, sorry that he was making her watch him die again- Sorry for making her look as if she might cry, the one eye remaining to her glistening that something that must be imaginary. She won't, though, she won't, because she's forgotten how. It's such a shameful action, but she's... Did they think she wasn't tired, too?
His knife splits fabric and skin in the stab inward, and she holds his head tightly between her hands, as if she will keep him standing upright even if his knees buckle with that alone if she has to. She has the strength for it. She has the patience to wait, because she has to. He has to. She has heard countless stories of warriors who cleansed their honor in this way, generals who commanded their subordinates take their heads before the enemy could claim them, criminals given the chance to slice their own bellies open in repentance, and he must bleed first. Even if so much of what she'd been raised on had been human and not jinba, had been the realm of the men who had subjugated her kind used to keep them in line-
It sometimes feels like all she has. Every time she thinks she has someone else-
Their blood is sap-like now. It runs down the blade, it coats his fingers, and even if she'd wanted to hesitate... a tranquil impression of a day spent in Liem's courtyard, listening to him read from the Order of Numbers leaks into their Communion, an image of what she wanted to return to rather than be here, in this awful place in this sick game for the Oracle that was so much in the mind instead of what made sense-
He has suffered enough. She will restore him later, he will return to Meridian where he belongs once the oppressive chaos of this place is left behind, he can apologize properly then, and with that decided-
A sudden snarl of effort is the last thing he'll hear before Hayame wrenches his head and snaps his neck like a twig.]
no subject
Perhaps she feels it too; he can't keep his thoughts from spilling out in those last moments, carrying his pain and his helpless desire to do something, anything at all to make her existence easier despite his weakness. Regret surges as soon as he registers the stab of the blade, for the simple reason that he realizes that he was right after all, and it will still have to be her hands that end his life for him.
Not enough. He can't summon the will even for this.
With a snap, his trembling body goes limp, held up only by the sick and unnatural connection of body and the head that Hayame still grasps. For a moment, she is simply left holding a corpse, whose hands slacken and slump from the knife still jutting from its ribs.
Then it lightens, crumbles into a pale ash that rains upon the ground only to evaporate into mist. The only solid things to clatter onto the earth below are the eight-pointed shape of his shard, and a knife that is still wet with his blood.]
no subject
When she does it, when it feels like she finally does it, Hayame doesn't know if she snaps Liem's neck to grant him mercy or to stop the chaotic flow and mesh of their Communions. She thinks... her grip shifts, her muscles shudder as if to pull his limp corpse into the embrace of her arms, but by the time their bodies might touch-
He is ash and mist.
Her hands hold nothing.
Hayame is not sure how long she stands there in the dark of the narrow side tunnel, trying to find it within herself to pick Liem's shard off the ground and return to the main ritual chamber. She doesn't want to return to that chaotic press of minds and hearts and the eyes of the Oracle she feels she's fighting so pathetically, so pointlessly, to win in the face of overwhelming odds she has no power to control beyond killing those who stray from their proper paths. She hadn't wanted to be here at all, because Liem... Liem wasn't supposed to betray her-
... To betray Meridian this way.
The knife would be wise to take, as she has only the rusty, scavenged spearhead with which she'd stabbed out the demon's eye, but she does not touch it. Eventually, she hollows out her hearts again and silently reaches down to pluck the eight-point star from the dirt. It is the same weight that she remembers. The same as she had in the northern forests of Alenroux, she pulls the fabric of her top and bindings apart to make a space for him between her breasts near where her own shard rests, sealing him back up somewhere safe while the other traitor sat solid and cold in her waist pouch.
She will plant him once the Tree is revived. If the Tree is revived. Once he comes back... he will be right again.
He had to be. Or why did she do any of this at all?]