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

[affal]

( they were educated in two very different schools of thought. the universe gamora belonged to was one where directness of word and action could prove to be as unyielding as iron, given the one behind them was strong enough to make it so. most worlds, he thinks, are like this. he had grown up on an Earth where it was much the same, and as feeble, dolorous, and self-loathing as he had been as a young man growing up there, it eventually feels to him in memory like he had simply didn't belong.

J had told him as much, albeit framed differently: the mortal world must have felt confining to you, mako, my love.

he only speaks and acts the way he does because it was how he had learned to do so in Hell. there, violence holds little sway, because a demon cannot meet a permanent end by it — it's seen as lowbrow, pedestrian, and uncouth, as only demons unimportant enough to have names warranting an initial would resort to such a thing. just as gamora had approached with a knife in hand, makoto has his own weapons: a silvered tongue and a dark mind.

a trade... it's possible. there are certain things that resort from him trying to barter with others, but for now, he focuses instead on her. )

If it's a trade, something would be expected in return for this magnanimity. Where I'm from, no one would offer such a thing out of the goodness of their heart. ( demons, after all, don't have much goodness in there to begin with. ) Is there anything you would ask of me? Or is what you would receive in return in the exchange enough?

( personally, he would think of it as a pretty poor trade, for her to settle so low. you always want to end up feeling as though you gained more than you lost, regardless of how true that was. )

[zenwhoberi]

[a trade, of course, is something she's known to be a lot less simple than that. the majority of her life has operated by a complex calculus. weak organic parts of her body, traded for the stronger cybernetics; the continued persistence of her life, traded for pieces of goodness. she's taken some form of that, too, striking out on her own, trying to trade the blood on her hands for good deeds.

(trying, being the keyword. always trying.)

the irritation is snuffed out of her in a long exhale, replaced by a quiet thoughtfulness.]

Where I'm from, people don't often do favors just for the sake of generosity, but I think things can be different. [(trying, always trying; even now, she's trying to believe that.) glancing at him, she tilts her head.] You'd be in no more debt to me than anyone else here. I take the energy that's making you suffer, you take mine, and then I'll be on my way.

[affal]

( makoto's smile is as slick as vaseline. )

We are both in good company, then.

( or perhaps it's bad company...

when you examine it on all sides, it's perhaps the most equitable deal that can be made down here. these energies plague all of them, regardless of which side of the coin they originate on — or, if she's as unlucky as he is, playing host to a minor war between the two being waged within one's own shard and body. to lose that which causes one the most pain and slowly Harmonize with what might offer their soul reprieve... she's right. there doesn't need to be any further ties of debt than that.

makoto would personally regard that as a "bad deal," preferring to have as many favors he could call in with others as possible, but he will make an exception this time.

he leans forward, studying her, curious. ) If I were interested... ( he cants his head slightly to one side, ) Which of these energies more plagues your soul? What is it you wish to rid yourself of?

[zenwhoberi]

[a simple deal isn't actually simple — but sometimes, it can be, when the terms are clear. on those, they can agree.

and on that, relief can settle in her, even superficially; as long as she has a task she can perform for the benefit of others, as long as she's useful, she doesn't have to consider what she'd prefer not to touch.

then again — she does, doesn't she? the boy's question brings that into sharp focus, and any trace of relief disappears as quickly as it'd appeared. it turns her attention, instead, to the energy that's been brewing within her, the kind that's cold in a way she'd never wanted to feel again, that's reminiscent of empty space and echoes through corridors, of wind and snow and a sentiment too hollow to be real.

so, without hesitation:]

Zenith, [gamora provides, a simple answer for clear terms. simple, blunt — with a trace of that same coldness in her voice that she can't suppress.] I have no need for that.

[affal]

( there is no more honest and clear of a deal than this, separated from the world and devoid of any other extraneous or tangential factors. and perhaps it was the best sort of interaction that one could hope for between them, as they were two very different individuals with very different ways of viewing the world (or worlds, as it were) around them. Meridian might come to appeal to gamora because she fostered magnanimity that makoto had long since become fallow to — compassion and generosity were virtues very nearly punishable by death (or far worse) in Hell, so they had been weeded from his formerly-human brain over his last few years. it's not that he's incapable of endeavoring for another, but he needs to be duly incentivized — just like when contracted to a human, he would go to any and all lengths so long as the beleaguered soul gave forth into gold at its conclusion.

so the real question he has to consider now is: would trading some of his Meridian energy for her surplus Zenith be something that would benefit him?

hm...

he nods, seemingly accepting her selection swiftly and without much resistance. )

Is it more that you reject Zenith, then? Rather than succumbing to a yearning for home?

( it's small-talk, really; he's just curious. he reaches to the back of his neck to pull away his shard from where it lodges into the divot at the base of his skull; a dark wine red, it seems nearly black in the dim light but for the bizarre lines of glinting gold that seem to hold its two halves together.

an injury to his soul he had to thank his time in horos for, apparently. )