beleos: (pic#15952557)
beleos ([personal profile] beleos) wrote in [community profile] kenoslogs2023-08-18 09:53 am

Toxic Love: The Exalt Oracle


NOTHING GOES OFF WITHOUT A HITCH
You feel it, the moment that the Exalt oracle opens its eyes, like something that rips through your body from head to toe, something that feel like fire, wild. It sears into your veins, like acid and fire, something that triggers something that makes you want to run, or perhaps turn and face something head on. Before you can find what sets you off – if you could find it. Bearers know what this sensation is, it is different but the same at its core. The emotions, the feelings it sparks are different – but in the end, you know it for what it is: An Oracle.

Kenos groans from the awakening, like a part of a whole sparks to life, and though you do not know what it is that they want yet, you understand and know their existence down to your core. That feeling to attack or defend, perhaps even flee, does not leave you, but instead it fills your veins, you feel it thrumming, pulsing, like the beat of a heart – if one has one. With the sense of awakening, bearers know the shape of what comes next, they will be asked to act, to do. You do not know how it will happen, or what the Exalt will ask of you, but the knowledge that it will happen is borne from experience, not from the Oracle itself.

As you begin to move, to… look, you are not long for this day, it clouds your mind, a hazy, drowsy feeling takes over, the encroaching dark that threatens to swarm, crowding from the sides, taking over your vision – until… it fully takes over, and Bearers are put into a deep slumber.


When bearers awaken, it’s difficult to make sense of what your sleepy eyes see. Structures begin to swim into view, and they like tall figures looking down upon you. It’s difficult to tell what they are at first, but as you wake up, you begin to see, they are not people, or creatures, but long spore-like stalks. Some have ribbed overgrowths that you can see, and some end in growths that ripple and hang over, but have no “cap”. They tower over the bearers, like towering spires and buildings, on all sides, as if they were trapped in a ring of them. As bearers look around them they will notice tall green spires around them as well, and it takes a moment for things to really settle in. Mushrooms. Blades of grass. The springy moss about them is almost as tall as they are, low to the ground. There are pebbles that appear as boulders, and the thunderous steps nearby indicate an insect or arachnid walking by, far larger than you. There is a stillness to this space, like a held breath, and as the bearers awake, and regard one another, and then to the center of the circle is – a small effigy in the center.

It is here, the Exalt Oracle, and you feel compelled to regard it, before you are given a pang down to your core. It compels you – pleads, asks, begs, and demands, all in one – for what it wishes for. Precious mementos and precious items that they are missing. They have been lost, and they are somewhere within the Liosachán. It beseeches the bearers to return its items, and begs they be returned here to the circle. There are no words, but there is a pleading sensation, a feeling that these items are treasured by this Oracle.

You feel at your sides, your pockets, and find one item on your person, a weapon, a companion, whatever it is you would bring with you to the conflict, shrunk down to a tiny size with you.

Stay steadfast, bearers, and capture the flag Oracle!
SURVIVAL OF THE SMALLEST ( DAYS 1 - 5 )
Unlike the still, stale apocalypse that had been the setting of the Iconoclast Oracle, the greenhouse is lush and vibrant with activity.

The Effigy present within yearns to be reunited with what belongs to it, fixated upon the five items lost within the greenhouse. The swell of its longing fills all Shardbearers, urging them to take action, claim the items and present all five to it to attain victory for that Faction.

Over a period of ten days, Shardbearers of both factions will have to navigate environmental dangers, and the normal procession of time, as the greenhouse is going about its daily routine. Workers plod around like towering goliaths, weeding and watering and pruning the greenhouse's contents. The Liosachán's native population of fae begin to take notice of the newcomers in their midst, emerging from grassy mounds hidden in the natural landscape to spy and pry about the newness surrounding them.
Naturally curious, and equally dangerous, the fae of the Liosachán are Highstorm natives. They range in cool coloration, from soft violet-greys to deep stormy blues, and wear clothes fashioned from of goods pilfered from the pockets of workers, dropped on the ground or handcrafted from the environment itself. Wielding bits of copper tightly wound into blades and spears, they are a ferocious and cunning little people who seek to trick, trap and toy with Shardbearers. Direct violence is anathema to them, but violence that happens as a result of falling to one of their ploys is a badge of honor.
DAY ONE - THREE. The Effigy initially urges Shardbearers to build bases of operation for defense and practicality, as surviving ten days without supporting one another is a surefire way to meet a grisly, tiny little end. Resources must be gathered: gather food and water, prepare shelter, establish unity and organization and prepare to set off into the wilds soon.

For Shardbearers demonstrating particular selflessness, favoring the protection and defense of another, the Effigy responds warmly from the third day onward — rewarding them with a sign of their dutiful nature towards others in the form of fairy wings, the form of which are unique to the Shardbearer themselves.

DAY FOUR. The sudden thunderous sound of a storm begins. No, not a storm, the tumble and crash of water pouring down upon the greenhouse — the workers of the Liosachán perform their routines faithfully, after all. In watering the garden, the danger of the environment threatens to overtake Shardbearers and their work alike. Drops of water fall, their size equal or larger than even the tallest of characters, and trickles of water muddy the ground in the form of raging rapids.

The security of Meridian and Zenith's camps is even called into question, because as simple as the act of watering a garden is, it is a nightmarish situation for such itty bitty Bearers to be in!

DAY FIVE. By day five, the fae of the Liosachán no longer lurk and linger in the corner of one's eye. They make themselves known, having prepared a banquet below one of the mushrooms, within sight of the Effigy. A table draped in spider-silk lace awaits any Bearer who comes near enough, the sagging piece of driftwood polished to a gleam with golden sap, leaving it waterproofed and pretty to behold. A handful of corks serve as seating, with most of the fae draping themselves across scraps of cotton as though they are simply at a picnic.

They invitingly wave to Shardbearers, chattering brightly in their foreign, lilting tongue, waving tiny sandwiches and little clay pots full of jams and honeys, brandishing sugared berries that they bite into with gusto, staining their arms and faces in swathes of blue and red. They clearly are welcoming to whomever comes upon them, urging them to avail themselves to the bounty they have prepared. Perhaps some characters know better than to eat the food of the fae, recalling legends and lore about the mystical properties and implicit bargains made in becoming a guest. Perhaps some have no idea, and are simply hungry enough to dig in!

UNWILLING TEN-ANTS ( DAYS SIX - EIGHT )
The scuttling, scrabbling feet of ants crawling over surfaces, winding their way through this grassy playground, has become normal. Their feet thunder as they go about their business, and it seems to be a normal cadence to life here in the underbrush, in the greenhouse. It is normal, and it is has become nothing to really concern oneself with. They are ants, after all, what do they do, but work? Endlessly, continuously.

That is, until the heavy, loud sounds of their feet draw closer to whatever place that the bearers have found to camp in. Whether solitary or as a group, these workers are no longer content to simply ignore the bearers, but they are a curiosity, perhaps even a bother. You have disrupted their lifestyle. The sleepy pattern of obtain food, return ot the hive, and back out again now has obstacles. Now there are not simply the fairies, who live their own lives and existences, a part of the ecosystem, but now there are these tiny bearers. Fighting, working together, arguing and disagreeing.

You are disruptive to their way of life.

The ants have come to collect on this due, and some bearers that are vulnerable, or perhaps merely caught, are taken away, your weight so light compared to the rest of their burdens that they carry. The strength of these ants is overwhelming, incredible at this size, and try as you might, if you are caught in their strong mandibles, you cannot escape. An ant, after all, carries 1000 times their weight with those powerful jaws. You, bearer, are nothing to them.

They squirrel away the bearers within their hill, a complicated network of tunnels, junctions, and large spaces. Down within, where the air becomes stifling, and stale. The ants guard their pray, and you get the distinct sense that they see you not as people, not even as enemies, but as prey. You will be food – perhaps to the eggs that are gathered within this room, where you can see the stirring of new life, just beneath the surface. You may not have very long to live, if these little larvae get their mouths on you.

Or perhaps, your friends will save you? Once it is discovered that bearers are missing, the trail of ant prints on the ground is apparent – they are not stealthy creatures – and the feet lead from the locations of several kidnapped bearers toward the grainy ant hill that lies not far away. The hill itself swarms with life, with worker ants all over the surface, scuttling about, looking for the next meal for te colony. Or perhaps for more bearers to bring back for their young.

It will be dangerous, bearers, to save your friends. Should you choose to do so, you will be kicking the anthill, and the ants will protect what is theirs. Even if they just took it. Those bearers belong to them, now! Rescuers will find not only your average worker ant, ready to defend, but winged male ants will attack from above, and deeper, within the nest, near where the bearers are kept, lies the strongest ant in the colony: The Queen. Staggeringly large, strong, and vicious, when her subjects begin dying. She will do everything in her power to protect her colony, and that includes killing bearers, if need be. Or trying, at least.

Good luck rescuing your friends, bearers!
IN SMALL PACKAGES ( DAYS NINE - TEN )
The day after the ant-pocalypse brings with it the brush of recognition — the Effigy has foreseen the likely victors, and calls to them to approach it once they have suitably recovered. It judges them the ones whom are most devoted to what binds them, loyal to memory and remembrance, and begins to clamor for them to restore to it what belongs rightfully. Thus begins a full day of resting, locating last-minute items, shoring up defenses and preparing for the sprint to the finish line.

Certainly your rivals will not allow you to simply walk to the Effigy unassailed and unchallenged.

Eat, rest, ensure your fellows are close and bolstered, for tomorrow begins the final rally.

On the morning of the tenth day, Meridian Shardbearers approach the Effigy with its five items in hand. In the midst of the mushroom ring, the Effigy stands as it had in the beginning — arms outstretched and back bowed skyward, gnarled fingers seeking contact with that which has been lost to it. It awaits, it strains, and even as it does, it requires one last test of ability. From the shadows of the towering mushrooms, the rasp of scale and soft hiss of a great beast descends upon the fae ring.

A gleaming garden snake, with glossy black and green stripes, blocks the way between approaching Shardbearers and the Effigy.

Between its bright eyes, pressed upon its brow is a scattering of brighter scales that appear to be in the shape of a delicate, three-leafed plant with spiraling patterns for leaves. It braces itself against the approach, and there is no doubt that to claim victory, the serpent must be subdued. Though Meridian approaches with victory in hand, they have not yet attained it — their rival faction and this beast remain in their way.

MISSING LINKS ( THROUGHOUT )
As the Effigy desires to be reunited with what belongs to it, the swell of its longing stirs something more within all present Shardbearers.

With that foreign longing arrives knowledge: beyond the five items prized by the Effigy itself, there are other lost things within the greenhouse. Like a compass, each Shardbearer's mind points them in direction after direction, urging them to seek and explore. Implicitly, the thrum of comprehension fills your mind: these are things that do not belong to you, per se, but seek to have your hands ferry them home.

Amidst tangled brush, hidden under doffed acorn cap, tucked away in the belly of a fae's glittering den, lost in the depths of a puddle of spilled water that seems an insurmountable lake now, folded secretly into the petals of a towering, skyscraper-like flower, there are three additional items hidden within the tumultuous landscape that each Shardbearer feels a draw towards. Things that belong to someone else, eager to be reunited with them, but subject to whim.

Upon locating and retrieving one, the Shardbearer is filled with a sense of information — they know who this item belongs to, and they will know that they have a choice. Bonds are fragile things after all, and they exist to be enforced or abused, in order to advance a goal or to deepen a connection. How will you treat someone's precious bond? How will they treat yours?
NOTES
Here are some prompts to set the scene and foundation of the Exalt Oracle! — The theme of this Oracle is a loose edition of capture the flag, where the Effigy's items can pass through multiple hands within the ten day allotment.

— For additional ideas and fun, it is known that several Shardbearers have concluded their efforts to fulfill the Greenwood Yards' sidequest request.

— All details of the Exalt Oracle can be found here, and questions for the mods can be submitted here.
CODING
hauntedking: (25)

[personal profile] hauntedking 2023-09-12 03:22 am (UTC)(link)
I hadn't thought Sylvain would have a head for it, but...

[ Dimitri laughs. ]

I'll keep an eye on him and see if he wants to make himself useful. I know I can rely on all of them... it's just... going to be hard, I think. We're all nursing wounds of our own.
settingup: (running to the waves below)

[personal profile] settingup 2023-09-12 03:23 am (UTC)(link)
[ Yet...

Honestly though, after their whole stint at a freezing castle some time back, a mildly cool puddle of water doesn't seem like much at all. Atsumu's more worried about his stamina running out. Even he has his limits, and he was in those tunnels for awhile too before he managed to burst. Long enough to have some nice haunting memories of his times as an ant captive, though not so long that he can't still snort with agitated indignation at Dimitri's description of choice.
]

"Cowardly" you say?

[ Clearly not the word he would use, and he's slightly less concerned about ideal aspirations too. It'd be messed up to hear it happened to anyone, but he's especially put off by the fact that it happened to him specifically. ]

He full on used me distractin' them as a chance to high-tail it outta there. The jackass deserves to get stuffed into the dirt by 'em again.
wolfish: (say)

[personal profile] wolfish 2023-09-12 03:30 am (UTC)(link)
Fair enough... But your burdens feel lighter when you're helping carry theirs, right? I'd safely wager that's mutual.

[ He's seen it for himself, he thinks, around camp.

The others never seemed burdened by looking after His Majesty, even when they had to herd him to bed or impose meal breaks. Surely, that much is the same for Dimitri's friends. ]


Five years at war sounds rough though, I won't deny.
hauntedking: (13)

[personal profile] hauntedking 2023-09-12 03:51 am (UTC)(link)
...I don't remember most of it.

[ And maybe that's a good thing. It's a dark blur in his memory, for the most part. Punctuated by a few bright, vivid memories that refuse to fade. It's not all that pleasant to think about, really. ]

But I'd love to hear more about your world and your place in it. And how it's different from my own.
hauntedking: (17)

[personal profile] hauntedking 2023-09-12 03:53 am (UTC)(link)
Treacherous more like...

[ Dimitri sighs and slowly starts to swim towards the far "shore", glancing back at the ants as he goes. ]

Abandoning someone to such a fate deliberately and using them as bait... it's certainly worthy of some sort of punishment. Although I can't say I would want to leave them to be torn apart by giant ants.

[ Normal ants. They're just small. ]
wolfish: (lean)

[personal profile] wolfish 2023-09-12 04:08 am (UTC)(link)
I'm game for comparing. I don't know too much about how I might differ from the Yuri you know...but I have to imagine we've got some differences.

[ If things begin to diverge where he thinks they do, how much about them would change based on the nature of their battles? It'd be a lie to say he's not curious. ]

Though not so much as Byleth. Want to hear something funny?
hauntedking: (16)

[personal profile] hauntedking 2023-09-12 04:23 am (UTC)(link)
You do seem very similar, but... it's hard to really judge.

[ He taps his cheek with a pair of fingers and then pauses, his eye twinkling. ]

Please. I think I'd love to hear this.
epiprocta: (35)

[personal profile] epiprocta 2023-09-12 04:34 am (UTC)(link)
[ It's not like he's blind to the fact that he's being pursued -- it would be difficult to miss the thundering of hooves and the shuddering of the earth with each step Hayame step takes. But by the time Gen notices, halfway to the borders of the Meridian camp, it's too late. The mistake's already been made, he's stretched his (already drained) stamina too low, and he'll need to emerge from the earth soon regardless of that terrible figure bound to bear down on him.

This is going to suck, he knows.

And he's right, of course.

Gen emerges from the earth with a gasp, having pushed his time underneath to the limits in order to try and widen the gap between himself and Hayame. No dice, unfortunately, but at least the momentum he's built and the extra time he's used to prepare means he isn't immediately killed by a hoof to the skull.

The dirt beneath Hayame's feet explodes upwards, a shower of clods and rocks partially obfuscating the outlines of Gen's figure as he launches himself out into the open air. It permits him to get away from the first attempting to trample him with just a few close calls -- a glancing kick that clips his ribcage and only fractures instead of shattering, a heavy stomp that just barely misses his temple as it thuds into the earth just beside his head. Dirt flies as Gen hits the ground at a roll, hands clawing into the earth as he manages to right himself into a kneeling crouch even before he's skidded to a halt; already the pain ripping through his chest is rendering his breaths shallow and his face pale, canine ears flattened back into his hair. And while he's unfortunately positioned himself in the perfect spot for Hayame to rear up and cave his skull in --

the earth beneath her back hooves destabilizes the next moment, erupting upwards on one side and caving in on the other. Probably only enough to stall her, maybe trip her up. He'd intended on upending her entirely, but his magic is proving oddly difficult to control at the moment, perhaps because of his exhaustion? Either way, it should be enough for him to dodge immediate death for a few moments longer. Probably. Maybe. ]
epiprocta: (06)

[personal profile] epiprocta 2023-09-12 04:34 am (UTC)(link)
[ Ah, right. Amos probably isn't going to be pulling any triggers any time soon, huh? Not unless he wants to spend a solid five minutes first figuring out how to balance a gun's stock in those paws and then carefully thread his claw through the trigger guard. The thought earns a sardonic huff, and Gen gives a wave of the hand. ]

Yeah, I get it. Guess it's not gonna be too useful for you until you get turned back to normal, huh. Unless you wanna start just clubbing people with it, or something.

[ Said with a lopsided grin, because he can't imagine Amos acting so barbarically with one of those guns that he likes so much. (Funny how Amos won't be the one to use a gun as a cudgel anytime soon.) ]

You might as well take it back, though. Who knows if you might get turned back to normal tomorrow or something -- might as well have it on hand for that. I'll grab it for you in a bit.

[ But while Amos' mood seems to lighten with the thought that the Exalt effigy is bringing them together -- Gen's expression turns pensive. It's partly because he's had enough almond for the moment, and partly because his appetite wanes when thinking about the subject at hand, but he only stares pensively into the fire for a moment, elbows propped against his knees and hands laced.

His brow's furrowed when he speaks again. ]


... d'you know what kinda stuff ended up here? The stuff that belongs to you. Is it just your weapons? [ Amos doesn't have another person's shard he's been guarding, right? Then -- has something else just as important to him been brought here? Or is it just some cruel mistake that Reiji ended up here? ]
epiprocta: (29)

[personal profile] epiprocta 2023-09-12 04:36 am (UTC)(link)
[ D's gaze shifts to look into his eyes, and Gen meets it ferociously.

God, he hates this pretentious fuck, acting so cool and above it all. Talking like he understands what's going on. Why do all these people act like they know anything about him? ]


You think you can talk me down or something, is that it?

[ Gen's invaded D's personal space so thoroughly that they're almost nose to nose by this point, his grip at D's shirt so vicious that the leather must be digging into his skin at points. None of that uncomfortable pressure relents as he continues at a low growl, ]

I was on that side before, and I left. Couldn't stand all the pathetic, empty-headed drivel that you guys believe in, wanting to protect every world like some fairytale hero. It makes me fucking sick. [ That last word is spat out with genuine contempt. ] So yeah, I want Zenith to win. I want Zenith to crush that stupid dream of yours to nothing.
wolfish: (Default)

[personal profile] wolfish 2023-09-12 04:36 am (UTC)(link)
When I first got here and heard about that whole teacher business, Byleth guessed what wildly different vocation I could possibly have.

[ And, really, he thinks it is pretty silly. ]

Imagine, if you will: your Yuri back home as one of your knights, clunky armor and all.

[ With how much he dislikes cumbersome weapons and armaments, he can't quite imagine it, aside it being Ashe's aspiration from a young age. ]
warmare: (慰め)

[personal profile] warmare 2023-09-12 05:27 am (UTC)(link)
[Physics.

The problem of course being… that Hayame doesn’t understand physics. Not in those terms. Of course, she understands their effects well. She knows how her arrows fly through the air and what can affect them… she knows that once her large body has been thrown into motion there is very little that can stop it without gradual reductions or consequence… But the vocabulary to discuss it so scholarly-seeming (to her) like Amos does then…

Hayame can’t help but let out a shuddering, pent-up breath through her nose as the weight- no, gravity? exerted on her broken leg eases, then has to suck it back in and grit her teeth to keep what might have been a cry to a series of low, begrudged whimpers as getting to her feet, assisted by the partial weightlessness, moves the limb from sprawled out broken at an angle to hanging downwards. It’s still half curled and slowly weeping blood from where the bone punches through her dun hide, occasionally seizing despite her intent to keep it still, but. Better, that’s better-

As weak as she feels, Amos’ expression remains free of disgust or judgement, and that allows Hayame just enough leeway to move, to clutch at his hands and shoulders to rise, pausing halfway to press her forehead into his collarbone and pant in short, pained breaths against his chest before she gathers her strength and manages the rest of it.

She’s up. She’s not going to die on her belly in the dirt. If she doesn’t say something the only thing will be silence and the proof of her weakness-]


How… how do you all live in so inhospitable a place… ?

[She doesn’t need to ask “why”. It’s the same reason the few free jinba left in the province gathered on the dangerous, frozen slopes of Mt. Tsurugi.

To escape. Right?

Even if she thinks the answer he gives might be too technical for her again, she still asks, inviting him to fill the air with his voice. To mask any sounds of strain as she transfers her hold to a more tenable one for movement, grasping his arm and shoulder with her weight heavy but actually manageable for a strong human as long as his magic was active. Like this… she can take slow steps on three legs… and begin to accompany him to where they might should begin digging.]
hyperpotamous: (012)

[personal profile] hyperpotamous 2023-09-12 06:01 am (UTC)(link)
Cheater? I suppose you believing I'm breaking the rules makes you feel better.

[ he lowers himself to the ground to stand on his own two feet, but keeps the pressure on to keep gen pinned. ]

I was never going to kill you from the start. The Tree gets sort of bummed when we die, and I don't need you withholding vital information from me out of spite, so you'll get to live another day.

[ not that john has any say in who gets what information from the Tree, but there is no point in sending his enemies off to potentially get magic dreams he'll never get to hear about. ]

First of all, I still want the necklace. That is what this is all about, after all.

[ since anyone could have assumed this was all personal. ]

Secondly, you have a commendable amount of fight in you, given what you've endured so far, but I've broken better people with more significant reasons to hate me.

[ he tilts his head and seems to be considering something, savouring the moment. this is what it's all about, honestly. he doesn't care that he's literally stepping on someone to make himself feel powerful. that's the point of having power! when you need to, you get to grind little punks into the dust. ]

Everyone has something. Everyone has their "thing." The one thing they couldn't live without. Something I could take from you, and you'd beg me to put you out of your misery...

[ another one of the legs arches up over john's head, a hovering spike seeking a target. ]

I mean— that arm of yours is pretty fucked already. Going for a matching set?

[ john brings it lower, letting it sit poised above gen's head, tensed enough to shake a bit with anticipation. ]

Your tongue would definitely shut you up. We have something called the Sewn Tongue where I'm from. Can you imagine what that might entail? Or, hmm, what about your legs?

[ the limb held just over gen's forehead doesn't move, but two of the others do, driven through both thighs to pin him like a specimen on a board. john, of course, is delighted with his own sense of dramatic timing. he loves to hear himself talk, but it's at least clear that he's nearing the end of his speech. ]

The point is that it's effortless to take that from you any time I want. Not to be all, "I have over ten billion confirmed kills," but: maybe do not fuck with me.
hyperpotamous: (027)

[personal profile] hyperpotamous 2023-09-12 06:38 am (UTC)(link)
[ liem probably didn't intend for that to be funny, but john lets out a strained chuckle anyway. it's a strange mental image. ]

I'm limited by scale, but yes. When we aren't bite-sized, I know when someone's died anywhere in Highstorm.

[ which is still pathetic compared to what he's usually capable of, but maybe that's for the best; it gets a bit tedious sometimes when you're tuned into the bodily functions of everyone around you. it's more life than he's been around probably ever, even on the flagship. necromancers aren't very lively by nature, and a city's population is considerably more input than a few thousand soldiers. ]

There's no point in cutting us up when it's more efficient to toss us out whole anyway...

[ are you not comforted. ]
salvageable: (pic#15332057)

[personal profile] salvageable 2023-09-12 06:55 am (UTC)(link)
[ Little D is so cute... Dokja's black hole of a heart grows three sizes this day.

But oh, this question feels more like something a normal child would say. Have they moved past the freaky shit? ]


I guess that depends. Where did you last see her?
lockedon: <user name=poro482 site=twitter.com> (133)

he hasn't been embarrassing enough yet so it's time to crank things up

[personal profile] lockedon 2023-09-12 02:44 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Manor....not quite a castle but the image it evokes in his mind is close enough. Another image rises to the forefront, unbidden, and while he trails after her naturally, not wanting to be left out of her orbit, his thoughts are clearly someplace else. ]

Are you some sort of princess?

[ It would fit, he thinks. ]
lockedon: <user name=losspass site=twitter.com> (pic#16279245)

[personal profile] lockedon 2023-09-12 02:57 pm (UTC)(link)
[ At the tug, his ear twitches twice, a unconscious reaction to unwanted stimuli as though Dark is some sort of fly to be swatted away and not a sentient creature in his own right. All things considered, he has been alarmingly well-behaved, which will surely make the sex fiend revelations about him all the more jarring.

For now, Eustace treks onwards with his cargo of one (1) dismembered arm and one (1) tiny passenger. ]


He uses magic of some sort.

[ Or he's been told; unfortunately his normie ass has never been able to see Tusk, but he's seen the results brought about by Johnny's skills and that's been enough for him. Eustace looks again at the arm in his arm, thoughtful. ]

It doesn't seem to be his primary livelihood. Is this some sort of magical catalyst?
hauntedking: (12)

[personal profile] hauntedking 2023-09-12 03:04 pm (UTC)(link)
...honestly, the idea seems very far-fetched.

[ Dimitri laughs. ]

Try as I might, I can't imagine either of you in knightly armor.
damnpire: (pic#12040565)

[personal profile] damnpire 2023-09-12 04:19 pm (UTC)(link)
[Hehe.

D glances up at Dokja, and the hesitant uncertainty is in his silence. He looks ahead again distantly, like he's trying to figure out how to answer this very simple question when it isn't very simple at all.]


I didn't, [he finally says softly. At first, it seems like this may be all he says. But then he finally adds:] Ever see her.

[Had he...? Had it been a dream? Maybe wishful thinking.]

Do you think she misses us even though she gave us to the man? He said he had to cut us apart.

[Dokja did not escape the freaky shit.]
warmare: (武士)

[personal profile] warmare 2023-09-12 04:59 pm (UTC)(link)
Your scent.

[She repeats herself without… any explanation or elaboration whatsoever. Surely it was obvious that her senses were more advanced than humans (or at least most human-shaped people) based on the fact that she’d seen fit to comment about it? Tch!

But she does not abandon him as he stands and begins reclaiming. She waits… and when he seems prepared to move she begins to do so, headed east from the camp. His question isn’t out of bounds, it’s rational enough, so…]


We hunt a praying mantis. It has been growing territorial near the place we planned to expand the camp.

[A sidelong glance… wondering if that would make him reconsider. If he might not demure.]
sterngaze: (neutral: dry)

[personal profile] sterngaze 2023-09-12 05:05 pm (UTC)(link)
[Granted, Liem still can’t think of any other courses of action that would have been obviously better for evading this giant bird than diving into a crack in the ground, but he is still very aware of their awkward predicament now that they’re just trapped here like rats in a little burrow. As he maneuvers to his feet, accepting Quetz’s hand as he straightens next to her, he considers the noises and glimpses of giant, feathered avian up above with an intent frown.]

I could probably distract it with magic long enough for us to sneak off, but I’m sure it would notice if we tried to take the stone with us. That’s troublesome.

[They really do need to shoo the bird off properly if they want to actually continue off with their prize, and that is almost certainly going to be a dangerous proposition. But, perhaps Quetz is onto something with her suggestion. Maybe they don’t need to leave the relative safety of their shelter to discourage the creature from sticking around.]

Something small enough to throw? I suppose you could try.

[There’s bound to be something small enough around here, given her strength. Liem begins shimmying along through the crevice, eyeing the stones around them and underfoot. Most of them are simply too large to grab without immediately shifting all the other rocks out of place, but he spies one that’s just a little smaller than he is, lying propped between two larger stones nearby.]

Maybe this one…?
erbe: It's not cloudy, it's very honest (041)

Let the insides become outsides, Eustace

[personal profile] erbe 2023-09-12 05:15 pm (UTC)(link)
[Oh no, oh no! Rin has to hold the rim of the bottlecap to keep herself from doubling over too much as she laughs. Light, breathy, and boisterous.]

What? No, not at all! My family might have a long history, but I'm not... not a pr- hahahaha! Why would you think that?

[SORRY EUSTACE. It's just so funny to her.]
lockedon: <user name=losspass site=twitter.com> (pic#16279245)

[personal profile] lockedon 2023-09-12 05:45 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Ah, the confidence of youth.

Which is what Eustace would normally assume, were he sane of mind. Alas, debuffs are powerful things, and he just assumes that Atsumu is some combination of cocky (true) and secretly extremely charismatic (further study needed). Either way, the kid's clearly got something going for him, if his claim of having multitudes of people like him is true.

Unfortunately, the reassurances don't do much in giving him any sort of plan of attack, and Eustace has always been a man of action over a man of words. ]


And how do you accomplish that?

[ He needs ANSWERS here. A clear approach to winning people over. ]
sterngaze: (smooch: neck)

[personal profile] sterngaze 2023-09-12 05:45 pm (UTC)(link)
[Set’s gratitude rings strangely in Liem’s ears as the god moves, shifts over him. What has he done to deserve it? Exercised restraint in the wake of his own hurtful decisions? Relinquished the right of vengeance into Set’s bloodied hands? Perhaps these are not small things to the god, but Liem could hardly say he’s given him a boon. The soul of his son is still at risk; he continues to pay the cost for what Liem and Gen began, even if Liem has ceased to resist him.

But still he seeks the assurance of that deliberate, un-gentle contact, and still he takes advantage of the bare stretch of Set’s throat to press his lips and then his teeth against the pulse beating there. To bite and taste him as he has on all those other, less fraught occasions before. (The pleasure of it still shivers through him, relentless. No matter the circumstances, he cannot deny the heady, full-body ecstasy that blooms in him when he drinks — especially from Set.)

That moment seems to stretch on, syrup-slow, until he finally drags his tongue over the god’s throat, and relaxes his one-armed embrace.
]

Go. Find him.

[He tells him to go, as he has almost every time before. To find Gen. To find his son.

Liem will just… be here, in the hosta. Resting.
]
wolfish: (say)

[personal profile] wolfish 2023-09-12 06:10 pm (UTC)(link)
Told you it was funny.

[ His slant of a smile returns. It wouldn't surprise him if some of those they know did take different paths, but Royal Knight Yuri's a tough sell indeed.

He'll leave that to Ashe. ]


As for the rest... You know I'm the erstwhile adopted heir of House Rowe, yeah?