Toxic Love: The Exalt Oracle

[beleos]

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

Comments

Liem Talbott | Meridian | Harbinger

[sterngaze]

[Closed and semi-open starters below! If we have plans but you aren't sure how we're getting started, or otherwise want to hash something out, feel free to hit me up at Sporelett or my plotting comment.]

Item-Hunting

[sterngaze]

[The first few days after the effigy’s challenge begins are a mad scramble for most, including Liem. His experience with wilderness scenarios has not totally prepared him for life at 1.7 centimetres tall, looking at all the plants he usually recognizes from beneath, too small to readily hunt anything but bugs. Finding shelter from the dangers of tiny animals, trickles of water, and other shard-bearers is an immediate concern — but so is locating certain missing items.

It’s not just the effigy’s missing items he needs to find. Almost as soon as Liem arrives, he notices that the golden key that is usually around his neck or in his pocket is nowhere to be found. He makes seeking an effigy object his first order of business, and finding that key his second. It’s just his bad luck that in that short amount of time, someone else happens to find it first.

So he has to make do without it for the time being, and there’s plenty else to do. His locate object spell makes him a shoo-in to help other Meris seek missing items, but even with magic, he can’t tell how far away the items in question are. Anything could happen on the way there.]

a. [A trip on the way to find someone’s missing belonging is a perfect opportunity to gather other supplies that might prove useful back at the Meridian base. Bundles of fibre from vines or thin bark might make good rope for people less than an inch tall. Seeds, flower petals, or a small berry or two should be portable enough to take back to camp, as long as they’re of the edible kind. Even from his current vantage point, Liem can still confidently identify at least some of the more ground-level plants.

Even for small plants, though, reaching the goods can still be a bit of a problem. Fortunately, Liem will brave the climb up the stem to cut the goods free and drop them down to you. Catch!]

b. [When you’re this small, just about everything is big enough to eat you. Mice and shrews the size of grizzly bears prowl through the undergrowth. Man sized wasps and aptly-named dragonflies buzz through the air, dwarfed by bats and night-hunting songbirds as big as elephants. An opportunistic snake or toad might snap a shard-bearer up in a single gulp. Understandably, even a seasoned adventurer like Liem is a little on-edge.

Though the soft light of Highstorm’s twin moons is more than enough for him to see by, he is still cautious as he follows the tug of his spell onward. A flicker of movement and a whisper of sound is all it takes to have him pulling you into the shelter of some tall (very tall) grass, peeking out at whatever rampaging rodent or amok arthropod has crossed your path.]

c. [After a few days of exploring, Liem starts to get the hang of being approximately the size of someone’s thumbnail. He learns where things are, gets used to the look of the huge plants and the almost-as-huge vermin wandering around them. The prospect of venturing out into the jungle greenhouse becomes a little less daunting as he starts to feel like he knows what to expect.

And then comes watering day.

If you’re out with him when the “rain” hits, best hold tight so you aren’t separated! Maybe you can race for shelter and huddle together to wait out the deluge to the sound of raindrops hitting earth like meteors. Or the sudden flood might separate you and wash you away, dunking you into a swelling “pond” or trapping you in a gelatinous puddle that resists escape.]

a

[damnpire]

[Supplies... Liem is so good and for what.

D appears down below like a little wraith of shadow. For several moments, he just watches Liem scale the plant, a seemingly rude gesture that is actually less rude and more warily watchful. Don't fall.

For once, he doesn't have to look up from under the brim of his hat. Because. It's missing, not unlike Liem's golden key.

When Liem turns to toss them down, he casually lifts his arms out of the long cape to catch the obnoxious, overly large produce. It really should splat him on the ground, but he remains fine enough to put it down out of the way. If he were someone more nefarious, he could really flee with Liem's hard-earned goodies.]

[sterngaze]

[Fortunately for Liem’s dignity (the only thing likely to get bruised if a bite-sized guy like him fell off a garden plant stem), he scales the plant easily — like a bug himself, in fact, crawling up the winding green stalk and woody support it's clinging to like a swift, sure-footed spider. His target is an ordinary garden pea plant, twining around a little trellis made of sticks. Delicats as the whole construction is, it doesn’t so much as wobble as he skitters up the side and shinnies over to one drooping pod that is just beginning to split open.

It is actually pretty difficult to wrestle the enormous green globes free of their homes so they can be dropped down to ground-level. Each plump, round seed is more than half his height, and wedged firmly enough inside the pod that he has to shove them out bodily. He does, at least, seem to have faith that D won’t just get totally bodied by the falling boulder-sized vegetables. After the second, he peeps out of the slightly hollowed-out pod, looking down at his companion far below.]

We shouldn’t have to divert course too much to stash those. Do they seem good to you?

[Does D even know what peas are supposed to look like…]

b!

[consolation]

[When it comes to this particular challenge, there are some things Caren could take or leave. She isn't suited to being reduced to such a small size when she's already at the disadvantage of being quite small of stature under normal circumstances, and her constitution doesn't make for the best survival forager. When it comes to answering questions and seeking out missing puzzle pieces, however, there are few who are better suited to the task. Many of the things she senses out there in the wilderness are foreign to her, so both uncovering them and reuniting them with their owners is a mystery to be solved than it is either competition or battle. For Caren, anyway, this is a much more familiar way to engage with the wants and needs of others. A garden where everything is a danger is not so alien as some may believe.

She knows nothing about the seed-sized book drawing her steadily deeper into the garden and little of its owner besides what she's seen in passing. She therefore doesn't know precisely what to think when ambushed by none other than said owner and pulled into the shade of a patch of towering grass. Liem easily outsizes her even in miniature, and he'll find that she is featherlight and offers no resistance when dragged.

What a fortuitous and not at all destined meeting.]

Ah. Have you been following me? [As she speaks, she keeps her voice at a whisper, little more than a speck of dust blowing through the grass that shelters them.] If you were concerned about my intentions, you simply could have left me for the beasts to devour.

[The mouse blocking the road like a past, potentially carnivorous cow washes its face. It would be nonthreatening, were it not for the fact that one of those paws could easily lift either of them.]

[sterngaze]

[The fact that the mouse has paused to tidy itself up poses a bit of a troublesome ongoing problem. Liem had hoped the creature would just continue on its way; if it stays put, they’ll need to be rather more quiet while leaving their hiding place.

Even whispering like this is probably risky, given those big, radar-dish ears the rodent is sporting, but Liem hazards it anyway. The sound of tiny people talking, at least, probably doesn’t sound like appetizing prey to an ordinary mouse. Bugs aren’t really known for conversation.]

I wasn’t.

[Following her, or concerned? He doesn’t specify, but simply beckons her to follow him as he sidles deeper into the clump of leaves and stalks making up their hiding place. If the mouse scurries over to investigate the grass, he doesn’t want them to be right in nibbling range.]

Why would I be concerned about your intentions?

[She’s been with Meridian for well over a month now, hasn’t she? She’s had ample opportunity to go back to Zenith, if she was so inclined.]

kind of wildcard but what if it turns into b,

[muchalucha]

[ After receiving Liem’s message through Communion, of course Quetzalcoatl had been quick to drop what she was doing and come to help. Granted… This would have been her reaction with just about anything, especially when it was someone she liked as much as Liem asking. But! It did help that it was something very important to her too!

And luckily, Liem had given her good directions, all things considered. She would have happily summoned her (now tiny) Quetzalcoatlus to fly through the garden until she found him, but it is better to save her energy. She’d at least taken the lesson she’d learned about that thanks to Silco seriously.

So, it takes her some time to navigate and find Liem, but it does help that he has quite the landmark with him. She in fact sees the carefully carved rock before she even sees Liem himself. It is quite large, relative to them… Not that she thinks there’s all that much sense to what got picked and why, but she feels bad that something so unwieldy got was picked for him anyways! ]

¡Hola Liem!

[ Once she’s within earshot, she brightly waves with her whole arm. She’s a chipper and warm as ever, naturally. Even being tiny doesn’t seem to bother her in the slightest. ]

Ay, you’re having better luck finding things than me, yes! I haven’t found a single thing yet! But maybe it’s lucky that mine is so big, maybe? It makes it easier to find!

oh no, what if... bird...

[sterngaze]

[Once Liem locates the carved stone from his vision, mixed in amongst a sea of other similarly-sized boulders that makes up a gravel pathway, he tucks himself into a space between two of the huge rocks, and he simply waits. Fortunately, the stone from atop Quetz’s temple is relatively near the edge of the path, so there’s only a small chance of a worker stepping on it while they thunder past. Unfortunately, there isn’t any plant cover at all over the area where the rock is, which means anyone and anything glancing that way will be able to see the tiny people clambering around out in the open.

Unsurprisingly, the stone itself is much more obvious than Liem himself at the moment. He peers back at Quetz from his hiding place clinging to the rounded side of one of the pathway rocks, brightening visibly at the sight of her but not waving himself. He’s seen more than a few enormous birds fly overhead as he was waiting, and he’s not keen to get mistaken for a tasty bug.]

You could say I have professional experience in this area, but in this instance, the size certainly helps.

[With finding it, at least. It had also, obviously, made bringing the item back with him rather impossible. As he speaks, Liem emerges slowly from his hiding place, crawling up the rock like a spider to perch once again on its top surface.]

Will you be able to move it? The terrain here is a little challenging.

B

[envoyoftwilight]

[Midna, despite having had to brave Hyrule on her own for a period of time, has never exactly been made for survivalist journeys like the one she is on now. Where she is accustomed to towering over so many others (the Hylians are a rather small people, she's noticed), this forest makes her feel remarkably insignificant. She can't be much larger than so many of the wildlife she and Link had passed as they travelled through Faron's region.

It makes her look at the world in an entirely different way. And it makes her a little crabby over the entire thing as well. She's a princess, not a... Well. Whatever it is one would call someone who is adept at living in such a style. It means she's found herself in more danger than she'd care to admit to. She definitely can't claim to have made it this far, so far, on her own. Something, something, something about the kindness of strangers.

Unsurprisingly, Liem adds himself to this list of helpful companions, even if only a temporary one. She's got things to return, after all, and things of her own to be reunited with, though she doesn't necessarily know how to go about tracking down some of that stuff. Just a part of the process, perhaps.]

Oh—

[The princess of Twilight doesn't get a chance to offer much more else. There's a careful little tug, though she's certain she didn't hear or see anything other than the thundering steps of what appears to be a... Well. Chipmunk? Mouse? Squirrel? Something furry that Midna is certain were she of ordinary size would only make pitter-patters instead of the momentary obnoxious sound it's made as its fluttered on by.

Moments later and she would have been a rather pretty ground decoration.]

Well, isn't that clever. [She croons, as if she's pretending she didn't just get rescued. Like a cat who can't stand to have someone witness them being anything other than regal and composed.]

[sterngaze]

[There has always been a slight undercurrent of nerves underlying Liem’s composed mannerisms, an unspoken tension keeping him wound tight and ticking away in perfect time. Those nerves are a little bit more obvious now, as he wanders this oversized garden just rife with creatures that would happily eat him. Despite his sleek, fashionable suit — which is looking a little bedraggled now after a couple days of being used as adventure-wear — there is less fussy businessman about him now, and more wary, wild animal: a predator that suddenly finds itself in an environment it is not at all familiar with.]

Be careful, Miss Midna.

[Liem releases her once he’s pulled her into the shelter of the purple-blossomed lungwort now serving as their hiding place, but his eyes continue to follow the foraging rodent until it’s out of view. Wistfully, he wishes that he was at least in proper equipment for this, instead of just in his city clothes. At least he has his crossbow…]

It’s dangerous to get caught out in the open.

[Though… given the variety of predatory bugs that could be lurking on the plants themselves, being under cover isn’t necessarily safer. Just one reason among many that has him a little jumpy at present.]

ITEM-HUNTING AKA LIEM HUNTING WILDCARD

[redsoil]

— give it to me, Liem Talbott.

[ The faint caress of knowledge brushes along Liem's mind: the shard / gen's shard, as Set approaches. The lines of his face emptied of anything but devastating focus, the hollowness within his eyes a warning of things to come. In one hand, sand fills out into the shape of a short blade, in the other, his fingers curl into claws. There is no pleasure he takes from this approach, the posturing and the threat. He is a leashed beast, desperate to make this right for the vulnerable collection of viscera that makes up all but one part of his most beloved child's soul.

He approaches from the south, from the vast wilds where Shardbearers seek precious belongings and Effigy items alike. A direct path behind him the evidence of his single-minded devotion towards locating Liem, and asking nicely. Just this once, because of the ( love / yearning / possessiveness ) he feels towards him. Similar mad feelings he has towards Gen, towards Ruby. ]

I recommend you part with it willingly.

[sterngaze]

[To Liem, it seems as though barely any time at all passes between him delivering his mean-spirited bargain to Gen and the approach of the desert god, cutting a path through the greenhouse’s lush overgrowth towards him. How Set found him so quickly, he does not rightly know — though Liem is not difficult to spot these days, at least when he stands in direct moonlight. The glow seems to cling to him, gathering about him in a corona and sticking like dewdrops to a spider’s web, glittering in his hair and his eyes and over the long, shimmering planes of his wings. It lends a pleasant, almost comforting air about him — a direct contrast to the ruthless, fey angles of his face.

He is creeping through a less-familiar part of the garden when the god comes upon him and makes his demand. Liem looks up from a burrow he’d been peering into, half in shadow, the lines of his body somehow alien in their construction. He tenses immediately, his face tight with suspicion.]

What did he do?

[Liem hisses it as he stares, eyes reflecting, cat-like, in the gloom. Gen… he must have used some compulsion on him, or gotten an ally to do it. It wouldn’t be the first time Set had come under an attack like that.

One thing Liem does not do is fork over the shard. He looks like a wild animal regarding some threat at the very edge of its flight zone, ready to dart away at a moment’s notice.]

Ant Tunnels

[sterngaze]

[When the ants descend on Meridian’s camp, Liem is resting, convalescing from the severe beatdown he’d received only slightly earlier at the hands of one of his own sect-mates. Aggressive regenerative abilities and a healthy sip of divine blood speed him back on the path to wellness, but the local fauna decline to give him even the few hours that he needs to recover. He is swarmed, limbs clamped tight in viselike jaws, and rushed through the shadowed greenhouse into the twisting, lightless tunnels of an immense colony of monstrous ants.]

a. for atsumu [The crushing pressure of ant jaws around his chest must make him black out, because the next thing Liem knows, he’s coming to in total darkness, half-buried in earth and gravel-like sand. The darkness doesn’t bother him; he’s never needed light to see, and doesn’t bother casting his light spell as he wiggles experimentally around in his shallow tomb. Though he’s able to push his upper half free of the dirt easily enough, shedding a shower of it as he does, he sees from across the cavern a pair of huge ants begin their approach, attracted by the movement. Liem lies back down and goes motionless as the ants examine him with their antennae; he barely even dares to breathe as they carefully cover him back up, replacing the shed soil until little more than his head and shoulders are exposed.

If he’s going to get out of here, he’ll need to be quick — or he’ll need a distraction.]

b. for john [Some time later, Liem is free of his ant tunnel tomb and wandering the tunnels, still in utter darkness, dodging ants with frantic frequency. The flow of air tells him that he’s nearing the exit, but the magic he uses to teleport out of sticky spots is starting to run dry. If he doesn’t reach the outside soon, he’s going to be in a very bad position the next time he runs into more than just one ant at a time.

If only he had run into an ally in these tunnels, instead of just a bit of ant-bait. He would welcome someone to watch his back right about now, and the lack of friendly faces in the tunnels worries him a little, besides. He couldn’t have been the only one captured in the raid on Meridian’s camp, surely, and he’s sure those remaining would have noticed his absence besides. The longer he goes without seeing another person he knows, the more he starts to suspect that something else must have gone wrong up above.]

cw: mild gore it's DARK anyway lol

[hyperpotamous]

[ john has not had a good time in these tunnels. this is actually horrifying. top 3 most disturbing ways to die-level stuff, seeing as most involve caving. caving is for idiots with a death wish, and john is a little too mortal and a little too low on the food chain right now to be remotely okay with this.

he'd managed to dig himself out eventually but has had the swarm to contend with ever since. being a necromancer doesn't automatically make you an expert in everything that's ever been alive and how to kill it. he didn't know much about ants before he got here — didn't know where the weak spots are — because that's all important now when even God's powers are diminished along with everything else. john is regretting every ant he ever tried frying with a magnifying glass as a kid.

john senses liem before anything else, the feeling of something that isn't an insect a very welcome presence. he doesn't register precisely who it is and, frankly, doesn't care; for the moment, it's worth it to survive long enough to hate each other later potentially.

he doesn't want to call out in case the sound attracts any more ants, so, in desperation, john reaches out a bloody hand to grab liem and drag him into a small chamber off of the main tunnel. hopefully, the fact that he's not a bug either will be obvious. ]

Hey, look, you want to get out of here, too, right? This isn't a good place to be alone.

[ as bad looks go, last Oracle was bad. this one is worse. maybe just a little traumatic, seeing as several things have actively tried to eat him. something almost succeeded and at least made off with part of one arm. it's fine, he just needs to walk that off. ]

[sterngaze]

[This would be a terrible place to be trapped as someone with a fear of bugs, the dark, or enclosed spaces. Though Liem is not that person, the dirt corridors swarming with an endless supply of voiceless killing machines are still a nightmare scenario, and he still manages to be a little jumpy about it when a person lunges for him from a side-corridor to drag him off the main tunnel. He ends up in the little cavern nonetheless, but wrenches himself out of the sudden grip to stare warily at the person who’d just pulled him in here.

Oh. It’s John.

John, who looks and smells a little worse for wear, thanks to the chunk missing from his other arm. Liem might not be able to see the wound in the full richness of colour vision right now, but the scent of fresh blood is distinctive.]

As soon as possible, yes.

[Liem does have the benefit of working eyes and some amount of magic to serve him down here, but what he doesn’t have is his crossbow. It’d be really hard to kill one of these monster ants with nothing but muscle and a puny, splinter-sized dagger, so he hasn’t been wasting his time on fighting. He wouldn’t mind a companion to take some of the heat off him when ants start swarming, but John is a Zenite, and unlike the last Zenite Liem ditched in these tunnels, he is notably not a gormless teenager.]

Though in life-or-death circumstances, I generally prefer the one watching my back to be… trustworthy.

[Full shade, but the last time Liem was alone with John in a tunnel, he got brainwashed.]

[settingup]

[ By and large this experience is going to leave Atsumu with a distaste for bugs that didn't exist before. While there might be one (and only one) ant that he ends up with some fondness for, he's largely spent his time running from insects, screaming at spiders he's been caught in the webs of, and now kidnapped by ants that he doesn't assume mean to do the whole "raise him as one of their own" number.

The irony is that the earlier debuff that led to a series of fox-like features is a boon at the moment, given a whole slew of features associated with the nocturnal animal. The light is still nearly non-existent down here though, so even with better night vision he's still relying largely on those large ears on top of his head to figure out what's going on right now. He's using them to lie low and stay still when the ants come back, but also to hear that interesting sound of shifting soil that happened shortly before his captors came for a little check-in.

He's also using them to listen for the sound of the ants getting far enough away for him to risk scooting across the soil as he squints in what little light exists at a vague figure in the dirt. The whisper he shoots Liem's way is more of a stage whisper than a proper one, but fortunately for them both, ants don't actually have ears. ]

Hey! You still alive over there?

[sterngaze]

[Given that Liem’s head still remains unburied, he has no trouble at all spotting the fox-featured young man who comes creeping through the cavern towards him. He hadn’t seen him before, focused as he’d been on the approaching ants and his own partial entombment. Now that the other person is up close, however, he can recognize him without much difficulty as one of the shard-bearers whom he’d seen playing some sort of ballgame on the beach at the resort.

As whispers go, his is pretty obnoxious. Fortunately the ants don’t seem to pay the noise any mind, so Liem hazards a soft reply.]

For the time being.

[How much can this young man see, he wonders? He navigated his way over here easily enough, but Liem is keenly aware just how dark their current location actually is. He wonders whether the sharply-faerie cast to his features is at all visible, or the odd, pearl-white appearance of irises that had previously been pale blue.]

Did the ants carry you down here, too? We’re probably deep in the nest now.

[He needs this boy to help him, which means he needs him to feel like he needs Liem’s help, too, if he wants to escape.]

for Silco — every step you take

[sterngaze]

[For days now, Liem has been balancing his efforts toward Meridian’s victory with his own personal efforts to get his hands back on his holy symbol. More than being an object of faith, the item also has his sunbeam set into it: in the golden key’s carved bow, in the part of the design where a sun would usually be. He needs to get it back, and more importantly, he needs to do so before Silco can come up with some creative use for it.

Fortunately, there is no method short of magical shielding or swaddling the key in lead that can keep him from locating it while they’re all in this one limited area. That’s another reason he is in such a hurry: finding his symbol will be much easier now, before they’re all dispersed throughout Kenos again. For the time being, he hopes that he can check back now and then until his spell leads him to, perhaps, a stash Silco has left it in for safekeeping. That would make his task much simpler.

Of course, getting his symbol back has not been simple. Again and again, he has followed the magnetic pull of his magic to find Silco still right there on the other end, accompanied by some other Zenite too competent for Liem to just take down by himself. He is aware, also, that the man’s ability to transform others could make even a meek-seeming companion dangerous. He might need to recruit help to take the key back from him, if things continue like this.

But he seeks him out just one more time, nearly invisible in the shadows, a wasp’s black wings folded along his back. Ironically, the more stubborn Silco is about holding onto his possession, the more consistently Liem can track him down, regardless of where in the greenhouse he might be. Whether he knows of Liem’s stalking presence or not, he will not be totally rid of him until that golden key is no longer on his person.]

[zauneyete]

[ You see, Silco knows what it is that he has in his hands. He knows that he has handed over items to his fellow Zenites without any trouble -- something that he would normally not do, but bartering for good will for later seems the appropriate start -- but he would hardly do so for those among Meridian. So when he had taken a trek for those items, as he had picked them up, he had gotten a sense of whom they belonged to, and reacted appropriately.

Those among Meridian, he had kept them away, squirreled them on his person -- a makeshift bag made out of a leaf had done the trick of a bag -- and he had taken to remaining with his usual companions. Sebastian, in particular, being a powerful ally to have. Of course, given that he was Sebastian's master, him being close during an Oracle's call was a given.

Now, though, he was alone. Telling his "help" that it was perfectly fine to go off and take care of some solitary business. He was alone. For the first time in forever. Smoking a tiny cigar -- how had he gotten it? Don't worry about it. It's clearly wrapped in a very green leaf. He puffed at it, blowing rings in the air, the tightness in his face, eyes, and cut of his mouth obvious.

Liem, after all, has been watching him unseen for some time, and has probably noticed that the humorless man is... distinctly, obviously angry. Always angry. Of course, Liem can still probably take him. Emotions aren't exactly Silco's strong suit for control. ]

[sterngaze]

[Liem does not know Silco well enough to guess why he is in such a consistently bad mood. Perhaps he has lost something very dear to him as well, or perhaps he simply dislikes sleeping outside atop dirt and leaves. Either way, it makes little difference to Liem’s plan of action. While he may not be intimately familiar with the man, he knows him well enough to be certain that trying to talk him into handing over his holy symbol would only be a waste of time.

And besides, Silco has been keeping it from him for some time now. He wishes to pay him appropriately for his thievery — and as one of Abadar’s most faithful inquisitors, Liem has long been a bane of thieves. Really, anyone from his own world would know better than to keep such a memento.

When he does catch Silco on his own, getting into an appropriate position to launch his ambush is as simple as stepping into one shadow and out from another. He appears tucked beneath the broad cap of a spreading mushroom, clinging to its trunk like a hunting spider preparing to pounce as he regards the man smoking his diminutive cigar. His eyes are drawn to the makeshift bag housing his holy symbol, magnetic certainty settling on him as soon as he looks at it, making his long, diaphanous wings vibrate with agitation. What he seeks is within.

But when he draws a tiny, dark little dagger and plummets from his perch, he is concerned first and foremost with slamming the man below to the ground and sheathing his splinter-sized blade in Silco’s ribs.]

for Gen — evening communion

[sterngaze]

[The mental nudge comes late during Highstorm’s “evening,” when the moons are sinking toward the horizon and long shadows are draped over the greenhouse interior: a communion request from Kenos’s resident dhampir clergy member. When Gen answers, Liem seems a little keyed-up. He deliberately avoided the drinks at the faerie banquet, but it would have been rude not to attend at all — and something in the food he tried seems to have affected him strangely.]

Gen. I have something that belongs to you.

[After a moment the item appears in image form, though for some reason entirely in shades of black and white: a shard, lying nestled in a bed of sand so coarse it looks like gravel. Pale fingers scoop it up before the image fades to nothing.]

I assume you would like it back.

1/2

[epiprocta]

[ He'd had his suspicions, of course. The moment he'd gotten that vivid mental image of objects belonging to other people, Gen had known that some belongings of his own must be out somewhere in the garden -- so of course his mind had gone to that precious object. But he'd desperately wanted to persuade himself that his worst fears wouldn't be coming into fruition. The shard wasn't just an object, there's no way it could simply be whisked away for this stupid fight over the Oracles. Amos had kept it someplace safe. Surely, it wasn't on the same level as some jars or a gun, right? Right?

Too bad he's proven very, very wrong on that front.

Liem's initial contact had been received in wary silence, the equivalent of a door cautiously opened a few inches so Gen can do the equivalent of peering out the crack to see why the hell Liem would be contact him in the middle of all this. The moment he receives that image of the shard, though, the change in his mindscape is immediate and drastic.

A wash of cold shock, first. A split second of frozen hesitation, laced with dread. Then -- ]

[epiprocta]

[ Rage, pulsing red-hot and vicious. Liem's certainly seen Gen upset or angry before, but nothing on this level. His anger crackles so hot it's practically palpable through Communion, the connection fritzing with each furious word he spits out. ]

Who said you could touch him?!

[ There's the vague sense that Gen has started to move, though -- to where? It's not like he knows where Liem is. All he can do for the moment is continue to snarl through Communion, that venomous anger barely abating. ]

Give him back to me right this instant!

for Dokja — faerie wing saga

[sterngaze]

[Given his familiarity with traversing monster-filled wildernesses, and his competence with one very specific spell learned as he’d deepened his connection with Meridian some months back, Liem feels like he’s among those most well-suited to snatching up one of the effigy items early on, before others have a chance to make headway. While others are fanning out in search of a good place to set up a base, he decides to get started with his hunt — and it seems at least one fellow Meri is of the same mind.

With a wealth of items from which to choose, Liem ultimately sets his sights on the faerie wing, casts his spell, and begins trekking in that direction. The slight elevation he senses from the item suggests that it must be reasonably near, or else just several feet up some sort of small tree. Either way, the change in the direction’s angle as they travel will make guessing the item’s location easier, and with this in mind, he is cautiously optimistic that locating the wing will be straightforward.

Some time later, the two of them have arrived at the base of an immense (read: quite small, actually), many-branched tree. It’s probably some sort of large woody shrub, in reality, but as far as Liem is concerned, it’s one of the largest trees he’s seen in his entire life.

Lifting a hand, he points right up into the immense canopy.]

It’s up there somewhere.

[The faerie wing. He sure hopes it’s the one they want. It sure would be irritating to climb all the way up there to find some completely random bit if wing, right?]

[salvageable]

[ In recent months, Dokja has learned that there's so much worse company to have, so making his way through the greenhouse with Liem by his side feels like a godsend. There's something about the mutual matter-of-factness of this endeavor that Dokja appreciates. After all, he'd been one of the first to head out in search of the items, nothing but a scenario completion in mind. It's a familiar feeling that he knows he can attribute to someone else, someone not himself, but that's a concern for another time. As long as it ultimately helps the Meridian cause, he won't say a word, and Dokja is content to follow after Liem's lead. By the time they make it to the base of the not-so-enormous tree, the entire thing has been strangely, but ideally, uneventful.

With his hands on his hips, Dokja tilts his face up, eyes squinting as if trying to make out what it is they're searching for, but at their size, he really can't see a thing. ]

That's going to be a climb.

[ And spending too much time doing that could mean others catching up to them. While Dokja would normally weigh his options, there's a sudden rashness to his thoughts as he rounds his gaze on Liem, a look of consideration on his face. ]

You wouldn't happen to be able to fly, would you?