NOVEMBER EVENT | THE HARBINGER ORACLE

[beleos]

HEDGING YOUR BETS

Bearers feel it. Similar to when the Scorching Isles was opened, there is the same tug, from somewhere in the distance. Those who are in springstar feel it from closer, like a blossom of warmth in your heart, you feel the Oracle spring to life. Those in Highstorm feel it too, but distant. Far away. You remember Cyrus’s words, that it would come to life in Springstar, and you know, just from the relative distance, from how far away it feels – He was probably right.

So bearers must make their way to the center of Springstar’s residential district. Finding one’s way to Springstar will be difficult, in fact. Preparations have been underway since Cyrus’s announcement, and Springstar leaps into action. The Legionnaires are already marching by the time the first bearers start moving throughout the city. In addition to any of Meridian’s own preparations, the Legionnaires establish choke points and start organizing evacuations. It will be difficult to make your way through Springstar, but the closer bearers make it to the hedge maze, and what seems to be the oracle at the center, the warmer their chests feel. Throughout the city, it feels warm, like small wicks of heat. The closer bearers become, the more it feels like a torrent. It is burning them to their center and igniting them to their cores. Like the fire of drive, is what it feels like. Like the hunger for something more than just food, or anything else, like the anticipation of victory.

The maze itself is where it is the most intense as bearers start to make their way through the hedge maze. Vines and brambles lie within a neat hedge, and it looks like it is safe to jump, or scale, but the moment a bearer tries to jump it, cut through it, or even go beneath it, roots, brambles, and vines lash out to entrap bearers, and start to drag them down and into the hedges. You will have to figure out a way out – lest you be stuck for seemingly the near future.

Of course, when Dimitri’s hand touches the stone statue in the middle, it all goes dark, and wherever you were, whoever you were fighting –

Every bearer collapses at the same time.

YOU'D BETTER BE A-MAZE-ING!

In the dark, there is that fiery impression of the Harbinger. Competition, drive, disdain for even those that best them. It is clear, in the dark, with your eyes closed, that the Harbinger does not see the Bearers as worthy to obtain it. You feel ghostly hands on your mind, into you, as if it is delving for more, trying to pluck and pull out the right memory. It looks for victories, triumphs, defeats, or betrayals. Something that shows the mettle of the bearer, what it is looking for. When it finds what it is looking for – or is this just a dream? – after the bearer experiences the dream, they will get the distinct impression that it is not enough. That the Harbinger wants more. It wants to see what this bearer can do. It wants to see you rise to the challenge, bearer! Will you do as it wishes, and show it the scope of your mettle, or will you capitulate and let the Harbinger know that it was right – you aren’t enough?

The Harbinger wants you to prove them wrong. Can you do that? Will you use spite to convince it that it is wrong? The Harbinger at the center of this labyrinth imparts to bearers, that it will not allow the weak to succeed, that nobody who cannot reach it, would ever be able to protect them. They look down on bearers, and it is up to you, to convince them that you are worth their attention.

When bearers wake, they will be stuck in a foyer. The walls seem blank, and there is a door, leading further into the maze. It is not… fully dark, everything here seems to be lit just enough to move around without trouble, but it is not bright. Bearers can look left, and right, and see others beside them. They are not alone, but nor are they with others of their faction. No, you can feel it, between all of you, gathered here in one space. The humming of your shared aspect fills the room, as if all of you together in one space feels right.

You will not be able to stay. The foyer lasts only until the last person leaves, and if any try to stay behind and stationary, they will find that eventually a door appears, and the room begins to shrink. You had better get moving!

You must move further into the maze. You will find that grouping up for long periods of time becomes impossible, and moving from one door to the next can find foes, allies, or even neutral parties. Every door you open within this maze, leads to new and unusual locations. You may both walk in, from opposite ends, only to find that the doors are gone when you turn your back. Do you end up on a precarious path over spikes, lava, or even water? Do you walk into a room with your greatest desire, a hunger that can now never be sated? Will you do anything to find your way through the corridors? Will bearers help each other, and resist the call of the Harbinger, or will you push over even your treasured ones to win?

MADE IN THE SHADE

And even further in, as you start to catch sight of them, patches of darkness seep into the corners, into everything. They may be hidden, at first. They may lurk underneath patches of leaves, or in shadowed corners. But the longer bearers are within this labyrinth, the longer the shadows seem. They start to reach out, to pull bearers into their shadowy depths. You may feel malaise, or an unwillingness to continue, once you first step within these patches. The longer you are there, the harder it is to get out. You will need help from your friends or dear ones, or sheer strength of will – but can you fight on, as you start to lose the things that motivate you?

And then there are the visions. People you know, love, or trust, they round corners, just ahead. They seem just out of range, and at first, it is difficult to tell if they are there or not. But they happen to reappear, and then disappear around a corner. Try and chase them, if you dare. When your fingers touch their arm, or grab their clothing, or heaven forbid, if you pull them into a hug – it seems impossible to pull away. They were treasured, weren’t they? There is a reason they appear here, to you. Why would you want to pull them away? Why would you –

They reach out, their fingers seem long, as they reach toward your shard – they will not be deterred by clothing or armor, their fingers seem to bend and twist around the junctions – before they find purchase on your shard. They rip it from you, and it feels like you are being separated from something. It’s painful, it hurts, but the last thing you see, as they hold your shard in your hand, is someone you care very deeply for, placing the shard in the same place on their own body, and your own face smiles back at you, and it all goes black. You are gone. Into… nothing.

NOTES

Here are some prompts to set the scene and foundation of the Exalt Oracle! Please refer to the ooc post for more details about what’s happening in the labyrinth! Feel free to direct questions here.

If your character gets killed by a shadow-copy, please let us know in the reporting post that goes up on November 20th if they touch the effigy. If they do not, please let us know on the deaths page! Don't forget to report any dissipations as a whole! Please also let us know if your character is saved by another bearer, or if your character’s shard is taken by the shadow copy for the entire duration of the event. This will not result in any permadeath, but you might get some cool lore! Teehee! If your character defeats a shadow creature, please let us know [HERE]

Comments

[erbe]

[The taste of blood may not be her favorite, but it is not unfamiliar to her. There is magical energy stored in blood, so it can be a good resource when she's dangerously low on her own. What is truly distracting is the way he gathers her close.

He would be right to assume it's her first. Why indulge in such a thing when reputation, self image, and vulnerability are all such big concerns? Even so, her desire for victory and conquest overrides her doubt and insecurities. Her hips, guided to his, roll enthusiastically. Seeking sweet friction despite the layers between them.

The hand at his face lowers. Without the barrier now it's more satisfying to embrace him and claw at his back. To aim at marking him, even if only for a moment. To claim him briefly as her own.]

Lie down so I can take off your pants.

[She commands breathlessly, breaking from the kiss once more. However she refuses to part from him completely — returning to pepper the corner of his lips and jawline with kisses as she pants shallowly for air.]

[damnpire]

[On the outside, D acts as if he's bland as white bread. It's a defense mechanism not unlike the strength and confidence Rin aggressively clutches. The stoicism he purposefully exudes in the face of anything sensual would make anyone believe he was ace, and that would be the point. It's not, however, true on the inside. Deep within him, he's rife with the charming, desiring sexuality a part of all Nobles.

And he's half-human, too. There are parts of him easily bent under what wants and desires a human feels.

So when her body cuts languidly down against him, his own shifts to greedily meet it. Red welts bloom up his back behind her nails, standing out against his skin, but then they slowly and annoyingly disappear, leaving her with a fresh canvas of pale skin to mar a second time, a third. For a moment, he almost chases after her mouth in frustration when it pulls away. Right. Pants.

He stretches his arms around her waist and behind her, toward his feet. He removes the boots first. He's barefoot? He's barefoot, like some kind of woodland gremlin unaware of the existence of socks. Which is funny because when he folds back on one elbow to give her room, the pants are as bizarrely familiar as the top: the medieval leather has been given a modern zipper somehow beneath the single button.

Sitting just above the hemline below his navel is a small piece of the top of a gemstone's peak, something garnet-red and hidden below. Once the pants are undone, his Shard sits as clear as day in the space between the bottom of his navel and his groin, a kite-shaped piece of glittering dark red. Very different than the ugly Shard situated on the back of his left hand.

Also, he isn't wearing anything except the pants. No socks, no undies.]

[erbe]

[Tohsaka grazes her teeth along his jawline as a threat, or perhaps a promise, of what is to come. However he seems to just molt off his pants far quicker than she expected. So Rin pulls away from him just a bit more to do away with her own bottoms—

Wait. Is there something wrong here?]

No underwear?

[She seems surprised. Concerned? Does this man have suck a lanky figure that chafing is a non-issue? But what about his sensitive bits? Is that a problem? Why in the world does she care? Well, one could call her a hypocrite considering she's wearing nothing under her tights, but those are already an undergarment! They have a gusset! SHE HAS AN EXCUSE!

But this also means her hands are at the waist button of her shorts as she stares at his long, naked body with the utmost dumbfounded expression.]

[damnpire]

[D's dark eyes lower to his waist as if he had somehow forgotten the oddity of wearing nothing but a piece of leather. Hm. He supposes it is sort of weird in comparison.]

No need.

[When you think yourself a monster, you don't really bother to go the extra lengths for comfort. Self-flagellation? Practicality? The zipper at least has a fold of leather behind it so it doesn't catch any hair.

At least for what it's worth, the lack of underwear with the fitted leather doesn't seem to have impeded the fact he is slightly aroused. It may be one of the most normal, human things about him now in relation to the horrific perfection of everything else. He is still a victim to the heady influence of sex. Such a boy.

In a way, he is almost self conscious and shy at the focused attention, so he reaches out to trace the silhouette of her body with his hands, careful, however, of spooking her. Asking with his touch, watching the reactions of her face to know.]

1/2

[erbe]

[His blunt reply coupled with the bizarre behavior (what, does he not sweat or have the leather stick grossly to his skin?) seems to break down the final wall of Rin's apprehension. Instead she dissolves into a fit of giggles as her hands return to unfastening her shorts. Once the button and zipper are undone, she'll guide his hands to help slip them off her.]

That's so weird! Hahaha, but I guess you do wear it tight enough that a panty line would show.

[Her laughter is bright and warm as she closes the distance between their faces to rest her forehead to his. It seems whatever weirdness about him is more amusing than it is terrifying.

The moment her shorts are discarded his palms will be led to the curve of her ass. Shapely, from her athleticism — but softened by her love of food.]

[erbe]

If you're feeling a bit impatient you can rip them.

[Her tights, she means. It wouldn't take much. The thin fabric is already strained and stretched against her full rear. It would take almost no effort for a "monster" such as him, and her shorts would hide the evidence in the aftermath. On top of that? Rin simply thinks it would be hot. Exciting, to hear the tear of clothes as her body is exposed for him.

To emphasize why he might be feeling impatient, Rin takes one hand to reach between them. To curl her soft, slender fingers around his partially hard shaft and pump that length twice to encourage that interest.]

[damnpire]

[The way his mouth opens to form the word "panty?" but nothing comes out because she giggles, and the giggle makes him feel weirdly soft. Very easy for her to direct his hands when he's trying not to be stupid about girlish laughter, and the shorts disappear without hesitation.

His fingers feel her skin through the tights. A strange part of him thinks to dominate her, flip her over and be rough, and then another part of him is too afraid he will if he isn't careful. The tights are so flimsy under his hands, and he's also afraid the skin below them is just as fragile.

As confident as he is in his ability to remain taciturn, it's the hand between his thighs that actually manages to get him to flinch in a surprised pleasure which shows on his face. Maybe it's the pleasure that's startling. His nails bite into the tights; he doesn't want to be a ravenous lecher, and at the same time... He fists the tights and pulls quickly and firmly, splitting them away from her ass and thighs, cutting through with a crude, vertical hem. Using what's left, he hauls her onto his lap, and when he rolls up to meet her his exhale is sharp.]

[erbe]

That's more like it, [she coos.]

[A wave of excitement washes over when he ruins the nylon covering her. The sound of the tearing fabric reignites the sharp frenzy that was in her before. While he may have reservations about appearing to be an insatiable degenerate, it seems that Rin doesn't share those concerns. Instead she welcomes the sudden manhandling of her body to get them close. To slot them together.

Her hand is still on his length, and it serves as a guide to settle him against the soft flesh of her slit. Warm, slightly wet, and enveloping him in her folds. Rin seems to be content to let him sit still as she rolls her hips to drag herself along the span of his stiff shaft. She wants to make taking him as easy as she can for herself. Any faltering will be unacceptable.]

Let me prep you a little before the main event, and if you're a good boy I might just indulge any requests you might have.

[damnpire]

[The churning desire to take a girl whose excited blood can be heard pounding through her veins is ingrained in his DNA. Sensuality and vamprism almost go hand in hand. At least it does with the Nobility on the Frontier.

The tips of the fangs flash when his lips part; he lets out a low, strained noise. He's at war again; whether to be more rowdy, whether to lie back and be handled. In the end, he's still a very accommodating young man.

It's not about him? In this dynamic, it isn't about him.

The movement is sudden and very fast, but he holds her in a way to keep her from getting hurt. He sits up straight and forward, folds her back over his legs. Her own legs slide up over his shoulders, hook at the knees, and he lifts her waist with both hands. He lowers his head between her thighs and puts his lips on her without hesitation, tastes her, but tries to be careful of the teeth.

He is not being a good boy, yet also somehow being a good boy.]

[erbe]

[Immediately Rin fists a hand in his long hair. The surprise and sudden change in position catches her off guard, but having him taste her so intimately skyrockets her anxiety. She yelps and pulls at his locks so they tug on his scalp while struggling just a little in the potion he's folded her into.

It's nice. More than nice. It's wonderful to feel his lips move and permit his tongue to drag against her. When Tohsaka figures she can't escape him without causing a fiasco with his fangs, she settles. Dread settles in as she wonders if he'll find her repulsive. She wouldn't blame him if he pulled his face away immediately and discarded her.

Rin just wanted to get him slick enough so she could ride and grind him into submission. Instead he has her compromised, and it's not even a typically dominating act! Silently, nervously, she waits to see if he forges on or decides enduring her body isn't worth the trouble.]

[damnpire]

[The edges of his expression changes with her reactions. The grip to his hair doesn't hurt him; quite the opposite, it pulls out a look of pinched pleasure, a shift in his brows and his forehead. And it doesn't dissuade him from his endeavor. He has the patience to give her time.

She does not taste like other women, but he has the understanding no woman tastes the same as any other. And the flavor doesn't repulse him. He's firm with his mouth and tongue, but careful. He allows her time to adjust, to hopefully realize there's no aggression and no disgust, letting her decide she can relax.

One arm and hand helps his body support her position, but the other fans out to feel her waist, and stomach, and between her breasts with the same sort of careful consideration.]

[erbe]

[When the realization comes that he's not going to be spitting her out or discarding her like rotten meat, she relaxes. Her muscles slowly unwind as she begins to become pliant — folded in his lap and draped over his shoulders.

To expel some of her anxieties, Rin moves her fingers in his hair. Like a cat gently kneading at a soft bed, her manicured nails graze along his scalp before the pads of those digits smooth over that same path as her fist uncurls. Gentle. Rhythmic. Enough to take her mind off her concerns and melt into his careful attention.

And it's nice. It's so nice that she has to hold back a bit of concern that she might not actually deserve to feel good. Not like this. No, she doesn't deserve to have pleasure without a bit of pain. After all, it was her responsibility to endure the trials of the Oracles so that her sister could live a new life. It is her punishment to suffer them in her sister's place after all those years of convincing herself that Sakura must have been happy. Must have been safe.

Her legs squeeze a bit around his face. The plush, softness of her thighs surround him as her desire climbs with each passing moment of his ministrations.]

[damnpire]

[I THOUGHT I HAD REPLIED TO THIS?? I'M SORRY!!! me cleaning out my folder and suddenly noticing. feel free to drop it if you need to!!

Patiently, he gives her time to settle at her own pace, and he continues carefully until she loosens out for him. The fingers tugging his hair he doesn't mind. Actually, they feel better than he would probably want to admit.

He isn't disgusted enough to pull away, instead bullying her by lingering without flinching in what he's doing. The movements of his tongue increases for a long moment, building the leap he can hear of her heart rate. He's focused solely on what he's doing, and then as she tightens her legs around him,

he... stops?

His mouth and head pull away right before she can catch that electric buzz of rising climax. His hands lower her waist down his body and back into his lap, and then one starts pulling her upright again. The opposite hand rises; he wipes his mouth with the back of it. It seems rude!! But he says:]

Now you can keep going.

and then I spent all month feb making up for my own jan disappearance

[erbe]

[The frustration built up in her combined with whatever visceral spark that ignites in her when he wipes his mouth is... something else. It whips her up into a frenzy as she grabs his face in her hands to take him. To taste him. To taste herself on his lips, and to see if she can glean any sort of insight to how others must experience her. Though blinded by her lust she doesn't consider how used to her own medicine she is, and how that may impact Rin's own perception.

After she finishes sliding her tongue against his, exploring the inside of his mouth, she pulls away. Straddling his hips more properly now. One hand on his shoulder for balance, and the other reaching between them to grasp the evidence of his arousal.]

For a moment I almost thought you were afraid of me touching your dick. Stupid, right? I'm sure people would kill to be in this position.

[She emphasizes that by dragging the tip of his length against her wet slit.]