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

[narsinssist]

Oh?

[ He asked with a laugh. Raphael might appear to be a human, but his eyes do not miss the practiced motions, the way her body moved, or the way she seemed to ooze experience and class. She may look maidenly, with those wide eyes and shape, but Raphael was keen and had been deceiving mortals for far longer than most. He could see the signs of a liar of the caliber he was used to, and it made him relax somewhat.

In some ways, at least. ]

Ah, my friend, I have only been here for a scant few weeks. Funds are terribly hard to come by, for those who do not seek them.

[ A wave of his hand, before: ]

Let's wager something of worth more value than mere coin. A favor, perhaps, to the victor? Favors are of far more value than mere gold.

[tattooism]

[Funds were very easy for a woman like her to simply... come across. She cannot say that she has ever really had to try that hard to find what she needed, taking advantage of how slow in the head some men could be in the company of a woman as beautiful as she was- or, could make herself be, depending on tastes. But... She wasn't all that interested in it, besides the nice things she coveted and the things she wished to do. She jingles the coin pouch...

And then slips it back inside of her kimono with a flash of the colorful tattoo across her left breast, honeycomb oozing beneath a deadly wasp across her skin.]

A favor, then.

[That sounded far more interesting.]

But what shall our wager be? Shall we choose ourselves a champion... ? Or perhaps, we play as if we are proper cheerleaders for the factions we have chosen... ?

[narsinssist]

[ He laughed, and looked over the battlefield, the city streets, and considered. ]

I do not know much of my faction, beyond the infighting so recently witnessed. They seem determined, but disagree on simple things such as method, or ability, or even whether one should or should not fight. I wonder if your Zenith is similar, hm?

[ No, Raphael held little loyalty toward Meridian, though that was not likely to change. How could a man who venerated himself above all others willingly truly support a cause. Raphael wanted little more than to see his world return. The sunk cost of his efforts motivated him. ]

Let us choose champions. Those whom we know will fight hard, whether or not it is for our chosen side.

[ He at least, knew of several. ]

[tattooism]

Similar enough, I assume. I made a charitable little offer to help with this and none of them even knew well enough to take me up on it...

[What a shame, honestly... But she supposes she cannot fault a population that is largely mortal for not knowing what to do in such a situation as this. She's content enough to sit back and watch.

But champions? Kiritsubo finds the idea amusing, and so she joins Raphael in looking down at those Shard-bearers making their way toward and through the garden maze. Below them, they seem so small, but her eyes are keen, and she had done plenty of observing in the days leading up to all of this chaos.]

Hmmm... I'll choose Mister Tall, Brooding, and Blonde.

[A dark nail points down to the armored figure of one Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd, racing through the hedges.]

I can sniff righteous dedication on him from here. And surely a damsel like myself should have a knight in shining armor... ?

[narsinssist]

[ His laugh is darkly delighted, as his eyes marked the one she picked out, and made an assessment. Righteous dedication surely was the way to describe the knight, and Raphael surely would think that there should be a contrast to that.

As his eyes scan over, one sticks out, with an artificial arm, and ears that stand up straight. There's a certain darkness to the way the boy moves, the way he lurks and slips in and out of the shadows. Not righteous determination, but qualities that Raphael could see as worthwhile. After all, the boy was sneaking along. Likely a Zenite, but Raphael had seen the other among Meridian-led forces before. It was easy to make the choice to choose someone he was not familiar with, over someone he was.

Besides, it made it more fun. ]

Let us take that little creature down there. I always did enjoy supporting those who had more room to grow.

[ Did the boy remind him of a young boy he'd once taken under his wing, ungrateful creature that he was? Yes, but we won't say that. ]

[tattooism]

[Raphael's choice makes Kiritsubo laugh, and she makes no attempt to hide it or muffle it, amused at the irony.]

Oh, I know him... He does look like a grower, doesn't he?

[Is there innuendo in her voice? Yes, there is. A certain sort of thoughtless, natural sexuality carelessly dripped from almost every movement, every word that this woman spoke. It might make it hard to tell sometimes when she was actually flirting or making a real proposition, but... That game could be fun, too, so why not?]

I'm looking forward to this now...

[Skin in the game, and all that.]

I hope you'll think of a good favor if you win, Raphael. I know I will be.

[narsinssist]

[ Raphael laughed. It sounds a touch mean, a touch more mocking, and the way he looked down upon their targets, he thought it would be true in multiple aspects. He watched the boy for a second longer, before he tipped his glass, and polished off the last of his wine. ]

Do not fret. I am quite practiced at favors. I will have something appropriate in store for you.

[ He bowed to her, then. It was a smooth motion, and then, with a smile, he said: ]

And for now, adieu.

[ He snapped his fingers, and vanished in a sweltering burst that overtook him, like hellfire rippling across his form. ]

[tattooism]

Ciao~

[Kiritsubo has just enough time to raise her hand and blow a playful kiss before her new companion vanishes in a poof of heat. Just before he goes, he will hear the beginnings of her chuckle, and in his absence...]

Ah, what a show-off~

[Her laughter grows, and she lets her head fall back, small heeled boots kicking over the edge of the roof. How amusing. How fun.

Maybe this Oracle trial would earn her something after all.]