beleos: (Default)
beleos ([personal profile] beleos) wrote in [community profile] kenoslogs2023-01-13 05:00 pm

⏳ THE SCORCHING ISLE: Oracle Event One ⏳


ARRIVAL
All Bearers have heard whispers of them - the Oracles. Mysterious and unknown entities of an abstract nature, they serve as the heart of each faction’s cause - both as a means to an end and a very real stepping stone in achieving their objectives. To claim an Oracle means growing ever closer to victory: to see your homes restored as they were, or to herald in a new one of your making.

So you go.

A Cornerstone has been set up for each faction; one for the Zenith and one for the Meridian in Yima’s manor and Heliopolis, respectively. They warn you that upon transportation, your safety cannot be guaranteed and there is no telling what waits for you beyond - to be prepared. To make sure you have whatever you deem necessary with you before you go, as there is no telling when - or how - you will be coming back. CONTINUED HERE...

NOTES

  • Upon your arrival, you woke up with an HOURGLASS NECKLACE. Please refer to the Time Mechanics on the OOC Summary and bottom of this post for details on its usage.
  • The COURTYARD is frozen in time. Player Characters and the Great Tree are the only signs of moving, free life in the courtyard. During the intro, time magic does not work.
  • Characters are free to investigate but cannot move beyond the courtyard if you choose a prompt during the intro. You may mingle among your fellow Bearers or speak with [MR. TIBBS] if you so choose. (Also? LOOK AT HIM HELP)
  • Iconoclasts and Stargazers will notice Aspect benefits/detriments now.
  • All characters will be weak for the 24 hours - think like mild flu - and unable to leave until Mr. Tibbs has dispersed them. This is the time in which any threads with the NPC will be carried out.
  • The INTRO concludes with said dispersal of PC’s once interactions concluded. They will be sent to a location around the castle of your choosing; they are free to move about freely from here. Your prompts can start with you waking alone or in the presence of others - whatever you’d like!
  • Your character will innately understand how to use time magic from this point forward. It will come naturally to them, like a skill they were born with.


  • CASTLE: OVERVIEW (p a s t)
    The Scorching Isles is home to the Atirat, a people of sea-dwellers who have the ability to walk on land. (Think mermaids with the ability to shift back and forth between human and mermaid forms.) As such, much of the Scorching Isles is covered in large bodies of blue water and glistening pieces of ice to accommodate their lifestyle.

    THE CASTLE, however, is what dominates the landscape and it's where the Shard-Bearers will be spending their time. The white castle with colorful glass windows is obscured by a thick layer of clouds and fog. Nearly every location on the island has a thin layer of fog that rolls through it, which gives the entire Island an inescapable chill. The castle has artfully built rooms with a CAVALCADE OF DECORATIVE ICE, lavish mirrors, and white plants accented with blue decorations. Several portions of the castle are submerged due to the aquatic nature of the native residents.

    And everywhere you go, you find them - STATUESQUE BODIES FROZEN mid-movement. They are haunting reminders of the power in your Hourglass - the very real power to decide their fates.

    The castle has many winding paths to explore, as castles often do. There are sleeping quarters, HALLWAYS, a wine cellar, and a few large rooms presumably for diplomatic affairs. Players can use these rooms at their own leisure for whatever purposes they see fit. (Exploration, combat, or supply gathering.)

    However, many of these rooms will require some strategy to access their full potential! Atirat were much more comfortable being underwater than many Kenosians may be. Therefore, rooms of higher importance may be COMPLETELY SUBMERGED or require swimming through an underwater pathway to reach them. Very minimal supplies will be kept out in the open for all to reach. More desirable supplies - such as warm clothing, small weapons, treasure, and the like - will be located past or within one of these flooded areas.

    Players may gather supplies within and preserve their Sand or use their Sand to make other rooms accessible and gather whatever lies within! The larger the asset you attempt to unfreeze, the more Sand it costs - and the more drained/vulnerable you will be as a consequence, so choose your path ahead wisely.

    Currently, a pervasive fog is preventing you from wandering beyond the Castle's limits. Should you try to venture past it, your Sand will rapidly be stolen and you will find yourself suffering the same fate as the islanders if you don't move back to safety quickly... However, if you ask Mr. Tibbs what lays beyond the mist - he will tell you about the thriving farmland, the once-bustling village surrounding the castle, and the beautiful coral reefs beneath it. Sadly, they're beyond your reach - but maybe if the Bearers decide to unfreeze them when the week is up...

    LIBRARY (s a f e z o n e)
    The ROYAL LIBRARY - A treasure trove of knowledge, history, and glimpses of a fractured past scattered throughout. The lower floor of the Library is void of much reading material and contains several intricate-looking art pieces on decorative pedestals.

    A spiral staircase dominates the center of the room, with its once delicate structure overtaken by sheets of formidable ice; it leads you toward the upper levels where a sea of books awaits. There are isles and isles of books, most perched on intricately carved shelves. Many books lay in piles or are discarded onto the floor, and scattered papers are common throughout.

    Curious Kenosians may pick out books from the shelves and read on various topics, but players may also pass through this room on their way elsewhere. This area will function as a safe haven where violence and the taking of others' Sand is not allowed; do not disturb the books or Mr. Tibbs won’t be happy!

    NOTES

  • Characters who wish to receive a book with lore specific to the island may comment [HERE]. You will be RNGed a book from a pre-written list of topics. The books may give you a deeper look into the island, its inhabitants, and its history! (Only 1 book per player! Please assume all other books they read are about commonly-available topics.)


  • THE EATING PARLOR (p a s t)
    There are no basic amenities on the island. No hot water, no warm beds, and no salacious magazines (that you know of. heh heh). That would make the Eating Parlour a wise stop for anyone. After all, this could be the perfect chance to procure some provisions!

    The EATING PARLOUR has all the equipment one would need for meal preparation. Dried plants hang from the ceiling, and the walls are lined with mason jars filled with every strange manner of presumably edible thing (Is that a head over there? Hmm… maybe you should check).

    The parlour also comes with a garden under a massive windowed dome so that the inhabitants could have fresh produce at hand. Many plants have withered, but there are some salvageable plants if you know how to look for them. But beware… Some of the plants have a strange blue glow. These plants can spell potential disaster.

    If someone should make contact with these glowing plants, they will crumble into glass shards - glass that will quickly burrow its way under the skin and curse that person with Blight. Blight will make all resources within that person's vicinity slowly age and eventually crumble to dust. (Which I relate to on a personal level tbh.) Iconoclasts will be immune to its effects.

    NOTES

  • Please see the "Blight" section below for more information on its effects.


  • TREASURE ROOM (f u t u r e)
    Faint singing can be heard coming from this room. Once you hear the song, it dulls your senses and leaves you in a haze. There is no stopping your feet from guiding you to it through the doors and into the Treasure room. The door slams shut at your back, sealed with a wall of ice and magic.

    Players will find themselves lured to an icy chamber bordered by a ring of cold blue fire. There is a deep pond that surrounds the platform you’ve found yourself standing on. Beyond its glassy surface and crystal clear water, one can glimpse all manner of treasures - from crowns, jewels, ornate statues in various statues of repair, scepters, spears, and books that seem impervious to the water's cold chill.

    As you come to your senses, you will find yourself frozen in place and at the mercy of a large statuesque being before you. This beautiful and horrifying figure in a perpetual song is the SIREN, the only Atirat you’ve seen in person. She measures nearly 20 feet (6 meters) from her head to the tip of her long-finned tail. She cradles an icy shard in her arms, singing to it as if it were a child.

    She sits serenely in front of a large hourglass filled with white sand, which is bordered by a spear and a lance. Emblazoned in faint text at the base of where she sits reads: “The future lies in our hands.”

    NOTES


    Welcome to the Siren’s Chamber! Players must use their wit, charisma, or some good ol' fashioned elbow grease to escape the room or break the Siren’s magic. The Shard that the Siren holds contains dormant time magic that players may activate by using the Sand within their necklace. Players can access the future in 5-second intervals and use whatever they find in that time period to escape their predicament.

    For example, if they activate the shard by using their time magic, that shard will begin to glow blue. The room around them will shift, and it could change to a point in the future where there is a sword nearby. If you can grab it, now you have a weapon! When the 5 seconds are up and time returns to the present, you will still have that weapon on your person. You may also try verbal communication if you’d like. If your character is someone who would try and talk their way out of a situation diplomatically, they may give it a try!

    It is up to player discretion/creativity to think of a scenario you’d like. Each “future" does not have to be the same across player encounters! What one group experiences may be tailored to the player wants (because branching timelines exist). Let your imagination run free!

    HALL OF MIRRORS (p r e s e n t)
    Should you reach the rightmost wing of the massive castle Library, you will find a door hidden in the very back of one aisle against a wall; it looks as though the door used to be concealed by magicks that have since dissolved.

    The stairwell leads down and into darkness. Once you reach the bottom, shimmering light cast from an unknown source beneath sheets of glistening ice will illuminate your new surroundings; you are in a maze of mirror-like ice. This labyrinth is silent save for the quiet creaking of shifting ice that may disquiet you and leave you uneasy regarding the stability of this area… but it holds beneath your feet.

    Mr. Tibbs had told you that the “Kaleidoscope” - where your Sand is counted - rests through here, so eventually, you must brave the journey. Is it a trick of the light? Maybe the product of an especially active imagination…?

    Did you just see one of your reflections move without you?

    NOTES

  • Please refer to the OOC Summary for details on the Hall of Mirrors!


  • THE BLIGHT and TIME MECHANICS

    BLIGHT

  • Blight is an infliction that will age supplies and infect people with a creeping disease that steals their Sand. For objects, this includes weapons, food, and items like cloth. It will take a few days to deteriorate things beyond use - so watching your supplies and acting accordingly is in your best interest. Generally, it will make it more difficult for PC's to get by given that their already scarce resources will dwindle and deteriorate - especially since it's 'contagious' through touch.
  • The Blight will not act quickly enough to severely hamper infected persons, but repeated exposure will cause effects to a person's body - notedly protruding VEINS in the face and extremities, a lower body temperature, and increased agitation. These effects start out mild and grow more severe with each 'dose.'
  • Characters must touch an object/person that is Blighted to become inflicted with Blight themselves. When that happens, it will become easily identifiable as Blighted from the faint blue, shimmering outline around the infected subject, as well as the WITHERED, FROSTBITTEN or ashy appearance it takes as it progresses.
  • However, there is one single perk with Blight. (Or is it a perk?) Players will feel reduced impact by the cold surroundings, making the climate around them somewhat more hospitable. Beware of falling victim to a chill you can't feel...
  • TIME

  • To use your Sand, each character is granted access to and innate knowledge of a spell they channel from their Shard that automatically manipulates their Hourglass. This allows the remote control of Sand (aka gathering and dispersing), as well as the ability to pull Fragments of time from Shards.
  • Fragments are literal pieces of you taken from your Shard. They manifest as memories or images displayed on little shards of broken glass (think of the memory being played out in real-time on the mirror's surface), and can be crushed to convert into Sand automatically, either voluntarily or by force. The only stipulation is that the parties must be close to one another, and the Fragment must be exchanged while both Bearers are still. This means someone has to give it to you, or you need to immobilize them before you take it - one way or another.
  • Once the Fragment is crushed, the memory and associated time of that person's life is lost and your character will suffer amnesia until the Oracle is claimed. How deep this goes is up to you; they could lose a large chunk of time - even all their memories surrounding a person or place for a big payload of Sand, or they could lose very little for a meager net gain.
  • Sand is automatically gathered or distributed by your Hourglass and added/subtracted to your running total. No need to micromanage. Convenient!
  • Please note that using Sand to unfreeze anything (resources, a door which can be then opened, etc) is an unpleasant experience. Each time you use Sand in this way, your character will be left feeling weakened and flu-like for an hour or two, which will leave them vulnerable. This effect stacks and scales up to outright KO-ing them for a few hours if they go crazy, so unfreezing too large of an area is off the table!

  • NOTES
    • An OOC POST will be coming shortly explaining how Sand is going to be tallied and the Oracle claimed.
    • Should your character attempt to unfreeze any NPC's, please respond [HERE]. NOTE: unfreezing NPC's may result in physical violence with CW's for severe mental instability/illness and a potential reference to self-harm.
    • HAVE FUN!!!
    CODING
    appeale: (where i will engage)

    [personal profile] appeale 2023-02-09 02:25 am (UTC)(link)
    But the risk is just to me, and I don't mind if it means I might be more useful!

    [ she wishes she could only make decisions she has confidence in, but she's always been resigned to the fact that she has no choice other than to accrue losses and make blind gambles. as long as she doesn't die, what does it matter? she lives at rock bottom. it's not like she'll ever have hope for anything good. ]

    ... Um, are you going to come with me, signore, or shall I go and then report back?

    [ the whole point of this was so that she didn't have to be alone, but she can't be too clingy in this situation either. ]
    goldendeceiver: (i love this city always)

    [personal profile] goldendeceiver 2023-02-09 04:17 am (UTC)(link)
    [ Her words are vague, and it's hard to tell if she plans to accompany him, or if she plans to try and physically keep him from leaving. The latter will be a pain if that's the case, because Hayame's got a couple of legs on him, and Ernesto suspects even in icy hallways he'll have trouble escaping her.

    If it's the first though...

    That can work in his favor actually.
    ]

    Are you volunteering to be my chaperone then?

    [ That light tone of his is teasing, but he is watching her carefully to see her reaction. ]
    wolof: (The Girl who (didn't) Climb the Tower)

    [personal profile] wolof 2023-02-09 06:04 am (UTC)(link)
    I can.

    [ She said, and her eyes drifted downwards, until her eye caught sight of... a man that she could only say looked to be unremarkable. Akua reached out, to place a hand on Misa's cheek, and her eyes followed her hands, watched the way she tucked them into her coat.

    Now, call her paranoid, but Akua was Praesi, and thus, she knew there was always a chance.
    ]

    You'll want to hold still, dear heart.

    [ She said, and let her fingers draw to her chin, and then... she started to cast -- it's quick, and Misa will feel the edges of the cold fade, a warmth spread to her fingers and toes. Akua's lips curled, and then, there's a crack on the mirrored surface as Misa's mirror-shard cracked. ]

    Not for free, though.
    zauneyete: (Don't look up)

    [personal profile] zauneyete 2023-02-09 07:14 am (UTC)(link)
    Of course I do.

    [ He says, with a roll of his eyes, the question implicit in the motion. Are you really asking me that? ]

    Alenroux is an island that has no claim. It is strictly impossible to keep it locked to either Zenith or Meridian. An island like this presents opportunity. Resources that could be distributed onto Highstorm, which would allow us an edge, as we can use that as opposed to struggling through fighting off the Meridian and only occasionally occupying it. The seasons there make it difficult, and labor can be lost.

    Is it not better to have a steady supply of resources? Food, metals, raw materials that can be utilized later?

    I think the answer of what we should focus our effort on is obvious.
    baltimores: (053)

    [personal profile] baltimores 2023-02-09 10:46 am (UTC)(link)
    [ Amos goes straight for Dextera's neck the second he sees an opening, dagger up against it, just above his hourglass. He's got a firm grip on Dextera despite his struggling, but really, Amos recognizes he doesn't need to outright kill him. The blade's proximity is more a method of control than anything else as he dips in, tries to collect Dextera's sand.

    He doesn't hear anything. Doesn't suspect anything, even though he knows Dextera has done something. But as long as he's got a hold on him—

    He's the one closest to the cephalopod, though, his body shielding Dextera's from it in a perversion of protection. And before he can do anything — between Dextera's struggles and Amos' need to ensure he gets this right — he feels something against his back.

    Something that cannot possibly be right.

    With a shout of surprise Amos whips around, abandoning Dextera completely as he does, blindly lashing out with his dagger against

    he doesn't know what

    what the fuck

    And through their empathic connection, Dextera will probably feel Amos' own sense of shock (dread), as he doesn't know what is suddenly looming over him, nor how to kill it. ]
    baltimores: (149)

    [personal profile] baltimores 2023-02-09 10:49 am (UTC)(link)
    [ Yeah, her tone and her words don't match up at all. When Amos cracks his eyes back open at the sound of her voice he sees the way she's defaulted to play with her hair. Makes a small note of that in the back of his mind, but for right now: cake. Cake,

    His eyes slide right back shut again as he resumes finishing off this first bite. They open again when Lottie asks him how it is, when he needs to be able to see to get a second helping... ]


    Heavenly. Might be the best I've ever had. I don't mean that in the way that like, where I come from most of the food sucked; I mean this is really, really fucking good.

    [ He uses his fork to collect a second bite, but... wait. Pauses. Blinks at her, because as far as he knows there's only the one fork, but she's... right there, still... ]

    You sure this is all for me? You didn't want any? [ A beat. ] Don't get me wrong, I'll eat this all on my own right now, but I gotta be sure first.

    [ That's friendship, right? Right. ]
    cutlery: please do not take! (choo choo bitches)

    [personal profile] cutlery 2023-02-09 03:48 pm (UTC)(link)
    [ Sebastian gives a little nod that it’s accepted, then huffs out a little noise to empty his lungs as he stops breathing. It’s not necessary functionality for him luckily, but the chill of the water still causes certain reactions on his form, vestigial though it may be. ]

    Then but a moment. I have to dive in, since this form does not sink so easily.

    [ There’s amusement as he relays it since it really is funny to be so candid. But with that, he dives into the water without delay. It’s quicker than Teacher’s descent, but indeed, once he’s in the water, he looks to Teacher and gives a little nod. It’s no bother at all, though he does wonder if there would be effects if he were to linger… Only one way to find out. ]

    So indeed. I admit, I did not deal with children often at all before the young master, so it was a bit of a shock. Adults are… I do not know about more reasonable, but they are a different, logical sort of unreasonable.
    passio: (pic#12181649)

    [personal profile] passio 2023-02-09 03:54 pm (UTC)(link)
    [ being held by amos just reaffirms that dextera would never, ever be able to take him in an entirely physical fight. he needs his tricks, he needs these advantages. once they leave here, he doubts he’ll be able to summon one of these creatures again, but amos might expect it and prepare accordingly—every time dextera does something new to him, he’ll have to do something different the next time.

    but there will always be a next time. he’ll make sure of that. ]


    —!

    [ dextera is let go at the critical moment, admittedly frightened by how close he got to loss there. at least fright is shared, and he knows to put distance between them even as he coughs and forces his heart calm again.

    the dagger successfully cuts into the flesh of the creature, but it doesn’t bleed. it just rips open a bit, and it seems unharmed otherwise; more than unharmed enough to reach out, latching the hooked tips of its tentacles into amos’ clothes. its strange, tubelike mouth flutters in front of his face, but it mercifully doesn’t seem like it’s going to spit anything on him. in fact, with the slow, gelatinous way it moves, it doesn’t seem immediately evident what it plans, if anything, to do.

    dextera doesn’t actually say anything, but there’s a thread in their link nonetheless that feels like confrontation. the mental shove seems to say, “see what I’ve dealt with? and how I still want to bring my world back?” ]
    redsoil: (pic#16220814)

    [personal profile] redsoil 2023-02-09 04:18 pm (UTC)(link)
    [ Sebastian's reading is, 'whelming. And to it, Set's response is a wry: ]

    Incredibly dull. What is existence without a challenge?

    [ To him, it sounds as though fate has little desire to enrich Sebastian's habitat at all. Though, that isn't to say that something or someone aside from fate might provide such opposition. He does consider the offering of stories, though his eyes narrow and roll slightly when he hears that they are from the mouths of humans; fallible things, whose histories are a bit like a game of 'pass it along', inevitably straying from the truth of things. As if they could grasp the truth of things, with finite minds and finite existences. They lived and died, and their consciousness was honed for such experiences; while Set, and Sebastian, were old and immortal -- and thus, they were built differently.

    After a few more rounds, drawing his way through Lovers and Hanged Man with a hissing 'tch' and a few other cards, he holds his hand out to stop Sebastian from drawing any further cards the moment that he lays down the Fool, Upright. ]


    That's your win. The rules of the Last Dance's game state that the Fool has the potential to grant victory or defeat, as even a 'zero' can upset the balance of all things, no matter the score as it stands.

    [ He's not upset by the loss. Really, what he's upset by is how maat has lain out some precognitive story about his relationship with power, about how his will will be his weapon. He's not stupid, he is suspicious and clever in his own way. A trickster by design, growing steadily into such a role over time. ]

    -- much more fun than fighting for Sand, isn't it?

    [ Coyly asked. ]
    cutlery: (combination of Marts both Wal and K.)

    [personal profile] cutlery 2023-02-09 04:45 pm (UTC)(link)
    [ unfortunately no, because they’re also largely weirdos, ]

    I agree. It is why I find them so very interesting, honestly. In my experience, you are precisely right.

    [ A few examples come to mind since Sebastian has the luxury of existing long enough to try have a wide, long view of humanity. He’s seen them develop and create wonders that he would have thought nothing short of impossible even only a century before. It’s their admirable quality, as a whole. But, ]

    It creates interesting contradictions as well. That drive pushes them towards things that go against their sense of morality at times. Yet, they justify it. That is perhaps my bias speaking, but I find that behavior just as charming.
    cutlery: please do not take! (that's soda pressing)

    [personal profile] cutlery 2023-02-09 07:33 pm (UTC)(link)
    So indeed! It is the sort of fortune that I am hardly worthy of, hm?

    [ Sebastian responds to the wry response with a playful one of his own since he hardly disagrees. It’s also apt in its way, but it’s also not a truth he’s inclined to share. He would consider his change to be the transition of one Covenant to another, and he would indeed say that his new partnership is going swimmingly. And in that… It’s not dull at all.

    But the game continues, and as Sebastian draws the Fool, he’s also surprised when that’s the win. He laughs a little in his surprise, then bows his head in gracious acceptance of the win. ]


    My, my! Luck is indeed on my side today, I suppose.

    [ With such a pleasant fortune and now a win at the game overall? He wouldn’t be surprised if Set did accuse him of being a cheat, but he at least has a feeling that Set knows him well enough at this point to know it’s not his first inclination. It’s not off the table entirely, of course. But for a casual game with equally casual stakes, there’s no need at all. ]

    And indeed, this has been much more rewarding than Sand, at least in a sense. I am sure I will enjoy that bit of play as well, but… [ The coy question gets a coy smile in turn ] With you? This is certainly more fun.
    Edited (redundant,) 2023-02-09 19:37 (UTC)
    redsoil: (pic#16220625)

    [personal profile] redsoil 2023-02-09 08:02 pm (UTC)(link)
    You need not fear it from me, then.

    [ There is no pretending that although their species are distinct and different from one another, that were he capable of fatherhood, it would not matter. But, he is not. The ability to have children was taken away from him the moment he considered the splendor of fatherhood, perhaps it had ben stolen away long before he knew what it was he could ever desire. Nothing will be born to him, ever. Save for the beautiful, strangling vine that digs its way throughout his soul, and whatever awaits him at Osiris's side in Duat.

    They are so alike. He cannot read her mind, but her revulsion at the idea of being used to father children on makes his skin crawl and his throat close up, nauseated immediately by his own — his own experiences. The things he's heard people say about him, the things he's lived through — hundreds of things, the agonies of vulnerable women. For a moment, he turns his head from her, closing his eyes in both irritation and private need. He and Hayame would rather their bodies be seen as dangerous, than desired.

    He regrets his choice of descriptor of her. Desirable, it's disgusting. ]


    His name is Anubis. Nephthys and I loved him from the moment he was born. I taught him how to fight and when he should love instead, I taught him of war and mercy, I showed him every corner of Egypt and we used to sail the Nile together, where he'd tell me the name of every plant and animal he could see. He loved cats the most, would always beg me to keep every stray he'd ever see and he'd cry that he needed something warm to remind him of me when I was far away, fighting wars instead of holding him.

    [ He says it slowly, peeling his eyes open one by one, to look at her as she recovers (if it is under his watchful gaze, he will not say; for both their sakes, as well as their pride and independence). And slowly, he offers her his hand. ]

    Would you like to see him?
    prizeneck: (11)

    [personal profile] prizeneck 2023-02-09 08:02 pm (UTC)(link)
    [There was no click of a lighter, not a snap of a match. The flare of the smoke's scent reached his nostrils easily, the stench as easy to spot as it was easy to dissipate and get his own senses into overdrive.

    Spells. Of course, this guy would already have some of those in his back pocket. It's all very new to Mamoru himself, but he's nothing if not adaptable.

    Zaunites. The name didn't ring a bell, but this wouldn't be the first time someone would hold a full concept of a purpose behind a collective like this. He guessed that even in different worlds, universes, dimensions—whatever anyone wanted to call those— people were wired similarly.

    Well. Beings. There was a talking otter floating about, after all.
    ]

    What makes you believe your matron is telling you the truth?
    prizeneck: (95)

    [personal profile] prizeneck 2023-02-09 08:14 pm (UTC)(link)
    If a bodyguard needs protection, then they're better off dead.

    [A gnarl, the soles of his boots (thank you, odd and random sponsor in the coliseum, who had provided him with these) groaning with the pressure over the shard of glass, making it crack into a web of other smaller shards under Mamoru's weight as he stands back up.

    He shakes his hand, spattering blood in front of him like he touched something nasty.

    'You know she's right.'

    Lottie is right. Not about him bleeding, but about him being at a disadvantage.
    ]

    Focus. [He doesn't voice it. He sends it to Lottie through their mind, the first time that he actually reaches out to her. He had sent her a similar bark before, hadn't he? It feels familiar.

    He switches his stance (wider feet, bend at the knees, a switch on the grip of his sword) and closes his eyes behind his shades. If he's making himself an enemy that he can't see, then he'll make sure that there are no other senses involved.

    The double cackles, a low, gritty sound that scatters across the large hall. 'You think that will work?'

    He doesn't budge.
    ] I'm fine. You're not superstitious, are you?
    prizeneck: (4)

    F.....

    [personal profile] prizeneck 2023-02-09 08:23 pm (UTC)(link)
    [He can't help the snort. What a punk move, to go for the semantics instead of owning up to the fact that he needs this.

    If that's how Atsumu wants to play it, he'll make it work.
    ]

    So you were conned into giving it away? [A tsk. He's not angry; Mamoru is just disappointed.

    The swordsman reaches up to remove his shades. Folds them neatly and slips them into the breast pocket of his jacket. A well-practiced move, even if he doesn't do it that often on the field like this.

    All a front, all a statement.
    ] Bad move.
    redsoil: (pic#16220562)

    [personal profile] redsoil 2023-02-09 08:38 pm (UTC)(link)
    [ There may be other circumstances where Set feels the need to accuse someone of being a cheat, but this is not one of them. Like Sebastian, he is as inclined towards trickery and guile as any other; he prefers to obfuscate and mislead, disobey and defy convention. Cheating at a casual, dare I say, friendly game would be poor form.

    They'll inevitably cross one another's paths when the game is of higher stakes. This is a distraction from the ebb and flow of Sand, which strikes him as precisely the sort of thing he ought to be doing. He is, after all, the god of the desert. Sand is intimately familiar to him, even in a more metaphorical sense. ( He's not very stimulated in this battle, is what it is, and has taken to operating outside of given parameters. Attacking his own team is the same as taking the time to strike playful deals with the enemy. ) ]


    I agree. Had we played for Sand, I feel we would have been more inclined to a traditional competition. Something we had more sway over, with our respective skillsets. This was simply, dare I say it, for us and us alone.

    [ He takes to putting away the cards, folding them together one by one into their carrying box before storing it away in his things; that he even brought a game to play to a battlefield that would serve to grant one of their sides an Oracle is -- telling of his nature. ]

    Now. I owe you what you've asked for, don't I? To the victor, the spoils.
    warmare: (言葉を飲み込む)

    [personal profile] warmare 2023-02-09 09:40 pm (UTC)(link)
    [She has striven to be everything that woman who had borne her wasn’t, so that she might prevent becoming her- just at a different stable, for a different master. She had chosen loyalty and servitude to keep her arms, she had let the master convince her she and the others were better than the Armless to keep her head high, she had cared for her coat and her hair to not look like a broken nag who’d foaled too many times, and she’d… she’s sharpened herself to dangerous. She was beautiful, and there was no changing that, but she would be so sharp and hard that anyone who tried it would come back bloody and regretful-

    But the story Set weaves is beautiful.

    His eyes closed, her slumped against the icy wall shivering intermittently… his words are warm. He speaks of a child not his blood but loved by him and who she assumed is his fellow goddess, a wife or sister or both. Of a boy who was smart and curious and loving in turn, the kind of boy… she thinks, the kind of son Gonta had been to Matsukaze. Was he not always waiting patiently, showing off eagerly when he learned a new medicinal plant, throwing himself into the tasks around the village to be worthy of the respect his father commanded? Had he not… made her almost think that if she were to have a child, that if that child might be born free, from a partner she chose…

    Set’s eyes are open again. His hand hovers between them.

    - and she takes it, slowly and quietly.]
    Edited (highway bus typos ) 2023-02-10 00:51 (UTC)
    warmare: (組んだ捥)

    [personal profile] warmare 2023-02-10 02:08 am (UTC)(link)
    [Honestly, it isn’t wrong for someone else to be unsure about which of those options Hayame is proposing. But when asked,]

    What did you think I was proposing?

    [It’s clear to her!!!]
    consolation: (2809166 (61))

    [personal profile] consolation 2023-02-10 03:56 am (UTC)(link)
    [HE'S IN THE PRESENCE OF A VERY RICH BUT ULTIMATELY FRUGAL INDIVIDUAL...CAPITALISM AT WORK. At the very least, no one can say that Cyrus doesn't know what material wealth speaks to her the most. Had he trusted her to spend it wisely?

    They aren't completely protected from anyone else overhearing their words, especially operating within neutral territory. She isn't dishonest, but when it comes to this, she doesn't overshare, either. There are so many little innocuous things that, when said, could be taken out of context by someone whose devotion is more zealous than her own. It sculpts her answer.
    ]

    I see it being very difficult for me to adopt Meridian's cheery heroism. [With some stern humbleness, Caren continues.] Restoring what has been lost... I lack the divine authority to make that kind of decision, whether it should have happened or not. I would say that, as motivated by the future as we may be, it's imperative not to lose sight of the current moment. Remembering the past prevents repeating it, of course, but you are injured now.

    [She gestures at the wounds she's treating. Time marches forward and is rarely meant to be reversed. If there's no guard rail on what happens in the future - or even "next" - then the possibilities are all pretty ugly, aren't they?]
    zauneyete: (pontificating)

    [personal profile] zauneyete 2023-02-10 04:09 am (UTC)(link)
    Hm. Interesting.

    [ Silco watched the creature wring out his clothes like the water was mere inconvenience, instead of something freezing him to the bone. Perhaps he didn't feel it, which was...impressive, actually. Really impressive. ]

    I have never seen something like it in my life, until I arrived in Horos, either. There is... supposedly magic, out in the rest of the world somewhere, but...

    [ Not in the "City of Progress" and most certainly not in its dank and poor undercity. Well, at least before Talis built the Hexgates, but that's a lot of giving up the specifics of his world. ]

    Thankfully, I can assure you, it is possible to get used to it.
    zauneyete: (Shifts Eyes right)

    [personal profile] zauneyete 2023-02-10 04:25 am (UTC)(link)
    What makes you think I Do believe it?

    [ He asked, as if the answer was obvious. ]

    Simple -- I don't.

    Why do the lot of you always ask if I Trust her? [ He asked, a touch of annoyance filtering into his voice. ]

    Do you trust Cyrus -- or that he'll hold out and bring your worlds back, free of charge?
    wolof: (Sonnike Beauty)

    [personal profile] wolof 2023-02-10 04:47 am (UTC)(link)
    [ She smiled at him, her lips quirked into a smile that says, very clearly, that it was after -- and it's a good thing she doesn't explain. It's awkward. Don't worry about it. ]

    All of this.

    [ From Akua, it's refreshingly honest in her tone. ] A malady that I can only see possible as through some sort of magic, no mages, and yet there were clearly some at some point, given the contents of both your book and mine.

    [ She held up her own, a history tome of sorts. There are figures all over in it. ] There were mages, sorcerers, plenty of the types that would jump at the chance to at the very least study it.

    I've met few sorcerers that didn't look at something like what's happening here, and be determined to be the one to solve it. Even more confusing is the fact that there are none here. The rest of the people were blighted, but they weren't?

    Were they eradicated early? Perhaps even the source of all of this?

    Mr. Tibbs has certainly been... close mouthed about it. Which suggests to me that he knows, and does not wish to share for a reason.
    wolof: (The Girl who (didn't) Climb the Tower)

    [personal profile] wolof 2023-02-10 05:00 am (UTC)(link)
    He's one otter.

    [ She gestured at herself, and then at him. ]

    We are many, and powerful, and there is a brewing war between us.

    Perhaps he hopes that we will ignore him for something else? Perhaps he is also honest, but I have rarely met an honest creature in my life, let alone one that I would trust for something as great and reality-altering as this. Nobody gives up such power to strangers.
    baltimores: (144)

    [personal profile] baltimores 2023-02-10 09:18 am (UTC)(link)
    [ His doppelganger is still twitching when Amos pushes himself back up, definitely worse for the wear but still okay, all things considered.

    And Hayame is right to keep going, even if it may be overkill. Amos can see the signs on his doppelganger's body — fingers elongated into claws; the fact that it's still breathing, still alive. He's experienced this before, just on... himself, a world ago when Gen had had to relentlessly bash his head in. He'd been thankful for it then.

    He's thankful for it now as his doppelganger's head is obliterated into nothing. No chance for survival, not even with a supernatural defence mechanism in his — and its — back pocket.

    The doppelganger's chest stills. Its everything stills. It's nothing.

    With a grunt, Amos hauls himself back up all the way. ]


    Thanks.

    [ He means it, too; she helped save his ass there. He's not the type to consider debts or anything like that, it's just one person helping another, and this time he got to be on the receiving end. It's just what happens sometimes. He takes a couple of steps forward before he remembers where they are. What they're doing. Not fighting doppelgangers, but making their way to the end to distribute their sand. To do what's really important.

    He stops, inhaling deeply, a hand involuntarily moving to his side. There's probably a rib or two fucked up pretty bad there.

    Another beat, and. ]


    What now?

    [ Now that their common enemy is over and done with, the thing that would attack them without reason... what do they do? ]
    lockedon: (pic#14244924)

    [personal profile] lockedon 2023-02-10 04:28 pm (UTC)(link)
    [ Wow....truly no good things to say here, huh. ]

    Why stick with them?

    [ What are their redeeming factors..... ]