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
    gravings: (050)

    [personal profile] gravings 2023-02-23 05:05 am (UTC)(link)
    No, I'm alright.

    [ And he seems to be more or less in one piece too, if winded. He can probably take care of himself, but she still has to worry a little. ]

    Maybe we should travel together in case there are more. That is... if you don't mind.
    hauntedking: (26)

    [personal profile] hauntedking 2023-02-23 05:15 am (UTC)(link)
    ...I don't mind at all. Truly.

    [ He nods at her with a little smile. ]

    Thank you for your assistance. I doubt I would have been able to handle that entirely on my own.
    baltimores: (089)

    [personal profile] baltimores 2023-02-23 08:03 am (UTC)(link)
    [ All he sees is his equal.

    He comes from a different time, a different world. The engineer he had once followed, protected, tried to emulate had been a Belter, considered low class, expendable, nothing by higher powers; a woman, and that had never been held against her by any society he was aware of. She was highly competent, fiercely intelligent, and only ever wanted to do what was right, and so Amos had followed her without question.

    Hayame is not Naomi. Naomi would not kill; Naomi wasn't physically capable of fighting like that, anyway. She didn't like blood. She didn't like violence. She did what she could to avoid it, and so Amos would take up that mantle for her.

    Hayame is his equal. It's why he can look at her so evenly now, speak to her so frankly. Everything else gets stuffed back in its box, buried back underneath his consciousness but for the little part of him that will always be aware, and brush the rest of it off.

    And he thinks she gets that, because she doesn't fight it. She simply accepts it, because there's nothing else she can do when it comes to this. They're walking an awkward truce here, something deeper than the fight that surrounds this world, and he doesn't want to have to think about it any more than he already is. ]


    Alright.

    [ That's it. The emotion is gone from his voice, from his face, from his everything. I accept your offer. And then they're good.

    ... Except. A little spark of something showing through, a brief opening where he can pay attention to something else. The light catches his eyes; he tilts his head just barely in question. ]


    You okay?

    [ With a nod towards her hand, because that hiss of pain wasn't lost on him. There's being sore all over, battered and bruised and breathing might hurt for a little bit there, and then there's the minor discomfort of an injured digit which you use without even thinking about it, and it's easier to focus on the physical over literally anything else that could come up here, so he will. ]
    warmare: (軽蔑)

    [personal profile] warmare 2023-02-23 07:08 pm (UTC)(link)
    [Hayame has fought all her life. But there are thing that cannot be fought. You cannot fight things that have already happened, only carry chips on shoulders into the future. You cannot fight against an entire system stacked against you, only struggle to be sure that you succeeded as much as was possible within it. So even though it's not alright... What happened to him, what happened to her-

    Neither of them can do anything about it now but swallow it down deep and lock it away.

    She didn't expect him to do anything but accept her offer and go. But he asks about her finger. For a moment, she does not respond, just staring at him over the soft glow of the ice... before she reaches up to use the back of that hand to wipe at the blood on her lips, careful not to move the broken digit this time.]


    - It's not my draw hand. I'll make do.

    [She could still hold her bow with four fingers if need be. And if it wouldn't mend properly... There were healers she could go to, if she just stomached her distaste for feeling other people's magic and energy flowing into her body, forcing it to move to their whims. ... She's sure Zenith has them, too, those sorts of people. Even so...]

    ... And you?
    sharmat: ▸ HOW IT'S GETTING HIGHER (pic#12926453)

    WOOOOO BRING IT ON!!!!!

    [personal profile] sharmat 2023-02-24 02:55 am (UTC)(link)
    A population halved and halved again all for fickle divines... My family has something in common with the Garleans. We are secular ourselves, something that is seen as blasphemous by the orthodox Houses of the Chimer people.

    (everyone has a complaint to file.)

    But it is because of this ludicrousness, and because knowledge, not worship, is power. The cost of carrying out a god's will always outweighs the reward for their servants.

    (voryn turns back to cid, giving him his full attention now.)

    Shattering the world into fourteen pieces is a drastic, desperate action, one I question the necessity of... Has the star been split all this time by Hydaelyn? Or are the Source and its thirteen reflections splinters from the whole while the rest of the star remains intact?
    youngprodigy: (≉ of bottled water bottled water)

    [personal profile] youngprodigy 2023-02-24 03:13 am (UTC)(link)
    Aye, it's been split since time immemorial, as far as the people of Hydaelyn are concerned. Every nation, every culture that has ever existed came into being after the Sundering.

    [It's a strange thing to discuss, because he can't really comprehend it himself.]

    There have been seven great Calamities, and with each Calamity a shard was rejoined with the Source— killing everyone on those shards in the process. "Shard" might not even be the correct term, because that makes it sound like they're not entire stars worth of people being murdered. The death toll is in the tens of billions at the very least.

    The First very nearly fell, but its fall was able to be prevented with the death of the two left who were responsible for the Calamities in the first place. With them dead, the remaining shards will likely go on, oblivious of their status as "reflection".

    [As for the gods, well, he definitely agrees. But Garleans seem to be the odd ones out when it comes to these things.]

    Though, I suppose if you mean to ask if it's affected the star's shape, in which case, I don't believe so? It's quite round; any sailor could tell you that much.
    Edited 2023-02-24 04:49 (UTC)
    wolof: (Coy)

    [personal profile] wolof 2023-02-24 05:28 am (UTC)(link)
    Power always has a price, whether it is one we pay, or force others to pay, yes.

    [ Hey, she's from a world where magic power requires sacrifice. It's just How It Be, right? ]

    Hopefully, even if we are many, he has no way to take care of us.

    Numbers, after all, are not a guarantee. An advantage, yes, but never the guarantee.
    wolof: (You're stupid (I like that in a woman))

    [personal profile] wolof 2023-02-24 05:33 am (UTC)(link)
    [ She can only imagine the pain her Doppelganger feels. So similar -- although Catherine had not crushed her necklace -- her soul -- she'd taken it, and pushed it into her cloak instead, but Akua remembered the pain of her heart being ripped from her body, Catherine's fist splitting flesh, to pull her heart from her. Had it still beat in those last moments? She cannot remember now, the darkness had taken her -- eternal, so long -- she breathed, as the containment she'd been working on had nothing to hold, and her trembling fingers stopped, the Corruption Demon dissipated from this world -- or the facsimile of one -- and she nodded.

    Not that Amos could see her.
    ]

    Yes.

    [ She said, her voice hoarse. ] That was it. Thank you, for dealing with her.

    [ Her heart slowed, and Akua tried not to think of dying again, something that this felt all too close to. ]
    wolof: (The Girl who (didn't) Climb the Tower)

    [personal profile] wolof 2023-02-24 06:35 am (UTC)(link)
    [ The long moment held. Akua's power contained the creature -- this false Hayame -- and she watched it dissipate into gas before her, the frozen ice and jinba dissipating together, and when it is done, when the last scraps of Hayame's harder, colder, sharper self are gone, Akua nodded.

    She dusted her hands off, and then dusted off her front, before she reached out, to pop the bubble with a finger. Her lips curled in sharp satisfaction, her teeth white in the dim light, and she felt that self-satisfied burst of fire and pride within her. Her magic had been diminished since coming here, she had no Name to her, and nothing else, but...

    She still felt pride at having most of what she could still do. She was not so diminished to not be able to do this simple thing, and it's only after a moment that she tipped her head in Hayame's direction, offering her a slow, and gentle nod.
    ]

    Hopefully, she will not bother you again.
    lockedon: (Default)

    apparently i needed a week to sleep on this

    [personal profile] lockedon 2023-02-24 08:12 pm (UTC)(link)
    [ For a moment, despite the chaos that rages around them, all he can do is stare at the two figures shimmering nearby, their mere presence enough to cause his heart to squeeze painfully. How long as it been since he's seen them last? Too long and at the same time not even remotely long enough, because the destruction of their worlds means the only place they exist now is within the confines of his memory. (And even that will be lost soon enough, the usage of his Sand enough to extinguish those last traces for awhile.)

    The thud of an arrow embedding itself into flesh snaps his attention back to the fight at hand, his muscles instinctively moving forward once again, this time towards where his gun lies on the ground. There's still a battle left to finish and an opponent left to be eliminated, though as he grabs his gun and lifts it back up to where Gray Alter still stands, his heart gives a different kind of squeeze. It isn't actually Gray he's pointing at, but the connection between his mind and heart has always been more volatile than he'd like to admit, and it's hard to completely sever the lingering fear that he might be aiming at the one of the most important people in life.

    In the end, it's not enough to stop him from firing, a single shot to mirror the path of OG Gray's arrow. ]
    goldendeceiver: (it bears its teeth)

    [personal profile] goldendeceiver 2023-02-25 12:21 am (UTC)(link)
    [ There's a twitch at the corner of Ernesto's mouth at the comment "Diplomacy so rarely works, after all", but he doesn't make any comment on it. He can understand the sentiment in some ways. He was raised in part by a man who spent his life in the army, and whose solution to problems involved more violence.

    Sometimes it was unavoidable, but for someone like Ernesto who preferred to try and talk things out whenever possible...

    Maybe he was a fool for that one.
    ]

    You can say that again, and some of them already came in feeling really galvanized in their beliefs. It's gonna be harder to lead anyone like that to a negotiating table.
    zauneyete: (wasteful)

    [personal profile] zauneyete 2023-02-25 07:06 am (UTC)(link)
    [ Thankfully, Silco is a father, and he knows how to talk to teenagers. Or at least he knows not to roll his eyes at said teenager, when he asks why they aren't just stealing. ]

    Sure, if you want momentary satisfaction. We can steal what is here, but that will not last long.

    [ A beat, then. He considered. ]

    Our sand is supposed to be invested, at the end, is it not? Toward something that would serve our goals would be best. Resources, and the like. It's a much more efficient use than just stealing. Anyone can do that.
    sharmat: ▸ YOU SEE THE WALL (pic#12926451)

    [personal profile] sharmat 2023-02-25 03:58 pm (UTC)(link)
    (it is a laugh, a gentle touch, and a few pretty words before sebastian is diving into the water, and voryn leans just over the edge of the land to watch his descent. black and white become muddled, overtaken after a time by blue. after that, what he sees is nothing.

    so, he waits. there are frozen things around, debris like sticks and dry bark and leaves that are easily transported back where he will build an insignificant fire. it has been a long time since the need has been great enough for voryn to use his own hands to create something a chap'thiil might otherwise provide for him and his king; should his self-sufficiency surprise him or make him feel proud? no, and it doesn't, wishing that he had the privileges he once did in resdayn. he is a diplomat and general, more than capable of basic survival, but it's decidedly fucking annoying regardless.

    sebastian might've taken care of it for him.

    it's been minutes now, voryn thinks, and he is certain that his spells have worn off at this point. flipping the edge of his robe away from sparks expelled by the fire, he returns to take a look down into the depths.
    )
    sharmat: ▸ AT THE BOTTOM OF A WELL (pic#15677129)

    [personal profile] sharmat 2023-02-26 04:11 am (UTC)(link)
    (amos' charge is unstoppable now by either doppelganger locked in two-versus-one combat against voryn, stressed and heaving breaths as the toll on his stamina grows larger. fatigued, it makes his attacks more difficult to land, which places him in great danger, but there is luck on their side as well as a dogged refusal to lie down and die.

    the frame of the last mirrors of a particularly long column in the centre of the room snap under the storm amos brings them. all at once, with chilling, alien screams, the doppelgangers shatter with them, and voryn staggers backward from the pieces.
    )

    It's done, human, (he calls, resting on one knee to search within for his magicka reserves. they aren't gone, but he has drawn on them extensively, leaving him frustrated with his rationing.

    if whatever force brought them here didn't see fit to restrain his abilities, this room might've been a sea of flame and steam. amos' gravity spell was novel, though, and thinking of it reminds him that he is not yet alone in the maze.
    )

    Where have you rampaged if not clear through the castle walls? I wish to tell you that this was a job well done!
    sharmat: ▸ THROUGH THE FURY (pic#13847096)

    [personal profile] sharmat 2023-02-26 04:53 am (UTC)(link)
    A last resort in a time of dire circumstance, but not a second sooner, (voryn suggests. his tone is playfully wry, but while this suggests he is not someone who holds grudges, his memory is long.) I cannot trust you after seeing what your touch did to Ocelot, a previously rational man, beneath the Great Tree.

    (but.)

    That does not mean it wouldn't be useful in a bind.

    As for my spells, they're best put to use now. They will last if we both make haste, so when I finish adding to your strengths, proceed.

    (he does not have to touch silco to cast his magic on him. voryn's energy itches like a sickness and is quick to dissipate, however, and the zaunite should feel far faster and far stronger than he was previously, also covered covertly in a shimmering shield that may act as a convenient failsafe. it will protect him against physical and magical attacks until it abates if the doppelganger should sense his presence before their plan is put into action.

    without another word, voryn steps out to face himself. a measured breath from one is all it takes for the aggression of the other to flare with a great fireball; the one who wields it, voryn himself, takes care to time his offensive spells so that they will not swallow up silco if he should enter their original area of effect.
    )

    Your loyalty to your House is so weak that you would turn your aggression on your own name? Lord High Councillor Voryn Dagoth, Dagoth Ur. (the doppelganger spits, its fury matching voryn's own.

    it is too soon to hear that title again. it is too bitter to be called to with nerevar's words. his resolve falters momentarily, almost struck down not by magic but a bloody manifesting blade.
    )

    Firstborn, last alive. They will kill them because of your misguided service to the King, and you will restore a world which contains nothing you once loved! Mourn the loss!
    cutlery: (fake she doesnt have legs)

    [personal profile] cutlery 2023-02-26 05:04 am (UTC)(link)
    [ As soon as he’s out of sight, he essentially stops pretending at being anything other than what he is. It’s the more efficient use of the time he has (if it’s limited at all), or so he decides. Like he had shed his jacket, he sheds the human shape he takes on to become the mass of abyssal black that’s much truer. It’s as formless as the water itself, and he’s able to move through the water far faster than being constrained by limbs.

    He dives deep—far deeper than any mortal or the former residents of this island were capable, but eventually, he sees how the pool opens up below. It turns into an expanse of the sea where he sees no bottom even now, but he can see how the roots snake through the structure above to poke out and still continue down, and they too stretch out just as much as the ocean. He’s surprised to see it, honestly. Both the roots and the sea are far more vast than he expects. He swims to the closest root, and for a moment, he does hesitate. His run-ins with the Tree of Life haven’t been ideal, but. A deal is a deal.

    He reaches out to the Tree, and indeed, the first impression is absolutely rejection and a sting of pain. As it turns out, it’s not exactly thrilled that Sebastian and Jinx (mostly Jinx, he’d argue) set it, uh, a little on fire. Don’t worry about it. But he pushes through, trying to convey peace as if he were in Communion, and that seems to be enough. But it’s still brief before the connection cuts off. It’s only enough for Sebastian to be certain that this is the same Tree, somehow. How very strange indeed.

    It's as he withdraws that he starts to feel the chill seep in as Voryn’s magic fades, and he gives what would be a sigh if he had the breath to do so. Time’s up, he supposes. Just as quickly, he withdraws from the tree and heads back towards the surface, though it’s well before his figure is visible that he reforms to something human. It makes the progress slower (to his annoyance, but not really inconvenience), but it’s not long after Voryn starts to look that a shape starts to become visible in the water. And indeed, with the rate of a very good swimmer, Sebastian comes to the surface.

    As he should, he takes an immediate, deep, and sharp breath as he breaches the surface. His skin looks at it should from the extreme chill, but still, he’s remarkably calm. It’s another little detail for Voryn to piece together about what Sebastian is later, likely. He grabs a side of the pool to start to pull himself out, but also reaches for Voryn’s hand, since, well. That’ll make it easier, certainly. ]
    gravings: (007)

    some naps are longer than others...

    [personal profile] gravings 2023-02-26 05:28 am (UTC)(link)
    [ In the aftermath of one arrow, one bullet, and one dragon conflagration, even the body of King Arthur must yield. Gray's doppelganger finally collapses in a soggy tatter, bleeding the same shadowy tendrils as Eustace's. Yet still it clings to life, magical energy holding its existence together by threads. Gray approaches it without thinking, magnetized.

    The doppelganger is a pitiful thing. Gray watches as it struggles to breathe, fending off the inevitable, and she imagines that it fights not because it has the strength to live, but because it's afraid to die. But she quickly realizes she's mistaken; the doppelganger gathers the last of its energy so that it can settle an eye still vibrant with hatred on her. It lives by its loathing, a bundle of emotion not unlike a ghost.

    Its face — her face — shoots through Gray like a bullet from Eustace's gun. In equal measure, it suffuses her with dread and satisfaction. Dread at that face so nakedly bared at her. Satisfaction that it should recognize what there is to be hated.

    Without knowing it, she's raised Add in his scythe form. The giant, gleaming blade hangs like a guillotine over the doppelganger's head. And then it falls slowly like a blanket laid to rest. The doppelganger goes without complaint, its bright green eyes baleful on Gray until they dissolve to black and then to nothingness along with the rest of its body, leaving behind a bullet and arrow to clatter quietly on the floor. ]
    settingup: (i'm running and i'm just enough)

    [personal profile] settingup 2023-02-26 06:25 am (UTC)(link)
    [ It's... it's... shit, Atsumu is a simple, stupid boy, and it's actually kind of cool??

    He'll die before he admits this to her.

    Though he doesn't get to silently fume about Gray apparently having a cool (if not kind of mean) talking weapon, because-- say what now about ghosts?
    ]

    Since when were you not normal?!

    [ He should have figured this out already during the fight, but it's finally hitting him now that he's learning more about her past. He just thought she was a super backwards girl from some isolated village, not... Not whatever the hell gravekeeper means in this fantasy sounding version. ]
    settingup: (you gotta stop)

    [personal profile] settingup 2023-02-26 07:32 am (UTC)(link)
    [ Having a game plan helps, and even though Silco had instructed him to scavenge the grounds rather than opt for theft, it still seems so much easier to Atsumu to just take what's actually in the building. If it's useful metal all the better. He'll even reluctantly poke an arm out of the blanket so he can start digging through the pile himself. ]

    You know how to do that? Strain out impurities from metal?

    [ This is like medieval blacksmith sounding stuff to Atsumu, rather than spaceman stuff, because he's not thinking about the fact that spacemen need to use metal for all those spaceships, and might need to know about it in order to make repairs.

    He finds something metallic and shiny, and pauses as he holds what looks like some sort of decorative fitting. Something is suddenly hitting him.
    ]

    How the hell am I supposed to know what kinda metal this all is?

    [ Truly the most useless member of Zenith. ]
    cutlery: (this feels like a knock…)

    [personal profile] cutlery 2023-02-27 01:28 am (UTC)(link)
    It is a surprising answer, I admit. Though it could be the result of my own certainty. There was never any option to me but to choose a side, and Zenith would naturally be where I fall. A demon in Meridian’s rank simply seems incorrect.

    [ There’s a mischievousness in the stress on that word that shows that it’s a bit more than that… But it’s not something he’ll get into, or at least not now. It would be a distraction from the rest. ]

    Is it for distrust? Or for hesitation in the divide they cause?
    wolof: I craved the taste of it (A poison so sweet)

    [personal profile] wolof 2023-02-27 01:56 am (UTC)(link)
    Precisely. And when one feels like they are in the right...

    [ She waved a hand. She'd seen Catherine try for years to beg the Procerans to comply with her, to opt in to peace. To say that perhaps working together would do something great and wonderful for Calernia. That even though it would be a victory for Evil, it could be a victory for everyone if only they would let it.

    Akua was one for words and politics, but even she knew that there would be a point.
    ]

    Well. I think we may need to be prepared for anything. The level heads among us will need to do the heavy lifting, as is often the case, yes?
    sharmat: ▸ IT'S GOT YOU TRAPPED (pic#12926444)

    [personal profile] sharmat 2023-02-27 04:25 am (UTC)(link)
    (voryn sees down as far as a black spot whose shape is decidedly that of a man. when sebastian is a few metres from the clear water's surface he quickly takes a knee, unmindful of his robes and the risk of getting them wet. their hands are joined, and sebastian's momentum is used to pull him from the water to his feet.)

    Come, (he urges. removing himself only to take a place at sebastian's side to more easily take hold of his biceps, voryn demonstrates uncommon chivalry. if he should have difficulty taking himself to the fire, then the chimer will help him do so.)

    You were down there for some time... I thought you must have surely drowned.

    (not fond of swimming, he has never once thought to test himself or others on how long they are able to hold their breath. there are spells for that.)

    Are you well? Take my cloak, it is warm and it will help to protect your chest.
    sharmat: ▸ SOMEBODY TELL ME (pic#12926462)

    [personal profile] sharmat 2023-02-27 04:50 am (UTC)(link)
    (voryn is quiet for a time, absorbing the information. focused on cid, nearly everything else that surrounds them drops away, too intent on the conversation to pay others lingering in the library any mind. it is also out of respect for the dead.

    while he has his ancient prejudices and is often unsympathetic to the plights of men, he can grieve such staggering losses.
    )

    I cannot fathom a toll of dead in the billions.

    (could anyone? the gods themselves, perhaps, as the ones who wrought the suffering and destruction.)

    When these shards rejoin their original, there must be disturbances as well... It seems as though integrations on that scale would cause mass influxes of—well, of everything. Energy, resources, people...
    youngprodigy: (∉ and catch up with fate)

    [personal profile] youngprodigy 2023-02-27 05:09 am (UTC)(link)
    [He doesn't think anyone could. It's an impossibly huge number.]

    The Seventh Umbral Calamity happened but seven years ago, and the realm had scarce begun to rebuild. Outside of that, the Sixth Umbral Calamity happened some fifteen centuries ago.

    I believe you are correct in assuming it creates more resources. Aether, to be specific. It's the basis of all matter, living or not. As reflections of the Source, the Shards are, well... there are people on the remaining Shards who are descended from the same Sundered soul as me.
    settingup: (before you know it)

    [personal profile] settingup 2023-02-27 05:18 am (UTC)(link)
    [ Sure, a real conundrum for someone who wants to do the most morally just thing, rather than opt for the easy, selfish option. ]

    If you're lookin' for some kinda big epiphany on it, you ain't gettin' it from me.

    [ He's just being honest here. He's got no solutions either, and he hasn't really been trying.

    ... But this guy isn't a bad guy, and it's not like he really wants to pick a fight with him.
    ]

    But sittin' around not makin' any choice at all definitely isn't helpin' them.

    [ That's all he can offer, the suggestion that whatever choice Dimitri makes, that he at least make one. ]