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
    hauntedking: (20)

    [personal profile] hauntedking 2023-01-23 01:19 am (UTC)(link)
    [ That's the both of them, isn't it? Far too distracted by music and song to really think too hard about the conversation they're having. Even if they should be. He makes a non-committal sound to her praise. ]

    If I can. I spent too much time hurting others for me to want to continue down that path. I would rather help people...

    [ He trails off as they turn a corner and find a set of doors. The music is close now. ]

    ...here?
    hauntedking: (13)

    [personal profile] hauntedking 2023-01-23 01:20 am (UTC)(link)
    I'm not feeling it quite as badly... but I'm used to such temperatures.

    [ Dimitri manages a little smile and then he reaches for the clasp of his cloak. ]

    I'm afraid I don't have the materials for a fire just yet. But you can borrow my cloak, if you like.

    [ It's a heavy, thick thing, suited for colder climes and lined with fur along the top. ]
    hauntedking: (08)

    [personal profile] hauntedking 2023-01-23 01:22 am (UTC)(link)
    [ Dimitri gasps as he's yanked aside and the spear that had been aimed for him goes tumbling end over end, spattering to a halt. He has to catch his breath, still bleeding from cuts to the face and still feeling the chill in his extremities from the ice attacks. Despite that, his numb fingers still grip his lance and he stares with intensity, trying to figure out who his would-be-rescuer is and to see if there are any more spears coming his way. ]

    Who-?

    [ He doesn't have time, does he? ]

    If I don't defend them, who will? [ He asks Childe with a frown. Although perhaps that's more rhetorical, considering that Tyki and Kaeya seem to be just about done... ]
    sharethememory: ([screenshot] 057)

    [personal profile] sharethememory 2023-01-23 01:30 am (UTC)(link)
    Apologies for the last minute request.

    Zhongli will try to unfreeze one NPC who looks like they were a scribe/attendant in the palace and hopefully squirrel them away in safe room with broccoli soup until they seem approachable. Will do a mercy kill if it looks like they are blighted.

    Also, an extreme long shot that is likely to fail, but if he is able to find Ferenan with reasonable confidence anywhere in the easy to access areas of the palace, he will unfreeze them as well. That moment when you're trying to do stick figure facial recognition... On second thought, I will handle this in my kaleidoscope turn-in. Thank you!
    Edited (removed one question) 2023-01-23 08:00 (UTC)

    [personal profile] halsband 2023-01-23 01:35 am (UTC)(link)
    [There's only a little hesitancy with breaking off a piece, unsure how much he really needs to function, and Silco will end up with approximately a third of it.]

    That's one way to put it.

    [Heine doesn't disagree with that, it's exactly what he's doing, waiting. But he hasn't yet gotten to the point where he wants to take everything down in flames with him. Maybe it's too passive an approach, to wait for that end.]

    Here.

    [He hands the shard over.]
    liuli: (230)

    [personal profile] liuli 2023-01-23 01:48 am (UTC)(link)
    How rare a luxury it is, for something to be frozen in time. We may as well take advantage of it to make the right decision.

    [ there's a hint of amusement in gu yun's voice again, light and easy, as he acknowledges dimitri properly. gu yun is the kind of person who always seems to have a twinkle in his eye like he's got some kind of private joke in the back of his mind, and this is no exception. ]

    How very chivalrous of you. [ after all of their conversation, that makes perfect sense, after all. this young man carries himself in a way that suits that of a young leader of some kind. ] As for introductions, not properly, though I believe... let's see, you're the one with great strength, no?

    [ someone's been taking his notes! with that, gu yun places his hand to his heart and gives a slight bow of his head, putting on his manners. ]

    I'm not sure if you're the type for names or titles, or both. My name is Gu Yun. Marshal Gu, if you'd so prefer it. A pleasure.
    liuli: (324)

    [personal profile] liuli 2023-01-23 01:50 am (UTC)(link)
    This winged rat couldn't give you a clue if it tried, unfortunately. Its personality is quite terrible.

    [ the crow makes an indignant noise, but it seems to have been put properly in its place, so all it does is sulk on gu yun's shoulder. there's a chance he might be joking? but it's hard to tell, with gu yun. always. ]

    No, I believe our only furry host is the little otter. It would be quite the quest, to be seeking out an Oracle by speaking to fuzzy friends.
    pyojeol: (pic#16173892)

    [personal profile] pyojeol 2023-01-23 01:51 am (UTC)(link)
    [Oh, huh -- he didn't even dodge........... He just batted it away like a feather........ Maybe not so much a surprise, considering how this guy's built. For anyone else, this would probably be a sign to immediately desist and run, but Sooyoung's clearly intrigued.]

    Not bad. I was hoping to get at least a hit in, if not a total knock-out.

    [especially for someone who might be feeling the cold just as badly as she is, (worse for her since original body is still underwater). she's not as fight-happy as some people here, but she's not the type to back down from a challenge either (especially one SHE started). She jabs her thumb at him, then points at the hourglass necklace hanging about her neck,]

    Wanna fight? [she asks, even as she slides into position, a knife sliding from her sleeve and into her hand] Winner gets sand.
    joyd: (✝ i'm with you)

    [personal profile] joyd 2023-01-23 01:54 am (UTC)(link)
    [The move is tactical, clever – except that by announcing himself, Tyki is expecting a violence retaliation. He moves fluidly one step back. The jar sails past his head, a projectile that shatters in an explosion of glass against the wall behind him, raining onto the floor. It's only when the boy comes after him with the weapon that the smile stretches across his mouth in a warped and darker expression of pleasure.

    Now that is what he was hoping for.

    The demolished jar crunches beneath his feet as he moves to meet Gen, one hand raised to catch the wrist of the arm swung at him – this same hand now gloved in a black, slick liquid that, when it closes over Gen's wrist, will feel impossibly and inhumanly strong. It stops the momentum of the mace inches from his own chest.]


    There's nothing fun in it when they don't fight back. Makes it too easy.

    [Using this grasp of Dark Matter, Tyki pushes back, reversing the arc of that assault so the head of the mace is brought to a halt halfway between them.]

    I could take this weapon from you and smash that Hourglass around your throat to pieces. How are you going to stop me?
    settingup: (the greatest alive)

    [personal profile] settingup 2023-01-23 01:57 am (UTC)(link)
    [ There's a lot going on right now that seems like the kind of thing Gray should be sorting out with a therapist. With a lot of therapists actually. The fact that they're in different factions (something he's finding out right now, because one of them was faster to pick a side than the other), and that he hasn't been particularly... useful for her are fair-ish points.

    Not good enough points that he thinks she needs to go murdering him over them though!

    So when she says go, he goes, but not very far.

    He's fast to scramble for one of the dropped scythes, hefting it up with a grunt of surprise at just how heavy it happens to be. Fortunately for him (?) he did daily weight routines before, and still keeps up with exercise now, since he's at a disadvantage in most fights. It doesn't take him long at all to get a good grip on the thing and hold it in front of himself to ward of the Grays.

    Less fortunately for him, scythes aren't really meant to be weapons in the first place, and to use it as one takes a good amount of training he just doesn't have.

    He's going to try to compensate for that fact with indignant outrage.
    ]

    Alright! Tell me what the fuck is happenin' here already!
    zauneyete: (That good Undercity Backlight)

    [personal profile] zauneyete 2023-01-23 01:59 am (UTC)(link)
    Power, obviously.

    [ He said, like it was the easiest bargain in the world.

    Silco and Singed had developed shimmer for different reasons, of course. Singed, for the scientific curiosity, and the promotion of whatever experiments he had going on the side, promoting some grand evolutionary thread, or some such. Silco had never invested much in that, as it wasn't his concern like Zaun was. He, of course, had worked to make Shimmer a reality because of Zaun, and because of the power they'd needed. They were without, after all. Without power, without hope. Without anything.

    Power was the only currency they had, and they'd found a way to print their own.

    It's only fitting he had it here, as well.
    ]

    It is...similar to something I kept in my own world. I can alter it for you, give you everything from more strength and speed, to durability and a drive to pursue your goals. [ That drive, of course, came with the added addition of a berserker rage. He doesn't mention that, or the fact that it can be addicting, if he allows it.

    Here, in this moment, he wants to be seen as a good ally, of course. He does not intend to add that quite yet.
    ]

    I can make sure you ascend these stairs easily, and quickly. It lasts for ten minutes, and only requires... [ He raised a gloved hand, and wiggled his fingers. ] A mere touch.
    pyojeol: (pic#16006765)

    [personal profile] pyojeol 2023-01-23 02:02 am (UTC)(link)
    [It is such an obvious mirror trope, and it gets Sooyoung to pause -- question if maybe that reflection really was her own. She frowns, because maybe she did once in her life, as a child... or even as a grown-up? Or maybe from one of her many, many Avatars...]

    Like she'd remember.

    [Comes a dry, distinctly male voice from the glass behind them.]

    Hey, Han Sooyoung. You've used so many faces that it's a damn miracle you remember your own!

    [...The expression on Sooyoung's face is 'oh no, not this trope.']

    -- You jinxed it....

    [BLAMES RUBY?]
    hauntedking: (22)

    [personal profile] hauntedking 2023-01-23 02:12 am (UTC)(link)
    [ In some respects, he thinks Gu reminds him a touch of Claude with the way he always seems amused at something. Although he's certainly much different in other ways. ]

    That would be me, yes. A benefit of my birth and my training.

    [ Although sometimes it's more annoying than not. ]

    I can do either names or titles. Or, as you say, both. [ He dips into a little bow. ]

    Dimitri Blaiddyd. King of Faerghus - well, all of Fodlan now. A pleasure, Marshal Gu.
    Edited 2023-01-23 02:13 (UTC)
    sharethememory: ([screenshot] 045)

    [personal profile] sharethememory 2023-01-23 02:21 am (UTC)(link)
    [ For now, the figure(s) in the mirror go silent. Even as extremely aggressive as the shadow is at the moment, it is still Zhongli, and Zhongli would always choose the diplomatic solution over the violent one. If this new arrival were to become his ally, then perhaps he can get what he wants without the need for confrontation. (Alternatively, if Akua can keep the real Zhongli distracted enough so the mirror image can take his sand, then well objective achieved--- by any means necessary.)

    So silently, amber eyes watching, they seem to slink back into their mirrors and wait.

    Zhongli himself takes her words into careful consideration. Up until now, he had not had a proper conversation with anyone with strong faction affiliations. The appeal to each was lost on him, so perhaps a new perspective is what he needed?

    But what a terrible and inconvenient situation for such a conversation. Honestly! Not that Zhongli seems to mind that in the slightest.
    ]

    I made a contract with my people and the nation that I called home - that I would protect and help guide them. It was a task I took very seriously until I was no longer required, and thus I retired.

    Do I still have responsibilities to them? Yes, of course. But I have seen too many times an obsession with the past dooming the present and the future. Nor do I wish for the power or responsibility to remake worlds.

    So yes, I currently have no plans to join either side, but I do not think that is equivalent to lacking agency. I was still called here and am still able to act in accordance with my own principles. It is perhaps naïve of me to be looking for that third option that well may not exist, but I have not yet resigned myself to settling.
    subsist: (pic#15624550)

    [personal profile] subsist 2023-01-23 02:33 am (UTC)(link)
    [ Ah, Master Tibbs... If only it didn't feel like such a crime to want to strangle the otter. ]

    No, I suppose we won't. The otter wants us to play a game so it leaves us little to no choice. [ At least Kaeya agrees with Silco on that one. It's both ridiculous and frustrating, but he manages to sound a lot more neutral compared to the older man. ] And, as far as the sand gathering goes...

    [ He can only shake his head. ]

    I haven't bothered with it. It doesn't seem worth the effort right now.

    [ Or he could also be at a complete loss regarding what he's supposed to do here, but obviously he won't say that. ]
    zauneyete: (Remnisc)

    [personal profile] zauneyete 2023-01-23 02:43 am (UTC)(link)
    [ Silco took it from him, his movement quick. ]

    Thank you for your...generous donation.

    [ He pulled out his own hourglass, more than the starter amount for certain. He's been aggressive in his pursuit of sand, aggressive in taking it, and he does not feel bad, when he crushed it between his fingers, and let it drop into the hourglass.

    His lips twitched into a scarred smile, a ghost of one, before it's gone, quick as could be, along with his hourglass.
    ]

    I would suggest you choose soon, lest you find yourself with a knife in your exposed belly. Not everyone is as accommodating as I am.

    [ Silco isn't accommodating at all, though. ]

    Next time, the unharmonized may give greater, and greater sacrifices. The weak are always the ones who pay the highest price, after all.
    goldendeceiver: (that i told you at all)

    [personal profile] goldendeceiver 2023-01-23 02:47 am (UTC)(link)
    [ Ernesto understands magic of a sort. People in his world use Arts in order to achieve some pretty impressive results, though his own use of Arts has always been limited to reflecting attacks back at others with diminished returns at that. He's not a caster, though he had other skills that made him useful.

    Magic of this sort though, the kind that's subtle and quiet, he's less familiar with. That Akua is heating up the area around him goes unnoticed at first, though he'll eventually start to catch on when he realizes that he's no longer shivering. The chances are good that he won't call her on it though. After all, he has no awareness that she's warming the two of them up at the expense of others, and besides she's doing a wonderful job distracting him with another topic of conversation anyway.

    His brows raise at the comment about Mr. Tibbs being a pet otter. Call it a difference in cultures, where as human looking as Ernesto is, it's not uncommon for men that look like Mr. Tibbs to exist alongside him.
    ]

    Or a childhood friend maybe? It does explain a few things either way.
    sharethememory: ([screenshot] 079)

    noble head bobbing

    [personal profile] sharethememory 2023-01-23 02:47 am (UTC)(link)
    [ While Zhongli's posture is ramrod straight (no slouching allowed for these two), he keeps his hands folded a bit nonchalantly behind his back. Fellow new arrival or not, it seems that Voryn had raised quickly among the ranks of Meridian and should be treated the proper respect. ]

    Then I must commend you on your perseverance and flexibility. You certainly gave the impression of someone quite learned of Kenos and its situation, so I had incorrectly assumed that you had been here for some time like others I have met.

    But I digress---

    I suppose my first question is a rather rudimentary one. It seems each faction needs a certain combination of resources such as this Oracle and the faithful in order to achieve their goals. But do we have a concept of how much and under what timeframe? Is such a momentous task of reviving or recreating the lost worlds really something that can be done in a mortal lifetime?

    [ Were these questions better aimed at Cyrus or Yima? Absolutely. But neither were here. And nor had Zhongli time or the foresight to ask beforehand.

    Though perhaps Zhongli is also asking less for the answer and more to see how devoted Voryn was.

    Or both. Both is good.
    ]
    subsist: (pic#15626847)

    [personal profile] subsist 2023-01-23 02:56 am (UTC)(link)
    [ Before Kaeya can protest, Tyki has already launched his assault, one that he's sure would have resulted badly for Dimitri if it hadn't been for the hydro spear cutting through its path. He doesn't need to look to know who that is. ]

    —Childe. [ His eye narrows at the other man. ] Your timing is impeccable as always.

    [ He doesn't see the need in continuing the attack now that Tyki has acquired the Hourglass. He won't bother looking back at the clustered group of Atirat either, not at all that interested in knowing just how many of them are broken and shattered beyond repair. ]

    We're done here.

    [ It's all he's going to say before he summons a bigger spike of ice to ram against the wall closest to him and Tyki. Might as well carve their way out of this mess since going through the door is out of the question right now. ]
    redsoil: — PLEASE CREDIT! (Default)

    [personal profile] redsoil 2023-01-23 02:59 am (UTC)(link)
    We must be agreeable to one another, then.

    [ A neutral term. 'Agreeable', can mean so many things; after all, Set finds that many individuals in Kenos, on either side, are 'agreeable' to him. Hayame's drive and will are agreeable, Tyki and Liem and Paul's devotion to their individual gods is agreeable, Rudbeckia's cringing obedience and even Silco's virulent conviction are agreeable. With that in mind, Sebastian's otherworldly sense of self counts, too. These things resonate well within him, and drive him to pursue them all in turn. In this, his appetites are vast and multifaceted, impartial and indiscriminate as he will one day be known.

    Sebastian, he meets inside of the castle, within a room devoted to vast windows that turn to the passage of the sun. ]


    It depends on how far ahead you wish to think our relationship might extend, and I care not for money, nor tangible items. 'A favor' or 'a service' is generally a fine offer, though naturally we would wish to include caveats and limitations. 'A secret' is always a delightful thing to win, but requires the willingness of both competitors to actually cough up something of value. Enki and I once wagered on 'training', where he won and demanded I instruct his elite warriors in a combat style of my choosing.

    [ It's clear he's excited by the prospect. ]

    I have issued the challenge and it's, why don't you pick the offering? Is that of equal value in your eyes?
    warmare: (残骸)

    [personal profile] warmare 2023-01-23 03:00 am (UTC)(link)
    [There is no accident that can create wounds as precise and perfect as the ones on the Armless jinba in Hayame's sights, in a mirror that spilled her secrets to whomever followed her. They are not ripped, nor torn, and the scarring at the stumps is... arranged. The mark of amputation done precisely, and intentionally. The sort that made proud, fierce creatures into pitiful things that cannot eat, dress, or bathe without their new human masters.

    But Hayame has arms.

    And the person in the mirror does, too- arms that freeze up under the influence of Akua's power, a very different sort of cold than the Hall of Mirrors is beset by. The fingers spasm, struggle... and Hayame rips herself free with a snarl, slamming the heel of her palms into the mirror and jerking her large body up into a rear, her forehooves kicking out...

    And the mirror shatters beneath them, into giant shards that crash into tinier shards when they hit the ground. There is a moment when Hayame almost thinks that might be it, her gaze whips around, long black mane following, darting from Akua to their surroundings in confusion, before... No, it would never be that easy, was it? A voice calls out from another mirror. A voice that sounds all too familiar.

    Oh, you have "allies" now, do you? And here I thought you hated magic... It is Hayame's voice, echoing eerily in the hall beneath the sound of another set of hooves. Or is it something even more pathetic? Friends? Lovers? It may be Hayame's voice, but she speaks in a mocking, sarcastic tone that Hayame herself almost never uses, employs words that she never uses. No, that would be foolish. You already lost your chance at all that.

    She should say something. She should deny it, or condemn it, and instead... Hayame just lashes out at the nearest mirror that a shadow passes through.]
    Edited 2023-01-23 03:00 (UTC)
    whatlore: (6.)

    [personal profile] whatlore 2023-01-23 03:05 am (UTC)(link)
    [It's too late... I've seen the truth]

    Such as?

    [prompts him to elaborate]
    liuli: (320)

    [personal profile] liuli 2023-01-23 03:07 am (UTC)(link)
    [ oh. well! ]

    Your highness! My apologies. [ the filial piety do be kicking in. gu yun winks as he comes up from his little bow, though, perhaps suggesting a less than well behaved student. the claude comparisons are pretty apt. ] I can't say I've heard of any of that, but I suppose that's the way it goes with different worlds.

    [ it sounds very white people to him but what else is new. ] I take it you're with Meridian.
    joyd: (✝ a way out)

    [personal profile] joyd 2023-01-23 03:07 am (UTC)(link)
    [Kaeya tells him to rest, but it isn't his desire simply to lean back and take advantage of the bed to sleep. At least not yet. Tyki's elbows brace across his knees, noticing when those cool eyes avoid the slant of his gaze. Hmm. He may not know him well, but there's something evasive in that body language, that tone, the clear way concern is deflected.

    So the two had no real prior relationship, yet that other man had vocalized a betrayal. And Kaeya's attacks had avoided true harm being done. If it wouldn't have killed him — a fact that causes Tyki's brow to rise — all the more reason to go for the assault that would, at the very least, paralyze their opponent temporarily.]


    I've heard about that. Wasn't sure it was really true.

    [It's not often the people he kills come back to life. In fact, it's only happened to him once.]

    Are you normally this cold? I can feel it from here. [Tyki leans a little closer, one hand coming out while Kaeya is preoccupied with the cigarette and the window — fingers gently graze the glittering blue emblem of a snowflake at his waist.] Is it because of this thing? I saw it flash when you were fighting.

    [personal profile] halsband 2023-01-23 03:11 am (UTC)(link)
    I'll take that under advisement.

    [His glare says he won't, not to the degree he should be.]

    Now fuck off.

    [Though he makes that statement, he's already walking past Silco to continue down the hallway, finally attending to the knife wound a little by pressing his fingers against it. It's mostly stopped bleeding, should be fine.]