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: (121)

    [personal profile] gravings 2023-02-07 08:28 am (UTC)(link)
    [ On Dimitri's cue, Gray bounds forward to deliver a vicious slash across the doppelganger's back, crushing through armor and eating deep into flesh and bone. The doppelganger falters from the blow but doesn't yet collapse, and Gray glances quickly over it to the real Dimitri for direction: should she go on, or does he have other designs for it? ]
    baltimores: (085)

    [personal profile] baltimores 2023-02-07 08:33 am (UTC)(link)
    [ How many are there?

    Amos watches with a mild surprise as he unceremoniously kills it, only for nothing meaningful to happen; looks back up at the real Akua as she elaborates. A necklace, a necklace... but where the fuck even... ]


    Can't we just break the mirror?

    [ They know where that demon is coming from, so surely it should be as simple as that... but the way that even Akua is stepping back, he doesn't want to just charge forward and be done with it. He turns to look around him, smashing the mirror closest to him for good measure... and the one beside it as well, since they're the only things in sight he knows to break for sure.

    He doesn't know if that's going to do anything. Probably not. Amos makes himself weightless again, to give him a better vantage point... to keep himself out of harm's way too, maybe. ]


    How many of you are there??

    [ There's an edge to his voice, one feeding off of the urgency she herself exhibits. ]
    baltimores: (053)

    [personal profile] baltimores 2023-02-07 08:39 am (UTC)(link)
    [ He's listening. His focus is mostly on the bowl he's filling up, still without knowing who it's going to go to, but... he's listening.

    His brow furrows, because some of what Reigen says makes sense, and a lot of it still doesn't. The best way for him to cope with that is autopilot, apparently; it's just that autopilot involves doing something nurturing right now. If he was keeping watch that'd make more sense to him, but there isn't anything to keep watch from. Anyone who would know how to get through Reigen's illusion would've done it by now.

    He finishes filling up the bowl only to stare at it in his hands before meeting Reigen's gaze again. No, his eyes drift to that young Atirat quietly eating first. Then Reigen. ]


    I... [ Get that? He does and he doesn't. ] I know helping the kids is decent. But it's like you said. There's nothing here to support them. There might never be. I don't know how we get them back to Highstorm, I don't know how anybody can look after them, or how they can grow up in a place like this...

    [ Isn't just dying better, sometimes? It's a thought he's had before, albeit in vastly different circumstances, but the sentiment still feels like it applies, loathe as he is to admit it.

    Amos wordlessly hands the newly filled bowl to Reigen. Shit; he doesn't know. ]
    sanguinary: (in this barren wasteland)

    [personal profile] sanguinary 2023-02-07 09:21 am (UTC)(link)
    [HELP THEY'RE BOTH STRUGGLING.]

    I am not entirely certain, but the otter said that they barely interacted.

    [Fishy...]
    sanguinary: (there are branches in your eyes)

    [personal profile] sanguinary 2023-02-07 09:25 am (UTC)(link)
    [A REPLICA. A REPLICA JIJI HELP.

    Dokja......... Matsui just gives him a look, and while his expression doesn't change much, there's something slightly withering in it. He reaches up to delicately place a hand against the one JABBING INTO HIS CHEST WITH A FINGIE, and his skin is pretty cool to the touch.]


    I will not need assistance.

    [He sounds very firm in this. It's not because he's a sword, but he's also cagey and simply refuses to say more about that in particular, though he does add:] Please do not concern yourself with me in the way that you would a person.
    passio: (pic#12166651)

    [personal profile] passio 2023-02-07 02:45 pm (UTC)(link)
    [ dextera has thought like that, too, but hearing it from someone else just frustrates him. it’s amos’ lack of empathy again, the stark and evident differences between their philosophies laid out for dextera to see and resent. it doesn’t feel like this with other people he disagrees with—maybe because amos is the only person he’s met so far who seems so sure he’s on the right side. ]

    That doesn’t mean we get to play with their lives. It’s not our choice to make.

    [ the archangel has already pushed him to try to choose, and it’s overwhelming to think of all the lives he holds in his hands. knowing that they can’t save everyone, no matter what he does, is brutal.

    but if he takes amos’ sand, he can allot a little more. that’s what he reasons, when he digs deep in his memories for something grotesque to match amos’ physical strength. ]
    redsoil: (pic#16220613)

    [personal profile] redsoil 2023-02-07 04:52 pm (UTC)(link)
    I do not know.

    [ Ruthlessly, he continues to bind her injuries with the cloth, tugging it taunt around the curve of her chest. He recalls the way she guards signs of her womanhood, flattening herself to the point of constant pain, as if to ward off eyes that might find her lovely, compelling in beauty; instead, she is savage and wild, with teeth and corded muscle and the heat in her voice that demands she be viewed as worthy. Mighty. ( She's so much like him, it aches. He doesn't wish to reflect upon his own complexities. It is better to be a creature of surface hedonism and chaos, than whatever is left to him. )

    He tugs the last of the bandage tight, coiling it into a knot long before he speaks again. ]


    You are the first that I have ever thought to give a blessing to. The humans of Egypt pray to the god of peace, to sate my bloodthirst and violence, or they pray to me for victory, guidance in battle and feat. Rarely, never outside of war. They receive so much from the Ennead, and cringe from me. I do not like them. I do not understand them, never enough to bother with selecting one to consider.

    [ Slowly, he rises to his feet, to his toes. Tucking his coat closed around himself, cinching the ties closed again, fastening the embroidered front tight together. The hood remains low along his neck, his hair spilling out in chunks and waves as he regards her.

    His tone frosty, he admits to her: ]
    I am infertile. Even my own son, whom I raised all my life, was not born of me. I will never have children, so fear not being forced into motherhood.
    Edited 2023-02-07 16:52 (UTC)
    hauntedking: (30)

    [personal profile] hauntedking 2023-02-07 05:52 pm (UTC)(link)
    [ The doppelganger opts to retreat for a moment, snarling and glaring at them both with a baleful gaze. But even as it does, it seems to start recovering. Which is problematic. Dimitri scowls and then gives Gray a nod. ]

    ...I am unsure if we can bring it down, even together. It seems... resilient. But there must be a way to defeat him.

    [ His gaze narrows. ]

    ...I wonder. Can you try to pin it in place? We might be able to try something.
    salvageable: (pic#15332053)

    [personal profile] salvageable 2023-02-07 09:33 pm (UTC)(link)
    [ Can't believe Matsui said the magic words to leave him the hell alone only for Dokja's brain to fire backwards and hear the opposite.

    It's a gift. ]


    Concern myself with you in the way that I would a person. Got it.

    [ And to prevent any protests, Dokja dusts off his hands on his coat and takes a step back, like he's ready to leave after interpreting this conversation in the way only he wants to interpret it. ]

    Well then, Matsui Gou, stay safe until the next time I see you.
    lethally: (pic#16179182)

    [personal profile] lethally 2023-02-08 12:18 am (UTC)(link)
    [ Thanks for the nice reaction, HSY.

    Who is spared from further cliched tropes (like a maniacal villain laugh shortly after), though that's largely because Lust is still feeling aggravated from the lethagy that drags at her feet, an unwanted but constant companion during her time here in the castle. Still, she keeps her usual smile on her face, even if it dims a little at the sudden attack.

    Which is effective enough at getting her to retract her claws, if nothing else, and take a cautious step back, prepared to go on the defensive. ]


    That's not a very nice way to address a fellow lady. [ Rude? ] But I suppose all you humans are the same regardless of gender, uncouth and selfish.
    sanguinary: (it was too soon but right on time)

    [personal profile] sanguinary 2023-02-08 12:30 am (UTC)(link)
    [HELP. DOKJA. HELP DOKJA NO. DOKJA GET BACK HERE. BE NORMAL DOKJA!!!!

    Matsui doesn't step forward to make up the distance or even try to argue, but he does just give this man a grave, near-mournful sort of look in response. There is a true Depth Of Melancholy And Existential Exhaustion in his eyes, despite the fact that his expression is still relatively mild.

    But he's just dipping his head a little after that, the gesture one of polite parting.]


    ...Do take care. There are many dangers to be found here, and I don't wish to see you harmed.
    sanguinary: (ferryman)

    [personal profile] sanguinary 2023-02-08 12:32 am (UTC)(link)
    [The gesture seems to surprise him a little, and:]

    Ah - you do not need to worry, I can still move well.

    [He looks pretty bloody, but the amount of injuries versus blood is actually not so bad. Being used to combat really suits him well in these cases, especially since he still has an otherwise squishy, unharmonized body...]
    hauntedking: (12)

    [personal profile] hauntedking 2023-02-08 12:40 am (UTC)(link)
    Are you sure...? That seemed... very intense.

    [ Worry radiates off of him in waves. Look, he's concerned about his friend! ]
    sanguinary: (to the left)

    WELCOME BACK

    [personal profile] sanguinary 2023-02-08 12:43 am (UTC)(link)
    [Matsui is quick to follow orders, half-said as they may be in this case. If nothing else, he's quick on his feet, quick to adapt, quick to survey what they're dealing with and figure out the best way forward.

    He doesn't waste any time as the Siren turns toward Hayame now, shrieking in - fury? Upset? Something as she wrenches the arrow from its sticking point just below her collarbone with her one free hand, now bleeding sluggishly in the chill of the air from two points. Matsui can feel his legs buckle for a split-second as she starts up with her song again, but fortunately - well, fortunately for him, this time - her attention is still on Hayame.

    Even like this, it's hard to keep a grip on his faculties. He can feel his thoughts starting to drift away, and he can only cover one ear if he has even a thin hope of utilizing his blade. But he has a mission of sorts to focus on, at least, and it's that single point of concentration that he can seize and focus on.

    His feet carry him closer, with more control and precision this time than the last. He brings the blade up and darts in for a side-sweeping attack, though his aim isn't fatal. He wants to be able to push this Siren back, too, rather than ending her life.]
    warmare: (立ち聞き)

    [personal profile] warmare 2023-02-08 01:01 am (UTC)(link)
    [If it hurts her, how tightly or coldly he binds her wound, once again hiding away the blood-stained sight of her obsidian shard and the preciously guarded sunbeam bead that could summon visions of her world... Hayame never tells him to stop or begs for gentleness. If his movements grow more ruthless after her words, she never voices a complaint.

    She just bites her lip and swallows the pained noises down.

    In the wake of his care... She still doesn't rise. The loss of her [TIME], even though it had been regained shortly after, had left her exhausted and feeling sick, and the last thing she wanted was to let any of the Zenites in the library (or maybe just one particular Zenite) see her this week. She remains slumped against the wall, not trusting her dun legs to support her, the larger set of lungs in her powerful body rising and falling shallow and slow.

    Mist frosts in little puffs in the air between them. Strange. Before the loss, the naturally high temperatures of her kind had kept her feeling rather resilient in the cold. The ice doesn't seem quite as cold as Set does, however, when he answers her mistaken interpretation of his words with such a frosty and... somewhat unbelievable answer. An infertile god? Had Izanagi not made the storm god Susano'o from his own discharge after purification? Did Amaterasu not break a blade in three and birth from it strong sons? The idea in her own world of a god not possessed of such abilities is an anathema, and for just a moment... she looks up at him like he might be lying... before coming to the conclusion that to do so to her now over such a thing would be pointless. So he is infertile. - But,]


    Do not tell the daughter of an armless broodmare not to fear being forced into motherhood.

    [They are too "close" for her to pretend she hadn't been afraid of that. That so much of her violence and victory was born from the abject fear and disgust she felt over the idea of being sold into such a life. She had been young once. She had not always been this strong.

    But there is something in his tone that... reminds her of something else, too. She had watched Matsukaze, sometimes, quiet and hidden, as he held out his arms for the son he fought so desperately to reunite with. The sound of the colt's laughter, despite the grievous burn wound he'd received without his protector, the way that man had seemed so gentle and strong around him in contrast to the fierce demon he was upon the battlefield... That child was not of Matsukaze's loins. She'd overheard the others. It was his brother's child. But it called him "father", and clung to his legs, and when Matsukaze had turned that softer, kinder gaze upon the boy, she'd-]


    ... Tell me about your son.

    [Perhaps she can pretend that she just needs a story to entertain her while she lays here weak and injured.]
    spilledinkpot: (pic#16200096)

    [personal profile] spilledinkpot 2023-02-08 01:31 am (UTC)(link)
    [If his face was not made of bone, perhaps it would soften. The body language of the more human looking parts of him seem to, anyway. A slightly rounding of shoulders, a curl of the long tail behind him.]

    Yes.

    [It was good he was there. Humans could be cruel. She could also ask.]

    Her name is... Shiva.

    [Her name was? No, is...]

    Perhaps if she returns to her proper state, I will introduce you.

    [As tempting as it was to return to their usual way of living, to taking Shiva far away and guarding her... there were no Insiders here, no Outsiders... no one trying to take the girl away from him. And if that were the case... Perhaps she would enjoy it. Making friends. Living like she once had in her village.]
    Edited 2023-02-08 01:32 (UTC)
    spilledinkpot: (pic#16200126)

    [personal profile] spilledinkpot 2023-02-08 01:41 am (UTC)(link)
    Do you think so... ?

    [He had never paid all that much attention to his clothing, beyond that it was doing the job. Shiva had sometimes picked things out for him, or grabbed a shirt from an abandoned house in the village to gleefully present him, but... he followed only a vague sense of memory of what was appropriate.

    A gloved hand moves up to find the ribbon, moving carefully without much sense of touch until he thinks he finds it. Yes, it is staying.]


    I believe my charge will find it charming. I thought to save it for her...

    [Is re-gifting a faux pas in this instance... ? Hopefully not.]
    gravings: (050)

    [personal profile] gravings 2023-02-08 01:56 am (UTC)(link)
    [ Gray watches this with a small amount of restlessness that originates with someone else using her weapon, but it's not like Add can be damaged, so there's really no reason to fret... Probably of more importance is the brutality of Matsui's killing technique, befitting of a former soldier. Oddly, it doesn't diminish her impression of him as an upstanding adult, even if the gore of it sends a slight chill through her as someone more accustomed to fighting spirits than the corporeal.

    When the doppelganger doesn't promptly die, Gray blinks up at Matsui's face to see if he needs help? For some reason?? ]


    Mr. Matsui?
    Edited 2023-02-08 01:56 (UTC)
    lethally: (pic#16179182)

    [personal profile] lethally 2023-02-08 02:15 am (UTC)(link)
    [ She listens to his suggestion with a businesslike mien, thankful that he has enough sense in him to keep hold of his weapon rather than throw it away over the mere possibility of victory. ]

    We won't be able to move far with how short her breaths are.

    [ And while they might both be mostly immortal now, thanks to their shards, she still doesn't relish being caught frozen in midair only to crash to the ground in a heap. No, slow and steady is the preferable method to take here. They have all the time in the world, after all.

    Although...speaking of time... ]


    Unless you're familiar with something that might give us an advantage? [ She taps at the smaller hourglass hanging at her neck, as if to make a point. ] That creature did say we could use these if necessary.
    settingup: (there's only one me)

    [personal profile] settingup 2023-02-08 03:41 am (UTC)(link)
    [ Atsumu, who has been looting the every-loving hell out of this castle since stepping into it, is looking away and immediately giving himself away as someone who has been making the situation worse. ]

    Some people have been goin' around and fixin' them up, right? That ain't makin' things worse.

    [ Well, it might be, but he doesn't know that. He hasn't been reading up or paying much attention to new dropped Blight facts. ]
    hurricaneofblood: (pic#16170634)

    [personal profile] hurricaneofblood 2023-02-08 03:59 am (UTC)(link)
    Then let's forget the topic even came up.

    [ Because, well, he's benefiting from it. ]

    Huh. [ It is all that he can say at first. ] How long have your people been living like that? Rather I'm surprised you're still feeling fired up about the state of mages if it has been a long time.

    [ Flamebringer holds his hand up, knowing his words are a choice to be saying right now! ] I don't mean any offense. I haven't found a cause to fight for wholeheartedly like you are for your kind... and my people are in a similar situation.

    [ YA KNOW. PEOPLE WANTING BASIC RIGHTS AND FREEDOM. ]
    hurricaneofblood: (pic#16170639)

    [personal profile] hurricaneofblood 2023-02-08 04:08 am (UTC)(link)
    Not to worry, I'll -- [ He reaches his hands down to where his swords usually are and grasps at empty air. Flamebringer brings his hand back to flex his fingers a few times and lets out a sigh. ] I'll bite them to death if it comes down to it.

    [ So you know. It'll work out! ]

    You're quite an obedient girl. I'm not sure what to do with you, honestly.

    [ WELL, OTHER THAN PROTECC. ]
    spilledinkpot: (pic#16200126)

    [personal profile] spilledinkpot 2023-02-08 04:12 am (UTC)(link)
    [A "great deal of magic". The man (the creature, who honestly did look as if he ought to come from such a world) considers it, even as he undoes his cuffs and rolls his sheetsleeves up to reveal flesh just as inky black as the rest of him. From there, he begins wringing out his clothing, slowly, though he should be shivering and rushing to warm up.

    He had forgotten what cold felt like, but-]


    Not in the way that I see "magic" being used here. Spells, and the ability to create items, or control the elements...

    [That, even to one who looks as he did, is the stuff of fairytales and children's stories.]

    There is the curse... and the Black Children, but beyond that... No, I would not say that my world is magical.
    hurricaneofblood: (pic#16170663)

    [personal profile] hurricaneofblood 2023-02-08 04:14 am (UTC)(link)
    [ He hums, thinking. ]

    Which do you think it is?

    [ Flamebringer pulls his eyes away from her book to look around the library. ]

    Think that he's hoping we'll choose to do it and doesn't want to force our hand?
    consolation: (6)

    [personal profile] consolation 2023-02-08 04:33 am (UTC)(link)
    My condolences. In the end, one has little recourse but to accept that they were fortunate enough to love at all.

    [Acceptance of the existence of the thing that causes pain.

    It's easier for her to say, as only a reader of these poems and not someone like himself who finds resonance in them. As someone whose perspective on pain has been dramatically, invisibly altered.
    ]

    Or give a little more enough times and erode entirely. It takes a certain strength of humanity to give truly selflessly, looking for nothing in return. [Though she doesn't say it out loud, a layer of implication rests in her words that he should be easily able to grasp: They're unlikely to find many people of that disposition here, especially on Zenith's side. Many of Yima's followers are reaching for their own celestial bodies, just out of reach.]