⏳ THE SCORCHING ISLE: Oracle Event One ⏳

[beleos]

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

Comments

Akua Sahelian | Iconoclast | Meridian

[wolof]

⤿ KILLING TIME
⤥library.

[ Her fingers skimmed across the tomes, a touch of curiosity in her eyes as she lit on so many of them. That they were frozen meant that Akua wanted something of particular interest. Something that would catch her eye, and give her a thread to weave with the stories she could see laid out before her. She did not have the ability to See yet -- if she ever would -- with no aspects to accompany the fledgling Name that she felt settled within herself, but nothing more than that had made manifest. She closed her eyes, and let her fingers fall upon a book, newer than the others, and she looked at the spine. Something about history, so she reached into her hourglass, and pulled a small pinch of sand free, to blow it upon the book, and watch it shift, and become part of the real world once more.

She pulled it free and settled somewhere to read. Perhaps someone caught her, in the middle of her reading? She looks entranced, but every now and then, her eyes flick upwards, to take stock of the room, and examine the people there. If anyone thought she was not wholly aware of the world around her, they would be sorely disappointed. Painted fingernails scraped across the surface of the book, idle as she read. If someone sat next to her with a book, she would ask: ] Anything interesting in there?

[ Although if there's no book, feel free to start up a conversation. She looks positively comfortable, in boots and long trousers that fit to her legs, an almost chevalier's coat, with many a ruffle and adornment. It's all in red, blood red, and the coat has hearts sewn into the embroidery in it. Her hair is done up in a complicated array of braids at the moment, and there's a soft tinkle of metal on glass, when she moved her head, the pin with her sunbeam bead is obvious in her hair. If one looks close enough and stares into it deeply, they may see something curious, in fact. ]

⤿ ICE TO MEET YOU
⤥PVP & around the grounds.

[ The villainess knew that the plan was to capture sand, and use it to the very best of their abilities. That did not, however, mean that one would need to be so serious, so driven -- or even more importantly: without thought as to what would be the smartest, most efficient way to locate sand, and the spring in her step and the lightness to her motions made her feel... invigorated in this odd world. Akua was one of the foremost sorceresses of her age, after all, and that meant that she would set things together, to make sure that when it happened, someone would fall into her trap. She had once, devastatingly, made a city a monument to her madness, set traps in every room, every crevice, she had pumped so much power into a city, that even once it had been taken elsewhere, to a new land, the echoes that she left in Liesse had remained, years after her death.

She would do so here if allowed. One may catch her setting a ward -- slippery letters in a script that seems to slide out of one's mind, as if comprehending it is impossible, remembering the shapes even more so -- float, as she played with the working, to play with the ice already present, to make one fall into a trap, or encounter a grand explosion. It's still new, in its birth, so approaching is not impossible, and the woman dressed in finery seemed focused on her work as she played with those slippery letters before her.

Perhaps, you find her later, atop a throne of ice, not native to this castle, but built from her own magics, as she sat atop it, out in the courtyard. Had she stationed herself atop a balcony? Why yes, yes she had. She looked down upon the courtyard, with golden eyes considering the spread before her. She does not summon sand foolishly, but if you do tempt her, she may make manifest feral crows of Night -- their bodies pitch black and the cawing reverberated into one's soul, almost like half-feral laughter. Their inky black feathers, if looked at too closely, will draw one in, and make them feel even colder, the chill of a once-present Winter Court settled within their feathers, and their eyes spoke of old, Eldritch things. Of horror, consumption, and the promise of power, if one consumes from others. If it is daytime, it may feel a touch colder, and darker near her, where these crows are made manifest.

If you catch her eye, however, she offers you a challenge, silently, with a tip of her head in greeting. Do you dare? Her eyes ask, and her fingers touch the precious hourglass nestled against the frill at her neck. ]

⤿ THREEFOLD REFLECTION
⤥hall of mirrors.

[ Her feet echoed, in this dark corridor, with the mirrors that littered the pathway, and she felt it, that echo from her feet seemed to reverberate in her bones. It does not take long for the reflection to be made manifest. As much as Akua is a planner, as much as she is smart, and driven, there is an old, now dead part of her that holds such a great Hatred for everything in creation that did not match what she saw for it. She had fashioned herself to take the name eventually: Dread Empress Magnificent, but the woman reflected in this mirror is... only slightly younger than the Akua that walks in these halls, but her face is harder, intense. There is none of the mild amusement or softness that Calamity holds but instead a wave of anger, perhaps directed at Akua, perhaps at whoever dares to interrupt what will surely be a proper duel.

Akua is prepared for it, for she prepares for all things when the Walin-Falme -- two of them, like hairy dwarven gargoyles with bat-wings -- come trundling out from the dark, and her quick workings string one up, while the former Diabolist works to disassemble its presence from this very creation.

The other lurks, ready to strike, but her fingers are ready, coiled, a shard of ice forming in them to deal with the other.

But for all of that, where is their Summoner, she thinks, as she threw the ice at the feet of the other, to watch it slowly start to freeze from the ground up, the other squirming in her weavings, as she pulled its binding apart -- it had not been summoned with an aspect, obviously, or she would have no hope to wrest this free, but if it was a doppleganger, where was she? The beast popped out of existence, before --

Fire lit through the corridor, and Akua had to focus on dodging with a quick-worked shield -- she might need a little help, here. ]

⤿ WILDCARD!

[ If we planned something, and none of these work, please hit me up! I will also create a closed starter if you ask! You can ping me on the Discord, hit me up on my plotting post or on Plurk at hundreds! ]

threefold reflection

[baltimores]

[ It's the burst of flame more than anything else.

It's easy enough to enter the hall, to take a cursory look at his own reflection staring back at him — again and again, reflections of reflections from all of the mirrors in here. It's easy enough to make his way down, map this place out, determine if it's time to go through to the end.

It's very easy to do so, right until he comes across the scene — Akua, the woman he had met by the reflecting pool maybe a month or so ago and has curiously not seen much of since (had she been busy?), dispatching of some weird beasts that had come out of nowhere. At least she's got this covered—

And then there's the fire, and without thinking, Amos charges ahead. A shield's only as good for as long as it'll hold, and doesn't exactly give her much room to work around. She still needs to attack — or someone else does. He's still some distance away, so he uses a touch of gravity magic to make the doppelganger heavier, less able to freely move about, before aiming to.

Well.

Body slam her, apparently, leading with his shoulder in an attempt to fully send her to the ground.

It's instinctual. Despite her absence Akua had still been pleasant to talk to, a likely sort of ally. If he can help her, then he should. It's just what you're supposed to do. ]

[wolof]

[ Thankfully, for both herself and Amos, Akua is on of the finest Trismegisan sorceresses on Calernia. Had she been given her full length of years in Creation, she would have likely changed the world -- perhaps not quite as much as Masego would, given that he became a god -- but certainly enough that her skill is high enough -- practiced enough that the two Walin-Falme did not even twitch, her workings tied off neatly as they fell to the ground with an audible oof.

She knew the man's face -- Amos, fought once and spoke with once -- She remembered sneaking around him even if he didn't, but in the moment, she had someone else to worry about.

The gravity only slowed her, the doppelganger. The click click of heels on the ground as she approached, in a fine dress, a small gem around her neck -- a link to the place she'd stored her soul all those years ago, when she'd been but 13 -- and the gravity is dispersed with an opposing working -- the high arcana, slippery letters and entirely immemorable to those who didn't know it -- fluttered to life.

Akua, from underneath Amos, didn't take long. A wide pool of darkness opened up beneath her younger self -- her doppelganger -- and her steps slowed, like she was walking through three to four times the distance -- the hallway, the mirrors, seemed to stretch further, longer, into perpetuity. ]

That will only hold me off for a moment. [ Not her. Me. ]

Let me disperse these Devils, before more come, and we're swarmed. Can you hold me off for a moment? Don't let me -- her cast anything.

[baltimores]

[ He can feel gravity working against his will, and that's a new one. For someone else to be able to manipulate it — no, to target his own manipulations and dispel them, just like that — is a new feeling. Kinda unpleasant. Disquieting.

An immediate sign that what he's tried there isn't going to be how he helps her win this thing, so okay, that's noted. It's a newer addition to his repertoire anyway; he's always been better with his fists. His hands. So he'll just have to use those.

Amos comes to a stop beside Akua as his initial attack goes to shit; nods in response to her request, not taking his eyes off her doppelganger — not taking his eyes off of the active threat. To him, there's no difference between her and me; he gets it. Or at least he thinks he does; he's not here to question someone else's identity crisis.

It's when she's done talking that he charges forward, aiming to grab both of the doppelganger's arms. Pin them to her sides. Force her to the ground, if he can — whatever it'll take to keep her impotent.

If he manages to break something in the process of doing that, then all the better for them, right? But in the meantime he's Akua's reliable attack dog — here to offer the best support he possibly can. ]

[wolof]

[ Akua Sahelian -- The Diabolist -- in her younger form is violent, and cruel above all things. There is not that wide of a difference between Akua then and the woman she would become, and yet the difference is the weight of hundreds of thousands of souls. Of the weight of committing a grave act, and being punished for it. When the knot had become a noose, she could not quite tell, the space between then and now was blurry, and muddied by too many moments, too many small actions, that she doesn't know if she could have ever told when the Diabolist ceased to be, and Calamity would be born. At which point she would have been able to burst from the wreckage of her sins.

But without that sin, she does not know if she could have ever become the woman she was now.

With Amos on her younger self, Akua is safe enough to turn toward the devils. She has no Claim to take them, and no Bind to steal them. She must simply destroy the Walin-Falme, who are immune to fire, and shockingly hearty for being so small and numerous.

She let the ice creep from the mirrors to one, the one she bound to the ground, and watched as the crystals crept and finally encased the thing. It could not move within, and she then crushed it, with the creature inside, letting it fall to tiny pieces, shattered.

The other, she simply reached out with a weaving, and ripped, the prices fell to the ground.

And Akua, she turned to face the Diabolist, her head tipped, as the girl had already fell to the ground, but if Amos thought that she would not have a trick up her sleeve, he would be mistaken. Akua, after all, could not use her power to teleport, but Akua, the Diabolist, could. Here in this odd, odd place, Amos would find the ground opened up beneath them, and they fell through, only to find themselves careening from the ceiling of the very room, and Akua smiled at him, innocently.

She, after all, couldn't be killed, without taking the heart of her, could she? ]

[baltimores]

[ As Amos grapples with the doppelganger, he catches glimpses of what Akua is doing. The way she kills those creatures, and, that's good. She has that part under control. He's helping her play her part, and they're both the stronger for it. That's how this is supposed to work. It's how these sorts of things always work.

It's still so weird how he hasn't seen much of her around since her arrival...

But the thought is one in the back of his mind, his focus all on restraining this doppelganger. He'll have time to talk to Akua about that other shit later, when this part of her isn't trying to kill them.

Or... throw him off, in some way, considering the way they fall through the ground, to the ceiling, their path back towards the ground. Instinctively he tightens his grip on the doppelganger at first, fingers digging into its skin, before the ground starts to rush up on them again — and he uses the grip he has to try to further throw the doppelganger towards the ground, get it there that much faster, that much harder.

Amos himself, meanwhile, uses his gravity magic just in time to keep himself from a harsh impact; the deceleration is more than he'd like, winding him a bit mid-air, but it's better than the alternative.

From mid-air he glances down at Akua, a tilt to his head; the fuck is she doing? ]

[wolof]

[ Akua -- the real one -- is encased in a wreath wiggling letters and magic, the seeping, creeping flow of magic closed first the hole her other self had crafted in the air, so they wouldn't continuously gain velocity over and over. Beneath Amos, he'll see a slight shimmer, like something was there to catch him, and slow his fall, while her other self slammed against a surface. The doppelganger's lips were moving, a flash of letters -- squiggly, undiscernible -- spread before her, and Akua, who knew High Arcana felt her breath leave her in a rush.

She wouldn't? Would she?

It was difficult to summon what she was trying, but she was the Diabolist, and summoning Demons was a dangerous art that she knew all too well. ]

Fine her source.

[ She bit out, as a binding of magic was flung at her younger self before it was swallowed. ]

She's going to summon a demon, and I will not be able to wrest it from her!

[ Her voice picked up over the howling sounds of wind, of an electric fire splitting in the fabric of a reality beyond a mirror, like she was summoning it from the mirror itself. She hissed, and threw another blocker, another few spells in the way, the magic whipped into a torrent as Akua tried to drain the magic itself from her younger self, but it only served to increase Keter's Due, and Akua's doppelganger forced more power into it.

The shadow that started to pool from the mirror was vile, as if the very ground it touched hissed and bubbled, like it was corrupting from its very atoms. ]

killing time; library

[hurricaneofblood]

[ Flamebringer clicks his tongue as he walks through the library. He is attempting to find something but isn't quite sure what book that might be. Something useful, maybe? But he isn't sure what "useful" looks like. However, he avoids the books that look like they talk about war and battle -- he wouldn't be able to appreciate them.

But he does find a book. It has a blood-red cover and seems to be written in black. Two buckles hold it closed. He tilts his head before pulling it free and opening it. Huh. Walking in a small circle, he reads the contents before he hears the voice of someone nearby. It seems like as he was focused on his meandering steps, he drew unconsciously drew close to someone sitting in a chair.

Flamebringer pauses to look down at her. His head tilts as he feels she is one of the few people that look like she belongs in such wealth. But the thought doesn't linger. ]

Yeah. It's quite interesting. [ A pause. ] It seems to be discussing when best to consume certain creatures and plants. Like those that were seen in the kitchen.

Makes a person hungry, doesn't it?

[wolof]

Interesting. [ She noted, and her eyes flicked toward the cover, and the buckles on the book. It almost gives the impression that the knowledge is dangerous, or perhaps should be locked away, with a cover like that, doesn't it? She leaned forward slightly, as if the secrets of what they could and could not eat were forbidden knowledge, or something that they should hide away, to be found later. ]

I wonder if there's a reason the information was kept in this library. Do you think the people in this castle needed to know this for their own safety, or if it was mere... intrigue?

[ Her fingers tapped at her own book. ] From what I've read, the royalty here did not seem to want for much. [ Her eyes slid around the library. ] Well.

Before all of this.

[hurricaneofblood]

Who knows? Maybe the cooks already memorized this information?

[ He idly flips through the pages, looking over the odd creatures and plants. ]

However, it seems like this should be moved to the kitchen area so that the rest of us can benefit. [ Since they're going to be here a week, it'd be good to know how to handle the food that's available to them. ]

Isn't that how noble life is? Not wanting?

[wolof]

[ A scoff. ]

Perhaps for some. Most nobility I've known have always wanted. [ Her eyes surveyed the room, as she took it in. ] Mostly for more. More, power, lands, control.

Particularly my people. We've wanted for everything, an insatiable hunger that never abated.

[ She was, after all, the blood of the First Betrayal. Sahelians wanted more than anyone else. ]

I think if you shared the book, it may not go awry. Mine is not...nearly so useful. It has, however, provided... one useful tidbit.

[ She turned to a page with a picture of the royal family, and with an otter on the child's shoulder. A somewhat familiar looking otter. ]

[hurricaneofblood]

[ Huh. ]

I guess you're right. Nobility is like that, isn't it? I take back my careless comment from before. [ Mostly because he was just being snide, but she is being honest. So he should respond with honesty in turn. ]

What's that? [ Flamebringer draws a little closer to look at the otter that is sitting on the child's shoulder. His eyes widen before humming. ] Guess that means our Mister Tibbs has some connection to the people in charge here.

Yet he didn't seem to talk about saving them, did he?

ice to meet you.... time to delete light 👩‍🍳 lmk if this works!!

[lifespanned]

[ Misa first spots her from afar — kneeling and setting what must be some spell or trap into motion. That much is obvious even to a non-magician like Misa. And she's glad she sees it from this far away, thanks to her enhanced vision, because it gives her time to consider her approach.

Now, she's not ignorant of her position among the Zenites. Not a fighter, and definitely someone who would be seen as a target first before an aggressor. In a competition like this, that puts her at a slight disadvantage. But there are other ways to pull the wool over people's eyes, she's found, and that very status as a cute, weak thing can be the sharpest weapon if wielded correctly. And Akua, well, she's already admitted she has something of a soft spot for a cute girl. So why not try to use it to her advantage? In fact, Akua is among the only people she thinks she might have a chance of charming out of a few grains. And if she really thinks about it, she doesn't think the other woman would even take it that hard - she has something of a cool, elegant demeanor, one that doesn't crack easily. All the better, then. ]

Setting some kind of trap? That's not very nice.

[ She teases, not at all serious. She leans a thickly coated shoulder against the wall of ice of the hallway, looking down at where Akua is so intently focused on her task. The silver dagger she'd been gifted by Cyrus, her secret weapon that she only wants to pull out at the last necessary moment, is concealed among her clothing, and it feels heavier than normal, weighted by the intent for use. But Misa's aura is sweet and airy as usual, as if they're not talking at all about the strange little war they all have on their hands. ]

it's perfect!!!

[wolof]

[ Akua didn't even jump -- more of the cool demeanor, but she was Far too used to things coming out of nowhere these days -- and she tipped her head, and smiled. One hand pulled away from the working, and a few slippery-looking words floated in the air. If Misa tried to look at them, they would simply... not stay. Like learning them is impossible, if one just tries to look at them, they seem to vanish from one's mind like dark, odd fish, that dart back beneath the surface as quickly as they appeared.

She placed her free hand to her lips, and her other remained locked on the working. She didn't need to hold it -- that was for amateurs -- but she had always been one for deception over raw power. ]

If one is to find an advantage, is a trap not a useful tool? I can hardly be expected to not use every advantage in my arsenal, can I?

[ Her lips curled into a serene smile, and she winked. ]

Would you like me to make an exception for you?

[lifespanned]

[ You know what, she is momentarily distracted by those slippery letters, wondering what exactly they might do. Obviously, Akua is a spellcaster, and a powerful one. She still remembers bits and pieces of her spells from before, in Horos, even if the context they were being used in isn't completely crystal clear to her. What matters is that she knows that Akua isn't some fledgling sorceress. Belatedly, she mentally reminds herself to tread carefully - as carefully as she can, without appearing too wary. ]

Well, yeah. We're friends, right? So there's no real reason to blast me with anything...

[ Misa sing-songs like this is obvious - and very confidently, too, like she fully expects Akua to back off for her sake. Half of getting people to do things for you is not giving the much room to say no, she's found. ]

Plus, Misa can't cast too many spells in retaliation, anyway. I mean, the only magic I know is funny stuff. Look.

[ Misa holds up an index finger and casts her Mage Hand to do a goofy little wiggle through Akua's floating letters, not particularly having the foresight think about whether this may mess with her magic or somehow backfire. She only thinks of disarming the situation — and coming off as the airheaded, ditzy non-threat that she likes to come off as. ]

[wolof]

[ Akua's spell, half-formed though it is, lacks the bite yet to do more than weather Misa's mage hand slipping through it. The letters are the manifestation of High Arcana, and if Misa tries to remember the shape of them later, they will literally not be formed. The beauty of High Arcana was that they couldn't be known by anyone who didn't know it to begin with -- which made it difficult to teach of course -- and really, most mages couldn't learn it anyway.

They vanished from sight, and Akua looked the hand over, before she smiled, and touched it lightly. ]

Funny? I can imagine this could be used to devastating effect. Imagine... [ She says, and she pointed to her hourglass, and the mirror-glass shard with it, a reflection of memories from Calernia, the flash of dark wings across the surface, for the briefest of moments. ]

You could simply reach in and take it, if I weren't prepared for that, yes?

[ Her golden eyes met Misa, and she snapped her fingers, the working sealed into place, a small glyph shone on the ground, before it vanished from sight. ]

Don't worry though, dear. I am not so militant to simply take for no reason.

[ Well, she wouldn't, but her hourglass and shard were exposed, weren't they? ]

[lifespanned]

[ Her eyes squint a bit at the image reflected in Akua's shard - just making out the imagery of dark wings. But soon after, she's blowing out a puff of air through her pursed lips, waving her hand dismissively. Even her Mage Hand copies the motion, looping back to her side with flair. ]

Pffft, like that'd ever work. I'd probably get flashed in the eyes again if I tried something like that on you.

[ Which she does think is true... Misa can be bold (read: reckless), but she's also not quite bold enough to try stealing something from someone obviously more powerful than her. Try to connive something off someone out of her class in strength, that's different. But to outright make a move like Akua is describing? No way. ]

When you think about it, we don't even really know if the side with the most sand at the end will even get anything. [ She muses, crossing her arms loosely over her chest. That glyph in the ground that disappeared looked a little suspicious... but also, it disappeared, so did the magic fail to set, or is it just invisible now? ] So I'm more worried about staying warm then all this sand funny business...

[ And on that note, she'll step in a little closer, trying her best not to like. Step right on wherever that glyph was. Not that she remembers perfectly the exact location of it. Just for emphasis, she hugs herself a little tighter, looking up at Akua through her eyelashes, just toeing the line of coquettish. ]

Aren't you getting cold staying out here...?

wildcard; let me know if this doesn't work

[lethally]

[ It's not a matter of how they both arrived here, because the answer to that is very much clear. The song, the accursed tune that had skillfully roped them here from different wings of the castle, and ensuring that both of them would be trapped here until a way out is found.

So that's what the matter is, and what needs to be settled on sooner rather than later. (Definitely sooner, if Lust has any say in things, a mild headache forming at the back of her head from the Siren's song and the creep of exhaustion that drags her limbs towards the ground. Ugh.)

She looks towards Akua, a woman whose elegant face she doesn't recognize from her time mingling around with the Zenith. Someone not yet affiliated with either side then, or one of them (the enemy, the Meridian). But right now they are partners-to-be out of necessity, Lust painfully aware that if she is to make it out of this room alive she must rely on the aid of someone outside her trusted circle. Better to live another day and owe a debt than to be stopped so far away from her goals, despite what her pride as a Homunculus might argue.

When the Siren takes a moment to breathe, she takes her own moment to speak. ]

We need to find a way to silence that thing.

[ Ideally by injuring it or killing it, though really any solution will suffice right about now. ]

it's perfect! I also linked this for the siren npcing on the top of the post!

[wolof]

Agreed.

[ She said, and looked around the room, while they had the time, while the creature took a deep, deep breath.

Akua thought to puncture its lungs, perhaps with a working of ice to puncture through the thing, or perhaps a flame to eat what little air was around her during that moment when she breathed, but she didn't know if either would work... She looked over at the other woman, and considered their options.

She didn't seam fearful, and therefore would likely not struggle without power, but she also had not seen her either at the Seat of the Tribune, and nor had she been at the party for the Meridian. That would mean Zenith, if she suspected correctly. Something to deal with later, given that right now, they were in the throes of this Siren's songs. Or at least trapped. ]

We'll have to work together. I can likely lengthen the time of the next breath...

[ She suggested it even as she started to put the pieces together for the working. If she could burn the air around the creature, light it up enough that whatever she used was scarce, then perhaps... ]

Can you rush forward then? If we can get close... [ Then perhaps they could take whatever that thing had? ]

[kenosevents]

[ It would not take much to lengthen a breath. As they work out their strategy, the Siren's expression begins to sour. They speak to one another without the focus being on her song. Ignoring her just as all others had begun to do near the end.

The song stops abruptly as she speaks. The tone is sharp, and there is something distinctly wrong with her speaking voice. It sounds as though two people speak in unison rather than clear tones one might expect. ]

Quiet, the both of you! As fellow women of elegance, you should know not to interrupt my performance.

[ She begins to slowly turn back to her shard with the intent to begin singing once again. They would likely be able to feel the paralysis begin to ease just a little during her few short words. ]

killing time

[goldendeceiver]

[ Ernesto has been spending a lot of his time in the library. While he's been biding his time on choosing a side, there are some disadvantages to not having any affiliations, and a lack of bonus abilities and skills that seem to come with the sworn allegiance is a pretty big one. He's a nice enough guy, but there are some people out there that are less inclined to talk things out than others.

Miss Akua, however, has always been a delight to talk to, so Ernesto is happy to make himself comfortable sitting next to her.

Or as comfortable as he can be. While he's not dressed too poorly for the less than cozy situation they find themselves in, he's a man who hails from warmer climes, and he's been struggling with the frigid temperatures of the castle around them. Still, besides some minor shivering, he's doing a good job not showing how miserable he's feeling as he holds his find towards her for her to see. ]

Someone's art project, though there's at least one interesting picture in there.

[wolof]

[ It's... nice to have company.

Akua hadn't really noticed it at first, but there was something comforting, or familiar, to having someone nearby, especially someone she knew. There had been a time, when Akua was lonely, and solitary. She had not been the kind of person to embrace being around others, or embrace working with others.

That had changed, over time. When the knot slowly, every so slowly became a noose, and she was used to helping, used to aiding, and used to... being one of them. She had felt...lonely, these past few months since arriving, and even on Horos. It wasn't the same, as being a part of a real band. Something that she probably would never really have again, but there could be moments.

Ernesto being close was... Nice. She did, however, notice the shivers, as much as he tried to hide them, and she slowly, quietly, and stealthily started to heat the air in the area, using a slip of her gift to draw the magic and heat out from other areas in the library, to warm the two of them up.

She was, after all, a little selfish. ]

Oh? [ She leaned over, and tipped her head in curiosity. ] Ah, that must be --

[ She turned the pages, to show him her own find, with a touch of a smile. ] The small one must be Ferenan again, and... [ If her eyes flicked toward Mr. Tibbs, she could hardly be blamed. ] His pet otter.

[goldendeceiver]

[ 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.

[wolof]

Hm, yes could be. I suppose we have no way to tell, given that this world is nearly destroyed.

[ Well, they could ask Mr. Tibbs, but Akua wasn't really certain that his status as a friend versus a pet -- or if the distinction to them even existed here -- was one that they would recognize.

She tapped her fingers against the book, thinking. ]

It may be that he considers himself the guardian of this castle, in Ferenan's stead, since he cannot. Being of the royal family, I would assume that he would be in charge of these people.

[ She wondered, though... ]

The author says that this land is destroyed. I wonder... were they a refugee who left? Or is it...

[ Mr. Tibbs himself? ]

[goldendeceiver]

[ In the end the distinction doesn't matter as much as the clear relation to the royal family the little guy has. The relationship is close regardless of what it is, and that does fit a couple of puzzle pieces into place for them.

The guardian of the castle though...

One of Ernesto's ears twitches as he frowns in consideration. It'd also make sense. Responsible for the castle, and for all the frozen people inside of it.

There's another twitch as Akua trails off, and Ernesto picks up on what she's suggesting. ]

Talking about this particular world? It'd make sense... Any chance there's an author name on your book?