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Entry tags:
- !event,
- arcane: vander,
- d. gray-man: tyki mikk,
- dragon age: anders,
- elder scrolls (the): voryn dagoth,
- ennead: set,
- expanse (the): amos burton,
- final fantasy xiv: emet-selch,
- final fantasy xiv: hythlodaeus,
- genshin impact: kaeya alberich,
- genshin impact: zhongli,
- mob psycho 100: reigen arataka,
- oc: liem talbott,
- orv: dokja kim,
- orv: sooyoung han,
- until death do us part: mamoru hijikata
⏳ 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...
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.
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
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...
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!
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.)
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
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.
Please see the "Blight" section below for more information on its effects.
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
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.”
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!
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?
Please refer to the OOC Summary for details on the Hall of Mirrors!
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
THE BLIGHT and TIME MECHANICS
BLIGHT
TIME
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!!!
ii!
No just kidding. Though he is unfortunately extremely familiar with time-traveling and also the concepts of alternate realities and timelines, he's not out here thinking about it All The Time... So when he trots over to give the weird book a little read, his brow almost immediately furrows. God he's gotta THINK now.]
I have heard of no such thing before, myself. A "collective unconscious" in this context sounds like it could be the memories of a world itself... Is this similar to what you're familiar with? [But as far as the cursed otter goes:]
It would seem that the creature was disliked by at least one person who frequented this library before us, too. I would not be surprised if there was far more to it and the sand it's created with this "time magic"...
no subject
Or: Hey bud, welcome to the thinking times.]
I'm shocked to learn the pushy magical otter is widely disliked.
[So shocked. Put a pin in that for pettily talking shit about the talking otter later, after the puzzle of the collective unconscious.]
In my world, it's called the Fade. Mages can access it; it's where magic comes from. How can I explain the Fade...
[uhhhhh... okay, how about,]
It's the realm of spirits and dreams— in that sense, the place where dreaming takes place, you could call it a collective. But only mages and spirits are conscious within the Fade, so at the same time, no.
[So, memories of the world... kinda sorta. His professional opinion.]
no subject
But!! He'll loop back around to this Proof of Otter Hatred in a bit, since of course he finds talk about a spirit realm interesting.]
Oh? I see... It sounds similar to the spirit world that I am familiar with. Only certain people can access it or see us, but it isn't the source of dreams or anything similar.
[No memories of the world in their spirit box...]
I haven't come across anything quite like that. A "collective". It sounds like the sort of thing that would be just as troublesome to get involved with as time magic.
no subject
Anders demonstrates an herculean amount of self control to not immediately be invasive and weird about spirit world and us in the same sentence; he may literally be biting his tongue. Okay. Be normal, Anders. Start with the collective.]
...No. No, I think you're right— that's too much power for an individual to hold. [The amount of power that leads to frozen castle tragedies and mages getting a bad reputation, specifically; he can't think of a reason a single mage should hold the power to access- and presumably, manipulate- something like the collective unconscious, if it is indeed akin to wrangling the whole Fade at once.
Who would do that. It would be like ripping the Veil in half or something. Truly maddening.
ANYway,] You said "see us"— you're a spirit? You've been a spirit this whole time?
[This is an accusatory question in the way that "you planned a surprise party for me??" is an accusatory question. Spirit friend...]
no subject
For now, he just nods in agreement because yeah! He's seen what happens when one person or a group of people hold too much of that kind of power and it always ends in [redacted]. Bad. He would very much like to not be a part of any wildass experiment about timestreams or time magic or collective consciences or anything else, thanks.
As for Anders' surprise party full of spirits:]
I have been a spirit since the day I was forged, yes. [Said with yet another blink-and-you-miss-it smile, before he dips his head a little in Proper Greeting.] I am the blade forged by Gou no Yoshihiro, Matsui Gou. I am what you would call a tsukumogami - an object spirit, if you have anything similar where you come from.
no subject
That said, beyond straight goofy things like "haunted barrels" or the like, Anders is fairly certain this is a brand new concept, so-]
Oh— no, nothing like that. I was... I had a friend who was a spirit, once. I miss being able to talk to him.
[Ahem. There's absolutely nothing else to unpack in that, and Anders is a perfectly ordinary human with no Extraneous Souls. He shakes his head slightly.]
Not that I'm saying all spirits are the same— you know what I mean. Do you?
[maker open up the earth and swallow him whole smh]
—I'm Anders, by the way.
no subject
But!! Wow Anders is really out here doing his best, and Matsui cracks the biggest smile he has yet in return for all the hilarious fluster.]
I do. [No need to worry, buddy...] It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Anders.
[Said with another polite little nod of his head and everything! Though he'll loop back around after that, because of course he's interested in Man Who Once Had A Spirit Friend. It's very saniwa-adjacent, even if tsukumogami don't exist in this guy's world outside of haunted barrels.]
This friend of yours - may I ask if they were a human spirit, then?
no subject
And oh, gosh, another Visible Smile, everything really is coming up Anders. He should get two sticky hands for this interaction alone, he's doing so good at talking to spirits (without political upheaval).]
A human spirit? In the sense that Fade spirits can be shaped like men, I suppose. They're from the Fade, not... [he wiggles his fingers,] ghosts or ghouls or whichever.
[The part of him that was once Justice rankles at the comparison, which would be funny, but maybe he's only imagining that from sheer nostalgia. The longing and loss of no longer being able to talk to a friend who is quite literally part of him is a strange one; he shrugs and flashes a brief little smile, because his complex spirit friend feelings are kind of a downer.]
Denizens of the Fade are spirits of something— Wisdom, Patience... My friend was called Justice.
no subject
Ah, how interesting... [The part that he's hearing about, that is. Complex spirit friend feelings usually are quite sad, not that he would personally know or anything... But!!]
It does sound similar to tsukumogami in a way, but on a much larger, grander scale... To think that there is a spirit that represents something like "wisdom" or "patience" - it's not anything that I would have considered before, I think. [Topics do get weird when you hang out with other immortals who have nothing better to do outside of philosophizing between missions, so he can't say For Sure.]
What is Justice like?
no subject
No? I won't be gauche and ask what you're meant to embody, then. [This is his little joke, except it just sounds awkward, way to go Anders. He's about to launch into a nerd rant about spirits and their respective embodiments and also Demons and how they are Bad, but oh, a question that requires him in no small amount to be sentimental instead.
What is Justice like. Well. After a brief inner debate about present vs. past tense, ahem,]
What you'd expect, more or less. Justice... is unyielding. He was a good friend to me when first we met, although in hindsight I'm not sure I deserved much of his patience. He wanted things to be better. For me, for people like me— I believed in him.
no subject
For now, Matsui just smiles - fleeting, amused - at that Little Anders Joke before turning his attention to the description of Justice. Succinct, but a lot to be uncovered in just a few sentences.]
I see... [A little nod, more to himself than Anders.] Those who embody such traits often make good leaders. Like a strong pillar, something that can take up the centermost space and direct all eyes toward it.
[They're also the sort of people who tend to crash and burn and die horribly in self-sacrificial incidents, but Matsui will politely leave that unsaid.]