⏳ 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

wildcard.

[subsist]

[ A piece of him is missing, he knows.

Kaeya has spent a considerable amount of time wondering what it could be. He's searched every corner of his mind, looking through all the fragments of the past, but both the precious things and the worst things seem intact. Nothing appears to be out of place. Despite confirming this, he knows that something is wrong. Gone. Out of his reach and unable to be returned.

(What is it about this place? It reminds him so much of Mondstadt's shores, but thinking so makes his heart ache in ways he can't understand—)

To distract himself from this, he peruses the library's impressive collection of books. There's something wrong on this island, a secret unlocked somewhere that is waiting to be discovered, and he wants to know what it is. If it would help them with the Oracle's retrieval, then he'll do whatever it takes to get it.

Of course, thinking so is quite different from acting upon it. It will surprise him more if he doesn't hesitate when the time comes to finally draw the line in the sand. ]

[zauneyete]

[ Had he even spoken to Kaeya, since... that afternoon in the Below? No, and other than the gift of liquor that had found its way by Kaeya's door, there'd been barely a sight of hide or hair of Silco as well. It had been an... awkward thing. Troublesome and chaotic in only the way the Jinx could be, and he was not ashamed of his choice, only in that he'd been forced to voice it. Then again, she'd always had a way of pulling the truth out of him, it just happened to have... fallout damage this time.

That was all.

Being here, in this new land, though, there was a need to find the few allies he had available. Or semi-allies. Sure, he had the demon, but... Sebastian was only one like-minded creature, and he needed more. Kaeya, despite what Silco had said, was... important enough that eventually they would have to talk. That eventually they would need to share words, and of all the people here, Kaeya would understand what it was, that Silco was... experiencing these days. He was one of the few who knew... precisely how deep, how personal it was now.

Fingers behind his back, he tipped his head, still with those too-silent boots he was wearing, he finally broached, before he said: ]

Have you found anything of interest yet?

[ Unrelated conversation. Truly the tool de jour for awkward moments. ]

[subsist]

[ It has been a decent amount of time since Kaeya and Silco last spoke with each other. He wouldn't say that he was deliberately avoiding the other man. After all, it wasn't like he wanted to be held hostage by a parasitic entity for who knows how long that went on, but after that — well, he's had other things to do. Leads to follow up.

And it wasn't like they were particularly close, so once Silco drew that line in the sand, he hadn't bothered reaching out.

(He did, at the very least, keep the present Silco gave him for his birthday. That has to count for something.) ]

Nothing that would bring us any closer to acquiring the Oracle.

[ His answer comes so easily to him, as if there isn't a burning bridge between the two of them. He looks over at the other man. ]

How about you?

[zauneyete]

Nothing.

[ He admitted, and there's a note of that frustration in there. If anything would feel reassuring to the man right now, it would be if he could wring the life from the oracle itself, but that wasn't to be. Not without the proper steps, and the Oracle remained a mystery. Instead, they just had this... otter, and the sand. The sand that they had to invest at the end of it, but nnone of this was important.

Even across the burning bridge, Kaeya could see it. The twitch of his lips. ]

I hadn't anticipated it being easy, but I also hadn't thought this... mission [ Said with no lack of annoyance at the thought of being led around by Yima ] would leave us with more questions about our goals than answers.

[ There were several oracles, weren't there? Silco clearly wanted to speed-run the entirety of it. ]

[subsist]

[ Kaeya can understand the frustration.

After all, they received very little direction from the Matron of Zenith, but perhaps that just comes with the territory nowadays. The fact that they're being made to play a game is downright ridiculous. If only there was a way to speed-run it, then Kaeya will be helping Silco along with it.

Alas, it seems they're stuck at the beginning for now. ]

Oh? Do you find yourself wondering if there's a point to all of this?

[ Really... If they didn't get Mr. Tibbs as the game host, maybe he would be feeling differently towards everything. But. Whoops. ]

[zauneyete]

[ A frustrated snort. ]

Yes. I didn't expect to stumble on an... [ His eyes, one unblinking indicated the form of the otter, and then back to Kaeya. ] Otter to direct us.

[ He wanted to put an end to this. Being around so many people, so far away from -- ]

Have you had much success? With your...sand gathering? As much as I find this entire scenario ridiculous, we won't find out what brings the oracles to fruition, unless we play along, I suppose.

[ The last part is sour, a little disgusted, and of course, a touch angry. Silco, of course, hasn't even looked all that pleasant to be around in a little over a month now. If Kaeya had caught sight of him at Misa and Lottie's party, or even during the Zenith event, well. He isn't. ]

[subsist]

[ Ah, Master Tibbs... If only it didn't feel like such a crime to want to strangle the otter. ]

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

[ He can only shake his head. ]

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

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

[zauneyete]

Oh?

[ Silco asked the question, but one eye shifted, and widened slightly before he tipped his head as if he was questioning that. Kaeya wasn't the first person who had expressed a distaste for this sand gathering to him, of course, but... There was no other option, was there? Nothing else for them to do, there were no pathways presented to them, or any obvious ways to obtain the oracles.

It was... a frustrating place to be in, being trailblazers like this, and venturing into the unknown.

And although Silco had always been a force for change (some good, mostly bad), he was a creature of his habits and wasn't particularly one for exploring options, beyond those that would support his longtime dream. ]

Aren't resources for Zenith at least worth...some effort?

[subsist]

[ What Silco asks him isn't inherently problematic.

After all, even Kaeya understands that Zenith needs to acquire the Oracle in order for Yima to have enough power to save as many fragmented pieces of their worlds. The shard of his sworn brother might be tucked away in an ornate box back at his chosen home, but it'll never replace Diluc. He knows that if he wants to give Diluc a better chance of coming back, then — ]

I suppose, but doesn't it feel like a repeat of how things were at Horos? We're here doing someone else's bidding once again.

[ Yima might not be anything like the Regent, but the situation and the circumstances are all the same. ]

[zauneyete]

Is it?

[ He asked, but the way he tipped his head, and his lip curled, it said that he disagreed. ]

What was it the Kenoma asked of us? Despair? Yes, there's someone in charge, I suppose -- [ He waved a hand, dismissively. Silco, after all, had been under the heel of people who considered themselves his better for most of his life. What power he'd acquired in Zaun, he knew was not even a fraction of the power that the Piltover council had, or even those foreign powers so great Silco couldn't even comprehend them.

He'd always been a big fish in a small sea, and he was learning to either grow, or use what spines and wits he had, to overcome his shortcomings. ]

Though I find... while the end is the same, it does not motivate me. I don't care what they do with this "new world" when they achieve it, do you?

[ Silco had always, always had one thing he held as more precious, more important than anything else. Crystalized into a gem right now, but still... He didn't dare hope. Hope was for people who had the right to it, and what right did Zaunites have toward hope? ]

[subsist]

[ Does he care about what happens with this new world? It's a loaded question, but it's one that has a simple answer — at least for him. ]

No. There's only one thing that matters to me, and I suppose Zenith is the one most likely to achieve it.

[ Kaeya might not realize just how similar he and Silco are when it comes to this. Or rather, maybe he would know this if the two of them just talked, but that's the hard part, isn't it? Reaching out to someone always runs the risk of being turned away, and he's had that happen more than enough times to know better by now. ]

Of course, I have no proof of what will happen when Lady Yima gains ownership of all the Oracles.

[ It's clear he doesn't trust her at all, but it still feels like this is his only choice. ]

[zauneyete]

Agreed.

[ He admitted, with a soft scoff. Was that to the first statement or the second? Silco doesn't bother to clarify, and perhaps assumes he doesn't need to.

He didn't trust Yima either, at least...

She'd kept her word, but then again, had she? She'd promised Jinx would be here, and she arrived, only to wither and vanish practically without a word, and into the ether where she'd come from. She'd just left him -- something that the both of them had always promised to the other that they would never do -- and yet...

Yima had said that some souls did not stay connected, like others did. He did not know if that was true, if it meant anything more than an attempt at comforting words, but he didn't trust it any more than Kaeya did. ]

Or if Lady Yima will direct them at all, or if Zenith itself will. As long as it's all... gone in the end... I have little care for the rest of it, these realities.

[ Other than. Well. The obvious. ]

[subsist]

[ Silco didn't have to clarify what he meant. Kaeya thinks he has a pretty good idea of what the other man agreed to, anyway. Distrustful as they both are, that only leaves a few options in the end.

Diluc's Shard is supposed to be Yima's guarantee — or rather, her proof that things wouldn't be the same as what happened back at Horos. That he would be free to make a choice without feeling pressured one way or another. A part of him still thinks that this is the case, but he can't be sure nowadays. The more he learns about what can be done to Shards, the more he wonders if he is fighting for the right side. ]

And what if that's not a guarantee? What will you do then?

[ He knows how Silco thinks. Promise him one thing but refuse to deliver and you'll have the man's grudge for the rest of your life. Is he willing to risk that for an ending they knew nothing about? With little to no fail-safes? ]

[zauneyete]

[ Silco's jaw tightened.

He had... little hope these days. He didn't want to exist in this odd world without his daughter, hell, even with Jinx -- without Zaun -- it was barely acceptable. He knew that there was a possibility, of course, that they would all be surprised, with the rug pulled out from all of them, in the end. That Yima could still do so, and he did not Trust her.

Silco trusted nobody, after all. Nobody here. ]

Then I'll find a way to burn them all down myself.

[ Silco was just a man. He was a small, weak man compared to the rest of the people here, but there was something about the fervency of his conviction that said it clear -- he would do it, or he would burn himself to the wick from trying. ]