⏳ 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

[sanguinary]

[TRULY THAT. EXACTLY THAT...

But that's fair enough, people really are getting wild as hell in these here halls. Matsui's seen enough of war and of combating moralities that he's really not surprised by the shift in many people's demeanors, either. It's still a little sad to see, but in the distant sort of way that such a long-lived spirit would view it.

More importantly, though, he shakes his head.]

I don't feel that it is important to do so.

[For him personally, anyway. Sometimes you're just a little creature vibing through trials and tribulations without any major attachment to any party's end goal.]

--Have you had any of your injuries seen to yet?

oh my god i'm so sorry for the 400 typos in my last tag i promise i can type...

[copeless]

[ If anything, hearing that does make them feel better. As they're also not feeling that competing for the Oracle is particularly important... it feels like a game they've gotten drafted into where they don't know the rules, but are expected to pick a team to play for. Just being in the presence of someone else with a similar mindset is a comfort, in these trying times. ]

Oh, um... no.

[ They admit, meekly. Instinctually, their hand goes to cover the gash at their upper arm, seeming somewhat ashamed of the inky appearance of the wound itself. A part of them wants to tell him that it's fine — that it was their own doing, for the sake of defeating the siren — but then, they start wondering if that is even a moderately normal thing to say. Is that weird? Is that cringe??? ]

I wanted to find... a weapon, first. That's why I'm...

[ Sopping wet, they mean, but don't say. ]

HELP no worries can any of us really type..i sure cant

[sanguinary]

[Sometimes everyone is really into dodgeball on sports day and you and your one buddy who think it's ridiculous just sit off on the sidelines eating everyone's snacks while they're distracted.

Except in this case, Matsui's distracted by the injury - and takes note of the strange appearance of it, naturally. Not even a sword bleeds black, after all, so it doesn't even occur to him to think that it's blood just yet.]

If you wish, I'll help you search for a weapon. You should take care of that first, though... Human bodies are incredibly fragile. Staying wet and cold for too long will upset your blood health, and you could easily get infected if you don't treat any open wounds.

[There's a note of vague exasperation in his voice as he lists off all the TERRIBLE THINGS that could go wrong with a squishy human body... He is, as always, of the opinion that it (the wholeass human body) was a terrible design choice.]

I have supplies, if you need any.

[copeless]

[ They find themself feeling a little bit of shame hearing that — about how incredibly fragile they must be, both in his words and in his exasperated tone. It's true, they suppose, in their current state. The man's words only further convince them that they have to figure out a way to return to normal, and quickly. Forget the physical ramifications of being weak, the mental stress it's bringing them is far, far worse. That the person before them isn't human does ping them... as something of interest, but not something they feel they can ask about freely. It'd probably be rude to just ask someone about that straight out, right? ]

I... If you have a bandage... [ Sure would be nice if they could at least dress the wound. The cold on it is far from comfortable, and normally, they'd rather just suffer than go through the excruciating social pain of asking for help, but this person is kinder than the bunch they've met, so they feel marginally less nervous doing so. ] I'll pay you back...! But it might be later... if that's alright.

[ Their hand stays tight against their wound, shrinking their shoulders in shyly after wrangling themself into having the confidence to try to make an even deal. They'll feel horrible if they just leech off of him... won't he inevitably get tired of them if they're always needing to be helped? It's why they're such a rushed nature to their offer to pay him back eventually, and why they can't look him in the eye when they say it. ]

[sanguinary]

[Unaware of poor Crona's mental stress and struggles, Matsui cants his head to the side a little at the sudden offer. Maybe it's a good thing they aren't looking him in the eye, because they'd just see a big ??? there. He truly does not understand why everyone here seems obsessed with evening the scales...]

I do have a bandage, and it isn't something that I require payment for... I won't stop you if you wish to, since it seems to be a matter of importance to many people here, but I have no need for such things.

[Truly, the human-esque notion of bartering is something he has basically not a single scrap of interest in.

That said, he'll gesture them forward after that, turning to lead the way in the direction that heads toward the library.]

My supplies are in the library... Anders also has a clinic set up, so you can have your injuries examined more closely or healed with magic if you would prefer.

[copeless]

I... If it's really okay, then...

[ They're not gonna look a gift horse in the mouth. They're a little confused over his refusal to accept payment — maybe he really is just this giving? — but not enough to try to argue with him over it. Instead, they obediently trail along after him, fidgeting with the fabric at their arm mindlessly as they walk in stride. ]

Thank you. [ It takes a few awkward beats of silence for them to muster up the courage to say that, only glancing at him once out of the corner of their eye. ] Just the bandage is alright.

[ Because they're a bit nervous about Ragnarok, and how their blood might react to unknown healing magic. So long as they don't have control over the blood in their veins, they're hesitant about what comes into contact with it... and about others who might touch it. They're sure it's still capable of infecting people even in its weakened state — and that reminds them that they should make sure of something before all else. ]

You weren't — you weren't injured at all, walking around here...?

[ He must be skilled, lucky, or have some sort of healing power himself... maybe all three. That wouldn't surprise them. ]

[sanguinary]

[The thanks and request for a bandage alone is met with an agreeable nod. Several people seem to prefer regular-degular old fashioned healing as compared to the magic, which isn't all that surprising to him, given what he knows about people in general.

The other question, however, has him glancing back toward them curiously.]

Mm? No, I have been injured. One would have to be extremely careful and fortunate to avoid any injury in a place such as this, I believe... The hall of mirrors alone is very dangerous.

[HELP. The reality is, he just takes care to keep his appearance tidy and covers almost the entirety of his body anyway, so the injuries he does have aren't visible. Beyond the unnatural paleness of his skin - honestly not a far cry from his usual unnatural paleness - there aren't many indicators that he's hurt.

Once they're in the library proper, though, he'll lead the way over to the little corner he's carved out for himself. Books are stacked neatly on the table and two chairs are set up, along with a little basket of medical supplies.]

[copeless]

[ The hall of mirrors... they'll have to remember that for later. It's true that he hardly seems injured, though — without any obvious signs of blood, his refined posture and overall composed nature make it hard to think anything is wrong, really. With a quiet nod, they accept his answer and don't say much else - not until they've actually made it to the small set of supplies. ]

As long as your hands aren't wounded... it should be fine... but you really don't have to help me. [ It's the last thing they're worried about before taking a seat at the table set out for them, resting their injured arm on the table, but still covering the wound itself. ] My blood is... well, it's dangerous for other people to get near... if they have open wounds. That's why I asked...

[ Maybe that will be an acceptable enough explanation? They don't want to freak him out, but also, they genuinely don't want him to catch the adverse effects their blood can inflict on others, since he's taking so much time out of his day to show them mercy. It's why they're hesitant to touch anything in the basket before them with their blood stained hand, letting it leave their wound to show him the extent of the spill. The palm of heir hand looks sticky with something the same consistency as blood, but the color's all wrong - it's dark, like tar. ]

I don't want you to get hurt from it, is all. Or for anyone else to...

[ The words are shy but very genuine - probably the most firm thing he's heard them say. ]

[sanguinary]

Ah... [Pausing in the middle of rummaging through his supplies, he glances over at Crona.] --Even if the wound is covered?

[One hand is gloved and covered from fingertip to shoulder, but the other - he flips his hand over, pulling the frilled cuff of his sleeve away to reveal the bandages wrapped around his palm. Hilarious that the bulk of his injuries are on his hands, given the glass shards he'd been fighting with.

That said, he doesn't seem at all freaked out by any of this, even though maybe a normal person should be. If anything, curiosity seems to be the strongest emotion present in his expression as they pull their hand away from their wound. He'll lean in to get a closer look, but - mindful of how firm they'd sounded - will take care not to touch anything just yet.]

--This is normal for you, then? For it to be this color?

[Matsui sweatily thinking about all the biology books he's read about blood that talk about all of the times when blood is black. Mostly when it's Dead.]