⏳ 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]

[What a great way to bond...!

But yeah wow look it's the one guy in this joint who probably wouldn't be surprised to see the absolute ferocity with which both Matsuis are going at each other with... Sometimes it pays to be upfront about bloodlust with other friendly local neighborhood maniacs! He's so wrapped up in his own fighting that he barely even registers the presence of another - but then, there's another bloodspill, one that isn't his own. It attracts the attention of both of these swords! That's fine.

After all, it's only one of the two Matsuis - the one with bloodier hands - that smiles, a wide enough smile to show off the sharp cuspids that are usually hidden behind his relatively demure expressions.]

Draw as much blood as you please, until there is nothing left to spill.

[BE NORMAL FOR FIVE SECONDS but no, no room for normalcy here as the Matsui that had just spoken immediately grapples with his mirror image to wholeass throw him to the floor so he can make a dash for the Flamebringer that hadn't spoken to him.]

[hurricaneofblood]

[ Someone would come around and be like, "Which is the real Matsui?" "Which is the real Flamebringer?"

At this moment, it is very difficult to tell which of them is the doppelganger. His mirror has been biting hard into any exposed flesh that Flamebringer had - ripping what the sharpened fangs could. But it's fine since Flamebringer has been doing the same. Their mouths are full of blood and he violently kicks the fake version off him.

This is just so that he can speed crawl to grab onto the one that Matsui(???) said that he could fight. It is grabbing onto the leg to jerk the body closer to him. Arms raised to start slamming fists down onto a soft body. This is all very normal and this is how people bond with one another. ]

That is the only way to fight! This is how real battles should be!

[ Both versions say something very similar to this. It's very difficult to show extreme versions of one's side when the original gets very extreme about one thing and one thing only. Whoops, all chaos. But at least anyone who comes in will just know to waddle back out??? There's that??? ]

[sanguinary]

[THE IDEA OF SOMEONE JUST WALKING IN AND SEEING THIS AND BEING LIKE well anyway bye HELP... Honestly they would be the most valid person in this scenario.

This is also absolutely hilarious, though. Sometimes your edgy doppelganger tries to out-edge you and simply cannot! Matsui huffs out a half-laugh about it, since there's part of him that realizes the not-all-that-funny hilarity of the situation. It's a short-lived laugh, though, considering he's launching himself with full fervor at the doppelganger(???) a second later, darting in with a harsh sweeping kick in an attempt to get him off of his feet. Dang dirty height advantages...

The Matsui that's currently being pummeled attempts to catch and grapple at least one of Flamebringer's hands, though his strength is about average for a particularly fit human rather than being anything supernatural. He's a weenie like his Real Person Version... The curse of unharmonization.

While struggling, he still manages to spit out:] What good do you think this bloodshed will do? Not even a ocean's worth will wash your sins away.

[...Well!! Well. UNLIKE Violence Man 1 and 2 over here, Matsui's doppelganger clearly has more of an edge than Matsui does... Matsui himself may talk a lot about blood, but that's like, the very tip of his extremely unwell iceberg and he tends to prefer keeping the rest out of sight.

It's hard to tell whether he's talking to Flamebringer or to Matsui.]

[hurricaneofblood]

Ah, I did grab your fake, then.

[ It's absolutely stupid that Flamebringer figured out he had the doppelganger purely because he felt that edgy comment was not the right kind of edge. ]

Who needs sins to be forgiven? What's the point of bloodshed and death if we don't carry it until our end?!

[ He is biting the fake Matsui now because he knows for sure it isn't the real one. Sorry, bro. Whatever edgy thing he was going to say next is silenced. It's hard to keep going when one's mouth is full of blood - or clothes (or flesh!?) of someone else! ]

Idiot! No matter what sacrifice you give, you will always be betrayed!

[ Flamebringer lifts his head and spits out whatever is in his mouth. He gives Matsui a look that is very "can you believe this asshole?" and goes back to biting and hitting the mirror version of his very cool sword friend. ]

[sanguinary]

[NOT THE RIGHT KIND OF EDGE help. He's right, though, it's not the right kind of edge at all...

Matsui does not seem at all perturbed by the fact that Flamebringer's just over there having a bitefest with his clone, though - only partially because he's too busy trying to drive Flamebringer's clone through a mirror. Honestly, the clone himself doesn't even seem as concerned as he rEALLY OUGHT TO BE... He's attempting to land punches and kicks, scratching and biting in kind. Why are they both so feral.]

Ah... These things are annoying.

[SAYS ORIGINAL MATSUI who is truly just radiating vibes that reek of silent fury and irritation. He hates his double! And Flamebringer's double is also so damn edgy he's dying!! (Really, he just doesn't like it because he knows they're both designed to dig at tender spots, no matter how blase the recipient reacts).

The glass he'd been attempting to ram Flamebringer's clone into finally cracks, and Matsui reaches forward to wrench a piece free, all violence and blood-covered hands as he starts in with a frenzied stab attack. Good lord.]

[hurricaneofblood]

They don't know when to shut up.

[ Being Harmonized, he does have a little bit more strength than Matsui's doppelganger. Not much, mind, but when one's in a bite fest, a little more strength than one's opponent is appreciated.

The comments his mirror-self makes eat at him. He can drown it out by giving in to bloodlust and desire to kill. But still, the doppelganger talks about how he'll always be betrayed; how all his sacrifices are for nothing. Flamebringer is not so made of stone as to not feel pain at hearing the truth.

As his other self is stabbed, it laughs and continues to call the original "a tool to be thrown away." Flamebringer leans down so that he could try to tear the throat out of Matsui's double with his sharpened teeth. The taste of blood and chaos helps to settle his uneasy heart. THEY'RE GOING THROUGH IT BUT GOING THROUGH IT TOGETHER!

He's always said that he is a tool and made a joke of it. He made light of his disposable state. But somewhere deep in his heart, he sought something else for himself. How irritating that his mirror self has to go on about it. Rude, even. ]

[sanguinary]

[THEY REALLY ARE GOING THROUGH IT TOGETHER...

Matsui's double is not going to hold up well against this onslaught no matter how vicious it is, and through choking and gurgling, it manages a: there is no god who would listen to the prayers of someone like you.

Whether or not Matsui himself hears it is debatable - (of course he does) - considering he's too hyperfocused on his current task of absolutely annihilating Flamebringer's double. No need to keep things that are painful around if they bring nothing else to the table, after all.

That said, he begins to notice that for the amount of blood Flamebringer's double has lost, it doesn't seem to be flagging in quite the right way. He's far too intimate with death and youkai-adjacent things to not realize--]

—The mirror. The mirror is what we should be targeting.

[hurricaneofblood]

[ He spits out a chunk of meat and blood. It is somewhat irritating that they can't just continue to tear into their doubles until they die. But he gives a nod that he understands that the mirror is what they should be seeking. ]

For all the blood and meat you have, you're not real.

[ It is what he says as he throws Matsui's double away. Time to hunt down a mirror! ] Matsui's more real than you could hope to be. For all his sins and prayers, he'll bleed and bathe in the blood more gloriously than you could hope.

[ Time to run to hunt for a mirror! ]

[sanguinary]

[There are so many Existential Thoughts swirling around in his little sword noggin currently, but he still has it in him to laugh at that - a harsh, snapping sound which seems like it would suit his doppelganger much better. But they are reflections, after all.

In the meantime, he doesn't declare his thoughts in quite the same grandiose way. Rather, he simply grabs the sides of the doppelganger's face - a likeness so similar to Flamebringer's own that he surely wouldn't be able to tell them apart if they behaved any more similarly - and leans down, down until his mouth is level with the double's ear.]

If it's your blood, I don't mind shedding it. It's always such a shame when it becomes trapped in the veins of something worth so little...

[LOOK THIS DOUBLE'S MIRROR IS RIGHT THERE, HE BARELY HAS TO WORK FOR IT and sometimes the s just peeks through a little...

IN THE MEANTIME Matsui's doppelganger is absolutely zooming after Flamebringer, but like, at a slower clip considering he's. MISSING PIECES. Matsui's also left a trail of destruction fighting his own double, so it shouldn't be too hard locating the original mirror.]

[hurricaneofblood]

I appreciate the sentiment.

[ How could he not? It's a very nice sentiment. They're just giving compliments to each other like it is no one's business. Truly a lovely time is being had, etc.

But at least it is time to zoom in search of a mirror. He gets his face slammed into one of the mirrors as he tries to find it, though. That's his fault! He should have realized that Matsui's double would be a quick killer. Half of his face ends up cut on the glass as he knocks the sword doppelganger off. ]

We should do this again sometime. Just you and me.

[ And since he doesn't have anything to smash the mirror with -- he's gonna use his fist. 'Cause that's smart and good thing to do! ]

[sanguinary]

[In essentially matched time, he's up and on his feet again, also swinging his fist through the mirror that Flamebringer's doppelganger sprang through. Double matching idiot fist-to-glass wounds! Wow! They're really winning the jackpot here.

Or maybe their doppelgangers are, since they'll shatter and break to pieces like the mirrors they came from, scattering across the floor in so many glittering pieces. Now they no longer have to deal with the double bloodthirst of two maniacs...

Matsui is left standing there, bloodied and bright-eyed and trying to reel himself back now that the enemy is no longer present and the blood no longer has to be drawn. There's a mantra he repeats to himself in his head in times like this: don't draw blood, don't draw blood. Fortunately, it helps.]

I would be happy to.