beleos: (Default)
beleos ([personal profile] beleos) wrote in [community profile] kenoslogs2023-01-13 05:00 pm

⏳ 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...

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
    zauneyete: (Scene of the Crime)

    [personal profile] zauneyete 2023-01-17 05:29 am (UTC)(link)
    Both, I suppose.

    [ And to both, it was negative. Interesting. He crouched down and peeled off his right glove -- his unmarked hand exposed -- and he reached out to trail it through the water -- ice cold and sharp enough to settle the chill deep into his bones.

    He didn't pull it out quickly but forced himself to feel the acrid, sharp bite of the cold water, before he pulled it out slow, and let the droplets trail back into the water.
    ]

    I'm curious to know myself. Unfortunately... I'm a touch weak to... [ His eyes slid from Teacher, to the water. He offered a wry note, like a scoff. ] Drowning.
    spilledinkpot: (pic#16163489)

    [personal profile] spilledinkpot 2023-01-17 01:11 pm (UTC)(link)
    [He is aware that the water is cold. It has to be, because the ice that forms the castle around them would not indicate otherwise, and the humans he has been observing have all been shivering. But he himself... has forgotten what the sensation felt like. There have been strange sensations that occasionally struck his body since their arrival, but... Was that "cold"?

    He has forgotten.

    And... he responds all too sincerely to what might be sarcasm.]


    Humans are, yes. It is best to keep yourself out of the water if possible.

    [He is... not. But this time, he hopes there will be no "Mother" in the water, lurking in the dark of the hole in the lake floor he last time he had waded into such a situation. Now, though... his pale eyes look the over man over. When they had spoken over the communion...]

    I can inform you of what I find, if you like.
    zauneyete: (calming down)

    [personal profile] zauneyete 2023-01-19 06:55 am (UTC)(link)
    Hm. If you would? I'm curious if there's anything of use down there.

    [ Not that it would matter, but... perhaps if this creature would be kind enough to tell him what's down there, would he perhaps go back in, if it was of interest? If it was no significant sacrifice, he suspected that the creature would.

    Silco, of course, was mortal, and therefore would freeze. Even with his multiple layers of clothing, he was still cold, although he did his best to pretend it didn't touch him. He was lucky for his habit of wearing gloves these days, and lucky for the large coat he wore as well. He would have wished for a heater too, but the constant movement here had been another lucky boon. At least he wasn't freezing from idleness.
    ]

    Particularly if there is any non-blighted food.

    [ Wouldn't that be an ironic twist, for them to come back with food? Silco wasn't starving, but he knew what it was to live with tight resources. He could trade it, perhaps, for Sand or favors. ]
    spilledinkpot: (pic#16200112)

    [personal profile] spilledinkpot 2023-01-21 07:08 am (UTC)(link)
    Of course.

    [To be curious was only natural. And they were allies now, despite what reservation he might have about this man's interest in his cursed nature. He had no desire to defy the Lady Yima, not after she had proven her power to him. ... If she yet lived when they returned to Highstorm.

    He finishes placing his long coat on the icy table beside his satchel, removes his waistcoat and places it on top. After a moment of shifting his weight about and seeming to test his mobility, he pulls his shirtsleeves up... and then slowly begins to wade into the water, seemingly unbothered by the icy shock that should be hitting his skin, that begins to soak up his socks and trousers. Bending down, he picks up a few heavy stones from a broken section of wall and put them in his pockets.]


    If you could watch my things while I am gone, I would appreciate it.

    [But even if he does not... the creature continues to wade in... and his inky silhouette slowly disappears beneath the icy surface.]
    zauneyete: (light em up)

    [personal profile] zauneyete 2023-01-23 12:21 am (UTC)(link)
    [ What would it be, to not drown in the water?

    The thought is idle, and he wondered what kind of person it would make of him, to not feel that sickening, slight pulse of fear that slid down the back of his neck at the thought.

    He does not think on it for long, because dwelling on what he does not have is not Silco's way. Lashing out at those who would cause his troubles is much more his way, and it's evidenced by the fact that he does not look away from the creature descending into the water. He stares, with a single eye that's perpetually opened as he looked into the water, and watched the beast descend.
    ]

    As long as you don't take hours, I can stick around.

    [ He said, and pulled out a cigar, clipped it, and pressed a finger to the end to light it. If Teacher looked back, of course, there was the smell of cigar smoke, but Silco had vanished from sight. The sight of a plume of smoke occasionally gave him away, but that was easily tossed aside, if needed. ]
    spilledinkpot: (pic#16200124)

    [personal profile] spilledinkpot 2023-01-23 03:19 pm (UTC)(link)
    [There is no fear apparent as the man who has labeled his kind cursed descends into the water. He has been to the bottom of the lake the Black Children's Mother "resided" in more than once... and he has long forgotten what the sensation of needing air felt like.

    But he does look back. And he does startle just slightly, a bit of a widening of the black pupil in a pale eye, to see... nothing but smoke where a man had been. He had heard tale of the many magics in this place, but that... He would inquire later.

    The water envelops his head, and then his horns, and he is gone.

    He stays gone, for a good hour. Then there is a ripple, a shadow of movement beneath the water... and the horns breech once more, followed by skull, shoulders... and the sopping wet figure reemerges, struggling slightly to haul himself out at his new, heavier weight. But there is something in his hand.

    Is the invisible man still there... ?]
    zauneyete: (Wait now)

    [personal profile] zauneyete 2023-01-24 06:48 am (UTC)(link)
    [ If Teacher can't breathe, he likely can't smell that acrid, foul odor that accompanied Silco's preferred Cigars -- something closer to actual tar and resin from the smell, since the nice ones didn't remind him of where he came from -- but if Teacher took a look toward the water, he'd notice not one, not two, but now three discarded butts floating in the water.

    When he stepped out fully from the water, Silco materialized right before him, still smoking, his head tipped up as he blew a series of smoke rings into the air.
    ]

    Did you get stuck in a maze?

    [ He asked, his tone curious. ]
    spilledinkpot: (pic#16200112)

    [personal profile] spilledinkpot 2023-01-28 08:17 am (UTC)(link)
    [- He materializes from nothing.

    Thankfully? for Teacher... He cannot, actually, smell Silco's cigars. He can only see the smoke, and assume it has a smell. He doesn't recall it, despite recognizing the vice. The urge comes up, unbidden, to comment that the habit is not healthy for the lungs...

    But he does not know where it comes from, and so he does not say it in favor of just answering the question at first.]


    No. But the tunnel was far longer than I anticipated.

    [He finishes hauling himself out of the water, placing the makeshift bag in front of the other man before stepping back out of reach.]

    There was not much remaining in the rooms I found, but there was some food untouched by Blight.

    [He brought what wouldn't be spoiled by water- mostly what seemed to be salted fish. But also-]

    Is that your "magic"... ?

    [He had been granted the use of such, supposedly, upon his Harmonization. But to be fully invisible, hidden from sight... ?]
    zauneyete: (calming down)

    [personal profile] zauneyete 2023-01-30 04:03 am (UTC)(link)
    Nice find.

    [ He commented and looked it over. Silco, of course, had not struggled much for food yet. Between the supplies provided by Sebastian in the beginning, to the fact that the demon was still finding him food meant he had not felt hunger pangs yet since arriving.

    That did not mean that others had not, and weak teammates meant weak abilities. It meant their goals would be far and away out of reach, and Silco had no interest in that. He didn't want the Meridian to have their victory here, he didn't want them to prey on them for being the weakest, and he most certainly didn't want to be even further away from what he wanted by the end of this achingly long week.

    He stepped forward, to examine the box, when Teacher asked the question, and he tipped his head to look at him, the ghost of a smirk across his face.
    ]

    Oh? The invisibility? I suppose you could say it is. We find ourselves coming into more and more power as time goes on. This was one I had before, on Horos as well. [ A beat. ] Most come from worlds with a great deal of magic.

    Did you come from one of those?
    Edited (duplicate icon....) 2023-01-30 04:04 (UTC)
    spilledinkpot: (pic#16200126)

    [personal profile] spilledinkpot 2023-02-08 04:12 am (UTC)(link)
    [A "great deal of magic". The man (the creature, who honestly did look as if he ought to come from such a world) considers it, even as he undoes his cuffs and rolls his sheetsleeves up to reveal flesh just as inky black as the rest of him. From there, he begins wringing out his clothing, slowly, though he should be shivering and rushing to warm up.

    He had forgotten what cold felt like, but-]


    Not in the way that I see "magic" being used here. Spells, and the ability to create items, or control the elements...

    [That, even to one who looks as he did, is the stuff of fairytales and children's stories.]

    There is the curse... and the Black Children, but beyond that... No, I would not say that my world is magical.
    zauneyete: (pontificating)

    [personal profile] zauneyete 2023-02-10 04:09 am (UTC)(link)
    Hm. Interesting.

    [ Silco watched the creature wring out his clothes like the water was mere inconvenience, instead of something freezing him to the bone. Perhaps he didn't feel it, which was...impressive, actually. Really impressive. ]

    I have never seen something like it in my life, until I arrived in Horos, either. There is... supposedly magic, out in the rest of the world somewhere, but...

    [ Not in the "City of Progress" and most certainly not in its dank and poor undercity. Well, at least before Talis built the Hexgates, but that's a lot of giving up the specifics of his world. ]

    Thankfully, I can assure you, it is possible to get used to it.