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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
    copeless: (pic#16161875)

    [personal profile] copeless 2023-01-18 03:38 am (UTC)(link)
    [ In their mind, you'd have to be a total maniac to start cooking during these conditions, but also, maybe this guy is like a British Masterchef™? Maybe it's normal for him, and therefore not hard for him to cook even when there's a "war" going on around him? As ever, they assume they're the one that doesn't know anything and is clueless, so while their initial reaction is one of confusion, they're quick to file it under 'what do I know, who am I to judge.'

    Besides, if people are more concerned with cooking and the nutrition levels of their foods... maybe this whole shebang won't be so bad after all? Maybe people are less focused on fighting than they thought. ]


    Most people seem like they're taking things... so, the longer we're here... the harder it might be. T... To make something.

    [ If people are thinking anything like they are, they'll try to hoard things - either for themselves or for their "side." But anyway, they'll try to be helpful, even if they're sure the man has already come to that conclusion on his own... it's the only thing they can think of, to try to maintain amicable relations with both sides throughout the remainder of this trial. Outside of running away, of course. ]

    Not that I know if it's possible...! I don't know anything about cooking...

    [ They add that on hurriedly, like they're worried they might be asked a follow up question on the possibility of cheffing it up in this kitchen. They're not even sure if this place is functional, really.... ]
    cutlery: please do not take! (They Tim Tam Slammed.)

    [personal profile] cutlery 2023-01-22 03:32 am (UTC)(link)
    Indeed… It is why I had hoped to find the kitchen early. To be frank about it, hunger has not yet set in, so it has not occurred to everyone as a priority yet. Taking stock rather early and taking what needs to be taken seemed wiser.

    [ Which unintentionally he probably assisted with… Since Zenites got three meals from his efforts, they will be able to go a bit longer than others, but may miss out on scrounging for further food later. Ah, well. That part isn’t his problem, and they’ll be fine going hungry for a few days in the worst case.

    Yet despite his practical outlook, he holds out the jar of peaches for Crona to take. The gesture goes without comment, since he latches onto the little fact at the end there. ]


    But really, you do not? [ …Is that weird? He’s not sure. When do human children learn to cook? ] Well, it is a diverse skill, but at least the very basics are not hard to pick up.
    copeless: (pic#16161787)

    [personal profile] copeless 2023-01-25 03:35 am (UTC)(link)
    [ It's a little less puzzling to be offered it back, with everything the man has explained, so they don't hesitate as much as they normally might have to reach out and accept the jar. He hadn't particularly being vying for it, as they'd first imagined - and, if worst comes to worst, they can always just offer it back to him if he changes his mind. They'd rather be a pushover than get in a squabble. ]

    Oh, really? I wouldn't know how to deal with the ingredients.

    [ How does one know how much or how little of something to put in? How to cut it up? What temperature it needs to be cooked at? All the meals they've eaten in their life have mostly been prepared by someone else, so even though he says the basics are easy to pick up, when they think about it, they don't have the first clue of what goes on in the kitchen. ]

    Or the knives... or the stove. [ They close both hands around the jar of fruit securely, eyes wandering over to the old stove and oven here in the parlor, only now becoming more aware of how little they know about re: working such a contraption. ] It seems a little... overwhelming. To learn.

    [ Which is why they're eating this stuff, they guess. ]
    cutlery: (an unexpected error has occurred)

    [personal profile] cutlery 2023-01-26 12:40 am (UTC)(link)
    [ He gives a little nod as Crona takes the jar, and with that, starts to look at the jars and other assorted goodies again. He’s doing what may as well be calculus with taking stock, since he’s definitely going to unfreeze as little as possible but maximize what he can make with it. It’s the sort of thing that would take intense, non-conversational concentration for anyone else, but, well. What kind of butler would he be if he couldn’t do this? (A normal one._ ]

    Oh, it is a bit overwhelming, yes. There is a lot more to every dish than you may think, especially if you are truly making it from scratch… I found learning to cook to be more trial and error than I would have liked, honestly. Though once you have the basics down, it is not so bad.

    [ Sebastian takes another look at Crona and it’s definitely a searching, somewhat intense gaze. It’s probably a little intimidating, but it’s not actually intentional. This is just a look of concentration for trying to figure out how old Crona is… Telling humans ages was terribly difficult for him in the first place, and Crona's rather ambiguous appearance isn't helping. ]

    If it is not rude to ask… How old are you?
    copeless: (pic#16161900)

    [personal profile] copeless 2023-01-28 03:23 am (UTC)(link)
    [ Funnily enough, the more this guy talks, the more they're assuming that he has to be some kind of chef or foodie. Talking about making things from scratch, the nutritional values of food, trying to cook complex things in conditions like these... maybe he works in a restaurant. Or as a personal chef.

    Mulling it over in their head actually momentarily distracts them, to the point that their wandering gaze around the shelves is only pulled back when they can feel his intense stare - they're only able to meet his eyes for a moment, before darting them back away, thinking for a split second that he's had a change of heart and might be trying to size them up, or something. Or worse... well, he wouldn't cook a person, right? They haven't been here long enough for anyone to consider cannibalism, and they would be a terrible ingredient anyway, is the reasoning they make for themself in their head to calm themself down. What a relief that his question seems fairly innocuous. ]


    ...Fourteen. [ They answer, wondering if that's older or younger than he was thinking. They're not ignorant to the fact that they seem quite young compared to the lion's share of shard-bearers around - maybe they should have lied. ] It's... it's not rude. I don't mind...

    [ ... is that friendly? They're trying to be nice, or at least trying to come off less weird than they know they have been up until this point. ]

    Could I ask you that, too...?

    [ He seems like an adult, that's for sure, but they wonder if he's older or younger than any of the teachers at the academy. He looks around the same, but they also know looks can't really tell such a thing as that - witches could look young and live to be thousands of years old, after all. ]
    cutlery: please do not take! (is the ref wearing one too?)

    [personal profile] cutlery 2023-01-30 05:28 am (UTC)(link)
    Fourteen.

    [ He repeats it with a lightness in his tone that’s a bit hard to pin down where it’s coming from. It’s almost like recognition, but there’s a thoughtfulness to it that doesn’t quite fit. It’s really just a sort of detached interest in trying to pin down ages for humans, since that’s close to Ciel’s age, but… Well, Crona doesn’t look all that fit themselves, but they’re certainly taller than Ciel. Perhaps his little master was just a runt. Ah, well. ]

    Ah, well… [ He ends up just saying his thoughts, though the transition is unrelated. The question is a bit of a difficult one, though at least not something secret here in Kenos. ] To be completely honest with you, I do not know. It is a somewhat difficult thing for me to know.

    [ It’s an unhelpfully vague statement, but it’s really just because Sebastian doesn’t want to dive into the complicated matter of it immediately. His answer will kind of explain it decently enough, which is why he gives a little shrug. ]

    Several thousand years, at least. Which, I do hope that I am not the first inhuman person you have met, on that note. At least in Kenos, I do seem to be rather on the extreme end of things so far as that is concerned, mind you.
    copeless: (pic#16161922)

    [personal profile] copeless 2023-01-31 02:21 am (UTC)(link)
    [ It's difficult to mask their slight unease when he says that — they certainly shift a bit uncomfortably, swallowing thickly when he utters several thousand years. Inhuman. It might at first seem that they're merely scared of the idea of meeting someone that's not a human, or someone that could be that old, but it becomes clear very soon after that that's not the case. They shake their head once. ]

    ...Um, you're not the first. There are beings like that, where I come from...

    [ Some that they know a little too well. They can't help it; their experience with powerful, long-lived beings like that are all firmly negative, and it makes it hard to divorce their personal feelings from assessing the person in front of them. At the very least, it does explain why he might have had more trouble guessing their age - and he doesn't seem particularly hostile or cruel (lmao), so maybe they're overthinking things. Maybe he's just immortal and doesn't have an innate drive to destroy things, as witches do??? ]

    Witches can live that long, too... I-I've met some. Before here.

    [ That last bit likely comes off as a bad lie due to their hesitant words and nervous glances, even though it's technically the truth — they're not sure about going around telling other people about being like, related to such a being. It's important to keep a low profile for now, probably... especially in front of someone they suspect is in a similar league of magically powerful as their mother. ]
    cutlery: (what about Amoeba Gorillas?)

    [personal profile] cutlery 2023-02-03 02:30 am (UTC)(link)
    [ Sebastian nods lightly as Crona confirms that they’ve met long-lived beings before, but his surprise is open and earnest once they elaborate on what it actually is. ]

    Indeed, witches? How fascinating.

    [ It never gets any less interesting to run into cases like this, he thinks. There were witches in “his” world, true… But it was in name only, generally speaking. Humans had long since lost the ability to practice magic and were resigned to largely blind fumbling. Magic was what allowed Sebastian to manifest in the human world, after all… But it had been a long time indeed since he had met someone who could be called a “witch” in the way that humans’ stories told of them. It makes it a very interesting prospect indeed! ]

    I admit, that would certainly not be the case where I am from… Besides some details [ like how long it had been since he’d met one ], witches were only a bit more long-lived than a normal human. I assumed it was just a bit of smarts on their part, but goodness! Witches where you are from must be quite powerful indeed.