⏳ 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

[ragou]

[ The sheer power Matsui would have if he walked around demanding they let him hug them to save their lives. Douman, on the heels of considering the pros and cons of tipping Matsui into the water, debates the pros and cons of letting Matsui believe that this is a viable option.

Conclusion: Let's Not. Not because it's just a stupid idea in general, but because Douman can foresee people actually benefiting from this. Gross.

What Matsui comes up with is better, anyway, because it is both absolutely banal and incredibly absurd???? Again, Matsui is Douman's favorite person. It's like watching an alien amongst them...or, perhaps, like communing with a mountain spirit when he was actually a decent onmyouji. When he laughs this time around, it actually sounds genuinely bemused and amused. ]

Ahー calisthenics! [ Clapping... patronizingly.............. ] Mmm, mmm, what a fantastic idea! [ IS IT??? ] Please, do demonstrate, this ill-informed monk hasn't the faintest idea of what something like that would entail!

[ then why dID YOU SAY IT WAS A GOOD IDEA, douman is whack ]

[sanguinary]

[i personally would throw him into the nearest pool of frozen water if he got it into his head that that was a good idea

Fortunately for both of them, because Douman is a maniac who wants to deprive the world of warmth, this doesn't happen. He stands back up again a moment later, rubbing his hands together to stave off the cold that he's brought upon himself by dipping his stupid hand in the water...]

You must have more faith in me than I deserve, offering such kind words without even knowing what it is.

[He delivers this punkass statement with the same sort of deadpan flavor that he says most things... Genuinely he has no idea if Douman actually knows and thinks it's a terrible idea, or if he really doesn't and is just clapping and cheering him on to be a bozo about it.

But that's neither here nor there because the important thing is Matsui is now going to drag him into some MORNING STRETCHES.]

If I am to demonstrate, then you should follow along so you may warm your blood, too.

[ragou]

[ On Douman's end, he genuinely doesn't know if Matsui's punkass statements are coming from a place of derision or just a genuine sense of "does it look like I give a single fuck". Tsukumogami, man.........

And honestly, Douman should've expected Matsui's invitation to join him in grandpa exercises, but he has the gall to look slightly surprised (offended????) by the offer. What, him, a 10 out of 10, having to do exercises meant for 6s and 7s? (keep dreaming, Douman) ]

Mmmm...?

[ Pointing to himself. "Who, me?" ]

Mm, mm, there's no needー I'm very warm, very warm indeed... [ Spoilers: He Is Not, but discomfort doesn't bother him!! A weird clown!!! ]

[sanguinary]

[TSUKUMOGAMI, MAN...

Anyway hateful that this is about to happen, but it is!! Matsui is just canting his head to the side a little, looking at Douman and his generally large and meaty self. Maybe he really does have insulation from the cold... Maybe he can magic himself a warm shield... His brow knits a little because he's envious if that's true, he's COLD.]

Are you?

[The thing that is about to happen is this: Matsui making his chilly little way across the gap between them so he can reach out, attempting to rest his fingers in a very light and elegant way against Douman's arm so he can test the temperature there.

His fingers are fucking icicles, unfortunately.]

[ragou]

ー!!!

[ Perhaps if Douman took a moment to think about wearing his robes properly, his arm would be more insulated against Cold Tsukumogami Fingers... alas. Commitment to the titty aesthetic means that he leaves himself WIDE open for this attack, which feels far more egregious than it has any right being. ]

Mmmmnnnnnn!!!!! [ Watch this dumb clown shrink back from a willowy tsukumogami... like a cat whose tail's been just stepped on. ] Please, Matsui-dono, I implore you, not with the hand you've just dipped into the water...!!

[ YOU SADIST!!! PUBLIC ENEMY NO. 1!!! Also, Douman is A Liar, because his arm is like a refrigerated hunk of ham. Cold and clammy. ]

[sanguinary]

[WHY DOES HE FEEL LIKE A DAY-OLD CHRISTMAS HAM...

Anyway, he just looks at Douman's big beefy clammy arm and down to his own hand, which is just sort of hovering in the air now that Douman's escaped like a personally wounded cat. HE'S NOT A SADIST!! DOUMAN IS JUST A WEENIE!!]

I can't say that my other hand would be much warmer.

[THAT ISN'T THE PROBLEM.]

More importantly, you don't feel warm, either.

[ragou]

[ More offended "mmmm"-ing. Why is Douman just the most embarrassing weenus ever... the world will never know. ]

Perhaps you're so cold, yourself, that you're unable to feel my body heat...?

[ quick, maybe if he spouts bullshit about the human anatomy, Matsui will not touch him again with ICE HANDS ]

A dire situation, a dire situation indeed! Quick, Matsui-dono, you must start your calisthenics before you freeze yourself solid.

[ It's like he cannot do anything but come up with petty lies, help. ]

[sanguinary]

[DOING HIS BEST... HIS QUESTIONABLE BEST...

It seems Matsui isn't falling for his very convincing lies though, even if he doesn't know that much about the human body himself. (It's because he could very well freeze to death and he'd still be fine with it but that's neither here nor there.)

Anyway.]

I still have fine motor control and I don't feel like undressing, so even if I am cold, I am not yet at a state where it might mean my life is at risk.

[WHY IS PARADOXICAL UNDRESSING HIS BENCHMARK FOR HYPOTHERMIA.]

[ragou]

[ Douman doesn't deserve Matsui at his Matsuworst, let alone his Matsubest, and yet.

Congratulations, Matsui. Douman is Confused. Like, logically he guesses he understands the undressing thing, because of the whole "get naked and huddle for warmth" survival tip, but that would also necessitate... Douman getting undressed...? What is GOING ON ]

My, my, my... I hadn't expected you to be so...

[ A judgmental look, here. ]

...Forward. [ Says Douman, the nudist clown. This is such an insult, coming from him. ]

[sanguinary]

[Only one person ever gets him at his Matsubest anyway, so this is fine...

He's also just giving Douman a blank look, because he? Has a feeling??? That somehow... in the course of the few words he's said, he managed to launch them into a different topic entirely... Actually, maybe he should blame this on Douman.]

I hadn't expected that, either. [WHAT DID HE SAY TO MAKE HIMSELF SOUND FORWARD HELP HIM.] Unless you're referring to the very dire stage of hypothermia in which a person feels as though they're burning and undresses, thus hastening their demise which was already so close?

[ragou]

Hm? Perhaps we're referring to different stages... I, myself, was referring to the stages of human desperation where one freezing individual will implore another freezing individual to unrobe so they may huddle like wild animals...

[ Why did Douman have to say it liKE THIS

But he did. And he looks pensive about it, as if he expected Matsui to be the type of person to suggest naked hugs, when he is perfectly aware that the only thing Matsui has suggested thus far is old man calisthenics.

Maybe trying to punk the tsukumogami a lil... see if that pokerface breaks... ]

Have you witnessed many demises caused by undressing, Matsui-dono? [ what happened to this convo, forreal ]

[sanguinary]

[WHY DID DOUMAN HAVE TO SAY IT LIKE THIS HELP.

Anyway this is so fucking stupid but Matsui looks like he's giving some serious thought to this question? Why??]

Mm... Not caused by undressing, no. [WHY IS THIS A CLARIFICATION.] I have seen many demises and some have been without clothing, but undressing is not typically the cause. I have never witnessed a human freeze to death, either.

[It didn't get cold enough where he was wielded to watch people freeze, save for on the battlefields or during sieges, but he knows it happened...]

Starvation was much more common. That is also a concern here. [A peering, curious sort of look.] Have you been eating?

[ragou]

[ "Demises without clothing"??? Please elaborate further on this, Matsui.

Except don'tー Douman is thankfully moving right along, though he does nod sagely at the entirety of Matsui's initial statement, as if he's spitting straight-up wisdom in Douman's direction. Very interesting... Matsui is like a little death gremlin, Douman is so fond.

That said: ] Ah... ahaha! You continue to be so maternal in your concern!

[ "Have you been eating, dear?" (Douman adds the "dear" mentally, because he's deranged.) What a question. He gestures to himself, all six feet five inches of subhuman dorito. ]

I cannot say I've been eating well, but I remain as sturdy as ever! An onmyouji can go days without eating, as can monksー this Douman is both!

[sanguinary]

[A LITTLE DEATH GREMLIN it's true, that is indeed the vibe in general. Probably don't be fond of him though, maybe.]

Is that so? [Is he maternal in his concern?? He's never known a mother a single day in his life, so this is news to him.

In any case, that about checks out for what he knows of monks and onmyouji and priests in general, so while he gives Douman a scrutinizing once-over - scrutinizing just in the way that Everything He Does seems to be, due to the intensity of his stare and the sharpness of his eyes - he seems satisfied enough that Douman isn't two steps away from keeling over.]

That is good, then. But if you have a need for it, someone made a broccoli soup earlier from one of the recipe books in the library.

[Specifically broccoli soup and only that, since it was the only recipe in the book.]

[ragou]

[ Douman can approximate positive human interactions in the same way that humans can create patterns out of nothing; in some nebulous narrative of his past, he supposes that he saw value in the power of compassion, and truly believed in it. That's what he thinks now, watching Matsui scrutinize him with that level, placid stareー that there's only so many times that he can see something that he doesn't possess before he has to admit that it does, in fact, exist.

Gross. ]

Mmm... ha, ahaha! [ What Is Funny About This, we have no idea. He rocks back and away from Matsui and his ice-blue eyes, suddenly spiteful about being seen. ]

How charitable of them. Even in a place like this, with Meridians pit against Zeniths [ Zenites??? is there a term for them, lord ], compassion reigns.

Will your calisthenics be offered without questions of loyalties?

[sanguinary]

[Matsui is beginning to note that this large clown man really enjoys laughing at random intervals for seemingly no reason...

But he doesn't ask any questions because he rarely ever does, instead considering the words before the question. Is such a simple act really compassion? In a way, he supposes. How strange.]

I am without allegiance to either, so I have no concern for the loyalties of others. I only wish to serve and protect the lives that I can.

[Granted, this wouldn't change even if he wasn't unharmonized, but he doesn't bother saying as much. Moreover, even though divulging one's unharmonized status could really be a detriment in this sea of maniacs, he seems completely unperturbed. Maybe he's naive! Maybe he's just that confident in his abilities! Maybe it's a secret third option that has to do with [redacted]! The world will never know.]