⏳ 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

[passio]

[ not once has dextera ever seen him like this.

gen has been many things in dextera’s presence, and dextera in kind, but that fading desperation is an unwelcome novelty. he had seemed willing, once, to die, but dextera knows that dying alone is far from the way either of them would want to go. ]

…—

[ dextera probably wouldn’t say anything even if he could. the doppelgänger clearly already knows he’s here and dismissed any concern about it. the best thing he can do now is to just go.

he’s not going to use his sword on the doppelgänger, at least not until it seems necessary. he barely wants to use his hands, knowing that it’s gen, but he’s been on the receiving end of gen’s strength and he knows what he can do. he’ll treat this like any other encounter and hope the mirrors haven’t enhanced anything.

closing the distance, he grabs the false gen by the back of his collar, yanking hard. the slight gap of height between them means it’s not the most comfortable angle for his arm, but what it is is proof that someone has come for gen. ]

[epiprocta]

[ It's the sound of rapidly approaching footsteps that finally gets that doppelganger to look over with a start, mimicked canine ears flattening back in surprise. And as those fingers yank around the back of its collar, jerking it back, it gives a vicious, wolfish smile -- its focus shifting to fix right on Dextera. ]

You should've just kept moving.

[ At least the interruption means its chokehold on Gen's throat loosens. He manages to wrestle himself free in that moment, shoving away both Dextera and his doppelganger with a choked snarl. Even if he's reduced to hunching over the ground the next moment, hacking and coughing wetly as he fights to catch his breath, at least he's put some distance between himself and that fake wearing his face.

The doppelganger, jostled by that movement, falls back a step as well. But its focus doesn't waver at all. Even as its bootsoles scrape against the ground from that backslide, it doesn't miss a beat before reaching back at its belt to withdraw a mace and giving it a hard swing; the heavy metal head smashes into the ground, chipping the surface with a crunching noise and sending fragments of shattered tile skittering in all direction. ]

Too bad you decided to butt in! [ There's clear threat in the way the doppelganger lowers its stance, preparing to lunge in for an attack. ] He might cry like a little bitch if I end up killing his pet doormat. And you're not even the one he really likes.

[passio]

[ dextera can handle this. he’s fought much bigger, more dangerous things than a boy with a mace. he’s a little out of practice but the physical element should come easily—it’s more what the doppelgänger is taunting gen with that concerns dextera.

his pet doormat. the one he really likes. dextera hardly has the time to process what it all means, but the gist washes over him well enough. ]

…

[ there’s only one thing for him to do, reluctant as he is. he withdraws his sword, and unlike ones he’s used in the past more comfortably, this is a real one. it’s meant to slice and draw blood from a human enemy.

it won’t be pretty, but he’ll use it.

dextera usually throws himself into fights with the knowledge that he could die and has countless times before, but this time—the doppelgänger has warned of gen’s emotions, and that means dextera wants to be careful. he can’t let his head get smashed in by the mace, nor can he have his neck crushed by those cruel hands. he moves fast, then, his boots offering traction on the uneven floor; he anticipates a swing going high, and so he tries to go low by aiming his sword at the doppelgänger’s abdomen. ]

[epiprocta]

[ Dextera draws that sword, and just for a moment, he might see a trace of something taken-aback in that doppelganger's expression. A slight paling of the face, a clench of the jaw, a flattening back of those ears. It's visible for only a moment before it's forcibly squelched, because even this copy of Gen is too prideful to appear vulerable for long, but it was unmistakably there -- a little flicker of fear.

(He's never liked looking at blades since back then.)

Then it lunges in for an attack, the mace whistling through the air as it rips through the air, aimed right at Dextera's head. With Dextera's guess having been correct, the doppelganger is forced to jerk back a step to avoid getting gutted, but it's not quite fast enough; the blade grazes over its abdomen, drawing blood. ]

-- you little bitch! [ The doppelganger aims another wild swing of the mace at Dextera, but it's an inherently heavy weapon; the blow's a little slow to reach peak velocity, missing Dextera and instead clipping past his hair. ] Why're you even wasting your energy here anyway, huh?! Your type doesn't really give a shit about anyone! -- or is this asshole just so pathetic you can't help taking pity, is that it?

[ The doppelganger seems intent on hurling those insults even as it continues its assault on Dextera. But at least with its attention split between coming up with those acrid words, and dodging the sharp blade of Dextera's sword, it doesn't seem to have realized just yet that Gen is slowly staggering to his feet behind its back.

He's drawn his weapon, too. ]

[passio]

[ determined as dextera is to destroy this creature and make sure gen is okay, it is—

it’s upsetting to see gen’s face form that expression because of something dextera has done, though the guilt quickly morphs into confusion, even self-loathing when the doppelganger begins to spit a new sort of acid. is it that gen thinks these things about himself? that gen thinks these things about dextera? or are they just the things that would hurt most, given power by a familiar face?

dextera knows what it’s like to be haunted in this way. it almost doesn’t matter if the words are rooted in reality. they’re meant to hurt and they do—he wants to defend both himself and gen against the insults, but the physical takes precedence. ]

—…

[ his eyes dart past the doppelganger just for a moment. yes, maybe it is pity, but he doesn’t want gen to have to strike a killing blow.

leaving himself open in his aggressive haste, dextera forgoes his sword and instead lifts a leg with surprising flexibility to aim a weighted kick at the doppelganger’s stomach. ]

[epiprocta]

[ The kick definitely catches the doppelganger off-guard. So much of its focus had been on tracking the gleaming edge of Dextera's sword, wary of the damage it could cause, that it had underestimated Dextera's next movement. Even if it attempts to dodge back, it's not quite enough; Dextera's heel ends up catching it just below the ribcage, and it buckles as it staggers back a step.

Of course, with Dextera left so wide-open in the follow-through of that kick, it's quick to lunge back in afterwards, aiming to bash Dextera's head in.

Lucky, then, that Gen's recovered enough to deal some damage of his own, by now.

His own mace swings heavy to strike the doppelganger's side, the impact weighty enough to knock it off its feet and send it skidding across the ground. It coughs, retches, and its voice comes strained when it speaks again; the jerkiness of its movements suggests it's definitely capable of feeling pain as much as the original. But even so, it's quick to stubbornly stagger back to its feet, leering at Gen and Dextera both even as its expression contorts with pain. ]

... are you sure you want this? [ It speaks to Gen, first. Gen, who looks slightly sick, still breathing in halting gasps, watching this monster wearing his face continue to speak. ] Bet you're going to be jealous. [ Its gaze slides over to fix on Dextera, focused and sharp and oddly bitter, even as it continues to speak to its original. ] Whether he kills me, or I kill him ... you'll be jealous either way, won't you. Sick fuck.

[passio]

[ the doppelganger is speaking to its original, but something about the gaze on him and the words that cut just a little too close both leave dextera somewhat breathless in the moment. maybe he would be jealous, and—yes, yes, so vaguely he can recall that gen might feel that way, too, even if dextera doesn’t have the insight to understand why.

but being here in this supernatural setting reminds dextera of something that happened months ago now, in what had felt like a dream. gen had seemed afraid of dying even while agreeing to go with dextera to the bottom of the world. that’s why, even with that heavy mace and his life on the line, sickness seems to etch in at the edges of gen’s still-young face. ]

…

[ this has gone too far. it just keeps talking, and the longer it lives, the worse it’s going to get. that’s the nature of things bound to die.

he forces himself to set aside that this is an entity with gen’s face just as surely as he’s had to ignore his own clones, and he forgets that it can obviously feel pain, too. this is different from when he’s had to kill other people, illusions of people—he can’t explain why, but it’s harder than he wishes it was to just turn his mind off and do his duty.

with the doppelganger slowed by the weight of impact, dextera rushes forward and slices the metal through its chest. ]

[epiprocta]

[ Dextera lunges for the doppelganger, and with how intensely it's been gazing at him, it must be no surprise that it moves to retaliate at the same moment. Wounded or not, it might have even managed to land a reciprocal blow to Dextera, with a little luck.

-- except Gen manages to disentangle himself from that dizzying, stomach-churning haze of his copy's words just enough to move. He hurls his own mace at the doppelganger.

That copy of his manages to dodge the incoming projectile with ease; its trajectory is obvious, and its shape makes it a poor weapon for throwing, its weight spinning end over end with a heavy whooshing noise as it clips past the doppelganger to smash into a distant mirror. But that brief distraction does restrict the doppelganger's possible routes of movement, and by the time it returns its focus to Dextera, it's a little too late.

It staggers back as that sword rips a deep gash through its chest. Its own mace clatters heavily to the ground as it reflexively clutches at its chest, struggling to process what must be a significant amount of pain. ]

-- aha. [ But still, it talks, like it's what it was made for. Its gaze fixes sharp on Dextera. ] You really don't care, do you. -- you did that without hesitating at all.

[ Even as it starts to wobble on its feet, its smile is venomous. Getting in one last barb before it perishes. ]

Your pity's wasted, y'know. Just let him die next time. It'll be better for everyone that way.

[passio]

[ eustace had wondered the same about him, once. how he was able to commit atrocities with a blank look on his face. it’s something he hasn’t really opened up to anyone about, neither here nor in the previous world. there are small moments some people know, but the full picture—dextera holds it tight, holds it secret, and all that means is that it’s impossible to ask for understanding. ]

…

[ he exhales a breath that almost sounds like a whimper, but his expression tightens. dextera doesn’t want judgment, but he’s trying to learn to commit to the things he chooses to do. even if he’s wrong, he must see it through to the end. ]

I won’t let him.

[ there’s an odd inflection on that word, let. dextera won’t allow gen to die like this. that’s obvious. but there’s more to it, in the little resonance of their shards. if gen is ever in a position where he would simply be left to rot away—dextera will kill him himself, like an angel of mercy. ]