⏳ 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

i'm sorry this is flirty

[sharmat]

(the doppelganger raises a hand at silco's knife sinks through layers of robe and stops against the skin. a shimmering shield encases it, stems the damage from the blade, and redistributes the pain in a pulse across its surface.

then the doppelganger turns to face silco, red eyes wide and teary. its face is wet and ghoulish, caught in an agonized shout before it's cut off before a fiery spell can be cast on silco.) This is how you honour my invitation? This is how you honour my family name? This is how you honour my steadfastness to you, Lord—

(voryn emerges from behind a distant mirror, hands alight with magic that is cast over silco. the energy feels like salt water left to dry on the skin, a tickling sensation that begins to chafe and itch when held for too long as though it causes a frictional burn that dissipates almost instantly when the spell is over. it's not to protect silco from the doppelganger's attack—no, he absorbs it and adds its power to his own. he's been in this labyrinth of glass and ice for too long, exhausting himself in battle against this thing, and now he's feeling a little better.

he has this human to thank for that, making a sharp gesture for him to follow before sinking away into his hiding place. silco provided an effective distraction.)

It called you "Fire Eye," (voryn says amicably when they regroup. with errant hair hanging out of a high ponytail, and eye makeup bleeding into blunt smears to his temples, he looks like he's been having a rough day.

his smirk, however, suggests differently.)

We meet again... From what I witnessed, it seems that you have a particular fondness for me—or perhaps my back. (there's something privately funny to voryn about the whole scene and he has a sneaking suspicion that they might finally agree on something.) Where is your duplicate, human? Did you manage to approach it dishonourably, too, and dispatch it forthwith, hm?

voryn is literally the first person to get a flirty joke ever

[zauneyete]

Ah, I wondered where you had skittered off to, given the nice conversation I'd been having with your mirror. Your back proves an enticing target.

[ He said, his tone mild -- and there's a touch of amusement. He is not one for closeness, but he is one for irony, so he makes the return joke all the same. Silco did not take offense, neither at the magic that left his skin feeling hot and uncomfortable, nor at his statement of honor. Honor was something he'd never been able to afford, either as a child, scraping himself out of the mines, or as an adult, wrenching control over Zaun from the ether, to shape it as he saw fit. His lips curled, and he looked between the mirror, and Voryn.

One of them, after all, had been fighting quite a bit, to his detriment. ]

It has not dared show its face. [ Yet. Silco had walked these hallways silently, invisibly -- and he had been stalked the entire time by his own mirror.

He'd felt that crawling sensation at the back of his neck, letting him know it was there. He could sense it, even if he had not been able to find it. ]

Do you think he's gone? [ A look up and down, at his smudged makeup. ] You look as though he's pulled you through a battlefield by now.

i am so honoured

[sharmat]

I have been preserving my magicka, which is the energy with which I cast spells, (he answers, casting a sidelong glance into another mirror whose messy reflection glances back. oh, whatever.) But my efforts to take it by surprise have been repeatedly thwarted. It can predict my movements, it seems, literally mirroring me.

(red eyes return to silco, then narrow.)

You, however, could perhaps overcome it. With my help, of course. (it's tacked on as though it's an afterthought. promising a man like silco anything may be difficult, but neither of them has anything to lose now that they're effectively trapped by these damn doppelgangers.) It is the only way we'll leave this maze alive.

What say you?

[zauneyete]

I don't think I have a choice, do you?

[ He asked, with a slight scoff. He didn't like this creature, this elf, they were soft, and had emotions for the Tree, of all things. Something that Silco wanted revenge on simply because it had taken his daughter away from him -- or so he blamed it -- and nobody understood the nature of pure anger and fury, when one didn't share.

And Silco... had never been one for sharing. ]

I can sneak up to it again, if that's what you're asking for. It will... have very little defense if we catch it by surprise.

[ Although it had noticed him before. Had it been his feet? His soft-soled shoes were generally quiet, and something that didn't attract attention.

But if it could see through that, they would need a better plan, and Silco knew little about magic. ]

[sharmat]

No, what we must do is apparent. I will not sweeten it to make your decision easier. We carry this out by way of stealth or we face my skills directly. I would never recommend the latter... (voryn finishes on a mutter, more contemplative than dignified. mutterings were the ramblings of common folk; to be noble is to be articulate, charismatic, and purposeful. but he's tired.

his stamina nevertheless has not yet run out and it's better to finish this before it does.)

We must do this quickly, Silco.

It is my recommendation you conceal yourself behind a mirror adjacent to the main thoroughfare where I will be battling the mimic as a distraction. If this should fail, the only recourse is destroying as many mirrors as you are capable of.

(that'll silence the doppelganger for good. it's difficult to move freely around the great maze while being pursued tirelessly by his own shadow, so this must be done. then they will be free to move forward to find the exit.)

My spells are powerful but brief when they are so limited by this place. Do not tarry when I cast them upon you.

[zauneyete]

Hm.

[ He noted with a thoughtful sound, half a grunt in the back of his throat as he considered. It made sense, and Silco was certainly not going to deny the chance to deal with this creature, and move onward and inward. His own doppelganger he had not seen yet, but that did not mean that he was not lurking and watching. Silco would do the very same, and stab himself in the back when needed.

He nodded his acquiescence, and stated: ]

If it comes down to it, and you desire a burst of power...

[ His gloved fingers twitched, and he rubbed his thumb and forefinger together, considering. ]

I will have something to offer. [ It's always better when they chose it, but Silco would not deny using it if he needed it. If Voryn looked to be losing, he would find Silco's fingers on him, and a surge of power flooding his veins regardless. Silco would not lose to another. Not now, and not when they were so close to ending this. ]

I will remain invisible, so as to not catch attention. Will you be able to cast them on me without being able to see me?

[sharmat]

A last resort in a time of dire circumstance, but not a second sooner, (voryn suggests. his tone is playfully wry, but while this suggests he is not someone who holds grudges, his memory is long.) I cannot trust you after seeing what your touch did to Ocelot, a previously rational man, beneath the Great Tree.

(but.)

That does not mean it wouldn't be useful in a bind.

As for my spells, they're best put to use now. They will last if we both make haste, so when I finish adding to your strengths, proceed.

(he does not have to touch silco to cast his magic on him. voryn's energy itches like a sickness and is quick to dissipate, however, and the zaunite should feel far faster and far stronger than he was previously, also covered covertly in a shimmering shield that may act as a convenient failsafe. it will protect him against physical and magical attacks until it abates if the doppelganger should sense his presence before their plan is put into action.

without another word, voryn steps out to face himself. a measured breath from one is all it takes for the aggression of the other to flare with a great fireball; the one who wields it, voryn himself, takes care to time his offensive spells so that they will not swallow up silco if he should enter their original area of effect.)

Your loyalty to your House is so weak that you would turn your aggression on your own name? Lord High Councillor Voryn Dagoth, Dagoth Ur. (the doppelganger spits, its fury matching voryn's own.

it is too soon to hear that title again. it is too bitter to be called to with nerevar's words. his resolve falters momentarily, almost struck down not by magic but a bloody manifesting blade.)

Firstborn, last alive. They will kill them because of your misguided service to the King, and you will restore a world which contains nothing you once loved! Mourn the loss!

[zauneyete]

[ Silco moves as soon as he stepped out, the slight shift of invisibility the only thing to give him away before he vanished before Voryn's eyes. One step he was there, and the other -- vanished -- and the man was quick, even quicker than before. He had never been particularly good in combat, and being nearly fifty meant he was flagging in ways that his peers did not.

Voryn's magic does a lot to make up that failing and more. He moves fast, and Voryn's efforts to keep out of his space are well appreciated, as he turned his back on one man he did not trust, and turned his unblinking gaze on the other. His feet are quick, and the knife in his hands even quicker.

Voryn was already getting hit, and Silco knew he did not have much time. Steps closer, closer, and he lashed out with a blade aimed at this false creature's chest, as it spits bile and insults at Voryn. That was better suited to the real people here, and not this false creature. He did not look back at Dagoth, but instead at his Doppelganger as his invisibility faded from his knife connecting with flesh. ]

Hello there.

[sharmat]

(the doppelganger spies silco too late when the man emerges from his cloaking. there is a sigh as the knife thrusts into the doppelganger's chest, its lungs expelling air. it does not die with one great agonized scream, unable to where the pressure on its heart becomes too immense. its corpse drops to marble flooring, shattering as a mirror might. the devil is dead and they are the victors.

voryn does not feel as though he's won anything. the distraction was effective, but its ire had come from a real place, and it takes the sorcerer several moments to realize that he was not the one stabbed. he has survived again despite how lacking this existence presently is.

eyes move first, raising from the shards of ice.) ... That was more effective than I anticipated. It was... fragile. As are we all, in the end. (when there's nothing left to do but die, is it satisfying to know that they all go the same way or is it disgusting to know that this man, silco, will turn to bone and ash like him?

is he not destined for something more?)

It seems that our business here has concluded. I bid you accompany me so that I may safeguard you from anything that lurks further into the maze, for I am still exiting through the far doors. You have helped me remove a thorn from my side, and so I will not attack you if you choose this route, too.

[zauneyete]

[ Silco appraised the man for a moment. Now that his doppelganger was gone -- fragile in a way he had not expected from the boasting and intensity of his fury -- and his corpse now shattered... Silco can only look down at it with a half-unblinking gaze. A long, hard stare as he looked down on the thing that had threatened both of their lives, and while Silco had not needed to help this man, the satisfaction of running his knife through it certainly felt...

Right. Good.

He did love a bout of revenge. Probably more than most. ]

Then perhaps we shall go the same way, then.

[ He said, his tone mild. He does not trust the man to not attack him, but neither does Silco trust that he will not encounter his own doppelganger. He has not met it yet. It can still arrive at any moment, and Dagoth's own power is considerable, compared to Silco's.

He only has shimmer, after all. Little more than that, and he would have nothing to use it on, if he was alone.

Better the enemy that one knew, rather than the knife in the dark. He does not wish to call Sebastian so readily, without good reason, either. He wants that card to be kept up his sleeve as long as possible. ]

I will accept your offer.