SPECIAL EVENT: The Flower Oracle

[polymods]

✖ Meet The Oracle

A low thrumming sound builds in the background noise of the raised village, starting so softly that it would be easy to mistake it for the ever present hummingbirds. It keeps building slowly, somehow managing to be both a sound and to bypass the ear as it hums in the bones. The local Temple Guardians bump heads and brush against each other, quietly affirming their bond as they divide their duties: one staying with the local Temple and the other winding through the paths of the village down to the bud of the Flower Oracle in its place of honor in the city center.

The villagers stop what they’re doing, not quite in a panic, but their speed is deliberate and definite. They gather things on their way, flower wreaths, fish, beautiful food, sharp knives, until everyone has something in their arms. There is an ecstatic tension in the air, after all, the time has come when these people will yet again see substantial proof of their god, and it seems they have forgotten all about the Travelers who might have joined them. There is plenty of room for everyone to gather in a circle around the green bud that has grown even larger.

The thrum rises until it is hard to breathe, until some of the structures around begin to groan in the onslaught, and then it stops, suddenly. In the vacuum of silence, there is a wet and meaty sound as the bud begins to open, a first hint of things that look like red lips and white teeth. A canny Traveler might be forgiven for running at that point. The visceral sound of the splitting, of this birthing, continues as the bud splits, then splits again as the four sepals fall open, exposing an inner surface that glistens red and is lined at the edges with white sharp growths that may be fangs. The villagers ignore the implicit threat. They have eyes only for the structure in the middle.

Who can blame them? Translucent petals form a breathing tower, curled tight and perfect as a seashell. A glow pulses like a heartbeat as the petals slowly unfurl, collapsing elegantly to reveal the Oracle and provide protection against the threat of the sepals. The Flower Oracle is beautiful, glowing, soft and round. She is initially surrounded by four guards, each masculine and clearly dangerous, but they move aside to leave a clear path. The villagers line up with their sacrifices, and there is ritual patience in the act. Everyone will have their time with the Oracle, and anyone must be allowed their time alone within the petals.

Notes:
Characters who wish to approach the oracle need to respond to the thread titled ‘Meet the Oracle’. After they get their response, they can post a separate reaction thread to play out some of the consequences of the event.

Responses to the Oracle Thread should include: a short description of their IC reaction/actions, a description of what they bring for a sacrifice, and their question for the ancient. Villagers will have let them know that traditional options include: fish, flowers, art, blood, secrets, or memories. Characters/players may come up with their own sacrifices. Please include a note if the character helped decorate the local temple this month.

WARNING: Contacting the Oracle may result in negative IC results for characters, and there is a degree of randomness in how the mods assign results.

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Comments

nathan drake.

[pilferings]

[ It starts with a little information-gathering, drawings and notes scrawled into the pages of his notebook, this event treated like many of his other adventures of the past. He's had his fair share so blending in isn't too arduous; he learns quickly and takes part in the festivities without a hitch.

He fills a few more pages with penciled illustrations throughout the day: the temple covered in flowers, the people as they gather items in their arms, the hummingbirds and the stingless bees, the crowd of locals as they gather towards the bloom. And all the while, he thinks ... Christ, he hopes Elena's seen this. She'd love it. She'd love it even more if she could film it all, too: the energy, the colour, the beauty.

With some of the villagers, some understandably skeptical at first of his appearance and eagerness to learn their traditions, he gathers flower wreaths and helps to decorate the temple with its fragrant blooms all delicately strung together. With the extra wreaths he picks up, he brings with him, carries it to the procession a couple of the friendlier locals pull him towards, and he joins the line waiting to speak with the Oracle for the experience of it all and not so much actually needing an Answer.

But when it's finally his turn, having had a whole lot of time to think of one thing he could ask her, one thing out of a hundred different questions and half-truths he'd carried with him for nearly all of his adult life, he finds himself suddenly ... strangely nervous. He wouldn't consider himself superstitious in any way and stuff like this doesn't tend to faze him ... but he's had a lot of time to think lately, and honestly? Watching the fleshy bud unfurl and bloom has him feeling a little unsettled for how visceral and real it all was. How much he finds himself actually believing.

He's prepared the flower wreaths and he offers those — along with a few pages of his best sketches today, not exactly traditional art or anything but it's still art, right? ] Uh — hey. Good to meet you, your Oracleness. [ Wow, that was stupid. ] I guess if I had to ask something, I'd wanna know if ... [ Oh, boy. ] If me and Elena, my — uh. My wife Elena, she's somewhere here too, what are the odds, huh? Anyway — if we're gonna make it. You know? If this isn't ... if I didn't —

[ He lied to her about running off to find Avery's treasure, about Sam, about being done with this life ... and when he had a chance to make it right and explain himself, well, he'd kinda fucked it up all over again. ]

Could you tell if we're gonna be okay?

[polymods]

Fascination and engagement will always hold some appeal to the Ancient. Even if there are selfish motivations behind it, someone willing to play the game has so much more potential. Especially if they can talk themselves into that moment of near faith. The Oracle's eyes are dark even before the sacrifice is offered, though she is pleased with the wreathes and art, accepting them both gladly.

His question, though, brings a smile to Flower Oracle's lips that belongs entirely to the Ancient. She likes this treasure seeker for all his recklessness with the relationship he clearly values, and that is exactly why he is receiving a punishment. Some beings need a catalyst to get to where they need to be.

"That depends on you. Actions speak louder than words," says the soft voiced Oracle, giving the closest she's allowed to a warning. Until Nathan makes a definite effort of some kind to repair his relationship with Elena (preferably while being respectful of her boundaries) he will slowly collect a swarm of the large bees that follow him everywhere. If he does nothing, the curse will wind down after one month.