Oracle

Begin a Session

9

Flashback reveals an aspect of your background or nature

Oracle

Core / Action

48

Follow

Oracle

Core / Theme

127

Disadvantage

9 years ago

The wind of Rosston tore at Arana Haydar. She dragged her boots through the snow of the Beria Wastes, the frozen ocean surrounding the temple of The Congregation of Ethereal Paladins. Her heavy, fur-lined robes were unable to completely block out the biting cold.

Arana was too far to feel the emotions of those at the temple anymore, the distance being too for her overly sensitive connection to the Aether. The surface emotions of everyone around her constantly pressed against her mind. At the temple, the noise of minds formed an exhausting psychic noise. Out here on the ice, the silence brought relief. The void of the wastes offered a rare peace.

Somewhere ahead, her father Brodin strode through the blizzard. Arana was not supposed to be out here, she had slipped out of the temple to trail him in secret. Arana pushed her senses outward, feeling for her father's familiar Aether signature to guide her steps while trying to keep her touch light enough to avoid detection. Her father seemed to sense something, and she could feel him feeling around with the Aether.

I'm a rock, I'm a rock.

She seemed to be far enough away for him to not sense her presence, and he resumed walking. She continued to follow, finding his presence pulling ahead. She sped up to try to keep up, but her short legs failed to match his long stride. His mental presence started to thin, and it became harder to sense his presence.

I am losing him.

She halted. Realizing she lagged too far behind, she hesitated; should she turn to back to the temple? She looked back in the other direction, but the wind had already erased her tracks, and the blizzard was too thick to see the temple jutting up through the frozen ocean.
She spun back around, scanning the whiteout for any sign of her father. Nothing. She reached into the Aether, searching for him, no longer caring for stealth. He was gone. The endless plains of ice stretched in every direction. She had no trail, no beacon, and no direction. The cold reality settled in her gut: she was lost, and she had no way to find home.

A howl cut the wind.

Direwolves. She remembered her father explaining that they were intelligent and cruel, the predators possessed a dark connection to the Aether and hunted Aether-sensitives for sport. Through the invisible currents in the Aether, Arana felt their predatory minds reach out to latch onto her signature.

Panic seized her. Reaching blindly into the Aether, she searched for anyone, anything that could protect her.
She sense something. A steady, thrumming presence seemed to radiate heat and safety. With the direwolves closing in on her, she stumbled toward the warm presence, hoping it was someone that could protect her.
She burst through a snowdrift and collided with the trunk of an ancient tree that possessed the quiet, immense intelligence that Arana could feel. It was a lodemother. Exhausted, Arana slumped against the bark and giving up, she turned towards the monsters, nowhere left to run.

Help me, she pleaded through the Aether to the tree.

The tree wrapped the girl in the shelter of its warm, sprawling branches as she passed out from exhaustion and fear.

You are safe, little one.

The direwolves arrived. They paced the perimeter, growling.

Give us the little morsel, stick rattler.

This one is not for you to eat, wyrd hunter. She would not satisfy you anyways.

That is not for you to decide. These outsiders are the most satisfying prey, it is for the hunt, not the food that we seek this one.

Then come and get her, if you can, wyrd hunter.

One of the younger direwolves attempted to approach the tree, but as soon as he passed the branches, an invisible force gripped him. As he yelped in disbelief, the tree threw him across the ice. Growling, the alpha signaled the pack to abandon the hunt and they melted back into the storm.

Hours later, Brodin passed the Lode Mother. He carried the carcasses of three Crystal deer from his hunt. He paused, noticing a small, fur-clad bundle nestled against the roots. He stepped closer, his brow furrowing. It was Arana.

He dropped his catch and rushed over Fear spiked in his chest. Before he got to her, he thrust his senses into the Aether, searching for her mind. He found it. Her mental presence hummed quietly, and uninjured. She was alive but asleep. Relief washed away his fear, as he scooped her up and strapped her to his back.

The rhythmic sway of his walk woke Arana. She blinked against the freezing wind. She pushed out through the Aether, and brushed against the familiar, steady hum of her father's signature. Knowing he had her, she rested secure against his back, and closed her eyes and slept.

Present day

In episode 02 Trust, I got strongest possible hit with a match, and I ruled this would give us good intelligence on the problems in the devil's chain sector.

Gather Information

Roll

5

3

Heart

0

8

1

6

strong-hit

Core: New Core

Oracle

Core / Action

268

Probe

Oracle

Core / Theme

282

Passion

Oracle

Core / Descriptor

261

Harsh

Oracle

Core / Focus

167

Nanobots

"I'm almost disappointed with how easily you gave up information," said Luna, looking like she really did wish wish he had held out longer. "The Risen Union is not going to enjoy the scrutiny that you have brought upon them by slaying a paladin."

Arana's head still swam from the cries that came not just from the assassin's mouth, but also the ripples through the aether. The information that they found was unsettling, to say the very least. It seemed as though a specific group of pirates, at least tangentially connected to the Risen Union, have plans to use nanobots to force compliance in some way.