Jorias' Essence Quest

Abstract: Jorias uses the Mark of Autochthon to raise his essence, with hallucinatory results.

Dramatic Purpose: Example to players, foreshadowing.

Setting: Whenever he can get eight hours to train.

Order: After Looking Into the Eye

Principals:

Specifics: Jorias will use the mark's Deep Resonance power to compress the training for Essence 5 into eight hours. This will be so intense that the other players will "see" what happens inside his trance (either through the mark or via illusions).

• Starts with third person view of him setting himself on fire on a cliff with Jaguan, at night:

In darkest night, you kneel on the bare rock of a high promontory. As you upend a ceramic bottle of lamp oil over your head and coat your naked skin with its contents, you can hear the ocean crashing below, but it is too far away to see. The only light comes from a torch held by the only other man up here, the lunar Jaguan. He faces you, lifts the torch slightly and asks if you are ready. You are terrified, nearly out of your mind. You reply as instructed: "The night station is called fear." Jaguan calmly, almost casually, tosses the torch into your lap. Your screams split the night as your flesh burns.

• Scene follows the smoke leaving Jorias' burning body behind. It flows south, beginning to glow slightly, changing shape, most often a bear.
• As the sun comes up, the smoke passes far over the city of Chiaroscuro.
  • Three gigantic dogs lounge around over the buildings of the city, as if it were a model.
  • The dogs all have collars with a golden tag hanging from it, in the shape of a solar caste mark: one dawn, one zenith, one twilight.
  • Leashes made of a network of sparkling silver wire are attached to the collars, held by a vaguely female figure
  • As the smoke passes over, you can see a pattern of stars (Treasure Trove) through the figure's skin, but then you can see through the skin completely. Underneath is a marionette, it's strings reaching straight up into the heavens, with no end in sight.
  • The figure also holds a fourth leash, but the collar on this one is empty. Hanging from the collar is a night caste symbol.
  • The puppet looks up at the smoke, and green stars sparkle in its eyes.
• The smoke moves past the city, over the desert as the sun gets higher in the sky.
• It comes to a large crater in the ground, some parts of it still smoking.
• The moving smoke mixes in with the smoke rising from the ground, mixing together in a mass that lands inside the crater.
• The mass forms into a man that looks a lot like Jorias, but random parts of his body fade out, replaced with complicated gearing, then fade in again. Intense heat radiates from his body.
• In place of his genitals, a spool of golden wire unwinds as he walks, leaving trail behind him.
• He walks a long time, occasionally stopping to examine a piece of rubble. Every once in a while, the rubble becomes a jug of water, which he drinks, but immediately exits his body as steam from various vents that open up along his back.
• As he passes a pile of metal rubble, haphazardly arranged in something like a lean to, two children run out with big smiles, saying "daddy! daddy!" Jorias barely notices them, and as they run to him, they burst into flames from the heat coming from his body. Jorias walks over them and moves on.
• After more walking, still trailing wire behind him, he runs into a the other end of the wire. It becomes clear that his walking has inscribed an elaborate pattern in wire in the crater.
• As soon as one end of the wire touches the other, his body turns to water and splashes entirely to the ground.
• As the water soaks into the ground, the crater begins to rumble.
• In the center of the crater, the Eye of Autochthon begins to rise, pulling a mound of metal and earth up with it.
• As it rises, it becomes clear that the mound of earth and metal is in the shape of Jorias' face, with the Eye where his caste mark would be.
• Patterns of gold wire begin to emerge on the giant head and body, as massive arms reach out of the ground.
• The torso twist, using its arms to push its massive body up, legs appearing now as well.
• Up on all fours, the body seems to rest for a moment, then rapidly snaps its head up, as if startled by something on the horizon.
• A pulse comes from far away, traveling just under the surface. It reaches a point to the right of the giant Jorias, and a volcano erupts there, knocking him into a sitting position.
• He starts sinking into the ground a bit, then another pulse comes, working up his shoulder. A volcano erupts out of his shoulder, and he screams.
• He squints, looking to where the pulses are coming. Like a movie, perception travels down his line of sight until it hits the Lap, the forehead of the Last Supplicant glowing like the sun. A pulse radiates out of the mountain statue, and perception follows it back towards Jorias.
• Just before it reaches him, he leaps up the network of golden wires on his giant body glowing white, then comes crashing to the ground punching both fists into the ground as he lands.
• His face looks calm, but focused as energy pours from the Eye on his caste mark, through the wires, and into the ground towards the Lap.
• There is a short pause, then he smirks. Then the Lap's head explodes.

Aspects:

Variations:

Outcome:

Debugging:

Field Testing: