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Home » Search » Roster » Whitepages » Records » FAQ » Guidebook
Don't look back in anger, I heard her say
Trial Green Labyrinth 
Otem the Hopebringer
Currently championing:
#1
another mind, another soul, another body to grow old.
it's not complicated.



Embraced by an unseen force you feel yourself stiffen. The sound of rock against rock surrounds you for a moment and as it fades away you can no longer move. But then you feel yourself start to float upwards. Soon you can see yourself below, absolutely stone-still. Too still. With an unpleasant jerk, you are suddenly back in your body...except you feel heavier than usual. You look at your feet, and realize they are beginning to turn to stone.


Otem didn't even really mind the agonizing weight attached to each of her hooves, pulling her down. This was the Rift's doing after all, and so far the Rift had done far more for her than almost anyone else had. The Helovian's had blindly followed the wishes of their former Gods and Goddesses without question. Why should Otem's interactions with the Rift be any different? Should she perhaps be more clever as a granddaughter of a god? As Isopia's daughter- a mare who had never blindly done anything?

Maybe. 

But Otem wasn't just those traits that made up her history.
She was so much more than that.

"Alright."  Otem murmered to herself, taking a slow and shaky breath. A sheen of sweat had appeared across the autumn-coloured landscape of her body due to the extra weight she was currently pulling along. A glance downwards at her hooves showed that they were almost completely turned to stone. For the earthen child this was actually rather interesting, especially since her mother had the ability to simply melt into her environment if she stood still. Was this what it was like for Isopia? Did her body feel this heavy when she stood upon stone?

"Vengeful spirit time, then." She muttered to Pandora, though really she was saying it to try and steel her nerves. Even though she still naively thought the Rift was benevolent in its own way, these were angry spirits she was meant to answer.

But ... if she was meant to answer, what was the question?

art by Chloe!

You may always use magic/force on/against Otem.
Rift Havoc
Currently championing:
#2

the devil is not as black as he is painted

The question?

You want to know the question?

Oh honey! Who says you're even allowed to take this test?

The air is suddenly awake with screams and cries. A casual listener might interpret them as harsh and guttural sounds of pain, but someone in their midst - someone like Otem perhaps - would know them for what they really were: maniacal and constant peels of laughter.

The spirits were not angry. Not in the sense you'd expect anyways. Oh they were plenty cross and furious, but now they had someone to play with. Someone to take all of their pent-up rage out on. The Helovian's were not the only ones who had been displaced in space and time. Hadn't the labyrinth been sucked unceremoniously into Helovia? Hadn't that lavender she-bitch propped herself up at the centre of it once, flailing about as if she owned the place?

Ha.
Double ha.

“Lookie lookie," A voice hisses from a gust of wind that suddenly blows past with a brief but icy embrace. “Stomp closer stone-foot, won't you?"

Rift Havoc
Otem the Hopebringer
Currently championing:
#3
another mind, another soul, another body to grow old.
it's not complicated.


Despite the fact that for the majority of her life Otem tried to appear bold and confident and certain, she jumped nearly 2ft into the air. Which, considering the rocks currently molded around her hooves was actually quite the thing. Adrenaline coursed through her young body as Otem tried to steady herself against the frantic beating of her own heart and the swell of blood in her ears.

Now in the air, having been unettled by Otem's sudden jump, Pandora circled nervously. Her large golden eyes stared out, glaring at the invisible presence (or presences) that suddenly felt very near and very real.

"Pa-nd-o" Otem began, the syllables of her companion's name stuttering out of her mouth like marbles dropping. Before she could finish, the laughter seem to swell to a frightening crescendo, before falling away into one voice.

Lookie lookie, stomp closer stone-foot, won't you?

That didn't sound at all like the Rift that had given Otem her glowing dapples and the oak leaves in her mane. This voice sounded cold and calculating and ... bad. If only so that there could be another body around, Otem despteraely wishes for Vulkán or Iskra, or anyone. She didn't care if it made her look like a fool, she just didn't want to be facing this alone.

Not alone, Pandora hooted into her mind, landing softly on her back once again. "No you're right. I'm not alone. I have you." Otem said, taking a deep breath and forcing herself to hold it. As she exhaled, she nodded to herself in confirmation. "I can do this. We can do this."

"Coming!"
Otem called into the once-bamboo maze, forcing herself to smile boldly into the whipping winds.

art by Chloe!

You may always use magic/force on/against Otem.
Rift Havoc
Currently championing:
#4

the devil is not as black as he is painted

Oh how Otem makes them laugh! They cackle at her false bravery, at the confident face she tries to show them as she darts into the heart of their madness. But what she doesn't know is that they are the baking soda to her youthful piss and vinegar, and we all know what happens when baking soda and vinegar mix, now don't we?

Invisible hands reach out towards the oaken girl as she dashes past. They pull and tug at her hair, not hard enough to stop her or really slow her progress in any meaningful way, but enough to sting. Enough to be mean. For these spirits are mean. They have been usurped, and although they are now back in their own space and time, their beautiful maze of bamboo has been lost. Now all there is to mark the majesty of what once was, was a thousand howling and furious voices and bodies, all swirling and swarming together to try and approximate how things used to be.

"Don't go that way!" A voice calls to Otem, and suddenly before her is a pillar of mist so thick that it appears impregnable. "How about this way?" A path opens in the mists before her.

Rift Havoc
Otem the Hopebringer
Currently championing:
#5
another mind, another soul, another body to grow old.
it's not complicated.


Otem wears her bravery well, despite the nearly constant pulling on her mane and tail. She tries to mask the way her face winces when they grab pieces that are too small - the kind that really hurt and feel more like a pinch than a pull. Sometimes it works, but other times it does not, and Otem is almost certain that when she fails to mask just how much the constant pulling is effecting her, she can hear the laughter swell around her.

"How about this way." Otem sneers under her breath, though she does so clearly hoping that the spirits will not hear. Her insides feel like jelly, and although she is bolding striding through, almost every part of her wants to turn back. "Didn't anyone tell you it's rude to pull a girl's hair?!" She adds, flicking her tail and offering a small half-hearted buck towards where she last felt a spirit's presence behind her.

Following the opening left by the spirits, Otem grit her teeth, wondering how long it would take before she had answered the spirits. Would the Rift let her know? Would it make them stop?

art by Chloe!

You may always use magic/force on/against Otem.
Rift Havoc
Currently championing:
#6

the devil is not as black as he is painted

Didn't anyone tell you it's rude to pull a girl's hair?!
"Like who?" Comes the immediate and somewhat giddy reply. "A mother perhaps? Is that what we're going to talk about now? Mothers?"

A cacophony of laughter echoes outward as if Otem is standing in an empty amphitheatre that is all too happy to let the noise bounce all around its borders. The spirit-mist grows thicker and thicker, crowding in and around Otem. It is now full of blinking pupil-less eyes and teeth with warped and jagged edges. Some smile, others snap, and a few make lewd gestures with their tongues. "Mother may I?" One voice calls, only to be answered by a voice seemingly behind Otem with, "Yes you may."

The spirits begin to swirl and dance, closing any routes which had previously been available to Otem. If she didn't want to take their advice on which way to go then fine. They wouldn't give her any ways to go.

Ha!

Rift Havoc
Otem the Hopebringer
Currently championing:
#7
another mind, another soul, another body to grow old.
it's not complicated.



Mother. That word always struck a nerve with Otem. It pierced down to the marrow in her bones and lit up like a firework shooting through every fibre of her being. Rage rained through Otem like ash falling from a forest fire. She felt hot and cold, as if she could simultaneously explode into a tornado or remain so still so as to become granite. Tears wanted to well in her eyes but instead of letting them fall Otem held onto the stinging sensation and focused on it, allowing it to bite painfully in her brain, welcoming the needle-sharp pain.

"SHUT UP" Otem roared, galloping forward. The filly thrust her ram-horned skull at odd angles, bucking and flailing in no particular direction. It hardly mattered though, since the spirits were all around her. It also hardly mattered because she very much doubted she could actually hurt them. They were spirits after all. But still. With every flail of her body, every outstretched limb that was firmly pulled back, every scream that left her throat raw and every shaky breath heaved in by her lungs made the sting of their words hurt a little less.

Yes, her mother was still gone. But those spirits could go fuck themselves.


art by Chloe!

You may always use magic/force on/against Otem.
Rift Havoc
Currently championing:
#8

the devil is not as black as he is painted

Wow. Chill. Can't you take a joke kid? It's just word and we're just air blowing around, no need to get your diapers all in a twist.

"You know we have feelings too-" A voice said, followed by a chorus of yeah!s and even one voice which shouted, I used to be a therapist you know! And I can tell you, being a vengeful spirit isn't easy!

Otem is right about one thing though; her useless jumping and wrenching herself about is just that. Useless. It takes much more than physical blows to deter of even make contact with the spirits, but they take her point. They were just trying to have fun after all. Clearly that ship has sailed though. With an exasperated sigh, the collect cloud of spirits simmered and sulked. "Fiiiiine. You're here to answer us. So here is your question: why can a nose be no longer than 12 inches ?"

Rift Havoc
Otem the Hopebringer
Currently championing:
#9
another mind, another soul, another body to grow old.
it's not complicated.



Otem didn't know that the spirits had feelings ... nor that she could in anyway hurt those previously-thought-to-be-non-existent feelings. They were spirits after all, weren't they just meant to be angry and screechy and carry around chains and go on and on about christmases to come? As the filly's body came to a halt, Pandora landed lightly on her wither hooting gently. Mentally the owl seemed to mentally project the idea that if they were once alive, it stood to reason that they might keep some semblance of emotion. Otem shrugged. That did make sense. But if that were true, they should have known better about being mean.

"You started it." Otem sulked childishly, turning her nose up slightly and sniffing indignantly.

And then! Finally! The question! why can a nose be no longer than 12 inches? Otem visibly deflated. What sort of question was that? Eyes brows pushed together in a comical look of confusion, Otem opened her mouth to protest and then closed it.

Wait ... it wasn't really a question. Not an honest sort of one anyways. It was a riddle! And riddles played on the double meaning of words ... so which words could have a double meaning? Nose, she thought instantly, and then something about length. No-longer-than? Was it some sort of relationship? Or did the 12 inches matter? "Twelve seems pretty specific.." Otem thought to herself as she began to nibble on her lip. "Twelve inches ... and noses... why can't noses be big ... something about scent? Scent and 12? No.." The girl snorted in frustration, narrowing her eyes and then opening them wide as if that would help illuminate the riddle. "12 inches ... length...12 inches is..a foot!" Otem's eyes opened with real illumination now as she turned to look at the spirits. "Because then it would be a foot!"

art by Chloe!

You may always use magic/force on/against Otem.
Rift Havoc
Currently championing:
#10

the devil is not as black as he is painted


Ah. A clever filly. Drat. As much as the spirits liked it when someone was clever enough to guess their riddles, they also enjoyed eating the ones who didn't.

"Yes, yes. Very good. Well done, etcetera etcetera." The spirit-cluster gave a collective sigh of disappointment, and suddenly the majority of whirling presences around Otem seemed to just ... disappear, the way your breath might from a window.  "You know, it isn't always easy to find people to talk to. Some come in here with purpose - like you - wanting what they want, and then they go on their way. Others come here talking about how haunted it is and just poke fun at us. Do you really think we choose to become vengeful spirits? You think that's a life choice anyone would make?!" This rhetorical point was underscored by a sudden brisk wind. A chorus of ascent rose in the background.

"Well. Off you go." The remaining whisps of ghost-amalgamation said.


Rift Havoc