Divination and Guidance

Medium Risk

Divination and scrying is an artform, a method of seeking guidance that every wolf can benefit from. The familiars encourage you to take advantage of the current close proximity of their Gods and from them, seek wisdom and knowledge.

Requirements:
Complete an 800+ word solo, or a 3+ round thread with a partner either giving or receiving some form of divination or fortune telling at the Stone Steppes. It should be focused around some form of divination, whether it be tarot based, runic based, scrying, or some other method. Supplies can be assumed to be provided within the main festival in the Stone Steppes, but you are welcome to come prepared with your own! Completed threads may be submitted for 45 skill points of your choice.

Code:

[b]Player Name:[/b]
[b]Character Name:[/b]
[b]Link to Thread[/b] <a href="LINK">Here</a>

Player Name: lunarcat7
Character Name: Álarr
Link to Thread Here

NPC:

You peer into the peppermint leaves and slowly begin to discern a face within them. Wait, that’s your face, isn’t it? It grins back at you, though behind the gleeful expression you can clearly see this wolf is anything but happy. In fact, he looks very, very… tired.

Your lack of ambition is reflected back at you in the leaves and the more you begin to recognize the signs of it in peppermint-leaf-Alarr’s face, the more you feel it on your own. Did you do this divination thing correctly? You're a healer, aren’t you? Maybe reading tea leaves just isn’t your forte. Perhaps if you had a little bit more ambition, you would learn how to do a skill properly before attempting it for real.

You have received:

Loss of 54 skill points (healing)

Player Name: Chrono
Character Name: Relm
Link to Thread Here

NPC:

You might not yet understand the future laid out for you by the fox, but it’s coming for you whether you understand it or not. You cling to the thought of your only friend in the world. Perhaps the fox is right and you will find help, if only you are brave enough to seek it out.

Are you content with only one individual to truly call a friend, and will that one be enough for whatever is to come? Perhaps this deserves some deeper thought. For now, however, you might need to work on that relationship (and yourself!) first. Push past the cloud of your emotions and find your path, and hopefully friendship will join you further down the road.

You have received:

Two Round Skill Pass
Staff: Please note when claimed

Player Name: Chrono
Character Name: Vanille
Link to Thread Here

NPC:

While you might not be ready to accept the future laid out in stone before your eyes, the vendor’s words ring as truth somewhere in the depths of your soul. Does this mean you will one day have a happily after with Arcturus? Will you find with him a new family, and one day hear the pitter patter of small puppy paws? The first step - as your fortune declared - is forgiveness. Be kind to yourself and open to the future.

As you step back from the event, your back paws brush up against something solid. A quick turn identifies it as a pile of.. Gemstones? How odd. Or perhaps it’s simply fate.

You have received:

250 Gems
Gems added to credits

Player Name: Chrono
Character Name: Fiametta
Link to Thread Here

NPC:

Your fortune and future is laid out within the sky for all to see, but only a select few to read. How coincidental that this young man before you is the one who can divine information from the stars you both so very much adore? As he begins to read the stars, you wonder if he’s instead reading you. His words were such an accurate description, after all.

Perhaps it’s the fact that you know you are breaking your parents’ rules by being out here alone, but you begin to feel a tingling discomfort in your nape. You begin to wonder… does he know you better than you know yourself? Does he know more than he’s letting on? What exactly does this mysterious prince know? I suppose you’ll find out next time, if you decide to meet him in the autumn.

As you turn to leave, you find your paw lands upon something dark and fleshy. So dark in fact that you can barely discern its shape in the night. It looks like… a paw? One covered in an ink as black as the night sky itself. Huh.

You have received:

Black Cat’s Foot
Staff: Please note when claimed

Player Name: Talia
Character Name: Usagi
Link to Thread Here

NPC:

You are assured in your contentment in life, and yet still you sought out the alters. Sought out this bonfire. Are you being honest to yourself, or is there something more in life that you are hunting for?

As you look at the mirror you see only yourself, though a nagging feeling in the back of your skull tells you that something is missing. It leaves you with a deep sense of loss, but you can’t describe what exactly is missing.

The feeling tugs at you, that same fleeting feeling like you’ve forgotten something very important. Perhaps there is something more in life you could find. Vengeance. Or were you going to let the murder of your brother's friend pass uncontested? What good a hunter are you, if you can’t even find the one who committed this atrocity?

You have received:

-32 Hunting Skill Points

wishing there was something left to lose

this could be the day i die for you—

Player Name: Hermes
Character Name: Andromeda
Link to Thread Here

NPC:

You read the cards for your sister, trying so hard to comfort her when your own heart is weary and heavy from your loss. But you find that doing so brings you closer, not just to Kite, but to the mother you had shared.

You know that family is what matters the most to your mother, and these little things - caring for your siblings - is something she would wholeheartedly approve of. The more you remind yourself of this, the more it feels like she is here with you now. Despite yourself, you feel your heart lifting and you know that you did a good thing.

Each further acknowledgment of this feeling brings that familiar maternal warmth and love to constrict you ever closer. For a brief moment your sister fades away; it’s just you, your mother, and the love the two of you will always share.

You have received:

Two Round Skill Pass
Staff: please note when claimed

Player Name: Seadragoness
Character Name: Kyanite
Link to Thread Here

NPC:

As the cards are read and put away, at first it seems like nothing’s changed. You sit and wonder about their meanings - suffering, then healing? None of it makes sense, does it? As you sit and consider, you hardly notice the quality in the air changing. It isn’t until you realize your sister is no longer seated at your side that you realize what’s happening, and a strange vision begins to grow before your eyes.

Two wolves materialize, their forms blurry and ever-shifting, are locked in a sleeping embrace before you. Before you can wonder who exactly they are (or were), the scene begins to shift. The larger of the two stands abruptly, displacing the slumbering female at his side. You can feel her fear as he towers over her, sabers flashing as they strike out onto her delicate throat. Onto your delicate throat?

First you feel her pain.. And then you feel your own. Your neck is on fire, it’s the worst pain you’ve experienced in your very short life. Your paw lifts to touch upon the fur there and comes away bloody. The vision before you fades but the pain remains - the pain, and the blood dripping down your neck. Before the form of your sister returns to your side, you hear a cry. Was that your mother? What does this all have to do with her?

You have received:

Scarring (minor, neck)

Player Name: RelevantKoala
Character Name: Zephyrus
Link to Thread Here

NPC:

It is understandable why you are nervous for this reading, and yet you summon your still-young knowledge and do your best for the young girl. Luckily it seems your reading is not all doom and gloom, something that surely would have not helped her much. You manage to find the hope, the light at the end of the tunnel. It is still awkward though and you're quick to brush it off.

Still, you find your mind brushing up against the reading as you lead the girl home. You're understanding of the art is shaped by your life, spent largely away from other birds but you feel like you tapped into something deeper, like an instinct except somehow less natural, and you wonder where some of your answers really came from, from your knowledge of your own feathers or from somewhere else?

As you are heading back, mind buzzing with these thoughts you spot something glinting in the undergrowth. Taking a quick detour you discover a pile of gemstones. Maybe there's more to fate than you've realized.

You have received:

250 Gems
Gems added to credits

Player Name: RelevantKoala
Character Name: Vantoase
Link to Thread Here

NPC:

Fate can feel so cruel, and despite your tender age, you know that better than most. So it is unsurprising that you're taking this as seriously as you are. You don't want to risk further harm, further pain. But the thing you cannot yet know is that fate can also be capricious, it can be hard to gauge or read, and sometimes it's out of your control entirely, and you may never know if you could have influenced it or not.  

Your friend reads the feathers you so carefully chose, a mixture of the right now, of the darkness and pain, and a tinge of hope. Your life is not yet over and though pain can often feel world-shattering it does not have to be. That can be hard to accept, especially when you are in the middle of the storm but your friend does his best to offer you what he can, a lifeline to hold onto, it's up to you if you want to take it or not.

You are ushered quickly back home, left to your own devices to ponder the reading you were granted. You kick something suddenly, something dense and covered in fur? A small thrill of panic goes through you but as you investigate you realize it's a small paw? That's ominous, and yet maybe a little boon to help bring fate back into your control.

You have received:

Black Cat's Foot
Staff: please note when claimed

Player Name: NachoMumma
Character Name: Sakana
Link to Thread Here

NPC:

Perhaps you should be more careful when fireflies are in the air. As you draw in a breath, pulling in a firefly, you begin to choke.

You cough and splutter, (thankfully) spitting the firefly back out again. No harm done, right? As you struggle to catch your breath, a burning begins inside your throat. Raising a paw, you find that strangely enough the pain is on the outside , right beneath your jaw. When you pull your paw away, there's a mixture of glowing ooze and fresh blood on the pawpad.

Perhaps the firefly bit you.. from the inside? Can fireflies do that? Well, it could have been worse, couldn’t it have. At least you didn’t swallow it.

You have received:

Scarring (minor, below the jaw)

Player Name: NachoMumma
Character Name: Deluge
Link to Thread Here

NPC:

You are more careful than your friend, showing respect to the stars and even the fireflies. As you release Sakana from the headlock and take a step back, something in your path intercepts your paw and you trip.

You clamber back to your paws confused (the ground was clear only moments ago!) and turn to see what it was you stepped over. Something vaguely shiny lodged into the dirt, looking weathered and ancient like it’d been there for years. Huh. Pulling it out and dusting it off, you realise it's a battle accessory of some sort.. And it feels like it belongs to you.

You have received:

A large battle accessory
Staff: please note when claimed

Player Name: NachoMumma
Character Name: Fuji
Link to Thread Here

NPC:

Out loud you ask about adventures and winter, but those aren’t the things that interest you. You don’t have a wandering heart. You like sticking close to home. You can lie to your friends, your family, but you can’t lie to the tea leaves.

You know in your heart of hearts that what you want the most… is just a little bit of height. Silently you ask yourself (or the tea?): ‘Can I get any taller?’ and while you might not understand it, the tea spells out your answer amongst the lemon rind.

You see circles, and daggers. At first, you're confused, and then you start to think. The more you stare into it, the more you feel like a liar. Is that what it’s warning you about? The dangers of lying to oneself? On the back of that negativity you begin to feel something else grow. A little bit of hope… or is it pride? Maybe you can get a little taller, if only you hope hard enough.

You have received:

Xtra Grow Potion
Staff: Please note when used

Player Name: Joe
Character Name: Artorias
Link to Thread Here

NPC:

Your son reads out the cards, but what he reflects as a great adventure you see only tragedy.

You‘ve lived through enough pain to know that battles aren’t glory and fun but pain and loss. The depiction of a castle on fire reminds you of the Pirates raid upon your home and for a moment, you allow yourself to reflect on what might have happened if you had lost.

For a brief moment, you feel that reflection begin to come true. You see the pirates raiding your home and instead of meeting them in battle, you are unable to raise your sword. You feel it fall from your jaws and chaos begins to unfold around you. A battle lost, a home ransacked…

And then just as suddenly you are back by the bonfire, listening to your excited son read about glorious battles won. You do not share his enthusiasm and in fact, you feel almost demoralized.

You have received:

-53 Fighting Skill Points

Player Name: Ali
Character Name: Ajax
Link to Thread Here

NPC:

You see many reflections in the bowl of water, reflections that break as your toe touches the surface and sends ripples out into the stars. Your narwhal is swimming, yes.. But is it swimming toward you, or away? Suddenly you notice the constellation is fading quickly - have you somehow broken the stars above?

Against your better judgement you try and chase the stars, stepping over the bowl in your haste and accidentally pressing down upon it’s lip with your hind paw. The water crashes into your back legs, over your tail, over your back… was there really this much water in the bowl?

Suddenly you’re drowning, not in the small splash you caused but in the depths of the ocean. Your vision is blurred, your eyes pained with sea water. You kick and flail, but you can’t seem to reach the surface. It occurs to you that something is holding you by the tail, dragging you deeper and deeper. With your last breath of oxygen you gasp, looking up through the deep water and to the sky above where your narwhal is still swimming, dancing around the moon and the stars.

When the vision ends, you find yourself sprawled on your belly on the grass. Your narwhal constellation is right where you left it up above and only your rear paws are wet by the knocked over bowl of water. Your tail however… it hurts, and you can still feel the sting of where the teeth had once held it. Strange.

You have received:

Sprained Tail (heals in one season)

Player Name:  Shard
Character Name:  Thorn
Link to Thread Here

NPC:

You're an ambitious young pup, and all you can think about it is the moment you get your very own sword. As you read your fathers cards, you interpret them not how you believe them to mean, but of what you want them to mean. What you want is gifts of shiny, dangerous weapons, and to one day use them to protect those you love in great future battles.

The ground beneath your paws gives out suddenly and you are floating, down and away into the grass. You have but a moment to panic before a scene begins to play out before your eyes, captivating your attention and making you forget you were ever scared.

That’s you! Little Thorn, grown and strong. In your jaws you hold the sword of your dreams and standing before you is your father, your mother, your siblings and the pack you’ve devoted yourself to protecting. Your father’s mouth opens and closes in speech, but you cannot hear his words. Suddenly an opponent steps up toward grown-you, and the two of you begin to duel.

The fight is over quickly, grown-you’s knees buckling against your opponent’s strength and your sword flung out from your muzzle and into the grass. Their sword finds a new mark as well - into your cheek. It’s not a large wound, but you can feel this version of you’s disappointment in his loss. The victor is declared and your father is clearly impressed, speaking more silent words to your opponent as the vision fades away.

You find yourself back beside him, a tingling in your cheek the only reminder of what you saw. Is that truly your future, or will hard work find you one day victorious? Perhaps the scar will be a permanent reminder of the effort you will need to put in to succeed.

You have received:

Scarring (minor)

Player Name: Joe
Character Name: Stolas
Link to Thread Here

NPC:

The idea of reading the stars for this stranger delights you. Pulling in the information and turning into something tangible is just what you need to cheer you up from your friends' sudden vanishing.

As you speak of loyalty and possessiveness however you realise that your friend still isn’t far from your thoughts. Were you reading for this stranger in the stars, or for your lost friend wherever she may be? While this girl is unknown to you still, you feel somehow like you’ve betrayed her in your reading… or is it Widow you’ve betrayed?

The confusion brings to you great doubt, and while you wish to move past the loss you’ve suffered, you get the impression that it won’t be as easy as you hoped it might be. You’re going to have to work and fight harder to truly move past this, maybe Fiametta might be able to help?

You have received:

-47 Fighting Skill Points

Player Name: Shelby
Character Name: Arcturus
Link to Thread Here

NPC:

How very lucky you feel, not only to have found this wolf at your side but that she wants to be with you, too! Nothing the fortune teller could ever read in the stones and your throw could dampen your spirits with Vanille by your side. In her you see your future - whatever that may be - and are glad for it.

Life is not done throwing you favorable outcomes, it seems, and as you step away from the fortune teller you stumble upon something on the well-worn path before you. It’s so very strange an item to find on the ground, almost like it was placed there for you and you alone. Hopefully it will bring you even more luck to your and Vanille’s future.

You have received:

Firefly’s Favor
Staff: Please note when claimed

Player Name: Shelby
Character Name: Deimos
Link to Thread Here

NPC:

A non-believer, eh? Well, the foxes and the flames know what to do with non-believers. They continue to read your future in the fire regardless of your doubt, divining first.. a loss. Who you might lose you’re unsure, but as you’re still quite skeptical it does not stress you too terribly.

As the prediction carries on, things seem to hit harder to home and you feel that skepticism begin to fade. What if the flames are right? There have been weirder things in this world after all then a fox seeing the future through fire, has there not? As you turn to leave - a bit shaken - the fox intercepts you, eyeing you almost with pity. “Here, my dear. For your battle to come.” The fox hands you something, something you can’t quite understand but recognize regardless for it’s power.

You have received:

Post-acceptance minor mutation pass
Staff: Please note when claimed

Player Name: Dragon
Character Name: Phantom
Link to Thread Here

NPC:

You have received from the familiar a wise and thoughtful fortune, your path laid out clearly for you… or not so clearly at all. You may be left with as many questions as you came in with, but the spirits do hope you have discovered at least something about yourself in the process.

The bag of bones is offered to you to take with you, though the bag feels heavier than the bones have any right to be. You open the sack and peer inside, curious, but notice there is darkness within that is thicker and blacker than any mere absence of light. When you pull out a bone, you find it’s covered in a thick black tar.

Pulling out more bones, you finally reach the bottom of the bag and the prize (?) within. A cat’s paw, it’s claws unsheathed and dripping with the same black substance. How odd.

You have received:

Black Cat’s Foot
Staff: Please note when claimed

Player Name: Dragon
Character Name: Medusa
Link to Thread Here

NPC:

The deeper Medusa looks into the puddle, the less Medusa sees. Medusa’s interpretation of the events before Medusa are Medusa’s own - but are they correct? Is the voice coming from the familiar even the familiar’s own, or is it Medusa’s own wishes, come to life? Is anything real anymore?

Medusa reaches out to touch the puddle against Medusa’s own will, and Medusa’s paw comes away inky black and dripping. What is this? Reaching deeper, Medusa pulls out… another paw, but not like Medusa’s paw. Well, it’s Medusa’s paw now.

You have received:

Black Cat’s Foot
Staff: Please note when claimed

Player Name: Bunni
Character Name: Scald
Link to Thread Here

NPC:

Well, you might not have quite grasped the concept of divination, but you aren’t the first pup to be confused. The future isn’t for everyone to know, anyways. Some wolves find out too much and go crazy trying to change it - it’s rare anyone is truly happy with the path laid out for them to divine in the bones.

Pleasantly ignorant, you replace the bones and turn to leave. Your paw bumps into something on the way out, something that might even bring you a little luck. Maybe you can make you own future with this… whatever it is.

You have received:

Firefly’s Favor
Staff: Please note when claimed

Player Name: Bunni
Character Name: Rheum
Link to Thread Here

NPC:

As you struggle to interpret your future, one part of the words rolling from you tongue gets stuck in your head. Good news from another country, from another country…

Why can’t the good news be here? Does that mean you have to go out and seek that good news, so far away? Danger, too, you divined. Is the danger out in that other country as well? Could you or the ones you love be harmed, if you seek out the good? Would it be all your fault?

The doubt weighs on you, and suddenly you don’t feel that keen to explore anymore.

You have received:

-47 Navigation Skill Points

Player Name: Bunni
Character Name: Bramble
Link to Thread Here

NPC:

While your brother may be boldly lying to his face… could that be what divination truly is? Could hoping something into existence (or lying it into existence) actually work? The familiars might not be pleased that their scrying instructions were not properly followed and respected, but does that matter? They don’t control your future, you do!

In fact, the more Kea talks on what an amazing fighter and explorer you’ll be… the more you begin to believe him!! You feel like you could conquer a mountain or fell the mightest foe. You’ll be riding this high a long while.

You have received:

+25 Skill Points (To a skill of your choice)
Staff: used on Bramble, fighting

Player Name: wicked
Character Name: Víðarr
Link to Thread Here

NPC:

You may not be a shaman or a diviner, but you do your best to interpret the vague sigil responses as they are laid out before you. In the end, you are left with more questions than you’ve received answers.. And a hole in your chest, where you feel nothing but loneliness.

You are not the first wolf to miss their family dearly, but you know you need to move past this longing and learn to stand on your own four paws if you are ever to realize your life’s goal. To find your true calling, your life’s purpose.

You come away from the experience feeling lighter.. Not lighter in a good way, but in a “did I drop something’ sort of way. What is it that you lost to the runes?

You have received:

- 65 Gemstones
Gemstones removed from credit

Player Name: Talia
Character Name: Rexx
Link to Thread Here

NPC:

The familiar’s do not blame you for being too young and incapable of understanding the task at hand, but they do giggle quietly beneath their breaths as they watch you try and interpret the bones and fail. That’s fine though - not everyone is meant to know their future, after all.

As you turn to leave, you wonder about what you should have but did not see in the bones. Can one truly see their future at all, in exercises like this? Or is it simply your mind crafting stories of what you wish to see? Maybe.. Just maybe.. A wolf pup makes their own future.

Your paw knocks against a glass bottle, disturbing the firefly within. Was this here a moment ago? Or did a familiar place it there for you, to encourage you to use it to make your fate your own?

You have received:

Firefly’s Favor
Staff: Please note when claimed