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It's March 4th, and the heir of Pythia is missing.
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You would know it even if you didn't see the news—something startling breaks in the dawn, and the low rumble of a 4.1 magnitude earthquake rattles Delphi at around 5:32a.m.
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Delphi's structures (and residents), for the most part, are somewhat accustomed to the shaking—it goes on for a little longer than usual, and maybe you lose some plates, or notice new cracking along your wall. You text your friends, make sure that they're okay.
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You might even go back to sleep, a few minutes later.
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Only...
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The blanket.
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It's hovering, for lack of a better word.
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You flick the lights on. It looks like some amateur enchanter is playing games with WINGARDIUM in your home, just to annoy you—small things are floating, rattling, as though resonating with something else. And though the earthquake is long gone, there is that faint hum of the shake still lingering, and it feels like you are going mad trying to hear where that noise is coming from.
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Then you wake up in earnest, and there is Penelope's face, all over the news—
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TECTONIC FRACTURE ERUPTS AS HEIR OF PYTHIA GOES MISSING.
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Not a single dull day in Delphi, huh?

---

Witches, researchers and adventurers from all over (well, given the curse cure still slowly making its way through the population, mostly from Delphi) have arrived at Pythia.
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Tectonic Fracture. A theoretical magical phenomenon, that likely, before today, only the nerdiest of all Gaia witches has ever heard of. Science says, that, theoretically, a witch could create a tectonic event out of reality, and cause the physical strata to collide with the mana realm, and create—
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That. Whatever that is.
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A nebulaeic crack, which looks somewhat like a rupture. Only, the energy is far less ominous, there is no effect zone, and daemons are not coming out of it.
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It looks more like shattered glass than a dark black fissure.

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No one ever reads past the headlines, these days.
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Several paragraphs down, the dutiful journalist has explained: "The once-in-a-century event is sometimes considered a coming-of-age ceremony for the Krost dynasty, whose heir, H.P. Penelope Krost, is thought to be the cause behind the fracture she herself has disappeared into. Krost turns 18 today."
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The last time a Tectonic Fracture occurred was about 89 years ago, when H.P Krost's grandmother was behind a similar event.
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The practice had been banned by Delphi's High Council for its potentially dangerous consequences, and it appears H.P. Penelope Krost may or may not have intentionally triggered this event and defied Delphinian Law..."

---

You arrive anyway at the makeshift camp. It's honestly kind of...cute. If confused.
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You assume the celebrations were put together hastily—the Krost family, it seems, had had no oversight as to their daughter's decision. The few Pythians that are around are clearly overjoyed and excited, and there are several Gaia researchers chattering away about how desperately they'd like to steal the entire Elemental section of the Floating Archives.
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They're joking, of course.
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Some Cerberus witches have been appointed, loosely, to make sure that no one gets hurt—but there are no orders yet to shut down the event (not that anyone really knows how to stop a Fracture), and the Pythians insist that Penelope will soon appear.
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She wouldn't miss her birthday celebrations, after all.
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Things are very...up in the air, and not well-regulated, and people of varying stations are arguing about what should and shouldn't be done.
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All the while, there is a degree of festivity—there are things to buy, and food to eat, as people make small camps around the strange fracture and wait, presumably, for Penelope to appear.
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(So that she can be arrested, some Scrooges insist.)
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Dusk falls.

---

Maybe the headlines were more prophetic than anything. High Priestess goes missing.
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Not a dull day in Delphi, what did I tell you?
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You see a pair of Cerberus witches speaking with the local officials. They are being asked to help, it appears, and being fastened with ropes that connect to gigantic spires (colloquially, you learn they are called Dials). Several other children of Pythia had used them before, entering into the strange rift and reappearing later, it what looked like harmless fun.
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Some officials with the Krost family run the Cerberus volunteers through some information, and the two are nodding, processing.
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After a while, they step into the fracture.
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...After a while, so do you.

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WELCOME TO THE EVENT: TEARS OF PYTHIA.
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H.P. Penelope Krost is missing inside a Tectonic Fracture, a surreal place created by legendary Gaian magic, where the inner and outer strata have (supposedly) collided.
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Little is known about these pocket realms, though Pythians believe they can be traversed as long as you use a PYTHIAN KNOT, supported on the otherside by HIGH-GRAVITATIONAL DIALS.
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Your character, whether for fun or out of genuine concern, dives into the Fracture.

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• This event will not count for Acolyte rank-up.
• Human and preset acolyte participation is not allowed
• Acolyte participation is unrestricted. Present sentinels may also participate.
• This event can only be participated in once by each character. You may be able to participate with multiple characters, however, staff cannot guarantee entry to your second character. For now, please sign up with the one character you most would like to participate. Further slots may open later down the line.
• This event will randomize your character into a pair or group of three. If you have strong preferences against threading with someone else or really would like a specific partner, please DM staff directly.
• There is a light-risk for severe injuries. For reference, CAD & After party were moderate-risk, and NEP and the Calling were high-risk.
• While your character is in the event, their inventory will be locked.
• All participants will receive a small amount of MP, gold, and a unique event trinket as baseline rewards for participation. Rewards beyond that exist but are rare, and should not be expected.
• The event will be in an entirely new format, but expect rapid-fire posts with a maximum word count of 200. Expect 72, or even 48hr rounds.

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Unlike for other events, signs up will not close. The event begins on June 8th, however, and characters that sign up before then will be given priority when it comes to the creation of the event threads.

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[b]ooc name:[/b][break]

[b]character:[/b] @tag ONLY ONE[break]

[b]inventory link:[/b] [a href="link"] [/a][break]

[b]icly, would you describe your character as cautious?:[/b] 1-10 scale, 1 being least cautious[break]

[b]icly, would you describe your character as spiritual?:[/b] 1-10 scale, 1 being least spiritual.[break]

[b]icly, would you describe your character as selfish?:[/b] 1-10, 1 being least selfish[break]

[b]time-frame:[/b] 72hr only / 48hr is OK [break]

[b]last words?:[/b][break]

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