Inktober IV: Oracle

All prophesying, future-seeing, dream-walking, ember-breathing, rock-searching, and other equally oracle-based techniques are henceforth banned under penalty of jail time or death.

-Kelmore Doomseekers' Law of 22 Sunpeak 1485

 

General History

  For many years, diviners and soothsayers were paid to look to the future to predict certain outcomes. Whether it was to gauge a worthy business venture or the health of a loved one, these diviners were paid handsomely if correct, or chased out of town if their sights proved false. Many of these oracles spoke little of their powers, saying only that they had been present before birth or that they were bestowed upon them. These explanations became less reputable as, over time, more diviners began advertising their talents and seeing as many clients as possible before anyone realized they were simply lying, and then running over to the next town to practice their false trade.   After one particularly nasty incident in which the Dragonbreath Alehouse hired what turned out to be a false diviner, numerous laws and articles were put into place to punish those preying on the vulnerable clients for an extra bit of coin. What started with diviners requiring to pass a series of tests for an official license eventually became a complete prohibition of divination via the Doomseekers' Law in Kelmore. However, this has led to an increase in underground seers' rings in the region, with its members meeting to discuss what is believed to be the "true future of all mankind" and mapping out "every future possible that is, was, and will be."  

Techniques

  Most of the following methods will only work under the presence of a true oracle, so don't try this at home.  

Dream-walking

This method of prophesying is one of the few possible by non-diviners, though it is impossible to predict or control when or how it occurs. When sleeping, the soul may be able to travel outside of the body, able to perceive and explore its real-world surroundings without the body's physical limits. This real world may be of any time, anywhere from the times of Juril and Balaneus to, allegedly, 2819*.  

Ember-breathing

This practice has existed since the earliest days of Fao, and continues to this day. The oracle will sit in the middle of three small fires, each connected to the other with a thin line of a mix of salt and venom or blood. After a few moments of chanting, several multi-colored flames will sprout from the fire, which must be caught or inhaled immediately. When inhaled, the oracle will be able to perceive the future for up to 10 minutes, though this future is often within a month of the ritual's performance.  

Rock-searching

Rock-searching is often a time-consuming, though accurate, process in which the oracle will sift through numerous stones, often on a beach or in the higher mountain peaks, until they see something written beyond sight on a certain rock. Based on reports, this often contains a few simple words and images, followed by a time that is within an hour of the relevant event. After Kelmore seized several of these accurate stones, they were found to have no special qualities to set them apart from normal rocks, or any features related between future-reading ones.   *This was predicted by the oracle Tameer Fulkowa, who saw "a world of much ruin and disrepair. But once I journeyed beyond the furthest reaches there[...] I saw a light. And I sat and stared." He explained nothing more after this.