CD-TLC02 (Feb 21, 2022)
Puzzle
“Snakeskin.”
Knowledge | 2 Words
Clue
Hover over the clues if you require!
Clue 1: More specifically, the snakeskin of Eden.
Clue 2: A very strange Plane.
Clue 3: Which of the seven Otherside Planes is snake-themed? The...what?
Answer and Explanation
Answer: The Ouroboros
Explanation: The numbers are Polybius for Snake Skin.
Summary of Receipt
IV elaborates on the entire Universe, Time, and how exactly the Spheres function. Time is essentially a cycle. An Ouroboros, with the head of the snake eating its tail. Thus, whenever IV sees the future, he really just sees what the past-future was. Not exactly the future. If that makes sense - he’s basically peeking at the already-eaten tail of Time to see what the uneaten tail would theoretically look like. The Flipside and Otherside are, in terms of time, mirrors of one another. Whenever a choice is made, paths in time diverge, and Cycles - such as Dive Prime, Indigo Prime and Wandsun Prime - are formed. All of these create Spheres, of which there have been 16, all watched over by the Bird from Topside. Topside can essentially be thought of as a cycle brought ‘outside’ of a Sphere - it has no interaction with the Flipside or Otherside, and is unchanging, or acyclical. The other two acyclical places are the Black Tide - technically just an extension of the Flipside - and the Ouroboros. The Ouroboros is the ‘snake skin’ of Eden, removed to stabilise Arcadia, Eden and the Skald after Lucifer tainted them. Due to this, it was placed ‘under’ the Sphere - if the Topside is ‘above’ the Spheres, the Ouroboros is ‘underneath’ it, and causes the Cycles to function normally. (Not to be confused with the Underside - that’s the Black Tide). From the Ouroboros, Belphegor travelled back in time to sow the seeds for Eden’s downfall - an incredibly hard task, and causing her to incur a Debt, just like all others who travel back in time (true Time, not just hopping around the circle of time).
Transcript
[BRANCH] INV̶̫͐A̸̙͛L̴̺͝-̸̜͌C̵̤̊Ȧ̴̳F̷͋͜E
[SERVER] IV
[DATE] 2/21/22
[INDEX ID] TLC02
[SECURITY] AND & ARCHIVES
It's about time we spoke about time. These days most of the Cafe and I am sure some of the patrons have a decent grasp on the fundamental temporal concept of Cycles and Spheres. So, I am sorry if I restate obvious points, but a refresher is always lovely, isn't it? And to speak on something new, I think I will also explain what the Ouroboros actually is. But first, time.
I am what one might call a "time traveler," though I dislike the term. No, I am a historian, an archivist, and a bibliophile at best. But, I also can move about time in a way that many would consider traveling. It is elementary to go forwards in time. It is also straightforward to go "across" in time. Across, meaning to the opposite chronological point. Going from the "Flipside" to the "Otherside," in other terms. Yes, if you were unaware, the Otherside is simply the Across-Point of the present in the Flipside. Why can I not merely look ahead if I can travel to the future? You know, get all the cheats, peak at the last chapter, see the spoilers? Well, I can go forward, but I would only be seeing the extreme of the past events. Time is a Cycle. An Ouroboros, constantly eating its own tail. The next second will consume the last. I can see what happened before, and perhaps that will influence my choices, but I cannot see what WILL happen next.
Though, what of free will? If I choose not to go to the future surely, that will change the future as well? And it does. Every decision tilts the Cycle into a new and unique Cycle. As you can imagine, this process happens infinitely and continuously. This collection of Cycles is then called the Sphere. And the Sphere can and has been destroyed and recreated multiple times. 16, at present. One cannot traverse between Spheres as they exist as singular points in the grander cosmos. There are, of course, other Spheres that are not our own. Though, that is getting very esoteric and beyond my scope of practice. Beyond the scope of God Himself. Speaking of the wily and conniving Bird, He resides "Topside." The Topside is, in a way, a "blank" Cycle. It doesn't move or change, and it does not interact with the Flipside and Otherside. It is Acyclical. There are two other "places" that are Acyclical in nature, the Ouroboros and the Underside.
The Underside is merely an extension of the Topside, a prison created by God to hold those who threaten Him and His design. I believe it is also referred to as the Black Tide or the Eldritch Bed. Now, more interesting is the fourth plane of the Otherside, the Ouroboros. Calling it a "plane of the Otherside" is perhaps misleading as it is not truly "in" the Otherside. It is Acyclical. If the Topside is above everything, then the Ouroboros is below everything. The Ouroboros is what moves the Cycles. Or perhaps, the Cycles move around the Ouroboros. It is inhabited by a unique race known as the Ouroborians, undying, unaging, not-quite-Elder, reptilians. The children of Belphegor, the Demon Prince of Sloth, and the simulacrum of the Ouroboros. Now, how did this strange Acylical Plane come about?
Well, one would have to trace back to the First Sphere. Now, I wasn't present for the First Sphere. No. I am of the 16th Sphere, same as most of you reading this. But I know this much: there weren't Cycles but Acylcial isolated Planes in the First Sphere. Three utopic gardens. Arcadia, Skald, and Eden. This was early into God's "mortal experiments," and He did not want variables to cross between the three gardens. However, naturally, they did, which led to chaos and uncertainty. A veritable Pandora's Box was opened. Specifically, Eden's unique gift of Knowledge was leaked into Arcadia and Skald, nearly causing their downfalls. To stabilize His experiments, He had to "remove" Eden to stem the damage. Eden's remnants, shell, or better yet, snake skin became the Ouroboros. And from the Ouroboros, Belphegor traveled BACK in time to set the stage for Eden's destruction. Ah, backward time travel. If forward is easy, backward is Sisyphean. True backward, anyway. You can go forward far enough to be in the "past," time is a Cycle, after all. But you can't take a step back. Not without incurring quite the Debt, of course.