lunaecalamitas | look at me, i'm the wound you tried to hide

look at me, i'm the wound you tried to hide

ANDANTE ALLA WANING CRESCENT

Another day dawns for the Sage's wizards. It's been a month, now, since arriving in this world and being given a task nobody seems to fully understand—though after the jobs the Southern and Central wizards have taken on, it seems like it might just be possible after all.

And it seems like there's another task for the wizards, from the Eastern nation. However, unlike the other requests the Sage has been fielding, this task is far too big for five wizards alone. This is a task everyone will need to help tackle, whether they like it or not. Those that aren't particularly altruistic will still be whisked together by Tatara and Lazuli both, and they may still find the journey...illuminating. Answers to what happened to the original wizards may be just within reach.

Traveling via the elevator at the manor is familiar to some of you, at least, Lazuli setting a mana stone into the control not a surprise in a the slightest. The fact all of you can, somehow, fit in the elevator comfortably may be a surprise, but it's best not to dwell on it too much. You'll be staying at the City of Rain, Lazuli tells you with the air of someone reading you a court sentence, but you've been tasked with clearing up the site of some sort of disaster. He doesn't have much information beyond that—a fact that seems to greatly annoy him—and he warns you not to break any of the City of Rain's laws well before you're out of the elevator.

Which that shouldn't be too difficult, right? Right...?

Perhaps not, as the rules of the city are extreme. There are certain areas which forbid socialization and talking entirely, some areas where only talking to strangers is forbidden, only a handful of businesses allow chatter of any sort, and the list goes on. The most pressing law of all, though, is very simple: no use of any sort of magic within city limits. Do your best to follow the rules because breaking them will result in an arrest, and do you really want Lazuli and Tatara bailing you out? With the rules laid out and lodging sorted, Lazuli ushers you to the site you're tasked with dealing with. You will have downtime to explore the city, though, as it's expected to take several days to clear things up.

The site is a terrible, terrible mess. In what must have once been a peaceful patch of wilderness, there now sits a terrible gouge in the earth, several meters deep and twice as wide across, hollowed by what must have been a powerful force. The dirt is gray and sandy, dead in the manner the Southern wizards will recognize. Plants on the edges of the crater are dry and withered and splintered and broken. Permeating the air is a lingering dread, one both Southern and Central wizards will immediately recognize...

But it is clear now, now that your magic is considerably stronger, that the spirits are agitated by the disturbance in the fabric of magic. Dark clouds hang low over the site, and low thunder rumbles in the constant threat of a storm that will never come. The spirits' agitation, coupled with the dread hanging in the air, will feel uncomfortable, and perhaps leave the more sensitive of the bunch feeling on edge. This is not something that can will resolve on its own, so your most important task is to calm the spirits. That means doing the things they like: playing music, dancing, praying, telling stories, wearing fanciful and whimsical clothes to soothe their temperaments.

Your second most important task is to clear out monsters. The unusual energy in the air is attractive to beasts magical in nature—they slink out of their hiding places in the deep wilderness to the area, and their presence is threatening the humans who regularly use the nearby routes for trade and to commute. Kill them, take their mana stones for yourself. Win-win.

The third task is general clean-up. Remove the dead plants from the earth, remove the broken trees and any natural debris that might prove to be a hindrance. Characters are more than welcome to search inside the crater for any hint or clue as to what might have caused this strange explosion, but they'll find the site picked clean, earth having fallen into cavities where there might have been larger objects present at one point...like someone was here to clear out any evidence.

JOB BOARD

Reinforcement. Peace in Granvelle Castle has been restored. A liveliness and energy has returned to the castle and the surrounding parts of the city that hasn't been seen in nearly a month. Thank your Central friends for their hard work!

Their issues aren't quite resolved, however. The castle is asking for help in creating and then reinforcing a magical barrier around the castle. The barrier is a bit bigger than what one wizard alone is capable of at this point, so band together to create and reinforce what parts you can. Perhaps it's not a bad idea to use your own hair or blood as a conduit.

The type of barrier is specific, however—they want one that masks magical signatures. If you step inside, you'll feel a faint, but powerful presence within... What are they guarding?

Recycling. The Eastern country is known for its expertise in all things mechanical, particularly when it comes to clockwork. While not as bombastic or flashy as Western technology, the use of magic and mana stones being deeply frowned upon and rejected, Eastern artisans can create truly fantastical things just with gears and cogs and a bit of know-how... But, of course, sometimes it's better to scrap something and create something new than let the old items waste away, so some Eastern craftsman have asked for help gathering clockwork automatons and other creations in order to melt it all back down. Some of them seem a bit nervous and harried, but it's an easy enough job to scrap automatons and cart junk around.

Monster hunting. The few settlements in the North have been sending in frantic request after frantic request. There has been a disturbing increase in monster activity in the North, and the native Northern wizards are as unreliable as ever. They need your help in thinning the numbers, and that's all they really ask for—you can keep all the mana stones you earn.

For those of you who haven't been to the North yet, the weather is harsh, no matter the season. Protection on oneself to survive the negative degrees is crucial; make sure your magic is up to snuff enough to keep yourself at least room temperature. And using your magic to battle on top of that? This isn't going to be an easy job, not at your level. Be cautious, and good luck.

Mana areas & amulets. You've been here for a month now, and living in an unfamiliar place, alongside unfamiliar people, using unfamiliar magic must be wearing you down. Isn't it? In that case, it's time for the last piece of your wizardhood puzzle: your mana area.

Mana areas are spots where wizards feel most at peace with themselves, most whole, and a place where they can refill on the emotional load they've been chipping away at for their magic. It can be a specific location, or a conditional circumstance. Find more detail on the magic page. Your task—given to you by your sage and your mentor—is to traverse the continent, find your mana area, and recharge your batteries, so to speak. While there, make an amulet to take back with you, like a portable battery.

WANDERER TASKS

Listen to the spirits.

You've been here long enough that it's time to see if you can actually communicate with the spirits who've laid claim on you and have been empowering your spells. Try your listen and see if you can hear what they have to say to you.

OOC Note: For those attempting this task, ping one of the mods and roll a dice! Based on the dice roll, your character will get a little tidbit from the spirits... Or they might not hear anything yet, but they can always dedicate themselves to their studies and try again after leveling up!

TATARA ACTIVITIES

Don't make promises.

If you've made a promise, don't break it.

If you break a promise, you'll lose your magic. And I don't know if I can help you anymore or send you home if that happens. I'm sorry this is so late. But please...be careful.

OOC NOTES

🌙 Welcome to your third event! Everyone's lasted a month, congratulations! Keep working on your magic, keep forging those bonds.
🌙 As your characters settle into the world, they might find themselves irresistibly drawn to crowds, to music, to dancing. It's hard to resist the allure of a gathering, and it's hard to keep yourself from swaying to music when it fills your ears, no matter what sort of person you used to be. You're changing...
🌙 As we enter the second month, we are announcing a deadline for finding your pairs. This will be Friday, June 14 at 11:59 PM EDT. Remember, you may submit a guess at any time, and there is no penalty for getting a guess wrong, so long as you have a thread to back up your guess and consent from your partner. The pair page is here.
🌙 Your OOC plotting post is here! Remember to keep all wider plotting on this post, as not everyone checks plurk or discord frequently.
🌙 Next up for missions is East. Let's hope they don't have to talk to anyone for this one.

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Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Yes. [Well, he thinks so. He never had humans to compare with until he was already older, and his mother never mentioned a thing, so he just imagines it's a side-effect of having been born dead, and the place he was raised. Everything else was a product of either of those, after all.]

Of course, the humans from the neighbouring town are not like this. It is merely me.

[They're humans. What would they have?]

Do you know why? You don't exactly come across as a spirit or a ghoul or a puppet... [He understands that he embraces being a beast, but something cold like this was the realm of necromancy.]

I assure you, I am flesh and blood, just like you. [Now he withdraws his hand and tucks it back into his glove.]

Is it truly so surprising that a person made of the same insides as you would have such a cool body?

It is, but I can at least admit that there's quite a lot outside my experience going on right now.

[The same insides, though...........]

So you're similar to a human, then... were those that raised you like this as well?

She was a witch. [Which may or may not explain a lot about him.]

We shared no blood at all, but mother is no human simply because she was a witch.

Mn. You're not unfamiliar to the magical, then.

[To not consider her human despite Ithaqua's very obvious dislike... it could very well be attachment to the memory of the maternal.]

Was she one by blood, or by study?

What is the difference? [A slightly more sharp response than previously, his agitation over these increasingly personal questions showing, even as they're heading to the place he has in mind-- the Forest of Ice.]

When you have magic, you are not human. When you gain magic, you cease to be human. Either way, you're not counted among them.

[...

He falls unusually silent at the outburst.]

I would hope there isn't a difference at the end of the day. But the world tends to fear what it doesn't understand, doesn't it? Acceptance doesn't come easily. Or at all, sometimes.

In that, I guess our worlds aren't so different. Mine, or yours, or the one we now step through.

Hmm. [Ithaqua's broom pauses as he gazes at Solomon. This is the man who ardently defends humans, yes? Ithaqua had wondered if he was worshipped by them in his world to do so... and yet here he is implying the opposite.

Why?

He gives himself a mental shake and urges him broom to continue.]

It's not my intention to have any human accept me.

You've been clear on that.

[It isn't his intention to accept so easily, even if there's a level of understanding.]

I'm a magic user by birth. Though I consider myself human, I wouldn't be human in the description you give regardless. So you can treat me however you like.

You are not human. [He's firm on that point of view.] The presence of magic in you is enough for me to make a distinction.

[And then he falls silent until the moment he finds a good spot-- that is to say, flying high above the Forest of Ice, there manages to still be a clearing where the treetops don't grow so close to one another, and he starts to descend between one of the gaps.

If Solomon were to look up, he'd notice that there's enough of a view of the clear night sky.

Edited 2024-05-10 08:18 (UTC)

You're far from the first to say as much.

[He'll keep the chatter on lockdown once it's clear Ithaqua is searching for something. Solomon will stay steady on his own broom, a brief incantation to cloak himself in warmth before descending after his fellow wizard.]

How does this compare, to the home you remember?

Far less dreary, I would say. The Plateau has far less colour, but here? The ice looks more like crystals, instead.

[At least it's easy to avoid snowblindness here. Then again, Ithaqua has always come out at night, so he has never been in that much danger.

Ithaqua alights on the ground and scoops up a handful of snow to form into a snowball, and then looks up at the sky. Then he nods. This is prefect.]

Isn't pure nature just perfect?

[The chill is far more brutal as they descend, Solomon keeping to his broom as though to avoid interfering with whatever sanctity Ithaqua places in this spot. He lets the silence sit, following Ithaqua's gaze to the starry sky above.]

There isn't much else like it, I imagine. To be somewhere untouched, somewhere untouchable.

Is it a place your mother loved, too?

Hmm. [That sound is one of Ithaqua debating whether or not to respond. Eventually, he decides that this is something that needs to be said.]

It may have been. She was happy, in any case.

[He scoops up another ball, a much smaller one, and attaches it to the first ball of snow, making an impromptu snowman. Then he raises it as if making it look him in the eyes.]

But it was never her choice to be there, the humans merely drove her to fleeing into the wilderness because of their intolerance. It just so happens that that was the same day that she found me in that very wilderness.

["Was". Okay, so he hadn't just imagined that.

He swings one leg over to sit side-saddle against his broom, now just barely off the ground as not to disturb the snow. One leg crosses over the other as his arms fold tight.]

A miracle of unfortunate fates... I imagine neither of you were in a fair state if the conditions were similar to this.

Was she compassionate?

Of course she was. [He holds out the tiny snowman to Solomon, expecting him to take it.]

She wouldn't have taken in a child in a time of difficulty for her, personally, if she was not.

[A beat passes.

With a long exhale, Solomon relents, reaching forward to gently take the small little snowman from Ithaqua's cold hands. Could he have done the same, had circumstances been different, had he not been so driven in the way he'd been?]

Then I think that makes her far less of a monster than those who drove her away. It takes a strong heart to be kind no matter the circumstance.

...

[He looks down at the snowman in his hands with a little more care. He can feel it starting to melt slightly under the heat of his skin. But he'll keep it as long as he can... as long as he must before it's safer to set it aside.]

I'm sorry, Ithaqua. I didn't mean to force you to reminisce.

Thank you, though. For telling me.

[Well, the monsters who drove her into the wild were the same sort who threw Ithaqua into the same place rather than quietly burying him somewhere, if not the actual underlings of the family and about the same who came to their home as a mob.

Ithaqua sighs and then lays down on the snow, unbothered by the cold.]

Is there a reason for asking all of these? You elders, you're all quite nosy, aren't you? [Well, Solomon looks about the same age as Tatara, who was extremely nosy as well. And. Well, Jing Yuan was the nosiest, and he's bloody old by his own admission.]

To get to know you a little better, of course.

[He whispers quietly in a spell to himself, then blows overtop the snowman, letting the snow slowly morph so that the head now holds two points, like the ears of his fellow wizard's cloak.]

Filling out the puzzle pieces of Ithaqua, so that I might understand why it is you choose a place like this to be such a deep comfort to you.

I learn nothing from assumptions. They alone can be a very damning thing. I know that just as well as you, and just as well as your mother.

Edited 2024-05-10 14:50 (UTC)

Well, if all you wanted was to learn, you could have simply just watched and waited. Even now, you'd learn something.[He sighs and it sounds long-suffering, as if he were the old one here.]

Lie down, look up in the sky and you'll find one of those pieces.

[What's important to Ithaqua, he means. Nature in its unfiltered glory.]

...

[He lets out a quiet laugh, slightly sheepish.]

Fair enough.

[With a careful tip of weight, Solomon slips off his broom with a cold crunching of snow under his feet. His hands still occupied, the sorcerer takes a look around the space, finding the curve of a tree root gnarled in its path out of the ground. It's here he strolls first, quietly depositing the snowman in his hands to perch at the peak of the root, packing on a little snow to make sure it wouldn't slip off anytime soon.]

There we are, little one. Watch with eyes unclouded.

[With that, he follows his footsteps back, taking Ithaqua's cue to set himself down into the frigid ground closeby to his fellow wizard. The cold seeps at his warmth almost immediately, the moisture of caused by his heat a constant threat of ice. Every breath that comes from him is a fog.

But it's a terrific view, to have the trees framing the sky as though the spirits themselves had designed its own picture frame, the clear night a rarity amidst the storms that plagued this place. No need for conversation, in a place so at peace.

He lets his eyes drift closed under the fabric of his cloak's hood, his voice quiet.]

We can find the strangest things when we take the time like this, don't we...

[Look at that man, talking to a little snowman like that... Then again, Ithaqua would have done the same, the only difference being that he'd have made sure he was alone.]

The view, is it not? The clear night sky and its stars, framed by trees heavily laden with snow. The quiet, far away from settlements and even the dens of beasts.

Do you now see why I chose this place?

In a way, yes. A freedom from community and strife, with nothing but the earth as your witness. It's no wonder if there's a comfort to its embrace for you.

[He remembers that well about being young, before he'd gained his footing and his focus. Some of the best things he'd learned for himself were taken in the quiet moments with nothing but himself and the sky.]

Hmm. Not quite.

It's not so much the lack of another soul about, but nature itself. It's enjoying the world as it is, the forest and the sky. [And the moon, but that's a sore topic, here.]

And bow we've found my mana area. I did tell you, I already knew. What about yours?

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