thousand dreams, lotus boats upon the waters

[promittere]

NEW MOON ADAGIO

Between the constant requests from the North and the sense of tension that pervades the manor, Sage Tatara makes an executive decision: we're going North, baby.

Of all the things that have happened thus far, let this be the ultimate test of your magic. Even as we near summer, it's frigid. Protect yourselves and your allies from the cold. Protect yourselves while also fighting off monsters (or other territorial wizards, should you make the terrible mistake of wandering into another's territory), flying through the vast wilderness, or protecting the poor humans who need your help to survive. Time to blow off some of your steam. Just be sure to obey Tatara's one rule: don't kill each other.

One particular problem of note is in the Forest of Dreams. Without its guardian, many of these rogue monsters and dangerous predators, displaced from their normal habitats, have found their way into the forest. Many of them, however, are unable to survive against the fatal toxin, and there are plenty of animal corpses and mana stones that litter the forest. It might be best to clean these up before the forest guardian returns...

That said, the toxin is yet another thing you must protect yourself against in addition to the cold. While you can likely keep yourself from dying from the toxins, you may not be immune to its effects. This deadly toxin causes anyone who breathes it in to dream and hallucinate vividly, be it images of the past, imagined futures, thoughts of the present processed and warped...

Strangely enough, those nearby may end up sharing in your dreams... Did you want the darkest recesses of your thoughts, hopes, and fears unearthed for others to see?

Those who decide to venture far past the more populated (in relative terms) parts of the North may find themselves stumbling upon what looks to be an abandoned bandit hideout. It seems it's been abandoned for quite a while—nothing to loot here, sorry!—but there sure are a whole lot of monsters that have decided to make this hidden corner of the North their home.

While you're at it, you may find a nearby cave. Beautiful crystals dot the walls and the floors, and there are small pools of hot spring water free for relaxing. It seems to be relatively free of monsters, too. So maybe this wouldn't be a bad spot to relax, away from everything else?

However, there's one thing that makes this cave truly unique, and it isn't the vistas or the springs—it's the bats. These bats hear echoes of the past and replay them for visitors. Should you stay a while and listen, a bat may pay you a visit. And when it does, it may play for you the voices from the memories of visitors past, whose stories may hold a clue or two to your circumstances...

While the Forest of Dreams is a memory/dreamshare free for all, the aural memories replayed by the bats in the Cave of Time will come from one of the original wizards only. If you'd like an audio replay of a perhaps significant moment either in their personal life or a clue as to what happened to them (it will be randomized), then please reply to this comment!

JOB BOARD

Clean-up and repairs. While thanks to the hard work of your Eastern friends the worst was prevented, the City of Rain emerged from their short ordeal a little worse for wear.

Buildings need repair, blood needs to be cleaned off the streets, the injured need help. This is, perhaps, the only time you will be allowed to use magic openly in the city (you've been given permits and everything!), but you still are not allowed to talk outside of designated zones. Please, please don't get arrested...

As for the scrap that litters the streets? Unfortunately, you'll have to take it back to the scrapyard. But this time, there's a big, roaring bonfire out there. Just chuck all the scrap and debris in the fire. The city isn't taking any second chances—extreme situations call for extreme measures.

Reverence. Several Northern villages are currently outside the protection of a wizard, and have requested the sage's wizards' presence. They're terrified of the monsters and worried the barriers for their villages will fail sooner than later. They don't simply ask for help for free, however, and these smaller villages are steeped in their tradition—they'll pay you their respects, praying to you, offering you gifts, groveling at your feet, in hopes for a modicum of your time and protection. Do their offerings please you? Then assist them with what you deem appropriate for their worship to you: kill a few monsters for them, or a lot if you're pleased. Strengthen the barrier a lot, or not at all if you're displeased. It's up to you! You have the power here. What's it like to be a god for a day?

Ladies' night. The monthly lady officers' gathering is coming up in the City of Affluence—it's an exclusive meetup for the women involved in and related to Western military and bureaucratic affairs. Anyone is welcome, so long as they meet two requirements: they are outwardly presenting feminine, and they have an invitation to the gathering. Here's your chance to flex your transformation and glamour spells! Infiltrate the meetup with a disguise and a fake invitation, mingle, enjoy the drinks, the jazz, the entertainment, and find out what you can... What's the Western army up to? Be careful, though—don't get caught and kicked out!

The attendees seem to be excited about the new phantasmagoria technology and the upcoming display, and many whisper about the upcoming Venator meteor shower...

G'RAHA TASKS

Greetings, new friends! I am G'raha Tia, and while I hesitate to call myself a mentor or a replacement for the one you had, I am eternally grateful for the assistance I received and will do my best to help your cause in any way I can. To that end, I feel I may need to be caught up to speed on the events and get to know all of you.

We can have some tea and sandwiches and have a discussion! That's the best way to learn, sometimes.

TATARA ACTIVITIES

Even if we're not here for very long, I think we should leave our mark (not literally! Don't paint on the walls!). I got paint and big paper in the dining hall, but no brushes... Do you know what that means? Finger paint! Finger paint a portrait of yourself with your name and I'll hang it up in the library when they're all done!

Thanks to Cid and Khun, my camcorder works now. The thing is, what's the point of filming anything if we have no way to watch the film?! Could you guys work together to make some kind of projector? Or like...VHS player? We could have a movie night together!

OOC NOTES

🌙 Welcome to your fourth event! It's your dreamshare and memshare event! Ready to open up with your deepest and darkest secrets?
🌙 We're halfway through the game. How do you feel?
🌙 Back at the manor, Kurapika and Maya have set up a bulletin board! Leave comments, argue with your neighbors, have fun. Be nice. Don't set it on fire.
🌙 On the admin side of things, Lav has swapped out Wanderer for G'raha! Please say hello to your new mentor NPC.
🌙 Your OOC plotting post is here! Remember to keep all wider plotting to the post, and remember to check back frequently, since not everyone checks plurk or discord all the time.
🌙 The next country to go on their mission is North. Do you think a PVP-enabled mission will go well?

» NAVIGATION

Comments

[revengier]

You're really stocking up, aren't you?

[ Kurapika doesn't have nearly that many...

But he can't dwell on that thought for too terribly long as the scenery around them begins to shift and change. No longer are they standing in the forest—no, there's dirt under their feet and the night sky is clear, the moon hanging high and full.

Recognition flashes in Kurapika's eyes, though he says nothing. ]

[jokey]

I'm glad I have a fan. Some haters would tell you my sense of style is totally whack, yo.

[Like Ryuji who likes to ape on his joker ensemble as if it isn't the tightest fit this side of Japan. Akira curls in a little closer, his shock of messy black hair tickling the underside of Kurapika's jaw. Kurapika said he wouldn't judge him for being a weak and vulnerable little babyman, so let him at least try it and see if he likes the coddling.]

You look pretty good in a suit... but the smoking doesn't fit you at all.

[revengier]

Then they lack taste.

[ Which he would probably agree with when it comes to Ryuji, so. His hand rests on the back of Akira's head, pulling him closer so he can bury his face in Kurapika's collarbones. ]

The smoking is something I picked up when making deals. It's bad form to reject a cigarette or even a cigar, you know.

[jokey]

[Akira snorts, laughter rumbling against Kurapika's palms. Mmm, collarbones...]

Sure, but you aren't wheeling and dealing here. You're addicted.

[revengier]

[ He huffs indignantly. ]

What of it? This isn't about me anyway.

[ Stop shifting the focus onto him, Akira! He'll even kick his feet a little bit in protest. ]

[erythropoiesis]

[Gather yourself. It's such a simple statement, and for a brief moment it feels like an impossible ask. How can he compose himself in the face of such anguish? How can he stare down visions and memories that aren't his own but still resonate so deeply?

(Centuries of sleep and one hundred years of waiting, planning, preparing to die for the sake of the man who could save the world from its destruction. So little of his life has been spent as G'raha Tia, and so little of G'raha Tia's life was under his own control with the legacy that hung around his neck.)

G'raha takes one last, shuddering breath and grabs his staff, using it to brace himself upright.]

Do not worry. It'll take a lot more than this to kill me—

[He hisses, feeling, reaching, chasing that instinct. A circle. A summoning? He's not sure, but if a tragedy can be undone then shouldn't he undo it?

(That's why he was woken, after all, that's the only reason he had to exist for so, so long. Sometimes you must needs turn back the clock and do the impossible...)

Slowly, the sky gets bleached with a bright, endless light, harshly illuminating the devastation.]

[1145pm]

[ The tobacco drifts and on the air is the sharp cold of winter, the bland smells of concrete and city life. The sounds in their ears fill with the nondescript buzz of city nightlife, but it's distant, indistinct.

Tatara looks up, and above them is a cloudy night sky, a dull reddish-gray from the light pollution. But peeking through the clouds, faint, are the stars.

He breathes, and something about it calms him. It shows in his posture, in the way his shoulders slope slightly, in the way his eyes soften. He doesn't need to look past the sky to know that this is home.

He doesn't look when a low rooftop forms around them, when a mirror image of himself and another man, tall with a fiery burst of red hair, manifest a short distance away. ]

[jokey]

[Heheh, cute. Kurapika's fussiness is part of his charm. Akira pats his back. There, there... No throwing a microtantrum...]

Chill out. I'm allowed to worry about your health. Where do you keep your cigs?

[revengier]

Figure it out yourself.

[ He stuffs Akira's face right into his shoulder, grip a little bit tighter on his hair. No moving right now. ]

You have plenty of time to worry about my health later. Weren't we going to talk about you?

[jokey]

[Akira blows a raspberry on Kurapika's shoulder. Fine, fine!! He's staying still.]

Do we have to?

[revengier]

[ Akira can't see his expression, but there's a very displeased look on his face right now. Eugh. He hated that. ]

You offered to. So, yes. We do have to.

[ Did Akira really think Kurapika was going to let him off the hook here? Come on. ]

What tale were you going to spin for me?

[troublereduction]

[ If it's giving Kurapika something to chew on, then Day's accomplished his literal job, he'd say. Day gestures at Kurpika to follow as he walks away from the scene, hoping that eventually, they'll start seeing reality again.

...There's the sound of a banquet, glasses clinking against each other, the murmur of guests chatting, and music, coming from the distance. ]

...You hear that?

[revengier]

[ He glances over at Day before giving him a curt nod. ]

I do. [ Pausing in his steps, he listens carefully. ] It sounds like some sort of party.

[troublereduction]

[ The look of a man who's been to many parties in his time, so he can't figure out which one this could be. ]

...Well, brace yourself, this is prob'ly gonna be at least a little embarrassin'.

[ For who? Day or Kurapika? Yes, knowing Day's party experiences. ]

[revengier]

For you, I hope.

[ But Kurapika will brace himself by shoving his hands into his coat pockets, watching as the scenery around them shifts. ]

[jokey]

Ah, right. Tales.

[Mmm... Which one does he choose? The lack of an immediate response on Akira's end isn't because he's bullshitting, but because he's thinking hard about which of his stories would interest Kurapika most.]

Did I tell you about the time I caught the Guardian of the Pond?

[Yeah. The most interesting story.]

[revengier]

[ While he's waiting, Kurapika lightly runs his fingers through Akira's hair, fingernails scraping against his scalp. Does that feel good...? He hopes it does. Physical affection really isn't his strong suit, but he's trying here. ]

A fishing story...? No, you didn't.

[ Not what he expected, but he wants to hear it. ]

[troublereduction]

If it's embarrassin' for me, it's gonna be embarassin' for you.

[ Day is pretty sure about that.

As they walk, the scenery gradually takes to them to a wedding banquet, though likely not one with customs Kurapika would recognize.

They find themselves under an awning some distance away from the rest of the party, where a certain conversation is happening between a somewhat younger Day (Kurapika's age back then, really) and someone who would fit right in with the native Western wizards. The hallucination is perhaps more vivid than either of them would have liked because Day's full rollercoaster of emotion can be felt—envy, joy, sadness, yearning, annoyance, in all of their complicated glory.

Kurapika's probably sharp enough to tell that whatever this is, Day was supposed to be doing a job and, well, he did it. It just got way more personal than anyone should be comfortable with. ]

[jokey]

[That feels incredible, frankly, but Akira doesn't say so lest he scare Kurapika away from engaging in acts of physical affection. You never know which way a tsundere will go when you pay them a compliment.]

Rumor has it the Guardian of the Pond only shows its gills to the fisherman deserving of its glory. It was a rainy day in Ichigaya when I rolled up to the fishing pond with my rod and a dream...

[revengier]

[ Kurapika watches in silence—and he feels, too, and it's strange to wrestle with these unfamiliar feelings—taking in the scene as he does his best to avoid looking at the Day he knows, instead focusing on the one from the past.

But all things come to an end, and as the memory begins to wrap, he finally allows his gaze to slide over towards the other man.

Surprisingly, Kurapika doesn't look embarrassed. ]

You said it would be embarrassing. I'm still waiting to feel it.

[impacter]

[How long has it been, since he stood inside the boundaries of a modern urban landscape, the pollution and the plaster and all the sights and sounds and smells of human progress, human destruction, a fingerprint in time that left a mark, like the lingering of tobacco in the back walkways of an old motel.

He drifts to his Sage's side with a gentle touch to his arm and a nod to the side.]

Nostalgia hits hard, doesn't it?

Stay alert, my Sage. We have company. [A polite request. He's not going to barge into the memory of a dying man without his proper consent.] Who is that standing next to you, over there?

[revengier]

[ Good choice, Akira, because Kurapika would have stopped out of sheer embarrassment and awkwardness. As such, he continues. ]

You really don't need to embellish the story.

[ It's corny.

And Kurapika is eating it up. ]

[troublereduction]

[ Day, on the other hand, does look a little chagrined, but in the way of someone who's internally going, "Welp, no one else needed to see that moment of my life but it sure is happening now." ]

Well, I sure wasn't expectin' that party.

[ There are actual mortifying party experience in his memories but this isn't one of them. ]

[revengier]

What were you expecting?

[ Actually, he might not want to know the answer to that, so let him say instead: ]

You handled the situation well, despite the turmoil it put you through.

[impacter]

Mn. The North is not a forgiving place.

[It sounds like there's definitely more to that (as there always is, with Solomon), but a pin is put in the idea easily as the colors swirl again, as the clouds dissipate. Solomon's eyes move straight to Kurapika, seeing the recognition.]

Mn. One of yours, then? [Fine, fine, he'll put his cloak hood back down for now, glancing at their surroundings to see what else fills in as the forest gives way.]