lunaecalamitas | thousand dreams, lotus boats upon the waters

thousand dreams, lotus boats upon the waters

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

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[He feels the press of leather and snow and dirt into his temple. The blood runs down from his nose to stain the snow, his breath labored.

There's tension across his face at what Akira implies. At the line he draws, with something he already had been planning to do once this was all over. It wasn't Bruno's fault that he stumbled onto something and made what he thought was the right decision.

He chose a lesser of two evils. And it seems that his hunter has finally found his hydra.

His body is pliant. Exhausted. His eyes drift shut.

He still doesn't respond.]

You sound as though you are warning me off like those villagers. [Syrlya's mouth twists wryly. He had overheard some of Robin's conversation. They are... a lot, to deal with.] But you didn't jump to immediately stabbing me for approaching, so it seems we're both of sound enough mind not to have an accident we can't avoid.

Are you holding up alright out here?

Hopefully.

[He's not opposed to having fun! It's not something he's used to so it's a new opportunity...]

I've not seen much of this place yet, honestly. I arrived in the Northern country and saw the Forest of Dreams, and after being brought to the manor I've spent much of my time reading and trying to practice magicks.

[Silent, even with the bruises forming and the blood spilling down his face, melting the snow beneath his cheek. The sight of him arrests Akira, shakes the breath in his lungs. How long ago was it that he lied on the cold hard ground beneath someone else's heel just like this? His mission so important that he would endure any amount of abuse to keep his secrets safe?

Back then, he would've died to protect his friends, all the people he cared about, to keep Mementos out of the hands of people who might use it to abuse and exploit the masses. He had to stay mum. He had to endure the abuse. If he didn't, countless people would have gotten hurt. No matter how people misunderstood him, villainized him, Akira would gladly suffer in silence as long as those same people would be protected through his sacrifice.

Solomon's eyes close and Akira withdraws, turning on his heel, to stagger back the way he came. The hydra's head will remain firmly on its shoulders, and Akira won't give chase when it recovers, leaving the fallen beast where it lies. There is no fairy tale ending, no moral to this story, only silence.]

If precedent holds, it'll be either us or the western wizards next, isn't it? And we're already here in the north, so...

[ yeah, it's probably their turn to go on some misadventure that possibly brings some of their predecessors back. now that he's not holding court for the villagers any longer, a bit of his usual temper has leeched back into his tone,

but overall his odd mood persists. ]

... I don't understand why they stay here, truly.

Would the other countries even take them, if they decided to leave?

[He stays unmoving on the snowy forest floor for a long time. Long enough to collect his emotions, to settle himself, to strengthen what fragile hold he has left on his protective charm.

Only then does he finally push himself up, frozen stiff and bloodied. He has no energy to remove what stains his clothing.

He simply conjures what sugar he can, downing it without even chewing, as he lifts his hood back up and slowly starts to leave.

No turning back now.]

More or less. Being summoned, the Great Calamity, having to rescue those who are tasked to deal with the Calamity...

[It was a hell of an info dump.]

That is not to say I wouldn't appreciate hearing your view of things.

[What is it with Northern wizards and pocketing suspicious rocks? Maybe Akira should scold him, but he really doesn't feel like butting heads with yet another Northie. He and Ahito... kinda get along?? So he'd like to keep it that way.

He is, however, concerned when he sees the look on Ahito's face.]

What's wrong? Seen a ghost?

[ Is that why Day is assigned to Southern Wizard zone? No, just kidding...

Jing Yuan's gaze is also casted upwards which makes him give pause for a moment. ]

Hmm, speaking of which, I hope this is not a sign it is about to snow...

[ Jing Yuan sighs as he says this, but more clouds begin to gather, and the air seems to distinctly hint at the kind of wetness present with the impending sign of rain. ]

...It's rain?

[ He recognises the kind of humidity that hangs around before the rain starts. In any other place, this wouldn't be weird, but this is the North. ]

[ Collection of manastones sure seems to be happening, doesn't it? Well, there are worst ways to go about grabbing them, given that monsters left these ones behind. He too will be scooping them up for the sake of nabbing time.

Though he so happens to be looking right on over at Malice going to town on them.

As for protective magic fizzling out...it's fine (?) ]

I see you're attempting to prepare well for the future, hm?

[He barely spares a glance Akira's way, obviously more focused on trying to find the source of that sound.]

It's not- it shouldn't be.

[There's no way she of all people would be here-

And, in a way, he's right. She isn't. But there is an illusory boy with his parents, silvery hair and light, though otherwise normal eyes, walking into an equally illusory lab that seems to form around them to meet a robed man who promises him magic, shows him a lonely girl kept isolated in a room, her small body covered in bandaged wounds--

What plays out around them is not a happy story. But the whole while, Ahito can't seem to drag his gaze away, even knowing exactly how it ends.]

Awww, but you're a sage's wizard now! I think that still counts!

[ He waves, his waving hand darting in and out of the shot. ]

Say hi, Ahito-kun!

[ To the markets they go... ]

I certainly never thought of it.

[ Do they need codenames, she wonders? She seems to stew in thought as they're still enroute. It's entirely possible that it might benefit, but she hates the idea of not using her name, so RIP to her. ]

It would be kind of awkward if we were somehow traced back to our normal identities, but if that's the case, we should think carefully about what we choose. Are there subjects or ideas that might sound ideal to you for considerations?

Edited 2024-05-23 08:47 (UTC)

...

[ Now, at that, Jing Yuan smiles even if he's surprised.

But, it's kind of a pleasant one. ]

Yes. You may not call it pleasant, perhaps, but there were a few amusing aspects surrounding her.

Baiheng had a knack for predicting how things would go whenever she rode upon her starskiff, though it was generally inauspicious, and she constantly crashed them to the point where she received the title "Starskiff Killer". Though now that I think about it, if she knew I was telling you this, she would've likely been a little cross with me.

[ But, Jing Yuan doesn't seem unhappy to talk about it. ]

[ Jing Yuan is casting alongside an amused look in Kurapika's general direction, because yeah. Maybe he is picking up a manastone to do exactly that (okay he is not going to play catch with the manastones!!)

But, anyway the sudden shift in surroundings has him reorienting his focus pretty much immediately.

The sound of someone coming along does at least give an indication that they are coming along at all. Enough that Jing Yuan steps out of the way, looking a bit, hm. Perturbed. ]

...Kurapika, it appears we are in the midst of an illusion.

[ He says that, certain the real one may be able to hear him? Maybe...anyway, he moves along forward, heading right towards the path of where the young Kurapika is headed. Where does it take him? ]

It does sound quite interesting. If it's being put on display it could have something to do with a kind of visually-aligned technological advancement. Though that is not a given, and I may be basing it merely on the definition of the word itself.

[ So just baseless hypotheticals or theorizing at this moment. Hmm in retrospect...she got initially excited but forgets how much she isn't exactly too of a great fan of parties. It doesn't matter if it's all men or all women. ]

So, how have you been managing in getting along with others, by the way?

[Very pointedly falling silent.]

[ >:( ]

Ahito-kun, you're supposed to say something!

[Crossing his arms and looking about as unimpressed as a bratty 16 year old can.]

It's rain.

But, at this rate it should turn into snow.

[ Emphasis on should.

Though, that is certainly not the case either. In fact, there is something like the onset of a change in environment in its entirely.

To a place far, far away. And within that place, a grouping of distant, yet pleasant memories. ]

Aww, that's no fun!

[ ...

After a pause, Tatara fiddles with the lens. What Ahito doesn't know is that he's zooming in really close on his face.

His voice lowers into a dramatic whisper. ]

Here, we find a wild Ahito of the North in his unnatural habitat. [ He slowly starts circling him, still focused. ] Though unnatural as his surroundings may be, his attitude remains natural. Unbothered by our presence...

[.............Squints. What are you mumbling about???]

[ it seems one never does quite forget how to hold court. whether it's in the way of the fell god of a nation in millennia past; or the way of the mysterious plegian tactician wandering ylisse's halls, regarded with both suspicion and awe both; or the way of a distant hierophant, guiding enemy pieces and grimleal alike to where they need to fall...

robin slips into the role he has to play like it's as simple as donning another cloak. it isn't much hardship or effort to do so but for the disdain it invokes in him at the whole affair. trade one position of reverence and mixed fear and awe for another. regardless of the world, people are the same everywhere.

still, mildly and not meant to carry, as long as there's no villagers in immediate earshot: ]

Not acting as they expect causes more problems than it's worth when one wears the colors we do. They're aware of who among us might be standing in for their wayward wizards, I imagine.

[ some of them, anyway. see: the poor delegate he terrified at the ball by telling him to carry himself with some self-respect. ]

Though perhaps you might have a bit more liberty in that regard.

Edited 2024-05-23 08:41 (UTC)

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thousand dreams, lotus boats upon the waters

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Forest of Dreams ---> dream sharing time;

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