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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It's a continent. Uh, which is a big mass of land? Like, really big.

[ Hopefully that helps. ]

But Khun isn't a name I've heard before, so I can't guess at where your dad is from exactly.

Edited 2024-05-24 19:41 (UTC)

—to the person you like...

Yes, traffic laws.

...Are you unfamiliar with those as well?

[ Help, but he will nod at the rest. ]

But, very well. Shall we begin to head back? The Forest definitely seems to be active in the most unfortunate of ways this time.

You give chocolate to the person you like.

[ he repeats again, though this time in full and not sliced into pieces. he also colors, part of out embarrassment, part where that conversation actually went, and part just :meowno: cat. ]

A bunch of 'you'? As in humans? Or those in your division?

[ Jing Yuan is not a person where the stars or otherwise is his jurisdiction. His title as Divine Foresight is more battle-related than anything, really. ]

...It sounds like a very exhausting and tiresome aspect of your world.

[ Seriously. All places have drawbacks, but this deserves criticism by far.

Though there is a pause when another unexpected barrier is run into. Which only lasts a moment even if he's really surprised. ]

You have those two options to explore, then.

But, if you would like help with the books, let me know. We should all be assisting one another whenever possible. Even in a matter like this.

Why would they celebrate that? What's the point? [ he might be part of the "but if you love your partner you shower them with gifts regularly?" team or

he might just be annoyed at himself and also figuring out where he can get chocolate from asap. ]

It's whatever, that would have been more than several thousand years ago.

[ also talking about his father so much is just urgh.

he might need a moment. ]

What did you think of the second dress?

[ With them both using their fans to look so secretive, Bruno can't help it. A giggle bubbles up from him and the sound surprises him, even if only briefly. He sounds so much like one of his sisters laughing. After more than a day of practicing this form, it still shocks him. In any case, for the sake of not looking too suspicious, he'll go back to idly fanning himself. ]

You think so? I wonder if there'll be any meteor-watching parties or if we should set up our own. Up on a roof? Or maybe further out of the city? It has a lot more lights here than I'm used to.

[ A light means fewer stars. ]

[ Oh! Right! The dress! Bruno takes a moment to look at it a second time. It isn't frilly, so that's one plus. It's also green, so that's another! ]

I do like that one better. Should I go try it on?

Yeah. If you like how it looks, I can help you with your hair too.

( Mika watches Khun manage a spectrum of emotion, faintly surprised to see that kind of expression on Khun's face of all people's, and then figuring - Tatara probably did something, huh.

He doesn't think it's a terrible question. Mika also doesn't need a special day to celebrate... certain people. He studies Khun. )

You'd have to ask the people who came up with it.

( Fundamentally, all holidays are pointless.

But, well... He'd still want to do... something special that day himself, right? Assuming the subject cropped up. So maybe there is some merit to these landmark days. If he has to think about why he'd bother...

... )

... I guess it's not about everyone celebrating a holiday, but about dedicating an entire day to celebrating your partner.

( One could say "dedicating an entire day to the two of you together," but Mika is more on the obsessive end of the spectrum. He's definitely giving Ginger an entire day to himself. He deserves it. )

Out of all the people in the world, you choose them and you want them to know they're special. And I guess doing it on a specific day is like reaffirming it to the world, like a wedding vow.

( Metaphorically. Probably. The institution of marriage is also technically social, because you don't need a convenant to affirm your love and loyalty for one another, but there's still appeal anyway in saying - this is who I love with all my heart, and everyone needs to know. Something like that. )

Well they work, there'd just be less of a parlor afterwards.

[ hmmm. ]

Thanks for showing me, parlor trick or not.

[ wedding vow—there's a mumbled (which mika can hear given his hearing), "if you're trying to kill me-" that khun doesn't finish. thankfully he does not remember the look tatara gave him the last time he said that word in his company or he would actually turn into a very pretty cobalt blue rock here in the library. ]

Alright, alright, I get it—I think. The only holidays we have in the Tower are ones celebrating the King in some way. But obviously we have weddings and that sort of thing.

In the bureau. [ When you all had a Plan and it worked but it also ended up having unintended, terrible consequences. ]

And you mean the fact we have fate and destiny as actual forces? [ It's a somewhat wry question. ] But...thanks. [ He's honestly kind of astounded at how Jing Yuan just immediately tried to propose solutions. ]

[ or people rocks but he won't say that. ]

I am. We'll get through it. [ there's no other alternative going by past experiences.

he thinks about it for a second and then claps shinji on the shoulder. he's here even if they are no longer really where they were before. ]

[ hmm. ]

Do you regret it? [ a general it, he'll be kind in this instance and not pin down a specific instance. ]

[Grabbed and dragged????]

Wait- huh? Like what?!

No, I do not.

I would rather it have been myself involved, than anyone else.

[ Regrets in this instance, are surprisingly non-existent, despite it being a complicated subject.

Though what makes it less complicated in at least letting Dan Heng go, even if it meant he may never have seen a familiar face (in a sense) again, is that the man was being constantly, repeatedly tortured in a dark place for reasons, so. Haha.

He didn't trust anybody else to handle this properly. ]

( That answer was as much for Mika as it was for himself - working out, as ever, how he feels about Ginger, which will probably never quite end; in a good way. Thinking about him always feels like he's experiencing something new. )

Sounds pretty selfish of him.

( But sounds appropriately human, he supposes. )

... Did you get chocolates or something?

( He doesn't say from whom, but obviously they both know who Mika's thinking of. )

Edited 2024-05-24 20:41 (UTC)

[ Does he? Tatara only smiles, a smile he's never really worn before. It's fond, if a little sad. His king was his everything...and now he lives a different life. What sort of answer does one draw from that?

He breathes to answer, but is quickly cut off by the quick patter of light footsteps coming down the stairs behind the bar. A genuine smile crosses Tatara's face as he leans to look past Khun.

"Tatara."

It's a little girl's voice, quiet and deadpan. She rushes past Khun—dressed in black and red frills, hair white, eyes red, not much older than ten—and launches herself at Tatara. He catches her with his free arm, pulling her into a tight hug with a light laugh. ]

Anna...

[ "Tatara. You're back." ]

I am. But only for a little bit.

[ He squeezes Aguero's hand. Because he's still here, and he won't lose himself in this.

He turns to his boyfriend. ]

This is Anna. [ He holds her tighter, for just a brief second, before letting her go. ] She was our little princess.

[ The girl turns to look at Khun, and nods. She pulls out a red marble from her pocket and holds it up to her eye, and stares at him through it. ]

No, that's when his birthday is. I was trying to guess it, but I had no idea what he was talking about.

[ sigh! he'll just have to make it up to him. ]

[ It's easy enough to bottle these things up, when you know nobody will know. When you get to decide who gets to hear it, if anybody ever will. It's second nature to keep his history locked up tight, keeping everything down in his shadow with him. It's not anybody's problem but his own. Not anybody's burden but his own. It'd be easier if people would learn that and just quit asking, know he's doing them a favor by doing it.

It's not so easy to lock it up, naturally, when the world puts it on stage.

What good does understanding and being forgiven do? Or wishing for something else? These things have already happened, regardless of what he wanted.

The question, itself, does make him twitch. 'Did you truly want to die this way' isn't something most people get asked. ]

....It's too late to be thinking about shit like that. [ His voice is slow. ] What-ifs don't matter anymore. Wouldn't have mattered much to me back then, either. Was already on borrowed time.

[ The loud crunch of a foot slamming into skull hits the air, and he doesn't bother turning this time, to watch himself hit the floor again. He does, however, to look once Ken steps forward.

The Navigator...It's me.

Did he always look this small? He'd always been a short kid, but here, he just looks...tiny. The lines under his eyes are as deep as Shinjiro's, even if the grip on his spear seems to shake minutely.

It's the only reason they let me join, even though I'm a kid.

A sputter. Another kick.

...It doesn't matter now. I'll never get my revenge. His grip falters, and his own gaze falls, face scrunching in a form of despair that makes Shinjiro's features tighten. I don't have any reason to live...what's the point in fighting anymore...?

Now that he hears it again in some clarity, that isn't muffled by the sinking nightmares he usually had, it's almost sickening how similar they are. That he spent so long wallowing in his misery, when he'd made someone the same as himself. That he knew that, too, and maybe that's why he kept running.

If he didn't know, then maybe Ken would have been better off. But would he really have wanted that, to have gotten away with it somehow? ]

...He shouldn't have had to feel like that. [ Ken, not him. Because he'd always put everyone else before himself, even in his darkest hour. ] And I figured I deserved it, 'cause it was my fault.

[ As for Jing Yuan, she looks amused again, hearing that.

She doesn't quite laugh, but she decides to fan herself too for funsies; she was just originally holding it close to herself now, but it has changed. This is totally helping with the guise and keeping things oh-so-secretive. ]

If there are, I don't see why we shouldn't attend, or set up our own.

Hmm, I think it'd be best set out further from the city, though. Or I should hope others would do so in the first place. Either way, viewing everything closer to industrial areas might make it harder to see things, just in general.

[ She's visibly excited by the idea, though... ]

[ In this case, it's happenstance. He did notice there was someone else in the forest, but he figured as long as they weren't 1) trying to harm him and 2) getting in the way of the task, it was probably fine. They'll reveal themselves whenever if they ever decide to.

...That said, imagine his surprise at finding himself "inside" when he's supposed to be in a forest. ]

Robin?

Just... just weird things! Like! Visions and stuff! Maybe we can out... outrun... it?

[ Only they've run right into what Bruno was afraid of. There is no longer snow crunching underfoot, but the cold brick of a dark, lifeless town square. This causes Bruno to freeze, his grip on Ahito's hand becoming rigid and far too tight.

From there, the fog draws back, revealing a once vivid and lively Colombian village, only now dark and empty, beginning to crumble. Trees wilt, flowerbeds are filled with dead plants, and doors of buildings, of homes, sit ajar. Overhead, the sky is dark and cloudy.

Nearby, through what must be the very center of the valley, a huge crack — a rift, even — cuts violently through, knocking aside brick roads and houses alike. ]

...no... [ Bruno says, voice hushed and full of horror. ] ...oh no, no, not here... not this...

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thousand dreams, lotus boats upon the waters

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cw: torture mentions

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cw: suicide ideation

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