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

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

What dost thou...?

[Urianger tries to start asking what Ithaqua means by that, but there isn't time for it. Something else is happening.

He turns his attention forward, eyes narrowing.]

Nay, thou hast not. I see yonder cottage. Is this another trick of the forest...?

[Should they approach?]

It is not. [ said, matter of factly. ] It's simply an organic construct animated by magic that happens to still look like a living creature. Any breath or will it once possessed was long gone before I got to it.

[ though it certainly resembles a tame hound when it puts a paw into robin's hands for him to examine. he'll do so, briefly, before setting it back down and having it sprint another circle around them. ]

... convenient, though, when one wants to work on knitting together a wounded body without having to slice someone open for it.

[ because imagine how that would go down. 'hey, need to stress test and work on healing, you wanna get beat up a bit for me?' anyway.

the reanimated wolf isn't autonomous, can't move on its own without robin making it so. still, some notion of whim has him pacing it up to jing yuan, tail wagging— before a sighed gesture has the light fading from its eyes as it lowers itself down again, well and truly dead.

... faintly, though. is that the march of soldiers, baying of horses, hoofbeats of cavalry resounding somewhere in the distance around them? do some of the patches of snow now more resemble blades of yellowing grass? ]

[ a shrug, dismissive. ]

I was informed previously by one of the few representatives of the north at the ball that the settlement he hailed from was worried about being able to feed themselves, what with the way things have been as of late.

[ so the fact that some of these villages are so willing to throw gifts at their feet... perhaps they wouldn't be threatened with starvation if they weren't spending so many resources and effort on buying favor. ]

And I may have somewhat terrified the man unintentionally when I told him to carry himself with some more self-respect. [ admittedly, perhaps with some posturing, but that's just how he is. the message should have been clear regardless. ] Playing into their ... traditions, saves all parties involved a greater headache.

[ the forest's illusions begin subtly, in any case; the ambient lighting dims slowly in stages. ]

I call it what it is. ["Solomon's nonsense". That encompasses many things when it comes to the man, and is rarely inaccurate.

Through sheer force of will-- and not an insignificant amount of anger-- Ithaqua finally manages to get to Solomon, and gives him a headbutt.]

I'm not asking for help. And we don't need it.

( Jeez. )

I was just surprised. Anyway, if you use inns, just stick to them.

No.

[ he's starting to get annoyed because no one orders him around and he is very aware that stabgate two is not on the table. he got his answer anyway, so he stands up, fully ready to just leave all the books out and walk out. ]

( It's not like Mika can't tell there's tension, but Khun's obstinance is annoying. )

Are you a child?

( It almost seems like Mika is waiting for Khun to leave, in fact. Mika (also stubborn) refuses to compromise and go "fine" just because Khun won't relent. )

[Ahito's quick to follow - quicker, when he starts to hear the chattering of what sounds like a large group of people. Maybe teens, based on the pitch of voice?

Maybe if they go fast enough the memories can't catch them...]

I see. You created one to practice on healing abilities in the event you would have to do it for someone else?

[ Too dead to truly be considered alive...is it? Simply puppeteering the corpse to act in turn? It does make him think of certain creatures potentially encountered back home, but there are obvious differences. Though enough that he keeps an eye on it still, at least somewhat still wary even for a moment if it is not going to attack.

But, Robin's motives for it are understandable, and this is not the power of the Abundance of work, even if it is inherently similar. Not that it matters much either way because it suddenly falls dead; when it did come close, tail wagging in nothing less than friendliness, he didn't find himself seeing that as a threat. It may even be docile enough for a head pat; not that it matters, since it falls dead once more.

Indeed, not the same as the Abundance after all.

In the midst of his questioning, he also does notice that he hears something, and temporarily turns his attention towards it. ]

...An illusion?

[ Mostly to himself. The way this place brings about unreal phantasms isn't an unknown or abnormality to him by now. Is there more to this sound of a marsh and the horses on the move? To the change that shifts beneath their feet even now? ]

I do not know, but there's only one way to find out.

Stay behind me. [He is far sturdier after all, he can handle being beaten.

He starts to head towards the small house with long strides, but then starts to slow when he realizes that it's familiar. There are two snowmen just outside, one slightly larger with autumn leaves stuck to its head like red hair, and a smaller one attached to its side. There's also an extension of the roof to the side, overlooking a small vegetable patch.

It's not a terrible rickety cabin in the woods from horrific fairy tales, but more of a well-lived-in cottage. Ithaqua pauses just before the front door, taking a deep breath. When he opens the door, he realizes that he didn't need to brace himself-- the scene inside is fairly innocent.

Pleasant, even.

A red-haired woman sits at the lone table in the middle of the cabin, which is laden with books. Beside her is a young boy with silver-blond hair, fluffy and sticking up every which way because of the way he's been scratching his head in petulance-- a particular silver-blond and a particular sort of fluff that's only on one other person in this room.

However, the boy has blue eyes framed in white, not at all the same black and white eyes that Ithaqua has when he's unmasked.]

[...Yeah, after hearing how people blamed Bruno for bad prophecies, he can see why he'd want to hide this info from everyone, too.]

...It's only a possibility, right? And there's no way of knowing what's going on back home. ...I still think this is just the forest messing with you.

Somewhat, though I'm not quite in the realm of millennia.

[There's a pause.]

Truthfully, I'm not sure what I would consider to be my actual age... This body is only 24, still.

[Which is a nice segue into his story, huh? He offers Day a crooked grin.]

Though, I must say the story explaining that is quite long.

[ A nod! ]

Not the first time, either.

What are y--

[And then their skulls connect with a crack.

OW

The surroundings waver and warp as Solomon reels back against the sandbar, the daze of the blow knocking him backwards onto his ass - a little too fast, a little too heavy, a reminder that they're only in a nightmare.]

[ The sound of chattering catches Jing Yuan's attention; it isn't something he an ignore even if he figures by now that it'd be something potentially also unreal. But, it does make him curious enough to see more from where those sounds have come from.

Even if he sees no reason to say as much a lot. A bit too late for that and the intention seems to be evading more of these rather than succumb. ]

...More, then.

[ Will moving along at a quicker pace be fast enough, however? ]

[Urianger has to break into a jog to keep up with Ithaqua at first, only to almost bump into him once he suddenly slows down. He gets a good look at why that is soon enough, studying the quaint scenery before them as well as Ithaqua's hesitance.

This must be Ithaqua's home.

He keeps close as they enter in the event that the forest deigns to put an ominous spin on this memory, only to be met with a scene that Urianger imagines must have been like any regular day in Ithaqua's childhood. That...is Ithaqua, right? Urianger's gaze drifts from the young boy's up to the masked man towering above the entire room. Though Ithaqua wears a mask the majority of the time and Urianger hasn't acknowledged it yet, he hasn't forgotten what his eyes look like. Sclera black as pitch, and irises like that of an animal stalking its prey in the dead of night. By all accounts those eyes should have frightened him, and yet...

...but that's not the point right now. The true point is that something happened to Ithaqua. But before that came to pass, a young boy studied hard with difficult tomes. It's just as Ithaqua said.]

I take it that these figures are thee and thy mother?

Edited 2024-05-26 06:30 (UTC)

Do you feel like waking from this dream now? [As if he didn't just act like a brute and beat Solomon. His words are always at odds with his actions. He may never lie, but there are more ways to say something and have actions come out entirely differently.]

Or must I continue?

[The transition takes Urianger by surprise. He nearly cries out from the sudden onset of pain and the intense burning of an inward force that is completely foreign to him. But whatever track that this dream has him on urges him forward, through the rubble and ruin of a cataclysmic scene.

He takes in a deep breath as Solomon speaks up.]

Thou speakest as if thou hast experienced this before.

[Though Urianger means the dream sequence, he's a little more on the nose than he realizes.]

Yes. A much simpler time.

[And, as if to affirm both Urianger and his adult self, the boy looks up at his mother and asks, "Mother, why must I learn all of these? I want to be out playing in the garden."

To which his mother, with all the patience of a single parent who has had to do everything herself, responds, "Because you never know when being literate will help you."]

And she was right. It did pay to be literate. [His voice is more subdued, more somber. He has a weight on him that he has not shown to Urianger yet.

He strides forward to place a hand on the tome they'd been using for the lesson, but it becomes buried in a pile of snow-- as does the rest of the house, until they're surrounded by snow flurries once more.]

Edited 2024-05-26 06:49 (UTC)

[ like a script playing out, day speaks what's been already written. the younger robin's voice overlaps with his as the words ring out in unison, sounding far too loud in the darkened, candlelit room.

(there's no light outside the window. it's late. everyone else must have already retired to their quarters.)

the man in the bed makes a wounded noise, the ragged ends of it turning into a growl that sounds like it could be a sob. "damn them... damn those monsters! spineless cowards! why...? emm would have never hurt anyone! everything she did, she did because she thought people deserved peace, no matter who they were... and look what it's gotten her!"

"chrom..." you don't know what to say to the man in front of you. you don't know what you can say. he wears anger, righteous and grieving, like a shroud, working up and stoking his own fury because the only possible alternative is despair.

"they'll pay for this. they made it clear the only thing they'll be happy with is escalation when they killed the one person in ylisse who wanted to negotiate. if gangrel thinks i won't be willing to march on their capital—"

this. this, you have plans for. routes of invasion drafted up in sleepless nights and just in cases as border tensions had continued to build; plans to weather siege; plans to try to protect or secure the people from towns that would undoubtedly be caught up in skirmishes along the border; plans for an incisive strike to the heart of another nation—

and yet

you don't raise your voice, but the feeling of it is present anyway. you don't know how to drag him back from this precipice, but— "chrom. listen to me. look at me. do you hear yourself? are you listening to yourself? did you hear a single word i've said earlier? if you intend to march on plegia, then know that we'll follow you, but you're not doing so with those injuries."

robin leans forward, honey-colored eyes shining bright in the candlelight, hands taking one of chrom's into his own.

"i had to send lissa to bed earlier because she and maribelle both wore themselves out taking care of you. she refused me more than once because she didn't want to leave your side. they don't think ... your injuries will ever quite heal in full. i might not have trained as deeply in it as them, but i know white magic too, and i agree with them.

"beyond that ... you just ... you told me about your father, not all that long ago. about how he was a cruel man, whose brutal war caused so much suffering for both sides. you said you didn't want to be like him. if you invade plegia now, don't you think that's exactly what gangrel wants? another bloodthirsty, warmongering exalt to feed into whatever propaganda he's been spreading, no better than the man he descended from?"

it seems, for a moment, like chrom will argue, will try to rise from bed anyway via sheer force of will. the moment passes, and suddenly he seems much smaller in defeat, swallowing before he speaks again. his eyes are anguished, lost.

(they're both young. younger than day by several years, if one were to estimate.)

"... i'm not emm either. i can't ... i'm not even half the person she was, robin." ]

...How does that work?

[Evidently not, because the voices grow closer, and eventually they're in a quiet part of a city where a bunch of teens wear a similar uniform to Ahito's, albeit with white robes. There is, in fact, another Ahito - this one the same age as the real one - seemingly teasing a small girl in green robes who is supposed to be leading the students on a field trip.]

...Oh, this one.

[Ahito sighs, but like - in a lot of ways, at least it's not as bad as the previous one?

It does however mean the scenery's going to be doing a lot of changing around them as it follows the group on a fun little adventure.]

[Thank the Twelve, it worked. Urianger continues his calm politeness by giving the villager a bow in return as they leave, but he's quick to let out a sigh once they're out of sight.]

Aye. I have full confidence that it should be quickly restored with our combined ability.

[The barrier isn't far off, and Urianger's quick to start assessing the signatures already on it before beginning to apply his own.]

Hast thou performed barrier magicks in thy time here?

[It's a scene that draws the corners of his lips up into a small smile for a brief moment, though the evidence of a darker tone to all of this lingers and prevents him from truly enjoying his ability to see a happy young Ithaqua with his mother. Ithaqua's hesitation at the door, the melancholy in his voice... Urianger can imagine that this story's ending is not a happy one.

Whatever that ending may have been, the forest does not reveal it to them. Urianger catches up to Ithaqua just in time to see the scene unravel around them, disappearing into the recesses of time. He doesn't want to leave Ithaqua there with this silence, though finding the right words to fill it with proves difficult.]

...Wilt thou be well?

[A slight spin on Ithaqua's own question to him.]

Yes.

[A simple answer yet contains so many layers if one were to want to dig even deeper. Ithaqua slouches again, so he doesn't dwarf Urianger, and tilts his head.]

Now you know the origin of my tendencies.

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

Page 43 of 117

thousand dreams, lotus boats upon the waters

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject