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

[divineth]

That I do. 'Tis just as you said.

[Learning from difficult tomes...and the determination of his mother.

It's risky to stand around and have a conversation in such a dangerous place, but he still finds himself asking:]

Thou appeared different as a child. What became of thyself? [...] Was thy troubled demeanor related?

[dadsandals]

[ The child is joyful, laughing, calling out to his father -- and then, before they both know it, there's something that flickers, almost like the memory is glitching out.

And then, there's the sound of something about an actor named Chiba Shizuo on television with a woman, his wife -- and then it being abruptly cut off by something being smashed. Soon, an interesting scene will play out in front of them.

If Ahito looks, there's a television with a shattered screen, along with the boy, several years older, looking enraged.

"Liar...liar!"

He says it through his teeth, quiet so people cannot hear...until another woman enters the room.

"What happened in here?"

The boy looks at her --

"Did you know, mom? Did you know -- dad-!"

...

The scene ends. Yamato looks over at Ahito. ]

Sorry. ... You didn't have to see that.

[leewards]

In a manner of speaking... [All right, he'll elaborate.]

This world is not the only one to place utmost important on promises-- but when I promised to protect her, I cast away weakness to become what I am now. [A monster, he means.]

I cast away many things, including my human-like appearance... But that matters little to me, I dislike humans.

[fullspbar]

[ You sound full of shit would be an apt reply, he'd find, if he had it in him right now to focus on those types of things. He'd already been on edge since earlier, uncomfortable memories shaking the dust off things he'd rather not feel, but still, he came back.

A mistake, as it were.

Something wrong is apt. More than wrong, something is surging in his chest, something powerful and painful and threatening to beat so hard against the curve of his ribcage it feels poised to shatter. The distress may not originally be his own, but the fear is. Shinjiro's hands scramble to his chest, tugging at the fabric over his heart, eyes wide and an unfamiliar expression of panic on his features at the sensation. It's familiar.

It's frightening.

He feels and looks sick, sweat already beginning to roll down his face as his mouth opens and closes. Stop. Stop. Not again. It's been so long he's almost forgotten the feeling, and now it's back, different and yet so similar, how could it be anything but?

His fingers, on instinct, grasp for his pocket but come up short. ]

What...? [ His voice seems to catch in his throat, strained in it's attempt to squeeze past the pain. It could be fake, but if it's not, if it's not... ] Stop. Get...Get away from me-

[leewards]

[Ithaqua has to give a snort.]

And yet humans band together against a single wizard or witch who is attempting to go peacefully, and torture them to madness. [Both sides are terrible?

Of course. Magic civilization is exhausting, he thinks. Though the human one is much worse.]

[fullspbar]

[ Khun sounds confident enough, and maybe another day, that would have been good enough.

But a few blinks, and they'll find the area both darker and brighter than before; dark, with the sickly green shadows that seems to stick to everything, leaving an uncomfortably heavy feeling on the tongue. Bright, with the pulse of the moon above them, even though it's daytime.

Something shifts in the distance, amongst the trees turning to brick. Figures. Three of them.

Good job, you two.

They become clearer, even if they carry a faint ripple like the rest of the forest, like looking at something beneath a pool of water. But they become easy enough to see, eventually.

Two are unfamiliar. The third, however-

...Those things never leave Tartarus, right? The hell was one doin' all the way out here?

While younger, it's impossible to mistake the form of Shinjiro Aragaki. There's no beanie on his head, a slightly scuffed uniform in place of a familiar red jacket. And most importantly, he seems...brighter. Perhaps not in personality, but where the Shinjiro Khun is familiar with has an almost visible weight on his shoulders, there's no such thing for this younger visage. There are no circles under his eyes, no heaviness to his posture that suggests an invisible burden.

Shinjiro himself...doesn't look too good, features tightening as his grip on his axe turns white-knuckled. ]

...'Course it couldn't pick anything else.

continued cw for suicidal disc

[fullspbar]

[ Future, he says. What future?

What kind of future does he have? It's unclear, which is almost worse than the knowledge of his imminent end; he feels he shouldn't be here, and that's been the problem since day one. Why he struggles with magic, with learning it, because what if it's all for naught? Will it really matter, in the end?

But he's not doing it for himself, as per usual. He can think about the blank possibility of his own future all he likes, but he just can't swallow down putting others in danger. He learns for his teammates. He learns for the people here, who look at him with contempt and fear.

I see. So you accept salvation. ]

...It felt like it was.

[ Right. Right for him, who spent so long running and trying to forget when he should have known better. Right for Amada, who deserved closure after everything he's done.

Right, because he was so, so tired of everything. Of feeling the guilt. Of counting his sins.

What a beautiful end to your life. Very well, you shall go first.

But not like this.

Rest peacefully.

There's a beat.

The hammer clicks, barrel pointed at Amada's skull.

Time slows to a near halt for those few seconds, for both the scene itself and his own thoughts.

And then there's a stumble, a grunt, as the hallucination seems to blur and rip at the edges. The gunshot seems loud enough to rattle the eardrums, echoing off the fake walls, accompanied by the spray of blood that spatters near their feet.

Amada hits the floor, covered by Shinjiro's body, and when his hands peel from the older boy's back in singleminded shock, they come away stained in blood.

A hand comes up to slowly press to his own chest, features torn between the stone they want to be and the temptation of it to crumble away. He doesn't need to be telling him this, bare anything he's got to somebody else. It's not Jing Yuan's business, not his burden. And yet. ]

...All the pain I felt felt small in comparison to Amada's. [ Somewhere in the distance, there's the sound of shouts and pounding feet on concrete. He hates the dawning terror in Amada's face, staring at the blood that will no doubt stick under his fingernails. Yet another thing he's done. ] I just didn't wanna leave anything behind for anyone to hang onto. No doubts...no regrets.

Nothing.

[1145pm]

[ This tells Tatara two things: one, that he wasn't summoned as a sage's wizard (he didn't come through the elevator, but he had to check just in case), and two— ]

Ahh... [ He pauses to put a hand to his chest in a dramatic little gesture. ] How kind of them... I'm so proud of my children.

[ ?!

Anyway, back to the matter at hand— ]

That means you came to this world on your own, somehow. Lazuli, the guy that was here before you, was kind of the same... He said he felt like he needed to go before he left, so I wonder if that's related somehow...

[ Hmm hmm, ] Did you feel something similar, too?

[1145pm]

[ Tatara watches quietly, taking it in. He's a very good audience, for how distracted and flighty he usually is, he does a very good job at holding his attention on the scene before him. His eyes mostly rest on dream-Solomon, occasionally flitting towards others as they speak. But they're not important here, really.

He doesn't quite get it, though he tries. For one whose only concern was a smallest slice of one world, to be presented with yet another new one is a lot for him. But still, he listens. Solomon is protective of this Ibuki, isn't he?

His attention drifts slightly upon the appearance of Lucifer, but it doesn't stay there. He tilts his head, watching the back and forth between him and Thirteen and the appearance of the book.

Her question turns to Solomon, and Tatara's eyes turn to the real Solomon. There's no judgment in his eyes, just curiosity. Watching his reaction to the accusation, to how his past plays out in front of him. ]

[troublereduction]

A while back, and not with the group that went with Shortstuff. Came here to survey the place and found out why it ain't somewhere you should come alone.

[ When the trees exude toxins... ]

[1145pm]

Wah!

[ Tatara stumbles a bit, surprised by the sudden attack. It gets his hand, but he doesn't seem particularly worried if he gets hurt or not. He looks over his camera in concern, then gives an audible sigh of relief. ]

Ahh, phew! I was so worried it was broken again...

[ The tape is still running, even. Thank god.

He looks at Ahito and gives a light laugh. ]

Sorry! I probably pushed it too far, didn't I? [ He was having fun, though. ]

[1145pm]

I am!

[ Yay! He's glad Ithaqua gets it, despite not knowing what any of these things are to begin with.

He huddles back behind the lens and zooms in on Ithaqua's face. ]

Could you give us a self introduction?

[shortleash]

( Mika can't dissect Ithaqua's motive from his pulse and stance alone, but he wouldn't be surprised if he knew the detachment were intentional. He detaches himself from matters of his parents, in particular - has been, ever since he was young. Sometimes, you need to.

He watches the younger Ithaqua take to the window, and the Forest's snow pour through. )

... A church took from my mother, too.

( A vague and abstract statement - one that understands their situations aren't perfectly parallel. His mother had been broken by strangers; Ithaqua's, his own (long lost?) brother. The means were different.

But both were unfair. )

... Did he know about you? ( Is that why he harmed her? ) ... Or was faith just vehicle for his cruelty?

( This is not to say he was cruel on account of his faith, though he might have been; simply: faith is a tool humans exercise as a means to injure others. They do not need to be faithful to use it. Some are, and some are not.

He's sure those who hurt his own mother were a mix of true believers, and faith-indifferent humans who used their church, their cult, no different than Nathaniel had used his tools of torture. )

[leewards]

Well then. [Ithaqua stands-- look, he may seem like he's dubious about this entire production and is leaving, but trust the process.

Then he gives a bow with a flourish.]

I am Ithaqua of the Northern Country, the abominable snowman.

[He has a bit of a heart for drama.]

[1145pm]

[ The look on Tatara's face makes it difficult to tell if he likes talk of fate or not; he tilts his head, curious, and his feet lazily kick through the air. ]

Hmm, I dunno. We all have really different personalities and our backgrounds are all different, too, so I can't say there's anything in particular we have in common besides where we're from...

[ Curious! ]

What do you think, Jing Yuan?

[1145pm]

[ Red lights glint, briefly, then vanish, only for more to take their place. They're gentle lights, flickering in and out of existence. ]

People's phones. [ Tatara absently places a hand on his pocket. He doesn't carry his phone around with him anymore. ] There's an app called Candle. People believe that if they put their wish into the app, it'll send it up to the blimp in the sky, and the First King will make their wishes come true.

[ He looks up. And indeed, far in the distance, is a blimp. ]

It's all just an urban legend, really. But...it is beautiful. I thought it made the city look like...a really big birthday cake. I wanted to give this whole sight to our little princess on her birthday.

[ Just as he finishes talking, as if on cue, the door they came through opens again. Out steps Tatara, clad bundled in a dark blue coat, camera in his hands. He's fiddling with it, unaware of the white-haired man or the two visitors.

Real Tatara doesn't look. ]

[leewards]

He did not.

I remember the look in his eyes when he first laid eyes on me-- he was shocked. [Because of course a man with such self-importance would know exactly what he looked like without needing a mirror.] No one knew that the most important family in the town had more than one child.

[Except, perhaps, for those who were present at the birth.]

And I never knew that there were people who looked just like me. Not until one of them came and took Mother away for the crime of being a witch. [Then he gives a shrug.] In a way, yes, faith was a vehicle for his cruelty-- after all, magic is a sin against God.

[And that? That is an audible sneer-- he almost sounded like his twin for a moment. Though he can't help that, with how their voices are.]

[1145pm]

Yeah... It was.

[ He looks at Comet for a second, and as he hones in his hearing on the sound, he starts to hear more sounds of the city in the distance: tires on asphalt, doors opening and closing, the beeping of crosswalk signals.

He makes the decision—he steps forward towards the sound, tugging Comet along. ]

Let's go!

[ And after a few steps, it's like the forest around them vanishes entirely. One moment, they're in the Forest of Dreams in the North, and in the next, they're standing in the middle of the sidewalk somewhere in Tokyo. People coming and going, busy, noisy streets... ]

Whoa.

[ Nostalgic sight. ]

[1145pm]

[ Tatara himself may never realize it, but their growing physical similarities might be a reason why he finds himself more and more torridly attracted to Khun—

With a little chuckle, his expression eases, and the smile finally reaches his eyes. ]

Doesn't it? [ Tatara had been blank once, only to be dyed red. And now his red is turning a bright, vivid violet.

Before he can say anything else, Mikoto speaks up. "Where did you find this guy?" It's not said with malice, or any sort of spite. It's a lazy drawl, a cat opening its eyes and turning to look at a new person in its space. He pulls the cigarette from his lips, and smoke drifts to the ceiling. ]

On my trip.

[ Tatara turns to look at Mikoto, and gives him a little smile, too. It's the exact kind of smile he gave Khun when he told him he was content to give up and face the end of his life, on that day they sat on a couch like this, and told one another how much they loved each other.

Before anyone else can do anything, Anna moves. She seems to have come to a conclusion—she lowers her red marble from her eye to look straight at Khun.

"He loves you."

The declaration is plain, an observation if anything, and Tatara goes red. This might be a dream, but he's still surprised. His eyes dart from Anna, to Khun, to Mikoto. Ah... ]

[troublereduction]

[ Day does not understand what a phone or app are—the struggles of coming from a medievalesque setting—but he thinks it's irrelevant as long as he understands the result.

A part of him is always wary when wishes get brought up, because it rarely bodes well back home. And in a way, wishes are adjacent to prayer. But he can understand what Tatara means, because he'd agree the sight is beautiful too, in its own way.

If Tatara won't look, Day figures he will instead, though he can already tell he won't like it. ]

I think she would have loved it. [ He thinks it's worth saying. ]

[themanwhoerasedhisname]

You did?

[That's definitely an invitation to hear out about how he made sure the one who did this is dead, if Ithaqua wants to talk. If there's someone who is bound to listen without judgment it's Kiryu -- but it depends on if Ithaqua wants to tell.

In fact, Kiryu moves to exit the cottage, deciding he invaded Ithaqua's past a bit too much by now, at least...in a way he can see it unfold before his eyes. That and he figures Ithaqua will be more comfortable not seeing this]

[lighthaus]

Yeah, that looks good.

[ he'll crouch down to make a guideline on the dress with magic. ]

...does anyone else speak this "Spanish" here?

[lighthaus]

[ khun stops, mid pivot to leave. ]

Children tend to listen to whatever they're told, so no.

I'm not going to agree to things just because you ask or because it would be better for you. You should know this by now, so don't waste your breath.

[lighthaus]

[ seeing that smile again—it brings aguero back to that night on the couch, the torrent of those feelings washing over him again. they're still heavy even if most of them have settled over him like a weighted blanket, a mass that should weigh him down but is somehow comforting instead. one of his fingers moves within their hold, making gentle stroking motions against his boyfriend's skin.

at least it means he's not completely caught offguard when anna blurts out what is the simple truth. that word and them is still brand new, so the tips of his ears color even if the rest of him doesn't. but with a breath he's able to say- ]

Yeah, I do. [ to all of them, the past, the present, and the future. he finally turns to tatara after the declaration, giving just him a brief glimpse of how he feels underneath all his layers with a demure smile. ]

[themanwhoerasedhisname]

...that's...

[That's not what you'd expect to hear in a forest. Kiryu glances at Yamato, unsure about this, but decides investigating probably is a good idea]

There are very few settlements up here and I'm sure none are this deep in the forest. Come on.

[He says 'settlements' but it almost sounds like what you'd find in a stadium, or a gym, which would make even less sense to find in a forest. Kiryu takes the lead, though, walking in front of Yamato in direction of the sounds]