promittere: (Default)
lunae calamitas mods ([personal profile] promittere) wrote in [community profile] lunaecalamitas2024-05-18 12:19 pm

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?
dyingtohealyou: ([Look] like background music to me)

[personal profile] dyingtohealyou 2024-05-29 01:21 am (UTC)(link)
Because of the castle, the North, or some other thing?

[Still, he casts out his senses for the magic of the barrier - begins channeling his own power into it, to strengthen and repair it.]
dyingtohealyou: ([Smile] color or shape to it)

1/2

[personal profile] dyingtohealyou 2024-05-29 01:21 am (UTC)(link)
She's not a member of the class - she's a creation of Professor Shortie.

[Ahito use real names for any of these people challenge.]

She's a living weapon... the results of the research that they put into the girl who became a monster. Beings created entirely from magic who can summon weapons at will, though if they use up the magic that makes them - poof! They're gone.

[A nice, clean end for what's ultimately only a tool for war.]
dyingtohealyou: ([Smile] of making myself seen)

[personal profile] dyingtohealyou 2024-05-29 01:24 am (UTC)(link)
...That said, Shiiko was always intended to be nothing more than a kid - there was a researcher at the school who was grieving her lost child, and Professor Shortie thought she could help by creating a homunculus child.

Obviously, that's no way to get over loss. The researcher realized that, and now the Professor pretty much raises her like her own kid. Or maybe a little sister?

[Given said professor is... also a kid.]

She's in good hands.
dyingtohealyou: ([Look] The temperature of)

[personal profile] dyingtohealyou 2024-05-29 01:41 am (UTC)(link)
[Counting the reasons off on his fingers.]

I don't like magic. I don't like magic users. I'm only doing what I have to so I can get out of here sooner, and, again - I'm just a temporary replacement to begin with.

I don't need or even want random people associated with magic having a record of me.
leewards: (011)

[personal profile] leewards 2024-05-29 02:05 am (UTC)(link)
Heheh.

[If this is what creating a relationship with someone feels like, he wants to find a way to bottle it and carry it with him forever. It feels good, after stewing in near-obsessive thoughts ocer Urianger for so long.]

Yes, I will. [He even raises himself up, standing on his toes, just so Urianger won't strain himself too much.]
annihilator: (➤ 49)

[personal profile] annihilator 2024-05-29 02:18 am (UTC)(link)
Hah, ain't that the truth? We've been dealin' with a lotta strange crap since we got here! Makes sense most people wouldn't be too surprised by a dragon.
annihilator: (➤ 13)

[personal profile] annihilator 2024-05-29 02:19 am (UTC)(link)
True enough. Give 'em my greetin's if you decide to go!

[Not that he's opposed, but he is very tired right now. Sleep now, deal with people later.]
dyingtohealyou: ([Sigh] If there's a heart)

[personal profile] dyingtohealyou 2024-05-29 02:28 am (UTC)(link)
Oh, so as long as they have a dumb reason, that makes it okay?
dyingtohealyou: ([Look] long night with)

[personal profile] dyingtohealyou 2024-05-29 02:28 am (UTC)(link)
Is that what you want to do? Run away?

[Sounds like a good idea tbh.]
dyingtohealyou: ([Sigh] If there's a heart)

[personal profile] dyingtohealyou 2024-05-29 02:28 am (UTC)(link)
Oh, that explains so much.
annihilator: (➤ 14)

[personal profile] annihilator 2024-05-29 02:30 am (UTC)(link)
[Hey Khun! Malice looks up and waves his good hand.]

Yeah? [cronch, cronch] What do you usually do?
annihilator: (➤ 95)

[personal profile] annihilator 2024-05-29 02:41 am (UTC)(link)
[Malice growls as the scene fades out, but for right now nothing else fades in. He turns his attention to Jing Yuan, trying to calm himself. Seeing such a scene played out in front of him from a different point of view really pisses him off - not that Jing Yuan could see it, necessarily, but because he truly looked so damn weak. Was he really clinging this desperately to Lotisse's friendship? Was he really so blind that he couldn't see this coming?]

Yeah. They might'a been plannin' it all along - they certainly liked to talk a lot.

[Or maybe that's just what Malice hopes it was. That it was a trick all along and Lotisse never cared about him, because that makes the betrayal easier to deal with. Because thinking that Lotisse might have changed his mind about Malice at some point is...

Whatever. It doesn't matter. He shakes his head.]


Thanks, though. It's so damn annoyin' to see it played out like this but...

[And then the illusion starts up again. The opulent manor and its décor are gone, replaced with a dark, miserable-looking stone and metal jail cell. The bars are thick, sturdy, and easily the most impressive part of this scene - they look like they couldn't be bent or broken by any amount of force.

And here's Malice - dragged in by similar looking guards from before. He's clearly beaten and bruised, shirt ripped and bloodstained. It's hard to tell how much of that is his blood and how much of it belongs to someone else. The clawed prosthetic hand is broken, bent, and blood-covered as well. Malice struggles against the grip of the guards, but it's clear he's exhausted and they toss him into that cell before shutting the door and locking it.

Immediately Malice is at the bars, snarling and trying to reach out to stab the guards with his claws, but he doesn't succeed. It looks like the guards are used to this routine, as they immediately step back to avoid Malice's attempt.

"Let me go!" Malice hisses, spitting blood out on the ground before he continues, "I'll kill all of you once I get out of here!"

The guards don't dignify him with a response, they simply leave and the scene falls silent. The injuries Malice has suffered are patching themselves up naturally, but it's slow-going and it doesn't exactly look like a painless process, given his expression. It isn't long before he's simply unconscious, curled up against the back of the cell and shuddering in pain.

The real Malice watches this, but his expression isn't quite as harsh as it was with Lotisse around. His eye is narrowed and he's gritting his teeth, but this doesn't seem to be as bad of a memory. Somehow.]
lustro: (128)

[personal profile] lustro 2024-05-29 02:51 am (UTC)(link)
Ah... [ He thinks he understands. ] Effort because of the spent magic? Hm. Could I help? Is transferring magic a thing?

[ And then he smiles up at Robin. ]

Pretty cool to see a dragon though.
dyingtohealyou: ([Down] I've only been imitating)

[personal profile] dyingtohealyou 2024-05-29 02:57 am (UTC)(link)
I guess, yeah... Especially if it wasn't a wreck like that before you got there.

[Damn. He doesn't know enough about this kind of magic to give any good advice. All that's left to really say is just...]

...Sorry.

[That this is how it turned out.]
dyingtohealyou: ([Surprise] I would take all this weight)

1/2

[personal profile] dyingtohealyou 2024-05-29 02:57 am (UTC)(link)
[HOW COULD THIS HAPPEN TO HIM TWICE,,]
dyingtohealyou: ([Sweat] of the words I want to say)

2/2

[personal profile] dyingtohealyou 2024-05-29 02:59 am (UTC)(link)
[WELL.......... well.

He will. Awkwardly pat Bruno on the back? There there he's still alive everything's great.
]

We're pretty strong, after all. You didn't have to worry that much...
lighthaus: (009)

[personal profile] lighthaus 2024-05-29 03:59 am (UTC)(link)
Eat them obviously, but not out in the open.

[ he has no qualms about who they might have belonged to, but something something manners? is this manners? maybe he's overthinking it. ]

...not that I've seen anyone else eat them before anyway.
leewards: (007)

[personal profile] leewards 2024-05-29 04:48 am (UTC)(link)
[Ithaqua crosses his arms over his chest and frowns.]

He trusts the castle-- he told me as much in the past. However, I do not, and as there are two wizards recuperating in the castle, that shan't be the best place for the stone. [They were already absorbed into one stone, what happens if they share space with another, larger one?]

The castle would want to take custody of the stone, would they not? Which puts the wizards in danger. I created that barrier to protect the inhabitants, but there's not much it can do if the danger is within.
lustro: (013)

[personal profile] lustro 2024-05-29 05:55 am (UTC)(link)
[ Mutters: ]

Then why were you being weird about it earlier. You had that really evasive look on your face - well I guess mostly your mouth.

[ Whatever!! ]
mirristry: (3)

Recovering

[personal profile] mirristry 2024-05-29 06:01 am (UTC)(link)
[Phil too has been largely avoiding others since returning from the mission, in part due to his own need for physical recovery after that and in part because he feels too rattled, too emotionally raw to feel comfortable around anyone else right now.

He slips out of his room on occasion to go get some tea from the kitchen, and it's on one such trip downstairs - hair loose rather than in its usual side plait and a blanket wrapped around his shoulders - that he happens to spot Mika heading back to his own room and just

sort of

freezes.]


.......

[Well. This is awkward.]
leewards: (012)

[personal profile] leewards 2024-05-29 06:05 am (UTC)(link)
Mm~ [He gives a shrug.]

I'm fine, given I managed to walk here. [Rather, he took the elevator and walked to the main entrance.] None of this is my blood, and I weathered everything in the battle easily.

[Proud of himself, isn't he?]
lustro: (036)

[personal profile] lustro 2024-05-29 06:06 am (UTC)(link)
[ When Mika says ‘personal’ like that… he worries. He worries so much. (How personal? HOW PERSONAL,,,) But he can only nod, and only wait for… later. ]
lustro: (007)

[personal profile] lustro 2024-05-29 06:07 am (UTC)(link)
[ Snowfriend pat 😢 ]

If you need any materials, just let me know. I’ll fetch them while you rest.
lustro: (018)

[personal profile] lustro 2024-05-29 06:08 am (UTC)(link)
Oh - it’s that smile.
troublereduction: (pic#17020442)

[personal profile] troublereduction 2024-05-29 06:09 am (UTC)(link)
What smile?