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 eyes Phil for a moment. Then says: ]

Don’t you mean… we?

Mostly because of the castle. [There's a slight tinge of disgust as he says that.] The sage tasked me with building that barrier after I took your advice to report to him of my findings.

So I did-- after much research. I know more about barriers than I would like now.

...

[Despite being so cavalier about the kiss offering, Urianger finds himself locking up with nerves now that Ithaqua has actually agreed to it. What if he turns out to be terrible at kissing? He doesn't want it to be a bad first kiss.

But then an epiphany hits him. He just needs to reference his vast literary knowledge- to seek out all of those romantic scenes fit for a fairytale. So that's what he does.

He releases one hand in order to bring it up to Ithaqua's cheek. Slowly, tenderly, that hand runs downward to his partner's jawline. Further still, to tip his chin upward. Only then does Urianger close the remaining distance between the two of them to place that fated kiss upon Ithaqua's lips. It's chaste, but incredibly gentle and romantic all the same.]

The annoyed one.

[ Reliving things is one thing. In your dreams, where you see it through your own eyes, relive the sensations. He can't recall how many times he's dreamed of growing cold on the concrete floor, of the edges of his vision blurring as everything seems to fade into a quiet buzz of static. Of wishing everyone didn't look so sad, when part of him felt so relieved.

It's something else to see it in startlingly clarity, like a reel at the movies. This time, there's no faint sense of relief, of the weight on his shoulders shifting in favor of peace. There's just himself, watching himself bleed out, watching the pack of bodies burst onto the scene with calls of his name in panic and fear.

There's just himself, watching the boy with white hair turn him over and hold him in his arms, and something hard twists in his stomach and climbs into his throat. Jing Yuan's words merely wrench it further, unable to stop his features from twitching, threatening to collapse into something he's not sure he wants anyone to see.

He goes stiff, hands slipping back into his pockets to return to their white-knuckled form. There's something...awkward, uncomfortable, uncertain in his eyes, shadowed as they are. Because when it comes down to it, did he actually know? For all his efforts, did he actually believe what he was trying to in the first place? ]

...They- [ His teeth grit, gaze peering down. ] They would have moved on. Eventually.

[ It's obvious now, looking at this, that he's struggling to believe that. At Ken's trembling figure with his bloodstained hands.

...Why the long face...? Isn't this...exactly what you wanted?

Yamagishi's arms helping to hold him up.

It's alright. Hold onto that anger.

At Mitsuru's face, scrunched with indescribable emotion that her polished veneer can't hide.

You've still got your whole life ahead of you.

At Makoto's face, almost blank if not for the furrow of his brows and the tight purse of his lips.

From now on...you're going to have to live for yourself.

At Akihiko, who has tears in the corners of his eyes, as the phantom of Shinjiro carefully pets the dog nudging his hand with a shaky movement before his gaze tips upwards. It's amazing, how he sounded so confident even as his tongue was tinged with blood and his words died in his throat.

Aki. And that bloodstained hand raises, shaky and uneven, just for the other boy to grasp it tightly with a shake of his own. Look after'im for me.

I will sounded just as uneven as it did before, even as Akihiko tries so hard to keep himself from shaking. Shinjiro looks, really looks, and there's a sort of broken fondness in his eyes. ]

...I had made up my mind. [ But he's not looking at Jing Yuan. He's looking at Akihiko, and then at Ken, watching their faces in a clarity he didn't have before. ] I didn't think about it much, besides gettin' everything in order. I didn't want to. I wanted it to be over, so it wouldn't bother me anymore. [ A pause. ] Wouldn't bother them.

[ Because-

This is...how it should be. ]

...He helped me out in the forest the other day.

[ So Day thinks he has the right to be annoyed that things have turned out like this. ]

They really are, aren't they...

[ imagine an archon loaf that glowed... you could use it as a nightlight during study sessions!

Anyways someone hates getting a (10) to work with, so with the second roll (19)... they are good! Maybe they look a little odd from what they should because of the ingredients, but still very edible. Comet is enjoying the sandwich. ]

You did good! The sandwiches are cut so nicely too...

Hmm... I created it from bone. [Which should not come as a surprise given it's Ithaqua.]

That involves hunting-- let me handle that.

[... the fact that Phil does not respond to that verbally is probably an answer in and of itself!]

Because for some reason people don't believe me when I say I know how to take care of myself.

Hah. Put you to work, huh?

If it makes you feel any better, he hounded me on the info I got, too.

Gee. If different people all believe this one thing, could there be some truth to it, you think?

[Oh... He didn't expect to be petted as part of this experience, but Urianger's hands lull him into closing his eyes, basking in the gentle touches until Urianger actually kisses him.

(It does feel good but makes him want to sleep... Except he wants to stay awake and enjoy everything they can do in this small room.)

His arms tighten around Urianger's shoulders as he response, leaning in for something a little more firm. Just for a brief moment, before he withdraws and opens his eyes, gazing up at his elf with a slightly dazed look in his eyes.]

... That was pleasant.

I've also proven every single one of them wrong.

[Because! He is good! At taking care of himself!!]

[Ithaqua makes an irritated noise. Of course he did.]

Surprisingly sneaky, isn't he? He acts lazy, but then becomes quite persistent when he decides we've discovered something.

[Which is annoying! Tatara is incapable of just being straightforward.

Ithaqua catches himself, and redirects his energy from being annoyed at the sage to focusing on making the barrier as pure and strong as can be.]

...Guess they didn't get called off like the rest of us, huh.

[ None of them received any sort of help, but really, this guy and the other one are two different people, never mind the very different circumstances.

He can't say anything about it, really. Getting worried isn't a bad thing. ]

You can't expect something like that to happen, so you can't blame yourself for it, either. [ Says captain Hypocrite. ] Shit happens. They're all still here, so just worry about that.

[ There may be something like a wry smile on his face, at hearing that; both the rhetorical question, and then the subsequent statement of fact that comes right afterwards. ]

...Hmm.

Well, considering everything, I believe I'll have to categorize that as something of a rarity.

[ Jing Yuan had a feeling that Shinjiro had his own loved ones; his personality, no matter how abrasive it was contained hints of deep care that exhibited itself in little ways time and time again.

In a way that makes it ever the more difficult to watch the scene play out before his very eyes, to see the other people spill out in their movements, desiring to try to reach the young man in time. Only to just watch, knowing—feeling—that it was far, far too late.

Perhaps they would have moved on indeed. But only because it is the only choice.

Maybe that is why it is so hurtful, the way Shinjiro tries to reassure them all, just like that. As if nothing will be wrong anymore.

So that's why, he thinks...

The pain would have remained, with a mixture of profound bittersweetness.

For once, Jing Yuan closes his eyes briefly as Shinjiro answers, after seeing the certain fondness evident in his eyes towards the other young man with white hair, and hearing those other words too.

He doesn't think the same. He doesn't think this is how it should have been. ]

...But, it did bother them.

[ Jing Yuan opens his eyes, looking at the various expressions of sorrow, of loss; of mourning clear on their face as Shinjiro bleeds out right in front of them. It is with this that the pain somehow feels like it sits heavier in his chest.

He wonders, briefly, how the one named Aki, that Shinjiro cared ever-so-fondly-for would have ever come to gripes with the loss. ]

And right now, you seeing this at all...it hurts you. Bothers you too, does it not?

[ Shinjiro's expressions have been clear from beginning to end of this. For all of his gruffness, his pain is not something that could have ever been shielded due to his reactions. Because of how deeply it affected him...and for good reason.

This young fellow was watching his own death — and this time, so was someone else who had never been there in the first place. ]

I was shocked he was doing his job for once.

[And annoyed that it meant he had to do his job of reporting to Tatara for once...

His own magic wavers at the feeling, and he pauses to actually like, focus again instead of getting distracted by Ugh, Our Sage.]

( Mika noticed Phil first by his presence, then by his scent. He glances up at him as they're about to pass, if only out of acknowledgment and without particularly social inclination, and he sees... his reaction.

He presumes Phil is sour with him about the whole human thing like Yamato and Shinjiro, or perhaps that he blames Mika for his recklessness that could have endangered the rest, too.

He hesitates, guilt needling at him. Then, he glances away. )

... It's fine. You can keep going.

( You can stay mad at him if you want. Jing Yuan said that he should try to make amends, but... if Phil just freezes up, then he probably doesn't want to talk, and it wouldn't be fair to force him to make amends. )

[ Comet would have loved to visit Tokyo if they could. So maybe this could be close!

Until it came with pretty threatening looking people. Are they after Tatara in particular, they sure were insistent...? They have to put off that though they're tugged along again, obviously with more urgency. ]

Where do we go now?

[ Don't worry, if Tatara has faith in them as the Sage, Comet will have faith in them in return! No worries here... yet. ]

He does his job solely to annoy us.

[At least Ithaqua has gathered himself enough to hold the barrier while Ahito reorients himself.] Here, let's do enough if a job that he won't be annoying us about it in the future.

[Phil's scent is ever-so-slightly different now compared to what it was before they'd left on their mission, the rot seeping a little deeper, spreading its poison just a little further. It would seem as though Mika isn't the only one who didn't emerge from their experience unscathed, unfortunately, though unlike Mika he can't point to any one specific thing as being the cause... rather, it was an inevitability, the eventual physical consequence of his lack of medicine finally catching up to him.]

I...

[He too pauses, hesitates. It's unpleasant, feeling like the still-unhealed wounds from that day are being jarred open once again, and he couldn't meet Mika's eyes even if the other were to choose to look at him.]

... what you said back in the City. Do you... truly believe it's human nature to be stupid and selfish?

[He's not sure what he wants the answer to that to be, honestly. 'No' would make him a hideous exception to the rest of humanity, but 'yes' would be just as damning in its own way with the implication that his actions were simply a function of what he is.]

( The quiet scent of Phillip's encroaching rot fills the air steadily, and it puts Mika on edge - makes him pause, uneasy, as if its terminal point were much closer than Phillip claimed it would be, and it cast a heavy shadow over them now.

For the first time perhaps, he considers his answer with more nuance than he's willing to mention. He will not compromise on his view of humanity just to appease his team, nor will he lie. But he can at least be honest. )

... I've seen humans hurt more people than they've ever helped. Can you even imagine what billions of people look like? That's how many died at once, thanks to humans. And more die every day. More hurt and kill to survive. More get kidnapped for experiments, which continue anyway.

There aren't any heroes. Just people who think they're right.

( And the ones who hurt always think they have privilege to harm.

A beat.

His gaze slowly trail back to Phillip. )

Humans are self-righteous like that. They are greedy, selfish, and short-sighted. They'll do whatever it takes to get what they want. It's just baked into what they are.

( He won't let his naivete harm the people he loves. He has to be staunch, for them - or so he believes. )

... I don't think... every human has to be that way. I think... there can be exceptions. People who try to be more than what they're made of. But... I can't judge all of humanity by those exceptions. That's all.

( Honestly, anything short of clown make up will have Mika impressed enough, he's not picky.

He'll sit down as directed, looking a bit awkward - legs together, hands in his lap, in a way he doesn't usually sit (though he always sits a bit stiffly, lbr). )

... Do I do anything?

( While getting his makeup done...? (?)(?)(?) )

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thousand dreams, lotus boats upon the waters

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