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

Annoyingly difficult, even for five wizards. [Ithaqua makes an aggrieved sigh.]

One of them died easily to Solomon and myself, but the other? Apparently her master and lover, required far more effort.

[ nod. ]

Since your parents are dead.

I'm still not sure what they expected out of that vision. It wasn't as if I was going to find some magical cure for being old.

[ Sand will shift audibly underfoot, announcing the arrival of the actual Bruno. He stops to stand beside Syrlya, gazing down at the crying child in a resigned way rather than a sad one. ]

'Big' is probably puttin' it lightly.

[ The whole 'being kidnapped to another world where the moon is evil and you're also turned into a wizard' thing is a big fish in a little pond, my guy.

He will not lighten up. Yet. ]

I'm better with the physical stuff. [ Magic hard... ] But I'm alright at enchantments, I guess, since I've had some practice.

[ If you need someone carried, he's your guy. Probably. ]

( ...

Sips more... )

... Why did you do all this...?

Would it be weird if we went around asking what it is? Like, are we expected to already know?

[ That's been the main cause of Bruno not simply asking. He knows so little about this country's technology that he can't quite tell what's common and what isn't. ]

[ Now that's a question that catches Bruno off-guard. ]

Why did I...? Do... do I need a reason?

I mean, yes and no? Turns out that he told Tatara where he was going but I feel like my spell wouldn't have gone off if that were... true, you know?

Edited 2024-06-03 05:48 (UTC)

[ Beyond the door is a better-dusted and well-lit room. It's a little on the small side; it's cluttered in a quaint way, full of old furniture and books in stacks, random odds and ends, a broom in every corner, and routes for the rats that scurry about to get around easily handmade and added to the walls and ceiling.

Inside, Urianger will find more than just rats, though. Bruno is there, along with a teenage girl who bears enough similarities to him that they could easily be related.

She's looking around the room with growing confusion. ]

You never left.

[ She says this, not quite a question but it could be. The Bruno in the vision grimaces but rebounds quickly, trying to smooth over that uncertainty. ]

Well, I- I left my tower, which was you know, a lotta stairs, and uh in here -eh? Kitchen adjacent [ He picks up an arepa from a plate left randomly around the room and then, after that, he adds, ] Plus, free entertainment!

[ Cue Bruno snagging a little handmade theater (for rats) and setting it down on the side table next to the old, overstuffed chair that, from what a casual glance would tell, seems to be the only thing in here worthwhile for sleeping in. Hm. Anyway, he sorts through a few different scenes he's made, his drawings on them colorful and rather cute. ]

So what do ya like? Sports? Game shows? Telenovelas? [ That arepa he had before? He puts it in front of the last scene he swaps to and it bribes two of the rats to come and poke their heads through the little holes for the two "actors" drawn onto the scene. There we go! Time to plop down in his chair and wave towards them. ] Their love could never be.

[ This... could be seem as humorous, if not for how manic the poor man looks, trying so hard to act like any of this is normal. The girl, his niece, certainly doesn't seem to be buying it. ]

I... I don't know. I want to think they would but then I'm just being a burden.

Edited 2024-06-03 07:20 (UTC)

[Uh... uh-huh...

...]

Were you... born that way, or...?

Putting a stop to the rest of the people involved in the experiments, of course.

I think you're allowed to be a bit of a burden after you spent years and years hiding in the walls trying to fix things for everyone.

Heheh!

What are your ideas on that?

[ He comes to Mika easily - is it a pull if Ginger’s the one who rushes to close whatever gap is left? It’s different, with so much give between them - and Ginger thinks he might have made himself a little shorter on accident? He’s still taller, maybe, but not by much.

The alignment of their lips is not quite the same, but it only takes a slight shift for them to slot together - and then it’s the usual distraction of tongue and taste. Mika is as sweet as ever, and Ginger drinks him breathless.

He feels… hot… in a new, less obvious way. There are new wants to this that have him shifting on his feet. A little antsy for something he doesn’t understand yet.

When Mika pulls away, he’ll see that Ginger’s not in uniform this time (it doesn’t fit his new form, obviously), but a long, loose blouse. White, it falls over his new breasts in a flattering way - not on purpose. Ginger had just chosen something similar in theme, but that his mom wouldn’t shake her head to. He’s not brave enough to wear a skirt, so simple black leggings and black flats complete his look. His long hair falls everywhere. ]

You’re the one who’s soft, Mika. You look so…

[ Ginger trails off, heart beating fast from the kiss - and from Mika’s innate beauty. Everything is softer, but Mika’s always been soft to Ginger - soft heart, soft happiness. Now he looks like the light has brushed him in coy strokes, blurring his edges and making him radiant in a new way. Are his eyes a little sharper? His lips a little pinker? Ginger’s mismatched eyes track every new detail. ]

You’re always so… dazzling. Wow…

[ "no one's ... no one's expecting you to be her, chrom. really ... alone, i don't think any one of us can be half the person your sister was."

i'm sorry. i should have done better. i should have had a plan for if they'd ever breached the walls. this isn't about him. robin swallows the thoughts down, expression a little watery.

"you don't have to be emmeryn," he says instead, letting his weight settle, still holding chrom's hand in his. "you can still be true to yourself. you can still give people hope in the ways that you know how. but if you want to fight for your sister's sake, for her ideals... i'll be by your side. maybe alone, neither of us is enough. but maybe together, we can try to be something more."

chrom's mouth works for a moment to put together words and fails. "you say that, but ... i want to believe you." a tendon pulses in the line of his throat, something tight in his jaw and the entirety of his expression as he looks away toward the wall. "i want to believe you, but i'm so angry, robin. i can't stand it. even now, all i want to do is ... what if i'm not worthy of her ideals? what if i drag you down with me?"

robin shakes his head. "i know you. if you aren't worthy, you'll keep at it until you are. if you fall, i'll be there to pull you back up. you'll have my support, mine and everyone else's."

chrom is reckless. worryingly so, even if robin knows it comes from a good place. he wears his heart on his sleeve, and he can't help but to pick up strays. he cares with the entirety of his being, and that's why it hurts so much now. robin lets his eyes fall closed, lowers his head, and makes himself a promise (no more scenes like these, not again, he won't let this happen again if he can help it) as he says aloud:

"i promise you, i won't let you stray."

(and if they both should fall, well ... then they'll have done so together, at least.)

...

there's no more words after that, though the scene in the dark, candlelit room lingers a while longer. surely they must have spoken more, after, but if there's anything else to the memory it is silent, a younger robin sitting alone in solemn vigil at the bedside as a prince mourns his older sister.

(and like a solemn shadow, the current robin lingers somewhere closer to where would be the threshold to the room, expression inscrutable.) ]

[ Jing Yuan has a knack for being stubborn in his own way. He can be harshly so, when a situation requires it, but he can also but gently so, when his heart calls for it.

This is a situation in which it certainly does — seeing the way Shinji reacts, no, startles in shock is more or less something that indicates what he is saying is affecting him in some way. Which, momentarily makes Jing Yuan hope it is for the best; those countless little moments, those interactions have added up, after all. They have had meaning, to make him treasure that they met.

The young man's brash attitude is comfortable and now rather familiar, even if he doesn't know the entirety of his life story, but certainly knows an important detail now. A presence that that he cannot consider insignificant, and so, just like this, it feels so easy to reach out to him. Indeed, Jing Yuan can only listen as Shinjiro speaks once more...his own expression open and considering. Some of the words sound not too dissimilar to what Shinji spoke earlier, with that dark despair, though they are certainly different.

There is that quiet hope buried underneath that darkness, that Jing Yuan suspected was always there.

Once Shinji grasps a hold of his hand, somehow still stubbornly warm in the frigid cold, his own grip is firm and solid. What Jing Yuan hopes to be a steady anchor in the midst of what must be turmoil in an uncertain heart. ]

I am not surprised you do not know where to begin.

[ Looking ahead must be overwhelming, and even he does not know of immediate solutions. But, he can think of possible ones. ]

Still, we do have the Sage and a new assistant. Perhaps you can speak to them — they may have something in store that could help you. And, if they do not have a solution, or even if it is far too temporary...I will gladly still do my best to help you find one.

After all, it is as I said...

[ Jing Yuan speaks, stepping forward to reach out with his free hand to give him something like a brief, but gentle one-armed hug. He has done this before, for others he has cared about, so it seems natural for him to grant him one in a situation like this. Though, he is already leaning back all the same. ]

It is not something you must do solely on your own.

But, for now, thinking upon it is indeed a good start.

[ A brief instant in the face of eternity; that, perhaps, speaks as a hint to Robin's potentially long and ancient age. Some might consider it an exaggeration of certain feelings and events, mayhaps, though he knows from the way that the man speaks he certainly isn't someone who would mean to do much of that. Not when he is speaking so severely on a personal matter.

Such as it is, when Robin also speaks of Chrom's humanity, it does certainly seem potentially insulting on the surface of it. But, he already thinks otherwise, given the fact Robin has already showed in more than one way how much he valued the presence of this man, and what he meant to him. So, now it sounds more akin to a hint of his own lingering feelings on his mortality. What it means to exist as a human who may easily find himself easily in the throes of death; though he wonders if Chrom ever fell easily.

So, indeed, perhaps it sounds more like an echoing of longing; of mourning. ]

Human in the way that all humans are, but...perhaps in how mortality is something that is usually swiftly upon them, yes?

[ Jing Yuan questions, no less serious than before, contemplative gaze writ upon his face.

He easily thinks of Baiheng who too had passed away; though she was certainly less human, but still quite very mortal. ]

Hmmm...

I suppose that is the question, isn't it? We are here and pretending to be not too different from our supposed peers.

[ Though, given how they haven't been caught, he has reason to suspect none of those in attendance think of them as mages. ]

Perhaps we could be expected to know. Though if we receive any judgment, it might not be because they suspect our intentions in asking. It is certainly something to consider, however.

[Now that's more like it. Some actual thought put into it, which gets her to smile a little.]

Without further consideration, I'm inclined to think as you do. However, I am reminded of a situation from home: refugees, in Indol, protesting the use of Blades because of their perceived responsibility for their refugee status. Most of us, myself included at the time, found this to be foolish and ungrateful behavior. However, it ultimately turned out that the Indoline Praetorium was controlling the flow and use of Blades as a means to condemn the world itself, and so those refugees had not been truly wrong in their views. Here, I know even less of the political situation.

A good ol' revenge story. Good luck. [ not said with any particular kind of weight, but he does say it with some type of meaning behind it. he's the other one on this side of the tale and he lives every day expecting retribution for his actions in one way or another. ]

Forgive me if curing a cold had not immediately come up as a concern, particularly since I've had no reason to need such a spell. Particularly as I am rarely afflicted.

If you find out.... I would appreciate the knowledge as well. [She brushes disdainfully at one hand. Though she wears gloves, she knows all too well what the state of her complexion is beneath it...]</small.

[ his brows furrow as he gets to work. ]

I doubt he told Tatara everything.

What were the conditions of your spell?

Then you're not worthy of this. [Ithaqua snatches the vial back.] Run along then, and continue in your ignorance of greater magic, since clearly you haven't a need for any of it.

[And no one will have a need for a useless witch.]

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thousand dreams, lotus boats upon the waters

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continued cw for suicidal disc

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