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 shrugs, the motion sharp and still so very tense, but - it is what it is. There's no changing the past now.

He can't go back to his original body, can't bring back her smile - all he can do is face the future, whatever it brings.]

...I got out. That's more than most people can say, once they get involved with that group.

[He's still got his life. For now.]

Besides... There were better people later on. I just had to find them first.

Sounds like quite the tale.

[Not that he's going to push for any more than that - far be it from him to assume he can get Ithaqua to talk about anything he doesn't feel like discussing.

Especially when this is not the first time he's mentioned a witch in particular...]

Strange, isn't it?

[ He glances at Ahito. ]

We even have something like that in common, at least in a sense.

[He returns the look.]

Maybe that's why we ended up partnered - two similar souls, even if we're from different worlds.

That's what I think as well. We share a surprising amount of things in common... it would have been a shame if we never got along, wouldn't it?

[ But they hit it off almost immediately, and for that, Kurapika is grateful. ]

[Full glad is Urianger that the girl whom he will soon come to know as Mirabel stands her ground, and it seems to be for a very good reason. Though they may be of different generations, they have a very similar desire to do right by their family.

He approaches when he sees those shards come out of Bruno's pockets, standing over him as he pieces them together. He can't help but feel a bit of distress upon seeing one of Bruno's tablets in such a state, even if he doesn't know the reason for why it was broken. At least Bruno seems to have all of the pieces, and the vision meets the general guidelines as Bruno described. Two different outcomes...

Then Bruno says something about a gift, and Urianger looks up. He can't quite recall if Bruno has ever mentioned magic running in his family, but either way, it seems it didn't manifest in Mirabel.]

...I know, I know. There's no point in giving me a hard time about it now. Besides... I found him.

[And if he weren't lacking in strength himself, he could have dragged Solomon back, not that he would have. He can't force that man to listen to sense, let alone influence his decisions in any way. He was a fool for having tried.]

Let's go. I'm not going to bother with him anymore.

[ He helps maneuver Akira onto the broom before getting on himself, taking Akira's arms and wrapping them around his torso. ]

Hold on tight.

[ And with just that as a warning, he takes off into the cold Northern sky. ]

I don't really believe you, by the way. You say you're not going to bother, but that's not really you. Would you give up that easily over someone you nearly died in the snow for?

[ Sorry Akira, but all he hears is bullshit. ]

Edited 2024-06-04 05:39 (UTC)

[He loops his arms around Kurapika and rests his cheek against his shoulder, comforted by his familiar warmth.]

Give up on the man I punched and kicked and ditched in the snow? Yeah. I would.

[He's not the least bit proud, but he's not above speaking the truth. If Kurapika is going to judge him, he deserves to know the full scope of the situation.]

[ Kurapika is silent for a few moments as they trail over a line of trees. ]

That isn't like you at all.

[ None of it.

That isn't the kind of behavior he expects from Akira, not at all. And so, he falls silent again, an expectation for some sort of explanation hanging in the air between them. ]

[ Urianger might be even more distressed to know it was Bruno himself who shattered this particular tablet. He finishes assembling it and gives it a long, tired look. ]

Your abuela, she was worried about the magic, so she begged me to look into the future, see what it meant... [ To which might confirm that, yes, whatever magic their family has, it had skipped Mirabel for some reason. ] And I saw the magic in danger... our house... breaking... and then... and then, and then... I saw you. But the vision was different. It... it would change... and there was no one answer... no clear fate. Like your future was undecided.

[ From there, Bruno shakes his head and pushes the tablet pieces away. His voice hitches a bit, upset. ]

But I knew how it was gonna look, I knew what everyone would think because I’m Bruno and everyone always assumes the worst... so... so...

...No. Maybe not.

[Kurapika is right, of course. Akira went too far. His actions were wholly unjustified. The northen forest's influence can only be blamed so much for the way he overreacted, taking out every bit of pent of frustration on a man whose will could not be swayed.

Losing himself to anger, to sadness, isn't like him... so then who is he?

Akira leaves Kurapika without an answer.]

[ So that’s how it is, is it? With a sigh, Kurapika maneuvers his broom one-handed so he can rest the other hand over Akira’s. ]

Tell me what happened, then. I’ll pry an explanation out of you one way or another, so do the easy thing and tell me now.

[ Akira doesn’t get to continue without talking about himself and his feelings. That simply isn’t allowed between the two of them. ]

Mm-hm, she was.

[ At least there's definite fondness with Comet's response to affirm that. There's another scene about to play out from the way things come into view, and Comet figures they should just... sit on the forest floor and let it play out. It's only fair since they saw Malice's memories. They'll tug Malice to join them, handing him a mana stone.

There's a memory of Comet again, a bit older this time... holding a huge stack of paper needing to be filled out based on the lines and empty boxes. Surrounding them are looming spirits or indistinct shades of people. Comet isn't paying any mind to them, but their eyes look tired and empty, trying to read the text in their hands and make sense of it, probably.

"Oh, it's the priestess's kid."
"They're really making the poor thing wait with with us? We have all the time in the world when we're dead and those guys are immortal, not them."
"Yeah, the priestess is in rough shape, too. Just let them take care of her if they won't go near her."
"Oh.. Rumor is that they need the kid as a replacement for--"

Like it's a library (the faint walls and desks would imply it is), the spirits are shushed by a tall figure coming into view. This one has robes like their mother but pristine and tidy, with same white hair and red eyes as hers. Comet looks up at the elder, then at the gossipy spirits, but they get tugged away by their arm out of the scene. ]

...Oh, we didn't have to wait with that memory. I'm glad.

[ This time, their voice sounds a little cold as does they look out where the memory was, holding their knees. ]

...I don't know. I was overwhelmed by emotion. That's not usually a problem I have.

[That's where the forest's influence may have come into play, but again, Akira's not quick to brush the blame off onto anyone or anything else. He's the one who struck Solomon, the one who abandoned him to the cold.

Akira's cold fingers embrace Kurapika's.]

I was worried about him when he disappeared. He didn't tell me where he was going or why, and when I found him... I thought maybe I could stop him. Make him see reason. In the end, all I did was lash out and hurt him.

[Malice joins Comet on the ground, accepting the mana stone with a quiet thanks. Crunch crunch... Is this the vampire wizard equivalent of eating popcorn while watching poor Comet's memories?? Yeah, kinda.

Anyway, it looks like Comet's dealt with a lot of people gossiping about them - likely because they are half-human. Even so, that looks exhausting to deal with, and his own experience as being a subject of gossip was awful. He can only imagine how much worse Comet's was, because Malice only had to deal with it for a couple of years at most.]

You really have been through a lot, huh?

[Malice gently reaches out to rest his good hand on Comet's head.]

But I'm right here, alright? So you're not dealin' with all this alone.

[ He brings Akira’s hand up to rest over his heart, as slow and steady as it always is. Softly, he whispers another spell, spreading warmth between their hands. ]

Then there was a reason he didn’t tell you.

[ But he knows that answer isn’t good enough for someone as earnest as Akira. ]

There are some wills that are unstoppable, that you can do nothing to sway. Either you accept that or you move on.

[ And Kurapika would know about the difficulty of being swayed, wouldn’t he? ]

But you aren’t the type to move on, and you refuse to accept it. Avoiding him isn’t an option for you, not with the way you are. So, will you atone for your sins or wallow in your guilt instead?

[ There may be love between him and Akira, but that doesn’t mean Kurapika will go easy on him. He isn’t the type to let anyone off the hook, especially those he cares for. ]

( Right, okay. At least he remains good at staying still, though he does put in effort to suppress his instinct to blink.

That's certainly not the answer he was expecting, but he can follow along with the logic of it. )

What were you trying to steal, then?

It is. [Ithaqua now summons his broom to sit on it, crossing his legs.]

But! It is not a story for today.

( It's a little fresh to kiss Ginger deep without hearing the blood rush down - mistakenly and oblivious to their new anatomy (despite presently wearing it), Mika wonders if the new form has resolved Ginger's affliction, if only halfway. Something for them to keep in their back pocket later, maybe.

He admires Ginger, head to toe, finding him perfect regardless of shape - both unparalleled because both are his love and his heart - and finding new things he likes about this Ginger, just as lovely as the Ginger he's known 'til now.

And, of course, Ginger's voice (which intones just as dulcet) brings a little more pink to his cheeks. No matter his look, Ginger's always so... )

I don't look that different...

( He says this awkwardly, never sure how to accept Ginger's gushing. (Kurapika did do his makeup, though. Thank you Kurapika.)

Tentatively, his hands run light along Ginger's curves and fall up - fingers tangling in his pretty long hair, brushing his fingers through them like he would Ginger's shorter style - but it's satisfying to run his fingers further through than usual. And it's just as silky to the touch...

He brings his hands around to the back of Ginger's head - pulling him in for a kiss on the cheek, this time. Now they're perfectly mirrored.

Oh. Actually, he thinks he left a bit of lipstick on Ginger's cheek doing that... and his lips? Hold on... Wait... Okay - he laughs a little, without explanation. Not ominous at all, don't worry about it, (it's just kinda cute???) )

Edited 2024-06-04 06:47 (UTC)

Hmm, I believe I witnessed quite a collection of them in the Forest already.

[ Though, he is giving some thought about it... ]

I don't think it's exactly impossible, however we would need to make sure that this is something that can be fueled efficiently.

[ The idea doesn't seem too out there to him, in retrospect. ]

They very well could.

[ At the least, Jing Yuan seems to agree with Bruno's statement...maybe that's why there is no immediate gung-ho-ness about it.

But then again, the General was never the type of person to do anything but be careful in a myriad situations. ]

Well then. Let's refill our cups, and see what they have to say. If it's worth any use, our eavesdropping will produce something of substance. If not, we lose nothing by straining our ears.

[ Jing Yuan indeed sees Kurapika once more, and turns his attention upon him, small but wry smile upon his lips.

He doesn't even so much as jump or look surprised, though that is due to the fact that he is quite good at keeping his composure. And he can tell immediately the difference in between the Kurapikas. ]

I will simply attribute that to luck, if anything. I had gotten too complacent, perhaps, in assuming that there would be no other oddities when viewing one's memories in the Forest.

[ There's a pause here too, because he had been wondering about something. ]

...Did you end up taking action against anyone at the auction, at that time?

Mmm, true... I'm used to a lot of stuff back home bein' powered by big magic engines, which last a lot longer than a mana stone if I recall correctly. But I s'pose if we wanna go down this theoretical road, we can do some tests with mana stones if Tatara is willin' to spare some!

[ part of robin wonders why it is that he bothers saying all this. why he didn't simply walk away, and leave jing yuan to his own means and questions as soon as the memory ended. the memory alone doesn't reveal anything too excessive about the sentiment he does not display, the feelings he doesn't possess, after all.

(it's been a while since he's seen chrom like that, hasn't it?)

in the end, it is the transient and impermanent nature of all things that has him allowing the words free from their cage. it matters not. these moments matter not. their time in this world will come to an end eventually, so whatever he says now will have no meaningful, lingering weight once they've all been returned to whence they came. ]

Quite. It might not have been entirely apparent, in that particular memory... but he suffered lasting injuries from the same attack that killed his sister. I stuck close to him because he had a terrible habit of pushing himself recklessly.

[ amongst other recklessnesses he might have possessed. ]

Still, I suppose they aren't what killed him in the end.

[ ... recklessnesses like an insistent, adamant kindness, despite all arguments made to convince him otherwise;

recklessnesses like putting his trust in the wrong person. ]

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thousand dreams, lotus boats upon the waters

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