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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Ah? [What gift? He tilts his head, scratching at his hair.]

You mean the bread?

Wooow... how terrible, ignoring a friend every so often...

[That would have been so much more convincing with, you know, proper inflection.]

[ indeed, all dreams eventually come to an end. this one of a time firmly lost to the present should be no different. the robin who once was, high deliverer, exalt's other half, is gone. in his place remains only robin, fell reincarnation.

... still. this is not his own dreamscape anymore, but neither is it the forest they are meant to be in.

ah. is that how it will be, then? wandering from one scene to the next, matching like for like? will the forest try to bleed them dry, or is this to be a different kind of scene?

to that end, he glances briefly back at the one following him as they walk. it's an evaluating, appraising look, not veiled in the least, intended to take day's measure of what it might be that they'll end up seeing next. ]

[ The look on Day's face is somewhere between panic and exhaustion, like he can't decide which one he ought to be and thus is attempting to split the difference. ]

...It ain't gonna be good. [ Resigned. ]

[ a brow first arches at jing yuan's words, and then only afterwards at the way their surroundings seem to be slowly shifting around them. to say that about the two of them ...

ah, what sort of fanciful images is the esteemed general conjuring up within his imagination? sleepless, candlelit nights in strategy tents, spent both trying to map out the course of wars while also attempting to convince the other to get some rest first? worry, perhaps, over how one or the other constantly puts others over himself? why not an idyllic chat in the armoury, both chiding and teasing the royal about how so many weapons seem to find themselves broken in his hands?

there's a smile on his face, but there's absolutely no attempt to make it reach his eyes. ]

Indeed, I know exactly how he was killed. I was there for the entirety of that sorry affair, after all.

[ but whether he will have to answer the obvious follow up question now depends on the forest and jing yuan, doesn't it? ]

Mmm.

[ They're up, with the funniest cowlick. ]

This place is dangerous, right...

[ They are very much half-asleep. But they are doing their best, getting up from their spot. ]

...I can buy it.

[ What was that saying? “Before you embark on a journey of revenge, dig two graves.” ]

But I can't judge either. It'll be for different reasons, but I'm gonna have to do that sorta thing one day too. [ Might have already even, if he thinks about it. Sometimes, one person's happiness comes at the cost of another's. ] I just... I guess I just wanna know if you'll still be okay, despite all that.

...Wish they would mind their own damn business, then.

[ ...He's not sure if Khun's words are reassuring or not, but they are evidence he's here, so Shinjiro won't bother to give those a special refute. Not like he would, either, really.

Instead, he's largely silent, especially as the atmosphere seems to double in weight. There's a frown, a shimmer of blue fire behind the girl, even as the two boys begin to walk away,

This is...I could have sworn I did a proper sweep, earlier...

The younger visage of Shinjiro is in the middle of turning back when he seems to freeze, eyes widening at the same time a shaky hand comes up to his chest. The other boy, at first, doesn't notice; too busy looking at the girl with his crossed arms.

What? Is there another shadow?

The illusion is sweating, suddenly. Fingers twisting in the curve of his shirt, mouth poised with an 'o' for a voice that momentarily refuses to escape. His features are tight, his body trembling...he seems ill, almost.

No, it's not that. I just-

They're interrupted by the sharp, drawn-out gag of agony that slips from the fake Shinjiro's lips, hunched over as the air around him seems to thrash, almost as if it was alive.

Or like something is, and it's unhappy about it.

Something is horribly, horribly wrong. ]

[ Timing is always so unfortunate with them, isn't it?

Anyway, up ahead in the darkness is a small someone, who stands at a smaller height, but when this someone turns around, there is a shift, and he is much taller. Though, Kurapika should be able to recognize that towering height, and face, even if those golden eyes seem somehow bigger.

The darkness has peels itself away to reveal a dark sky and a smoldering building carefully carved in a certain style that may be familiar in ways, but different all the same, with Jing Yuan wiping soot from his face. Edges of the memory seem to distort and flicker, constantly, though; as if unstable. ]

...A civilian? You should be careful. This area is in danger from certain elements. Those accursed disciples have been active in the vicinity, causing trouble even for our allies.

It seems I may be too late.

[ Jing Yuan seems to like this...smiling faintly still, a laughter truly close to bubbling through his throat. Though now that they are clear of the forest, and it's trees, he feels the exhaustion ever the more acutely. But the amusement remains as Solomon speaks his truth. Yes, he remembers starkly the stunning defiance Solomon exhibited without fear of suffering the consequences of reprisal;yes, he too remembers the other pieces he has shown himself to Solomon, where he mercilessly proceeds forward.

Calmly, confidently, resolutely. ]

Yes, you certainly would know in an instant, wouldn't you? ...I am not someone who, when feeling motivated to act, would hold back his words or his actions. For better or worse.

Hesitation does not suit me well. Even if speed not need be a factor.

[ He considers 'building up' to acting an act itself, even if others certainly would not. He is not a reactionary man, for certain. But, anyway, he is getting out the phone for real this time, turning his attention back to Solomon whose new scarf now obscures more of his face. Cute.

Anyway. ]

We're well past the treeline. I think I can show you images now. I wonder how familiar you are with cellphones, though. Some seem to have little knowledge in certain technologies...

[ He says, unlocking the lock screen, smiling faintly, recalling a certain memory that seems so far away but isn't comparatively too distant. Though, this one will be different. ]

[ Right, right, Bruno should have anticipated he would ask that. ]

Oh, that, uh, w-well, funny thing is... um... [ Bruno can't help it. He turns his gaze down, away from Urianger. ] We. We tried. I thought we had a way to the right outcome but... but everything still fell apart and...

[ He gives his head a shake. ]

The house was crashing down around me when I found myself here, so, I don't know. I don't know what's happened yet but it doesn't look good.

Because of course this place cannot dredge up anything that is actually pleasant, it seems.

[ does that say more about the forest or about them, though?

though that's ... quite a look for day. hm. something to set his expectations by, at least. ]

A slow boil is far harder to watch over, isn't it?

[And yet the anticipation, watching it simmer and seeing how quickly it might finally rise, might finally bend and break to its own limitations under pressure -- perhaps it was Nightbringer's influence that had him thinking of it more in delight.

Resolution made for a brilliant soul, after all, to bewitch and to defend in equal turns.]

Ah, yes, your student! [Don't mind him drifting his broom over to glance over Jing Yuan's shoulder.] Don't worry, I'm pretty adapt. I have my own back in my room, after all.

[Show him the deets!!]

Oh? Are you trying to tell me you have two now?

It certainly is.

Though, that makes it all the more worth it when that slow boil comes to an end, yes?

[ Jing Yuan says in a bright tone not too unlike a happy bird's chirping.

His amusement levels climb as Solomon drifts ever closer, whilst he is still upon his broom, peering over his shoulder. He doesn't quite care about invasion of personal space all that much. Anyway, wow, this is the second time he's heard of someone actually knowing what a cellphone is, and having one at all? ]

I hadn't known that you knew of such technologies yourself. Perhaps we should exchange contact information at some point for texting purposes...it could be fun.

[ Anyways, Solomon will see pics like this and this! ]

There he is. Images of my talented, young student...Yanqing!

Nah, I wanted to know if it was any of those. I get that a lot of folks think he's a pain, but I'd care if he did something to get himself hurt, too.

Even now after he cursed you?

Yeah? I mean, people have done way worse to me and I... I still don't hate them for it, I guess? His hex was just annoying.

Worse like how?

[ he turns over the dress, to finish the hem on the backside. ]

It sure is.

[H-hmm... he'll summon his broom.]

Here- we can fly out.

...my village has an entire song about how terrible I am.

[ Yes, he's aware of how weird that sounds. ]

Pretty sure they're mostly happy with me being missing-in-action for the past decade even... though... I was... technically still there the whole time.

[ what. ]

And why are you so terrible?

Oh, well, I'mmm... just... bad luck?

[ Oh, is that all? ]

Or more like I give out bad prophecies, so they blame me for anything bad that happens.

Yeah, I remember. She likes to make tea, right?

[ Which is funny, since... ]

Y'know, I really didn't make as much tea back home as I do here. I just figured it was a good way to destress. [ And he was right! ] Ah, so, is your grandma nice?

Yes -

[ He deliberately presses only the softness of their breasts together - and imagines… ]

I didn’t know - I didn’t know I would? I’ve never been interested before… But - I think it’s just you.

[ If he were a little braver, if they were alone, he’d take Mika’s hand to between his legs - and show him this new… heat… that seems to mean - ]

I think, um, if I were in my usual body - [ His cheeks darken, making him look cherub shy. ] - you’d know right away.

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thousand dreams, lotus boats upon the waters

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