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

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ Day is thinking of trying to strengthen his own warming blessing, which is not something he ever expected he'd have to do after two years living near a desert.

And then he hears the voices, and watches Solomon's reaction. ]

...Right. Let's go.

[He nods shallowly. But it doesn't stop the surroundings from shifting as they walk. To the stony, spiraling rock of a cave system that feels unnatural, otherworldly. You feel innately aware that this is a place you are both not welcomed, and a place that you feel at home.

There is someone beside you. The ghost of an image, the voice hard to place for age or gender. Their form feels of nostalgia, of pride, of stubborn energy, of compassion unending. Of the color of lilacs. Of the light of angels.

Solomon stops in place. An afterimage of him continues on, with the stranger at his side. They give him a dry, unamused look, and his phantom laughs brightly.

Sorry, I couldn't help it. I'm just glad I was able to help.

Anyway, Thirteen shouldn't mind us wandering through here. There's somewhere I want to show you, anyway--

Your heart aches with emotions not quite your own. A complex relief. A touch of disappointment, a mountain of protectiveness. And something else, something warm, that aches and aches, that you swallow down like it's normal.]

[ It's almost bizarre how Day is familiar with, to varying degrees, this combination of emotions. Perhaps the context is different, but the heartache is like an unwanted old friend. Maybe it isn't surprising that Solomon has felt this way, knowing how old he actually is, but...

He stops next to Solomon, as he watches this. ]

...Who is that?

...

Someone from home.

[It's a quiet response.

The duo is joined by a third - a figure that appears feminine, with piercing green eyes like that of a snake, hair shimmering in shades of magenta and pink, paled skin and lips that curl into a frown as she slaps Solomon across the back of the head. The tone is scolding, but the words muffled, even as Solomon laughs and waves her off.

Can't you read the sign?
Mm? I don't know what you mean?
Ugh -- see, this is why people can't stand you! Is that why you brought the human? Is that a gift for me? They do look unique.
I'm afraid this soul is off-limits, Thirteen. Here, let me introduce you.

This is Ibuki. My apprentice.

The scene shifts slightly. Rock gives way to a vast and eerie open space, a cave with no ceiling, air that hangs with an unusual weight and a magic that feels ancient. In the center of the space sits an enormous white fountain, surrounded by books as far as the eye can see. Thirteen has left the two alone, Solomon carefully seating Ibuki down among deep blue grass that covers the floor.

Welcome to my hideaway. Thirteen might say its hers, but it's not exactly right. This place doesn't really belong to either of us. Not right here, anyway.

Why? What is this place?

It's the real Solomon that answers, the phantoms of the memory not hearing, even if he matches his counterpart word for word, even if his tone isn't nearly as cheery.]

The Fountain of Knowledge.

[It's more ancient than most things you can find in the Devildom.

Ibuki peppers him incessantly with questions as Solomon laughs his way around them. Muffled, unimportant. He seems happy.]

Edited 2024-05-22 18:01 (UTC)

[ Day continues to watch. Even though nothing of great...urgency, he supposes, is happening in this memory right now, a part of him keeps expecting that something will happen, and no one here is going to like it. It's a gut instinct that has no basis in anything except too much experience with fate and its tendencies. Maybe he'll be proven wrong.

Which is not likely to happen, judging by the real Solomon's reactions so far. ]

[Solomon- the real Solomon - circles closer to the couple with careful steps, a look on his face that's much harder to place than the effortless joy on his counterpart.

Are you sure about this? I mean, Thirteen doesn't sound like she wants you to stay.
Don't worry about it too much. We've known each other for a long time. I trust she won't do anything to hurt us.

He tells a story of his first time meeting her. Of her being clothed all in black, in the form of a reaper, and that they'd both screamed on meeting. She'd had a frightening voice, but said she wasn't an enemy.

But he pauses, eyes looking incredibly serious as he looks Ibuki over.

Speaking of enemies... There's something I need to ask you. I'd like to get this out of the way now, just in case.
In case? In case of what?

Solomon merely smiles, brief, before taking Ibuki by the hand and returning to his serious tone.

If the relationship between demons and humans turns hostile... if we're forced into a situation where it's us versus them, then... I'd like you to side with humanity. And I don't mean "side with me". I mean, side with humanity as a whole, okay?

Ibuki falls quiet, their eyes conflicted.

...Are you even on humanity's side?

The question hurts. You feel the urge to laugh anyway. Reflex.

Ahaha. I may not seem like it sometimes, but I AM human, after all.

Both the Devildom and Celestial Realm possess overwhelming power. You know that as well as I do by now. Since ancient times, they've used that power to influence the human world over and over again. We as humans have been caught between them, and they've continued to toy with us...

I want to change that. I want to show that humans aren't as weak as they think.

Diavolo may seem friendly as a demon, and as a prince. And he is, more than many other demon. But even he doesn't see humans as equals. The idea that we should wait for them to change their ways and show us more consideration... if we do that, then we're accepting that things are okay just as they are.

If you want to accomplish something, you have to fight for it. That's why...

I want you to promise me, Ibuki, that when it comes down to it, you'll act in the interest of humankind. I want to hear you say it, here and now, while we still can.

Ibuki stays silent, eyes training on the ground without a response. Thirteen seems to be marching back over at a breakneck speed, but it will be a few moments before she makes it.]

[ While Day listens to this, he has to wonder, in the same way he's sometimes wondered while he's worked in the bureau: even if you're "human", if your experiences go beyond that of the average human and keep piling up, is that still true? ]

Were you already expectin' things to go bad? [ Was Solomon already expecting demons and humans to go hostile? ]

... I wasn't sure. This situation was a complicated one, with a lot of fine triggers. Emotions were high, and tensions between the Devildom and Celestial Realm were strained. If something had happened, even if it wasn't directly involving the human world, the possible overflow to humanity would still be too large for me to ignore.

[Just him. Not Ibuki. Though he'd always wanted Ibuki to be at his side...

...

Thirteen comes crashing back in and slaps the phantom Solomon across the back of the head before Ibuki has any chance to respond.

No!
She stiffens her jaw, pointing at Ibuki as well.
No, no promises, no oaths, no pinky swears, nothing! Don't you dare! Solomon, you know better, that's against the rules.
Ah... right, right. Sorry.

Ibuki looks confused, hesitating as though trying to ask something. But Thirteen interrupts again, swatting Solomon away to go fetch blankets. He absconds with a tired laugh and leaves Thirteen to speak with Ibuki alone.

The memory shifts, with the faint request from Thirteen:

Solomon. Hey, you're coming with me. I've got intruders in my maze, and they're YOUR problem, so I'm not going to make it MY problem. Got it? Go clean up your mess, and don't start an incident with the monarchy on my property or I'm finding your candle in Candy's things and using it in my next machine, got it??

Time blurs with passage. Hours, a fight, an escape. The feeling of being cornered.

They're back at the fountain. Thirteen stands off in a corner with disapproval. Solomon stands in front of Ibuki. A few blurred figures of distorted shape and color now occupy the space.

And one specific creature - a demon, and a powerful one at that - is advancing towards the two humans. Lucifer.

You are one thoroughly disgusting human... do you know that?
Well, what do you expect? You've made it very clear that you consider me your enemy.

Lucifer sneers towards Solomon, even as the sorcerer smiles, the same smile he always wears.

Ibuki. You're the one I'm looking for.

They try to placate him. They say they can explain.

Explain? What could you POSSIBLY have to say worth hearing? It's far too late for that now.

He advances, with an energy that shakes the room.

Why did you show up when you did? Why did you appear before us?
Lucifer. That's enough. Don't get any closer to Ibuki.
Quiet.

Lucifer snaps his hand up, and Solomon's entire body is drawn to a halt, frozen in place with a grunt of pain.

Just because you're lauded as the greatest sorcerer in human history, you think you stand a chance against me?! You think you could defeat the Avatar of Pride? You? A human???

There's protests from the others around the space. Other demons, though it seems their voices and appearances aren't the importance of this memory.

Ibuki speaks up through the mess.

You're not actually angry, are you? That's not it.

Lucifer goes quiet. He advances on Ibuki, in words you cannot hear... before Ibuki starts to choke, crushed under the force of Lucifer's magic without him even moving a muscle. The other demons continue to protest, but none move to stop him. All are too scared of the consequences.

Cowards.

Ibuki. I don't care whether you are a demon or a human. It doesn't matter. But you possess the power to force every single one of us into submission. You can extract our power against our will, and use it as your own. Regardless of who or what you are, you are a threat to us.

Lucifer's stance grows taller, wings spreading wide.

I resolved never to put my family in danger again. No one harms my brothers. I won't let that happen.

There's a holler. It's from Thirteen. In her hands she holds a book. A grimoire. Everyone in the room freezes. Some of the demons are confused, and others explain its purpose. A book of magic, created by a human, with information to summon and subjugate a demon against their will.

This is where every grimoire on every demon out there is born. It all happens right here. Because this is the Fountain of Knowledge, after all. Which is obviously why that sham of a sorcerer over there decided to come here. He was after this...

Weren't you, Solomon?]

Edited 2024-05-24 04:13 (UTC)

[ Another thing that Day wonders, though he gets the feeling he knows the answer already: surely, Solomon's sense of duty for humanity is self-imposed, not tied to something bigger than himself besides belief and principles, right? So he doesn't try to comment on the politics.

At how Thirteen reacts to the would-be promise, however, and for quite possibly the first time in the course of their interactions, Day looks at Solomon with a bit of judgment. Like he expected better of Solomon if this was apparently a big deal. He doesn't comment on it either, because it wouldn't be productive. What's passed has passed.

...At the last part, however: ]

Were you, Solomon? [ A genuine question, because Day often finds it hard to get a good read on him. ]

Edited 2024-05-24 04:28 (UTC)

[The real Solomon pauses, just enough to cast those brassy eyes towards Day. And with the same smile as his counterpart, though significantly more pained, he nods.

There's a flare of magic, one that Day can feel in his own body like it had emerged from himself without any effort at all - an echo, of what the phantom Solomon does without even moving. Lucifer has wavered at the site of the grimoire, and it is enough for the sorcerer to snap the spell that binds him, the outreaching of one hand all that is needed to free Ibuki as well, who stumbles back down to the ground coughing for breath.

Wow, Lucifer. Did you lose your composure?

The demon sneers in his direction as Solomon skirts his way over to Ibuki to stand between them, his voice lowering as he speaks over his shoulder to his apprentice.

Are you okay?
I could have handled that on my own, you know.
Haha... sorry for robbing you of the chance, then.

You feel a rush of pride at their confidence.

Thirteen tosses the grimoire. Ibuki catches it. The demons in the room are frenzied to a panic. Some yell at Thirteen for not maintaining a neutral status. She just shrugs and says to stuff it. It doesn't surprise you. Thirteen always walked her own path.

Well, now. Things have gotten interesting. So.

What are you going to do, Ibuki?

You know what you want them to say, even as they hold the book out in front of them. But it is never your choice. You are here to guide. To assist. Not to act on their behalf.

...

And yet, you still feel your chest constrict, as they lower the book from a protective hold.

...I won't.

I love all of you.

Of course they do. They always have. It's that enormous heart you love so much about them.

They hold the grimoire out to Lucifer. Your fear climbs.

Ibuki--

Lucifer stares down at them, wings still spread, still furious... but laced with deep confusion and hurt. Do they understand what they're doing?

...

There are more important things than this.

More important things than control, in the situation they're in? It unsettles and confuses the demons. Thirteen looks baffled.

Solomon's fear could not be higher. But he merely watches, eyes flicking to Lucifer. So he does not see, and he cannot stop, when they say:

I promise--

The rest of the statement feels so distant. The reason a blur. Because what matters to you isn't what they just told a demon. It's what they just did to themselves.

Your heart jumps into your throat, and you hear Thirteen start forward. The demons don't react. They don't know.

And just as the promise leaves Ibuki's lips, their entire body locks up, skin going deathly pale, as they crumple straight to the ground.

Solomon moves forward. Of course he does. The master is responsible for the apprentice, his apprentice, his...

Thirteen shoves him aside. She barks at the demons who now start to swarm. The sound is rushing through your ears like a river, with the pound of your heart. No one can rouse them. They're fading, Thirteen says. And Lucifer, of all people present, is the one that immediately grabs them in his arms and shouts for attention, for people to follow.

That ache in your heart only grows as you follow along in suit. Their love for the brothers, always warm for the brothers, always present for the brothers, even now. This beautiful, wonderful part of them, chosen over instruction and warning. Chosen over the good of humanity. That heart you love so much.

The memory starts to muddle. A pale body laid down onto a bed. A blessing attempted, with no response. A deep knowledge that, in all of the knowledge within the Fountain, there is no knowledge of the Fountain itself... nor of the curse it places. There is no way to break it. It's nearly impossible.

But you will try, you say. You promise you will find a way. No matter how impossible.

Because you love them.

Even if, with that loving and open heart, they will never, ever, love you back.]

[ Day doesn't say anything. If anything, he's staring into the distance, expression unreadable as he decides that he hates all this, actually. He's never hated or even disliked Solomon, but he doesn't want to sympathize with him over this.

Day is someone who has clung to the world through the maxim of love endures, that you can keep loving something that is lost to you forever, and love something even knowing it will inevitably be lost. Because if he cannot say "yes" to either of those things, then there's nothing left for him. Love is the lifeline and survival mantra he's had a vice grip on for the past five years, so Solomon's heartache is far too relatable and painful for comfort.

He ends up closing his eyes and holding his head with one hand. By the gods, he hates all this. ]

[The memory fades back to white, to cold and snow and just two amidst the trees.

The grief still aches. But Solomon blows out a long breath through the nose, before crossing over to where Day now rests.

A palm is rested against his shoulder. Gently, easy to shrug off.]

...Take your time. I'll hold your barrier if it starts to waver.

[ He doesn't bother to try shrugging Solomon off. It takes him a bit to steady himself, breathing in and out for a long, long minute. ]

...I'm fine.

That was not the face of someone who is fine.

[Gentle, but firm.]

Should I escort you out? I would rather you make sure your heart is settled so your magic does not falter on you.

[ Man, and he can't argue with Solomon on that. ]

...Fine, let's go.

[ Before more hallucinations happen. ]

[Time to gently guide Day in that direction, though he will keep whatever pace Day can manage.]

I'm sorry you had to see that.

It ain't like you had any control over it.

[ Despite being shaken earlier, Day does manage to put up a good pace. ]

That doesn't change my statement, you know.

[His lack of agency aside, it was still not exactly a kind memory, nor was it one he wanted to dwell on with other people.]

You're sure you're alright?

I think...I'll be alright. [ It's just too much emotion that he didn't want to grapple with then and there. ] Gonna lie the hell down once we're back.

[ Beneath them, the grass, leaves and dirt of the forest starts to give way to a wooden floor. ]

Mn. So long as you're sure. Though... I can accompany you out, but I--

[That thought's cut off as the space starts to change again with echoing sounds under their feet. Solomon slows his pace, looking behind him. This... he doesn't remember this one.]

Day. Eyes up.

[ And Day does, in fact, look up. The floor leads into a stage, the kind you'd find in some big theatre, where a somewhat younger Day stands, closer to a teenager than whatever maturity he has now.

The hallucination is more like a fever dream, or at least an experience where you think you might be going insane. The stars and destiny have come to claim you, and with that, all worldly ties are severed without so much as a word. ]

[...So it wasn't a life he'd chosen, then.

It's the first conclusion he settles on, as the dread of the situation falls into place. He wonders, briefly, if this is how Barbatos might look at the world, or even something like the Nightbringer - a web of possibilities, of cause and effect, intertwined and stretching on into forever. Just a glimpse feels like enough to bring a normal man to madness.

But more than that, it's the yawning maw of disconnection that lingers over all. To have that robbed so immediately, by something so distant and beyond you... truly, the heavens were no different elsewhere than they were back home, if this had come from them.

He lets the memory play as it will, in its chaos and destruction, its existential dread, feeling the turn of his head but not seeing who is there to pursue him. Perhaps it's for the better, that he just sees Day instead.

The intensity of its progression does have Solomon stumbling by the end, a hand clenched to his shirt as his heart races underneath. But he keeps his mind level, keeps his breathing as even as he can possibly manage. He has seen his share of the unthinkable. One more, for the Fountain, for its unending depths.

His gaze searches for Day in a haze, trying to ground himself with another firm exhale.]

...Who was it? Who were the ones who robbed you like that?

[ Unfortunately, Day is not in a state to immediately answer. He's gripping onto his arm tightly through the layers he's put on to survive the Northern cold, like he hopes the pain will help ground him.

He already went through this rodeo with that ridiculous ghost. Arguably it was even worse, because it transposed these events onto the people of the present, cast it in a new light that followed his dreams for a while. Even then, he could still cast magic, because he could focus on what he needed to do.

Right now, however, he's fresh off the ride of emotion of Solomon's memory, only to have this wound reopened again, laid bare a moment of his life he's only told a handful of people about, sometimes couched in a way so that he could give himself a bit of distance.

(And his name, his name, the one that can't stay in living or written memory, suddenly exposed to someone he wouldn't have given it to just yet, maybe not ever, in a manner like this.)

If it had only been one or the other, he would have been fine. He cannot deal with both. For the first time since he's arrived in this strange world, despite every other stressor he's ever had to deal with, Day's magic is sputtering and failing. The protection is not going to hold up. ]

[Damn it all--

That flickering protection snaps Solomon's attention more directly, questions shoved aside.]

Day.

[Firm, commanding. His hand moves to pull at his amulet, tucked tight under the neckline of his shirt. He's already running so close to empty as it is, but they'll both die if he can't at least recharge one of them.

His hands drop firmly against Day's shoulders. His incantation is clipped and commanding, a solid patchwork to the failing charm, a temporary barrier. He keeps those hands steady, gripping with a brief but solid shake to the younger man.]

Joyous Day. Look at me.

[ That finally pulls him out from whatever response he was having. Day takes a shaky breath as he realises his spell is failing, tries to muster up magic to get it back up and failing because his heart is still in disarray. He managed to look at Solomon. ]

Y-yeah?

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject