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

[Sorry, it's a bad habit. Gotta do serious business first!!]

Are you something of a hero, then? Or is it more of a hobby of yours?

[He's genuinely curious how Day sees himself, after saying something like that.]

"Hero" is a lil' too flatterin'. And I don't think I can call a job a hobby.

[ Is it a little self-depreciative? Maybe. ]

Well, now that makes you sound more like a mercenary.

[Which isn't a bad thing!]

So, why not tell me what exactly your job is? It certainly sounds exciting, if you're saving worlds from their end.

[ Day drums his fingers against the table for a moment, debating how to answer this. ...Well, he's already told Tatara about his job, so at this point why shouldn't he tell the new sage's assistant? ]

Well, first of all, do you have a concept of "Heaven" where you're from? Preferably one that you don't go to dead.

[ Thanks Yamato for making him aware of Heaven as an afterlife, he hates it. ]

[Well, that's a loaded question, isn't it?]

Do you mean in the sense of an eternal paradise, or in the sense of an afterlife?

[gazes into the middle distance...]

Closer to the first.

[ Though Day thinks calling Yu-Shan an eternal paradise is both apt and ironic. ]

Where I'm from, Heaven is where the gods live, and it's, uh, run by a bureaucracy. I work for the Bureau of Destiny. Division of Serenity, specifically.

[The Bureau of Destiny? It sounds like a fascinating place to work, and something that someone like Urianger would love to visit. Destiny and prophecy go hand in hand, don't they?]

I see... in that case, I believe I'm somewhat familiar with the idea and have seen the places gods reside with my own two eyes, but it was a far cry from a bureaucracy divided into different offices, and a far cry from the Aetherial Sea where all life returns.

[It sounds... interesting, to be sure.]

[ Huh. Day's never actually thought where the gods might go if (or when, maybe) they die, because gods aren't exactly well-known for being killable and staying dead when they do get killed back home. ]

Huh. Well, my division handles destinies related to things that bring joy, so stuff like...relationships and culture, best way to put it.

[In G'raha's experience most people don't ever get to learn the truth about gods, but there's so many ways deities manifest and beliefs that form around them... He can understand why some dedicate their entire lives to studying gods, because there's so many unknowns.

But he's also been able to meet the gods who shaped (and were shaped by) the star he inhabits, so he has bonus insight.]

That's an incredibly broad subject, isn't it?

[Joy is a vague thing, and not to mention...]

How would you handle something that brings joy to one person and misery to another?

[ Wryly: ] It bein' broad is prob'ly why we're so overworked. [ In general, he means. The other divisions oversee equally broad purviews. ] Usually we step in for things that lead to big consequences. Like a marriage that ends a war 'tween two cities, or an artistic movement that shapes a civilization's culture.

[ As for the other question, though...

Day just has a tired smile. ]

...Think that's one of the ethical questions everyone in the division's gonna give different answers to. For me, uh, let's just say I'm prob'ly gonna be in trouble whenever I get back home exactly 'cause I had to make a choice like that.

...It's not a position I envy.

[Sometimes, someone's joy has immeasurable costs. Sometimes billions of people get sacrificed because of someone trying to reunite with those they love, so they can be happy again.

Those sort of things... how do you weigh them?]

And for your sake, I hope you can stand firm and confident in the choice you've made.

[A pause, before he perks back up.]

Enough about that. While it's fascinating, I'm sure your work is the last thing you want to talk about.

Thanks. [ For telling him that, is what Day means. ] But heh, I guess in a weird sorta way, this is almost like a vacation if it weren't for the Great Calamity.

A vacation...

[Now, there's a thought. Has he ever had a vacation...? Adventuring with the Warrior of Light might count, but does it really?]

I suppose there's no harm in trying to enjoy yourself while preparing for the worst. It wouldn't do to spend your time stewing in anxiety.

[ Like a vacation, Day says, as if he also hasn't been stressed out nonetheless. But it still holds, to a point. Sidereals get a lot of leeway and independence, but they still need to answer to the bureau and heavenly censors at the end of the day. Creation has too many problems in progress to count.

In comparison, this world feels gentler, even with its own slew of problems. Day has more free time here than he's used to. ]

You've got that right. It ain't like none of us take this seriously, but we've been livin' together here for over a month. Life's still carryin' on, even with the moon hangin' over our heads.

[G'raha listens to him speak, before nodding.]

Aye, life carries on. Even if it turns out the moon is actually a ship, all we can do is deal with things as they come.

[Though he kind of doubts the moon, here, is inhabited by Loporrits and was made to be a vessel... Probably incredibly unlikely for that to happen twice...]

Excuse me?

[ Did he just say "moon is actually a ship"??? ]

[He laughs at Day's reaction, but he does cover his mouth politely.]

It was a discovery we made of the moon of my home star. The moon was created to be a vessel to ferry those who lived on Etheirys to viable star should the Final Days threaten to destroy our homes. It was quite a surprise, truthfully.

[The moon was also a prison for an ancient primal but... Mostly the ship part is relevant. Nobody needs to talk about Zodiark right now.]

...Feel like Luna would find it pretty funny. [ The moon as a ship...

Then again, it's not like Day can really claim he knows what a goddess is thinking, but he can imagine it. ]

It's certainly one of those things I'll look back on and find completely absurd, which is much preferable than looking back on something horrible.

A strange, absurd journey is preferable to a bitter, arduous one, you mean?

Yes.

[He gives Day a wry smile.]

I think most would prefer to revisit pleasant memories over those that are bitter or harrowing. Though there is, of course, merit to all of them.

...Yeah. [ Day gives a wry smile of his own. ] Here's to hopin' you make some pleasant memories while you're here, too. How much have you seen, so far?

Hopefully.

[He's not opposed to having fun! It's not something he's used to so it's a new opportunity...]

I've not seen much of this place yet, honestly. I arrived in the Northern country and saw the Forest of Dreams, and after being brought to the manor I've spent much of my time reading and trying to practice magicks.

You should go take a stroll outside when you feel like it, then. The Central market's got some good stalls and shops.

[ A beat. ]

Though, uh, you'll find that some of the people 'round Central are pretty frosty about wizards.

Would you care to join me?

[Because it's always fun to check out markets with a companion...!

But. Hm.]

So I should expect a cool reception. Is there any reason why they feel such a way about wizards?

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endwalker spoilers for the unawares,

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endwalker spoilers again lmaooo

I laughed ngl

good

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