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

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?

If you're askin', then I can hardly say no when I was the one who suggested first, yeah?

[ Hmmm, how should he answer this, since this is mostly based on what he's observed... ]

Not everyone, but you'll meet enough who treat you ever-so-slightly differently that you can feel it. And some who are less subtle.

It's got to do with how wizards are...very different from the average mortal here. They live much longer, like, hundreds or thousands of years kinda old. Livin' that long means your experiences go beyond a regular mortal's, yeah? In ways that can be hard to imagine. And when enough of those pile up, you can seem incomprehensible to a normal person. [ Though Day doesn't necessarily mean just wizards, in this case. ]

And there's also the fact wizards cast magic, and a lot of mortals here don't seem to understand it very well.

[He thinks, at first, of the Ascians. Of Emet-Selch and Elidibus, their thousands and thousands of years spent waiting and watching the sundered souls of the Source and its reflections, how they were so alien at first to him. He doesn't even consider himself for a moment, living far longer than any miqo'te could and how his lifespan is irrevocably altered by a less than glamorous history, and how that made him so different from the inhabitants of the Crystarium and how it still follows him back on the Source.

But he understands what Day means exactly, even if he doesn't consider how it applies to him in the moment, too preoccupied with thoughts of those who have seen much more than him.]

I see... It does make sense, that those that have seen and experienced much can be so hard to comprehend by those without the same breadth of experience, even if... efforts to understand may often bare fruit.

[Not always, as he saw himself, but... In the end, even Hades had to admit the sundered souls had their own merits in the face of memories he had forgotten so long ago.]

Magic being unusual is far more strange, to me, but I suppose every star operates differently. It's a very ubiquitous thing where I hail from, as it's simply a manipulation of aether, and every child is taught that aether is present in every aspect of the world. Not everyone is capable of manipulating aether, of course, but it's still such a commonplace thing few would be surprised to see someone capable of thaumaturgy or conjury.

[So that's going to be weirder than trying to understand someone several centuries or millennia older than him... There's a lot to think about after this conversation...]

A new place, a new way to navigate the world...

I've always kinda wondered if somethin' kinda just...changes, on a basic level, if someone manages to live long enough. [ Musing, rather than really telling G'raha. It's a thought that he's had to entertain before, when he becomes hyper-aware that he's a very young example of a people who can live thousands of years now. ] But I wouldn't know myself.

Where I'm from, magic ain't common either. Anyone can become a sorcerer in theory, but in practice, not everyone can or wants to go through the sort of steps you'd need for it. I guess people blessed by the gods seem to be wielding magic to most people, but I dunno if it's really the same.

All the other countries have different attitudes 'bout wizards. The East don't like 'em either and get real suspicious of 'em, but down South the people there consider wizards part of the community.

Are we not changed every day by the things we experience?

[He looks down at his tea cup, mulling it over. The differences between worlds and how they perceive magic is fascinating, to be sure, but it's the idea of what makes a person a person that has him so thoughtful.

He's something of an expert on the subject, after all.]

The understanding we have of souls on Eorzea is thus: there is the soul, but the soul itself is not what makes a person who they are. When a person dies, their soul is returned to the Aetherial Sea, where they will eventually dissipate or be reborn as someone entirely different, because without their memories a person cannot be themself. It stands to reason that the more memories one has, the more they become shaped by them. The more their identity becomes their memories and the less it becomes their soul...

Well, as we understand on Etheirys, of course. I can only speak of my own experiences.

[There's a wry grin, at that, as he knows how silly it sounds combined with that speech.]

[ Truly, Day grows more convinced even here fate has a sense of humor with how often the topic of memories has ended up being broached. Is he supposed to take this as some sort of sign? ]

Makes sense. [ And he agrees, at least to some degree. Day doesn't look down at his tea, but finds his gaze wandering to a window, looking out of it. ] People're shaped by memories and bonds, I'd say. [ The people who are part of those memories too, he means. ]

[G'raha follows his gaze, humming softly.]

Yes, I'd agree with that. I'd be a much different person were it not for the people I have had in my life, those who I could rely on.

[Who he's put too much burden on, who he could trust with his life, who he was ready to die for...]

...And those who most would call my enemies.

[But would he consider Emet-Selch an enemy, now? With everything he knows now and everything he's seen at the edge of the universe, it's hard to say. Still, he cannot deny the Ascian influenced how his life went, just as the Ascians had done for many others.]

Now that sounds like a story.

[ When "enemies" are on the list of influences, Day knows it's going to be Interesting. Sometimes, serenity is dealing with an enemy. ]

Well, I've lived a long and interesting life.

[Even if he looks quite young.]

If you're curious, I don't mind sharing. It's not something I feel needs to be kept secret.

[Well. Not anymore, with his days as the Crystal Exarch far behind him.]

You another one of those long-lived types? [ How many grandpas does this make by now... ]

But yeah, if you don't mind sharin', then I don't mind listenin'.

Somewhat, though I'm not quite in the realm of millennia.

[There's a pause.]

Truthfully, I'm not sure what I would consider to be my actual age... This body is only 24, still.

[Which is a nice segue into his story, huh? He offers Day a crooked grin.]

Though, I must say the story explaining that is quite long.

[ "This body is only 24." Oh boy. ]

Well, good thing I've got time.

If you're sure.

[This is his last warning!

G'raha takes another sip of tea, mulling over the best way to explain.]

In Etheirys, thousands of years before my birth, there was the empire of Allag. They were incredibly technologically advanced, and like many empires before and since, they would fall from power and collapse as a society in the fourth of what my world calls Umbral Calamities. Before this happened, the princess Salina passed on the power of Allagan royal blood to my ancestor, Desch.

This power would pass down through my tribe, until I was the last child born with the Allag eye. I had to leave my tribe behind when the Garlean empire invaded and conquered my home and began gathering Allagan relics, as the dormant power in me could be incredibly dangerous in the wrong hands.

[Imperialism is the root of all evil in the world, or something.]

...That power would go from dormant to active when clones of Allagan royalty that had been dormant for millennia found themselves awake in the wake of Garlean interference. They transferred the full strength abilities of Allagan royalty to me, which mean I could connect myself to Allagan technology. This included Syrcus Tower, which had been created to store and generate aether... which meant it was an incredibly dangerous power source. After clearing the Tower of dangers, I sealed myself inside of it and put myself into a magical sleep.

[He remembers being woken up, sitting around the fire with Biggs the Second, and being asked a simple question with a simple answer:

What would you have done if we didn't wake you?

Slept for eternity, I suppose.]

Two hundred years later, I was woken up by descendants of those who I had first explored the Tower with. The world had been utterly decimated in the Eigth Umbral Calamity, and nought remained but people who knew there was no hope for their star, but... hoped there would be a possibility that the Eighth Umbral Calamity could be avoided entirely. To do this they would need to send someone across time and space to a reflection of Etheirys known as the First, as the cause of Umbral Calamities is the rejoining of source and reflection. I was the one sent to the First, using the power of the Tower, and I had one hundred years to gather my power so I could call forth the Warrior of Light... who's death helped catalyze the destruction in the Eighth Umbral Calamity. I failed several times in this attempt, terribly so, instead bringing over the souls of his companions... They could maintain physical forms, but the separation of soul and body would be dangerous and deadly in the long term.

[Sorry, he needs to drink a bit more tea.]

I need not bore you with all of our plans and schemes from here on for how we would save the First, as what is most important is setting the stage. I was someone from a world that no longer existed, in a reflection of a world where a version of me still existed as time passed incredibly differently... A century in the First had only been months, perhaps years, on the Source, so there was still a G'raha Tia sleeping in Syrcus Tower. This ended up quite a boon for me, really, even if it meant I had to take a gamble.

After all was said and done on the First, we had to find a way to reunite the souls of the Warrior's companions to their bodies. The aether of their souls could be carried in a type of substance known as auracite, however... that did not mean that their body would accept their soul. As I said, a person is both soul and memory, so... we needed to find a way to infuse the auracite with their memories as well. I was able to do this by imbuing the auracite with my blood, as it would hold onto their memories. I was the first test subject, giving up my life on the first and becoming a part of the Tower to infuse the auracite.

The Warrior of Light took the auracite to where this body was sleeping in the Tower, and... by incredible luck it accepted my memories and I was awoken once again.

[God, he really talked a lot, didn't he? He looks bashful, ducking his head and ears drooping.]

It's quite a lot, I know, but that is what I mean when I say this body is only 24.

thousand dreams, lotus boats upon the waters

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endwalker spoilers again lmaooo

I laughed ngl

good

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