promittere: (Default)
lunae calamitas mods ([personal profile] promittere) wrote in [community profile] lunaecalamitas2024-05-18 12:19 pm

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
๐ŸŒ™ Welcome to your fourth event! It's your dreamshare and memshare event! Ready to open up with your deepest and darkest secrets?
๐ŸŒ™ We're halfway through the game. How do you feel?
๐ŸŒ™ 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.
๐ŸŒ™ On the admin side of things, Lav has swapped out Wanderer for G'raha! Please say hello to your new mentor NPC.
๐ŸŒ™ 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.
๐ŸŒ™ The next country to go on their mission is North. Do you think a PVP-enabled mission will go well?
troublereduction: (day14)

[personal profile] troublereduction 2024-05-23 07:07 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Truly, Day doesn't get the chance to respond to Ahito before the hallucinations hit. He is finding out that even having lived with a body horror zombie-homunculus, he's not prepared for this medical horror. It's only because he has practice that he doesn't squirm.

...This is...

He stays quiet after. Saying anything feels like it'd be either too prying or tactless. ]
dyingtohealyou: ([Look] You could say I'm)

[personal profile] dyingtohealyou 2024-05-24 03:31 am (UTC)(link)
[At the very least, while his expression is quite serious, he doesn't seem overly distressed. There's a kind of weary acceptance, watching scenes play out that he's seen a million times and more in his dreams.

By the time it ends, he releases a soft sigh.
]

...Guess my ward needs work.

[Damn toxins...]
troublereduction: (day19)

[personal profile] troublereduction 2024-05-24 05:02 am (UTC)(link)
Good to know that just 'cause we can stop it from killin' us, don't mean we ward off all the fun extras. [ Said wryly. ]

...You wanna make a move? [ Gently trying to divert this to, hopefully, something less wistful. ]
dyingtohealyou: ([Sigh] whole self through)

[personal profile] dyingtohealyou 2024-05-24 05:55 am (UTC)(link)
It's fine.

[Exasperated...]

It's not like I keep my past secret or anything, so you don't have to tiptoe around it.

[It is what it is.]
troublereduction: (day25)

[personal profile] troublereduction 2024-05-24 08:57 am (UTC)(link)
Aight. Just wasn't sure if it'd be steppin' on your toes after all that.

...Did those people ever pay for what happened? [ Because it sure as hell didn't sound ethical. Day wouldn't know if any of it was by any definition legal, given some of the things that ends up permissible by law or tradition in Creation. ]
dyingtohealyou: ([Look] semi-transparent)

[personal profile] dyingtohealyou 2024-05-24 09:00 am (UTC)(link)
Nope. Their organization's still active, even now.

[And he sounds quite certain stating as much.]

Nothing out in the open - but they're definitely out there.
troublereduction: (day123)

[personal profile] troublereduction 2024-05-24 09:08 am (UTC)(link)
Unfortunate.

[ But it always seems that sources of profound pain and unhappiness get to last longer than they should. ]

But you've been lookin' for them? [ Or else Ahito wouldn't be able to say what he just did.

...There's the sound of a banquet, glasses clinking against each other, the murmur of guests chatting, and music, at first distance, but slow and gradually approaching. ]
dyingtohealyou: ([Look] like background music to me)

[personal profile] dyingtohealyou 2024-05-24 09:12 am (UTC)(link)
Pretty much...

...?

[If he was going to say anything more, it gets lost in distraction at the new sounds, and he glances around to try to find the source.]
troublereduction: (pic#17020441)

[personal profile] troublereduction 2024-05-24 09:21 am (UTC)(link)
[ Day notices Ahito trailing off, then hears the same sound too. His brows furrow for a moment, and then realization hits him. ]

Ah, sh-

[ The hallucination that takes hold brings the two of them to a wedding banquet, though likely not one with customs Ahito would recognise. They find themselves under an awning some distance away from the rest of the party, where a certain conversation is happening, the emotions involved far more vivid than either of them would like. That very awkward moment when you're at the wedding of your first love and you're obligated to make sure it succeeds. ]
dyingtohealyou: ([Sweat] my feeling of unease)

[personal profile] dyingtohealyou 2024-05-25 05:05 am (UTC)(link)
[Oh.

...

Yeah, that's so much awkward than Ahito's situation, isn't it? His past is - personal, of course, but not so much that it's anything he hides or keeps to himself - quite the opposite, actually. If he was familiar with the phrase "That's rough, buddy" he'd probably use it about now, but...

In exchange for Day's own awkwardness at witnessing his memories, he offers:
]

...Would you like me to pretend I never saw any of that?
Edited 2024-05-25 05:05 (UTC)
troublereduction: (day115)

[personal profile] troublereduction 2024-05-25 05:08 am (UTC)(link)
[ Day is somewhere between wistful and absolutely mortified, for what it's worth. Just closed his eyes and rubbing his temples. ]

I'd appreciate it.
dyingtohealyou: ([Sweat] I forgot that day)

[personal profile] dyingtohealyou 2024-05-25 07:24 am (UTC)(link)
Wow. What a weird forest. For some reason I suddenly have the urge to leave and get as far away as possible.

[This boy is not winning an award for acting anytime soon with that kind of line delivery.]
troublereduction: (day30)

[personal profile] troublereduction 2024-05-25 07:25 am (UTC)(link)
[ Oh, that gets a laugh from Day. But he'll play along, and he sounds much more natural about it: ]

If we're done pickin' up stones, I say we can get a move on.
dyingtohealyou: ([Sigh] If there's a heart)

[personal profile] dyingtohealyou 2024-05-25 08:35 am (UTC)(link)
This supply should be good for now.

[As much as he doesn't really enjoy eating rocks, North's inevitable mission looms, and he's not about to run in unprepared. He summons his broom to his side, the sooner they're out of here, the better.]
troublereduction: (pic#17020442)

[personal profile] troublereduction 2024-05-25 02:45 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Day quite possibly hasn't eaten any stones yet, even though he has a sack of them in his room. He summons his broom too, and hops on. ]

Oh, right. Can I ask you something?
dyingtohealyou: ([Look] long night with)

[personal profile] dyingtohealyou 2024-05-25 09:40 pm (UTC)(link)
Hm? What is it?

[Seating himself in a casual sidesaddle for now.]
troublereduction: (day102)

[personal profile] troublereduction 2024-05-26 10:15 pm (UTC)(link)
Have you eaten manastones yet? ...And well, if you have, what's like?

[ Because besides the ones they've picked up here, he still has that sack of manastones in his room that he hasn't decided what to do about just yet. ]
dyingtohealyou: ([Sweat] your face)

[personal profile] dyingtohealyou 2024-05-27 12:50 am (UTC)(link)
[He makes a face.]

Yeah, I have. It's about as pleasant as eating a rock would be.
troublereduction: (day19)

[personal profile] troublereduction 2024-05-27 05:11 am (UTC)(link)
Well, I should have seen that comin'. How does it even work?

[ Do wizards like. Literally have to crunch rocks, or, ]
dyingtohealyou: ([Sweat] my feeling of unease)

[personal profile] dyingtohealyou 2024-05-28 03:00 am (UTC)(link)
...You eat a rock and then you feel stronger?

[He's not sure what part of this is confusing.]
troublereduction: (day19)

[personal profile] troublereduction 2024-05-28 03:02 am (UTC)(link)
...I really have been overthinkin' this.

[ Maybe if he hadn't been introduced to the concept via "How do you feel about cannibalism?", he wouldn't have! ]
dyingtohealyou: ([Sweat] bury my loneliness)

[personal profile] dyingtohealyou 2024-05-28 05:03 am (UTC)(link)
What did you think it was...?
troublereduction: (day23)

[personal profile] troublereduction 2024-05-28 05:07 am (UTC)(link)
Well, the first thing I was told when I asked 'bout ways to get stronger was "How do you feel about cannibalism?", so. Prob'ly wasn't thinkin' of anything great 'bout it.

[ Thanks, Wanderer. ]

Then hardly a week later a bag of manastones just appearifies in my room out of nowhere.
dyingtohealyou: ([Sweat] they're transparent)

[personal profile] dyingtohealyou 2024-05-28 05:15 am (UTC)(link)
Oh. Yeah, the way I figure it, it's probably from monsters rather than people, so...

["Probably" and not just, He Hopes.]