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

[ Hm.

He hates this feeling, actually. Kurapika frowns, making sure his charms are still intact, before taking in his surroundings. There's a certain unreal sort of quality to it all, one that makes his chest tighten and his breath catch in his throat. ]

Solomon.

[ Is he still here? ]

[...Ah.

Solomon goes still, but his response is oddly quiet.]

I'm here. I can see it, too.

[The increasingly smaller space filters out all its light, darker and darker, save through a small opening. High, higher than they can reach. A ceiling fades in, a cold floor beneath, a thick door to one side and a thin bed far underneath the window, its wall completely coated in shadow. The air smells thick of disease and smoke, the sounds of galloping horses and clanking metal reverbing through the space from above. Above. They're low, below, cold and dark and damp.

There is a figure curled up under the blankets, small with their hands clenched tightly to their face. But Solomon acts before the stranger can, quietly moving forward to try and grab Kurapika by the arm and pull him back towards the shadowed wall.]

[ Kurapika covers the lower half of his face with his hand in an attempt to create some sort of filter between him and the thick air now surrounding them.

That move towards his arm triggers a reflex, and he quickly tries to get out of Solomon's grasp, swinging his arm to the side in an attempt to get out of his grip. He shoots Solomon a mildly apologetic look.

...He'll oblige and move to the shadows, however, but he chooses a spot where he can see what's going on around him. ]

[So long as Kurapika follows suit, Solomon has no complaints. He'll press a finger to his lips as he glances up towards the window.

There's commotion - people with raised voices, the sound of wooden doors being slammed. Most is garbled, between aggression from one party and panic from the rest. It feels familiar, despite the fear. A common occurrence that doesn't lose its bite.

We take no argument to the harboring of heretics!

There's a scuffle, a disturbance of the horses. Someone distantly sounds like they're begging. Another screams.

Both the figure under the blanket and Solomon himself flinch hard as the scream is rapidly cut off with the sound of metal on flesh. A body impacts the ground. Someone starts to wail.]

[ People are being hunted down.

That's what this is, isn't it? They're being targeted. The very thought makes something twist sickeningly in Kurapika's stomach, but the only indication that he feels anything at all is the way that his fingers curl in on the sleeves of his jacket, nails pressing hard into the fleece and creating little crescents. If he were digging his nails into his palms, they would certainly draw blood.

He watches the figure under the blanket like a hawk, eyes assessing as he tries to figure out what's going on. Solomon seems to have some familiarity with what is going on here, and...

Kurapika strains his eyes a bit, chasing his suspicions as he tries to determine if that figure might have a shock of white hair. ]

[It's hard to tell from the angle he's at. But he won't have to wait for long. The scuffle continues, and something is thrown, hitting the latticing of the window with a clang that feels as loud as a gunshot in the tiny space.

The figure shoots up immediately - a child, a boy of no more than six or seven, thin and pale, barely stifling a scream as he scrambles back in his bed, pressing against the wall with both hands quickly shoved against his mouth, eyes screwing shut.

His hair is, indeed, the same brilliant white as Solomon's.]

Edited 2024-05-25 06:03 (UTC)

[ He nearly jumps at that loud crack, breath caught in his throat as he watches the child try to hold in his reaction.

To have his suspicions confirmed isn't always pleasant, and it shows in the dismayed look on his face as he turns to regard the Solomon hiding in the shadows with him.

Kurapika knows better than to speak aloud right this moment, but the look in his eyes is obvious: Is there anything we can do right here, right now? ]

[He shakes his head slowly, before tilting it back towards the bed.

Brassy eyes from a much smaller body have seen Kurapika, and they're wide with fear. They don't even seem to notice their older counterpart, as though he's just part of the scenery.

The boy scrambles with panicked breathes, tumbling off the bed and out of the blankets to cram himself under a worn wooden desk.]

[ Ah. Well, so much for not being seen, though it seems like Solomon escapes this particular fate. Given that this is his memory, it makes sense.

Kurapika edges himself out of the shadows, but he thinks approaching the desk right now would be the wrong move, so he largely stays put as he sinks down onto his knees to seem less imposing. His frame may be relatively slight and his height just a little below average, but he knows his serious face offsets all of that. So, Kurapika tries to make his expression somewhat less severe, though whether he's successful or not in that remains to be seen. ]

I won't hurt you.

[ His voice is low, hushed so that those outside don't hear him, but it carries nevertheless in the stillness of the room. ]

[Kurapika does pose an intimidating figure, sliding out of the shadows. But the volume control does help to ease the considerable tension in the boy's frame, tentatively looking over his shoulder with those frightened eyes, before flicking towards the still-closed door.

You feel dread. Dread at being spotted. Fear, childlike and raw, of death. Confusion, at the sight of the locked door. And yet, curiosity, as though gazing at something unknown. Something not allowed.]

I'm... I-I'm just sick. I'm sick...

[Though the boy is frail and filthy, he does not look ill in the slightest. It's a fearful response, a taught response.]

[ He swallows past that feeling, pushing it down as he does most intense emotions that flow through him—a bodily and mental response he's trained himself to do so as not to give himself away.

And so, he keeps calm as he looks at the child before him. ]

You're ill? [ He doesn't look it, but Kurapika has a fondness for children that keeps him from voicing that thought aloud. ] Is there any form of treatment I could get for you?

[He goes quiet, hesitant, as though he's never been asked that before and doesn't know how to answer.]

Um... n-no... no, nobody gets better. That's why you gotta go. 'Cause... c-cause I'm sick... and...

[His voice is starting to waver, in that familiar way of a child desperately trying to lie through something that scares them and realizing they're not being convincing. He tucks his face down again, shoulders hunching.]

... Don't take me away.

[ He shakes his head, slowly. ]

I won't. But surely there's something I can do to help you?

[ It's futile, he knows it, but... he thinks of the warm bundle that Woble was in his arms when her mother let him hold her. Children really are his weakness, full of life and unlimited potential that he wants to protect, even if the outcome has long since been determined. ]

[He glances, hesitantly, hesitantly, at the locked door. Then towards the window. He flinches bodily at the sound of horses galloping by.]

I... no. N-no, I can't, or you'll get in big trouble... e-everbody's gonna get in lots of trouble....

Mama and Papa said I gotta stay in here. I-I can't be near anybody. Like all the other sick people.

[The smell of disease and decay seems to sit heavy in the air. A plague, outside the walls of this room. The dead, being moved out of homes.

The boy doesn't look sick. But he seems insistent on maintaining the lie.]

[ Briefly, Kurapika considers checking if he can use his Nen ability, because if so... he could use his Dowsing Chain and confirm that he's being lied to.

...

But he can't do that to a child, much less one in a memory that he can do nothing to change. So, Kurapika nods. ]

Alright. I'll take your word for it. [ ... ] Will you be safe in here?

[His face turns to the side as he draws his arms tighter around his knees.]

...Yeah.

If the soldiers catch you, then they take you away. And your family, too. They take away everybody they think is a heretic---

[A beat, a choking sound and a shaking of his head.]

I'm... I-I'm not, though. I'm not. Mama and Papa aren't, either... and they're not sick, so you gotta leave them alone, too. You gotta.

[ Kurapika lowers his voice, his tone just a bit softer than usual. ]

Don't worry, I will. I believe you. There's no reason for me to call upon the soldiers.

[ He'll start to slink back towards the shadows, soft quiet steps back that won't alert anyone outside to movement. ]

I'll be fine as well. Focus on yourself.

[A pause, as his eyes look up and follow Kurapika. Brassy and open and confused, as though that's not the answer he was expecting.

...]

I...

They're gonna get real mad if I'm talking to people they don't want me to talk to. I can't talk to nobody.

I think... um...

...

Do grownups get scared?

They do. Everyone gets scared, no matter how old or powerful or influential they are.

[ Even Kurapika, underneath all of the emotion he's tamped down and compacted and hidden deep within his chest, gets scared. ]

It's natural.

[ ... ]

Why?

Cause Mama and Papa, they can't hear it. The things I hear.

And their voices always sound angry and sad. So I think they must look angry and sad, too.

And sometimes I think maybe they get scared. If I make noises wrong. If I do things. Lots of things.

[The boy deflates a little as his head rests against his knees.]

If I stay like I gotta, the soldiers won't get me. Which means the soldiers won't get them. Then they don't gotta be scared as much.

Right?

[ He wants to agree, wants to provide comfort here, but that isn't who he is. Kurapika only lies by necessity. ]

You do what you feel is best and everything will fall into place as it should.

[ That doesn't mean that things won't go wrong or there won't be hardships, but... ]

Your parents want you to be safe, don't they? Do what you can to stay safe.

[The boy grows quiet again as his eyes flick to the locked door, then to the floor.]

...

[Off to the side, Solomon (the real Solomon) moves, a quiet drift to sit against the bed.]

I can't. I like to do what I feel. Cause I feel really good things. And I hear really pretty things.

Papa calls it magic.

But that's why they put me in here. Why I gotta never go outside. I don't... even see Mama and Papa a lot. 'Cause... I guess a thing that feels good still makes people scared sometimes.

[...

He curls up tighter, tucking his face fully against his knees so that his eyes are hidden away.]

I'm glad they get to be safe. Papa... says it's just how it is.

[And you are. You are glad. And you are miserable. You've known nothing else but this. They are happy, and you are happy. They are scared of you, and you are confused.

The door suddenly seems more like a wall than any means of escape. The only breath, the only respite, is the window.]

...

[ He understands it now, he sees the full picture. He sees it and he all he can think—

This child's parents need to die.

Kurapika crawls back towards him, staying low to the ground just in case. ]

You deserve to be safe as well. You're only a child and nothing to be feared. [ He pauses, a stifling yet thoughtful silence that practically bounces off of the walls around them. ] You know, people fear me as well. When I'm angry, my eyes turn a bright red and it scares everyone around me.

But I know I'm not dangerous, just as you know you aren't either. Keep that knowledge close to your heart. You deserve to feel safe, and to feel loved just like anyone else. Even if others don't like magic... that doesn't mean they can take that out on you.

[The boy doesn't respond, only looking up towards Kurapika with a slowly unguarded face, as though whatever is coming out of the older boy's mouth is something no one's ever told him.

From his seat on the bed, Solomon's eyes soften.]

...You're a very kind soul under that directness of yours, aren't you?

[ He holds a hand up towards the older Solomon, palm facing out in a gesture for him to simply Stop. ]

Did I ask for a running commentary?

this just in: miyuki sawashiro has been replaced

oh yeah (bass boosted)

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wandering back late to memshare with starbucks

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cw: parental abuse

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