thousand dreams, lotus boats upon the waters

[promittere]

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

Comments

[fallingsand]

Solomon can.

[ Wow, Bruno doesn't sound impressed about that at all, wonder whyyy. Anyway, he'll keep the dress hiked until the guideline is drawn, then he'll let it down again. ]

[lighthaus]

That guy...I don't trust him.

[ actually that goes for everyone here besides the very obvious outlier? though the degrees vary, of course. it's more notable that he's saying it to someone like bruno than anything else. ]

Well if you want to have a mostly private conversation at any point, come find me. It's not foolproof but it's not "Japanese".

[ a lot of people speak that here for some reason??? he stands up, pulling a notepad from thin air to write down measurements. ]

[fallingsand]

He's alright, most of the time? I guess? But the rest of the time, he can be pretty frustrating.

[ Solomon's a weird topic. Bruno doesn't want to dislike him but at the same time, he makes it hard to like him. ]

Sure. I'll keep that in mind. Huh, how many people here speak Japanese, anyway?

[lighthaus]

A bunch, it's what Tatara speaks too.

[ he snaps the notebook shut and looks at bruno. ]

Give me twenty minutes to hem the dress. Do you know how to do makeup?

[fallingsand]

Too bad we don't have anyone who knows both. Apart from Solomon, anyway. That would have made things a lot easier a few days back...

[ But Solomon has already gotten the H-E-Double-Hockey-Sticks out of here, meaning it's no use now. ]

Oh. Do I need to swap back out of this...? A-and. Well, no? No, I don't.

[lighthaus]

A few days ago?

[ khun thinks for a moment. ]

If you change out of it, it'll be much faster. It also means I'm less likely to stab you.

[fallingsand]

Yeah, I got hexed so I could only talk about a certain person in Spanish or not at all. I managed to get it across to Tatara eventually, though.

[ Anyway, time for him to get part way through pulling the dress off before remembering— oh crap. Bruno freezes in horror for a second, then drops the dress back onto himself. ]

I... I'll go back around. One minute.

[ Let him just change behind the screen again ahaha... ha. ]

[lighthaus]

[ ffff. ]

...why would someone hex you? [ like... bruno's not imposing at all. ]

Tell him to grab me if it happens again.

[fallingsand]

I had a spell on Solomon that would warn me when he was up to something suspicious, so, when that finally alerted me, I got a little nosy, hence... a hex.

[ Yeah, you know what? He isn't keeping Solomon's crimes a secret.

And he's swift to change back into his usual clothing before stepping back out into the room to offer Khun the neatly folded-up dress. ]

I'll do that, though. Not sure if I'll get a hex that specific again but it's a good idea.

[lighthaus]

I'm not surprised. Did you get to the bottom of it?

[ khun takes the dress, walking over to a nearby table to begin the alterations. ]

[fallingsand]

I mean, yes and no? Turns out that he told Tatara where he was going but I feel like my spell wouldn't have gone off if that were... true, you know?

[lighthaus]

[ his brows furrow as he gets to work. ]

I doubt he told Tatara everything.

What were the conditions of your spell?

[fallingsand]

[ Bruno will grab a seat at the same table Khun is working at to sit by and watch. He knows how to sew, actually, but rat-sized clothing versus human-sized are two wholly different things as far as he's concerned. ]

I wouldn't be surprised if that's true. I wish he would just trust someone with what he gets up to...

[ Sigh. Oh well. ]

Hmm, but the spell had two parts? One was to let me check where he is once it pings me, the other was to let me know when he's deciding to do something dangerous without anyone else's involvement. I'm surprised it worked as well as it did?

[lighthaus]

[ khun won't even comment on the first part because lmfao. he does the same thing. ]

"Something dangerous" could mean dangerous for himself, for us, or even for the world. Unless you put a specificity on the spell? [ he's quick at work with the dress, he's clearly done a lot of tailoring with magic, if not elsewhere. ]

[fallingsand]

Nah, I wanted to know if it was any of those. I get that a lot of folks think he's a pain, but I'd care if he did something to get himself hurt, too.

[lighthaus]

Even now after he cursed you?

[fallingsand]

Yeah? I mean, people have done way worse to me and I... I still don't hate them for it, I guess? His hex was just annoying.

[lighthaus]

Worse like how?

[ he turns over the dress, to finish the hem on the backside. ]

[fallingsand]

...my village has an entire song about how terrible I am.

[ Yes, he's aware of how weird that sounds. ]

Pretty sure they're mostly happy with me being missing-in-action for the past decade even... though... I was... technically still there the whole time.

[lighthaus]

[ what. ]

And why are you so terrible?

[fallingsand]

Oh, well, I'mmm... just... bad luck?

[ Oh, is that all? ]

Or more like I give out bad prophecies, so they blame me for anything bad that happens.

[lighthaus]

...that's not how that works, if it even does.

[ hm. ]

Did you lose that ability here?

[fallingsand]

I mean, I do give out bad visions... mostly... more often than not, so, it kind of is how it works?

[ That part is inevitable. Or maybe Khun thinks him being blamed isn't how it works and yet, it still happens. ]

But no, I can still do that here. Urianger and I tested it out.

[lighthaus]

I meant that it's not your fault, so there's no point in blaming you.

[ that's just stupid in his opinion. ]

I'm assuming you don't get to pick what visions you want to see. Or else I imagine you would have used it to figure out what's going to happen to all of us.

[fallingsand]

Oh, no, I can pick and choose, it's just the outcomes I don't get to decide, so... okay, yeah, it isn't my fault, but... a-anyway...

[ Cough. ]

I did try seeing how this all ends, though. The problem was it gave too many possible outcomes and none of them had any real context.