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

You're right. It isn't.

[ Kurapika begins to walk again. He can't have a conversation right now, he can't, not when the rage in his chest threatens to overflow—

He stops. This is something he's worked on. He can control it.

He can. ]

You do know what's in this box, don't you...?

[ Jing Yuan standing there as it seems like Kurapika is about to just walk off, and he is considering his options.

Not that it matters for long, since that suddenly appears to be the opposite of the case here because then he stops walking, and hm.

That sure is a question he is asking. ]

Yes.

With that wretched auction happening, it'd be hard not to.

[ A pair of red eyes; ones that must have been taken from one of Kurapika's clan members. ]

You're right. It is wretched.

[ He still refuses to turn around, the seething anger in his chest threatening to bubble over any moment. If he were to actually look at this man—

A deep breath. ]

I suppose that's why you didn't bid.

[ He would recognize the voice, after all, having committed each and ever single bidder to memory. ]

[ Jing Yuan awaits silently as Kurapika continues to speak—even taking a breath by which he supposes the other tries to calm himself down further.

All things considered, if he was the one who went through what the other had, he can easily imagine himself in the very same position—acting the very same way. ]

You'd be correct. This is my first time attending such things, but still...

[ He says, thinking with a small sigh of his own. He has never gone to any black market auctions himself. He has heard of them, but never seen a glimpse of them in the slightest until now, remembering how ghastly it felt to see what he had been put on display. ]

I've found out very swiftly I have limits and not simply because of price points.

[ Someone actually against this practice is rare in the underground, with so many hellbent on owning a pair of Scarlet Eyes, both for their beauty and rarity.

As such, Jing Yuan's words surprise him, and it takes Kurapika a moment to even gather a response. ]

And what will you do about your limits?

[ Will he report his auction? Will he kill the auctioneers? ]

[ In turn, Jing Yuan is made to give pause for a moment, not knowing how to answer the question at first. But, all the same, he isn't the type to allow himself to be silent. ]

If there is a way to bring down this place, I will find it. I suspect I would need to stop the individual who has been chiefly coordinating this to make a difference, however.

[ Jing Yuan doesn't know if that is even possible, but that would be his first choice of action back home.

Killing the people who bid doesn't necessarily guarantee that it will stop, neither does bringing it to the attention of the authorities. He'd need to research about it, and observe all manners of attack. ]

It's the mafia themselves.

[ He breathes out, slowly, some of the rage dissipating. It isn't enough, though. He can still feel it flowing through him, the eyes in his arms a conduit for it. A reminder. ]

If you think you can take all of them out, be my guest.

[ The mafia...

...

Well then. That makes things a bit complicated, doesn't it? Not that he imagines he can simply upend matters to such a grand degree in a memory — even if it is interactive. Though, he will do his best, and see where it leads. ]

I'll find a way to do something about it — about them. Even if I doubt I can manage it now, and it truly sounds like an ordeal.

But...better to give it a try than to do nothing instead.

[ This really wasn't the encounter he was expecting, but... he can't say he's angry over it either. Which is why he finally turns and faces Jing Yuan, his eyes a bright, burning red. It's the sort of red that's hard to look away from, a scarlet just as intense as the eyes in the box Kurapika has his arms wrapped around. ]

You're a nice person. So... I think you should leave.

[ The rage in his body is hard to contain, and he doesn't want Jing Yuan caught in the crossfire. Facing Jing Yuan, it's obvious that he's trembling, his fingers shaking as well as his legs... it's why he was stumbling as he walked. ]

You see... I don't care who I kill right now. Leave.

[ This man is kind, and he doesn't deserve the wrath threatening to be released. ]

[ Jing Yuan can't say he anticipated this kind of encounter either. All things considered, he believes he is simply fortunate that he hadn't come to blows.

That said, the red that is evident in Kurapika's eyes looks familiar. Not because he has seen it from the other before, but it mirrors the color of a Mara-struck individual. Even if clearly that isn't the case, and he does have context for it.

The sheer force of will Kurapika must have in this memory must be quite high. ]

...Very well.

Stay safe.

[ With that, he turns on his heel to retrace his steps, not quite in the mood to tempt fate in regards to facing a fight he'd rather avoid. ]

[ And as he turns back through the hallway, retracing his steps, the environment around him slowly melts back into the forest.

...And he comes face to face with Kurapika again. Only this time, he's the one that Jing Yuan has come to know—slightly older and much less volatile. ]

I caught a small glimpse of what happened. You did well, considering I didn't threaten you immediately.

[ Jing Yuan indeed sees Kurapika once more, and turns his attention upon him, small but wry smile upon his lips.

He doesn't even so much as jump or look surprised, though that is due to the fact that he is quite good at keeping his composure. And he can tell immediately the difference in between the Kurapikas. ]

I will simply attribute that to luck, if anything. I had gotten too complacent, perhaps, in assuming that there would be no other oddities when viewing one's memories in the Forest.

[ There's a pause here too, because he had been wondering about something. ]

...Did you end up taking action against anyone at the auction, at that time?

Mm, not really. I threatened the man that I was caught up in a bidding war with when I ran into him on the way back to my boss, but he was quick to put his gun away the moment he saw my eyes.

[ He shoves his hands into his pockets, gaze set on a tree just to the left of Jing Yuan's shoulder. ]

Once I returned, I handed over the eyes to my boss's daughter, and then watched her play around with them. So... it was rather uneventful.

Mm. I suppose that was smart of the man to back down. Otherwise, he would have hardly lasted all that long.

I do hope he faced some sort of consequences for his actions or participation, though I understand well if he might have been able to slip away.

[ The man deserved some absurd amount of jail time at the very least. Hard not to notice the way that Kurapika's focusing on elsewhere other than his face as well, so he isn't surprised if it still effects him, considering.

Anyway, speaking of the tree Kurapika is staring at in truth, something about it seems to...uh, glitch? In fact, it's looking like it is taking on a more bright bluish color...?

Meanwhile, Jing Yuan's expression is now a mixture of contemplation and equal confusion. Yeah, let's call it that. ]

...Though, why exactly would someone play with someone's eyes?

[ Hm. Is that tree... glitching? What's going on there? Kurapika's brows furrow, but only briefly. ]

They're toys to her, nothing more. She wanted them for her own collection, to shake them and spin them around in their case.

[ His tone is carefully neutral. ]

That tends to be the way of things in my world. Many are willing to do depraved things for what they consider valuable or beautiful.

[ Jing Yuan blinks slowly at this, his own expression going blank.

You know in that way where it is quite obvious where one wants to make one at all but cannot quite figure out the appropriate look. ]

I see. Regardless...how terribly wretched of her.

[ His words are, however, dripping with unrestrained contempt. And it's on that sentence which suddenly brings a sudden change to the environment; the tree seems to morph to one that takes on the appearance of one of a different size, but darkness suddenly extends outward, enveloping everything in his surroundings. Including Jing Yuan. ]

[ In the blink of an eye, the area seems to shift completely to somewhere far more darker still.

Kurapika can take note that it feels cold, far more frigid than even where he was before.

There is hardly a speck of light to be seen or found. Besides, of course, the blue light from the strange tree from earlier is still present oddly enough, off to the side, with quite a few branches, and it seems to be set upon a piece of furniture.

If he squints up ahead there is also a speck of...something, in the darkness. What will he do? It seems nothing else happens to be occurring otherwise at the moment and he is the only one present. ]

Edited (i did this to myself) 2024-06-05 18:05 (UTC)

[ That contempt... there's a comfort in it somewhere for Kurapika, and it surprises him. It's warmth that spreads gently in his chest, even as he's about to respond to Jing Yuan, tell him that it's just the way things work in the mafia, that they all have to see and do things they would rather not.

Only, he can't exactly do that now, not with Jing Yuan himself succumbing to the darkness that surrounds him before the environment shifts. He frowns, standing still as he takes in his surroundings—that speck of something in the darkness, that tree with the blue light...

For now, he'll head towards that something. ]

[ Timing is always so unfortunate with them, isn't it?

Anyway, up ahead in the darkness is a small someone, who stands at a smaller height, but when this someone turns around, there is a shift, and he is much taller. Though, Kurapika should be able to recognize that towering height, and face, even if those golden eyes seem somehow bigger.

The darkness has peels itself away to reveal a dark sky and a smoldering building carefully carved in a certain style that may be familiar in ways, but different all the same, with Jing Yuan wiping soot from his face. Edges of the memory seem to distort and flicker, constantly, though; as if unstable. ]

...A civilian? You should be careful. This area is in danger from certain elements. Those accursed disciples have been active in the vicinity, causing trouble even for our allies.

[ He takes a breath, trying to allow himself to feel stable despite the shakiness of his own surroundings. All he has to do is ride this out...

But he can't help the way his eyes linger on what he believes to be a younger Jing Yuan. ]

And how have they been active? Burning buildings down?

Hm? ...They have been active for a long time. Though, their activity seems to have shifted as of late.

As they attack, infrastructure can become damaged. Even if bringing down buildings isn't exactly their initial aim—

[ If Jing Yuan is going to say anything more, he doesn't. He turns around to face the building in question, as if something draws his attention—it seems deathly silent. But, in the next moment, it explodes into flame as opposed the smoldering flames it was before. People in the general area scatter, seeming to vanish as the edges of the memory begin to flicker violently. ]

—get back! Something is coming. It'd be best you do not get caught up in it.

[ He'll listen as he's instructed, mostly because he'd like to not potentially get injured in a hallucination. How would that work? Would that injury transfer from this memory made manifest? ]

What's coming?

[ Kurapika is already readying himself, focusing inwards to see if he can use magic... or even Nen. ]

Likely one of the Disciples...alongside with whatever company — maybe even an Abomination.

I advise you to not linger. There is still time for you to turn around and make an escape.

[ Jing Yuan says that as he's still facing forward despite this being a relatively early memory for him; no big achievements just yet. But, emerging from the fire and brimstone are figures.

Two of them appear dog-like, colored in gold and black. Another, more humanoid, covered in green and yellow colors, but also with a strange circular object hanging above its head; also armored with a helmet to boot. Either way, Kurapika can feel both things present there because of the instability, perhaps.

Though, it is also true he has no idea how it would go if he stays, yes?

So, Kurapika has two choices:

Stay to try to fight or turn around and to escape. Which one does he make? ]

[ Hm. Three against one, if he leaves, and one is armored on top of that.

Kurapika prefers fighting alone... but he likes Jing Yuan. So, he casts a spell, enveloping his arm in chains that snake up underneath his sleeve, though they're visibly attached to rings on each of his fingers.

He'll stay to fight. ]

And leave you on your own? Not happening.

[ Jing Yuan looks surprised as he turns his head to face Kurapika, but then he lets a showing of a thin smile (approval? relief that he isn't facing it all alone?) appear on his face. He seems able to see that the 'civilian' has some sort of weapon, and so when he turns to face down their enemy, he speaks again: ]

...Stubborn.

But that isn't necessarily bad, if you can hold your own. I shall trust in that instead.

[ After that, the enemies advance on them, the armored warrior throwing an electrical spell at Kurapika, while the canine-like enemies leap, and Jing Yuan swings his Devastator Glaive and its long reach to keep the canine duo back. As he does so, the unstable edges of their surroundings begin to fray instead of flicker. ]

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