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

[ How surreal it feels, hearing this from someone younger than him. Day's done everything he can to avoid having to take a life so far, but he knows it's going to happen one day. ]

...I'm sorry things turned out like that. [ That it ended up being the only way it could have ended. ]

I appreciate it.

[ Genuinely. ]

My resolve means that I do what I must, however, even if I don't like the act of killing itself.

[ Though that resolve is weakening, bit by bit and day by day. ]

And you're still you, after?

[ Which Day realises must be a bit of a strange question to ask, but he got the sense that if it weren't for that resolve, Kurapika would have been against killing. ]

[ It catches him off guard, his expression shifting to something full of doubt as he looks down at his right hand, the one that had chains on it in the memory. ]

...I don't know. To me, killing is one of the worst things anyone can do. There's no honor in it.

[ He looks over at Day. ]

What would you say? Am I still me, having gone against my very own principles?

[ Day looks thoughtful for a long moment, seriously considering how to answer this... ]

Well, I'm gonna have to ask: are you takin' revenge 'cause of your principles, too?

[ Is he? That's... difficult to answer, and he isn't sure how to, even after giving it a bit of thought. ]

...If your people were wiped out and you were the only one left, wouldn't you kill the perpetrators?

[ Ah. Ah. That's what this is about. ]

Not gonna lie, it's a little hard for me to imagine. [ Whether it's the people of the isle or his hometown, or the Sidereal host. Either seems applicable here, but...

Day knows that for better or worse, he's the sort of person to get through things without much anger, if at all. ]

But if you're sayin' that's the case for you... Then, I think it's just a matter of pickin' which principles you prioritize more. You're still you, but maybe not in the way you woulda hoped for.

[ He's quiet for a moment, mulling over Day's answer. It may be hard for him to imagine, but his answer is still just as thoughtful as Kurapika expected it to be. ]

I... suppose you're right.

[ Kurapika sighs, though it's closer to a soft exhale. What kind of person would he even hope to be? ]

You know, people here have told me I'm not cut out for what I've set out to do.

[ And he isn't sure what to do with that. ]

I dunno, would bein' cut out for it be a good thing?

[ Considering exactly what Kurapika is setting out to do. ]

No. People cut out for that sort of thing aren't good people.

[ He can say that without any trouble, even if it might apply to him. ]

...But I've tried to be. I've already done plenty of terrible things outside of what you just saw.

...I can buy it.

[ What was that saying? “Before you embark on a journey of revenge, dig two graves.” ]

But I can't judge either. It'll be for different reasons, but I'm gonna have to do that sorta thing one day too. [ Might have already even, if he thinks about it. Sometimes, one person's happiness comes at the cost of another's. ] I just... I guess I just wanna know if you'll still be okay, despite all that.

I'm prepared to die.

[ His words come quick, as if he's said as much plenty of times before. ]

Rather... I was. I don't know that that's the case anymore.

[ "I'm prepared to die." makes Day stiffen, out of reflex. It reminds him too much of Sunrise, despite her having never actually said it in so many words. Kurapika is younger than him, but even putting that aside, it's not the kind of thing people should just say, no matter their convictions.

(Which is a bit hypocritical, given he's in service to something bigger than himself, but Day wouldn't say he's prepared to die for it either.)

...But some of that tension releases at what Kurapika says after. ]

...What changed?

[ He sighs softly, shoving his hands into his pockets as he picks a spot somewhere to the left of Day's shoulder to stare at. ]

My relationships here have reminded me that there's more to life.

[ Which is precisely why he avoided his friends back home... but he couldn't do that so easily here. His friends have always reminded him of the good things life has to offer, the things he can look forward to outside of revenge. They have always made his revenge seem smaller.

That it happened here when he couldn't run away was inevitable, he thinks. ]

...I'm glad they did.

[ He feels like it's not really his place to try to persuade Kurapika away from the path of revenge, because he can tell it's not a straightforward path, but he can still be grateful that Kurapika is thinking about it. ]

It's a shame I can't so easily say the same for myself. Of course I'm happy to have friends, but...

[ It's not easy to change the trajectory of his life, not when he's been set on this path for so long.

With a sigh, he shakes his head. ]

I've sat with my anger for long enough that it's become part of me. To have it begin to fade is something I never expected.

Do you think you can be... [ Day pauses like he's trying to search for the right word to use here. ] Satisfied, I guess? Satisfied, even if that anger ends up fadin'.

[ At the end, Day thinks whether or not Kurapika might still be able to find fulfillment is the most important part. ]

I'm not sure.

[ Which is ultimately better than any certainty that he can't be. ]

I'd like to rid the world of the poison that is the Spiders as well as have my people returned to me... but I don't want it to come at the cost of hurting those I care about either. I don't know what would disrupt my satisfaction more—hurting those people or never achieving my goals.

...I hope you'll figure it out. [ And what Day means, perhaps, is that he hopes Kurapika will live to have a fulfilling life. ] I just figure that bonds that end up severed are a lot harder to make up for than goals that end up not bein' achieved.

You ready to go somewhere else, Kurapika?

[ Day's words make his brows furrow, but Kurapika doesn't say anything in response. He has a point, and it's something that Kurapika will need to mull over, wondering what kind of pain severed bonds might bring compared to breaking the promise he made to his people. ]

I am.

[ Anywhere but here, honestly. ]

Let's go.

[ If it's giving Kurapika something to chew on, then Day's accomplished his literal job, he'd say. Day gestures at Kurpika to follow as he walks away from the scene, hoping that eventually, they'll start seeing reality again.

...There's the sound of a banquet, glasses clinking against each other, the murmur of guests chatting, and music, coming from the distance. ]

...You hear that?

[ He glances over at Day before giving him a curt nod. ]

I do. [ Pausing in his steps, he listens carefully. ] It sounds like some sort of party.

[ The look of a man who's been to many parties in his time, so he can't figure out which one this could be. ]

...Well, brace yourself, this is prob'ly gonna be at least a little embarrassin'.

[ For who? Day or Kurapika? Yes, knowing Day's party experiences. ]

For you, I hope.

[ But Kurapika will brace himself by shoving his hands into his coat pockets, watching as the scenery around them shifts. ]

If it's embarrassin' for me, it's gonna be embarassin' for you.

[ Day is pretty sure about that.

As they walk, the scenery gradually takes to them to a wedding banquet, though likely not one with customs Kurapika would recognize.

They find themselves under an awning some distance away from the rest of the party, where a certain conversation is happening between a somewhat younger Day (Kurapika's age back then, really) and someone who would fit right in with the native Western wizards. The hallucination is perhaps more vivid than either of them would have liked because Day's full rollercoaster of emotion can be felt—envy, joy, sadness, yearning, annoyance, in all of their complicated glory.

Kurapika's probably sharp enough to tell that whatever this is, Day was supposed to be doing a job and, well, he did it. It just got way more personal than anyone should be comfortable with. ]

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