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

[troublereduction]

[ In which I just give up on all other prompts and do tailored memshare openers here.

If anyone wants to do any custom starters, you can hit me up in DMs or in the plotting thread. ]

For Phil

[troublereduction]

[ Day...is still of two minds on how to feel about eating mana stones, but at the end of the day, those stones aren't going to pick themselves up from the ground, which is why he's at the Forest of Dreams. And he's asked Phil to come along since he's learned the hard way from previous experience that this is not a place you want to go to alone.

Phil probably had to hitch a ride on Day's broom, and for once Day took a more scenic pace out of consideration to Phil. After they arrive, Day's got a protection spell up. ]

Hm? Need help with yours?

[mirristry]

[Protection spell aside, Phil is looking absolutely and utterly miserable even with his multiple layers of clothing. The cold of the North is bone-chilling, and Phil struggles with cold temperatures even at the best of times; he's got his arms wrapped around himself, visibly shivering. It takes him a moment to notice that he's even being spoken to.]

Oh... y-yes, if you wouldn't mind. I can't seem to concentrate when it's this cold...

[It's a lie, of course, but a perfectly plausible one under the circumstances. The weather is bitter, and Phil is struggling to keep himself distracted from the fact that he feels as though he's going to freeze into solid ice at any moment.]

[troublereduction]

[ Well, Phil...never did quite give Day the impression of someone who could withstand the cold (or any of the elements, really), so he can't say he's surprised at how miserable Phil looks. He doesn't suspect Phil's lying as he summons his prayer beads, wrapped around one of his hands, and recites his spell. ]

Amor manet.

[ For once, when his magic settles over Phil, it feels warm, like sitting next to a hearth on a winter's day. Phil might even find it comfortable despite Day fussing over whether this protection spell will hold up. ]

...There. Should be good.

[mirristry]

[Phil is expecting a simple protection spell, nothing more. When the warmth envelops him, for a moment he almost wonders if his fever is coming back before he realizes that it's the spell itself drawing close around his body like a warm blanket; it's a beat before he realizes that even the usual pain from his condition has ebbed somewhat as well, the discomfort slowly fading into something more ignorable.

He's so surprised that for a moment all he can do is stand there and take a few deep breaths, waiting for the pain to inevitably return. But... it doesn't, and a slow, wondering smile creeps onto his face.]

Yes, that seems to have done the trick. Thank you, Day.

[If nothing else, he'll be able to move around far more easily now.]

Now... since the creatures whose mana stones we're here to collect aren't native to this forest, it's unlikely we're going to find the stones in any sort of logical pattern if they wandered in here and died due to the toxins...

[Deflect, deflect, deflect. As long as he can keep his mind occupied with the task at hand, he'll be all right... he hopes.]

[troublereduction]

[ Day is not someone who does things by half-measures if he can help it, as long as it doesn't concern himself. His heart is elated by Phil's response, that it was actually helpful, though he does his best to keep it contained to just a smile. ]

We'll gonna have to clean up the bodies for the regular animals, too. [ Fun...

...There's a question he's been meaning to ask, though he suspects he knows Phil's answer already. ]

You ever heard that apparently we can, uh...eat mana stones?

[mirristry]

[Despite his best efforts to keep his expression neutral, Phil's mouth thins out into a line at the mention of eating mana stones. He knows, logically, that it's the best way to increase one's power, much the same way that using the corpses of the mirrites that were killed to produce chiral particles is the best form of treatment for anima deficiency. But on a moral front... he can't stand the thought of doing so, of using the deaths of other creatures for his own benefit.]

... yes, I have. That supposedly doing so increases one's power as a wizard.

[There's a very measured tone to his voice as he says this, like he's trying to keep emotions out of the conversation.]

[troublereduction]

[ Ah. Phil's reaction alone tells him everything he needs to know, so Day is going to try and gently steer this conversation if he's able to. ]

That's what I was told too. [ ... ] But I guess I'm gonna have to do it the old-fashioned way.

[mirristry]

[At that, Phil looks up, frowning.]

No, if it's something you wish to try for yourself, don't let my opinions stop you. I may not be willing to eat them, but that doesn't mean I have a right to dictate what anyone else does.

[No matter how uncomfortable with the idea he may be.]

[troublereduction]

I mean, I've been askin' 'cause I ain't exactly alright with the idea of eatin' dead wizards. [ And he finds himself leaning more towards not wanting to eat any, whenever he thinks about it. ]

...It's just frustratin', and I've got a surprise sack of mana stones sittin' in my room that I dunno what to do with.

[mirristry]

[That's reassuring to hear, not that Phil is going to say as much out loud. He knows some of the others here have in fact eaten mana stones; while he tries not to judge, there's a part of him that wonders just how much thought they'd really put into the entire thing.]

Mmm. I understand that feeling, I think. [...] To be honest, I'm frustrated too. I'm so used to having the access to the amount of power I do back at home that coming here felt like starting all over again, and I admit I haven't been taking it anywhere near as well as I should.

[Though he's kept it close to his chest for the most part, the frustration has only been building with how long it's taken him to get his skills with magic here anywhere near what they would be in Tir Na Nog.]

[troublereduction]

Oh, 'cause you worked to be the biqe, yeah? [ That was the impression Day got. ] What sorts of things are you used to doin'?

[mirristry]

Lately it's been more research than anything else, although I did have to teleport a considerable number of people recently.

[And then promptly collapsed, but Day doesn't need to know that part.]

In theory, magic of that caliber should be possible here as well, but... well. As far as I know, none of us are capable of a feat like that yet.

For Ginger

[troublereduction]

[ When it's two wizards cleaning up a ton of dead animals and mana stones in a forest full of toxins, sometimes the only thing you can do to try and make this busy work more bearable is chit-chat. ]

Hey Ginger, have you ever eaten a mana stone?

[ And maybe this is a morbid question to be asking, but Day's kind of curious. He's been mulling ever since a sack of mana stones just showed up in his room one day.

(...For some reason, there's a faint scent of fresh orchids starting to waft in?) ]

[lustro]

[ Ginger’s distracted by the work they’re doing; it’s a grim matter to have to deal with death. He’s so rarely surrounded by animals, that there’s a sort of sorrow that falls over him in this forest. So when Day speaks, his answer is distracted: ]

Hm? No… is that something we’re supposed to be doing?

[ Are animal carcasses supposed to smell… sweet? ]

Doesn’t sound like rocks would taste good…

[troublereduction]

Hmm, I ain't sure. Shortstuff told me 'bout how one way to grow stronger is to eat mana stones. [ ... ] 'Cept, well, mana stones are either dead magical creatures or dead wizards. Dunno if I wanna get stronger from that.

[ He won't comment on whether they're even supposed to taste like anything, or that this means they'll become rocks themselves if they somehow die here.

Eventually, he looks up in mild confusion. ]

...You smell that, Ginger?

[lustro]

Ah.

[ It’s an idea that gives him pause and he blinks slowly at Day. The existence of celestial beings depends on the belief of people, so when they fade, they fade like a forgotten thought, as though they were never there at all.

But… dead wizards remain as mana stones?

In a way, he supposes that’s nice - to have something left of yourself for someone else… ]

… Um. [ Another blink, another waft of that out of place scent. ] Yeah. Yeah, I do.

[troublereduction]

[ For Day, the fact they could turn to a bunch of pretty stones is a...somewhat disconcerting thought, because he's always been mortal. Even if they leave something behind, isn't it kind of sad that you can't show your face to those who survive you in death? But perhaps the native wizards have a different opinion on this.

And, well. Judging by Ginger's reaction, he's also taking it pretty differently, but that's not surprising whenever Day remembers Ginger is also a celestial. Not that different from a god, really. ]

I thought we had our protection spells up...

[ They should not be smelling fresh flowers, so clearly something is up.

When Day looks down, he sees the forest ground is a clean marble floor now. Recognition hits him, followed by "oh shit", but by then, it's a little too late.

The scenery changes. They're in a place not unlike the manor, but cleaner and more luxurious, the decor made of ivory and the scent of fresh orchids especially strong. They seem to be in a dining room, where a somewhat younger Day is talking to a woman.

It's not a fun conversation. Ginger might be one of the few people to be able to tell when this had to have happened: after destiny came for Day at the appointed hour. There's an aching sense of being hollowed out; the emptiness of a life left behind and which can never be returned to; the realisation that you either lie down and give up, or you take the lifeline thrown to you and keep walking, even if your savior also represents what took everything from you.

("Love endures" is both a blessing and a curse, depending on how you look at it.)

The real Day...does not look so much hurt as he does kind of chagrined. The awkwardness of having something profoundly unpleasant in his life exposed to someone else. ]

[lustro]

[ He’s confused, at first, before his thoughts go to - the cube. But… no, no it’s dormant in his pocket, possibly broken completely, with no trace of divinity leaking from it. It can’t be from him…

So then… he glances at Day and sees the shift in his expression. It’s too late to do anything, but watch and listen.

And he finds… it terribly typical of a celestial organization to work this way, yet he knows enough now to hate it. It is unfair to expect humans of all beings to become the tools of fate, when angels themselves are first and foremost God’s tools before His children. And gods could easily create the tools they need to work this cosmic machine of theirs - easily. They don’t need humans; that they still use them… is an indifferent cruelty spun into necessity. The wheels spinning for the mass are more important than the lives of a couple of individuals.

Moss, he hears and thinks of vibrant green hair. There were other names, too. He breathes in through his nose, out his mouth - a sigh, a way to buffer this emptiness for the words that follow. ]

You know, you’re not that boy anymore - the one who said he’d join. Do you still believe that the people you love will always forget you, Day? … Moss?

[troublereduction]

[ Day would beg to differ, but only because he knows by now his world seems to have turned out to be a right mess in all the ways that matter. The gods are powerful but limited, the reason why mortal agents are still needed is that managing destiny is more of an art than science, and...once, becoming a Sidereal was nowhere as cruel as it is now, if what he's heard from his seniors is to be believed, and it's their own damned faults it became that way.

The wheels spinning for the masses are more important than the lives of a couple of individuals, still. ]

I don't think it's a matter of believin' when it's inevitable fact.

[ Said neutrally, because as far as Day's concerned, it's true. But now there's an addendum: ]

It's just...things are different here. And I guess I finally got tired of givin' up and decided to do somethin' 'bout it. [ Thus, the search for a solution. It's almost funny what two months in a different world has done to him. ]

[lustro]

[ His lips curve into something that’s reminiscent of a tired smile - or maybe a grimace. ]

Aren’t you saying opposite things right now?

[ A rhetorical question. But he sounds a little glad that Day hasn’t let the emptiness consume him. ]

I wonder… what this is? [ He means the memory and why it’s playing for them. ] Do you think about this moment a lot?

[troublereduction]

[ Day gives a wry smile in return ]

Bet it sounds like that. [ ... ] But even if it's inevitable, I can't remember the last time I wanted to have hope in somethin' pointless. [ An affirmation of a sort, to whatever Ginger may be thinking. ]

...I heard that this forest makes people see things. It's why people sometimes come here if they wanna die gently, supposedly. [ You thought the morbid talk was over? Haha. ] And maybe I've been thinkin' 'bout it more often lately, 'cause this damn world sees fit to keep pickin' at a certain wound the past few weeks.

[lustro]

It’s not pointless. You’re - not pointless either. Help stitch yourself up with that change first.

[ So this world can stop picking at an open wound.

He looks at the trees, at the sky peeking through the branches and leaves - and sighs. A forest with the power to see into people’s memories… What are the chances that this would happen twice? ]

Did you… want this to happen?

[ Since it sounds like Day knew beforehand. ]

[troublereduction]

[ ...You know, for all Ginger would say he isn't kind, Day thinks it still means something that he bothers to tell him this sort of thing.

But to Ginger's question: ]

Hell no. [ Please, he knows people won't be happy to see that part of his life. Why would he want it to happen? ] It's just that ever since that damned ghost gave us the longest mornin' of our lives, it seems to keep remindin' me of the worst day of my life?

[ So, you know, he isn't surprised that a part of it is on display here. Unsure if this is an improvement over the nightmares he had for a while. ]

...You doin' okay? [ Since Day knows that even if it's just a memory, seeing it while being in Day's metaphorical shoes probably wasn't great either. ]

[lustro]

[ That smile… ]

Well, I’m glad it was me since - … you’re important to me so I want to know this stuff if it bothers you. Just sorry you didn’t get a say in showing it.

I did that to someone important once… It’s probably my biggest regret? [ It’s still raw, the memory of what he’s done, so he brings the subject back to Day. ] Next time I’ll just ask before this can happen again.

[ He holds out his hand, casual in the way he offers, and he thinks - that’s how it should be with them. Everything a little better when it’s them. And maybe Day will smile something not angry.

(Though Ginger can appreciate that smile, too.) ]