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lunaecalamitas2024-05-18 12:19 pm
promittere) wrote in lunaecalamitas2024-05-18 12:19 pm
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...
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.
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...
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.
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?
no subject
But he doesn't even get to finish that thought before the emotions hit him like a tidal wave. Yes, he had envied Ix, he had wanted everything Ix had, and he had hated him. He had wanted to be Ix. Yet at the same time, he'd...]
... yes...
[He'd loved Ix, just as he'd loved Mileena.]
I... I love them both...
['Love,' because even after everything, after Ix's death at the hands of the Bifrost Empire and Mileena subconsciously trying to push him away out of guilt for what had happened on the day of the picnic, the flame of his feelings still burns bright.
His voice cracks on the word, the sight of Day's face in front of him turning blurry from tears. He understands now, deep down, why he feels the way he does about this man, and the guilt at the idea that on some level he's been seeking a replacement for Ix makes his heart twist painfully. He really is a fool...]
no subject
That is why he lets Phil's tears wet his hands, and the look he has is, perhaps, a little lonely. He won't claim to understand someone he's never met and has only known through someone else's memories, but...perhaps wishfully, he thinks he might understand what Ix was thinking back then, at least a little.
(And he wonders if Phil sees a bit of Ix in him too, but—that's fine. Day can't say he doesn't see a bit of Sparrow in Phil, sometimes.) ]
Then...I think I understand. [ Why Phil did what he did, and why he won't hate Phil for it. ]
no subject
And it's selfish and horrible and he hates himself for it even as Day's thumbs stroke his tears away in a gesture so gentle it only serves to make them flow harder. He wants to take a step forward, to move closer (would Day embrace him, or is that simply his own selfish delusion?)...
... but he takes a step back instead, because in the end he is and always will be selfish.]
no subject
Selfishly, he doesn't want to just let Phil go like that. If he can't keep holding Phil's face (a gesture he finds himself wishing he could do in a happier, kinder circumstance), then he'll reach out to try taking Phil's hand into his own. ]
Phil.
[ Please let me stay close.
...But that would be too much for him to say. ]
I don't hate you.
no subject
[It is, to him, a simple fact, just as the sky is blue and water is wet. It only makes sense for everyone else to hate him as much as he hates himself.
Yet even as he says this, when that hand closes around his, he can't bring himself to pull away (all he'd ever wanted was for someone to reach out their hand to him). All of the fight has gone out of him at this point; he's too emotionally drained to protest further, especially to someone who seems so hellbent on not letting him go in more than one sense of the word.
(And, in the depths of his heart, that selfishness wants Day to keep clinging to him just like this.)]
no subject
[ Because understanding doesn't change the fact that Phil has done wrong. If Day's gut is right, probably more than just what was talked about too, because love rarely even just stops short of making it everyone else's problem. ]
But I can't. ...I won't.
[ That is also true for him too. He gently squeezes Phil's hand. ]
We can go whenever you're ready. [ Day's magic will hold up. ]
no subject
... then at last gives that hand a very tentative squeeze back. If Day isn't going to let go of his hand - if he really, truly thinks he means what he says - then Phil is going to hold tight to it for as long as he can, even knowing how much more it's going to hurt when Day finally and inevitably changes his mind.]
All right. We should continue looking for the stones.
[They have a job to do, after all.]
no subject
But as they walk, the floor turns into something wooden, and the hallway turns into the dim backstage of a theatre. The path leads to a stage in the distance, and Day's steps slow down as recognition settles in. ]
Oh. [ As in, "oh shit". ]
...This ain't gonna be pleasant. [ Which he says because he just knows he's not going to have any other say in what will most likely follow. ]
no subject
(He doubts what he can offer will amount to much at all.)]
Should I close my eyes?
[He knows it would only do so much good when he can still hear everything that is going on, but somehow it only feels fair to ask.]
no subject
[ ... ]
It'll prob'ly upset you still. [ Day merely looks resigned, however. He'll let Phil decide if that means "yes" or "no". ]
no subject
[Because to Phil, that's the most important part, not whether he himself will be upset by seeing it. If Day had the courage to stare straight at Phil's ugliness without looking away, doing the same thing for Day in return is the very least that Phil can do.]
I don't want to see anything you don't wish me to.
no subject
Day could almost find this funny, if only because this world somehow keeps surprising him. First time anyone's asked him this sort of question, especially since he figured the question of whether or not he'd be upset simply wasn't relevant. He's already going to be upset just reliving this again, anything else is simply just extras sprinkled on top.
He probably shouldn't feel grateful that Phil asked, but he does, just a little. ]
Nah. I'm more worried 'bout how you'll feel after.
[ A beat. ]
...Try not to blame yourself, 'kay? [ He has a sneaking suspicion some of this is going to hit in an unexpected way that only Phil will get. ]