let the magic take control, it's there wherever you go

[promittere]

CADENZA DI FIRST QUARTER

On this bright and sunny morning, Sage Tatara and Mentor G'raha call a meeting. It's mandatory.

Once every wizard is gathered in the lounge, Tatara settles into one of the plush armchairs, clearly too big for him, but absent is any of his silly expressions that might make light of the difference in size here. Instead, with a serious hue in his coral eyes and neatly pressed lilac dress shirt, he looks like he means business.

"Now that the Western wizards are back, we need to share what we've learned with each other. I know some of you have been sharing information privately amongst yourselves, but I think it's time we put all the pieces we have together.

"Everyone encountered a moon stone on their missions, and I think the general consensus is that neutralizing these stones brings the old wizards back physically, somehow. But we haven't received any reports of any of them waking up yet."

That isn't to mention the sage, who still remains missing...ostensibly. They'll get to that in a second.

"If there's anything else you've learned that you think might be related to these things, or to our situation specifically, then speak up now."

For a summary of everything discussed in the meeting, please see this comment. Thank you Mauyn!

When the conversation dies down, Tatara raises his hand to get his attention back on him and G'raha again.

"For the second order of business, I have good news and bad news."

His tone and expression are lighter this time.

"The good news is that we've found a ritual that can send everyone back. There are details we can work out in the meanwhile, especially if you've decided not to go back to your home world, but for now, we need to talk about the ritual itself.

"In order for the ritual to work, we will need rare materials from all over the world. I'll be posting the materials on the job board so you know where to look."

G'raha adds, "We'll need these materials by next week, before the full moon. There's a reason for that, but we'll touch on that in a moment."

Tatara glances at him and nods.

"The ritual is far too powerful for any of us to perform, so we'll have to wait until the old wizards wake up. But...I have a feeling we might be able to do something about that."

When Tatara stands, G'raha follows suit.

"There's one last thing I need to show you."

With a silent gesture, Tatara makes for the door of the lounge and expects everyone to follow. Yes, everyone.

Sage and mentor then lead everyone down the winding corridors of the manor, past an indiscreet door into a wing of the building that has remained relatively untouched. The lights here are off, but the chandeliers and sconces quietly flick on as they make their way down the dust-laden corridors.

Soon, all will notice that the halls they walk through are a mirror image of the residential section of the manor, except it seems no one has lived here for quite a while.

You're led up the stairs, where Tatara and G'raha stop before a door that is a mirror location to Tatara's room on the second floor. A faint energy pulses from inside, one belonging to a person unfamiliar to all.

After an exchanged glance, Tatara pushes open the door and G'raha steps inside. He gestures to the sight at the center of the room: there, on his knees, is a young man. His face is frozen, twisted in panic—in fact, all of him is frozen, and his image practically see-through, just scarcely flickering on the razor-thin edge of existence. He holds his fist high above his head, as though clinging, with dear life, to five faint ethereal threads—yellow, purple, blue, pink, and green—that float in the air above his head. The threads are just as faint as he is, fading before they reach the walls.

"This is the previous sage," Tatara says. "He appeared here a little before the Western wizards returned from their mission. I'm guessing whatever they did to the last moon fragment is related."

G'raha nods. "The sage's soul seems incomplete. Putting him back together may be the key to waking him, and the rest of the wizards, up. However—" he pauses, reaching to gently run a finger over the purple thread. It flickers faintly. "The energy in these threads is too faint to see where they lead. They do seem to grow in strength as we get closer to the full moon, though. It's likely we'll see what lies at the end of them when the time comes, next week."

"Next week," Tatara repeats. G'raha steps out of the room, and Tatara closes the door behind him. "We'll wake him up next week.

"But before that, we have materials to collect."

JOB BOARD

An important note for these tasks is that they are time sensitive. At least one completed thread of each material must be submitted before 11:59 AM EDT, June 22 for the gathering of the materials to be considered successful. Now's the time to coordinate and work together.

Water from the Lost Oasis. Mesa was once a great city of commerce in the southern part of the Central country...the part of the country that is now a vast desert. The city was once lost to the sands, and though it is said to have recently emerged from its sandy grave, it is still rather difficult to find in the desert. It is very easy to get lost, even on broom, so be careful.

Either way, your task is to collect a bottle-ful of water from this barren oasis. Your only choices may be to commune with the spirits to have them to show you a phantasm of what the bustling city was like in its heyday, before it was destroyed, or to brute force dig your way to the ground water. Why here, when there are other oases in the desert? This is an ancient place of power, and the land is special.

The Central spirits here are very old and very picky—Northern wizards beware, as your presence may not be entirely welcome. Acting out may cause the spirits to lash out and cause sandstorms.

The Frozen Oz Root. Named after the world's most powerful wizard, the Oz flower is a brilliant crimson and deathly poisonous. It grows in the vast snowy plains of the North, but it is said to be exceedingly rare, despite how the color of the flower stands out so starkly against the white of the snow. Finding it will not be easy and you will need sharp, tireless eyes.

Despite how beautiful the flower is, that is not what we need. All of the flower's poison is housed in its roots, and we need the poison. However, the most important thing is that the roots remain frozen. Do not let it thaw. Once it thaws, the poison loses the quality we need for the ritual.

A Storm in a Bottle. It's the fickle quality of the spirits in the Valley of Storms that cause the eponymous storms. They're shy and sensitive, a lot like the Eastern wizards themselves, and don't require a lot of prodding to elicit any sort of reaction from them. Your job is to agitate the spirits in the valley just enough to cause a storm, and to catch that storm, lightning and thunder and rain and all, in a bottle for use in the ritual. Western wizards in particular will have an easy time stressing them out, but be careful not to push the sensitive spirits too far—the valley is also known as the Valley of the Lost for a reason (don't get trapped, please come home!).

In contrast, if you accidentally make the spirits happy, they might take the form of cats instead... Which is nice, but the manor isn't exactly aching for more cats. Just don't get too distracted playing with them if this happens, okay?

Blood of the Last Monster. The Western military and word on the street will tell you that all of the magical monsters in the West have been slain, their mana stones harvested. But is that true, when there has been no word of the death of the mythical tarasque? The legend of the tarasque tells of a large, ancient beast with six bear paws for legs and a massive turtle shell on its back, who slumbers in the depths of a remote ravine among the mountains on the Western Country's northern border. You are to collect a vial of this ancient creature's blood. Nothing more, nothing less.

Be careful not to wake it, and be careful not to kill it. If awakened, there's no telling if anyone would be able to stop a creature of that size and caliber. And if killed, its mana stones would attract all the wrong kind of attention. Besides, doesn't the West still deserve to keep some of its native fauna, magical or otherwise?

Pestilence Frog Mucus. Though once a plague-ridden bog, the Swamp of Pestilence is now home to a thriving, diverse, and healthy ecosystem. It's now also home to a very rare type of frog, its stunning green, yellow, and blue stripes eye-catching and attractive. However, this frog only emerges from the depths of the bog on a clear twilight after a day of rain in the rainy season...except the Southern rainy season isn't for another few months yet. You don't exactly have the time to wait until then, do you? You'll have to figure out a way to trick the frog into thinking it's the rainy season to lure it out, or dig it out by force... Either way, you'll need at least a vial's worth of this frog's mucus. Make sure the swamp water (or rain water, for that matter) doesn't contaminate it.

OOC NOTES

🌙 Welcome to your final final mingle! It's time to share info and get down to business.
🌙 How do you feel about the bonds you've forged thus far? Was it all worth it?
🌙 Pair guesses are now closed! Thank you and congratulations to all who found their pair!
🌙 A reminder that rewards close at 11:59 PM EDT, June 19, and that includes mission rewards. If you have not submitted rewards for your mission participation yet, then now's your last chance!
🌙 Speaking of time limits, if you missed it above, all materials must be submitted before the finale for the gathering to be considered a success. Plan your time and your threads wisely.
🌙 Your OOC plotting post is here. Please note that this plotting post doubles as the sign-up for the finale and final encounter. Read it over carefully and fill out the form if you'd like to die play.
🌙 Speaking of, what do you think is happening next week...?

» NAVIGATION

Comments

MEETING MINGLE

[promittere]

(( The meeting has been called, and your information is needed. Please keep your meeting information and mingling contained to this toplevel.

And since time is fake, please feel free to discuss material gathering and the previous sage here as well. ))

[1145pm]

[ Here's your sage! With a sagely question. ]

Two things, mostly out of personal curiosity.

One—who knows about Oz?

Two—has anyone talked about him outside of the manor?

[impacter]

[Raising his hand, hi.]

Yes to the first, no to the second. Not in regards to his current state, at least.

Has there been an escalation?

[fellheart]

Yes, and yes, but only amongst others from here, while isolated.

[ broomstick chatter and all that. ]

Has there been a development of some sort?

[leewards]

[Is a bit smug since he's the one who got the info. The barrier around the castle is his, after all. But, for transparency...]

Yes to the first as I'd been physically inside the castle before the current barrier was erected. A barrier that I built myself.

However, no to the second. I'd only given the information about Oz-- and the prince-- to four people and kept my mouth shut afterwards. If anyone else knows, they had either found out for themselves, or were told by another.

[And now he's silent in order to wait for questions or interjections.]

[troublereduction]

Found out 'bout Oz from Ithaqua, and no, I haven't. Did somethin' come up?

[lighthaus]

[ well tatara knows all of this but for transparency's sake on the meeting- ]

Yes and No. Maya and I have been reinforcing the barrier at the castle each week.

[foresightis2020]

One, I do.

Two, only in regards early on to the legends surrounding him, and not in regards to his current state.

[ Talk about Oz's general state has been confined to the manor. ]

[fallingsand]

Solomon told me about him but no? I mean, I know who he is, not... no to two, that's what. I meant that.

[ Who would Bruno talk to outside of the manor, anyway? ]

[dadsandals]

I know a little bit from Solomon, but I haven't talked to him myself.

[ :worry: ]

[revengier]

I know about him. Both Ahito and Khun discussed the subject with me.

[ He crosses his arms. ]

Ahito and I had a discussion during the beach party Bruno held, early in the morning and with no one around. We checked.

[ So, isolated as well, just like Robin. ]

I assume you're asking because his presence was discovered in some way, wasn't it?

[annihilator]

Yes an' no. Why are ya askin'?

[dyingtohealyou]

Yes and yes, but as Kurapika said, it's the same as Robin - we only ever discussed it when we were sure we were isolated.

[lustro]

[ Who?

Ginger shakes his head at both questions. ]

NORTH MISSION DETAILS

[impacter]

[Oof. Well, might as well get things started besides Tatara's question.]

Let's at least present what we know, and perhaps those that can fill in the blanks will be kind enough to speak up.

Those of us assigned to the North were teleported outside the City of Ice a little over three weeks ago by an unknown force, which we believe was from Snow and White. We were faced with an enormous chimera, and the majority of our mission was simply defeating it and keeping it from causing further damage to the city. While we had two witches intercept us in a claim to take over the kill for their own merit and magical power, it seemed they were there by chance, and only chance. Both of those witches perished, and the chimera was downed soon afterwards.

The moonstone we found was inside of the chimera, and immediately had to be purified on the creature's death. At the time of the mission, we had no evidence of how the rock was obtained, nor how it was moved due to its size, nor how the creature emerged from it.

[He lets that settle, since he's pretty sure a lot of people have already obtained this information by now, but no stones left unturned here and all that.]

As for myself, I'd spoken to a Northern representative back during the ball in our first month that expressed concerns in regards to tensions between North and Central, due to connections with Oz and the crown prince. At the time, with a lack of evidence and other factors, I held it as a point of suspicion and only that. I investigated Oz's castle on my own, though I wasn't able to do much before being kicked out. Several of you helped me to followup with the village itself in the wake of my mission injuries, which I've been grateful for.

I don't know if this tension has a part to play in the grander scheme, given that Oz is now a topic of discussion, but I in part saw no suspicious activity from that part of the world in the time I was there.

[fellheart]

Using this as a jumping off point, I suppose...

I, too, spoke to a Northern representative at the ball. They, hailing from the City of Ice, didn't express any political concerns about Central country but moreso ones about their general day to day. Snow and White had apparently foisted a gaggle of children abandoned by somewhere else in the North off on them— [ the north sucks, guys, lmao ] —and they, due to a recent uptick in monster activity near the settlements and common travel routes, found themselves worried about having enough hands to actually feed and provide for everyone.

[ living in the north sucks, guys, lmao! ]

I independently investigated the monsters' movements afterwards. Unlike the ones in the east, where the heightened aggression seemed more because they simply seemed hungry, the ones in the north seemed displaced, their territories running into places they hadn't before. Tracking their movements and heading towards wherever and whatever it seemed they were trying to avoid led to an old crater in a remote and isolated part of the north, far from any other settlements up there.

The same signature clung to it as the one at the cleanup site in the east. This is where the moonstone we'd dealt with originated from, as an almost absolute certainty. By my estimation, judging by the way the fresher snowfall left in the crater lay ... The stone was moved from the crater some weeks before the ball. I would hazard to say that the rough timeframe coincides approximately with when we were summoned here, but it's difficult to get much more accurate than that at the point I came across it.

I asked Ithaqua along on a repeat visit just to see if he'd catch anything I missed. We've checked on the site since, just in case there were signs of movement nearby, but I can't say we ever found anything. I believe I've informed a few about this already. Our Sage, at the least, though ...

[ hm. ]

I will note— on the stone we purified and recovered, it seemed there was something deliberate done to it. There's an odd, angular cut on it where it seems there's a sliver missing, and not just by happenstance.

I believe Jing Yuan inquired about whether it might be worth it to track the chimera's movement back. My opinion was that it could not hurt, given the oddities of the situation. I cannot say what became of his efforts.

SOUTH MISSION DETAILS

[fallingsand]

[ Well, since Solomon is laying down all the Northern deets, Bruno figures everyone could use a refresher on the Southern mission. Wow, that feels so long ago now. ]

Uh, right, so when the Southern Country reached out for our help, it had something to do with a wheat field making their farmers sick. It was only that one and since the South has pretty limited resources, losing that field would have been, well, bad. We flew down to the village that was having these problems and split up to look at the field, talk to the village's mayor, and check the surroundings for anything else suspicious.

Turns out the only suspicious thing was these corrupted stalks of wheat at the center of the field. It was giving off the worst vibes I've ever felt and the plants tried to grab anyone who got too close to it.

That said, we, uh, we decided to try and help the farmers first. That same corruption was what was making them sick and we were able to cleanse them of that and... and we... w-well... anyway, that.

[ Bruno can leave out the gory details of needing to amputate a whole leg. Ahem. ]

That settled that but we still had to deal with the corruption in the field. We went back the next morning and had to combine all of our magic to get through to the center of the corrupted wheat. We dug up what turned out to be that first moon rock and got that cleansed, too. Once we did, those lights that we know are the original wizards now showed up and thanked us.

Theeen we took the rock and came back. Yeah. That was. That was pretty much it.

WESTERN INTERFERENCE AND EXPLOSIONS

[dyingtohealyou]

I found this out back at that party with the representatives, but the Western Magitek Army apparently sent an expedition to some hidden labs. Something involving the original Wizards resulted in an explosion which left only one survivor - the man I spoke to, though he was still injured.

He also kept blaming the original wizards the whole time and kept insisting it wasn't his fault.

[Much convincing wow.]

...According to Tatara, the timing lines up pretty well with an explosion that happened in the East. The one we were cleaning up, as a matter of fact. And, according to Syrlya, a representative from the City of Rain claimed that a western expedition team was caught cleaning up the explosion, too - they blamed the previous wizards then, even.

WESTERN MISSION DETAILS

[foresightis2020]

We were initially assigned a mission in which we were to check in on the Schropfers' Estate. There were apparently reports, in a suspicious letter by General Gilles Barnett, that there were people who went missing in that area following the hiring of a man claiming to be a necromancer by the Schropfers.

When we arrived, we found no one available, the mansion itself quiet, and with no way to see into the windows inside unless by a very strong lightsource. One the door had been opened, it was easy to sense the power of the moon rock's influence, which had affected all of which was inside, including the two survivors. Upon entry we found it mostly dark, and soon discovered in one of the rooms the Schropfers' daughter, Elizabeta. She was one of those whose appearance had been corrupted by the magic from the moon rock.

According to her, it turned out the man hired was not exactly a necromancer, but meant to pose as one in order to bolster the diminishing wealth of those nobles based upon such claims. How so? That would be by attracting interested parties to watch the shows this man put on with the actors he's hired pretending to be a necromancer; as a result, those people paid the Estate. However, things started to take a turn for the worst even when money came in.

The man had posted what he called 'lanterns' all over the manor walls, from which emerged creatures not unlike specters; they appeared skeletal and are difficult to defeat by traditional means. As in, physical and magical attacks would be normally reflected back. One had to disable the lantern in order to make quick work of them on a temporary basis due to how they were 'constructed'. Elizabeta's parents met their ends at the hands of one of those creatures.

We found their bodies in the room adjacent of the one Elizabeta was in, and located their keys. After dealing with the monster there, there was the remaining actor found, who was transformed into a wolf-like being; nothing of importance was gained from him but the room he was in allowed us to ascend without any trouble. Unlike how attempting to do so from the front stairs seemed to be met with strong repelling magic.

Once we were upstairs we found the so-called false necromancer, who had rearranged his...outward appearance with metallic implants. If you want the gruesome details I could elaborate but I don't think it necessary. [ That will definitely get you cw warning, but hey. ] We found him in such a state where he appeared to be working on more of those lanterns I suspect, surrounded by boxes filled with mechanical parts and mana stones. When we engaged him, he was incapable of speech and needed to be put down.

In the midst of this, the mana rock, which was opened by one of the keys, was also purified. The manor collapsed following the completion of all this, and when we made our escape we took notice that Elizabeta and the remaining actor were changed back to their original state.

Ah, and one more matter:

We happened to get a glimpse of four red orbs that made their appearance with something like appreciation tinged with mischievousness and playfulness radiating from them before they made their get away.

[ The implications are clear, though. No one else survived, and hey that seems to be all. ]

VISIONS OF THE END?

[fallingsand]

[ After folks have discussed Oz enough and have shared the details of their missions, Bruno does his best to try and call everyone's attention back to him. He doesn't like doing it but this is the best time. This entire meeting, he's had a bundle of something somewhat square-shaped on his lap, wrapped in a blanket, but now he gets to his feet and unwraps it.

Under the blanket is a pane of roughly hewn green glass, fainting glowing. To a more wizardly sense, it would come off as made completely of magic. Bruno's magic, to be precise. ]

Um, so, before we all scatter, there's something I wanted to share. I. I figure most people know I can see into the future by now but if you didn't know that yet, er, sorry. I can.

[ Bruno will never not apologize for being a prophet, sorry. ]

I've tried to figure out how this will all end before and the first time, I got four possible outcomes. It's. You know, futures aren't always set in stone. There's wiggle room sometimes, hence more than one outcome. Anyway. After everyone got back from that whole mess in the West, I went out and tried again. We're down to two now, which is... well... I wouldn't call it an improvement.

I saw the mansion, destroyed by fire, and I saw twenty-five figures facing the moon, which... which by now, I'm pretty sure is us. S-so, y'know, I think we're maybe, kinda, sorta...

[ Wow, what's a good word for this? ]

To be crass, I guess, we're probably fucked?

[ Yeah, there we go. His single approved use of the f-word (in English). ]

Or I'm wrong. I'm not, like, all-knowing or anything. A-anyway. You. You can see what I saw on the tablet. Just move it one way or the other to see the different. The different visions.

[ yaaay what a fun way to end the meeting ]

Eastern Mission Details

[lustro]

[ Ginger presents last because public speaking is something he has to steel himself for. ]

The City of Rain sent us a blood-soaked letter requesting aid against sentient... clockwork... automatons - the same ones we were cleaning up the week or two prior. When we flew there, the streets were empty of people, but filled with... armed automatons and song.

[ His eyes flick toward Yamato who was pretty pissed off by that, he remembers. ]

The automatons had the engraving of the Collodi Workshop on the back of their necks - and they were powered by purple magic. Some of them were mere guards, some of them were just there to sing, and the loudest singing was from the city square. They were singing love and longing to the moon. One of them told us that it would embark and no one would stop it.

"We wish to return to the place that loves us, that we love, too."

[ Ginger remembers this clearly because it had left such an impression on him at the time. He hadn't expected the moon to weaponize love. ]

Each automaton carried a piece of the moon inside it, cut and polished by Joseph Collodi, and desired to be made whole once reunited with the moon itself. The source of the magic powering them was not in the city square, however, but the Collodi Workshop in the Artisan District. We had to purify the seal protecting that place. I say we, but it was Phil...

[ A glance at said man. Is he still without magic? ]

And as is the case with all the other corrupted areas, the air changed as soon as we stepped inside. Collodi himself was dead, slumped over his desk and had been for a couple of days. The only sign of injury was a dark bruise at his neck, which is strange considering the automatons were armed.

The moon rock was located downstairs, locked in a drawer, resonating with terrible and dangerous energy. Most of us had protection spells, but... [ East happened. ] I think the rest should be explained by one of the others. I didn't exactly see what happened.

Oh - but I heard from Mika, who heard from Ahito, that the spirits? Or something? Of the original wizards thanked his group at the end of their mission. I don't think I heard anything thanking us, but... if they were Eastern wizards...

[ It would be more like: get rescued, float awkwardly in the air for a moment, get the fuck out of there before anyone risks being social and using actual words to say actual things, exist awkwardly elsewhere preferably in a hole. ]

WESTERN COUNTRY & GENERAL BARNETT

[lighthaus]

Back at the ball, I met General Barnett of Western Country. We hit it off pretty quickly and he invited me after to get a real feel of Western Country with him, including a tour of their research facilities. In general his aim was to feel me out and also encourage me and by extension other wizards under the Sage that our life would be better in the West—a whole wine and dine deal, literally.

We met several times and I took Cid with me to each, you can confirm with him the details if you don't believe me. Anyway, I told him what he wanted to hear and he in turn continued to try to schmooze me—I'm not under any real impression that either of us thought we really knew the other, but that's how noble society is. The Officer's Club is pretty nice, by the way.

Things of note: their R&D department is focused heavily on the continued use of mana stones as a way to harness magic for themselves, with notable projects being: light emitters, flight packs, and resonance neutralizers. The latter is the most concerning as theoretically it would enable them to neutralize magic from a source with a specific magic signature. From what I could gather it's not deployment ready, but that could have been an underestimation on their part.

Lately General Barnett seemed focused on the West's relationship with Central Country, which is concerning given Oz's location. He was optimistic that this relationship would be turning for the better shortly, most likely because Vincent is in charge of Central now as he's always had a good relationship with the West. The lab explosion out East wasn't under his direct purview by the way, but I know he looked into it afterwards.

All of that being said, it's obvious the West is power hungry and would want nothing more than to have all our stones for themselves. The letter he sent asking for our assistance in the recent Western mission made that even more glaringly obvious. As far as I know they're not aware of Oz's presence in Central, but given the politics of the matter, I assume it'll be a matter of when not if. To that end Maya and I have been reinforcing the barrier every week, like I said before.

FATED PAIRS

[dyingtohealyou]

Speaking of, how many of you found your fated pair, who is it, and have you tried out your spell yet?

Kurapika and I realized we're partnered shortly after the Central mission, for example.

[More specifically after the possession incident but we don't need to mention that.]

CENTRAL MISSION DETAILS

[revengier]

I may as well share a full account of the mission that Central went on.

[ So here goes nothing! Kurapika at least is incredibly meticulous, so you can bet he won't skip out on any important details. ]

We were summoned by two men from Granvelle Castle, namely the Minister of Arcane Management whose name I believe was Drummond. Regardless, he didn't exactly trust us, though he was professional. We were called upon to address a haunting that had grown so dire that the castle staff were refusing to come to work. They wanted us to neutralize what they presumed to be the item causing the haunting. [ ... ] I imagine they were afraid of just how bad it could become if they were willing to summon us there despite their obvious dislike.

[ ANYWAY. ]

That said, they accompanied us as we rode to the castle on horseback. The item we were looking was located in the vault, so we made our way down there. Of course, we encountered a large number of spirits, quite typical of ghost stories that I believe are common in other worlds. They were standing guard, determined to protect an individual by the name of Alec.

[ Which he may as well throw that name out there, in case it has some significance for someone here. ]

Ah, interestingly enough, they thought Akira was someone by the name of Lennox, so that did allow us to slip past the first few spirits without much of a fuss.

[ He'll just... skip past the long string of failure (aside from Kiryu) that was trying to fight off the ghosts. ]

The vault itself was dreadful—as in, we were all filled with dread just being in there. I've never felt anything quite like it, though I'm sure the rest of you know that feeling by now as being associated with the moon rocks. After fighting back ghosts and purifying the rock, we were thanked by four spirits, pale golden in color. Afterwards, we were allowed to stay overnight in the castle, which we all took advantage of.

As an aside, sharing the vault with the fragment of the moon was the Caledfwlch, the very sword that forced Central country. Prior to this mission, I had spoken with someone from Central regarding this sword. He had quite the attitude over it, so I imagine its location is still a hotly contested debate even now.

[ He shoves his hands into his pockets. ]

I'm sure everyone knows by now, but I made contact with the fragment of the moon before it had been purified. I'm well aware it was a stupid decision, so if anyone here would like to share that sentiment aloud, they'll be immediately silenced with a spell. [ Don't try him!! ] What I've been afflicted with manifests randomly, and I don't mind giving details on a one-on-one basis, but know that I've learned how to manage it since. Regardless, this affliction is insight into a portion of the perils we could face here. It's valuable information to have firsthand experience with, at least.

[ And, a pause. ]

...I believe I don't need to go into detail about the possession that followed this mission either.

CATHERD AND REGROUP, AS DONE BY DRAGON; 1/2

[fellheart]

[ at some point during the meeting, once everyone's talked quite a bit out and at least a few incidents of drama have blazed up, robin sets his pen down, snaps the tome he's been jotting notes down in shut, and clears his throat briefly.

a moment later, there's a much deeper, thrumming and resonant growl ringing through the ears of those assembled. there we go. everyone's attention gotten? very good. yes, he's still human shaped. don't worry about it. ]

All right, enough. [ this is a tone those here have probably not heard from him before outside of a select few in the forest of dreams; specifically, it is the tone of a tactician assigning one's marching orders, a general in the field. it's no-nonsense and brisk, but distinctly free of his usual sardonicism. he cannot believe he's in a situation where he'd be doing anything like this again. ] It seems there's a lot we all wanted to say, and it's true that we've a lot to discuss— but. We are, it seems, possibly starting to talk in circles or get into pointless arguments. [ he's not naming names but you know who you are. ] Why don't we regroup and see where to go from here?

And a warning: if you lot cannot behave yourselves for the duration of the time that we're gathered here, then I'll personally end you myself. Squabble on your own time if you must so long as it doesn't lead to any further incidents, I do understand that it's impossible for everyone here to get along with everyone else, but test my patience and you might find out firsthand how deep my hunger goes.

[ go ahead! try him! volunteer yourself as the first in line to be a snack for dragon.

but also, dryly, as he opens up the book he's holding again: ] Also, should you or your significant other or someone else say anything that happens to make you feel particularly amorous, either please hold off on anything too blatant, or go find a room to work it off. I've been watching Ithaqua throw snowballs at people for any particularly egregious displays of affection, and while it is amusing it is also distracting. Now, if we would...

One. Oz is the most powerful wizard in this particular world. He's one of the oldest among our predecessors, and the scars of his previous actions linger still across the land even today. Don't even think about challenging him no matter how powerful you might have been wherever it is you came from; as a native to this realm he's had much more time to eclipse whatever might you might be able to bring to bear and will even asleep humble you for your hubris if you're lucky. [ solomon. ] This is relevant because the man is currently comatose in Granvelle Castle, much like the other wizards who preceded us albeit in varying locations. Tatara is of the opinion that above all, we cannot let outside parties learn of his status or let his location be compromised while he's convalescing; the things the West might be able to do with mana stones from a man like him need not be described. To that end, several of our number have been regularly checking in on and reinforcing the barriers at the castle, Khun, Maya, and Ithaqua among them to my knowledge.

Two. Bruno's seen two visions of the future. There were more in the beginning, supposedly, but he's since narrowed it down to what currently remains: a vision of the manse on fire, and twenty five figures standing in front of the moon. That's most likely us, as it seems the previous wizards numbered fewer. You can ask Bruno if you wish to view them for yourself; he has them etched onto a screen of some sort. Whether the cause of the flames be because of outside activity, [ west. ] or some other kind of disaster, Kurapika's taken it upon himself to figure out a ... [ beat. did they have fire codes in medieval times. no they didn't. ] -fire plan for the manor given the first vision, by which I mean apparently some of our number are to be tasked with setting up alarms to alert us about where and when any fires may break out, yet others are being made to sort of maps and most efficient routes of evacuation and points of rendezvous, and still yet more of us have been set to figuring out simple methods of communication should we find ourselves trapped or isolated or any such similar things. [ voluntold, more like. ] If you wish to assist or have any suggestions of your own to add, then by all means, go bother him. We'll come back to the topic of the moon or calamity or whichever you want to call it in a moment or two.

[ okay, so maybe he has some sass still to offer. he'll flip a couple of pages, and: ]

Three. The respective wizards of each country have all been given a task to solve by this point, and the main commonality we've all found is that the problems in each one of them sourced back to a fragment or fragments of the moon. Those of the South were called to deal with a fragment that fell in a wheat field, corrupting the field and some of the wheat growing in it, whilst also causing it to sicken the farmers working in it. Those of Central were summoned by officials from Granvelle Castle and tasked with dealing with unquiet spirits, and whatever the cause of them was. I don't think I need to go into detail about the fallout of that one other than that we've all probably learned to take care around cursed stones hellbent on corrupting us and everything else around them. Kurapika notes that he's received a lasting ailment of sorts from the moonstone, and that if anyone has questions about it they can seek him out in private.

Our Eastern wizards were called to handle an uprising of rogue automata, because some fool of a craftsman got it into his head that he could put moonstone fragments into them and make them better, or some nonsense like that. Supposedly, the moonstone fragments gave them the desire to reunite with themselves- that is, the moon itself.

Key from this particular excursion is that fact that the craftsman Collodi likely had collaborators, and mentions having been betrayed by someone in his journals. When those of the East happened upon him he had already been dead for several days, with the only apparent injury being a bruise on his neck, not shaped properly to be stranglement marks. [ poison? magic? something else? y'all did you strip the body or check for what kind of foul play might have been in play. ] Said journals also note that "they" were rebelling against him. Whether this refers to the automata or to the hypothetical third party has been discussed, but I don't believe we've confirmed for certain which it might have been.

I and the others of the North got unceremoniously called away to deal with a chimera the size of an entire village when the barrier protecting the City of Ice fell, as everyone knows by now. Likely the spell was set by the wizards Snow and White prior to meeting with the fate the rest of the wizards did; the echoes embedded in the warp spell spoke in a manner consistent with what people have heard of them, amongst other reasons for our suspecting it to be their work. In the middle of dealing with that we were intercepted by two opportunistic witches. I won't bore you with the details, but all of them, chimera and witches both, are dead now. The chimera itself, in fact, seemed to be burning itself out towards the end... The aura of dread that seems to accompany the rest of these moonstones was not actually apparent until it was on its last legs.

The West, of course, was called to an estate by a General Gilles Barnett. We'll come back to that name later as well, believe me. Supposedly people had been going missing there after the owners of the estate hired a necromancer. [ why. ] By the time they were on the scene all of those still inside and active were warped by the stones, though the two survivors upon being removed from the moonstones' influence apparently reverted to normal.

[ taps his fingers on the spine of his tome. ]

It's more or less been decided, I believe, that the fragment involved in the south was most likely incidental and unrelated to the rest, though it's odd that it suddenly became active enough to cause trouble despite having lain there for a while prior...? The fragment in the castle vault has also supposedly been there for a long time now. An ongoing subject of discussion is where the rest of them were sourced. I can speak for tracing back the source of the moonstone in the north to about several weeks before the ball; as best I can tell, it was removed from its resting place approximately some time around our arrivals here, give or take some margin of error considering that it was well over a month since it must have been moved when I actually managed to find the site. When we recovered the stone from the chimera, there was a sliver missing, an angular cut left on it that looks quite deliberate. The current theory is that the stone found in the west may have been removed from the one in the north, which potentially ties at least two of these incidents together. There's been discussion about whether the moonstone used in the east might have been sourced from the northern one as well, possibly by the same parties that had distributed the stone found in the west, or if it was simply a moon meteor that had fallen there naturally. The eastern moonstones have been cut and polished by now, so it might be difficult to say for sure, and none of these theories are confirmed for certain. We've never found any hint of suspicious facilities or activity in the north, but admittedly, there's certainly a lot of seemingly empty wasteland to hide in up there. Supposely someone overheard a conversation about the west collecting pieces from the meteor from the east, but... That said, while we're on the subject of potential conspiracy...

Four. Khun has mentioned that he met our friend the western general back at the ball. Jing Yuan is of the opinion that the general did not necessarily summon them to the estate in good faith. General Barnett apparently wants to entice us to the West, rather than stay in Central— it seems a fairly standard powergrab, on top of claiming that relations with Central country, historically fraught, are on their way to improving. The army's research division has apparently been working on ways to harness mana stones, one application of which being a device that might be able to neutralize magic based off a specific signature, though Khun is of the opinion it's still not properly finalized.

Speaking of research, Ahito mentions that he spoke to a survivor of some incident involving hidden labs in the East that had ties to the Western Magitek Army. He claims the man was insistent on blaming the incident on the wizards preceding us, but Tatara states that the timeline doesn't match up— that all the previous wizards were nowhere near the East when the incident occurred. [ what kind of transparent false flag operation... ] This incident matches up with the timeline of the explosion in the east we were tasked with cleaning up, for the record, so it's highly likely whatever the army was researching had something to do with moonstone. Supposedly the East also caught expedition teams from the west cleaning up the site, though why that didn't become more of an diplomatic incident is beyond me.

[ point is, the west is godsdamn sus almost to the point of absurdity. and central is now supposedly cozying up to them? hello? ]

Five. The previous sage has reappeared in one of the manor's rooms following the return of our Western wizards ... by a given definition of 'reappear,' in any case. He is currently incorporeal and incapable of being interacted with, more like an incomplete ghost or afterimage of himself who is only halfway there. It seems he may be anchoring something of the wizards who preceded us, as he is holding faint, colored threads representative of each country here. Accordingly, Tatara is also of the opinion that he or the room that he's in must be kept secure and protected. Khun apparently is able to stow him away in an alternate space, to a degree, and Day amongst others has offered his help on obscuring the room from outsiders. Notably, our current Sage has a certain feeling that should anything happen to the previous Sage, we'll all be kept by this world for good. Supposedly we might be able to figure out how to wake the Sage under the light of the full moon, which is in little under a week, but until then he has to be kept safe. There are reagents we need to gather by then as well.