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

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 ]

[impacter]

[Oh. That's... ominous. But there's enough vagueness to that prophecy that Solomon doesn't look panicked.]

Could I take a look at the tablet for a moment?

[fallingsand]

[ Bruno isn't panicked, either, at least. Maybe he's finally convinced no one here will blame him for the visions. ]

Yeah, sure.

[ He'll pass the tablet to Solomon. It's as he said. The two outcomes are etched within the glass rather than physically on the surface, both in great detail. Turning the tablet at one angle or another will reveal whichever vision Solomon wants to look at. ]

[leewards]

[Behind his mask, Ithaqua squints, but of course that's not visible, so he places his hands on his hips to show how much he's thinking about this. How much he's considering Bruno himself.

Shady business, especially for a perpetually-nervous man. This time, he's not even bothering to intimidate Bruno for fun, even if he gives a snort of irritation.]

Is that all you truly saw? Just those two?

[Then he crouches down to take the glass and check what it is for himself.]

[fallingsand]

[ He'll let Ithaqua examine the glass tablet as much as he wants. ]

Well, yeah? The first time, it was these two outcomes. Then one where only twenty-one people were facing the moon, and another where the spirits possessed our previous mentor, but those didn't come up this time.

[divineth]

Ithaqua.

[There's a rare disapproving tone coming from Urianger to his boyfriend.

Be nice to Bruno. :(]

[revengier]

[ Wow, he didn't know Bruno was capable of cursing!! Anyway. ]

As I recall back when we spoke on the beach, none of the options you saw were good, correct? It's a good thing we've at least narrowed down the possibilities.

[ Hmmmmm. ]

I wonder how useful preparing ourselves for escape in the event of a fire would be...

[fallingsand]

[ Very, very capable. ]

I mean, yes and no? I was sorta hoping for them to become, like, better.

[ Alas, that never, ever happens. Bruno should have known better. ]

It'd... probably be a good idea, yeah? Maybe stash some supplies outside somewhere or something.

[divineth]

[Oh, Bruno's sharing his visions with everyone. It heartens Urianger to see it. Well, except for the whole "we're fucked" part. Bruno, please.]

I am in agreement with Solomon. We have been through much during our time in this world, and have developed our magical power accordingly. If we are to face the moon ourselves...then I believe we have the ability to prepare for it.

[Spoken with the confidence of someone who has already faced off against multiple world-ending entities.]

[impacter]

[Nodding promptly! Urianger has rights today.]

I would even not go so far as to say we must treat that as our inevitability. If we must, we'll find a way to get through it. But we have no other evidence that our efforts have failed just yet.

[fallingsand]

[ Look, he calls them as he sees them, but he also has a negative view of his own visions. That part hasn't changed. There simply isn't enough time for the necessary therapy, sorry. ]

...well, I'm glad everyone else is seeing these in a different light. [ Apart from Ithaqua, anyway. ] But how we're supposed to prepare for fighting a moon, I'm... not really sure?

[fellheart]

... what little we've managed to glean about the moon calamity is that it happens every year, and that it's repelled by the Sage's wizards in some sort of battle.

[ it keeps happening, but it's been managed before ... ]

Your second seems to follow the tack of that. Why are you so certain that these are visions of failure?

[fallingsand]

Because I thought the whole idea was to get the original wizards back before anyone had to fight the moon? Like, if it's us, how do we know we'll be able to do anything to stop it?

[foresightis2020]

...In all honesty, I don't believe that us having to face the moon is necessarily a terrible outcome. We can take it down if necessary.

[ He has...actually thought of that as a most likely outcome himself for quite a long while now, to be honest, so that is why he seems unconcerned. Seems is the key word here; it is more like prepared. He is not the type to give in so easily, after all. ]

As for why the manor is on fire, I have a few thoughts on why that may be.

[ Which deals with his lack of trust in Central and West original representatives of this world. He can easily imagine them launching an attack on the manor to get what they want... ]

[fellheart]

[ almost amused, idle musing out loud in response to that last comment, from somewhere in the crowd: ] Do we make for easier looking targets than the ones who preceded us, I wonder...?

[ do they have to put on a show of force? do a little fly by of terror? (no) ]

[impacter]

Would you share those thoughts, then?

I have my concerns, but most are lacking information. If there's been some show of hand or hints to unrest outside the realms of our missions, we need to talk about it.

My theory is that someone, or something, has been gathering pieces of these moonstones deliberately. If they are all seperate instances and we are simply dealing with poor luck, that's one matter. But my concern is more for what we might be looking at if a single unruly party is wanting to take advantage of the current weaker state of this manor.

If we were distracted or disposed of, then there would be no one to control the barrier for Central. Open that up to what's behind it - [AKA, Oz] - and the genuinely bold and risky of any country could take exactly what they want for political gain.

[dadsandals]

People conspiring against us, right?

[ If so, he's had a feeling. A lot of people around here aren't to be trusted. ]

[fallingsand]

[ Why does everyone seem to be alright with fighting the calamity? Is Bruno the only one who's worried?! Oh no, maybe he's just the weakest here, is that it? ]

W-wait, a few thoughts on the fire? Like what?

[troublereduction]

[ Day seems contemplative, as he listens to Bruno. ]

...Well, neither of those outcomes are exactly ideal, but I don't think that necessarily means we're screwed.

[fallingsand]

...I'm beginning to think I'm the only one who's scared of the moon. [ Bruno, please. ] I. Well, no, it doesn't mean we're screwed. It isn't as if these are set in stone.

[ 'cause they're set in glass ayyy ]

Or that there's any "we all die" outcome.

[dyingtohealyou]

[His pride in Bruno actually cussing are unfortunately dampened by his annoyance at Tatara for thinking they could slide by without fighting the moon, obviously that was going to happen no matter what (Ahito, no).]

I always knew that plan wasn't going to work...

Well, most of us have a handle on our magic by now, and the moon isn't going to stop itself. People should take the time to refine their techniques and spells if they haven't already been doing that.

[Which would be very stupid of them, in his humble opinion.]

[fallingsand]

Y-yeah, that's. Yep, that is what people should be doing.

[ Bruno trying to not look sus. ]

[revengier]

I also think that those of us with a special spell should work on refining them.

[ He's pretty sure Ahito will agree with him on this one, as they tend to agree on just about everything else! ]

[lustro]

Ah, Revelations?

[ Not surprised that Bruno is so angel-coded. ]

Did you happen to see... a link? Like uh, a person or an event that would lead us down either path?

[fallingsand]

[ scream the angel is talking to him ]

N-no, not. Definitely not Revelations. [ Please no, he is just a normal man with a terrible gift. ] Just. Just very normal... non-biblical visions... and, um. No? No. There wasn't anything extra like that.