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lunaecalamitas2024-06-13 05:00 pm
promittere) wrote in lunaecalamitas2024-06-13 05:00 pm
let the magic take control, it's there wherever you go
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."
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."
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.
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.
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?
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?
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 todieplay.
🌙 Speaking of, what do you think is happening next week...?
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If it's so easy for you, then what's stopping you from bringing along a crew to help you stage a big, dramatic "death" for everyone to see?
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hmm. ]
... The challenge is in convincing them it was not, in fact, staged. A blade wielded by someone blessed by a specific other god can lay me to slumber, but it's merely a temporary seal. They should know is that the only power that could end me for good is my own... Naga will tell them that when they seek her blessing, if she hasn't already.
[ hmm. hmmmm. ]
Of course, if we're bringing others into this, then I wonder ... Naga will know you do not carry my blessing or power, and those returning from the future will not recognize you— that leaves too much room for doubt and them to wonder what's actually going on. Set you up as representatives of another god or world...? No, that would invite even more questions as to why you're intervening and where you came from...
[ lucina and her cohort had personal stake in coming to the past, after all. shall he pretend to have ruined another world now while in the middle of doing so to theirs? what a busy god he's been.
why is he entertaining this. a grand play of some sort appeals to the theater kid in him, but...
musingly, not entirely serious: ]
... If we're already setting you up as envoys of some sort, I almost want to see what it'd be like if you acted as go-betweens between us. I suspect it would make for quite the scene.
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...In what way?
[Like a "haha it's so funny watching other wizzies eat shit" way or,]
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[ it's so absolutely absurd it might actually give them enough pause to hear someone out.
okay, no, but it's a funny mental image. ]
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[They can't just bring him because Khun would probably stab someone about it.]
Maybe we should just bring along someone to pretend to be Solomon.
[Do some big monologue about wanting to protect humanity or whatever.]
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Though if they really were properly playing Solomon, they might just have to use them in their cooking instead. For verisimilitude, you understand.
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...
Wait, can you hop to a more convenient time to try to explain things to them?
[How does... time magic work...........]
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[ not one, not two, but three??? robins. just imagine. he could, in theory, attempt to merge with his past self, but given what happened the last time he tried something like that ... ]
From a linear point of view, they will have either already met the past me, who is not so forgiving a being, and I will simply be confusing them or seeming like I'm trying to play a trick on them, or. It will be the other way around, where they meet me first only to later run into myself from the relatively recent past and realize he is much less... amenable to a less bloody end.
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[But it means there's no time to negotiate beforehand, so...]
...What if you just show up later? Like, say, a few months later, where you can get them in a better position to either talk or do a dramatic fake out?
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[ wonder what they would have made of the conspicuous lack of giant dragon in the sky in that particular case. ]
But suppose we do talk. What, exactly, do you even think will result of that?
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[That's why he's been leaning in the direction of staging a death...]
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[ dryly. no, if he's sending anyone, it's going to be someone who volunteered for it and is at least neutral to humanity, considering. so... what. it's talking it out, or falsifying his permanent death?
... a frown. ]
The problem with faking my demise is Naga. Again, she will know you carry power belonging to neither of us, and through her, they would too. Heritage, tradition, and religion are embedded deeply in the people there— all they've ever known of me is the fairy tale of their exalted ancestor sealing me away with the Goddess's divine blessing a thousand years ago. I am not known to be easily felled.
[ going from that one singular hope, the only known solution (save for grima ending himself), to a random party from the Outrealms ... it might be doable, but he wonders what implications that might have for...
nevermind Naga herself. she doesn't even have to be here and she's causing problems, it seems. a mild tsking sound as he glances off into the distance for a moment, annoyed. his lips press thin. ]
I don't know what to expect from her. I cannot predict her with any real confidence because she's been absent for so long. She stepped back long ago to let her precious humanity run wild across the planet without any intervention, and her daughter spends much of her time asleep for similar reasons. Though she's always quick to meddle, one way or another, when I'm involved. It'll be annoying if they choose to keep rallying for an attack that will never come instead of using those resources on rebuilding...
[ (prepping for) wartime arms races and all. he remembers having to deal with a court of nobles made twitchy by three separate wars back to back to back... they'd certainly fight and drag it out pointlessly even if chrom and his immediate circle were to be convinced to lay down arms... chrom?
musingly: ]
... Oh, Chrom isn't going to be happy if Robin ever reveals his intended plans to him, is he.
[ there's almost an amused tinge to the sentence. ]
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[For all the dubious help he's been so far other than a sounding board tbh.]
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Robin, as you may have gathered, is a younger version of myself, though some of the details have gone differently for him in his time due to outside influence. We are the same person, but given that I have lived through things he has not, there are some significant divergences between us.
Naga is the other major god remaining in the world I hail from. The countries built specifically upon worship of either of us have had no small number of wars between each other, for one reason or another. [ he's not going to go into detail about who was the aggressor when and how; as always with these types of things it's cyclic. neither's innocent. ] There are other nations in the world aware of us and our respective faiths, of course, but Ylisse and Plegia are the only countries that claim a more direct tie and involve the religions more directly in their affairs. The Ylissean royal bloodline roots back to the Exalt who made a blood pact with Naga and sealed me away a thousand years ago. Plegia is a theocracy over which Grima ultimately holds a sort of symbolic rule. Otherwise, the heads of the faith are supposed to choose their rulers.
[ of course that sure has been a hell of a mess in recent history, but he's not getting into that. ]
Prince Chrom is the current ruling monarch of Ylisse. He should be King or Exalt at this point, technically, but for the time being he's foregone taking up the actual titles proper in honor of his late sister, the Exalt before him.
[ aka, chrom is the younger counterpart to his late husband, if ahito can put 2 and 2 together. ]
More relevantly, he's the commander in chief of the forces that Robin's attached to as head tactician. I will be difficult to convince, knowing myself, because I will always be suspecting a trick. Chrom, however, is a bleeding heart. [ especially this younger, more naive version of him in some ways, who's experienced a world slightly gentler than the timeline the robin called grima and his husband hailed from.
he's not robin's late husband from a time that might cease to exist if all this shakes out a certain way. but all the same, he can imagine... ] That isn't to say that he wouldn't also be suspicious, of course, but ... If Naga has told them that the only way to slay me permanently instead of just sealing me again is for 'Robin' to be lost as well, Chrom will balk. He will almost certainly want to try to find another way that doesn't involve sacrifice.
It will be suspicious if an offer too good to be true is provided at that point, but it might be the easiest way to approach either of them.
[ it's somewhat manipulative, maybe. but he's always been like this, and his husband is dead. this isn't his chrom. (he'd always told him his sentiment was something people would seek to take advantage of, anyway.) ]
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[We are not above emotional manipulation for good(?)]
Looking at it that way, it'd be a win-win situation for both sides.
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And then I suppose they'll have to convince everyone else that they have neither turned coward nor have they been swayed or corrupted by the evil Fell Dragon somehow, or something like that. [ it's brief, but he does roll his eyes. ] I don't envy them there, considering I know intimately how Ylissean politics tends to function. And no one in their right minds would actually go around babbling about making peace with the Fell Dragon.
[ genuinely why has he entertained this notion this long... ]
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[ a sigh. uggghhhhhhh the very idea of arguing with himself, though. ]
It might be doable, presuming Naga doesn't meddle.
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[Dream a little bigger, my dude.]
And if you get bored, I'd be happy to give you something to help me with in my world, too.
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not that ahito would be able to tell, since all he's getting surfacewise is a dry, sarcastic: ]
Do you realize how much whiplash one gets going from 'the evil dragon that heralds the world's ruin will end it or die trying' to whatever it is you're suggesting.
[ nowhere in his plans did he slot in a line item for 'accidentally??? get people attached to him somehow??? make friends (???????)' ]
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[lol. lmao.]
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[ shut the fuck up. ]
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If you came to my world, there's plenty of magic users running all kinds of awful experiments you could eat, just saying.
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