promittere: (Default)
lunae calamitas mods ([personal profile] promittere) wrote in [community profile] lunaecalamitas2024-04-04 11:33 pm

if you say it's magic, then you're my wizard

WANING GIBBOUS OVERTURE
The seconds tick by, the elevator rattles. There's a soft, musical chime announcing your arrival before the elevator doors creak open, leaving you and a number of others in the courtyard of a stone manor. The manor is large, looming over the trees surrounding it, and the gardens are well maintained, rows of hedges and beds of blooming flowers as far as you can see. The doors linger open until you clear the threshold, as if waiting patiently for you. Dawdle too long and you’ll feel a gentle push, nudging you out into the yard. The doors shut with more rattles and a cheerful ding!, and if you turn to look at it there's nothing to be seen behind you but the milling strangers.

Then there's a sting, mild at first. But soon, the spot where your sage's crest is starts to burn. It's as though you have been branded, and the searing heat clings to your skin. Should you look at your crest, you'll find it glows a faint red, like the dying embers of a fire, but given enough time it will cool to black and no longer hurt.

Once the pain fades, you notice is that the air around you feels distinctly different. It's hard to say exactly what makes it different, or how. It feels brittle, but malleable. That perhaps if you said or did the right thing, you could command reality to your liking—

The wind blows, stirring leaves and flowers, and that's when you notice there are two people in the courtyard that did not emerge from the elevator like everyone else. The taller of the two looks briefly shocked, before a warm smile blots it out, while the shorter of the two looks remarkably unimpressed—for as much as you can make out his expression under the large hat he wears. He glances at the taller man, the charms that hang from his hat clinking, and crosses his arm over his chest.

The taller man nods, turns to the group, and says, "Sorry. I know you were probably in the middle of something important. But...I need you. My name is Tatara Totsuka. I'm your sage, and you are my witches and wizards."

He looks up to the moon hanging in the sky, still pale and visible despite the light of day, and lays it all out for you: a wizard under the sage's guidance is supposed to fight off the Great Calamity—the moon—when it nears. But you are not meant to carry out this task. The original sage and twenty-one wizards suddenly vanished not long ago. No one knows what happened to them, or where they are. They aren't dead. They are gone.

That you are here, that there are so many of you, that you came from different worlds, means that this is a mistake. Something, somewhere, isn't right. Yet the world has decided to claim you in a frantic attempt to keep itself together.

This world is breaking. If you don't fix this, then you'll be stuck here fighting the Calamity yourselves.

When Tatara looks back down to the rest of you, there's a smile on his face, tinged with apology. "But I think it'll be okay. We'll figure this out... Right?"

The golden light of sunset is oddly cold. It settles over you not in a welcoming embrace, but in a possessive hold. There is a sinking feeling in your gut: whatever your home was before matters no longer. Welcome to a world on the brink of destruction—let's hope it's not for good.


The day begins to draw to a close. You're given the rest of the day to process Tatara's words and to familiarize yourselves with the manor. There are plenty of empty spaces in the manor with sparse furniture where you can rest and try to unwind, and hopefully get some sleep. Everything about today might be a lot to unpack, but surely you can at least relax and prepare for the next day.

The morning starts with the sound of bells. A cacophonous racket of them, ringing in your rooms, in your head, jolting you from whatever slumber you can grasp. The source seems to be a note, unassuming if not for the way it shakes with each toll of the bells, and the noise only stops when you read it.

"Go to the courtyard," it says, and if you try to ignore it the noise returns, growing louder and louder until your vision swims and you find yourself standing in the courtyard with everyone else—and the shorter of the two men from yesterday.

"Practice starts right now," he says, looking bored and just as unimpressed as he did yesterday. The sun has barely started over the horizon—it's early, almost absurdly so. "You need to learn magic sooner instead of later, unless you want to die like miserable worms. If you do, just quit now so we can replace you with someone useful."

His explanation on magic is brief—he explains that magic is a deal struck between caster and the spirits of the world, using a meaningful word or phrase to communicate your will to the as-of-yet unseen spirits of the world, who will respond to your desires and power your magic. A focus, an object of significant meaning, will help strengthen your ties to the land and direct the magic for your spells. If you have nothing that would work as a focus right now, he says, chances are the perfect thing will find you anyways.

While he looks unhappy to do so, he emphasizes that magic—as it works here—is all tied to your emotions and your convictions, and then he assigns you a challenge for the week. He wants you to come up with your incantation—the words you'll use to cast all of your magic—as well as find or draw forward your focus, with the final task being summoning a magic broom you'll use for transportation.
Threading out magic practice and ICly discovering your characters' magic words, manifesting their foci, and summoning their broom will count as three different jobs, and will be eligible for a set of rewards each. While not technically classified as a job this time around, this is a special circumstance. When you've accomplished any of these things, please submit them to the rewards page as a job submission.

If you're having trouble coming up with a focus or incantation, think about your answers for the first and third mandatory questions on your app! Your focus of choice does not have to be in your character's inventory—if what works best for them as a focus did not come with them, then they can focus and reach across universes to bring it here with them.

JOB BOARD
You may have just gotten here, but people across the continent still need the sage's wizards to do things for them. The job board will typically have 2 - 3 requests each event that can be turned in for rewards when completed.
Sugar delivery. Confectionery shops and pharmacies put in regular orders for wizard sugar to the manor, and despite the unusual circumstances, now is no different. Wizard sugar—sugar spontaneously created through a wizard's magic—is said to have restorative properties and said to bless those that consume it, so it's no wonder it's in high demand. It also happens to be one of the first things young wizards learn to do. So once you've perfected your sugar, go deliver it to the shops in Central capital and to the Southern merchants waiting for shipment near the Central tower.

The Southern merchants, in particular, seem rather anxious to receive as much sugar as possible, as soon as possible.

WANDERER TASKS
The wizards' new mentor knows that this must be an incredibly overwhelming experience, so he has a list of things that should help break down the process of learning and understanding magic. Or that's what he says, at least, but it feels like he's trying to make things more difficult...
Nobody is going to hold your hands for you, and the best way to learn is to understand the root cause of an issue. Use that paper being left around for something actually useful and do some research on the spirits of the countries you've been tasked to represent. I'll be expecting some actual thought out papers within the week.

For the idiots who can't research to save their lives, prove you can actually manage the bare minimum. There's a spot you can't reach without magic within the manor grounds—bring me one of the trinkets you find there.

For the even bigger idiots who are overconfident, come find me and we can spar. I won't go easy on you.

TATARA ACTIVITIES
Tatara knows things are tense and uncomfortable for his new wizards, so he'll offer up a few activities each event post to help them relax if things get too tough.
We're all new here, but we'll be friends before long, I know it! There's a table in the dining room with paper, pens, markers, glitter, and pins so we can all make name tags and get to know each other better. We'll go from strangers to neighbors to besties before you know it!

Oh, you should probably get a feel of the manor, too. This IS your new home, after all! And what better way than...hide and seek?! Sounds fun, right? I'd tell you MY favorite spot to hide, but then that wouldn't be fair!

I don't know how long we're going to be here, so it probably wouldn't hurt to settle in. Grab a friend or two and head to the market in the Central capital to stock up on whatever food you like and stuff for your room. May as well get comfortable!

OOC NOTES
🌙 Welcome to Lunae Calamitas's first event post! Yer a wizard, whether you like it or not.
🌙 While not technically jobs, ICly working out your character's focus, incantation, and broom are all separately eligible for rewards. Good luck on your basics, little wizards! You'll need them...
🌙 Your OOC plotting post is here! Please keep all your plotting on the plotting post, since not everyone uses discord or plurk.
🌙 The South will be going on their mission next week to get this party started. Keep an eye out, Southies!
revengier: (91)

[personal profile] revengier 2024-04-11 05:25 am (UTC)(link)
I have. Back in my world, we have something similar to magic known as "Nen". It's the embodiment of one's life force turned into usable aura.

[ In other words, add him to the list of magic users! ]

You can use that aura to create whatever ability you'd like that is unique to you.

[ Like an ability literally based on taxes! ]
revengier: (53)

[personal profile] revengier 2024-04-11 05:27 am (UTC)(link)
[ Saving the special stuff, huh? Part of Kurapika wonders if he even can, or if it's too late to try to do any of that with them now. ]

My birthday is April 4th. I hope we aren't still here when it rolls around.

[ Ah, but that's against the spirit of what Ginger is trying to do, so he amends himself: ]

We can find something else to celebrate.
revengier: (106)

[personal profile] revengier 2024-04-11 05:31 am (UTC)(link)
What are our goals? What do we wish to accomplish? What will we use as the inspiration for the power we've been given?

[ Even more questions... ]

There are a lot of things to consider, don't you agree?

[ He pulls his hair back, revealing a drop earring, a bright red ruby at the end of its silver chain. ]

With all of that in mind, I think I'll be using this as my focus.
dadsandals: (yama51)

[personal profile] dadsandals 2024-04-11 05:32 am (UTC)(link)
[ Jeez, he really is a tough guy, isn't he. Idly, Yamato wonders if this guy is part of the -- hmm. Nah. Couldn't be. ]

Yessir.

[ He probably won't put in too much effort...not to start. He'll get there. ]

Thank you. I'll do my best not to cause any trouble.
revengier: (53)

[personal profile] revengier 2024-04-11 05:34 am (UTC)(link)
Any kind of progress is good progress.

[ He holds out his hand. ]

Pro populus meus. [ "For my people." Out pops a broom with blues and yellows and a shock of scarlet in the form of bristles, hovering neatly beside Kurapika's hand. ] Since you're still having trouble, we can use mine.

[ ... ]

I hope you don't mind a bumpy ride.

[ He still has issues with controlling, it after all. ]
troublereduction: (day22)

[personal profile] troublereduction 2024-04-11 05:34 am (UTC)(link)
[ Day is quiet for a long moment, seriously considering how to answer this. ]

I think...I'm mostly fine. There's stuff I'm gonna have to worry 'bout— [ like explaining himself for why he interfered with destiny, how to do that without ratting out the people he's with, Velvet suddenly started bleeding nonstop and the omens are some kind of sign, someone actually managed to damage Radiant Voice and fuck knows how they're gonna repair that, Echo is holding on for now but maybe it's just a matter of time before all those powers in her get out of control, and Sunrise got her throat cut open and people saw that,] —but it could be a hell lot worse. Maybe bein' here might even give me some ideas on how to deal with stuff back home.
meanspirited: (pic#16390280)

[personal profile] meanspirited 2024-04-11 05:36 am (UTC)(link)
You're an idiot.

[It's more that wizards operate outside of society and there's no point worry about money when you live for centuries, but he doesn't care to explain that.]

You're not here for commerce, and "manual labor" is the least of your worries.
dadsandals: (yama47)

[personal profile] dadsandals 2024-04-11 05:37 am (UTC)(link)
[ You social butterflies are ruthless. ]

Not particularly. I'll do it if I have to, and it's more fun with other people.

[ This guy is "other people" in this scenario, huh? ]

... So I guess it's better if I make one with someone else. Who knows. Maybe I can draw inspiration from what you make.
leewards: (007)

[personal profile] leewards 2024-04-11 05:37 am (UTC)(link)
Hmm.

[He has such a strange way with words, so self-depreciating... Ithaqua gives him a shrug.]

If you say so, I suppose I can only take your word for it.
dadsandals: (yama30)

wrap up? c: (i reach for more)

[personal profile] dadsandals 2024-04-11 05:41 am (UTC)(link)
Hmm. I'd feel bad burdening you that much, though.

[ He doesn't sound particularly serious about that, but he'll just give him a little nod at his question. ]

Sure. Let's go. It'll be more fun with another person.

[ ...will it be? He's just saying things at this point. He doesn't know anymore, but he's just going to roll with it. Ginger seems fine enough. ]
shadowkin: (012)

[personal profile] shadowkin 2024-04-11 05:42 am (UTC)(link)
[Well, Ginger, you’re the one who started it...!

—is mostly what Cid is thinking, but he’s brought up short by the switch-up. Most people don’t pay any particular attention to him when he’s doing his thing; either because they’re busy or due to some particular social factors that are less at play here.

Perhaps this man is actually...!

He cocks his head at Ginger with actual curiosity.]

What sort of consistency are we talking?
leewards: (003)

[personal profile] leewards 2024-04-11 05:42 am (UTC)(link)
That wasn't so difficult, was it? Heheh. [Wasn't difficult scaring the daylights out of him, either. This could be fun, actually.

Like an owl, Ithaqua leans down in a swoop, to look at the human better.]


Feel like doing some magic now?
annihilator: (➤ 45)

[personal profile] annihilator 2024-04-11 05:47 am (UTC)(link)
[Ooh, pretty...]

Hah, not at all. We're still learnin'; I'd be a bit embarrassed if you'd already gotten everythin' down perfectly!

[He's grinning though, and gestures for Kurapika to ready himself. Malice is probably going to have to hold onto Kurapika himself since he's only got the one good arm right now, so whenever you're ready!]
dadsandals: (yama44)

[personal profile] dadsandals 2024-04-11 05:49 am (UTC)(link)
[ Yamato gives Syrlya a little grin at that. He has a good attitude. ]

Yeah. You're right about that. But...my world? Ah, well...

[ What can he say that'd make it even remotely interesting? Everyone comes from such interesting places, and his world is just kinda what it is. Maybe it'll be interesting to someone who's never heard of earth, though. ]

Mm, I come from earth. I live in a place called Japan. Back there, I'm just a humble guy trying to live his life.

[ ... ]

Haha, just kidding. I'm actually pretty popular there, as an idol and actor.
revengier: (39)

[personal profile] revengier 2024-04-11 05:51 am (UTC)(link)
[ Kurapika climbs onto his broom and gestures for Malice to get behind him. ]

Tell me when you're ready and I'll take off.

[ He wouldn't want Malice to go flying off of the broom just because he took off when Malice hadn't gotten himself situated... ]
annihilator: (➤ 49)

[personal profile] annihilator 2024-04-11 05:55 am (UTC)(link)
[Good man... Malice settles behind him, looping his good arm around Kurapika's waist.]

I'm ready, let's go!

[Don't worry, he won't fall, his balance is pretty good so he'll actually do a decent job riding the broom even if summoning it is still a bit beyond him at the moment.]
jorunna: (comet07)

[personal profile] jorunna 2024-04-11 06:00 am (UTC)(link)
The place where I was staying was pretty secluded. It makes them precious.

[ Both places, really. But they nod in understanding. ]

Some of the ones here are about magic, so they might be helpful if you're struggling with your Madrigal problems, whatever they are.

[ "Madrigal problems" sums up the plot of Encanto. ]

dadsandals: (yama54)

[personal profile] dadsandals 2024-04-11 06:12 am (UTC)(link)
[ Yamato sure is on edge. Ithaqua can have a field day with this one!! ]

Yeah, yeah, I'll do it. Or -- I'll try to figure it out, anyway.

[ This is making him so uneasy. Why is he being inspected so closely? ]

...Is there something on my face?
meanspirited: (pic#16390283)

[personal profile] meanspirited 2024-04-11 06:19 am (UTC)(link)
...Alone.

[Really, he's so old that months feel like no time at all.]

Tatara arrived not long after I did.
leewards: (007)

[personal profile] leewards 2024-04-11 06:20 am (UTC)(link)
You're a quick thinker, heheh. I can appreciate that. [And he does! The man is not slow at all-- he's focused, driven.]

Now, for words, right?

[Wait, what about Ithaqua's focus, though? Actually, he thinks he already knows what he'd want it to be.]
leewards: (005)

[personal profile] leewards 2024-04-11 06:26 am (UTC)(link)
Mm~

I'm merely thinking. [About horrifying things.]

Thinking about how you'd actually survive here, skeptical as you are.
dadsandals: (yama51)

[personal profile] dadsandals 2024-04-11 06:38 am (UTC)(link)
...Because I'm a regular human?

[ Anticipatory, like he knows what's coming. Maybe he'll be surprised by the answer. ]
meanspirited: (pic#16390280)

[personal profile] meanspirited 2024-04-11 06:43 am (UTC)(link)
[Looking up at him...]

I see.

[What's in a name, anyways...]

Is that all?
shadowkin: (008)

[personal profile] shadowkin 2024-04-11 06:53 am (UTC)(link)
Yes, yes, this is idiot reporting.

[Could it be..... that this small fellow doesn't know any other insults.......

Wow, he's just like the fishing grandpa except not as short, and probably the fishing grandpa doesn't insult people because he's actually jolly. But look, Cid is inclined to give people the benefit of the doubt.

Perhaps if they continue their repartee for long enough, Mystery Hat Trick will pull out better Mystery Hat Invective. He believes in you, Mad Hatter.]

I don't even know how long I'm supposed to be here. Shouldn't I start out by worrying about the stuff I can figure out...?

You're a real specialized teacher, huh...
fullspbar: (87)

[personal profile] fullspbar 2024-04-11 07:24 am (UTC)(link)
[ Shinji himself is...not particularly happy, either. He doesn't know what he feels, really, a convoluted mess wracking his mind and churning in his stomach. He can feel blood drying on his skin, a phantom throb of impact, and yet...nothing. No holes, no wounds, nothing.

When he had closed his eyes, that was supposed to be it. A weight pulled off his shoulders, leaving him lighter than he's felt in years, even as the cold settled in. And now...this?

Mikaela's approach goes largely unnoticed until the white registers in his peripherals, and then Shinjiro's gaze snaps up in a glare. There's not so much animosity as there is equal suspicion, but the tension in his shoulders drop gradually at the question.

Right. He does look like shit. ]


...That ain't it. [ Somebody had, yes, but nobody here. Not yet, anyway. ] Can't say I'd be surprised if someone went stir-crazy, though.

[ Compared to some, this guy doesn't really look particularly thrilled to be here either. ]