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!
jokey: (0141)

[personal profile] jokey 2024-04-11 07:35 pm (UTC)(link)
[So that's how it is. There's nothing he can do to please this man and win over his heart... not that Akira has really been trying? He knows he's being invasive and perhaps a bit obnoxious, but! He is also volunteering to help. Cut him a little slack?

The suggestion that taste testing a little kombu is equivalent to doing someone's dirty work makes Akira smile. So what if he's a little dramatic? Comedy and tragedy are the spice of life, and—]


Whoa.

[Okay. Maybe it's better he didn't eat that kombu. Either Shinjiro really hates the stuff or it's been altered by magic in some way, but rather than nicely asking to try some, Akira tears off a piece and puts it on his tongue. Mlem mlem.

...He doesn't screech when it suddenly expands on his tongue, but he does visibly startle.]


A little's gonna go a long way with this stuff, I guess. What were you planning on cooking with it anyway?
discomposer: (ᴊᴜɴ ʏᴀᴍᴀɢᴜᴄʜɪ)

[personal profile] discomposer 2024-04-11 07:35 pm (UTC)(link)
I wanna learn to heal my hand if it gets cut!

[ So specific... ]
jokey: (82xYQ9I)

[personal profile] jokey 2024-04-11 07:37 pm (UTC)(link)
[Akira shoots Kiryu a thumbs up!]

Sounds good. I'll do a little research of my own.

[And with that, he's off and running. An hour or so later, he wanders back to their meetup place with his planner in hand. Now where is Kiryu? Please tell him Grandpa didn't get lost or kidnapped by strangers.]
discomposer: (ʟᴇᴏ ᴏʀɴsᴛᴇɪɴ)

[personal profile] discomposer 2024-04-11 07:39 pm (UTC)(link)
[ That's what you get when you're in the defacto Battle Unit and constantly talking about blood, death, and violence. And when you're Tsukinaga Leo - or from Ensemble Stars. Eichi and Madara would definitely have even wilder views, or Chiaki if you wanted someone who has uniquely hero-themed views...but Leo's perspective is that of a former mad king who cut down far too many people.

Also, Wanderer accepts the singing essay but apparently tells them to Not Sing next time...killjoy.

Leo bounces up to his feet, though. ]


Well, let's go, then! [ Akira was trying to write an essay and there's still coffee, but Leo's easily diverted and holds out a hand. ] Dancing isn't that hard at all as long as you don't over think it. ♪ It's when you're worrying about it that you can misstep.
jokey: (KhxQffk)

[personal profile] jokey 2024-04-11 07:40 pm (UTC)(link)
[What do you mean? It's a perfectly serviceable smile. Charming, in Akira's opinion, though perhaps in all the wrong ways. What can be said? Akira has questionable taste.]

Nothing wrong with an air of mystery. Everything's more exciting when you've only got bits and pieces to go off.

[But some questions just beg to be asked, like this one—]

You need to drink blood to survive, right? Are you going to resort to sucking on cows if no one here is willing to be your blood bank?
dyingtohealyou: ([Sweat] they're transparent)

[personal profile] dyingtohealyou 2024-04-11 07:43 pm (UTC)(link)
Are you planning on getting cut?
discomposer: (ᴋᴏᴊɪ ᴋᴏɴᴅᴏ)

[personal profile] discomposer 2024-04-11 07:44 pm (UTC)(link)
Sometimes!

[ He wants to feed a vampire. ]
jokey: (IPk58FA)

[personal profile] jokey 2024-04-11 07:45 pm (UTC)(link)
[Essay shmessay. How's Akira supposed to say no to an impromptu dance? He easily abandons his work and his coffee (he'll be back for you, promise) and takes Leo's hand, getting to his feet.]

Promise you won't scold me if I step on your feet?

[He won't do it on purpose, of course! Once Akira's gotten his footing — literally — he's pretty quick to pick up new skills. Refining them, of course, will take plenty more dances.]

Lead the way, king.
dyingtohealyou: ([Think] Someone is crying out)

[personal profile] dyingtohealyou 2024-04-11 07:46 pm (UTC)(link)
[Buddy.

He pushes his sunglasses a little more firmly over his eyes.
]

...I have experience with healing magic, but it's not something I can teach, or even something you should try to imitate. You'll have to learn that one on your own.
jokey: (10)

[personal profile] jokey 2024-04-11 07:49 pm (UTC)(link)
Ah. Really?

[Akira purposefully tamps down on any surprise in his voice. Homeschooling is a thing, and while he could ask Kurapika for the details, that... might be a bit much on their first meeting. Instead, let him attempt to find some common ground while they gather up the ingredients for lunch/dinner (linner??)]

Did you have books or stories you could read back home?
jokey: (mqHX5U8)

[personal profile] jokey 2024-04-11 07:51 pm (UTC)(link)
[Totsuka backed away first! Akira wins!!]

Yeah. Pretty popular opinion, but natural disasters are pretty universally bad... or are you saying that crater was caused some other way?
jokey: (pic#14562281)

[personal profile] jokey 2024-04-11 07:53 pm (UTC)(link)
Alright. Don't be surprised if I call in a favor at three in the morning.

[Akira smiles, tender and kind. Ginger is exactly the kind of person Akira wants to protect.]

My friends call me Akira. You can call me that too.
discomposer: (sᴀᴋᴜɴᴏsᴜᴋᴇ ᴋᴏʏᴀᴍᴀ)

[personal profile] discomposer 2024-04-11 07:55 pm (UTC)(link)
Whoa, Ou-sama, huh? I gave my crown away already, though. ♪ The King is in another castle, and he'd definitely scold you if you stepped on his feet. I won't, though.

[ Leo's about three inches shorter here, but he's used to being shorter than a lot of people he works with and dances with - in Knights only Tsukasa is any shorter than him, and that only barely. It's always going to be easiest to learn from someone leading, so he'll take the "lead" position for a waltz and show Akira where to put his hands.

Then he'll pick a classical tune to hum - something easy to move to. Leo actually does a lot of more "modern" dancing but he figured he'd start with this because it's nice to do the predictable step dances as a first step, haha. ]
discomposer: (ᴄᴀʟɪxᴀ ʟᴀᴠᴀʟʟᴇ́ᴇ)

[personal profile] discomposer 2024-04-11 07:55 pm (UTC)(link)
Oh, wow, so the way you do it is pretty dangerous, I'm guessing? ♪
jokey: (1591591 (37))

[personal profile] jokey 2024-04-11 07:56 pm (UTC)(link)
[No lies here! Akira meant it. You are hereby crowned the sugar master, Yams.]

I'll take you up on that offer. You'd be a big help in the kitchen. In the meantime, let's get those merchants what they need.

[Akira summons his broom and hops on. Yamato is free to join him and let Akira do the driving, or he can call his broom and follow him. Either way, nyoom!]
dyingtohealyou: ([Strain] I cried out)

[personal profile] dyingtohealyou 2024-04-11 08:02 pm (UTC)(link)
Dangerous and ineffective. I don't recommend it.
troublereduction: (day74)

[personal profile] troublereduction 2024-04-11 08:04 pm (UTC)(link)
I guess spirits like celebrations no matter the world, huh.

[ So Day looks down at the music notation and...squints at it, in the sort of way that you can vaguely tell he's going "what the fuck is this", but after that decides that you know what, this is also fine. He'll consider this improv practice. ]
impacter: (049)

[personal profile] impacter 2024-04-11 08:19 pm (UTC)(link)
[He takes a pause from chopping, popping the lid of the new container to take in the scent. Fascinating... not quite tomato, but at least adjacent enough, perhaps? Maybe this would be a good place to try his secret ingredient?

RIP Tatara, Solomon's dropping more of those leaves from the garden into the jar of tomato replacement while he's busy, turning to view the Sage with his new weapon held out like a toddler playing magician. How adorable.]


A hound? My, my.

And whose hound would you be, dear Tatara?
1145pm: bet u havent heard of it (my hand lotion smells great)

[personal profile] 1145pm 2024-04-11 08:21 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Tatara gives a soft chuckle at that. No, it totally wouldn't be for business. That was the last thing on his mind. Strategist? Unfortunately not. ]

Maybe the insight would be useful... [ Okay, he won't discount that. ] But I want to know because I'm curious what kind of life you've led! It sounds fascinating...
impacter: (086)

[personal profile] impacter 2024-04-11 08:33 pm (UTC)(link)
[A copy???? Oh Bruno, you must stop stirring his curiosity like this.]

It's too bad your sisters aren't here, then. Oh well.

Have you tried reaching out with your normal methods to see what happens?
impacter: (071)

[personal profile] impacter 2024-04-11 08:36 pm (UTC)(link)
What was that? Ahh, are you trying to save your friend's honor?

That's very bold of you. Don't worry, I can be second place.

[It's like talking to a brick wall, sorry Leo.]
troublereduction: (day16)

[personal profile] troublereduction 2024-04-11 08:39 pm (UTC)(link)
Not ever? [ It's less disbelief and more a question of curiosity because he guesses it's not impossible, just... well, the only people he's known to say this sort of thing were Immaculate monks, really. ]

Magic here apparently runs off feelings, so I guess you're gonna have to find some meaning even in something that's only really practical for you.
troublereduction: (day25)

[personal profile] troublereduction 2024-04-11 08:40 pm (UTC)(link)
[ He's very thankful for Kurapika's tact. ]

I've got one in mind. You?
impacter: (122)

[personal profile] impacter 2024-04-11 08:44 pm (UTC)(link)
Incredible. I suppose this is what makes different worlds so fascinating, doesn't it? Your choice of speech isn't a dialect I've heard in a long, long time - it's mostly died off. The centuries it was more common, humanity hadn't even made it off the ground, let alone exploring the stars.

[Can't believe Solomon is gonna think Eorzea is just a giant renaissance festival that can go to space. Thanks, buddy.]

I don't see why we couldn't. If we're meant to work together in some way, we have to learn at least a little about one another. We might just waste our time if we're at each others throats later.
discomposer: (ᴛᴇᴋʟᴀ ʙᴀ̨ᴅᴀʀᴢᴇᴡsᴋᴀ-ʙᴀʀᴀɴᴏᴡsᴋᴀ)

[personal profile] discomposer 2024-04-11 08:46 pm (UTC)(link)
Maybe you can find a new way here! I mean, if you wanted to. ♪