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: (87)

[personal profile] revengier 2024-04-12 02:23 am (UTC)(link)
[ Stop smiling at him??? Leave him alone!!! Let him hold this potato in peace....

But that question gets a shake of his head. ]


I'm not, actually.
dyingtohealyou: ([Sigh] If there's a heart)

[personal profile] dyingtohealyou 2024-04-12 02:27 am (UTC)(link)
Well, good luck with your dungeons or whatever. There's still some stuff I was planning to get to today.

[Instead of... trying to make any sense of a word out of this guy's mouth.]
lustro: (021)

[personal profile] lustro 2024-04-12 02:29 am (UTC)(link)
[ TO BE HONEST: ]

… I’m desperate enough to hear it. Help me, Akira.
fellheart: (perнapѕ ι can мaĸe yoυ)

[personal profile] fellheart 2024-04-12 02:29 am (UTC)(link)
Are you outsourcing the task of coming up with your incantation now? And here I was under the impression that they needed to mean something to us.

[ the mildly amused expression on his face comes easily enough, as does the quip, but akira prooooobably gets the sense that the anime man is not fully engaging. ]
dyingtohealyou: ([Think] if I can't see any love songs)

[personal profile] dyingtohealyou 2024-04-12 02:30 am (UTC)(link)
Like in your room? ...Got anything to display them on?
lustro: (103)

[personal profile] lustro 2024-04-12 02:30 am (UTC)(link)
[ And before he leaves with a wave: ]

Ask around about the dungeon stuff!
shortleash: (pic#17103468)

[personal profile] shortleash 2024-04-12 02:31 am (UTC)(link)
( "Not actual magic" his ass, sounds pretty magicky to him. But whatever technicality it is, it's way more than the vampires he knows can do. )

You're operating on a totally different power level than the vampires I know. Even humans don't have access to that kind of thing yet, and they're always neck-deep in forbidden arts...

( He says "yet" if only because he figures that humans will do something indescribably stupid soon enough to obtain that sort of ability. If there's a will, there's a way (derogatory). )

But I guess that's the thing. Humans can't do that sort of thing yet, so vampires only need to be so much stronger to be physically superior. But it sounds like magic is more common among your human population.
jokey: (18 - JGiONJ2)

[personal profile] jokey 2024-04-12 02:34 am (UTC)(link)
No worries. I've got you.

[What about a Japanese saying? He may need to help Ginger with the pronunciation on this one, but they've got plenty of time to practice.]

"七転び八起き". Basically, never give up.
fellheart: (yoυ wιѕн тo вe)

[personal profile] fellheart 2024-04-12 02:39 am (UTC)(link)
No need to do mental acrobatics to elevate its significance, hm?

[ meanwhile he, on the other hand... grima's truth is just a tome like any other to him. powerful dark magic to be sure, but despite everything he hadn't thought to lend it that much personal importance until now.

maybe it's a little on the nose for a spell tome to end up with the biggest likelihood of becoming his focus here, especially one with that name. but in terms of what makes him, specifically, him ... well, one could do worse, in terms of finding meaning to impart on things. ]


Have you managed a response from the spirits yet, or were you focusing on this aspect of training first?
troublereduction: (day12)

[personal profile] troublereduction 2024-04-12 02:40 am (UTC)(link)
I've tried a couple that didn't really feel right, but maybe "amor manet" would work.
positivize: (pic#17104136)

[personal profile] positivize 2024-04-12 02:40 am (UTC)(link)
[Honestly, this just kind of raises even more questions because that sounds like he was involved with some pretty shady folks, buuuuut she's also not into prying in people's personal business when it's not part of her job. Still, something to stick a pin on in case it comes up again later.]

Wow... Sorry that happened to you. But that means that arriving here ended up being a good thing, huh?
dyingtohealyou: ([Look] long night with)

[personal profile] dyingtohealyou 2024-04-12 02:41 am (UTC)(link)
Oh yeah? Do you often get bounties on those guys?

Seems like the kind of thing a place wouldn't want to deal with.
discomposer: (ʜɪsᴀᴛᴏ ᴏʜᴢᴀᴡᴀ)

[personal profile] discomposer 2024-04-12 02:44 am (UTC)(link)
Hm...you're a pretty kind person, too, aren't you?

[ At least, from his perspective. ]
revengier: (22)

[personal profile] revengier 2024-04-12 02:44 am (UTC)(link)
I've been focused on this aspect. I did something similar to train back home, focusing on the peripherals and fundamentals first before attempting anything.

[ But that's the way Kurapika is. He builds little blocks so that he can stand on solid foundation first before attempting anything concrete. ]

Have you?
dyingtohealyou: ([Look] long night with)

[personal profile] dyingtohealyou 2024-04-12 02:45 am (UTC)(link)
Just don't like crowds? Or...
impacter: (092)

[personal profile] impacter 2024-04-12 02:45 am (UTC)(link)
[don't worry about it :3c]

Is it something you have to intentionally use, or is it just a reflexive ability?
revengier: (20)

[personal profile] revengier 2024-04-12 02:46 am (UTC)(link)
Amor manet...

[ Give him a moment to think about it... ]

Love remains?
revengier: (30)

[personal profile] revengier 2024-04-12 02:47 am (UTC)(link)
I'm looking for only specific targets, and they've had bounties on their heads for a while. However, they're nearly impossible to find.
revengier: (31)

[personal profile] revengier 2024-04-12 02:48 am (UTC)(link)
[ He pauses, momentarily taken aback. "Kind" isn't a label that Kurapika would ever assign to himself, much less expect someone else to. ]

Why do you say that?
impacter: (001)

[personal profile] impacter 2024-04-12 02:49 am (UTC)(link)
I would rather risk a little danger than sit idle. I've put up with worse for far less.

[His smile thins a moment, a punctuation on the statement, before he leans down to add another symbol carefully within the middle of the circle.]

Are you worried?
impacter: (99)

[personal profile] impacter 2024-04-12 02:51 am (UTC)(link)
[We need to work on that confidence of yours, buddy.

The statement does give him tremendous pause, though, sincerely confusing him.]


Protect me?

That's flattering, but why would you do something like that?
dyingtohealyou: ([Sweat] they're transparent)

[personal profile] dyingtohealyou 2024-04-12 02:56 am (UTC)(link)
Doesn't help that their goals are pretty vague.

[It's hard to trust in the words of strangers enough as-is, much less when they're telling you jack to begin with.]

...Anyway, just be careful with the magic here. Both casting, and - [a meaningful look at Akira's broom] flying.
shortleash: (pic#17077612)

[personal profile] shortleash 2024-04-12 02:58 am (UTC)(link)
I'm used to seeing idiots at work.

( He doesn't say this maliciously, just frankly - like stating an objective fact. )

Getting antsy and doing something reckless is a worse idea than gaining your bearings and proceeding with confidence. But I'm not going to tell you how to prolong your life if you'd rather extinguish it.
shortleash: (pic#17103472)

[personal profile] shortleash 2024-04-12 03:01 am (UTC)(link)
( You know what, let's watch Leo try to make a sandwich, one-handedly. At this point, Mika's morbidly interested in seeing the effort. )

... Can't you just ask someone else to do this for you?

( He says, not helping, but also keeping an eye out should Leo stab himself with a knife on accident or something, )
fellheart: (now lιѕтen careғυlly)

[personal profile] fellheart 2024-04-12 03:02 am (UTC)(link)
... of a sort.

[ there's no shame in admitting that; the pause is evaluating rather than hesitant. the moment of thought necessary to decide on holding out his hand, palm open and facing upwards, and: ]

O child of lightning, roar.

[ clearly declared, enunciation sharp. in response sparks flicker to life in his outstretched palm, tightly controlled... though maybe not so much so, as it would be generous to think of them being able to cause much more damage than a bit of a burn. ]

An abbreviated incantation from my own world. [ he offers, by way of explanation. robin snaps his hand shut and lets the sparks go with the motion. ] They were more or less specific to the spell, though individual casters might further ameliorate them for their own purposes and needs.

Of course, I have no doubt it will be inadequate here.