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!
discomposer: ᴋᴡɪɪ_𝟷𝟷𝟷@ᴛᴡɪᴛᴛᴇʀ (ᴍᴀᴜʀɪᴄᴇ ʀᴀᴠᴇʟ)

[personal profile] discomposer 2024-04-18 09:08 pm (UTC)(link)
Oh, I leave the tactics to Ritsu~! But I do like playing chess sometimes. ♪

[ He's actually really good at it but he throws matches if he's about to win, so. ]
troublereduction: (day82)

[personal profile] troublereduction 2024-04-18 09:11 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Note to self, maybe make a bit more noise as a forewarning the next time. ]

Well, yeah, but I don't think they're expecting something immediately. Can't hurt to step back a little and come back to it once you've blown off some steam.
discomposer: (ᴋᴀɴ'ɪᴄʜɪ sʜɪᴍᴏғᴜsᴀ)

[personal profile] discomposer 2024-04-18 09:17 pm (UTC)(link)
Coffee!

[ He just wants coffee. ]
troublereduction: (pic#17020440)

[personal profile] troublereduction 2024-04-18 09:21 pm (UTC)(link)
There might be coffee in the kitchen, actually...

[ That is, they could just treat themselves later anyway. ]
impacter: (074)

[personal profile] impacter 2024-04-18 09:26 pm (UTC)(link)
Who's to say? I do get called flighty from time to time.

[Plus the amount of witches that have taken personal offense at him mixing up dates of inconsequential meetings and summonings... he can only retain so much!]

Humans haven't quite learned how to extend lifespans, though. To live past 100 is considered an outstanding triumph for many. A well-tread sort of life.
revengier: (91)

[personal profile] revengier 2024-04-18 09:29 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Extremely #blessed.

He isn't so sure that Leo won't dislike him once he's learned more about him, but it's not like Kurapika is going to come right out with deeply personal information anyway. So: ]


Well, I'm going to the library for now, just to see what I can find out there. You can tag along, but I have a feeling you don't really like libraries.
positivize: (pic#17104058)

[personal profile] positivize 2024-04-18 09:34 pm (UTC)(link)
[but at least he has a gun, sometimes it's about the little things in life!! (no)]

I guess it's bound to happen when we all come from different times and places. I've already met a couple of others who come from the same country as me, but it turns out I'm several years behind them.
revengier: (82)

[personal profile] revengier 2024-04-18 10:12 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Wow... he should be motivated by rage like Kurapika instead. He doesn't comment on further, though, distracted instead by the croissant. ]

A croissant? Is that your favorite?
revengier: (20)

[personal profile] revengier 2024-04-18 10:18 pm (UTC)(link)
I see...

[ While the basis being centered around a tower is unlike anything he's heard before, he nods. ]

It sounds similar enough to the Hunter License where I'm from. You're guaranteed a high income, better access to just about every resource you could imagine, and the ability to travel wherever you'd like in the world.
revengier: (19)

[personal profile] revengier 2024-04-18 10:23 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Sometimes, nearly plain is better than something heavily decorated. Kurapika raises his brows as he takes in Day's broom. ]

It looks nice. A lot can be said for subtlety.
revengier: (19)

[personal profile] revengier 2024-04-18 10:24 pm (UTC)(link)
Only your family? That's probably better, honestly.

[ Because... ]

Powers are kept hidden from the general population, since everyone is capable of developing them. World leaders are afraid of the instability that everyone in the world honing their powers could cause.
revengier: (109)

[personal profile] revengier 2024-04-18 10:25 pm (UTC)(link)
This isn't showing off. It's demonstrating that we're willing to work hard.

[ Uh huh. Sure. ]
themanwhoerasedhisname: 3 (3)

[personal profile] themanwhoerasedhisname 2024-04-18 11:15 pm (UTC)(link)
[That claws can draw attention is understandable, really, but, huh, not a 'proper-like' vampire]

Don't tell me a proper vampire is supposed to be broody and dramatic.

[But mostly broody. That's not an adjective he'd assign to the one he's talking with right nw]
shortleash: (pic#17103513)

[personal profile] shortleash 2024-04-18 11:26 pm (UTC)(link)
No clue. Maybe it turns into my other body fluids.

( Or his blood...? In a process that distinguishes it from human blood... somehow.

... He looks at his hand, lifting it... )


... How am I supposed to wash this with one hand?

( This is such a minor inconvenience. and yet. )
shortleash: (pic#17120830)

[personal profile] shortleash 2024-04-18 11:41 pm (UTC)(link)
( Mika looks on with a critical eye and Solomon conducts - and recites. His lips purse into a tight frown, tighter still as the tension ripples through the air, and settles into him like an unpleasant memory.

He says nothing until Solomon declares the ritual failed. )


... And what kind of magic was that?

( Besides the very obvious "summoning of something unpleasant." )
impacter: (079)

[personal profile] impacter 2024-04-18 11:55 pm (UTC)(link)
A summons. [Very descriptive! He shakes out the ends of his cape, letting one of his shoes drag through the ash to disrupt his work. No need to keep this intact.] There was a lot that needed to happen right for that to work, though.

[He did notice that displeased expression, though he doesn't choose to look towards Mika, instead continuing to scuff up the circle.]

That's an interesting expression on your face. What's on your mind?
lighthaus: (033)

[personal profile] lighthaus 2024-04-18 11:56 pm (UTC)(link)
Nice. But that's enough for now unless you're volunteering to carry it all~.

[ because khun is not! ]
themanwhoerasedhisname: (1)

[personal profile] themanwhoerasedhisname 2024-04-19 12:04 am (UTC)(link)
That's far more versatile than I thought it'd be. It's for the better it doesn't exist where I'm from.

[The thought of the antagonists he has fought throughout his life having that...it's enough to make him uneasy. Goodness, it's good in the end it all got solved via punching]
lighthaus: (001)

[personal profile] lighthaus 2024-04-19 12:04 am (UTC)(link)
[ khun's moving as soon as he's done counting, summoning his own broom to get the high ground for his search. he zips around while thinking to himself and talking aloud. ]

This is really half of a scout's job, but... [ —it's not an unfamiliar job to him either. though usually he has better equipment than a broom for this. dice bot says he got a 14, so his instincts lead him to just outside the bar. hmm... ]
themanwhoerasedhisname: 2 (2)

[personal profile] themanwhoerasedhisname 2024-04-19 12:08 am (UTC)(link)
Heh. I hear that all the time. I have a drink every once in a while, it's fine.

[He likes his booze, but hey, trouble just finds a way to him, that's for sure! Peace never lasts]
lighthaus: (007)

[personal profile] lighthaus 2024-04-19 12:12 am (UTC)(link)
It does. What's the exam like?
themanwhoerasedhisname: 6 (6)

[personal profile] themanwhoerasedhisname 2024-04-19 12:26 am (UTC)(link)
Fine with me.

[It does feel a little odd to be so respect to someone while he's the senior of age, goodness. Not that he was going to let that hold him back]

Kiryu.

[Wow, not even first name added. It's the way of the protag, to give the punchy name]
themanwhoerasedhisname: 12 (12)

[personal profile] themanwhoerasedhisname 2024-04-19 12:27 am (UTC)(link)
Doesn't it bother you to be so far off the ground?

[Planes are fine, but there's something about being on a broom that's a little unnerving!]
themanwhoerasedhisname: 9 (9)

[personal profile] themanwhoerasedhisname 2024-04-19 12:30 am (UTC)(link)
Sure. Hands-on is the best way to learn anyway -- and I already told the mentor I'm not going to let inexperience hold me back.

[It's called taking initiative!]

Kiryu.

[Wow, no first name. Dropping his last name like he usually does when introducing himself. It's striking, apparently]
shortleash: (pic#17121573)

on the sixth night of lunae calamitas, my wizards gave to me...

[personal profile] shortleash 2024-04-19 12:45 am (UTC)(link)
( It's the middle of the sixth night since everyone first arrived, and there's a cool breeze at your back and a metallic scent in the air. In the courtyard - in the halls - somewhere abstract in the first floor rooms - and, finally, thickest in the common room.

If you're out and about on this strange night, you might stumble into a bit of a horror show: the Easterners, Yamato, Shinjiro, and Ginger, as well as the Sage, Tatara, are laid up, bloodied.

Yamato and Tatara have it worst - strewn out along the couches with rough-shod strips of clothing-fabric torn up to serve as bandages for the nasty wounds at their necks, their pale pallor (and bloody hair, face, and clothes) suggests they've lost a dangerous amount of blood. Shinjiro and Ginger are beside them, watching over them; they also have some nasty wounds at their neck, like a wild animal got at them, likely looking pale and not too hot themselves, but not in more critical condition like the other two.

If you're not out and about, you're getting approached or getting a knock on your door. Mika's bloody all across his mouth and the front of his top, and he will ask you simply: Do you think you can heal? If you answer literally anything besides a firm "no," he's dragging you without context to the common room and pointing you at the injured parties to try.

All this hubbub might be enough to draw you out of your own activities, regardless. It's proving to be a busy night, with Mika casting a wide net for healers because he doubts very many excel at it yet. Maybe ten healing hands will be better than just one pair.

And if you need Mika himself, he'll be standing at the back of the common room, watching over the efforts with his arms crossed and a expression of simmering guilt on his face. He will not speak unless spoken to. Unlike the rest present, he isn't injured - but he hasn't wiped off the blood. For those who might take a wild guess as to what might have happened, one can easily assume he's left proof of his guilt on him as if to wear a sign that says, "You can stone me; I deserve it." )


( This is less a toplevel and more a mingle! Feel free to comment approaching whomever and the relevant character(s) will respond. Feel free to threadhop as appropriate and so on! )