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
πŸŒ™ Welcome to Lunae Calamitas's first event post! Yer a wizard, whether you like it or not.
πŸŒ™ 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...
πŸŒ™ Your OOC plotting post is here! Please keep all your plotting on the plotting post, since not everyone uses discord or plurk.
πŸŒ™ The South will be going on their mission next week to get this party started. Keep an eye out, Southies!
chronosynthesis: (❖ Mimic)

[personal profile] chronosynthesis 2024-04-23 04:47 am (UTC)(link)
I had some help with her. [Bless Gorrik.] But taming an animal that has already grown in the wild and raising an infant creature are very different. It's the wild part I have no affinity for, and I'd like to not be turned into some creature's scratching post.
chronosynthesis: (❖ Mental Defense)

[personal profile] chronosynthesis 2024-04-23 04:49 am (UTC)(link)
I'd say it does. You are as much a part of the situation as the rest of them. [He tilts his head.] Are you willing to talk about what happened?
troublereduction: (day46)

[personal profile] troublereduction 2024-04-23 04:52 am (UTC)(link)
[ About that Ginger,,,

That gets a small laugh from Day. ]


I ain't sure what an angel's even supposed to be. [ Only that apparently Ginger's half of one, thanks to what he just said. ] I'm sayin' it 'cause you look like you.
positivize: (pic#17104120)

[personal profile] positivize 2024-04-23 04:53 am (UTC)(link)
[✰ she tried and therefore no one should criticize her ✰]

Uh, thanks? But maybe someone in your world will come up with something like it one day... people are always looking for progress somehow.
chronosynthesis: (❖ Escape Artist)

[personal profile] chronosynthesis 2024-04-23 04:58 am (UTC)(link)
You would know better than me. But I also know what many people coming together are capable of. [So he wasn't going to put it off the table.

If it is up to them alone, however... that makes it all the more important that they adapt to this magic quickly.]


We do what we can, I suppose. [A beat, and then he looks up with realization.] Oh, I don't believe I caught your name earlier. I'm Syrlya.
chronosynthesis: (❖ Distortion)

[personal profile] chronosynthesis 2024-04-23 04:59 am (UTC)(link)
Of course. [He offers an easy smile.] I'm Syrlya. Don't hesitate to ask for anything if you need it.
dyingtohealyou: ([Surprise] Just a little bit more)

[personal profile] dyingtohealyou 2024-04-23 04:59 am (UTC)(link)
-?!

[Dude?????]

Are you that interested in killing random people?
dyingtohealyou: ([Look] like background music to me)

[personal profile] dyingtohealyou 2024-04-23 04:59 am (UTC)(link)
What can you do with it?
annihilator: (➀ 39)

[personal profile] annihilator 2024-04-23 05:00 am (UTC)(link)
[Syrlya. He has now been assigned the nickname "Syr", enjoy!]

Malice. Nice to meetcha, an' I appreciate it - we'll see how it goes!
jorunna: (comet15)

[personal profile] jorunna 2024-04-23 05:08 am (UTC)(link)
A bit.

[ Folds their arms. ]

But everything here is a bit much to take in, so maybe it can be okay.
leewards: (008)

[personal profile] leewards 2024-04-23 05:16 am (UTC)(link)
I simply willed it to, heheh.

[To demonstrate, he sits back in his previous position, and his broom stays steady.]

Of course, actually making it move would be something else entirely, but it comes down to will, doesn't it?
annihilator: (➀ 19)

[personal profile] annihilator 2024-04-23 05:19 am (UTC)(link)
All comes down to will, huh? Well, I'm certainly not lettin' a broom get the best of me!

[And there it goes, as if on cue, floating upward out of his hand and hovering there nicely.]

Seems like you've got a knack for this!
positivize: (pic#17105365)

[personal profile] positivize 2024-04-23 05:21 am (UTC)(link)
[He's gotta start kicking more puppies instead looking like a kicked puppy if he wants that!!!

There's a bit of a pause though, as she gives those words a moment to settle.]


...I heard a bit about what happened. It doesn't sound like it was as simple as just wanting to attack people for no reason.
leewards: (011)

[personal profile] leewards 2024-04-23 05:22 am (UTC)(link)
[Ithaqua gives a great big shrug.]

Who says it is? Heheh.

If they realize that you shall not, or cannot, they'll leave you alone.
shortleash: (pic#17103568)

[personal profile] shortleash 2024-04-23 05:42 am (UTC)(link)
... I didn't want to. But that doesn't change that I did.

( His brows furrow, frustrated. )

... I tried to get as far away as I could before this became a problem. I just... didn't think I'd drag myself back.

( An exceptionally dangerous survival instinct, unfortunately. He'd thought he was far enough away that he'd starve first, at least. )
shortleash: (pic#17103545)

[personal profile] shortleash 2024-04-23 05:53 am (UTC)(link)
( ... )

What do you want to know?

( He's not trying to be unhelpful, even if his answers are cagey. Feeling unwell aside... he doesn't want to describe things in a way too sympathetic to himself. So... whatever Syr wants to know, he'll answer plainly. )
chronosynthesis: (❖ Protected Phantasms)

[personal profile] chronosynthesis 2024-04-23 06:05 am (UTC)(link)
Let's start with what happened. Did something occur after you were dragged back? [Or while he was dragged back. Technicalities.]
jorunna: (comet06)

[personal profile] jorunna 2024-04-23 06:18 am (UTC)(link)
It's... weird. Someone used the whole thing in some summoning ritual a long time ago, so now it's a source of magical energy. You can breathe on it in some spots, because there are portals to earth that brought in little pockets of atmosphere.

[ As for the second... ]

Natives take it seriously, but I learned on Earth, it only persists from a children's story? So you sound kinda childish using it, if Moon People are ever a topic.

[ Secondhand embarrassment. ]
Edited 2024-04-26 03:51 (UTC)
lustro: (116)

[personal profile] lustro 2024-04-23 06:32 am (UTC)(link)
I kind of have to??

[ He covers the lower half of his face. He doesn’t know what his mouth should be doing right now, so he’s just gonna hide it until he -

Until something. ]


… What do I look like to you?
chronosynthesis: (❖ Healing Prism)

[personal profile] chronosynthesis 2024-04-23 06:49 am (UTC)(link)
Hope is the most important first step. Let's try for it, hm? [He smiles, reassuring.] For now, though, let's focus on what's in front of us. Or not in front of us, as the case may be. Seen anything out of the ordinary yet?
troublereduction: (day82)

[personal profile] troublereduction 2024-04-23 06:52 am (UTC)(link)
[ ...Curses, huh...

Well, technically he has some experience with that. ]


You should be thanking Mika, 'cause if he didn't go 'round trying to nab people for help, I wouldn't have known until way later.

As for, uh, curses, I...sorta have experience with that?
shortleash: (pic#17103575)

[personal profile] shortleash 2024-04-23 06:54 am (UTC)(link)
( Ah...

His gaze drops. )


... I dragged... I— I felt that I was getting... too hungry to manage. So I went into the forest, as far as I could manage. I thought that was far enough. So... the one that dragged me back was myself.

( His instinct, rather, but Mika doesn't phrase it as such - attributing his wrongs to some part of him, as if it were separate, controlling him. His sins are his own. )

... And at that point, I was in... a hunger frenzy, I guess you would call it. I just... was thinking about how to stop starving. And I let myself lose control.
divineth: (πŸŒ’ 58)

[personal profile] divineth 2024-04-23 07:09 am (UTC)(link)
[gfgkjd help]

There is likely not an easy solution, but surely there is one that does not thrust multiple people unto grave danger every time thou must feed.
lustro: (028)

[personal profile] lustro 2024-04-23 07:17 am (UTC)(link)
You’re… used to something similar? You’ve done this before.
fullspbar: (121)

[personal profile] fullspbar 2024-04-23 08:09 am (UTC)(link)
18.

[ Curt and to the point. He's not addressing the other stuff, that's not a debate he wants right now. Truthfully, he doesn't want a debate at all, but someone has forced his sinful hand despite his best efforts.

The gaze he has is suspicious at Solomon's gesture, but the sight after at least delves more into bewildered territory than everything.

Sure, they'd gotten the magic lowdown, but actually seeing it is...something else. Enough he's only barely catches the first part of that weird lecture, disbelief flickering in his features as the newly-fixed knife sits innocently on the counter. Persona's are one thing, but this is another.

...No, he's not paying attention to that, now. Now that the novelty has worn off, he can return to his unimpressed gaze, arms folding taut over his chest. ]


You're missing the damn point here. I didn't come to listen to a magic lecture. [ He's really not in the place to be trying that shit right now, anyway. ] If you're pullin' shit that you have to fix like that in the first place, then that's the whole problem. Makin' it go away doesn't mean you can treat the kitchenware like that!

[ A pause, then a gesture to the pan with it's little knife-induced scuffs. ]

And if you're gonna fix that, then fix this too. Don't half-ass it.