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!
fullspbar: (15)

[personal profile] fullspbar 2024-04-23 08:30 am (UTC)(link)
[ Well, everybody's got their strengths...as long as he's good at something! That being said, people will get sick of one meal, so a little variety will be good. Don't be taking all those books, either; he needs to piece together all the weird little magical substitutes here.

Going back to his business once Akira leaves his side to go hunting, he pulls the Pretty Much Miso off the shelf next to give it a proper evaluation. The paste seems thick enough, and the smell is fine..? Ah, but he needs a spoon. Can't be sticking any fingers in there.

Shinjiro's opening the drawers when Akira starts talking again, and he pauses, small spoon in hand, to frown- ]


The hell? Why just curry?

[ Does this guy just have a preference or something...he's got little interest in humoring this skinny twink, but at least food isn't a terrible topic. ]

...I prefer pork.
fullspbar: (110)

[personal profile] fullspbar 2024-04-23 08:33 am (UTC)(link)
[ At least some of the people here are normal. Also, what captcha...we don't worry about that. ]

Since we're here, might as well ask what you wanna eat. [ He can be agreeable, sometimes. ] I'm familiar with mostly Japanese and Western foods, though.
fullspbar: (51)

[personal profile] fullspbar 2024-04-23 08:54 am (UTC)(link)
Fair enough. [ Small man has a point. ] From the sounds of it, though, it ain't worth the risk in the long run.

[ As much as he finds this to be a heavily disorienting experience at minimum and a straight up mindfuck at maximum, it's easy to see what he's getting at. And with how much is going on, he'd really rather not put anybody else in danger just because he's conflicted.

Something to ruminate on when he's alone, he supposes. ]


Th' latter. [ A small frown as he pauses. ] In a sense, anyway. Other people I knew handled the magic; I prefer to fight the physical way. That's just how I do things.

[ Which...isn't probably much of an option anymore, but alas. ]
fullspbar: (46)

[personal profile] fullspbar 2024-04-23 08:56 am (UTC)(link)
[ Not hard to realize he looks like shit; he doesn't need the frown to tell him that. Still, better than getting a nasty infection a week in to this weird fantasy land. Who the hell knows what weird magical infections they've got, anyway.

Shinjiro tenses up only barely, and briefly. Fortunately, he doesn't flinch at the dab of cloth to torn skin, even if it hurts like a bitch. ]


...I've had worse than that. [ The disinfectant, anyway. Hard to top whatever happened to him right now. ] Don't bother worryin' about it.
fullspbar: (107)

[personal profile] fullspbar 2024-04-23 09:00 am (UTC)(link)
That ain't- [ Then he clicks his tongue, cutting himself off. Man, there's some stubborn bastards around here.

Humans are animals, but most people aren't allergic to human hair!!

Geez, he doesn't wanna sit around and lecture a guy probably twice his age. Not to mention, he definitely didn't see him at dinner, so he probably needs this place more than Shinjiro does.

There's a brief moment of silence, before he puts the lid back on the seaweed, putting the jar back to wipe his hands clean. ]


...Rats like nuts, right? [ The exasperated noise of a teen who's 18 going on 40. ] There's some sunflower seeds in the pantry, pretty sure.
fullspbar: (121)

[personal profile] fullspbar 2024-04-23 09:06 am (UTC)(link)
You try havin' a guy with teeth that sharp try to rip a chunk out of you, then come back and ask me that again.

[ Strong? Debatable. Feral and unhinged, with no respect for his own personal safety? Yes.

The suggestion is...suspicious, but he picks up the thermos nonetheless, if only to pop open the lid to take both a peek and a quick whiff. Smells...alright? ]


Not too sure if you can call it an energy drink, [ He's brutally honest, as usual, but he still takes a long contemplative sip. Hm. ] But it ain't so bad. You make this stuff before?
leewards: (010)

[personal profile] leewards 2024-04-23 09:13 am (UTC)(link)
Of course I do~

[He sits almost daintily on his broom, wrapping his hands on the shaft and swinging his legs now despite them still being crossed.]

I've known magic for a while, learning these lessons are much easier with such a foundation.
leewards: (007)

[personal profile] leewards 2024-04-23 09:27 am (UTC)(link)
Hmm, hm. [He taps his chin, claw clinking against the mask.]

Well, I suppose so. [Perhaps Ithaqua is unbothered simply because... if he allowed himself to be bothered, he would drive himself mad.] But as long as you don't take too long to adjust to this place, eh?

Not merely the individual quirks of the others in this manor but the world itself.
jorunna: (comet11)

[personal profile] jorunna 2024-04-23 10:15 am (UTC)(link)
Depends.

[ They can go either way for Akira, since it doesn't matter that much to them unless Akira asks for something in return for the aches. So much for Akira's cool impression... But it's okay, right? He already made a cool first impression, being all ready to do research for Wanderer's homework assignment.

The broom's pace is cruising, so at least they don't have to worry about it as Comet nods. ]


Mmhm. If you caught me, then that makes you're trustworthy, doesn't it?
lighthaus: (0060)

[personal profile] lighthaus 2024-04-23 02:24 pm (UTC)(link)
Japanese again...that country doesn't exist where I'm from. And western doesn't mean much to me either unless you mean the country I'm assigned to here.

[ there are a good amount of people here who have mentioned this Japan though, curious. ]

What are some dishes from each?
lighthaus: (020)

[personal profile] lighthaus 2024-04-23 02:27 pm (UTC)(link)
[ now he's grinning. ]

Do you always take people at their word that easily? You're a fun one to tease.
annihilator: (➤ 40)

[personal profile] annihilator 2024-04-23 05:36 pm (UTC)(link)
Oh yeah, that makes sense.

[Malice hops onto his own broom and thankfully, it remains floating. Progress...!!]

My kind can't use magic, where I'm from. So it's been a bit harder for me.
foresightis2020: (59)

[personal profile] foresightis2020 2024-04-23 06:00 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Most definitely. ]

It's truly no issue. I believe it's something most would do.

Though, I can see why you would prefer those spots. But, speaking of indoors, shall we return with our haul? I'm sure you'd enjoy the chance to decorate your place with your items as soon as you could.

[ And with that, we can have the thread wrapped up here! ]
annihilator: (➤ 14)

[personal profile] annihilator 2024-04-23 06:07 pm (UTC)(link)
Hah, sounds good! C'mon, let's head on back!

[Good hustle everyone!!]
shortleash: (pic#17120830)

[personal profile] shortleash 2024-04-23 06:13 pm (UTC)(link)
( ... )

... If I... fed... more regularly... I wouldn't end up in... a hunger frenzy, I guess. I'd be able to control my intake. But...

( He's clearly not enthused about the idea, either. Far from it. )
fullspbar: (119)

[personal profile] fullspbar 2024-04-23 06:46 pm (UTC)(link)
Not like I'd be able to pull that off.

[ Yet(?) But healing has never been his forte in any capacity. He'll stick to bandaids and cotton balls from the med kit.

Fortunately, despite his demeanor, he's not stupid enough to start moving about. He's already dizzy enough as-is, so the sooner this clears up, the better. The itch was...irritating, but both it and the pain are nearly gone now. He can't really see exactly how it's going from the angle, though, so he's just assuming it's good. ]
fullspbar: (110)

[personal profile] fullspbar 2024-04-23 07:00 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Hmmm. ]

...Guess you could say that.

[ For someone who's never really had anything important to keep, in comparison to some people, it feels a bit more difficult than it should. Not to mention, he's got even less here.

The holster at his side feels heavier than normal, but it usually does these days. ]


Not like we came with much. Not a whole lot of options to choose from.

[ Well, Shinjiro didn't. He's assuming the same's for everyone else. ]
fullspbar: (100)

[personal profile] fullspbar 2024-04-23 07:08 pm (UTC)(link)
...Seriously? We're here for groceries. You're gonna scarf a whole box of those on the way back or something?

[ That's a lot of sugar...well, whatever. He lets the exasperated noise speak for itself. ]

Well, do whatever you want, I ain't your mom. Just don't be bitching if it bites you, later.
fullspbar: (116)

[personal profile] fullspbar 2024-04-23 07:15 pm (UTC)(link)
...Huh.

[ No...Japan? Sure, this place in itself was weird enough, and some people had looked a little off, but where the hell are some of these people even from...?

No, that's not a can of worms he's opening right now. Not in the middle of a shopping trip. Better to just...try and focus on the other part. ]


Uh, I guess...Western cuisine has things like spaghetti, and pastas. Japanese...like Nikujaga, and miso...curry, katsudon? Anythin' here ringing a bell?
fullspbar: (87)

[personal profile] fullspbar 2024-04-23 07:27 pm (UTC)(link)
[ That doesn't get a response in turn, just a dismissive grunt, but it's enough. As long as he's awake, he's fine; even if he has to close his eyes for a brief moment from the dizziness so the lights don't make it worse.

'Scuffle' earns a grimace. ]


That's puttin' it lightly. [ A flex of his finger, light not to aggravate the split skin of his knuckles. ] Not like I haven't had worse, though.

[ Honestly, it's small beans to some things. After all, he's still standing. ]

He had it coming, anyway.
lustro: (052)

[personal profile] lustro 2024-04-23 07:27 pm (UTC)(link)
[ It could have been a trick of the light, but Ginger’s used to weird eye things considering his currently mismatched pair. He considers it for a moment - what if? He thinks… he’s interested enough to ask - at another time, in another conversation. ]

The correct way rather than the way I really feel, you mean? True… feelings are always more complicated than just right and wrong.
1145pm: (pic#17103102)

[personal profile] 1145pm 2024-04-23 07:30 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Tatara nods, decisive. ]

It will be.

[ With a little smile, he gives a wave. See ya, Uncle Bruno~ ]
fullspbar: (64)

[personal profile] fullspbar 2024-04-23 07:32 pm (UTC)(link)
'Cuz ya haven't tried. Pretty much anyone can learn if they get the basics down.*

[ *Unless you're Solomon.

It's not scolding, just very 'matter of fact'. Probably not the most ideal time to be talking about cooking, but at least it's a distraction from the goings-on...and the nauseating smell of blood.

He would prefer to do this, usually. He's almost always dealt with his own wounds, after the incident, without Akihiko's nagging or Mitsuru's scolding. But the faint chill of the wet towel is superseded by the familiar sensation of a cool balm over his skin, flesh knitting together slowly. The sting is there, yes; but he's not particularly bothered. ]


...'S fine. I can't see most of it, anyway.
1145pm: (pic#17103101)

[personal profile] 1145pm 2024-04-23 07:39 pm (UTC)(link)
Mm-hmm.

[ Nod! It's a lot, but it doesn't seem like it bothers him all that much. He sure is taking this in stride. ]

But it'll be okay! I'll get the hang of it eventually.

[ He's talking like he's never done this before, but he definitely has. ]
fullspbar: (96)

[personal profile] fullspbar 2024-04-23 07:39 pm (UTC)(link)
[ No, definitely no reminiscing- he definitely could, if he wanted, but those kinds of memories probably wouldn't do the trick. Not the way they want, anyway.

That, and reminiscing right now is...less than ideal. He's dealing with enough.

Still, Shinjiro's face scrunches a bit at the concept of having to dig through the library for something. Homework hasn't been his thing for a few years now.

Still. What can you do. ]


Guess it'd be more productive than standing here and yappin' away.

[ The sooner he gets this over with the better, they say. His gaze flickers from Maya to manor itself, brows furrowing. ]

...I didn't check where the library was. You know where we're going?