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!
impacter: (093)

[personal profile] impacter 2024-04-07 01:28 am (UTC)(link)
[OH! Polite applause!!!!!!!




that's it that's the tag]
jokey: (11 - NQnLesC)

[personal profile] jokey 2024-04-07 01:28 am (UTC)(link)
We call them calculators these days, but the original idea came from the abacus. Just imagine, if you can, an instant abacus.

[As for magic setting people back? Eh. Akira wobbles a hand as if to say maybe, maybe not.]

Technology has gotten to the point where it's both a help and a hindrance. We've got the means to talk to people all over the world at the press of a button, but knowing what everyone's up to all the time? Knowing all the bad that's happening all over the world? It's depressing.
revengier: (105)

[personal profile] revengier 2024-04-07 01:30 am (UTC)(link)
Cruelty is possible anywhere. We could very well come across a few cruel magic users here too.

[ He ties up one of his bags, setting it aside to grab a new one. ]

There are plenty of cruel Nen users back home.
revengier: (87)

[personal profile] revengier 2024-04-07 01:37 am (UTC)(link)
[ If Kurapika were the jealous sort, he'd be a little bit envious of the way Leo can zip off so cleanly when he didn't care about summoning a broom just a few minutes ago. He's impressed, really.

But he doesn't think on it for too long, instead shooting right after him in an attempt to win.

He really doesn't want to do that greeting.

Unfortunately, he gets a 5. How does Leo do? ]
discomposer: (ʜɪᴋᴀʀɪ ᴏ̄ᴇ)

[personal profile] discomposer 2024-04-07 01:38 am (UTC)(link)
[ For the record of the broom montage, Leo's broom is as follows: "The handle is shaped like a Knight piece from chess with a broken crown on its head. The whole thing is sleek black and there's carved piano keys on the side of it in a subtle pattern. The bristles are a deep blue, nearly black." He is already disgustingly good at handling it largely because if something interests him he can master it pretty quickly...IF IT DOESN'T, HE CAN'T...!

Anyway, he's like, dubiously helpful during the notes taking portion. He does try to read stuff but he gets distracted easily, but as long as he's given direction he tries...? But Akira's notes sheet is a lot easier to get a handle of. Bite-sized! ]


Strengthening bonds...? Mmmhmmm~! I see, I see! It's coming! I wanna write a song for the spirits! ☆ [ He wants to strengthen a bond! And if it comes to communication, even if it's not direct - doesn't that mean that maybe they can communicate indirectly through music? To Leo music is a first language and the one language everyone and everything can communicate through. It's how he's always seen it and he's already uncapping his marker - his foci marker, as he snags Akira's planner to grab another few blank sheets. Sorry he's a rude boy.

He just plops right down on the ground wherever they are, already humming to himself. ]


♪~♪~♪ [ ...And promptly gets lost in it. It's probably a little bit like watching Yusuke paint, maybe? Leo just totally tunes out everything else and focuses on what he's doing, scribbling out sheet music without missing a beat. He's done it so often that he can do straight lines without needing to fuss over them and the notes are all nearly perfectly formed.

The resulting song is going to have all the information in it, sure, but it's going to be composed playfully - an entreaty to the spirits Akira talked about to come and play with them, dance with them. Leo's hopes and dreams swirled in with all the information and his mood: bright, happy, curious. Hey, don't you want to come and play~?

It's also going to be a complete earworm kinda thing. Even besides being the composer for Knights' discography Leo's the one behind a lot of the Ensemble Stars music and more pieces that we haven't heard but know sell super well. His pieces are often picked up for jingles and professional pieces, so once he's done it's A Banger.

And also probably not the form Wanderer wanted this essay in, but the information IS in a catchy tune???? He'll happily shove the sheet music towards Akira once he's done. ]
revengier: (100)

[personal profile] revengier 2024-04-07 01:38 am (UTC)(link)
[ NO!!!!! ]

It's not bling.

[ Please. He's even bothered by the way Akira said that so casually. ]

They're weapons.
discomposer: (ᴛᴜɪ sᴛ. ɢᴇᴏʀɢᴇ ᴛᴜᴄᴋᴇʀ)

[personal profile] discomposer 2024-04-07 01:40 am (UTC)(link)
[ A 1, SO I GUESS HE GETS DISTRACTED BY SOMETHING AND LANDS TO START COMPOSING??? ]
revengier: (85)

[personal profile] revengier 2024-04-07 01:42 am (UTC)(link)
[ I'M LOSING IT

Kurapika just barely makes it to the roof and he just... stares down at Leo composing, apparently? He isn't one to shout, but: ]


Hey! What about the roof?
shadowkin: (008)

1/2

[personal profile] shadowkin 2024-04-07 01:42 am (UTC)(link)
Um, you're pulling my leg right now, right? Why would my eye be glowing? How powerful is the sunlight here??

[He keeps a hand over his eye regardless, but shifts his grip a bit.

(It's so that he looks cooler clutching his eye. If he has to be shoved into the role of Inexplicably Stuck In An Apocalyptic RPG Party While His Eye Aches Ominously he'll just go with it until he can figure out what the hell is actually going on.

The truth is clearly not that an Evil Moon cursed their eyeballs. No way.)]
shadowkin: (Default)

2/2

[personal profile] shadowkin 2024-04-07 01:43 am (UTC)(link)




...... Ah.

[He points.]

Your eye is glowing, though. There's no way we'd both have glowing eyes, that'd be lame. So it has to be you.
dyingtohealyou: ([Serious] my body; in)

[personal profile] dyingtohealyou 2024-04-07 01:43 am (UTC)(link)
...

What about medicine? Have there been many advancements there?
dyingtohealyou: ([Look] like background music to me)

[personal profile] dyingtohealyou 2024-04-07 01:43 am (UTC)(link)
It was the majority, in my world's case.

[Finishing up one of his own bags.]

Nen?
dyingtohealyou: ([Sigh] The lonely parade)

[personal profile] dyingtohealyou 2024-04-07 01:43 am (UTC)(link)
Can I go back to bed now?

[Yawning.]
dyingtohealyou: ([Look] The temperature of)

[personal profile] dyingtohealyou 2024-04-07 01:43 am (UTC)(link)
Well, is it?
discomposer: (xɪᴀɴ xɪɴɢʜᴀɪ)

[personal profile] discomposer 2024-04-07 01:44 am (UTC)(link)
[ LOOK, SOMETIMES U GET HIT BY INSPIRATION AND U MUST DROP EVERYTHING UR DOING -

anyway this is IMPORTANT, Kurapika, unlike the thing...Leo...asked you to do to start with? Look, the most likely cause of him nat 1'ing was --> completely forgets what he's doing. He does this a lot. ]


?!?! You're gonna kill it, don't let me lose this note - !

[ #idiocy ]
discomposer: (ᴠᴇʟɪ-ᴍᴀᴛᴛɪ ᴘᴜᴜᴍᴀʟᴀ)

[personal profile] discomposer 2024-04-07 01:44 am (UTC)(link)
[ Well, it's now a foci and Leo has no idea how that changes it so he just goes: ]

Sure!!
dyingtohealyou: ([Surprise] For just a little longer)

[personal profile] dyingtohealyou 2024-04-07 01:45 am (UTC)(link)
-Mine is?

[What the fuck!!!!!!!!!!!]
annihilator: (➤ 30)

[personal profile] annihilator 2024-04-07 01:45 am (UTC)(link)
[Urianger's manner of speech makes him pause for a moment to sort of parse through that, but he thinks he's got the general idea.

Anyway, Malice ticks the following off on his fingers with a frown.]


I've tried to summon a broom, I've attempted to figure out what words I should be using, an' I've been tryin' to figure out what my focus could be, but I've made no progress there either. But I'll admit I'm not really sure what I should be... doin' for each of those, so maybe I'm just makin' no progress 'cause I'm stumblin' around in the dark.
dyingtohealyou: ([Smile] I hope)

[personal profile] dyingtohealyou 2024-04-07 01:46 am (UTC)(link)
[Pfft.]

If you say so.

Did you still want to go shopping? Or try your hand at making sugar?
impacter: (122)

[personal profile] impacter 2024-04-07 01:46 am (UTC)(link)
Not at all. Maybe I was just imparting wisdom. Who's to say.

[lol

Anyway, his brows quirk up a bit at a specific word spoken.]


...You mean King Solomon? Fascinating...

Ah, sorry. It's spelled the same, though an ancient story is really all it is. [More importantly, though:] I wonder how similar our worlds are if that sort of scripture is shared across them.
discomposer: ᴋᴡɪɪ_𝟷𝟷𝟷@ᴛᴡɪᴛᴛᴇʀ (ᴍᴀᴜʀɪᴄᴇ ʀᴀᴠᴇʟ)

[personal profile] discomposer 2024-04-07 01:47 am (UTC)(link)
Oooh! I wanna make cool sugar things like Rittsu!

[ He should not aspire to his sugar looking like anything Rittsu makes. And yet. ]
annihilator: (➤ 12)

[personal profile] annihilator 2024-04-07 01:47 am (UTC)(link)
Yeah. Wish I knew what exactly we were supposed to be usin' for focusin'...

[But at least you've made some progress!]

What words are ya thinkin' of?
revengier: (30)

[personal profile] revengier 2024-04-07 01:47 am (UTC)(link)
[ The majority, huh? He's curious, but decides not to ask about it just yet. ]

The magic system in my world. You use your own life energy, or aura, and turn it into an ability unique to you.
revengier: (79)

[personal profile] revengier 2024-04-07 01:48 am (UTC)(link)
[ He frowns, hopping back onto his broom and flying back down to stand (un)imposingly over Leo. ]

Lose your note? Give me a break.
dyingtohealyou: ([Smile] Since before today)

[personal profile] dyingtohealyou 2024-04-07 01:48 am (UTC)(link)
Who?

[Going to plop down on the ground, though. Might as well get this done.]