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!
chronosynthesis: (❖ Well of Eternity)

[personal profile] chronosynthesis 2024-04-07 03:01 am (UTC)(link)
[Yamato stares. Syrlya pretends he doesn't notice.] Well, that depends why it can only be accessed by magic. It could be a lock of some sort that simply responds to energy or a specific spell. It could also require teleportation, which isn't normally outside my capability.

[Normally.]
annihilator: (➤ 12)

[personal profile] annihilator 2024-04-07 03:02 am (UTC)(link)
Huh, that's not bad. But what exactly is "latin"?

[i'm so sorry you have to answer this...]
dadsandals: (yama10)

[personal profile] dadsandals 2024-04-07 03:03 am (UTC)(link)
You make my name tag for me.

[ You know, the Tatara Activity thing. He is lazy and unenthused. I am sorry. ]
discomposer: (ᴇ́ʟɪsᴀʙᴇᴛʜ ᴊᴀᴄǫᴜᴇᴛ ᴅᴇ ʟᴀ ɢᴜᴇʀʀᴇ)

[personal profile] discomposer 2024-04-07 03:03 am (UTC)(link)
Oh, it's just another language! For some reason, a lot of the incantation examples I've heard are in that...?

[ It doesn't seem to be required???? But he isn't clear on that??? ]
impacter: (035)

[personal profile] impacter 2024-04-07 03:04 am (UTC)(link)
Sugar? Hahah. I doubt it would in this quantity. Appearances can be deceiving!

Hold on just a minute while I get this off the heat, alright?

[Leo can proceed to watch Solomon take the pan off the stove, leaving the wood still actively burning (and smoking) as the scalding hot pan is brought over with one hand while he rummages for a container with the other. Hm hm hm... a glass should work.

Hope you enjoy the sounds of someone scraping what sounds like burnt glass into a cup, Leo. Wow the smoke sure makes it feel rustic in here!]
annihilator: (➤ 71)

[personal profile] annihilator 2024-04-07 03:04 am (UTC)(link)
I don't get why you'd put it in another language... but maybe that's just to stop from accidentally sayin' it? Does it have'ta be in latin...?

[same brain tbh]
discomposer: (ᴋᴀɴ'ɪᴄʜɪ sʜɪᴍᴏғᴜsᴀ)

[personal profile] discomposer 2024-04-07 03:05 am (UTC)(link)
I don't know! I don't think so...? That grumpy guy probably would have said if it were. I guess I'm gonna look up what "King's castle" is in it to see if it sounds cool! If it doesn't, I won't use it!

[ It HAS to sound cool. ]
annihilator: (➤ 19)

[personal profile] annihilator 2024-04-07 03:06 am (UTC)(link)
Hah, now that's the way to do it. I'll come with, might as well see if I can find somethin' cool too, yeah?

[If it doesn't sound cool, we can't use it, obviously??]
divineth: (🌒 54)

[personal profile] divineth 2024-04-07 03:07 am (UTC)(link)
[Arms crossed, Urianger listens attentively to Malice's account.]

Indeed, 'twould be most effective to lay a strong foundation to build from. To begin, art thou familiar with the spirits of this world? They play an inextricable role in our ability to utilize magick. To that end, establishing a connection with them is paramount.
impacter: (049)

[personal profile] impacter 2024-04-07 03:07 am (UTC)(link)
Hahah. Who knows!

Finding out is the answer to the question, though. [He continues a stroke in a long sweeping motion, very practiced.] Nothing might happen at all. But there's only one way to find out.
annihilator: (➤ 25)

[personal profile] annihilator 2024-04-07 03:09 am (UTC)(link)
Yeah, I remember hearin' 'bout that. But I don't really know... how to? Is this somethin' I'm supposed to like... pray to or somethin'?

[Vampires don't have religion where he's from, so...]
fallingsand: (56;)

[personal profile] fallingsand 2024-04-07 03:09 am (UTC)(link)
[ In before someone comes over here to tell them to shut up. Really, though, Bruno sits quietly through the song, listening, and, amazingly? He finally cracks a smile over it.

When Leo is done, he'll give him a round of applause before asking,
]

Do you sing a lot? Because that was amazing!
fullspbar: (59)

a spoonful of WHOOP ASS

[personal profile] fullspbar 2024-04-07 03:10 am (UTC)(link)
[ He may not really consider himself a paragon of safety, but he's smelt more than his fair share of kitchen fires (usually small), so the scent compared with the waft of oddly colored smoke is a bit...ominous.

Well. More than a bit. That's actually really fucking ominous. ]


What the hell—?!

[ Hand to his mouth as he waves off the smoke with another, here is a very disgruntled teen barging in, eyes darting around the room. What the fuck is going on in here? ]
annihilator: (➤ 79)

[personal profile] annihilator 2024-04-07 03:10 am (UTC)(link)
Hah, fair enough. You gonna need help if you summon a demon or somethin'?

[To fight, he means. Not that he's really able to do much right now??]
discomposer: (ᴛᴜɪ sᴛ. ɢᴇᴏʀɢᴇ ᴛᴜᴄᴋᴇʀ)

[personal profile] discomposer 2024-04-07 03:11 am (UTC)(link)
[ HE GETS IT... ]

Then to the library we go~! ♪ It shouldn't be that hard, right!

[ ...Well, they can probably find some kinda dictionary or something, that seems reasonable, so -

~~~timeskip sounds~~~ ]


Hm, hm - okay, so..."Speculum Speculum"?

[ For mirror mirror...but they can at least look shit up now if they like. ]

King's Castle is "Castrum regis"!
jorunna: (comet06)

Professional student for hire

[personal profile] jorunna 2024-04-07 03:13 am (UTC)(link)
...We were assigned homework, even here.

[ By someone who looks their age??? The sound of disbelief goes here. ]

An adventure sounds good though.

[ They can get their broom! They do the little clap one does at a shrine for luck and poof. There it is. ]
impacter: (117)

[personal profile] impacter 2024-04-07 03:13 am (UTC)(link)
Why, thank you.

[There's definitely no glowing happening right this moment. Maybe it isn't done.]

That's the question of the hour, isn't it? Maybe it won't do anything at all.
shadowkin: (005)

[personal profile] shadowkin 2024-04-07 03:13 am (UTC)(link)
[It's a compliment (maybe) (ish). ☆

Anyway bro how many arms do you have. Cid has opened the door a little but still not stepped inside because he hasn't decided if he wants to get all that involved with an arms dealer(?)... even if they're basically living in the same building. This building is So Much At All Times already and he is also rather inconvenienced by that. But the thing that he is most put off by is that there isn't an exciting story behind the arm like it was lopped off an evil robot or something. Lame.

Still, though, he does his presumably obligatory normie duty of staring dubiously at the multiplying amounts of disembodied limbs.]

Oh. I was wondering what all the noise was about... this place is kinda loud at night. [stares at our Nocturnal spreadsheet column] That's strange, though. I could've sworn souls and spirits are kinda the same thing.
impacter: (122)

[personal profile] impacter 2024-04-07 03:18 am (UTC)(link)
Ideally? Not at all.

[He's starting to work out another symbol into the circle, slowly but surely.]

Are you familiar with telephones?
fallingsand: (93;)

magic practice

[personal profile] fallingsand 2024-04-07 03:19 am (UTC)(link)
[ Watching all these people beef it with their brooms isn't giving Bruno a whole lot of hope for when he finally gets one created but that'll have to be after, well— ]

Stiiiill figuring out the, y'know, that other thing. The focus?

[ He's moved out of the library for some fresh air and has taken a seat out here in the gardens instead. A change of scenery might help, he had hoped, but so far? ]

So, uh. [ He's going to squint at Syrlya for a moment. ] Is being a plant normal where you're from? J... just wondering.
annihilator: (➤ 53)

[personal profile] annihilator 2024-04-07 03:21 am (UTC)(link)
[off we go...!!!]

Ehh, not great. But "castrum regis"? Now that's got a nice ring to it.

[Though Malice is not a fan of reading, he is absolutely going to be going through these books looking for something Cool™.]

Hmm... Maybe somethin' like... "haec dominium mea est"?
discomposer: (ᴀʟᴇssᴀɴᴅʀᴏ sᴄᴀʀʟᴀᴛᴛɪ)

[personal profile] discomposer 2024-04-07 03:23 am (UTC)(link)
[ Leo similarly would not be here if it weren't for them trying to find the Coolest Words. They're gonna be SO COOL. ]

That's..."This is my domain"? Oooh, I like that! It's what you wanted to say, and it fits what you can do! Like, instead of them just getting to attack you, you can take it and make it yours. ♪

[ HE APPROVES. ]
annihilator: (➤ 12)

[personal profile] annihilator 2024-04-07 03:25 am (UTC)(link)
[listen........ listen......... we don't talk about what happened to his arm.......]

Oh, yeah. Didn't really think 'bout it, I'm usually up late anyway.

[What with being a vampire and all, of course.]

An' I've got no idea 'bout that. Magic's not exactly somethin' I know much about, anyway.
positivize: (pic#17104058)

[personal profile] positivize 2024-04-07 03:25 am (UTC)(link)
That's not so bad. Okay, it's a deal.

[One name tag for the price of having her room vacuumed without her needing to put effort into it?? Sold. She'll even make the nametag extra glittery just for him.]

So, what name should I be putting down on that tag?
impacter: (109)

[personal profile] impacter 2024-04-07 03:25 am (UTC)(link)
[There is an abysmal abomination of black, bubbling sugar that you could swear was screaming out in agony between the bursts of smoke. Does that fire need to be that big? How is he breathing through all this smoke? What fantastical mysteries.

Solomon looks up from his war crime in surprise, before giving a wave.]


Good morning! Was the smell that enticing?