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!
lustro: (066)

[personal profile] lustro 2024-04-07 06:59 am (UTC)(link)
[ His smile spreads, still bitter. There’s just no need to downplay it now that he realizes the person (the character, the creation?) in front of him understands.

To want and hunger for something you can’t have. Possessive of what’s not yours. ]


Ha. You know then. Someone here told me it’s okay to not be okay.

[ This particular pause means but. ]

When you can’t be okay and can’t have what you want, what’s left but anger?

Pretty words can only go so far.

[ Even though he tries to say them. Even though he lies and tries to believe it all. ]
jorunna: (comet05)

[personal profile] jorunna 2024-04-07 06:59 am (UTC)(link)
[ The spirits better appreciate it! Even if it's not the right phrase... Nor can they tell them directly... ]

I'm glad it's funny... and a pun.

[ You learn something new...! ]

What kind of magic do you want to do?
annihilator: (➤ 95)

[personal profile] annihilator 2024-04-07 07:05 am (UTC)(link)
[Malice nods at that.]

Believe me, I think you've got the right idea. Where I'm from, there's a country in the south that's supposedly not ruled by vampires at all - so fleein's the best option.

But some humans are just so damn stubborn, y'know? They think they can do anythin' with enough willpower an' numbers. Hasn't worked out well for 'em so far, though.
lustro: (006)

[personal profile] lustro 2024-04-07 07:06 am (UTC)(link)
After all that effort to supposedly summon us? Or whatever term they want to use. I’d assume so.

[ It doesn’t seem like a horror novel so far. Just isekai. ]

Plus. If this is all in your head, I imagine the only person it won’t be kind to is you. That’s how the brain likes to play. [ Ginger knows. ] If we stick together, you should be okay.
annihilator: (➤ 15)

cw genocide

[personal profile] annihilator 2024-04-07 07:07 am (UTC)(link)
Huh.

[Malice nods at that, good eye narrowing.]

I'd do the same damn thing, so I get why you did it. They were your people, yeah? Can't imagine how hard it must've been to lose 'em, 'specially like that.
shortleash: (pic#17103510)

[personal profile] shortleash 2024-04-07 07:08 am (UTC)(link)
( Yeah, that sounds like the humans he knows............. stupid as hell!!! (INTERNAL SIGH) )

They never know when to take their lumps. I would've killed for a place not ruled by bloodsuckers.

( Unfortunately, he's one of the few who's had access to the lands beyond Japan since the apocalypse and... it didn't really reassure him much of there being a place beyond the vampires' reach— just out of their sight. You need to take what you can get, in that situation. )

Why align yourself with a losing cause, then?
lustro: (006)

[personal profile] lustro 2024-04-07 07:12 am (UTC)(link)
[ He nods. ]

Play our part and get out of here. [ He doesn’t have to lie about that at least. ] That is - I assume everyone wants the same thing.
annihilator: (➤ 66)

[personal profile] annihilator 2024-04-07 07:12 am (UTC)(link)
'Cause I hate other vampires. Maybe not as much as you do, but it's not like I've been treated well by 'em.

[He gestures to his missing arm in indication.]

Better to fight 'em than to play along with 'em - that's my thought, anyway.

[And it took him way too damn long to come to that conclusion. Shame about what he did to the people who trusted him to begin with... but at least this much is true now, he supposes.]
lustro: (014)

[personal profile] lustro 2024-04-07 07:17 am (UTC)(link)
A slight burn, but… I can’t tell if it’s heartburn or stomach-burn or some other body burn from stress.

[ The same feeling of when he has a deadline to meet, or too many sleepless nights in a row and he knows that one coworker will make his life miserable the next working day.

Or. Now added to the list: when he’s isekai’d into a story because he screwed up big time. ]
lustro: (007)

training + sugar delivery bc I can!!!

[personal profile] lustro 2024-04-07 07:23 am (UTC)(link)
Huh? Is that okay?

[ Feels bad not contributing though. ]

I haven’t managed to make anything yet. Still trying to… come up with something meaningful.
lustro: (041)

nametags!

[personal profile] lustro 2024-04-07 07:28 am (UTC)(link)
[ Reading over their shoulder: ]

Shinohara… Tao.

[ Nothing surprising about him understanding every language on earth. But he sure doesn’t look Japanese! ]
shortleash: (pic#17072497)

[personal profile] shortleash 2024-04-07 07:31 am (UTC)(link)
( The bitter shift is not surprising given the prelude, but it's certainly a step further than the sort of positive face Ginger had at first presented; which was truer, this or that? Mika's no master of insight, but he thinks he trusts how this raw wound bleeds more than he trusts any honey-tongued platitude. )

... If that's all that's left, be angry.

( Is that healthy? No. But who cares? )

Angry. Sad. Hurt. It's better than being empty. ( Not feeling anything, not being anything but your basest self— in his case, a vampire, a monster, a parasite, a thing. ) Better than lying to yourself. You'll collapse under the weight of it eventually.

( And you'll catch other people in the collapse, your own selfish stupidity, if you're unlucky. )
lustro: (014)

arrival

[personal profile] lustro 2024-04-07 07:31 am (UTC)(link)
[ Ginger definitely notices and is definitely concerned. ]

Is that… your blood?

[ Hey, hello, he thinks you’re hurt??? ]
shortleash: (pic#17073799)

[personal profile] shortleash 2024-04-07 07:32 am (UTC)(link)
Revenge, then.

( Fine and fair enough, he guesses. Losing an arm is pretty fucked up. Wait, )

... You don't regenerate?
dadsandals: (yama25)

[personal profile] dadsandals 2024-04-07 07:33 am (UTC)(link)
[ Why is everyone here going through it so much and so badly. Why.

But...being abandoned, turning that hatred into something for better or worse...he understands that. His expression is thoughtful for a second, and Malice may catch a glimpse of Yamato looking rather solemn before he immediately puts that prized smile back on his face. He's not smiling with his eyes, though.
]

It's Yamato. Maybe I'll make one later. I'm having more fun watching you make yours.

[ Which isn't a lie!!

His tone turns more serious:
]

Telling someone they're worthless will do that to someone...but it's better to do something productive with that hatred than let it fester.

[ He's paying the price for doing so. ]
jorunna: (comet08)

[personal profile] jorunna 2024-04-07 07:40 am (UTC)(link)
It's always dark where I'm from, so I don't feel tired.

[ Nocturnal moon creature. ]

...Working on magic circles might be a new night time activity.
annihilator: (➤ 34)

[personal profile] annihilator 2024-04-07 07:43 am (UTC)(link)
I do. It uh... went wrong.

[He leaves it at that, good hand coming up to rub at his other arm as if he can still feel it.]

Had to have it amputated, it got so bad. They did somethin' to keep it from comin' back wrong again, but I don't know much 'bout the process.
annihilator: (➤ 12)

[personal profile] annihilator 2024-04-07 07:44 am (UTC)(link)
[He caught that expression, but something tells him this is the sort of thing you don't really ask about.]

You think? I guess there's some truth in that. Didn't have much I could do with it, back then.

[Now, though?]

Eh, but that's somethin' to worry 'bout whenever I get back. We got bigger problems here, yeah?
shortleash: (pic#17103485)

[personal profile] shortleash 2024-04-07 07:52 am (UTC)(link)
... Remind me not to get fucked up so bad I can't regenerate.

( He's not going to say "sorry to hear that" or anything because he has a cold black heart (sorta), but at least he doesn't shoot back with something unnecessarily dickish. Sounds rough, buddy.

At least this guy isn't an annoying vampire, like Ferid. The bar has been set low so other vampires can surpass it, thankfully(?). )


I'd have left it alone, if I were you. The revenge thing, I mean. Doesn't accomplish much unless you mean to die doing it. I would've just moved south.
dadsandals: (yama30)

[personal profile] dadsandals 2024-04-07 07:56 am (UTC)(link)
Yeah, apparently so. We've been erroneously placed into a role that wasn't meant for us.

[ He doesn't want to be a hero for this world. He just wants to be okay. ]

That's a pretty big problem in itself, especially since we need to cram years of training into, well...however long we have left.
annihilator: (➤ 39)

[personal profile] annihilator 2024-04-07 08:00 am (UTC)(link)
Trust me, you don't wanna deal with it.

[But he grins at that, clearly fine with it now that we've moved on.]

I've heard south's got sunshine most of the year 'round, so might be kinda hard to live there. I'm sure some vampires are doin' it, though. Maybe somethin' to look into if I change my mind.

[Or more likely, when things are looking even more dire and he decides to ditch. But as long as he can take out the ones who have personally slighted him...]

Anyway, didn't think you were a vampire. What's caused you to hate 'em so damn much?
annihilator: (➤ 31)

[personal profile] annihilator 2024-04-07 08:02 am (UTC)(link)
Yep. Odds are definitely stacked against us.

[Malice hums to himself as he puts the finishing touches on his nametag and then moves to pin it to his shirt. He can manage this one-handed, don't worry.]

But it's too soon to start doom-sayin' yet, yeah? The impossible's already possible here, isn't it? After all, gettin' pulled to another world's not somethin' that happens every day where I'm from!
shortleash: (pic#17103554)

[personal profile] shortleash 2024-04-07 08:13 am (UTC)(link)
( Ew, sun. Fine, he wouldn't be eager to go either, but he'd go for lack of better options.

He clicks his tongue when called out. If he was actually keeping it a secret he wouldn't have made that remark, but he hates seeing himself in the mirror, metaphorically. )


I have a list, and we wouldn't get through it even if we stayed here all night. Starts with "me and my family being kept as livestock when I was a kid" and has a midpoint somewhere around the whole "using my best friend in their fucked up stupid plans." It goes on.

( His voice grows sharp and intense when he hits the whole bit about the best friend - the most vibrant emotion that's colored him so far - and then he seems to level out again into his general ambient displeasure come the next sentence. )
fellheart: (can yoυ мaĸe мe)

[personal profile] fellheart 2024-04-07 08:14 am (UTC)(link)
elevator ride arrival
[ not the halls of plegia castle, not the dragon's table. there's at least one possibility that flits briefly into mind before quickly being discarded, because who would dare be so brazen as to attempt to abduct him with any manner of warp spell? and moreover, who would actually manage it, give his resistance to such magic if performed without a willing target?

so whatever this is, it is a feat beyond a simple mortal trick. especially considering how outlandish and mismatched some of the others in the room seem. really now...

he doesn't quite hiss when the brand carves itself onto his skin— somewhere covered up by the layers of dark clothing he's wearing, but the location of the burn has him swallowing down the beginnings of a derisive scoff; what, did some entity out there think it would be funny or ironic for there to be a matched set, as it were? pity the other half's long gone now.

anyway, before, during, and after the explanations are all given, robin will be at the periphery of their impromptu gathering, reserved and evaluating. if it appears he's examining you and sizing you up, watching your reactions to the goings-on... yes he is, and not bothering to disguise it in the least. he is not, it seems, inclined to start the conversation first. ]
there are better times to take a nap than the morning, you know,
[ he has no intention of slacking or simply sleeping in, mind, considering he has no want to stay here and be forcefully claimed by a fate and a world that doesn't belong to him, but also, his idea of progress is holing up with a pile of books somewhere.

not being magically hauled unceremoniously to the courtyard for ... basic communion with spirits at the crack of dawn, apparently. this probably colors his mood for the following lesson and all interactions following, but he does take in and acknowledge the words spoken, sharp and attentive, and... well. ]


The foci used here must be tokens of some significance to us, do they? How very ... convenient, for those of our number who still cling to such things.

[ as for those of them who don't really possess much in the way of worldly possessions, much less ones with any particular sentimental value or importance attached, and don't care much to change that... hm.

what are they supposed to do, suddenly decide that a random pen or glove or brooch is now of the utmost importance to them? somehow he doubts it's that simple. ]
training........ not quite galvanized...
i.
[ their 'mentor' does have a point, because if they've been cut off from what they were capable of before in this new world and have to relearn and adjust to whatever mechanisms are present here, then better to do so sooner rather than later. if others would rather put it off, it's not his business to correct the failings of worms. ensure your own position is sound, first.

which might be easier said than done, because as he makes an idle attempt at a spell he knows quite familiarly... there's no doubt in his bearing, nothing less than full assurance as he declares the words in a language unfamiliar to any present, and in response lightning heeds his call, tracing out the form of a jagged, flickering 'blade' in his hand...

and yet he seems dissatisfied. with a shake of his head and a sigh, he lets the magic dissipate. ]


... The spirits of this world resonate best with a language that isn't the Ancient Language that I'm familiar with, don't they.

[ it's better than nothing, but this kind of showing is also not remotely up to his standards. on the one hand, problem probably identified. on the other, actually doing something about it... ]

ii.
[ he's in the library, as is the natural habitat of nerds. he's got so many books around him, as is the natural state of nerds. unfortunately for him, language barriers are real and they are menacing the non-Earth natives resident in the manor at this very moment. it's him, he's not an earthian.

he appears to have sorted some of his collection by language based on what he can glean of repeated words and which ones do and don't use the same ones, but that's... really only kind of a start... which he seems fully aware of, huffing out a breath as he works. ]


Honestly, why did these sages utilize such different writing systems... Different cultures and worlds, or is one form just a more archaic script...?

[ ... he's like, probably comparing japanese and some romance language here.

offer help? laugh at his struggles? bother him? ask him why he's actually putting this much effort into it?

(it's because he's shit at backing down from a challenge, and that's what these books and the language barrier present in them are now. a challenge. rip.) ]
wildcard!
[ you know what this is, this is the anything goes slot! hit me up on plotting, slide into my dms, or just throw something of your own at me and we'll see where we can take things! ]
Edited 2024-04-07 08:15 (UTC)
lustro: (011)

[personal profile] lustro 2024-04-07 08:21 am (UTC)(link)
[ If only he could hear Mika’s thoughts, he would say, “It’s too late. I’ve lost him. I’m sure I have.” Collapsed a house of cards built just for the two of them, a century of stacking suits. ]

Probably too stubborn to be empty. And it sounds… too scary… for someone like me.

[ Selfish. Coward. He can’t live that way. ]

Have you felt it before? Emptiness?