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 youโ€™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
๐ŸŒ™ Welcome to Lunae Calamitas's first event post! Yer a wizard, whether you like it or not.
๐ŸŒ™ 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...
๐ŸŒ™ Your OOC plotting post is here! Please keep all your plotting on the plotting post, since not everyone uses discord or plurk.
๐ŸŒ™ The South will be going on their mission next week to get this party started. Keep an eye out, Southies!
themanwhoerasedhisname: 8 (8)

[personal profile] themanwhoerasedhisname 2024-04-08 08:16 pm (UTC)(link)
[The war part is something he's used to, to some extent and in a less traditional way because, you know, Yakuza games. They're wars in many ways. Kiryu doesn't seem too worried about that]

We're better suited for the making sugar appear part, then?

[Which, hey, if that's all he had to do, he'd still give it his all because that's how he is]
chronosynthesis: (โ– Desperate Decoy)

[personal profile] chronosynthesis 2024-04-08 08:24 pm (UTC)(link)
[In a way, aren't they already lost? Some of them surely have absences that will be noticed.

Syrlya hums.]
They don't seem to know what happened, either. Could our arrival and the disappearance of the previous wizards be linked?
themanwhoerasedhisname: (1)

[personal profile] themanwhoerasedhisname 2024-04-08 08:31 pm (UTC)(link)
[Truthfully that Evoker has Kiryu's guard up because, you know, gun. Why is this the second person here who seems to have 'gun' as their potential focus, what's wrong with you guys, geeeeeeez]

The important part is to make it easy to remember. You'll be done for if you forget it when you really need it.

[Which is probably why it's meant to be something significant to you...makes it easy to recall during hard times]
troublereduction: (day16)

[personal profile] troublereduction 2024-04-08 08:32 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Shinji's got a point. Most of the people here seem able to speak up for themselves, though on the other hand, doesn't the fact that he's going out of the way to pick up ingredients mean he's probably going to be the one who gets asked? ]

I guess it'd be lucky if that's the case. You a good cook?
1145pm: (i look like mikoto in this picture)

[personal profile] 1145pm 2024-04-08 08:39 pm (UTC)(link)
[ They sure have! Tatara notices this, and this time, he's satisfied with the lead up. He shifts his weight and assumes a dramatic thinking pose. Not to misdirect or anything—he's just like that. ]

Not everyone was in the manor that day. I think some were gone on personal business, some were out doing jobs. I can't remember who exactly went where, or who was still in the manor, but suddenly...it went quiet.

[ The smile on his face falters a little. It's weird being the only one here not sensitive to magic, because then maybe he'd have more to add. ]
themanwhoerasedhisname: 7 (7)

[personal profile] themanwhoerasedhisname 2024-04-08 08:40 pm (UTC)(link)
How about trying to make something new yourself?

[He suggested this to someone else already! If you don't have a focus, maybe you'd be able to craft one while in this world?]
troublereduction: (pic#17020437)

foci

[personal profile] troublereduction 2024-04-08 08:40 pm (UTC)(link)
And you're saying you ain't one of them?

[ Half-rhetorical, since he doubts this guy would have brought it up if it weren't the case. ]
positivize: (pic#17104135)

[personal profile] positivize 2024-04-08 08:42 pm (UTC)(link)
Yamato it is, then!

[And she will accept Musashi into her arms! Honestly, she probably doesn't need it right now, but she won't say no to giving it a spin.]

Well, you can't blame us for being curious, can you? Where'd you get Musashi-kun, anyway?
themanwhoerasedhisname: 5 (5)

[personal profile] themanwhoerasedhisname 2024-04-08 08:46 pm (UTC)(link)
Not yet. I don't know that much about magic but I have heard doing it wrong is bad for you.

[Well, no, that's more like common sense, in his opinion. Magic is all about doing amazing things, a mistake will obliterate you!]
1145pm: (pic#16970046)

[personal profile] 1145pm 2024-04-08 08:47 pm (UTC)(link)
[ And just like Solomon, Tatara brightens at mention of Omrice, like a different kind of kid getting an unexpected surprise for dinner. ]

You know omurice? You can make it?!

[ Is he looking for a pan? Tatara stands up from his spot and gets out a pan from where their home is, the perfect size for omurice.

He holds it up, the kitchen light catching on the sheen. ]
I'll help you out!
themanwhoerasedhisname: 7 (7)

[personal profile] themanwhoerasedhisname 2024-04-08 08:53 pm (UTC)(link)
I'll try. Let me see if I can focus.

[That wasn't meant to be some sort of wordplay given the object needed to do magic for now, yet here we are. A piece of paper appears on Kiryu's hand. He holds it while with the other points at the nearest container]

Dragon of Dojima!

[Instead of filling the container, what happened is that sugar burst into the air around him, sprinkling the ground and everything around him, like a localized explosion. Oh, the woes of being inexperienced]
1145pm: (pic#17103096)

[personal profile] 1145pm 2024-04-08 08:59 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Tatara laughs out loud at that. ] You mean, your incantation?

[ It is kind of like a motto, isn't it? He hums as he bites into the rest of the strawberry, thinking as he does. ] I can't use magic, so I don't have one. But if I did, it'd probably be... "No Ash."

[ Pretty plain. And short? Yet in the little pause that follows, he seems satisfied with it. ]

What ideas have you had so far?
1145pm: (pic#17103097)

[personal profile] 1145pm 2024-04-08 09:02 pm (UTC)(link)
Really? [ He knows it can be dangerous, but that's a new one. Tatara leans forward, his cheek squished in his palm. ] It's probably okay, if you just try something small. Right?
1145pm: (pic#17103123)

[personal profile] 1145pm 2024-04-08 09:06 pm (UTC)(link)
[ He's here! Tatara looks up from coloring to see Comet and gives them a little wave. ]

Not that long. [ He says this as he waves them over. Come sit! ] Officially, I'd say a few days. I'm pretty new, too.
1145pm: (pic#17103104)

[personal profile] 1145pm 2024-04-08 09:11 pm (UTC)(link)
Magic here works different from the magic I knew at home. [ Briefly, he wonders how many times he'll be talking about what happened before he came here. ] I'm sure it's different from the magic you're used to, too. I asked because I want to know.

[ Said all very neutrally, casually. He's not trying to fight Ahito, despite how Ahito might feel. ]
shortleash: (pic#17103510)

[personal profile] shortleash 2024-04-08 09:12 pm (UTC)(link)
( Maybe he shouldn't have expected an answer better than that........ The question, though, takes him off guard: )

... What do you mean, which? Does it really matter what I think?
1145pm: (pic#16970047)

[personal profile] 1145pm 2024-04-08 09:14 pm (UTC)(link)
Ooh...

[ There's understanding there, in the way he nods. Humility, too. Is she the whole package? ]

You stopped him. Did you kill him?

[ He knows they are not always the same thing, but he wants to know. ]
1145pm: (pic#16970045)

[personal profile] 1145pm 2024-04-08 09:18 pm (UTC)(link)
The way they talked about it made it sound spontaneous. [ Tatara shrugs at that. ] But I'm not sure.

[ He will have to go back and ask... Things have been chaotic.

But at that second remark, he gives a bit of a strained smile. ]


Yeah, I do, too. It'd be nicer if I could've peeked in first and asked, "Hey! Got a sec?" before pulling them in, but that's not how it works.

[ He studies Mika. ]

Were you?
shortleash: (pic#17072497)

[personal profile] shortleash 2024-04-08 09:24 pm (UTC)(link)
( Spontaneous? Weird if true. Feels like something has been using any chance it could get to rip people from other worlds... )

... If it really was spontaneous, then we might have ended up here whether you summoned us or not.

( But that's just spitballing, and it's not like he has clues. He's thinking aloud, mostly. The question, though, gives him pause, and his lips pull into a fine line.

He shakes his head. )


... Just finishing something, actually.

( In a word. )

I have nothing better to be doing, so I don't really care if this takes awhile. Going back will suck, but it's something I knew would happen, so. ( His arms coming undone, he shrugs. ) You?
1145pm: (pic#17103103)

[personal profile] 1145pm 2024-04-08 09:43 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Mika has a point: there's no way to know how things would've gone if they didn't do what they did. But in Tatara's view, there's no point in dwelling on that. If people really were showing up spontaneously from across worlds, then Lazuli wouldn't be the only one.

Things to think about. ]


Nice timing on my part then, huh? [ His smile comes back, and it's the joking sort. He obviously had no control over it, but it's funny to think about.

He's about to say something else, about Mika going back, but the question turned back on him gives him pause.

His smile fades, just a touch, and he stares at the wall past Mika. ]


Much the same as you, I think. Just wrapping something up.

[ his life. lmao ]
positivize: (pic#17104058)

[personal profile] positivize 2024-04-08 09:43 pm (UTC)(link)
Oh. Not at all! I have a roommate I've known since high school, but I was actually with a few friends of mine before I got here.

[There's a pause, like she's thinking back to the people she mentioned. And then with a tilt of the head:]

Is there anyone you're looking forward to seeing when you get back home?
shadowkin: (005)

[personal profile] shadowkin 2024-04-08 09:49 pm (UTC)(link)
Sure, incantation? We didn't need 'em that much back home... Maybe I should keep mine short. Yours is a bit too short, but as a threat it works...

[Or would if it was, you know, real.

He can kind of see the vision? It's catchy but a bit underwhelming by itself, but it's not like it's going to do anything, so maybe it's fine.....]

Um, but wait a second. If you're not magical or anything, what are you, anyway? Admin? P-- Diplo...mat?
shortleash: (pic#17103537)

[personal profile] shortleash 2024-04-08 09:53 pm (UTC)(link)
( samesies ๐Ÿค tho with the weird caveat for vampires

He doesn't miss the shift in expression, but he can only assume Tatara's circumstances weren't the greatest, either. Makes the two of them, if true. )


Well, that's convenient. Might as well be a vacation.

( He snorts, wry. His tone is ironic. What is fun... )

Beats home, I guess.
troublereduction: (day19)

[personal profile] troublereduction 2024-04-08 10:01 pm (UTC)(link)
No harm in it. [ From what he's managed to glean, it sounds a lot like Old Realm, which he is familiar with, even if it was more out of necessity than because he had any interest in the old language. His eyebrows furrow as he's translating in his head first, holding onto the prayer beads and fingering them almost out of habit. ]

Ridere...tuis malis? [ "To smile at your troubles." ] Gaudium saltandi male. [ "The joy of dancing poorly." This one he sort of frowns at, like saying out loud made it clear it didn't feel right. ]

...Man, this is harder than I thought it'd be.
dyingtohealyou: ([Serious] Then that must be)

[personal profile] dyingtohealyou 2024-04-08 10:19 pm (UTC)(link)
[Falling silent and glaring at him again, like this will somehow reveal to him if Tatara is lying or not.]

...A sacrifice is needed for every spell cast. Especially without any tools to reduce the cost.

That's just basic knowledge.