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!
revengier: (30)

[personal profile] revengier 2024-04-09 09:05 pm (UTC)(link)
Does anyone win a game that reprehensible?

[ It's a rhetorical question, but he wouldn't be opposed to Akira's thoughts on the matter either, even though Kurapika is clearly set in his views on it. ]

I've managed to get a ceasefire between us and a few of the princes, but I know that'll only hold out for so long.

[ And when that ends... he doesn't know what he'll have to do, and so he lapses into a silence, letting Akira fill in the blanks there. ]
revengier: (53)

[personal profile] revengier 2024-04-09 09:07 pm (UTC)(link)
Kurapika.

[ He'll give Khun a little nod by way of a "nice to meet you". ]

Then why don't we head to the library? We can choose a topic from there.
revengier: (63)

[personal profile] revengier 2024-04-09 09:09 pm (UTC)(link)
...Did they ever face repercussions?

[ He stares at Ahito's broom for a second or two longer than he normally would, mesmerized by the colors, before he calls forth his own. ]

Pro populus meus.

[ It's a swirl of blue and yellow, with bright scarlet bristles, creating what's an overall somewhat cohesive mess of a broom. ]
1145pm: (pic#16970063)

[personal profile] 1145pm 2024-04-09 09:13 pm (UTC)(link)
You don't believe me?

[ He knows the basics of magic here, but he doesn't know the details. The old wizards never seemed like they were giving anything up. He knows his own magic at home came from another, but he could use it (when he could be bothered to) without a problem. He wonders and wonders, but decides not to push the issue further. ]

I guess you wouldn't. I can't use magic, and I'm not the expert...

Have you talked to Lazuli yet?
revengier: (39)

[personal profile] revengier 2024-04-09 09:20 pm (UTC)(link)
Providing security.

[ It's the truth, but only a small fraction of it. He can't so easily explain the way his goals, this job, a trip to a new continent, and the role he's meant to play without some long-winded exposition he doesn't want to give, so he'll leave it short and sweet. ]

I'm guarding royalty. She's just a baby, but she's been put into a death match to determine the next in line for the throne. I'd prefer if she didn't die, so getting back is a priority.

[ Because, despite everything, that much is the truth. ]
troublereduction: (day23)

[personal profile] troublereduction 2024-04-09 09:21 pm (UTC)(link)
I'd say maybe we should take bets, but that'd just jinx something. [ Also joking, but with the gut feeling that it would probably turn out true somehow. ]

Honestly? Pretty good, all things considered. [ "All things considered" he showed up with blood stains and looking absolutely exhausted. ]
dyingtohealyou: ([Smile] I sing the dream)

[personal profile] dyingtohealyou 2024-04-09 09:27 pm (UTC)(link)
...Colorful.

[Apparently the broom's aesthetic is amusing enough to bring back a small smile.]

As for your question - no. I fact, I'm positive they're still operating to this day.
themanwhoerasedhisname: 6 (6)

[personal profile] themanwhoerasedhisname 2024-04-09 09:27 pm (UTC)(link)
Can you use your magic to make my focus be indestructible?

[He slides it towards Tatara, keeping it facedown because the contents are important to him and doesn't want to air them to everyone if he can avoid it]

This...it means more to me than anything else in the world.

[Which is why it's his focus]
Edited 2024-04-09 21:27 (UTC)
dyingtohealyou: ([Sigh] If there's a heart)

[personal profile] dyingtohealyou 2024-04-09 09:30 pm (UTC)(link)
...You can't even use magic?

[Flatly. What the fuck.]

And who's Lazuli supposed to be?
themanwhoerasedhisname: 9 (9)

[personal profile] themanwhoerasedhisname 2024-04-09 09:32 pm (UTC)(link)
If you want to risk our mentor's wrath, sure, I can write it. Don't complain once we fail.

[Not even 'if', it's 'once'. Kiryu has no doubt his essay writing skills leave a lot to be desired, hah]

lustro: (045)

[personal profile] lustro 2024-04-09 09:33 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Hm. Dilemma… ]

What if - we change it to “kind” instead? Is that more… uh. Relatable?
themanwhoerasedhisname: 8 (8)

[personal profile] themanwhoerasedhisname 2024-04-09 09:35 pm (UTC)(link)
Heh. [Kiryu crosses his arms] Like I'd embarrass myself like that.

[He's got his healthy amount of pride, yup]

I'll do all I can.
Edited 2024-04-09 21:35 (UTC)
themanwhoerasedhisname: 8 (8)

[personal profile] themanwhoerasedhisname 2024-04-09 09:38 pm (UTC)(link)
That's not too bad. Why do you like reading?

[Yup, he tries to work with this]
jokey: (38 - x8eMJj8)

[personal profile] jokey 2024-04-09 09:42 pm (UTC)(link)
That's usually how it goes. Do you have any allies? Any friends working on your side?
jokey: (pic#14295546)

[personal profile] jokey 2024-04-09 09:44 pm (UTC)(link)
Every game has a winner and a loser.

[Reprehensible or not, Kurapika is taking part in that game. When you boil it down to the basics, someone will come out on top and someone will fail.]

Is that your goal, then? To resolve things as peacefully as possible?
revengier: (19)

[personal profile] revengier 2024-04-09 09:47 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Wow... he can't believe his ugly broom is giving Ahito amusement. Kurapika promptly rolls his eyes. ]

Have you considered dismantling their operations?

[ He assumes so. ]
fullspbar: (5)

[personal profile] fullspbar 2024-04-09 09:47 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Listen, he'll do it eventually...hangs the SEES uniform in the closet... ]

No, not a problem.

[ He doesn't think he's suitable for this; doesn't enjoy the idea of having the fate of the world shoved in his hands after just being released from a similar duty. But the air already feels different, he's already different.

...And he'd rather not risk losing control of something powerful again. ]


...And what about if we can't go home?
jokey: (VR0bNp7)

[personal profile] jokey 2024-04-09 09:47 pm (UTC)(link)
Got it. Forget I asked.

[Akira chuckles— this man reminds him a bit of Iwai, and so Akira can't help but wonder if he has a hidden soft side. No... not even hidden. He's clearly a nice man, brusque exterior aside.]

Besides, the essay writing's the part I'm helping you with. Now tell me: have you figured out the whole broom riding schtick, or do you want to ride shotgun on mine?
revengier: (91)

[personal profile] revengier 2024-04-09 09:48 pm (UTC)(link)
[ He pauses. It's been a while since he's thought about the why. ]

I like learning everything I can. I always have.
revengier: (91)

[personal profile] revengier 2024-04-09 09:51 pm (UTC)(link)
[ He simply huffs at that first remark, giving it no other acknowledgement. Akira's right, but Kurapika is stubborn enough not to acknowledge it. ]

Ideally, yes. But I'll kill whoever I need to, should that come to pass.

[ As much as he hates the idea, he's resolved to do exactly as he says, his heartbeat just as calm as it has been ever since he wrapped his arms around Akira's middle for purchase on the broom. ]
shortleash: (pic#17103521)

[personal profile] shortleash 2024-04-09 09:55 pm (UTC)(link)
( Hmmm... That text seems important. However, Mika is resistant. )

... Sorry to say, ( not sorry at all, ) but I hate humans. Even if you tell me everyone has "wizard" qualities now, it doesn't change what they're made of or how they act. Given basically everyone so far seems to be human... I don't really have an interest in knowing them or working with them.

( Faust would be so proud... )
Edited (wasn't antisocial enough smh) 2024-04-09 21:56 (UTC)
shadowkin: (012)

[personal profile] shadowkin 2024-04-09 10:00 pm (UTC)(link)
Kabloosh!

[--he repeats, still deadpan. It's a perfectly respectable sound effect that they even use in movies with like, mangos. Put some respect on Psycho (1960)'s name.]

....... You just said you're not cheesy, but I don't know about that. Doesn't sound like you know your audience. [Akira has not cleared himself of being a serial killer, or possibly a world conqueror, or possibly a serial world conqueror playboy who appears in Pirates of the Caress Inn] That's a downgrade, too, so you can't do that. It sounds like something a background bandit minion would say while kidnapping a wealthy baron's daughter on her way home from school.
Edited (me forgetting about time periods) 2024-04-09 22:05 (UTC)
jokey: (4 - 1C8Pr3y)

[personal profile] jokey 2024-04-09 10:13 pm (UTC)(link)
You really need to work on your delivery.

[Get that deadpan outta here.

Akira, for better or worse, Seriously considers what Cid is saying. His audience is largely Shadows who have no choice but to listen to him, y'know? It never really mattered what they thought about his sick catchphrases, and his friends are just as bad as him. That leaves him without much to work with here, doesn't it?]


You're right. It does sound like something a background bandit minion would say while kidnapping a wealthy baron's daughter on her way home from school.

[Just paraphrasing here. Akira hums and hrrrmms and haws.]

What if I told you my audience is bad people? The very worst the world has to offer? And miscellaneous demons.
jokey: (pic#14562264)

[personal profile] jokey 2024-04-09 10:15 pm (UTC)(link)
[They make their way into Southern territory and Akira works their way through bustling city streets, approaching their destination.]

Murder, huh?

[He has a lot to say on that particular subject and would have, if it weren't for the influence of a certain someone. Instead, Akira falls silent until they come to a stop hopping off his broom to round the cart and start unloading bags of sugar. He's gonna miss those arms around his waist.]

Well, I'm not about to tell you what's right or what's wrong in a situation I know nothing about. I just hope it doesn't come down to any unnecessary bloodshed. For your sake, I mean.
shadowkin: (015)

[personal profile] shadowkin 2024-04-09 10:17 pm (UTC)(link)
[He assumes the guy merely got water in his eye or something and his silence is acquiescence. ☆]

Sorry, but I don't have any eye cream.

[Maybe he should get glasses, though...? Then he'd have to wear them at night... Unsure.]