if you say it's magic, then you're my wizard

[promittere]

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!

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Comments

on the sixth night of lunae calamitas, my wizards gave to me...

[shortleash]

( It's the middle of the sixth night since everyone first arrived, and there's a cool breeze at your back and a metallic scent in the air. In the courtyard - in the halls - somewhere abstract in the first floor rooms - and, finally, thickest in the common room.

If you're out and about on this strange night, you might stumble into a bit of a horror show: the Easterners, Yamato, Shinjiro, and Ginger, as well as the Sage, Tatara, are laid up, bloodied.

Yamato and Tatara have it worst - strewn out along the couches with rough-shod strips of clothing-fabric torn up to serve as bandages for the nasty wounds at their necks, their pale pallor (and bloody hair, face, and clothes) suggests they've lost a dangerous amount of blood. Shinjiro and Ginger are beside them, watching over them; they also have some nasty wounds at their neck, like a wild animal got at them, likely looking pale and not too hot themselves, but not in more critical condition like the other two.

If you're not out and about, you're getting approached or getting a knock on your door. Mika's bloody all across his mouth and the front of his top, and he will ask you simply: Do you think you can heal? If you answer literally anything besides a firm "no," he's dragging you without context to the common room and pointing you at the injured parties to try.

All this hubbub might be enough to draw you out of your own activities, regardless. It's proving to be a busy night, with Mika casting a wide net for healers because he doubts very many excel at it yet. Maybe ten healing hands will be better than just one pair.

And if you need Mika himself, he'll be standing at the back of the common room, watching over the efforts with his arms crossed and a expression of simmering guilt on his face. He will not speak unless spoken to. Unlike the rest present, he isn't injured - but he hasn't wiped off the blood. For those who might take a wild guess as to what might have happened, one can easily assume he's left proof of his guilt on him as if to wear a sign that says, "You can stone me; I deserve it." )

( This is less a toplevel and more a mingle! Feel free to comment approaching whomever and the relevant character(s) will respond. Feel free to threadhop as appropriate and so on! )

[mirristry]

[The blood is alarming, to say the least, and Phil starts and jumps back a bit when he opens his door as if he's expecting to be attacked--

-- and then blinks at the request, the panicked expression on his face fading just slightly.]

... heal?

[Objectively speaking? Under normal circumstances at home, no, he can't. But here, perhaps...]

I... I can try, I suppose, but...

[shortleash]

( Ah. Mika is paused for a moment when he recognizes this as someone who received a blue coat that morning, too. But he quickly sets aside that thought - he would deal with that later. )

That's enough. If multiple people try, you might get somewhere.

( He's grabbing Phil's wrist quite suddenly, and begins to very literally pull him into the hallway. )

We need to go, now.

( His tone says it's bad )

ADDENDUM: Mika has been missing the past two days (for those who'd notice)

[shortleash]

[troublereduction]

[ When Day opens the door, he sure as hell wasn't expecting to see someone covered in blood, though it's also probably telling that while surprised, he doesn't panic. He has seen so much blood within the last week that somehow this almost doesn't seem as terrible as it could have been, which is a thought he isn't sure he wants to linger on.

So instead: ]

Show me to them.

[shortleash]

( Thank god he found someone who doesn't mince words. Mika doesn't even respond - he just turns on his heel, expecting Day to follow him, making rapid pace toward the living room. )

Yamato and Tatara have it worst. Yamato's been short on blood longest. ( Triaging. ) Start with them.

( Day can do whatever he wants though and Mika probably won't stop him - but this is his way of contributing. )

[impacter]

[He's in his room this particular night and high up enough in the building that the scent doesn't draw him. The knock does, and the normally polite smile on his face instantly drops when he sees the flash of red coating Mika.

Brassy eyes sharpen as he looks Mika in the eyes.]

...Another vampire, then.

[It's not spoken in judgement, merely filling a hole in his knowledge. The commentary thankfully ends at that, his wand slipping into his hand as he swings the door open and slides out into the hallway, gesturing for Mika to either follow or lead the way.]

Explain as we go, there's no time to lose. Are you lucid?

[shortleash]

( His eyes narrow as Solomon calls him what he is, but he does not protest.

He turns on his heel without a word, heading brisk for the common room. )

... I am right now. ( He's had his fill. ) Yamato and Tatara have bled out a lot. Yamato for longer. Shinjiro and Ginger are wounded but not as gravely.

[fellheart]

[ some people might be alarmed or at least shocked upon seeing the amount of people apparently injured and bleeding in what is ostensibly, more or less, safe territory. at the very least neutral.

robin is not one of those people. he's probably been approached by mika, and upon answering not in the negative (but with a raised brow), here he is. ]

While I was waiting for something like this to happen... it hasn't even been a week yet.

Should I be impressed, or concerned for what this means for our prospects of leaving? [ a chiding click of the tongue as he eyes the injured, at the back of his head cataloguing injuries and falling back into the old habit of battlefield triage he never quite forgot, because while he has been working on adapting to this world's magic... he's fully aware he's nowhere near the level of ability that afforded him the effortless ease he'd had in pulling validar back from his untimely death. ] Who's the worst off?

[ who's been bleeding the freest, longest, hasn't been helped by others yet, etc etc. ]

[shortleash]

Yamato for the longest. Tatara close behind.

( A quick, curt reply from the wall. He points as he names them should this guy not know them that intimately. )

They've lost a lot of blood. But everyone might need multiple healers.

( This is his guess, anyway. He's highly doubtful anyone is a genius at healing here. )

not here (except she probably is because healing party??)

[positivize]

[

shes so proud youre helping]

[dyingtohealyou]

[I mean, I used to- is about all Ahito gets before he's dragged along for the ride and, well, what a wild ride this is. It's easy enough to put together one and two, not that he really needs to know the solution is to understand the new problem in front of him.

It takes him a short moment but he removes his shades (not that there's anything for them to block, not that he has any power in him suited for this anymore) and looks around to see who still needs- well, whatever healing he can provide, with a magic still largely unknown and uncooperative with him, but-

He'll do what he can.]

[impacter]

[He's beelining straight for Tatara as soon as he's dragged down from the bedrooms, but he will at least grip Ahito's shoulder briefly as he passes him, before moving on to get to work.

It'll be okay, kiddo.]

[shortleash]

( Mika will watch his work from afar, but will not remark - Ahito has his wits about him and he's putting himself to work, so Mika has no complaints here. )

[positivize]

[Usually the punchline of a knock knock joke isn't 'hello i am covered with blood and also can you heal', so Maya can't help but feel taken aback by Mika just showing up at the door looking like... all of that. Of course, her first assumption is that he was spitting up blood due to some internal damage here, and therefore he gets this response:]

Y-yeah, I can! Are you okay? Where does it hurt?

[She's just looking him over like she's trying to figure out where to start because sir?? What even happened??]

[shortleash]

I'm fine.

( Rudely, he reaches to grab her wrist to try to pull her out the door with him. )

Four people are hurt. Two people seem critical. Follow me quickly.

[annihilator]

[Hey, something smells really good, is there a buffet in here—

Oh. Hmm. Yeah, you know what's probably not a good idea? Leaving the other vampire around these poor guys. So Malice takes one look at this, makes a face, and promptly says:] Someone call me when you've got 'em all cleaned up an' healed, yeah?

[And then he's just gonna leave, bye!!]

[revengier]

[ Kurapika is just leaving his room when he runs right into Mika, and he quirks an eyebrow at the blood smeared across his mouth and his shirt. It doesn't seem like Mika himself is injured, but Kurapika can put two and two together here. ]

I've been working on it.

[ Will he be all that successful? It's hard to say, really, but that doesn't mean he won't try. ]

Lead the way.

[shadowkin]

[I guess because Cid is Cid and we're keeping him Cid for the purposes of this buffet conga line, he just trips over this entire ensemble (not literally, hopefully) on a snack run or something, for maximum irony. He blinks a few dozen times at the pileup, glances back down at his croissant or whatever and then shakes his head in confusion.]

Whoa whoa whoa, did you guys start a battle royale out here or something?? You know we all have to share the one guy, right?

[Waves his croissant at Tatara. Takes a bite. Looking quite nonplussed in the middle of all this, but then it's not as though there's a good way to take everything in at once.

We're going to say he arrived when Mika was off fishing for healers. After watching more of them filter in for a bit...]

... Who's still alive, I think? Where's the first aid kit, anyway?

[Feel free to use him for errands or like, I guess if you want some nominal heals he's your guy.]

[fullspbar]

[ Looking much the worse for wear is Mr. Aragaki himself, seated on one of the further chairs to keep a wavering eye on the two in worse condition. He's missing his trademark coat, and the bundled-up red fabric that was used to staunch Tatara's bleeding is painfully familiar to those to know him- too thick to rip, unfortunately, but it was good in a pinch.

The same cannot be said for himself, one arm in his lap and the other pressed to his neck, which is littered with a bunch of small-to-medium gashes and puncture marks. There's blood soaking his hand, his shirt, even smeared up the side of his face...he's even sporting a split knuckle, upon further examination, but he seems less concerned with himself. That being said, he's looking quite a bit pale and woozy.

Shinji might try and wave you off if you approach, but he won't protest beyond that. ]

[jorunna]

[ Fuck it we're picking the "out and about option" here. Because it would be true and let's fucking go.

Okay not really, they pause at the sight because that's quite a few peeps they recognize, as well as blood. ]

...

[ They roll up their sleeves. It sure is a Night, huh. They look at Mika with a straight face. ]

What happened?

[ They'd say they can heal but that can be done in some other thready-dos. They'll bother Mika for now. ]

ginger juice half empty

[lustro]

[ If anyone approaches Ginger, he'll wave them away to someone who's more injured first. And honestly, he looks... fine. Ish. He has the most color in his cheeks out of everyone, despite the bloody mess at his neck, the stains around his collar. His clothes are in-tact and he doesn't have any visible defensive wounds.

He just looks tired, in all the ways.

He's the one seated closest to Tatara, slumped and scowling if the other man even dares to wake up and smile at him. Occassionally, he'll toss Yamato, Shinji, and Mika some concerned glances. ]

... Thanks for coming out.

[dadsandals]

[ After being rudely awakened graciously healed by Joyous Day, Yamato can be found sitting up in the common room, leaning back against a wall. He looks...surprisingly fine, all things considered! Just drowsy and kind of moody. Probably from all that blood loss, let's be real.

He's making no real effort to talk to anyone. He's exhausted, has a headache, and doesn't really feel like making a big deal out of this because he's pretty overwhelmed that there's such a huge fuss over something that couldn't be helped. ... Or, well, so he thinks. He's not exactly in a great mood.

Still, if anyone's adamant enough on checking in on him, he'll just give them a little chuckle and a dismissive little wave of his hand. ]

I'm fine, so don't worry about me. The others might be worse off than I was.

[ Were they? Honestly, he has no idea. He's just talking out of his ass. ]

[divineth]

[Urianger can be found in his room. Once Mika tells him what's going on, he practically throws himself out the door, asking to be taken to the injured. His magical ability in this world still has a lot of growing to do, but his healer instincts haven't dulled in the slightest.

As they make their way, he probes for information.]

What hath happened?

[Mika being drenched in blood tells something of a tale, but Urianger isn't going to jump to conclusions here.]

[chronosynthesis]

[Syrlya is just following the sounds of commotion... and the scent of blood, which itself is already worrying. Why is there so much of it?

Well, he gets his answer when he steps into the common room.] What is--oh my.

[Looking around the room... looking at Mika in particular.] Is more first aid necessary? I can find bandages.