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lunaecalamitas2024-04-04 11:33 pm
promittere) wrote in 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.
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.
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.
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!
no subject
That might be possible, a little later on. I'd prefer a car to this, too.
( Aerial travel is probably faster, but also, more dangerous? You're just a lone little dude up there...
Anyway, it's true Akira's answer isn't 1:1 to his needs, but him pointing out that it's not gonna be that comfortable anyway is, surprisingly, helpful. It's gonna be uncomfortable and kind of stupid-looking regardless, so whatever. If he's going only based on practicality, then... he guesses he can define the base components and let his feelings (of which he definitely has nearly none) fill in the details. If no details manifest... then whatever. )
... Okay. I think I have an idea.
( He puts out his hand as a Broom Perch, and begins to focus... channel magic? It's weird and foreign to him, and feels just as odd. He's looking for iron with black bristles, and that's a firm enough image in his mind. )
... Donec moraire.
( The magic manifests red in his palm, like a well of blood bubbling out - it twists and warps into a long shape with a faint glow, the red giving way to an iron base and black, steel bristles. So far so good.
But then the iron begins to twist into a spiraling pattern, and thorned vines begin to grow...
The broom eventually settles into his hand with a bit of heft, and he seems puzzled by the manifestation. This is what you get when you ignore the finer details - of brooms and your own heart, )
... Weird. But... usable, I guess.
no subject
Seeing Mika's broom fully manifested, Akira gives an impressed whistle.]
Not bad. Not bad at all. [...A whistle and an amused little chuckle.] I wouldn't have pegged you for the romantic type. Or maybe it's more like...
[Sharp thorns, twisted black metal. All of it screams BDSM.]
Actually? Never mind that. Congrats on the broom.
no subject
... More like what? ( ???? ) But... thanks, I guess. Your advice wasn't the worst.
( At least he's not totally ungrateful, )
no subject
Don't you worry your pretty little head over it.
[don't bite his ass for calling you out for being a bdsm freak]
I'll take a "thank you" if you're offering. I like my compliments genuine.
no subject
He half snorts - not derisively, but this guy seems like a bit of a joker (as happens,) )
Then you'll want to look elsewhere. I'll never be that grateful to a human.
no subject
[Don't mind a snort in return, though it's really more of a huff and vaguely challenging at that. He's a harmless jester, please pay him no mind.]
Not even when you need them to sustain yourself? Humans are at least grateful for the food they eat. No offense, but your logic's flawed.
no subject
( You've activated his trapcard... humancism (again). He sees that challenge, and doesn't consider himself rising to it, but he can't let up on humanity even once. )
As far as I've seen, humans feel entitled to the luxuries they have. So entitled to their meals, vampires are hardly different - they keep humans as livestock, the way humans keep cow and chicken.
( "They" he says, as if he were not one himself. )
no subject
And maybe that's why he feels inclined to argue when he'd otherwise walk away. That, and Mika isn't exactly wrong.
Akira straightens out of his slump, hands dipping into his pockets. The broom at his side dissipates in a puff of red smoke.]
Starve anyone and they'll be grateful for their next meal. It's almost like people are people no matter what category you put them in.
[Humans, vampires, gacha game players. At their root, they're all the same.]
So what does that put you? Are you above your own kind?
no subject
Hardly. ( That answer comes easy, and without pride. ) Just someone who's seen the worst of both sides and resents being a part of either.
( He folds his arms. )
... I've found that gratitude is a luxury, too. A starving human will hurt for what they think they're owed, and consider getting it justice. A vampire makes no excuse about what it is, is all.
( Righteousness is something humans always, fanatically, have - which blinds them. )
no subject
No point in waxing optimism with this one, Akira thinks, but he wouldn't be Akira if he didn't try. No one is beyond saving, no matter how mired they are in their own pessimism. All they need is a little push.]
If you resent being a part of either, why are you alive?
[What does Mika live for? Spite? Revenge? Even knowing what Akechi's reasons for living were, Akira still struggles to imagine anyone holding onto life with nothing but hatred pushing them forward.]
People can be changed. People can be made to see the error of their ways and live their lives knowing what real gratitude is. I doubt vampires are any different. They have hearts too.
no subject
... Individual humans might be able to change. ( An emphasis on "might," and a sense that Mika considers this rare. ) But not humanity as a whole. And never a vampire. A monster is a monster because it's no better than its nature.
( And this is where he draws the distinction between humans and vampires, despite detesting both - a human could change, even if nearly all are monstrous. A vampire, though, is a wholly lost cause; a plague on the earth. )
And that includes me. ( As bitegate will later confirm, in Mika's mind. ) ... But I stayed who I was because I had someone I wanted to save. Someone worthwhile. If not for him...
( ... he doesn't know. Maybe he would have given up sooner, and let himself lose his memories, become a demon - the only real way for a vampire to "die." )
no subject
[One person worth saving? One mission worth fulfilling?]
If you could set aside your nature for the sake of one person, you could do that for so many more.
[He doesn't expect Mika will listen, much less do a heel face turn and open his eyes to all the good in the world and live his life with renewed purpose. Akira, simply, will not be ignored. Do whatever you like with the words he has to say, Mika, but you will hear him.]
No offense, but you're pretty cowardly, aren't you? It's easy to lay back and blame fate, but you're the one calling the shots. You know that.
no subject
You think I haven't tried to change things?
( He doesn't expect Akira to know his life - but he won't stand for the assumption. )
That is the arrogance I hate in humans - the conviction that they can never be in the wrong; only their accusers. Think for a moment that I didn't just come to this conclusion in a vacuum - I used to be human myself, and yet I'm willing to look at the facts when I see them.
( Though... there's something to be said about how vampirism strips away a person's emotions - leaving them with perhaps excessively cold logic. )
no subject
...Yeah, it's pretty refreshing, actually. He's missed this.]
People are wrong all the time. People make mistakes and hurt each other on purpose. If you think vampires are monsters, humans aren't any better.
[But he wouldn't be the obnoxious optimist every red-eyed douchebag hates if he didn't insist on speaking his truth. Go ahead, snarl and snap at him. Akira doesn't mind it one bit. He enjoys arguing, actually, freak that he is.]
The fact that you get so twisted up over all of this is proof that you don't accept the status quo. If everyone thought like you, nothing would ever change.
no subject
He's looked. He's looked and he's looked, but he's only ever found sunlight in other people. He can't understand what Akira's so he sees. )
Don't tell me what I think when you don't know me. ( Hmph. ) Say we entertain this idea of yours - that change is possible on some broader scale. What would this utopian society look like? How would it even occur, when humans are at odds with their own nature?
( Forget Mika's - forget the idea of Mika setting aside his nature, as Akira suggested, to see the good in people. Tell him: what good is he even supposed to see to begin with? )
The moment you give a human a little bit of power, they'll abuse it. The moment a human knows there's more to get than what they'll have, they'll forsake as many others as they need to get it. How can something as fundamental as a a human's nature change?