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!

» NAVIGATION

Comments

[lustro]

[ It's a good thing Ginger isn't great at math or studying in general, so he doesn't have to count the very many, very many ways he has fucked up.

(Ginger, you idiot, why -)

The strange sage and his child assistance have explained things, but - Ginger has other ideas. What's more probable? Him being whisked to a "different world" - OR this being some human's novel or fanfic or...? It must be the second one, right? He used the cube improperly - (what was he thinking using something so divine when he's not a full-fledged angel) - and it's sucked him into some human's unraveling imagination.

And the entire cast is mismatched. Some are so edgy??? And some look so normal. On the bright side, he doesn't have to explain his mismatched eyes.

But the best way to get out of here... is probably to follow the plot before it loops. Otherwise, he risks making things worse than he already has.

... And let's not talk about his EMOTIONAL DAMAGE. He'll do that later. When he's alone. Crying in the bathroom that he doesn't need to use.

:( ]


i.

[ So does this mean Ginger thinks everyone here is a character? Yes. He'll say hello to everyone anyway - carefully, cautiously. He definitely tries to approach everyone on the same floor at least. Floor 2, let's be friends(?). ]

Hi. Um, do you need any help?

[ What can he do to help? Probably nothing. ]

ii.

[ His blue coat doesn't look bad. It fits? But he was too stressed out to ask the child assistant what the color meant - didn't even think it meant anything, but now he's seeing people walking around with different colored coats. Is this... a H*rry P*tter rip off? A house thing? He might have said something about country? Countries? ]

Did you pick that color or did he just shove it at you?

[ WHAT DOES IT MEAN - ]

iii.

[ He will... do the activities and tasks in order, like a checklist. A checklist to freedom. ]

I just don't think they've established the lore too well here. [ Wait, that's too meta. ] I mean - we don't really know the history of this place yet. What do you think of everything so far?

... I'm not much of a fighter.

i. same floor;

[foresightis2020]

I do.

I'm afraid I'm still lost in the thick of everything. [ lol ] How about we walk around together and see what we can find or what will find us?

[ Tasks? Other things? Wouldn't dream of it. It's time for an easy going day. ]

[lustro]

Eh? I-is that right...

[ What's this? Someone who seems completely unfazed by everything? It... actually helps Ginger relax a smidge. ]

Sure. [ But - ] For someone who says he's lost, you're not at all panicked, are you? Why's that?

i - floor 2

[1145pm]

[ At Ginger's voice, Tatara whirls around. There's a bright smile on his face when he sees the guy, and he seems genuinely happy to have bumped into him. They're on the same floor?! ]

Oh, yeah!

[ He draws up his hands to reveal a bunch of candles, all of different sizes, thicknesses, and colors. The biggest candle is the red one. ]

I found these in the closet at the bar. Wanna help me put them up?

[lustro]

[ That's a lot of candles. ]

Sure. [ He doesn't sound sure at all. ] But - why so many? ... You're not - you're not trying to summon demons or something, right?

[ ... Eyeing that red candle... ]

It's not worth it. Don't do it.

iii

[dyingtohealyou]

[Oh, hello... someone with a weird eye (pot vs kettle)?]

It might be more worth it to focus on learning to fight than magic, in that case.

[He immediately gives terrible advice.]

[lustro]

I can fight. Just not the best at it - and I'd rather not. [ His job is usually mediation. ] ... Do you intend to fight?

iii

[shortleash]

( god, mika wishes lore were ever explained to him before he were just thrown into plot...

More seriously, he glances at Ginger and his funky eyes (rude, Mika), frowning slightly, then answers. )

... Just hide and let people who can fight do the fighting. Like me.

( Tellingly, he has a somewhat ornate sword in its sheath at his hip.

He doesn't say that like he means to protect Ginger, but more that there's no point getting in the way in battle if you suck at it. Not that he's confident he can do "magic" battle stuff, if that's what it comes down to. )

... I think these tasks are a waste of time and this world is weird, but it's not like I have anything better to be doing, either. I'm guessing that's not the case for you, though.

[lustro]

I'm not going hide.

[ Kinda his job to protect these characters. ]

And I wouldn't let any of you fight alone either. A little too pathetic even for me.

ii

[impacter]

Mm... well, I wouldn't say it was much of a shove.

[Still, his hum sounds a little forlorn, Solomon looking mildly disappointed as he glances at the purple trimmings of the coat still folded against one arm. He's treating it very carefully, but doesn't seem like he's going to put it on any time soon.]

Given what our small-statured guide said, I don't think we had much of a choice in the matter, much like the rest of this situation. It's a shame.

[lustro]

[ Purple house? Purple country? ]

Say, do you know what the colors mean?

ii

[discomposer]

He shoved it! I wanted orange!

[ He's still pouting. ]

[lustro]

[ Was orange an option - ]

Want to settle for blue? We can trade if you'd like.

[ Though he's tall, at least a head taller than this boy. ]

iii

[positivize]

[That's a slightly odd way of phrasing it, but it also doesn't really set off any alarm bells per se.]

Well, I agree that there is a lot we still don't know. It's hard to figure out how we're supposed to help without knowing more about what happened to the previous sage and those wizards too, so we have our work cut out for us.

But on the bright side, I think that means it's important to have people who can help gather information too! So you don't need to force yourself to fight if you don't want to.

[lustro]

[ His cover is still in place, whew. ]

Do you mean to then? To help out?

iii

[divineth]

[Oh, are we pretending this is a work of fiction or somethi-- No? All right.]

Worry not about thy lack of combat experience. There is still plenty to be accomplished off the battlefield.

[As for Ginger's question...]

'Tis a most mysterious set of circumstances, but not one without options and resources. The library is host to a plethora of material for enlightening oneself to this world's storied past.

[lustro]

[ Oh, the way he speaks. Even the oldest angels and demons have stopped talking like this.

Ginger smiles a little, in a friendly way. He doesn’t dislike it. The words are… kind. Reminds him of Idea. ]

An entire library, huh. But do you think all of us together could make a dent in it?

iii. checklist checklist ginger is working hard

[shadowkin]

That's what they call magic stuff, right? Magical lore and... or was that religious stuff?

[Of course that piques Cid's interest -- meta recognizes meta, after all, even if he makes sure not to show it! He's very busy right now pretending to be a normal person who is definitely not on his third isekai from Japan. They're both doing great. This is going to be such a truthful conversation.

He plays off his initial interest by putting on his dumbest face, because that one usually works out.]

I kind of feel like I'm being asked to join some new religion or a cult or something...? That happens a lot back home. New cults springing up, I mean. [scratching his head] So I don't know how much of the history is accurate.

Still, I'm not much of a fighter either, so I think either way they've got the wrong people...

[lustro]

[ Hi5 at pretending! When will they get exposed - ]

Eh? Are there that many gods to worship where you’re from?

ii

[chronosynthesis]

Hm--oh, the coat? [Syrlya absently tugs the brown lapel.] He handed it to me. I didn't ask for an alternative.

[lustro]

[ Ah, this is one of the edgy ones. He’ll give it to the creator for a unique design. ]

Earlier someone - [ Thank you, kind stranger… ] - explained to me that the different colors represent different countries, but…

[ What are the countries and why??? ]

Can’t say I’m excited to represent a country I don’t even know the name of.

II

[themanwhoerasedhisname]

I didn't pick a thing. I have been tugged left and right since the first second spent here.

[Kiryu has no control over anything that has happened and his wardrobe is no exception. He's wearing the coat he was given, and although dark colors usually look great on him, the coat feels so...high school days, and that just doesn't mesh too well with a man in his fifties]

I know I look bad in this.

[lustro]

I think wizard wear looks good on very few people.

[ It does feel very high school. In fact, Ginger did wear something like this during his school days. ]

But I wouldn’t say it looks bad on you. Just…

[ Handwaves. ]

ii

[lighthaus]

[ with light blue hair, and a royal blue bandana tucked along the side of his hair... yeah this red on his coat just does not go. khun's got it thrown over his shoulder for now rather than actually wearing it. ]

Do you think I would? It clashes terribly with my family color.

i

[mirristry]

[As luck would have it, Phil is in fact carrying a stack of books that is definitely too heavy for him as Ginger approaches to ask if he needs any help.

But before he can answer verbally, the fact that the books are preventing him from being able to see exactly where he's stepping means that he manages to catch his toe on a slight bump in the rug and, with a startled yelp, he and the entire stack of books pitch forward abruptly, sending him toppling to the ground and the books flying everywhere.

... well. It's an answer of sorts, at least?]