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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!
sugar
Whoa, you've made so much!
[ Without waiting or minding personal space, he goes right to the bench and crouches by it, observing the sheen in the light. ]
Now? [ He glances up at Akira, his finger hovering close to the sugar. Now?? Sugar now?? ]
no subject
No time like the present. Promise you won't punish me if it doesn't taste quite right.
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Mm! That's sweet!
[ He hops up onto his feet and plops next to Akira, but doesn't really pay much attention to him yet. He's still taking in all the sugar. ]
The merchants will definitely be happy with this... Just make sure you don't wear yourself out, yeah?
no subject
Sweet's the whole point, right? I'm glad it's sage approved.
[There. That's his selling point. "This stuff's good enough for the sage, so it's good enough for you, needy merchant."]
I'm a little tired, sure, but nothing a good night's sleep won't help. I can't run out of magic or anything, right?
no subject
Mm-hmm!
[ Good work! Here, have a head pat! ]
Probably not, no. But it might be harder to get back on your feet if you run yourself into the ground.
[ He leans forward, peers at Akira's face, and then gently nudges him in the arm. ]
I need your power, after all. Try and stay in the best shape you can, okay?
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Akira takes his headpats in good grace. Thanks dad. Same with the nudge, but that does earn Totsuka a suspicious glance.]
That's not super assuring. "I need you" can be real sweet in the right context, but it's also manipulative. Are you a nice guy, mister sage?
no subject
The suspicious glance is met with a little look of surprise. ]
Manipulative?! Is that how that sounded? [ No awareness how he might come across, it seems. Tatara sits back in his seat with a little chuckle. ] Sorry, sorry. I didn't mean it like that.
[ More like, he'd heard the previous sage say something similar before to touching results. Guess it doesn't work when he says it, though. His attention drifts to the fountain, watching the water trickle under the sunlight. ]
I don't know. But it is true that I'd worry if you wore yourself out before you even got a chance to shine. [ He glances— ] What was your name again?
no subject
Oh... huh. The total lack of self-awareness cinches it. This guy probably isn't a scheming, manipulative wolf in sheep's clothing, but Akira's been wrong before. In any case, he doesn't have much reason to suspect him right now, so he won't.]
Akira. And you're Totsuka, right? Sounds like you're Japanese too, but I've got this hunch you'll tell me we're somehow from different Japans.
no subject
Akira will learn what sort of person Tatara is in time. In the meanwhile... ]
Yeah. [ That's him! ] I've been hearing about different Japans, but is there really any way to tell?
[ He hums, thinking for a moment. ]
Tell me about your Japan then, Akira-san.
no subject
There's a pretty quick way to figure it out. Who's your prime minister?
no subject
[ Forgive him, because in his world, Mikoto Suoh is the most powerful person there is, and the only one he cares about. There are greater powers at play, and while he's paid attention in more recent years, it hasn't always been his point of interest. ]
Kokubu— No, Noda. Prime Minister Noda.
[ lmfao @ abe coming into power literally 19 days after his canon point ]
no subject
You're a little behind the times. Abe's the prime minister currently. It's gotta be... what, 2010s-ish in your Japan? My Japan's got you beat by a few years.
no subject
What? You're from the future?!
no subject
[Bwahaha!! But it's not all bad being Old and Irrelevant, Totsuka. Akira gives him a brief clap on the back.]
But seriously, things haven't changed much. Politicians are the same overhyped blowhards who only care about their own self-interests. You're not missing much.
no subject
Tatara laughs. ]
Aww, that's too bad. [ About being old news or politics not changing? Hard to tell. ] But things are still peaceful, right? Tokyo still exists, right?
[ You know. Just...checking. ]
no subject
It exists, but how are we defining peace? People are more and more discontent with the way things are. The birthrate's in decline and you still can't get a bucket of KFC around Christmastime without fist fighting for it.
no subject
By that I mean Tokyo hasn't been razed to the ground in flame, or a new crater hasn't totally destroyed the city...
[ Either King wasn't as mad as he thought he might be, or...
He closes his eyes. ]
Sounds peaceful to me.
no subject
A new crater? What caused the last one, a meteor?
no subject
[ Tatara looks surprised; he leans forward to peer at Akira's face again. Hmm... Maybe they really are from different Japans, not just different years? A Japan where Kagutsu's sword never fell...? ]
no subject
[Which restaurant can he order that from??? Akira also leans forward to the point that they're nearly forehead-to-forehead.]
Scratch politics. We're from totally different Japans. Nothing that exciting ever happens here.
no subject
Tatara leans back in his seat again, then looks over to the fountain. ]
Ah, that's too bad... I was hoping if you'd be able to tell me if there was a Suoh Crater.
[ He'll always worry, but now he'll never know.
Anyway, he pats Akira on the shoulder before getting up from his spot. ]
That's not a bad thing, though. Right?
no subject
Yeah. Pretty popular opinion, but natural disasters are pretty universally bad... or are you saying that crater was caused some other way?
no subject
Tatara sticks his hands in his pockets and stares up at the sky. It's clear, sunny. ]
When a King loses control, their Sword of Damocles falls. The last Red King left a crater 100 kilometers wide in southern Kanto.
[ He doesn't seem particularly sad, or bothered by it. He stares blankly up at the sky, that little smile still dancing on his lips. ]
I think I was nine...or ten? I just remember everyone around me being so scared.
no subject
[Kings, swords, craters................... The lunatic in Akira thinks that sounds like an exciting world to live in, but the rest of him is sighing.]
Sounds chaotic. We don't have to worry about anything like that in my Japan. Not to say it's perfect by any means, but yours sounds pretty rough.
no subject
[ In the strictest sense... ]
And maybe it was. But I was happy.
[ He turns to look at Akira again, and all the red sugar he has scattered around him. Red is such a pretty color... ]
You'll have to tell me more about your Japan, though. What does a world without kings look like?
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