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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!
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He clicks his tongue when called out. If he was actually keeping it a secret he wouldn't have made that remark, but he hates seeing himself in the mirror, metaphorically. )
I have a list, and we wouldn't get through it even if we stayed here all night. Starts with "me and my family being kept as livestock when I was a kid" and has a midpoint somewhere around the whole "using my best friend in their fucked up stupid plans." It goes on.
( His voice grows sharp and intense when he hits the whole bit about the best friend - the most vibrant emotion that's colored him so far - and then he seems to level out again into his general ambient displeasure come the next sentence. )
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Sounds like you really went through it at their hands. Can't blame you for hatin' 'em.
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( Rude, Mika!!! But he seems more sullen, than anything. )
The worst part is being stuck like this forever. ( He was either dead or about to be before coming here, but he still feels the thirst now. No rest for the wicked, as it were. ) I don't even want to think about having to deal with diet here.
( Unfortunately, it's been on his mind. Hard not to be, when it's all he can think about when the gentle pulse of blood flowing below the surface seems so richly palpable he can nearly taste it, every time he sees a person. Ughhhh )
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I already asked Tara. [can't you use his actual name?? no???] He said he'd be willin' to help, if it comes to that. I figure we don't wanna cause too many problems by feedin' on the locals.
[just take a bite out of our hosts, just do it]
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Can you really sustain yourself off one person? Blood doesn't all come back immediately. ( ... ) Are you friends with him?
( That last bit is in reference to the nickname, he'll finally comment on it, )
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[you ever tried vampire blood, buddy, it is gross.]
An' not really? I just remember names easier if they're shorter.
[.............his is short????]
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( And he doesn't! Sorta? It'd probably be bad if the guy in the sage role dies? But, then again, maybe could they just get another one? It doesn't seem like this one knows that much, so maybe it wouldn't be a huge loss... )
... Shorter? By a syllable? Does it really make that much of a difference?
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[Can you like. Use magic to regenerate lost blood, asking for a friend—]
Yeah? 'Course it does. Shorter an' snappier are always easier to remember!
[malice is a simple man.]
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... He's going to have to hope healing magic is in someone's skill set, because he's going to need it. ( And then he'll say he told you so. Maybe. ) Maybe both you and him are too similar for your own goods.
( Simple people. )
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[...yeah, okay even he can see that, they are both very laid-back about this, huh...]
Well, I guess I'll take it as a compliment. The guy seems to have a good head on his shoulders.
[does he though...]
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( He's not attending the funeral. rip tatara. )
I don't think being a vampire's what's stopping you, also. Unless your damage runs deeper than you described. I'm learning magic... fine enough.
( He's not going to say it's going great, but. It's... going. )
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Yeah? I'm glad to hear it. Really, it probably just means that I'm causin' my own problems.
[By being hesitant and thinking he can't do it, he's making it harder on himself, etc.]
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( says local vampire hating vampire to neighboring vampire hating vampire )
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Most of 'em do seem to be... Guess I'm kinda a crap vampire, huh?
[He laughs at that because really, that's the highest compliment you could give him!! Hell yeah he sucks at being a shitty vampire!!!]
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... How long ago did you become a vampire, again?
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I've always been a vampire?
[And then, on the heels of the realization that causes:] You mean you weren't always a vampire?
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Of course not. I got turned— against my will, for the record. How do you start out a vampire? Were you raised by, like, a necromancer or something?
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What? No, what does necromancy have to do with it?
[i am so sorry about this entire conversation.]
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Vampires are dead. How else are you going to get a corpse to move?
( god bless them for this truly, )
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Vampires aren't dead?
[i mean obviously he doesn't think mikaela is lying, he just sort of says it without thinking but????]
So... hold up, where you're from, vampires are dead people who can turn humans into vampires. Is that right? Am I missin' anythin' else, 'cause that is not how it is where I'm from. We're like...
[He waves his good hand. Like this is supposed to mean something.]
A different species or somethin'. We were never humans to begin with?
no subject
So you're like. what. vultures? Just a weird species that eats a weird thing... naturally?
( Hey, evolution: why,
Mika shrugs like that means something??? )
Where I'm from, the process of turning you into a vampire technically kills you. I don't have a heartbeat or anything. I'm undead. Like a zombie. Just cursed worse. Do you have normal body functions?
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[He is indeed a weird vulture. Why do humans still associate us with bats instead of vultures?? Good question.]
Huh... Yeah, no, nothin' like that goin' on here. I'm definitely alive, an' we mostly function like humans? 'Side from the blood-drinkin' thing.
[He considers for a moment, inclining his head a bit. This is absolutely bizarre, but it also explains a lot about Mikaela's hatred of vampires...]
Y'all still have Domains, right?
[...maybe he should clarify, just in case??]
Special abilities, things that are pretty unique?
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The question gets Mika to pause as he runs through all the vamps he knows. Mmm... Nope. )
Not that I know of. Getting sired by an older vampire means you'll be stronger because they're stronger, too, but that affects to things like speed, strength, and durability. What does a "Domain" look like? Magic?
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[Just without being undead. Still weird!]
Domains are... Hell, a Domain can be just about anythin'. Mine's the ability to reflect damage back. Say you stabbed me - I could inflict that same injury on you, but mine wouldn't vanish or anythin'. I've gotta be close enough an' it's gotta be somethin' that physically hurts me, but that's mine.
A couple'a other ones are... well, there's knowledge-keepin'. Basically there's a vampire that knows a whole damn lot an' can pass that knowledge to anyone he chooses. He remembers everythin' an' can learn things from people too, which I guess is part of his Domain? Never met the guy, so I can't say for sure how it works. Another one's knowin' another vampire's Domain innately. An' there's also things like turnin' into bats or teleportin'... I've even heard some vampires have Domains that can strengthen or weaken others just from bein' near 'em.
[All that is to say...]
It's kinda sorta like magic, I guess. But we can't use actual magic. That's a human-only thing.
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You're operating on a totally different power level than the vampires I know. Even humans don't have access to that kind of thing yet, and they're always neck-deep in forbidden arts...
( He says "yet" if only because he figures that humans will do something indescribably stupid soon enough to obtain that sort of ability. If there's a will, there's a way (derogatory). )
But I guess that's the thing. Humans can't do that sort of thing yet, so vampires only need to be so much stronger to be physically superior. But it sounds like magic is more common among your human population.
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