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

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.

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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Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[i just realized he's only an inch taller than her...... rest in pieces kurapika if this ever comes to pass

In any case, she does appreciate the sentiment but you can't stop her and her unfounded confidence in her broom-riding skills!!]

Aw, thanks for the concern. But I don't think you have to worry about that! This guy's been pretty good to me [another pat of the broomstick], so I'm sure I could get myself out if I ever got stuck.

[ he will always and forever continue to suffer ]

Is that how it works? Just trusting that you'll get out?

[ She has so much confidence in a stick, it's kind of impressive. But just as he's thinking this, his broom suddenly stops listening to him and he drops about ten feet. ]

...

[ His silence is deafening. ]

Well, you have to think p-- Whoa!

[Aaaand then he does that little drop, welp. She dips her broom into a slight dive, just in case she needs to attempt a catch if it actually looked like he was falling. But since he appears fine, she'll just hover at his level and look him over.]

A-Are you okay? Maybe we should have this conversation on the ground...

[ He shakes his head, grip tightening on his broom. Of course he'd have trouble controlling this when he already struggles with controlling his emotions. Of course. ]

It's better to get practice.

[ With a sigh, he manages to stabilize himself again. ]

We probably shouldn't hang in the air, though. Let's find those trinkets.

[Oh Kurapika. Well, it's not like this is the first time she's run into someone stubborn like this. So, she won't push the matter and just nods in response, taking one final glance at him before turning back to survey the manor.]

If it's somewhere you can't normally reach without magic, then how about we start by checking the rooftops?

[It's probably too obvious a location if this is supposed to be a challenge, but it'd make a decent warm-up.]

Rooftops sound like a good start.

[ And it means he'll be back on his own two feet sooner rather than later, too. He points at one particular part of the roof that's a little flatter than the rest. ]

I'll be aiming for that area.

[ Off he goes... ]

[Welp, there he goes... She's not going to follow right after him immediately just in case he like, does another 10 feet plummet but straight into the shingles or something. But assuming everything seems okay, she'll trail behind and find a nearby area to disembark. Honestly, her high heeled boots are probably not the best suited for walking on rooftops but meh!!

Anyways, touchdown successful! As she looks around--]

Wow, this is a pretty nice view! If only Yukki were here with her camera...

[ The landing is successful! Even if his balance isn't great as he gets off of the broom. The fact that he can't control it well right off the bat is going to drive him up the wall, but that's a problem for future Kurapika.

Right now, he needs to focus on the roof, and his eyes immediately go to those heels. Kurapika walks towards her, sticking a touch closer than he normally would just in case she slips, as he looks around for whatever might have been left amongst the shingles. ]

Is that a friend of yours?

[Thankfully, she's also busy trying to catch a glimpse of anything that seems out of place on a roof, so there's no teasing comment from her about him sticking close. She'll just honestly wander about places that seem like they might have space for a small nook or cranny, but it's not like she's being completely systematic about her search either.

There's a nod at the question, though!]

She apprentices under a photographer who works at the same company I do. We've been paired up for a lot of assignments, so I've gotten to know her pretty well.

[ It's a good thing she's too busy to make that comment, otherwise he'd feel some (minor) embarrassment. As things are now, he joins her in looking, though he's much more systematic about his approach, kneeling down whenever he feels like he needs to in order to get a good luck into any crevices. ]

Assignments for work?

[There will be other opportunities for embarrassment, don't worry!! Anyways, she'll also just take out a small flashlight from her handbag and offer it to Kurapika since he seems to be getting pretty into this.]

Exactly. I'm a journalist, so Yukki tags along to take photos when we're searching for the next big scoop!

[ He takes it with a nod of thanks, using it to look into one of the corners of the roof. ]

A journalist? [ That's honestly kind of cool... ] What sorts of things do you report on?

[As Kurapika goes to check that corner, she's going to inch closer to the edge of the room so she can try to take a peek into the gutters.]

A lot of things, but the magazine I currently write for is usually read by high schoolers. That's why I usually end up looking into local trends or interesting rumors when I hear about them.

Ah. Those are what high schoolers usually like.

[ Not like he knows any, given his lack of formal schooling, but still. He would've been interested in that sort of thing before he took up murder. ]

What is the most interesting rumor you've reported on?

[sacrificed high school for murder... sounds like a reasonable trade off if you ask me!!!

Anywho, there's a hum as she considers the question before answering in a tone that's a little more subdued than before.]

Well, the one I've been chasing recently might qualify. It's called the Joker Game... The word is that if you play it, you can have any wish of yours granted. But on the other hand, if you call Joker without harboring any kind of wish, then he'll steal your dreaming heart... And the person left behind is like a shadow, faded and forgotten.

Sounds dangerous.

[ And knowing teenagers, they'll call on that Joker just to see if it's true. That sort of thing is simply what people do, after all. ]

So... was there any truth to it?

[ That shift in her tone tells him that there just might be. ]

[She'll straighten up from where she's looking into that gutter and dig into her pocket to pull out a cell phone that she'll show to Kurapika.]

...Do you want to try it? You're supposed to say, "Joker, Joker, please come here" before dialing your own number. Once the line connects, he appears once you answer and asks for your wish.

[ He eyes the cell phone, briefly wondering if it even works here given the lack of technology, before ultimately taking it. If that rumor is real and happens to work across dimensions or worlds or wherever they are, then he at least has a wish or two he can cash in to avoid a terrible fate. ]

I'd hate to waste whatever little battery you have left, but...

[ May as well. ]

Joker, Joker, please come here.

[ With that, he dials his own number.

and then akira bursts through the roof— ]

[oh yeah

But after Kurapika dials his number, there's... well, nothing. Predictably, there's a message indicating that he's outside service range, but no mysterious wish-granting figure shows up on the roof or anywhere nearby. It's probably a bit anticlimactic regardless, but Maya does just giggle a little from where she's watching.]

Kind of a letdown, huh?

[ FISHY I'M CRYING

Ah. Nothing. Just as expected. Though Kurapika won't lie—there's a small level of disappointment flowing through him right now, both at the fact that he won't know if this is a legitimate rumor and that they've essentially severed all connections to their own worlds.

He hands the phone back to her. ]

A bit. I'm curious, though. Did you try it yourself back home?

[sparkles at you

She shakes her head as she takes the phone back, glancing back down at it for a moment before she tucks it back into her pocket.]

No, but when I went to a couple of the local high schools, I ran into a number of students who said they tried it. After hearing from them, there just wasn't really the need to try it... There wasn't anything I wanted to ask for, anyway.

You wouldn't want to risk it, I'm sure.

[ He wonders if she knew someone back home who would, but that's neither here nor there. ]

So, what did the students tell you?

[ Unfortunately, he's invested in this now. ]

Hmmm. Well, it's actually a little more complicated than that.

[But anyways, leaving it there! There's a moment as she recalls some of the accounts she heard, absentmindedly enumerating each one with her fingers as she goes down the list.]

Well, most of what I heard was about the wishes they made. There was a girl who asked to be prettier, a guy who wanted better grades, someone else who became part of the starting line-up for the baseball team... you know, things like that. Besides that, the rumor as I mentioned to you earlier was something I heard from the high schoolers I've been hanging out with.

[ And he'll definitely allow her to leave it at that too. No need in pressing someone for answers for things that ultimately aren't relevant to him, after all.

As he looks for any signs of a trinket, he mulls those wishes over in his head. They're pretty simple, typical wishes of people who ultimately don't have a lot to worry about, he thinks. ]

Ah... so something they created amongst themselves?

[She'll continue the search too, since it seems like they haven't had any luck so far. They might have to move to another rooftop soon, huh. As she muses on that, her expression goes thoughtful at the question.]

I'm sure that's true, in a sense. While I think the rumor started elsewhere, people have a way of exaggerating the parts they find interesting while downplaying others... In the end, I wonder how different it ended up from where it began. I'm sure the person who started it didn't intend for it to end up this way, either...

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