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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
[ They'll be stuck here if they aren't able to fix the reason that they're here in the first place, and they could die without getting a good control on magic. So, while Kurapika doesn't always like to go along with things he's told to do, he does so here.
He wants to live, and he's got things to attend to back home. It's simple. ]
A meaningful word or phrase... [ He crosses his arms. ] Does anything come to mind for you?
[ It's easier to brainstorm and bounce ideas off of one another for things like this, he thinks. ]
ii. brooms;
A magic broom feels a little bit cliche.
[ And reminds him a lot of the storybooks he practically devoured as a child, making the thought of summoning one almost nostalgic. That little piece of nostalgia is what causes him to take just an extra second or two before he puts out his hand and tries to will one into existence.
But it doesn't take long for one to manifest, blue and yellow intertwining together to create the broomstick, with a bright red tuft of bristles. It clashes, but it isn't as if Kurapika really cares about it looking fashionable. Instead, what he cares about is trying to ride it, and the broom practically bucks away and out of his grasp the moment he tries to reach for it. He frowns. ]
...
[ Annoying. ]
iii. tasks;
A lot of these seem like a waste of time.
[ He crosses his arms, reading them over again. Yeah, he still feels the same. Although he wouldn't mind writing a research paper... but would he put a partner through that? Maybe. ]
I suppose grabbing items around the manor using our broom could prove useful, though.
iv. sugar delivery;
[ Another thing that Kurapika does find useful, however, is making sugar! Which is what he'll attempt to do, eventually successfully producing a large amount of little star-shaped, bright scarlet sugar. Go big or go home, after all.
Whether someone is walking by or has become his sugar-creating partner, Kurapika won't hesitate in voluntelling them: ]
Come fill that sugar delivery request with me. It shouldn't be a problem transporting it between the two of us.
v. central capital;
[ Turns out stocking up on food items and furniture for his new residence isn't a waste of time either, because Kurapika has a shopping list in hand as he and whoever he's brought with him look around the city. ]
We should get items for our room first and save the perishables for later.
[ No food will be going bad on his watch! And as for where they could start off... well, his gaze lingers on one of the nearby bookstores. ]
vi. wildcard;
[ Come hit me up with one of the other prompts that I didn't cover! Or request a starter from me! I'm down for anything so let's have fun. ]
central capital
Tatara whirls on his heel, revealing he had stepped away for a brief moment to purchase two (2) skewers of meat. what was that about perishables, ]
We can walk and eat!
[ He hands one to Kurapika. Unheard of, generally, where he's from, but he's a delinquent through and through. ]
Where are you thinking of first? [ Aaaaaand he's already eating with his mouth full. ]
no subject
I'll pass.
[ Maybe if Tatara didn't just do exactly what he said not to, he would!! Or maybe not. It's hard to say, really. ]
Have some manners and don't speak with your mouth full.
[ Anyway, he looks back towards the bookstore he had his eye on. ]
I'd like to see what I can get from there. Any information I can get about this world should be beneficial.
no subject
Tatara just stares at him for a moment, then shrugs, then takes it back. Well. More for himself! ]
What sort of information are you looking for? You could always ask someone. The people here are friendly.
[ He is also ignoring Kurapika's scolding, talking with his mouth full. ]
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tasks!
So it'll be like a scavenger hunt. Well, leave it to me! I've gotten pretty good at handling a broom, if I say so myself!
[She seems pretty pumped, surely nothing can go wrong here.]
no subject
Honestly, he likes her attitude, so he'll step back from the board and cross his arms. ]
Have you? Show me.
[ He'd like to see what she's been working on!! ]
no subject
[Can't really blame him for wanting to know who he's working with, after all! Anyways, she summons the broom without much trouble--black with pink lines running along the handle and a pair of red streamers extending from where the bristles are, there's a familiarity in its design to her, which is maybe why it also comes so easily. It's pretty tame too, bobbing up and down a little when she gives it an affectionate pat on the broomstick.]
Okay, ready? Let's go!
[She gets on the broom, kicks off and then promptly zooms through the crown of some unsuspecting tree in the distance.
Bye Kurapika.]
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sugar
Not even a name first? Come on.
[He's not your sugarboy, Kurapika.]
no subject
Kurapika.
[ There? Better? ]
Do you have some yourself? We could probably evenly distribute all of it between us so it's easier to carry.
[ And no, he's not going to ask for a name. ]
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v. central capital;
But, oh? Looking to educate yourself?
[ Seeing Pika's gaze on the bookstores, yep. ]
no subject
[ Jing Yuan does have a point there, after all.
But he nods at the question. ]
I am, actually. I think anything we can find out about this world could only benefit us, even if there's only fiction available in that store.
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Sugar
Overachiever much?
no subject
[ So, like.
Yeah. He's a proud one. ]
I hope we'll at least get some kind of compensation for this, so the more we have, the better.
[ And if not, at least it's good practice! ]
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training
[And he's hoping it won't work, but...when he thinks about it, it just is what seems to ring something within him, and he's not sure he likes this of all things is what may be used for his magic]
Problem is, I don't have a focus.
[He got dragged into this world with nothing except the clothes on him]
no subject
Neither do I, unless I want to count the gun in my pocket.
[ Hm. It might be harder for him to figure that part out too. ]
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iii. tasky task
[Like, if he ever got drafted into the Knight Order, he's pretty sure he wouldn't be stuck writing essays and whatnot -- but of course, "Cid Kagenou" wouldn't ever join the Order anyways, for about a billion different reasons.
At least some of them apply here. He shakes his head and puts out his hand, mumbling a little bit; a broom about the size of a pin drops into his palm. Oops??]
... Still not that great at summoning brooms, though. Takes me a try or three to get anything I can use, so you guys are really...
[He totally admires people who don't immediately summon toy brooms at the first opportunity.]
no subject
How much willpower are you putting into it? That's a big part of summoning them.
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training + sugar delivery bc I can!!!
[ Feels bad not contributing though. ]
I haven’t managed to make anything yet. Still trying to… come up with something meaningful.
we follow soupie's rules here
[ But... maybe they can work on things a little bit more before leaving. ]
Your focus or incantation? I can help you with both.
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tasks
Hm? Why's that? [ why are the other tasks a waste of time, he means. ]
no subject
[ He'd rather just poke around the manner instead of counting down and looking for someone. ]
And I'm not going to challenge someone to a match if they'd had more time to train than I have.
[ That would just result in a loss and injuries, he thinks.
And the research paper? Well, he'd honestly like to do that one. ]
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i
[Satisfied with her reasoning, she tugs the grill-like brim of her hat down slightly.]
no subject
[ If that's her life, then it makes sense for her to choose those words. It's easy to focus in on those sort of things for inspiration, in his opinion. ]
I was thinking of something a little similar. "For my people."
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training
What feels important? [Now he's just musing aloud.] What, personally, is important?
How can one cast magic with words, and why are words so important?
[Now he turns his head to the person near him, and tilts his head.]
I suppose those are what we must think about.
no subject
I wonder if words connect to our magic, bringing out the emotions we need to cast spells.
[ That's just his theory, though, his initial thoughts after that brief explanation they were given earlier. ]
Which then makes it more important that we choose our focus and incantation wisely.
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