lunae calamitas mods (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
promittere) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
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
Despite his own protests, Cid reflexively assumes the best posture for getting dragged without faceplanting, because now that he thinks about it he really does spend a lot of time getting dragged around as Cid. Eh, maybe he'll return the favor someday. Wow, Tatara's room looks like the room of a confirmed bachelor who studies too much. So Sage, much mess.
He gets handed the camcorder and it's like. Holy damn this is older than he expected. He is not sure if that will make it easier or harder, actually.]
Vintage... Uh. Maybe it'll be closer to our kind of machines then. [after staring at it for a moment he starts prodding at it and turning it in his hands] ... You said there's no power, right? Is there anything else wrong with it?
[Or does Tatara just want him to jury-rig a battery or something.]
no subject
Tatara hovers over Cid's shoulder as he examines the camera. It's a little scuffed from having fallen on concrete on the day he arrived here, but it generally looks to be in good shape. Nothing terribly wrong with it. It just doesn't turn on. ]
Hmm. [ He leans back when asked, tapping a finger to his chin. ] I guess there isn't, really, but if I had to bring up anything else... It'd be nice to have a projector to play the video I record...
[ And he lets that hang in the air, because he knows full well he's asking for a different contraption entirely and that he's being cheeky about it. ]
no subject
Unfortunately, they are not technologically advanced enough to have phones, so Cid just handles the camcorder with the sort of reverence you'd reserve for a dinosaur tooth or something. It really is akin to being handed part of an extinct life form, but maybe a little more intelligible. It's a bit beat up, but at a first glance nothing seems to be busted.
He starts popping stuff open to check on batteries and stuff... Hopefully the batteries haven't gone bad by now.]
If it's just power, I guess hooking it up to a wizard and hooking it up to a mana stone come out to the same thing. Mana stone might be less likely to burn it out, though. [little does he know they are the same at the core?!] Projectors... Like I said, I've only seen the magical type, but maybe...
[... can wizards be HDMI cables. He's facing so many questions about magic he hasn't thought about before.]
no subject
He'll find the battery as well, and it seems to be in good shape, all things considered. Just dead. ]
Hmm. [ Tatara stares at the camera for a second before wandering away. Don't worry, he's still engaged in conversation. ] So we need mana stones, a way to hook it up to a wizard, or a mana stone...
[ He whirls around to look at Cid. ]
How much time do you think it'd take?
no subject
[Is this tape like, a clue? Now it's actually kind of intriguing. He likes a good mystery as much as the next guy, even if over half the time he solves things by use of sheer force. He probably shouldn't beat up the camcorder for answers, though.
He can totally do this. He can be Maintenance Detective Cid, solving mundane conundrums for the greater good during the 5-9.
Before he answers Tatara and while the other is wandering about, Cid is already poking at the workings of the camcorder with magic; he can't help it, he wants to see how the magic in this world ticks. Whether he can actually make a current is yet to be seen; lithium-ion batteries are charged by an anode-cathode differential so... maybe he should just slap it with magic and see what happens. The worst he can end up with is a bomb--]
And I dunno, I've never tried to power a machine with myself or a magic artifact before. [...] Which part of it should I be working with...
[......... he knows which part is the battery but technically he's not supposed to know what a battery is so. Y'know.]
no subject
As he watches Cid poke around some more, and he sees the flashes of magic, he gives a wry little smile. ]
Ah, well. [ Things he doesn't often think about: this is the first. ] I didn't really feel like using it when I first got here. I didn't think of taping the old wizards—I was so overwhelmed by everything else...
[ Unfortunately. Maybe if he'd had a bit of extra time, he could've put together a little mini-doc on the crew. Oh well. All in hindsight.
For the time being, it seems like Cid really is just slapping the camera with magic. He'll zap it, but there doesn't seem to be much in the way of any response. It seems he'll need something more sophisticated, intricate, or delicate to get things working again.
At the question, Tatara wanders over to him again, gently turns the camera over in his hands, and quickly extracts the battery from its little compartment. He holds it up for Cid to see. ]
This. This is the battery. And when it's charged, [ he points to the inside of the battery cavity, where the springs and whatnot are visible ] that carries into the rest of the camera to make it work.
no subject
[Annnnd Maintenance Detective Cid hangs up his hat before he's even put it on his head! It's a record-breaking career of negative three minutes!! Granted, he's disappointed but he doesn't know how into this thing Tatara is so he's just like, I guess he forgot he had a camcorder when he got here and got walloped in the face with WIZARDS and MAGIC.
Normal people (sic) tend to do that, probably. He's more focused on the camcorder itself, even if it really isn't giving him much response. Maybe he'll need to figure out a way to really get into the battery and not just the camera itself. Targeted... mana stones... now he's muttering to himself when the battery gets popped out.]
It's really small... So if we're assuming the rest of this thing is okay, I probably just need to get this battery thing working again.
[Maybe what he really needs is a conduit instead of direct magic slapping???]
... Or we could shove a mana stone into the camera and see.
no subject
There is some potentially incriminating evidence for a different case, but it probably isn't really relevant to the matter at hand (and the guys back in K are looking into it as we speak, or something).
Tatara nods, looking back and forth between Cid and the camera. Does he trust this stranger? Yeah, why not. If it breaks, it breaks.
He stands up, and then gestures to the camera with an opened hand. ]
You're welcome to keep it and tinker with it if you want. It's not like I've been using it.
no subject
Bold of you to assume he isn't going to do something wild if there is evidence on there irregardless of all else, but that's a problem for future Cids and Tataras.
In the here and now he makes a pleased sort of yahoo! noise and holds the whole thing over his head like some sort of prize. Good thing the Sage is even more easygoing than his friends back home are with their money. ☆]
Good to know we're not in a rush, 'cause I definitely gotta spend some time on this thing. [he is probably going to spend half his time just trying wild magic things because the tech path is too easy, godspeed] In fact, I think I'm going to start like, right now. Right this minute. Where's the mana stones stored, anyway?
[He's got to hit two birds with one stone and if that means nyooming off before Tatara changes his mind and getting his hands on some mana thingies then off he will go (once he has directions).]
no subject
Take your time with it. [ He beams! He's glad Cid's eager, and that's all he can really ask for. He wasn't going to force someone into fixing his camera for him (it really isn't a big deal in his mind), so that Cid's as excited for this as he is makes him happy. ]
There's a store by the elevator tower, and I think Lazuli has some. [ He waves to the door. Cid's free to go to either. ] Don't wait for me to dismiss you! Go!
no subject
... I get the feeling I'm going to need a few spares. I wonder if this Lazuli's got any samples in stock........
[At this point I have no idea how timelines work but I don't think he's met Wanderer yet so he probably thinks he is some kind of shopkeeper.]
But yeah, yeah! You've got it. I'll work on this and keeping it all in one piece, no problem.
[..... did he say something untoward there, all casual-like. Nah, it's probably nothing! There he goes, off into the wild blue yonder...!]