promittere: (Default)
lunae calamitas mods ([personal profile] promittere) wrote in [community profile] lunaecalamitas2024-04-18 11:41 pm

you opened your eyes, spreading it wide

THIRD QUARTER ALLEGRO
While our newly-arrived wizards have been settling in, learning their magic, and getting to know one another, the sage and their mentor have been busy with a different kind of work behind the scenes—bureaucratic work. It hasn't been particularly exciting, but it has paid off.

Because now, the world is ready to receive them.

Put on your finest clothes, because Granvelle Castle invites you to a welcome ball in your honor.

Didn't bring any fine clothes with you? No need to worry—specially chosen tailors from Central Capital have been commissioned to take care of you, and they will be visiting the manor to get you gussied up in the fashion of your choice for the day (by this, we mean feel free to pick whatever fancy clothes you want for the ball).

As the sun sets on the designated day, all the residents of the manor make their way to the castle. Granvelle Castle stands proud in Central Capital, its lights a beacon in the darkening city, and its doors open to outsiders for the first time in weeks. Upon arrival they're greeted by brightly lit halls, welcoming staff, and a grand ballroom, windows flung open to let in the spring breeze and pale moonlight. Everyone and everything seems determined to make this a cheerful affair, despite the underlying sense of dread and tension.

Live music fills the air, played the greatest musicians in the world. There are some larger ensembles, solo acts; some pieces are of more traditional folk dances, while some are slower, and some are upbeat and avant-garde. Regardless, the floor is open for dancing—grab a buddy and dance the night away!

Lining one wall is a long banquet table, filled with plenty of food and drink, both alcoholic and non to sate the new arrivals. The hors d'oeuvres and small plates comprise an array of delicacies from around the world, with everything from savory lobster bites to the sweetest portions of tres leches you have ever tasted. It seems someone has also put in a specific request for Japanese food—a part of the banquet table has been set aside specifically for Japanese dishes, and this includes small portions of ramen. There also seems to be a plate on the far end of the table filled with lovingly stacked pieces of charcoal... Is that meant to be food?

You aren't the only ones in attendance tonight. Representatives and dignitaries from around the world are also present—they have quite a lot to say about the unusual situation, and they are most curious about these otherworldly individuals tasked with fending off the moon under their national banners. The most dignitaries are from Central, West, and East, while there do seem to be a few representatives from the less populated North and South. Those from Central, West, and South in general seem to be the most social, while the rest are more reserved. There are also a few of the castle staff that seem (begrudgingly) willing to speak with the new wizards. Most are here to chat and mingle—lend them an ear, you may learn something new...

For those tired of socializing, the ballroom opens out onto a breezy, spacious balcony. It looks out over the main thoroughfare leading to the main castle entrance, and the nighttime lights of the Central capital twinkle in the near distance. For those that would rather take a breather, there is a small patio table and a couple of chairs. Despite the waxing moon in the sky, it is a very nice evening.

If you would like to have a chat with an NPC, then please respond to this comment. NPCs will be assigned randomly if no preference is given. While everyone has something valuable to say, they're not giving potentially sensitive info out for free—let's hope your diplomatic skills are up to snuff. We're doing our best to give everyone meaningful conversations, so please bear with us!

JOB BOARD
Rejuvenation. Thanks to your Southern friends' hard work, the South has been saved from a potentially devastating crop failure, and these fledgling towns can continue to grow as they're meant to! Give them a pat on the back and a round of applause.

But the South is not without its scars. While the root cause has been taken care of, the damage has been done. A town's wheat field has been partially destroyed—help them tear out the blackened, dead wheat, till and fertilize the soil, and replant what can be replanted. The City of Clouds, the most prosperous of the Southern settlements, have also offered extra tools, hands, and seeds to help set the town back on the path to recovery. Transport these supplies to the town. Let's hope your broom skills are up to snuff too, because it's a long ride.

Shadows in the night. The residents of the Central capital have recently been reporting eerie sightings after sundown: shadowy figures lurking in corners, the constant feeling of being watched, and, in some extreme cases, these shadowy figures attacking when traveling alone at night. Many reports seem to indicate an odd concentration of these creepy figures lurking around the Granvelle Castle moat, as though trying to find a way into the castle. Residents are understandably frightened and unnerved and cannot go about their nightly business—beat back what shadows you find and make the streets safer for the Central capital residents.

While physical attacks don't seem to do much against them, they dissipate rather easily under magic. Try not to wear yourself to the bone, though—there are a lot of them.

Escorting nobility. The Eastern Blanchett noble family have called an important meeting, inviting nobles and others of import from across the Eastern Country. However, their castle lies beyond Sherwood Forest, a very large, dense, and deep wood—while a fine natural defense for the Blanchett family, it's a bit of trouble for those looking to visit. While the Blanchett's own forest guard is absent, it is your job to safely escort these nobles to the Blanchett abode, and back out. But be careful: lurking in the shadows amongst the trees are all sorts of territorial predators like bears and wolves, not to mention the magical beasts that sneak up on unsuspecting prey. You may come across a brigand or bandit or two, since the forest is a near perfect hiding place for illegal activity. And please—try not to get lost.

Typical of any Easterner, the nobles are reluctant to make much small talk and are a bit suspicious of the new wizards, but they are otherwise pleasant and will generally comply with most requests.

WANDERER TASKS
Can you go a week without ruining food or the pots and pans? Stop being so wasteful and learn how to cook or stop trying.

Learn how to use magic to repair things. Again, if you're going to keep ruining the kitchen at least learn how to put it back together.

TATARA ACTIVITIES
I need milk. I'm trying to perfect latte foam art, but I haven't really gotten the hang of it yet... I used up all the milk (oops, sorry!), so I need more. Actually, could you grab me other kinds of milk while you're at it? I want to experiment! I'm sure other markets in the farther reaches of the world will have weirder milk... Please!

We should start a veggie garden! Or an herb garden? Doesn't matter! I found a nice sunny patch of grass in the training forest—we could dig up that spot, right? Help me get it set up! I need people to dig, and till... Oh! We need seeds to plant, too! Please and thank you~

OOC NOTES
๐ŸŒ™ Welcome to your second event post! Get out your snazzy outfits. It's time to party.
๐ŸŒ™ As you grow into your magic, your character might start realizing they can differentiate between everyone's magic. Everyone has a unique signature, and you may be able to start sensing who cast what, where. Someone put a magical seal on the kitchen door? Smells like Shinjiro's magic. Akira had some of Solomon's sugar? You can sense that, too!
๐ŸŒ™ As you start getting past the basics, your character might realize they have a much easier time with certain kinds of magic over others. For North, this will be offensive and attack spells; for East, this will be intricate seals and curses; for West, this will be manipulative magic like illusions and transformation; for South, this will be healing, purification, and protection. Central? A little bit of everything. Read up on your country if you need a refresher!
๐ŸŒ™ It's been peaceful at home in the manor thus far, hasn't it? Do you think that will last?
๐ŸŒ™ Your OOC plotting post is here! Remember to keep all wider plotting contained to the OOC post, since not everyone checks plurk or discord frequently.
๐ŸŒ™ Our next group to go on their mission is Central. Be ready, heroes...
lighthaus: (khun)

[personal profile] lighthaus 2024-04-29 05:46 pm (UTC)(link)
[ he half chuckles at that, dry. he's not fully recovered all of his emotions yet and his ribs hurt. ]

I'd be the President if I accepted. [ a tilt of his head. ]

I'm not trying to scare you off [ well he might be a little, but that's more his instinct than him putting a full hearted effort into it. ] but I'm simply telling you the truth. I'll do anything to get what I want, no matter what that is or who it hurts. When I was twelve, I killed several of my siblings to earn my right to the Khun name, and it's not like I've stopped since then.

And you're right in that I was the one who went for blood first.
dyingtohealyou: ([Serious] Somewhere inside my body)

[personal profile] dyingtohealyou 2024-04-29 05:47 pm (UTC)(link)
[He does listen, almost impressed. Grandpa's really going for it.

He sips his tea in silence, but when he sets down the teacup, he leans on the table a bit.
]

Good guess, but you missed an option.

[And he tilts his head down, looking at Solomon over the rim of his shades - those unnaturally bright cyan eyes clearly marked by magic, even outside of the sage's crest on his right eye.]

...For magical researchers, their own kid is just a convenient guinnea pig.
shortleash: (pic#17120985)

[personal profile] shortleash 2024-04-29 05:48 pm (UTC)(link)
( Mika's lips purse, slightly - he hadn't thought about it since becoming a vampire, but he'd thought about it all the time as a child - what would happen to them, on that matter.

The only defense he had back then was to escape Sanguiem with everyone - that, or to leverage Ferid's favor, somehow. Become an even better pet, save his family, and...

His broom dips slightly, losing buoyancy - he course corrects and returns to the correct height, though he concedes to a slower speed. Not acknowledging it, he continues: )


... It's the humans' fault. They committed taboo, so He sent down angels to destroy the population with plague, and hunt the survivors. Taboo is probably how we ended up with vampires, too. It's all punishment - all of us suffering on behalf of those selfish creatures.

( Humans, humans, humans. )
Edited 2024-04-29 17:48 (UTC)
shadowkin: (009)

[personal profile] shadowkin 2024-04-29 05:54 pm (UTC)(link)
Hmhmm? Hmm? Sure, but I thought this was one of those meetings where you dropped by for the food and then left, and maybe dropped by again later.

[(And then you realized you didn't listen to 80% of the meeting and kidnap someone later for a synopsis--)

There is no food unless you very dubiously either start counting the participants or, you know, the moon rock. Cid definitely does not look at the moon rock while talking about refreshments.

But also we are not entirely sure what kind of meeting he was envisioning. He sighs and then starts tapping the vuvuzela against the nearest surface because now this is a Meeting, apparently. Fidget, fidget.]
impacter: (140)

[personal profile] impacter 2024-04-29 06:00 pm (UTC)(link)
[Mmm. His gaze flicks to those eyes, expression going solemn.]

A curse, or is it something biological?
dyingtohealyou: ([Down] They're transparent)

[personal profile] dyingtohealyou 2024-04-29 06:07 pm (UTC)(link)
Implanted. I didn't originally have the talent for magic, so they gave me eyes that heal anyone hurt or sick I look at.

[Settling back in his seat.]

They probably wanted to see if they could... besides, another test subject needed healing anyway. It was pretty much three birds with one stone.

[Nevermind he's conveniently left out the third factor involved.]
shortleash: (pic#17103521)

[personal profile] shortleash 2024-04-29 06:08 pm (UTC)(link)
( His fingers dig into Tatara's shoulder, his hands. He definitely didn't mean now, but now that Tatara's mentioned people taking advantage of them, Mika tenses considerably - he's already distrusting toward humans in general, but this just amps it up. Of course they would take advantage of them. Of course.

Mika hadn't thought much of the humans in this world so far - other than hating them, by default - but now he very firmly recognizes them as a threat. )


It's not fine. How common knowldge is it among humans? There's nothing to say that during these stupid jobs or little outings or even at this party humans have gotten any of the people summoned to make promises without thinking— you don't know if they're not being taken advantage of right now.

( And the way Mika says it, it's a tangible threat - like Tatara saying it has spoken it into being, an immediate danger, something encroaching the walls.

Something being dearly wrong without him knowing, something bad going on until it's too late to stop it - these are his primary fears. )


If you can't do all this stuff by yourself, get help. You can even ask me. ( He doesn't say this to be helpful, but because he's more afraid of it not getting done. ) What other things are people supposed to know that they don't? What else did you put off until later?
dyingtohealyou: ([Down] Somewhere inside)

[personal profile] dyingtohealyou 2024-04-29 06:10 pm (UTC)(link)
[Haha, he wins.

No, he's paying attention intently, thinking on Mika's words, both now and from the past.
]

...What do you think of the humans here, then? More or less the same as your world?
lighthaus: (1)

[personal profile] lighthaus 2024-04-29 06:26 pm (UTC)(link)
I'd say you really haven't been to too many noble balls, but I know the answer to that. Nobility is the same way wherever you go, even if the colors and names are different.

[ hmmm. well he's far from socialed out, so he really should stay longer. ]

Then I'll just escort you to the entrance hall.
fallingsand: (17;)

[personal profile] fallingsand 2024-04-29 06:47 pm (UTC)(link)
Oh. Huh. Is that... uh, fun?

[ Is it?! Bruno doesn't know! ]
shortleash: (pic#17072496)

[personal profile] shortleash 2024-04-29 06:47 pm (UTC)(link)
All humans are the same.

( He says this firmly, certain as the night is black and the sun burns him. )

Individual humans may be... tolerable. But humans as a whole will always lead the world to ruin. And even those individuals will struggle against their nature.
fallingsand: (55;)

[personal profile] fallingsand 2024-04-29 06:50 pm (UTC)(link)
I... yeah? Yeah, it does, doesn't it? I mean, it's just what my sister would do and, honestly, everyone would be tons better off if Julieta were here instead but. I can do this, at least.

[ He's 100% certain his sister would somehow be able to make vampire-friendly food that would have instantly healed Mika and everything. ]
shadowkin: (012)

I hate that he has a friend named Po Tato when all these potato references happen

[personal profile] shadowkin 2024-04-29 07:09 pm (UTC)(link)
Hmmm. Is that, like, some kind of vampire training regime...?

[The voice comes from directly above him, where Cid is inexplicably just sort of peering over the edge of the roof; but maybe it's not so surprising to find people hanging out up there given the ubiquitousness of brooms and weirdos (maybe it's a West thing, maybe it's not) all over the manor.

Everything is dark because apparently Mika wanted to brood and bisect some limbs in peace -- he does not get the peace he wanted but he does get the shadow (though not the Shadow at this time) because the only things visible of Cid are his floppy haircut and the shine of inquisitiveness in his eye.

Well, this is pretty normal for vampires at the end of the day, so who is he to criticize some self-experimentation???]

I always thought that sort of thing was just-- [he makes a weird slithering gesture with his arm] --like, SCHLOOP. And it just happens. Instead of having to go through all the puzzle pieces.
Edited 2024-04-29 19:11 (UTC)
lighthaus: (033)

[personal profile] lighthaus 2024-04-29 07:10 pm (UTC)(link)
Unfortunately, you can't dance and read at the same time. [ cheekily, since he knows kurapika does like reading at least. ]

All the same, you're dancing right now, aren't you? It's often compared to the flow of battle too.

[ maybe that analogy is more helpful, given kurapika's experience. ]
jokey: (pic#14562339)

[personal profile] jokey 2024-04-29 07:34 pm (UTC)(link)
The Forest of Dreams? That sounds like an acid trip waiting to happen.

[What are you thinking, Tatara? You're the adult here! Encouraging an innocent young boy like Akira to trip out on hallucinogenic cow milk is wild as hell, but he's down to clown.]

Ooh, scary scary. Be a good boy and say behind big, strong Akira, okay? I don't want our Sensei getting hurt on my watch.

[Or anyone's, for that matter. Akira's already up on his feet and padding around the kitchen in eager circles while jotting down a mental list of items to prepare for their trip.]

You busy? We can head out after I grab some supplies.
dyingtohealyou: ([Look] You could say I'm)

[personal profile] dyingtohealyou 2024-04-29 07:51 pm (UTC)(link)
On it.

[He'll call out as much to the caravan, urging them along by once again taking up his place on his broom, although this time he flies behind it - keeping an eye on both sides of the path while Ithaqua handles the patrol.]
dyingtohealyou: ([Smile] Where you are)

[personal profile] dyingtohealyou 2024-04-29 07:52 pm (UTC)(link)
It can be.
dyingtohealyou: ([Smile] color or shape to it)

[personal profile] dyingtohealyou 2024-04-29 07:53 pm (UTC)(link)
[Translating that.]

So people haven't really been giving you, personally, trouble?
shortleash: (pic#17103488)

[personal profile] shortleash 2024-04-29 08:02 pm (UTC)(link)
( RUDE )

Are you just assuming every human here is good?
dyingtohealyou: ([Sweat] your face)

[personal profile] dyingtohealyou 2024-04-29 08:05 pm (UTC)(link)
[Thinks about Khun.]

Hell no.
annihilator: (โžค 77)

[personal profile] annihilator 2024-04-29 08:05 pm (UTC)(link)
Hah, you'd better believe I will—

[Before he can properly finish that, Malice tips his head and glances off to the left. Seems he's heard something, given he's frowning in that direction.]

Seems we've got company.
annihilator: (โžค 27)

[personal profile] annihilator 2024-04-29 08:06 pm (UTC)(link)
[dumbasses.]

Sure, it ain't like I'm ashamed of sayin' it! You've done some good for me too - I'm glad we've met, Yama!

[when will you learn this will never work on him......]
annihilator: (โžค 39)

[personal profile] annihilator 2024-04-29 08:09 pm (UTC)(link)
[Malice nods at the first part; it's certainly better than dealing with stuffy nobles!!]

Wish I could experience that, it'd probably make the whole thing more bearable! But I can't drink any of that stuff, it'd just mess me up real bad.

[Vampire problems...]
annihilator: (โžค 07)

[personal profile] annihilator 2024-04-29 08:10 pm (UTC)(link)
Oh, yeah! I've been workin' on controllin' fire!

[He holds out his good hand and summons a small flame to it. That much seems easy enough, but he has to put it out with his incantation.]

It's gettin' easier the more I practice, anyway!
annihilator: (โžค 39)

[personal profile] annihilator 2024-04-29 08:14 pm (UTC)(link)
[we could not have timed this better if we tried.]

Yeah, agreed. It'd be nice if things stayed this way.

[lmao]

And... long as we ain't expected to deal with all those fancy nobles again, it's fine. That ain't anythin' I like, y'know? Had to deal with that crap back home an' I'd prefer to never do it again.