lunaecalamitas | you opened your eyes, spreading it wide

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

🌙 Welcome to your second event post! Get out your snazzy outfits. It's time to party.
🌙 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!
🌙 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!
🌙 It's been peaceful at home in the manor thus far, hasn't it? Do you think that will last?
🌙 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.
🌙 Our next group to go on their mission is Central. Be ready, heroes...

» NAVIGATION

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ Oh, hell naw. You're not getting away that easy. Malice probably has Ginger handled so he's just gonna give chase- ]

[ ...if it were anyone else, khun would continue to act as if he cannot perceive the rest of what's going on around him. but with a sigh, he slows his pace just a hair. ]

What? [ Mostly now he just sounds Tired. ]

[ Normally, he probably wouldn't. After all, he doesn't really know many of these people well, and there are other things going on.

But he can't heal, Ginger's dealt with, and he does know Khun. Which is why his features are stony, peering from beneath his fringe as he catches up. ]

Why don't you tell me. [ He sure doesn't have much context, but one glance at the blood spattering his front, and it tells enough of a story. ] Because I'm gonna guess he wasn't the one starting it.

[ he doesn't need to look at Shinji to guess what his facial expression is like, but he continues on, undeterred. ]

Why does it matter?

Ah?

[ For someone who usually prefers to mind his own business at times, people sure like making it hard around here. ]

'Cuz I wanna hear it before the shortstack comes around and puts your stupid ass in the ground.

[ Which he can definitely tell is going to happen, if the last Incident is anything to go by. ]

I welcome it.

[ and he means it, something which shinji will be able to hear. it's not out of bloodlust or even sense of pride, but rather what being a khun is. they do not back down, they do not surrender, they are not controlled.

as much as that response is immediate, he needs to think for several moments on the rest. ]

What do you know about me, Aragaki? The first thing you should know, is that I'm not a good person.

[ He's not sure if he'd call himself a good listener or not, but in this moment, lending an ear is probably the least he could do. Better than clocking him, which somebody already did apparently.

The tone in the other's voice just makes his exhaustion worse, honestly. And Shinjiro thought he made bad decisions. But he still waits while they walk, for whatever he has to say. ]

...That so?

[ Does he sound surprised? Not really. If anything, he stares straight ahead, before making a faint snorting noise. ]

Then you can join the damn club. Doubt that's anything special around here.

[ 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.

[ Not a whole lot of feeling in that laugh, he notes. ]

You might be surprised. [ The people here, he's found, have Issues.

Shinjiro listens, quietly, the only sound for a while being Khun's voice and the footsteps on grass. He runs it over in his head, slowly, like things are piecing together, and it's only when he's finished that he bothers to speak. ]

It ain't my place to talk about that kinda shit. You and I come from pretty different places, I'm guessing, so it's not like I know what goes on where you're from. [ He's not scared in the slightest. Maybe a bit wary, but after watching Strega through the years without lifting a finger, he's hardly a paragon of saintliness. ] We're all in the same damn boat, though, regardless of where you got dropped in from.

[ Not that they're similar. His gaze does shift back to Khun's profile, though, clicking his tongue. ]

Which means since we're in the same boat, I can judge you for being a moron doing his best to become a full-fledged idiot.

I'm a lot of things, but I'm not stupid. Explain. [ khun has no right to be this bossy, but the fact that he's demanded an explanation is proof that he in some way cares for what shinji thinks. his pace stays even, if focused on leaving the mess he made behind. ]

Ya coulda fooled me with that stunt.

[ Bossy indeed, but he's still listening, which says something. If he didn't want to bother, he'd do what Shinjiro would do; just tell them to fuck off, or tune them out.

For a guy who thinks people are nosy, he sure does like doing the same, huh. ]

Doing that was just asking for that shit to end badly for you. You're strong, sure. [ They've fought together, and he's seen it firsthand. ] But you're not stronger than everyone else here who was ready t' jump you for trying it. For a guy who says he'd do whatever to get what he wants, you don't have a lot of damn self-preservation.

[ Maybe he's playing with fire, talking like this to a guy who just tried to slit another's throat, but compared to other people...his own self-preservation isn't that strong. ]

You really want to risk dying, or them puttin' you on house arrest?

If I had it my way, there would have been nothing you could have done. I'm not the type to give a warning. [ ...as it is probably extremely obvious now. ]

So no, I wasn't considering those things because they shouldn't have been an issue. Unless you're implying they would kill me in retribution? [ khun doesn't find that likely either., at least not enough people for it to matter. ]

...but the thing about doing whatever you want is that sometimes, that in itself eclipses everything else. [ read: he really wasn't thinking, but he's not about to say that right now while he's still very much agitated from it all. ]

You had it your way for a few minutes, and look what happened to your damn ribs.

[ Yeah, he saw that bodyslam through the window. You had that coming. Khun can talk about warnings all he likes, but he's notably unphased by his confidence. ]

Hell if I know. I know they probably won't take it lying down either way, especially with that short bastard at the helm. You can fuck around all you like, but you can't be surprised when you find out what happens.

[ 'Shouldn't', he says. He wishes he could say its hard to see how some people can divorce themselves from the feelings of others, but not everybody is like him. If anything, he and Khun may be opposites in that regard. ]

Then knock it off. [ Shinjiro huffs, but there is irritation beneath the surface. It's like with Aki, running off and putting himself, everyone, in danger because he wasn't thinking. ] Use your brain. I know you got one. I don't like takin' orders as much as the next guy either, but this place has different rules from wherever the hell you or I came from. What you're used to doesn't tend to apply.

[ A realist, as always. ]

And that's a few minutes too long. [ his expectations are stupid even when it comes to himself, but that's not really what they're arguing about is it? ]

But that's not the point. I never said I wouldn't accept the fallout of this [ briefly he pauses, thinking of someone else, clicking his tongue. ] so don't lecture me about that.

He read my mind, Aragaki. I wasn't going to let that happen. [ it probably still sounds ridiculous, but there's a vulnerability to the declaration it if shinji catches it. ]

For you to piss around? Yeah, we agree on that much. [ Khun's expectations are stupid and Shinji is stubborn, and these things really shouldn't mix...but here they are.

Shinji briefly quirks a brow at that click, scoffing at the suggestion. ]

Wouldn't be fallout t' accept in the first place if you hadn't tried to slit a guy's throat.

[ It feels like a weird thing to be casually addressing, for sure, and it definitely unnerves him on a certain scale...but you see someone get shot a few times, and it at least tones it down for a bit.

There's a moment of silence as Shinji drinks that in for a moment, lips pursing. ]

We're surrounded by wizards and all this magic shit, Khun. Wouldn't be surprised if more than one person read our damn minds at some point, as irritating as it is.

[ the reality is khun will kill people for less, and nothing and no one will ever really be able to shake that nature from him. it is at least, a nature he is aware of, for better or worse. ]

That doesn't matter. [ quiet. ] No matter who it is, no matter where it is, I refuse to simply accept that. I was raised to have no weaknesses, and as a son of Khun, I've only survived because I've kept mine hidden.

To show it to anyone is to die and if that's what happens—then it was the natural outcome, regardless.

[ There are truly people from everywhere here, he's found; places where the rules are very different, where what may be unacceptable where he's from is the norm somewhere else. It's with this knowledge he can continue to walk beside this guy, even knowing he'd taken a knife to somebody else's throat mere moments prior.

He doesn't like it, no. But hearing it from the man's mouth himself, it's clear they grew up in two very different places.

Still, it doesn't stop him- ]

Everybody's got weaknesses, genius. [ Himself, he's got plenty. He's also intimate with the need to tape them up, to hide them from the world so they can never be seen. ] Wherever you come from sounds like a right pain in the ass, if you weren't allowed to cry when lightnin' hit as a kid.

[ Shinji doesn't dismiss it, though. What he does do, instead, is reach over and jam his knuckles against Khun's head with a noise of exasperation. ]

And don't go sayin' you'd die so easily, either. [ Not something he'd usually share, but this, at least, is small. ] If nothing scares you, then quit causing trouble. Last thing anybody wants is another round of nagging from that short guy.

[ lightning. that coincidental word makes him freeze which might be a mercy, because he probably would have taken a swing at shinji in response to the needling. as it is he just stands there, looking like he's entirely unsure of what just happened.

eventually he shakes his head and breathes out. ]

That isn't what I said. [ clicking his tongue. ] So you'll nag me instead? Though at least I like you.

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you opened your eyes, spreading it wide

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