Group RP Luminous (The Actual Campaign Featuring Convoluted Magic)

@SAF @WavePearl @ID Zeta @122 Generation @Jupjami

Elio and Kanaru were not alone in their anticipation. The same nervous energy resonated throughout the quiet crowd. Trav's eyes looked like they were going to explode out his head, if he widened them any further.

Despite all the attention, Lady Olympia barely reacted - well, if she had, it was impossible to tell under the veil or the draping beads around it.

"Welcome. Welcome, one and all members of the Jinguang Guild." she began. "Whether you have joined days ago or have been serving for years, we welcome you with open arms."

She cast a hand into the air. If the crowd could've gone quieter, it would have. "As you know, the services we provide to all of Juayang with the Luminous are valuable. Irreplaceable. Each one of you, with every job you take, is helping to better our world."

"With this in mind, this year, I believe the time has come once again for us to truly remember - we are here to shape the world. So, let us begin to do so. Let us push our work to its limits, for all of Juayang. And let the 25th Jinguang Competition begin."

It was just as the rumors floating about the past week had said. The competition wasn't annual, although it did have some sort of schedule that roughly evened out to a little less than once per a Guild Master's term. If anyone were to look, Jared had a grin owed to having known at least some of the announcement in advance.

"The terms of the competition are unchanged from past iterations. Every job you take will be added to a points tally depending on the level and skill of the job. You may form a party of up to five members, but your score will only count the base amount of jobs completed, and individual scores will not be considered. Every job you take will be done with your party. Commissions are only tallied once they are completed, and incomplete commissions will not be added to your score."

"Jinguang is an organization of honor. If the Masters discover any suspicious activity, they are allowed to investigate you as required, and you will be disqualified for falsified reports and any illegal methods used to complete any jobs you pick up."

 

@ID Zeta @122 Generation @Jupjami @SAF @WavePearl

"At the end of the competition, every party or individual's scores will be compared. The party or individual with the sole highest score will be considered the champion, and will be the only ones entitled to the reward. As for what this reward will be..."

A brilliant orb of golden light, bright as a second sun, appeared in her palms as she stretched them outwards. The Luminous, barely wavering, released a dazzling shine, projecting swirls of light into a sky that seemed to dim before her sheer authority.

"It will be anything you desire, so long as I have the power to grant it. Anyone you wish to see, I will seek out. Anything you wish to know, I will answer. Anywhere you wish to go, I will take you. Power, wealth, stability - whatever you name, it shall be yours, provided you can prove that you are most worthy of the privilege."

As Olympia continued speaking, the light followed her every word, forming simple images to accentuate her speech - but really more of a display of power. Power that could be put to use by a winner's request.

To bring someone home. To secure a new life. For some members of the party, possibly even learn what brought them here.

If being the top of the most important organization in Juayang wasn't enough a motivation, the stakes had practically octupled, given the newfound competitive sparks in the eyes of fellow Gilded in the crowd.

 

"The competition will begin officially at two in the afternoon. For now, all new Guild initiates who do not have an active Luminous, please report to Marlen Cho and Sirenne Yun by the front gates of the Guild building for your Luminous awakening. The rest of you are free to go, after a closing statement."

She did not clear her throat, voice barely rising, but her words still rang out louder. "The mission of the Jinguang Guild, to guide, sustain, and grow all of Juayang, may seem like an impossible task. But I believe, if we all band together, and we put forth everything we can, no matter how big or small, we will find ourselves closer each new day."

Olympia bowed. As she straightened again, the veils on her head shifted a little, giving the party a sudden glimpse of her face.

She was beautiful, in the way an aurora was - with an otherworldly presence. Her skin was strikingly dark in contrast to her pale cloak - the night sky behind her eyes, actively glowing gold.

There was no smile. If anything, her brow seemed a little furrowed, but with what?

Then the veils fell back into place.

Lady Olympia turned and slipped back into the tower, the slight movement of the curtains the only proof she was ever there. The crowd began to look alive again, the sound of the square slowly returning from where it had been practically frozen in time. The massive body of people began to split into newbies headed for the gate, where the Terraforming and Summoning Masters stood guard, and everyone else moving away from it.

 

In a matter of minutes, the group found themselves with similar recent initiates. Many of them whispered back and forth, comforting each other for what might lie ahead, wondering what their Luminous could be like, talking about what schools they wanted to enter.

Then the line began moving - into a hidden chamber on the side of the building, unlocked with what seemed to be a runic spell Marlen activated. As the group got further in, the light of day slowly gave way into a dark room.

Despite not being able to see well, they could tell they were being spread into standing in a circle, with a figure at the center - a veiled hat and long robes giving away her identity. Even then, her clothing was only barely visible, thanks to its pale color.

"Please close your eyes," Olympia said, in a voice far more gentle than her commanding announcement earlier. "Your connection will be forged one by one. You will know when it is over and may open your eyes again. If you feel any discomfort, please voice your pain, and I will ease the transfer. The rite will begin once everyone is ready."

@SAF @Jupjami @122 Generation @ID Zeta @WavePearl

 

@SAF @122 Generation @ID Zeta @Jupjami @WavePearl

...

There was a speck in the darkness, somehow. Behind the party's closed eyes, a single mote of light appeared.

They were all in their own realms now, as far as they could tell - only themselves, on their own, with the light around them. No sound, no scent, nothing at all - just the darkness, and now some brightness.

The distant light became clearer. It looked like there was some kind of limbs trailing behind it, tentacle-like limbs floating like they were underwater. And then the tentacles shot past them, long glowing strings rushing past soundlessly. Starlike particles swirled past, size and color and shape all varying - Luminous of eons past, if anyone had to guess.

Then, one by one, (in clockwise order, as they were standing in the circle,) a light of their own grew bigger - a bright ginger for Elio, a pale forest green for Kanaru, and so on. Each glowing spark came closer, and closer, whirling through the ethereal realm towards them, brought over by one of the giant light's endless limbs.

Then suddenly, as their own Luminous made contact, they heard a cry in the void - a wail of agony. It was hard to tell who or what even made it - no, it barely sounded like an animal, almost more like a synthesized, haunting chord. Pained, and pleading. The long lines of light begin to grow again-

Darkness once more. Olympia's voice was low as she spoke. "Be careful with the Luminous. And whatever you do, do not rely solely on it, ever."

Before anyone could react, her voice rang out again, this time the clear, calm command that seemed more usual to her. "You may all open your eyes."

 

Kanaru's orb did have a little ring around it, similar to the bar of the middle C from the side - not unlike a planet's rings, though they were connected. About as physically as light could be. Its pale green glow illuminated the room dimly, intermingling with a few others who had also summoned their Luminous - consciously or unconsciously, as their expressions showed. Among them, Trav beamed the brightest behind the violet glow of his own orb of light.

While Robin was still reeling from the mysterious cry of despair, the doors back out opened, letting sunlight illuminate the way out the ritual room. The other initiates began to leave the room, in a much less orderly fashion than they had entered. Their chatters masking her steps, Olympia turned away from the light, then left the room in the deeper shadows through a route only she could possibly know.

@SAF @Jupjami @ID Zeta

 

The general square had quieted down from everything earlier, a much more quiet welcome back into the light for the party. The convention was still going, but a lot of the crowd had thinned out, now that they'd gotten what they were here for: information, and for some, also a Luminous.

One thing did seem to have changed, though - the Bard table of water seemed to be unmanned. It wasn't hard to tell where the Master was based on the yelling.

Turning to that direction would reveal Cira standing on the Vitality stand's desk. If she were any taller, she would be strangling the Vitality Master who was definitely not there earlier. For now, Alfred simply sat there at the desk, barely reacting to her wrath.

@SAF @ID Zeta @Jupjami