Field Mission 6: A Day in Thay, Part 1

[balancemod]

oh man best of luck out there dudes NAVIGATION Click here for the RNG thread! Ready or not, rested or not, it's time to get moving, Reclaimers. You've got a very, very long day ahead of you. And another one. And another one. And, you get the joke. Early Friday morning, with the Director there to see them off, the Reclaimers load up into the Bureau's transportation orbs for the sixth time since this whole ordeal began, and make their way to about a mile or two outside of Thay. It's important to try to stick to the story, at least — that you're all visitors from a faraway school, here to spend some time with the students and faculty of Boarbumps. As much as Lucretia would have liked to join you, she can't. None of the other leading members of the Bureau of Balance can. Whoever enters Thay, after all, is entering a bubble, after all. A time trap. Nobody will be able to leave until the Relic, the Lamp of Undoing, is either retrieved or destroyed. Someone needs to be able to continue if you all can't. 1. SEVEN O'CLOCK ALREADY As we noted in the OOC post, prompts on this log will be a quick few sentences of specific things happening during each hour. It's expected that Reclaimers will be seeing all of these events multiple times! So feel free to play with them as you see fit. If you're not sure if something you want to do would warrant a roll, please ask us in the RNG thread. ○ The Reclaimers have arrived in Thay, much to the curiosity of the highly intelligent, occasionally highly ... suspicious ... residents. Nevertheless, they recognize you as visiting, esteemed students, and, though perhaps still suspicious, welcome you into their fold. Also, as a note: Every time the relic is used, time is reset to this moment. ○ Boarbumps Academy for the Magically Inclined opens its doors to the Reclaimers. This is your first opening to explore the school — afternoon classes begin in an hour. ○ Rainer Arunsun, The Regent of Thay and Highest of the Hermetic Order of Red Wizards, can be seen watching the new arrivals by the entrance to the Red Keep. It's difficult to discern any emotion on her face. Shortly before 1 p.m., she retreats back inside. ○ Afternoon classes at Boarbumps begin, starting with a lecture on the magical circuits of the common toad. If you happen to sit in on this one, as a visitor from another school, you may be asked to assist in the dissection. You will be heckled by the rest of the class as deemed fit. ○ Erinne and Adriel can be seen within the hallways of Boarbumps arguing in a very heated manner. Some... less than choice words are exchanged between the two before one, or both of them take their wands out and begin throwing magic missiles at each other. No one knows why the fight starts, but the two have had bad blood before, and this isn't the first quarrel to happen at Boarbumps between them. A staff member arrives on the scene and is accidentally paralyzed by a misfire. ○ The town proper, surrounding the Red Keep, is open for a farmer's market. A bountiful harvest of goods are on display, but in particular, Thay is known for its amazing quality of medicinal herbs and magical reagants, many of which are rare without travel to the area. The merchants typically shoo students off, unless they have a hall pass provided to them by the faculty to retrieve something of import for class. ○ The second afternoon class at Boarbumps begins. Are you three or four time loops in and in desperate need of a nap? This class, The History of Boarbumps, is for you. You will be treated to a long and droning lecture about how the students attending during Boarbumps' very first semester banded together to stop a particularly plucky troll. Which you'd think would be an interesting tale. It is not. ○ Someone's enchanted several books at the library to begin rattling and shaking from the shelves themselves. All over the racks, spines pop out from their homes and fall to the ground, magically lift up and return to some other, non-Dewey decimal approved locale. Other books begin dancing — yes, you've read this correctly — dancing on the tables. Leon would be going into cardiac arrest at the moment, but it looks like someone's playing a prank in here. Again. This librarian looks far less tilted by this. It must be a somewhat normal afternoon for her. ○ Over in the center of town, music, a single violin playing a mournful tune, begins to play. It's unclear where exactly it's coming from. ○ The third and final afternoon class at Boarbumps — Fighting with Fire — begins. The professor, known to be slightly more unorthodox in her teaching methods, will recruit any Reclaimer who happens to be there to defend themselves from the students' incoming fireball spells. The potency of the fireballs themselves range from the tickle of a candle, to that one time you ate a ghost pepper, to one particularly fiery spell that might actually hurt you. ○ There's a scream in the girls' bathroom on the 3rd floor of Boarbumps. Anyone who enters realizes, very quickly, that no one is actually in there. Apparently, this particular lavatory is haunted. ○ Szass Astrosz dips class to go visit the local shrines within the town of Thay. He's been known to skip class before, so his departure from the halls of Boarbumps is rather nondescript. He spends time there praying quietly to his god. ○ There's a slight catastrophe over in the Town Square. That is to say, a giant spider seems to have escaped from Boarbumps and is terrorizing the vendors, to everyone's surprise. Subdue or dispatch it, it's up to you. ○ There's a scheduled council meeting to take place within the Red Keep, a usual weekly affair where Rainer, Casariel, Onerion, Gromph, and the rest meet to discuss matters of the town. Today's is canceled, as Gromph is called out to take care of the arachnid chaos currently convening around the Town Square. ○ Someone places a standing mirror around the corner of Boarbumps. If you happen to stand in front of it, it doesn't show your reflection — rather, it shows the person that you desire most. The mirror is gone by 5 p.m. ○ Cleanup of whatever damage the spider did is underway. In the meantime, the faculty of Boarbumps and the Hermetic Order of Red Wizards invite the Reclaimers to a small dinner in one of the public meeting rooms at the Red Keep. Every member of the Red Wizards are present, aside from Onerion Wyvernspur and Brian Darling. ○ The shops around the town of Thay begin to close for the evening. People are somewhere between annoyed and blase — the spider escaping was new enough, but weird Magic Things are, as you can imagine, pretty commonplace. ○ Over at The Sleepy Willow, cozy, fluffy pillows are arranged on the floor around a large fireplace. The owners will also serve you dinner, if you decide to skip the meal at The Red Keep. This may be one of the only peaceful moments you have to study everything that you've learned thus far. ○ No matter where you are in Thay, you'll feel the ground rumble underneath your feet. The residents largely pass it off as an earthquake, but will note that they have become much more frequent lately. ○ Towards the latter half of the hour, the rumbling within the school grounds causes several of the animal cages used in Onerion's Wondrous Beasts class to come unfastened as they begin to escape. Shortly thereafter, various beasts of all shapes and sizes are set free and begin running for freedom. None of them seem intent on hurting students, but they look to make an exit out of town in the quickest way possible. ○ Droves of the skeletal undead that are used around town seem to freeze in place, no longer retaining their animation. Whatever they're holding currently falls to the floor. Whatever task they're working on comes to a halt. No one understands why that is, but even the best necromancers around town can't seem to wake them back up. ○ With a sudden loud roar, the ground of the town square suddenly begins to split. People, shops, and everything else begin to drop into the chasm, despite the Red Wizards, and everyone else's, attempts to save them. ○ In the last split second you remember, if you happen to look down in the chasm, you'll notice a pair of bright, glowing eyes. Whatever exactly is down there begins to claw its way to the surface. ○ And then, just as suddenly, your vision turns white, and you're briefly overtaken by dizziness. When the haze clears, you are standing at the entrance to Thay. The sun hangs directly overhead in the sky. You have returned to 12 p.m. 2. OOC: A SPECIAL SHOUTOUT You are welcome to keep track of how your character experiences these time loops as much or as little as you're comfortable with — we'll also be tracking what you all are doing! Our Minato player Kel came up with some extremely snazzy coding if you would like to track how each loop plays out for your character more closely. Thank you, Kel! Of course, this is completely optional. Keep up with as much as you'd like, have fun as you see fit, and we hope you enjoy this mission! blurb code by photosynthesis

Comments

[antiqueclasp]

[Oh! Flayn is no stranger to magic, but familiars are quite new to her, and she's never seen levitation used in such a way by anyone who wasn't— well, otherwise exceptional.]

It looks as though you are getting along here just fine, in that case.

[She lets out a huff of breath, straightening up while maintaining her hold on the railing.]

You made that appear effortless!

[noblegarnet]

[He lets out a quiet laugh that could be either humble or confident, depending on Flayn's point of view.]

Being a mage has to be worth something when you're visiting a magic school, right?

[He steps off the railing and descends properly onto the steps next to her, ending the spell.]

I put in a lot of practice. [Agate steps onto his left arm when he holds it up, and he offers the bird to Flayn.] Want to give it a try?

[antiqueclasp]

I suppose it does!

[And, just for a moment, she finds herself very much missing all of the magic she'd put so much time into learning back at Garreg Mach. The skills available to her here are certainly useful and well within her usual wheelhouse, but she feels just a bit empty by comparison.]

Back home, I had magic of my own, but I am afraid that's not the case here.

[Her face lights up, however, when he holds his arm out in offering, and she lifts a hand to tentatively pat at Agate's head.]

Oh! She wouldn't mind?

[noblegarnet]

[Ferran smiles sympathetically. If they all could have just brought their own powers her, they could have solved this world's problems a lot sooner, Mystra.]

I know how that is.

[Agate is not quite as used to head pats as Ferran's other familiars, but her eyes tentatively squint in response. Yes, these are good pats. She will accept them.]

Levitation makes you as light as a feather, so it's not a problem. [The bird offers a quiet affirmative skree.]

[antiqueclasp]

I am sure many here do, come to think of it... this world has been an adjustment for all of us, I imagine, though I am still very new.

[Her smile hitches even wider as Agate seems to respond positively to her display of affection, and she gives a nod, adjusting her arm to hold it out as a potential perch.]

Well! If she truly does not mind taking on a strange passenger, then I would be very glad to let her guide me— thank you, both of you.

[noblegarnet]

Yeah, no kidding. Especially the immortals brought in, having to deal with new bodies and fewer powers... I'm just glad everything was the same for me on the physical side when I came here.

[But they all have to adjust eventually, so he's sure she'll get the hang of it. The familiar steps over to the offered arm carefully, allowing Ferran use of his hands to start another Levitation spell.]

No problem.

[She'll be up to the proper hallway in no time, the spell lifting her to the proper level and Agate pushing her the rest of the way.]

[antiqueclasp]

It certainly has been a challenge...

[She's grateful that her own body has not changed much, even with the loss of the spellcasting abilities she's used to having at her disposal. It could have been far worse, and she's grateful to have come to this place unscathed. If only others had been so lucky...

But she does not allow herself to dwell, and her smile remains, becoming more genuine as she feels her feet lift off the ground. It's not an entirely unfamiliar feeling, but it's been quite some time.]

I will let you lead the way, new friend!

[She nods once as she defers to Agate, and as the familiar guides her to where she's meant to be, she grabs hold of the spear belonging to a suit of armor to help anchor herself.]

You know, the two of you are likely to be quite popular among the visiting students— I am sure I am not the only one who has found themselves in such a predicament.

[noblegarnet]

[The levitation ends as soon as Flayn returns to solid floor, and Agate returns to Ferran to guide him in the same way. His grappling gun would probably be faster, but he'd rather not use something that sharp in an enclosed space.

He adjusts his sleeves once he's standing next to Flayn again, shifting his weight to account for his familiar.]

Yeah, there have been a couple so far. New Reclaimers like yourself... but ones who aren't used to magic at all. You can imagine how frazzled they were about the whole thing, I'm sure.

[antiqueclasp]

Mm, I most certainly can, though it is difficult to fathom a world without magic.

[She's never known one herself, after all— and nope, there's no retroactive foreshadowing here! As Agate reclaims her perch, Flayn chooses to curtsy to the both of them, bowing her head slightly in the process.]

Thank you very much. It may have well taken me ages to cross without your help, Mister— actually, I'm afraid I did not catch either of your names! You may call me Flayn.

[noblegarnet]

[nope definitely none.]

Flayn. It's good to meet you.

[There sure are a lot of cute girls in the Bureau. Lucretia, what's up with that? Are cute girls destined to save the world or—actually you know what, that makes sense.]

You can just call me Ferran, and [he gestures towards the vulture] this is Agate. So—your world has magic, huh?

[antiqueclasp]

It is a pleasure to meet you both!

[She smiles brightly as she comes out of her curtsy, giving Agate a nod as if to ensure that the bird knows she's included in that.]

Indeed, we have all sorts of magic— anyone who has a mind to study it can learn to wield it, in fact, though some are more naturally inclined than others. What of your world?