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

[napstar]

A. Fighting With Fire
[ Minato's perfectly happy to follow the schedule set out by Boarbumps Academy until Fighting With Fire happens. He's able to dodge most of the spells, but at one crucial moment he trips and FWOOSH. He's up in flames.

After the fire's out he's cartoonishly covered in ash and soot. He's been injured far worse for the Bureau, but he still lays on the field stubbornly refusing to move until he's physically dragged away. Once on the sidelines he's going drink some water and wipe some of the soot off of his face. ]

We have to do this every time?

B. Loop 8 -> 9
[ Minato's at the Sleepy Willow, enjoying the pillow cove by the fireplace and having a late dinner, when suddenly time resets early. He blinks, a bit of bread in his hand being the only food that remains of his meal. This isn't how it's gone all the other times... ]

... It's early.

Wildcard
Minato's spending most of his days following the school schedule, but the more loops go by the more he'll skip class. He's easily dragged into shenanigans if you have an idea you want to tag him with. Want to plan something? Contact me at kelories or at Kelories#6484 on Discord.

Closed to Alex

[napstar]

[ While most of the shrines are well kept, Minato sits in front of one that has been given less than the minimum upkeep. The shrine is little more than a tablet with a bird engraved on it, much like a tombstone, though the engraving is wearing away. From the stains and roots still sticking out of it, plants must have taken it over until it was accidentally rediscovered by someone tending to the shrines.

Minato claps his hands together and bows his head. He doesn't know what gods want to see in this universe, but he figures the traditions from Japan are a good place to start. ]

[rockymountaindie]

[ The shrines are a point of interest for Alex. Ever since getting here, he's been researching the gods. At first, it was so he could try and figure out his patron. Then, it was to look for others. And now...it's more to understand.

Of course he'd end up here once or twice. And, this time... ]

Oh, uh- [ He clears his throat? Alex hadn't seen anyone else try talking to her before. It's...a little strange, to say the least. ] Am I...interrupting something?

[napstar]

[ He looks up at the noise. Oh. That's the guy that was killed on the base... ]

Not really.

[ He wasn't expecting to hear back. Just trying to show his respect for her and the power she's granted. Gods get mad if you don't do that occasionally. He stands up. ]

Do you need it?

[rockymountaindie]

Need it? Oh, no, I was just...

[ This guy was a music box before, right? He's one of the ones Dr. Tank said found him on base. This is a little awkward. Maybe. ]

Just kind of wandering. You didn't happen to get in touch, did you...?

[ He's hoping. If he can't, maybe someone can? ]

B

[petsthedog]

[Shinji, meanwhile, was trying to sneak in a nap. He'd only just closed his eyes like, a minute ago when he's very rudely rewinded and deposited to the outskirts of Thay, at which point he scowls.]

Well, this is bullshit.

[napstar]

[ Minato nods. It sure is bullshit. ]

Dinner's ruined.

[ All he has left is bread!! ]

[petsthedog]

...Might be able to do lunch instead?

[Not quite the same fare, but food is food, at least?]

[napstar]

I guess...

[ He was looking forward to dinner though... Well, that bit of pettiness over with, he tears the bread in half and offers some to Shinji. ]

[petsthedog]

Huh?

[He blinks at the bread offering, a little bit perplexed. He wasn't even eating when the early reset went down.....why are you giving him half of the last of your dinner, bro. He shakes his head.]

Nah--keep it, I ain't hungry.

[napstar]

[ It's just bread. Not the best part of dinner. And if they're going to eat lunch anyway it matters even less. He'll bite into one of the halves though, and speak when he's chewed and swallowed it. ]

It should've lasted longer.

[petsthedog]

[For a second, Shinji almost thinks he means the bread, but no, that doesn't make sense, does it.]

Yeah. Maybe someone figured somethin' out.

[napstar]

And the relic wielder stopped them...

[ That makes sense. If there was a chance the relic wielder wasn't aware of them before, the Bureau can certainly assume they're aware now. ]

[petsthedog]

[It makes sense, and yet--]

...But in that case, why not just kill us? Ain't like any of us're forgetting.

a

[philoxenia]

[ Oh... Mira comes over with a spare rag, if he needs it. ]

I don't think it's every time... Are you okay?

[napstar]

I survived.

[ Despite the students' best efforts. He's singed in a few places, literally smouldering, but he's not in the process of dying. He blinks at the rag for a moment before realizing what it's for. ]

Ah, thanks.

[ He takes the rag and wipes his face off. He'll fix the rest later. ]

[philoxenia]

It's no problem.

[ She makes a face. ]

I don't mind volunteering, but this seems more than a little... dangerous.

[napstar]

I've lived through worse.

[ It sure is annoying though!! And not something he's looking forward to dealing with every loop. ]

[philoxenia]

Still, it can't be very pleasant...

[ A frown, and she lowers her voice. ]

I hope we don't have to do this every time.

A

[erlebnisse]

[Siiiigh. She's just been dodging fireballs, face impassive nearly the entire time, but with a distinct air of being unimpressed and irritated at shitty aiming.

When she wanders to the sidelines herself, she eyes Minato's new....soot features and debates a moment]

...Do you need healing or something?

[napstar]

... It would help.

[ He muttered some Healing Word out on the field for himself but that spell doesn't heal a whole lot. He's still got burns on him. ]

[erlebnisse]

Don't these hurt? You're pretty calm about this.

[But she uses Cure Wounds anyhow, frowning severely. Despite herself, she really doesn't use any of her healing abilities very often... It's still as strange to her as the first time.]

I guess we can count ourselves lucky they're not seriously trying to kill us with this training at least.

[napstar]

I've had worse.

[ It hurts a bit, but he's not actively dying like in Wonderland or dealing with the consequences of resurrection like after Maru. This is more akin to fighting Shadows from his home world, which he's used to. He's still appreciative for the Cure Wounds though, and nods in thanks.

She's right about them not trying to kill the Bureau. They didn't take the opportunity to blast him while he was lying on the ground, which he half expected them to do, so that was nice. ]

They could have killed me. But they didn't.

[erlebnisse]

[Despite herself she's a bit curious] How so? [What's a worse injury than having a fireball lobbed at you??

Is he still covered in soot though...She frowns and rummages through her things a moment before producing a cloth for him to also use to clean himself up.]

A

[antiqueclasp]

[Flayn presses her lips together as she takes a seat nearby, folding her hands in her lap. This class is certainly an interesting one, but it does seem rather high-risk.]

I suppose the idea is that whatever does not kill you makes you stronger?

[She's not sure how much she likes that, personally.]

Are you okay? Beyond being a bit singed, that is— I could heal you, if you like.