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

Ogata Hyakunosuke | OTA

[snyaiper]

[2PM Loop 3- Shouldn't you be in class?]
[Now, Ogata isn't a particularly tall or imposing person. Unsettling, sure. Unpleasantly jaded, absolutely. But if you ignore his goatee, he really doesn't look that old. And given that he's wearing the uniform the Bureau has issued, it's really no surprise someone got the wrong impression and is trying to force him to go to class.]

No, I shouldn't be in class, and even if I was, let me tell you I'm not going to that terrible bore of a history class again.

[Yeah, that goes over about as well as you might expect, the teacher looks indignant and about ready to physically drag this cat bastard to the History of Boarbumps. Ogata, meanwhile, only looks like he's going to be digging his heels in further. This can't end well for anyone involved.]

[4PM Loop 9+- Mirror Mirror]
[Ogata would have you think he's not the sentimental sort. That he doesn't care about much anything at all. Which is why it's weird that you might catch him on the later loops, stopping by the mirror when it's there. Not to see who put it there or takes it away. Just to look.

Maybe you even spot him touching it, gently. Tentatively. Even when he doesn't, any time he stops by, as long as he thinks no one else is looking, he stops and watches it for a few minutes. Transfixed.

But the second he realizes someone else is there, he startles, and steps away, out of view of the mirror's reflection. And he turns to whoever interrupted him, looking irritated and sounding overly defensive.]

Do you need something?

[5PM-6PM Any Loop- Y'know Like Nya]
[After the first loop, anyone looking for Ogata at Red Keep during dinner won't find him there. No, Ogata isn't one for parties, even small ones, so he finds his way to The Sleepy Willow, to a very cozy spot by the fire on a slightly bogarted pile of pillows. A soft and warm spot like that, can you really blame him for falling asleep? Anyone familiar with Ogata might be shocked to see him sleeping peacefully, but unsurprised to see him sleeping curled up like a cat, holding onto his rifle even asleep.

He's prime for pranks like this if you're in the mood. Or, if you catch him closer to the bottom of the hour, you'll see him bolt awake, eyes wide and pupils narrow like a cat just as the earthquake hits.]

Almost time to die again, hm?
[He says this with an annoying lack of concern. Like he regards the horror of death as a minor inconvenience. Maybe it's just that he's still half asleep. Who can say, really.]

mirror mirror

[eudaimonikos]

[Michael raises his hands a little in mock surrender.]

Just here to check out that mirror everyone's talking about.

[It isn't difficult to guess what Ogata's upset about. Michael probably would've been the same, if he ran across the mirror by accident and someone caught him. He's never been great with vulnerability. But now, he knows what people have been saying and he has some expectations for what he'll see. It shouldn't be that hard.

The kindest thing, perhaps, is to let that reaction pass.]

Didn't see who set it out, did you?

[snyaiper]

[He seems to relax very slightly when he processes that at least it’s someone he’s familiar with. Someone who... well, he isn’t sure how he feels about Michael but it isn’t exactly negative. Confusingly so, in some ways.]

... I didn’t. I wasn’t really trying to, though. I just happened to stop by.
[He hasn’t tried, because a small part of him worries if they were interrupted then they’d stop putting out the mirror.

After a pause he steps aside to fully clear the view for Michael.]
See for yourself.

[eudaimonikos]

Might not be relevant. But it's a weird thing to do for no reason.

[So he figures it's at least worth investigation. It's not as obvious a distraction as the giant spider thing, but maybe it's just very specific, like how he used to target the humans with even the smallest personalized tortures. If they're aiming to get a single person to do something, it wouldn't have to be big.

Michael steps around in front of the mirror. Inside, a brunette woman waves brightly at him.]

Yeah, that's about right...

[snyaiper]

[Really, Michael's non-plussed reaction doesn't surprise him at this point. The guy doesn't seem like he's easy to rattle, probably because he's seen it all before. Being as old as the universe and all that.

Still, it's annoying. It's annoying how calm he is!!!]

What, doesn't it annoy you? The least the mirror could do would be to reflect something that actually exists.
[Clearly, Ogata hasn't looked into the information on the mirror properly enough to know that's not how it works for everyone else.]

[eudaimonikos]

It's just so basic.

[Really, he's not thrilled. But this is introductory psychological warfare. Between Wonderland and his own past hobbies, Michael knows this playbook well enough to not let it shake him.

He raises his right hand, just to see if Janet mimics his movements. She doesn't.]

Make me a...a cactus, please, Janet. [The illusionary Janet does, in fact, create a small potted cactus in her hands! There's no matching boop, though.] Still does that, I guess. Did yours talk to you, or are they all quiet?

[snyaiper]

They don’t talk, no.
[It’s annoying. Because the part of him that keeps coming back to the mirror wants so desperately to hear so many things from them, those fake versions of his parents. It’s that part of him that he finds so annoying. What makes the mirror so infuriating.

More importantly;]

It reacts when you talk to it? [No wait, hold on,] Make a cactus?

2pm loop 3

[parfaitgirl]

[ Meanwhile, Natsuki has had the same thought. That class is boring as hell, and after the first couple times the novelty of attending class at a wizard school has worn off.

Luckily for her, the teacher in the hallway seems to be distracted by some other student, so it's the perfect time for her to sneak out! She seems to be doing a good job of it, if Ogata's watching, until she trips over the spear attached to a decorative suit of armor, sending it and the attached arm loudly clanging to the ground.

She looks up from the disaster she's created, seeing if the teacher will react. ]

[snyaiper]

[Yeah, no, that’s not going unnoticed. The teacher turns his head towards the noise and spots.... is this ANOTHER student trying to play hooky?! The nerve. He takes a step towards Natsuki, to apprehend her, “ hey, you, where is your hall pass?”

Now, Ogata could just take this distraction as a chance to bolt. And his instinct is to do just that. However, this girl is vaguely familiar. He’s seen her with Sayori. And maybe that’s all it took for him to make the split second decision for him to stick his leg out and trip up the teacher as he makes a move to run over to Natsuki.

The man falls flat on his face and Ogata bolts down the hallway, past Natsuki, though she’s free to follow if she’d like.]

this fucking icon caitie i'm dying

[parfaitgirl]

[ Oh shit.

She starts to back up when the teacher makes their way towards her, but -- lucky break! When Ogata trips the teacher, she's taking that cue too and bolts along with him. And damn, for someone with even smaller legs than Ogata, she is fast, thanks to her increased speed as a Barbarian. In fact, even though he had a head start on her, she overtakes him pretty quick.

Once she feels like they're a significant enough distance away where the teacher can't catch up/find them, she's going to slow down to more of a jog, though. ]

nyello

[snyaiper]

[Well, that’s sort of annoying, being outrun by a teenage girl. But hey, she isn’t carrying a bunch of equipment like he is. He has to tell himself that. Otherwise it would be different, surely!!!

Anyway, when she slows, so does Ogata. He’s slightly winded. It’s fine. He takes a moment to simply observe her properly before he deigns to speak;]

You’re welcome.
[Wow. The nerve.]

[parfaitgirl]

[ She was about to say some Natsuki version of thank you to him, but when he says "You're welcome" ...

Her hands clench at her sides. ]

What?! I'm the one who drew their attention away in the first place!

[snyaiper]

[These two are going to be a chaotic combo, it's already clear. Ogata practically laughs in her face.]

You want credit for tripping over your own feet and knocking something over?
[Accidentally being helpful doesn't count, apparently.]

nya

[petsthedog]

[Ah, the earthquake. Shinjiro's leaning back against a wall when he feels the rumble, and he glances toward the other man as he speaks. The morbid death talk doesn't seem to phase him, though.]

Yeah. Kinda gettin' old, honestly. [He sighs.] Least we don't feel shit.

[As compared to his first death, which was super painful and horrible!]

[snyaiper]

[Ogata doesn’t exactly know Shinji, but he’s observed enough to know he’s one of the teen conglomerate. One of the two that found Alex’s body and didn’t much approve of the situation. So he laughs at that comment, a sharp mean laugh softened slightly by the fact that he’s still faintly fuzzy from his nap.]

That makes it better, does it? Not feeling any pain?
[Alex wouldn’t have felt anything. It had been efficient and painless. And no one seemed to appreciate that.]

[petsthedog]

[Ogata please????]

Far as death goes, I guess.

[His shoulders lift and raise in a shrug.]

Usually best to avoid the death part, though.

[Usually. Shinjiro has a kind of complicated relationship with being alive. But still.]

[snyaiper]

[Ogata snorts, because that's such a strange way to say it.]

Usually? So there's some times when it's not best to avoid the "death part" as you say?
[Don't bully the boy too much, Ogata.]

cw for general suicidal themes likely from here

[petsthedog]

Sometimes, yeah.

[He's not really sure how to explain it, though. This guy definitely isn't someone he's comfortable telling the whole story to. It took him almost a year to properly tell Will, and most of that was done under the influence of magic.]

Depends on the situation. Not something for anyone besides the person to decide, anyway.

[snyaiper]

[Well. That's an odd thing to say.]

I think it's very rare that people get any say in how they die.

6pm

[doubledsofjustice]

[This is weird.

But by this point, this has happened quite a few times. It's become routine. It's their reality, until they can change it.

Well, that doesn't change the part where talking to Ogata is weird, but here she is doing it again anyway. Mia's leaned up against the wall nearby, not quite tucked in as much as she seems to just be waiting, staring ahead. It's a rest loop, but it's almost over.]

Have you gotten used to being a ghost?

[Mia asks as though it's a normal question, with just about as little concern as Ogata. She might be poking fun a little, but it's lazy, without the adamant teasing energy the Feys (and especially Maya) normally come with.]

[snyaiper]

[Ogata makes a face because he knows he’s being teased, but can’t find the energy to be properly annoyed about it. He’s not afraid of ghosts, generally. Not the way the Feys seem to have decided he is. It’s specific ghosts he’s afraid of seeing.]

You’ve all completely oversold how terrible dying is. I’ve had far worse.
[He huffs, and smoothes his hair back in that odd preening manner of his. He’s not afraid of ghosts and he’s not afraid of dying. He’s not afraid of anything.]

[doubledsofjustice]

[All that does is make Mia tilt her head back and bark a laugh. Head leaned against the wall, she sighs, still with that content smile as always.]

Did I say it was terrible?

[She asks, brows raised.]

No, you're right. There is worse.

[snyaiper]

Just in the general response Alex's death got. I could have made him suffer far worse than I did.

[Ogata that is.... that is not the point even a little bit.]

[doubledsofjustice]

That's what you're failing to understand.

[Mia doesn't even have the energy to sound angry with him. It's just a matter of fact, right now.]

It's not about you.

[snyaiper]

[Hmph!!! He doesn't need you to tell him he doesn't understand!! He knows that. He smoothes his hair back, clearly more out of compulsion than anything else.]

Isn't it? I chose the method I chose for a reason, you know.