balance_logs | Field Mission 6: A Day in Thay, Part 1

	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.

12 p.m.

○ 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

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Sayori's sad laugh this time is definitely forced, a bandaid over top of a wound that's obviously infected. But she doesn't really know what to do with it except use the bandaid.] It's like we have to play until we find all the right choices to make to win.

[Ugh. Saying it that way makes her stomach turn.]

[ Monika glances at her with a frown. She hit the nail on the head. But- ]

At least... we're all in this together?

[ Although she's been avoiding her friends for the most part, knowing she isn't alone has helped a little. Not just with the Literature Club but the Bureau as a whole. ]

[Despite the grim turn of the conversation, Sayori nods.] Yeah. Everyone here is super reliable. And most of them are really nice.

[...Hm.

The smile slips from Sayori's face, replaced with a guilty furrow in her brow. Her hand falls from Monika's shoulder after a moment and ends up in her own lap, fidgeting.] ...I'm sorry a bunch of people yelled at you when you showed up.

[Everyone was so welcoming when Sayori was scared and alone, cut adrift from her own world. If she'd showed up to a reception like Monika's, she's not sure if she'd still be here.]

[ Monika's face actually flushes a little. ]

Oh! Um... ahaha that's okay. I... probably deserved it; let's be real.

[ Yikes though. ]

I-I'm glad so many people care about you though! You... you really deserve some good friends. You're a really great person after all.

[There's a lot to unpack here and Sayori's instinct is to just throw all the luggage out.

It has to be a lie. Monika knows the truth—she's been inside of Sayori's head in a way nobody else has. Nobody knows better how messed up she actually is than Monika. So—]

Why?

[Ah, she said that out loud. She startles at her own words and lifts her hands as if her nervous gesturing will wave her slip-up away.] Um— I mean— y-you don't have to say stuff like that, ahaha! I...don't deserve it any more than you.

Why?

[ Oh yes... the depression. Monika leans back to stare ahead. ]

You're a really wonderful person Sayori. You're always there for your friends no matter how difficult things are. You attract people to you naturally cause you're so sweet and charming. It's hard for you to see, but I think some day you'll be able to. There are a lot of people who believe in you... and that includes me.

[ She falls quiet for a moment before letting out a small laugh. ]

Ahaha sorry! I said way too much.

[She watches Monika completely ignore the out Sayori gave them on this conversation, listens to words she doesn't deserve to hear. A few rapid blinks later, and she wonders why her vision's gone all blurry.

Ah, she's crying.

Hurriedly, she turns her face away and wipes her eyes on the cuffs of her coat, hoping maybe it'll just be a few tears and Monika won't make a big deal out of it. But she breathes in and it hitches, and she's sniffling through her nose, and— god, not again.

She doesn't know what to say, but it turns out that she doesn't have to think about it. It spills out of her automatically.] N-no. I'm not.

[And it's not clear what that's in response to, but it's clarified with her next words, small and ashamed:] I haven't been there for you.

Sayori...? [ She shrinks back a little. ] I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to make you cry. I-

[ But she stops herself when Sayori speaks up. Her lip quivers for a moment before she shakes her head. ]

Wh-What? N-No... You've had every reason to want to stay away from me. I've been... a horrible friend to you. I don't deserve your kindness...

[Sayori shakes her head, too. This is now a competition of self-loathing and they're both losers because no one wins a competition like that.] You said...no matter how difficult things are. But that's not true.

[Monika is probably right, that Sayori had good reason to stay away. But letting that fear control her—that's not the type of person she wants to be. She already loses so much to the rainclouds inside her head. She doesn't want to lose her ability to be kind.

She wipes her face again.] You deserve kindness too. Everyone does.

[ Monika frowns, wanting to object again. But the words don't come to her. It would be just as hurtful to keep arguing about it to both herself and Sayori. Neither of them deserve to hurt like this.

She holds her legs to her chest and sniffles a little. ]

You still want to be friends... despite everything I did?

[She's been asking herself the same question since Monika showed up. Every day she's woken up and realized that it's not all a dream, she's asked herself this.

Her voice is small.] ...I just want things to be the way they used to be.

[Which isn't an answer to the question. It's not the same thing. But it's all she can feel when she thinks about how messed up the Literature Club has become—and how messed up it always was, right under her nose.

Her hand falls away from her face and she regards the shrine in front of her, or at least stares in the direction of it.] I know they can't. But— but our world is so awful. You guys...are the only good parts of it. So I don't want to lose any of you.

[Even if it can't ever be the same as it was.]

[ Monika's heart hurts so much. It feels like daggers are piercing it. Their world was terrible and she made it worse. But... she's doing her best here, right? She has to keep trying.

Quietly she opens up her notebook again. ]

Hey um... do you want to read the poem I've been working on?

Field Mission 6: A Day in Thay, Part 1

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