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

[oculusriffs]

i. there'll be scary ghost stories

[shortly before everybody boards the glass orbs to begin what Dave will probably describe as "what's left in the toilet after hell had a shit on it," ping! a text to the entire network from un: turntechGodhead.]

[he kind of feels like he has to offer. he likes all these nerds a lot, even if he doesn't always outright say it.]

hey
uh
i dont really feel like gettin into nitty gritty specifics rn
or like
writing up my entire resume
this isnt monsters inc
or monster.com
but i do have an unfortunate amount of experience with this sort of thing
timeline things
if youre having trouble keeping your shit in order i can help

ii. Davebirdsprite

[if you happen to wander by the shrines in the afternoon on the second o third loop, you may find a peculiar looking bird sitting on one of them.]

[i say peculiar because, for all intents and purposes, it's built like a hawk. but there's something about it — maybe it's the feathers? that are kind of screaming ..... crow.]

[or maybe it's the way it flaps its wings and legit just squawks at whoever approaches, like a terrible, awful, shitty little bird. or maybe it's the strange markings around its eyes.]

[they almost look like sunglasses.]

[caw caw motherfucker!!!]

iii. he's quite serious, but this is stupid

[at some other nondescript point, you might find Dave standing next to a tree. fair enough, that's like the least strange thing he's probably done thus far.]

[nah, the strange thing is the pair of knitting needles that are inexplicably jammed in the trunk of the tree. it's unclear how he even managed to pull that off, but if you happen to approach, the first thing to pop out of his mouth is:]

Jesus, don't tell Blake about this.

[.... unless this is actually Blake. if it is, he'll launch into a longwinded spiel about how he totally has an explanation for this.]

[oculusriffs]

[roll-based top levels will go here soon! please don't reply.]

fanfic battle for maya

[oculusriffs]

[hey, what's up, Maya? it's classtime, and about halfway through the lecture, Dave inconspicuously drops a small notebook on her desk.]

[the last page reads, in his blocky and angular handwriting:]

Anyway, as much as the Steel Samurai appreciates a proper denouement to a love story, he's got at least fifty other plot hooks to get to.

And all of them rhyme. That's like, his most important character trait, making sure the shit he battles rhymes.

So he leaves the reunited couple behind and soars off to his next rap battle: I'm shit at names so just call him Godzilla the Killa.

[your move, Maya!!!!]

[feytality]

[ honestly dave's interpretation of the steel samurai is a little off, she's starting to warm up a little more to this rapping samurai thing. ]

[ so, the follow up ]

When he rhymes his attacks, the harmony augments his Samurai Slashes and Samurai Kicks -- his justice is amplified by the power of his words!

But Godzilla the Killa is a bigger threat than he could have imagined. Like, literally bigger. He's a huge rapping dinosaur and his rhymes are so powerful they literally shake the ground. As much as the Steel Samurai is the most powerful warrior and rapper around, there's a nearby town under attack, and he can't stop the shockwaves from reaching it and stop Godzilla's rap rampage at the same time.

He needs the help of his rival and sometimes friend..... President Barack Obama.

[ the teacher throws several looks her way as she's eagerly adding this to the collab ]

ii

[ryuji]

[Ryuji might be coming here to pray or to deal with some existential questions tingling around in his arsenal of dumb, but more than just the shrines here, he's getting pinged by an eternally connective neural network of "where the hell is Dave and what is he up to"?

Luckily, both are leading him to the same spot. He doesn't see him, but between the sunglasses and the way he looks perched, coupled with the anxious energy and feeling in his kokoro of the oath, he guesses that this is the bird he kinda loves most out of all the other birds in here.]

Seriously?

[Wait a second, he prepared for his hippy boyfriend's new animal life. He clears his throat and casts speak with animals.]

You look super plucky today, dude.

[Which, to anyone else in the world probably sounds something like

"CAWWWW CAW CAW CAW, caw".]

[oculusriffs]

[BIRD.]




[Ryuji most likely gets some strange looks from anybody else who happens to be passing by — at least, until they figure out that he's using magic. that's not weird in itself. using magic to squawk at a random bird is kind of weird, though.]

[in any case, Davebirdsprite, probably sending out all the hells of anxiety signals via oath, caws right back:]

Thanks. Oh — dude, I found something.

iii

[noblegarnet]

[Ferran raises his eyebrows. He might not be the best person to ask not to tell Blake things, so Dave might be out of luck. The bearded vulture on his shoulders, meanwhile, has a sharp enough gaze that she might be perceived as judging. What even happened here.]

Do you... have a history of doing this?

[oculusriffs]

'Course not.

[he's going to be judged by every bird and/or bird familiar on the planet at this rate, isn't he?]

[.........]






[after a moment, he owns up to his shame.]

Not with knitting needles, anyway. Usually, I wind up with swords inexplicably lodged in the scenery.

iii

[napstar]

[ Looks at Dave. Looks at the needles. Back to Dave. Back to the needles. ]

... You knit?

[oculusriffs]

I knit like maybe once. I'm still learning.

[... if the tree was any indicator.]

iii

[conciliant]

[By the time the second loop rolls around, Dave is one of the Reclaimers 2B is in search of. He seems like the kind of person who could use a toothbrush, and she would like to thank him for all that he's done for her, and by that, I mean teaching her all about the true meaning of humanity.

So when she finds him standing and staring at a tree, she approaches just in time to hear him utter something about her roommate, who she's become very overprotective of. Friend or not, her voice is taut and stern when she responds to Dave's dilemma.]

Tell Blake about what?

[Choose your words wisely, friend.

She's yet to even notice the pair of knitting needles jammed into the tree.]

[oculusriffs]

[2B is right and she should say it!! Dave once wore the same pair of pajamas for three years straight.]

[they were magic pajamas that never got dirty or smelly, but still.]

[he blanches very slightly at that question, if only because he got a very similar tone from Blake herself the last time he got a weapon inexplicably lodged in a tree. he glances over his shoulder at the current involved tree.]

Uh. Weapon malfunction.

@h4yn3r; text

[hijumpkick]

You have experience with timeline things?

Like, time traveling? That's a thing where you're from??

[oculusriffs]

[that is a great username, bro. it makes him miss someone else who uses leetspeak, though.]

not only was it a thing
but i was the dumpass stuck doing the thing

ii.

[scatteredpetals]

[ Ruby had been coming to inspect the shrines for herself but stops short at the sound of a familiar bird call. Stopping, she glances around, searching for the source.

Crows being in her general vicinity tend to be a thing and while normally she wouldn't pay it any mind, there's one in particular she's hoping will reappear now that she's come to join Blake.

Although she's never seen one wearing sunglasses before. Even if they are just strange markings. She doesn't think this is the crow she's looking for but she hesitantly tries anyway. Besides, if it's not the right one, it's not likely the crow's gonna tell anyone, right?

Which is why she comes to a halt under the tree, peering up at it with uncertain hopefulness, even if she's already bracing herself for it not to be true. ]

You're not... Uncle Qrow... are you?

[oculusriffs]

[nah, sorry, Ruby, while Dave also has an intense crow motif, it's not quite to the point where he's literally named for a bird. also, he prefers apple juice!]

[but, there's probably a pang of sympathy somewhere in his birdly features. he did know the guy before he flew the coop. also, if his sister were able to turn into a cat, he probably would be reacting similarly to Ruby right now.]

[god, Dave, misses Rose.]

[he shakes his head no. that probably looks very strange in bird form, but it's also very clear that he is, in fact, letting her down here.]

iii of course

[gambolshroud]

[Well. She's certainly come across Dave in much stranger situations, but this one is of particular interest to her— for reasons.

She raises an eyebrow as she folds both arms across her chest, a smile pulling at one side of her mouth as she speaks up from behind him.]

Oh, she won't need to be told.

[Hey, friend. She recalls a certain promise made regarding Fantasy Costco...]

[oculusriffs]

[BUSTED!! oh god he isn't getting out of this, is he?]

Uh. This totally isn't what it looks like.

[petsthedog]

[Somehow, Shinjiro has managed to not really interact with this guy since the last time he got something stuck in a tree, wayyyy back during that summer camp. Which is why when he happens to cross Dave's path today, he's stopping. And squinting at those needles.]

Seriously?

[How. He can sort of understand a sword, but knitting needles?]

[oculusriffs]

[Shinjiro is too old for this. maybe. he might not actually be much older than Dave?]

Yeah, dude, this is like my finest work yet. [god.]

i

[erlebnisse]

Is it always this obnoxious and annoying?

[oculusriffs]

basically
its like being stuck in a constant watery time shitstream
not even plumbers get paid enough to put up with it
time traveling plumbers
fuck
but if youre not spinning plates to sidestep paradoxes youre up to your earholes in them
its the fuckin worst

ii

[hxppythxughts]

[Guess who definitely doesn't know enough about birds to realize how weird this one is?

You don't have to guess, really.

Sayori gasps in delight as it squawks and adjusts her coat around her as she leans in to get a better look.] Hi to you, too! [Wow, its face markings...] That's so cute, you've got a little mask or something!

[So close.]

[oculusriffs]

[Sayori ... she tried her best.]

[Davebirdsprite tilts his head very slightly, then squawks again. and then, realizing that Sayori wouldn't know that "squawk" means "Dave" in this case, he decides to flap his wings and fly on up to perch on her shoulder.]

[he's intending to convey that he is someone she knows, with a bonus side of turning Sayori into a Disney princess.]

ii

[menarefrom]

[If there's one thing that's a bad sign for Spike, it's large-but-ambiguous-looking birds. Out to investigate the shrines on a whim, Spike's shoulders seize up when he catches sight of Dave-- until reality sets in and he realises that it is not, in fact, Vicious's Weird Ambiguous Looking Bird.

It's.... it's a bird that looks like it's wearing sunglasses, of all things. He trades his defensive posture for a knitted brow, because even though he's sure of what this bird isn't, well... that doesn't explain what it is.]

What the hell are you?

[He asks, and then immediately regrets it as he realises if this bird answers him he's going to lose his shit.