Lunar Interlude 2

[balancemod]

Let's try to keep the paperwork to a minimum, shall we? NAVIGATION 1. NEW RECLAIMERS A. WELCOME WELCOME! FAH WHO RAHMUS For the nine of you who will be arriving today, the story is the same: though you may not remember it, there was a moment where you were living out your life, at home or wherever you were ... and then there was the moment the Hunger came. And amid the television static that is your memory of that moment, a hand reached out to you, beckoning your escape as the tendrils of darkness destroyed everything that ever existed about your world. "Would you hurry this up, please? Your world no longer stands a chance. Come with me, we are the last bastions of hope for all universes everywhere. And we're going to need you." And then, unceremoniously, you are dragged through the universal wringer and plopped down on the soft, though not quite cushioned, grass of the Moon Base Quad. There are other people out in the grassy fields — they may even be people you recognize. They may just be strangers, other Reclaimers, who recognize what you're about to endure. The things they say may be interspersed with static — as if the words themselves aren't reaching your ears correctly. And you have a few minutes to chat before you're calmly led away by Bureau administration, to do something about that pesky static problem. B. THE VOIDFISH The nine of you are quickly divided into two groups, and brought to the easternmost geodesic dome, to an elevator in a well maintained, but sparsely landscaped field. There's nothing particularly ominous feeling about the space — in fact, the two guards who greet you at the elevator entrance seem pleased with your arrival. You are, after all, one of the few chosen by the Director, the few who will reclaim what the Hunger has destroyed. And in a few moments, you're about to find that out for yourself. After a tightly packed elevator ride, your group is ushered out to a rather grand looking hall, banners of the Bureau of Balance adorn both sides of smooth metal walls. And inside the Voidfish's chamber stands a tank — impossibly tall, and soaked in a black ink that obscures whatever the tank may be holding. You may notice the sound of someone speaking. It's a bard, on his second round of introducing Reclaimers to the Voidfish, and this time, he has chosen to demonstrate the functions of the outrageously vertical tank not by playing violin music, but by reciting a piece of classical, and highly valued poetry. When he finishes, he pulls at a drawer just at the metallic base of the tank. He solemnly enters a few scrolls into its basin as the tank begins to light up, like lightning behind dark clouds. And suddenly, you forget what that invaluable example of universal literature sounded like. "Yeah, man, like... don't think too hard about it, it's like that every time. I'm guessing you're here to be inoculated? Just a heads up, you might want to, like, seriously, hold your nose while you drink it down. It tastes wicked gross, man. Anyway, I'm supposed to tell you that you have a choice. If you drink the black stuff, you'll be able to hear through the, uh... Huh, how do I describe it? Through the [TSHCSCHTSHCHSC] sound. You guys like, hear that? Anyway, it's all about knowledge or something. I don't know, I'm just here to, like, feed the thing. We call it the [TSCHHSCHSCH], by the way. So, like. You get a choice. You can drink it and understand stuff, or not drink it and then hear that crackling noise all day every day. If I were you, I'd drink it. But, hey man, I'm not like, your dad or anything." The bard takes five cups and draws liquid from a spigot connected directly to the basin of the large tank. Stormy, muddy looking ichor is drawn into them, one by one. He offers each of you a sip. Drink it (he wasn't kidding about what it tasted like), and you're inoculated to the wisdom of the Voidfish. You try to remember the poetry this bard recited a few moments ago and the rhymes, the meter, the significance, all come back to you. And if you think back to your arrival, some of the things you may have heard other people in the Quad say, that simply sounded like static, are suddenly clear. Bureau of Balance. Grand Relic. Reclaimers. Yet you still can't remember the Hunger or what it had done to your world. And as you look back to the tank in front of you, the water has become clear. There's a jellyfish, as tall as a building, floating within. You look into the body of the creature and you can almost make out a beautiful, tiny universe floating within it. 2. THE TEST OF INITIATION With your new knowledge on the Bureau of Balance and your purpose here in tow, you are led without hesitation to the Arena, where the final phase of your initiation into the Bureau will be held. You are partnered up, whether it is with someone you drank the ichor of the Voidfish with, or perhaps even a veteran Reclaimer, who either stopped by to help, or simply out of curiosity. One Grand Relic has already been reclaimed, you're told. They were a pair of bright red mittens, held by the mayor of a small village who may have meant well, but under the draw of the mittens' incredible space-bending powers, was corrupted into using them, and to nearly killing everyone who lived under him. You may have noticed, at some point while glancing out into space while walking here, to the planet below, a massive evergreen fir that stretches past the planet's atmosphere, very nearly piercing the Moon Base itself. It appears to be decorated for the holidays. That tree is the direct result of those mittens, the actions of a man who could not resist the temptation to use them. Resisting that very same temptation is your task here. And with that order in mind, as you and your partner stand in the middle of the Arena, the walls dissolve, and the simulation begins. You're standing in the middle of a forest. Ahead of you, situated on a pedestal, is an item. It could be any ordinary item: a pair of gloves, a teapot, a simple decorative bowl. Whatever it is, it's yours for the taking. Take that simple item in your hands, however, and the building blocks of the trees around you suddenly collapse like shattered glass, and reform into new scenery — it may even be a place from home that you recognize. A voice in your head beckons you. Perhaps there's a mistake you made, or something that went wrong for you back home that you wish you had the power to undo. Perhaps there's someone you wish you could help, or even save. The item that's in your hands has the power to help you achieve this, if only you'd ever use it. Resist the temptation. Take the item, and drop it into a nearby deposit box to be destroyed. Your partner is here to help you — because once you destroy it, you will be doing the same for them. 3. NEWBIES AND VETERANS, AROUND THE MOONBASE Three or four days into the month, now that the newbies are settled in, something strange happens: The next time you return to your flat from whatever errand or exploring you were doing, when attempting to use your Bracer to open the door results in extremely obnoxious beeping that persists for an entire thirty seconds, and a message on the screen next to the door. ERROR: HOME ASSIGNMENT MECHANISM MALFUNCTION. GO TAKE A WALK. Welp. Looks like you're locked out for a bit while techs fix that. Here's a few places that might be worth checking out. A. PIECES FROM HOME Should you find your way to the Dojo, there's a door that still has that shiny, brand spanking new door look and new door smell to it off in one of the less traversed corners of the building. A sign next to the door demands that you empty your pockets before entering. A scanner for your Bracer will unlock it, assuming it's unoccupied, leading you to a plain white room with no furniture or objects at all in sight. As the door shuts behind you, a pleasant female voice echoes from all corners of the room, greeting you by name. If this is your first time in the room, the voice has a simple question for you: "What memory do you value, or think of, most?" Once you've provided your answer, the walls crumble, much like they did during the Test of Initiation simulation, reforming into something that is, again, pleasantly, or even unpleasantly, familiar. It's a space from home. Perhaps it's your room. Perhaps it's your favorite restaurant (though, the place is curiously empty, and the food you find, for some reason, tastes like strawberries). Perhaps it's a park you always enjoyed visiting, or a corner of the city you lived in. Whatever it is, you, and whoever you may have brought along with you, seem to be the only ones there. And perhaps the details aren't quite right — like maybe someone built a model of your home to explore, but a few pieces were missing from the box. But it's close enough. B. SPEND YOUR DOUGH. SOLVE A MYSTERY Whether you're a newcomer or a veteran returning from your first Field Mission, you've been provided with some spending money. You can use it to buy yourself one weapon and piece of armor from one of the blacksmiths in town. Regardless of who you choose to help you out with that, it'll take about a week to complete your order, so time your purchase carefully. There's also premade weapons and a whole bunch of other bullshit for sale at FANTASY COSTCO. Shelves and pallets of an endless array of nonmagical items, pretty much anything you can imagine, can be bought here, but there's one particular, innocuous item that seems to have Garfield the Deals Warlock in a tizzy. The more those vinyl covers that can be used to decorate your Bracers are purchased, the more the name seems to spread, ghosts of whispers around the entire Moon Base, of a person who may very well be a ghost herself. Who is Miss Zarves? Who was Miss Zarves? A powerful witch with the power to scramble your memories, insists one cantankerous woman who pours you a drink at Madame Frione's Tea Kettle. A heavyset, flushed with drink sort of man sitting next to you disagrees — Miss Zarves is a practical joke Garfield likes to trot out every couple of months to mess around with anybody gullible enough to believe him. Whatever the case, it seems that the name alone gives everyone a curious case of déjà vu. Someone has to have information on her — and this is the Reclaimers' opportunity to hone their information gathering skills. C. A (PERHAPS MANDATORY) DAY AT STOP DYING 101 Whether you're in class voluntarily, or whether you were dragged there on account of dying the past Field Mission, today's session of Fatalistic Fauna, and Danger Sense to channel your inner barbarian is going on a little field trip to the Arena. Because this is your first test to see if you can put all that information that's been given to you in the first few lectures to good use. You and a partner are placed in the middle of the Arena, in a simulation of an expansive, empty field, up against the first monster you were introduced to in class: A Bulette, a fearsome beast that can burrow, lunge, deal severe piercing damage, and jump an absolutely incredible distance. And you and your Reclaimer partner are absolutely no match for it. Your only option here is to escape. Can you? If you are dealt simulated fatal damage, then the Arena will dissolve back to normal, and you'll be given extra homework and reading material for the day. Sorry, them's the breaks. D. OPEN THE DOOR, GET ON THE FLOOR, EVERYBODY DO THE DINOSAUR There's a signup available for those looking to take Dance lessons at the Academy. There seem to be enough slots available for 50 or so people, and the form's name simply reads: "DANCE, NOW. WITH MS. CHARLOTTE." It's a pretty large time commitment- a crash course in dancing is a rather intensive affair. You'll be spending 4 days a week for 2 weeks, 2-3 hours per day, learning all the basics of the waltz, the tango, and the quickstep. Don't even think about trying the cha-cha slide here, it's simply not pasodoable. At the studio, you can borrow a pair of ballet slippers and join in with Ms. Charlotte, which, for anyone coming to the class for the first time should be rightly horrified. The newest member of the Bureau of Balance is a spider. A delegate from New New Aspen, Ms. Charlotte comes equipped with a bracer of her own, has taken in the Voidfish juice, and relocated here, to teach at the Academy. She moonlights as a ballroom dance instructor and a coach, and boy... she's pretty demanding with her approach, but incredibly thorough. You don't want to let Ms. Charlotte down. The sessions she teaches will get you to learn the basics. Natural aptitude, of course, goes a long way, but she's very 8-hands on with her approach at correcting posture and steps. Not without compassion, however, if you manage to get blisters on your feet, Ms. Charlotte's web bandages will set and help heal those sore, tired feet. The next 2 weeks of this boot camp are going to be brutal. E. THE MOON IS YOUR SPACE OYSTER (WILDCARD) There are plenty of other locations around the Moon Base that you can explore at your own discretion. Feel free to refer to the Settings page for more ideas on what shenanigans you can get into. Additionally, we'll be fielding Bender rolls again this month! With the exception of the three items that have been removed from his recipe database, if a food item was destroyed in a failed roll previously, you may roll to try to fix it. Bear in mind, of course, that you may make it worse. Successful food rolls will stay in place at this time. 4. THE DIRECTOR ACTS; A GRAND RELIC DESTROYED Erika has obtained and delivered the Space Mittens to Madame Director herself. She struggles to remain calm and composed at the moment, but the amount of immense pride and relief at recovering the Grand Relic slips through an otherwise sturdy exterior of coolness and level-headed features. She congratulates the entirety of the Bureau of Balance for their hard work, and relates to Erika that she couldn't be happier that she had made this world one step closer to being safe. A message will appear across all bracers, everywhere, with the following: Reclaimers, welcome home and congratulations on a successful first mission. Although there were certain drawbacks and difficult decisions that had to be made, I believe, without a doubt, that you all have irrefutably surpassed all expectations. Congratulations on a job well done. However, next time, please do be more careful out there. For those of you who wish to watch, my office will remain open until 1600 hours today. The relic will be destroyed, and if you would like to attend to see how it's done, please stop by. There will be light refreshments and coffee served, of course. If unable to attend, you can watch the ceremony later on your bracers. Don't forget to click Like and Subscribe. At the appointed hour, a ceremony will occur. She calls forth Davenport to wheel out the structure that's been created and designed with the sole purpose of destroying these things. She dare not takes the relic herself, no, refusing to touch the item at all. It's a medium sized metallic sphere, and once opened and closed, can never be opened again. Pulling back the curtain to an observatory, the Reclaimers can watch as Davenport sports a nifty pair of goggles, and wheels the orb onto a raised platform. He waits for the Director's signal, which is performed by an agreeable stamp of her oaken staff against the floor, and a nod. Davenport hits the KILL SWITCH, and the light show from behind the glass is amazing and terrifying all at the same time. You watch as the Space Mittens are obliterated from existence. An eruption of cheering breaks out. This concludes the first successful mission, and a deeply needed win, for the Bureau of Balance. blurb code by photosynthesis

Comments

WHO IS MISS ZARVES?

[balancemod]

Good question! If your character is investigating, let us know what they're doing, and what they're searching for, here.

[mccreehaw]

Okay, so if I've read the navigation pages correctly, there's no library at the moon base, correct? And the bracers seem to connect people much like a phone and don't have a type of internet search function? I wanted to check those off the list first since McCree would be looking for her name written down somewhere. If neither of those are options, are there any books lying around at the Academy that he could search through for her name? Failing that, he'd make the rounds in town, gathering together the stories people tell about her to see if any sound plausible or give clues he can follow. And I think he'd find it more suspicious if everyone has a different tale than if there are just two stories about her that everyone repeats. Almost like implanted memories of her.

[balancemod]

Hey there!

The Artificer's Office functions as the library, and has a ton of references to Faerun, and a less ton of references to different worlds around the universe — but nothing on the Bureau itself. The filing system is convoluted, though, and would take a Reclaimer a very long time to sort through, so McCree's best bet would be to ask the Artificer about Miss Zarves.

Is that something you'd like to have him do?

[mccreehaw]

Oh, man, I didn't read thoroughly enough to find that! My bad. Yeah, since he's planning on asking people anyway, he'd ask directly once it looked like this would be a long sit down affair to sort through everything.

[ribticklers]

Sans is going to ask the director who Miss Zarves is. Just in case he can solve this super easily. (I am assuming he cannot, but you know.)

[balancemod]

Straight to the point, I see!

The Director actually has a similar reaction to Garfield on this — a brief moment of clarity and recognition flickers in her eyes, before it's simply gone. It's almost as if she doesn't realize she had that second there.

She's heard the rumors going around town, of course, but she can't speak with authority on any of them in particular, or if Miss Zarves was even a person who once existed. There certainly isn't any record of a Miss Zarves that she's aware of. It is curious though, isn't it? Not all rumors are red herrings — perhaps there's a little bit of truth in all the whispers around the Moon Base.

Curioser still, when Sans returns to his room, he'll find that for about an hour, the door won't open with his bracer as usual, much like the previous error. And he'll see the following message, before the door finally opens:

Spatial Counter: 001

[ribticklers]

Well we're just going to have to ask the Artificer for anything in the library that references the term "spatial counter", then.

[bluechampion]

Link is going to want to look into this too, but he'll be starting by asking the NPCs of the moonbase. I'm not expecting much except for Link running around in circles until he runs across a reclaimer who actually figured something out though

[balancemod]

There are a lot of rumors flying around once the Bracer Chasers start flying off the shelves. Link is going to hear all manner of tales, from tall to small, sometimes literally — Miss Zarves is actually a giantess, banned and purged from the Bureau after something ... something happened. Miss Zarves lives on the giant Candlenights tree. Miss Zarves is a ghost.

Pretty tough to distinguish truth from fiction, if there is any to be found, unfortunately. However, whenever Link returns to his room after investigating, he'll find that the doorway jams, and ineffectively tries to open, for about a minute after scanning his bracer. And a message appears as well:

Spatial Counter: 25

[bluechampion]

Link's going to take that to the artificer and look up exactly what a "Spatial Counter" is. If he can't find a book on it, he's going to ask the guy who runs the place, and he'll ask him about Miss Zarves too.

[protegge]

Mista would like to try to speak to the Voidfish's guards about Miss Zarves, since he figures they are the most familiar with weird memory stuff given their charge. Would it be possible for him to speak to them? If so, he would try to get a list of all the guards who work shifts in the Voidfish's chamber, not just the ones currently on duty, so he could speak to all of them.

EDIT: Kaede will be coming along with Mista on his Talking To Guards Quest. They will also try to talk to Johann, if possible!

[balancemod]

Sure, they can chat for a little — just as long as nobody's watching, or if no new Reclaimers are coming through! What would Kaede and Mista like to ask?

Keep in mind, depending on what you ask, we may ask for a roll on it.

[protegge]

Kaede and Mista, top notch investigators, are taking the straightforward approach: they will ask the guards if they know Miss Zarves, paying particular attention to any tells in tone of voice and body language in the guards'/Johann's responses.

[reticence]

Maybe this is too obvious as well, but Faolan would want to investigate more on what the actual items are themselves that Garfield is in a tizzy about. We've been told what other people say about Garfield's opinion, but he would also want to know what Garfield himself has to say about this Miss Zarves, for that matter.

[balancemod]

There's absolutely nothing wrong with thoroughness!

Though, Garfield may seem a little frazzled by the chatter that's going on around town. He doesn't know who Miss Zarves is, genuinely, he'll insist — but it's interesting that Faolon should ask about the Bracer Chasers. He's rather proud of the large selection he's procured, though a lot less happy about the manufacturer.

Because the second this order was delivered, the manufacturer seemingly ceased to exist. Even the ledger itself has gone completely blank.

[reticence]

How Interesting

Does Garfield know/remember anything about this manufacturer, despite the fact that records about them have disappeared? He assumes this is not a regular occurrence, as far as Garfield's ledgers are concerned...?

[grakraka]

akechi is going to be doing a few things here.

1) he's going to try to look into the bracer covers themselves first. if he can find where they were made or when or who put in the order or any details about that, he's going to be sniffing around for basically that. he'll also be checking if this is the first time this sort of odd tizzy has happened or if there have been previous times. if so, he'll also be seeing what he can find out about those.

2) he will poke at the poor Artificer about her and also the items! to see if he can get extra details. he'll also be using his Emphatic Duty because, who knows, maybe that will help, because information about such a person or mysterious items might be very important to the bureau and thus their mission and duty, right? right.

3) otherwise he'll be going around to other shop owners to see what they think of the whole business since garfield doesn't run a monopoly (yet???). same idea as with the Artificer as well with Emphatic Duty.

[dialetheism]

Chiming in for 2), that Lion's been/will be exploring the Artificer's office pretty extensively over the course of this Lunar Interlude, and (with Kisha's permission) would be chiming in to help talk to Leon, since they might've struck up some kind of amicable sorta-friendship by repeated exposure?

[balancemod]

1. Here's the funny thing about the Bracer Chasers — although Garfield trusts his business dealers to bring back good items from around Faerun, whoever made the Bracer Chasers? Any records he has of them are completely gone. Vanished. Empty. He seems a little miffed over it, honestly, the things are popular as all getout. Miffed that he'll have to find a new manufacturer, that is.

2. You make a convincing argument, young Padawan. Paladin. And Lion pal. The Artificer thinks about it for a moment, because he's had a few people question him about Miss Zarves already, and he's had the idea of catalysts on the brain ever since — you know, items that can be used to channel magical energy for various purposes.

And with that in mind, the Artificer will even offer a potential catalyst right here, right now, for Akechi to borrow to study. It's brand new. It's in a box.

It's a Ouija board. Don't underestimate it — seriously!

3. Akechi will get mixed reactions from other shop owners, though. Some say it's a really weird marketing ploy to get more feet walking through Fantasy Costco. Others are on board the hype train and have started selling Miss Zarves-themed merchandise. This probably seems familiar.

[notthatbutler]

Dwyer is going to be struck with an irritating wondering after shopping at the Fantasy Costco and finding himself burdened with both an incredible amount of Bracer Chasers and this mystery Miss Zarves, but he's going to start with looking for info in a kind of odd place first - the Artificer's Office. He'll be checking whatever catalog system they use for any person listed under "Z" that might have written anything, or any mention of a "Zarves" that might pop up somewhere in a title or topic.

I'm not expecting that to bring anything up, but in the event there's nothing, he'll likely inquire with the gloomy fellow at the reference desk if the name "Zarves" happens to ring a bell for him in any capacity. If it helps, he likely used the magical item gacha completely normally and without tomfoolery so as to not cause trouble.

[balancemod]

Hey there!

There's no luck searching the Artificer's Office for anything related to Miss Zarves. The Artificer doesn't really seem to have any information either, though he does say that the rumors have been spreading like wildfire.

And then, without further explanation, he slides a book toward Dwyer. It's a book on catalysts: The magic behind them, the thoughts and ideas that could perpetuate them, how a very person or thing could precipitate a magical event without realizing it. When asked why he's giving it to Dwyer to read, he doesn't have an answer. Just that he had a very strange feeling that Dwyer needed it.

Later, when Dwyer returns to his room, he'll find a message that appears on his Bracer:

Spatialyst count: 42

[kliffhanger]

Kliff can't resist a mystery, that's for sure. After asking around a bit and noticing how everyone acts odd when talking about her, he tries to look into info about the Voidfish, to see if it's info hiding abilities could do something like this.

[balancemod]

It does seem rather similar, doesn't it? Much like the Voidfish is the common thread that links together the Moon Base and everyone's knowledge about the Bureau, something seems to be connecting the Moon Base and everyone's knowledge about Miss Zarves.

It's hard to say for certain whether the Voidfish's power is a factor at play here, seeing as Reclaimers have taken a swig of the tank's ichor and therefore are privy to all the knowledge the Voidfish has destroyed.

That's not a dead-end, though: There are myriad ways memories and knowledge can be tampered with, both magical and on a person's own volition. And there are several places across the Bureau that deal in that knowledge and resources — the Academy and the Artificer's Office, for starters.

[iustitia]

If Terezi also asks Garfield about Miss Zarves and the mysteriously disappearing manufacturers of the vinyl bracer coverings, could she go search for the boxes or packaging they came in for any clues or any of the bracers that haven't been taken out and put on the shelves? Vinyl and plastics have a pretty distinct smell, and while Terezi isn't nearly as good as a bloodhound at tracking scents, she can pick up the trails of smells like so. Maybe this would give her an edge in picking them out from however many boxes or piles of junk he's got in the back.

She also noticed that someone mentioned that this lady gets talked about every couple of months. She'd like to ask around the town and the Tea Kettle if anyone remembers anything unusual or interesting about the last time she started getting mentioned, such as the rumours coinciding with any new products Garfield got in around that time.

[balancemod]

tz on the case like the legislacerator she is

Finding where extra Bracer Chasers are stored is a snap! They're packed in nondescript burlap sacks, and there doesn't appear to be any distinct information on where they came from. If you're interested in doing a roll, we can set up a 50-50 shot — that's a DC of 10 — to see if she can follow that trail straight to the Fantasy Costco employee who brought in the delivery.

People around town might mention that they've heard the name crop up before, but this is the first time people have seemed so ... on edge about it, if that's the right phrasing. Before, she seemed like one of those urban legends the kids are so into, like Slimmingdude or whatever his name was.

This is the first time anybody's seen anything like Bracer Chasers at Fantasy Costco, though.