Field Mission 3: Brushing the Sun, Part 1

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Are there really no bananas on board this thing? NAVIGATION 1. FIRST, YOU DRAW A CIRCLE Click here for the RNG thread! A. IT'S TIME TO GET TO WORK That certainly isn't to say that your previous efforts have not been hard work. But one half of this mission has been fine tuned, a logistical machine of well-oiled cogs, the creative efforts of a man who has so much to make up for. After the three-hour journey across the sky, you and the three other Reclaimers you boarded the glass orb with will be deposited right in the dead center of Maru, where the Bureau has set up a small camp for gathering, sorting, and sending off supplies. It's chilly, but not unbearably so. The air is thin, but up here, it's probably the cleanest you've breathed anywhere else in Faerun — new and old Reclaimers alike. Whatever goal you decide to work toward during your stay here, after a quick rundown of how supply gathering will work (it's pretty simple: You bring supplies, the unnamed Bureau members assigned to the base will send them off), you're turned loose to the gnarling wilds of the floating continent. Because, as the header says, it's time to get to work. And you most certainly haven't gone unnoticed. 2. USE YOUR PATH ACTIONS WISELY B. ROWDY RUMBLE Those of you who aren't quite combat ready might be getting something of an instant crash course in the art of a hostile encounter — though, perhaps in a bit of a lucky streak, goblins, like the pack of three of them that are leading the charge here, are, uh. Well, they're morons. But these particular three see a bunch of humanoids flying in on what are very clearly cursed globes, and they see a bunch of humanoids wandering the lands and attempting to cash in on their treasure. They were here first, you know! Even if they don't entirely understand why the mine they were here first in isn't exactly on the ground anymore. Or where exactly they are to begin with now. Or ... well, frankly, nothing about any of this makes any sense. Whether you're back at the base at the center of Maru, or whether you're out in the fields, toeing at the ground for hints of treasure underneath, you, and whoever you happen to be traveling with, will be approached by a rather bold trio. And whatever treasure you may have on your person? They're rather keen on taking it. What will you do? Fight? Try to reason with them? For those of you with the combat experience, there are, of course, much bigger fish to fry. Take a look at the YOLO's guide to monsters for a full list of the hostile critters you can challenge to a wrestle during your stay on Maru. C. NIGHTLY WHISPERINGS You've probably heard the rumors by now — the fact that nobody seems interested in going to the small lake and waterfall on Maru once nighttime rolls around. Seems pretty silly, right? Superstitious, even. It's a rather beautiful patch of the floating continent, and if your previous expeditions digging through the ground are any indicator, there's a wealth of valuable items to be had underneath the surface. Hubris might lead you to camping out near the water's edge, for just one evening. And sometime around midnight, provided that same hubris hasn't put you to sleep, the light of your campfire, or the light of the moon, suddenly extinguishes. It's like being wrapped up in a cloak of vantablack, in very nearly every single sense, not just sight. No rustling of leaves, no sound of the wind passing through every nook and cranny of the continent. No light. No nothing. If you decide to book it out of there, be careful, lest you accidentally wander into the lake, without a clear sense of where exactly the exit is. But if you choose to hold steady, after about an hour, the silence and darkness clears — and the scenery returns to normal, as if nothing happened. Something did happen, however. Whether you stayed there for just a moment, you sat through it, or you slept through it, if you were anywhere near the lake at midnight, you'll be subject to a nightly enchantment coming from an unknown source. You may pick one of the following: ○ The next time you are asked a question, whether it's what you had for dinner or whether you're all right, you will be magically forced to answer it truthfully. The effect wears off after one question. ○ When you speak, you'll hear yourself speaking normally. Everyone else will hear you either making an animal noise, or repeating a sentence you've said before, regardless of its relevance. That goes all the way back to your canon! The effect begins at sunrise, and lasts for three hours. ○ Whenever you try to leave, it feels as if your shoes are suddenly made with two tons of lead. You will not be able to move away normally. Someone's going to have to carry you out of there. ○ When the sun rises, you will be magically reduced to half your height. The effect lasts for five hours. 3. MINE CART MADNESS D. I'M ABOUT TO LOSE MY MINE, UP IN HERE, UP IN HERE. Eventually, you'll probably find yourself down in the mine's labyrinthine system of tunnels and networks that seem to sprawl out in nearly endless directions. Be careful when you turn corners, as there may be an Umber Hulk or a Basilisk waiting for you in the darkness, but as you look down, you do notice tracks that head in nearly every direction. Whoever had initially excavated this area was quite laborious and thorough with the pathing down in its deepest delves. One turn leans to another long corridor, and maybe another turn leads you back in a circle. Mining equipment can be found almost everywhere, left to rust and decay with the passage of time that could only indicate hundreds of years of being completely unbothered. You step forward, and look to see a path that carves out into four directions- straight, left, right, and back. And you quickly realize something doesn't feel right. That's true- as you begin to step forward and take a path, you find yourself back to where you started after walking for a little while. Turn back, and you might notice that you're in the exact place you just were as well. Maybe you brought some chalk with you, or maybe you managed to drop something here like a breadcrumb trail to tell you which way you've already headed. Or maybe you don't even notice it until you've been walking for hours, but you're stuck in a loop. Of those four directions, you'll notice something peculiar if you start to take notice. ○ One direction will always lead you back to where you started. ○ If you listen close enough, down one hall you'll be able to hear the sound of a coastline, weak waves echoing and crashing against the shore. Follow that sound and you'll come to the source of it: a large standing pool of water that sits absolutely still, no tide. You can swim to the bottom of it, not a problem. There doesn't seem to be anything there. But the walls are bio-luminescent, coated with weird fungi that you definitely don't want to eat. ○ When you look on the ground, you can always find baby fire beetles at the mouth to one of the spokes. Follow those markings long enough and you'll inexplicably be sent back to the mine's entrance. ○ One direction is completely nondescript, but unlike the first one that sends you to the beginning of the maze, you enter a new area that doesn't hold any of the signs that you were there previously. You can follow this lead for several iterations, and eventually come to a four-way that has no features noticeable whatsoever: no beetles, no sound of rushing water. But you head down one of them and you're back to where you started. E. I'LL FOLLOW BEHIND YOU ON RAINBOW ROAD. Mind boggling puzzles aside, you're welcome to explore the depths of the Lost Mine of Phandelver. One of the more ridiculous, albeit, fun adventures you can take is a mine cart ride through the mine down to the farthest reaches. It starts off relatively bumpy and doesn't seem to smooth out at any given point, but it's the closest thing you're going to get to a roller coaster ride down here in Faerun. Reaching the end is a matter of waiting the cruise- and you eventually come to a dead end. There's stuff you can mine down here as it empties out into a vast, damp cavern. Iron, several types of cheap gemstones, and rocks can be found pretty much anywhere. If you're looking to rebuild Vista Virs, this is a good place to start. If you're looking to make a little cash on the side, that's possible too. We're not here to judge your moral intentions. Getting back isn't as fun as it was coming down here, as you're pretty much stuck pushing the cart back to where it was if you want to take things out. Don't worry about the logistics too much; there always seems to be a cart available for you to descend, and oddly enough, it never feels like it's the same journey down and back twice in a row. F. BEEN HERE ALL NIGHT. BEEN HERE ALL DAY. There are a few notable places to explore while you're down in Phandelver: ○ An administrative office, complete with desks that haven't been touched in years. Several papers are still there, with dates that go far and wide back into the past. Touching them causes it to disintegrate into dust. For anyone who makes it down there, there is a lockbox to be found that can be opened by smashing it on the ground or attempting to unlock it with thieves' tools. While the contents are up to you to decide, nothing in there should be magical beyond a simple potion of healing, aged... several centuries. ○ An old room that seems to be barred from the inside, about an hour's walk past the mine entrance. Outside, you can find several skeleton carcasses of humanoid creatures that have long since died down here. If you try to make it into the room by force, you'll be greeted with a barracks that once housed the dwarves who worked down here. You get the sense that a battle happened in these parts, but beyond that, it's kind of hard to tell what went down. ○ A large quarry with a practically neolithic drill in the center of it. It hasn't seen use in quite some time, but be careful as the drop can be upwards of 100 feet. Another prime locale for mining, this area seems to house sturdier metals. Hence, the drill being necessary. Be careful, this is prime Umber Hulk territory. ○ Various storerooms that housed supplies for the workers of the cavern. You'll find wine and spirits down in the depths, and who wouldn't want to try some 300 year old whiskey? The climate down here is particularly perfect for keeping and storing these rare and fine vittles. Drink up, it's on us. ○ One peculiar room that when you enter, you feel a chill sort of feeling take over your body. There's a bed in here, with a storage chest at the base of it. Attempting to open it or touch it or even having an intention to steal/uncover what's inside will cause you to hear incredibly powerful and loud screaming in your head, enough to make you clutch your ears and take psychic damage from it. Hm. 4. WILDCARD The floating continent of Maru is your world to explore, and your story to write! You may use any of the prompts we've given you here, or you may come up with your own prompts — you can utilize any part of the setting provided in the OOC post. If you'd like the outcome of a particular thread randomized, or if you'd like to investigate a particular part of the setting, feel free to drop a note in the RNG thread and we'll set up a roll for you. As always, be amazing. You're two for two on reclaiming Grand Relics, and we can't wait to see what you do here. blurb code by photosynthesis

Comments

[oculusriffs]

i. dave_ebubbles (in two flavors)

a. the red text flavor

[this is weirdly not the first time that Dave has been inexplicably caught up in some magic sort of bubble at a presumable midnight, and imbued with the magic to run through all of his previous dialogue options up until this point.]

[the meowing's a little weird, but even then. so maybe by the time the moonlight returns, and by the time the sun rises and you happen to locate him, he isn't looking particularly perturbed by the fact that the first thing that falls out of his mouth in greeting is:]

You probably shouldn't pick fights with the person scooping your shit.

[im 17 and this is deep. that's also apparently a thought that actually occurred to him at one point.]

b. the completely panicked flavor

[well, more like cheesed off. he's not even TRYING to ask at this point what the old abandoned shack has to do with Fantasy Costco, why it seems like whoever was living there was somehow responsible for the jingle, but ever since he and Kaede found a music box there that played the tune, it's been beating in the sides of his head nonstop, completely tortuously.]

[by day two and counting, Dave's got a much bigger (to him) problem on his hands than a chorus he can't stave off, and it's enough for him to find the strength within to tap on whoever happens to be nearby's shoulder and just.]

Hey. I need help with something.

[yup, just straight up ask for help. please save him from the music!!]

Gimme something that rhymes. Literally anything, I don't care at this point. [if he accidentally blurts out one more rhyme about all your dreams coming true, one more recommendation to shop at Fantasy Costco, he is going to actually completely fly off the handle.]

ii. let him do a paladin protect

[or maybe you're both caught by a brave trio of goblins who seem to have decided the two of you have something valuable on your hands. specifically, the awfully shiny shades on Dave's face. or maybe it's something you happen to have in your possession.]

Oh, hell no.

[You + Dave: STRIFE. this really isn't much of a fair matchup; these things are probably no different than the hordes of imps he fought in a video game come to life back home, but ... come on, dude. nobody threatens the shades — the shades that once sat on Ben Stiller's sort of gaunt face.]

[pretty much the only valuable possession he has left from his own dimension.]

[anyway, first move is on you!]

iii. wildmaru

[Dave is going to be buzzing around the entirety of Maru, but more specifically, involving himself in the following shenanigans and/or jams:

- getting lost in the mines
- trying to climb the mountain, perhaps against better judgment
- realizing he needs to do work instead of getting into shenanigans, and helping gather supplies to rebuild Vista Virs
- trying to catch a fire beetle
- making sure the people he cares about aren't murdered by the local fauna. want him to try to save you from a direbear, giant bug or murdertree? this is your prompt!

i'm also game for literally anything else! hit me up.]

ib

[blodsvorr]

[uhhhhhh]

You should trust one thing, take my advice: if you linger close, it’s a hefty price?

[it is entirely possible that Bad Luck Charm exists on Remnant because some other songs are, indeed, diegetic.]

[oculusriffs]

[it's enough to throw him slightly off his downward rhyme spiral, and he looks at Qrow almost quizzically for a moment.]

— What? That's depressing as shit, dude.

[frank commentary from a philistine. philistrider? ... let him reorient.]

Okay, hang on. Think twice, a great price, wait — no.

[.........]

All that and more at goddamn motherfucking Fantasy Costco. [god help him, he's been magically cursed to write jingles for Garfield.]

[blodsvorr]

[???? Qrow stares at Dave quizzically.]

That's more depressing, if you ask me. Did you piss off Garfield? [NO WAIT IS IT WORSE] If this is your payment for getting more of those furry outfits, don't tell me.

[oculusriffs]

[BUT HE LOVES THOSE OUTFITS, TEACH. :(]

I really feel like every single Monday that has existed in every universe ever has managed to piss off Garfield.

[Dave, Qrow is not going to get that reference.]

I dunno, man, this shit's driving me nuts. Ever since I heard it in that stupid fucking shack, I haven't been able to get it out of my head.

[blodsvorr]

[what does that even mean?? no, not important. move on.]

You mean like an earworm? Don't you have some kind of music player or something?

ii

[ryuji]

[This is... seriously a battle, isn't it? Ryuji can't believe they've been relegated to literal trash mobs in the middle of a floating island. And maybe he can't even fault them for wanting to steal treasure- the little entrepreneurial squirts. Considering most of his friends are of the corvid motif persuasion, that means that they're usually drawn to shiny things to begin with.

Same hat, when you look at it.

Level one mob or not, he can't have one rampaging towards Dave. What if those sweet shades get scratched? Dave can't see the world with 1/2 his vision marred like that. And it really is just as easy as getting in the way and outstretching his hand just as it's about to start amping up on the headbutt game.]

Dude, what the hell are you doing? You look like something I could dropkick to Hokkaido.

[Is that an insult?

IT SURE SOUNDS LIKE ONE. Ryuji doesn't get to gloat in it at all, since even with its short, stubby arms, it gets one shot.

And man, what a shot it is. Straight to the groin. Shitty hubris will be the fall of Ryuji Sakamoto. Literally, as he immediately lurches inward, a strange sort of pain that makes his entire sense of balance seem completely off, all with the accompanied stomach rot feeling of eating approximately 2 baskets of chili fries too many.]

Sunnova!!!

[oculusriffs]

[oh — oh god, poor Ryuji, bested by the very rare occasion that a trash mob lands a critical hit. it's hard to articulate how the paladin oath magic is responding to this for Dave; it's something between a quarter feeling that stomach rotting sensation out of empathy, and just the general alarm bells that coincide with, "hey, warning: that dude on the other line just got punched square in the nuts."]

[and that is very well articulated in the way he sucks in a breath through his teeth, grimacing slightly, lifting a hand to hold flat against Ryuji's shoulder. stay down, dude, Dave is gonna punt some gerblins like a fucking baseball for pulling the cheapest, dirtiest trick in the battle book.]

Or goddamn Lubbock. [taking on the trash talk in Ryuji's stead, Dave straight up reaches over and grabs the offending gerblin by the arm, lifting him right up into the air. it's surprisingly not that tough for Dave to do — gerblins are small, and he seems to have found a last-minute growth spurt somewhere in the past two months.]

[it's an unsaid threat, and it's also half a dare. should the other two try to close in, Dave is going to use the angry flailing gerblin like an actual flail against them.]

[ryuji]

[What is a Lubbock and why does it sound like a part of the scrotum is the question that Ryuji has in his head. Of course, everything is centered around the throb in his nutsack at the moment, and it takes a whole lot of calming down to make him not just call lightning down to his weapon and fry these sons of bitches like a Sunday morning pancake grand slam.

But part of him is watching on in awe as he just lifts a little green giant right up into the air and threatens to morning star (the weapon, not the breakfast) a round of 10-pin right here on Maru.

Ryuji, ever the enabler, and still a whole octave higher, beckons him on.]

Do it.

[No rest for the wicked.

Slay those assholes, Dave. Embrace the fine art of using a goblin as a weapon.]

Avenge my balls.

[oculusriffs]

[Lubbock is where cow pies are born and also go to die, dude. right there in the fields, next to the oil pumps and the dust storms.]

[but Dave knows a good idea when he's encouraged on it, and even if he didn't, the other two goblins are lunging at him anyway. so, avenging some balls it is: with a short windup, he gives the goblin he's got by the arm a sort of underhanded sportsball pitch, sending him tumbling right into the two little encroaching creatures.]

[it's a direct hit! you can practically hear the bowling pins scatter as the three go flying backward.]

Done.

[not done yet, though. he draws his goofy ass looking sword, squaring himself between the stricken gerblins and Ryuji, protective. if he had a cape like he normally does, it'd be billowing majestically.]

Y'all really wanna keep going like this? I've got exactly zero qualms about slam touchdowning all of you right into the basketball hoop.

[oh god ... oh god, that's not majestic sounding at all. that's just stupid.]

ia

[grakraka]

[Really, Akechi probably just wanted a chat. But this? Not what he expected. He blinks, looking bewildered. He glances around, trying to see if that was meant for him, but no there isn't anyone else around, so it must be him? Akechi points at himself despite that, confused.]

Ah? I wasn't... picking a fight with you to my knowledge?

[oculusriffs]

[Dave just kinda ... stares blankly back at Akechi for a split second, because he can't actually explain what's going on with him without just blurting out an extremely classic line.]

[which ... yeah he totally just said that out loud.]

[and now Dave, somewhere at the crossroad between embarrassed and knowing this is very typical of him, waves a hand in the general direction of the lake. he's cursed, Akechi! again! please help.]

[grakraka]

[Wow. He really said that. The wave does not actually clear things up.

Akechi is trying to figure out what Dave means by this comment. While his ass is indeed very nice, he doubts Dave would comment on that suddenly? Well. No. Okay he might but he does not seem to have meant to?

Time to try clarifying.]

We are not in a jungle, so unless that was slang, then I have to assume you were not making a comment on my ass.

[oculusriffs]

[in all fairness, canon makes a very convincing argument for Dave being an ass man. butt, even though Akechi probably has a posterior to rival even the best drawings of Akwete, Dave is also pretty emotionally attached to another ass.]

[god that came out wrong.]

[he just straight up points in the direction of the lake, as if that'll somehow help explain himself.]

It's a legendary piece of shit.

[and, well, it kind of does???]

wildcard!!!

[maskreant]

[ It's night time and they're at the mouth of one of the mines... With supplies in hand meant for some intense taming or wrangling. While Akira doesn't quite remember why he was dragged into doing this, he knows what their objective is.

Looking over to Dave, he does want to press one question. ]

Did you need the fire beetle for something?

[ Enlighten him. ]

[oculusriffs]

[Dave has a kind of peripheral vision of how the whole phantom thieving business goes down, but based on what he's gleaned from Ryuji, he does figure one thing — and that's the fact that Akira is very good at finding treasure.]

[so, an RPG treasure taming quest it is.]

Science, mostly. [is that really a valid answer, Dave.]

Nah, but I do get kinda tired of being a human paladin torch, I figured I'd be able to find a way to make a bug do it for me instead.

[maskreant]

[ Akira is also very good at breaking things to get that treasure, but he's sure Ryuji would only paint him in the best light.

This is a taming quest, indeed. In his hands, he has... Rope? And the other... Food? What do beetles even eat? ]

Fair. [ Dave can conserve energy, which means he can protect him and everyone else better. ] So what's the plan?

[ Or is the plan to let Akira make the plan. ]

[oculusriffs]

[that is absolutely correct; most stories he's heard are about how cool a guy Joker is. and Dave doesn't really have much reason to think that's inaccurate.]

[also, bug catching is pretty much peak cool. probably.]

We can rule out wrestling it into submission. But you've got the right tools to straight up lasso one.

[he says that as he takes a step inside the mine, looking around. it kind of sounds like he doesn't have a plan in place that isn't "make it a bug rodeo."]

ib.

[gundamned]

Tch. How pedantic.

[Rhyming is such a basic technique. He is a walking thesaurus of darkness!]

It shall follow and it shall lead, but only for as long as you proceed. Alack. It's existence is dark. Darker even than the darkest black. Fret not, pitiful paladin knight. It flees easily when confronted with the light. Yet without the sun? There would sooner be none.

The luminous eloquence of Marcus Tullius Cicero, nor the brilliance of Henry David Thoreau, nor the gleaming art of Michelangelo-- not a single mortal ever escaped this life without casting shadow.

1/gundam

[oculusriffs]

[holy shit]

2/3

[oculusriffs]

[holy shit, okay, king of goth can king of throw down in rhymes. luckily, Dave is what one might refer to as "an actual rap god," to go along with his other divine titles.]

[and he is ALL BUT READY TO RISE TO THE CHALLENGE.]

im so sorry

[oculusriffs]

Gotta dump credit where it's gotta go, bro,
Even though your flow's as slow's an ice floe, so
I'll throw a bone, homegrown advice, meted out info.
You've got dough? Spend it at Fantasy Costco.

[unfortunately, today is a day where he's only capable of spinning shitty jingles.]





.... God fucking dammit.

1/2

[gundamned]

[This is what it's like to do battle with Vanilla Ice after he sold out to The Mutant Ninja Turtles and unsealed his ultimate evil form, huh?]

I was unaware we were keeping syllables at an all time low.

Allow me then to be curt -- brief -- terse -- and end your woe.

2/2

[gundamned]

No.

[oculusriffs]

[oh god, this is how the final battle over Hamster Valhalla is actually going to go, isn't it? whoever works out the sickest rhyme will emerge victorious, they'll ascend to the highest planes of shit sin tubes and sunflower seeds.]

[and there will be so many hamsters.]

Okay, hang on — can we wait on the rap battle until this shitty curse wears off? As confident as I am that I can kick your ass from here to next week with my rhymes, I'd rather do it under the pretense that I'm not gonna accidentally plug Fantasy Costco while I'm at it.

[HE'S BLUFFING, GUNDAM. STRIKE HIM DOWN NOW.]