balance_logs | Field Mission 3: Brushing the Sun, Part 1

	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

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[When Sayori finds Akechi and Cocoa, it looks like they're enjoying the view of Faerun below. She hasn't spent much time doing that yet, too absorbed in adventure and, frankly, trying to make herself useful somehow.

She approaches--not quietly, for she doesn't want to startle someone standing near the edge of anything, much less a floating ball of dirt.] Goro! Did you make a new friend?

[She means the pup, of course. She's like 90% sure he didn't have a dog before.]

[To an outsider like Sayori, it looks like a boy and his dog, just enjoying the magnificent view. For Akechi, though, it started with Cocoa running off and him following her, worried the dog might do something stupid. Cocoa is not in fact stupid enough to run off the world, thankfully, but she has sat down near enough to look out over her domain as the queen she is. Akechi, however, hangs back just a little behind her.

Cocoa hears Sayori first and perks up, turning her head to look at her, curious. Akechi looks as well, quickly trying to clear away any dread on his face. He raises his hand in a wave.]

I did, yes! This is Cocoa. She's friendly, I promise.

[Taking cues from Akechi, she senses Sayori is a friend and her tail starts to wag.]

[The delight on Sayori's face when Cocoa starts wagging her tail cannot be measured.

Undeterred by the proximity to the edge of the island, Sayori hustles over to Cocoa and kneels down to immediately begin dispensing pets.] Look at you! Aren't you a good girl? [Chin scritches!] You like Goro too, huh?

[But she figures Cocoa probably can't talk back or Akechi would have mentioned it. So she addresses him again as she peers out into the distance.] Wow. The view up here is amazing, isn't it?

[Cocoa cannot talk but she makes happy grumbles at the scratches, wagging her tail harder.

Akechi, meanwhile, glances back towards the edge and feels his muscles tense even as he tries to give a laugh.]

Aha, it really is. It's a rare sight indeed, isn't it?

[What a good girl.

She's so good that Sayori almost misses the strange quality of Goro's laugh. The only reason she doesn't miss it is because it almost sounds like her own laughter, which is good enough reason to give her pause when she hears it in someone else.

She tears her eyes away from the view to peer back at Akechi, her gaze somewhat appraising. And then, back out to Faerun again, like she didn't notice anything at all.] Yeah! I've never been this high up before. Good thing I'm not scared of heights, ehehe~

[For a moment there, he thought he fucked up. But he didn't. He thinks? Still, he can't really keep his gaze down like this without drawing more attention. He has to risk looking up. Well. Up and down. Out into the abyss of death.

Akechi breathes in and looks out and it is beautiful but also he can just imagine falling and it makes his stomach lurch before he looks back at Cocoa. Cocoa is a good girl.]

Ahh... Yes. That's a rather common phobia. One of the most common, in fact. It ranks with ones like arachnophobia and fears of things like needles and germs. Many phobias are based on a rational concern taken to extremes. For example, a fear of flying is based in rational concerns for flight safety but given the thousands of successful flights that happen daily, the measures some people take to avoid flying or the intense anxiety it gives them is overall unwarranted and sometimes more stressful for other people or even dangerous. Meanwhile, there are fears of things like 'long words' where even if you tilt your head and squint, it is rather difficult to see how one could even have a rational root to such a fear. In either case, the extreme reactions make life difficult for the person with the phobia. I believe that is why although many phobias have a rational root, the definition of phobia is actually that of an irrational fear.

[Although he likes talking about, well, anything really, there is a slight rambling quality as if he is purposefully dragging it out.]

[Over the course of Akechi's ramble, Sayori has to look back at him, like her eyes are drawn magnetically by the amount of bullshitting that's happening.

She blinks owlishly a few times. That was all very interesting, but:] Are you okay?

[Because that was a lot of words about being scared for someone who isn't scared?]

[Damn it. Akechi blinks, more surprised that she asked him outright instead of playing along or just laughing it off. Then again, he really needs to stop being so shocked that people here care. They might all be messes from a psychological standpoint but they have been almost all kind.

After a moment, he sighs.]

I... suppose I might have some issues with the location.

[Five billion miles above the ground.]

[Yeah, she clocked that, but she wasn't going to push if he really didn't want to say so. She smiles in understanding.] It is really high up, huh? And there's no safety rail or anything!

[She peers out into the vast view once more. She'd thought about falling, of course, but...well, as far as ways to go, it didn't seem that bad. It would probably feel like flying. So she wasn't scared.] I see how it'd be scary.

[Akechi follows her gaze, forcing himself to rather than out of habit. From so high up, the landscape below looks surreal, almost fake. If he fell, what would even happen? Would the velocity kill him? He isn't sure.]

It isn't... scary, exactly. It's difficult to explain. I mean, yes, I don't think it's wrong to call it frightening, it just... [He sighs.] Hm, it doesn't feel real?

Hmm. [Cocoa is still getting gentle scratches from Sayori's idle hands as she regards the sky.] Yeah! I get it. Sometimes I feel like that about a bunch of stuff here.

But I think that's scary in its own way, isn't it? Feeling like your world isn't real.

[ahahahahaha]

[Cocoa enjoys it, dipping her head down into Sayori's touch. Akechi gives a slight nod as he crouches down beside her, eventually just sitting on the ground.]

Yes, it can be. I feel that here at times but I used to before, too. It is a little strange and scary in a way.

[Dissociation!

Not related to being an actual video game character though.]

[Sayori's expression is sympathetic. She wouldn't have guessed that Goro would be afraid of something like heights, or general disorientation with the world. He seemed so composed about it when he was helping her settle in!

But they all wear masks, huh?

She reaches for his hand. And, if allowed, she will gently pull it to set it atop Cocoa's head next to her own hand. Double the pets!] When I feel like that, it helps me to focus on something nice! Something that's definitely real.

[Like the soft fur of a very good girl. Or pleasant conversation with a friend.]

Field Mission 3: Brushing the Sun, Part 1

wildcard!

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cw: lowkey suicidal ideation

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