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

[Akira understands.

Sayori looks utterly dejected.] No. [ :( ]

They look so wonderful! I thought they'd taste better!

[ Oh no... He gives Sayori an apologetic frown.

But he's also still very confused. ]

Is that why you're eating them? To show that you appreciate their beauty?

[Her eyes widen a little, and she regards Akira with some awe. As she speaks, there's a certain sparkle in her eyes.] That was so poetic!

[And it has some merit to it. You eat with your eyes first, right? That's part of why Natsuki's sweets were so good.] Maybe I was! I don't know, I just looked at them and thought... "I bet those taste good!"

[ ????????? Poetic? He was just asking a question. He's not going to correct her or anything, but he wonders if hanging out with Akechi is doing him in with a dramatic kind of speech. ]

They do look pretty good... Maybe even better stuffed.

[ Perfect for commercials— ]

But they don't taste good.

[ He turns to her and waits for her to explain herself. Why eat more? ]

[She confirms again:] They don't.

[She peeks down at the chunk of mushroom still in her hand, with two very sad bites taken out of it.] Have you ever smelled something really bad and then went back to smell it again to see if it was really as bad as you thought? Or maybe told your friends to smell it because it's so awful?

[That horrible urge. That is why eat more.]

[ ............

What she says makes a lot of sense to him, so he can't argue. Stroking his chin with a furrowed brow, he thinks of the many times his friends have asked for his opinion on something they deemed bad or good just to reconfirm. ]

Yeah. [ Indefinitely, he nods. ] And you're not feeling queasy? Anything wrong?

[ Before he gives it a taste, he wants to make sure at least he'll live. ]

No, I feel okay! [She looks down at the half-eaten chunk of mushroom cap in her hand as if to confirm this.] My mouth feels like I was chewing on sand, but I think it'll go away if I drink some water.

[It will get those mushroom grits out of her teeth.]

[ Hmmm. There is a possibility that effects will take longer to show, but! He thinks he can settle for that and just surround himself with people when he falls ill. ]

Then how about we trade?

[ He has a couple of containers of clean water in his bag and he offers her one! Give him a mushroom, girl.

Let him understand the grit. ]

[Sayori's eyes widen a little as Akira proposes his trade.] You want to eat it too?

[She sounds...relieved?] I won't be the only one!

[That said, she gladly takes the water and holds out the mushroom in exchange.]

[ Smiling, there's a little chuckle as he takes the mushroom. ]

No one is ever alone.

[ And he doesn't want anyone to feel that way. This is where he eats the mushroom and chews on it in silence for a whole minute. His expression actually twists slowly to something close to sorrow. ]

It tastes... [ Mmmmmmmmm. ] Horrible.

[Again, that was very poetic, but Sayori doesn't repeat her sentiment.

Mostly because she's watching with rapt attention as Akira takes a bite, totally forgetting to drink some of the water he's given her. She recognizes that expression, and becomes indignant all over again.] Doesn't it?! I don't understand! There's no way it should be so gross!

It... shouldn't. Mushrooms have a mature taste so it's not for everyone, but—[ He's still eating it? Chewing, chewing, wondering if maybe he will be left with a pleasant aftertaste.

Chewing, chewing, grinding. It's like his teeth are grazing against sand paper. It's. However. Edible. So he's going to collect more that look like the one she gave him. ]

Would this be the grossest thing you've ever eaten?

[ Because he's trying to figure this out himself. ]

[That is a question that takes some thought. She doesn't know why he's gathering up mushroom pieces, but she follows suit, since it must be important! She finally, gratefully sips the water he gave her as she tears down another piece from one of the big mushrooms.] Hmmm.

I think it might be! I almost ate something moldy one time but I noticed it before I took a bite so it doesn't count.

[ It's because it's edible in a foreign place, that's why. Imagine it as eating your vegetables even if they taste horrible sometimes. Maybe they'll grow to like it...? In the middle, he also takes a sip of his own canteen. Wash that gross out of his mouth. ]

That's... Good. [ Low key worried. Sometimes things go bad though!. ] It's definitely the grosses thing I've eaten, but I don't go looking to eat grass or anything.

Maybe we should ask others for their opinion.

[ Share the gross mushrooms. ]

[Sayori is not the type to eat inedible things, necessarily, but she is the type who might try to lick a nice-smelling soap.

So it's really a wonder that this mushroom is the worst thing she's eaten.

She gasps a little at Akira's suggestion.] We should! We could take a survey!

[A pause. A smile creeps onto her face, slightly mischievous.] It might be kind of funny. [Wet sand mushroom prank.]

It might be... I am curious as to how some people will react.

[ Mostly Ryuji and Akechi—both of his close friends. They're animated in different ways and imagining it is entertaining in itself. Though he doesn't look at her, he shares the same slightly mischievous smile.

Great minds think alike. ]

Tell me how it goes with your survey. [ Oh, yeah. He has seen her around, but— ] I'm Akira.

[ To be polite. ]

I'm Sayori! It's nice to meet you! [Formally, anyway.

A few beats too late, her face lights up with realization as she pulls down more mushroom pieces.] We might have to eat these anyway, huh? Like if all our rations get eaten by bears!

[Or, you know, people.]

Field Mission 3: Brushing the Sun, Part 1

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