Field Mission 3: Brushing the Sun, Part 1

[balancemod]

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

[feytality]

i. I hope you're beary prebeared for this unbearable bear of a battle!!!

[ you're walking in the woods. there's no one around and your phone is dead. from the corner of the eye you spot... okay, just kidding. but you are walking in the woods. and you do hear something in the distance - snuffling, maybe? ]

[ then, all of a sudden, you feel a hand clamping around your mouth, and, if you're big enough to support a tiny teenage girl -- a weight on your back. (if you're not, just the hand) where did this teenage girl come from? what the fuck? is she kidnapping you? ]

[ she whispers a 'shhhhh' in your ear, and then points off in the distance. ]

[ yeah, that snuffling you heard? it's a dire bear. or three. or four. they haven't noticed you, yet, but maya waves her other hand to get your attention, and then points to a nearby tree. ]

[ better make a decision on what to do quick, they're keen hunters and it's only a matter of time before you get aggro'd. ]

ii. Who are you calling a mousy little pipsqueak?!

[ so, you're minding your own business! and then it happens. a screech (actually, two screeches) from the sky above you. when you look up, you will see what appears to be a large phoenix..... wrestling with a goblin? or a child? hard to tell, really. but the phoenix is struggling to support the thing's weight and slowly dipping down while the goblin -- or child -- it's pretty small, whatever it is, but evidently not small enough for the bird to stay airborne. ]

[ so, uh, heads up, with another highpitched scream, said goblin/gremlin/child/unidentified squeaky object is plummeting straight towards you, desperately grabbing for your head or shoulders so it doesn't hit the ground. and clinging, regardless of how uncomfortable it is for you. ]

Nice catch!

[ turns out, the unidentified gremlin is maya! yeah, that checks out. something's amiss, though. she seems.... like she's even shorter than usual? like, two feet and soso short. not a small child, but small child size. her voice is comically higher pitched than normal, too. huh. how'd that happen? ]

Um..... you seem bigger than usual.... did you hit puberty?

[ note that she says this regardless of what age you are. feel free to throw her on the ground. ]

iii. Pull the lever, Kronk (WROOOONG LEVEEEEEEEEEEER)

[ well, somehow you've gotten to the mine. and you're not alone! maya is here, at the entrance with you, and she's already jumping into the mine cart. there are no seatbelts. is there even a track? well, she doesn't care. ]

[ clearly, her priorities are in order. ]

C'mon, push me, push me, let's go!!

[ it's time for that donkey kong country level, and she's your (alledgedly) loveable kong sidekick. let's get this party started. ]

iv. Zelda Sidequest;

[ there's, uh, something that's potentially troubling just around where the mines are! namely, there's some blood on the ground. that's not great. you know what else is not great? the source of the blood, which happens to be maya, clutching at her left shoulder with her right arm. which, as it turns out, is the source of the bleeding and she's not doing a great job of stopping it! she looks pretty bruised and battered on top of all that, but when she locks eyes with you, she's focused and determined. like a shounen protag. ]

I need to find mandrake weeds! If you've seen any, you need to tell me right now!

[ she's fine??? it's fine. if you're particularly buff, she's also going to add in a: ]

How strong are you?

Wildcard;

[ hit me with anything. ]

IV

[unrecovered]

[Blood on the ground is immediate cause for caution, as far as Wash is concerned. Finding out the source of it is an injured Maya immediately transforms it from caution to concern.]

Wait- Maya, stop.

[He makes a grab for her - one hand on her uninjured right shoulder, the other on her left elbow - in an attempt to keep her in place.]

Tell me what happened.

[If she looks like she's stopped, he's going to fish in his pack for medical supplies. If she doesn't, he's damn well going to do his best to keep her there. Medical attention first; everything else can wait.]

[feytality]

[ kuzco voice: no touchy!! ]

[ which is to say, maya is pretty easy to grab as she's not much for dodging. she does stop, but she doesn't look happy about it. ]

McCree--- McCree's in big trouble. We need to help him right now!

[ there's no time for medical shenanigans, wash!!!! let her bleed everywhere instead. ]

[ ... okay, maybe there's some time. ]

[unrecovered]

[Shit. Shit.]

[On one hand, this could be time-sensitive; on the other hand, if he lets Maya run back in injured and something happens to her, he'll never forgive himself.]

Trouble how.

[Just give him something so he's not going in blind.]

iv sup friendo

[alethiological]

[ He hates not having instantaneous transfer privileges anymore. Up until now, it's been a mild inconvenience, but nothing overtly terrible. But Maya's distant elevator music background noise (that kind of sounds like the opening to a super sentai series if you focus too hard) devolves into a cacophony of fear and distress and whatever he was doing blanks out.

So when she's finally loomed over, for a second he looks like he's about to have an aneurysm from sheer concern. "She's fine???" No!! She's not fine! Nothing about this is fine!!! It needs healing, panic and worry and unrelated thoughts, but they shut off with a swift click of a light switch. No more noise or distractions - just a perfect black and white certainty.

Injured. A few precise notes on a keyboard pop out Maya's physical status: worrying, but not fatal. In her current state, she'll be too compromised to stay still. This problem has a pin put in it, stuck to a wall to keep a running tab on, and next problem is up. What caused said injury. Shounen, meet horror. ]

Where is it.

[feytality]

[ maya can be pretty singleminded and tunnel visioned at times. in other circumstances, she would probably realize the anxiety she's been causing him and try to assure him or calm him down, but since mccree was cursed, it's been nothing but desperation and fear and the laser focus to get him fixed. ]

[ almost nothing could interrupt it, at this point. except that when will does show up, his demeanor turns out to be the one thing that can disrupt her laser focus. this is...... not an expression she's ever seen on him before. it's unexpected and a little unsettling. ]

Will? [ okay, more than a little. ]

I..... Are.... you okay?

[ did something happen to lion? why does he have that scary expression on his face? ]

iii

[ribticklers]

[This sure looks incredibly dangerous!]

You sure that's a good idea?

[feytality]

Sure! What could go wrong?

[ like a million things so don't tempt fate, maya!! ]

[ribticklers]

You could die. [That is what could go wrong. There are many specifics, but that would take too long to explain, than the point is death.]

i. bear with me

[doubledsofjustice]

[See, Mia's seen a bear before. Like, once. But it wasn't a direbear, it was a regular-old-bear, and it was probably from very afar. These direbears are very a-near-- though not quite as near as Maya is when she decides to throw a hand over Mia's mouth. Mia's grateful for it; that action alone might have caused her to scream.]

(Jeez, you almost scared me more than the bears did...)

[But at least Mia's quick to catch on. Seeing the tree Maya's pointed out, Mia shoves her little sister ahead of her, brows knit as she tries to hurry her. Hopefully their scrambling won't make enough noise to draw the bears their way, or something terrible like that.]

[feytality]

[ well, maya is terrifying, so no one could blame mia for being terrified. just kidding, but maya nearly yelps herself when mia shoves her -- and then grabs her hand to lead her away. this is very touching and sweet! and they're definitely doing their best to be stealthy. ]

[ unfortunately, dire bears have a very keen sense of smell. so, yeah, despite their best efforts, one has noticed them, sempai, and roaring loudly. ]

[ maya turns to stare at mia with an 'oh shit' kind of stare as the thing starts charging in their direction. she pulls on her sister's arm, trying to get her to run. ]

[ for all the good it'll do. ]

[doubledsofjustice]

[Well, for one blissful moment, everything was fine. But with two Feys in one place, their luck could never continue. Mia jolts just as quickly as Maya, speaking in yelled whispers for Maya to hurry as though the bears can't already have heard them. Mia tries to keep Maya ahead of her, but even with the both of them running, they have nothing on bears.

Mia tries not to turn her head until they've gotten an even pace, but when she does look, the direbears are much closer to them than she'd like them to be.

They're gonna get killed on her first trip down to this place, aren't they.

With the distance between the Feys and the direbears closing, they can either keep going until they're gained on or turn to do something now. Mia attempts to loose her hand from Maya's.]

Keep going! We need to try to lose them!

wildcard

[protegge]

[So: he's pretty scuffed up.]

[Nothing extremely bad has actually happened. It's been little things: tripping over obstacles he definitely looked for and didn't see which then appeared under his feet at exactly the right moment; dropping things, ranging from drinks to weapons — including his bullets, of which he's lost a full 16; he's pulled a couple muscles and stubbed his toe about seven billion times.]

[Most of the ghastly warfare has been celestial, however. Fours keep turning up. All of the buttons on his bracer are fucked up except for the four, which makes it largely nonfunctional for Mistas. He keeps stumbling across fours, too, which may be a coincidence and may not be; he doesn't think it is, of course, and with the four-way forks in the road in the mines and the little extra sprinkling on top, plus the relatively bad luck, he can feel something bigger coming down the pike.]

[So it was in a fit of fidgety desperation that he decided to ask for help. He feels kind of shitty about it. Last time Maya talked to a ghost, she got pretty fucked up over it, and the last thing he wants to do is spread this luck to her. But the ghost seems to hate him specifically for disturbing its chest house, and this is all he can think of to do to get his message across.]

[Still.]

Are you sure you're okay with this? You can still back out.

[They're in the mines, now, back where the remains of the chest is still lying. He can't say why this feels like the right place to do it, only that it is. There's a bullet embedded in the floor just past the chest. His arms are crossed tightly, protectively, over his chest.]

[feytality]

[ listen, last time maya talked to a ghost, it was a collective possessing her, it's not the same thing!!! that being said, frankly, she is scared. what happened in vista vris scarred her pretty heavily, and she already had deep set fears about channeling and all channeling related endeavors. ]

[ ... but it's mista. he's having a hard time. and he needs help. so there's no way she'll ever turn him down, regardless of her own feelings on the matter. so, she goes along with no complaints, following and steeling herself. it won't be like last time. this is a different situation. it's one ghost, and she won't fail, this time. she can't. for his sake. ]

No way! Ghosts are my thing, I should at least give it a try.

[ despite her inner reservations, she's as cheerful as maya as ever, giving him a big grin. ] Now let's bust this ghost right outta here! Before you get even worse luck.

[ such as an even worse outfit, if such a thing is even possible. ]

[protegge]

[Ugh. He genuinely shudders, unwilling to even consider it. He'll give her the speech someday, about four and all the awful doom it has foretold, but right now even the thought of saying the number out loud is making him feel a little sick. The rest of the bad luck sucks, too, but — truthfully, he knows, just knows that it's all stemming from the ghost's use of that number.]

[Incorporeal little bastard.]

Okay, okay. But if you feel like you need to stop, stop. I'm serious, okay? No martyr bullshit or I'll kick your ass.

What do I gotta do? Should I, like—

[He stands in the middle of the tunnel, arms spread wide, and . . . just waits, looking kind of dumb.]

Getting Womped by the Willow

[feytality]

[ well, they've already discussed the plan. everyone knows their role. she's ready as she'll ever be. nervous (which, at the moment only will can tell), scared, but determined. they all know how dangerous this tree is, so there's no room for mistakes. lion is there for healing and scared flaming. will and shinjiro are the distractions. and she's... the inside maya. she'll use her spells to muddle its senses, and get in close to see what's in the soil. ]

[ she takes a deep breath, outwardly peppy and calm, but inwardly still nervous. she's got a good pokerface, at least! ]

Alright! [ in a stage whisper. she cracks her knuckles... then winces and shakes out her hands. ] Let's do this!

[dialetheism]

[ Maya's not the only one who's nervous. Lion's on edge, even if they're trying to pretend they're not, checking and re-checking their rifle over and over as everyone gets ready. The plan... seems solid enough, and everyone here knows each-other and can reasonably be expected to work together. It'll be fine, right? What's the worst that could happ- okay no don't jinx it.

Still, there's only so much worrying one can take, and there's no reason to delay further. Into the breach it is. ]

After you two, then.

[ That means you, Will and Shinji. ]

iv

[mylawn]

[Jack comes quickly after he gets the message--doesn't really matter what she's on about, because Maya doesn't strike him as the type of person who would message him for something frivolous, at least not with this measure of urgency. Or maybe she would, but he likes to think she would know better. Either way, he's dropping everything and headed for her position, bracing for a fight or something disastrous or some other flavor of bad news.]

Pretty strong.

[Extremely strong. Maya might know a little bit about that by now. He can see that she's bleeding, so she must have had a run-in with something. 76 tries to take her by the shoulder in an attempt to get her to slow down.]

What's going on?

[feytality]

[ if it was less urgent, there'd be cute emojis and it'd probably be about making him watch the steel samurai. for the moment, though, it's all business. ]

[ she nods in response --- yeah, she knows he's strong, she's relieved he even came at all, and she cuts straight to the chase. ]

It's McCree! He's in trouble!

[ despite her agitated energy and her current bust in guns blazing to rescue mccree attitude, it's easy enough to grab her, assuming it's by the non-injured shoulder. if it's the injured shoulder, then he's getting a flinch and yelp for his trouble. also, regardless, he's getting a bit of exposition. ]

A basilisk ambushed us! He got turned to stone... we need to get him out of there, and get mandrake weed to turn him back!

[mylawn]

[On some level, Jack is used to McCree being in trouble, but back home, it would usually be Blackwatch pulling him out of it. Here, Jack feels at least partially responsible for keeping an eye on him, so to hear that he's apparently cursed by some manner of horrible creature is disconcerting to say the least. Still, since Maya is in a state, Jack needs to swallow down his own panic to offer her some stability.]

Okay. We'll go get him.

[Jack can easily handle transporting a human-sized statue.]

You have to calm down and show me where.

wild gerblins appear!!

[whippings]

( Franziska just so happens to see Maya interacting with some goblins, and can only draw one conclusion:

Maya Fey is in need of assistance. So, Franziska makes her way over as quickly as possible (which, given her newfound Fast Movement abilities, is quite fast). )

Maya Fey. Need a hand?

( Franziska von Karma is here to help, per usual. )

[feytality]

[ if by help she means making everything worse! ]

[ just kidding, maya's currently trying her best to win them over but it's not going so great, one of them is pulling on her hair. so yeah, she's in need of assistance. ]

-- Hey! Cut it out!

[ so yeah, she's in need of assistance. not that she'll admit it. ]

I've got it handed, thanks!

[ yank, yank. (no she doesn't) ]

[whippings]

( Part of Franziska is tempted to take Maya at her word and simply walk off, but of course (of course!) she can't help but get herself involved. So, instead, she folds her hands over her chest and arches an eyebrow. )

I see. The goblins must be plaiting your hair.

( And then she'll even turn her attention to the little creatures in question to see if they will corroborate this story. )

i.

[gundamned]

[Gundam wandered into the woods with vastly different priorities than Maya obviously. There were more than enough people to focus on reclaiming the relic and many beasts inhabited the thick forest of Maru...

Seeing more dire bears in the distance his eyes light up, completely distracting him from anything else that could be around him.

Maya's easily able to clamp her hand over his mouth.]

...!!

[He reacts to that about as well as he has to the infinite number of times she's managed to get her hands on him in past.]

MMPH NNMMMGH MFFFH NNNNTH!!!

[feytality]

[ of course it's gundam. it's always gundam. who else would be hanging around bears? but she knows now that kingdom hearts is light. i mean, she knows that he's actually a dork loser who really likes animals. which, like, is fine, but these are probably not the befriending types of bears and she doesn't want another vulture type scenario. he's too heavy for her to carry back on her own. ]

[ also too tall for him to shh normally, so she's hanging off of his shoulders while she has her hand on his mouth. ]

Be cool! [ she whispers into his ear. ] There are a lot of dire bears around, and they're not friendly! I'll let go, but you have to give them their space, okay?

[ trying to force friendship with vicious animals will never work out for him... or will it? ]

[ (that being said, their noises have already alerted the bears to their presence. oops. ) ]