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

RNG

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WHAT BARRY BLUEJEANS KNOWS

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Interested in interacting with Barry Bluejeans? Discuss your plans here.

WHAT BREAD KNOWS

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Interested in interacting with Bread? Discuss your plans here.

Re: RNG

[unrecovered]

Before they leave, Wash is going to go looking for information on the Lost Mine of Phandelver in the library, if it exists!

Additionally, will Rustic Hospitality work on gerblins? Is that something that can be added to the "Wash drops by every day with an onion for them" bit? (And it will indeed be Every Day, because consistency is key for things like this.)

[mccreehaw]

McCree and Sayori will be checking out the grotto! McCree will be combing through the lush grass looking for any supplies or things of interest, and Sayori is small enough to explore some of the smaller nooks, crannies, and caves. McCree has a lighter and darkvision to see by, and Sayori has Prestidigitation to light a torch, so with those things going for them, what might they find?

ETA: Also, McCree wants to look at those papers in the administrator's office. After picking up one to have it crumble to dust, he'll lean over the rest and not breathe on them, trying to read them where they lie. Anything interesting there?

[ribticklers]

Roll to passively acquire information while selling food to the goblins/dwarves, please!

Also, are they offering anything interesting in exchange for food?

[ribticklers]

What's up, Bread, it's your nap buddy. Sans has brought a banana to give to Bread, and he's just going to ask Bread straight out what's been going on here and what he's seen while he's been up here.

[unrecovered]

Hello Bread! Wash offers skritches in the best locations (because he is absolutely proficient in cats) and news from home, as he definitely spent some time hanging out with the cat guard in New New Aspen during the interlude. Should Bread be amenable to more conversation, he'll continue with inquiries as to what Bread has seen and done while he's been up here. What's interesting? What's dangerous? What's weird?

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Information on the mine is fairly scant, but Wash would probably find one or two paragraphs in a book on, well. Mining! That is to say, the mine is particularly rich in resources, but some areas seem unusually rich in dangers of the creature variety. Some unconfirmed reports even indicate that there's a dragon somewhere down there. Rumor also has it that there's a forge capable of enchanting items somewhere deep in the mine.

Gerblins might not technically be considered country folk, but we're on a landmass currently floating around the planet, so honestly, throw the dictionary off the edge. Combine this with the onion offerings, and Wash can probably score a bedroll in gerblin camp within about four days.

Is there something specific he'd like to ask of them?

[balancemod]

Nice! There is a ton of stuff to find here, so to track down something interesting, we'll give you a DC of 10, with +2 modifier to account for McCree and Sayori's flashlight skills.

For the papers, they are seriously decrepit and weak to the elements; even the best artificer might have trouble preserving or analyzing them properly. So it might be a little harder to find something noteworthy. We'll give you a DC of 13 to successfully read those papers.

If these sound good, we'll roll away!

[mccreehaw]

Yup, both sound good!

[unrecovered]

Does the dictionary hit anything when it impacts the ground below

He wants their side of the story! How did they get up here? Have they seen anything interesting and/or weird? What's worth exploring, or worth avoiding, and why?

He also wants to try to convince them that the Reclaimers are, as a whole, friendly people who shouldn't be attacked.

Unrelated: Will any supplies be brought back from the moon base to Maru - sort of a reverse supply run - or are Reclaimers limited to what they brought with them?

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Absolutely! How does a DC of 10 sound?

The goblins and the dwarves probably don't have a lot that can't be found on Maru anyway — but then, that does mean they already did all the heavy lifting for you. They may also have one or two nonMaru items they might be willing to exchange for the right price.

So a question first: What's the best thing Sans has on offer?

[ribticklers]

Let's do it!

As for the best food Sans brought, that'd probably be the cinnamon rolls.

Re: RNG

[despairing_hope]

Roll to convert or at least soften the goblins to the great wonder of Hope, and Komaeda's influence with proselytize and his own debate skills.

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Oh, dude! Dude!

This is the best day of Bread's life, considering it's been a while since he's had a banana. The nice skeleton who's still apparently missing his necromancer and nap buddy will get a headbutt of thanks.

This is kind of wild though, isn't it? Bread, being a cat, is always inclined to climb and hop on things he shouldn't, which is sort of how he wound up on Maru to begin with. The hunting's good, though, and there's plenty of resources to go around. At least, as far as he can tell — nobody's been fighting over anything that he's seen. But then, there's only so much that a floating continent can hold before it runs out. Bread doesn't know a lot, but sniffing out livable habitats is one thing he does know.

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Hello friend and good skritcher! Bread has been largely keeping to himself and hunting — those bears are extremely fierce, but he holds the title of captain of the guard for a very good reason.

That's not to say he hasn't been watching, though. It's peaceful, but he sort of gets the sense it'll become more uneasy soon, and that's largely a resource issue. They have to run out eventually, right?

Also, did Wash know that the mountain over on the corner of the continent is pretty much the best scratching post Bread has ever encountered?

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Oh my god.

DC of 13, with a +2 modifier to take into account a cleric skill and Komaeda being himself, to convert at least half the goblins to the school of Madoka Magica.

[grakraka]

rng to find something cool while mining. like. idk. fossils or ancient weapons or a really cool rock or something.

i'm making good use of the rng as you can see.

[despairing_hope]

Yes!

[hxppythxughts]

Sayori is not deterred by gruffness! But who knows if that charisma modifier actually makes her more likable...

First of all, she will approach with a gesture of some of the magic chocochip cookies (because... of course she packed some...) since she figures anyone would like a nice treat after being stuck on this island for so long. She will also compliment his impeccable jeans.

If he's amenable to this approach, she'll give a vague explanation that they're here to figure out why the heck Maru is floating, and ask what he knows about the Lost Mine of Phandelver!

[ryuji]

preemptive roll to wrestle a bear into submission and make a companion for the adventure. he's a barbearian and comes equipped with some cool rage abilities and can steal the bear's rage for his own ferocity.

additional roll for fishing success, he wants to introduce vista virs some new wildlife and give some sustainability to the ecosystem there. of course he has no idea what he's doing so if all else goes to fail, it's time for sushi. other than that, there's always calling a glass orb down and filling it with water. and some fish, and then sending it right down to vista virs

last roll for now, but looting the cavern. any good weaponry or items he can dig up?

any roll is good!

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I need these dice taken away from me.

You rolled a 4 on grotto searching — that's not to say they won't find anything! It's just, unfortunately, those things are bees.

It isn't a total loss, though: Ranger McCree will find that they are actually honeybees, largely gentle in nature (there's just a lot of them), and it's actually kind of neat that they've managed to survive up here. There is in fact a honey payload in there, too. That might come in handy later.

The paper reading didn't go so well either. You rolled a 5, Despite McCree's best efforts, the pages he looks at are either unreadable, or they disintegrate with even the slightest disturbance.

[seasaltkeys]

Roxas is definitely going to be searching for some diamonds on his various forays into the mine, as per the last Lunar Interlude.

He'll also be searching for anything useful or cool.

[balancemod]

You could say it made a word crater yes

Hope Wash likes hearing the same story told from five goblins at once — they're not so much enthusiastic about it as they are pretty pissed. But the gist of their story is this: Every goblin in their group was either camping above ground, or somewhere down below in the mine, when suddenly, it seemed like everything around them was being pulled and crushed together. If they had a deeper understanding of a fault forming, they'd probably compare it to that, which also means that the whole incident was likely felt pretty far away, too.

And then, just like that, the direction suddenly changed, and with the same force the earth was crammed together, they were shot up in the sky. Like Maru was the seed to a slingshot. To make matters weirder, some of the things that appeared on Maru didn't line up with the things they were finding in the mine, either. The mountain is one of them. That, and the lake are definitely two places they avoid.

The goblins aren't going to be fully amenable to the idea that the Reclaimers mean well, though! We can offer you a DC of 13 for Wash making at least a partially successful argument if you're interested.

And finally, since there are orbs traveling back and forth with supplies, you're free to hop aboard and grab something from the Moon Base if you'd like!