balancemod: (Default)
balance mod ([personal profile] balancemod) wrote in [community profile] balance_logs2019-04-27 02:18 pm

Field Mission 3: Brushing the Sun, Part 2


I couldn't be more proud of you all.
NAVIGATION



1. THE UNRAVELING (CTA RESULTS)




A. EVERYONE GET THE HELL OFF THIS CRAZY THING

With the Bureau quickly packing up and getting the hell out of dodge, four Reclaimers — Kaede, Komaeda, Minato and Lion — made an honest attempt to evacuate the dwarves and goblins still on board. They were mildly successful in drawing half of all the goblins into their fold, but the dwarves were much more resistant. Ultimately, only five agreed to leave behind their precious forge. Bread and Barry were also handily convinced that it was time to leave.

Their chosen method here included a lot of falling with style. With a little help from Lion, a breeze is whipped up to give the trip down a bit more wind resistance.

Even though they didn't convince as many as they would like to leave, this is still a very large logistical effort — you may help pass out treats to help evacuees float down. You may wrangle up any stragglers that wander too far away from the group. Ultimately though, everyone who agreed to evacuate, as well as the Reclaimers who are helping, will be able to safely make it to the ground.

Except for one.

Upon ensuring that Good Girl Cocoa makes it down safe, Minato will find that there are no more magic treats to help him safely evacuate, too. And when Maru perishes, so does he.

Additionally, Barry does go down with the evacuation group, but by the time Maru crashes to the ground, he's no where to be found, and presumed dead.

This also means that very nearly every dwarf and goblin who refused to evacuate also perished.

B. A CHAT WITH A TIRED SPIRIT, AND AN UNRAVELING

Akira, Zelda, Maya and Sayori are assigned to try to take on the Whomping Willow so they can reach the forge it's guarding. With an insanely good hit from one of Zelda's Light Arrows, the tree is stunned — and with the unfortunate curse of sentience that drives it, it is humbled by the raw power, and elects to speak to the group.

The Whomping Willow is several thousand years old, and so, so tired of this enchantment. After revealing the wisdom of the Beastmaster class, Maya is able to disenchant it, effectively reducing it to a simple willow tree once again — and with the help of a few Persona users, they are able to successfully transplant it to a small alcove in the Quad of the Moon Base.

What does this mean for Reclaimers? Well, you now have some very comfortable shade to relax under. You have a monument to your successes. If you happen to know a druid with Speak with Plants, it'll also dispense some of the wisdom it's accumulated over the millennia in the form of advice.

Meanwhile, Sans and McCree, with an easy entrance to the forge, make quick work of unraveling the yarn, setting the dwarves trapped there free, and successfully convincing them to leave the forge behind for their own safety.

And as they continue to make this mission look outrageously easy, they manage to unravel the yarn without causing damage to themselves and the forge. It's done so well, in fact, that the falling apart of Maru is less of an explosion, and more of a controlled, structured demolition.

It's actually quite a spectacular sight, for those of you on the ground to witness it. Like a ship slowly descending to the earth and breaking apart some 100 feet above it, it feels as if the entire planet shakes upon impact. Debris is sent flying in all directions — later reports that make it to the Director's desk indicate that mining equipment was found some 20 miles away from the impact site.

Unfortunately, another Reclaimer is lost in the unraveling of Maru. McCree perishes while trying to escape — but he dies a hero.

C. ON THE GROUND

Two teams — Franziska and Wash, and Akechi and Ryuji — are sent out to try to locate the yarn and, being as buff as they are, try to clear out as many surviving monsters as they can.

Along the way, Akechi manages to steal a priceless weapon off of Hethi, the guardian spirit of the paper mountain that once stood on Maru. Also along the way, Akechi says some really cute social link rank-up shit to Ryuji, which in turn causes his Persona to turn into a bear.

Later on, Franziska manages to convince Hethi to move to the Netheril, effectively becoming Vista Virs' new guardian. She's so convincing, in fact, that Hethi sees this as a divine intervention, and Wash and Franziska are both incorporated into the mysterious guardian's origin fable as divine advisers. Both groups also find survivors of the fall, and safely evacuate them to Phandalin.

While Ryuji and Akechi manage to blast through entire hordes of monsters with little injury, Wash and Franziska are not quite so lucky. Nobody perishes, but the both of them will probably need some assistance.

Finally, with the help of Cocoa and her nose, Akechi and Ryuji are able to locate the yarn, and a recovery team from the Bureau retrieves and delivers it straight to the Director's hands.

Congratulations, Reclaimers. Your third mission was a smashing success.




2. THE BEFOREMATH AND THE AFTERMATH


D. EVERY NOW AND THEN I FALL APART

You're only as good as your backup, as they say. And the Reclaimers who are not currently attempting to fetch a wayward overpowered ball of yarn are going to have a lot on their plates, before Maru comes crashing down in spectacular fashion.

That plate does not include Maru itself. Every hour that passes that you do not escape on your own, the ground's stability grows more precarious. You can feel it shifting underneath your feet, like it's straining, trying to contract into itself. In the distance, an ominous rumbling. The land is literally cracking apart, and you do not want to be on board when it finally tumbles down to the ground.

○ Convincing those who could be convinced to evacuate was no easy feat, but for those of you on board with immediately helping, there's a shortage of hands on deck to move people as quickly as possible.

○ Much like how the wildlife scatters for cover when a thunderstorm hits, the fauna of Maru are aware that a disaster is looming. To that end, nearly every single creature that has settled inside the mines have started pouring out into the open, making an already unstable ground a little ... crowded. Bring your best weapon and your best spells to this fight — you're going to need both.


E. THAT'S UNFORTUNATE

Once you're on the ground, if you choose to dig among the rubble yourself, you may find any last resources that the impact site may have slapped to the surface. They're very small, but gems and diamonds are your highest prize here.

The forge, however, was destroyed on impact, shooting a massive burst of magical energy straight into the sky, before it dissipates. Should you happen to find yourself anywhere near the remains of the forge, however, one of the following may happen:

○ You will be turned into an animal of your choosing for two hours.

○ Any remains nearby may suddenly be reanimated, again, for two hours, until the magical energy disappears. Enjoy your goblin zombie apocalypse.

○ A curse might follow you home — think things like tripping over your feet constantly, or not being able to sleep properly, or hell, accidentally passing along the curse to anyone you touch. Dr. Tank back at medbay on the Moon Base can remove this one for you.


F. THE TOWN OF PHANDALIN

The aftermath of Maru's collapse can be viewed from Phandalin, a nearby prospecting town that is now host to a host of floating island evacuees.

Well, a whole lot of dust can be viewed, anyway. For those of you who arrived here with said evacuees, or simply evacuated here yourself, consider yourselves put on something of a mandatory two-day vacation. The orbs back to the Moon Base just can't seem to get past the dust choking the air directly above the town.

Phandalin is on the small side, and inhabited mostly by prospectors looking for valuable resources deep within the nearby mountains. To say that this is the biggest influx of visitors they've ever had is an unfathomable understatement — and while they are hardly a settlement built for tourism, they're more than willing to take your coin. Or any remnants of Maru you happen to have on hand.

Now is your time to rest. Gather your bearings. Or, work more, if that's more your speed.

○ A small group of dwarves need to figure out where to go next, after all. Will you help them find a place to stay in town? Or will you help gear them up so they can set out on their own, once the dust (literally) settles? The blacksmith in town can't make anything new on such short notice — but he does have plenty of tools and weapons for sale.

○ Should you make your way to Stonehill Inn to escape the dust, you may find a Kenku in a corner, ignored by the other patrons as much as he's minding his own business, mug at the table in front of him. And should you decide to engage with him, he'll lean forward, closer, voice so husky it could pull a sled.

"Oi, you're one of those visitors, ain't ya? You know what happened. With all the dust."

There isn't a particularly discernible tone or expression here. If anything, he sounds on the brink of a personal revelation.

"You've seen it then, right? My house. Where the hell's all my stuff?"

(Some of you already know who this is — it's Jingler, the owner of the shack on Maru that is now part of a heap of sod and brand new landscape not too far from Phandalin. He is a completely pilotable NPC, meaning you are free to use him how you like for your threads. All you need to know is, he's a bard, that shack held all of his most valuable treasures, and Garfield owes him a lot of money. He won't say for what, though.)

○ Finally, not too far from the town square stands a fortune telling machine. It goes largely ignored by the regulars passing by, and if you happen to ask, it's because of one of the following reasons: It's a waste of money to begin with, or it's a waste of money because it keeps spitting out the same fortune.

Pop a single gold coin in the machine, and it'll print out your fortune. It's true that it seems to be running on repeat, though, because you're guaranteed to get one of the following two fortunes:

Disaster has invited itself to your doorstep.

Or,

Mild fortune bears down on you like the sun.

Another thing that's guaranteed: Whatever fortune you receive will have to manifest in some form. That's rather unfortunate for the ... more unfortunate ones.


G. A REPRIEVE IN THE ORCHARDS

An old half-elf by the name of Daran Edermath tends to an orchard just on the edge of town. It's a bit of a locally hidden gem for Phandalin- the old, retired adventurer turned vintner keeps the trees well nourished and tended to all year long. It's spring time here in Faerun, and naturally, there should the crowns of budding apple blossoms coming up and ready to take shape. But wandering in here, you'll notice that they've developed into beautiful looking, ripe apples.

Daran is one of the oldest living people in Phandalin and while he hasn't been around long enough to know what happened to the Lost Mine of Phandelver, he does seem to wear a sort of smile when he hears about it. See, in his youth, he snuck down there with only an apple for rations to his name. He doesn't know how he stumbled upon it, or even how he really made it past the monstrosities that lie in there. But Edermath farms remembers. Those apples that are perfectly colored and perfectly ready to eat? They're all the result of that one apple he dipped into the forge. Must be about 100 years ago.

The sweet scent of cider, sauces, and butters fills the air in almost every direction. It's a time to relax and enjoy the days before returning to base, and he's more than willing to trade a few silver pieces for a bucket of the stuff.

For those of you with a little more adventurous taste buds, Daran offers you to try an apple from a tree that grows many different colored fruits. He'll explain that there's a little bit of magic in those too, but nothing that'll hurt you. Give it a try, see what happens! These will last up to 24 hours.

○ Red - your senses elevate far beyond what a normal human should be able to accomplish. You can hear, see, smell, and touch better than you ever have before. Take a walk out into Phandalin after the dust settles. The color and the scent of the flowers should be amazing.

○ Green - you become incredibly pensive, seeing insightful things about your life that you haven't noticed before. You recall past events with a crystal clear level of understanding, to the level of being able to close your eyes and remember details that are minute- like the sound in a memory you forgot, or the way the breeze felt on a particular day.

○ Yellow - you feel lethargic. Enough to probably take a nap wherever you're currently standing. It's not a bad thing, but if you've been feeling really stressed lately or pushed yourself in battle quite a bit, waking up is going to feel about as refreshing as humanly possible.

○ Blue - you become incredibly confident with yourself. Things that might have scared you to say or do in the past feel like small anthills compared to the mountains they once were. You speak your truth when you want to, you fear nothing and become closer to your true self.

○ Pink - you're hit with a wave of affection. You're all about hugs and hand-holding and being close to people you care about. It provides a sort of blissful state that makes you want to be around other people.


Eventually, though, the dust will clear, and with the jutted earth and remains of Maru in the horizon, you'll board the orbs and return to the Moon Base.

Because a true rest after this mission is waiting you back home. You could say it's going to be quite the retreat.




2. OOC NOTE


Congratulations on successfully reclaiming the third Grand Relic! We hope you enjoyed exploring, and ultimately unraveling, Maru.

For people new to the game, you may notice that there isn't an RNG thread. CTA logs generally do not have one, just to give us mods a bit more time to work on the interlude, and the next field mission.

You can check out our calendar to see what's coming up next! The TDM will be posted Monday, April 29. Reserves open Wednesday, May 2 and applications open Saturday, May 5.





blurb code by photosynthesis
lamentingly: (become so tired)

[personal profile] lamentingly 2019-05-14 05:28 am (UTC)(link)
[ The size of the blade definitely took Gohan by surprise, the one armed man jumping backwards almost on instinct. Something that big was gonna have one heck of a cleaving area, although a part of Gohan couldn't help but be more concerned by the fact that this man was swinging that thing around with one hand.

It was impressive. So impressive, that Gohan was at a loss for words for a moment.

Thankfully, he didn't have to say anything. The moment some of the creatures started trying to rush him, it became incredibly easy for Gohan to focus on the task at hand, and disable the attackers with well-placed punches and kicks. ]


Keep swinging forward! I'll hang behind you and take out anything that gets through!
gambolshroud: (108)

[personal profile] gambolshroud 2019-05-14 04:15 pm (UTC)(link)
[She pauses for a moment, considering the situation before venturing to pry a bit further.]

The people in the photo... are they your family?

[If it was the reward for his completing his test of initiation, then it must have been important to him— personally meaningful.]

You don't have to tell me anything you don't want to, but if you'd like to talk... I'm a pretty good listener.

[Four ears and all.]
gambolshroud: (127)

[personal profile] gambolshroud 2019-05-14 04:26 pm (UTC)(link)
[Blake nods her understanding, a faint smile pulling at one corner of her mouth as she looks towards the image of Tymora before them.]

They're the gods of the world we're trying to save. I'd like to think some of them appreciate the effort.

[Both the Reclaimers' as a whole, and Zelda's offered prayers.]

Do they ever... talk back?

[Zero prayer experience, really.]
unrecovered: (Face: What in the actual fuck)

[personal profile] unrecovered 2019-05-14 07:47 pm (UTC)(link)
Yyyeah?

[He draws the word out a bit and gestures at the apple Sans is holding. Yes, they make yellow apples here? You're eating one? This is a weird question and he doesn't understand why you're asking it?]

[Selling the act is everything, after all.]
unrecovered: (Well...)

[personal profile] unrecovered 2019-05-14 07:49 pm (UTC)(link)
Because you have a history of threatening and attempting violence on me, and hand holding is out of character for you.

[Or at least the broad strokes of character that he knows of Bakugo. It's entirely possible he's missing nuance, but he doubts he'd been missing it this badly.]

So tell me why.
unrecovered: (Well...)

[personal profile] unrecovered 2019-05-14 09:08 pm (UTC)(link)
Of course it worked. It's you.

[He's never seen her practice magic before, but it sounds like she could use the encouragement, and that's the least he can do after she fixed his arm.]

Sayori, you've done more than enough. Seriously, thank you.

[He'd offer a hug, but 1) armor hugs are awkward if you're not used to them and 2) he's still spattered in monster blood. That is a hug that would do more harm than good.]
unrecovered: (Let me think about that one)

[personal profile] unrecovered 2019-05-14 09:32 pm (UTC)(link)
Okay, then you can keep meditating.

[Delivered lightly; it's just shy of joking, because these aren't exactly joking circumstances.]

Yeah, that would be great.

[Sayori's already helped a little - it's in a sling instead of requiring a full-on splint - but he'll take all the help he can get.]
napstar: (we don't sell that anymore)

[personal profile] napstar 2019-05-14 11:18 pm (UTC)(link)
[ It just looks like three cookies stacked on top of each other... But if she says they're supposed to be eaten all at once, he'll give it a go. They're cookies. It can't be bad. So he takes the plate from her and gives the sandwich a once over before picking it up and biting into it. It tastes... well, it tastes like two different cookies. Similar in texture but different in their base flavor. They compliment each other well.

He gives her a nod. ]


It's good.
napstar: (this is a violation of my civil rights)

[personal profile] napstar 2019-05-14 11:23 pm (UTC)(link)
[ If only...... ]


Is that why I died?
napstar: (it's time for my favorite activity)

[personal profile] napstar 2019-05-14 11:34 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Unfortunately for Kaede, he needs the full Sleep magic to stay asleep right now. Fortunately, he's not alarmed by waking up to the hair strokes. In fact there's hardly any sign that he's woken up at all. He stays laying with his eyes closed for a while before gathering the energy to open one eye up at her.

Sigh. The sleep he got was nice. He feels... Well, still not good at all. He really needs to get to the base, huh? His eye closes as he yawns. ]


... Thanks. [ At least he sounds like he just woke up from sleep. ]
gotyourbach: (008)

[personal profile] gotyourbach 2019-05-15 12:18 am (UTC)(link)
[By the time he's waking up, Kaede's well on the way to exhaustion herself. All of her magic is something she uses for very short bursts, never something sustained like this. Clearly it's something she'll have to practice for the future. With her own eyes closed, she doesn't see him look up at her, but she does hear his voice when he speaks, startling her fully aware.]

...Oh! Good morning.

[It's not morning. She stills her fingers in his hair, blinking down at him and giving him a tired smile.]

How're you feeling?
Edited 2019-05-15 00:21 (UTC)
noblegarnet: (f: spidey senses tingling)

[personal profile] noblegarnet 2019-05-15 01:33 am (UTC)(link)
[Ferran doesn't waste any more time getting to a slightly safer area, either, heading towards Roxas so he doesn't have to yell.]

I haven't seen anything else nearby. As long as we head towards the evacuation, things will have to get past us anyway.

[It might be a bit of an assumption that they'll be able to defeat all of said monsters they come across, but they need to ... get there anyway, since they'll have to leave at some point.]

Were you injured?
noblegarnet: (f: staring maybe the thousand yard type)

[personal profile] noblegarnet 2019-05-15 03:20 am (UTC)(link)
[Ferran rests his chin against his palm, practically covering half his face with his fingers as he stares idly at the table.

The most Blake gets for now is a hum of affirmation—it's his family, yeah. It's an easy guess.

He drags his eyes up to meet hers at her following comment, though they dart briefly to her catlike ears before he responds.]


Do you use that line a lot?
napstar: (owning this crossword)

[personal profile] napstar 2019-05-15 09:03 am (UTC)(link)
Tired...

[ It doesn't look like morning... But however long it's been it seems Kaede's been awake the entire time. ]

You need rest?
gotyourbach: (ka21)

[personal profile] gotyourbach 2019-05-15 12:28 pm (UTC)(link)
[It feels like an agonizingly long time for her, but it was only a few hours. She frowns, gently running her fingers through his hair one more time before forcing herself to draw her hand back.]

Ummm... a little. I've been keeping the spell up the whole time. I could go a little longer if you want, though!

[She forces her smile a little more cheerful, even as she prays he isn't going to ask her to keep going. Her throat is starting to hurt from all this humming, and her exhaustion is starting to show on her face.]
mylawn: (pic#11742613)

[personal profile] mylawn 2019-05-15 11:19 pm (UTC)(link)
Yeah, I know what you mean.

[He knows part of that is just getting used to their new powers. Jack doubts he could have done anything either, with what he has to work with. Healed him in the aftermath, maybe.]

Guess we'll just have to wait and see.

[Jack is most certainly going to have words with the Director if anything goes wrong.]
seasaltkeys: (gotta go fast)

[personal profile] seasaltkeys 2019-05-17 02:47 am (UTC)(link)
Makes sense...and no, I don't think so. A little rattled but I'll manage.

[He shrugs.]

I've had worse.

forhyrule: in-game screenshot (♕ ○ 008)

[personal profile] forhyrule 2019-05-18 01:47 am (UTC)(link)
I have not yet heard them myself. [ Zelda admits, lifting her right hand to tug absently at her ear.

She follows the direction of Blake's gaze back to Tymora. ]
But perhaps they would be a bit more conversational if I did not speak with them always as intercessors. Especially since there is ... likely no one to deliver my prayers to.

[ Her pleasant countenance slips a little, and she regards Tymora lamentably. It's hard to think about even the gods of her world having been swallowed by the Hunger. ]
gambolshroud: (56)

[personal profile] gambolshroud 2019-05-18 10:31 pm (UTC)(link)
Do I—

[She begins to echo him in earnest, curious as to what he meant, but as soon as she does so, it clicks. She coughs to try and cover how flustered that makes her, covering her mouth and turning her face away briefly as she composes herself.]

No, not usually. I can't promise any particularly helpful advice, but I can least lend an—

[Uh.]

You know.
napstar: (tricked again)

[personal profile] napstar 2019-05-20 10:34 am (UTC)(link)
[ "A little", huh? She looks more than a little tired to him. There's no point in making them both cranky and miserable - moreso than they already are, anyway. ]

No, it's fine.

[ He sits up slowly. The few hours of sleep he did get seems to have dulled his pain a bit, which is a relief. It still hurts everywhere, just less so. He huffs from the effort of sitting up and nods at her. ]

Thanks. Again.
noblegarnet: (f: haha just kidding everything sucks)

[personal profile] noblegarnet 2019-05-22 03:39 am (UTC)(link)
[If he were in a mood any less gloomy than he currently is, he might have managed a chuckle or a smirk, but he simply raises his eyebrows for a moment.]

I'm good, but thanks.

[He's fine as long as he doesn't concentrate on everything that happened. Maybe he'd been working on changing that before, but now it just seems pointless.]

I'm looking forward to getting back to base.
feytality: (She's sad because I'm bad at keywords tb)

[personal profile] feytality 2019-05-22 05:32 am (UTC)(link)
[ maria's having a magical disney adventure with a scruffy dog. as one does. ]

[ the dog whines at her when she asks 'how far away', it's not like it has a doggy gps, wow!! ]

[ but after a good few minutes they will reach their final destination. guess what? it's a corpse! ]

[ it's wrapped in a body bag and webbing, but the cowboy hat on top of it probably gives it away as mccree. the dog reaches the corpse and very dejectedly lies down, making one of those really piteous little doggy whines. ]

[ it's fry's dog. but... mccree's? ]
feytality: (PLACEHOLDER 1 AND A HALF)

[personal profile] feytality 2019-05-22 05:33 am (UTC)(link)
[ should she.. be joking about this.... she doesn't know. ]

I guess the only way to be sure is to sleep lots.
feytality: (i'm fine (falls down immediately))

[personal profile] feytality 2019-05-22 05:40 am (UTC)(link)
[ everything is joking circumstance when you're an ace attorney character..... but she pauses. ]

[ her only real healing capability is using necromantic touch in a way that it's clearly not supposed to be used. it's pretty irresponsible of her, but.... well.... it's not like she's doing much else other than keeping vigil over mccree's body. training is probably going to be ineffective. so... ]


Well, I dunno how much it will actually help, but I'll give it a try.

[ she puts her hand on his non-injured arm. it's not exactly healing -- it's more like a transfer of life force and energy, but it'll make the process faster and leave him feeling stronger and less pained. ]

[ she'll look pretty pale by the time she takes her hand off his arm, though. oh well. ]
feytality: (this is some CSI bullshit right here)

[personal profile] feytality 2019-05-22 05:45 am (UTC)(link)
You do...?

[ that takes her out of her own head really suddenly, and she turns around to stare at him. in maya vision (tm), he is extremely tough and strong, and she can't imagine him feeling frustrated over feeling helpless, and definitely not to the extent of empathizing with her little baby feelings. ]

But you don't need magical powers to be useful. [ yikes. ] You're already so strong!

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