Field Mission 3: Brushing the Sun, Part 2

[balancemod]

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

Comments

[gotyourbach]

Okay.

[If he's done eating, then, she'll reach over and take the bowl. She doesn't want him to spill it on himself by accident.

Sleep, huh? She covers the bowl with the cloth she'd brought to make sure it doesn't get any drippings all over her bag. She should probably just leave him alone so he can get to sleep more easily.

If he can. She knows she had trouble sleeping after everything had happened; she still sometimes is kept up at night dwelling on it all.]

...You know, I do know a magic spell for putting people to sleep!

[She injects some cheer into her voice, intentionally making it sound as silly as possible, trying to bring them back from the heartbreaking seriousness of just moments before.]

[napstar]

[ That is why he said it! He nods at her. ]

Can you use it?

[ Once he gets some sleep he'll be better at be interacting with people, he's sure of it. ]

[gotyourbach]

It usually only lasts for a minute, but...

...

[Decisively she stands up, but she doesn't go far. He shifted over earlier, right? Even if that space was to get further away from her, she's going to take advantage of it now, sitting on the edge of his bed and patting the space near her.]

Lay down. I bet I can keep it up for a couple hours, at least.

[Before she gets too tired to maintain something like that.]

[napstar]

[ He lays down as instructed, onto his back. He still trusts Kaede. He settles down and looks up at her, lacing his fingers together on his chest. ]

[gotyourbach]

Let's see... a gentle, soothing song to whisk you to sleep...

[If there were a piano here, she could definitely keep the spell up for hours, she's certain of it. With just her voice, she's less sure, but she's absolutely willing to try for him. It's the least she can do.

...Clair de Lune? No. That's for her to play when she finally sees Shuichi again.]

Satie's Gymnopédie, I think!

[The one she'd thought maybe the darkness would be like, back at the lake, before experiencing it for herself and reclassing it as something in a minor key. But this song itself...? She starts humming it gently for him, tapping her fingers against her leg to keep time. As long as him being recently resurrected doesn't interfere with her magic, there's no reason why it shouldn't send him right off into magical sleep.]

[napstar]

[ She starts humming. He closes his eyes. He recognizes this tune and lets it overtake him. The spell...

Sometimes when casting Sleep, it will take a few seconds longer to take effect. But through their practices they know how long it should take to go from casting the lullaby to out cold for even the most stubborn of targets.

This takes a little longer than that. But it does work. His breathing slows and his body relaxes. He's asleep. Blissful, blissful sleep. ]

[gotyourbach]

...

[Well, the length of time it takes to affect him is a little concerning, creasing her brow as she keeps the spell up. She'd think it would take less time, not more, after something as (presumably?) physically taxing as being brought back from the dead. Kaede will remember that.

But it does work in the end, and she breathes a quiet sigh of relief. She's never tried keeping a spell going like this, but it shouldn't be any different from keeping up Bardic Inspiration to inspire everyone! If nothing else, it's good practice, but she's getting kind of fidgety. The kind of fidgety where she has to pay just enough attention to keep the spell going, so she can't mess around on her bracer without risking disrupting the spell. She pulls out he book Akechi gave her to write down memories in and tries writing some stuff down, but feels her grip on the magic wavering and has to stop. And she definitely can't cast anything else. Her fingers tap restlessly against her leg.

She wants to play piano. She really, really wants to play piano!! She doodles herself a rudimentary 49-key keyboard across two pages of the book, "playing" it as she hums, but it's not the same.

Eventually, in a fit of impulsive, restless boredom, she reaches out to gently start running her fingers through his hair. Something like that would be relaxing to her, so maybe it'll help him sleep with just a little less magic.

Or it'll be weirdly invasive and wake him up. Either way.]

[napstar]

[ 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]

[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?

[napstar]

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]

[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.]

[napstar]

[ "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.

[gotyourbach]

Okay, if you're sure...

[He's so kind. Her smile is a little more genuine as she shifts back and gives him a nod.]

You're welcome. Again. Oh, wait, I didn't say it the first time, huh?

[She hesitates, then adds,] But, um, I meant to tell you... I kept your violin. Nobody in this whole town knows anything about instruments, but I know somebody in New Aspen who's a really, really good woodworker... even if he can't fix it, I bet he could make you a new one!

If you want.

[napstar]

[ Oh. He forgot about his violin. Is it busted? From that height, it probably splintered into a hundred pieces. ]

It's probably easier to buy a new one than repair it.

[gotyourbach]

Then... when you're feeling better, let's go to New Aspen together and talk to Matthew-san, okay? And then--

[She yawns in the middle of her sentence, then flushes in embarrassment. Oops.]

S-Sorry!! Um, what I was trying to say is I really... really want to play a duet with you again. That's- that's all I kept thinking about, when... you know.... [She trails off. It's still so hard for her to say that he died, out loud, to his face.]

So... if it's okay with you, um... I'd really like it if we could perform together again.

[napstar]

[ He has no problem saying it himself but has enough awareness now to see that she's uncomfortable with it. Most people are. ]

Sure. Whenever you're free. And I have a violin again.

[ Any instrument would probably work with his prodigy skill, but all he knows right now are violin pieces. ]

[gotyourbach]

Thanks...

[There's a quiet, heartfelt sigh of relief as she closes her eyes. It seemed silly, after he'd let her stay near him and help him sleep, but she'd been afraid he wouldn't want to play with her again after what happened.]

Do you, um... want the broken one back? Even if we can't fix it, I hate to throw an instrument away.

[napstar]

[ He would say no, but he remembers her arguing with him about offering the violin to the goblins if worst came to worst. She puts a lot of importance on the instrument even if to him it's just something he purchased from Fantasy Costco. ]

Sure. I'll put it in the bedroom.

[ It will be the one piece of personality in the whole unit. ]

[gotyourbach]

Oh, good! I'll keep it safe for you until then.

[If he hadn't wanted it, she'd have just kept it, but it makes her much happier to know he'll hang onto it.

...Not wanting to get rid of things that are meaningful is why her room is always such a mess, huh?

She stifles another yawn and moves to slide off the edge of his bed.]

Are you okay if I go take a nap...? I can stay here in the chair if you'd rather not be by yourself.

[Because hanging out with someone who's sleeping... is such great company....]

[napstar]

[ Kaede should know what great company it is, having done it for the past few hours. But the chair doesn't seem comfortable for sleeping, and he imagines any inns would have better beds than the one he's been given. ]

You should sleep at an inn.

[gotyourbach]

Okay. I'll see if they have any rooms left!

[Im...plying she didn't try to get a room last night? Don't worry about it. There are just so many Reclaimers the local inn is probably strained.

She holds out a hand for a fistbump, though, a tinge of her earlier sadness coloring her smile.]

You'll be okay. I'll come see you again after I take a nap, alright?

[napstar]

[ He nods and meets her fistbump with his own, though it's lacking an energy that a fistbump should have. He knows he'll be fine once this pain leaves him. ]

Sure. Get some rest.

[ He'll try to do the same but, well. He expects he'll have to get to the moonbase before he'll really be able to sleep. ]