balance_logs | Lunar Interlude 4, Part 2

	Now is the winter of our discount tent.
	NAVIGATION

1. THE TOMB OF HORRORS

"The Tomb of... Horrors?"

"Yes. It's a tomb. And it's filled with horrors. Lucas, were you paying attention at all during the staff meeting yesterday afternoon?"

"Yes, but... that doesn't... sound very safe, Lucretia."

"The Space Mittens. The Architect's Pen. The Yarn of Earth's Binding. They've already faced way worse than what's down there, Lucas, and it's mostly harmless. Just a few exercises to get them closer to each other. Learn to work as a team. Build rapport. Support the new Reclaimers. It'll be safe. Edhyln's been working on it for weeks."

"Edhyln?"

"Yes, our Bureau Beholder Best Buddy. He actually likes to be called BB, for short."

"Our... WHAT?"

A. COME ONE, COME ALL

Lucretia stands in front of the Tomb of Horrors. Several Reclaimers have done their best to help clear the path from the main campground straight to the mouth of the cave. She stands in front of it, explaining how this works. Essentially, you form a team- the makeup is completely up to you- and go through the tomb. It's meant to build character and bolster relationships between the Reclaimers. Mostly, it should be challenging, fun and edu-taining at the same time.

You look up at a pretty dingy sign that's been painted onto wood, hanging above the portcullis that keeps entrants out. It reads, "Enter Colleagues, Exit Best Friends."

Lucretia states that the tomb can only hold one team at a time, and it takes a little bit of effort to set it up in between runs. Fear not! You'll all have your chance to enter. Lucas has created some really cool technology to live stream your encounter onto these floating orbs that can be viewed from the campgrounds. They connect to your bracer, too. You can provide live commentary if you'd like; it'll appear inside the tomb itself as floating digital chat for everyone to see.

Lucretia's not incredibly happy about this new invention and worries that it'll hamper the experience a little bit. You, on the other hand, are almost duty bound to make her regret her decision to allow it.

Before you enter the Tomb of Horrors, a wooden box is neatly organized for your team. The lid is left open, and you're instructed to leave all your magical items behind. The focus is teamwork, after all- not cheesing it with OP artifacts.

OOC Note: Feel free to set up a separate top level for interactions from other Reclaimers who might be watching your trial. The top 3 streamers who receive the most comments will receive a Fantasy Gachapon token each! We will stop tallying comments on May 31st, at 11PM EST

B. THE FLOOR IS MADE OF LAVA

(Note: Image over there not an accurate representation of this trial; I just thought it looked super neat.)

Room 1 of the Tomb of Horrors is carpeted in a red, soft texture. There's a leader board that appears on the other side of the room that states: "THE FLOOR IS LAVA," and the second you and your team enter, pixelated faces of your countenance will appear below the warning, and a tally of points will begin. You'll notice that once you've entered, the portcullis drops and you're essentially forced to undergo the trials within until you've reached the final room.

About 6 inches off the ground is a series of five 6½ foot long planks of wood, the ends of which are resting on small, circular metal pegs built into the ground. They make a zigzag pattern over a span of 30 feet, and you notice that below this series of planks, or essentially this low ropes course, is that soft, plush red carpet.

This seems really, really easy. What gives? Lucretia's designed way trickier Tests of Initiation than this. However, if you... for any reason, touch the red carpet even once, the screen on the other end of the room will flash and tally a point deduction from your team. You'll earn one TEAMWORK PENALTY (TP). This seems silly. When everyone is across, you'll hear a noise over the loudspeaker remark: "we all walk the same path in life, and it's easier with help from your friends!"

C. THE WOODEN WALL

Room 2 contains the second trial: a giant, 15 foot, 7 feet wide, several feet deep wall made of wood. There's no way around it, as it seems to vivisect the entire room. It also doesn't come with rope, anything to help you climb over it, and honestly? It's a little on the slippery side. Getting above and beyond it is your challenge. If someone falls down from the wall, you'll earn one TP for your team.

At the end of the trial, you'll hear a similar voice from a loudspeaker: "sometimes life throws obstacles at you, and it's easier to get over them with your friends!"

D. THE TOTEM OF CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM

The third room of the Camp Balance teamwork exercise leads way into a circular room with a small metal statue on a wooden pedestal. The statue depicts cartoonish representations of your party makeup, and when turned over, you see the familiar logo of Fantasy Costco written smack dab on the bottom of them.

The far side of the trial reads: "THIS IS THE TOTEM OF CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM."

In order to pass, you must give at least one piece of helpful criticism to your teammate. You'll take turns, and if the criticism comes from a place of pure personal truth, it'll light up gold. If it comes out of mockery, disdain, or condescension, it'll glow red hot- to the point of burning your hand. You'll also earn one TP for that one.

Once all four totems are lit, the exit becomes apparent. "Good advice makes for good friends!"

E. THE ARENA

You step forward into the next room, and it looks very similar to the arena back on base... only it's been retrofitted to look like a McDonald's ball pit instead. You wade forward, as someone stands in the middle, a sheet over their face to make them appear to be a spoopy ghost. Oh no! It can only be vanquished by true teamwork! What will you do?

The figure flings a ball at you, and depending on the color, you feel a light effect that resonates with a similarly colored element:

○ Red for fire
○ Blue for ice
○ Yellow for lightning
○ Green for wind

It's not hard to take down at all.

Have a little fun with it, why don't you?

Or don't. The person under the sheet is getting a little ticked off with how you're not taking this trial seriously. If your team managed to score even one TP, he'll stop midway through the fight and rip the sheet off.

You know those weird feelings you've been having at night while wandering around the campsite? That's because BB, the Buddy Beholder, has been around, watching all of you and trying to have a good time. He's not a very good beholder... in that, he's not very great at being a beholder. His eyestalks emit a kind of nauseating feeling that can cause confusion, blindness, paralysis- the same things you experienced back at the cabins.

One of two things happen, here:

"You're not taking this seriously! You were supposed to walk out of this becoming better friends. I think I know just the thing to help you become closer." (You've scored at least one TP)

"Congratulations! You've earned the grand prize!" (A treasure chest drops from the ceiling, and when opened, shows a banner with the word "FRIENDSHIP!" printed onto it. This, too, has a Fantasy Costco logo on the bottom right of the flag.)

Either way, the ground below you begins to tremble, as it seems all the balls in the ball pit start to suck through a vortex and the floor gives way.

You're about to experience the real Tomb of Horrors.

2. YOU'VE REACHED.... THE END?

For those of you who clearly did not take BB's cooperative training program seriously, he is extremely insulted!! Some of these tasks were meant to be interpreted more metaphorically, something to consider while forging stronger bonds with your colleagues, not just stomped through or made fun of. This is IMPORTANT. This is FRIENDSHIP.

(Note: He is not mad at all of you sweet Reclaimers who enthusiastically tried your best at his workshop. But this is a team-building exercise, which means you all MUST do everything as a team).

And clearly, as a team with the majority sorted into the fighting-based paths, the only thing you lot will respond to is actual danger.

F. COME ONE, COME ALL... AGAIN?

The little kid gloves are off — or, at least, they're off as far as a kind of ineffective beholder is concerned. The moment you regain your bearings deep down in the Tomb of Horrors, you'll find yourself in a dimly lit, dank corridor. The air is thick and unpleasant to breathe, like it reeks of magical energy, like maybe this tomb actually belongs to someone more sinister than a kind of goofy eyeball monster (Let's be clear about something, though: Goofy eyeball monsters are usually a lot more dangerous than BB is).

You'll have to make your way to the end of the corridor, fumbling your way through the dark as the ground slants downward, deeper into the tomb — because any path action you have that might conjure light curiously doesn't seem to work in this area. It'd probably be best if you all held hands or found another way to safely navigate the corridor.

Or not — because at some point, one or more of you will misstep, or suddenly, it will become apparent that the corridor, twisting far above the bottom of the tomb below, doesn't actually have any walls.

And just like that, one or more of you will suddenly be gone.

G. BIG BASS FISHIN'

That's how easy it is to die and throw an entire mission off balance, isn't it? Maybe that's the actual message that little exercise was meant to convey: that you must be willing to keep moving forward even when your teammates have fallen.

But luckily, much like the Bureau has plenty of diamonds on hand for Revivify, that fall wasn't fatal. It was pretty painful, though.

Also, you're soaking wet, because you fell in a lake. It's cold, expansive, dark as all get-out down there and a little bit salty.

In any case, those who slipped to their Tomb of Horrors death and those who managed to squeak down the corridor themselves will be able to reconvene at said lake, their lightbearing spells intact again, and have a rest at series of stones set up as a seating arrangement. There's even some fishing gear there, since your next trial does involve some BIG BASS FISHIN'.

After a little while of reeling back and reeling in some ... honestly pretty boring baby bass that wouldn't even make it to the pail for measuring, something appears to emerge from deep within the middle of the lake. Something ... about human-sized, actually.

Something kind of pissed.

And it is intensely focused on you.

That sure as hell is a Skum: A dangerous aquatic monster that specializes in biting and raking with any number of sharp appendages to eviscerate its foes. For this encounter, though, the Skum is going to pick only one target to attack, and will continue doing so.

Your job here? Work together to protect the person who was unlucky enough to be spotted first.

H. FREAKY FRIDAY

Perhaps the most egregious of exercises puts you in a plain stone room, split into four stone hallways, effectively separating you from the rest of your team.

It seems innocent enough when you pass through the entrance to your hallway. At the end is a door, with a speaker — approach it, and a pleasant-sounding voice will ask the following question:

What is it that you value most?

Maybe that question sounds familiar. But if you haven't noticed already, it'll suddenly become apparent when you try to answer: You are not currently in your own body — it seems you've swapped bodies with one of your teammates.

Which means, of course, that your own, personal answer, the thing that you value most, isn't going to cut it. You might want to break out your bracer for this one and message your other teammates.

Because this exercise is kind of a really weird way of forcing you to learn more about each other.

I. BB

The final doors swing open, and as you pass through to an empty room, the final area before the exit, you'll feel something of a snap, as you're returned to your body. That's not disorienting.

Neither is coming face-to-face with the mastermind behind the very clearly aptly named Tomb of Horrors himself — BB, a beholder, an enormous floating eyeball sporting even more eyeballs, because all the better to see you, and all the exercises he built to encourage cooperation, with, of course.

And look at how or mildly surprised/vaguely pleased with himself all those eyeballs are at your success.

"You made it! Oh cripes, I'm not supposed to be in this room right now?? So ... that's pretty much ... it? I've got a comment box over by the door if you want to leave some feedback — I don't claim to be a dungeon master or anything, but I thought some of these exercises were pretty all right, and.

"............

"Oh, what am I saying. You're going to want to fight, aren't you?"

You have a couple of options here:

○ Yeah, you can fight BB if you want! Just a word of warning, though: Even though he is kind of terrible at being a beholder, subverting the usual alignment, uh. beholden. To beholders. He is still a beholder. When he decides to fight, he can be incredibly dangerous. You'll want to mind the lasers and the biting, but where BB shines in particular is his wide arsenal of status effect spells. He is the one responsible for all the weird effects happening overnight at the camp — and if you can think of a weird effect, any at all, he's likely got a spell for it.

Don't kill him, though! He's got more Reclaimers who need to make their way through the tomb. Actually, he'll probably make a hasty, floating exit if you harm him too much.

○ You can leave a comment in the comment box. Positive or negative, you'll be receiving a reply in the form of a dramatic retelling of your adventure through the Tomb of Horrors in a large and very loopy script. It's unclear how exactly BB wrote it.

Regardless, when you do leave the Tomb of Horrors, you'll find a box with a tag addressed to you on a table by the doorway. Inside is about 300 GP — plenty enough to buy yourself a new weapon or way too many snacks from Fantasy Costco — and a note.

"This all seemed awfully silly, didn't it? But I do hope that you were able to learn a little bit about each other today."

3. THE GREAT BONFIRE

J. THE END OF CAMP BALANCE

Now that we've sung camp songs, played potato sack races, enjoyed a month of relaxing with friends, and made some good (?) memories down in the Tomb of Horrors, it's time to wind down from the activities of Camp Balance. Lucretia calls everyone around the campfire the night before return- and it's meant to be a rather joyous occasion. Food of innumerable styles and quantities are laid out and kept fresh with a charming ward- burgers, fruits, veggie dip, a jello mold that no one will probably touch... you name it, it's there.

Tonight's celebration is one to mark unification. She thanks everyone for everything they've done up to this point, and humbly asks that they continue to do the outright unbelievable things that they've accomplished since coming here. It marks a half way point for the war she's waging to rid the world of the Grand Relics, and more than that, it marks almost 6 months since some of you have come here. Through bonds, new and old, and through hardships shared and vested similar passions and goals, you've made this journey possible. And she wants to reward that.

There's music in the air as Johann plucks some spiriting songs on his violin. Spears for s'mores run iron hot in the huge bonfire centered around the midpoint of Camp Balance. It's a calm last farewell to the month you've had here- enjoy it in the hot springs. Go for a walk and take in the clean, crisp sea air that envelops every direction of the land. Swim in a nearby lake. Find some new friends, old friends, romance, good discussion. The world's your oyster.

And as one last treat, Lucretia pulls out her staff, and stamps the floor. Into the sky shoot rockets as fireworks explode into blooms at the skyline. They'll make you feel somewhat nostalgic, and whether that's by the magical entrails they leave behind as they die out, or the warm feeling it brings in your chest to see them. Either way, it's a night to remember, for sure.

K. AN OMINOUS VISION

And just at the tail end of the celebration, as if bad luck waits for no one, there will be a deafening silence that pervades the entire camp. A gut feeling will fill your heart with dread, something that you recall, something that you're familiar with... but maybe can't place your finger on it. It seems as if the entire world comes to a still: no wind, no rustling of grass or sounds of crickets in the forest.

It stops, and so do you.

As you look up into the sky, where there should be a canopy of now-familiar stars... are eyes. Millions of them in varying sizes and widths. And they watch you, unblinking. The intensity in which you feel your very soul pervaded into is terrifying, and almost as quick as it started, it ends.

Looks like we've been found, adventurers.

The Hunger knows we're here.

4. OOC

We hope you enjoyed this month's corporate retreat, and that you learned a lot about your fellow Reclaimers!

You'll note there's no RNG thread this go-around. That's normal! We are working on your next mission, so we need a little bit more time to work on that over the next few weeks. Don't forget, there's a reward for the top level that gets the most amount of niconico video flyby's, in the tune of 1 gachapon token to the top three livestreamers.

Also, please remember to turn in your activity for May — you have a little over a week left! As a reminder, you can turn in two bonus threads for two path actions this month.

New players only need to check in, but you can also claim your small reward for the initiation thread as well as two bonus threads.

blurb code by photosynthesis

Lunar Interlude 4, Part 2

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