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Field Mission 4, Etude in Blue, Part One
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![]() 1. ETUDE IN BLUE: WELCOME TO THE SEA OF FALLEN STARSA. A WATERY LANDING You'll be going down from the Moon Base via glass spheres, shot by the flight technician staff member Avi. As usual, each capsule can hold up to 4 people, although it does get increasingly uncomfortable the more people are crammed together. You're shot down to the planet in the most horrifying way possible, seeing the landscape violently change quickly and without remorse or guilt towards your possible motion sickness or uneasy feeling. The landing this time, is a canonball. All along the middle of the Sea of Fallen Stars, blips of orbs will be falling straight down into the water. From the Moon Base, Lucretia watches on as the majority of you land. It's quite a spectacle to see the splashes from this high up. And once you're there, you're... kind of up a creek without a paddle. Without a propulsion or engine system to move your orb forward, you don't have a lot of choices here. If you're lucky, you might find a mercantile ship out in between voyages. If you're extremely unlucky, you're going to have to swim... or maybe you can pop the sphere hatch open and find something to paddle with. Be careful of the sharks? Definitely be careful of the sharks. Your destination? Lyrabar. 2. THE LAP OF LUXURY, THE DANGERS OF LYRABARB. THE CITY OF MERCHANTS' DREAMS ![]() Let's get something out of the way first: Lyrabar is a gorgeous city — and when you step off the S.S. Codfather and onto the docks about a hundred yards from the edge of the city proper, you'll be treated to a clear view of the entire skyline: Ornate, twisting towers of marble, stone buildings and finely crafted wooden structures form the city into a neat semicircle, with the marketplace at its epicenter. At the far end of the city stands a castle, a nearly glittering, extravagant structure, a maze of hallways and towers that seems to be stretching high toward the other planes of existence themselves. Lyrabar is on an entirely new level compared to Vista Virs, New Aspen, or even the comforts of the Moon Base itself. This is by far the most luxurious corner of Faerun that you've encountered yet — even the standard-level rooms you might find in an inn around Lyrabar are well maintained, the sheets are clean, and the food is delicious. The food, though! Pretty much anything you can think of is on the menu somewhere, and, no offense to an enduring and malfunctioning robot back on the base, but his cuisine chops can't even compare to what's on offer in Lyrabar. If only the people of Lyrabar were nicer. Weren't so suspicious of anyone new who passes through those gates. There is a lot of gold passing through the city gates, after all. And the pirates who are slowly overrunning the city are well aware of that. ![]() C. THE HOBBY HORSE A lot of you strong archetype Reclaimers, and even the ones who aren't, will probably eventually find your way to The Hobby Horse, a tavern that is absolutely just a tavern, if a bit more crude compared to the other watering holes nearby and around Lyrabar, and absolutely not a place where pirates higher up on the pecking order go for a bit of Jabba-the-Hut-lair entertainment. Of course it isn't. That would be silly! In any case, maybe you've signed the waiver, paid your 20 GP, and had a go at The Death Cave — essentially a long hallway, leading from one ring to the next, with waves of aggressive monsters brought in from the ocean and beyond for you to fight through. And for some of you, those of you who have played a hand in reclaiming three Grand Relics at this point ... honestly, The Death Cave might seem a little too easy. The man taking your payments and signed waivers, a man who goes only by Old Numbers, a gruff, bearded old fart who seems to be more battle scar than human, seems to have a solution for that. He leans forward over the counter, eyeing you near suspiciously. "Oi ... if it's an actual challenge yer lookin' for, Old Numbers can whip you up somethin' more ... randomized. Y'seen those Sea Quartz around town, right? Those rainbow lookin' stars that the fancier folk keep grindin' up into shampoo. Bring me three of those, and I'll give you a fight worth yer chops." True to his word, you pay Old Numbers three SQ, he'll have you sign another waiver (essentially, you're going to have to name a next of kin — someone who's fit and willing to drag your corpse out of The Death Cave, because Old Numbers here sure as hell isn't going to do it), then he'll draw a random placard from a stack of three and affix it next to the entrance of The Death Cave. The excited energy in the crowd is palpable. Now the real battling betting begins. Your goal here isn't to defeat all the enemies: It's simply to make it to the final exit. Here's what the placards mean (As a further warning, these are highly dangerous encounters! You signed a second waiver for a very good reason.): ○ Sword: In the final room of The Death Cave, you will be pitted against a swordsman who seems to have been taken in by some sort of Faerun equivalent of malevolent corruption — and boy, is he having the time of his life. He is extremely fast, his blade is freshly sharpened, and he will not hesitate to strike down anyone who was unfortunate enough to roll him, while laughing about it. He does have what you might consider an ultimate attack: Gathering up energy into his blade, he swings it, channeling said energy into one devastating plume of magic shot directly toward you. You're going to want to find a way to avoid it. ![]() For those of you who have gold burning a hole in your pocket, the shopping available in Lyrabar is near endless. The marketplace, located at the center of the city, seems to sprawl on forever, with stalls, storefronts and eateries that seemingly cater to every fancy, whether it's fashion or weaponry. If it's souvenirs you're looking to take home, the most popular items are necklaces made out of those ever popular Sea Quartz, that are being used at The Hobby Horse and ground up into shampoo, and very sarcastic postcards: Think, "I visited Lyrabar and all I got was this crappily printed postcard" sort of sarcastic. Generally, though, as long as the item is not magical, and as long as the tech is not more advanced than what you'd find on the Moon Base, you can probably find it at the Marketplace. If you're not sure about an idea, feel free to ask right here! Some other things of note about what you'll find while shopping: ○ There are a lot of pickpockets. Maybe you shouldn't actually have a hole in your pockets. Even with the people of Lyrabar as distrusting of each other, and of you, as they are, those looking to pilfer a little extra cash off an unsuspecting visitor will find no shortage of targets. Perhaps you're one of them. Perhaps you're the sort willing to start a brawl in the middle of the Marketplace to get your most valued possessions back. Maybe, if you look close enough, you'll see that many have the same insignia branded on their arm. It seems, if you'd like to join in with, or infiltrate a pirate crew, this band of kleptos might be a good place to start off. ![]() Maybe by this point you've had something valuable snatched from you, or you can't quite figure out how nobody's put a stop to some very clear money laundering happening at the Auction House, and you feel the need to serve up some serious justice to the pirates out there who have done you wrong. Who runs the justice joint around here, anyway? That inquiry will lead you straight to the royal guard — the captain of which is going to groan in exhaustion/annoyance at you questions, or even your bid to help out. You think he hasn't heard that story before? The second a silver-tongued charlatan charms their way into the ranks of the royal guard, they're looking the other way while their visiting pirate friends rob the rest of us blind. He's got no time for this. If you want to truly help, you are going to have to prove it first. And so, with that, you will find yourself immediately thrown into an undercover operation, one the captain doesn't mind doling out, because at the end of the day he loses nothing from it except for a few disguises. That's right: you'll be given a disguise, whether it's a smelly pile of peasant rags or, if he's feeling less charitable with his budget, a pair of these (look, it's not like he actually cares about your safety here), and a piece of paper with one or two names on it. Your mission? Bring these suspects back to the captain without causing a scene. Or, well, go ahead and cause a scene. He has little shits to give, remember? Pull this off, though, and consider a private audience with the one member of the royal family who still keeps an audience nowadays, Princess Irene, secured. 3. OUT ON THE OPEN SEAF. CONGRATULATIONS, YOU'RE THE NEW OWNER OF A YACHT ![]() ○ Steal it. This is how pirating works in a place like this. You find something, you take it, and you put a nice new flag on it to make it yours. Of course, there are some complications with that. Get caught, and you're going straight to nautical prison- don't pass the Hobby Horse, don't collect $200. But the docks district of this port town is known to be rather quiet at night, when the merchant fleets are out swindling cash at the bar, drinking themselves blind, or maybe just settling home with their family after an honest day's work. There are hired guards keeping watch, but it shouldn't be that difficult to incapacitate them. When they wake up in the morning, they'll assume what it always is around here. Someone forgot to pay the red tithe. G. 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA There's some adventuring to do out in the open sea, and treasures both vast and mighty. It's not entirely uncommon to find islands dotted along the landscape, and those are particularly good for docking and getting a sense of what's gone down around here since Captain Ferryn's taken command of the high seas. You might've gotten the sense that loose lips really do sink ships- that evidence is coming up pretty bill in your search for actual piracy going on around here. The good captain is incredibly skillful at both deception and infiltration, and with the Soul Blade helping him, there's almost nothing stopping him from completely dominating the entire sea and crowning himself the new royal in town. Mum's the word around these parts, so you're going to have to do some exploration. Pop some of those shrimp chips and head down to explore the underwater depths of the seabed. ![]() Many of the ships seem to have crates still on them- all with the official royal seal of Lyrabar stamped plainly on their lid. When popped open, you'll notice there's an abundance of sea quartz- the gems that are used to constantly provide a source of energy to the town. Hard to tell why pirates wouldn't be interested in that, when the trade is absurdly lucrative. You'll also find areas where ships aren't present. Instead, you might come across entire fields of sea quartz. But in their current state, they're pretty useless and look like the trinkets you might have found on the streets of Lyrabar. Devoid of any magical energies, they lay deep on the ocean floor, a nuisance and an eyesore to nature. You'll also notice that natural enemies like sharks and Sahuagin steer clear of these areas, for better or for worse. Good luck down there, and make sure you have a buddy system set up. Getting a glass sphere down into the water is near impossible, but Dr. Tank is on board the S.S. Codfather for emergencies. H. NOBODY KNOWS THE TROUBLES I'VE SEEN ![]() Pirates, for one, are particularly good at various ways of warfare. Many of them don't even look or appear to be like the ones you might have heard of in stories or experienced elsewhere. Some even fly under the banner of Lyrabar, cruising safely without notice by anyone that would be wise to what they're up to. Sail out for too long without a purpose or linger in an area too long, and a ship will approach, lining up side by side with you. They'll tell you that they're part of the Royal Navy, and hell, they might even be wearing the garb of the official uniformed ranks, and when they announce they're here for usual inspection, they'll request to board your ship. Protocol, you see, because of the rampant acts of piracy out in the open waters. Refusing might make you look more suspicious, but letting them on board as inspectors and tax adjudicators can be equally dangerous. Some of them are legit, and some of them will look to take command of your ship and leave you out in the ocean to drown. You're going to have to be cunning to figure out which one is which. Storms rage all over the Sea of Fallen Stars. With the encroachment of the warmer months ahead, the weather itself battles for its rightful claim to the area. The signs of a storm coming are easy enough to spot, and they're frequent. Some will last 2-3 days and make travel nearly impossible. Getting out of the water is an important step in keeping your crew safe; and spending a night on an island or in a grotto is always better than running the risk of joining the armies of The Drowned below. Maelstroms are an equal threat of immense dread. If you happen to see a swirling vortex of water, start heading in the opposite direction immediately. There's a certain magnetic pull that they have, and once you've been caught in the outer rings, it's going to take a lot of teamwork to get yourselves out. Good thing you've had a month to build upon that, or else you might be toast. For those of you who are highly less fortunate, you'll notice yourselves getting sucked in, closer, and closer. You can look over the epicenter and- good god, is that a tentacle!? What is that thing!? The Prespuran Triangle also poses a major issue while traveling across the sea. Legend has it that if you sail too close to its navigable coordinates, your ship will vanish and you'll never be heard from again. It might seem like a wives' tale, but it's absolutely true. Come too close to it and you'll notice your compass begin to spin out like there's no tomorrow. Continue inward, and, well. You'll see something, alright. It's a tower that stretches into the sky, tall and unwavering. And also, completely impregnable and without doors. You're going to have to get yourself out of there somehow, and for your sake, let's hope you know the exact coordinates you came in through or else... you mind wind up on a completely different side of the world. Last but not least, the pirates aren't the only ones looking to hop aboard your newly crowned baby. Don't forget about the Sahuagins, either. They seem to attack only during the dead of night, when the moon is ripe and full in the sky. They bring with them charming magics and are particularly good at getting people to willfully walk over the edge themselves, without even drawing a blade. 4. OOCThis is your story to write, and your setting to play with! Anything on the OOC post is fair game, and if there's something you'd like to try, please don't hesitate to let us know on the RNG thread. But most importantly, Reclaimers, be amazing. blurb code by photosynthesis |
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Like no that's literally it. This mission ended up being a SUPER MOD FLEX one holy crap you guys!!! So excited!!!! I love you all unironically please keep enjoying the setting to the dicebot's detriment. But rather than kill myself trying to come up with top levels I'm just gonna do closed starters as people bug me. So if you have ideas, message me at Future Cats#5847 and we'll talk some shop yeah ]
Shinjiro
Or. It might be? It's hard to say. It's more like a piece of furniture trying very very hard to be a person and failing miserably. That person may or may not have been something similar to Will, but it also might be a really well-designed body-snatcher. Shinjiro doesn't get more than a second to ruminate on this. ]
Can I borrow you for a bit.
[ Not a question. Questions need inflections. It's not even a monotone at this point. It's just... Nothing. It's eerie as all fuck. ]
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...Sure. What's up?
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rtal-no, human-no, person nearby. Emergency stopgap measure. An acceptable risk. Even if he doesn't Know, this is acceptable. He is trusted enough forfor
this? This. ]
Fishing.
[ Wait. Sentences. He always gets yelled at for those. What was that thing humans do. Pronouns? He thinks it's pronouns- ] I. And you. No others.
[ There, pronouns. Good enough. He turns around and leaves just as easily. ]
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ballparksfragmentsuniverses away from being capable of telling him, so Shinjiro won't press. Instead he tries for something that's a distant fourth cousin of shitposting once removed from trash talk.]Ain't you had enough of camping shit last month?
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Instead, he receives only a slow shift of eyes in his direction. There is no slowing down. There is no turning in his direction. There isn't even a response for a bit. What do you want from him Aragaki, an answer or some sh
Wait. No. That's probably what he wants. What was the question again? How is that even relevant? He didn't even participate in most of the camping shit??? ]
...Excuse me?
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...Fishing's a camp-type thing. S'just a joke.
[Asking what's wrong is right on the tip of his tongue, but Will probably doesn't want to talk about it. He just...wants to go fishing, for some reason??? It's not exactly the kind of stress relief activity he would've pictured for the guy, but whatever, right?]
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Got a' weapon? [ Sentences. Sentences. Elaboration of the subject via prepositional phrases. It's not difficult. But it is. But dismissing him back to that level of non-answer is the worst idea. No, second worst to what they're about to do, but it Has To Be Done. Back to worst idea. ] On your person. Presently.
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Mayayayayayayaonnaise
There is no answer after that but one set of footsteps scampering away at high speeds and another set of harsher footfalls heading in her direction. Surely, this would be a lot scarier if she didn't know who it was. ]
I tried getting you out early. No dice. Gotta wait for the investigation to finish. [ A jingle of metal on metal as the keys are raised. ] Can give you some breathing room, at least.
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Hey, Will. Won't you get in trouble for that...?
[ too bad for her that her ever valiant defender is still dead. well, mia's here, and mia's like, the best lawyer in the universe (no bias), so it'll probably be fine. ]
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Why would I be in trouble? I'm keeping an eye on a suspect who can teleport. Nothing more. Time-and-a-half for overnight, too.
[ What an asshole. ]
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[ she tilts her head at him. well, if he can make it work in his favor.... more power to him. ]
Okay, but... you're not going to stay here all night, are you?
[ like, she'll take the walkies, she'll take the hamburgers, but he needs to sleep. ]
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It's a shame he's not allowed to question humans about that sort of thing. Her privacy is paramount and it should be left alone.Wow that. That actually sounds kind of dumb? Why did he ever think that wasn't dumb. She gets the mental equivalent of being flicked between the eyes.You can feel anxious. It's fine.
And for the actual concern here? It's dumb and she should feel dumb. What kind of question even is that??? ]
I can stay up for five days without major problems. One is nothing.
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[ I don't want to worry you and there's no point stressing about it. ]
[ even as she conveys that, she can't really turn the stress off. it's always there. she deflates a little, looking like she's been scolded. but that's not going to stop her from telling him to go the fuck to sleep. ]
[ priorities!! ]
Just because you can doesn't mean you should. You really don't have to hang out with me all night....
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Logic and emotion can conflict. You can think there's no point to stressing, but still be stressed. That doesn't make your stress invalid.
Maya's scolded expression doesn't get dunked on - the above was more than enough, honestly - but she gets a smile that's a few too many incisors. The key for her cell is held up and waved once, a threatening clinking sound following the action. ]
Can lock myself inside, then you're stuck with me. [ What a menace. But less of one, because the shitposting goes back to something closer to the apathy he usually wears. ] Everyone's been getting on my case t'make my own decisions. This is me trying it. I can't fix what's stressing you, but I can at least give a distraction for a few hours. So. Do you want dinner or not?
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i warned u
She knows how to keep her purse close and navigate these sorts of places. Hell, she knows how to be the one fleecing someone else instead.
So excuse her if she's more than a little fucking angry when she realizes her pockets are lighter than they should be.]
Goddamnit.
[How the hell did a pickpocket get close enough without her even noticing?!
Grudgingly, she approaches one of the guards, hoping that her sliiightly more Cleric...y.... outfit here will work in her favor this once.
Or she would. If she didn't immediately recognize one of those guards once she's close enough.]
You!
hey baby <3
But no, this time the shouty person is at Him. The guard he's talking to kind of gets this look on his face of "oh god, he's gonna crack her head open". ]
I have a name, you know. [ .................. shitwhatwashernameSHIT ] What do you want?
:* <3
[So much for not swearing near him.
She glares at the other guard, then turns back to... Whatshisface, whatever.]
Since when are you a guard here?!
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[ But this is less angry and more like someone scolding a particularly uppity child. The guard she glares at looks vaguely torn for a second, like someone stuck between a rock and a hard place except both the rock and the hard place would beat him up. ]
Couple a' days ago. Captain hired me.
[ Insert a shrug here that makes that sound like that's commonplace. It just happens. ]
What happened?
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Ew, eerie. Why the hell does that sound so familiar? Who else has been saying this kind of shit to her... Give her a minute...
Ugh.]
Well, your Captain's doing a... [Uggghhhhh fine.] ...bad job, because someone just stole from me!
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Lyrabar's been having robbery issues. Was that all your funds?
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So there he is, coming off another long and grueling day of his boyfriend being tied to a pole back in the SS Codfather, in the unsexiest way humanly possible, and he's at a loss for words as to how he should feel right about now. Which, to say, isn't new for Ryuji- emotions always burst like sunflares inside him, and he's stuck decompartmentalizing them in the afterglow of his own psyched out rage. What is new, however, is the way he's not even angry over any of it.
He happens upon Will, and the last time they met, he chided him for not raining on everyone's parade at the capture of a relic. His death price is pretty obvious- the pigmentation in his eyes has completely left him, making them devoid of their usual amber hue and instead, are replaced with an eerie sort of silver. He's self-conscious about that, but it's Ryuji, he's not going to outright say that.]
Yo. Got some time? Could use a few minutes to do something to clear my head if you're up for it.
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So when he rolls up outta nowhere with his new set of not-contacts, he gets stared at for the duration of the words as if it's a heartfelt request. The one positive to this is it's the specific flavor of direct eye contact that comes in the Middle-to-Upper Corporate Management Starter Kit. Along with strong-but-not-too-strong handshakes, faking polite smiles, and knowing how to backstab everyone around you if it means getting a parking space closer to the entrance.
Either way, the main point to get out of the narration is Ryuji's a cool cat and you can't judge people for their weirdass silver eyes when you have weirdass gold ones. Lessons to live by. ]
Sure. Got all day. What'd you need?
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Ryuji pushes that down into his gut.
But for him to meet Will here feels right. There's something about him that makes Ryuji feel like there's less bullshit in the world when he talks with him, even if it's just a moment or two that they managed to engage before. And Lyrabar is just completely filled to the brim with bullshit as it were. After dying, and not to get too melodramatic or I'm-13-and-this-is-deep, a whole lot of this shit just feels unnecessary and excess.]
I'd sell my left nut for a burger.
[Well, at least he's the same as he was before in that regard.]
There's a bar on the east side that a friend told me to stay away from. Real rowdy crowd there, you know?
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Just the left one?
[ No, but really, who hears 'stay away from here' and thinks 'oh shit GOTTA CHECK IT OUT'? This is rhetorical because the answer is absolutely everyone. And in a city where Real Rowdy Crowd seems to be the default, that means whatever bar he has in mind is like that old '$10 For Ten (Shots)' place near the Starlight Ballroom. The kind of hole in the wall where the night ends with someone yeeted out a window - possibly through a line fangirls waiting for Sayori's Poetry Night - then landing face-first into a gutter. The metaphor is even more abstract than the last one if only because that place closed a few years ago, probably from too cheap prices and too many yeets. Now the narrative has to go be depressed.
In the less metaphor-laden end of the pool, Will tends to twist to fit the parameters of what someone Needs from a conversation. Contrary to popular belief, he does not have access to reading bracket-text anymore. There is only basing off the words, and the feeling surrounding them. The words are "Hey, let's get dinner at a dive bar", and the feeling comes off as "I need a distraction and only a dive bar will qualify". That's gonna leave a mess. He's some sort of responsible adult, right? Will himself doesn't care overmuch if he gets fired from the guards, so no problems there. Ryuji's strong enough to one-shot anyone who starts shit. If he blacks out, he's still in the weight range to toss him over one shoulder and carry him somewhere that's Not The Aforementioned Gutter.
.....................Yeah, no problems. ]
Dibs on the tab. Lead the way.