balance_logs | Lunar Interlude 5

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Lunar Interlude 5

	looks like i'm in charge now
	NAVIGATION

Click here for the RNG thread!

1. FROM THERE TO HERE AND THERE IS GONE

A. YOUR ARRIVAL

For those of you who were just casually (or not so casually) pulled between the universes, depending on how you viewed your home world, your day just got a whole lot worse.

You can't really remember what happened, but the grass beneath you is plush and comfortable, and out in the well manicured field of trees you're sitting in are ... well, a fairly sizeable crowd of people. The Director has pulled in new Reclaimers so often by this point that it's become something of an event. And quite frankly, according to the murmurs of other members of the Bureau, she's become pretty adept at picking some real weirdos.

The Director, standing before you dressed in regal robes, clears her throat and begins to speak. She doesn't appear to be wearing any mics, but her voice is somehow amplified so that it booms through the Quad, and onto the Bracers of those who aren't in the Quad.

When she's done, there's silence. In the distance, trains.

No, really, you most definitely heard the sound of a train just now.

That's probably normal.

In any case, you have a few minutes to gather your bearings before you're taken to your initiation. You can talk with other newbies who are sitting there with you, or if you happen to spot somebody you know among the crowd watching, now's your chance to reunite with them.

And maybe one of those people out there will be able to relay a fact to you, even if you can't remember exactly how: Your world, and the people who were there and are not here, are now gone.

B. THE VOIDFISH

Once you have your bearings, you are divided into small groups of three or four and brought to the easternmost geodesic dome, to an elevator in a well maintained, but sparsely landscaped field. There's nothing particularly ominous feeling about the space — in fact, the two guards who greet you at the elevator entrance seem pleased with your arrival. You are, after all, one of the few chosen by the Director, the few who will reclaim what the Hunger has destroyed.

And in a few moments, you're about to find that out for yourself.

After a tightly packed elevator ride, your group is ushered out to a rather grand looking hall, banners of the Bureau of Balance adorn both sides of smooth metal walls. And inside the Voidfish's chamber stands a tank — impossibly tall, and soaked in a black ink that obscures whatever the tank may be holding.

Standing by the tank is a bard, who happens to be reciting the lyrics to a song. Considering what he's about to do with the sheets of paper in his hands, the lyrics might be apt enough.

When he's finished, he takes the sheets of paper — sheet music — opens a drawer at the bottom of the tank, drops the papers in, and shuts it.

And swiftly, you feel as if there's something you can't just shake off about the melody you just heard.

If you seem alarmed, the bard takes notice of it.

"Yeah, man, like... don't think too hard about it, it's like that every time. I'm guessing you're here to be inoculated? Just a heads up, you might want to, like, seriously, hold your nose while you drink it down. It tastes wicked gross, man."

You sort of get the sense that he's said this speech once or twice in the past. It's well rehearsed, much like the stories you'd expect a bard to be able to recite.

"Anyway, I'm supposed to tell you that you have a choice. If you drink the black stuff, you'll be able to hear through the, uh... Huh, how do I describe it? Through the [TSHCSCHTSHCHSC] sound. You guys like, hear that? Anyway, it's all about knowledge or something. I don't know, I'm just here to, like, feed the thing. We call it the [TSCHHSCHSCH], by the way.

So, like. You get a choice. You can drink it and understand stuff, or not drink it and then hear that crackling noise all day every day. If I were you, I'd drink it. But, hey man, I'm not like, your dad or anything."

The bard takes five cups and draws liquid from a spigot connected directly to the basin of the large tank. Stormy, muddy looking ichor is drawn into them, one by one. He offers each of you a sip.

Drink it (he wasn't kidding about what it tasted like), and you're inoculated to the wisdom of the Voidfish. You try to remember the song this bard sang a few moments ago and the melody, the meter, every octave, all come back to you. And if you think back to your arrival, some of the things you may have heard other people in the Quad say, that simply sounded like static, are suddenly clear. Bureau of Balance. Grand Relic. Reclaimers.

Yet you still can't remember the Hunger or what it had done to your world. And as you look back to the tank in front of you, the water has become clear. There's a jellyfish, as tall as a building, floating within. You look into the body of the creature and you can almost make out a beautiful, tiny universe floating within it.

2. TEST OF INITIATION

You are immediately divided into pairs and brought to the Arena, a large building that is capable of running several simulations for combat training, events, or, in this case, your Test of Initiation.

When you and your partner walk into the Arena, the simulators switch to Initiation Mode, the scenery shifts, and your test begins.

The experience is wildly different for each group — that's because the test will be drawing from both of your experiences back home. Initiation Mode replicates an amalgam of thoughts, metaphors, and ideas between the two people who signed up in order to make an obstacle course suited to appropriately test their ability to stay focused. This is a good opportunity to introduce new CR to some of the thoughts and feelings that your character has going on through their mind, their preferences, or give away a piece of information about themselves that might not be on the surface level.

For example, let's say that your character was born on a ship, and spent their entire childhood growing up at sea. Your partner's life involves a lifetime of academic research (setting aside our dearth of smart archetypes for a sec here). An amalgamation suited for the Test of Initiation may involve navigating a ship through choppy seas with flying book monsters that breathe fire. Be as creative as you want! The design is 100% left up to you.

All tests will eventually lead toward a room with a relic locked within it. What that looks like is up also up to you! If you need a few ideas, though, it could be: A bright red pair of gloves that can manipulate matter, or a ball of yarn that can roll up pretty much anything.

Regardless of what the relic looks like, all you have to do to pass is retrieve the relic without using it.

3. AROUND THE MOON BASE

The Director's sudden absence isn't particularly anything new, given she spent the majority of her time on Lyrabar, leaving the Moon Base to manage itself. It is the first time Lucas has been left entirely in charge of it though.

Controlled chaos becomes something of a much less controlled chaos. The sound of trains in the distance, though nobody can seem to pinpoint where they're coming from, isn't helping.

Though, that isn't necessarily Lucas' fault

It's largely the fault of a technomancer supposedly stuck on a different plane and infecting the Moon Base's tech. She's figured out where the Director went, and she's going to be using the next two weeks to her advantage.

It's hard to say what her motives are here. But then, Miss Zarves has always been a little bit inexplicable.

C. WHAT A CRUMMY WEEKEND THIS HAS BEEN

Oh man, Miss Zarves has been wanting to try this thing she wrote for ages, and for a few weeks at least, she's figured out how to override the Director's simulation settings.

Did you know the Moon Base has an arcade? You're about to find out if not: If you happen to wander into the Arena, you'll find yourself inexplicably trapped in a simulation based off of an arcade game — and no, you're not going to get out until you win.

As a note, you can't die in these simulations, but you can be busted up a bit. You can repeatedly get game overs until you win.

You can run with any game on the conveniently copyright infringement free list linked above however you like, but here are a few settings to get you started:

○ Mesozoic Park: The Lost Chult. You and a friend find yourselves in a lush jungle, with no clear path to the escape helicopter. Using your wits and path actions, you are going to need to clear one for yourselves.

And thanks to not wanting to be sued by Michael Crichton's estate, the T-Rex that's chasing you down in this game is actually in the correct era. Once both you and your friend are safely strapped into the helicopter, the simulation will end. (As a side note, Lucretia would actually approve of this one — there are many very powerful monsters out there in Faerun, and learning to outrun/outwit/defeat them is a vital ability.)

○ Immortal Wombat: Actually becoming a wombat is optional. You and a friend will be situated in the middle of the arena, with a very loud and very rowdy simulated crowd surrounding you.

As the name of the game implies, this simulation will not end until one of you is KO'd.

Again, these are just a few examples! Feel free to use any of the games listed as you see fit.

E. THERE'S NO ESCAPE

The town, though it might not rely as heavily on Moon Base tech as the rest of the Bureau does, isn't exactly escaping unscathed either. It's more like, Miss Zarves find you Reclaimers a lot more entertaining than a bunch of shopkeepers who have had to put up with a deals warlock's shenanigans long enough that it's hard to surprise them.

That said, if shopping or the occasional dining is on your agenda in town, then you'll find that you'll be able to do so largely unhindered. Shopping at Fantasy Costco is normal, too, if Garfield being himself falls under your usual definition of normal.

There is one exception, though: It's a small alleyway that leads to the back entrance of Madame Frione's Tea Kettle. Step into it, and weirdly, you'll find that something unseen is blocking your exit. And then, a message appears on your bracer.

From: Zarves♥Scarves

hello!!!!
since madam in charge is off tryin to fix something
i thought id help out a bit
you know
like a team building exercise
so you can do the bureau thing better
sounds fun right???
anyway what would u say is your least favorite thing about yourself
go on dont be shy

You won't get a response from Miss Zarves, but you will find that you won't be able to leave until you respond to her text with something. And you'll also find that whatever you answer? It's automatically sent to the entire network.

FYI: If you lie in your response, whatever's blocking you in will suddenly give way — you'll be able to move about three feet before there's suddenly another one blocking your escape. Unfortunately, it looks like if you want to escape this, you're going to have to be honest with yourself. And the network, as it were!

E. LET'S JUST ESCAPE

There is a very easy way to avoid anything a technomancer tries to do to mess with you, of course: Avoid the tech she's using to mess with you. And after the sort of messed up mission that Lyrabar was, and after the sort of screwed up ordeal that is being initiated into the Bureau to begin with, some of you will probably want to just chill out for a bit, too. Here are a few suggestions!

○ Another small art studio with a supply of magic paintbrushes has been set up in the Academy. Previously, the paintbrushes had painted in a color that represented the energy you're giving off. Nowadays, it's a bit more versatile: You can now change the color you're painting with by simply thinking about it.

○ Speaking of the Academy, there are a few new classes available: "Logic and Puzzles for the Easily Puzzled," led by a rather intelligent chemist who tends to speak in riddles herself; "Charmed, I'm Sure," led by a warlock who seems to have an uncanny sort of charisma, and knitting. What? You guys don't want to knit? Additionally, if you are interested in reading up on some of the advanced paths unlocked so far, the materials unlocked have been made available in the Artificer's Office. If there's an advanced path your character wants to reach someday, now's a good time as any for them to start studying it.

○ Before leaving, the Director set up a comfortable pile of large pillows and blankets out by the Whomping Willow in the Quad. Feel free to have as many sleepovers as you want. The Whomping Willow will also offer advice if you ask it, though it's particularly good at dispensing love advice.

○ WILDCARD: This is, of course, your time to rest as you see fit. Please feel free to use the setting however you wish!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Please don't feel bad, Michael. You did nothing wrong, Shuichi is just a ball of nerves and anxiety and it's laughably easy to intimidate him.]

[Though at the mention of being able to have his own plot, his expression relaxes into one of faint surprise rather than tense nervousness.]

We can?

[In retrospect, that makes sense, given how big the greenhouse is...]

Sure. Just talk to - [whoever he talked to in order to get his, idk]

They let you grow pretty much whatever you want. Some really poisonous stuff, actually, I'm not sure why they have that available.

Ah, well...I can't answer that for certain, but I do know that my Path at least deals partly with poisons. Both procuring them and curing them. I've only been here a few days, so I'm not sure if any of the others do but it wouldn't surprise me if there were. So maybe that has something to do with why they don't have limitations on the sorts of things we can grow here.

[It would, after all, be pretty silly to tell people that they need to learn how to craft poisons and then deny them the ability to procure the materials to do so.]

But thank you, I'll have to make sure and speak with them at some point.

Really? I've never heard of that one - what's it called?

[Seems like it'd be mostly useful for assassinations. Do they do that sort of thing here?]

Chemist. From the sound of things, I might be the only one... One of my friends was in the first group brought here and she said she's never met another Chemist. [Actually, she has, it's just that Qrow apparently rarely did anything with his path.] Though it could just be that she missed them. In any event, Chemists are essentially Apothecaries, but they also mix poisons as well as medicines. Presumably since combat is a necessity here.

[Since he is Japanese, not British, he doesn't realize that...technically the two words mean the same thing. "Chemist" brings a very different picture to his modern-world mind when he hears the term.]

[Michael's from Hell, his frames of references for human things are all over the place anyway.]

Huh. I haven't been here as long as that, but I can't say I've ever heard of a Chemist, either. The medicine part sounds useful, though. We were in a city with a plague, a few weeks ago, could've maybe used some of that then.

[He felt sort of useless, during that whole thing. Even his first aid training isn't really going to help him make medicines.]

Ah... [What poor timing on his part. Or the Bureau's part. Whichever.] I imagine that would have been helpful in that kind of situation...

[And he's guessing that, if a Chemist didn't step forward in that situation...he really must be the only one. That's precisily the kind of situation where you'd need a Chemist, isn't it? Sounds like it to him.]

That's admittedly the part I'm more interested in as well. If the path was solely concerned with medicines, I wouldn't complain. But I guess we need to be able to defend ourselves too...and it wouldn't be possible to cure a poison if you didn't have an understanding of its properties.

We did have people with magical healing abilities. But those take energy, you know...can't just sit there healing nonstop.

[And anyway, it seemed to only slow things. Maybe you need to work with biology, to get to the root of the issue.]

Poison doesn't seem like the best means of self-defense. Unless you coat a blade with it, or something?

That makes sense... [He is a normal boy from a normal world where magic is not real, what does he know about this shit?] I think that's exactly how we're supposed weaponize it though, by putting it onto a blade or an arrow or something similar. That way, a weapon becomes deadly no matter where you strike.

I didn't think we were in the business of wholesale murder here.

[Maybe it makes a difference that his first mission was the one with the Soul Blade. All those people were mind-controlled anyway, so it would have been bad to kill them for something they didn't even intend.]

Well, you'd want something fast-acting, then. Can't say I know a lot about that.

Well...no, of course not. [he doesn't want to have to kill at all, honestly, but they're basically living a fantasy RPG now, aren't they? And isn't that part of it?] But don't we have to fight monsters and such?

The one time I went down there, it was mostly just a bunch of pirates. Decent people, a lot of them.

[But you know, his standards are low.]

But there's a fair amount of monsters in the combat simulator, so I think that must happen from time to time.

I hope that's the case when I finally go on a mission...I'd rather try to reason with a person than fight a monster.

[He looks down at the seedlings again.]

If I never have to put anything I learn about concocting poisons to use, I won't complain at all.

Hard to make that one non-fatal.

[Michael nods; he understands, even if he doesn't feel quite the same things about it.]

A lot of my new powers aren't great for fighting. I can teleport, make illusions...I think I'm more of a distraction, but I hope it can be useful some way or another.

[Shuichi looks back up from the plants, raising his eyebrows in an intrigued sort of way. Teleporting and making illusions? That sounds useful and kinda neat, actually.]

I'm sure you can be...this is supposed to be a team effort, after all, right? So every path must have a purpose and a use...you can't solve every problem just by fighting. With powers like that, you can help prevent injuries from happening in the first place. Or maybe act as a scout since you can probably escape potential danger faster and more efficiently than the rest of us.

[He's just kind of guessing here, since he's yet to go on a mission and was never really into things like fantasy rpgs back home. He's read a few fantasy novels, but it's not exactly his favorite genre, so he doesn't really even have FAKE experience to work with when it comes to imagining the kinds of scenarios they have to deal with when trying to reclaim the Grand Relics. But that seems like a feasible one...groups usually need a scout, right?]

What's your path, if you don't mind me asking?

Sorcerer. It's like Wizards, but with fewer books.

[Which is fine by him - he doesn't necessarily mind reading, but he's never had to study magic before and frankly he doesn't want to begin now.]

Or Warlocks, but without a forced contract with some kind of uppity immortal. Probably the easiest of the pure magical classes to work with, honestly.

...forced contract?

[Shuichi has already met a Wizard and had the difference between Wizards and Sorcerers explained to him, but Warlocks are new.]

Yeah. Kid I know got spiritually handcuffed to some kind of death god.

[He may not know the exact ins and outs of the warlock situation, but he doesn't really approve of doing things like that without the mortal even knowing.]

[Shuichi looks vaguely horrified at the prospect. Though that's entirely because of Michael's wording and the fact that it's a DEATH GOD.]

So...then that's the source of their magic? The deity they're contracted to? Instead of obtaining it from natural talent or study?

[Is that how it works? Is he understanding all this right? Because warlock, wizard, and sorcerer still totally sound like they should all be synonyms for the same thing, in his opinion.]

Yeah. And it's such a boring way of doing that, too. You would think different gods would give out different powers - like, in line with whatever they do. But they must not, warlocks get pamphlets like the rest of us.

[lame. so lame.]

[Shuichi frowns a little.]

Yeah, that...does seem odd. It's kind of hard to believe that someone contracted to a death god would have the same abilities as one contracted to say...a nature god.

[He sighs a little.]

But, then again, I can't pretend this is my area of expertise. Magic isn't real in my world, and if gods do exist, they're not so easily contacted. So this is all new for me.

We don't have gods in my world. Magic - but it's not for humans. Immortals can't just go around handing out magic powers like candy, that would be crazy.

Y-Yeah, I think I can see how that would be a potentially dangerous idea...

[Just...speaking based on the people he knows. Most of them should not be given magic, either because of the damage they would accidentally cause or because of the damage they would PURPOSEFULLY cause.]

I can't say I really understand what the gods here are up to.

[Surely they ought to be a little more involved, if they're part of the human world at all?]

But they do seem to mostly leave well enough alone. Not down here bothering the warlocks or anything.

Mmm...

[He supposes that's a good thing. If mythology is anything to go by, divine interference isn't always a good thing. Though...hold on a second. Something about Michael's wording sticks out to Shuichi. He frowns slightly, in a contemplative, curious sort of way.]

...Are you saying you can normally understand what gods are up to? In your own world, I mean. [Or is he reading TOO deeply between the lines there?] I kind of thought being beyond the understanding of mortals was...standard fare for gods.

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sorry about the delay, was waiting on another thread to make sure he didn't ask the same thing twice

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