MISSION 002

[etrayamods]

WHO: Everyone!
WHEN: May 3rd-28th
WHERE: Within the Labyrinth
WHAT: The second Mission
NOTES\WARNINGS: Potential death, violence, injury. Please add additional warnings as needed within threads.

⏵ into the labyrinth ⏴ Aurora's announced time for the mission was correct: four days after, as she had promised, the door to the Labyrinth opens, connected to Etraya's atmospheric bubble by its entrance point. Characters are directed to come to the entrance on May 3rd, and warned that they may want to bring medical supplies, weaponry, and any important artifacts along with them. She warns that large vehicles will not fit within the limited space available, and smaller ones may be difficult to remove, thus advises those to stay behind. Aurora also offers to watch over any companion animals and keep them safe while competitors complete the Labyrinth. They are given a short amount of time outside of the entrance to speak with one another, to plan and organize themselves, before they are ushered into it in groups of two to four. Once passed the entrance, they'll find that they are unable to turn around and exit out of it: a barrier keeps them from going back into the city proper, and as soon as they are far enough forward, the walls around them shift, closing them in, moving in complex patterns meant to separate them and bring them together. Characters with extraordinary abilities may find some of them inaccessible: super strength may be downgraded to closer to ordinary strength, magic may prove to be less predictable than it should be, and regardless of how strong, fast, or clever characters are: passing over the Labyrinth walls or destroying them proves to be impossible. While one may be able to run through the pathways at superhuman speeds, the pathways compensate for it by running them in circles, refusing to allow them to make any progress on their own. ⏵ pathways collide ⏴ Junctures of the Labyrinth often present competitors with choices, some that may have consequences: a left turn down a darker path may prove to be harmless, whereas the well-lit path may be full of traps intent on slowing them down: a trip wire that activates a swinging massive axe, or arrows that shoot straight out of the wall as soon as one gets close enough. Other junctures may present characters with choices that have consequences: they can choose the shortest pathway, but at great personal risk to themselves or their partner (ie, you can go this way, but your arm isn’t going with you) or they can choose the lengthy pathway full of traps and trials they’ll have to surpass to get to the end. ⏵ balancing act ⏴ The pathway opens up into a massive space, but it's not one with an easy path out: instead, competitors will find an obstacle course that will not let them continue forward until they complete it. Many of the tasks involve things that one cannot do on their own: they must walk across multiple wooden boards balanced precariously on a tall beam, but to ensure it's balanced, there must be one person on both sides of the boards and make sure that they're walking on the board in just the right space to ensure their weight doesn't cause it to sink too far on the opposite side. If a smaller child is on one end, they may want to stand significantly further away from the beam than the larger person on the other half. ⏵ help! i'm bleeding! ⏴ A large garden area spawns off of a pathway. The peaceful chirping of birds can be heard among blooming cherry blossom trees, and it all seems utterly peaceful and calm. An area one might wish to take a breather in, enjoy the sunshine reflecting from above, and get a good nap in. Or would, except a companion bot whose abdomen is covered in ketchup appears to be struggling across the ground, crying out for help. They state they are bleeding profusely and require immediate medical attention, otherwise, they will die. The companion bot also carries a bag of medical supplies and MREs, which player characters are welcome to utilize. The pathway out of this open space will not open until after the companion bot no longer states they are dying. Whether it's because they're "dead", or because those who came across them offered "medical attention" and patched them up until they've stated they're good and no longer need assistance - well, both will technically suffice. ⏵ choice is an illusion ⏴ After walking down an additional pathway, characters will find themselves trapped within a glass box. In front of them is a pedestal with two buttons: one red, and one green, as well as a tablet above it displaying the image of another group of characters. The tablet states hindering them will help you. You may either choose to make the second group's time through the maze more difficult, or hinder your progress by pressing the green button and helping the other group forward. Characters are given two minutes to decide which path to take; the timer, on the tablet, counts down regardless of any attempt to break or hack it. Pressing the green button will drop several squishmallows into the glass box. Inside one of them is a key that unlocks the roof of the glass box. Pressing the red button, while it promises to hinder the other group, actually. . . causes a toxic yellow gas to flood the glass box. The gas will burn the lungs of those who breathe it in, but it also begins slowly melting the glass box. This gas will make breathing difficult for the next 24 hours, but will not kill those who inhale it. Healing factors will not offset the gas. ⏵ who deserves the knife? ⏴ A group of two characters will walk through one corridor and find themselves strapped to two chairs, the backs of which are leaning against each other. In front of the both of them are drills, slowly approaching their chests. They cannot go sideways but can push forward and backward. They can push backward and get themselves further away from the threat of injury - forcing the person behind them to suffer but allowing themselves to escape - or they can push into the drill and free the person they're with. Alternatively, they can choose not to push either way, potentially sacrificing them both. Three options, but they are left with minimal time to decide as the drill continues to press closer. If they choose to go out together, they'll find that as the drills press against their chest - they simply stop. Minimal blood will be spilled, and they will have all the time they need to figure out how to squirm out of their bindings. ⏵ the Siren waits for thee ⏴ A seemingly harmless pathway turns into much more trouble than it's worth. A few steps through a corridor, and suddenly competitors will find the floor falling out from under them, revealing a body of water and - no solid ground on either side of it. There are the walls, but they lack any good climbing holds. Within the water are numerous Sirens - beautiful androgynous creatures that sing soft songs meant to entice others into following them deep into the water. While they may look beautiful, their mouths are full of razor-sharp teeth, and their intentions certainly aren't innocent. However, the Sirens can only touch competitors once they have initiated touch first. They will do their best to encourage this: holding out their hands, crying out for help, pretending to drown, or trying to coax them into coming in close enough for a kiss. As long as they remain on the path, they're harmless. But the moment they reach out for the Sirens... getting away from them will not be easy. Their tails are powerful, built for moving swiftly throughout the water and dragging others along with them. They bite hard and will dig their teeth deep into flesh to discourage struggling. If one gets captured by them? They're lunch. Or worse yet: if they get bitten but manage to escape, they may find themselves becoming a bit.. scaley around the neck, eyes shifting color to a too-soft green, and an almost impossible-to-resist urge to take a bite out of their friends. This effect will continue until May 28th regardless of when the character reaches the end of the Labyrinth. After May 28th, they will find that their scales slowly begin to shed, their eyes begin to turn back to their normal shade, and any other new features slowly turn back to how they were before they were infected. ⏵ don't forget your ball of twine ⏴ The Labyrinth is large, and there are many challenges around each corner. There may be space for breaks in between monsters, challenges, riddles, places to sit and recuperate between battles and mind games. It's not all chaos and challenges meant to test one's strength of will. ⏵ NOTES ⏴ May's mission is completing a massive Labyrinth. All characters must enter the Labyrinth; whether or not they participate once they're inside is up to them, but no one will be permitted to stay behind in the city. The duo who completes the Labyrinth first will be allowed to assist in choosing the next mission. Sign-ups for this are here. We will contact the chosen characters on May 13th. This mission will cover the time between May 3rd and May 28th. After May 28th, any characters who have not yet exited the Labyrinth will be gathered by the companion bots and brought back into the city. The companion bots will be aiming for nonviolent intervention. If more is needed, please let us know here. The first to exit will be returning to the city on May 15th. There will be powercapping during this mission, but the extent of which is fully up to players. We want the Labyrinth to be challenging but don't want to hinder gameplay too much. If you have any questions relating to this or want assistance coming up with ways to powercap your character, please feel free to ask us here. We will be largely leaving this up to player discretion. Food is scarce within the Labyrinth, but not impossible to find. There are chests (or maybe they're mimics?) strewn throughout with various useful items. One might have a sword, another might have a fresh chicken nugget Happy Meal from McDonalds. Or an entire birthday cake, candles included. Large vehicles will not fit in the Labyrinth and must be left behind in the city. Numerous challenges are throughout the Labyrinth. You are welcome to make your own, but we will also provide several you may utilize! Please feel free to throw down wildcards, or your own challenges into your prompts! The limitation is that characters must remain themselves throughout the challenges. There are no mirror replicas, nothing within the Labyrinth will affect their personalities or core values. It’s meant to challenge, not change them. Deaths that occur within the Labyrinth will last 24 hours. Please report these on our Death Tracker. All new locations will appear after player characters have returned to the city. Feel free to note the differences from the May 3rd map, versus what characters will be returning to on May 15th.

Comments

[ebrius]

That's because you don't know me.

[ And that was by design. She wasn't fond of anyone knowing her. But, it's not like she can really get away at this point.

Jessica sighs. ]

And no, you're not going to get to know me either. We're not here to make friends. I don't need those.

[maximumlegend]

[ ... Well.

That speech was a journey for Fabian, clearly. His facial expression looks like it's going through an entire rollercoaster of emotions there as he listens to her, going from looking like he's about to protest at that first part, to looking like he's almost wincing at the second sentence, and then by the end..

At that point he mostly just looks pretty confused. ]

Are you.. [ He starts, then the young man makes some vague hand gestures. It seems mostly like he's looking for words, not really like he's trying to express anything in particular. ] Are you okay?

[ It kind of sounds genuinely concerned.

Sorry, Jessica. ]

[ebrius]

[ Ugh, she can hear the concern and now she almost feels bad. She shouldn't but sometimes it's hard to keep those pesky feelings out of the way. She doesn't need the attachments and she doesn't want to deal with the emotions.

She takes a breath. ]

I'm fine, don't worry. I'm always fine.

[ Stop being concerned. ]

Don't I look fine?

[maximumlegend]

[ He opens his mouth. For a moment he doesn't say anything, but then: ]

Would you prefer an honest or a nice answer?

[ That's probably saying enough all by itself, right, Jessica. At least the boy doesn't sound malicious about it as much as he sounds a little awkward, like he too isn't sure if he wants to address the obvious here. ]

[ebrius]

[ That question pretty much tells her all that she needs to know. She huffs, rolls her eyes. ]

Honesty's the best policy, isn't it?

[ She knows how she probably looks but she can't help but be a little curious at how he's going to phrase this. ]

[maximumlegend]

I mean, in my experience, people who emphasize they're fine or that they don't need friends usually aren't fine. They're usually pretty lonely.

[ Just saying, Jessica. Fabian is pretty sure she was already anticipating this answer anyway with what she said only a moment ago..

(And honestly - Fabian kind of knows since it's what he felt like at first. Back when he tried so hard to be independent, because it's what his father had taught him, not realising it just didn't suit Fabian in the slightest. Like an ill-fitting suit.) ]

I'm just saying.. [ His voice trails off for a moment. Then the young man shrugs, before earnestly offering: ] You don't have to be all alone here, you know? We're all stuck here together. That's got to mean something.

[ebrius]

It means we were all brought here without our consent and now we're stuck in the situation.

[ To her, it doesn't mean much more than that and she's not going to try and make it mean more either. She shakes her head. ]

You always this optimistic?

[maximumlegend]

[ He shrugs a little. ]

I guess? [ This does feel natural for Fabian, so that probably sounds as optimistic if she's perceiving it that way, right. ] I just don't like sitting down in the dumps for too long. Especially since we're not going to change a single thing about this situation that way. And I really guess I have to eventually get back to my world so I can actually do my school work. If I have to.

[ At least the tone he says that last part with makes it clear Fabian is just joking.

After all, who likes school work. Ugh. Yuck. ]

Wouldn't you rather be like that too? Kicking ass together and getting out of here?

[ebrius]

Yeah, that's what I want. Doesn't mean I have to be all glass half full. Never works out like that for me.

[ And she's not going to start thinking it would either. That way just lay a bad time. She'd learned her lesson. ]

You can be optimistic for the both of us. I think you've got that in you.

[maximumlegend]

[ He salutes her.

Then Fabian makes a goofy dramatic bow.

None of it seems like he's making fun of her though. There's something a little too stupidly genuine about it. Like these dramatics are just part of him somehow. ]

You got it! I will make it my personal mission!

[ It sounds like a joke, but who knows just how much of that actually is a joke when this is Fabian we're talking about.. ]

You will never have to miss even a single moment of optimism anymore in this place, courtesy of Fabian Aramais Seacaster!

[ebrius]

Okay, okay, calm it down there, bud.

[ She doesn't need a full on pep talk right. He's optimistic, she gets it. She's not going to be changing her tune anytime soon. ]

Bet that must get exhausting sometimes. Your world's not at least a little shitty?

[maximumlegend]

[ Even though she's telling him to calm down, Fabian doesn't really seem to calm down. Not fully, anyway. He doesn't push the issue, but the fact that the smile from a moment before lingers on his face, she definitely didn't just put the idea out of his head. ]

Oh, there's plenty of that where I come from.

[ All the time. He could whine and rant about it forever. ]

But if I'd have to choose, I would say that so far this place is worse than Spyre. [ Which makes it all the more important to keep other people's spirits up, even if Fabian sucks far more at keeping his own up than he's letting on to right now. ] I mean-- murder mazes? At least back home at school I would have gotten a grade for that! What are we even getting for going through this now, huh?

[ebrius]

School?

[ School? Jessica can't help sounding flabbergasted at that because, between everything else, she hadn't really considered his age. But, now she's looking at him a little more closely. ]

How old are you?

[ Was she getting pep talks from a teenager? ]

[maximumlegend]

...

[ Fabian answers very slowly, like he's afraid there is somehow a wrong answer here and he might be about to give it.

At least he is being honest rather than attempting a bold-faced lie, so-- ]

Eight.. teen..?

[ That's not bad, right. Isn't that a great age to be!! ]

[ebrius]

Jesus.

[ Honestly, fuck this place. She rubs a hand over her face tiredly. ]

You're just a kid. Haven't even graduated from high school or whatever.

[maximumlegend]

Hey, I'm an adult now! My bank is giving me some access to my trust fund and all!

[ Which is.. you know. Clearly the mark of a true adult, right. ]

Besides, I would have graduated already if it wasn't for the fact that I started school two years late since my papa and I were out adventuring together!

[ebrius]

Sure, yeah, you're an adult.

[ And that's definitely an adult tantrum there, isn't it? ]

And I'm the Queen of England.