etrayalogs | MISSION 009

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MISSION 009

⏵ CAMP ETRAYA ⏴
On May 16th, Aurora and the companion bots direct those not heading off to Solmara to make their way to Camp Etraya.

Nestled away from everything else in a large clearing full of wildflowers and redwoods, Camp Etraya is a nostalgic summer camp experience put together just for it's residents! Cabins are assigned, scary stories are told around campfires, gossiping happens among friends on the trails surrounding the cabins - and don't be surprised when something goes awry. After all, this is still Etraya.

While the rest of Etraya is still accessible and will not be blocked off, characters are discouraged from venturing far from camp for too long: Aurora will specify that they are on a mission, and that missions do require participation, but she has intentionally left them the freedom to wander. Not sleeping in their assigned cabins, not participating in events, and staying away from Camp Etraya will end with her having to take more extensive security measures, so please be on your best behavior! The last thing she wants to do is start enforcing boundaries, but she will if she has to.

Camp is set up much like your generic summer camp! Each cabin is named, housing is assigned to characters as they arrive, there are camp counselors, and rotating daily tasks and chores. There are also multiple activities that characters are expected to participate in, and each activity is worth points that goes toward their camp graduation score. This score will be visible on their earpiece, and follows the A-F grading system. We are not be monitoring this, and are leaving character scores up to players. We do, however, ask that you please report your characters' camp grade HERE for rewards and demerits to be handed out after the mission itself.

Cabin assignments can be found here, which also has their roles, and chores assigned to that cabin. Those who are participating in Solmara have received an assigned cabin, too, but their absence toward the beginning will not harm the cabin's ability to compete given how spread out their assignments are.

⏵ WELCOME TO CAMP ⏴

Camp life is meant to instill a sense of belonging, connection with nature, encouragement towards the creative, all on top of a firm foundation of responsibility. Upon arriving, campers will be escorted towards a table of white t-shirts and countless buckets of dye!

Each Etrayan will be invited to make three Tie-Dyed shirts- as well as required to wear one as part of their summer uniform. Camp counselors must wear 80s basketball shorts or cut-off jeans. Campers may wear cargo shorts or a skort. For those with physical limitations to what they can wear, accommodations will be provided.

Here, bonding is the camp runners' priority. They will be pushed into various ice-breaker activities, such as trust falls, two truths and a lie, and Never have I Ever. As the sun goes down, there will be weenies roasting over the bonfire, followed by s’mores and a sing-a-long! With the stars well-visible, it’s off to bed with campers.

Each day after will start much the same: with the ringing of the bell and raising of the flag (Aurora, while unfamiliar with flag designs but an understanding of the concept, has chosen a rainbow flag for the camp. Rainbows make people happy, right?), followed by a meal at the Great Hall, morning assembly, activities with counselors, chores, free time, and then an evening winding down by the great fire. An hour after sun down, campers will be escorted back to their cabins for curfew. Camp Counselors are expected to keep track of their campers, and ensure they're all within their cabins for bedtime. This is part of their grade, too! Curfew lifts an hour before the first bell.

⏵ CAMP ACTIVITIES ⏴

As with most summer camps, Camp Etraya offers a wide variety of activities to participate in. While some of these activities may be mandatory, others are optional. We'll be leaving this up to individual player discretion: perhaps Viktor is mandated to report to arts and crafts, whilst it's optional for Silco to show. Silco, on the other hand, may be mandated to report to the archery contest. Characters are encouraged to participate in a minimum of one camp activity per day.

Below is a non-exhaustive list of camp activities.

Three-Legged Race - You and a partner are tied together at your ankles, and you must race others to the finish line. Those with abilities that would give them an advantage will find that the rope that ties them together hinders those abilities from functioning.
Archery - This can be more traditional, magical, or include moving targets! If you're particularly unlucky, your target may even shoot back.
Softball - What instills a sense of camaraderie better than a bit of team sports? Games will be held on Wednesdays, the field is otherwise available for practice.
Dodge Ball - Standing diametrically opposed to Softball is dodge ball, the bully’s sport. This is a great opportunity to claim dominance or be sent to the Nurse’s Office.
Obstacle Course - You are directed into a large maze with multiple obstacles for them to overcome, such as rock climbing walls, ramps, tires, and nets.
Capture the Flag - Small teams are put together in order to take the flag from a particular bot, whose entire goal is to avoid being caught.
Canoe Race - Canoes are placed into the rivers just off of the camp, and characters must race to the finish line.
Chocobo Riding - Learn how to care for and ride these magnificent birds! Newbies will be taken around the corral, whereas more experienced riders can take the trail around the lake.
Arts and Crafts - Make friendship bracelets, bead lizards, paint rocks, learn origami! Or perhaps you're tasked with putting together an enchanted necklace. Don't know how to do enchantments? Now is as good of a time as any to learn.
Campfire stories - Share scary stories amongst yourselves around the campfire late into the night. If you're particularly unlucky, you may just hear the thing you were just warning others about..

⏵ NIGHT TIME ⏴

Once campers have been put to bed, the counselors can still stay up. Unwind with hidden beers and the strumming of a guitar. Don’t get too comfortable, though, since without supervision, no one is keeping the campers in bed.

After dark, should campers evade their counselors, they can go exploring in the dark. Eerie lights glimmer from the lake. There’s rumors of a headless spectre walking from the archery field to the edge of the forest. Should you behave, you still might hear a scratching at your bunk house window.

And on the very last night of camp, there will be a talent show. Show off your hidden talent and bask in the excitement of wowing your fellow campers!

⏵ NOTES ⏴

Welcome to Camp Etraya! Please enjoy the s'mores and campfire songs. :)

Camp will last approximately two weeks, going from May 16th to May 30th.

For all questions relating to this mission, please refer to the plotting post. All other questions can be directed to the FAQ.

⏵FULL NAVIGATION⏴

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Vax observes her hand placement and stance. "When you've practiced enough, the grip and stance are second nature." But she seems to need a bit more help, so he steps closer and reaches for her hands, taking her right hand and edging it up a little closer to the top. "Make sure you keep your thumb down." He adjusts the position of her fingers and then does the same for her second hand.

Once that looks in order, the half-elf walks behind her. "Put your right leg forward a little so you have a strong and steady stance." His hands are set on her hips and he adjusts the angle so she's facing straight at her sword. "Square your hips so you don't lose your balance. It's a good thing that sword is light." Hopefully she won't mind all of his attempts to maneuver her, but he's only trying to help.

[squint.

Buddy, you are so full of shit.]

Even if it was trash, it'd still go on your tab.

[supremely encouraging. Knife grunts, dubious (encouraged), and tromps along a few paces before realizing...you know...lighter steps would be wiser, even if they are annoyed by this whole situation. so instead of the crunchy crush of leaves, Jason is shadowed by gentler rustling and little else; Knife has a dozen or so questions they'd love to drop on this guy, but it's already been established neither of them know what the fuck is happening, so it'd be moot and noisy.

the moment Jason idles even a little too long, however, Knife taps on his shoulder for his attention and, when given a glance, will hold up an inquiring sign in Thieves Cant, head tilting and brow arching. their luck with getting responses has been...middling, but hey. always worth a shot if it means they can at least chat without causing a ruckus.]

[their eyes wince while looking at this HUD; hey, from their perspective, they can't even tell it's backwards for them!] The...colors talk?

[Ooh, if you ALWAYS notice, I guess you're a liar this time! Knife snaps to themself, fighting a want to roll their eyes. something about the air of this kid makes them want to just...push them. wedgie them. something.

snappish:] I don't know what "other place" you're talking about because I barely know a lick about THIS place right here, thanks! [they wave a hand.] Go bug someone else, I'm busy trying to get the heck outta here! You're gonna get me caught!

[what - magpies? the ones that gank shit out of people's bags?

okay. whatever.

My name's still better.

Pending shuffles along after the shortstack, scanning the area anew and letting their gaze linger at the tree line past the bird corral. said shuffling will persist until they get to the cabin for Vipers - there's a Pending listed there! - and even still, Knife's attention's split elsewhere.

it means they might almost bump the kid at a halt, just barely catching themself with a scuffed heel in the gravel and a little grunt.]

What. This? No?

I'm not shy about drawing, and sure I like crafts like anyone else.

( she has some very light questionable trauma about her own art back when she was alessa, but gorgug didn't really need to know any of that. no instead she'll take the initiative and walk off towards where the supplies were. from there, she turned her head towards him and waved him. )

How about I build a duck out of popsicle sticks? Unless you think I should make him out of those fuzzy pipe cleaner things....

"Ah so kinda like muscle memory right?", she said, shaking her shoulders a bit as she relaxed herself to get into proper position. As he came over and began to guide her in order to take proper form, she looked onward and focused, following his guidance without much resistance. She did as he instructed, putting her right leg a bit forward, squaring her hips in order to maintain her balance and she held the katana before her with a more confident stance than previously. Though she had been just a bit silly before, she was now more focused and concentrated.

"It's true that it's light and sharp but this is the sword I actually used back in my world. I often found that it would get stuck in the thicker enemies you know? I wonder....do you think there's a solution to that with my movements or it's just a con of using a katana?"

"Exactly." Vax can see that she's a quick study, and she's taking his tips seriously. "Thicker enemies? What kind of barbarians were you fighting?" He's surprised to hear she had to fight anything that big.

As for how to fix the problem, Vax frowns a little in thought. "Well, when you strike, you have to think about what you're going for. If you plan to cut off a body part, it takes a lot of strength." She's not the size of his friend Grog back home who hacks off limbs like they're paper. "But slicing someone with one of those still does a lot of damage. It can help if you have the right technique."

Vax gestures to where one of the wooden poles are for practice. He stands in front of it and assumes the stance, then lifts both hands over his head as if he's holding an imaginary sword. "If you raise your hands like this, you can come down hard, but you don't want your sword to get stuck in somebody's shoulder, so if you go in a diagonal slice, you can cut into them and away from them." He swoops his arms down in a diagonal strike.

"Give it a try. Cut the pole." He steps aside to give her room.

Sure, I can give it a shot.

[For a moment, the mention of a little girl reminds Jason of Lian Harper]

[Maria considers the comment about the mission.] Seems unfair to you, who hasn't gotten much of a break. Your few days of camp doesn't count, if you ask me. But nobody's asking me. Let's hope between missions is peaceful enough. [famous last words and Maria knows that she may have just cursed them for the very opposite thing to happen.

but here's to hoping.

as always, Maria had wondered if maybe he simply would want space even if they'd both made it obvious that wen it came to the other, the last thing they wanted was space. yet every time, she wondered. it wasn't like they wouldn't see each other once they went back to the apartments. but she'd felt silly seeing glances of him and being happy to see him. luckily, for them, Vander had come to start an early date. even just simply sitting together was nice.]

I think you could and you would if I gave you the chance. But just because you can doesn't mean you should, you dog. [but it's said with affection. she takes his hand and holds it, entangling their fingers.] And I don't want my lower back scratched up by a tree. But I'll take you up on it once we have some better walls and your knee is feeling better.

Then, can they be used to leave this place? [Or has she already tried?]

Yes, the Solmara mission. We’ll hear something. A friend of mine went. He has been sharing whatever he finds.

[He thinks again, considering. Then he speaks,] …when we were at that wizard library. They said they knew why we were there. But they wouldn’t answer questions. I wonder how many know about the missions and more than that.

[Hm. Good question.

Chu Wenshan looks at the fire pit, then at the spitted chocobo, then at a random boulder which is nearby for some reason...then at Gorgug.

Following which he holds the spit out to Gorgug.] Hold this for me.

[He's gonna martial arts it!!]

[ Fio never troubled herself with the thought of being "data" in the past. Never did pause to think too deeply about it. She always felt real... she always felt like herself. All she thought about is what she could do to move forward. All she thought about was what she can do to help those that she cared about.

What she's more worried about is telling him the reason why such a server even exists on the moon in the first place. And the kind of life her human self once lived through... even as data, she felt that same pain. ]

...Hm? Who am I? [ She doesn't understand what he's getting at. Walking a little further, they come up to the steps to the Giraffes cabin, the front door decorated with white origami flowers. There's one stray flower, one that had fallen onto the steps from the breeze. She bends down to pick it up. ]

That's a weird question. But I think you just answered it, Dusky. [ Is this the first time he's ever called her by name? She smiles, a bit tiredly. ] ...Can you wait here a bit, please?

[ Fio's the predictable sort, unable to hide the feelings from her face. He's absolutely correct assuming that she wants to see the fish. While a grown adult could very easily do the rowing, she dislikes feeling unhelpful. And he's been plenty helpful to her already. She's here to learn. And this will become one of the memories that she would like to speak of when she returns to Earth someday. ]

Yeah! I wanna see 'em! [ Her tiny hands grip tightly around the paddle, lightly splashing at the water with it. She may have seen others paddling around the lake earlier, but she waits for the proper instruction. ] Um... how do I do this?

Oh... [ Sounds familiar. ] Because of the big man wearing red? Mister Santa? I heard stories about him.

[ Well, she is from a version of Earth, but she's never had the opportunity to celebrate the tradition. She may have heard some stories of it. Cheap gifts came from her parents when she was much smaller and they had stopped paying attention to her when she got a bit older. ]

I try to be good all the time, but I don't think he's ever visited me.

[ Does that mean she wasn't good enough...? ]

Mostly around the cabins. I didn't really find anyone...

[ Or they're being extra sneaky. She's kind of an easy counselor to escape from...

Though confident wandering about alone, even in the dark hours of the night, she's happy for the company. And she's recently been chided for going out alone. Knowing that Dion's a knight—or well, a dragoon, she figures she must be with the best when it comes to keeping watch. ]

I didn't check the places that are farther out. [ Like the stables or where the boats are. It must be much darker around those areas. Her eyes drift back to the bright light that he holds. ] This is really pretty... I bet it's been really useful. Is it magic?

Wh -- a cat?

[ That's not what he was expecting. Riz looks warily around, as though looking for whoever a familiar might belong to, then shakes it off. That's too paranoid, even for him, and plenty of people here have a pet here and there. Once he determines that the coast is clear, he crouches down and holds one hand out towards it, fingers curled into his palm to make sure his claws don't nick him.

He's always liked cats, anyway; Goblins and cats happen to have quite a few things in common, after all. ]

Shouldn't you be hanging out with your owner? [ He muses aloud. ] It might not be safe out here.

Ah well, I have a month before the next mission to recover. Who knows, maybe Solmara will blow up again, and another team will have to go in again. Then there are our missions. [He liked to hope that after two startling revealing and bad missions for people personally that they would have two that weren't so intensive. Who knew, maybe some of the other people needed that.

Only time would tell.

He relaxed perhaps for the first time since returning from Solmara or even before Solmara to be with her. He trusted her deeply, which was why he made no excuses of his want to see her earlier than perhaps they normally would. He dropped the arm with the friendship bracelet across the back of her shoulders again, stroking the top of her arm with his fingers.]

Dog? Call me Hound. That's the way it's been since I much younger. [He squeezed her fingers in return with the entanglement, leaning his head back to rest against her temple.] Alright, alright, I surrender. I wouldn't hurt a lady who I like unless she wanted me to. Until then, you're my nurse and I'll do most of what you tell me to do.

Vax doesn't know a lot about motor vehicles, but he's been in Etraya long enough to at least know what Jason is talking about when he mentions his motorcycle.

"I wonder how many races we'd have to win to ensure our world is safe." Hypothetically, of course. "I'm not really sure what I would have asked for." There's nothing Aurora can give him from back home that he wants. He only misses the people.

[Things are serious if he's using her name. He frowns when he doesn't receive a proper answer and left to wonder. Who is she, and why there all of humanities be stored on the moon? The implications seem grim in his mind. Perhaps she was too young to understand what he meant when phrasing the question the way he did. A mystery that will unfortunately have to wait.

He stops just as they reach her cabin, forgetting for a moment she still had something to show him. He looks to her as she picks the fallen flower. He doesn't go anywhere, remaining where he is, waiting as asked.]

[ blaze shakes her head. ]

If only it were so easy.

[ really, since arriving here, she's thought on it long and hard. ]

Perhaps it's only because of the connection between my world and Sonic's that they allow me to travel between them, but here, that seems to be the one thing they can't do.

Wonderful. I'll be sure to tell her that I've found a teacher for her then.

[ Blaze smiles, seeming to lighten up at that. If nothing else, Fio is young enough that she should be able to enjoy her time here. ]

...I guess it would be too easy. [Would Aurora let her keep those emeralds if it could allow her to escape? The same applies to his Chao Emeralds, although he's not absolutely sure how to even utilize them to travel back. He goes quiet, focused on finishing his meal instead. Food that hasn't been terrible and a good distraction to everything else.]

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MISSION 009

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