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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[ The Custodian's words give Riz some food for thought. He doesn't think his world is any worse for how violent it is, he considers, but he does think that an ideal world would certainly have limited violence. It's interesting, too, hearing about the sort of place the Custodian comes from; how his people's greatest priority was continued existence, rather than an endless fight against those attempting to end it. ]

I don't think that any world is better or worse, I think. It's just kinda the way it is. [ Privately, he's torn. A world without violence is better. But... there's a part of him that enjoys it. Enjoys the fight. The adrenaline, the rush, the satisfaction of watching a bullet hit home. It's not the sort of thing he likes to admit out loud, so he doesn't.

He's more interested in what the Custodian is saying anyway. ]

What's -- or, who's the architect?

Listen, man, if you shut the fuck up, they're not gonna hear us. I've been sneaking out every day. They don't care unless you make it their problem.

[ He crosses his arms, observing Antigone as if they are, in fact, a problem. ]

But I'm too invested in keeping this place away from -- a bunch of shit to just leave you alone, so.

[ So let him hang, he means. And also shut the fuck up. Both would be nice. ]

Okay. [ He says it to the offer, a small nod, and there's a little more he wants to say, but not because there's any words there. But he takes another step back, turns on his feet, and before he does so entirely- ]

Good luck, with the rest of the session.

[ Session, lesson, whatever. It's enough of a parting word before he goes, though he would wait if there's anything else that Maria wants to say. ]

[ Gorgug doesn't say anything extra that might hint to him knowing his attitude is weird. He wants for John to speak, and when he does so after examining the pictures to decide his palette, Gorgug nods, says, ] Okay, [ and walks over to the supply table to pick up what they both need.

He has to take two trips to get everything: first for dropping off the colours, simple arts 'n' crafts 4 kids type options of bold colouring, along with 3 paint brushes of different sizes. Gorgug promises to bring over a plate and water for mixing, though when he does come back with them, along with the cardboard and PVC glue he needs, the "plate" in question is a paper one.

Good enough for mixing on, probably!

Gorgug sits with their equipment, cross-legged to keep his lanky legs in. With everything down, he picks the cardboard back up, procuring a pair of (safety) scissors from his shorts pocket. The only thing he could actually fit in there.. ]

I won't make it elaborate. We'll cut up parts of the duck to make them look like they're moving, and that should be enough.

[ He'll just need to figure out which parts need to be able to move. The mouth and hat are the most obvious... and probably the mouth missile. ]

[every day?

this dweeb?]

Invested? Why?

[ Carver twitches, his gaze focused resolutely elsewhere. He doesn't want to think about dead kids, or what happens when the kids don't die but have to survive this shit. What it makes them.

This place won't be any different in the end. He knows that in his soul. ]

Maybe, [ he says, reluctantly. He misses Matthew like a limb taken from him, but you can't say that shit. Matthew's gone. ]

[ He shakes his head, almost looking a little offended. ]

Of course not. I am Fabian Aramais Seacaster! [ Fabian is definitely saying that like it would mean something to anyone who hears it.. And yet he doesn't bother to elaborate in the slightest, instead moving on to-- ]

But everyone knows the basics when it comes to this sort of thing. At least one creative endeavor. Did your parents never put you through calligraphy lessons?

[He hummed where his face was buried in her cleavage, breathing in her scent and taking comfort in her familiar warmth. Solmara had been a success, but it had also been a reminder that he had come to appreciate certain niceties in his life that he would have overlooked in a youth of hardship. Even if this was as far as they went, he was satisfied to have reconnected with her.

He hummed and stroked his hand over her back in a full show of feeling her up in a sense. It was good that he had big hands as it covered territory easily and without much effort.] Still keeping your word to me all the time, I see. You're good to me, and I appreciate that.

[Yet, he made a show of grumbling as she pulled harder on his hair. He made a point of seeming reluctant as he removed his face from her breasts to peer at her, and he frowned at the words, a subtle look of defiance building behind his gray eyes.] Is that what is currently happening?

[One hand slid up her back and under the edge of her shirt where his fingers expertly began to unclasp her bra from the back. How was that for putting him in his place?]

[there had been a real fear that Vander would never come back or if he did, he would have forgotten her due to death and that was what was taken from him. illogical really but it had been a fear that had come to her. something that didn't seem completely impossible so having him here meant a lot. Maria was happy to have him close and their friendship confirmed once again. his physical presence was a comfort.]

As long as you know how good I am to you.

[a little funny to say considering how she had started to pull at his hair but it wasn't as if this was something he had never asked for before. she tugs at his hair harder when she feels him unhook her bra. there is a shiver at the feeling she goes out of her way to ignore.]

It is.

[she leans her face close to his.] Isn't it. [not a question, just another statement.]

[He hummed in agreement that he was rather aware of how good she was to him. He also considered her extremely skilled at routed out emotions and information from him that few others could accomplish. He had not cracked the code to return the favour yet, but he was working on it little-by-little even in their little domestic life that they had build around themselves.]

And what can I do to be better for you, Pupa? [He said the nickname emphasizing the 'a' at the end, adding a little wink for his own efforts.

He did not deny that he liked his hair pulled, his back scratched up, bites and roughness. She was hitting the beats that tended to start them down the path of a intimate exchange, and he was not above falling into that excitement either. He had one good leg and a log to sit on, yet he was also fine simply playing around until she put a stop to it so he wouldn't push too hard.

His hand smoothed over the skin that was no longer hidden under a back bra strap, resting his chin in the space between her breasts. The laciness had loosened with his own actions, and he also rumbled a far less innocent growling moan at the harder pull. It send hundreds of pinpricks of sensation down the back of his neck.

Physically - even injured - he could dominate their situations. There was a back and forth between them at some point, and it was nice to see they were starting with it.]

I think you leashing me is going to take more effort. Go head though. Let's see how that situation forms together.

[His hands moved to push her shirt higher until it was bunched under her arms. It was a pointed gesture.]

[Tied to him more deeply than his body...which means it's not his body? Which means—]

It's your offspring?

I'm actually quite ambivalent about chess, [ Harold gripes, tugging uncomfortably on his tie-dyed shirt like he thinks it's out of position. It doesn't help at all, of course. ]

It's fundamentally a game about attributing differential worth to human lives. It is, however, an excellent game for learning strategic thinking, so I have picked up some of it.

[ That's understating things, but the truth is that Harold is no grandmaster or even close to being one. He's just good enough to wipe the floor with any casual player. And as John notes, it is a relief that they can talk like this again -- and maybe in some senses for the first time. Harold never dropped casual personal details with this frequency before, but now he just doesn't see the point in withholding them.

Not with John. This is the last chance he'll ever have. What does it really matter if he admits that he doesn't actually enjoy playing chess? ]

[ His...

What? ]

...No, no.

[ Where does he even begin with a fellow who thinks a manifestation of his aether is his child? ]

Rather, a part of myself I would call more vital than my physical form. Something that couldn't be copied.

[ Not entirely at least. Clive is a partial exception, but he is unique. ]

Edited 2025-07-06 21:21 (UTC)

[to Vander's credit, Maria had been created with the idea that unlocking all that was difficult. she was meant to be fun and easy, no real problems. that was part of what James's ideal had been. even if she wasn't here to perform for James anymore, it was still part of her. hiding away all of her problems and giving a different performance. and part of her make-up was to comfort and so it was what Vander that reaped that certain reward more than most people did. Maria liked to helped him.

there's a huff of laughter and her eyes roll.] You do just fine, baby girl. [he would use that nickname and she would use his. but he did do fine by her standards. it took very little to please her.

it hadn't seemed unlikely they might end up going down this path though once she saw he had a hurt knee, Maria had thought it might just be some kissing at most if there was to be any intimacy. though she should have known that an injury wouldn't have stopped Vander. especially after he'd commented how he could still take her up against a tree.

and he could. he was stronger than her and if they were to fight for some kind of dominance then he would win every time. she stood no chance. but she knew he liked her taking charge when she did. right now, a challenge had been brought forth and Maria knew he'd rise to it. Vander wouldn't give her the win so easily but she knew he'd like to see her rise to the challenge as well. perhaps it was a losing battle but Maria wasn't known to back down from those anyway.

his hands do have free reign right now and that gives him more of an advantage. with her bra unhooked and the shirt pushed up, her breasts were practically bared.] I'll have to remember my collar and leash for the next time.

[she took his hair out of the bun and she did like it down. plus it made it easier to wrap around her hand to yank hard, her lips brushing against his as she spoke.] And you are a glutton for punishment, aren't you?

[ He tries to put distance between them. Silco feels it, like the tide, all of that anger. It bubbles over like a kettle left on the heat for too long. He's so angry. He feels it festering like static in his head.

Silco had never had to deal with Vander back in his space, alive and real. When they had co-existed before, they were aware of one another's presence, but they had been apart. Silco like a spider deep in the depths, in the fissures and abandoned spaces of Zaun, where the smog clung the most, like thick smoke lurking against his skin and in his lungs. Where people didn't go, unless they were discarded, and that's what he was too. Discarded.

That's what it had always been since that moment in the Pilt. Oh, he'd said that there was no choice, but there had always been a choice. He had been the payment. His death, paid in full — one more trencher, one more death, and then that would be it. Quiet complacency. "Peace", paid for with continued poverty, starvation, poor water and air. So little changed.

Silco had never been able to simply accept it. No price too high.

Or so he'd thought.

He'd learned otherwise, of course. It was the same price Vander wouldn't have paid too.

Here, with him alive, it feels like nauseating acid, bubbling in his stomach.

In the end, they were no different from one another. ]

I had that!

[ He snapped. Uncontrolled.

He ran his hand through his hair, putting it all back into place (it was not out of place) while a burning pit of an eye burned through the dark like a laser, focused on his back. ]

No, this was not for my closure. There's no such thing.

[ Not anymore. It itches under his skin, like a tremble that threatens to lead his fingers to a knife that he's promised to withhold. Like he can excise it from himself, if he just excises Vander as well. Oh, but he cannot, can he?

The stain is there. He can't excise it from his face, his eye, anything. He has to live with it, this anger. Simmering under the surface, leaving him spiraling constantly.

Before, he'd had his plans of revenge. Before, he'd been able to fight him. Now, his weakness — Jinx — demands otherwise. She holds him back, redirects. She was a child, she wanted what she saw as home. He'd given her what he could.

It could never be good enough. What was? When was he ever? ]

There can never be closure, after all. Can there?

[ What's closure for broken men who only knew how to hurt? ]

Don't bother trying to delude yourself. Whatever I "mattered", we both know that it was never enough.

I know what the purpose was. To use it as motivation to do what you really wanted to do: remind me of that.

For all the time they've been here, Harold has yet to encounter a mission that truly uses his and his team's skill set, as such. The train had come closest, but it was still a contained environment. They thrive with making order out of chaos, pulling threads of information from noise. They don't need a clear objective so much as they need a wide open field.

Maybe that will happen next, but he can't bank on it. He frowns at Barbara. Where before he had carefully not touched on the loss, now he edges toward it, obliquely.

"I'm sorry to hear that." He sounds sincere, pain wrapped up and kept below surface. "It's a particular kind of horror, I think."

Harold pauses before going on. "When you say we, who do you mean?" It's second nature to gather information, and the way she'd said any of your people is still sticking with him.

They might just be bugs to you, but they are also a well-known bioindicator of environmental changes. Making note of the ones here thus far has been a priority.

[ He gives Silco a glance before he huffs. ] I'm sure whatever things you are spending your time with are to the benefit of us all, hm?

[He was still aware that she had problems and insecurities of her own, and that their living together helped to smooth out those worries. He was intentional about trying to subtly dig deeper, but it wasn't always helped along with his own fluctuating mental health at times. Maybe it was enough that they soothed each other and brought a sense of security and fun to their relationship.]

That's not what I asked. Come on, surely there's something that you want or need...

[The moment that she had pulled on his hair, she had started them down this path. He had been initially placated by her wishing that he would take it easy on his battered leg, but she had incited him now and that seemed to be something he was willing to lean on as much as he was her cleavage.

So the moral of the story: she started it. Vander just so happened to be willing to finish it.

And he had fuddled around with her bras enough to understand their mechanics to know how best to get a woman out of them. After all, his hands smoothed along her back again before catching one side and using his thumb to push the clip that held the shoulder strap through the little loop to release it and suddenly one side of her bra drooped fully off.

His smirk grew in the dark as he repeated the action on the other side and then he was pulling that nice red lacy bra off of her without having to remove her shirt. They could be walked in on at any time after all, and he had some sense to be gentlemanly here and there. Not exactly when he dropped her bra down over his sore knee to keep track of it as his hands slid around to cup her breasts and massage them in his palms and fingers.]

Oh you have a collar and leash all picked out, do you? What does this set happen to look like for me and my future, hmm?

[She may not be the first to joke about collaring him thanks to his moniker of a name, but she might well be the second he allowed it. The first in Etraya of course. She was a first for a lot of things in Etraya when it came to him.

His hair fell around his face and against the back of his neck, and he hissed in pleasured pain as she pulled on it again with more vigor. His blunt nails dug into the area just under the collar bones in response, and he huffed a hot breath against her lips.] I won't deny it. How much punishment are you going to put your precious baby girl through though? [He made a point of nipping at her lower lip after the last word.]

[That was the right of it. When they had existed in one another spaces, they had been entirely different men. Yes, they had begun to grow apart as he slid into complacency and Silco seemed driven to carry on well passed the Lanes and beyond like a madness still. They had orbited each other for so many years, knowing in intrinsic value of looks and body language and how they played into situations they found themselves in. Even growing apart, they still knew how to operate together, effectively as one, keeping the arguments behind closed doors.

And after the Pilt, Vander was keenly aware that Silco had survived. It was on the stagnant wind sometimes, and he had seen the signs but been unwilling to follow that thread. He'd had opportunity, but shame and resignation had kept him in the relatively safe confines of the Lanes where he still had a base of power. Their orbits were wider, but a part of him knew that Silco was only laying in wait back then. He had thought the other man was waiting for him to die and then would sweep in, but he had underestimated Silco back then.

Now here they were squabbling like children with adult grievances against each other. They pounded verbally rather than physically. It was more back to the old times after all, arguing, bickering, lashing out at each other in their own respective festering wounds that wouldn't heal. One would think that either one of them would realize that there was only madness on that path repeating the same scenarios expecting a different result.

He paused halfway stepping over a low-lying log and glanced back at Silco's display of old grief and pain. He shook his head then scrubbed his fingers through his hair smoothed back against his scalp.] Right because you can't let anything go. There will never be punishment enough to satisfy you for your grievances and the slights made against you.

[And for a long time, he felt awful about it. Even now, he did had moments when he knew there was nothing he could do to make up for the scar that marred Silco's features. No, an identity had been built around that grievance, so his empathy had waned as Silco railed and yelled and festered.

That offer on the gangplank had probably been nothing but a ploy to lower his guard.

He took another hobbled step away.]

Do you actually want closure? Do you think I do after what you did as your comeuppance against me?

[He actually winced at the accusation, his shoulders twitching in the dark of the forest. He wanted to argue that point so badly. He wanted to openly speak of how much Silco had once meant to him, but those days were gone and only ash remained. Why incite them both? Silco would never believe him and he didn't have it in him to feel that way again.]

You were always enough; the world was never enough for you.

[He hobbled further away, using a tree as support to make his way over roots and rocks lining the path.]

I... want to believe there's progress.

[ Usually she tries to hide her troubles underneath a smile. (One that can always be seen right through.) But she can't bring herself to do that now, dipping her head sadly. Despite her Earth's current state, it's a place she doesn't want to lose. As well as the moon—where the last bastion of humanity is stored, in the form of records within the Cage. It would be too sad to lose. ]

It doesn't feel like there has been. All I can do is hope. [ She holds a lot of hope. But the passage of time can gradually chip away at her optimism... ] I wish I could see that our homes are okay. But... I'm too scared to stop.

[Ace laughs, as he lets his body go back to normal, clothes in place (by that it's just shorts, this man is allergic to shirts) and everything..]

Cool, right? And I've managed to make it so it doesn't disintegrate my clothes anymore!

Oh! how are we going to make it 3D with paper?

[He's seen a lot of paper, and he can't figure out how to make a shape other than a deformed ball.]

I wanna do it!

I know nothing about "Echo," all I know is that no one has ever seen them.

[ from what shadow was told before, people don't even know what they look like either. it's mostly word of mouth that they believe what's being said to them, and that's never enough to satisfy shadow. where are the results that this person exists. ]

I've spoken to one person, but that's not enough to gather data. Accelerator is his name, he's been here for a long time but doesn't have any concrete evidence himself.

[ though he's a believer, shadow will give him that. ]

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