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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[ no he never wants to help with small tasks like this, but the fact that he's here now, there's no other choice. he reaches for a knife while huddling a few carrots together, at first he starts with slow chops, then proceeds to pick up the pace. what seems like he's about to cut his finger is quickly remedied with how fast his digits move along the way. ]

...

[ it doesn't take long to handle a nice batch of them, all cut decently as if he has a trained eye for this. dumping what he has done into the bowl in front of him, he speaks up for blaze to hear. ]

What are your thoughts here so far?

Aren't you the one who wants to make friends with them now?

[ maybe he shouldn't say that because that's not what antigone is suggesting, but the hedgehog believes the other doesn't have any pride. has shadow ever thought anything good of the other? no. ]

...

[ ... ] Sure.

[ to which? he's not answering, but he doesn't seem bothered. ]

Test the theory for later. I'm unable to kidnap you here.

[ with how close everything is. ]

[ ask a human a question and the katydid has to speak instead... not looking good for you viktor. ]

Hm.

[ sounds fitting enough. ]

Are you a specialist when it comes to plants or do you only look into insects?

[ it comes down to how useful is this guy. ]

I wouldn't, [ Carver mutters sourly. ] But that's just me.

[ He sighs. ]

Appreciate the beer, though. At least there's a silver lining.

[it doesn't take a real therapist to see that this made Gorgug feel some kind of way and she goes over to where the smaller instruments are kept, pulling out a pair of drum sticks. she waves them at him with a smile.]

It's fine. Besides, it's good, I think. Getting out whatever you got inside. So you shouldn't feel bad for that.

[wait, is this therapy...?]

[she shrugs a shoulder.]

Yeah. You're a good guy. Very honorable.

[ Carver's prepared to either bristle and defend his reasoning or shut down and accept a superior's reprimand. To his faint surprise, neither is necessary. Harold doesn't snap at him or order him to back down; instead, he explains his thinking. Expands on the reasoning.

Slowly, cautiously, Carver considers that. ]

What would that look like, exploiting the directive?

[grumbly, petulant:] Just near-kill me, though...

It's a matter of opportunity -- if or when Echo directs us to do something transparently contrary to our well-being. She may choose to side with us against that.

[ Harold has considered this in great detail already, and he isn't making any assumptions about which way Aurora will fall, but... her warning that if she's aware of a private communication network, she'd have to try to access it -- that said quite a lot to him.

Speaking of which. He reaches up and adjusts his glasses. ] The device I've just given you, and the cameras we've set up -- they are outside of Aurora's network.

I will hope for the best and plan for the worst.

[ Some of the tension drains from Carver's shoulders. It's not paranoia if someone out there wants to kill you. And some of the missions swing lethal, even if it is temporary. Harold understands that, then.

Good. ]

People act like I'm irrational for doing that. Planning for the worst.

[ It comes out flatter than he means. He doesn't understand why it gives people pause, but it does. ]

It helps. That you don't.

[ The death might be temporary, but the loss of memory isn't, and Harold is positioned to find that uniquely horrifying. He would almost rather lose someone again than suffer his father's lapse in memory in a loved one another time. Not yet again, after Arthur.

Almost. He would almost rather. ]

I knew by the time I was eighteen that the President of the United States was ordering kill squads for foreign enemies, [ he says in a brutally frank tone. ] Man alone is sufficient to do evil, never mind what else is possible here. Or what you've experienced.

[ Harold is well aware that it's beyond his comprehension. ]

[ Quietly, Carver wonders what would change if Harold knew exactly what the orders had been in Korengal. If he knew what the Reapers had done after, when they formed their line and took their orders away from the Army's shield. The job never changed. Neither, in the end, did most of the people they took the orders from.

He'd believed in the propaganda once, or he'd wanted to. It didn't survive first contact with the enemy. But he still pulled the trigger. He still took the knife. You don't walk that back. ]

You still believe in people, though.

[ Carver tilts his head. ]

I don't know if I can do that anymore.

[ He's quiet for a moment, deciding how to respond. Carver is right and he's right that it's a contradiction, that Harold sees the evil humanity has done and chooses still to believe. Maybe that's all it is, ultimately. Nothing grander than that. ]

I've chosen to, [ he says simply. He knows the terrible extent of what people can do willingly, and he doesn't want to participate. ] Man can do evil but I have decided not to.

[ He lets out a breath, conscientious of his failures. ] To the best of my ability, at least.

Oh, [ Carver says, very quietly. It sounds so simple when Harold say sit like that. Not easy, no, Carver can't imagine a thing like that came without cost. But -

Simple.

He's quiet for a long moment.

Then: ]

What's that like?

[ He breathes out to take a moment again, cynical humor and hopelessness and resolute bloody-minded determination all in one. Harold's whole expression compresses. ]

Damn thankless, mostly.

[ And now, unexpectedly, he smiles slightly, just a bare curve of the mouth. ]

Saving people, though, I believe that's a pure good -- no matter who it is. It's not that it can balance out. [ He's not trying to repent or make up for anything he's done, directly or indirectly. It's just that... it's worth it, on its own face, without anything else behind it to give it meaning. ]

I'd just like to spend what days remain to me believing this.

[ Harold spent so long making it so very complicated, and he'd lost everything. This is what he wants now. What he has left that gives him purpose. ]

Edited 2025-06-08 02:49 (UTC)

[He does, but not at the expense of someone else potentially getting unnecessarily hurt.]

...We're going back. [And to demonstrate he means it, he's turning his back to the lake, and heading in the direction back towards the campsite. There will be other nights he can sneak out to visit the lake. Fio can't catch him every time.]

[ It's a small smile. Carver might have missed it if he weren't watching Harold so closely. Small and brief but, Carver thinks, honest. And he wonders what that's like, too. To believe in other people like most of them aren't evil, selfish little monsters who'd turn on each other the second things got hard. Carver hasn't saved anyone in a long time, not even his own people. He realizes he hasn't tried. For a moment, he wonders what it would've been like if he had.

You doubting me, son? the commander's voice hisses abruptly. Carver stiffens, checking his corners instinctively. Nothing greets him but dust and the same shadows he helped conceal the cameras in.

His fingers twitch. This is blasphemy, he's pretty sure. ]

Sounds nice, [ Carver admits quietly. ] Believing that.

[ The first step is easy. The second nearly makes his knee buckle but he manages to keep himself upright until he's on solid ground. He favors the good knee while he makes his way toward Damian. ]

I would.

No. This is the first mission of its kind for me.

[ The other two were bearable, but only just. If the AI is to be believed, Bruce isn't making a very strong case for his world. ]

[ He hadn't wanted to presume but he's glad she asked for his help. Some kids like to do things on their own, but she's small enough that he's worried about her getting into the boat by herself. And he just.. he likes helping kids. John places her paddle by the seat in the bow of a canoe. ]

Up we go, [ he gives as a warning before picking her up from under her arms and carefully placing her in the front of the canoe. She's so light. She's just a kid, and a little one at that. It's not right that she should have this kind of pressure, should be put in these situations. Canoeing is one thing, summer camp must be fun for someone her age, but what if she had been in Aphaia? Had she been in Aphaia? He doesn't know everyone here, even though their population isn't that large. And certainly to his knowledge there's not peers her age.

He's determined to make canoeing as fun as he can, though he's not sure how he's going to do that. Maybe she'll just like being on the water.

Not about to ask her to care for the bow line, he undoes it himself and uses a paddle to keep the boat from drifting off. ]

I'm going to step in and it's going to rock, hold on.

[ John does his best to step right in the center, but the canoe still rocks and bobs a bit as he gets on, and then settles down as he sits in the spot behind her. ]

My name is John, what's yours?

[ Bruce isn't going to question how this girl knew his name - there was a list after all. She doesn't sound like a potential threat. Ace isn't acting aggressive at any rate. ]

Yes.

[ simple as that. ]

If the AI asks where I've gone, tell it where it can find me.

Coffee at night then. I'll reach out to you when I have some time available.

[ Seriously, Bruce, what are you doing that's so valuable? ]

[ The last thing he needs is Accelerator to come make commentary while he's struggling to figure out how to make a friendship bracelet. Or, maybe that is what he needs. After a flash of annoyance he takes in Accelerator's smile and realizes he's... happy to see the expression. It feels so rare. The last time he saw the teen in person it had been a horrific memory in Aphaia; they've only texted since then and left off with Accelerator's opinion that adults constantly let him down, which John can't say he hasn't done.

So if he's getting a smile at the expense of failing to braid some thread, it's a worthwhile trade. He can play his part of this game and gives Accelerator a clearly fake smile and puts on a genial voice. ]

They didn't teach this in Cub Scouts. I don't suppose you can show me how?

[ It's a surprise to see Shaw back, but a welcome one. Was it a recent return? He hasn't heard from her and he's pretty sure Harold would have said if she'd contacted him. She can take care of herself, he knows she can, there's few people who know her capabilities better than he does, but he still worried a bit while she was gone. They go into unknown danger all the time, but there's so many people here who can do impossible things, and she's proven herself to be self-sacrificial. So it's a relief that she's here, grinning at him.

But he's been caught here, doing his camp mandated activities and an easy target. She gets a mock smile in return. ]

It was more of a girl thing. You want to show me how it's done?

[ John looks up from his threads when someone approaches, but thankfully it's just Carver, which is a relief. It's strange seeing Carver in something that isn't a dark color with full coverage, it feels wrong somehow, it's like seeing a tree without the bark. He takes note of the look on his face, but it's nothing he wouldn't expect in this situation. ]

It could be worse. We could be having to sing songs around the campfire.

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MISSION 009

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