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⏴

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ Robert lifts up a water bottle. A beer wouldn't actually hurt, but he is technically on the job, and even if the job is stupid something might happen. Maybe there's a giant squid in the lake or something and he'll have to treat near drownings. ]

Gotta stay sober, I'd hate to accidentally give someone rat poison instead of a band aid.

[ Carver shrugs at that, accepting it, and pops the cap. He doesn't like beer but he doesn't hate it either, and the novelty of having alcohol around he hasn't needed to make or steal hasn't worn off yet either. ]

That happened before? Seems like an escalation.

I haven't seen it yet, but I wouldn't be surprised if it happened.

[ He doesn't trust people not to do unfathomably stupid shit if the opportunity presents itself. ]

[ Carver snorts at that. ]

Yeah, you've probably seen all kinds of nonsense. The kids in the infantry used to get the most fucked up injuries cause they were bored and daring each other into stupidity.

Regular people never believe you when you tell them how many chopped fingers you've had to reattach.

I'd believe it.

[ Carver lifts the beer in lazy salute. ]

Chugging energy drinks and playing with beanbag rounds got real popular for a minute. God, I hated those brats. They were always in medical.

Was this pre or post apocalypse? Not that I'd forgive beanbags either way.

[ He lifts his water bottle back. He likes this guy; easy, straight-forward. He doesn't have to play nice with him. ]

[ Carver snorts. ]

Before, thank God. Afghanistan's got a way of killing stupidity one way or another.

[ The Valley of Death didn't leave much room for either grace or learning experiences. You shaped up or you fucking died. ]

Sometimes you shape up and die anyway. That had been going on for a couple of years back home.

The new millennium started off a shit show.

Mhmm, [ Carver agrees, because he's a pragmatist at the end of the day. Hope never did come easily to him. ] Sometimes, God just decides you're done.

[ He takes a drink, letting the taste settle in him. ]

It did for me, too. [ He shrugs. Is what it is. ] I guess this place is a change of pace.

God pointedly decided we weren't. Which I'm not mad about exactly, I just wish I'd gotten a less stupid purgatory.

[ He didn't want to die. Solmara had sucked, but it had beaten the alternative— Etraya is better, so in a way he's been moving up. ]

You think this is purgatory?

[ It’s a genuine question. And Carver’s watching close for the answer. ]

If I had to have an answer, it'd be that. I wasn't bad enough for hell, and there's no way I was picked to represent my universe out of however many billion humans plus whatever other sentient life is out there.

[ He doesn't buy the premise of this place at all, is what he's saying. But he's going along with it because he doesn't have a better option. ]

[ Carver snorts. ]

Had that thought myself. About the representation.

[ If anyone should've been picked, it should've been his sister. ]

Not like my world's worth saving, anyway.

The thing is, they made the premise too big. Like, if they'd told me I'm here to earn my second chance at life or something, I'd— well, I wouldn't have bought it, but I'd have given it some serious consideration.

[ Purgatory followed by rebirth or something wouldn't have sounded as out there as "show us your universe is worthy of being saved" ]

But why would I keep a single mediocre human as a representative for however many galaxies? Come on, in terms of goodness, I'd be beaten by a mile by a stray dog.

[ He hums at that. ]

It's a good story. I get why the kids buy it.

[ There are too many kids around here for Carver's liking. He tries not to think about it much. ]

We're here to be used. Only real question is for what. Nobody's been able to tell me that yet.

I think it's cheap entertainment. Like the last mission with the points, just less blatant.

[ Maybe they're early seasons still, so they haven't implemented the most fucked up mechanics yet. He's not sure and it ultimately doesn't really matter, Robert knows he should be dead, whatever he gets here is better than that. ]

[ Carver shrugs. In his heart of hearts, he's not certain that's wrong. ]

Entertainment for who, though? That's the part that gets me.

A more technologically advanced species, obviously. You know, like humans with dog fights.

[ Carver rocks back on his heels, frowning. ]

You think it's that petty?

[ It's certainly a possibility. ]

[ Robert shrugs. There's no way to know for sure. ]

Maybe less dog fights and more... zoo with shows. Come see the gorillas, we gave them pumpkins for enrichment.

[ Carver puffs out a breath. ]

I really wish that didn’t make sense. They even gave us jobs to keep us focused.

Ever read about Calhoun's mice utopia experiments?

[ They were interesting reads before he ended up transported into a different world. Now they feel uncomfortably on point. ]

[ Carver shakes his head. ]

Tell me.

This guy was studying rat and mice behavior, and he built what he called a mice utopia— a mouse city where the mice wouldn't need to fight for anything. First generation thrived, but subsequent ones got all sorts of fucked up.

It got overpopulated, some animals refused to leave their houses, they got depressed— there's a lot of conclusions to be drawn for it. But if this is a zoo then these missions and this supposed goal to save our universes is how they keep us from going insane, probably.

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