MISSION 009

[etrayamods]

⏵ 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⏴

Comments

cable (nathan summers) | xmcu | open (+ team turtles)

[sodark]

[The aim of this mission, for Cable, is malicious compliance. He'll do as asked, but just enough. Which is why his shirts are dark colours with barely any actual tie-dye. At least he's wearing the fucking cut-off jeans. At some point he cracks and rips the sleeve off one side of his shirt, giving his metal arm space to move around and not pinch the fabric.]

i. curfew - closed to turtles
[For the most part, Cable is stern and wants to run a tight ship, but he's also not interested in becoming embroiled in a power-play with his underlings. He asserts his expectations (make your bed, do your chores etc) but if he has to do every damn chore, it's better than fucking around for two weeks.

If there's interest, he's more than willing to make sure his underlings learn and understand what they're doing. He does put a lot of emphasis on the importance of their role, if nothing else.

What he's most strict about is bedtime. If only because it gets everyone out of his hair for the night. If his underlings don't make it back to the cabin themselves, he'll find them. If they're doing something, he'll interrupt.]

C'mon. [He cocks his head toward the cabin.] Bed time.

ii. ice breakers
[Somehow, Cable gets roped into the trust-fall. It seems agreeable compared to yapping about himself. He alternates between genuinely catching people and faking others out, letting them hit the ground with a thud.]

Did you learn something? [He'll ask, while looking down at his new friend.]

iii. activities
[Crippled by boredom, Cable works on some surprisingly intricate beading. In particular he's making a necklace and is reluctant to answer questions about it, but he's clearly very considered in the patterns he's making. If he can get his hands on a knife and some wood, he'll lean back and whittle while he supervises campers.

As part of the Turtle team, refereeing sports is his responsibility. He's a stickler for rules and will quickly address infractions, calling people aside. During dodgeball, he'll keep an eye out for bullying. If he thinks someone is getting a little too cocky, he'll invite himself to hurl a ball at them with the force of a speeding comet.

During softball, he tries his best to be supportive but eventually can't help chiming in.]

Can I make a suggestion? [He leans in, just a little.]

You're supposed to hit the ball.

iv. counsellor time
[By the end of the day, Cable looks truly exhausted. He nearly finishes a beer in one, elongated gulp. The entire time he sits by the fire, he keeps a wary eye on his cabin.]

v. wildcard
[hmu in DM/squatrats on discord/rodentia to plot.]

1

[miniroth]

[Sephiroth is a reasonably easy camper to deal with, for a fifteen year old.

He's used to clear orders and expectations, and he's used to exacting schedules as anyone raised in a lab or military might. He's interested to learn new things, and while completely and utterly inept in pretty much any social situation, he's strong and nearly tireless; chores left to him WILL get done. Whether or not they're his chore to do. What he isn't used to anymore is 'bed time'.

Which means as curfew rolls around he's nowhere NEAR the cabin, instead carefully attempting to figure out how to melt a chocolate bar onto a marshmallow onto a graham cracker over an active bonfire without setting fire to any of the things he's currently trying to melt, expression set in a dissatisfied frown.

Cable suddenly turning up snaps him back upright, gooey mess still in hand, but there's ... a pause, and a glance back towards where sleep is supposed to be happening.]

If it's allowable, I'd like to finish this lesson before I do, sir.

[S'mores are not lessons.]

[sodark]

[Sephiroth has been a pleasant surprise in an otherwise largely unpleasant mission for Cable. Some of it plays to his strengths, but a lot of it he finds to be kind of bothersome. Like curfew.

His lips press together into a thin line at the request. He's strict, but he'd also rather show flexibility when someone has been largely easy to deal with. Of course, the sir also goes a long way.]

Fine. [Curtly, but he moves to sit on a log.]

But I'm going to wait here until it is.

[miniroth]

[Cable is the assigned Authority Figure, the 'sir' is required. Sephiroth knows how to treat superior officers camp counselors.]

As you wish, sir. It's proving a challenge.

[Not one most people seem to be having based on his own observations, but his experience with cooking things on a fire is limited, especially extremely melty things.

It does at least seem like he's not TRYING to delay on purpose, for all that Bed Time was an annoyance he didn't want to deal with. Key ingredients he's missing: smores don't get made over an open flame, he needs coals, and while the crunch of literally setting one on fire can be nice, it's not ideal for the standard campfire treat.]

[sodark]

[Initially, Cable is quite happy to sit back in silence and leave Sephiroth to his failure.

His own inability to mind his business prompts him to meddle. He reassembles a new s'more and thrusts the stick on Sephiroth's direction.]

They're all going to do the same thing if you keep sticking it in the same spot. [His metal hand points out a spot toward the bottom of the fire, over some glowing coals.]

Turn it very slowly.

ii.

[fatedfinality]

[ It's after one of the fake-outs that Ardyn, the current victim, can't stop the abrupt snort-laugh that follows after he hits the ground. His back aches and he'll pay for it but when has that ever really stopped him before?

Ah, well- He deserved that one even if Cable doesn't know it. Honestly? He'd probably have done the very same thing if the roles were reversed. ]

I learned not to trust you, mostly. Was there another lesson you had in mind though?

[sodark]

No, that's about the size of it.

[He stares impassively down at Ardyn when he speaks, but he does silently note that he took it fairly well. All things considered.

As such, Cable sticks his metal hand out for Ardyn to take.]

Hit the ground pretty hard. [Which is as close as he gets to asking if he's alright.]

[fatedfinality]

[ Why take it too seriously? He doesn't even know the man, let alone trusted him in any capacity. It actually seemed the smarter move to set expectations low.

He does take the offered hand though. He pulls himself up with a small groan before stretching out his arms. They come back in to lay on his lower back. ]

That I did. I'm not as spry as I could be, but I like to think I can take a good tumble or two still.

i 🐢 turtle turtle

[bootyshortsforoldmen]

Bed time? Are you joking?

[Hank is sitting on a stump, away from the cabins. Not far enough away, apparently, because the goddamn turtle counselor sniffs him out.]

I’m fucking fifty years old. [And some change — a lot of change — but he’s too tired to argue semantics. The point is: he’s old.

Just let this old man be! With his tie-dyed shirt that already has holes in it, somehow, and shorts that are splattered with paint. But in the dark? Who knows what that might be.]

You planning on tucking me in, too?

[sodark]

[The completely blank look on Cable's face answers the first two questions. It is bed time, he is not joking.]

That makes two of us. [He glances up and down at the state of Hank's outfit, becoming slightly skeptical that they're the same kind of fifty years old.]

If that's what it takes. [Cable shrugs.]

Could carry you, but you won't like how I do it.

[bootyshortsforoldmen]

[Hank purses his lips. He’s old, okay? He’s earned the right to be a little petulant.]

Definitely don’t want you carrying me. Dunno if you’d go for bridal or try to throw me over your shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

[Both horrifying prospects, really.]

How ‘bout you get me a beer before you tuck me in?

[sodark]

I don't want to carry you either, so don't make me.

[Because he will pick him up and swing him over his shoulder like a bag of oranges. Thanks, mutant strength.

His eyes narrow at the request.]

Do I look like a waiter?

[But he is familiar with the effectiveness of the carrot and stick method, so he offers:]

Come on. I need one, too. [He jerks his head over his shoulder, toward beer.]

ii

[maximumlegend]

[ It's a good thing that Fabian does have good reflexes - or maybe he was actually already anticipating this activity not really going the way it was supposed to. There's a flick of his wrist, and suddenly Fabian's fall to the ground slows down in a way that seems contrary to the laws of physics, making him drop to the ground way more slowly, landing on the ground as if on the soft mattress of a bed.

But despite the fact he didn't hit the ground hard, there's still a hint of annoyance on the teen's face. ]

Yes, that this seems like a practical joke, more than anything.

[sodark]

[Cable looks vaguely impressed, though not particularly amazed. It's a decent power, but there are a lot of weirdos here so he couldn't say if it's something special.

He mostly looks impassively down at Fabian, clearly not guilty.]

There's a lesson in every line you fall for.

[Said with the serious air of someone who probably doesn't appreciate a joke, actually. But he sticks his metal hand out to help him up, if he allows it.]

Nice trick.

iv.

[decodex]

( eddie is also entirely wiped out, but that may be due in part to the eccentricity of his campers. one isn't human, one refuses to take off his superhero costume, and one never really showed up, so—

it's been a strange start. they've got more animals than people in their cabin.

he, too, drinks in companionable silence. it goes on like that, peaceful, until he's unable to stop himself from commenting on the intensity of cable's gaze. )

You worried about one of them? ( or is it the general concept of campers sneaking out that cable is concerned with? )

[sodark]

[So intense is Cable's gaze, he doesn't realise he's being spoken to at first and he looks a little annoyed to be spoken to at all. He catches the question, considering it for a moment before he shakes his head.]

Not worried. Alert. [He clarifies, then adds:]

Have a kid back home, but there's only one of her. Weird to have four to watch-- weirder that ones fifty.

[decodex]

Yeah?

( that seems to calm eddie, or at least mildly endear him. he never had kids back home, back in the real world, but he's since learned that he has two. it's an alternate universe thing; you wouldn't understand. )

Big kid. ( poor fifty-year-old.

eddie should probably keep just as watchful an eye on his own cabin, but his crafty campers aren't going to be caged so easily. ) I got a hedgehog, a superhero, and a kid who wants to fight me. Fun mix.

[sodark]

I don't feel like a hedgehog should count as a whole kid-- cabinmate. [But Cable is thinking of an actual hedgehog and he's pretty sure they don't do much. Maybe that's the problem Eddie is having.]

They haven't tried to fight me, but I think the girls want me dead. Sleeping with one eye open. [Hopefully not the glowing one.]

iii!

[stresstokens]

[ Riz is not an athlete.

This has been the case since he was a child, his report cards marred with a C in gym, with little encouraging notes of good effort! and great attempt, poor application and maybe it's his shoes?. But what he lacks in the power to wrestle someone, to tackle a foe in bloodrush, to swing the bat, he makes up for in his ability to dodge and contort his body in ways that it probably shouldn't be contorted in.

Which is to say, he's incredible at dodgeball, occasionally taunting his opponents as he evades every ball with ease, though it quickly becomes obvious that he hasn't actually thrown a single ball. It's in the middle of one such taunt that he twists his head to see a ball hurtling towards him at the speed of light, and he all but flings himself to the ground to dodge it. ]

Wha -- hey, are you trying to kill me here?! [ He yells shrilly as he springs back to his feet, 3'5" of righteous fury as he picks the ball up and throws it back at Cable with all his might. It bounces once, then rolls to a stop. Riz clears his throat and studiously looks away, pretending that that never happened. ]

[sodark]

No. [Cable does not look like he regrets his decision at all. Not until Riz tries to return the favour and Cable witnesses exactly how abysmal his atheltic ability is.]

I didn't realise who I was dealing with, obviously. [Dryly, he starts to close the distance between them so he can pick the ball up.]

Taunting doesn't win points.

[stresstokens]

Except for it kind of does, [ Riz retorts, regaining some of his lost pride - well, not really, but he can pretend to - and plants his hands on his hips in a way that suggests he's not preparing to dodge at all. ] My job's to make sure the balls keep flying at me, as someone who can dodge, so that the people who can throw can get their hits in.

[ He shrugs. ]

That's just basic party composition, man. Taunt spells exist for a reason.

[ He's a team player!! He swears!!! ]

[sodark]

[Riz says a couple of things that are unfamiliar to Cable, but he can intuit their meaning. Despite being a little impressed that Riz is thinking about tactics in a game of dodgeball, he looks impassive.

His arms fold low over his chest, levelling a scrutinising look on Riz.]

I don't know if a logical person would be back-talking right now.

i

[jinxs]

(Aw, man, busted. Jinx is on top of their cabin, cleaning out her guns to be impossible another day when he approaches. She hardly listens to Silco, so he's probably going to need a different approach with her rather than telling her to do something. A growl leaves her mouth, eyes rolling in edgy teen fashion before she gesticulates with the weapon.)

Hah! What is time, even? Do you buy that? I don't buy that.

[sodark]

You can't buy time, it just is. [Flatly, he could climb up there but he suspects she'll start freaking out like a wild animal and he doesn't want to chase her.]

Whatever you're doing up there you can do inside, too. Quietly.

[jinxs]

I'm NEVER quiet.

(She's literally the loudest person in that cabin, so, really, it might be beneficial that she's out here.)

You here to take me back?