etrayalogs | MISSION 009

Entry tags:

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

[ Leaning back, Henry blinks - rubbing one eye with the heel of his hand. He isn't quite certain how long he's been staring at the flames.

Is that bad for him? Could that make him go blind? He isn't sure - he thinks that's an old wives' tale. Or may not? Something to check when he gets back to the library? Where would that be? What would that be under? Maybe something related to eyes?

His thoughts move surprisingly fast even if his physical movements are always slow and sluggish. He breathes slowly before dropping his hand down. ]

Guess not. [ A beat. ] ... how have you been enjoying camp, Sephiroth? Has it been fun? [ His eyes round. He isn't sure. Dissociating for most of the process has made it difficult for him to know one way or the other. But he also is just enjoying existing, so that's... that's probably fine. ]

... It's..

[That it takes him a minute to come to a conclusion about how he feels about this camp thing might not bode well.

All in all so far it hasn't been a bad experience. Though he didn't understand the POINT of most of it, their purposes nebulous and wrapped entirely around 'fun' instead of training for any practical skill, it hasn't been terrible.]

Different. [The conclusion reached sounds hesitant.] It hasn't been unpleasant but I'm not sure I understand the purpose of most of the tasks. And there is a curfew.

[Which he doesn't like, full stop. Curfews!]

Is there?

[ His eyes flit to the side as he didn't realize there was a curfew. Or rather, maybe, it was mentioned but he already started to drain his head of all thoughts. Well, they're probably still within curfew? Probably? Well, as an adult that's present, he'll make sure Sephiroth doesn't get in trouble. ]

I don't know the point of camp, either. [ Henry decides to wind back to that point instead of fixating on that point. ] But I think... it's about being ... [ His eyes flit about the area. ] ... friendly in forests. I guess.

There is. I don't know if every cabin lead looks for you if you're not back by curfew, but mine does.

[He didn't mind Cable, the man might be strict but was fair and he could guess what the man wanted and intended. It was nice and familiar!

Less familiar, all of this stuff. It wasn't bad, but he still.. rahter kind of expected things to have an obvious point.

Being 'fun' is not a point.]

Friendly to the forest or .. in general?

Oh. They must really care about you.

[ That's probably what that means, right? Yeah. ]

More in general. Friendly to each other, I think.

[ Henry would like to dissociate out of the conversation, but he stops himself from doing so. He has not yet done a social faux pas when he has to get up and leave; he's doing fine. He's using words. It's all right, and he likes Sephiroth. He'd like to make sure that the teenager is doing well and is happy. ]

I hope you've made some friends...

Maybe he has rules he needs to follow too, otherwise he gets in trouble.

[Obedience to laws and regulations is also normal and completely reasonable! It's why people obey traffic signs and stuff. Who knows what the consequences might be here? It doesn't seem as if Sephiroth minds it though. They got along well enough, and that's what matters.

The idea of just being ... friendly in general is considered long and hard. Sephiroth is not exactly SOCIAL on a good day.

Sitting here staring at a fire in dead silence actually sounds fine to him. Friendliness requires doing things, doesn't it..?]

In spite of my best efforts, yes. Two, about my age.

[Two whole friends!]

Oh.

[ Henry does his best (and succeeds) in not saying: "Maybe." It sometimes seems like Sephiroth has a poor view of himself and wouldn't like to perpetuate that belief in any way. Of course, how does one boost someone's ego? ]

I'm... sure it's because they like you.

[ His eyes round but he thinks that sounds right. But then he feels nervous that the person really isn't doing something nice out of the goodness of their heart. What if it doesn't happen? Wouldn't that hurt Sephiroth's feelings more? ]

... who is it?

[ That's right. He'll grill the person in the only way that Henry can. ]

In spite of your best efforts? Oh, you wanted more friends?

[ Could he help with that? Maybe? He knows charming people? Maybe he could get tips? ]

[All Sephiroth's interactions with other people, no matter how few that might be before he came to Etraya, suggested it was not because people liked him.

He can however, recognize that Henry is trying his best to be supportive, so he nods as if this was the most reasonable conclusion to reach. It wasn't. It was ridiculous. He was difficult to deal with on a good day.]

Popp and Gaia, they're ... hm. .. Hard to describe.

[There is a moment he looks a bit affronted and terribly alarmed over the idea of wanting MORE friends.]

No, not at all! Friends are a terrible weakness, having two alone puts us all at significant risk. I'd rather have none, but they wouldn't allow it.

[ Those are interesting names.

His eyes flicker from the teen's shoulder to the top of his head. But it may be that those names are very common where those two are from; it might even be as common as "Henry." It's a brief second in wondering if he's rude in thinking those names were interesting.

But he tosses that aside for what Sephiroth says next. ]

Significant risk? How?

[There's a long, loooong pause before he actually answers that, in any form. And when he finally does, it's .. rather sideways.]

If I explain, understand it is how I was taught and how I live. The morals of different countries and different planets may not align.

[ Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

Henry doesn't think that sounds good, but he doesn't know enough about anything to make an educated guess. Furthermore, if Sephiroth is willing to trust him, he shouldn't go against that trust, right? What if the teen closes himself off and doesn't feel he can share anything?

As he mulls about this, he stares at Sephiroth with a blank look before saying: ]

Okay.

[Maybe it's for the best that the teen seems to reconsider after a long several moments, then shakes his head.]

Never mind. Suffice it to say, friendships could get in the way of our purpose in this city.

I dunno.

[ He doesn't quite understand it, but he sometimes has all the pieces to understand something without getting it. That sometimes is also his lot in life. But it isn't necessarily a bad one. He doesn't think? Who knows. ]

I am still happy for you.

I understand people value it more than I do. If it makes you happy, then that's good on its own.

[And bonus points for him, if he admitted he had one or two friends, maybe nobody will insist he needs more of them.

Two was enough to keep track of. More would drive him up the wall. How social butterflies managed, he'd never understand.]

But if you think you can get more mileage out of it, you should make your own.

Guess so.

[ Maybe it doesn't have to be so difficult. Maybe just being happy having friends is enough. Henry can't say that he had any close relationships before he came to Etraya. So he doesn't really know what to do with them or how to properly cherish them. But that's a personal problem and one he's working on fixing - for the sake of the people he's befriending.

He gives a small nod. ]

I do have some. I hope to care for them as much as they care for me. [ A pause. ] So... even if you might not value it as much... I think... giving back as much good as you're given... isn't a bad thing to do.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

MISSION 009

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject