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

[sophielicious]

Wow, really busy, huh? An ex and a fake boyfriend. Who is it?

(Her arm wraps around Maria's shoulder, so she can redirect them away from the horrors of the archery bench, and, sorry, she's snooping. Oof, girlie, oof.)

At least let me get to know you before I accept, okay? Friendship's serious shit.

[heavensnight]

[Maria thinks about James and if it's right to call him an ex but she'd been created just to replace a dead wife so what else did you call that? and James wasn't here so who cared? besides, Maria thinks, he'd killed her enough times. she could call him whatever the hell she wanted!!] The ex isn't here anymore so small blessings on that front. Fake boyfriend? Guy named Henry. A total sweetheart but he's...[she trails off, unsure of how to explain Henry until she settles on:] He needs all the help he can get. [That was a nice enough way of putting it.]

Fair enough. Not like there's much to know.

[sophielicious]

Fuck, sorry, my bad, not to be an intrusive telepath or anything, but you thought that very loudly. That's not an ex, that's a deadbeat, good-for-nothing asshole. Glad we had this talk.

(Girl, small blessing? More like, good for her and good for him, she'd have words, Maria, WORDS for him. Her mum taught her some shit, and one of them is to always step up for other women. Never go down, thank you.)

Right, point me discreetly.

[heavensnight]

Wait, you can read my mind? [it shouldn't be that surprising that someone can do this? what with all the powers people can have here.

forget the arts and crafts, she has to think about this.

or not think?

Maria's mind starts to go over her options. does she tell Sophie what she is? does she just act like a normal woman who was killed by some man? her mind goes over the options again and again before she realizes right. Sophie can probably hear her thoughts. she sighs and shakes her head.]

I'm trying for the 'normal person' route here so uh, mind keep this to yourself? Not implying I think you're going to go tell everybody. Just playing it safe.

[sophielicious]

Yup.

(But, hey, she's blocking it so that Maria can have her freak out in peace. Jesus. At least, they're far enough from everyone so they can talk it out.)

Yeah, I mean, it's whatever to me. If it makes you feel a little less weird, I also died a bunch, and amongst my social circles, you're pretty normal. My lips are sealed, babe.

[heavensnight]

[what does one say to that?]

I'm sorry. About dying. [you should probably say sorry when someone tells you that, right?]

Sorry. I just felt like I should acknowledge you told me that.

[sophielicious]

Don't worry about it.

(She's not even saying 'sorry' back, it feels like a very 'it is what it is' type of situation for both of them.

But, alright, back to unblocking her.)

But lucky him, he isn't here, I'd be scrambling his brains into jello right about now. What a fucking ass.

[heavensnight]

[it is what it is but Maria has found being acknowledged really great actually. pretty life changing stuff right there.]

A creepy town poofs you into existence for a guy and you expect a little more affection, you know? [it was easier to joke about.] For a while, I didn't even remember he did it so many times. And then recently I got to remember that right, he's done it a lot. [Maria thinks about how many times the exectutioner had killed her, impaling her again and again. until she realizes she thought about that and apologizes.]

It's really hard to stop thinking. Not used to someone like you.

[sophielicious]

Do you know why he did it in the first place? I mean, not that it fucking matters anyway. God, dick.

(This feels far enough from all the others, so she'll take a seat by the grass, patting the space next to her as her gaze falls onto the rest of the Etraya residents.

There's a dismissal from her hand, waving it.)

It's fine, I can literally not pay attention or block you out. It gets shitty in this place, though, we're so few, so I end up listening more than I want to. The town I live in has around 8 million people, and my range extends further than that, and my range is not even that big. Imagine the restlessness.

[heavensnight]

It's complicated. He never saw me as a real person. I guess I wasn't really. But I still...well, it's not like I wasn't real? I did exist. Enough that Echo brought me here, right? That has to count for something. He just saw me as something made up, something in his way. [and that wasn't entirely untrue, Maria thinks. she thinks about how she knows she was meant to punish him for what happened to Mary, to remind him of how terrible he had been.] He never looked outside himself. [which was always, always the problem with James.]

8 million people? Geesh. How do you keep sane like that? Even if you can block it out or ignore it. And I gotta be honest, I think I would probably be a little nosy. I wouldn't be able to help it. [sometimes the gossip

[sophielicious]

You learn more about people than you'd think when you consider how they treat the world around them. Again, he shows up here again and goes anywhere near you, I'm scrambling his brain into unrecognition. Just so you know, I got you.

(A little violent there, Sophie, but the sentiment is legit. She's tight like that. Protect women.)

Eh. You get used to it. And I'll be honest right back, a good 90% of thoughts are really uninteresting. It's when it gets spicy that you might want to pay attention, and even then, meh.

[heavensnight]

[there's a laugh and she bumps her arm in what is meant to be a friendly gesture.] I appreciate it. I can't say I'm nearly that strong or have any powers but I did get a gun. So if you need something, let me know? I'm good for chatting if the gun isn't needed. [the gun is not always needed.]

Now that you mention it, you're right. I'm usually just thinking about what I need to do for my day. Not that interesting. You've probably heard it all by now anyway. Even the dirty stuff. Probably stops being fun.

[sophielicious]

No worries. I can handle it.

(If anything, protect people from her--

But, hey, she's laughing at the friendliness. At least Maria didn't get creeped out or had herself a little 'I hate telepaths' moment in her brain.

Works for Sophie.)

Depends on who's having the thought. Most of the time, though? Nah. I'm trying this new thing in which I'm not as nosy, though.

[heavensnight]

[Maria was willing to give literally anybody a chance. if asked, she'd say everybody was her type. she wasn't about to turn down any chances at friendship. if they were human or not didn't matter. Maria didn't consider herself human so somebody else being different didn't register to her as wrong or somebody not worth a friend.]

Couldn't be me. Like I said, I never had much of a chance to socialize or gossip. But now? Now I just want to dig into everybody's business. Might be my biggest sin here.

[sophielicious]

Okay, then let's make your dream come true, girlie. Two truths and one lie, though for us only, screw this camp bullshit. Promise I won't look.

(So, basically, bamboozling each other with the weirdness of their existence. Builds character and bonds, okay?)

I'll start. I'm a clone, I'm from L.A., and I have 4 identical sisters.

[heavensnight]

Oh, this is fun!

L.A is the lie? If you are a clone then the four identical sisters thing works?

[Maria is already making good on not even letting the 'weirdness' affect her. no judging here.]

[sophielicious]

Works by us being 5 identical hiveminding, telepathic clones. Yep, L.A. is definitely the lie. Ugh, L.A.

(East coast for life, though? But she gestures to Maria. Your turn.)

[heavensnight]

Not a fan of L.A., huh? Beaches seem nice. Ocean beaches, not the weird lake beach where I come from. [not that she ever got beach weather anyway.]

But okay. Mine are going to be really boring. I never ate a meal until I came here, my best friend before I came here was a nurse monster thing, and the first person I ever talked to was a ghost.

[sophielicious]

I mean. I was technically made in London, but my heart? Manhattan, New York.

(Who cares where one's made, right? But the laugh she gives Maria when she starts, like any of that is boring... Boy, she's amazed.

No cheating, though, she can do it.)

Alright, well, I mean. Maybe the last one. Wait, no, the first? I'll go with the first. You got to have eaten.

[heavensnight]

London? Really? Yeah, no. You absolutely seem more like a New York kind of gal. [she thought of London and thought people being uptight and snobby. but what did she know? she was from a different dimension of a small New England town in the States.]

Nope, the second one. The monsters couldn't talk and just attacked me anyway. And then I always died before I even had to think about food. [being hungry was a new one alright.]

[sophielicious]

Right? It'd be weird to think anything else.

(Oh. Man, she'd probably have a whole blast in New York, huh? Sophie gently touches her forehead, not that she needs to or anything, but just so Maria knows she's doing something, and there we go. The lights, the laughter, the grafitti... Bless NYC.)

Hey, no fair, those are technicalities. So, you're from a horror movie type of town. Gotcha.

[heavensnight]

[Maria had another friend here who spoke of NYC and from his descriptions, it had sounded amazing. being able to see it through Sophie's powers, she understands why someone would love this city.] Wow. I think if I could live where I wanted, I'd want to live there, too.

I've only got a handful of life experiences. Hard to come up with stuff. So your turn.

[sophielicious]

Right? And you never run out of things to do. The city is just buzzing all the time, I absolutely adore it.

(Mmm, her turn, right? Let's see what she can cook up.)

Mmm, okay. I've been dead for the past 2 years, I help run mutant/allies relations in NYC, and I am being an individual for the first time.

[heavensnight]

See, that's what I want. Even without the horror hellscape of Silent Hill I'm stuck in, it's just some small quiet town. Who wants to be there? [if she had her choice, she'd be choosing NYC easily.]

I feel like if I say the last one is one of the truths then that's just rude. Implies you weren't an individual before now? So the last one is the lie because you've always been an individual?

[Maria is also just coming from this in a way she would feel most complimented by.]

[sophielicious]

Well, my couch and my community is open to you, if I manage to get you to visit. Multiverse bullshit is pretty common where I'm from.

(People from other places show up all the time. Aliens, too. A lot of aliens. Symbiotes? Super-hero stuff. So, very little really surprises her at this point.)

Oh, nope. Lie is the first one, I was under the ground for much longer than that. We are a hivemind, so, we are one. That's the codename, Five-in-One, and everything. Talk together, move together, you wouldn't be able to tell us apart. It's my first time on my own, they had their little experiments with it, but uh, not me, due to the grave situation.