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

[okay. so. Knife didn't actually watch Shadow lob the chicken through the hospital window? but that velocity, that guy's fucking attitude about insisting Knife deal with the bids...

look, Knife's painting by numbers here, but you gotta kinda let the colors bleed between lines!]

Then this is training for me to be out of the path. I'm not messing with animals. [too unpredictable, too noisy, too...difficult to learn. people are hard enough!]

And if a mission requires working with animals sometime? [He finishes wing care. Another whistle and Frida coos, settling next to him. She leans against him and he pats the side of her face.]

I know. You can go sleep if you want to.

[Frida settles on the ground, fluffing her feathers and leaning against his legs.] I have my shift to finish.

[Knife opts to not answer that query. what if, indeed. well...they'll figure it out! obviously!

...probably!

Ugh. I'm so fucked. Endlessly. Relentlessly.

incredulous:] "Shift"? What? You have work in the ghost town?

This is a mission like any other and my group’s tasks are security related. It’s my shift on watch.

[He waggles a hand and puts the bird grooming kit away. He returns the how he had been standing when Knife came up, watching out away from the camp.]

We might see trouble and we might not. So far everything has been clear and quite boring.

[bluntly:] You take bribes?

I don’t. Why are you considering one? [He looks at them, one eyebrow raised. He is an honest kind of man even if he is damn shady at times.]

[laaaaame.]

So I can just leave.

You could. The bots do bring people back. This is a mission. [He crosses his arms over his chest.]

[they scratch at their cheek, frowning.]

Mission on what? Can I...finish it all early and go?

[...]

We killin' someone?

The details have been unclear. It might be some kind of claiming more ground for the city. At best it seems almost like purposeful down time.

[He closes his eye. He tilts his head and waggles his hand.] Or maybe we’re bait for the fact of Solmara that took over their city. We didn’t get those details as we should have.

[bewildered:] Sol-who? What details? Where do people get this shit?

[hearing Sol-anything kind of raises their hackles, makes them anxious.]

[He turns slowly to face Knife and tilts his head.] The network. First, I’ll preface this by saying it happened right around when I arrived.

Solmara is a sister city to this one. How far away, I’m not sure. Aurora can contact her siblings within reach. One of them went offline.

That’s because a faction of people like us took over. It wasn’t a good thing. The head of that faction subjugated the people and kept resources for herself to give out to the ‘worthy’ which is translation for ‘loyal to me.’

She sent some of her people here to try to steal out resources and essentially leave us for dead. Those people saw a chance for a better life and took that deal instead. They are one of us now. But it is a problem this faction wants to take us for all we have and leave us for dead. She apparently does this to cities as she pleases.

We launched a mission to handle it. I choose to stay behind in case she launches an assault on us.

[this is the fucking problem with getting in the know: So much fucking information!

at least Kaeya's voice isn't as grating as some jabberjaws Knife's been subject to. even so, Pending's eyes start to glaze over as more and more unfamiliar intel gets dropped on them. something something loyalty something something faction...what's most important here, in Knife's opinion, is mention of network - which to Knife's understanding means spy network. they fucking knew there was a goddamn spy network around here! they'll surely speak Knife's language! and briefly!

bla-bla-bla factions bla-bla killing each other something-something cities. that's...whatever, it sounds vaguely like shit they were putting up with before being abducted, but minus the important things. like Soliton.

they dig a pinky into one of their ears to reach an itch.]

So, uh...what place do you gotta go to get in on the network? Is it a bar? [it's probably a bar. it's almost always a bar.]

You tap your ear piece and ask to log on. [He says, noting the lack of interest. Oh well. Some people care and some don’t. Chances are if Solmara attack, Pending will wonder why the fuck he got attacked.] It’s technology. Lets people send voice and text messages without being in the same space.

It’s not an organization.

Eh-- [eyes wince.] The thing that makes numbers happen? That happens here, too?

[He nods.] It's meant to keep us in touch with each other and with Aurora, if we want to speak to her. A hidden way to keep in touch in places we have to hide.

[the pained expression spreads across his brow, tugs the corners of his mouth down in a proper grimace.]

It...it's in the head. Isn't it. [because he sure as shit hasn't heard anyone talking this kinda stuff aloud. fuuuuuuuck.]

No. We hear and read things. [He turns his head. The earpiece wraps around his ear. He presses a button on it and a HUD interface expands from the device.]

You can ask it to read to you. I often do if I’m busy.

[their eyes wince while looking at this HUD; hey, from their perspective, they can't even tell it's backwards for them!] The...colors talk?

Something like that. At the very least, you can listen to what others are saying and gather information without engaging in conversation.

[Eugh.

Knife once again finds themself struggling at the threshold of having to learn a new skill versus the apprehension of becoming...tainted by that new skill. an irreversible change. a fresh vulnerability.

More means for annoying, meddling people to be in my head uninvited.]

Will they know I'm hearing?

No. Not unless you say something. Of course, the network is vast. You'll likely only find so much information. It's all happening in real time. [It's fine. It's like walking through a city in his eye.]

[that's...not the worst.

if it's true.

for all the fear Knife has of little voices getting into their head, they sure do struggle with the anxious ones with their assumed own good in mind.

the tones of those voices change, too; it's not like they have a voice of their own.

another soft, dubious grunt escapes Pending's throat as they rub the back of their neck.]

So you...you're fine with that. Playing with that stuff? [doesn't necessarily make it okay for them, but--but. butbut...

augh!!! they can feel their stomach starting to clench up with a spike of dread, and honestly? not the fucking time! in broad fucking unknown daylight? really?

hastily:] Okay.

[and, just as abruptly, they start walking, eyes darting around, posture stiff. nothing here is recognizable as safe, but...trees? maybe? usable. that way.]

[Frida seems to sense the tension and lifts her head. She coos softly. Kaeya can tell there's something up but he's learned to be careful and patient. That seems to be when Knife says anything.] Consider it like walking around a city. You pick up pieces of conversations. But if you stay and listen, you hear more.

It's odd. But I'm getting used to it. We don't have anything like it at home. Not in Mondstadt.

Okay.

[Like that's a fucking good thing! Change isn't always a good thing - I should fucking know!

but it's not always bad either. but it's never clear when it's good!!!

their latest step hitches, seemingly staggered to stay put but still compelled to move. one scuffed step, then a few hasty more. trees trees trees.

the closer the trees get, the more robots converge and Pending is compelled to halt abruptly once more, agitated, growling in the back of the throat.

This is just another fucking cage!]

MISSION 009

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