etrayalogs | 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

[This is one of the assignments that Shaw had dodged twice already. But it keeps doggedly showing up on her schedule, and so when it rolls around for the third time, she figures that she should take the hint in the interests of not completely failing at this whole exercise. For the sake of saving her world or whatever.

(God, this is the worst.)

So here she is, sitting at a table in the arts and crafts cabin, half-heartedly painting a rock black. She's working with one surface and one color, and somehow she's still managing to do a lackluster job.

When she finishes with Black Rock #1 and her time isn't up yet (no shit, Shaw; it's been five minutes), she figures she might as well get started on Black Rock #2, and she reaches to take another from the pile - at the exact same time as Fio is also reaching for another rock. She withdraws immediately, wordlessly waving Fio forward. Go on, kid; take your pick. You seem like you're actually having fun with this, so live your dreams.]

Thanks!

[ Fio gives a friendly smile and takes her new, clean unpainted rock, setting it down in her workspace. She is definitely having fun, occasionally bouncing her legs under the table.

A small pile of rocks sit next to her, some that are very colorful, with little painted flowers, suns, stars, moons. There's one that might look like another camper... or is that some sort of angry animal with black fur with red streaks? Among the completed pieces that Fio has painted, she even has her very own Black Rock! Kind of. This one has a few extremely minor details, like two dashes of white paint that seem to indicate a pair of eyes. That's about it. And she's happy enough about it that it sits in her completed pile.

She doesn't immediately go back to work, because she's curious about the camper sitting across from her that spent five minutes painting a black rock. And she can be a bit of a chatterbox when full of energy... she peers across the table, expecting Shaw to finally pick another rock her own. ]

What kind of rock are you gonna paint next?

Just... black. I'm doing all mine in black out of protest.

[She pulls the jar of black paint a little closer to her, punctuating the point.]

Maybe in December Aurora can put them all in my stocking.

Um...

[ Fio looks on in confusion, unable to continue with her own painting. Protest? December? Stocking? She is unfamiliar with any of these traditions. ]

...Why December?

Uh--

[Things Shaw did not expect to have to do: explain Christmas to a small child from another world.]

It's a holiday. Kids like it; you get presents. But custom says that if you behave badly, you get coal instead.

Oh... [ Sounds familiar. ] Because of the big man wearing red? Mister Santa? I heard stories about him.

[ Well, she is from a version of Earth, but she's never had the opportunity to celebrate the tradition. She may have heard some stories of it. Cheap gifts came from her parents when she was much smaller and they had stopped paying attention to her when she got a bit older. ]

I try to be good all the time, but I don't think he's ever visited me.

[ Does that mean she wasn't good enough...? ]

Santa Claus isn't real.

[Blunt, yes, but in Shaw's defense, this may be the one situation where telling a kid that Santa is made-up is the nice thing to do.]

So you're off the hook there. Anyway, there are better reasons to try to be good. And better people to get presents from.

[ A long pause, looking down to focus on coating one of her rocks with paint. ]

He could be real in some worlds, I think.

[ Maybe not hers if Santa didn't visit. (Or maybe she really wasn't good enough...) She won't deny his existence. This woman sounds like the kind of person that would deny the existence of dream eating monster friends... ]

...Getting presents from the people I care about is nice. [ Friends. Family. Which isn't often. She's used to getting by on very little or receiving nothing at all on special occasions, especially coming from a poor family. ] But no one has to give me anything. I just like spending time with others.

MISSION 009

arts & crafts; towards the end of camp time

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