MISSION 004 (part 1)

[etrayamods]

WHO: Everyone!
WHEN: July 19th-July 27th.
WHERE: Moorecroft Village
WHAT: Enjoy life in your new suburban neighborhood!
NOTES\WARNINGS: Potential death.

⏵ welcome home ⏴ Welcome to Moorecroft Village, where the sun casts a gentle glow through soft white clouds. Pavement paths wind around the village, adorned with wildflowers in every hue. Birds sing a soothing melody, while a few content cats lounge in sunspots or on benches along the streets. Cars hum by, ferrying residents to work, the store, or back home after a busy day. It looks almost perfect. The ideal little village, occupied by individuals from all over. Orcs, elves, faeries, werewolves, vampires, and dhampirs coexist harmoniously, each contributing to their quaint little town. Despite their varied backgrounds, they appear to embrace this place as their own. They take their baby carriages out during the day for a stroll, chatting with friends and neighbors about current happenings, discussing their most recent mission (a ‘game’ of Whodunit, in which one of theirs, Theo, was tasked with killing one of their own each day and they all had to figure out who had killed them before they could come back to life) and the difficulties therein, new job assignments, weird things the teens in their houses are getting up to... generic, neighborly conversations. The village is full of life. There are numerous facilities to wander and things to do! The library houses a vast collection of books spanning history from countless other worlds and whimsical children's tales. Teens gather at the ice skating rink, while the movie theater screens films spanning generations. An aquarium full of wonders: glowing rainbow fish, miniature great white sharks, a colorful octopus with patterns running over it that almost look like ivy, and numerous others. In the daytime, everyone can explore clothing stores, indulge in gourmet cakes from the grocers, and partake in leisurely pursuits without financial concerns; just like on Etraya, money does not exist here. ⏵ help wanted ⏴ Moorecroft surpasses Etraya in its development, offering attractions and activities to engage its inhabitants throughout the day. But with these advancements come additional responsibilities. By day, at least one adult from every household is expected to fulfill their shifts at 'day jobs', lasting anywhere from four to eight hours. Meanwhile, the youth are expected to go to school, absorbing knowledge in various disciplines. Each job duty requires different skillsets, but whether or not those required skillsets are matched to those who are expected to work them... well. They’ll have plenty of time for training, won’t they? Or perhaps they’ll get dropped right into their job and be expected to figure it out all on their own. For the younger residents, education is structured into two main institutions: "Sandalwood Lower" for those twelve and under, and "Maplewood Upper" for older students. These schools offer a broad curriculum encompassing Language Arts, Mathematics, Science, Physical Education, Technology, Fine Arts, and a diverse array of Foreign Languages. Electives range widely, from specific sports to Survival Training, Creative Writing, Journalism, and Sociology. At lunchtime, the school cafeteria presents an array of choices. Options range from standard fare like school pizza to other offerings such as vampire's blood, brains, and hearts—just in case an unexpected guest should drop in. After all, one never knows who might show up in Moorecroft. ⏵ honey do's ⏴ But life extends beyond work and school. A structured routine of what is expected of each household is kept on digital calendars, and installed on the wall in the kitchen of each house. These calendars update daily with smaller tasks, and weekly with larger ones, detailing what is expected of those residing within its walls. Typical tasks include simple activities such as: Take the child(ren) for a walk outdoors. Visit the local park. Bake a pie for the neighbors. Tell your spouse(s) how important they are to you. Share a secret. Shop with your child(ren). Mow the lawn. Don’t forget to attend your child’s school’s PTA meeting! Help with homework. Take family photos. Go on a date. More complex tasks are found under weekly checklists, and may involve: Host a neighborhood barbeque competition. Volunteer at the hospital. Teach your child a sport. Start a soccer league. Create a garage band. Get a part time job. Join a club. Eos will check off each task as it is completed. At the bottom of each calendar, a tally records the completion of tasks, providing a visual measure of productivity and community involvement. ⏵ night watch ⏴ As the sun lowers over the horizon, everything shifts. Every long-term resident understands the consequences of curfew and the threats within. They retreat to their homes, urging those unfamiliar to them who may not understand the rules just yet that they, too, need to return indoors for the night. Within the confines of their houses, life continues under a fragile veil of normalcy. A peek into some of the homes of long-term residents will find them playing board games with their family units, completing homework or work assignments they were unable to finish during the day, watching a few family-friendly shows on their couches, or enjoying a late dinner. Eventually, they’ll return to their beds and wait for the sound of their alarms. In Moorecroft, no friendly companion bots roam the streets during the day. In their place, highly advanced robots emerge to enforce curfew once the time comes. They silently make their way through the streets, sweeping away anything that isn’t part of Eos’ design: trash left out on the street, bugs left by suspicious men wearing cowls that have ears on them, graffiti, new decor that Eos decides she doesn’t like. No winds shake the trees, there are no cars on the road, but noises can be heard coming from outside that don't sound... normal by any means. Croaks, whispers, scratches against doors and walls alike. Those who defy curfew will be asked, once, to return to their homes. If they opt not to listen, they are met with force: physically restrained, subdued, and dragged back to their homes. If they decide to fight, the bots are not above killing them and dropping their limp bodies just inside the front door of their houses. They will revive after 48 hours but not without cost. Each return carries an absence—a missing memory, a lost skill, or a fragment of their very essence, stolen away in the process of their revival. Even those who manage to evade capture will awaken in their beds with no recollection of their death or what they may have witnessed before dying. They will instead have a vague feeling that something horrifying happened. ⏵ NOTES ⏴ Daily and weekly tasks can be chosen by players! We won't be listing these out for each household, but relying on players to choose what's most fun for them to play with within their households. As noted on Mission Plotting, we're open to one group successfully staying out past curfew, but would like to keep this to one thread. We have a separate log for NPC interactions for this mission! For any questions relating to the contents of this log, mod queries thread on the initial plotting post to assist us in keeping all mission-related information in one place. All other questions can be directed to the FAQ. ⏵FULL NAVIGATION⏴

Comments

[agoddessonce]

Not enough to leave your partner, I hope. [ She smiles back, but teasingly. ] I'm not tempting you away from him, in case you had any suspicions.

[anewhope]

[ his smiles goes a touch whimsical. what a strange position to be in. ]

No. Never enough for that.

[agoddessonce]

They're rather particular about it here, apparently. One can't even spend a night away from our assigned homes without some sort of consequence.

[ Something difficult, but not impossible to abide by. ]

[anewhope]

It does seem very . . . 1950s.

[ he pushes his glasses up. ]

A time when everything was scrutinized very heavily. Especially when it came to nuclear family dynamics.

[agoddessonce]

Oh? Is it something you are well... read on? Or something closely experienced? [ The year feels like a tell. She doesn't know where he's from, does she? She'd assumed Earth, and America, but now she realizes she should have asked. ]

[anewhope]

[ he smiles faintly at that. ]

No more than anyone else in the United States, I suppose. I listened in school. Certain periods in US history had intense propaganda when it came to nuclear families and suburbia.

[agoddessonce]

Perhaps you might apprise me of what you know, in case it should be helpful, navigating this sort of culture and setting. I didn't go to school in the United States. [ Or watch a lot of television, really. ]

But is it normal, do you think, for nuclear families in the 1950's to have three adults? [ Rather than the stereotypical two? ]

[anewhope]

[ he shakes his head. ]

No. That part might be leeway on Aurora. It's usually quite heteronormative.

[agoddessonce]

Progressive of her. [ Which is... nice? ]

For all the struggle we might have faced in previous missions... I don't think she does things to do us intentional harm. Perhaps she is still learning.

[anewhope]

No. I don't think her intentions are harmful. Just . . . odd sometimes.

[ and clark isn't sure what to make of them. pragmatically, he's not willing to believe or just disavow her. he'll just keep an eye out. and she's not his primary concern anyway. the people are. ]

A lot of Earth customs, Earth buildings. It's just interesting to see this slant.

[agoddessonce]

Human customs, and human or human-passing residents, too. [ There's a difference between that, and things and natives of Earth, she thinks. ]

This Moorecroft town is decidedly Earth, however, despite its population. I wonder if whoever it was that programmed Aurora and Eos had come from a place that liked Earth?

[anewhope]

[ clark inclines his head at that. he is, after all, human-passing. ]

It's possible. I hear Earth is very popular.

[agoddessonce]

Earth has a habit of attracting attention. Whether wanted, or unwanted.

[ She hums, looking at Clark thoughtfully. ]

Well, what other cultures are you familiar with, if you don't mind my asking? Other than Earth's, or 1950's America?

[anewhope]

[ he pushes his glasses up. ]

Just Earth's, I'm afraid. I don't know much about cultures outside of the planet.

[ which isn't a lie. he knows very little of krypton. ]