etrayalogs | MISSION 004 (part 1)

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⏴

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Izuku is called the "nice" one whenever he's compared to Katsuki, but Izuku is the one who has broken the most rules in their class back home. The problem child, ducking out of supervision to save a friend, hurting himself after being told not to, breaking the law prohibiting unlicensed use of his Quirk! Meanwhile, Katsuki's record is nearly squeaky clean despite his rudeness. He only broke the rules once, and that was because Izuku was involved.

"Um, you're not actually..." his real mom! But he doesn't say it. That's probably rude!

"I did research. I should let you know... I'm pretty sure the robots are far more violent than the ones back in our city. There are reports of people being dragged back to their houses by force, injured... and death, though I don't have proof. I have super strength, but this is a scouting mission only."

Izuku and Aerith have that in common, then: something perhaps made more apparent by the fact that they're both trying to break the rules right now.

(And if she hears him refuting her using her "mom" card, she doesn't comment.)

"Oof." Her brows shoot up in response to that, and though it's not...a huge surprise, it's not exactly great, either. "Well, that seems about right, from what we've run into before back in our neck of the woods. Just makes you wonder, though...why?"

Why the violence, the strictness? What are they hiding?

"I don't have super strength, but I've got magic." At this, she indicates the silver rod at her back. "I'm not trying to slow you down or anything, though, so no pressure to travel together. Long as you promise me you'll be safe, okay?"

Not his mom? She simply Does Not See It.

Ah, so the rod isn't just for hitting things. Interesting. He'll have to add that fact to his notebook.

"Let's move together. I want to keep you safe too." He wants to keep everyone safe. He would die for a pigeon. This boy has a problem. "And my long-distance attacks are a little loud, so it'd be nice to have someone with something less flashy... What kind of magic do you do?"

Less flashy... He might be in for more than he bargained for.

"Loud, huh? Hmm..." Might be an issue, what with the curfew and all, but hopefully it's...an exaggeration? "Gotcha. I've got a few tricks up my sleeve: some healing, some damage. Usually from range, if I can."

Not a front-line fighter for sure (this is why Cloud, Tifa, and some of the others are usually around).

"It might be a little flashy, though," she admits, lip curling into another amused smile. "But I'll try and tone it down."

"Let's... try to aim for a scenario in which you won't have to heal."

Izuku has grown more cautious and discerning in the year he's been in school. His mom, teachers, and the school's doctor finally had enough of him hurting himself. Even though they do have a healer (the doctor) on hand, putting himself through that much pain all the time takes its toll, and some damage can't be healed.

He thinks, because they're robots, that Danger Sense won't pick up anything. But if they have a person who's a handler... maybe it will. There is so much he doesn't know, but,

"Robots tend to go to where they find something that needs to be cleaned up, so let's avoid trash and walls with graffiti."

He's taken point before, as someone who can take heavy hits, so he crouches and leads the way around and away from the house. Behind a bush he pauses to watch a robot—more advanced than the friendly diurnal companion bots—cleaning up some discarded food containers. And,

"Oh..." he says nervously, "Seems like they didn't like that person's lawn decorations..."

"Ooh - good point! Maybe even some of the higher-trafficked sidewalks and streets. I mean, obviously, 'cause they're out in the open, but the extra foot traffic might mean more trash, right?"

In the meantime, Aerith follows, crouched and keeping quiet. There's a feeling of mystery, of danger, and she can appreciate that there's definitely real risk in what they're doing. ...But, it's kinda fun, too. Sneaking around with a member of their pretend family, going on a mission...

Focus, Aerith!

"Yeesh. Picky..." Unexpected, too. "I guess they're 'cleaning up' even more than we thought." Troubling, considering they're trying to avoid the robots, so...not knowing where they might be will make that decidedly difficult. "Any places you think are safer bets?"

Izuku is on a mission, and while he doesn't necessarily get an adventurer's high from it, he does fixate on it without wavering, and adrenaline certainly can play a part. He eyeballs angles and calculates where they can move next safely. He's thankful Aerith stays close and properly concealed. So far, the makings of a good teammate.

"Let's try near the park."

They start to head in that direction, and it seems to work. There tends to be more trash where plastic cups and utensils come from. But Midoriya didn't take into account the dog poop—

"Oh crap!"

A bright light suddenly shines at them out of an innocuous bush, and several robot drones take flight from neighboring roofs and begin to close in.

MISSION 004 (part 1)

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