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

[dangerousmind]

[She can guess, of course, the context under which they "met." Eager to please, not half bad in the looks department, utterly desperate for affection. Sure, she can see it.

Wouldn't last long. Which explains why he struggles to look at her without flushing. Pining after her makes sense. She's hot. She's been aware of that fact for most of her life, and she's used it to her advantage a considerable amount. Still. She can't help but wonder...]

Yeah well - the last thing I remember from Spire is running off with your coach trapped in a gem and ditching you all in the woods. [She cocks her head.] Three years ago. Roughly.

Look, honey, the person you think I am? [That girl is dead. A necessary part of the process.] That's not me. I changed a lot more, I'd wager.

[maximumlegend]

I don't-- [ He starts, but then seems to stop himself mid-sentence.

Because he doesn't want to explain himself. There's a defensive instinct, but when Fabian actually uses his brain to think - for once - he realizes that he doesn't want to explain any of this at all. What does it even matter? She's clearly some different Aelwyn, and it's not even like he's close to the one back in his own world.

Just burying the entire thing has been easier this entire time, and Fabian doesn't want to make it harder now by attempting to explain complicated feelings to her. Talking about complicated feelings never works out for him, and it certainly won't now he's tired in the middle of trying to balance a boring useless job with a baby he doesn't know how to take care of. ]

Look, it doesn't matter who changed. There's-- nothing. [ There has never been anything, has there? Other than him embarrassing himself.

What else is new, right. ]

It's just that you're Adaine's sister, and she actually seems to care about having a bond with you now.

[ That's why he's talking to her.

There's nothing else if Fabian just pretends hard enough there isn't, there wasn't. ]

[dangerousmind]

[There's some layer of hurt there. It's interesting, but nothing particularly appetizing. Maybe she's going soft, or maybe she's using her brain and realizing she shouldn't try feeding on one of Adaine's annoying little friends. Either way, she looks away.]

Right then. [Aelwyn's good at accepting the stories they tell themselves to make the truth easier to bear. She spent the first eighteen years of her life doing it.] Nothing at all.

[It wouldn't matter regardless. Beyond them being strangers, Aelwyn has someone she would destroy the world a billion times over for, and she's far, far away from here.]

My sister is very dear to you, then. [Deflect. Her lips quirk into a small smile as she weaves together her elaborate trap.]

[maximumlegend]

[ Fabian seems more than fine with quickly moving along to that topic, absolutely not wanting to linger on any of what came before. Adaine is a much, much safer subject than Aelwyn is for an entire pile of reasons. ]

Of course.

[ Especially when that statement is such a no-brainer. Fabian would easily say that about every single member of their adventuring party. He chose them over everything else a long time ago, going against his own father's word. ]

I just want her to be able to be happy, even here. [ Is he walking right into the trap, Aelwyn.. ]

[dangerousmind]

Mm.

[Very non commital answer in a lot of ways. She should be happy for Adaine that she has all these loyal friends so committed to her. She's always deserved it, of course.

And yet.]

So. Do you like her?

[Direct, the kind of juvenile teasing she'd use when she was alive. See, a distraction.]

[maximumlegend]

Of course I like Adai--

[ .. oh.

Hold on.

Apparently that registered in Fabian's head just a moment too late. Aelwyn's tone, that is. Fabian assumed this was just a general kind of like, but no, that was a like-like tone. If Fabian had thought about it even just for a moment, he easily would have realized it-- and yet here the realization only hits him now, way belated.

It immediately makes his cheeks darken with a blush, which certainly isn't helping his case. ]

W-Wait! What are you implying?!