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

[wannasmash]

That's what happens when one posts things on the internet. But Izuku is genuinely glad to meet him in person. It shows in his smile, bright like the sun but not quite so blinding. He doesn't have All Might's overwhelming charisma. (And he's not put off by the sharp teeth. Plenty of students at his school murder their toothbrushes.)

"False alarm? Do... you mean your picture of your dad was supposed to show something?"

[stresstokens]

"Yeah. That's why I was asking everyone if they could see the other person in the picture -- I didn't actually just want to show everyone a picture of my Dad? That'd be weird," Riz admits with a slow curl of a smile, queasily awkward. Hi! Here's my Dad! He's dead and, apparently, very fuckable! "But that was the only picture I had of the other person in it. It's like, a curse thing. If you can see her, you've been infected, and I wanted to make sure nobody here got the brunt of it."

He waves a hand, dismissive. "But nobody could see her, so we're all good. Crisis averted."

She did come, technically, in the form of that doll. But it wasn't her, he thinks, not really, and he's almost certain she'd only managed to menace himself and Doreen, who he's already filled in on the full story. Or at least as full a story as he could possibly tell.

[wannasmash]

Thankfully Izuku isn't going to tell Riz his dad is apparently very fuckable.

"A-A curse?! Oh no... creepy..." He wonders why Riz brushes it off. If it were part of a Quirk, Izuku could see why and guess that there would be possible solutions. But actual curses are beyond what he knows. They could be annoying, or very serious.

With no way to know who the person in the photo was or what she looked like, he supposes he dodged a bullet. (He only sort of did, since he ran afoul of that doll. He has no idea how he survived.)

"Is that pretty common where you come from? Hang on, did... your dad get cursed?" he asks gently. Some people (Bakugo, Krouse) hate the way he looks at them with his big green eyes full of compassion.

[stresstokens]

"Oh, uh -- kind of?" Riz cringes. The main reason he's been trying to sweep past things is simply because it's awkward; it had taken him all school year to tell his party about his Dad, and even then, it was only because it was pertinent to their mission. If not, he probably wouldn't have ever mentioned it, and they probably wouldn't have asked, delicate as the situation is.

He doesn't really want anyone's sympathies. It's not that he doesn't appreciate the kindness - he does, even if it's being offered well past the time he could have actually needed it - but it always makes him feel strangely guilty, as though he's just asking for attention. It's not something he should really be sad about anymore, he thinks.

"He's dead -- he died a long time ago, it's okay," he says hastily. "The curse was involved, though, and it was passed down to me when I was born. It's only been spreading since then, so I just wanted to make sure it hadn't spread here too. Which it hasn't, so! That's good!"

[wannasmash]

Izuku has his own secrets, big and small. It took the better part of a year to reveal them to the friends he made in his first year of high school, even as fire-forged as Class A is. It's no inconvenience to hear Riz's out, even if Izuku doesn't comprehend the full scope.

"I'm sorry you have to worry about it anyway. If it does become a problem, let me know if I can do anything to help. That's my job."

He sidles up to the little window in the door and carefully peeks out.

"Coast is clear if you're ready to leave."