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balance_ooc2019-05-07 09:28 pm
balancemod) wrote in balance_ooc2019-05-07 09:28 pm
Lunar Interlude 4 - OOC post
 1. WELCOME NEW ARRIVALS For some of you who have been here for three missions thus far, the return to the Moon Base is always a welcomed sigh of relief. If this was your first mission, congratulations! You know what it feels like to climb back into your own standard issued Bureau of Balance bed after a long, grueling month of field work. And then, of course, Lucretia has done her duty to bring more people back from the brink of their world's destruction. Newcomers are welcomed just as much as the heroes of the hour. This month, the Bureau is brimming with excitement over the hustle and bustle that the Moon Base is now simply alive with. The mission on Maru has gone better than anyone could have expected. There were so, so many lives at stake as a meteoric mass continued to unravel itself high above the atmosphere of Faerun. And almost all of them were spared- save for one, sad individual: Barry Bluejeans. For some of you, then, the return might be bittersweet. The Bureau has sent down some of its finest Seekers to unwind (not so much literally this time) the damage that the Yarn of Earth's Binding has caused. The relic has been recovered, and subsequently destroyed. It's amazing. Lucretia never thought she'd ever be so close to ridding the world of these awful, terrible magic items. And here we are, 3 of them appropriately disposed of. Better yet, the reconstructive efforts for Vista Virs are long underway. Lucas is engineering by candlenight, burning both ends of the stick as he continues to prepare logistics without a wink of sleep, working every so diligently to undo the mess he caused in the Netheril. The town's welfare is safe- salmon now populate the oasis waters, safe for consumption. Buildings have lumber, brick, and stone to lay foundation. "This time," Ishisaru thinks to himself, "This time... it's gonna be even bigger and stronger than it was before." There are more relics to be found and taken care of, but this lunar interlude holds something of a different fate for Lucretia's highly esteemed Reclaimers. It's time for a corporate retreat. THE VOIDFISH + TEST OF INITIATION New Reclaimers will be shown down to the chamber of the Voidfish. There are some rites and rituals that need to be performed before any of thise makes sense to you. People around you mention words like "relics" and "Reclaimers," but all you can hear is the low humming static of a television screen that's lost reception. No worries, a nightcap from the giant nebulus bearing jellyfish's tank will clear most of that up... provided you can stomach it. It smells, and tastes, just as bad as you can imagine. After imbibing from the Voidfish, memories and thoughts will flourish and bloom inside your mind once again, and it's time for this round of the Test of Initiation, a ceremony designed by the Director to gauge the mettle of hopeful Reclaimers. You'll sign up for a time slot at the arena over the first 48 hours of arrival and be paired up with a fellow coworker - veteran or novice alike. Each hour block has room for 2 groups, 4 in total, which is a little different than previous iterations of the exam. Time is of the essence here, as Lucretia has plans for the following days after the new recruits have been acclimated. She needs to speed this up, just a little bit. In this test, you'll enter the arena's chambers and fill out into one of two rooms. You and your teammate will be allowed to dress and prepare accordingly. From the window, you can see a single, solitary mountain that rises so high you can barely make odds or ends of the peak. An array of items stands before you, four in total. You can only choose two, as the second both of you claim one item, the other two become translucent and untouchable. Placing either of your items back on their pedestals makes them corporeal again. All in all, you have: ○ Booster boots - aids you in climbing and scaling the mountain, quadrupling your jump speed Your mission here is... kind of obvious. Make it to the top of the mountain and down before the other team doesn. There's an object up there to retrieve, one that you'll discover when the log goes live. AS AN OOC NOTE: Current Reclaimers are not required to participate, but the Director will allow them to help out if they'd like. For this test of initiation, you're free to OOC'ly coordinate with another team to determine how you'd like this to play out, or, you can handwave the details and face off against an imaginary team who are undergoing the same trial. Additionally, generally speaking, no one should actually fail the test outright. Think of it as a little bit of plot armor; you shouldn't be at the Bureau of Balance if you can't get through one relatively easy trial. ADDITIONALLY, New Reclaimers who provide a link to their test thread when checking in for AC will be able to take home an additional reward: outside the arena will be a locked box. It's no bigger than 3 feet in all dimensions, and will only open when someone puts a hand on a biometric reader. Lucas' fine work, of course. Inside, it will contain one full outfit from your home world. (Note: this outfit provides no extra benefits to your character other than the fact that it's comfortable and reminds you of where you came from. It cannot have magical or additional powers/weapons/features associated to it). Not much, but it's something. 2. THE DIRECTOR SPEAKS (THIS IS A LONG ONE)The Director, knowing full well that the missions are about to get a lot more brutal and even more unpredictable in nature, pensively thought about what she can do to help the Reclaimers upon their return home. The remaining relics to reclaim are increasingly powerful in nature, and although Maru was a generally safe and easy rescue attempt, she knows that the things to come are going to be grueling and dangerous. Now, more than ever, a sense of community and trust in each other is paramount to moving forward. It starts with an announcement to meet in the Quad- 48 hours past the initial arrival of new recruits. She comes dressed for the occasion - not wearing a long, elegant flowing set of robes, but rather an inviting pair of khakis and a light blue button down, white handkerchief tied around her neck. This is a momentous occassion for Lucretia. She's had to rely on herself, and only herself over the last few years in her role as Madame Director. She took to heart the guidance that one Qrow Branwen had given her, remembers the exquisite cup of coffee that Dwyer had concocted, carries with her a heavy conversation that she had with Wash, and still longs to have a second round of those bomb-ass elderflower macarons that Sans had provided. "You've all proven yourself to do, and be capable of, great things. While your time in Maru was brief, it's by your efforts that Vista Virs will see a prosperous future ahead, and the threat of Lost Mine of Phandelver has been put to rest. I realize that... in my time here, I may have caused you undue stress or heartache at the method of your arrival. I want to clear the air and share with you all how exactly you've come to the Bureau of Balance, to put some of your fears to rest. While I understand that you may not like me, or may not even trust me, please know that everything I do here, everything I've ever worked for as the Director has been to help you all. To save stars that are destined to fade away to the grasp of the Hunger. To give you all hope that you will be able to return to your homes and leave a mark on this world that changes it for the better. But I can't do that- we can't win against this thing- if we're not together. I won't lie to you. Nothing is known about the beast that consumes universes. We only have guesses... Maureen's guesses and Lucas' guesses at that- that when a world is consumed by it, it joins as a part of it. Just like you unraveled Maru from the yarn inside of it, we will aim to do the same to it. And in accomplishing that, restore the worlds and the universes it had devoured. I bring each of you here through a mirror. If you recall in Lucas' laboratory, a gemstone can radiate with another plane of existence, allowing sight onto that world. Maureen Miller researched that existence, but discovered that organic material cannot pass... to the other side safely. The inverse, however, does not hold true. Matter can come through a mirror on the other side without coming into harm. To accomplish that..." She looks to the giant statue of herself behind her in the Quad. "I create a teleportation spell that allows me to animate this statue's hand. Since it's not made of organic material, there's no threat to me- but I'm able to pull each of you through... and that's exactly why you always land here, in the Quad. Some of you have asked a very difficult question for me to answer. Whether or not I have the ability to personally pick and choose who to save. I don't. The mirror does not have sentience of its own, but it seems to show the Plane of Thought as an extension of the person who looks into it. My goal, this mission, the entire capability of the Bureau of Balance has one purpose. To protect this world and defeat the threat of an existence whose appetite can't front the bill for all its eaten. I can look into the mirror and see people who would fit into this organization's goals- watch them, come to understand them, and at the moment that the Hunger arrives to their plane of existence, I can bring them out of it. Then, and only then, can you bring someone from another world over. To do so before that moment would mean tearing a ripple into the fate of that universe, and inevitably come to destroy it. I understand if none of this makes sense, and I'm sorry- but I can only bring people here who I can see. And so, I've believed, with every fiber of my being, that each and every one of you are capable of saving the world. Whether you know it or not now, you will, in due time. There's not a single person among you who aren't capable of great things. And whether or not you believe that- just know that I have faith in each and every one of you." For the first time in a very, very, long time- Lucretia looks somewhat emotional. She clears her throat and breathes in, centering herself. After laying it all out in the open, she doesn't know how the Reclaimers will take it. But it's the best she can do to help people who are still graving or living with survivor's guilt. "The next point of business. Over the next month, we will be taking something of a corporate retreat. I hope you all enjoy camping, stories by the bonfire, and home cooked meals. There will be activities that we have lined up for you to encourage teambuilding and learning about each other. I can only beg that you take these seriously. As I said before... the only way we can win is if we do it together. The relics that are left to reclaim are going to be harder than the ones before them. You're going to need to rely on each other. Trust each other. Our bonds that we create are stronger than the Hunger could ever imagine." And with that, she closes her speech. It's a little verbose, but as you all disperse- it's time to hop to it! You have a month of camping to prep for, and only a day or two to pack and purchase whatever you need from Fantasy Costco. Don't forget the marshmallows! 3. LAGNIAPPEAs Lucretia mentioned, this month you'll be going on a corporate retreat, meant to help strengthen your bonds with each other, as well as help give you more chances to work together as a team. There will be lots more information on this on the log when it goes up Thursday. In the meantime, here are a few notes about what you can expect while you're scrambling to prepare on the Moon Base.
Additionally, if you participated in the Call to Action of the last mission, congratulations! You have earned a token to use in the fantasy gacha globe at the Artificer's office. Grab the link to your thread and head on over here to roll for a new magic item. 4. AN OOC NOTEFirst off, welcome to Balance, New Reclaimers! Our Lunar Interlude log will go up Thursday, May 9th. If you have just apped in, you won't be required to submit full AC, but you will need to check in by 11:00 p.m. EST May 31. If you have a thread with 5+ comments though, you are free to submit bonus AC and pick up a new path ability. On that note, this interlude is all about team building, and the relationships you forge with your fellow Bureau members. Both new and old Reclaimers will be able to submit a second bonus AC thread, and choose a second path action this month — provided that it's with a new character not in your other submissions for the month. Get out there and build some new CR! Additionally, as we said earlier, if you submit your Initiation thread on the AC page, you'll qualify for the reward. Please make sure your Initiation thread and your bonus AC threads are two separate threads! You can view the activity page here. |
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The umbrella definitely has sentience to it, but what type of sentience that is doesn't come innately forward by attuning to it. Leon can suggest some books on the art of artificing, with the clause that he is indeed one of those types, who can enchant weapons to make them magical. But the type of work that was done here isn't something he's all too familiar with.
The book will contain information on the basic, sort of mundane stuff that a beginner-intermediate level would encompass. Namely, how to forge +1 weapons, enchanting everyday objects to gain... object permanence, and some of the intensely draining rituals it takes to fold magic into something that changes it composition forever. See, most wizards only master one school of magic in their entire lifetimes. This calls for transmutation and enchantment at the same time, which is a difficult feat to master. Even some of the world's most renowned archmages, for example the Drow high mage Vizern Devir aren't quite capable of pulling off enchantment above a certain threshold. And this is the same guy who created 4 elemental weapons that nearly caused a war of cultists that lead to the discovery of the Princes of the Apocalypse.
That said, this item doesn't fit any of the logical enchantments or transmutations that would normally make sense. It's not uncommon to make an umbrella be able to shoot fireballs, or produce spells as an arcane focus. What makes it unique is that there's a big, fat unknown about the entirety of it. When detect magic is used on it, it gives off immense amounts of evocation magic- another highly questionable sort of trait.
At the end of Lion's research, what they'll basically come away with is an understanding of entry level artificing. They should try to imbue some of their cleric spells into an item and see what happens. That might give them a sense of what was done to make the umbrella.
And it also might give the sense that this item is far too powerful to land in just anyone's hands. Especially when that someone seems to be chosen by it intentionally.
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and has totally not sold me on what second path lion's going now nopeokay in order for all the questions this spawned:
1) Does Leon like tea? Because Lion is 100% willing to brew him some of their Candlenights-gift tea in thanks for helping them out with a topic he's clearly passionate about!! thank you for teaching them senpai
2) god this umbrella is terrifying with that context- they might just sit on that live bomb of info for now, honestly. Though with the confirmation that it's possibly sentient, they'll definitely make a point of thanking the umbrella for helping them save people at Maru, and promise it that they'll do their best to understand it/treat it right in future. look seacats gotta be nice to their sentient objects okay.
3) If Lion actually did want to try out artificing - which they do now, because this is interesting!!! - what would Leon recommend starting with, if they ask his advice? Are there specific tools they need, or should they just Mrs Frizzle it and make mistakes in the name of Learning.
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2. It doesn't seem to respond!
3. He'd suggest Lion start out small. Most of the equipment an artificer needs to conduct their work can be obtained from a standard component pouch. He will help you draw your first channeling circle, however. His is nearly perfect and runed out beyond belief. Lion's won't be nearly as perfect at first, but with some effort, they'll slowly start to get the hang of it. Leon suggests trying it with smaller objects and simple effects. Like a stone that permanently sheds light.
Note, we trust you not to go super OP with this discovery, so if you're looking to seriously artifice something into creation, let's talk it out first since this art should take decades of research and study to get it right.
Interesting tidbit - he'll mention the Forge of Souls back in the Lost Mine of Phandelver was a natural wellspring of the same energy that Artificers call upon to do their work. It's an absurdly rare occurrence in the world, and he's only ever heard of one other like it. The All Father's Forge, tended to by the Storm Giants of the far, far north- up in the Spine of the Mountain.
No human has ever stepped foot in it.
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3) noted! ❤ If Lion ever makes a serious attempt at making something, I'll absolutely come to you guys first because yeah, that's something that needs to be given proper consideration and care. (Plus again: they're a Cleric and know nothing about magic beyond Balance stuff, and this takes decades to learn!)
But they'll definitely make a note of how those channelling circles are meant to look, and will start practising drawing (completely mundane versions of-) those first on their own time, if that's alright with the mods? Starting with the basics is important.
also dang, now they're doubly sad about the loss of the forge on Maru :( they knew it was rare, but not that rare.
no subject