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balance_ooc2019-07-02 10:55 am
balancemod) wrote in balance_ooc2019-07-02 10:55 am
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Field Mission 4: Etude in Blue, call to arms
 1. A STORY OF TWO SOULSFerryn wasn't always the dread pirate king that raided the coastal towns of the Sea of Fallen Stars. In fact, our story begins... not terribly long ago, as a matter of fact. It's a story of love, of sacrifice, of going as far as you can to save the person who matters the most to you. And how one fateful storm changed the Ferryn's course of action for the rest of his life. You see, when a person claims the relic as their own, the will of that item is enough to corrupt someone down to the core. To bend their will into a twisted knot. The relics crave to be craved. They insist on their own usage. The Soul Blade whispered into Ferryn's ear, promising him the power to protect the ones he cared about most. But before any of that happened, you have to understand how it came to pass.  A MERMAN AND A COURT OFFICIAL While out on a routine mission to keep the pirates of the Pirate Isles at bay, Ferryn's ship had encountered a storm unlike any other. Its violent thrust had tossed the bow forward, causing water to begin to flood up and into the main hull. Thunderous and tumultuous storms raging on ahead, he tried to save the crew by piloting the ship to a nearby island that was mapped out on his navigational charts. The crew worked fast to drain as much water as they could; this wasn't the first time or the last time they had been breached upon by a maelstrom out in the Sea of Fallen Stars. They had made it to the barrier island, quick to throw down the anchor, but upon their arrival at the marked location, they realized a grim mistake. There was nothing there. Matters continued to compile as a stray bolt hit deep on the starboard side. Quickly, a fire had erupted, worsened only by the elemental affinity of the Sea Quartz powering the ship. In the midst of the storm, Ferryn shouted out his orders, but it was too late. The gunpowder beneath the deck had begun to ignite. The Sea Quartz absorbed the energy. The ship quickly met its demise. And so did the crew. But that was not the case for Ferryn. As heavy handed as fate could get, it also proved to be rather serendipitous. Just as his body had begun to drown, a merman who had left the underwater town of Lyrabar had been out gathering supplies from beyond the veil. A prince by his own right, Fabio had been searching for the cause behind the great hall of records' vast coral, the supply of energy for the Jellyfish, had been dying. He saved Ferryn that night, forcing an herb into his mouth that would allow him to breathe underwater. Fabio brought him back to the underwater capital and tended to his wounds. For a whole ten-day, he remained unconscious, and by much of the ire to the mermaid civilization around them, Fabio was ridiculed for this behavior. Bringing an outsider? A land-dweller? Into the holy city? The one that had remained only because of the knowledge that the current monarchy of Lyrabar above had endeavored to keep it a secret. Things did not look good. But he recovered, as determined humans do. Irene announced that Ferryn had perished in the storm with the rest of his crew, but as he learned to swim again, to make use of his limbs, Fabio was with him every step- or, rather, fin- of the way. Ferryn was a charismatic man, one who knew how to make almost anyone smile around him. His sense of duty was strong, and as he grew stronger, he began to help the mermaids of Lyrabar with whatever they needed. No job, big or small, would be left undone. Their plights became his plights. Ferryn learned about the severed world of Lyrabar. How a disease in the water centuries ago begat the pro-generation of legged Lyrabarians. How Irene's family, eons ago, had eventually become mermaids and mermen of the land rather than the sea. None of that really phased him. He always knew that Irene was special, and not just because of her sharp wit. He would've walked to the ends of the earth if she asked. But while he became the champion of the underwater city, his heart began to spin, for the first time in his life. And he fell in love with Fabio. Now, you're probably thinking that the love between a merman and a man shouldn't come to pass. But in their devotion to breaking the traditions of both their cultures, their love bloomed stronger and more devout than anything this sea had ever seen. They traveled together, were bonded by their deep affection in a way that couldn't be explained by the other merpeople. Without being a Paladin and without any sort of magic, they had naturally developed an unwavering oath. And it grew, and grew, and grew. As Lyrabar, the underwater sister city, began to die and wither. A SOUL BLADE Watching as the merfolk of the city continued to decline, Ferryn couldn't stand idle any longer. It was known now that the Sea Quartz was the cause of the pollution encroaching upon their domain, and as more of the townspeople began to die off from an unknown illness, he had to do something. Fabio urged him not to put his life in danger, but when you love someone as much as Ferryn loved Fabio, nothing was really out of reach. Ferryn set out for the Sea Quartz mines, deep below the seabed of the region. What he found there, however, deep within the subterranean undermountain, called out to him. He had aimed to destroy the entire thing if he needed to, and lucky for him, the Grand Relic would help him do just that. Retrieving the sword was no small task, cutting down legions of merchant slavers who kept this dark trade a secret from the rest of Lyrabar- including Irene- but he had eventually come to the source of whispering in his head. Encased in the largest vein of Sea Quartz was a sword. "He is becoming ill, Ferryn. You know this. I don't need to tell you." The seed of doubt and fear was already there. Fabio had looked worse for wear, although both of them were too stubborn to admit its existence. "Take me. Take me, Ferryn, and we shall cut down everything that threatens him. Become the villain you need to be to protect him. Destroy what she has built. Do not look back upon your life and give in to stasis. The only way forward is stained in blood. Approach. I will be the blade that breaks all blades. You will become the King of Pirates and break away the chain of your cursed fate. Decline, and he will die." You know what happens next. 2. WHAT THE BUREAU OF BALANCE DIDHoly cow, y'all did a lot. So much death. So much lost ramen. So many pirate encounters and making names for yourselves. If you want to catch up on everything, you can do so right here. There is one thing we want to talk about, however. THE STORIES YOU'VE SHARED At some point during the Bureau's visit to the underwater Lyrabar, aka Wunderbar, the city's largely homebound leader emerges. There's something steadfast and proud in his stature, but the poisonous dust seeping into their home has clearly taken its toll. Hunched over and frail, he glides into the fields and settles himself down among the jellyfish, sharply waving away anyone who might suggest he return to his residence. The magic here has been recording your stories, after all. The lives you've been leading before you came here. And Fabio wants to see them all. The jellyfish play your memories back to him in vivid colors, brighter than even the coral that surround this tiny, by comparison, little city. He watches poems scroll by, written in Common, or recited, interspersed with an absolutely ludicrous amount of sea puns that probably weren't part of the original material. He hears music quite literally out of this world, the sort they've got no shot at recreating down here in Wunderbar. He watches a hoverbike creep across an alien planet. "Your Highness, perhaps breaking to rest for a little while would —" Fabio waves his hand silently, engrossed in stories about other sea dwellers, somewhere very far away. Some of them are as curious about the rest of the world as they are. Others are trying to save their own home from a creeping poison. He has no idea what the two four-legged animals he watches are, but he gets the sense that Ferryn probably loves them. Humans seem awfully protective of them, and vice versa — they'd have to be to stand watch over a shrine and go to the lengths to save one another that they do. He watches a home fractured, a city by the coast, and the drive to rebuild. He learns more about how land dwellers perceive hope, and how a ridiculous number of you are ready to throw yourself into the shark den to save a total stranger. By this point, a day has passed, and a crowd has gathered around their prince, watching stories replay themselves through the jellyfish. Nobody in the crowd has any idea what apple juice is, but it's clearly highly important on land. A tired and frail Fabio is growing emotional, aching in the same way some of you are missing loved ones so badly, hearing the way you talk about someone you love for an almost obnoxiously long time. He meets cat families and spider queens and every friend any of you have ever mentioned. You all, quite frankly, are a bunch of weirdos. But he senses the same energy and passion in this bunch of weirdos that he first saw in Ferryn. Humans are pretty remarkable, aren't they? Even the ones who see themselves as pretty normal, even as they talk about traveling to another world. When he thinks he's seen everything, he's made his decision. To Lucretia, he says: "All right, you've convinced me. Whatever exactly it is you're trying to do ... I feel that we're drifting in the same currents. You have my warriors, and my trust." "Please, help me get him back." 3. WHAT KARSUS, LUCAS, AND IRENE ARE DOINGHow does the saying go? While the cat's away, the mice will play? Leaving Lyrabarian's regent to solve the crisis confronting the city, there's an opportune moment to strike. Only a few days, that's all it takes for the armada to start closing in on the city. With spies in every corner of the merchant's paradise, word got to Ferryn awfully quick that the city remained without its ruler to defend and give orders. He's surprised; but not too much. He knows that she's up to something, but without the royal guard to defend his previous homeland, Lyrabar is ripe for the final hit. Over the past months, he's been amassing an army large enough to squash the capital. That's the only way to stop the merchants from continuing to mine and make use of the Sea Quartz. Lyrabar must be destroyed. When the Reclaimers resurface from their wetlands excursion, they'll notice that the port has been eclipsed with myriad ships of pirate origins along the docks. Those of you who stayed within the city saw the takeover happen over the course of a few hours. There was nothing you could feasibly do- taking down an entire city already turned to the dread pirate's side along with the added threat of the invasion from ships... it happens so quick, so relentlessly, that even Lucretia is caught off guard by how it goes down. And the SS Codfather calls back every single Reclaimer. It's time to Reclaim Lyrabar. KARSUS True in his wish to repent for the sins that he's committed, and kept mum on the circumstance of how he wound up holed in a tower, Karsus is trying to figure out how the elemental sways of the Sea Quartz can uncleanly emit such vile, environmentally unsafe waste. He's quite well studied in the application of the arcane, but even then, his scope of knowledge about the circumstance around this particular problem is not entirely fully grasped. He'll need the help of a local sorcerer boy, Diego, who understands the water ecology and climate of the Sea. He sets off to Lyrabar on his own to reclaim the kid. Those of who you wanted to keep an eye on him should probably do that. LUCAS Lucas doesn't really care much for the water, which shouldn't come as much of a surprise. Instead, he's been working in his lab aboard the SS Codfather, studying how the effect of the Soul Blade reaches and corrupts a person. He has a specimen to examine, although his currently feral state makes him a little hard to know what to expect. He enlists the help of another Reclaimer who knows this captive quite well. He just needs to figure out how the Soul Blade works so that he can invent a remedy to pull that sway away from a person. Although his study of the school of enchantment magic doesn't seem to help here much, he does know a whole lot about frequency. Studying Captain Dave Strider down in the decks, he composes a hand radio device, a boombox... if you will, that emits a sound able to block out the control it has over him. For the first time in weeks, Dave is able to think as himself again, completely unswayed by the Grand Relic. The farther Lucas goes away from him, however, the weaker the signal gets. That's going to be a problem. But it's time to make a few radios. He doesn't have much time. One for Dave to keep with him at all times, and... two more. That's about all he has time for before Lyrabar is completely sacked. IRENE She's pissed. And she wants her throne back. Drawing a rapier, her eye turns toward Lyrabar. 4. CALL TO ARMS: DISARMWe hope you're ready for this mission's conclusion! Here are the rules: ○ Utilize this post as a discussion board if you're interested in teaming up! It might help to hit upon your character's path actions, strengths, magic items and abilities. This way you have an idea of what's available to you as a team when the assignments go live. ○ As requested in the SotG, we're going to RNG team rosters if there's overflow. Each of the CTA missions below have the required archetype in the header, along with a maximum group size allowed to undertake the mission. Each group needs at least one character with the required archetype, so keep that in mind when signing up. If one group gets more than the maximum allowed signups, we'll RNG a final group roster for you. ○ Sign ups for the threads will close on Friday, July 5th at 6PM EST. If you've signed up for a CTA in the last mission, please be considerate and allow others to sign up this go-around! If we receive threads without at least two signups by Friday, July 5th at 6PM EST, we will then reopen the thread and allow everyone to throw their name in the hat. If this happens, we will subsequently close CTA signups on Saturday, July 6th at 6PM EST. ○ CTA plans are due on Tuesday, July 9th at 6PM EST. Results will be rolled and posted. ○ The CTA log will go live on Wednesday, July 10th at 6PM EST. Remember, if you signed up and submitted plans for a CTA, you must thread it out or you will be considered ineligible for the following mission's CTA plot. ○ Happy hunting! A visual reference of the timeline can be granted by viewing the game calendar. ○ MISSION SUCCESS will be contingent on at least 3 of the 5 CTA's coming back with positive results. blurb code by photosynthesis |
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- DC 15 to find the easy way into the citadel. Irene would know the ins and outs, but there's also a high chance that Ferryn does as well and would have stocked the area with traps or enemies in the meantime. Scoring well enough here will bring us right into the thick of the fight.
- DC 12 to disguise self and don the armor of a few guards hanging around. Irene can probably knock them out pretty easily, and a handy sleep spell will also do the trick. No modifiers for this one, unfortunately. The plan might work easily, but there is an element of culture not accounted for. Specifically, the guards that are entranced by the Soul Blade act, move, and speak a certain way that will be difficult to mimic perfectly.
- DC 14, with a +2 to the outcome for fighting your way to the throne room. Irene is, in fact, a bard. Nice catch! We'll auto-pass on the perform oath feature. It's kind of adorable. This will protect Irene from combat blows. 76 will act as her shield.
What do you once you get to the throne room?
You'll have to turtle up and pray for the best once she takes control again if you don't have a follow up plan.
- DC 18 (yikes!!!) on that one, with a +3 for defensive maneuvers. A failure of 5 or more will result in character death. A subsequent attempt will be made as a second wave arrives to dethrone her again- DC 18, with a +2 as your team becomes fatigued. Same deal here, a failure of greater than 5 is character death, and if someone died in the skirmish before, that +2 goes away.
We can be convinced otherwise against the above if you have a plan that accounts for that.
Remember, your teams would know of Lucas' research. There are multiple ways to continue with an easier result, but that's the hint we'll provide.
Success here will add a +1 to the overall mission result. Failure will require a very defeated retreat if you hope to save Irene's life.
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if that's the case, would we be able to use that frequency to lift the thrall of the relic while the guards are in range of their instruments? 76 also has empathic duty which could help sway them over while they can hear that frequency.
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The final leg's DC has been lowered to a 11.
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a further note: kaede would play violin in support to irene; similar to the mission with ferran at the auction house to try to instill trust in the royal guard, kaede's trying to make it very clear that irene herself is the primary force keeping back the relic's thrall.
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You fight valiantly, often changing up your rotations and your positionals to protect Irene. But she doesn't really need that either as she's dropping bass clefs on enemies like there's no fucking tomorrow. Unfortunately, just before you get to the throne room, Irene's most honored and decorated guard waits for you, knowing that you'd eventually be here. And with a 10, someone gets shuffled off the mortal coil. Our only request is that it isn't Kaede! And not because we refuse to kill her, but because of the thing that plays out next:
While inside, Irene tries to keep back the castle guard while playing violin. It's just... it's been so long since she's actually gotten the chance to follow her love of the music, and with a 4, she's unable to match the frequency. She's angry, and the angrier she gets, the less she's able to actually control the vibrato.
Kaede tries to inspire her, but it... doesn't go very well. She has to take up the violin and do it herself. And you rolled an 11, on the dot for that (it was a 10, but we added a +1 for prodigy and emphatic duty).
As Kaede brings the bow across the instrument, waves of sound emit right from the instrument that are physically able to be seen. It expels outward as the song enraptures the pirates and guards under control of the song, and it looks like it's working. Irene, reinvigorated from that, joins you and the sound emanate so strongly outward that the door to throne room BURSTS open.
H.R.H. is home.
And all of Lyrabar can hear something coming from the castle.
OVERALL, A MISSION SUCCESS
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Though on a darker note, Roxas will be the one taking one for the team this round.