Lunar Interlude 5 - OOC post

[balancemod]

lmao yall are walking into some shit now NAVIGATION 1. WELCOME NEW ARRIVALS Welcome, new Reclaimers! You have been pulled straight from your worlds right before it was consumed by the **kkkhhzzattt** (you'll be getting more details on that later), and unceremoniously plopped on a large expanse of plush grass and trees. Above you, a glass dome that separates you from the heavens. In front of you, a woman dressed in regal robes, and a somewhat... er, well, completely panicking scientist. The woman — you might recognize her hands as she lifts them; they did just pull you to this universe, after all — speaks. Veteran Reclaimers, if you don't happen to be in the Quad at the time, this message is relayed on all your bracers: "Welcome. I know you have a lot of questions — and we are more than equipped to answer them, in time. What you need to know right this moment, though, is that yours, and our, very existence is in peril. "And you are exactly the ones who will be able to save us all. "In a few moments, you'll be officially initiated into our little bureau, and you will be given all the details of our mission. I just know you're going to do wonderful things here. "To those of you listening in right now, let me thank you once again for your hard work. Though you weren't able to reclaim the **kkzzattthh**, you were able to restore peace to a city that had completely fallen apart, and Her Royal Highness has proven herself to be an indispensable ally for us. "As a side note, there is ... a matter that has come up that I must attend to. I apologize that I won't be here to address any needs you may have, but with the incredible work he's done in Vista Virs and Lyrabar, I believe that Lucas here has proven himself competent enough to handle anything you might give him in my absence." "W-wait, you want me to do what?!" 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. From there, you will be paired into groups of two for the Test of Initiation. When you and your partner walk into the Arena, a form-fitting space, the simulators switch to Initiation Mode, the scenery shifts, and your test begins. The experience is wildly different for each group — that's because the test will be drawing from both of your experiences back home. Initiation Mode replicates an amalgam of thoughts, metaphors, and ideas between the two people who signed up in order to make an obstacle course suited to appropriately test their ability to stay focused. This is a good opportunity to introduce new CR to some of the thoughts and feelings that your character has going on through their mind, their preferences, or give away a piece of information about themselves that might not be on the surface level. For example, let's say that your character was born on a ship, and spent their entire childhood growing up at sea. Your partner's life involves a lifetime of academic research (setting aside our dearth of smart archetypes for a sec here). An amalgamation suited for the Test of Initiation may involve navigating a ship through choppy seas with flying book monsters that breathe fire. Be as creative as you want! The design is 100% left up to you. All tests will eventually lead toward a room with a relic locked within it. What that looks like is up also up to you! If you need a few ideas, though, it could be: A bright red pair of gloves that can manipulate matter, or a ball of yarn that can roll up pretty much anything. Regardless of what the relic looks like, all you have to do to pass is retrieve the relic without using it. Generally speaking, however, 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 (or insanely hard?) trial. As a final note: New Reclaimers may submit their Test of Initiation thread for a bonus reward! There's a form to do so on the AC page. This Interlude, you will be rewarded with a small, nonmagical item from your home. Think of it as a small memento to remind yourself what you're fighting to restore. Additionally, as always, veteran Reclaimers are free to help out newbies on their test if they want. 3. LAGNIAPPE We'll have more in the log prompts on Thursday, but in the meantime, here are some deets to get your gears turning: ○ See that static icon and cheatspeak up there? That's Miss Zarves, a technomancer who, indeed, got herself into some unfortunate interplanal shit, and has been infecting the Moon Base's communication/simulation technology ever since. You can text her if you like (Her username is Zarves♥Scarves), but gleaning information out of her is kind of like trying to find a single functioning bit among a pile of movie scripts, bizarre messages, puns, and terrible drawings. Just a fair warning. You're going to see a lot of her this month. ○ Lucas has returned Bender to his intended function, meaning you've got almost a 50-50 shot (A DC of 11) to actually get what you've ordered. If you've never met Bender before, he's the robot in charge of providing meals to Reclaimers, with ... very mixed results. If your character has a favorite food, feel free to try to order it on the upcoming log's RNG thread, if it isn't already on the menu, success or failure. On that note, when Lucas restored Bender's recipe database, he wiped the banned recipes — so feel free to try to roll for those again! Please cross your fingers that he doesn't ruin ramen a third time. ○ This is supposed to be your time of rest, if you're coming back from Lyrabar, or your time to acclimate, if you're just now jumping on board the Bureau. But something feels ... kind of off, doesn't it? Maybe it's because Lucretia isn't there. Maybe it's because Lucas is kind of panicking while simultaneously filling in for her. Maybe it's something else. Any section of the Moon Base is available for you to explore. You may also visit Lyrabar, in a state of rebuilding, Vista Virs, also in a much further along state of rebuilding, or New New Aspen, which just wrapped up its Candlenights in July celebration. Half off on hand carved ornaments! You know you want 'em. 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 NOTE First off, welcome to Balance, New Reclaimers! Our Lunar Interlude log will go up Thursday, August 1. 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 August 31. If you have a thread with 5+ comments though, you are free to submit bonus AC and pick up a new path ability. 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.

Comments

[balancemod]

In the tiniest-violin-invoking voice there is, thoroughly woebegone, Beacon will respond that he is cursed. Cursed to never again taste his beloved cactus fruit sandwich. Why must you bring up his tragic backstory?

[hijumpkick]

Aw man... this is not what he expected owning a sentient sword would be like, that's for sure.

...he's sorry for bringing up the sad backstory, at least?