Field Mission 5: Il Prigioniero, Call to Arms

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I can't go back to yesterday, because I was a different person then. NAVIGATION 1. IN AN IDEAL WORLD THE FATHER The grim truth is that there is no greater corrupting force in this planar system or any other than the willingness of sentient creatures to hurt those more vulnerable than themselves. There was a time, long ago and almost (but not quite) faded into memory, when Adrian Morgenstern was a good husband and a good father. No one is simply bad or simply good. It would be a lot easier if they were. The slide into decay was slow, subtle, insidious, and distinctly human. Sharp words turning to sharp hands. Concern turning to fear. The family falls apart, and all the while, this man swallows his guilt and makes excuses. He hurts his wife. He gets away with it. He kills his wife. He evades consequences. He hurts his son. Before he can kill his son, a beautiful trinket finds his way into Niel's hands. He opens it, and begs for a better world. A father who will be kind and good to him, who will never hurt him, who will do everything he can to make Niel's life a happy and safe one. The Compact can do a lot, but it can't change the soul. Niel's wish destroys Adrian, and the Compact replaces him instead. Incontrovertibly good, kind, protective — especially of the fantasy that Niel has begun to create — the original Roland, the guardian of Wonderland, is formed from the life-force of Niel's father. A protector, just like Niel has always wanted. From now on, everything will be just as Niel has always wanted. THE SON Time passes. And passes, and passes. Niel, cozy in Wonderland, has no concept of how much time, exactly. Nor does he care. In this place, he is safe; in this place, he is happy. In this place, he will always have people to play with. And in the end, nothing else matters to him. As the years go by, Niel's understanding of Wonderland's mechanics improve. He comes to understand, first, that he isn't aging. This is fine; it doesn't bother him. This is one of his wishes: to never grow up, to never become his father or die like his mother. It's much longer before he begins to understand the why of his own petrification in time. There is so much power in the Compact, more even than it had originally. As though it's taking energy from something so endlessly powerful in magic that it's beyond mortal comprehension. Fortunately, Niel isn't mortal anymore. He sees, after a time, that Wonderland's inexhaustible energy is coming from Yggdrasil — under his feet and all around him. He knows that at some point, the Compact will use up all of Yggdrasil's power. That destroying the World Tree in this way will cause unimaginable destruction. He doesn't care about this, either. Not really. As long as there are people coming to play with him. As long as the pull towards Wonderland continues to increase — and it does. More and more people come, desperate for money or entertainment or simply desperate without knowing why. More and more people attach themselves to Wonderland. Some win, and stay, and keep winning. Some lose, and stay, and pour misery into the Compact to further fuel its horrors. Some lose, and keep losing, and eventually become part of Wonderland itself. Niel's protectors, his bear guards, increase in number the more years go by. But no matter how much company he keeps, no matter how many games he plays, Niel's grief and trauma never leave him. The spirit of his mother takes sickening form, fueled by his own repressed horror and her restless soul: Remember me. Wonderland begins to play crueler tricks, go to greater lengths to keep its guests, exact harsher penalties. Niel never meant it to go to these lengths, and sometimes he's sorry, but never sorry enough to tear it all down. The rot goes deep. Down to the roots. It always does. Back to top 2. WHAT THE BUREAU OF BALANCE DID ○ It became clear to naturally-minded Reclaimers very quickly that Yggdrasil was sick — perhaps terminally so. Erika discovered that the Compact had hijacked Yggdrasil's magic. Maya's further poking around revealed that the Compact is keeping Yggy on life support in order to farm power from it, but without the Grand Relic, the Tree of Life would have no hope of survival. Shuichi discovered an extremely valuable golden leaf from the Tree. ○ Attempts to investigate Roland and the Rolands went poorly to disastrously. Christine flirted. Sans got a disturbing gift. Ferran got pretty jacked up. Sayori experienced existential uncertainty. Izuku asked to speak to a manager. Da Vinci soulbonded with the mascots, providing chilling insight into what exactly most of the Rolands are powered by. You know. People. ○ It's revealed that some familiar faces have been in the Casino for some time. It's further revealed, thanks to Akira's sticky fingers, that breaking the Casino's rules is a bad idea. Kaede and Minato gained employment as entertainers in the Night Show, run by Maria. ○ Delving into ancient casefiles revealed to the Feys the story of an abusive father who managed to get out of trouble often and for long enough to murder his wife. Roxas and Carmen find an unsettling children's book called A Trip to Wonderland. Coincidence? ○ In an effort to save Stylosa from the Night Show, Da Vinci, Shinjiro, and Mista witnessed the loop of Maria's murder in horrifyingly graphic detail, but didn't quite manage to remember it. Sans recorded it and got the willies, but didn't remember either. His recording jogged Mista's memory. Maria revealed to Jack that she has always been part of the Night Show, since Wonderland began. Lion, Will, and Mia raided the Casino (with Maya and Sans's external support) to let Maria know she is remembered. The attempt almost ends in failure, but Lion's Umbrella saves them just in time, allowing them to free Maria from the casino and dissolve Wonderland's outermost facade. Minato, having investigated the Break Room, became an established Toy in the Night Show. A massive group of determined Reclaimers saved Stylosa, Minato, Henrik's body, and da Vinci's body and destroyed Casino Mark II at the cost of two Reclaimers' lives. ○ Will's encounter with the Mirror Maze left him a glass angel. Izuku freed the trapped in the Labyrinth with a spark of Inspiration. Building rapport with the worker elves, Michael then became the Manager of Ghost Square. Eleanor fomented revolution amongst those same elves and succeeds, at the cost of 10 who disappeared at the hands of Rolands. Her attempt to rescue them led Eleanor and company to revisit an ethical quandary, ultimately saving three elf lives at the cost of Eleanor's own. ○ Several attempts to find Henrik Hollyweather were undertaken. One failed. One succeeded, at least technically, as Maya and co. came upon a pile of ripped-up Rolands and an assortment of displaced souls, including Henrik's own. Mia and co. further discovered that the bodies of elves and Rolandized individuals aren't dead, merely in stasis. ○ Sans and the research squad learned that Wonderland definitively physically does not exist. What an unfortunately convincing illusion. ○ The Raven Queen informed the Reclaimers via Alex that Niel was long past his expiration date. With a little guidance from the world's greatest detective and their very best friend, Roxas and crew discovered Niel's journal and the fact that Niel was in possession of the Compact and the creator of Wonderland. ○ Along the way, Kokichi built a friendship with Niel and learned about his childhood and his abusive father. Honoka genki'd at Niel and discovered that no one and nothing can drag him out of Wonderland. On the unveiling of the true Wonderland in Part II, Honoka buffed Niel in an attempt to stave off his Petrification, thus making him stronger. Kokichi went delicately feral at the illusion of Adrian. Finally, Honoka and Kokichi confronted Niel about the journal, leading to a confession that yes, he created Wonderland. Yes, he is sorry. And ultimately, Niel's disappearance to . . . nobody knows quite where. ○ In an inspired last-minute move, Sayori gathered a number of Reclaimers around Yggdrasil to use their most positive anchoring moments in an effort to weaken Wonderland. It was a shocking success. Positivity alone can't kill this illusion — but it's definitely going to help. Back to top 3. WHAT ANGUS & MATTHEW ARE DOING MATTHEW Matthew Hollyweather came here for one reason and one reason alone: to save his father. Faced with the dismal reality that his father has been held prisoner, his misery used to fuel this hellscape, Matthew has two choices: to fall into misery himself, or to focus on the horizon. On the belief that he can, that he will, bring his father back home again. To Matthew, this is no choice at all. Until the Reclaimers are gathered together enough to divide tasks and conquer, he sits by the pile of Roland pieces that make up the vessels of his father and various other debtees. He talks to his father quietly, about important things and unimportant, too, chuckles at whatever weak jokes Henrik manages and cracks a few of his own. He tells stories, first to Henrik alone and then to the entire crew of lost souls. He asks their names. He learns their stories. Matthew is a good leader. He wonders, once this is all said and done, if they succeed . . . do the rest of these fragmented people have a home? If nothing else, couldn't he provide that? ANGUS Even the world's greatest detective feels out of his depth sometimes. Angus McDonald, who is ten years old, has made a lot of new friends. He has seen a lot of terrible things. And he is afraid — has been afraid. Will be afraid for some time after leaving Wonderland, in all likelihood. After all, he's only ten. Nonetheless, his mind keeps working. What time he isn't using to assist in investigations, he spends watching Lucretia, the [static noise] of the [static noise], working what even a novice like him knows is insanely advanced magic. He watches her, and thinks about what he's learned from the rest of them, Crowley and Mia and Lion especially, and he thinks . . . And he thinks. This is the greatest mystery he's yet encountered. Something so secret that the human mind is not able to comprehend it. Angus McDonald has never failed to solve a mystery yet. So in a way, it's a matter of principle. In another way, Wonderland simply must go. That's obvious. If Yggdrasil falls, Angus doesn't know what's going to happen. But he does know that if he's along to help, there's a significantly greater chance of the world not ending as a result. That's not bragging. That's just a fact. He rolls up his sleeves, adjusts his cap, and watches as Lucretia slumps to the floor in an overworked, exhausted faint. All right, then. Time to get to work. Back to top 4. CALL TO ARMS: HEAL We 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 Wednesday, October 2 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 that time, 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 Thursday, October 3 at 6PM EST. ○ CTA plans are due on Sunday, October 6 at 6PM EST. Results will be rolled and posted. ○ The CTA log will go live on Monday, October 7 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. ○ For this mission only (obviously), Adrian's Nasty Boy Dice (+2 on any roll in exchange for a sacrifice of Body, Mind, or Spirit) can be used during CTA planning. ○ 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 CTAs coming back with positive results. Back to top blurb code by photosynthesis

Comments

SAVE THE CIVILIANS (STRONG - MAX OF 5)

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Lucretia's shield has fallen. This isn't really surprising, considering she's been casting it for so long. Everyone's more surprised it didn't happen sooner. Yggdrasil's agony has lifted off some of you - and the people still trapped inside - but without the shield sapping their strength, the monsters are now free to start attacking anything that moves.

While the rest of the Reclaimers are handling the wraiths outside the tree, a small group needs to go inside and get whomever they can out.

○ While only one Strong Archetype is needed, this team is effectively vanguard plus sting operation. You'll be dealing with a lot of monsters. The more fighty you are, the better.

○ A previous foray into the tree had the Reclaimers get Henrik, Stylosa, and a group of possibly Shadowdale's natives. They haven't woken up yet to confirm it. Even still, that's about a third of the people trapped there, not including strays like that one hunting team from Vista Virs. You guys have a lot of ground to cover.

○ Be prepared for the Compact to throw your worst fears at you again. The inside of the tree is a mess of despair given form.

○ Due to the amount of sheer monsters you'll be dealing with here, on top of being the first group in, a success here will make the Mirror Maze group's job easier.

DISCUSSION

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SIGNUPS

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This thread will close on Wednesday, October 2 at 6PM EST.

(frozen comment) YOUR TEAM IS...

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This DLC is unlocked on Wednesday, October 2 at 6PM EST.

PLAN SUBMISSIONS

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Plans are due by Sunday, October 6 at 6PM EST.

PUT YGGDRASIL TO REST (WISE - MAX OF 4)

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One day, a large group of people surrounded Yggdrasil, veiled in their own hopes and joys and memories. It hasn't felt anything like that in a very long time. The sheer amount of positivity drove back its suffering. Not all of it, not nearly a fraction, but enough. For the first time, Yggdrasil is itself again.

Which means it's finally able to Speak.

○ Maybe it has something good to say. It is the World Tree, after all.

○ Since the negativity in it was purged, slightly, that also means the hold of the relic on Yggdrasil was driven back as well. More positive memories forced into it directly might weaken it further.

○ At this point, no matter what, Yggdrasil has been corrupted beyond saving. It's too poisoned to live on its own and its powers are being funneled into a Relic the Reclaimers need to bring back and destroy. Even if it's just to weaken the Compact, you're gonna have to be prepared to Old Yeller the Tree of Life.

○ Angus will be joining you with all his detective power and happy childhood memories. He can't help much but he's going to help enough. This is obviously due to trust and not any paranoia that someone's gonna destroy the world.

○ Horror opt-outs welcome! Not to say a failure won't have consequences, but nothing that'll involve That Level of consequence. In addition, a success here will massively weaken the Compact, making confronting Niel that much easier.

DISCUSSION

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SIGNUPS

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This thread will close on Wednesday, October 2 at 6PM EST.

(frozen comment) YOUR TEAM IS...

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This DLC is unlocked on Wednesday, October 2 at 6PM EST.

PLAN SUBMISSIONS

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Plans are due by Sunday, October 6 at 6PM EST.

REATTACH SOULS (DEXTROUS - 2 GROUPS OF 2)

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You've seen people get their souls displaced in Wonderland - an Enchantment so powerful that their very Self was forced elsewhere. But this only worked because Wonderland was in control. One long cohesive spell and desire. Now, it's starting to unravel. Da Vinci will find herself snapped back into her body the same instant everything goes to hell. The Roland she occupied dissolving into mist.

Soldier 76 and company managed to find the Roland scraps of everyone else who was trapped in Wonderland. Unfortunately, they don't go back to their bodies. As long as they're dismembered, their souls can't reform. This is fine - as long as Wonderland is around.

○ Too bad Wonderland isn't gonna be around for much longer. You have a huge pile of shredded Rolands and a rapidly shrinking amount amount of time to put them back together. Hope you took sewing as your Home Ec class.

○ The Rolands can vaguely point out which body parts are theirs - only able to move which pieces belong to themselves - but it might go faster if you have a way to differentiate souls.

○ Matthew will be joining you for obvious reasons - his dad is one of these bears. He'll be a free hand to help out with which piece goes where, but he's not very supernatural and pretty terrible at darning socks.

○ Horror opt-outs welcome! Similar to the Yggdrasil mission above, no failure here will result in horror-level consequences. You might have one or two shadow monsters to deal with, but the non-CTA Reclaimers will be handling that. Hopefully you have an equal amount of bodies to the Rolands.

DISCUSSION

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SIGNUPS

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This thread will close on Wednesday, October 2 at 6PM EST.

(frozen comment) YOUR TEAM IS...

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This DLC is unlocked on Wednesday, October 2 at 6PM EST.

PLAN SUBMISSIONS

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Plans are due by Sunday, October 6 at 6PM EST.

DESTROY THE MIRROR MAZE (INTELLIGENT - MAX OF 3)

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There's something about sadness - not just Depression, but abject despair - where it feels like you're lost in a maze with no one around but yourself. The Compact, and thus Wonderland, is taking this literally. A few people faced what monster hid behind the Mirrors. None of them managed to face it a second time. Now, you have to.

It's a maze in the worst way - paths change as you walk down them, hallways seem infinitely long or extremely short with no spatial reason. Whatever was once waiting in the bottom now actively chases you through mirrors and holes in space. The horrorscapes are even more relevant now, absorbing and reforming as part of the maze you need to navigate. Only the most mentally resilient should come here.

○ Your goal is to get to whatever is powering this area - like how Maria powered the Casino - and smash it to pieces.

○ What was first a mirror maze, then an endless hallway, now it's an M.C. Escher painting. Pits open in front of you to nowhere. Stairs endlessly loop themselves. Doors go to nowhere. Everything is mirrors. The whole thing is a mess.

○ At the same time, with Wonderland destabilizing, the magic lies around you in barely-held together strings. Sometimes you'll open a door and there's a moment of Nothing before the world remembers to render itself. Conventional navigation is useless here, but maybe a path action can help you.

○ A success here will mean the last Yggdrasil-powered enchantment goes up in smoke. The Compact will only have itself after that. It also means nothing will stop you from finding Niel.

DISCUSSION

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SIGNUPS

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This thread will close on Wednesday, October 2 at 6PM EST.

(frozen comment) YOUR TEAM IS...

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This DLC is unlocked on Wednesday, October 2 at 6PM EST.

PLAN SUBMISSIONS

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Plans are due by Sunday, October 6 at 6PM EST.

CONFRONT NIEL (CHARISMATIC - 2 GROUPS OF 4)

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A brief search confirms what you already know. Niel's not in Shadowdale, which means there's only one place he could've disappeared to: back into Wonderland. At this point it's more than obvious the Compact is starting to go rogue - whether that's because of it being too powerful to control or Niel's own emotions running rampant is up to debate.

If everything that's happened up until now was Wonderland in control, no one wants to see what it'll be when it's not. It needs to be stopped. And Adrian will throw everything Wonderland has to offer to stop you.

○ Success of the other teams dealing with putting down Yggdrasil and destroying the Mirror Maze will ease your odds here by a lot.

○ You'll have to split into two groups for this - one to talk with Niel, and one to keep Adrian as far away as physically possible.

○ You've seen first-hand that Niel is easily scared. Like. Really easily. Large groups, adults, or feeling like he's in trouble trigger his need to hide somewhere out of sight. Might wanna avoid that here.

○ On the other hand, Adrian has one thing he likes more than keeping Niel in place and that's making people miserable. Defeating him is impossible, since he just reappears somewhere else unharmed, but keeping him away from the situation is the only way Niel's going to listen to anyone.

DISCUSSION

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SIGNUPS

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This thread will close on Wednesday, October 2 at 6PM EST.

(frozen comment) YOUR TEAM IS...

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This DLC is unlocked on Wednesday, October 2 at 6PM EST.

QUESTIONS

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If you have any questions for your mod team that don't fit into the five CTA categories, ask it here!

[rockymountaindie]

General question so it’s going here, since signups we’re open an extra day, are the plans still due on Sunday?