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balance_ooc2019-09-30 03:55 pm
balancemod) wrote in balance_ooc2019-09-30 03:55 pm
Field Mission 5: Il Prigioniero, Call to Arms
 1. IN AN IDEAL WORLDTHE 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. 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. 3. WHAT ANGUS & MATTHEW ARE DOINGMATTHEW 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. 4. CALL TO ARMS: HEALWe 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. blurb code by photosynthesis |
REATTACH SOULS (DEXTROUS - 2 GROUPS OF 2)
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.
DISCUSSION
Re: DISCUSSION
SIGNUPS
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Re: SIGNUPS
Re: SIGNUPS
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(same as save the civvies, if it's down between me & someone who hasn't done a CTA i'd rather give up the slot)
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(frozen comment) YOUR TEAM IS...
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CARMEN & RYUJI
PLAN SUBMISSIONS
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Here!
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Detect Magic is going to be the greatest benefit to your team here. We're offering a DC 14. With success, future rolls will get a +2 bonus.
For a pass/fail on the stitching itself, we're giving a DC 16. If you pass this, we'll roll a d100 to see what percentage of the bears git gud. 50% or more is a success on this CTA!
Additionally, the success of Team Build-A-Bear is based in part on the success of Team Civvies, in that the overall number of civvies available to stitch up is dependent on how many civilians are saved to start with. To account for this, we're going to say that the percentage of souls saved by Team Civvies is the maximum your team can roll for percentage of bears saved. For example, if Team Civvies saved 75% of the civilians in Wonderland and Team Build-A-Bear rolls an 85, they'll still only save 75% of the bears, since that will be what's available.
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Also after further talking, Battler and Ryuji are willing to roll their bad times horror dice, both spirit!
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His attempt to use Detect Magic, with a 9, give him the ability to see all the souls - but not differentiate them. It's all the same bright golden color across the board. He makes a valiant attempt at sorting them, trying to pick out what differences he can tell and explain them to everyone else, but this just makes everything more confusing.
Battler, seeing how it's going downhill, and Ryuji, having done this same level of stupidity so many times over, are both extremely aware how everything is going to go to hell from here. Both roll their dice in a prayer, turn up SPIRIT, and in one breath feel all of their motivation leave their bodies. Shounen protagonist qualities? Not anymore. Both are the most apathetic and tired of workers, veritable Minatos with dye jobs. They still work, but so much of the energy is lost.
Even with their +4, your sewing circle was a 9.
Carmen and Christine eventually get fed up with how slow things are working and take the duct tape route. Without any cursed dice, they somehow get a 12. Luck is a strange thing. Pieces blend together, voices sound the same, some bears were trapped in their bodies so long they've forgotten who they are past the despair. The entire thing is an uphill battle. Out of sheer motivation, no bonuses applied, they put together as many as they possibly can, stitching and taping and praying them to perfection.
But it's not enough.
With a 43 as a result, this CTA is a failure. Including Henrik, the team puts together a total of 9 bear bodies.. The rest are welcomed with open arms by the Raven Queen.