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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 |
SAVE THE CIVILIANS (STRONG - MAX OF 5)
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.
DISCUSSION
SIGNUPS
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(tho if it were between me and someone who hasn't gotten to do a CTA i'd rather give up the slot!!)
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(frozen comment) YOUR TEAM IS...
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PLAN SUBMISSIONS
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There's a lot to work with here and you guys are definitely playing to all your collective strengths. This is Wonderland, though, so there's always the option of madness/insanity playing into effect here. So, here's what we're offering.
1. Saves against madness.
Roxas & Mista - DC16 due to a strong use of Aura of Courage to keep their wits about them
Shinjiro - DC17 since he's more or less berserking into a rage and doesn't have time to deal with horror shenanigans
Aziraphale - DC 18, but we'll give a +2 to your result since being a cleric is definitely going to help you out here
Wolfwood - DC 18, natural. Sorry buddy, we don't see much in there that's going to help you resist going mad
2. Each successive attempt will carry a bonus forward to the total civilians saved roll. We'll automatically roll using your sacrifice dice in the event of failure as outlined in your submission.
3. We're going to need a light (DC 14, +3 for archetypes and group effort) check to see how injured you all are after fighting monsters. You've got a pretty kickass team with you, so we don't feel like this will be a "save or suck" kind of roll. Depending on how things turn out, we'll tell you about what percentage of monsters are quelled in your group effort.
4. Lastly, you're saving civs! We'll roll a 1d100 to determine what percentage of them are saved and drawn back to safety. You'll get a bonus for each success that occurred in (1.), assuming that you're more capable to help people if you aren't being struck with horror events.
For CTA success, we're going to need to see 75% of the civilians saved.
In order to carry forward bonuses to other teams working in Wonderland, we're going to need to see 75% of the monsters defeated.
Sound good?
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On the fighting front, you got an unnatural 20! No wounds, no scars, you guys were badasses. While you can't kill everything - you still have to prioritize the civilians - that is enough to clear out 70% of the monsters infecting Yggrdrasil and Shadowdale. Seriously! Thank's amazing, considering... Well! Moving on.
What's even more amazing is that, with the three successes above as a bonus, your d100 to save everyone is...
A 97!!! That's a CTA success, baby!
Your plucky team of four punch boys and one... very confused cleric have managed to save 29 of the 30 civilians trapped in the tree. Upon going in to find the last one, you were faced with a choice - save the innocent, or save one of your own. The last body you carry out is Shinjiro's, who after using his sacrifice die and rolling BODY, had both of his legs give out at the worst possible time in the middle of a fight. He has to be the last one carried out of the tree. This is made infinitely harder because Wolfwood, also rolling BODY, lost the use of both his hands. These two losses combined effectively kills your ability to go back in.
From here on out is the horror results. Content warnings for madness, body horror (specifically light descriptions of rotting), loss of self, existential ennui, Jojos Spoilers, and the enroaching terror of Extremely Bad Poetry.
First, we'll handle the Madness rolls. As this happened because of Wonderland going malignant and doing it's damndest to force you out, these results will last for a week.
Wolfwood will blink his eyes blearily in the daylight after exiting the tree, breathe a sigh of relief, then turn to Mista... and immediately start screaming at him for stealing his shirt. For one week, Wolfwood will be convinced that the first person he sees upon waking up is who he is. This involves trying to dress like them, picking up their speaking habits, and possibly trying to steal some of their possessions. Wait. Not stealing. Those are his terrible midriff-exposing clothes, thank you.
Mista, meanwhile, will see Sayori coming back from her CTA and be hit with ~inspiration~. He needs to talk with her. Right now. She's the best person alive to help him with his new-found calling. Mista has gained a single-minded interest in poetry, and starts making his own, extremely terrible poems. He will feel compelled to share these all across the network and in person to anyone who wants to hear them. And also anyone who doesn't.
Now, the two cursed dice rolls. These results will be permanent, or upon returning to the moonbase, at the player's discretion. But let's be honest, Adrian is not feeling friendly anymore and neither is Wonderland. You're not gonna want to permanent these.
Aziraphale rolls SPIRIT in a desperate move and watches it fall away between the cracks in the tree. It doesn't come back. Good riddance. For the longest time, he doesn't get a punishment. He's seen how quickly it effects people - from glass to trains to that one guy in the sunglasses looking really wounded every time they lock eyes - but nothing follows. Wolfwood drops his weapons. Shinjiro drops. They leave the tree and still, yet, nothing. He gets a moment to sit. Rest. Breathe. Lock eyes with himself in the window and expect to find more bottomless loathing for Her, yet dredges only nothing. For an instant, his Grace looks back, now colorless and chained down in countless words, and he knows when he looks at it that it's not real. He's no true angel. He's just some false thing stapled together out of the scraps of hopes and intent. Who cares about Angels or Demons, Fallen or Nephilim. Not his problem. He blinks and the image goes away, forever. But the apathy in the face of the Cosmic Game remains.
Mista faces a similar problem. The text BODY rolls up in his palm - a hat trick with Shinjiro and Wolfwood - but he's like Aziraphale. Nothing follows him but the sensation of someone- no, something stalking him to a place of solitude. Maybe he plays cards. Maybe he does target practice with his crossbow. Maybe he's just writing his new poetry for the internet. Whatever it is, he'll find his hand slips. Weird. Nothing for the longest time, then anther. Little pinpricks, popcorn kernels going off, spread up his fingers. Hand. Wrist. Arm. When he looks down, a chunk of his flesh sloughs off - rotting away before his eyes. The thing is, this is both surprising, yet Not. Mista's seen this before. He knows that Purple Haze does to a man. The only godsend is this place makes it significantly slower.
In the case of Mista, upon the Compact's Retrieval - no matter how it is Retrieved - Mista will look entirely fine. Detect Magic, however, will show what he is seeing. Enchantment's a trip, huh.