TDM 006

[etrayamods]

⏵ arrival ⏴ Arrival is absolutely not normal this month. Instead of a hospital bed, you wake in a tunnel with a large group of other people. These are the residents. A woman’s voice in an earpiece hurriedly clues you in with an apology. I apologize; I had not planned to introduce you this way, but we are low on time. Please proceed down the hallway. An image of a shattered pearl pops up on your personal HUD and rotates. I am Aurora. You are joining many others on Etraya in order to save your world from destruction by completing missions. Your current mission is to find the pieces of this object that have become scattered in the library ahead of you. For everyone else, coming in is much the same. The instruction goes out to head to designated areas immediately, where companion bots will escort the residents of Etraya down into the depths, the area beneath where much the same is explained. ⏵ disrobing ⏴ The tunnel eventually opens directly into the foreroom of an expansive library, painted in marvelous hues and patterns with skylights far above. There are wizards milling about, bearded and holding tomes, quietly chatting amongst themselves. The reception area of the library has tall ceilings with equally tall doors Before you get too caught up in the scenery, a voice directs you forward. A gentleman, hunched and bespeckled craws out. "Make a line! Make a line, everyone! You cannot enter the library dressed as you are... Come forward and give me your name." The receptionist asks your given name and then hands over a box from underneath his counter. You can give him any name you want, he doesn’t seem to mind. It is tied with a tagged ribbon- labeling it accordingly. “The _____ robe of _______.” (First Letter of Given Name) (Last Letter of Given Name) A Controlling N Helpful A Melodies N Light B Glimmering O Floating B Discretion O Mind-Reading C Wet P Handsome C Growth P Climbing D Gruesome Q Gullible D Grasping Q Jumping E Observant R Ratty E Flying R Hurting F Powerful S Adhesive F Reading S Guiding G Psychedelic T Sweltering G Dancing T Bug-Speaking H Swift U Cheerful H Shouting U Exploding I Voracious V Anxious I Extracting V Complaining J Soft W Likeable J Punishing W Dividing K Keen X Ruthless K Creeping X Slapping L Fabulous Y Dramatic L Walking Y Charming M Fair Z Demonic M Listening Z Combustion As you read what the contents of the box may be, they form inside- Looking and behaving as your character expects them to. After all, magic is all in the wielder’s mind. Don your robes and enter the library. ⏵ unfamiliar familiars ⏴ For those without a familiar (like one hatched from an egg not too long ago) you may borrow one from the library counter. They all have strengths and weaknesses, but they will all assist in the very important mission. As you roam the library, they will make little indications that you are closer or further from finding a piece of the pearl. Pro • Hardworking • Gives correct directions 75% of time • Won’t run away from you • Very affectionate • Gives correct directions only when paired with another rat, toad, or personal pet. • Gives correct directions 90% of the time Con • Must feed bookworms • Will run away if too close to a cat • Does not care for you • Sleepy • Will run ahead • Gets distracted by rats ⏵ the task at hand ⏴ With robes donned and creature in hand, you must now complete your mission. Find the pieces of the shattered pearl. As you enter the library, you may notice that it’s all very dim. There’s oil lamps around the place that may be moved with you to assist in your journey if your robes do not already emit light. Break off and search the library. There is a directory at the front to point guests to all the different sections. Wings of the Library A General Works B Music C Philosophy, Religion D Fine Arts E History, Auxiliary Sciences F Language and Literature G Magic, General H Science J Geography, Anthopology K Medicine M Agriculture N Hobbies, Recreation P Social Science Q Military R Political Science S Practical Arts T Law W People X Education Y Spiders Each section looks enough like the last, though the books within have immense power. Pick up the wrong book, and you might conjure a dragon or a historical figure! You must persist and avoid making too much noise or breaking too many things. Or else the Librarian, a tall mass of knotted fabric will confiscate your robe and usher you back outside. Your name will be struck from the list, and you must pick a new one to re-enter the library to continue the search. You can try to fight back against him- he may be set alight with the lamp. But should you be starting fires in here? ⏵ NOTES ⏴ Any thread with 15 comments between you and another may be submitted to find a piece of the pearl. There are 20 pieces altogether, and we will determine if the mission was successful by March 28th. A post will go live on the OOC comm for this! This mission occurs out of time, similar to how the spaceship had. Meaning, those currently in game can experience these events any time between now, and March 14th. Please direct all questions to our mod queries comment! ⏵FULL NAVIGATION⏴

Comments

[fortitudosalutis]

Guess it will.

[ God will decide in the end. Carver takes another drink, sighing at the burn. For once, he feels warm. ]

This is nice.

[aimsforknees]

Yeah, it is.

[ John isn't about to make a habit of drinking now that he's broken that seal here, but he doesn't mind drinking with someone. A social habit. ]

We should do it again sometime. Even if we haven't been going through some library.

[fortitudosalutis]

[ He’s been lonely, Carver realizes as they sit quietly and watch each other. It’s been years since he’s been away from his brothers and sisters, and he misses them like a limb, the amputation far from bloodless. This isn’t the same, no, but it’s something.

He takes another sip and nods just once. ]

Yeah, [ he agrees, with a quiet sort of sincerity. No sneer or joke to mar it. ]

[aimsforknees]

[ That feels like a victory, of sorts. After hearing Carver talk about how god is in the fight, how he's been mapping out the kill boxes here, John has gotten him to agree to having a quiet moment again. Just sitting. Enjoying a drink. More than any shard he collected, this is the reward for having ventured into the library. ]

What do you want to drink next time?

[fortitudosalutis]

[ That stills him. It’s been a long time since he’s had options when it comes to drinking, that they don’t need to set the bottles aside for antiseptic. ]

What do you like?

cw: suicide ideation

[aimsforknees]

[ What does he like? Historically anything that will get him drunk enough that he won't have to think anymore. A lot of the cheapest whiskey he could find. Never worked particularly well, but that's what the bullet in his pocket was for. In the end Harold found him, changed his course. ]

I'm generally partial to whiskey, but not tied to it.

[fortitudosalutis]

Vodka, [ Carver says after a while. ] If I have a choice. We had to be practical back home.

[aimsforknees]

I'll make sure to get some for next time.

[ John almost says "No need to be practical here" but he and Carver have gone over their difference in opinion and John doesn't need to point out that drinking with him like this isn't practical. He wants Carver to stay, wants him to come back again. ]

[fortitudosalutis]

[ He watches John for a moment, wary, but nods. ]

Okay.

[ He's not sure what else to say to that and so sits there awkwardly, holding his half-finished glass. ]

[aimsforknees]

[ John catches the awkward mood, but what is there to say? But what do they need to say? ]

We don't have to talk about anything, we can just drink. Read if we want to fill the time.

[ And that's it, what he's offering Carver. Just some companionship. ]

[fortitudosalutis]

[ He gives John a long look, but drinks again. ]

What'd you getting out of it?

[ There's always an angle, isn't there? A test. John isn't one of his brothers, even if they are both soldiers. It cannot be as easy as a quiet moment - can it? ]

[aimsforknees]

A drinking buddy.

[ John doesn't say "maybe even a friend". He doesn't have friends. Just that he likes seeing Joss smile. Just that it's enjoyable when he makes Fusco jump. People he holds at arms length. It's not that he trusts Carver all that much, he's very realistic about the man, but he wants Carver to trust him, even just a little. He wants Carver to see there's any good left in the world. ]

[fortitudosalutis]

[ In truth, Carver can't remember the last time he had one of those outside of his brothers and sisters. Pope began closing ranks even before the world ended. There were fires and warnings, tests that God put on them slowly. Building to the greater wounds. The greater furies. No one else understood the Valley except those he'd served alongside and even then the list of those he trusted grew smaller and smaller. It just made sense to leave those people behind.

Carver swirls his glass, watching the vodka dance inside. Watching John in turn. There's an angle here. There always is. No doubt John's keeping an eye on him. Yo have to know where the threats are.

But it feels good not to be alone, even if only for a little. ]

You wanna spar sometime?

[aimsforknees]

As long as you promise not to kick my ass too hard.

[ It's said with a knowing smile. There's a good chance Carver is better than him, and John can feel himself being out of practice from time spent here. There's only so much he can do by himself. But he thinks this isn't just a way for Carver to take his measure, and the practice will be good either way. ]

[fortitudosalutis]

[ Carver huffs at that, just a little. ]

Sure, man.

[ He's got a feeling John's no slouch, though. Maybe it'll even be fun. ]

[aimsforknees]

I've been here long enough to get out of practice.

[ He's used to needing to employ his skills almost every day. The Machine rarely gave them days off, which is how he likes it. Here he's not nothing. ]

[fortitudosalutis]

[ Carver does frown at that, briefly. The commander never left them rest long enough to get rusty. That was surely a sin. It's difficult, sometimes, to imagine a world where it isn't so. ]

How long have you been here?

[aimsforknees]

Three months. Three months of nothing. Built a car, searched a library.

[ It hasn't been nice. The library is the only thing keeping him busy these days. His fitness has never been better with all this free time, but to what end? ]

[fortitudosalutis]

Having the library must help.

[ A piece of home. Stability. Carver knows he'd feel better having solid ground to defend. Quietly, he misses his brothers and sisters. If he had them to stand at his shoulder, he'd know what he was supposed to be. ]

[aimsforknees]

[ John takes a breath, thinks about the library. The air inside has changed since it arrived in Etraya, since people started coming in and out, since it started seeing regular care. It's unfamiliar, but he goes into their living space and there is Harold with his computers, typing away, and then he looks up and says "Welcome back, Mr. Reese" and that feels like home. More of a home than he's had in so long. ]

Yeah, but it's different, too. It's abandoned back home. Strange to see people come in and out here, have books to re-shelve.

[fortitudosalutis]

[ That's an important detail, Carver realizes. If the library wasn't open to the public, then John and Harold were using it for their own ends. Abandoned buildings serve well as bases of operations. He wonders if those two have a safe room hidden in there. ]

Why open it here?

[aimsforknees]

It's a library. There's never enough to do in Etraya. We could lock it down but there's no purpose to that and it's suspicious. We blocked off a section where we live and people are curious enough about that.

[ He doesn't feel the need to hide that from Carver. Certainly he and Harold have their fake apartments still, at John's insistence, but it would be easy enough to verify that they haven't been lived in for some time now. If Carver is going to be someone he associates with on a regular basis it would be hard to hide forever. ]

[fortitudosalutis]

[ Truthfully, he hadn't expected John to admit it outright. Carver wonders what that means. He cannot call it trust. That way lies madness and mistakes. He cannot let his guard down around these people. The commander would never allow it.

He twitches. ]

How big a section?

[aimsforknees]

[ That gets a reaction out of Carver, though John isn't entirely sure what it means. He is, however, only willing to go so far with his information. He's sure Carver can do a lot with a little. ]

Just large enough for a comfortable living situation. Separate rooms.

[fortitudosalutis]

[ That's interesting, isn't it? The distinction that John makes. Separate rooms in a comfortable living situation.

Carver watches him close. ]

Comfortable like a barracks? He doesn't strike me as the type for that.