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ximilialog2023-03-05 08:28 pm
- ! event log,
- ace attorney: yujin mikotoba,
- adventure time: finn mertens,
- adventure time: jake the dog,
- alice in borderland: shuntaro chishiya,
- countdown to countdown: iris black,
- grishaverse: the darkling,
- gundam seed/destiny: yzak jule,
- justified: tim gutterson,
- mcu: yelena belova,
- mobile suit gundam: garma zabi,
- red vs blue: felix,
- star wars: cal kestis,
- star wars: cassian andor,
- star wars: finn,
- star wars: jyn erso,
- star wars: obi-wan kenobi,
- the 100: clarke griffin,
- the old guard: andromache,
- the witcher: cirilla fiona elen riannon,
- the witcher: yennefer of vengerberg,
- transformers: minimus ambus,
- yakuza: zhao tianyou
MISSION: THE BIG ONE
● ● ● M I S S I O N 1 2 . 0
You may be minding your business that day, going about your daily routines, or perhaps you happen to be participating in other gathered festivities occurring around the station — whatever it is, the ping from your earpiece is a sharp sound that interrupts the goings-on, and it is immediately followed by Viveca’s hurried voice:
She pauses, as if to gather herself, before continuing.
With this sudden and alarming news weighing on your shoulders, you have no other option but to go and collect your things as quickly as possible, and hurry to the center of the station as soon as you can.
There, both Viveca and Degar are waiting, both looking like they’ve spent the last twenty minutes frantically preparing the station for send-off. As soon as everyone has gathered around and the hum of the platform starts to grow louder, Viveca takes a step forward.
One might think that a sentiment like that goes without saying… but with this team, you never know.
That’s all you will hear before the pull of the teleportation whisks you away — for a moment, you hang in the nothingness between universes, suspended in what feels like air; in your ears, you hear the whisper of a voice, telling you what you must do…
And then, with a curious sensation like being compressed on all sides, you finally land either feet or face first in cold, damp moss.
Welcome to Ciraiwei.
The moment you pull in your first breath your lungs fill with the fragrant scent of flowers and the earthy musk of dirt and grass and moss. It smells like a world untouched by synthetic or humanoid-made materials, like something pure and rooted in the very planet itself. Keep following the dirt-beaten path before you and you’ll eventually wander into a large clearing with numerous small huts sporadically spread across moss and deep green foliage and lush undergrowth. The sound of chatter and the feeling of anticipation by the settlement’s citizens for your arrival can be felt from all corners of the clearing. Smaller Hivawei children cluster behind plant stumps and tables to peer at you. Without hesitation, a friendly face or two (or three) will approach, waving a hand to beckon you forward and usher you into the settlement. There is so much to discuss.
1.0 The arrangement made between the Hivawei and the station means that the people here have expected your arrival and have made great efforts to roll out the red carpet as it were. All manner of the Hivawei have already congregated here — including those from the neighbouring Yenat, Seriw, and Ciarv settlements — for the Springs End celebrations. At your curious, confused, or blank expressions, one of the Hivawei will excitedly sidle up to you and explain the gist of it. Taking place in Hivawa’s Meeting Spot is the O’sumgann: a celebration to express gratitude for the closure of one season while also welcoming the next. There is a bounty of harvest foods to eat and drink, and a grand dance in the clearing under the moonlight that welcomes all settlements to mingle with each other before a new season of hard work arrives. And it is a blessing that this summer brings with it new guests, they will say, because this hasn’t happened to them before. With the longer days and shorter nights, this may also mean more hands to help with the work. It’s very exciting.
You might wander around the space, speaking with locals and poking a finger at some of the interesting foodstuffs laid out over long banquet tables. These tables are made from strongly woven twigs and twine, and are covered by tablecloths crafted from the petals of the robust lamawei plant, which have been known to stand the test against the elements of all seasons. A platform has been set-up near one end of the area and a hunched over, slightly wrinkled Hivawei with a faded maroon cap (unspotted) hobbles his way up to take his place. The Chieftain of Ciraiwei, Yerek, waves his free hand, the other grounding him with his cane, and the congregation, including you, slowly quiets to listen to him speak. Without having to demand it the populace seem to respect him.
Another season passes us and another season arrives, and with it brings us a hard-earned bounty we have all worked hard for. This celebration tonight, like all O’sumgann celebrations of the past, is a time to mark our accomplishments and to propel us into the new season ahead! Our best season to come in my humble opinion, heh-heh, as the light has never been brighter on us!
But nevertheless! Tonight brings us not only good food and good drink, and a dance later — in which I expect to see you young ones in the clearing! — but tonight we must also open our tables and our hearts to our guests who have come to us from the Sciences to learn our ways and our homes. Please say hello when you have a moment.
So let us celebrate tonight because tomorrow is a new day that we fill with hard work. We thank Our Mother Light and begin anew. Now, have fun!
2.0 It’s clear that the O’sumgann is on the forefront of everyone’s mind here, but that isn’t the only thing to explore or investigate. For those who wander away from the clearing, you’ll find that daily life for the Hivawei still continues without a hitch. Moving past the festively decorated set-up brings you further into the Hivawa. On this flat forest floor covered in leaves and short grasses is an established marketplace area where several Hivawei are trading their wares, busily at work turning fiber into cloth, grasses into usable ingredients, transferring dew into stored tanks, and collecting seeds into storage to make way for a new season’s harvest. Here you’ll find plenty of places to support the Hivawei economy through eateries and shops.
While many of the Hivawei who reside in Hivawa prefer a dew-drop diet, there will be a number of different food-things to accommodate their guests. Try delicious seed salads, finely churned hot grain stews, grass blade-wrapped onigiri filled with ground nuts and rice-meal, or refreshing dew-drop beverages in several flavours dependent on its sourced location. Some have a more floral after-taste; others can be made sweet with a flavoured nectar infusion, and an addition of tiny little chewy rice-grain spheres for something different. Try perusing accessory shops for fiber-cloth shawls and scarves, little necklaces made from carved sawdust and whittled wood-scrap, or rings made from twine and empty seed pods shined to a fine polish and varnished to show off their glossiest side. During this season only, in celebration of the O’sumgann, one might also find shards of dried lamawei being sold in jewelry or find fine tapestries and rugs painted with the shape of the lamawei plant.
It is important to remember that the Hivawei trade in labour here, so any item you purchase, and any food you eat will be traded with minutes to hours to days worth of what skill you might be able to offer.
Afterwards, take your meal to go and wander towards the landing space for travellers — if you stay awhile to watch, you’ll notice all manner of incoming guests from the different settlements arrive, either on the wings of a moomytt or a hopiat, not unlike a helipad.
And if you feel the need for a little rest, there are patches of sun-dappled grass to nap beneath, and if you’d rather seek a little more shelter and privacy, the Hivawei have kindly offered several empty huts to be used as sleeping quarters for the Sciences to use while they stay here. They are each outfitted with soft feathered beds and pillows on bedframes made of sturdy sticks and twigs. Small walnut-shaped pools of water may be used as mirrors or for washing up (or both).
3.0 [ CW: DRUG USE ] As the moon slowly rises over the leaves of the trees that surround the settlement of Hivawa, the air of excitement nearly becomes palpable. Most of the marketplace has now been closed for the day, all manner of citizen congregating to join the others in the Meeting Spot where the O’sumgann is set to begin. A band of five Hivawei have already gathered on the platform from earlier, assembling their instruments to begin playing music. It’s a twangy, folksy sound that comes from the stringed and wind and soft-percussion instruments, with melodies that invoke images of close communities and feelings about a home that they’ve built. They will sometimes sing of the fields and the rain, and of the sun and moon, and the passing of seasons. There is a song about their Mother of Light and the good luck that she brings. Many of the Hivawei from the other settlements will move towards the dance floor to mingle with each other. Perhaps this is your moment to join them, or to join your fellow orber in a dance.
There will be food and drink provided here as well, not dissimilar from the menu offered in the marketplace. Salads, grains, heated stews, and multi-flavoured dew-drop drinks and desserts are on offer here. There is plenty of food and drink to go around, and the Hivawei are very generous — don’t be surprised if they try to offer you seconds or thirds.
In addition to the food and drink, any of the adult orbers might visit a speciality booth near the end of the long tables where one can try smoking a potent but very pleasantly-scented dried herb through a single-stemmed waterpipe. When inhaled, this will evoke feelings of happiness, calm, and euphoria. Colour and sound will seem more vibrant than ever. These effects will last for a few hours.
The following morning, as the Orbers awake to a new and normal day among the Hivawei, they may hear the pulsing thrum of an internal clock ticking in the back of their minds — in the whirlwind of their arrival and the excitement from the O’sumgann celebrations, it may have been easy to forget about the information that they hold of this planet’s impending doom. Nine days remain, and in those nine days the orb must be found and removed from the planet … so it’s imperative now to go and explore.
4.0 The settlement of Yenat is half a day’s travel on foot, but luckily you may ask to hitch a ride off of a moomytt’s back, or if the wind is in your favour, grab an asquerla leaf and enjoy wind-gliding. Soon, you will smell it when the air clears and the humidity increases, a unique settlement made from different terrain: large, round leaves float on top of the water, sturdy and large enough to support the houses and huts built atop them.
Once you have landed you will find that Winet is ready for visitors as well.
5.0 A few hours’ flight in the opposing direction from Hivawa will take you to the dual settlements of Seriw and Ciarv. In the former, you will find a sprawling network of tunnels built into the roots of the large trees that make up the latter settlement; the tunnels break off into small holes of their own, each furnished with moss on the floors, and a single, faintly glowing dried flower petal affixed to the ceiling, to illuminate the rooms in the absence of sunlight. But be careful, because it is not only the Hivawei you may encounter underground, but also the shrofox, a creature known to burrow into the tunnels in search of food — and while it consumes mainly the different types of fungi found underground, sometimes it mistakes the Hivawei (and perhaps you, too!) for something edible.
Outside the tunnels, you may come across clusters of luminary nightbells as you climb up the neatly-laid wooden stairs that will take you higher into the trees and the flat wooden landings built there. The settlement of Ciarv blends seamlessly into the branches, the foliage from the trees providing a natural roof for the landings, while the vines of greuin, a plant that droops from the branches of these trees in perfect symbiosis, have been entwined to create curtains around some of the landings and act as walls while also providing privacy.
If you’re afraid of heights, the Ciarv settlement may not be for you, but for those who delight in tree climbing, there will be much to see — not least when you crest above the canopy you’ll find the leaves that have been exposed to sunlight have turned reflective, glittering in all the colours of the rainbow as the sun’s rays hit them now. The sight is enough to leave you breathless… at least until you're reminded of the heat from the sun, and then it'll be best to duck back underneath the foliage to cool off.
6.0 However, there is much more to see if you leave the settlements and set out into the wilderness that covers most of Ciraiwei’s surface. North of Hivawa, there is a large meadow with grass swaying high above you, and the scent of fragrant flowers blooming underneath the sun’s watchful eye is enough to make you feel light-headed for a moment. Then from one of the flowers there’s a shriek — if you glance up, you’ll see a pair of bright eyes in the middle of a pink flower-like face peering down at you.
7.0 Past the Ciarv and Seriw settlements is the start of the vast forestland that goes on and on for miles, turning darker the further in you go. In the forest, growing in eerie groups underneath particularly heavy foliage, one may find ausarta gast — if you believe as the Hivawei do that seeing their blood-like weeping is bad luck… it might be a good idea to turn back. But if you’re not daunted by the sight and decide to keep going, you’ll find that as the forest grows thicker, so it becomes more difficult for you to climb over the slippery, gnarled roots, and push your way through the underbush.
There are other dangers, too: when you make it far enough, you may come across mortkensoom: a gruesome sight of decomposing victims make up its base, while the rhizomorphs crawl across the forest floor in search of victims… and it may have decided that you’ll be its next one.
You may also come across another less-than-desirable sight, that of Arnyek broodgrubs. If you sneak past a nest you may get off scot-free, but if there are more of you, especially making sounds they consider to be a threat, well — hopefully you have something to cover yourself with, or at least water to wash the acid substance from you before it eats away at your flesh.
However, it isn't only unpleasant sights that you might come across deep in these woods: there are many beautiful plants with enchanting flowers that can be observed even in the darkness under the trees. You may even spot a familiar-looking adventurer traipsing through the forest …
8.0 While the weather is generally favourable, the sun hanging at its highest point in the bright blue sky, and the climate like a warm blanket, there is one particular day that sees rain clouds pass over Ciraiwei, along with booming thunder and bright flashes of lightning that seem to crack said sky in half. The storm might pass quickly, but with raindrops the size of your head it is a dangerous time to be out and about with risk of drowning, not to mention being anywhere near a lightning strike.
But if you venture out after the storm has passed, you may get really, really lucky and happen upon a rare sight: with a soft glow around its silhouette, a deer-like creature known as a Heisharu seems almost more like a spirit than any corporeal beast. But if you’ve got some fruit with you, why not try to see if you can lure it close enough to try and ride it?
After spending some time within the settlement, ‘collecting samples’ and learning the Hivawei’s culture, you might begin to notice a few things in particular that stand out. There are more conversations about the lengths of the days and the shortness of the nights, the brightness of the sunlight (what a blessing!), and the way that many of the blooms that they had been expecting to grow months into the summer are already beginning to sprout. The Hivawei consider this a sign of a very, very bountiful season, but something inside you knows that there may be more to it than that.
Tick tock, tick tock.
9.0 During midday in the midst of your task, whether you are still within the settlement or exploring the land just outside of Hivawa, you might look up into the sky and notice that the blue is conspicuously absent: instead, it seems as if the sun’s brightness has spread across the entire skyline. The light seems almost too bright. If you are with a local, they might make a comment about the summer being warm and particularly prickly in recent seasons, and today of all days it seems especially hot. But they chuckle it off with an optimistic shrug, their comment accompanied by a shell-cup filled to the brim with cool and refreshing dew placed in your hands.
10.0 As the day slowly shifts into evening, it becomes unmistakable by the way the late hour does not reflect the amount of light still in the sky. You may contact your fellow Orbers by way of communications devices, or perhaps you’ll bump into a teammate along your trek — no matter the method, you and the rest of your team will need to gather together somewhere and decide your next move. There isn’t very much time left, and the clock continues to tick down the seconds.
F Y I
• If you have questions about any of the prompts or the mission in general, please direct them HERE.
• To explore a specific location or speak to any of the NPCs, please submit your search request HERE.
• And finally, your soundtrack for this log: ♪ ♪ ♪
wildcard
Felix didn't have to intervene, someone with a cooler head and a gentler hand provided a way out for the teen. He went back to his own business and left well enough alone.
A day later the mercenary found himself traveling and in search for signs of the orb's location. He kept an eye on the network to hear about any potential leads but stayed out of the moral debates. He found it useless and none of his business. He had one job here and that was find the orb. That was all that mattered to him. Everyone else could squabble and stay here to die with the mushrooms for all he cared so long as he got his goal completed and the orb in possession.
Felix tilted his head as he came across the troubled teenager out in the wilderness. He could feel the restless energy from where he stood far away. He didn't get how someone could have so much energy and not know what to do with it when there was a perfectly good mission to focus on. With a sigh, the mercenary approached his wayward pupil.]
Did you ever get your debt settled for those provisions you needed?
[His voice was calm and his tone neutral, neither accusation nor reprimand hidden within at all. He walked up to Finn and parked his feet next to the young teenager and gazed out to the painted horizon as the sun slowly set in the distance. A nice view if one had the proper mindset to enjoy it.]
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He settles his gaze back toward the horizon, shrugging.]
Oh, yeah. It’s all worked out. Everything’s- [ A long pause where he decides on what, exactly, everything is. ] good. Everything’s great.
[ He doesn’t look over at the man, watching the sun going down with focused interest. There weren’t going to be many more sundowns on this world if they didn’t do something about it. An unsettling feeling. ]
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Yeah? It sounds great, man. Like it couldn't be any better. Because it couldn't, right?
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Everyone’s gonna die if we can’t do something about it. [ He frowns, glancing up at the older man, his expression impossible to read with that mirrored visor. Inscrutable. ] We don’t know where the orb is, and this planet is gonna get destroyed, and everyone’s on the network is just…fighting about it.
[ There was real frustration in his voice. It felt wrong to Finn, for reasons that were both hard to put his finger on, and hard to articulate to someone else. ]
no subject
[Felix's helmet tilted slightly down and to the side in the only indication that he was staring at Finn thoughtfully. He didn't let the silence carry on for too long but he needed to think about how he wanted to put it. Gentle wasn't his usual but this seemed to be eating at Finn. He predicted, however, that nothing he had to say would be to Finn's liking.]
Well, that's how it goes. Everyone dies eventually. Sometimes catastrophically. Sometimes without ever knowing about the danger about to come out of the sky. [He paused. This wasn't personal.] Ten, nine days isn't a whole lot of time to come up with a plan. Of course they're arguing over it.
They're scared. They don't know what to do ... because there's nothing they can do. We don't have the time or the means for this kind of thing. Best to stick on mission.
[Follow protocol. Follow protocol. Follow protocol. Watch them all die. Cause them all to die. What was the difference really? He was good at it either way.
But he wasn't Locus. He didn't use protocol as an excuse for what he did. He preferred to do things his way and be damned for it.
Which didn't mean he didn't know how to use protocol to his advantage when it was in his favor. Just like manipulating Locus to do what he wanted, needed him to do in order to stay on mission. It was all so convoluted. It was all his mess. He never did understand when enough was enough.]
We find the orb, we prevent a worse catastrophe from occurring. That's really the best we can hope for.
no subject
I guess I get that. Being scared. But why can't they just say that, if that's how they feel? Instead we're just taking each other apart. [ He scrubs at his face with his nub, frustrated. This was awfully rich coming from a strong contender for the world's most repressed teenager. ] It makes me feel like I'm swimming in glue or something.
[ Just, a profound tiredness. ]
I know I'm supposed to be all mission-mission-mission. [ He says, tensely anticipating what he assumes Felix will say next. ] But how am I supposed to look these people in the eye and just let the rest of it slide? I don't think I can, man.
... How'd you learn to do that? Did somebody teach you or something?
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Some people just don't like to talk about certain things, things that are hard to talk about. [Sometimes it was just easier to give into the anger and let it all out, explosively.] They all have different opinions on how to proceed, too. Everyone's different so they can't all agree.
[Sometimes it was easier to yell and scream and fight. To hate rather than to love.]
I... what?
[Felix blinked out of his own reverie, memories dredged up from this conversation and how he dealt with it. How he would deal with this situation were it someone else asking him 'why are we doing this, Isaac?' in their deep, rough voice. Finn's last question didn't help him put those memories back away.]
...not really. They think they can teach you everything you need to know in boot camp but it doesn't match up in the end. You live long enough though and you go from being the one being told to suck it up and keep moving--to being the one that just keeps moving and telling others to do the same.
[Like the perfect soldier. His perfect soldier... that finally couldn't take it anymore and snapped. And left him to die.]
Sometimes it's easier, too, to emulate someone that's better at it than you. To do what they do. Imagine that person and do what they do... did... in a similar moment.
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Finn toes at the earth, glancing up at Felix after a beat. ]
I thought nobody was better than you. [ Finn kinda means it as a joke, but it's genuine too. Felix had certainly said as much more than once and it was hard to argue with all that confidence. ] Who is it?
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Nobody is better than me! [He growled out, tone rising at the end. His teeth ground together in an awful sound.] Sure as shit not that asshole. I don't need anyone's help for anything! And don't you fucking forget it!
[His fingers hurt from the pressure put on them by his fists. He suddenly let his hands relax. The tension still lingered. He began to gesture widely as he continued.]
The only thing that lousy bastard was ever good for was following orders and he fucked that up eventually, too! You want an example of someone stoic in the face of everything around him? Sure, you could dredge him up because what fucks did he ever give? None! Clearly. Because he dropped his partner like garbage the moment the mission got too much for him.
So, yeah, if there's one person better at following orders without question it was him. If there's someone better at suppressing his emotions and acting like a brick wall, it's that guy. You want to know how to fuck someone over without feeling anything, ask him for pointers. He's great at it!
no subject
So what if Finn was only seventeen and this man in his thirties? He could figure it out. He could say the right thing. ]
Who's...who's 'he', man?
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Locus. My partner. Ex.
[He had to force himself to add on the last syllable. Even now it was hard to admit, hard to accept as truth. There was no going back though. Not unless the orb kept its promise, he got what he wanted, and didn't remember a goddamn thing about what happened the original time. Because if he remembered, he would never be able to trust his partner again. Then again, maybe that wouldn't be so bad either. Trust only got a person killed in the end.]
The man who left me to die.