annexedlogs | Relief Log #2

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Relief Log #2

I. In The Aftermath

After the mission is complete, the new recruits are invited back to Central Command for a patch-up and celebration to let loose and socialize a little bit.

The first order of business is the patching up. Anyone who was injured is welcome to go to the Hospital, if the injuries are more serious. Everyone else, those with smaller injuries like scrapes and bruises, minor cuts or burns or abrasions, are welcome to come to the Infirmary in Central Command. There will also be attendants that tell returning new recruits that if they'd like to learn a little first aid and tend to their comrades, they can also head to the Infirmary.

In the Infirmary, anyone who's not injured but shows up will be instructed in basic first aid so they can tend to their teammates and friends. Nurses will be rotating around to check in on people and make sure nothing is more serious than it looks, but generally, the new recruits will be encouraged to tend to their teammates in order to encourage group bonding.

II. A Fine Meal

On an evening a few days after the mission is complete, all the extra-universal new arrivals will be summoned to one of the large meeting rooms in the Central Command for a feast. When they arrive in the room, it is decorated with orange and brown streamers and fall iconography - bundles of twigs and dried flowers, bundles of fragrant herbs, dried pumpkins with faces and fall scenes carved into them, and other decorations. In the center of the room there is a large table laden with delicious-looking fall foods - poultry birds so large they had to have been roasted on a spit, huge roasted portobello-style mushrooms, mashed tubers, gravy, stuffing, bean casserole, candied yams, mooncakes, boiled spicy crayfish, roast herring, various types of stews ranging from traditional stew to fish stew to mushroom stew, and tons of desserts like tarte tatin, ice cream, apple crumble, pumpkin pie, and almost any other fall food you can think of.

Characters will be invited to sit around the table and feast together, while quiet music plays in the background, facilitating conversation. Some of the rebels have volunteered to keep restocking the table as people wander in and out to sit at the table and eat in rough shifts, and these volunteers will encourage characters to share things they're thankful for, things that make their lives better. All of those things that make life worth living, that make the fight worth fighting.

On a table near the door to the room, there is a stack of beautifully cloth-wrapped bento-style boxes that characters are invited to take with them. They are told by volunteers that these boxes aren't just leftovers for later, but a necessary component of the night's test of courage. They encourage characters to take one and participate, as it's a particularly bright feather in the cap of anyone who undertakes it.

III. The Skyclad Light Show

Once the feasting throughout the late afternoon and early evening is about complete, characters will be invited out into the courtyard of the Central Command for the evening's entertainment. The courtyard is essentially a small but beautiful park, with benches, patches of grass, a few ornamental trees and gardens, and plenty of places to spread out a blanket (provided by friendly volunteers!) and watch the show. And what a show it is!

Every year around this time the Skyclad take magical lights that trail behind them, and put on a spectacular light show in the sky. Streaks of vibrant color follow each hoverboard as those riding them in the sky flip, twirl, dive, and perform other feats of hoverboard artistry for the crowd below. The show goes on for about 45 minutes, with the Skyclad twisting and twirling, drawing beautiful designs against the evening sky.

Characters who really bonded with their hoverboards and took to tricks and flips and kicks after the mission would have been invited to participate, especially if they were interested in joining the Skyclad. The Skydance, as they call it, is quite highly choreographed to avoid midair collisions, all with the goal of producing something truly beautiful and ephemeral. Try not to choke!

IV. Night of Remembrance

The final tradition of the evening is a solemn remembrance of the warriors who have fallen in the fight against the Sylphid. After the Skydance, volunteers would have set up another table of those bento boxes from earlier as well as little bags containing 5 mandarin oranges, and would brief the people in small groups about the traditional Night of Remembrance. The Night of Remembrance is a really big deal among the Witches, and is a great opportunity to prove yourself if you're looking to gain respect and rise up the ranks, as it's also partially a test of courage. The tradition involves taking leftover food from the feast to the shrine at the cemetery in the Mages Sector in order to 'prepare a feast' for the dead and honor those who have fallen, and offering oranges to the fallen along the way. The food must still be at least a little warm when it's presented to the spirits. Sounds simple, right?

Once characters who wish to participate find their way to the cemetery, they will discover a couple more volunteers with a variety of lanterns. For some reason, nothing electric, battery-powered, or at all technological will work in the cemetery, and they haven't for as long as anyone can remember. Any light source must be either very old-school or magical in nature, and texting someone for help would be completely impossible. But why would you need to call someone for help?

Well, it wouldn't be a test of courage without a little danger, right? On this night, every year, the spirits in the cemetery are stirred up and come back into the land of the living. Yes, ghosts do really exist. The ghosts have a variety of temperaments - some of the ghosts are very pleasant and will chat with people for a while before accepting their orange, some are playful and mischievous and will play pranks on people coming into the cemetery (these pranks are sometimes harmless and sometimes very not-harmless), and others are angry and resentful at being dead and won't hesitate to viciously attack interlopers. Some of the more unfriendly ghosts can be calmed down with pleasantries and shows of respect, but others cannot be and will continue to attack interlopers until offered one of the oranges that they've brought.

There are two types of lanterns available: traditional lamps that are simply a candle in a glass bell that can be easily carried with a ring on the top, and magic lamps that attract spirits and appear as a glowing blue-green orb floating in a glass bell fitted with a ring for portability. People carrying traditional lamps are seen as quite brave, but those who take a magical lamp are absolute legends.

Participants will need to take a bento, some oranges, and a lantern of either variety, present the oranges to various ghosts as they make their way to a shrine on the other side of the cemetery, where they will set out the food from the bento as beautifully as possible...and don't let that food get cold, or your offering will be worthless - who wants congealed gravy and soggy stuffing?! At the shrine, they will find an assortment of delicate beaded charms attached to the branches of a large weeping willow tree. These are protected by magic, and can only be taken by someone who's completed the tradition. They will light up a different color depending on what kind of lantern the participant is carrying. These charms will provide a one-time magical boon to whoever takes them.

Characters carrying traditional lanterns will find their charms lighting up orange and these charms will, when used through the calling of a keyword by either Heba or Tian characters, summon the spirits of the dead in an area with a radius of around 50 feet to attack an enemy or group of enemies. The keyword can be set simply by speaking it to the charm. This charm can be offered to another person as a gift or kept for the character's own use, and can be used only once. If the charm has been gifted to someone, it will turn red, but will still be functional.

Characters carrying magical lanterns will find their charms lighting up blue and these charms will, when carried on a character's person, provide one resurrection from death without the loss of memory that usually comes as a side effect of resurrections. This charm can be offered to another person as a gift or kept for the character's own use, and can be used only once. If the charm has been gifted to someone, it will turn purple, but will still be functional.

Regardless of which charms are given, characters are encouraged to show them off as evidence of having participated in the Night of Remembrance. Anyone who is gifted one of these charms should be grateful, they are regarded as high-value gifts to be given only to someone you care about a great deal. Many people, regardless of whether they've earned the charms themselves or been gifted them, will attach them to their network devices to show them off.

NAVIGATION

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Notably, despite the damage (and the unusual nature of it), Mikumo doesn't seem particularly taken aback - though her brows do draw slightly as she reaches to gently touch at the guard, check the fastenings and whether they've been damaged enough to not open, or whether it's an issue of the guard biting (ha) into the skin from the damage.]

I can see why. Is this from one of the automaton dogs? [Mikumo had primarily been shooting those on sight, so she'd avoided any major damage from them, but she'd also been relatively lucky in that her tower area was one that made very sudden ambush difficult. She could certainly see someone getting grabbed before having the chance to shoot - or getting bitten for other reasons, since she met more than one person interested in reprogramming the things.]

[It's undoubtedly digging into his arm in some places, so far as Tech can tell, anyway. He knows for sure some teeth had gotten through. After all this he'd have to look for more durable armor. Due to the change in shape of the guard some of the fasteners have gotten a little tighter and would take more than one hand to pry open.]

Indeed. [Which, to be fair, he had not been attempting to reprogram, not that he wasn't interested in figuring one out once the mission was over.] I had to adjust the output on my blaster and it took the opportunity to advance.

They were rather opportunistic. I didn't encounter too many of them, thankfully, but the ones I did were enough.

[She mostly ended up dealing with drones and wildlife due to the specifics of where she was located on the two missions. As she talks, she starts to work open the stuck fasteners with both hands - though she doesn't have the enhanced strength she was created with, she's still at a high human level of strength, so she should be able to get them pried apart.]

Is this armour from your own world? [As someone who routinely travelled between planets back home, Mikumo does get curious what other people's home worlds have to offer.]

My thoughts likewise. I had no idea such existed until then. I would have found them more fascinating if they hadn't been trying to attack us.

[And to be fair, he still had, just not enough to forget about the mission.

The fasteners come off with some effort, Tech wincing with some relief once the guard is finally removed. He imagines there's going to be quite some bruising aside from the few punctures, but all things considered, the damage is less than if he hadn't worn armor at all.]

It is not. I think my own armor would have been more durable. I'll have to see if I can find something more heavy duty to replace these arm guards. I won't get my hopes up too much, but given I've managed to at least recover my helmet from a prior mission, perhaps I'll be able to find other things we've lost.

I imagine they'd be useful on our side as well, but while I'm sure we have a few people who'd be capable of building something like that, the interest is another matter.

[If nobody's interested in crafting something similar (besides for more pet-related reasons), then it's not going to get made. Not to mention that they'd likely need to find a way to make them only attack Sylphid in particular to avoid collateral damage.

Setting the damaged guard aside, Mikumo moves to inspecting the damage underneath. The punctures are definitely going to need cleaning as a priority, though she'll also be taking a closer look to see if they're large enough to need proper wound sealing.]

I'd hope so, I lost some rather useful things on the way in. Perhaps it would be worth asking some of the longer-serving resistance members about better armour - if the Sylphid employ those robot dogs regularly, they may have had more opportunity to find out which armour can actually stand up to them for more than one attack.

I'm certain there's interest. Deciphering the how's would be the main hurdle, in that case. I know at the very least that one was secured for study.

[He tentatively flexes his fingers and rolls his wrist now that it's freed. Thankfully the wounds don't look too deep.]

Is there anything specific that you would be looking for? I can keep an eye out if we ever come across any more storage caches. As for armor, that's a good idea. And they at least have no qualms about outfitting those who are fighting alongside them.

At least someone got hold of one, then. I did speak with someone who was interested, but more in the pet potential than the weapon potential.

[But she supposes a reprogramming like that might require getting deep enough into it that the information could be used by someone else.

For now, satisfied that the wounds will be fine with a regular treatment, she changes up her gloves to make sure there's no contamination from whatever was on the armour, then opens up a wound wipe to start cleaning the area.]

Even though they typically give us transport for missions that need it, it'd be useful to have my booster packs back - they give me some extra height and distance on jumps when I need it.

[Which is extra needed here since she doesn't have her superhuman agility. She's still in the higher tiers of normal human ability, but it's not quite the same, and while she hasn't fallen foul of it yet, there's always the risk.]

[For some reason the idea that someone might want it as a pet is a surprising one to him.]

Hopefully we'll be able to work out the programming that makes it inclined to attack us.

[Tech watches patiently as she gets ready to deal with his injuries. He lifts his head slightly at what she mentions, nodding thoughtfully then.]

I see. Quite understandable, preferring something more familiar to you. What do they look like?

Essentially like canisters attached to either side of a belt. They're not much larger than a can, since they have to fit underneath a skirt, but there's a few per side.

[As she says that, her hands move back to the wound area, starting with whichever wound looks the worst currently. If he doesn't move away, she'll start to clear the blood around it first, then move to the wound itself.]

I may have to go over the worse punctures with a swab as well, but all things considered, these shouldn't be too hard to clean.

[Since she has no idea what might be in or on the mouths of the robot dogs, she'd rather be thorough here, and that means treating it like any animal wound and trying to avoid the situation of having germs caught in the depths of a puncture.]

[That point does have him arch a brow. He wouldn't think that sort of placement practical, but he supposes if they're meant to be a surprise advantage... Or perhaps that's just how she does things.]

All right. I'll make note of it.

[Tech seems to be a good patient at least, letting her do her job without complaint. He nods at the assessment.]

Better safe than sorry. Don't think I caught your name, by the way. I'm Tech.

[It does make things easier to have someone who doesn't move or fuss about having wounds cleaned - it means Mikumo can make fairly quick work of the initial cleaning with the wipes. Some of the wounds are shallow enough that a slightly firmer hand on this clean is enough to get them well cleaned, but there are a few that definitely look like they could use a further clean.

As she works, she inclines her head slightly at the mention of his name, as if remembering it.]

Mikumo. I take it your name also has a lot to do with the kind of work you do?

[Considering the talk of reprogramming or replicating the robotic dogs.]

[He's definitely better about sitting still than his brother is. Normally Tech's the one treating injuries for his squad, and while he could probably have handled some of his own treatment, there are some things that are better done with two hands than one.]

Ah, yes. It's something of my field of expertise.

How close is the technology here to what you're familiar with? I've found the similarities and differences to what exists in my world interesting even as someone who doesn't directly work with technology.

[She imagines he'd be able to get more into the details of how things actually work in one vs the other, potentially - most particularly out-there things in her world use fold technology, which is often carefully vague. There's a dimensional element to it, and that's about all laypeople know as far as the actual workings of it.

Discarding the last wipe, she picks up an empty syringe and some saline solution, so she can flush the slightly deeper punctures before going in with an antiseptic swab.]

I've found much of the same as you. There's a wide variety available here, and even with what hasn't been comparable to what I'm familiar with, it's not too steep a learning curve to figure out.

[He winces a little once Mikumo starts to tend to the worst of the wounds.]

Of course then there's the whole aspect of magitech. That's been a lot more challenging to puzzle out.

It is a bit unusual, isn't it? My world has some interactions and inventions that are difficult to explain the workings of, but it still comes down to technology or certain biological elements between species or things along those lines.

[While she's not rough with the deeper wounds, she is firm with them once the swab comes into things, just because it's better to have the bit of pain now than end up with an infection later because something wasn't properly cleaned.]

I'd also like to learn more about how travel between planets is typically handled in this part of the galaxy, but I don't imagine we'll be finding out more about that anytime soon.

I'm sure there's been enough external influence by now that can easily account for both the familiarity and the strangeness of how things are here. It's quite fascinating.

[At least he doesn't jerk his hand away, enduring silently as Mikumo works. He knows how it goes, and this is a small ordeal to weather just to keep a functioning hand.]

No, it doesn't seem that way, does it? The lack of space ports does make that an issue, unless that's something controlled in the main city.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Relief Log #2

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sorry for the wait, took a bit of a pseudo-hiatus

It's fine! Hope all's well!

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