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

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

How do the ghosts appear? Do they look any particular kind of way, or is there variation? (i.e. some transparent, some just floating lights, etc etc)

Also, is it only oranges in particular that can be offered to them? Or will the spirits take other fruits / foods?

The ghosts generally appear as semi-translucent versions of themselves, complete with the injuries they died by. There can be as much variation as you like, though, providing the ghost is capable of communicating clearly and doing some sort of harm to the character interacting with them.

Some of the spirits will take other fruits or foods, but some will only accept oranges. Generally, the more old-fashioned the ghost looks, the more likely they are to accept any fruit - old-timey ghosts are used to fruit being rare and valuable so will be more excited for anything; more recent ghosts are specifically expecting oranges as they know what this tradition is.

Hi Mod!

Do characters know ICly about the charms as rewards for completing the Night of Remembrance challenge?

Yes they do! Complete with volunteers showing off charms they have from previous years.

Great, thank you!

What kind of harm are the ghosts capable of? Is it something that appears more physical (i.e. them lunging at characters, throwing things at them, etc)? Or is it more supernatural / spiritual?

The ghosts are capable of both types of harm. Feel free to get creative!

Awesome! Free-for-all it is :)

II: Food glorious food
Link is, on the whole, not usually the most expressive person. He tends to appear stoic and deadpan, his face only rarely revealing his emotions. But when he sees the table full of delicious foods, he gasps with sheer delight.

For a moment he’s wracked with indecision - there’s so much food, and he wants to try all of it. But indecision can't beat his desire to eat, and soon Link is eagerly stocking up his plate sky-high.

But as he stocks his plate, he also puts a few things in his Slate. They won’t mind if he takes some for later, right? Soon some roast herring, several mooncakes, and an entire pumpkin pie just disappear into thin air as Link stores them away.

IV part A: Oranges for ghosts
Link wasn’t really sure why this was, apparently, a test of courage. All of the spirits he’d met - except for the King - had been friends. They knew him. They helped him. So he didn’t really get why anyone would be afraid of them. Spirits were just people, who happened to be dead. What was scary about that?

So naturally, Link didn’t hesitate to grab a magic lamp, a bento, and as many oranges as possible. Then he sets out to find as many spirits as possible. Which, with the magic lamp, turns out to be not very difficult at all.

He ends up in the middle of the cemetery, surrounded by a swarm of ghosts. Regardless of whether the ghosts are friendly, violent, or somewhere in-between, what Link does is the same.

“Orange,” he says, as he hands one out to the nearest ghost. Then a tap at the Sheikah Slate, and he pulls another one out of the inventory. “Orange,” he says again, offering it to the next.

There’s kinda a lot of them though. Maybe he could use some help?

IV part B: Need more oranges
Eventually though, Link runs out of oranges. He’d tried handing out other fruits he had stored in the slate - but while some of the ghosts were happy to take an apple or a pear or maybe even a banana, some insisted on the oranges.

So he’d come back to the start again, to pick up some more.

Though by this point, he’s looking a little rough - evidently, at least some of the ghosts have taken their anger out on him. There are lines of half-dried blood trailing down from his eyes and his ears, and he’s sporting a few bruises from where the ghosts have pushed and shoved him.

But that doesn’t seem to spot him from marching up to the attendants, and saying, “More oranges, please.”

V: Wildcard
[If you’d like to something else not covered by these prompts, let me know and we’ll set something up!]

[a: infirmary]

[Like last time, Mikumo is in the infirmary after the initial return from the missions, brushing up on her first aid. It's something she had to learn back home (or, perhaps, already knew, as is the case with a number of the skills necessary for her job), but it was relatively rare she had to be the one to administer it, so making sure she keeps the skills fresh is worth the relatively short time dedication here.

When approached, whether it's someone also working or whether it's someone injured, she'll have the same question to keep things straightforward.]

What do you need?

--

[b: a fine meal]

[Prior to...a few days or so before coming here, maybe a week or two at most, Mikumo had been on an extremely restrictive diet. Not because of being an idol, but because her creators had kept her on a strict intake as far as particular foods and so on. While she's seen all of the foods on the table, she's never eaten most of them, and the ones that aren't seafood or vegetables she rarely sees locally, since Ragna is a predominantly water planet and that has effects on the kinds of foods it can produce.

Another side effect of her previously structured meals is that she's not very used to eating in front of people, and prefers not to if she can avoid it. The in-and-out nature of the meal helps somewhat in that respect, though, because she does a lot of her eating between people moving between the tables - it is possible to spot her eating, but if someone is anything like close enough for her to notice them watching, she sets her utensils down temporarily. Her plate, when filled, seems to have bits and pieces of a lot of things, even ones that might look a bit daunting at first glance (she learnt that lesson when her first non-diet food was canned Ragnan sea spiders, which turned out to actually be delicious), but it stays right where it is for as long as anyone is close enough to converse.

Not that she's not going to point it out if she feels like someone is watching her too closely (or if someone approaches her rather than the food table), even if it's with mild amusement.]

Are you here to eat, or watch people eat?

--

[c: light show]

[It's been a little while since Mikumo watched a light show, though the thing it brings to mind from Ragna is a very different tradition to this particular part of the night. The time of year where the jellyfish would rise from the sea, glowing from their depths, to find a mate, and the festivals that surrounded it, were impossible to miss even for someone as reserved as she had been for much of it.

Her watching spot is one of the gardens, a slightly rarer sight in the very sea-oriented city she came from, and while she's not actively avoiding people, she's somewhat out of the way of the festivities. If someone comes her way, though, she's not against striking up conversation.]

Not quite the kind of performance I'm used to, but not too different from it either.

--

[d: remembrance]

[Another one of those oddities of Mikumo being an artificial human designed to regularly work on battlefields is that she rarely feels fear. It took a good three or so years of her existence to feel it for the first time, and that was over genuine unknowns, things that had woken up and begun to crawl within her before she had any idea of what she was. Things that were more an existential question of who am I, and what have I forgotten than an external influence.

So once she hears about this tradition, the potential danger does nothing to dampen her curiosity about it, and she takes a magical lamp without hesitating on it. With that, the bento, and some oranges (which end up in a "bag" fashioned of water from the canteen she's taken to carrying with her now, hanging from her belt), she moves into the graveyard, alert to surrounding movement, but still seeming far more curious than trepidatious or afraid.

With so many people crossing, though, she's not averse to pairing off - both to see how others react, and to potentially move across the graveyard more quickly. So while she'll start out whether there's others around or not, she might drift over to others over time, or respond to people seeking out company on the walk.]

I was starting to wonder whether their farewell traditions here were as dramatic as the ones back home. [There's almost a sort of nostalgia to how she says that - it's clear she means "dramatic" in an affectionate sort of sense.]

--

[e: wildcard]

[[If you want to plot anything more specific, hit me up at

reviseleviathan or on the game Discord.]]

Could I request a sliiiight exemption on that "no tech works" rule for Elma's body? No neat nanite tricks, it'd just be a normal body for all intents and purposes.

Yes, that's fine!

( ooc: throwing some general open scenarios and closed top levels here. feel free to jump in or ping me if you'd like something more specific! also I'll follow your lead with action or prose. )

Edited 2022-10-22 19:45 (UTC)

— 𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘰𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘬𝘪𝘵

[ If the Doctor was being perfectly honest, he had been in the infirmary to check on Clara and had planned to get the hell out of dodge. Unfortunately the nurse he had been rude to earlier on his way in has roped him into helping out much to his exasperation - but that's what you get when you come breezing through telling someone to shut up and that you know better than them.

To say the Doctor has been strong armed into going around from bed to bed is an exaggeration and completely his take on situation. It's not like the head nurse is lock step with him, breathing down his neck and forcing him to visit patients after all. But is she glaring at him from across the room? A more observant person might see that yes, she absolutely is, and understand that's why the grumpy man is standing in front of them with a silly little first aid in hand. Other not so observant folks might just wonder why he's there at all. ]

I hear you're hurt. [ There's a brief glance down at what looks like a sticky note. ] How can I help?

Edited 2022-10-22 19:56 (UTC)

— 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘦𝘣𝘢𝘵𝘦

[ Ghosts fascinated the Doctor so he jumps at the first opportunity to participate in the Night of Remembrance. Paying respects to the fallen is all well and good of course, but doesn't care at all about garnering respect amongst the Witches or the charms that came with the tradition. It would be a stretch to say that ghosts are his favourite supernatural phenomenon - how were you supposed to choose when there were so many choices out there? There's a child-like excitement and bounce to his step as he enters the cemetery with his magic lantern, oranges, and food.

The first ghosts he encounters are a pleasant experience. There's a brief exchange of, "How do you do?" followed by a, "Oh you know just ghosting," before he hands them an orange and he's on his way again. But then his journey hits a bit of a snag. The next spirit he happens upon is downright refusing to take his offered orange. Anyone happening on the scene will see the spirit's masked face and ripped apart stomach ghostly and translucent in the glow of the lantern as they cross their arms. The Doctor stands in front of them with a proffered orange with a disgusted look on his face only accentuated by absolutely furious eyebrows. ]

What do you mean you prefer pears? I have oranges and some hot cocoa - I don't think you can be picky when you're transparent and clearly missing a stomach.

Edited 2022-10-22 23:52 (UTC)

— 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘧𝘧𝘭𝘦́ 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘱𝘦

[ When Clara says that she wants to make a soufflé for the Night of Remembrance the Doctor doesn't even bat an eyelash. A soufflé might be a little bit extravagant for various reasons, but he thinks it's a grand idea. Why not make a soufflé? But it's more than the Doctor seeing nothing wrong with making a soufflé that they'd have to transport to the ceremony without it deflating or getting cold. After her near-death experience on the mission due to his and Tech's mistake, he's less inclined to deny her what she wants.

They end up making more than just the soufflé - there's also some freshly baked cookies, a thermos full of hot chocolate, and the oranges. But those are easy to transport in comparison. The Doctor has a basket full of their other offerings but his attention is laser focused on the soufflé in Clara's hands. ]

Clara, you're going to jostle it - can you bounce less? When did you become a kangaroo?

"Not to ruin your system," Elma comments from nearby, "but you might actually have to talk to one or two of them." Or do something other than just hand out oranges like candy. Elma herself is near motionless, orange offered on an open palm to a ghost who creeps closer, then flits backwards, in a fit of shyness or fear or both.

This whole thing is immensely concerning, honestly. Not because of any inherent danger, but because she doesn't understand what these alleged 'ghosts' are.

[ She's pretty sure when she floated the idea of a soufflé, neither one of them thought she could actually pull it off, which is why they had the cookies. Those were supposed to be the actual dessert. So, when the soufflé comes out perfect for the first time in her life, she realizes it's too pretty to not give.

But this means shuffle walking so that it doesn't collapse. ]

Oh my God, Doctor, I'm being careful! You focus on the ground so I don't trip on something, please. I'm not gonna faff up and drop it now. [ She huffs a little, eyes on the dish in her hands. ] Why did you let me talk you into this?

Lower your center of gravity! You're closer to the ground I thought you'd be great at holding it - [ The audacity of this woman. The expression on his face looks absolutely bewildered as he abruptly stops mid-sentence to address her wild accusation. ] Me? I didn't talk you into anything. We could have stopped at the cookies but someone kept stomping around claiming that they were Ms. Soufflé Girl.

[ There is something else that flickers across his face at that though. ] Why does that sound so familiar? Shut up. Never mind. Watch this dip in the road we're coming up on.

I do not stomp.

[ He calls her Soufflé Girl and she grins a little. ] That's me. Soufflé Girl. And finally, I have one that isn't too pretty to live. You know, Angie and Artie thought it could never be done.

[ She's ignoring the Doctor being weird. ] And you shut up, you're the oldest adult in this situation, you should've known better.

That's what you think. If we hadn't gotten to the tower by ATV's the Sylphid would have heard you coming from a mile away.

[ He looks ridiculous trying to guide Clara down the dip in the road with his hands hovering inches from the soufflé and in a permanent half squat. Despite his intense stare he still has energy to bicker with her. ]

Known better how? I don't make soufflé. I'm not called Doctor Soufflé which, by the way, is a stupid name. [ He glares at her now that isn't half squatting to protect said soufflé. ] You're the one that makes soufflés all the time.

"I said 'orange'," Link says, frowning as he holds out another one for the next ghost pressing in towards him. Orange is a word. With syllables and everything. Doesn't that count as talking?

"I have pears," Link says, tapping at the screen of his Sheikah Slate. But then, Link frowns - the Slate isn't working. It's just blank.

He'd forgotten - it doesn't work here, does it? He's going to have to go back to the beginning to get his pears.

"I'll get pears," he amends. And then he says, "Bye," and runs right off.

Edited 2022-10-27 19:43 (UTC)

In all the time you've known me, I've never actually baked a successful soufflé.

[ Maybe he doesn't remember that bit, so she just moves on, focusing on where he guides her and watching her feet. They have to get there before thing falls or goes cold or both. ]

I'm gonna start calling you Doctor Unhelpful. Doctor Awful Judgement Call.

[ Is it really his fault? No. But bickering with him is a good distraction while she worries over the dessert. ]

[ There was an art to blowing off steam.

Pressure had a sneaky way of building up, especially when it was tucked behind carefully constructed walls. Walls that often felt ancient, whether they had been built over years, decades, centuries or even millennia.

The mission had delivered more than its fair share of challenges, and during the actual mission actions there hadn't been time to process emotional responses to those challenges. The ones directly in front of them, and those suffered by others. Deliberate focus, careful compartmentalization and focus had been paramount in order to execute the mission objectives and survive the effort.

A veteran of war, as well as numerous missions that involved a wide range of dangers, Obi-Wan was aware of the energy that felt like electricity beneath his skin. It was part adrenaline dump, part endorphin rush that came with the recognition that one was still alive; part guilt for having survived where others either hadn't, or had been injured.

In his experience, the latter often expressed itself in one of two ways; mania or depression. As a Jedi he was trained in how to release either emotion to the Force, and believed he had done so before he came to Command Central.

However, as the itch continued to ride him, he suspected he was trying to release emotions that were not entirely his own.

Reconnected to the Force as he was now, there could be a couple of culprits for the emotional bled through. Obi-Wan's awareness of his own Force signature, combined with his strong Force shielding suggested that to be so affected, the source was somehow closer than merely another Force user. It was the sort of bled he could have possibly experienced from Anakin, or Qui-Gon; men with whom he'd shared a deeper Force bond. Since Qui-Gon's Force ghost had not appeared to make the trip to the Broken World, and he didn't see Vader, Obi-Wan dismissed those potential sources.

Which left, one individual.

Externally it was hard to get an accurate read on the Doctor. The Timelord was a master of misrepresenting his emotions, or misdirecting someone from gaining a truthful read of his emotional state. Obi-Wan was no exception, despite the strength of their tether. Respect and politeness meant the Jedi did his best not to intrude, which absolutely was different than meddling.

Their hosts had gone to a great deal of effort to put on this feast and Obi-Wan genuinely had no desire to be disrespectful of their generosity, which is why he would do his best to be discreet. But sometimes, the steam valve had to be hit.

Which was why a green bean, dripping with cream sauce, lifted up from the plate in front of the Timelord, and attempted to smack him right between tightly furrowed eyebrows. ]

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Relief Log #2

Questions.

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Link | Breath of the Wild

Mikumo Guynemer | Macross Delta

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the doctor (12) | doctor who | open + closed

infirmary — open

night of remembrance — open

night of remembrance — closed to clara

IVA

these two idiots

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A Fine Meal