saudade_mods | 「MISSIONS」

"Missions are... uhh... They're, you know... Hrm."

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Good morning, Drifter. The story you are about to hear is one that affects every one of us here in Penrose, and all across the universe. It seems that the light of the worlds has been threatened and there's only one way to save everyone now. It is up to the denizens of Penrose to bring the eternal light of Penrose to all the worlds and banish the darkness.

Starting today, chosen drifters will be charged with completing quests each month. These quests will take them to many worlds, some like this one, some like the one they came from, perhaps, some unlike anything they ever imagined. They may be faced with difficult decisions, uncomfortable costume changes, and possibly even roughing it with no TV for the duration of each trip.

Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to join these illustrious ranks and infiltrate each world as discreetly as possible, overcome all obstacles inevitably hurled into your path, and locate the satellite lantern that has been placed in the care of each world. Upon locating the lantern, it must be lit with a flame from the eternal lantern on Penrose, brought along by a designated Finder. I don't have to stress the importance of this matter, Drifter.

As always, should you or any member of your team be captured or killed, Penrose will send its forces to recover you at any cost. We can't afford to disavow all knowledge of you, we need you, so don't do anything unnecessarily reckless.

Good luck, Drifter! This message will self-destruct in five seconds...

Okay that last part is a lie; Dreamwidth isn't actually going to self destruct unless the administrators of Livejournal get a hold of it. Additionally, missions are not mandatory. Your characters are more than welcome to just hang out in Penrose and get jobs and live life however they see fit, never setting foot on another world. There will still be events that take place on Penrose, and there is plenty to do without participating in missions. Characters under the age of 14 are not even permitted to go on missions, so they are by no means required for you to stick around. However, if you find this option tickles your fancy, have a look over the information below to learn more!

❏ So what's my motivation?
Well, about that darkness you got yoinked out of when you first got here... Yeah, that nasty bugger is infiltrating every world in the universe, plucking people from their timelines and dragging them out into oblivion, turning them into creatures called Heartless and then consuming them for their hearts. Scary, huh? That could have been you! But the point of all this? In the words of Bob Marley, "Light up the darkness."

❏ ... Wait, what are you talking about?
Only light can overcome darkness, and even then you need a lot of it. After all, light a candle, cast a shadow--you have to turn on all the lights to get rid of all the shadows. We might even say you have to own the night like the Fourth of July. Basically, the only way we're getting rid of this darkness is to light the lantern on every world with a flame from Penrose, filling the sky with light and containing the darkness completely.

❏ All right, I guess that makes sense, but how does this work?
The bridge to worlds that still need to be lit is only open for one night--the night of the new moon. For simplicity's sake, we'll be aligning Penrose's lunar calendar with earth's so you don't have to wonder what the hell schedule we're working with. The window is open to come back at any point between the new moon and the full moon, but once you return to Penrose you can't go back to the mission; it's a one-way street after the new moon has passed. On the night of the full moon, all characters on the other world will be yanked back to Penrose by their Elos--this is a safety precaution so no one gets left behind and cannot be circumvented unless there are extreme extenuating and necessary circumstances. Alternatively, if you want your character to stay behind, that can be arranged as well; please speak to a mod, as this will essentially be a means of dropping your character.

Every time there is a mission, we will ask for volunteers. Don't worry, everybody will know what the destination is before you sign up, both OOC and IC, so if you or your character don't like the sound of the world set to be visited this month you're under no obligation to participate, even if you have in the past. When the mission post goes up, there will be open signups for all eligible characters to participate. Even if your character is off-world when sign-ups open, they will get the information on their Elo wherever they are, so they can still sign up! If you have a team in mind, please make a note of this when you sign up, and we will endeavor to adhere to the arrangement, however we may have to shuffle some people around if teams are grossly uneven or a particular team is overpowered. Of the formed teams, one will be chosen via RNG to find the lantern. Obviously, there is only one lantern to be found, so if you're on the team that drew the lucky number, congrats! You guys get to find and light the lantern in this world! Your characters won't know they're the ones finding the lantern, obviously, because then why would anyone else come along, right? But you as players will know, and it will be up to you to make sure to do your jobs.

Each world's lantern is in a specific location that is unknown to pretty much everyone. This is a safety precaution. If the location of the lanterns was common knowledge, anybody could just go in and destroy them, after all! Sometimes the location will be known by the Mission Representative Moogle that meets the teams as they arrive. Other times the MRM answers to someone else on the world and they won't have the information, so you'll have to figure out how to get it. You might have to barter for the location of the lantern, or run errands. Sometimes a moogle might give you wrong information--that's why we have more than one team. You know how moogles can be, and the details of finer moogle negotiation will be entirely up to your Team Leader. Be creative! If you'd like NPC intervention or anything that requires the services of a mod, please don't hesitate to ask. Missions will almost always succeed, but every once in a while, we might just not make it, in which case the world remains vulnerable to Darkness until the next time it comes into alignment with Penrose.

While on missions, players will be confronted with various situations that are logically feasible in each world. We probably won't be fighting Heartless in these worlds (unless maybe we visit The World That Never Was), but you might encounter opposition from natives, run into hostile predators, or find yourself lost in the woods, for example. It will be up to you and your team to figure out the best course of action, but if you get stuck don't hesitate to ask for help, especially if this is your first mission.

❏ How are the lanterns lit? What happens then?
The leader of each team will carry on their person a tiny flamelet from the lantern on Penrose. When the lantern in the mission world is found, they will use this tiny flame to light the lantern. Yup, it's that simple! Once the lantern has been lit, characters are welcome to head home to collect on their job well done right away, or they can stay in the other world until the full moon if they so chose.

Also if you complete the lantern part of the mission, there are sometimes secondary missions that can be completed up until it's time to go home.

❏ Secondary missions?
Well, since not everybody can find the lantern, there's other stuff you can do, too. For example, the shops and hotels that cater to the Penrosians all have moogle sponsors--that's why they're able to accept off-world currency, after all. But moogles can't always move about the world freely. They might pass easily unnoticed in Lindblum, but can you imagine a moogle out and about in Chicago? So there will be options to run errands for moogles who are unable to move easily about themselves--rather like Mognet from FFIX for those who are familiar. There may also be opportunities to find items that were lost on previous visits to this particular world, and players are always welcome to come up with their own little 'sidequests', as it were. Catching the creep who mugged that nice old lady might bag you a pie, and that lost kid you helped reunite with his parents might just turn out to be the son of the prime minister, who knows?

Most reasonable player-plots during missions won't require permission, we just ask that you don't go overboard. Don't have your character inherit a mass fortune for bringing a criminal to justice, try not to do anything that will draw lots of press crews, et cetera et cetera et cetera. We're supposed to be staying under the radar as much as possible, remember?

Available moderated secondary missions will be posted with each month's mission statement, so make sure to watch for them!

❏ How many worlds can we visit?
You can only visit one world at a time, but you will have a few options.

Every month, when Penrose's moon is dark, the world comes into alignment with one unlit world. However, when the moon is full, several worlds that have already been successfully lit will also come into alignment, and your characters are more than welcome to hit up one of the other worlds. Travel between lit worlds works the same as travel to dark worlds: lit worlds are opened up on the full moon and Drifters are brought back to Penrose on the new moon, at which time they could then turn around and go on a lantern mission. So basically, you could spend your entire time hopping from one world to the next on missions and spend next to no time in Penrose at all.

❏ What's the time frame?
Penrose's moon is full the 7th of every [in-game] month, and new the 20th of every [in-game] month. Real-life dates will vary, as the game runs on a 1:3 schedule, but everything will be marked on our handy dandy calendar page so you won't get too lost. We realize that two weeks of in-game time is six weeks of real-life time, but please remember that missions don't necessarily last the full two weeks. [this is TBD at this time until more characters are able to go on missions. please stay tuned!]

Also, your characters aren't required to stay off-world the whole time anyway. There will still be things to do in Penrose during this time as well, the missions are essentially a parallel timeline. We will always endeavor to have all mod plots for the duration of the mission set up beforehand so you can decide how long you want your character to remain away without missing anything you want to participate in.

❏ What worlds will we be visiting?
VISIT ALL THE WORLDS! We have a little more freedom than the Kingdom Hearts game franchise on this front, so expect to see all kinds of different worlds showing up for missions! There will probably be some Disney worlds, but there will also be worlds from plenty of other fandoms--maybe even the one you're from!

❏ But if we go to my world, is it my future? My past? Won't there be a time paradox if I meet myself? My head hurts!
Take it easy there, champ; don't blow a gasket. The simple answer is this: any world visited will be visited out of time. That is, there will be no assigned moment in fandom timeline. This is so we don't end up accidentally I broke the universe. It might be your future, it might be your past--you'll have no way of knowing. Nor will you really have any means of finding out. Since your Elo is tied to your heart, it will know that this is your world, and know that you can't stay here even if you want to. You are inexorably tied to Penrose now, it was necessary to save your life and pull you from the darkness. Even if you decided you wanted to stay, you would still be pulled away when the new moon comes, unless you are dropping your character and wish for them to remain behind. So in order to prevent you from unraveling the fabric of the cosmos, talking to people you shouldn't, being recognized by people who think you're missing, or any other number of temporally unacceptable situations, the Elo will alter your form upon entry to this world. Think like how Sora's clothes turned him into a lion in the Pride Lands. Your appearance will be altered so you don't look quite like you anymore, so you won't be recognized. And if you try and talk to someone you shouldn't, or try and warn someone about a timeline incident which would possibly change the future (or the past), the Elo will shut you up, in one way or another. Maybe you're suddenly overcome with a coughing fit, maybe you pass out, maybe you are hit with the inescapable need to lose your lunch--it's up to you as a player--but one way or another, you are not breaking the Temporal Prime Directive, no matter how you try. It's kinda like how canon updating works.

If you are a character who canonly has the ability to traverse worlds, the Elo will also change your appearance if we are visiting a world in which you would logically be recognized out of time. This is more flexible, however--if you're playing Sora, for example, and we visit Mulan in ancient China from her original canon, Sora's appearance might not be changed, but he would be unable to speak to Mulan about the Heartless, because canon Mulan has no idea who he is and time and space travel would just completely throw off everyone's groove. If we were to visit Hollow Bastion, his appearance could also remain unchanged, because the HB crew knows he just kind of... does that. But if Sora were to visit Destiny Islands, for example, the Elo would likely change his appearance since it wouldn't do to have him meet, say, his mom, and have her wonder why he's older/younger than he should be. Likewise, if you're playing The Doctor, you could logically have him hang out with Winston Churchill or Madame de Pompadour without necessarily breaking anything, so we will leave these sorts of situations up to your best judgment. Just bear in mind that the Elo will still prevent you from breaking the universe, even if it doesn't change your appearance, so no cheating!

If you do decide you want to drop your character and have them remain in the mission world, this will require a few extra steps, which will be tackled if such a situation arises.

❏ So the Elo will change my appearance according to the world we are visiting?
That depends on you, and depends on the world. If you play a Squeenix character and we're visiting Spira, chances are your outlandish outfit and seventeen belts aren't going to make anyone doubletake. However if we plunked Sephiroth into downtown Baltimore and it wasn't Otakon weekend, he would definitely draw some unwanted attention. If you play a non-human character and we visited an historical or more mundane world, well, let's just say chances are your talking pony is going to turn some heads in feudal Japan, and your ronso might confuse people in Berk. Likewise, if we visit Equestria, they won't have any idea what a 'hyoo-man' is, so you might want to work on your canter.

Don't worry, each month's mission statement will have all applicable information posted for you, so you don't have to just guess every time; we'll make sure to keep everyone up to speed, whether there will be costume or body changes, what sorts of obstacles to expect.

❏ How much of the world can I explore?
Each world will have a set boundary: the portal from Penrose can only access a certain area of each world, at a varying radius from the general location of the lantern. Essentially, this is your Insurmountable Waist High Fence. You can explore the world anywhere within this boundary, which will be different for every world and detailed in the mission statement, but if you try and go beyond it... well, don't do that. Bad things happen when you push the boundaries. [ominous music]

❏ Wait, bad things?
You won't like the Insurmountable Waist High Fence when it's angry. Push the boundaries, and the light of Penrose is going to give you a stern talking-to. Why are you fooling around instead of executing your mission, hm? If your character just can't help themselves, there are consequences for going beyond everything the light touches. Maybe you'll just get sent home early, but maybe you'll get sent home with a status effect curse for a week. Maybe you'll be doomed to break into song every hour on the hour for the remainder of the mission. Maybe nothing will happen at all until you get back to Penrose, at which time you will realize that all the clothes in your closet have been replaced with velcro suits. WE JUST DON'T KNOW. Are you really willing to take the risk?

❏ Could my character be Fourth Walled in a mission world?
If you want. If your Batman gets spotted in downtown New York and you want some geeky NPC to fangasm about it, you are more than welcome to do so, just keep in mind the IC consequences of your character potentially learning they're a figment of someone's imagination.

❏ Wait, I get stuff?
Duh. We wouldn't ask you to put yourself out there without offering something in return. Sure, saving the universe is its own reward, but we know how you people work--you want instant gratification, right? Some missions will be easier than others, and some will prove to be really challenging, but the pay for each mission is a flat rate... because all lantern missions need to be done, and we won't really know how much trouble one place is gonna be 'til we get there. Sometimes there are bonuses depending on how quickly the job was done, or if secondary missions were completed.

❏ So give me a breakdown here.
All drifters who successfully complete a lantern mission--that is, they volunteer, go to the other world, and stay for the duration of the mission (barring injury or illness)--will receive 8,000 munny for their troubles. That's about eight hundred bucks, about half a month's pay, since that's how long missions can potentially last. Not too shabby, especially if the world is a friendly one, or if the mission gets done on the first day, you can go back to Penrose and back to your day job and turn a pretty nice profit. Drifters who become ill or injured and are unable to complete the mission will be paid for their time as well, though their pay may be docked if it is determined that their malady was self-inflicted. We told you not to eat the oysters...

But wait! There's more! The group that locates and successfully lights the lantern will receive an additional 1,000 munny--about a hundred bucks--for a job especially well-done. This group will be predetermined by RNG before the mission begins, so that this group can be sort of corralled in the right direction.

Additionally, all mission volunteers will receive a stipend for food and lodging during the mission. This will not be a number amount, we're just gonna call it 'enough' for your character to live on for up to two weeks in this other world, at no out of pocket cost to them. If you want your character to blow their food money on souvenirs, that's fine, but they'd better have a buddy who's willing to share or they're gonna get awful hungry. All unused funds will be collected by the team leader at the end of each mission. Those drifters who blew all their money will have their reward docked the deficit. If the deficit is more than the reward, they'll be washing dishes to make up the difference.

❏ And what about the secondary missions/already lit-world missions?
The rewards for those will vary from mission to mission; you will need to check the individual mission statement for details on what secondary missions will be offered and the potential rewards for them. Any player-run secondary missions will have rewards at said players' discretion, within reason.

❏ So what was that about souvenirs?
If you want to bring some munny with you to do a little shopping while you're on your mission that's fine. Your munny won't work at every shop, though, so you'll need to check the map and info for the mission to see what will be available to you, or you might have to get a moogle to exchange currency for you. They overcharge for that, but hey, supply and demand, bro. If you run a shop and want to bring home a suitcase full of off-world goods to sell, you are welcome to do so, provided you don't spend all your time shopping instead of, you know, missioning.

Please bear in mind as well that it is Not Kosher to bring items of an illegal nature back to Penrose with you. That's not to say it hasn't happened, but if you are found smuggling controlled substances back to Penrose, you will be punished. That said, if you're interested in attempting to do just that, please contact a mod and we'll discuss it; we aren't opposed to your character adding to the underground, we just want to keep track of you hooligans.