whattaprick: (Default)
Lambert ([personal profile] whattaprick) wrote in [community profile] lostcarnival2017-05-22 12:58 am

burn away your self doubt with the fire underneath you (literally)

Who: Nightrunners, engineers, and anyone who wants to check out the new facilities.
What: WELCOME TO THE GRIND aka. training yard construction + actual use. Prompts/ideas of what you can find there are in the log text and in this OOC post; otherwise it's a make-your-own-toplevel kind of log!
When: After the engineering meeting; through the end of the Carnival's stay in Mainframe and the break.
Where: The newly-cleared training yard space in the woods!
Warnings: Shenanigansss.

UNDER CONSTRUCTION
With magic, absurdly powerful Pokemon, and combined experience putting together ridiculous shit at the Carnival's disposal, training yard construction goes by much faster than it would in an ordinary world. All facilities will be completed by the time the Carnival wraps up performance week.

People are free to come and go to work on various components for the training yard, gawk at the ongoing construction, provide useless side-commentary, or even attempt to help! Unfortunately, nobody here believes in wearing hard hats, so if you're not part of the official crew the risk is yours to take.

TRAINING YARD
A space dedicated to target practice, practicing forms, and more stationary kinds of exercises (many designed to prepare hapless miscreants who aren't quite ready for the obstacle course) for people who want to focus on something specific. Magic-resistant dummies are available for people who want to practice their magic or combat skills. Various beams, tightropes and poles of varying heights can be set up to improve balance. Climbing equipment of various types (such as walls and ropes) are also available.

It's basically a semi-customizable jungle gym with some target dummies to practice hitting things! Stick to whatever difficulty level suits you. It's mostly a bring your own weapon policy, but there are prop swords and balance poles that can serve as staves in a pinch.

OBSTACLE COURSE
The obstacle course spans the length of the clearing, and offers an opportunity to put together all the skills from the training yard. The basic layout is already pretty challenging on its own, but surprise, Peridot has also set it up so you can adjust the difficulty level depending on your level of experience.

On Normal mode, the course components are stationary. On Hard, things start moving around and actively getting in your way, like the tunnel starting to rotate and landings getting progressively harder as things disappear beneath you, and some parts of the course even have drones chasing you down with lasers to 'encourage' you to go faster. Sometimes things will be on fire to really encourage you to avoid them! On Death March the spinning is faster, there are lasers on everything you can conceivably put a laser on, and pyrotechnics have been rigged up so that the last part of the course has you flinging yourself out of the path of a controlled explosion (aim to land on the big X on the end for full points).

Where's the easy mode, you ask? Nothing in life is easy, why would this be?

There's a small signboard at the end of the course listing the shortest times it's taken someone to complete course. The Ringmaster currently holds the record, and no matter how she dares you to beat her, it's generally not recommended to try because faeries are big cheaters.

ARENA
There's a circular, elevated concrete platform towards the end of the obstacle course that functions as place to spar without holding back. It's surrounded by a moat (which coincidentally also serves as a place where anyone on fire because of the last bit of the obstacle course can throw themselves into) and there's a square-shaped sand pit in the center. Depending on the day, the moat might have robot crocodiles and it might be electrified or something? Actually getting into the arena seems to be a challenge all on its own, kind of like someone built it and then put everything else around it because it was cool in some strange reversal of painting yourself into a corner.

FIRST AID STATION

Haha just kidding there isn't one. There might be a small box with some bandages and antibiotic cream kind of thoughtlessly tucked behind training yard equipment though.

There's been an effort to reasonably fire-proof most items as possible, but it's not infallible. Acts of deliberately malicious destruction will subject vandals to being chased around by the obstacle course's laser-wielding attack drones and the ire of the Engineer. Have fun guys.
stillwinningthehardway: (☁But atop the mountain's crest)

fire!!!

[personal profile] stillwinningthehardway 2017-05-24 06:24 am (UTC)(link)
[Scout winces. This is the thing with this obstacle course, it's just so dramatic. If your focus is on repetition and building endurance, and all the boring necessary work that comes with it...]

I think I smell hair burning.
anti_nonsense: (I'm sure you'll get to the point someday)

[personal profile] anti_nonsense 2017-05-24 06:28 pm (UTC)(link)
Do you? I hadn't noticed.

[For Rita, all this drama is completely normal and not at all excessive.]

You saw just now, right? [Since there's someone else here, Rita might as well get a second opinion.] It didn't look too plain, did it? [Yep. That's what Rita's worried about. Compared to some of her fire spells, mechanically-generated fire just doesn't have the same elegance and flair.]
stillwinningthehardway: (☁But atop the mountain's crest)

[personal profile] stillwinningthehardway 2017-05-28 04:41 am (UTC)(link)
I hope it's not mine...

[She touches her own head just in case. Nothing seems to be on fire. She'll have to check the mirror later anyway.]

N... you could try putting in powders that'll change the colors of the flame?
anti_nonsense: (I wonder about that...)

[personal profile] anti_nonsense 2017-05-28 11:48 pm (UTC)(link)
Change the colors...? [She looks back to the display, trying to imagine it. The fire-burst has ended, leaving a thick curtain of smoke in its wake.] That could be interesting. I haven't taken the time to experiment much with those kinds of powders, yet.
stillwinningthehardway: (🔪I throw my mantle over the moon)

[personal profile] stillwinningthehardway 2017-06-07 09:04 pm (UTC)(link)
I think there are flammable salts for that, maybe metallic confetti to give it sparkle. That way you get more spectacle and it's not just "bigger is better", right?

[She doesn't really know what she's talking about, just that giant explosions are super not her bag.]
anti_nonsense: (saw this coming)

[personal profile] anti_nonsense 2017-06-10 11:24 pm (UTC)(link)
[Rita nods, looking increasingly pleased with the suggestion, the more she thinks about it.] It's a simple chemical reaction. Even if we didn't have the right salts, the same ingredients can probably be found in various substances used elsewhere in the carnival.

Of course, there's no reason the fire can't be big and colorful...
stillwinningthehardway: (🔪Yet oh atop the mountain's crest)

[personal profile] stillwinningthehardway 2017-06-13 11:08 pm (UTC)(link)
[Scout winces.]

That starts getting gauche, though. Besides if it's big enough to damage something on the track, you know Peridot will have words.