event ♚ january

[boardmaster]

WELCOME? TO MENCHIK

Alumina Antimoine, daughter of the mayor of Menchik, is missing.

Upon her sister Gretchen’s urging, the mayor has rented a conference room at the Gearson Hotel as a venue for all Heroes to share information regarding the recent disappearances, including their daughter.

According to various reports, Alumina ran off yesterday nght and hasn’t been seen since. She was quick to rush from her home despite her timid nature, claiming she had something important to do. Her parents are beginning to grow worried. Hannes and Gretchen have done their best to look for her, but so far their efforts have been fruitless.

	Gretchen Sorry to interrupt your investigation, but I’ve enough reason to believe Alumina’s disappearance is linked to this. She’s the most invested in the missing people’s case more than anyone else, so I...
	Hannes Ooh, macarons!
	Gretchen Hannes. [ loads gun ]
	Hannes [ pops a macaron in her mouth ] Relax! There are security automatons all over the city, so I’m sure we’ll find her in no time. Maybe she’s hitting it off with one right now. I mean, they’re pretty hot.
	Gretchen [ munches on it ] Buttercream… [ gasp, how embarrassing ] A-anyway! If you’re more useful than my brother, by all means, help us!
	Lisbrand Gretchen.
	Gretchen F-Fleur! You’re back!
	Lisbrand My task force and Lisbrand Technologies will take it from here. Our company’s automatons are equipped with cameras. If we can get into the system, we can locate Ledo and Alumina quickly.
	Hannes See, I knew there was more to Fleur than her huge knockers!
	Lisbrand Hannes. [ loads gun ]

ONE ♟ ALL-NIGHTER

Long tables and uncomfortable chairs await you in the conference room. Coffee, tea and some small snacks have been prepared for the Heroes as well as pen and paper to take notes with. This is where Heroes can share information and pool knowledge. Maybe something will add up if you all work together!

Each table has copies of the missing people reports and some might recognize the faces staring up at them from the pages as corpses found near the lake. Newspapers have been neatly stacked on a table in the corner, with many articles noting increased avian activity near the lake and within the city. Certainly odd at this time of the year. Other articles include statements from Menchikans where they found severed fingers or toes that turned into black feathers shortly after.

Hannes and Gretchen also haven’t been idle and have interviewed police officers and Commander Lisbrand’s scouts, who reported encounters with misshapen monsters with beaks. The number of casualties and injured are high. It appears that the monster is too strong for ordinary humans to deal with.

TWO ♟ Never tell me the odds

The door slams open and a messenger from Lisbrand Technologies runs into the room, breathless from his travels. He claims that Alumina has been found near Lebedche Lake!

	Gretchen That’s great! But…
	Lisbrand Yeah, I don’t like the sound of that lake.
	Hannes Oof, hold on. Everyone, take these. [ gives everyone a satchel of magical bread crumbs ] Use these so the others can find you.
	Gretchen Yeah, alright. Let’s leave glowing bird feed on the ground. That’s a great idea.
	Lisbrand No, he has a point. This time around, the birds are out to eat us. Heroes, move!

While searching the lake and the surrounding area, Heroes may find one of the following:

• Tattered pieces of Alumina’s hair ribbon rest on a dead branch of an otherwise healthy tree. When you pick the pieces up, you’re hit by a sudden chill and your vision grows dark. Something bitter seems to coat your tongue for an instant, and you immediately feel exhausted. Look at your hands and you will find that the ribbon is no longer in your possession.


• As you climb one of the large rocks near the shore, something light brushes against your head—a soft, black feather. Another falls, and another... until you are pelted by the ton.


• Empty bullet shells can be found in the pebble stones by the shore. If brought back to Gretchen, she will worriedly comment that the shells match the gun she gave Alumina for self-defense a while back. Does that mean that someone tried to hurt her?


• An envelope addressed to Alumina. It’s contents are empty and nothing seems to be out of the ordinary until you hold it up against a source of light, revealing an emblem.


• Pages of a letter are scattered across the lake’s surface. Retrieve them and the ink will suddenly begin to spill from the pages and drip down your arms, burning your skin. No spell or ointment will cure it until an hour has passed. What is left behind on the pages, however, are broken sentences: “...can’t be... “ “Promise to…” “...happier with me.”

Find other Heroes to put the pieces together. There will be only one conclusion: Alumina has been kidnapped. Considering the recent events, this is very bad news indeed. And not some they will take lying down, Lisbrand promises. She won’t rest until she knows more and Heroes are welcome to join her.

THREE ♟ Cave Story

It’s evening by the time Lisbrand’s team discovers where Alumina is being kept. The Heroes and Lisbrand will be led to a cave near the lake. Reports say that the strange noises from further in often ward intruders away…

Inside, Heroes will find angry, screeching bats. Lisbrand is all too used to shooting them due to Verdoni’s antics, but they’re not vampiric by any means. Be mindful of the ground as well—the lake floods the cave once in a while, leaving stones slippery and covered in algae. Steady footing will come in handy when vicious rock monsters come charging towards you. Madness fills their eyes as if they have been tampered with by dark magic... There’s no other choice but to put them out of their misery.

A foul smell fills the air as you venture deeper into the cave. You soon find its source: severed body parts left to rot litter the cavern floor. The various parts have been sorted into morbidly neat piles: hands to hands and feet to feet. This isn’t the work of a mere beast. This was planned by someone meticulous.

Someone human.

Gretchen gags at the sight and Hannes exchanges a nod with Lisbrand before leading his sister back to the cavern entrance. The siblings won’t be tagging along for what’s to come. You keep moving. Water drops from the ceiling, your footsteps echo down the grimy walls. The shadows cast by your torches seem to come alive, reaching out and clawing at everything they can reach. Finally, moonlight filters in through a hole in the ceiling and in the center of it lies—

Alumina.

No calling will wake her. Approach her and heavy fog will begin to filter in the room. Lisbrand snaps, “Don’t breathe!” The fog is poison! They need to get out of here! She snatches Alumina with a grunt and escapes with the Heroes. They will be hounded by by a flock of black swans who will try to cut the Heroes off with their dark magic spells. Once out of the cave…

	Gretchen Alumina!
	Hannes What happened to her!?
	Lisbrand Get back, the cave isn’t safe! [ turns to the Heroes ] I’ll bring her to the hospital. You’re all dismissed. We’ll talk about this when I get back, but I have a feeling it doesn’t end here.

They leave with Alumina, rushing with fear and panic towards the hospital. As Commander Lisbrand says, it doesn’t end here. The investigation continues.

Comments

Kojirou | OTA

[hiryugaeshi]

1. Birds, why is it always birds?

[ Report reading isn't Kojirou's speciality, to be honest. He's grimacing at the piles of papers before him, gingerly pulling out the few that catch his eye.

He can't help it. While the Servant summoning system granted him the necessary skills, he never did formally learn to read, and thus never developed any interest in it. ]

Beaked monsters. It seems our adversaries will once again be avian. Have there rather not been a lot of them?

[ Seriously. It's like there are bird enemies every month. ]

But still, there are no birds I cannot cut, so on that front we're safe. Ah, will there ever be an opponent as difficult as the swallow I faced that day?

3a. Except when it's not birds.

Hm, these ones can certainly fly, but it's not quite the same.

[ Kojirou hasn't really bothered to draw his sword against the swarm of bats yet, instead covering his face with his sleeve and letting them flap past. ]

A startled animal can be dangerous, but ordinary ones are usually more concerned with escape than fighting. It should be easier to just let them pass.

[ Never mind Lisbrand shooting them, there'll be no end to bat hell if they try to take them down one by one. ]

The greater danger here would be keeping yourself from falling into their droppings.

[ Guano is a thing. ]

3b. No wait, it's birds again.

[ Gotten past the bats, fought off the rock monsters, examined the piles of body parts, grabbed Alumina and now they're ready to leave!

Except now the cave is filling with poison and they're under attack from magic slinging swans. ]

I should be able to hold my breath for three minutes while fighting. I wonder how many of them I can take out in that time?

[ So ponders the SAMURAI out loud, as everyone is trying to get the hell out of dodge. ]

4. GIMMICK INFRINGEMENT

[ In which Kojirou does the Breadcrumb Trail job.

Of all the things Kojirou expected while searching for clues, getting swarmed by a huge bunch of birds was not one of them.

Having those birds merge into a single giant bird-like creature with him as its core was definitely not one of them.

Another giant bird creature landing in front of him being all ominous and dark and threatening? He most certainly wouldn't have put money on that happening. ]

Become Wingdam? [ The giant bird-tron seems to say, echoing the SAMURAI's words with the trill of a thousand bird songs.

Those sure are some fancy external speakers. ]

I have had to slay many birds, but never one quite like this. Let us see how well this works then.

[ But he seems rather okay with it? Or at least, he's just rolling with it, as Wingdam rips a small tree out of the ground with a weird hand-wing hybrid. ]

I suppose now I am Wingdam, so en garde!

[ He's doing it. He's going to fight the other bird-monster. ]

1. Oh Ko...you and those birds...

[sakeplz]

[It's been a little while since they last spoke but here he is. And he doesn't look exactly motivated to really do anything. Well aside from watch Kojirou talk about the birds as if they are the foulest creatures on the planet. It's actually sort of cute in a way.]

Uwaaaah! You make them sound so scary!

[Said by the sword who could totally beat them if he wasn't sitting over there. Drinking. Again.]

I'm glad I have you here.

[hiryugaeshi]

Do I?

[ Kojirou smiles slightly, as though that fact pleases him greatly. ]

I haven't allowed myself to be frightened in a long time, but they can be difficult opponents. I would say to leave them to me, but I only have these two arms and one sword.

[ beat ]

I suppose that means you'll have to put your wine down.

[sakeplz]

[How could you say something so cruel to him? He pouts his way.]

Put it down?

[But...but...]

[hiryugaeshi]

If you can swing a sword with one hand, you're certainly free to do so.

[ Kojirou shrugs. Your pouty charms won't work on him! ]

But there's no need for that just yet. We have yet to meet one of these creatures for ourselves, after all.

[sakeplz]

[Fiiiiiiiiiine.]

So mean.

[He finishes his drink and then gets up. Humming a little, he walks on over to him and rests his head against his sword.]

Why are birds your enemies?

[hiryugaeshi]

This much is normal, Jiroutachi. Normal.

[ Everyone ought to do their bit and not just get drunk in a corner, you know! ]

Birds are my enemies simply because I loved them too much. The way they soar through the sky is a sight to behold, don't you think?

[ That probably doesn't make any sense at all, really. ]

And because I so appreciated their swiftness and elegance, I knew I had to dedicate myself to matching it with my blade.

[ Only a weirdo genius swordsman. ]

1 Hello birbman here is a Bird Man

[icanseefor_miles]

[Janaff was used to being in slightly claustrophobic quarters with people more important than him, and with piping up whenever he had something to add. Or there was something on Ulki's shirt.

The laguz was considering making off with one of those cookies when he stopped and frowned a bit.]

...what was that?

[The feathery wings on his back flick at the ends and refold, almost like arms crossing.]

[hiryugaeshi]

[ Kojirou looks at Janaff over his shoulder, wondering who had called out to him, only to find an actual bird person standing there. ]

Ah, the wings of a hawk. But you don't have a beak and your feathers aren't black, so I suppose there's no reason to suspect you.

[ Kojirou nods, scratching his chin in thought. ]

I don't suppose you can fire beams from your mouth?

[icanseefor_miles]

I'm not a damn raven. But I do have a beak sometimes.

[Just not right now. Obviously.

Janaff was about to be lightly concerned about how that man said "suspect", but--what?

The laguz blinked a long moment, slightly taken aback.]

...uh. No, pretty sure.

[hiryugaeshi]

No, those are obviously a hawk's wings.

[ What does he look like, a guy who doesn't know his birds? ]

Ah, a shame. I never did get to fight one. I will have to keep looking, then.

[ How sad, but Kojirou doesn't seem too broken up about it. He has time. Eventually he will meet that beam shooting pheasant. ]

So, what did you need from me?

[icanseefor_miles]

You said something about birds. What did you mean?

[Janaff is slightly disturbed by casual violence against avian creatures, but far more disturbed at...whatever it was this man said about a swallow.

He was more than used to people running at him with sharp objects, but--were swallows here that vicious?]

[hiryugaeshi]

Hippogriffs, phoenixes, and now these beasts, whatever they might be. There have simply been many bird-like monsters for us heroes to fight.

[ That's absolutely a statement of fact, but it doesn't explain everything, does it?

Kojirou shrugs. ]

I consider myself something of an expert on the matter. I gained my greatest technique by attempting to kill a swallow after all.

[ Which is apparently more difficult than fighting demons or something. Who even knows with Kojirou? ]

3b

[guerrilla]

You're an idiot. Even assuming you held your breath for three minutes, you'd have to consider the time it takes to actually escape the cave, so it's three minutes minus however much time it takes to haul your ass out. And by then, the poison will be a lot thicker, so you have to take into account that you'd have to run without breathing, which I'd like to see you try.

[Leave it to the resident poisonfucker to ruin everything.]

[hiryugaeshi]

[ Still jogging along backwards, staying out of the poison as he blocks incoming swan spells with his sword, Kojirou ponders Robin's words. ]

So two minutes, then, unless we have a King who can protect us from this poison.

[ Well, no need for protection. Just heal him up so he doesn't die. It would be rather embarrassing to be killed by a black swan. ]

How is it that they aren't affected? How fascinating.

[guerrilla]

I've got a couple of antidotes with me, but I don't know if they're effective on this particular poison.

[There's always one surefire way of trying that, but he doesn't especially feel like risking his or Kojirou's life to find out.]

Maybe they've been dosed with something themselves? It could be a spell, or even a natural immunity, but birds are...no, this is stupid, just keep running!

[The birds might be unaffected by the poison, but arrows seem to work well enough. However, now Robin's thinking about them, too, if only to see if he can figure out what's causing their resistance to the poison. Dammit, Kojirou.]

[hiryugaeshi]

I doubt it. For all your skills with poisons, it's unlikely that any herbal mixture could do anything to this one. It's thick with mana.

[ Hand it to the Knight to be able to tell that much, which is why Kojirou hasn't just charged into the mist and hoped for the best. ]

It almost makes me miss a certain witch, but she was always more likely to stab me in the back than heal any of my wounds.

[ pain breaker where

On the plus side, he's still running away from the birds instead of right at them, but for the record, he's not pleased about it at all. ]

[guerrilla]

[Somewhere in the hallways of Chaldea, a certain Caster's ears are burning.]

Jeez. I thought I had problems, but it sounds like your girl troubles are even worse than mine.

[Most of his girl troubles are things he's not present for, since he's never really stuck around.

Idle prattle aside, Robin sure is glad to have a bow he doesn't really need to aim - it's perfect for hectic decisions like this, where he can pause for just a second and shoot. As long as he expends a little mana, his arrows will fly however they can to reach their target, no matter which direction he's running. He's prioritizing the ones that are actively casting their spells, and while he can't get to all of them before they finish, it can help reduce the potential damage done.

The birds that get too close, he figures, can be left to Kojirou. He doesn't have to be happy about it, as long as they both make it out of here alive.]

[hiryugaeshi]

On the contrary, I rarely have them. There is but one witch I have trouble with.

[ And one Saint that has trouble with him.

Sticking around, what is that? ]

I think I have quite a good eye for women after all. [ Even if he needs more training in that area.

But #ladbants aside, running backwards and playing defence is surprisingly tiring. While the deftness of his sword ensures that he's catching most spells and the occasional bird that tries to get close, he only has so much mana to work with. ]

If we're not engaging these birds in melee combat, I don't suppose you happen to have an Anti-Army weapon of some kind.

[ Excalisomething. ]

I, why is it always birds with you

[armorial]

Then this would be your expertise, Assassin.

[ You know... She still hasn't been able to catch a swallow despite training rigorously in her free time. Of course she hasn't contacted him about her progress (there is none).

Saber is organizing the reports in chronological order, then by category. As she's a king, she never needed to deal with paperwork until now. It shouldn't be too hard? The lake does get her attention, but there's no way this girl would go to some place so dangerous. Would she? Maybe if it's against her will? Is the correlation somehow tied? ]

It has been some time, but I will be relying on you once again.

[ So she's rather confident in this task!! ]

it's kojirou's fate/

[hiryugaeshi]

Indeed, though I find myself wishing it wasn't. There's little meaning in fighting an enemy you know you can beat.

[ At least Saber is more capable than Kojirou in this regard. Though she should just get some secretary to read the reports for her. That's the benefit of being a king. Agravain where. ]

But I might be able to pull out some motivation if you're behind me.

[ Truly, this is Charisma B. ]

smooth........

[armorial]

Sometimes your enemies can surprise you. Don't let your guard down.

[ Legit. How will she live with Agravain?? Anyway, she can at least organize papers. She isn't a useless royal that only knows how to beat shit up!! ]

I'm glad to hear that. [ Especially now that she has accepted her role in a party. ] These reports only get stranger as I go through them.

Should we act?

[hiryugaeshi]

Indeed, what seemed like a little bird can turn out to be some kind of lion, but surprises like that are what make this worthwhile.

[ Kojirou gives Saber a look. She might not know what he's talking about, but there's someone full of surprises right next to him. And really, without the possibility of a surprise, why even fight? ]

The habits of magi are always strange to me, and it certainly seems like magic had a hand in this affair. But there is only one way for people like us to figure out what it means, no?

[ Kojirou places a hand on the grip of his sword, showing what exactly he means. ]

[armorial]

[ Her expression spells she has no idea what Kojiro is talking about, but metaphorically she understands. Sometimes the underdog will come up on top. There's a nod and a small smile at his drive. Sometimes it's best to take action quickly. ]

I will do my best to support you.

[ She doesn't reach for her own sword, but she returns the sentiment. Picking herself up, she'll start leading them to the lake before Commander comes in to give them news. At least on the way, Hannes gifts them with the magical bread crumbs.

... Saber is skeptical, but okay. Once they reach the lake, she takes out the bag of crumbs and looks down at them. ]

Will this truly help us?

[ She kind of wants to eat them. ]

[hiryugaeshi]

Apparently, they are to keep us from getting lost in the forest. Personally, I've never had an issue with that. To my eyes, there's no difference between this forest and a flat plain.

[ Kojirou certainly looks the part, completely sure-footed no matter what kind of ground they traverse. ]

But I'm sure they were sincere in their offers of aid. I doubt they are poisoned or secretly monster bait, at least.

[ Which isn't saying much, but y'know.

If you want to eat them nobody will die. ]