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

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.]

[notsolomon]

Swans...

[William frowned thinking about everything he knew about that particular tribe of bird.]

They are rather vicious creatures despite their beautiful appearance. Though they are more likely to attack people who disturb their nests.

[A pause then.]

Perhaps these bird sightings are due to nesting habits? Though what that has to do with anything...

[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.

[notsolomon]

[He watches her, hanging back and bracing a hand against the wall as he watches. It's all so slick in her that it's all he can do to hold on. If only the enemy had that problem.

Fortunately the monster is already moving awkwardly, no doubt sensing the peril it's body is in. It takes a swing at her though, not daunted.]

If you take the opening after it's done swinging, you should be able to get it!

[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]

[ 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.

[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]

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. ]

[sakeplz]

Matching it? Or surpassing it?

[Okay he's curious now. You've made him have to stop drinking for a bit so now he has to find something else to do. Otherwise he'll just have to pout over how doing this means he might sober up.

...Well that and the topic is just interesting.]

[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?

[hiryugaeshi]

That's not for me to decide, is it?

[ Of course, in truth, there was absolutely no need to cut through dimensions just to catch a swallow in mid-flight. It was complete overkill in many ways, but to Kojirou it had just been another technique. His greatest technique certainly, but nothing that special in the grand scheme of things. ]

My blade certainly has to be swifter than a bird to catch it in flight, but whether it's more elegant, more captivating, I will have to leave that to those watching.

[sakeplz]

You're always so interesting to talk to.

[Jiroutachi giggles but he really does mean it. Kojirou is rather weird but he likes that about him. It makes him stand out from other people here.]

It would have been fun to have been wielded by you, I think.

[long_live_the_queen]

Swans are assholes.

[Said bluntly and with an irritated huddle of Kaede's shoulders. She usually quite liked animals!

When they weren't actively trying to bite off her fingers and break her bones for apparently no reason.]

At this time of year?

[She didn't...know what a swan nest looked like, or where they'd even start building them, but she also wasn't exactly paying much attention. Most of Kaede's unfortunate swan incident was spent scowling at Alumina.]

[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?]

[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.]

Robin Hood | Open

[guerrilla]

i.
[Robin spends most of his time intensely staring at notes he's made himself. What he'd found makes no sense, unless someone is tampering with the wildlife somehow, whether unintentionally or deliberately. Toxic runoff can affect plants, but so can something more direct.

Considering he didn't see anything that could cause the sort of runoff that'd be needed to produce this kind of result, it's got to be the latter. But who would go around splashing love potions all over the forest? Is this even worth looking into?

When he's not boring a hole in the table trying to make sense of things, he's getting cups of tea and just...sort of holding them. Eventually he leaves them on the table and goes back to his notes, scribbles a few more things, draws a diagram or two, and then repeats the process. It seems like he's getting nowhere fast.

Occasionally, he'll put his tendency to work alone behind him, though, and sidle up to someone.]

You making any sense of this?

[It's more for idle conversation than anything, though he wouldn't complain if he and his conversation partner stumbled upon a lead in all of this.]

ii.
[Robin is just minding his own business, picking up whatever he can find, and one of those things happens to be a page. Even if someone can't actually see him, the loudly uttered expletive he offers in response will probably get their attention if they're nearby. He recoils and drops the page, then scurries behind the nearest tree to try treating the burn left on his arm.]

wildcard.
[Just drop something here if neither of the above appeal to you!]

i

[guerrilla]

It was nice to not have some disaster nipping at our heels every few weeks.

[Pleasantries aside, there's a reason Robin's here. The information William has brought with him seems to have sparked an idea.]

...I found what could've been the result of making a love potion in the forest, you know.

[He can't explain why the beheaded body made its unfortunate descent, or even how or why she was beheaded in the first place, but he's pretty sure that's got to be involved with the events leading up to it.]

[hiryugaeshi]

Is that so?

[ Well, Kojirou will take that as a compliment. Nobody wants to be boring. ]

It depends on what your idea of fun is. The endless pursuit of infinity can take a long, long time. I fought more often than I had to, but I wasn't a warrior.

[ Basically a lot of camping and training. ]

[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? ]

Sansa Stark | Open

[stonebird]

ONE ♟ ALL-NIGHTER

(Each time she thinks she is making headway with this mystery - a case, truly - she encounters another problem - usually brought about by strange magic. She is wearing her Pigeonsblood uniform - with its bright yellow trimming - which only serves to highlight her bright auburn hair. Said hair is piled messily in a loose bun - an oddity for her - and there is a faint covering of dust over the natural, almost coppery sheen. At the moment, at least, she is not a proper lady. She is a student - an investigator - and each missing person concerns her.)

What have you found? (This is no time for ego or pride. Sansa is ready and willing to share what she has learned in curses if it will help.) Do you think those missing are...alive? I wonder...

(If remains turn to crow feathers, isn't that sign enough? Unless the missing have been turned into crows too?)

Could they be birds?

TWO ♟ NEVER TELL ME THE ODDS

(The feathers intrigued her from the start and she is more than a little curious when she spots one by the lake. Bending down to retrieve it, the last thing she expects is to be buried in a pile of numerous feathers just like it! The world is pitch black and she is having a hard time breathing. Panic begins to set in and it takes her a few moments to realize what has befallen her.

It is a fortuitous that feathers are not heavy objects! Pushing them aside, she breaks free of the pile and pales at the number.

Does this mean there are more who are missing? Or does each feather represent a body part?)

How am I to carry all of these? (For each one is of importance if her conclusion is true.)

WILDCARD

(Any/all ideas welcome!)

[notsolomon]

[He thought on it a moment.]

Yes I know, not very likely, but nothing that has been going on is natural lately.

[But to turn this around...]

I think the key point is that something strange is going on that might be affecting their behavior. So if we are to assume that this has something to do with everything else, then we have to assume there is a reason for it.

[notsolomon]

A love potion?

[Well that was a new angle to think on and William thought about everything he had found out before that body distracted him for the rest of the day.]

That said that Alumina's young man's change of heart was very unnatural. And I had thought there was some sort of bribery involved at first. But a love potion...

[Somehow how this chain of thought was leading to a nasty place, more so than before.]

i

[chronosynthesis]

[Syrlya blinks rapidly as Robin catches him off guard, but he quickly leans over to peer at the notes to try and answer his question... and for his own curiosity..] Um... you are certain it's love potion? I cannot imagine that would be poisonous to ingest. Unless, perhaps, it is the result of failed concoctions?

[hoasen]

[WELL NOW THAT JUNKO MENTIONED IT, Vietnam finds her eyes drawn towards the package. And really, it's hard to mess that logo when one's focus is on his massive roboparts.]

I-I mean I h-have no need for a--[SEXBOT] an artificial gentleman right now! [And she has to take a side step.]

[hoasen]

[Kaede is probably the most calm about this situation she's seen anyone ever been. With how the young woman who came with them ended up needing to be assisted out, and the others she assume aren't looking too good either, you have this one pillar of strength just standing there with fire in her palms.

Everyone needs someone.]

A rhetorical question, I suppose. But something we will found out, I hope. [Not because she wants to, but that they just have to.

Wait, the fire--] Did those shadows just move?