A Search Party (Open)

[Arcane]

Arcane Interlude There was a stomp as the door to the inn burst open, revealing a lean-bodied young man with short, spiky blonde hair. His blue eyes were arresting as traces of his hot temper emanated from his gaze, and he soon settled on the vantha wizard. Without a care, he strolled straight up to Samantha and her rag-tag gang of acquaintances, appraising them briefly but not caring much at all in the end. He had just been rebuffed by his superior and he was not going to take it lying down. He knew of the official reward, but he also knew that financial incentives could only bring one so far. After tracking down a few civilian groups, he decided on this one. Why he chose this one he did not know, for he could only attribute his decision to a combination of luck and instinct. "Timothy Frothline, Wave Guard of the Lord of Council's Office," The svefran began tersely. "I heard that some of you may be searching for a some missing people, and I figured information might be handy, no?"

[Samantha Slate]

Before Samantha could look around to see the reactions of her companions towards this new, colorful woman, a loud thud echoed through the inn. Instantly, all noise in the tavern ceased and every eye turned to the imposing figure standing in the now-open doorway. His piercing, blue eyes gave the whole room a once-over before coming to rest upon the table where the search party was seated. They focused on Samantha specifically and, as uncaring as if he were on an afternoon stroll, sauntered up to the table. He looked over each of the table's occupants, each for only a tick, before speaking. "Timothy Frothline, Wave Guard of the Lord of Council's Office," The man crisply stated, "I heard that some of you may be searching for a some missing people, and I figured information might be handy, no?" As he was speaking, Samantha tuned into his aura. It took her a few ticks to focus in on him enough, and by the time she was able to find what she wanted, he had finished speaking. This left Samantha appearing as if she were intently examining Timothy, her eyes--now every bit as blue as the Wave Guard's, as she focused her mind--seeming to be staring right through him. Or into him, if one knew what she was doing. The shifting patterns in the Svefran's aura confused her; the wizard hadn't practiced interpreting emotions very much and it was difficult to be certain how Timothy was feeling. He didn't have any outstanding hostility towards them, as far as Samantha could tell, but he held himself with the rigidity that only a military man could possess. Not lying about his position, then... Unless she was wrong. That thought unsettled her; if only she had more time to check! Samantha shook herself a bit, her cheeks flushing just slightly as she realized she'd just been staring at the man for a good five ticks without saying a word. Hastily she composed herself, though the crimson tinge remained on her cheeks for a chime or so afterward. "Samantha Slate," She informed him, trying to match his terseness, "If you know something, we'd be glad to hear it." The wizard gestured to an open chair, between Matthaus and Wart. "Please, Master Frothline, have a seat." The woman's blue eyes, still tainted with a light pink from her embarrassment, glanced over her companions to gauge how they might be feeling about the newcomer. Samantha herself had reservations, herself. Why would he be giving them information? The Wave Guards could surely handle this themselves, if they knew anything about it. Then again, they hadn't succeeded so far... In any case, she wasn't about to discount any new knowledge that the guard might tell them. They had too little of that as it was.

[Lucas Arias]

The woman that joined their table next looked strange to say the least, but in a really awesome kind of way that made Lucas instantly like her. She was incredibly colourful. Even though she had the same unusual eyes as Samantha, hers weren’t red. And the things at her belt! She was an artist as well, and judging by her appearance she might just appreciate his art! He needed to show her some of his things once they had solved the mystery of the missing Svefra.

„Yes, this is the search party“, Lucas confirmed because Samantha seemed to have temporarily lost her voice (but fortunately found it again a few moments later). „I’m Lucas.“ With that he turned to listen to ‚Aaron‘ and immediately proceeded to roll his eyes. „Maybe there are no bodies because the bodies haven’t been found yet“, he informed him. „As for people deciding to disappear without notice, I’ve done that once, so we shouldn’t discount that possibility. And Svefra are strange people to say the least.“

At the appearance of that Tomithy Frothline guy Lucas made a face, but since he claimed to have information and Samantha of the strange eyes wanted to hear it, he decided to be quiet.

[Matthaus]

Matthaus glanced at the newcomer carefully. He looked like a regular citizen but obviously not the case. But why send only one of the WaveGuard? And what was the WaveGuard? Obviously someone important from Samantha's reaction, police for Zeltiva? Perhaps. Or the opposite. For a tick he pulled at his djed but then stopped, it didn't matter who the young man was the point was he was an extra body. "Fine, if their dead our next question is where did they put the body and why only Svefra." he retorted curtly. Dead or alive. They didn't even know something as simple as that! He looked at the guard, eyes narrowing, "Timothy, was it? Why would the WaveGuard give out information to civilians so easily?" If the information on the paper was all they knew what more could this man give them? Matthaus felt his jaw clench, if this man knew nothing else that meant no one knew anything and this search party was not enough. Gazing at their growing rag-tag group he relaxed a tiny bit and waited for the young man, he already had his own ideas forming. Council office meant city worker which meant they had help from the upside of Zeltiva, now all he had to do was get some from the not-so-bright side. But first he had to get what he could from this group.

[Arcane]

The rest of the group did not give out their names, which was fine for Tim since he only needed one person to speak to. The woman seemed to be the de-facto leader of the group, and so he ignored the rest, speaking plainly to her. As he took her offer to sit down, he paused to take a swig of water from his sheepskin waterbag that he hung from his belt, taking the time to formulate his thoughts. "Sama-, Miss Slate," He began, "The Wave Guard lacks the necessary manpower in the wake of the Djed Storm, and we have even bigger priorities than looking to trivial cases. This has been classified as a missing persons case, and if homicides are already receiving little attention this will receive even less." Glancing at Matthaus, he noted the man derisively before mentally dismissing him and addressing the vantha wizard again. Though he seemed to only be talking to her, his words were for the group. "However, I know the Coastrunners quite well, and they are not the type to simply disappear. We are svefra, and I will know if something is amiss. My brethren do not disappear simply like this - I am sure that something untoward happened to them. That is your first clue - this is no simple missing persons case. I suggest heading to the docks, and collecting any possible witnesses and information regarding this." Standing up, he brushed off his sleeves, finishing, "I am busy, as my duty demands me to be so. What else I can tell you is that they were last seen on the 85th of Summer on the Docks; you might want to see who last had contact with them in order to establish a context. Good day to you, Miss Slate, and I hope to see favorable results in time to come." With that, he left the tavern as suddenly as he came, though one could see that the way in which he strode out felt more light than the way he came in, as if a burden of some sort was lifted with his revelation. OOCThat's it from me for now, feel free to continue on your own

[Samantha Slate]

"Sama-, Miss Slate," Timothy began in his soldierly manner, "The Wave Guard lacks the necessary manpower in the wake of the Djed Storm, and we have even bigger priorities than looking to trivial cases. This has been classified as a missing persons case, and if homicides are already receiving little attention this will receive even less." Though Samantha knew that the Djed Storm had done quite a number on many places, she didn't think it had gotten that bad here in Zeltiva, her home town. They didn't even have time to investigate murders? The wizard's mouth creased into a thin frown as she took in his words, though she gave Matthaus a stiff smile for his questions. It helped to have a child along, even if only because he was willing to ask about the subjects that adults felt were too 'socially awkward' to broach. "However, I know the Coastrunners quite well, and they are not the type to simply disappear. We are svefra, and I will know if something is amiss. My brethren do not disappear simply like this - I am sure that something untoward happened to them. That is your first clue - this is no simple missing persons case. I suggest heading to the docks, and collecting any possible witnesses and information regarding this." The soldier's derision towards the boy was understandable; he could be annoying at times. When they'd met, Matthaus had given her no end of trouble... The docks. It made sense; Svefra were men born, bred, and butchered on the sea, they'd have been seen there last. Just as Samantha was about to ask a few more questions, the man brushed his sleeves and said, "I am busy, as my duty demands me to be so. What else I can tell you is that they were last seen on the 85th of Summer on the Docks; you might want to see who last had contact with them in order to establish a context. Good day to you, Miss Slate, and I hope to see favorable results in time to come." As he stood and turned towards the door, she gave him a respectful nod and answered, "Farewell, Master Frothline. We will certainly do our best." The wizard looked around at her companions at the table expectantly; if anyone had any ideas, now was as good a time as any.

[Lucas Arias]

„Maybe they are racist against Svefra?“ Lucas asked and shrugged. „There are stranger things.“ He shrugged again, and then he proceeded to listen to what the Frothline guy had to say. Lucas had very little idea what the WaveGuard was nor did he particularly care. They probably were no match for a real Syliran knight - or somebody that had trained with the knights.

As the Frothline guy informed them that the case of the missing Svefra would receive little attention, the redhead frowned. And as the man continued to speak, he frowned even harder.

„Well, that wasn’t particularly helpful“, he remarked once the man had left again. „I’ve pretty much figured out that we should start looking for clues near the seas on my own. Anyway, let’s go and find out if anybody’s seen those Svefra on the 85th of summer.“

„What do you all think?“

[Wart]

oocI am Sooo sorry for my delay, between being sick my school starts late in the year and I've been going through a ridiculous amount of trouble getting ready for it. As she sat down the younger boy was the first to speak, presumably continuing on something they'd been saying before. He was right, from what she knew Svefra weren't ones to just disappear like that. They were a hard-headed bunch and very close. If they were deliberately disappearing the other Svefra would know, they would have told them. Unless the whole thing was one big inside scandal among all the Svefra in the city, which would be interesting. She did, however, disagree with his next observation. "If they're dead, you ain't gonna be findin' no bodies easy. 'F 'ey got killed, 'en whoever 't was woul' know Svefra well 'nough that if 'ey find the bodies they're gon' come after you like sharks." She would have said more but couldn't help but feel an awkward stare from the other woman. She was nothing if not very used to shyke like this. Wart gave the boy, who finally answered her question, a nod and was ready to turn and shoot her a dirty look when the girl finally broke off and introduced herself. She wasn't one to care much for names and only might remember them. Not planning on giving out her own just yet, she was interrupted anyway by a man making a bunch of noise at the entrance to the inn. A waveguard. Her eyes immediately began to shift down to red. She didn't like these guys, didn't trust them in the least. Sure she didn't care much for the people going missing, but she couldn't help the thought that if these were some rich merchant vagiks, the waveguard would be all over this shyke. But since it was just a few Svefra all they could do was put up a reward and hope a bunch of greedy citizens might care to find them. Samantha introduced herself, but Wart stayed quiet as Lucas did and let him go ahead and talk to her. The same question the younger kid stated also lingered in her mind. But the man's reply easily answered it. He was Svefra. Which meant that her thought of this being an inside Svefra scandal was off. The other information he gave them wasn't exactly much. Maybe it meant something to the rest of the group but to her it was closer to common sense than anything. Of course it wasn't a missing persons case, you'd have to be nuts to just kidnap a bunch of Svefra without planning on killing them off afterward. Irritating as they could be they were strong and determined, they'd get loose for sure. As for the docks. Well duh. As the man left Wart turned her attention to the boy, Lucas. She nodded. "Buncha useless shyke. May's well a told us ta go petch ourselves." Out of the corner of her eye she noticed the woman, Samantha, had blue eyes. They'd definitely been green when she'd gotten here. 'Nother vantha half-ey. She scoffed under her breath and shook her head. Petchin' vanthas gettin' petched left n right... Well that meant it'd make it that much easier to use this group thing to her advantage. The other two could be as mysterious as they liked, but this girl, the apparent organizer of the group, she'd be able to read. "I know 'couple Svefra. Brother 'n sister, th' one ne'er shuts up. Betcha he knows somethin' ta start with a least." Of course she was referring to Coal and Tongue. She'd asked Tongue before, but maybe if she showed up with others she'd be able to "persuade" him to talk.

[Matthaus]

Matthaus listened quietly; he didn’t really mind being brushed off by the official, he had almost expected it. But the man had told them next to nothing that common sense wouldn’t have already given them. The colorful woman had given them more information than him. Not that he was surprised, after his little chit-chat he understood a body would be the only thing to get them high on a list of priorities. All he needed to do was find a body, dead or alive. “He did tell us to do precisely that but with eloquence,” he smirked, “however I’m sure he speaks for any authority figure. It could likely rule them out as having anything to do with it.” Technically speaking it could work in reverse but he wanted their thoughts as well so he kept that to himself, “Did these friends of yours know the missing persons?” If they didn’t he didn’t how much help they could be. Unless being a Svefra meant you kept tabs on all your people. His lips thinned, he still needed to learn more about these people. Svefra didn’t disappear. That was his only clue, that and that they seemed to like to the docks but the newcomer said they wouldn’t just leave bodies in the water. So where would you hide a body? He needed a map of Zeltiva and quickly. It would help simplify things if they could get a layout of what was going on. Looking to Samantha he stared at her hard and then the others one by one. He wasn’t not going to out himself with what he could do but since Samantha already knew… “Samantha, I believe I have a…talent I could use as well,” she was smart he was almost sure she could substitute talent for magic, “We could try out this Miss’ suggestion and then we would have a better base than accosting people at the docks for information.” “What day did they go missing? We should also learn who all was there.”

[Samantha Slate]

„Well, that wasn’t particularly helpful“, Lucas remarked once the man had left again. „I’ve pretty much figured out that we should start looking for clues near the seas on my own. Anyway, let’s go and find out if anybody’s seen those Svefra on the 85th of summer.“ The others at the table seemed to take Frothline's advice with a grain of salt., as well. They were right, of course; it was common sense. Samantha knew better than to let on that she agreed with her companions. Making an enemy of a Wave Guard was always more trouble than it was worth. You never knew when you might need a lawman on your side. “He did tell us to do precisely that but with eloquence,” Matthaus said with a smirk, drawing her attention to him once again, “however I’m sure he speaks for any authority figure. It could likely rule them out as having anything to do with it.” The wizard nodded in agreement with that, "Unless he wanted to mislead us," She said with a returning smirk, "But then we get stuck deciding what it really means. It's better to assume they had nothing to do with it. Svefra are treated well in the city; they make up a fair portion of the Wave Guard, too. They weren't involved." True, she couldn't know that for certain, but if they were involved then it would be best to leave their demise(for it most likely was a case of murder or something similar) a mystery. You didn't anger the government, any government, without a very good reason. "I know 'couple Svefra. Brother 'n sister, th' one ne'er shuts up. Betcha he knows somethin' ta start with a least," The colorful woman said with her queer accent. Samantha noted with only slight surprise that her eyes now had a red tint to them. The wizard's eyebrows rose; she'd almost been expecting it, but hoping otherwise. As a woman of Vantha heritage, she would be able to tell Samantha's emotions as clearly as if she were feeling them herself. On the flip side, this gave Samantha the same advantage. Still, it wasn't something the mage was fond of. Now that she thought about it, red eyes really were disconcerting... Maybe she ought to keep that in mind next time she tried to intimidate someone. If only there were a way to control her emotions that precisely... Forcing her thoughts back on track, Samantha nodded agreement with Wart as the boy whom she knew as Aaron spoke, “Samantha, I believe I have a…talent I could use as well,” With the emphasis on 'talent', it was fairly obvious what he was referring to, “We could try out this Miss’ suggestion and then we would have a better base than accosting people at the docks for information.” Again, Samantha agreed with the suggestion. Besides, the wizard was interested in what kind of magic the boy was able to work. She'd be sure to watch him closely. "The lady's right," She said with a grimace at the title she'd given; the woman was no more a lady than the whores on East Street! Nevertheless, it paid to be respectful to those she was pressed into trusting. "We ought to seek he acquaintances out before we go asking around willy-nilly. If we aren't careful, someone might target us for our efforts. If Tongue and Coal have nothing to offer, we can ask around the dockside pubs." Had the woman not been of the lower class, the wizard would have asked her to leave. Those from the poorer sections of town usually had useful connections; connections Samantha herself envied. She'd need to work on gathering more 'friends' in the future. Next, she turned to the boy, "Aaron, if you think your skills could help us, you're welcome to come along. From what I've heard about you, I'm sure you could be of use." That last bit was thrown in just to worry the boy; she wanted him to think that she knew more about him than she really did. There wasn't much purpose behind it, since it really wouldn't benefit her too much. She just felt like having a little fun with the boy. Throughout the last few minutes, the woman's eyes had slowly returned to their good-humored green hue. Samantha glanced once more at Wart to see if she'd noticed or not; it would pay to know whether or not the woman was perceptive enough to notice her eyes. She didn't want to worry herself over nothing, after all.