A Search Party (Open)

[Lucas Arias]

„We should go and talk to your friends“, Lucas suggested to Wart. From the look on his face it was obvious that the failed squire and fake fortune teller was still fascinated by her appearance. That was a woman after his taste – even though she had too few arms. „Svefra tend to stick together.“

He wanted to say more when ‚Aaron’s‘ remark caught his attention. Furrowing his brow, he turned to look at the younger boy. „What kind of talent?“ he wanted to know. The only talents of ‚Aaon’s‘ that he was aware of were lying and cheating, and he didn’t know how that was supposed to help.

As ‚Aaron‘ proceeded to wonder when the Svefra had gone missing, Lucas rolled his eyes. Obviously he hadn’t paid attention. „That Frothline guy told us that they were last seen on the 85th of summer, so that might also be when they went missing. By the way, I’m glad that we all seem to have the same opinion of him.“

As Samantha suggested asking around the dockside pubs, he raised a hand. „I’ll do that. I used to work in a pub in Nyka. I know a lot about pubs and the people that frequent them.“

[Matthaus]

Matthaus glared at Samantha for a moment, “We must have mutual friends then.” But inside he reeled back and assessed what had given her besides his fake name and dorm room. Unless his roommate had said something. His lips thinned, doubtful that was, they hardly knew anything about each other. Pulling himself back to the discussion he focused briefly on the other young man. “Being an innocent child.” He replied curtly to Lucas, keeping his expression blank as he spoke. He shrugged, truthfully he hadn’t been listening to much of anything, keying on key pieces but he had missed the date. “I must have missed that. Then we all know what we’re supposed to do so shouldn’t we go do it.” To himself he tried to keep a mental tack on everything he needed to know himself. The group was interesting, it would give them a large range of information. Which meant he would need to find his own sources but he already had an area in mind. Although he did wonder what the others wanted from this, money obviously but what else? None of them were this ‘Svefra’ people or they would have said so. The guard wouldn’t have done anything to their own unless their own had done something out of line and what punishment would warrant erasing their existence? But a thought struck him at that. “What are the laws in here? Maybe the missing people did something out of line and we’re surrounded by water anyone can disappear.” Yet the Svefra seemed to like water it seemed so that ruled out dumping bodies in the water. Bodies could be in the mountains then but who would be stupid enough to go there? They would have had to have supplies which means someone knew something. “Likely we should check stands and shops, see if anyone has seen someone purchase something…strange.” And if they didn’t bury the bodies the bodies had to be breathing. He didn’t share these thoughts. Rather he stayed quiet. Let everyone make their own assumptions. He’d rather find the people responsible than the actual victims.

[Samantha Slate]

“What are the laws in here? Maybe the missing people did something out of line and we’re surrounded by water anyone can disappear," Aaron said suddenly, as if it had just occurred to him. Samantha had to stifle a chuckle at the foolish words; the Wave Guards normally didn't do such things. If they did, they were done far too carefully for rumors to circulate. In all her years in Zeltiva, Samantha had never even heard a whisper about such goings on. Granted, she was never much of a gossip, but something that big would have drawn even her attention. "The Guard would have made it public if they'd had anything to do with the disappearance," Samantha said with a dismissive wave, "Besides, why would they offer the reward? It would draw undue attention to this whole affair." She really did need to cut the boy some slack; he was new in town, and things did work like that in other cities. Disappearances, murders, and kidnappings were all commonplace in some parts of Mizahar. Luckily, Samantha had never had to involve herself in any shady business. Jail time was something she made a point to avoid. „I’ll do that. I used to work in a pub in Nyka. I know a lot about pubs and the people that frequent them," Lucas volunteered with a raised hand. He seemed capable enough... For that, at least. Samantha wasn't sure if she trusted the boy to even have a sword at his hip, much less go off alone in search of information that someone really would prefer he didn't find. It wasn't her business what foolishness the boy got up to, but he would be useful if she could keep him from cutting his own arm off with that sword of his. “Likely we should check stands and shops, see if anyone has seen someone purchase something…strange," Again Aaron's voice piped up, contributing something to the discussion at hand. It did have merit, especially if Aaron were half as intelligent as she thought he was. A child asking around would be much less conspicuous than a motley crew of adults wandering around the markets. Samantha listened to the various ideas thoughtfully, weighing each one in turn. They both had good ideas, and the other Vantha-blooded woman's idea was just as solid. Would it be best to split up? On the one hand, splitting up was much more efficient and less noticeable. On the other, it put them at risk. If someone else caught wind of this idea, which seemed likely due to Samantha's blatant advertizement of the meeting, then they were able to be singled out and taken out. Especially her. Samantha would be a prime target since she had organized the whole thing. After watching the group for a time, her eyes scrutinizing each one, she came to a decision. "Very well, we'll split up. You," She nodded to Wart, "Will go see your friend. I don't think that should take too long. Aaron, you go search through the shops. It's a long shot, but worth checking out." The wizard hesitated, doubt clouding her eyes over with a dull film. A tick later, it was gone, replaced by her normal, steely determination. "And you, Lucas, will go with me to scope out the pubs. Knowing Svefra, this all started over a mug of kelp beer." A wry twist of the woman's mouth was the only acknowledgement of her joke. Her eyes remained a deep blue with only slight hints of green in them as she observed the group again. "Any objections?"

OOCSorry for the delay. I was giving Wart some time to post.