Graded [Norrobury Village] The Mysterious Disappearances at Norroburry Lake

[Silent Angel]

Rachael Meredith

Rachael walked towards the lake, having to slow her gait to let her partner keep up without jogging. "That seems like... an overly dangerous way to do it..." Her eyes started to scan the lake as it came into view, doing her best to look out for any threats that might come for them. However, for the time being, there was none, so her eyes went back to her companions.

Just as she turned her attention back, she heard the comment from the halfling, and couldn't help but make a retort. "At least people do notice me and I don't have to say 'Down here' to get them to have a conversation. Never gonna get a partner with that height" She stuck her tongue out at the halfling before reaching down, trying to pat her head again. "But don't worry, we can be bachelorettes together." She turned her head to look back to the fairy on her shoulder. "And as for the actual answer to your question, I used to have to wear this for a job, and I decided to wear it now so if I caught a person peeking up my skirt or trying to cop a feel I can knock their block off without getting fired."​

 

[Parrot Parfait]

Kain Lief

"Uhh..."
Interactions: Elvario
Mentions: Dante Verren
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---

When Kain saw the short lady wave at them, he quietly waved back at her with an awkward motion. They didn't seem like bad people, and from the way they were talking with a more normal looking person, Kain kinda assumed that they were the adventurers they were supposed to meet, albeit doubtfully so. Of all the kinds of adventurers he expected to meet, this group clearly didn't fit any of Kain's notion of what adventurers were. As such, Kain didn't so much as budge but remained behind Hildegard, only moving forward when she did.

 

[Dante Verren]

Hildegard Karling
Interactions: Parrot Parfait Silent Angel Elvario NeramoDJI


Hildegard stared at the group before her with a blank look on her face. Kain's confirmation that they weren't bad people was reassuring, but she could already tell this was going to be an exhausting encounter. The way the taller girl was dressed and her height meant that that she likely drew a lot of attention to herself, and not good attention either. This was most definitely a test bestowed up on her by the lord, a test of patience. Taking a deep breathe she muttered to herself "Oh lord above grant me your patient will." a slight prayer to keep her sanity. Looing down at Kain she saw the boy was still behind her waiting for her to move forward. Good, that would keep him alive.

Turning to face the group Hildegard motioned for Kain to follow, "Lets go greet our new allies then.". Walking towards the group she kept herself relaxed as to not look threatening, but also kept her left hand on the handle of her sword at her hip. In a place that people had been disappearing it would be unwise to be completely unprepared for any potential fights that might come her way. As she drew near Hildegard raised her hand in greeting. "Good morning , are you here from the guild?" It porbably wasn't the best introduction, but Hidlegard was more of a direct person anyway.

 

[Elvario]

Victorique Sopheana
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Mentions: Sage NeramoDJI | Rachael Silent Angel | Hildegard Dante Verren | Kain Parrot Parfait

Rachael had chosen war, so war she'd get. The retort had sparked something in Victorique, so the halfling didn't hold her tongue. “You'd be too busy telling the average guy where your eyes are to have a conversation, so I'm not sure they're noticing the right parts of you.” Another attempt at a head pat followed, which was once again dodged. Rachael would have to try harder than that if she wanted to try to crush Victorique's (self-perceived) dignity in such a manner. “I care little for finding a partner, it just seems like it'd be more trouble than it's worth, so I have no qualms against being an eternal bachelorette.”

Not long after, the two newcomers arrived. The knight was very direct, which Victorique could appreciate. She'd answer in kind, with a line that'd be very familiar to those around her by now. “That's correct, I'm Victorique Sopheana, the guild's investigator.” She wasn't yet adding the 'nice to meet you part' as she was still figuring out if that was really the case. It was easy to make someone feel uneasy by feeling uneasy, which was exactly what Hildegard conveyed by keeping her hand on the handle of her sword. “I'm assuming you're here to investigate the disappearances as well then?”

Spoiler: Fisher

Meanwhile, the fisher, who'd just be one incredibly dense source of pride to Kain's sixth sense, was reeling in his line with a surprisingly large trout caught on it. However, he looked at it for a bit, shrugged, then took out the hook and threw the trout back into the lake. After putting some unusually fleshly looking bait on his hook, he cast out his line once more.

 

[Parrot Parfait]

Kain Lief

"Fairy!"
Interactions: Dante Verren Elvario NeramoDJI Silent Angel
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---

Kain couldn't hear what Hildegard muttered, but he could sense her apprehension towards the group, causing him to look up at Hildegard with a slightly concerned look. However, when Hildegard told him gently that they'd be greeting them, he hesitantly nodded before approaching the group while holding onto Hildegard's hand. As Kain's range grew closer to the other group, he began to feel their auras and emotions. What he felt first was an overpowering joy, but soon after a weird emotion reminiscent of happiness (but unpleasant), and a line of other emotions and auras. Thankfully, nothing within that hodge-podge indicated to Kain the adventurers were in any sort hostile or dangerous to them, prompting him to tug at Hildegard's arm before giving her a relieved smile and nod when she noticed him.

By the time Hildegard came face to face with the adventurers, Kain had wanted to find who was emitting the overwhelming glee. However, the fisherman off to the side, who had just caught a really big trout, was giving off such unfamiliar vibes that Kain couldn't help but observe the man. From just looking at the man, Kain felt awe at his concentration... as well as a slight annoyance for apparently no reason. Kain stared for a good solid ten seconds to make sense out of the fisherman, but the fisherman was so dense, Kain gave up and began looking for the source of the glee. After looking around like a highly distracted child, he finally saw the fairy sitting on the shoulder of the big lady.

"A fairy..." Kain whispered in fascination as he looked at the fae with eyes sparkling. While he's read about them in his field guide, Kain never had never seen them in person. Dumbstruck, Kain continued to gaze at the fairy on the big lady's shoulder.

 

[Silent Angel]

Rachael Meredith

"Of course they are! Too bad you don't even have something like that, cupcake. Why else would you need to say the same mantra over and over when we meet a new person. I'm guessing if you didn't nobody would even notice you existed~" She turned to the others, listening to them for a few moments, but couldn't help finishing up her thought. "And as for not wanting to find someone, you say that until you find a good person. And then you realize that they'll never find you!" She started to laugh at her own joke, obviously pleased with it.

As she continued to look at the new members of the group, she noted noted one of them was not looking at the rest of them, but at a fisherman. She looked over just in time to see him let go of a large fish, before throwing it in and putting more bait on the line. "Hmm. That's... interesting."​

 

[NeramoDJI]

Sage Valla​

Sage was sitting on Rachael's shoulder, listening to the two girls talk, giving a confused tilt of his head. "Well, if she can't get a pawtner because of hew smallness, how would I? My papa always said that getting a giwl is impowtant to being a man." He said, quoting his father, knowing what dating was, but not the further knowledge of what sex was, due to sex ed not exactly being something he'd ever learned. "And I don't think my papa would lie to me. He was always weally nice." He said, remembering how gentle his parents were with him, due to his extremely small size.

Sage was not astute enough to notice the look at the fisherman, instead standing on Rachaels shoulder before fluttering towards Hildegard and Kain, smiling and waving his arms at them. "Hi! My name's Sage! What's youws? We'we fwom the guild! Awe you hewe to help look fow the missing people too?" He asked happily, wanting to be friendly as possible with the larger people, fluttering in front of hildegard before returning to Rachael's shoulder with a happy smile on his face.

 

[Dante Verren]

Hildegard Karling
Interactions: Parrot Parfait Elvario NeramoDJI Silent Angel


Hildegard looked back and forth between the halfling, the semi-giant, and the fairy. This was an odd group and even though she had only been here for thirty seconds she could tell this was going to be a pain in the ass. The Brightside of this group's uniqueness was that at least they would be a good start for Kain to meet people. If he could get along with bickering adventurers you could get along with most people. Sensing almost everyone turn there attention to the fishermen she glanced over to watch the man, analyzing everything she could about him. Her ultimate conclusion that he was suspicious, and one to keep an eye on.

Turning her attention back to the group she forced out a smile. "Victorique and sage, it is a pleasure. We recently dealt with a situation in the village of Selve, a disappearance that occurred there lead to the findings of some unpleasant things. When we heard of the situation here we came as quickly as we could." Placing her free hand across her heart she introduced herself, "Hildegard, follower of his benevolent grace." after introducing herself she looked down to Kain, "Go on, it's your first introduction to other adventurers." she said with an encouraging smile to her companion.

 

[Parrot Parfait]

Kain Lief

"Ni-ice to meet you all!"
Interactions: Dante Verren NeramoDJI Elvario Silent Angel
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When the fairy flew down to greet them, Kain smiled happily, giving a small wave to Sage. The fairy was just so incredibly cute! So much so, Kain wanted to go play in the mountains with the fairy after they finished the mission. Then there was Victorique, who was actually shorter than him. Kain nearly mistook her as younger than himself, but he could tell that she probably was older than him. He knew he'd get along with her just fine. In short, Kain felt very comfortable with the fairy and the short lady... as opposed to the giant, scary, bunny lady. Even without sensing the bunny lady's aura or emotions, Kain was intimidated by the bunny lady's imposing size, and with the aura and emotions, he wasn't too sure if he'd get along with her... though he did notice her attention was turned elsewhere, probably the fisherman?

"Go on, it's your first introduction to other adventurers." she said with an encouraging smile to her companion.

When Kain realized it was his turn to introduce himself, Kain gulped silently when looking at the giant bunny lady. After turning to the rest of the group, Kain started, saying, "He-ello!" He gave a warm but hesitant smile before continuing. "I'm Kain! It's nice to me you all! I hope we can work together to find the missing people!"

 

[Elvario]

Victorique Sopheana
​

Mentions: Sage NeramoDJI | Rachael Silent Angel | Hildegard Dante Verren | Kain Parrot Parfait

Victorique was stuck between wanting to reply to Rachael again and not wanting to come across too badly to the newly arrived people. In the end, her desire to snap back won it from her desire to look professional. “Call me a romantic, but if I were to care about finding a partner, I'd see if there is someone that sees me for who I am rather than displaying my assets enough to get any dimwitted numbskull to come running at me.”

She then noticed their talk was doing one of the things she feared it would be doing; which was confusing the childlike fairy they were with. “Don't worry about what she's saying, Sage, I'm sure you'll find someone nice to be with one day. Rachael is just unable to appreciate the smaller things in life.” Upon hearing herself say the last part, she knew it was high time to get her pipe out of her pocket dimension and light it up. She really, really needed a smoke if she was starting to say that kind of stuff.

After getting herself back together with the first flow of smoke that entered her lungs, she replied to the knightly-looking gal (Hildegard). “Selve? I can't say I've heard of it, but your help is welcome nonetheless...” Victorique was a bit confused by whomever Hildegard was following, debating whether or not to put it into a question. Eventually she decided it probably wouldn't hurt to do so. “You're a follower of... who exactly?” She also realised her guardian bunny hadn't displayed common courtesy, so she'd do it for her. “The large bunny over there is Rachael, by the way. She seems to have a tendency to let her body be the sole introduction, but she's not all that bad.”

It was then up to the kid to introduce himself, which made it even more apparent how much of a kid he was. “It's nice to meet you too, Kain, but aren't you a little young to be doing this type of work?” She'd normally ask why he wasn't in school or where his parents were, but her gut instinct told her that neither answer was going to be leading to happy answers.

There was one more thing she wanted to get out of the way. “Is anyone going to address the weirdo behind us? I think asking him what in the world he's up too might be worthwhile.” She was talking about the fisherman, who was still waiting to see his lure attract the next catch on his rock a bit away form them. He might've actually overheard parts of what they were saying, but if he did, he hadn't shown any signs of caring about it. Even now, his eyes were entirely on the water.

Spoiler: Fisher

 

[Silent Angel]

Rachael Meredith

"Hmm?" She was brought back to the group by the next quip from the halfling. "Oh, you're ignoring the fact that I was bringing him up? I can't believe you would do something like that to me!" She grinned as she gave the new people a wave. "Sup. Hope you're ready for a trip to the funny farm after you're done with this group. Be surprised if you didn't head there after the fun times the three of us have been having."

She turned to walk towards the fisherman, but couldn't help but say one last thing. She kneeled down, leaning down further in order to whisper so only Victorique could hear what the large lady said. "By 'appreciating the smaller things,' are you talking assets or height~? I think you're mistaken in thinking I don't enjoy them. I appreciate both, just saying others might not~"

Once she said her piece, she stood up and started to walk away before, seeing that she was behind the halfling, she tried to give the girl one last headpat when she was not looking and confused by what the amazon had said. Right after she tried, she turned and started walking towards the fisherman, calling back to the girl, "Also, misses hobbit, was less saying they wouldn't appreciate you because your assets, I was saying they wouldn't be able to notice you in the first place~"​

 

[NeramoDJI]

"Is that wowse ow bettew?" He asked in reference to Rachael's comment about not noticing Victorique, before humming a little to himself. "I dunno if I could find someone, no one I met has been the same size as me. I ain't met no othew faiwies. Except the monster kind, but a man fwom the adventuwews guild said that they'd huwt me." He said, shrugging a little before smiling at the newcomers again.

When he heard victorique's comment, he gave a little shrug. Emphasis on little. "Well, he's just fishing isn't he? Why do we gotta go check him out?" He asked naively, since he didn't think the person was doing anything wrong per say, and was more just thinking it was just a guy fishing. "Nice to meet you two! I know we can find the people. I made a pwomise to someone we would, and I nevew lie." He said, standing up on Rachael's shoulder.

 

[Parrot Parfait]

Kain Lief

"I can talk to plants!"
Interactions: Elvario NeramoDJI
Mentions: Dante Verren Silent Angel
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"Nice to meet you two! I know we can find the people. I made a pwomise to someone we would, and I nevew lie." He said, standing up on Rachael's shoulder.

Kain gave a light smile, and nodded with what Sage the Fairy said. "Yeah!" Kain hollered, "I believe we can find the missing people!" Soon after Kain said that, the bantering between Victorique and Rachel continued. Kain just watched the two give their exchanges, and while it was a bit unpleasant, there was a sort of playfulness and levity to their bickering that made Kain smile just a bit. However, the joking still was a bit mean spirited for Kain, and he kinda disliked Rachael's attitude towards the rest of the group. He just hoped everyone will get along just fine and everyone finished this mission without any injuries...

It was then up to the kid to introduce himself, which made it even more apparent how much of a kid he was. “It's nice to meet you too, Kain, but aren't you a little young to be doing this type of work?”

"Ehh..." Kain trailed off, completely caught off guard by this question. "I'm young, but I can still do stuff! I can talk to the for-" Kain stopped himself when he realized he wasn't in a forest anymore. Instead, he explained, "Uh... I can talk to nature... but I've only really talked to my forest..." Kain wasn't all too sure if he'd be able to speak to the lake or the mountains, but now that he was able to channel magic more easily, he thought it might be possible. With that, he hoped that he gave a good enough reason to Miss Victorique.

When the group started to move towards the fisherman, Kain, too, was a bit curious as to what the fisherman's deal was. However, Kain wouldn't budge until Hildegard also moved along with the group, given that he wasn't quite familiar with the new people just yet.

 

[Dante Verren]

Hildegard Karling
Interactions: Elvario Parrot Parfait NeramoDJI Silent Angel


Hildegard's eye twitch in annoyance as she put her will to the ultimate test, keeping a at least mildly friendly look on her face. The back and forth bickering between Victroique and Rachel was going to be annoying, but she could appreciate a good rivalry which these two seemed to have. What was truly getting on her nerves was the fairy. He was friendly, and Kain seemed to like him which was good... but the way he talked. Taking a deep breathe she gave a silent prayer for her sanity. Turning her attention away from SAGE she returned her attention to the halfing. "My lord has no name, merely he is the one who brought me into the world to carry his sword." she said. Gesturing back to Kain she backed up his response, "Yes he is young, but talented. Still very much in training but his connection to nature is quite a blessing from the lord."

With the topic of the fishermen being brought up she looked over to him. "I will be honest, I thought he was with you all." She quickly racked her brain for the best possible thing she could say. "His unique display seemed to match your group's dynamic. Now knowing he is not with you, he does seem a bit fishy." She said. Watching him it felt like he was indeed searching for something, maybe a big catch... whether that be fish or man.

 

[Elvario]

Victorique Sopheana
​

Mentions: Sage NeramoDJI | Rachael Silent Angel | Hildegard Dante Verren | Kain Parrot Parfait

Victorique was planning to just ignore Rachael, as their bickering was starting to distract her from her mission. However, her curiosity got the better of her, so when Rachael leaned down to whisper, Victorique actively tried using her [insight] to see if she could figure out what Rachael was trying to achieve with all of this. However, when she caught some genuineness in those whispered words, Victorique nearly chocked on the smoke of her own pipe. At the same time, she noticed Rachael's hand moving in, forcing a quick dash out of Victorique to distance herself from the half-giant. She narrowly dodged the incoming hand, but was still chocking on her own smoke. When she regained her voice and stopped coughing, she replied to Rachael with a bit of a glare in her eyes. “I'd rather you keep those hands to yourself and that you don't call me a hobbit. You're making my tobacco taste bad and you're almost making me start to wish that you wouldn't have noticed me either.”

Victorique sighed not too long after, as she realised she'd have to explain the obvious to Sage. “The disappearances have all taken place around this lake. If he's fishing here on his own, it's like he's begging to be caught by whatever made the disappearances happen. Either he's a fool or he's got an ulterior motive.” Whilst she didn't necessarily dislike the fairy, she really started to wonder if he'd be useful here... well, he looked insanely strong for his size, so perhaps that'd be useful? She wasn't sure, but now wasn't the time to think about it.

On that note, Kain was of more immediate concern. He told her that he was able to talk to nature, but that didn't really defuse her concern about his age. Whilst Victorique had no clue how old Sage was and assumed that his fairy nature meant he could be an adult and still act like a child, it was a bit different with Kain, who was more obviously a child. That said, Hildegard was quick to back Kain up, which made Victorique wonder... “Are you two related?” If Hildegard had a child at a young age, she could be his mother, or perhaps she was his older sister. They didn't look too much alike, but still, it'd explain why Kain kept hiding behind Hildegard as he was doing. Then again, what was relevant was that Hildegard seemed to be taking responsibility for him, which Victorique wanted to quickly confirm. “Either way, I'm assuming you'll make sure he doesn't end up disappearing as well, so I'll be looking forwards to seeing his talents in action.”

The other words that Hildegard had spoken, however, sent a shiver down Victorique's spine. Hildegard really sounded like a religious nutjob. She almost blurted out 'surely you aren't talking about the asshole that didn't want to answer my questions', but realised that'd probably shorten her lifespan considerably, so she held her tongue. Instead, she acknowledged final statement. “You're right. He's clearly fishing for trouble.”

Upon approaching the rock upon which the fisher was standing, Victorique was instantly met by a challenge. She was not going to be able to get up there. Even Hildegard might have trouble climbing up, as the rock was a lot taller from up-close and didn't exactly have easily climbable sides. Only Sage and Rachael (and Kain due to his Climbing skill) would be able to get up there with ease... That said, she was too prideful to ask for help, so she just called out to the fisherman from below. “Excuse me, sir, we'd like to ask you a few questions.”

Fisher

​

Spoiler: Fisher

The fisher looked down from his vantage point upon the rock, but rather than looking at Victorique, he looked at Rachael and Hildegard, trying to figure which one of them had addressed him. Oddly enough Rachael's [exhibitionist] didn't seem to affect him in the slightest. Meanwhile, Kain, if he were to use his sixth sense, would be blasted even more by the fisher's sense of pride, which seemed strong enough to fuel an entire army.

Eventually, the fisher gave up trying to figure out who'd spoken out and addressed the group as a whole. “I'm sorry, but I'm a bit too busy for an interview. You can wait until after I've gotten this legendary catch!” Victorique was clearly disgruntled by Rachael's predictions regarding her unnoticeable nature coming true this soon after their quarrel, so she lurked from her pipe and decided to let the others ask some questions first.

 

[Parrot Parfait]

Kain Lief

"Annoying!!! :'< "
Interactions: Elvario
Mentions: Dante Verren Silent Angel NeramoDJI
​

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Related? Kain thought to himself. He tilted his head in a bit of confusion. They weren't related by blood in any way, the thought passing by him, but he wouldn't really mind being mistaken for Hildegard's younger brother. All in all, what really mattered to Kain was that he was Hildegard's party member. Either way, it didn't matter for now, as Miss Victorique moved on, expressing her hopes for Kain's ability. In response, Kain gave a confident nod.

...Now that introductions were done, the group now had to address the salmon in the room, the odd angler on the rock. As Kain approached, he still sensed the same overwhelming, annoying but focused aura emitted from the man. When the fisherman just ignored Miss Victorique, Kain felt annoyed the fisherman just ignored her and the rest of them. He wanted to just scale the rock and shake the man to get his full attention, but Kain easily held himself back as he'd be doing something worse than the fisherman blowing them off. Instead, he'd allow the others to take initiative before he made a move... but not without commenting first.

"This fisherman really, really, really likes his fishing," Kain remarked, puffing up his cheeks a little.

 

[NeramoDJI]

Sage smiled and watched everyone approach the fisherman, fluttering up and around as he looked in the fishermans bait bucket, floating back down after. From the way the man was talking and from the appearance of that bait, Sage assumed this guy was either using the missing people as bait, or what he was trying to catch was what was making people disappear, seeing as the fleshy bait could be used to attract things that craved human flesh, or at least, that's what he assumed.

"Do you guys think he's the one who did it?" He said to the others, looking around at them with a tilt of his head. "Maybe it was a sea monstew that did it!" He said, looking at the lake the man was fishing in. "Awe you fishing fow a sea monstew?" He called up, figuring he'd just ask the man himself. When he heard Kain, he turned and nodded. "Well yea, everyone likes stuff too much. I like fighting a lot!" He said, looking at his sword that Rachael was holding longingly.

 

[Silent Angel]

Rachael Meredith

The amazon smirked slightly as she was immediately proven right. "Don't be too sad, cupcake. You'll get that growth spurt someday~" Her eyes turned back to the fisherman, her smirk turning into a frown. "Sir..." She paused, before deciding to have some tact. "Have you heard of people getting... taken, somewhere around here? Or, have you seen anything that might lead to more knowledge about what happened?"

She paused once more, looking at the rod and thinking about the rather large fish he had just caught and released. "Like, maybe you have knowledge about something that's obviously not a normal fish? Maybe something a bit more dangerous?" She stabbed the sword lightly into the ground, letting it stick up in place as the hair on the back of her neck stood up, the amazon not liking this fisherman. Her arms were tensed, the amazon ready for a fight as she stared down the stranger.​

 

[Dante Verren]

Hildegard Karling
Interactions: Elvario Parrot Parfait Silent Angel NeramoDJI


Hildegard turned with the group, her attention now fully focused on the fisherman. Victorique's question about the relationship of the two adventurers could go unanswered for now. She did not mind being thought of as Kain's older sister or maybe even aunt. As long as no one thought of her as Kain's mother then that was fine with her. She was too young to have a kid, let alone a kid as old as Kain. Plus the thought of them being related was rational, at the very least she was responsible for the boy's safety and having him travel along with someone who had no relation was probably weird. Oh well, a problem for later.

Hildegard sighed as everyone tried to be sneaky or indirect with their words. They missed the easiest way to get information from this man. A fishing man liked to talk about fishing, so ask about fishing. Letting go of Kain's hand she raised her own and gave the boy a pat on the hand. "Some people are very into their hobbies" she commented. Raising her voice to join the others, "Noble fisher, what is your legendary catch?"

 

[Elvario]

Fisher

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Spoiler: Fisher

Mentions: Sage NeramoDJI | Rachael Silent Angel | Hildegard Dante Verren | Kain Parrot Parfait

Sage, upon flying over to inspect the man's bait bucket, would be able to confirm it had chopped up pieces of meat in it. What type of meat it was, however, was unclear to him. All that was clear was that it was neatly chopped up in small dice shapes and that it was still rather bloody. It was pretty clearly not something that people would usually use as bait. The fisher was trying to ignore Sage, as well as Rachael. However, Hildegard immediately got a response. The fisher even went as far as to reel in his line so he could give her his full attention. “Now that.” He pointed at Sage and Rachael. “Is how you two should approach someone like me.”

He then looked at Hildegard again. “Milady, I shall honour your sound judgement with a reply! As you may or not may know, milady, people have gone missing around this lake. What, then, would do such a thing? Well, of course, it's got to be a lake monster! Thus, I went to investigate, and see, over there, the undeniable proof of a lake monster!” He pointed to a small patch of sand, a bit away from where they were at. “Thus, it is up to me, the most legendary fisher on this entire continent, to rid this lake of its monster! Now then, you've been informed! Milady, I bid you good day, as by the next time we shall speak, it will be when I brag about my latest catch!” He threw out his line again, clearly intending to ignore any further conversation efforts.

Victorique Sopheana
​

Victorique ignored Rachael's comment, although it took some effort not to try snapping back. Lurking from her pipe helped her there, as it gave her less time to verbalise certain choice words that came up. She sighed when the fisherman wasn't all that helpful, even though Hildegard had somehow been able to play along with the man's ego. That said, with Victorique's modest insight, she felt like she could at least confirm one thing. “For better or worse, he seems honest.”

She looked over to where the fisherman had pointed towards. “Let's go see if there's any truth to his claims.” She'd head over in the direction, where she could soon spot what the man had referred too.

There were about a dozen footprints in the sand. Their distance away from each-other and the depth at which they'd sunken into the sand suggested something big and heavy. The shape of the toes in those footprints suggested something with three claws on each foot, probably walking on all fours. The area at which the prints were located was a fair bit away from the path itself, as the rock the fisherman had been on was still between the path and this small patch of sand. Most of the lakebed around it was filled with gravel or rocks covered in moss and grass. The patch of sand was a very small percentage of the type of lakebed coverage around this lake. The rest of the lakebed coverage didn't show much signs of having been disturbed, but it would naturally be more difficult to leave tracks upon.

More-over, the footprints looked like they'd gone in one direction, coming out of the water and onto the sand. They stopped somewhere halfway onto the small patch of sand. The sand around it didn't look too disturbed, but upon walking over it, Victorique realised she was too light to make a lasting imprint into it. In fact, only Rachael would be able to leave deep imprints in the relatively densely compact sand. Hildegard would leave small and easy to vanish prints in the sand, whilst Kain, Victorique and Sage wouldn't leave any traces of having walked over it at all unless they were to try hard in doing so on purpose. At first glance, this only confirmed something big and heavy had made these traces, but perhaps there was more to it.

Victorique was indeed sceptical, but figured it might be a good opportunity to see how sharp the others were in their ability to read into clues. She decided to hide her question in a less provocative way though, as she didn't wish to outright make it seem like an intelligence check. “Something is off here, but before I blurt out what I'm thinking, I'd like to see if any of you are reaching the same conclusions or if I'm reading way too much into this. So what would all of you make of these clues?”

After hearing all of them out, she'd turn to Kain in particular. “Does your ability to read into the environment suggest there might be a man-eating monster in this lake?

 

[Parrot Parfait]

Kain Lief

"Something meta is gonna happen!"
Interactions: Dante Verren Elvario
Mentions: NeramoDJI
​

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"Hmm..." Kain mumbled when Hildegard patted his head. She was right in a way. Maybe, what he was feeling was the man's sheer admiration for the craft (or himself), same as Kain's love for the forest or Hildegard's devotions towards her lord. Those facts helped diffuse some (but not all) of his displeasure. When the man spoke of a big lake monster, rather than getting scared, Kain grew rather fascinated, wondering what kind of creature they may happen upon. Of course, Kain would prefer not to be face with a pair of jaws, but the idea still tickled his imagination.

As the group headed towards where the fisher pointed, Kain watched the lake. Unlike the uneasy town, here, a true tranquility settled on this shore. As the sun glistened on ripples stirred by gentle wind, soft waves splashed and blurred the division of land and lake. To Kain, it was hard to believe this peaceful body of water was involved with any sort of turmoil. Entranced, Kain moved ahead of the group, spreading out his arms like a bird and occasionally twirling. NeramoDJI If Sage joined in with him on the fun, Kain would truly have a splendid moment of joyous bliss.

However, when Kain noticed the deep footprints on the ground, he stopped to stare and observe. His guidebook had information regarding the animals of this world, and his eyes have seen various animals tracks in the wild, but never has he encountered tracks like these. Seeing these unusual animal tracks made Kain feel so... excited! It was an animal he's never encountered before! Perhaps his imaginations would become true! However, given the size and depth of the prints, Kain knew the creature would most definitely be a scary one, one that would demand respect and space, but he couldn't wait to see it (from a safe distance).

After hearing all of them out, she'd turn to Kain in particular. “Does your ability to read into the environment suggest there might be a man-eating monster in this lake?

Kain turned to Miss Victorique with a slightly puzzled look before stopping to think. To him, it was obvious something large, perhaps with an equally sized appetite, lived in the waters, but the lake scared? Not even in the slightest. "Maybe?" Kain conjectured, "But I don't think the lake minds either way. It's very, very calm right now. I can try asking the lake if you want me to."

 

[NeramoDJI]

When Kain began his motions and moving ahead, Sage joined him eagerly, but not before grabbing his sword before he forgot it, hefting up the gargantuan blade and floating over with ease, almost as if the blade was weightless, starting to twirl around with Kain, keeping the blade in it's scabbard and close to himself. Laughing a little bit as they went. He enjoyed the other boy, seeing as he believed the boy to be of the same state of mind as himself.

Sage slowly looked to Victorique after her question, having not really had much of a reaction to the mans speech, since his words made no difference to Sage's theory, watching Victorique walk towards the sand. He watched over as she went towards the sand, listening to her question. "Well, I don't know if we can weally twust him. His bait looks weally close to meat, so maybe he killed the people to use them as bait. The othew theowy is that thewe is something in the lake, and that's what left these twacks. Howevew, thewe's only one set, meaning they could be made up by someone to use as an alibi. Cuz thewe would pwobably be mowe twacks awound." He gave his own theory, whispering it so as to not have the fisherman overhear his suspicions on the off chance he could hear them, a surprisingly verbose sentence this time for the fairy boy.

 

[Silent Angel]

Rachael Meredith

Rachael was led away, deciding to not continue the conversation, as she wasn't sure if that would have been the best choice. As they walked away, she couldn't help but whisper to Victorique, "Why would some dumbass hear people are getting abducted and decide, 'Yeah, that's what I'm gonna try and get. I'm gonna go fish for it. Seriously." She stood up, resisting the urge to say more.

As she stepped onto the sand, she glanced about for a few moments. "Well, it isn't something like a Kraken or anything like that. It's crawling around on all fours." She bounced up and down, feeling the sand underfoot. She kicked a bit, thinking for a moment before shrugging. "I must say, most I can think is a water dragon, or maybe a crocodile. Would a crocodile be considered a water dragon by some people?"

She turned to look at Victorique. "What do you think? Is a crocodile a water dragon? I mean, it's not like it spews water everywhere or anything like that, but it definitely looks like one. Maybe a water wyrm or something." She couldn't hold back anymore, and had to finally give voice to her teases. "But, if it's a water dragon or a crocodile, I would watch out, Victorique. Either way, you're a bite sized snack for it."​

 

[Dante Verren]

Hildegard Karling
Interaction: Elvario NeramoDJI Parrot Parfait Silent Angel


A slightly smug smirk crossed her face as her plan worked, play to the fisher's ego and get information that way. Not only did her plan actually work but the man had some generally useful information, pointing them in the right direction to began a search. Having given his little speech the Fisher seemed like he was done talking to them so the group moved off, all but Hildegard who lingered for a moment longer. "When you manage to capture the beast, be sure to show us. A legendary catch needs an audience to witness it!" She called up to the man as she turned to leave.

Following the group to the sandbar she watched silently as the group did their investigation, She wasn't great at tracking but her eyes still traced the sandbar. Even she could notice that the foot prints of the monster were deep, and that in comparison most of the group barely left even a mark in the sand. What ever this thing was must have been huge. Speaking of huge, her eyebrow raised as she saw Sage carrying the massive sword. Despite his annoying manner of speech the fairy was strong....very strong.

Hildegard raised her hand to her chin and thought for a moment. Rachel's comment about being bite sized snacks were probably more accurate then she realized. "The tracks only come one way right? Did it retreat back to the lake or is it a creature that can live on land and sea?"

 

[Elvario]

Fisher

​

Spoiler: Fisher

Mentions: Sage NeramoDJI | Rachael Silent Angel | Hildegard Dante Verren | Kain Parrot Parfait

Although the fisher didn't reply to Hildegard, he did give her a short wave with his left hand as a sign of acknowledgement. Her praise was clearly working on him.

Victorique Sopheana
​

As they headed to their destination Victorique sighed. Seeing Kain and Sage act as they did, didn't exactly inspire much confidence. Before she could worry too much about it, however, Rachael spoke to her about the fisherman. “It seems like a combination of overconfidence, pride and perhaps some actual level of skill. He did seem like he was able to back-up at least some of what he said, from what I could gather.”

As for the footprints, Victorique was a little taken aback when it turned out that the fairy, out of all others, was the one who's thoughts were most akin to what she was thinking herself. For a second, it even made her second-guess her own conclusions. After all, Sage's manner of speech and innocence didn't suggest a high level of intellect, but perhaps she judged him too harshly too soon. Either that, or she heavily overestimated herself. In any case, she decided to lay out her own conclusion.

“What Hildegard and Sage spotted is the biggest clue we've got, I think. The tracks only come out in one way, but assuming it came up on land and ended up here, halfway into the sand...” Victorique walked along the footprints whilst talking. “Then it'd be here.” She stood in the middle of the small sand bank. “It would have to somehow jump all the way from here onto the more rocky parts, which the prints don't indicate, or it'd have to perfectly walk backwards in the same line to go back into the lake, as these tracks only go in one direction. That'd be highly unlikely behaviour for any type of creature. All in all, I think Sage is closest to the truth. This might be man-made. It'd also explain why, out of all the lakebed, the tracks are right here. There are parts much closer to the path or village, if there was a monster that wanted to go after humans, but instead, it'd have chosen this one specific sandy area where it could easily leave some highly visible tracks. That seems too coincidental, so combined with the odd pattern of these footprints, I'd say someone is indeed using it as an alibi.”

She took out her pipe again, trying to clear her mind. She then turned to Kain, puffing out some smoke before deciding on the next course of action. “Would you be able to learn if the lake had some sort of monster in it, or would it still be able to be calm whilst having a human-eating monster roaming free?” She had no clue how 'lakes' would think, or however Kain's ability would work on them. “Right now, I'm about eighty percent sure these prints are fake, but I'd like to get that as close to a hundred as possible, before moving on with other assumptions. After all, we'd suddenly be able to confirm that there is something intelligent behind it if we can confirm these tracks are fake. That'd change our target from a brainless monster or some magical phenomenon to someone operating with clear intent. That'd be a big breakthrough.”

There was another theory, which Sage had also brought up, but Victorique wasn't sure about it. “If he's fishing for a monster, it'd make sense for him to use meat. He also looked genuinely invested in catching the monster he believes to be there, from what I could tell. He's definitely suspicious, but I'm not sure if he'd be the one behind all this. I'm inclined to write him off as a fool that fell for these fake tracks, but that might be premature... Even so, we can't really question him for fishing in a dangerous lake...” She clicked her tongue. “I wonder if he'd even believe us if we told him the monster is fake.” The fisherman seemed foolish enough to ignore them.

On the topic of fools, Rachael was being one. “They're just reptiles. If they amount to a water dragon, we'd be out of words to describe anything bigger and more dangerous than a crocodile.” It wasn't the crocodile part she was most annoyed by, however, but the second thing. Luckily enough, she had some words ready. “Isn't that why I brought you along, my faithful guardian bunny? Surely you'd jump in to save me, or at the very least, provide a much larger and juicier alternative while I'm getting away~”

After her words back, she looked up. The sun was positioning itself lower already. It was afternoon by now. “We could confront the fisherman about the monster, or move ahead towards the mine to see what became of Erin and Irwin. If these tracks are man-made, some of the miners might be involved or know more. In a worst case scenario, we can go and appraise each and every one of them to check if they have any criminal titles. I'd personally prefer going to the mines first.” They could technically also split up, but Victorique wasn't eager to offer that suggestion, as she didn't feel comfortable with the idea that someone might be going around to make these fake tracks.