Early-mid Week 2/3

[memoryandtheft]

It might be time to start considering working on the buddy system.

I've been looking into the disappearing locals, and a few things stand out: they all vanished suddenly, they all vanished from near the shore, and the last time any of them were seen was just before our nightly monster serenade.

I don't know whether it's driving something out of the water to snatch people or luring people in, but either way, wandering around alone seems like a damn good way to wind up on the missing persons list.

Comments

[dino_zarf]

Do I need to come up with an underwater baby leash?

[Because he'll do it, he definitely will]

[memoryandtheft]

I don't know if there's actually much difference between an underwater baby leash and the regular kind, but that might not be a bad idea.

[fruitknife]

...Think I'm just gonna keep staying in Liminal overnight.

[Private, Psychic Protection I]

[comebewe]

...We might be able to help you look for them.

[memoryandtheft]

That works as long as the think keeps its singing strictly to after dark. And as long as whatever effects it has don't start lingering past sunrise.

[Private]

[memoryandtheft]

If you have some creative methods of searching, I won't turn you down. I've exhausted most of the mundane ones, and the picture they paint isn't hopeful.

[And the absence of any signs of struggle make her particular breed of magic less useful than it might normally be.]

[fruitknife]

True. Never said it was a perfect answer.

[Private, PP 1 for the rest of this thread]

[comebewe]

If you can get your hands on some objects that belonged to them, I might be able to use that to track them down.

Well. If they're still alive, that is.

[memoryandtheft]

Yeah, well.

Sing out if you need help.

[Perma-private]

[memoryandtheft]

That won't be a problem.

[The benefits of a misspent youth.]

Is there any particular kind of objects that'd work best?

[comebewe]

Anything that they owned for a long time.

[memoryandtheft]

All right. Give me an hour or two, and I'll meet you on the beach.

[comebewe]

Okay.

[Action]

[once she's finished, she'll find Matthew sitting on the beach near the long boats. They've been getting to know this beach rather well, by now]

[Action]

[memoryandtheft]

[She's clearly tense on approach, her unhappiness at being surrounded by ocean having not abated even a bit over the past couple of weeks. Still, this is nominally Cornu territory, and so they're less likely to be walked in on than they might be further inland.

She trudges up to Matthew, and drops a small canvas bag she definitely wasn't carrying a moment ago at his feet.]

Here. I got what I could without attracting any more attention than I already was by being there.

Re: [Action]

[comebewe]

Thanks.

[They take the bag, and reach in to pick out one of the items. They consider it for a moment, getting a feel for the life-sign of the person it belonged to. Now all he needs to do is start walking, and find the life-sign that matches.]

This...is mostly going to involve a whole lot of wandering around all over the island, I'm afraid. [he pauses. it's the sort of thing he normally does on on his own. But at the moment...]

...You want to come?

[memoryandtheft]

[She watches him curiously, looking a little startled when the extent of his preparations appear to be contemplating the item for a few moments.

No blood, no potions. She could get used to magic involving such a comparitively low degree of pain.]

Yeah, I'll come. Wouldn't be fair to leave you to deal with the tree roots and monkeys alone.

[comebewe]

[There's a flash of relief in his eyes, and then it's gone]

Well, you never know. With the way things are at the moment, for all we know I'll need to you prevent the monkeys from kidnapping me.

[he starts walking, and a pace that's a bit too brisk to be leisurely, but not fast to be quick. Their eyes glaze over, a little unfocused, as he starts scanning. And eventually, after they've walked for long enough, Toby might notice that he's walking all over the island in a line search pattern.]

[memoryandtheft]

I can probably manage that. Unless there are a lot of monkeys.

[She says it with an airy sort of flippancy, for all that she seems to be on guard as they set off on their search. Monkeys, she's not worried about. Hostile mermaids or whatever's responsible for the disappearances, on the other hand...

She recognizes the search pattern relatively quickly. The magic he's using can't simply be used to triangulate, then - or, at least, not from a significant distance. That's good to know.

Even if it does mean they're going to be at this for a while.]

[comebewe]

[If it's someone he knows well - really well, not just a passing acquaintance - the distance he can sense them at can be much, much further. But these people are strangers, and so he needs some of their personal belongings to even pick them out at all.

And yes. It's going to take a while.

It's a good many hours later, after they've walked all over the entire Island, that Matthew lets out a sigh]

Nothing. Either they're not on this island...or they're dead.

[memoryandtheft]

Which is pretty much another way of saying the same thing, unless they've learned how to breathe underwater.

[Toby sounds grim, but not entirely surprised.

There's always a chance that someone missing is actually dead. In such close confines, with tensions running as high as they are...

She might have hoped otherwise, but it had been the likely bet from the outset.]

[comebewe]

Pretty much.

[He's not surprised either. Disappointed, but not surprised.]

Finding the bodies isn't something we can help you with. Someone needs life, for us to be able to sense them.

[memoryandtheft]

Good to know.

[She absently drags the back of her hand across her forehead to keep the sweat from trickling into her eyes.]

Days like this, I really wish I was a dog person.

[comebewe]

[they blink]

You...want a sniffer dog?

[naturaltwohands]

Thank you for the warning. I will be happy to accompany anyone that needs protection.

We must have been sent here to find what is causing this....

[memoryandtheft]

I'm pretty sure our trouble only starts with finding the cause.