Event: Day 301 [OPEN]

[bastionpc]

Who: Everyone who wants to be involved, plus a ~*~surprise guest~*~
Open: Open
When: Day 301
Where: Roathus Lagoon
What: oh look it's time for a core
Format: action
Warnings: none yet

[When Nathaniel calls for one of the all-too familiar meetings regarding cores, he looks pretty unhappy. In fact, he looks like he has some bad news to give. Whatever it is, everyone should come listen, because it's pretty important!]

Comments

[bastionpc]

What-

[oh, the compasses.]

I didn't steal them, I found them! Right over by the edge of the Bastion, along with an empty box.

[countingthunder]

[Exactly, Zee, she said you weren't good at stealing, why are you getting all defensive?

She bends down to pick up one of the compasses he dropped but not the other ones. Helpful.

Then she bites it.]

[bastionpc]

[It is made of hard metal that does not give when River bites it. It also tastes like grass and dirt, along with metal-flavor.]

Uh....What are you doing?

[countingthunder]

Making sure you weren't cheated.

[Naturally.]

[bastionpc]

Somebody was cheated though. I think a bunch of these things got thrown off the Bastion.

[countingthunder]

[River attempts to press the compass into his hand.]

The sound is like a beacon.

[She may not. be the best person to express your concerns to, Zee.]

[bastionpc]

[Yeah he's getting that feeling.]

Look, just- I'm going to go look for whoever had these before.

[And he gathers up the couple of compasses he dropped before he heads off again.]

[freedom_engineer]

[Zee was heading towards the workshop? Well, Colin's been walking back and forth between the workshop and the hospital for quite some time now, so it seems likely that they'll bump into each other.]

[Or rather, Colin sees Zee hauling stuff, and his curiosity it piqued.]

Hey, what've you got there?

[fuckthemancers]

Those are some compasses, aren't they?

[hey guys, what's going on over here-]

[Alright, it's not that Zulf meant to find this little party, but he is wandering out with a few Rattletails- they need their walks as much as anything else, excitable birds that they are.]

[bastionpc]

[Oh good, some familiar faces.]

You're not going to believe it. I actually found these by a box over by the edge of the Bastion!

[freedom_engineer]

[Colin frowns, and he holds out his hands.]

May I take those? I need to look them over.

[He glances at Zulf. Does he trust Zulf enough to voice his suspicions?]

Any idea what they'd be doing out there? Nathan was looking for them a few days ago...

[bastionpc]

No clue, but they were kinda just left there. I think whoever put them there just forgot about them?

[fuckthemancers]

My own personal bias against Nathan aside, he's never struck me as the type to be that careless...

[He glances over to Colin, raising an eyebrow even as he settles his hand on top of a Rattletail's head to help calm it down.]

[freedom_engineer]

No, someone had to have left them out there.

Which leaves me to wonder WHY they were there in the first place. How close to the edge were they?

[bastionpc]

I don't know, but I can show you where I found them?

[Time for INVESTIGATION maybe?]

[fuckthemancers]

That may be for the best.

[Turning to his Rattletail entourage, Zulf makes a few clicks of his tongue and ushers them back in the direction of their home. With that done, he dusts the feathers from his skirt and nods.]

Shall we?

[freedom_engineer]

I'd like that.

[He watches the rattletails go, and he frowns as he follows Zee in the direction of the compass drop.]

Hey, Zulf... can those things track at all?

[God, what he wouldn't give for a tracker right about now...]

[bastionpc]

[Zee leads them right over to the edge of the Bastion, right by the inconvenient hill. There is indeed a box there, but all the remaining compasses were grabbed up by Zee.]

See how weird it is? Why would this be over here?

[freedom_engineer]

Definitely weird. This stuff has no place out here...

[He scans the image of the entire scene into a file for future review, and he frowns slightly.]

Was there anything else out here when you found the compasses? Flat grass? Stray cloth? Cigarette butts? Anything of the like?

[fuckthemancers]

Well, define 'track'.

[Rattletails have better senses of smell and taste than most birds, on account of them living underground, but he's not sure they'd do better than Colin's own abilities.]

Did you see anyone else around before you found the compasses?

[bastionpc]

No, I didn't see anyone over here, just the box.

[When they get there, there is indeed a box there. It looks as though it had been dragged over near the edge, as there are drag marks on the ground leading up to it. It was also tipped up on its side, the open end towards the edge of the Bastion.]

[freedom_engineer]

Track by scent, mostly.

[Colin studies the box when they arrive, and he scowls. How many compasses WAS that? And what other supplies did they lose?]

Our saboteur strikes again, it looks like...

[He's uncharacteristically displeased as he crouches nearby, studying the box and the dragging marks.]

Either the box was heavy, or it was someone small...

[A kid, maybe? Wouldn't THAT just be a kick in the teeth... But no, no leaping to conclusions yet. There's plenty of evidence here. Just need to gather it.]

Thank you for getting our attention, Zee. This is NOT good...

[fuckthemancers]

I haven't trained them to do as such- [Mostly, Zulf has been focusing on the basics. "Sit". "Stay". "Burrow". "Stop burrowing please for the love of the Mother". Things like that.] -but I suppose it's not impossible.

Do you want me to get one of the better trained ones and give it a try?

[bastionpc]

It couldn't hurt, right? I mean, if they can't do it, we would be where we started anyway, right?

[Zee is hopeful, at least.

And there is a smell on the box, but it is several days old. Even a trained scent dog might have trouble following a trail that is several days old.]

[freedom_engineer]

If you think he can do it, it's worth a shot. But don't get your hopes up. If he's untrained, it probably won't be easy.

I'm... going to try and find Alucard, just to have a backup. The more trackers we have, the better.

Please try not to move anything.

[Whoops, there he goes. Boy, he really wants to find who's doing this, doesn't he?]