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

[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?]

[fuckthemancers]

[Why not just bring him up earlier, Colin, gosh?]

[But Zulf just gives a shake of his head and goes to get one of his rattletails, coming back after five minutes or so with the large bird calm at his side.]

[bastionpc]

[The trail itself has gone cold by now, thanks to people walking all over the place and this probably being several days old, judging by the drag marks on the ground.

The rattletail will be able to root out something of interest, though: a few strands of what look like light blue thread, stuck on a particularly sharp-looking rock. Whoever dragged the box over here, they caught either their shirt or coat or pants or something on said rock and left behind a clue.]

[fuckthemancers]

[Rocks! The bird knows rocks. It's not like it eats them or something. It gives a loud rattle and squawk as it comes across its find, and Zulf has to place a calming hand on top of its head to make it hush.]

Seems something's been found.

[And you know what? He's not gonna touch it. Gonna leave that to the... professional??]

[notachickenhawk]

[The professional has arrived. Tobias swoops down, seeing his fellow bird in some kind of distress, and he looks down at the threads.]

<What's going on here?>

[superdrowningskills]

[Yes, hello. Did someone call for backup? Because the other professional has also decided to wander onto the scene.]

...Has something happened?

[freedom_engineer]

[Well look at that, the apex predator and the shapeshifter are quickly on the scene. Colin isn't that far behind, but they're both faster than he is...]

We... Well, looks like the Rattletail's a little excited. You two find something good, Zulf?

[He gives Zulf and the Rattletail a curious look before looking back to Tobias and Alucard.]

Someone's been sabotaging our efforts with the radio tower. I was hoping we could get our best trackers on it...