• Graded • Suffer The Little Children

[Balthazar Black]

15 Cylus 720

It was good to hear Lyari confirm that none of the missing children were from Luna's but it certainly made Balthazar wonder why. In terms of practicality, you could get the most children from that place in one fell swoop and you'd fall under the same scrutiny that you would if you did as this/these kidnappers had done. If the children were to be sacrificed for one reason or another, it would matter where they came from... would it? Balthazar did not know enough about the darker magical arts to pinpoint any magic that would require the children to be abducted as they had been but with more time he could research it... unfortunately time was not something that the investigators seemed to have a lot of- or at least in Balthazar's opinion they did not.

He feared that even in these moments while they stood speaking to each other, the kidnapper might be out their preparing the next grand heist of children from their homes. Balthazar looked over the key Lyari had provided and while it helped him get a general sense of the age and gender of the missing children, it didn't really help him see a pattern. Of course it didn't. If he'd been able to see a pattern, one of the Elements certainly should have been able to. Then again perhaps they were simply understaffed. Balthazar didn't dwell on it.

"I'm Balthazar." He replied to Yeva when she asked what his name was. It may not have been the time but it was a formality that they'd have had to come to eventually. Why not get it out of the way before the work got overly depressing? When she returned the proper formality, her name, Balthazar nodded and returned his focus to the map. The casino had been marked but for the moment that was all. It was left to them to figure out if there was any deeper connection between the events so Balthazar tried not to get too attached to the idea the events were related. When Yeva began to suggest way to improve the map to Lyari, Balthazar tuned out.

Well he didn't exactly tune out but he attempted to tune into the frequency of Yeva. He wasn't looked to dissect the myriad of notes that comprised the unique song she emit so much as he was trying to get a general feeling for her frequency. He was trying to commit it to his memory so that when they were separated, he could be able to listen for it and find her. It wasn't creepy, he was going to do the same to Darius once he'd managed to attune to Yeva. Balthazar was beginning to think that the best course of action would be to split up and investigate multiple leads at once so he wanted to be able to find both Yeva and Darius if either of them failed to return to where ever they decided to meet after their rounds of questioning. Besides, he didn't need their noise in his head unless it served some strategic use. It may not have required focus to remain attuned, but being attuned meant hearing... or seeing as Balthazar sometimes experienced it.

Balthazar refocused on the conversation when Yeva stated that she wanted to speak to the family which had lost one sibling and not the other. He nodded to her slightly with no reason to oppose her choice. Then he pointed at a small grouping- not that it really was a grouping, it just looked close enough to The Cabin Boy for Balthazar to think he could swing by and see if Callipo had any leads for him, and said "Then I'll look into this assortment." Balthazar said as he pointed out three dots relatively close to each other. The three he'd chosen were a four year old girl, a five year old boy, and a three year old girl but he hadn't really paid attention to the coloring system so he didn't immediately notice that fact. He looked to Lyari, awaiting and answer to Yeva's question about papers to prove they were working on the case though he figured that it wouldn't be needed. He'd always managed to get by on claims of being a bounty hunter. People in certain places seemed to prefer the thought that they were talking to a bounty hunter rather than an Element.

Darius suggested they be given out brown cloaks as he had been when he volunteered for the Dusk Festival. Balthazar buried the small jealousy that rose inside him. He hadn't been given a cloak. He'd been told to walk around a certain route and for some reason no one had questioned his authority. Then again that had been Almund and things seemed to work differently there than anywhere else. "I'll forgo the cloak if it is all the same. I've noticed that people don't speak as openly to the Elements as they do to people they think are investigating independently- at least in Almund- I'm not sure how your reputation is in Scalvoris Town." Balthazar wasn't going to mention that this seemed like a Fire Trooper issue rather than an Earth Trooper issue because he didn't want a cloak to begin with so the color shouldn't have mattered.

After a moment Balthazar sighed and audible sigh and looked to Lyari. "I feel obligated to mention that last season there were similar disappearances in Almund. I investigated with a few other volunteers and our results were inconclusive. The circumstances were not dissimilar to this however it seemed like the target children belonged to wealthy families then." He didn't want to say that they had failed, but they hadn't stopped the killer in their first attempt and they'd hear little else since then. Balthazar didn't want to find out the murders were connected and he had left that prized connection a secret out of his own personal shame. Balthazar had gone to great lengths to ensure that this time he got some results... initiations hurt.

[Pegasus]

Suffer The Little Children

Yeva's suggestion was met with an expression of surprise from Lyari. He looked at her and then down at her map, and then at her again. Then he smiled. "You are a treasure! I'm totally over complicating, and you're right. Yes. Thank you!" far from being criticised, he instead quite obviously felt that she was helping and furthermore he was grateful for it. Then, the three of them moved on to thinking about where they would go each and Lyari nodded at Darius. "Yes. Brown cloaks, trainee pins. That will give you the authority you need and will be recognised around the island." That was usual and clear procedure.

They all said where they wanted to go, and Lyari nodded. "By the time you get back here," he said with a smile to Yeva, "there'll be a much more clear and easy-to-read map." Balthazar spoke of the disappearances in Almund and that caused a frown from Lyari. Could these things be linked? It made sense, certainly. "Well, we can't treat this as murders," he said and, to his credit, he didn't say "yet".

But the word hung in the air, unspoken.

And so - they went their ways.

Yeva ...

Yeva went to the home of the boy who was missing. They were, in fairness, unsure of her at first but the young healer was a polite and gentle soul and that was absolutely the correct choice for the family. The parents were in shock, there was no doubt about it and - at first - they were withdrawn and rather reluctant to let Yeva talk to their daughter. The sister, twin to the boy as it turned out, was kept away from Yeva and the parents were unsure, like they were keeping something from her. However, Yeva's natural ability to talk to people and her quiet and friendly manner won out and, eventually, the mother admitted that the daughter was talking about something strange.

They wouldn't let Yeva be on her own with the child - but they would let Yeva talk to her. There, with her parents watching, the little girl told Yeva the story of how she had woken up in the middle of the night and there had been three men around her brother's bed. They were big, they wore black and - if the girl was telling the truth, which she seemed to be, then they had no faces. They were there, and they spoke in a language she didn't understand - then there was a strange sort of 'crump' noise and they were all gone.

Yeva noticed that the little girl kept looking at her parents and then, she stopped. There was a sense of something ... more. But could Yeva get it?

Darius...

Darius checked the Casino area and, frankly, there was the kind of detritus that one might expect from such an evening, the evening before. There was nothing unusual in what he saw, however, or in what he found.

When he got to the Docks, there seemed at first to be much the same in terms of no-clues, however one of the old dock-hands would tell him that the night before, he could swear that he'd seen the lights from a ship out in the distance. But it was odd, as there wasn't any ship there this morning and no one left the docks in a dinghy or row-boat to join it. So, why would it come this far in, why would it hide itself and then, why would it go? He puts it down to having had too much to drink, yet there seems to be something that he's not ... quite ... saying.

Balthazar ...

Balthazar was looking around more places, and yet he had a central place. The Cabin Boy. While the other places gave him the opportunity to speak to confused and upset people, to deal with those who were in a slight state of panic and others who were very upset, it was the Cabin Boy which was, perhaps, most interesting.

It was closed. There was a sign on the door which said, clearly, "Closed" - but the door itself was bolted and locked. There were a couple of employees there, too, and they were utterly confused. When they'd left work just the trial before, everything had been perfectly normal.

What could that be.....

So...

So, each of them had found out some information - and each had more things still to explore depending on what they did next.

!	Message from: Peg
	So - I've given you all a starter-point for your to write your next posts. Please include the information I've given you and then - take it where you will. When you feel that you've exhausted where you are - then I'll take you back to the main map-room. When you're all three there, we'll continue. Until then - happy posting and sorry for the delays!

[Balthazar Black]

15 Cylus 720

Ultimately Balthazar did not take the brown cloak as he still felt that discretion was the better angle but he did take a pin to identify himself in case things got a little too dicey, which he expected they probably would given his typical methods. The pin was small enough to conceal in his pocket and he could flash it in a time of need, but if he didn't have to, Balthazar intended to go about this as he went about all his other investigations, as a private party. It had worked well enough in the past.

With The Cabin Boy being the last place on Balthazar's list, he met with the three families prior to arriving there. He hadn't learned anything really useful from them. Most of the parents had been out and when they returned home their child had been missing. When asked why they didn't leave someone to watch over their child they said that they hadn't thought they'd be gone long enough for it to matter. It was an oddly uniform story across the three different households Balthazar went to. Ultimately it was not the questioning that told Balthazar what he wanted to know so much as it was the attuning. Balthazar went through his list of questions and the parents answers them through sobs. In one case the father had been sobbing over his missing son and in the other cases it was both parents sobbing over their missing daughters. Balthazar thought it odd, all and all, that the mother of the missing boy had been so resolved in her answers but he chalked it up to shock. With each set of questions he attuned to one of the parents- unable to attune to both due to his links with Yeva and Darius already giving him more feedback than he wanted. He spent full bits listening to the parents talk about raising their child where he wasn't actually listening to the parents but instead to their frequencies. He was trying to sift through the notes to find something useful but was still too new at the magic. He only found sadness and despair... no deception.

After a long time of listening to parents and asking questions, Balthazar excused himself with the gentle promise that he would not stop until their children were found. He didn't promise to bring them back alive and he didn't promise to bring justice- because there was only one kind of justice Balthazar believed in for what was happening here and the parents didn't need to concern themselves with that. After speaking with the parents, Balthazar asked each set to allow him to inspect the child's room where he assumed they had to have been taken. If the kidnappings happened at night while the parents were out and believed their children were sleeping- as all the parents had claimed to the mage, then they'd have been taken from their beds... right?

So Balthazar looked around the rooms for any sighs of struggle; chairs that had been knocked over, blood, unkempt bedsheets, broken glass, broken locks. He was really grasping at straws for anything he could find to indicate how the kidnapper had come in and how they had taken the child out. His mind immediately leapt to the iocane bloom, a poisonous flower he'd encountered on a ship almost a trial ago but he wrote it off when he realized how unlikely it was that the children were force fed the bloom and the rooms were left so intact. Lastly Balthazar would reach out with his Attunement spark to try and get a feel for the notes of the rooms as he walked around them. He wasn't quite adept enough at the magic but he wanted to give it a shot to see if he could recognize anything familiar to his own frequency. In his experience that was easier than trying to find new notes.

When that was done and the results were in, Balthazar would move on to the Cabin Boy. He'd find a crowd of workers outside, all shocked and surprised that their work had been so suddenly closed down. "Would Callipo shut down if he was sick?" Balthazar asked one of the workers as he looked around. He knew what he was going to do as soon as he'd read the sign.Well... when had a locked door ever stopped Balthazar before? Locked doors were practically an invitation for the mage to try and see what was going on.

"Not without giving us some notice." The worker replied. Balthazar nodded to him and then got an idea.

"Someone should see if he's at his house." Balthazar suggested. He heard a worker in the back shout "Yeah!" but the ones in front of him seemed more skeptical. "I wanna buy a paper and you guys wanna get paid so someone go get him!" With the more forceful tone the workers were shaken to action. They turned and went off to try and find Callipo. Balthazar turned to the locked door and began tracing his hand in a circle on it.


"Just the other side of the door. Come on." His Rupture spark surged and a small blue flame burst forth from his fingers, swirling in the same circular pattern as Balthazar moved his hand back from the door. The blue flame continued to swirl until the middle began to clear and an image formed. It was the inside of The Cabin Boy! Balthazar examined the room revealed to him by his phasing portal closely and then looked up towards the ceiling. Line of sight. He repeated that in his head as his left hand reached out and began to move in a circular pattern. The air made a loud sizzling noise as Balthazar opened another flaming portal beside himself. His spark ached and Balthazar peered through the little porthole he'd put into the door at the ceiling where his egress had formed. He took a deep breath and jumped into the portal he'd made on his left-

- and he fell right into the Cabin Boy. Balthazar began turning his hand in the opposite direction above himself and his portals all began to spiral shut with another loud sizzling noise. He stumbled slightly and took another deep breath. The mutation cost him more ether than he enjoyed but he needed the portals. After a moment to collect himself, Balthazar began looking around the Cabin Boy for any clues or information; unpublished newspapers, Callipo's notes, any notes really, signs of struggle, articles that had been sent in to be published, really anything he could find in the short time he had. Naturally when he found it he would face the problem of his dyslexia and be force to walk in a circle to read whatever he discovered.

[Yeva]

15 Cylus 720

The door cracked open and Yeva smiled, not too brightly, but with enough warmth to dissuade immediate dismissal, "Good morning," she greeted softly, taking a step back. Maybe distance would make them feel better after such a jarring ordeal. How uneasy this family must feel, when the place they were supposed to feel safest... wasn't safe at all? "My name is Yeva of Rharne. I'm a member of the Order of Adunih and am assisting the Elements in the investigation of...of your son. M-may I come in?"

"It's not a good morning," the man corrected, his voice raw and gravelly, deadpan in its delivery. Dark circles clung to red rimmed eyes. The weight of his gaze felt heavy, but he remained empty, "And now's not a good time." He leaned back to slam the door, but Yeva jumped forward to clutch the door frame. From inside the house, the sound of sniffling rose from somewhere beyond his burly frame.

"I'm so sorry! That was a horrid choice of words, I didn't mean it! Please!"

A woman spoke, "Who is it?"

"An Element," the father snapped over his shoulder but then paused, eyeing the red head and her new cloak, "Or... a girl helping them. Says she's also with the Order."

"They have news of Asher?" a woman was shoving past the barrier of a man, face tear streaked with a tightly rolled cigarette pinched between two fingers. Her brunette curls were unkempt, grey eyes were wild and desperate, and her hands shook when she took a long draw on the tobacco, "Where is he? Where's my son? Is he hurt?"

Yeva's heart broke, "We... we're still working on it. That's why I'm here, actually. So that law enforcement is fully focused on finding," Asher. That's what his name was, "Asher. I'm just here to ask a few questions, record anything I possibly can to help aid in his safe return."

Her face fell and twisted as new emotion overcame her. She turned, wiping at her wet cheeks while the man embraced her. He held her against his chest, his own voice catching when he spoke from the nest of her hair, "We've already told them everything we know. We were all asleep for Tried's sake!"

"Actually," Yeva took a deep breath and pushed her shoulders back, "I was hoping to speak with your daughter, if possible. She shares a room with your son?" Yeva wasn't very good at keeping her own emotions out of her work and so it was hard not to be affected by the scene before her. Clearly, these two cared for one another and for their family.

"I don't think-"

"Alright," the woman drew away with a somber look, "Come in... I'll put on some tea."

The husband look incredulous and Yeva nervously let herself in while he stormed after his wife, to the kitchen where they argued in a series of heated whispering. Yeva pretended not to notice (for they were clearly arguing about her presence), and so she quietly meandered around the front room, imagining the life that they must have had. The wooden floor was well worn - from family pets or tiny feet or a former family - the furniture mismatched but sturdy. There was a wicker basket of wool yarn and some knitting needles, and a hearth that could use a good scrubbing. The house could have even had a warm, inviting feel had not all the windows been locked shut and the curtains drawn in mourning.

Hearing footsteps emerging from the kitchen, Yeva turned to see the father returning, jaw tight, "You may talk to her. But not alone, do you understand?"

"O-of course... Thank you."

He grunted and disappeared down the hallway to fetch the little girl. Yeva waited, pulling out her journal and slowly crept towards the kitchen when she heard the ongoing whistle of a forgotten kettle. She had intended to thank the mother as well, but found her staring blankly at the stove top, sobbing. Oh, no.

Yeva hurried forward, bunching up the hem of her cloak in one hand and using it to grip the handle of the pot and remove it from the fire. The woman tried to speak but only a mix of whimpers and wails escaped her, "I've got it," Yeva pushed the kettle aside and reached out to touch the woman's shoulder, turning down the flame as she did so, "It's alright-" Professionalism did not occur to the young woman, not when she saw such pain before her. Yeva reached out and took the mother in her arms, holding her tighter as her chest shook with lamentation. After awhile, Yeva met her eye, "It's not your fault. You know that, don't you?"

Yeva surely didn't, but it felt right to say. The woman tried to wipe at her face, apologizing, to which the medic dismissed. Finally, after she had composed herself enough to form words, the mother reached into a cupboard to draw out a number of tea cups, "Ashey, my daughter, she's been saying strange things. And my husband, he means well. It's just, this is all so hard. It doesn't even feel real."

That was something. Yeva studied her face, "Strange how?"

"Mommy?"

The two turned to find a little girl held in the arms of her father. She clung to his neck, shyly observing the duo. Yeva remained quiet, doing her best to appear approachable and waved as her parents explained what they needed her to do. In the meantime, the medic took a seat at the kitchen table and watched the family interact. Ashley nodded and then was brought to sit by the table, where Yeva sat patiently while the parents hovered, "Hi there, my name's Yeva. What's yours?"

Ashley looked up and then answered.

"That's a very nice name."

"It's just like my brother's..."

"He's named Ashley too?" Yeva acted surprised, which almost pulled a smile.

"No, Asher!"

"Oooh, I see."

For awhile, Yeva only talked about easy stuff - asking how old she was, what she wanted to be when she grew up, what her favorite toy was. Ashley's shy demeanor seemed to alleviate and she welcomed the distraction. Eventually, though, when the father cleared his throat, Yeva knew she had to start asking more difficult questions.

"Ashley," Yeva began, "Can you tell me about last night? Did you see anything?"

The girl shrugged, stared at her feet, which she kicked back and forth between the table.

Yeva chewed her lip and leaned forward, "Was it scary?"

Ashley nodded, looking up at the forgotten tome sitting before the medic.

"You must be very brave then... Do want to draw in my notebook?"

She nodded again, and Yeva turned to a fresh page, passing the girl her pencil. For awhile, they remained quiet, Yeva sipping at the tea that had been brought. It was bitter and needed sugar, but she didn't dare ask. Just when she thought the father would put an end to their chat, the girl began to speak, scribbling the story, "I woke up and they were by Asher's bed."

"Who?"

Yeva looked between the girl and her parents.

"Some big men."

"Do you know how many?" it was difficult to keep her eagerness restrained. She wanted the little girl to feel comfortable in this confusing situation, but time was perhaps of the essence. There had been more than one kidnapper! Their size was perhaps... relative, but she listened closely. Ashely held up three fingers and then resumed her artwork, "Did they... say anything to you?"

She shook her head and then seemed to remember something, "They sounded weird."

Weird how? "They talked, but... not like us." Yeva turned that information over. Three men, possibly large. Capable of speech, but they must not have spoken Common or Scalveen. Meaning these men were likely foreigners? Ashley scooted closer to the table and then pushed the book towards her, displaying a figure with stubby arms and legs, their clothes shaded unevenly, "They were wearing black and...." she seemed to withdraw a bit and then her pencil began to move, darkening the circle where two eyes should have been. She looked at her parents and then whispered, "They didn't have any faces. Crump! And then they were gone."

A chill ran up her arms.

"I think that's-"

"Wait," Yeva blurted, shooting a hand out to which the father silenced much to her surprise. She looked at Ashely, at the eyes that matched her mother's and stood, "This is really helpful! Can... can you show me your room?" then to the parents, she prayed to Illaren they'd agree, "Please?"

[Darius Baer]

With their respective plans in place the trio went their separate ways, but not before Darius wished Balthazar and Yeva good fortune and bade them both farewell. He steeled himself as he stepped back out into the cold, perpetual dusk, pulled his brown Elementals cloak tighter around himself, and headed towards the beach.

The sight that greeted him there was in stark contrast to his experience of revelry the night before. Where there had previously been a little too much alcohol, and just the right amount of pleasant company, there was now tedium. Workers had pulled down the marquees of the Everdark Casino where Yeva and Darius had met over a game of Chase The Ace, and were packing it up. Nearby, he found the log where they had sat and giggled their way through a game in the sand, but the markings they had made were long gone.

There were workers present, but Darius did not recognise any of them, and after some questioning, he realised there was nobody who had heard of the disappearances. They had slept in the marquees overnight to protect the equipment, and to ensure an early morning rise and pack down. They had not seen anything out of the ordinary, except for a blond man with a beard who was talking about disappearing children...

Darius' next destination was the Scalvoris Town Docks. He was familiar with the place, having departed from them and returned to them many times over the arcs - sometimes as a sailor, but to witness his father's journeys many times before that. Some of the faces were familiar, too, and it was one such dockhand who told him of the mysterious ship that hadn't sheltered in the harbour - particularly unusual, given the weather at such a time of arc.

The man's voice faltered as he tried to recall what he'd seen, and when pressed by Darius, he admitted that he might have had a swig of rum or three, but he swore he was telling the truth, and that he thought the ship might have been using a different beach. As if to convince the Elemental volunteer, the man pulled out a small pouch, and he poured a small amount of sand into the palm of his hand.

"I spotted this on the cobbles on me way t' work, I did," the man said, holding up his open hand so the younger man could see.

The majority of the granules were green, as he'd expect from the closest beaches, but sprinkled in with them were speckles that were yellow and orange. The sight caused Darius' eyes to widen, even as his brow furrowed.

"These isn't all from this beach," the man proudly beamed with a toothless grin. "I reckons someone walked to town from wherever these comes from."

The man had nothing more to offer, but it was enough to give Darius a hunch, and based on nothing more than that and the mysteriously vanishing ship, he thanked the man and went on his way, keeping the Hollow Sea to his right as he moved in the general direction of Almund.

[Balthazar Black]

15 Cylus 720

Balthazar found too many papers in the Cabin Boy to read alone and he knew he could not steal them... well... maybe he could? It was for the greater good was it not? What were the secrets of Anton's papers against the lives of the children? In the end Balthazar realized it didn't matter what he thought, if Callipo found out he'd probably be furious and Balthazar didn't want to burn that bridge unless he absolutely had to. So Balthazar read over the unpublished newspaper he saw splayed out on Anton's desk. There were slashes across some parts and full pages torn out. Balthazar found shredded up newspapers in a small bin beside the desk- mostly charred and blackened. Someone had put a flame to them and it didn't burn all the way down the parchment before something snuffed it out. Balthazar didn't realize all that, to him it was just burnt paper.

It actually took the remarkably amateur detective a few bits to connect the papers in the bin to the pages torn out of the unpublished draft of tomorrows Cabin Boy. He was distracted reading through some of the crumpled up notes he'd found in the bin. A lot of them were about the missing children but Anton was throwing out wild theories with no evidence as far as Balthazar could tell. One note blamed the tunawa for the disappearance of the children when victims cited hearing chirping noised outside their home that night... because it couldn't have just been a bird. Another note blamed the disappearances entirely on foreigners but had equally as little evidence. It stated that witnesses were "fairly sure the native's of Scalvoris would never do something so horrible." Balthazar wasn't so sure of that but he moved on.

He found half of a burnt note with a hand that cupped but no writing visible. Balthazar studied the half of an image for a few more trills before he returned it to the bin he'd found it it. That was when he realized the damaged pages in the bin were from the newspaper on the desk. Balthazar pulled out the largest chunks of parchment he could and began moving in a circle again while he read all the words he could see on the page.

"Craftsmen Revolt!" "Dawn of the handmade age!" "Monsters from beyond the Orm'del Sea!" "First Rharne, who's next?"

All that remained of the pages were a few of what Balthazar assumed had to be the headlines. They didn't tell him much but he tried to quickly scribble them down onto Callipo's notepad before ripping the page and folding it. He stuffed the note into his pocket and looked around again. Just as Balthazar began to think he'd found all that was worth finding in the Cabin Boy, he noticed a small red mark in the corner of the shop. It was a blob really. A red blob on the carpet in the Cabin Boy. Well it wasn't really red either because it had dried into a brown but Balthazar knew it once had been red. It was blood and he didn't need to touch it to figure that out.

Not good. After he saw the blood the rest of the picture became clearer to Balthazar. The mess was not the product of a wily writer, it was the product of a struggle. Someone had taken Callipo from his home. Someone who wanted something he wouldn't give them but also someone who wouldn't kill him outright... but who? Balthazar looked around the room with fresh eyes now. This was not just his lead, it was a crime scene and he'd spent far too long messing with it.

Balthazar gave the blob of blood another look before searching the area around it for any other signs of blood but he just couldn't find any... he would leave it to the better detectives than himself. Balthazar repeated the same process of portal manufacturing to get out of the Cabin Boy without further disturbing the crime scene inside. This couldn't have been a coincidence- Balthazar was sure of that. But he needed to tell the others before he could decided what to do so he returned to the Element Hall.

[Yeva]

15 Cylus 720

OOC

Author's Note: Due to Peg's busy schedule and Covid-19 stealing the interest/muse/general health & happiness of the world, this thread has been allowed to continue as a GST. Here's my belated contribution so the series can branch off... finally. Sorry, guys.

There was a tense silence that followed Ashley's retelling of the events but to everyone's surprise, it was the father who agreed this time. He inhaled deeply through his nose and then gave a heavy nod after looking at his wife, "For our son," he muttered, each rise of his limbs taking as much effort as moving a mountain. Yeva could feel the seriousness of the situation and thanked the family, allowing anyone else to lead.

The little girl pushed away the notebook and drawing utensil, sliding from the chair with a small hop and followed faithfully after her da. Yeva was third, and the mother left the table last, stuck in a daze staring at her daughter's artwork before moving herself. The creaking of the stairs felt shocking in the solemn silence to the landing and then down the hall to the far end where the door was left ajar.

"Be quick about it," the father pushed the door further open, crossing his arms as he sidestepped to allow entry. Eyes avoiding his son's bed, the red head wished she could offer comfort but it did not come so easily as it did with his wife. She nodded and made her way inside. There were no words.

Two beds with disheveled sheets were pushed along the far wall, an arched window between them with sheer curtains. Toys littered the floor. On the right wall, it looked as if someone had gotten into some finger paint and had been creating a masterpiece and was interrupted midway. The drawing was of a family, but the final figure - a boy child - possessed a torso that veered into a line and then disappeared completely, most likely when the parent's discovered the little artist. There was a stain on the floor where the bottle must have been spilled and now seeing the caricature on the wall, it feel ominous somehow.

She looked away and then moved towards the bed with blue sheets. Standing there, she observed the window sill for any signs of break in, anything out of the ordinary. Then she lifted the pillows, looking back when she heard the mother's voice, "I tore them a bit this morning, looking for him."

It was easy to imagine the woman scrambling when she went to wake her child to find him gone. She must have ripped away the fabric in a frenzy. Yeva said nothing but nodded, listening as Ashley pointed to where the men had been and then ran to her bed, reenacting her story for better detail. It was obvious the sweet girl just wanted to help. She must have been able to tell how distressed her parents were, but Yeva wasn't sure if she fully knew the dire extent of the situation. Did the girl know she might never see her brother again?

Yeva's heart broke but she forced herself to refocus and then got on her knees to look under the bed. Nothing extraordinary but...

Her brows furrowed and she scratched at the wooden floors and then ran her hand along the ground, pulling back when she was greeted with a gritty sensation.

Colored sand. More had collected in the rivets of the planks around Asher's bed. When she looked under Ashley's, she noticed a distinct lack of matter.

Her brow furrowed and she tried to sweep as much of it as she could. Soon, there was a small pool about the size of nel, "Have any of you been to the beaches lately?"

"Of course not."

"It's been too cold."

"Can we go to the beach?" Ashley liked the idea, "Please?"

The father pinched the bridge of his nose, "No, not today."

"Please?"

"No."

The mother cleared her throat, "Ashley..."

"Pleeease? Why not?"

The father broke, "Because your brother is gone!" he shouted, making all the woman recoil or jump. Ashley's lip quivered and then she covered her eyes, the tense silence eventually broken by her wails.

"Waaaaah, I want Aaaaasher!"

The mother scooped up the little girl and tried to soothe her, the man's face twisted, realizing his mistake and tried to apologize, all three of them stepping into the hall. Yeva fretted but continued to gather the grains of sand. It might have been nothing... Or it could have been something. The beaches of Scalv were colored and these were green and yellow. She wasn't native, but surely one of the other men in her group could recognize it; this could have been traced to a direct location... Determined, she reached into her bag and tried to sweep as much as she could into a empty medicine vial. Topping it with a cork, she explored the room for any other signs.

When she finally rose to her feet, a darkened figure was standing in the door, giving the red head a jolt.

The father wrung his hands, "If you're done, it's been a long morning..."

At some point, Ashley must have stopped crying. She hadn't noticed.

"Oh... Of course."

They wanted her to leave, "I'll head back to the Elements Hall," when he didn't say anything, she bee lined for the door, hesitating once in the hall. She could hear a soft lullaby being sung from behind another door. "Thank you and... I'm sorry."

"Me too."

Yeva couldn't muster a smile, "If you find anything else-"

"We know."

Right. Yeva nodded and didn't wait. She headed down the stairs, collected her journal and showed herself out. With all the suffering the family was already going through, she hoped everyone's efforts would be enough to get that little boy home where he belonged. This tragedy had to be stopped.

The case had to be solved.

[Darius Baer]

The walk had been a lonely but determined one. It had taken a solid break or two, but Darius' pace had not relented. The Cylus chill had caused the follicles on his cheeks and chin to stand on end, and his gambeson was pulled tightly around himself as he braced himself against the cold fog, but he pushed on all the same.

His motivation was simple: the children had only been kidnapped the previous night. While he didn't anticipate catching up with the culprits, even if he was moving in the right direction, there was nothing to be gained by dragging his feet, either. And if they had come to Scalvoris Town via one of the beaches to the north of the city, then he would have a greater chance of discovering some kind of evidence before the tide covered the sands.

With his hometown now forming a small and distant skyline that was blurred in the seasonal mist, Darius made his way over yet another grassy headland. As he made his way back down, descending through the fog, he caught sight of something that made him pause. His pace slowed for the first time, as his eyes scanned the new beach. Greeting him were granules of sand, yellow and orange in colour - a contrast to the green that coated the soles of his boots.

As soon as he stepped onto the beach, Darius dropped to one knee and unslung his rucksack from his shoulders. After opening it and rummaging through it, the blond was able to pull out a small leather pouch. He loosened the string about its neck and peered in, then looked at his boot which was now caled in a mixture of green, yellow, and orange sand.

The resemblance was striking.

Darius could feel his heart beat faster at the discovery. There was a temptation to become excited, but it was immediately tempered by the reality that finding the children and finding them alive were two very different things.

Time was still of the essence, and so, after a quick scan of the beach revealed nothing in the way of footprints - something he attributed to having been to late to catch the recent hight tide - he turned on his heel and began his journey back to the Element Hall in Scalvoris Town, where he hoped to learn whatever information the others had discovered.

[Pegasus]

Yeva

Overview

I love - LOVE the way that Yeva's mind works. She's logical and so insightful whilst maintaining compassionate and determined. Great writing - great team work! Apologies for the delay in this review.

Points

XP: 15

Renown: 15

Loot

A letter / writ of thanks from the Elements. This fundamentally counts as a "call us, and we'll help" token.

Knowledge

Logistics
Some of the Best Solutions are the Most Simple
Joining a Crisis Response Team
How the Scalvoris Elements Investigate 'Missing Persons'
Consider the Resources & Education of Involved Parties

Investigation
Cross Reference Learned Information
Inquire About Unexpected Details
Ease into Interviews w/Child Witnesses
Interpreting the Accounts of Young Victims

Discipline
The Challenge of Separating Emotion From Work

Detection
Not All Gossip Should be Dismissed

Darius

Overview

It was interesting to re-read "early" Darius - he's very good at calm and clear - and he has a natural charm which you write really well. I love your portrayal of his thought processes here; your writing style is both easy to read and well-paced.

Points

XP: 15 (not for magic)

Renown: 15

Loot

A letter / writ of thanks from the Elements. This fundamentally counts as a "call us, and we'll help" token.

Knowledge

Detection: Noticing something that is out of place.
Detection: Gauging a person's intent can reap rewards.

Field Craft: Some materials can only be found in certain places.
Field Craft: Walking in sand will leave tracks.
Field Craft: Tidal water can cover up tracks.

Investigation: Follow the evidence.
Investigation: Talk to potential witnesses.

Navigation: Maps aid with navigation.
Navigation: Keeping the ocean to one side of you can help you to navigate the coastline.
Navigation: Footprints in the sand can guide you to your destination.

Non-Skill:
Balthazar: Pursues justice.
Balthazar: Is an analytical thinker.
Balthazar: Knows how to gather information.
Yeva: Wants to make the world a better place.
Yeva: Likes to take notes.
Yeva: Is a good problem solver.

Balthazar

Overview

It was really interesting to see Balth "in work" so to speak. He does well in a team, but there is a feeling (for me) that he's a bit happier working alone - and that's a really subtle and well-written portrayal of a nuanced PC.

Points

XP: 15 (not for magic)
Renown: 15

Loot

A letter / writ of thanks from the Elements. This fundamentally counts as a "call us, and we'll help" token.

Knowledge

Investigation x 6
Stealth x 2
Persuasion x 2