Frozen

[Pegasus]

16th Cylus, 718

She was a sweet little thing, he thought to himself as he watched her. Beautiful too and if she grew up like her mother, she would be chased by all the boys. Of course, every father thought that about his daughter, Quetis knew, but his little one, she was as pretty and as clever and as kind as he knew her to be.

"Come in from the cold, love, you'll freeze," he said and The Girl turned to him with a sweet and innocent smile. "Yes, Da," she replied and The Girl skipped into the house. As he watched her, leaving behind the whole scene of snow creatures she had crafted, he smiled. More than anything, Quetis missed his wife, but what had happened to her was an awful, tragic accident and the Immortals had seen fit that he would raise their beautiful daughter alone.

Frowning, he spotted something glittering on the ground and he frowned, kneeling down to examine it. As his hand reached out to touch it The Girl, who was watching from around the corner and wearing her real face now, smiled. .. ..
The weather was awful.

There was no other way of putting it. Scalvoris was used to cold weather, to snow storms and freezing temperatures and this was bad, even for them. Almund was covered in a blanket of snow and there were blizzards which would literally kill in a matter of moments. It was during a particularly bad trial that there was a brief reprieve in the weather. People who had been trapped indoors or who just wanted to see the outside, made their way out.

It was during this reprieve that a teenage girl, maybe thirteen or fourteen arcs old, was seen. Looking around wildly, she was asking for help. Pirates, she said, pirates were come to her house and they were holding her mother and father, her younger brother and older sister while they ransacked the house. She'd been building a snowman in the garden, she said, had seen what was happening and had hidden and watched but one of them spotted her and so she had run. And now, she was here.

Where she tried to get anyone who would help her to do so.

Off Topic

Just an intro post for an open moderated thread. Feel free to go into the house, only to find it empty of people - but kind of like people had been there just seconds ago..... Please don't control the NPCs. Other than that, lets have some fun!!

[Tio Silver]

As a rule of thumb, grown men were not supposed to go around throwing snowballs at strangers. It was seen as rude and immature, the sort of game played by children, and therefor not something any self-respecting gentleman should be caught doing. This, of course, didn't stop Tio from doing it anyway. The blizzards had forced him to stay cooped up in the Scalvoris Sapphire Inn for trials now, loosing money in endless rounds of Captain's Cards with the Reyes family in order to stay entertained, and so while the snow storms had quietened enough to make going outside bearable he was determined to make the most of his freedom while he could by gallivanting around the city in his heavy weather clothes, chucking snowballs at any passersby he came across and running away.

Or at least he had been until one of the targets he'd had in his sights, a teenage girl in her early teens, had turned around to face him just as he prepared to throw his projectile, and the look of panic on her face had shocked him enough to make him drop his snowball. Before he could get a word in edgeways she'd already ran up to him and started begging him to help; telling him that a band of pirates had raider her home under the cover of the weather and were holding her family. She seemed to be telling the truth, and so Tio had ran off in the direction she'd came from, following the trail of her rushed footprints in the snow back to her house.

When he arrived Tio drew his cutlass and knocked a bolt into his pistol crossbow, then sneaked over to the front door as quietly as he could and gently pushed it open, ready to fight what he thought would be a small group of pirates waiting for him behind it. Yet to his surprise, and concern, there was nobody there, not even the family the girl had mentioned. The house looked like it had been ransacked recently, so had the pirates just left and taken the family with them as hostages? Or worse, was the family already... no, it was too soon to jump to that assumption.

Slowly Tio took a few more cautious steps into the house, prepared to shoot the moment any pirates came hurtling around the corner towards him, and began to search for any clues as to where the pirates might have gone.

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[Rynata]

Rynata stood rigidly outside a nondescript store, waiting patiently for the young clerk to sort out the inventory she had delivered. Though the weather had somewhat loosened its tyranny of snow and ice, it was still bad. Even her shoulders hunched against the cold didn't help much. There were a few people out and about, no doubt enjoying the small reprieve they were allowed or carrying on with business as best they could, like she was doing.

It was then that Rynata started at a scuffling commotion out of the corner of her eye. Mixed with the surprised murmurs of citizens was the frantic voice of a young girl. Out of the rushed explanation that cut through the icy air, Rynata could make out pleas for help and a few telltale words.

"Pirates! Pirates!"

Pirates?! Here? Now? Instantly, the dull monotany of waiting vanished and was replaced with a lively sense of urgency. Someone had to do something. Rushing to the girl, Rynata reached out a hand in a placating but insistent gesture.

"Where? Which way is your house?" she asked the girl.

All her life, her family had told her terrifying tales of ruthless pirates. This was part of the reason why she had always associated their presence with the open sea and why she felt so concerned over the young girl's plight. It was perhaps naive of her to consider encountering pirates on land to be unexpected, but under the controlled panic, Rynata couldn't help but feel confused. Was this even pirating season?

"There are guards, yes? Someone should alert the military."

Sticking close to the girl in what she hoped was a reassuring manner, Rynata looked around at the others outside. She had no dillusions of grandeur about her capabilities. If there were pirates, there was no way she would be of any help alone. The best case scenario as of now was if the pirates simply took the valuables and fled. They could be hunted down later and the family would be safe. The other possibilities were more grim. Biqaj merchants told horror stories of innocents slaughtered and kidnapped never to be heard from again.

[Amaris]

There were a number of people gathered around a girl, a young one, that cried out about pirates. It was not this that had drawn one particularly tall individual’s attention, but more so the desperation in the girl’s voice alone. They had no qualifications to be attacking any sort of foe ( they’d learned that the hard way ), but there was the ever present possibility that the pirates had made quick work of the ransacking and had already fled the scene. The girl’s family, however, would hopefully be left behind. Be it unscathed or otherwise, wouldn’t some medical assistance be needed?

It was this that pushed Amaris into decisive action, threading clumisly through the crowd that parted reluctantly for them to get to the girl. They had to crouch be eye level with her, and so they did. “Take me to your family; I may be of assistance.” Without hesitation, the girl pulled her in the direction of what home must have been. They did not, however, venture inside without their own doubt.

Tentatively, they approached the door, ears straining for the tell-tale signs of someone still in the house. They’d be utterly useless if a pirate remained.

[Pegasus]

16th Cylus, 718

Tio took the girl's hand and he went into the house with her. It was bizarre, confusing and strange. There was a cup of still-warm tea, a half eaten sandwich and other things that made it look like the people had just disappeared. Also, there was a strange, lingering scent of what seemed to be oranges. Why that might be, he didn't know and if he asked the girl she didn't either. She stayed with him, holding on to his hand or walking right next to him. When he drew his cutlass she breathed in, as though a little nervous.

In the kitchen, there were signs of a struggle. But even there, it wasn't much. There was a knocked over chair as though the person sitting there had been forced to rise in a hurry. Whatever happened, it must have been quick."They were here. My parents, they were here." She looked at him and her eyes showed her concern. In terms of clues, in one way Tio found lots out - but in others it was very frustrating. What he found was that nothing was taken. Even where there was a piece of gold jewelry or a silver locket, something which would have been easy to snatch, it hadn't been. There were no signs of struggle except in that kitchen, around that table. Either the people had only struggled there, and only for a few trills, or something else had happened. From the house next door, they heard the sound of a dog howling. The girl looked up with hope on her face. "My friends. Wren and Delilah, they might know things! Shall we go out? That's Wren's dog, Tiddles, howling."
Rynata was more cautious, it had to be said. She asked about the guard and the young woman looked at her with a slightly raised eyebrow, suddenly looking older than she was. But then, there was a cynicism born of poverty which knew no age limit. "Guard don't care about folks like us," she said and she pulled Rynata towards the house. It wasn't far. It was a small, ramshakle and rundown home in the middle of three, all of which were in similar states. Poor, no doubt, but clean and the folks who lived there did their best with what they had, judging by the gardens and repairs to the structures.

Although the girl was focused on her own house, Rynata noticed that the house on the right had someone, also holding a young child's hand, listening at the door as the sound of a howling dog echoed in the air. "That's my friend next door, Law'ren. We call her Wren. I don't know that person with her," the young girl informed Rynata. "An' that's Tiddles, her dog. He never normally howls, there must be somethin' wrong."
Amaris was holding on to the young woman's hand and listening at the door. From that door came the sudden howling of a dog and the young one holding on to Amaris' hand whispered. "That's my dog. Tiddles. He never howls, he's a good dog." There was no doubting it, she meant it. "Oh, please, we've got to go inside.. we've got to!"

Through the window, Amaris could see an empty house, just as Tio had found. Looking like the people were there, but just.. no people. Most odd.
Assuming that Tio went outside with his child, the three who had offered to help might well converge with each other. Either way, the young girls were insistent on searching. Tio's companion looked at him and asked, biting back tears, "I need to find them. Will you help me, please?" Although she was the most verbal, most clear of the three of them, similar questions were asked of them all.

Off Topic

Ok, so the three of you can interact now if you like. There are clues to be found in all three houses so please be clear about what you're doing. Also, the dog does NOT stop howling.

In your next post, please include an OOC which chooses one colour out of the following.

Red
Orange
Yellow
Green
Blue
Pink
Indigo
Violet

Thanks

[Tio Silver]

No pirates jumped out at him after all. The house was completely empty, not to mention an absolute mess. Still the more he examined it, the more Tio started to doubt that this had been a pirate raid after all. The place was an absolute wreck and had undoubtedly been the setting for some kind of recent struggle, yet there were obvious valuables lying around all over the place that he couldn't imagine any money motivated criminal ignoring. Had they come here just for the sake of causing violence? What could have provoked them to do that? And why in the name of the spirits did it smell like oranges in here?

The girl who'd begged him for help had come back with him, and was looking around with a distraught look on her face. Poor kid, she was having one hell of a tough trial. Was there something he could do to cheer her up a bit?

"This smell... it's just as I feared..." he began, trying to keep up a poker face. "This is the work of the citrus pirates! Led by the notorious Captain Mangoes these villains scourer the seas, pilfering every piece of fresh fruit they can get their grubby hands on. No doubt these fiends came here to steal all the bananas in town." He glanced over to her out of the corner of his eye, hoping to see that she'd cheered up a little, but then felt a little stab of guilt. "... Sorry, probably shouldn't be making light of this to you, huh? If it helps you to know I'm actually pretty experienced at fighting pirates. You've picked yourself a great sidekick here."

However not a trill later Tio proved that statement incorrect, as his face turned as white as a sheet the second the sound of a dog howling reached his ears. As the girl suggested that they go out to find her friend he gulped nervously. "Do... do we have to?..."

But sadly they did indeed, and so with a heavy heart the yludih nodded his head and followed her outside in search of her friends. If that dog was with them he'd just have to find a way to bury the little mutt in a snowdrift.

Off Topic

I choose red!

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[Rynata]

Rynata allowed herself to be pulled along by the girl and on the way to the house, she could be heard muttering things like “guards” and “duty to the people”.

When they arrived at the place, things seemed relatively quiet apart from the incessant barking of a neighboring dog. No doubt, it had sensed something amiss.

“Alright. Stay behind me,” she cautioned to the child before causing the front door to gently swing open.

Right hand hovering over the hilt of her dagger, Rynata cautiously stepped through the doorway. Head swiveling from right to left, she didn’t see a sudden looming figure, pirate or family. Stepping through the small house, there still wasn’t any sign of life. However, it did seem as though people had gotten up and left in a hurry. Once she had searched the inside of the house, Rynata returned outside. Eyes cast down to the ground around the door, she squinted for any signs of unusual disturbance. If a whole family had been forcibly removed from the house, there could be signs of a struggle. A trampled area, drag marks, or perhaps personal effects left behind.

“Hm. Looks like they’ve already left. Don’t worry, we’ll find them,” she smiled at her smaller companion.

Spotting the two figures to the right, Rynata nodded, extended a free hand to the girl and hurried in their direction.

“Let’s check if your friend is safe, yes? Maybe she knows more about what happened.”

Rynata approached the pair cautiously. The last thing she needed was tall this stranger to be associated with the kidnappings. The dog’s howling didn’t do much to ease the situation. Rynata just wished the dog was alright and that it would stop so that she could think more clearly.

“Hello there! Are you here about the incident with the pirates?” she asked from a little distance away. “My friend here says she knows Law’ren, and I was wondering if she knows anything about the attack as well?”

Off Topic

Blue, please!

[Amaris]

Amaris turned as the child spoke, brows still furrowed. “I suppose we should let him out then,” they murmured, opening the door to release the dog from inside. It must have been howling to be let out to begin with, for fear of something inside. That didn’t sit too well with them. “Why don’t we wait out here, though, dear. I don’t see anyone inside but maybe they’re hiding to be sure the pirates are gone.” This was all the consolation they could give the girl before someone else approached. Or, well, four; two adults with children to accompany them. They squinted until the pairs got closer, stepping in front of the girl in their immediate charge to shield them lest the approaching pairs be a threat.

They recognized Tio, from the Immortals’ Tongue outing. A shudder went through them, and the memory was promptly buried. Not something they wanted to revisit at the moment. Tio, however, seemed a fair bit reluctant to walk over. The other adult, a woman, seemed...cautious? She spoke first, and relief flood the mixed blood in knowing that they had not been alone in choosing to help out the children.

“I am.” They hadn’t asked the girl’s name, but they supposed this could be Law’ren. They looked to her for some confirmation before continuing. “It would seem Law’ren’s home was hit as well, but I didn’t see anyone inside through the window. Stayed outside.”

Off Topic

Indigo for me~

[Pegasus]

16th Cylus, 718

As Tio made a joke of it, the girl looked at him wide eyed and disbelieving. However, he agreed to help and she nodded. They made their way outside and saw the other two pairs out there. From the right hand house, there was the sound of the dog. It was outside that house that the others had gathered...... Rynata and Delilah searched the house, which was in the same state as the other two, but there was no one there and so they went to the house next door, to Wren's in the hope that there were some answers. The two girls fell into an immediate hug at the sight of each other. The sounds from inside that house were persistent.... Amaris and Wren stayed outside and while the grown ups talked, Wren opened the door to let the dog out. Tiddles, it seemed, was roughly the size of a small pony and was made almost entirely of fur. It looked not unlike a rather large mop-head, and it was huge. Once released, it and the three girls engaged in a huggy-snuggly reunion.....
And then, the three girls and the three adults and the frankly enormous dog were together. There were three houses to explore if they wanted to, but the dog started wuffing and walking in one specific direction, then stopping and looking back at the children. It seemed very keen to get them to follow it. Wren looked up at Amaris (and up and up!) and said. "Tiddles is trying to tell us something, he's trying to lead us out, look, towards the woods. We should follow!"

As Wren said that, Delilah shook her head. "No, we should search the houses and find if there are clues, oh, we should, shouldn't we?". She looked at Rynata determinedly. "It's logical, isn't it."

The girl with Tio, whose name was Emma, spoke up, apparently the voice of reason. "Look. We should do a quick search of the houses, and then follow the dog. Not split up, there's strength in numbers, isn't there? That's right isn't it? It is. It's just right, isn't it?" Looking at Tio, she smiled a slight smile in the hopes that she was being the calm and logical voice of reason.

Three pairs of eyes looked at the grown ups and they needed to make a decision. The dog, the houses, or one then the other.

Off Topic

Thank you for the colour choices. Next choice is an item.

Chair
Bowl
Bed
Spoon

As last time, please choose one and put a note in your post.Slightly different way of doing things this turn. Could you decide in a group pm what you're doing (dog, house or both) and one of you pm me with details (eg: all staying together all the time or X will go here, Y there) I'll then PM you with what clues / ruses / dead ends you find for you to include in your next post!

[Tio Silver]

Woops. Seems like he'd made things just a little bit awkward. Tio didn't know what to say to a child whose parents had just been kidnapped, but evidently making a joke about it had not been the right answer. Noting this lesson away for another day, Tio clamped his mouth shut and followed the girl as she led him outside, ignoring the way his stomach felt like flipping at the thought of the dog waiting for them.

As they made their way outside two more groups of people came out of the houses nearby to meet them. The first was a young girl about Emma's age and a pretty woman with long black hair, whose pointed ears gave away her biqaj heritage. On the other side was yet another Emma-aged girl and a familiar face; Amaris, one of the explorers from that fateful Immortal's Tongue expedition. Feeling the uncomfortable pang of memories he'd rather not revisit right now stirring in his head Tio seized upon the first distraction he could find. As Emma shot from his side to glomp her friends and an enormous pile of shaggy carpets in the most heartwarmingly sappy hug he'd ever seen, Tio looked up at the other two adults and shot them both a quick salute and a short, impish grin.

"Amaris! Always a pleasure to see you. Too bad it seems to take some kind of grave danger for us to bump into each other." He turned to the biqaj. "Tio Silver, at your service. Had I known someone as enchanting as yourself was out here I would have come and froze my buttocks off sooner. I take it you're both here to help the young ladies too?"

Before he could ask any more questions the sound of a dog barking right next to him made him jump out of his skin, and the thing that he'd assumed to be a pile of carpets took a few steps in a seemingly random direction and starting woofing pointedly at them. OhbythespiritsthatthingwasaDOG! That wasn't fair damn it! Weren't canines the perfect killing machines already without the ability to disguise themselves as tacky flooring?! Maybe he was just getting carried away by his fears, but Tio had the sneaking suspicion that this dog might be working with the pirates. There was no evidence to suggest as such, but Tio sensed evil in the way it menacingly wagged its tail!

Emma looked up at him as she suggested that they stay as a group, quickly check the house and then follow the dog. Tio was ninety percent certain that the dog was trying to lead them into a nice secluded spot to murder them all, but considering that the girls were clearly fond of the fur-covered fiend he didn't think they'd listen to him if he suggested they lock it up in the house and throw away the key. Instead he nodded reassuringly and shot her a small smirk.

"You're the boss little miss. I'm your sidekick, I'll follow your lead." He looked up at the rest of the group. "I agree with Shortcake here, we should stay together, quickly search the house, and then follow... the hound. It covers all of our bases without putting ourselves at needless risk."

Off Topic

Spoon Please.

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