[MISSION] IN THE SHADOW OF THE DRAGON

[khuimods]

Characters: All! Those signed up to teams will have comment headers; there will be opportunities for non-teamed characters.
Date: Feb 15-28, running into the first week of March
Location: Around Aifaran
Situation: The Sentry has called on outside help from the Dreamfolk to deal with a challenging situation
Warnings/Rating: None yet, will be added as needed.


In the early morning hours of February 15th, a fire starts at city hall. The blaze burns hot and quick, but fire teams are able to put it out by the time the sun comes up. The Sentry holds a press conference that afternoon, sharing that the fire is determined to be arson. Witnesses describe someone wearing an ill-fitting Sentry uniform hurrying away from the scene.

The Sentry will announce that, due to the strain on their resources dealing with storm recovery, they are commissioning outside assistance to deal with a number of incidents similar to this one. Dreamfolk in particular are being called upon to once again use their unique abilities to aid the archipelago.

Those who report to the Verdant Sentry Headquarters are briefed on the situation: a contingent of the Sentry is departing Aifaran for the Zoech Lowlands to search for the people missing from Cape Averi. The outpost was found empty after the storm; at first this was presumed to be the fault of the Dreaming, but now they aren't so sure.

Those who choose to assist the Verdant Sentry will be given a small stipend and extended a certain degree of authority to act on the Sentry's behalf. The 'deputized' Dreamfolk will be responsible for investigating discrete incidents to help make up for the reduction in Sentry forces in Aifaran. They are being entrusted not only with these cases, but with the reputation of the Sentry itself.

Although they are requesting this assistance, the Sentry remain tight-lipped about Cape Averi beyond the bare-bones logistics. Their suspicions are not made public, and nor will they be shared with the assembled volunteers unless these investigations intersect. Abuse of this power will not be tolerated.

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OOC Notes: Characters will be provided with tools needed to conduct the investigation, such as gloves and basic forensics gear (fingerprint dust, evidence collection bags, etc). They will also be handed paperwork

If you did not sign your character(s) up for a team, you can submit a summary of what the character will look into and we will provide a reply as to the findings and effects. This will be a one-time thing for these characters in order to maximize the time for the main mission logistics.

Comments

[upshore]

"'Curious' is a word for it," Miles says, his voice muffled by the mask. Indeed, having such a stark difference between things that are burned and things that aren't is more than a little suspicious.

"You think they forgot to splash these with accelerant?" Miles jokes. 'Forgot', not likely. 'Didn't on purpose', possible, but weird.

[afoolsgold]

"You think they forgot to splash these with accelerant?"

"Yes, they are so easy to miss," comes the Fool's droll response.

He approaches the cabinets and considers them thoughtfully. "We will need a records finding aid to determine what, if anything, is missing here," he muses--and, in the meantime, tries one of the drawers to see whether it opens. Miracle of miracles, it does.

[upshore]

"Yeah, good call," Miles says. "Unless that got burned up, too."

When the drawer opens, he lets out a little 'huh' of surprise. "I would've thought that'd be locked. Lock's not broken, is it?"

[afoolsgold]

"...Lock's not broken, is it?"

"Neither broken nor forced," the Fool replies, frowning, but his attention is promptly attracted to a stack of papers left discarded on top of the filing folders. Carefully, he collects them up and gives them a cursory onceover.

"The finding aid," he muses a moment later.

[upshore]

"Hmm," Miles says, taking a look at what the Fool's picked up. "So I guess whoever was rooting through this place didn't know exactly where they were going. But it looks like they had a key."

Options: someone unfamiliar stole the key, or an archivist who didn't access those records much decided to steal them and torch the place.

[afoolsgold]

"A key," the Fool musingly agrees, browsing the papers in his hand, "and perhaps a destination, though the route yet eluded them." He gestures with one hand to the page that the guide was left open to. "Let us hope that one of these records was taken. It will give us a clue as to what our arson was after."

It is a long and tedious process, cross-referencing the records listed in the finding aid with the ones physically present in the filing cabinet--but at length the Fool pauses with his fingers over the files, double-checks the paper he's holding, and then looks back again. "Miles," he begins, "would you say that the absence of schematics for power distribution at a Lae Shunjai transmitter qualifies as worrisome?"

Evidently, this is one of the missing records.

[upshore]

"Um," Miles says, surprisingly not sarcastically. "Yeah, I'd put that into the 'worrisome' category and also assign it a solid 'yikes'. You're sure that's what's missing?"

Of course he's sure; he strikes Miles as the diligent type, for all his self-deprecating name.

[afoolsgold]

"Regretfully, yes," the Fool replies, all traces of his usual droll humour gone from his face. He turns his eyes to Miles to regard him gravely. "It's also not the only one that is missing."

He extends the finding aid out to Miles and settles one gloved finger against the record code directly below it: basic blueprints for the sewer system near the Opara Core. "Both records were recently accessed and then returned by one of the staffers working late the night of the fire--but if they were responsible for the fire, surely they would better cover their tracks."

There's a trace of doubt in his voice; the Fool is no investigator, although he has a keen eye. He looks around them one more time, peering with a frown at the damaged cabinets all around them. "Why not burn these, too?" he muses quietly, gesturing to the two unburnt cabinets they stand before now. "Why not mask what was taken to hide your tracks?"