dead guy's ring, i gotta find it [ mission ]

[neko bo beko]

Name: Stuck in the Muck
Rank: C
IIC Length: 1 Day
Difficulty: Medium
Description: The following letter was received. “Ever since my husband passed away, I’ve been having this recurring dream in which he tells me he wants to come home. My husband met his end in the swamps of River country, but his wedding ring was never found. Perhaps this is why he cannot find his way? Someone, please recover it!”
Objective: –Recover the lost wedding ring.
Reward: 35,000 Ryo

---

[ enter ]

Staring at the mission slip, reading it over and over, Harue briefly regrets heading out for this mission without first talking to the woman who'd put it up. She imagines an elderly woman, falling apart and warped and racked with wrinkles, but maybe it was a young dame who'd lost her equally as young man? Either way the whole thing is depressing, if not a bit tragic. The only morbid thing about it is the follow up suggestion Harue's mind comes up with in response.

Looking around the countryside, mountains in the horizon to one end and a large body of water at the other, she imagines stumbling across the corpse of a decomposing young man. She would have to pull the ring from his fingers, or at least the bone and flesh left unpicked by hungry critters. Would it be grave robbing if it were for a little lady? He wasn't even in a grave-

Harue wrinkles her nose and looks to Ōmo. The beast is unaware of the less than nice thoughts running through her head, and she shakes it hurriedly to cleanse them. Patting the beast's head, the two stride towards the south of Kawa. The further they move, the wetter the terrain becomes; it reminds Harue vaguely of the territory they'd just passed through to get here. Sweeping a look to Ōmo, she reminds herself that she'd been asleep for most the hike through Ame. Grateful for her pink beast, she pulls him into a side-hug with an arm around his massive neck, the two strolling lop-sided for a moment. "You're a good boy, Ōmono Tankōshoku," she says, beaming with a smile that breaks her face in half. One of his ears pivot towards her, his confused expression moving to meet the same direction. She hardly uses his appointed full name. Awkwardly, she slips away in favor of running ahead and pointing out the impending smell of muck. Indigenous to riversides, the mudflaps produced a smell most unruly; she could only assume this is what the widow meant by 'swamps.' After all, there were no swamps in Kawa. Pausing, Harue wonders if maybe there is simply not a popular swamp she knew about. Standing between a lagging Ōmo and a wash of muddy rivers, she looks around to where the map had pointed out the capitol of Kawa. Maybe if she headed towards civilization, she could fish out the exact whereabouts of where the widow may be talking about.

Looking to her mission slip and then back towards alleged civilization, she wonders if maybe that's not the brightest idea. Would the city be friendly to someone coming in and sniffing around with vague questions and lame authority from a neighboring village? She preens the mission slip, her thumb smoothing over the wrinkling surface as she thinks. Ōmo taps his nose to her shoulder and she sways, looking to him and smiling with a huff. "Sorry," she murmurs. He blinks at her before turning towards the rivers, looking defiant. As if he's made a decision himself. Harue smiles a little. "Do you think it's that way?" She asks him, excited to have his attention and help. He looks to her with his eyes, his head unmoving. A lap of water against rocks, seagulls hawing as they flutter away... Harue's expression falters. She cocks her head all the way to one said, feeling heavy. "You just want to go swimming, don't you?"

[neko bo beko]

SPOILER: Click to show

Investigate
Rank: "E"
Skill: Sophisticated Skill
Effect: The investigation skill spotlights large-scale inspections, ranging from wide collections of interviews to long information tours.
Special: ---
Drawback: ---
Description: Relevant Abilities: Intelligence Skill. Die Rolls: 1 Die Roll. Check Requirement: Game Master/Described. Investigate skill encompasses a variety of applications. User can use this skill to identify and categorize evidence. User is able to foster important contacts, solicit rumors, spread information and pick up valuable information out of seemingly trivial conversation. Search areas, feeling the walls for hidden objects, finding traps, frisking a suspect, or looking for anything else that is not visible. Finally, investigate is used to analyze and enhance intelligence photographs and video. User can also use it to notice important events during a long stakeout or spot signs of someone watching. When a character enters a crime scene, they are faced with multiplicity of potential clues. The character must be able to decide what is significant and what is not. Characters use this skill when looking at an object to decide whether it is significant evidence or not. For example, if somebody is stabbed and there are knives in a kitchen nearby, the user should be able to recognize which ones could potentially match the wounds on the victim, as well as be able to tell bloodstains from items such as dried ketchup or molasses, etc. Synergy: A user with Local History gives a +5 per Mastery Level Synergy Bonus to Investigate when Coaxing. Synergy: A user with Investigate gives a +5 per Mastery Level Synergy Bonus to Anthropology, Arson Investigation, Ballistics, Blood Spatter Analysis, and DNA Profiling when investigating a crime. Some practical applications of Investigation follow:
Limit: Must learn from Skills.

+Able Learner

post 1: 0/5 TP, 0/125 SP

After a little bit of standing with Ōmo and going over her options, Harue finally decides to at least scour the riverside before giving up and heading towards civilization and snaking out some hypothetical answers. Though, she had to remind herself that it was possible nobody would know who or what she was talking about - it did seem a little farfetched that the dead man's ring may even still be out there. Who knew how long ago that mission had been tacked up there? She looks back down at the small, wrinkled slip between her thumb and fist. Remembering back to when she first had plucked it from the mission board, it had been nearly untouched. And the paper seemed fairly white, especially compared to some of the clearly older ones that'd been cluttered around the board as well. Feeling better about at least the recency of the woman's woeful plea, Harue and her beast set out towards the water.

While Ōmo ran ahead in anticipation of wading through waves, Harue lingered behind and carefully surveyed the area. She wasn't even really sure where to start looking, let alone what to look for. Should she be looking for footprints? Should she try to follow the smell of something putrid? Should she get down on her hands and knees and crawl through the mud, pulling up bits of soggy earth one inch at a time until she'd torn up the riverside? She hums and haws for a moment, stroking her chin absently as she teeters her weight back and forth, searching for any sort of clue.

[neko bo beko]

SPOILER: Click to show

Investigate
Rank: "E"
Skill: Sophisticated Skill
Effect: The investigation skill spotlights large-scale inspections, ranging from wide collections of interviews to long information tours.
Special: ---
Drawback: ---
Description: Relevant Abilities: Intelligence Skill. Die Rolls: 1 Die Roll. Check Requirement: Game Master/Described. Investigate skill encompasses a variety of applications. User can use this skill to identify and categorize evidence. User is able to foster important contacts, solicit rumors, spread information and pick up valuable information out of seemingly trivial conversation. Search areas, feeling the walls for hidden objects, finding traps, frisking a suspect, or looking for anything else that is not visible. Finally, investigate is used to analyze and enhance intelligence photographs and video. User can also use it to notice important events during a long stakeout or spot signs of someone watching. When a character enters a crime scene, they are faced with multiplicity of potential clues. The character must be able to decide what is significant and what is not. Characters use this skill when looking at an object to decide whether it is significant evidence or not. For example, if somebody is stabbed and there are knives in a kitchen nearby, the user should be able to recognize which ones could potentially match the wounds on the victim, as well as be able to tell bloodstains from items such as dried ketchup or molasses, etc. Synergy: A user with Local History gives a +5 per Mastery Level Synergy Bonus to Investigate when Coaxing. Synergy: A user with Investigate gives a +5 per Mastery Level Synergy Bonus to Anthropology, Arson Investigation, Ballistics, Blood Spatter Analysis, and DNA Profiling when investigating a crime. Some practical applications of Investigation follow:
Limit: Must learn from Skills.

+Able Learner

post 2: 0/5 TP, 0/125 SP

The mudflaps were gross. That much was certain. Any dead guy trudging through here was bound to end up with at least a boot missing, and so Harue looked around for that first. Channeling her chakra to the soles of her feet, was able to remain steady as if walking on solid ground as opposed to sinking down into clamholes. Her boots did well to keep her feet dry as she moves deeper into the wetlands, the horizon disappearing into semi-green waves. It wasn't a very clean beach. Carefully picking her way further along, Harue's eyes remain peeled for anything out of the ordinary. For now she stays as close to the border of the riverbed, with a bit of dry land at her flank in order to properly comb back and forth.

She looks up briefly to catch a glimpse of Ōmo frolicking through the low tide, but otherwise Harue is diligent in her search for the poor widow's lost piece of her husband. And, maybe, even her husband. Her skin tightens at the thought; why was she so intent on the fact that his corpse may still be out here? She knew it wasn't true, but she desperately wanted to believe herself when she assured herself this. After all, the widow wouldn't have known for sure of his death if his body had never been recovered, and ultimately dragged out of the swamps and back home.

Right?

[neko bo beko]

SPOILER: Click to show

Investigate
Rank: "E"
Skill: Sophisticated Skill
Effect: The investigation skill spotlights large-scale inspections, ranging from wide collections of interviews to long information tours.
Special: ---
Drawback: ---
Description: Relevant Abilities: Intelligence Skill. Die Rolls: 1 Die Roll. Check Requirement: Game Master/Described. Investigate skill encompasses a variety of applications. User can use this skill to identify and categorize evidence. User is able to foster important contacts, solicit rumors, spread information and pick up valuable information out of seemingly trivial conversation. Search areas, feeling the walls for hidden objects, finding traps, frisking a suspect, or looking for anything else that is not visible. Finally, investigate is used to analyze and enhance intelligence photographs and video. User can also use it to notice important events during a long stakeout or spot signs of someone watching. When a character enters a crime scene, they are faced with multiplicity of potential clues. The character must be able to decide what is significant and what is not. Characters use this skill when looking at an object to decide whether it is significant evidence or not. For example, if somebody is stabbed and there are knives in a kitchen nearby, the user should be able to recognize which ones could potentially match the wounds on the victim, as well as be able to tell bloodstains from items such as dried ketchup or molasses, etc. Synergy: A user with Local History gives a +5 per Mastery Level Synergy Bonus to Investigate when Coaxing. Synergy: A user with Investigate gives a +5 per Mastery Level Synergy Bonus to Anthropology, Arson Investigation, Ballistics, Blood Spatter Analysis, and DNA Profiling when investigating a crime. Some practical applications of Investigation follow:
Limit: Must learn from Skills.

+Able Learner

post 3: 0/5 TP, 0/125 SP

Perhaps she gets a bit paranoid in the search. She starts fooling herself, catching glimpses of something shiny in the mud and crouching to swipe away the mud only ever to find litter. A few times she finds something a bit interesting, coming across sea glass and something made of silver. Discarded as it was no help, Harue continues her hunt. There's really nothing for her to go on, but she looks on the positive side. Even if that means covering her nose with her sleeve to ignore the awful smell of mud and swamp. It reminds her faintly of frogs, and suddenly she hopes to see a frog at one point. Keeping her eyes peeled now for both a missing ring or a dead body and a frog, the pinkette creeps around the edge of the river bed until she's made a sizeable approach to the river itself. In the distance, she can still hear her beast splashing through the water.

Straightening up a bit to stretch out her limbs, Harue makes a sweeping intake of the layout of the riverside. Her pink eyes slide towards where she'd started, her footprints minuscule thanks to the chakra in her feet keeping her above the squish. Turning her gaze back around the scene, she tries to look for any noticeable markups in the earth. There are slopes and mounds of particular mud hills or rock formations, alongside patches of slipper seaweed here and there. Honestly, there's not much to go by even just looking out across the area. No noticeable indentations or footprints or disturbances. She heaves a sigh, tapping her finger to her chin.

[neko bo beko]

SPOILER: Click to show

Investigate
Rank: "E"
Skill: Sophisticated Skill
Effect: The investigation skill spotlights large-scale inspections, ranging from wide collections of interviews to long information tours.
Special: ---
Drawback: ---
Description: Relevant Abilities: Intelligence Skill. Die Rolls: 1 Die Roll. Check Requirement: Game Master/Described. Investigate skill encompasses a variety of applications. User can use this skill to identify and categorize evidence. User is able to foster important contacts, solicit rumors, spread information and pick up valuable information out of seemingly trivial conversation. Search areas, feeling the walls for hidden objects, finding traps, frisking a suspect, or looking for anything else that is not visible. Finally, investigate is used to analyze and enhance intelligence photographs and video. User can also use it to notice important events during a long stakeout or spot signs of someone watching. When a character enters a crime scene, they are faced with multiplicity of potential clues. The character must be able to decide what is significant and what is not. Characters use this skill when looking at an object to decide whether it is significant evidence or not. For example, if somebody is stabbed and there are knives in a kitchen nearby, the user should be able to recognize which ones could potentially match the wounds on the victim, as well as be able to tell bloodstains from items such as dried ketchup or molasses, etc. Synergy: A user with Local History gives a +5 per Mastery Level Synergy Bonus to Investigate when Coaxing. Synergy: A user with Investigate gives a +5 per Mastery Level Synergy Bonus to Anthropology, Arson Investigation, Ballistics, Blood Spatter Analysis, and DNA Profiling when investigating a crime. Some practical applications of Investigation follow:
Limit: Must learn from Skills.

+Able Learner

post 4: 0/5 TP, 0/125 SP

She spends more time than she'd like to admit finding lots of nothing. Still the same turn ups - a shard of glass catches a sheen of light, a discard soda can glinting just right in her eye. It all comes up the same; phooey. All the way to one end of the riverside now, Harue again turns to take in what she's passed by. Squinting, she even worries the thought that she'd perhaps missed it already. Nothing a little extra combing wouldn't fix, but that could come later when the first time through proves a waste of time. Hopefully, she laments, it doesn't come to that. Not wanting to waste anymore of said time, Harue goes back to sifting through the mud. She uses her foot to pry up small things that stick, nudging rocks out of small pockets of dirty water to examine it closer. Her fingers, stained now, make her feel grimy. She wants desperately to wash them off in the ocean, but she knows it would be a wasted effort. She'd only have to go rifling through the mud once more after.

Accordingly, she doesn't give up on pulling worthless things from the ground. There are objects that she knows for sure have nothing to do with her hunt for the ring or otherwise, but she still frees them from the mud to examine them. Just to be absolutely positive, she reminds herself as she rolls a waterlogged driftwood onto its side, revealing a party of tiny jumping bugs. With a muffled cry, she slams the log back into the mud and stumbles away from the critters. Once she's satisfied with one side of the river's border, Harue takes to looking over the shore closely.

[neko bo beko]

SPOILER: Click to show

Investigate
Rank: "E"
Skill: Sophisticated Skill
Effect: The investigation skill spotlights large-scale inspections, ranging from wide collections of interviews to long information tours.
Special: ---
Drawback: ---
Description: Relevant Abilities: Intelligence Skill. Die Rolls: 1 Die Roll. Check Requirement: Game Master/Described. Investigate skill encompasses a variety of applications. User can use this skill to identify and categorize evidence. User is able to foster important contacts, solicit rumors, spread information and pick up valuable information out of seemingly trivial conversation. Search areas, feeling the walls for hidden objects, finding traps, frisking a suspect, or looking for anything else that is not visible. Finally, investigate is used to analyze and enhance intelligence photographs and video. User can also use it to notice important events during a long stakeout or spot signs of someone watching. When a character enters a crime scene, they are faced with multiplicity of potential clues. The character must be able to decide what is significant and what is not. Characters use this skill when looking at an object to decide whether it is significant evidence or not. For example, if somebody is stabbed and there are knives in a kitchen nearby, the user should be able to recognize which ones could potentially match the wounds on the victim, as well as be able to tell bloodstains from items such as dried ketchup or molasses, etc. Synergy: A user with Local History gives a +5 per Mastery Level Synergy Bonus to Investigate when Coaxing. Synergy: A user with Investigate gives a +5 per Mastery Level Synergy Bonus to Anthropology, Arson Investigation, Ballistics, Blood Spatter Analysis, and DNA Profiling when investigating a crime. Some practical applications of Investigation follow:
Limit: Must learn from Skills.

+Able Learner

post 5: 0/5 TP, 0/125 SP

Frustrated with her complete lack of progress and forethought, Harue takes a moment to stand at the center of the shore and look over the watery horizon. Her pink beast is still tied up in his splashing endeavors and doesn't seem to notice her as she huffs and puff, drawling over what she could do. She frets for a moment that maybe the ring has been washed away by high tides, or maybe a new layer of mud has formed and the wedding band is stuck inches out of reach. Harue lets out a hard breath, scratching the back of her head as she pivots slowly, taking in the entire 'swamp' from end to end with her observant pink eyes.

They observe nothing.

"Gah!" She throws her arms up, flustered, but continues on her trek. As she carefully preens the area with her hooded eyes, she goes over a few things in her head. What to do if she can't find it, what to do if she goes to the town over and they have no answers. What to do if there really is a swamp somewhere around Kawa she wasn't aware of. For a moment she's tempted to pull out her map and unfold it, give it another look over to see if the map mentions any swamps, but it would only prove to be frivolous. It hadn't been there before, it won't be there now.

[neko bo beko]

SPOILER: Click to show

Investigate
Rank: "E"
Skill: Sophisticated Skill
Effect: The investigation skill spotlights large-scale inspections, ranging from wide collections of interviews to long information tours.
Special: ---
Drawback: ---
Description: Relevant Abilities: Intelligence Skill. Die Rolls: 1 Die Roll. Check Requirement: Game Master/Described. Investigate skill encompasses a variety of applications. User can use this skill to identify and categorize evidence. User is able to foster important contacts, solicit rumors, spread information and pick up valuable information out of seemingly trivial conversation. Search areas, feeling the walls for hidden objects, finding traps, frisking a suspect, or looking for anything else that is not visible. Finally, investigate is used to analyze and enhance intelligence photographs and video. User can also use it to notice important events during a long stakeout or spot signs of someone watching. When a character enters a crime scene, they are faced with multiplicity of potential clues. The character must be able to decide what is significant and what is not. Characters use this skill when looking at an object to decide whether it is significant evidence or not. For example, if somebody is stabbed and there are knives in a kitchen nearby, the user should be able to recognize which ones could potentially match the wounds on the victim, as well as be able to tell bloodstains from items such as dried ketchup or molasses, etc. Synergy: A user with Local History gives a +5 per Mastery Level Synergy Bonus to Investigate when Coaxing. Synergy: A user with Investigate gives a +5 per Mastery Level Synergy Bonus to Anthropology, Arson Investigation, Ballistics, Blood Spatter Analysis, and DNA Profiling when investigating a crime. Some practical applications of Investigation follow:
Limit: Must learn from Skills.

+Able Learner

post 6: 0/5 TP, 0/125 SP

Did the widow perhaps make a mistake in calling the riverside a swamp? Was she blinded by sadness and then clumped together the two terrains, or had she been misinformed? Perhaps it was Harue who had been misinformed. With a grunt, she brings a hand to her head and rubs her temple. She was developing a headache from all this second-guessing both herself and the mission slip. But, looking up to the sky for a moment, she knew she wouldn't have much longer before the light source overhead depleted. Gruffly, she calls to Ōmo with a hand cupped around the side of her mouth to project her voice. In an instance, he's skidding to a halt in front of her.

He sprays up some mud, his paws creating hollow prints in the mud. On a whim, Harue nudges him aside and checks his foot prints for anything shiny or sparkly, hoping to find an iron or gold or silver band looking at her from the mud in an off beat way. Unfortunately, she had no such luck. "Hmm," she hums, moving into Ōmo. She lands a hand on his head only to find it sopping wet, and she pulls away quickly. "Aw, gross!"

[neko bo beko]

SPOILER: Click to show

Investigate
Rank: "E"
Skill: Sophisticated Skill
Effect: The investigation skill spotlights large-scale inspections, ranging from wide collections of interviews to long information tours.
Special: ---
Drawback: ---
Description: Relevant Abilities: Intelligence Skill. Die Rolls: 1 Die Roll. Check Requirement: Game Master/Described. Investigate skill encompasses a variety of applications. User can use this skill to identify and categorize evidence. User is able to foster important contacts, solicit rumors, spread information and pick up valuable information out of seemingly trivial conversation. Search areas, feeling the walls for hidden objects, finding traps, frisking a suspect, or looking for anything else that is not visible. Finally, investigate is used to analyze and enhance intelligence photographs and video. User can also use it to notice important events during a long stakeout or spot signs of someone watching. When a character enters a crime scene, they are faced with multiplicity of potential clues. The character must be able to decide what is significant and what is not. Characters use this skill when looking at an object to decide whether it is significant evidence or not. For example, if somebody is stabbed and there are knives in a kitchen nearby, the user should be able to recognize which ones could potentially match the wounds on the victim, as well as be able to tell bloodstains from items such as dried ketchup or molasses, etc. Synergy: A user with Local History gives a +5 per Mastery Level Synergy Bonus to Investigate when Coaxing. Synergy: A user with Investigate gives a +5 per Mastery Level Synergy Bonus to Anthropology, Arson Investigation, Ballistics, Blood Spatter Analysis, and DNA Profiling when investigating a crime. Some practical applications of Investigation follow:
Limit: Must learn from Skills.

+Able Learner

post 7: 0/5 TP, 0/125 SP

The sun was heading down, and Harue's fatigue was going in the opposite direction. Because her companion was drenched in river water, she'd have to walk. And the closest town was a hike away, so the two end up wandering only a short distance away from the riverside. That's when she smells something - it's not a bad smell, either. Charred meat, maybe. Ōmo must smell it too because he's picked up his head, nose turned towards the smoke wafting towards them. It fans from the trees, and so the two creep through the lush that skirt the riverside and crouch low. There's the distinct crackle of fire, but no glowing warmth to move forward to. Against the ground with Ōmo, Harue puts her hands on the earth. She's thankful it's not wet here, save for the soak that comes from the soles of her feet and the fur of the companion creeping beside her.

"Look," she whispers to Ōmo, gesturing for him to turn a few degrees so they may both regard a broken twig. Ōmo looks heavily to Harue, as if unsure that what she's found is useful at all, but Harue's had all day to peel her eyes and look for the clues that will help her. Despite this not being for the search of the ring, it was still a tactful use of her observation skills regardless. One might even say she's investigating. "Don't give me that look," she hisses under her breath, pink eyes darting around the scene. "I bet there'll be more this way," she says, moving in the direction of parted grass.

[neko bo beko]

SPOILER: Click to show

Investigate
Rank: "E"
Skill: Sophisticated Skill
Effect: The investigation skill spotlights large-scale inspections, ranging from wide collections of interviews to long information tours.
Special: ---
Drawback: ---
Description: Relevant Abilities: Intelligence Skill. Die Rolls: 1 Die Roll. Check Requirement: Game Master/Described. Investigate skill encompasses a variety of applications. User can use this skill to identify and categorize evidence. User is able to foster important contacts, solicit rumors, spread information and pick up valuable information out of seemingly trivial conversation. Search areas, feeling the walls for hidden objects, finding traps, frisking a suspect, or looking for anything else that is not visible. Finally, investigate is used to analyze and enhance intelligence photographs and video. User can also use it to notice important events during a long stakeout or spot signs of someone watching. When a character enters a crime scene, they are faced with multiplicity of potential clues. The character must be able to decide what is significant and what is not. Characters use this skill when looking at an object to decide whether it is significant evidence or not. For example, if somebody is stabbed and there are knives in a kitchen nearby, the user should be able to recognize which ones could potentially match the wounds on the victim, as well as be able to tell bloodstains from items such as dried ketchup or molasses, etc. Synergy: A user with Local History gives a +5 per Mastery Level Synergy Bonus to Investigate when Coaxing. Synergy: A user with Investigate gives a +5 per Mastery Level Synergy Bonus to Anthropology, Arson Investigation, Ballistics, Blood Spatter Analysis, and DNA Profiling when investigating a crime. Some practical applications of Investigation follow:
Limit: Must learn from Skills.

+Able Learner

post 8: 0/5 TP, 0/125 SP

Moving silently through the underbrush would be a lot easier if her partner wasn't a giant leo. He was capable enough of being stealthy, but he was also very capable of causing a lot of ruckus. A few times he wanders ahead, effectively messing Harue up in her hunt for more clues as to where the small camp was set up. Each time, however, luck shines upon her and she even happens across a definitive foot print. Judging by how far the footprint sinks into the ground, it was most recent and left by someone her size or a bit larger. In case she's stumbled across her own footprint, she slips her heel into the base of it and lays her toes down. Her clunky boots don't match. With a hard breath, her pink eyes move in the direction of the print.

There's only one. Friendly or not, Harue wouldn't have a particular problem with reasoning with them. It's not that she was looking for company or warmth - both could easily be obtained through Ōmo. In truth, she was looking for answers. She went over a few mental questions in preparation of intruding on this individual's good night. Sorry to intrude, she rehearses in her head, but I'm on a mission and I'd like to ask a few questions. No, too formal. Hey, sorry, I didn't know anyone else was in these woods- an awful lie. She'd only ventured this far because of the smell of cooking. Could I bother you for some of that food? No, she couldn't pull the homeless card. Not with a well-fed lion by her side.

[neko bo beko]

SPOILER: Click to show

Investigate
Rank: "E"
Skill: Sophisticated Skill
Effect: The investigation skill spotlights large-scale inspections, ranging from wide collections of interviews to long information tours.
Special: ---
Drawback: ---
Description: Relevant Abilities: Intelligence Skill. Die Rolls: 1 Die Roll. Check Requirement: Game Master/Described. Investigate skill encompasses a variety of applications. User can use this skill to identify and categorize evidence. User is able to foster important contacts, solicit rumors, spread information and pick up valuable information out of seemingly trivial conversation. Search areas, feeling the walls for hidden objects, finding traps, frisking a suspect, or looking for anything else that is not visible. Finally, investigate is used to analyze and enhance intelligence photographs and video. User can also use it to notice important events during a long stakeout or spot signs of someone watching. When a character enters a crime scene, they are faced with multiplicity of potential clues. The character must be able to decide what is significant and what is not. Characters use this skill when looking at an object to decide whether it is significant evidence or not. For example, if somebody is stabbed and there are knives in a kitchen nearby, the user should be able to recognize which ones could potentially match the wounds on the victim, as well as be able to tell bloodstains from items such as dried ketchup or molasses, etc. Synergy: A user with Local History gives a +5 per Mastery Level Synergy Bonus to Investigate when Coaxing. Synergy: A user with Investigate gives a +5 per Mastery Level Synergy Bonus to Anthropology, Arson Investigation, Ballistics, Blood Spatter Analysis, and DNA Profiling when investigating a crime. Some practical applications of Investigation follow:
Limit: Must learn from Skills.

+Able Learner

post 9: 0/5 TP, 0/125 SP

The smell of food was as strong as it was going to get. Not to mention the steady glow of fire was apparent now, the flicker of its warmth reaching them through the trees. It makes Harue realize just how cold she actually is, her hands snaking around her shoulders to accommodate for it. Squinting, the pinkette tries to catch a glimpse of life. Of course this is a person tending the fire, but what kind? Not much to go by but what litters the area, her pink eyes scan the earth first. No cans or wrappers litter it, so either this person is tidy and economically sound or they simply are foodless aside from the meat they cook. Easily, however, that could be obtained through hunting. On that thought, Harue again scans the area but with something else in mind. A weapon or a gun, anything to prove this person obtained the meat through non-monetary means. What would that entail? That they're endowed enough to attack Harue if she steps out of place?

From where she stands at least however, Harue can't find anything to hint towards this person's ability to hunt and catch meat. Then again, there is a large tent and some trees obscuring her entire view of the small camp. Easily, the person could have hidden their items either in the tent or on the other side of it, just out of her viewing capacity. Stuck at an impasse, Harue is unsure if she should turn back or not. Nothing she can see now tells her much about the situation she might be walking into.

[neko bo beko]

SPOILER: Click to show

Investigate
Rank: "E"
Skill: Sophisticated Skill
Effect: The investigation skill spotlights large-scale inspections, ranging from wide collections of interviews to long information tours.
Special: ---
Drawback: ---
Description: Relevant Abilities: Intelligence Skill. Die Rolls: 1 Die Roll. Check Requirement: Game Master/Described. Investigate skill encompasses a variety of applications. User can use this skill to identify and categorize evidence. User is able to foster important contacts, solicit rumors, spread information and pick up valuable information out of seemingly trivial conversation. Search areas, feeling the walls for hidden objects, finding traps, frisking a suspect, or looking for anything else that is not visible. Finally, investigate is used to analyze and enhance intelligence photographs and video. User can also use it to notice important events during a long stakeout or spot signs of someone watching. When a character enters a crime scene, they are faced with multiplicity of potential clues. The character must be able to decide what is significant and what is not. Characters use this skill when looking at an object to decide whether it is significant evidence or not. For example, if somebody is stabbed and there are knives in a kitchen nearby, the user should be able to recognize which ones could potentially match the wounds on the victim, as well as be able to tell bloodstains from items such as dried ketchup or molasses, etc. Synergy: A user with Local History gives a +5 per Mastery Level Synergy Bonus to Investigate when Coaxing. Synergy: A user with Investigate gives a +5 per Mastery Level Synergy Bonus to Anthropology, Arson Investigation, Ballistics, Blood Spatter Analysis, and DNA Profiling when investigating a crime. Some practical applications of Investigation follow:
Limit: Must learn from Skills.

+Able Learner

post 10: 0/5 TP, 0/125 SP

Despite not wanting to make themselves apparent too abruptly or violently, Ōmo catches sight of a fresh cooked, dripping with grizzle leg of boar and his maw parts, a large wet tongue darting out to flick over his canines. The person, obscured by the tent aside from his arms and legs, moves the meat out of view to assuredly take a bite. "Ōmo..." Harue hisses as the beast creeps forward slightly. The meat comes back into view, a hunk taken out, and that's a hunk too much. Ōmo lunges forward out of the underbrush, digging his claws into the earth as he comes to a sudden halt, spraying up loose dirt and rocks towards Harue. The poor pinkette who'd attempted to throw her arms around him and stop him was fruitless, dropped against the floor of the small clearing with a hard oof. Scrambling up, she swings her head around to regard the man staring slack jawed at the pair, his deliciously charred boar leg hanging between his two hands. "Uhh.."

"Sorry!" Harue jumps up, dusting off her skirt and avoiding eye contact. There's that weapon she'd known he would have - a crossbow, a sheath of bolts placed beside it against a tree trunk. The man notices Harue staring at it and his fingers twitch around his meal, one hand edging towards it. The pinkette brings up her hands defensively, one over her head and the other on top of her beast's head. She doesn't fail to notice the way the guy oggles the beast. A lion with pink fur might make a good price, after all. The thought sends Harue into a hypothetical tizzy. "D-don't shoot! Me, or my lion," she gives the beast another firm, possessive pat between the ears. Ōmo leans up into the affection accordingly.

[neko bo beko]

SPOILER: Click to show

Investigate
Rank: "E"
Skill: Sophisticated Skill
Effect: The investigation skill spotlights large-scale inspections, ranging from wide collections of interviews to long information tours.
Special: ---
Drawback: ---
Description: Relevant Abilities: Intelligence Skill. Die Rolls: 1 Die Roll. Check Requirement: Game Master/Described. Investigate skill encompasses a variety of applications. User can use this skill to identify and categorize evidence. User is able to foster important contacts, solicit rumors, spread information and pick up valuable information out of seemingly trivial conversation. Search areas, feeling the walls for hidden objects, finding traps, frisking a suspect, or looking for anything else that is not visible. Finally, investigate is used to analyze and enhance intelligence photographs and video. User can also use it to notice important events during a long stakeout or spot signs of someone watching. When a character enters a crime scene, they are faced with multiplicity of potential clues. The character must be able to decide what is significant and what is not. Characters use this skill when looking at an object to decide whether it is significant evidence or not. For example, if somebody is stabbed and there are knives in a kitchen nearby, the user should be able to recognize which ones could potentially match the wounds on the victim, as well as be able to tell bloodstains from items such as dried ketchup or molasses, etc. Synergy: A user with Local History gives a +5 per Mastery Level Synergy Bonus to Investigate when Coaxing. Synergy: A user with Investigate gives a +5 per Mastery Level Synergy Bonus to Anthropology, Arson Investigation, Ballistics, Blood Spatter Analysis, and DNA Profiling when investigating a crime. Some practical applications of Investigation follow:
Limit: Must learn from Skills.

+Able Learner

post 11: 0/5 TP, 0/125 SP

Harue could see that the man was wary, especially considering the way Ōmo stared pointedly at the meat he held and the scent it stained his face and hands with, drooling and sputtering from the mouth. He licks his chops, eyes wide. "Ōmono..." Harue says wearily, her voice sage. The beast blinks and looks from her to the meat, considering his options, before settling on huffing and turning his eyes away. She notices from the corner of her eye how he still watches from the corner of his own eye. Her hands are raised slightly, bowed a bit, until she realizes she's acting as though she's approaching a wild animal. Were foreigners akin to wild animals? "Who are you?" She asks carefully, prodding cautiously for some answers about this place and any potential swamps.

"I should be asking you that question," comes a gruff, vague response. Harue squints her eyes against the darkness around them, peering at the red-glowing boy whose face reflects the burning fire before him. Through the flames, she tries to look for signs of anything else that could be helpful to her - that's when she notices a total of two hiking backpacks resting against the log he sits on. Harue blinks, looking around. "You're not alone?" She asks carefully. The man steels.

[Madame Loki]

link

100/125 sp

+55tp

[neko bo beko]

The tone of the area gets tense, and Harue suddenly feels like she's struck a chord. She holds a hand towards her pink beast to usher to him that the situation is close to turning sour. "S-sorry, that's not... that's not important. I just- I need some help." The man, perplexed and basking in the orange glow of his fire, stares into the flickering flames and takes another bite from his meat. Harue continues, feeling her body turn cold. Maybe she'd messed up. "I'm on a mission, from Kusagakure to retrieve a lost wedding ring for a widow. Her husband died in the swamps, and so she thinks that's where his ring may be found. Do you... know of any swamps around here? Have you seen any rings?"

The man stops chewing his mouthful, swallowing thickly and finally turning his eyes up to meet Harue's. Her throat prickles with nervousness. "Might've," he says. Harue blinks. "M-might have?"

For a long time, there's no response.

And then there's the distinct sound of the tent rustling, and despite the man's suddenly abrupt and booming voice to warn whoever it was to retreat, a small child bursts from flaps of the tent. Her hair looks... peachy. For the first time, Harue realizes that the man has pink hair too - at first she'd thought it'd just been light, affected by the colors of the fire, but with the girl coupled beside him it was plain to see they were... eerily relative to the pinkette. The small child doesn't seem to have an ounce of inhibition in her bones. "Who's this! Oh, my gosh, is that a pink lion!?"

"Hanaki!" The man exclaims, standing up briskly as the female leaps over the fire to dart to the pink beast. Ōmo's eyes only widen and he takes a few heavy pawsteps backwards, blinking as the strange young girl attempts to pet him. His ears flicker upwards, eyes going wide, and Harue steps between the girl and her beast. "H-Hanaki, is it?" She asks carefully, under close watch of the man a few feet away from them, on the other side of their small camp fire. Harue understood why he was being so cynical; it didn't offend her. She smiles sweetly. "Don't rush up to him, he'll think you're attacking me and get upset..." She didn't want to explain how making him upset meant turning her limp. The apparent Hanaki blinks slowly, her mouth gaping slightly as she listens to Harue, peering around her side to get a better view of Ōmo. The beast blows air from his nose, drawing an alarmed breath from the guardian of this girl. "But he's not mean, just protective. Here.." Harue, as gingerly as she can, reaches her hand out, palm up, to Hanaki. The girl hesitantly lifts her own hand to match the style, and so Harue slips her fingers around the girl's wrist to tame it. As she steps aside, she guides the girl's hand to Ōmo's maw.

Harue can almost hear the man's heartbeat from where they stand across the fire, but she has to let him know she can be trusted. From the sounds of it, this guy knew something that could help her find the wedding band. Harue smiles to Ōmo, and the beast searches her pink eyes with his brown ones momentarily before allowing his attention to fall solely on the shorter, equally as pink girl. Something seems to click in his head, his eyes softening, as he lowers his nose to the girl's palm and inhales her scent. Satisfied with it, Ōmo licks her wrist appreciatively and Harue pulls her hand away. The girl giggles as Ōmo nuzzles her. "Awhaha! Good boy! What's his name?" 

"Ōmono Tankōshoku, Big Boy Pink. But I just call him Ōmo for short." 

[neko bo beko]

"You're a good boy, Ōmo!!"

Taking advantage of the new preoccupation of the girl, Harue approaches the man. He's sat back down on his log, his leg of boar meat set up against the rock border of the fire to keep it sanitary for now. The young girl must have already eaten. "M-may I sit here?" Harue asks slowly, trying not to look his pink hair over too closely. It was jarring to finally meet more people with the strange hair color. The man shrugs lazily, his eyes lost in the flames. "Fine," he says coolly. Harue sits down carefully on the other end of the log. 

"I'm sorry for intruding," The pinkette says. "I hope you can trust me enough to talk to me. You said you might know something about a ring or a swamp around here?" The man sort of grimaces, so Harue tries a different approach. "My name is Harue, by the way. Harue Niyjua." For some reason, the man's eyelids flutter and his jaw clinches. Harue blinks, looking quickly away. "Like I said, I'm from Kusagakure on a mission for a recent widow. Her-"

The man interrupts. "Yeah, I heard. Did you say Niyjua?"

Harue blinks. She hadn't ever heard the name before outside of her own family, so she couldn't really imagine it being a commonly uttered name. She twists up her mouth, perplexed momentarily, before hesitantly responding. "Yeah." She goes to say something, but the man is suddenly thrusting something into Harue's hands. She's surprised when it's the very thing she had set out for. "O-oh!" She exclaims, holding it up slightly to examine it in the light of the fire. "Th-thank you! Where did you find it? In the swamps?"

"I don't know about any swamps, but there's a riverside that way." The man takes a moment, seeming a little more comfortable now. Harue was confused, her face flushed. What was with this guy? Why did he cave when she said her last name? "Judging by how you smell, I guess you already looked it over."

Harue wrinkles her nose. She stands up quickly, pocketing the recovered wedding ring and glancing to Ōmo and the girl who still plays with him. "I should get back to the village. It's already almost morning." The man blinks, but stands up to extend his hand. She takes it with a sweaty palm and shakes his hand politely. "That's fine. We'll meet again someday." The pinkette stammers, stumbling over to Ōmo and saying goodbye to the young girl. She's surprised when Ōmo takes a moment to say goodbye himself - he never warmed up to anyone but herself.

She didn't know how to feel about these people.

[ exit ]