back to work

[beathollow]

WHO:Shepherds, kidnapping victims, rescue rangers weeds anyone who found good info?
WHERE: Library
WHEN: Mid-day 59

 ( at some point the previous day, shepherds will have gotten a sonata cube, since frankly she is probably the more sociable of the two involved- though zenith's voice may be heard occasionally muttering something in the background.

"I apologize for how short-notice this is, but we believe it may be best to reconvene about the attack and kidnappings, now. Tomorrow, please come to the library after lunch. ... If they're up for it, please ask your kidnap victim and accompanying weeds to join us. There's a lot that happened. Thank you."

day of, there they are with several tables pushed together and tea pot with. many cups ready just in case. sonata is ready to record everything, while zenith looks less than thrilled but otherwise all-business. )

Thank you for coming. I've prepared some mint tea, with more waiting in the cafeteria if needed. We've also prepared several topics, though we'll of course open the table to more. I ask that we all remain civil or I'll have to have Zenith remove you, and we really don't want that.

( and with that said... it's time to begin. )

Comments

KIDNAPPEE TESTIMONIES

[beathollow]

Re: KIDNAPPEE TESTIMONIES

[strateelgic]

[Is a shepherd and a kidnappee at once, so of course he has to be here.]

I did speak with my kidnapper, and I have some information to share about that. Among other things.

Re: KIDNAPPEE TESTIMONIES

[beathollow]

I woke up in a large bird cage hanging from the ceiling of what looked to be a luxurious office or... perhaps a study? There was a large mirror against the wall as well. Beneath the cage was a large fishbowl, where Leviathan was being kept. I think he slept through most if not all my time with our captor. By his testimony, had either of us tried to escape, the cage would drop into the fish bowl, drowning me and electrocuting Leviathan. ... He wasn't lying but it's fine, the power got cut.

( she will hold up a surprisingly good sketch, and if asked will let it be passed around. )

He never gave me his name but... before I stopped cooperating, he was. Oddly polite for a kidnapper? He gave me a bottle of water, and had confirmed he was the one keeping Death's eye open. But he also made a point of warning me that 'how painful this winds up being is up to me'.

He specifically asked me my flock and shepherd- which I answered. ... To be perfectly honest, given the, ah, personalization of our conditions, though, I think he already knew. He then asked:

"Have they prioritized your safety? Have you been working to find a way to willingly return to your own realm? Contacted your family? The friends you left behind? The goals you left in the dust?

Or are you all simply wasting time?"

... I quickly got the feeling that answering further would do more ill to the pasture as a whole than anything else, so I stopped cooperating. I won't go into the details of what he did to me unless asked, but his final strike was deafening me and then telling me that Clover abandoned me and I would not be saved.

After that, I'm afraid I'm rather useless as to what happened. I tried to stay out of the fight, and with everything bursting into chaos upon the rescue it was hard to focus on anything... Ah, he also implied he was recording or broadcasting his torture to me. Specifically, he asked if I was camera shy...?

I'm not sure what he wanted with my specific information, though. He was aware that I largely stay uninvolved with other things, it felt like, and I can't even be sure if that last question was an actual question, or if it was an attack. It could also be that he wants us gone...

Re: KIDNAPPEE TESTIMONIES

[rugpull]

I told him the kiss demon was killed and kissin' is illegal.








...that's all really.

Re: KIDNAPPEE TESTIMONIES

[hardpity]

[ holding up just a notebook in front of his face to use as a shield ]

The wolves implied that shepherds undergo some kind of physical change when they become shepherds. I ASSUME this is a leftover belief from when it was only sheeple here.

Re: KIDNAPPEE TESTIMONIES

[mykidisthebest]

[he's taking his own notes on everyone's testimonies, but when there's an opening he'll give his own too]

Miss Bea had Melody and I in some kind of office space. I didn't get a good look at the surrounding area, but it was definitely an empty city.

She wanted to know when we arrived in this world, a description of the powers bestowed upon us, and she wanted to know what the sheep of "that remnant of a pasture" have been planning. She seemed to be under the impression that Blossom and Stormy were preparing for a battle against them. I'll admit that's just speculation on my part.

I tried to negotiate with her for more information, but she was pretty loyal to her boss and wouldn't say much. From the sound of it her boss is most likely the man who took Sonata and Leviathan. It sounded like he's related to the Wolf King.

RESCUER TESTIMONIES

[beathollow]

Re: RESCUER TESTIMONIES

[secondbornsun]

The wolf we fought had a mask—seemed t'be what was keepin' him sane or somethin'.

Seems like bein' a wolf involves bein' in a hivemind. Lots'a voices in your head 'n shit. 'least, that's how this guy was.

Breakin' the mask killed him.

Re: RESCUER TESTIMONIES

[villainrole]

From what I can tell, the mask wearer had a human face, teeth filled with fangs, but fairly regular in appearance. As the ink disappeared, their arms and other body parts were shades of gray.

His final words were “You shouldn’t have done that. Try to have some fun, okay? Looks like you’ve got some folks who care about you, too.”

Lost control of my will and mind for a bit there, but we’re good now, hahaha.

Re: RESCUER TESTIMONIES

[finalefantasy]

[mostly the handful of birds in the room are preening themselves and keeping out of the way, but after some deliberation one leans out from a bookshelf and says:]

The wolves' leader is able to remove the powers of Weeds and choke us with our own collars, and his masked followers can call on their leader to do so even if he is not in the area.

Have a care for those you ask to guide you. Sunlight on our collars stops the strangling.

Re: RESCUER TESTIMONIES

[eonsadrift]

To elaborate further on Sonata and Leviathan's captor...

We were lead out to a mansion out in the middle of the mist. Nothing else around it. Just the mansion. We didn't exactly get the opportunity to explore it ourselves, though.

The wolf we fought was... a wolf. No mask. No shadowy parts. Just a wolf. He was wearing red glasses, but I stole them. [ He holds the glasses up, like someone showing off a trophy. ]

He was a stubborn asshole who barely looked at me and didn't want to give us any information at all, but he did claim that "once" he would have been "honored" to host us "sheep" in his house. And something about us having "gifts from the Beasts of Fangs", but I don't know what that was supposed to mean.

He fought us with powers that were very similar to what the Weeds can do, but to a more powerful degree. Shadow manipulation and teleportation mainly. He was... strong. Too strong.

...we couldn't kill him.

WHAT HAPPENED BACK HOME?

[beathollow]

MIST TRIPS?

[beathollow]

OTHER?

[beathollow]

other: mist beast cure?

[beathollow]

This isn't related to recent events, specifically, but... through witnessing one of Miss Daisy's memories, I was able to learn that the transformation that makes those mist beasts- which isn't bound to predator animals- can be reversed. I remember hearing Blossom's voice for certain, and I believe she used a demon to bind the mist beast at the time...

I'm not sure what she did to reverse the transformation, but if it can be learned, I want to.

Re: OTHER?

[featherduster]

. . . Sonata's wolf is after the Holy Beasts. I saw it myself -- Jim Deer nearly got snatched by a demon's portal.

If there's any protection we can offer them, we should. It sounds like they're the linchpins keeping things from going even more to shit than they already have.

Re: OTHER?

[beathollow]

Relatedly, I'm positive that the vengeance demon had been summoned by the wolf who captured Leviathan and me.

Re: OTHER?

[spinebuddyandme]

Prior to the events of the kidnappings: I approached the snake with the assistance of the Weed Bombay. I questioned him about the shadow wolves that we encountered in the nightmare factory, now suspected to be the same wolves that conducted the kidnappings. After clearly recognizing the wolves, the snake made two statements of note.

[ Scarab adjusts his voice to sound remarkably, but not exactly like the snake's when quoting him ]

"And those wolves don't even know where I am now! They gave it to me fair and square!!"

And when questioned on what "it" was: "THERE IS NO IT!! Not anymore, you can blame Blueb---I mean there's nothing!!"

Re: OTHER?

[hardpity]

Also, not everyone in a wolf mask is necessarily an antagonist... i-it turns out...

on matters of the forever snake and hidden caves

[strateelgic]

I have some information I've been holding onto for reasons that are no longer important and that I feel I should share now for the sake of pasture safety. It involves the Forever Snake as well, who I've been researching.

Before I start, I will give any weeds the opportunity to walk away and ignore this infodump if they think it might compromise them later. It's important that the wolves not learn about this.

At the bottom of the northern end of the lake is an entrance to an underground cave system. Originally this was where I was able to find salt and saltwater creatures. Should one go further into the caves they'll come across several colored tunnels with spices and things like macha in crystallized form. Apparently that's how spices are found in this place. I received the tip about them from Daisy and brought some back for her as well. There was also an orange room with crystals that should be avoided or handled with care because they're actually made of cyanide, for whatever reason.

As for matters of safety (aside from the cyanide), there's a long tunnel from that cave system that comes out at the ocean near the beach. Neither of these entrances are within our protected area, but it still opens up the possibility of enemies coming in from the ocean without us knowing. I don't know if closing it up is a good idea as it could be useful to us as well.

Now when it comes to the Forever Snake, I avoided the questions from our captor about where I've seen them appear the most in our pasture because the answer is there. The tunnels have clearly been created from their passing through, which is interesting because they don't create such destruction when appearing in other places. If they did, this whole world would be a sponge by now. But that's how my brother and I first came in contact with them, as the floor was consumed right from under us. And that's why I also have to urge caution when visiting the caves, because while it hasn't happened on most of my trips there it's always possible it could happen again. This particular Holy Beast is quite polite and has been good about returning people to where they belong, but he is also a creature of time and I'd hate to find any of you stuck outside of ours.

Statue - Wolf Language? - Flowers

[heavyliesthecrown]

I am not quite sure how important this might be. When Bluebell arrived at the location where the prisoners were being kept, there was a giant statue outside of a ram? It seems that we 'sheep' were unable to read the sign on the statue at all, but that weeds can?

[He is trying to recall what Neuv said. It is a good thing he has a relatively good memory when it comes to this sort of thing.]

It was something like 'In memory of the fallen shoulders, crushed by Darkest Storm. Never again will such a tragedy befall us.'

On the opposite side it spoke of peace between kingdoms, the hope for that someday again, but vowed that for now they would fight.

[He releases a deep sigh.]

The statue itself was surrounded by poppies, daisies, buttercups, and some wolfsbane. So perhaps all are resistant to the mist?

Re: OTHER?

[endsjustified]

In the spirit of not overly alarming anyone, if it has side effects...

Do any of you have objections to Lily potentially attempting to call the masked wolves from death, at some point?

They might not be within our reach, but if they are and a Weed activates their truth effect in the vicinity, we might be able to interrogate them.

Re: OTHER?

[hardpity]

Oh, and one more thing Naythan mentioned...

Apparently in a pasture this large it would be normal for every team to have their own priest. Peony has Naythan and Daffodil has Coco... but the rest of them might be out there somewhere. It's probably beneficial to keep an eye out for them.

Re: OTHER?

[catposting]

Some of you may have already figured this out, but Blossom did confirm that names hold a lot of power here. "It's how you invoke things--like a demon's rune is similar to its name in a way."

She doesn't seem to remember the other priests' true names, but she hesitated suspiciously when I asked her if she remembered her own.

Flower cave

[wants_the_phd]

After Rose and Clover fought the wolf in the mansion, two of the weeds and I took shelter in a nearby cave while running away.

The cave was blocked with vines, and filled with flowers. There were representative flowers for each of the teams here in the pasture, but also a bunch of others, especially hydrangea.

At the back of the cave was a wall made of... glass? or crystal. There were piles of little offerings piled up against it, like food and trinkets -- some of which was still fresh.

Beyond the wall was some kind of casket with a humanoid shape inside, but we couldn't get a good look at it before we were chased out of the cave by an apparition that appeared in the glass and strangled the two weeds with their own collars.