Festival: TBD

With the festival of shadows at an all-time high, some Adventurers and Landers are enjoying themselves in the midst of the Ninetails Dominion. Many of the towns are participating, and people are being judged for their best costumes by many of the local Landers. Better costumes seems to mean better candy and the like being passed out.

The current township, sizable in nature due to the amount of marketfare there is, is running into a bit of a problem however. According to them, there's a few monsters who are trying to sneak in with disguises. They haven't figured out who is doing this, or why this is happening, but they'd like the Hunters Guild members to keep an eye out for this.

Additionally, the Peko Army is currently in town - with Otto dressed up as some kind of lizard, sitting in his wagon. He's joined by a dark haired Adventurer next to him. Various costumed Pekos wandering about at the edges, with a few riders from a recent race.

Now you see her.

Now you don't.

Now you see her.

Now you really see her!

The agile Spriggan Kotono swoops in jumping from one spot to another before landing with a forwards somersault. Sometimes it seems like she enjoys this just a little bit too much. Is that really a bad thing though?

She stops in a crouched position and then stands up without using her hands. Despite the festival being here, Kotono knows there's trouble here and she knows she can't afford to let her guard down.

Kotono doesn't draw her blades right away though, as she doesn't want to cause the wrong interpretation to the wrong person. Instead, she remains in a ready stance of sorts as she looks around, trying to size everything up.

    The necromancer has his curiosity peeked when he had heard that monsters were sneaking in under disguise. Setsuna didn't think that sounded like normal monster behavior so he was a bit excited to see what was going on. As he looks about he notices the different Peko Army about and when he sees Otto he approaches, " Greetings, I heard there were monsters sneaking about? Is there any extra information you can give, like what type of monsters they are or what they were disguised as? " For a moment he glances over to the adventurer and runs a single inspect and gives a nod of greeting but for the moment doesn't actively engage with them.

Schneider is in town, also, but is not exactly in costume, unless he's going as Adam Ant. Victorian-style coat, tight trousers, and leather boots, with a cape of glittering scales are his /normal/ adventuring duds, costumey as they may seem, though a fancy tricorner hat has been added atop his long white hair, which adds to the Adam Ant effect. Desperate But Not Serious describes Schneider most of the time in any event.

He wasn't planning on trick-or-treating, he's just old enough to think of that as a thing for kids, and anyhow, there's no chocolate, so why bother? But when he hears word of monsters sneaking in, he will make it his business to keep his eyes open and remain alert for anything other than the desperate high spirits of people in wartime trying to blow off a little steam.

There is, once more, a familiar face on the streets. Well. 'Familiar.' Once again, the Plague Doctor walks amongst the living, shrouded in dark robes and moth-eaten, beaked mask. His identity is, of course, quite well known to all who can actually read his HP bar, but to those who cannot...

He's actually rather nice, administering medicine and candy in equal measure depending on what people actually need. But that is not the only reason he is here! There is... unusual news. Monsters sneaking into villages, how strange...!

"Setsuna," the doctor says, "What do you think? I've not heard of monsters doing... stuff like this before."

Haru is out to enjoy the festival times. These are a few of his favorite things. The cloth armored Enchanter does well to have a Phantom of the Opera outfit going on currently. Opera mask is set around his monocle, silver lining against a purple lens. Of course there is a secondary purpose of being here which is to investigate the disguised monsters that the Hunter's Guild had made mention of. He isn't working too hard today, speaking to the Landers and Adventurers in a jest of 'things are spooky and scary' to see if they have similar stories to share that would allude to odd activity. The orbs around him give a soft pulse that make him easy to approach and speak. Totally not being a creeper.

    Merek is dressed like a slime, something he did for Uta, and it looks like he will be relaxing a bit. The man walks about while he watches the festival, and nods a bit to people he knows. All the while he takes the time to see what's new to explore.

The Adventurer, by the name of Natsuki Subaru, is wearing what looks like a track suit that would make Gwen jealous over the fabric used... and some Russian miss his home. He is just watching everything with a youthful look, smiling at all the costumes.

Otto addresses Setsuna as he approaches; "Some kind of humanoid ones I imagine. Though I believe they were wearing some kind of 'sheets' over their bodies." He remarks. "I imagine they're doing so because they want the food? Or someone is pulling a joke." He adds to Prophylaxis.

In the meantime, in the background, Haru manages to get a big Apple for their costume so far - from a big were-bear farmer.

    Setsuna points at Natsuki Subaru as he recognizes the adventuer having seen him in the presence of a certain maid, " Hey I know you, you are the guy who hangs out at the mayors house. I have been meaning to come by and chat with you." Looking over at Otto and then at the docctor before nodding his head, " Possibly shows some sign of intelligence or they are being handled. If they were normal monsters they would show some serious aggression amongst all the adventurers about. " Looking over at Otto he raises a brow, "Sheets? Like bed sheets?" Looking over at Prophylaxis, "Apparently they are wanna be ghosts?" With the information received he lets them know he will look around and will check back in if he finds anything.

     Having moved on from Otto and Natsuki he contemlates how best to draw out these wanna-be and Otto did have a point, the first likely reason for any of this is food. So to begin with he moves towards any of the stalls that may be serving hot food, something that smells of protein and trying to look for any form of people wearing 'sheets'.

Haru keeps the apple held, nice and red, as well as a contrast as a rose may be to his outfit. "Too kind," he offers the big ole were-bear care-bear farmer. A smile as he continues on a conversation with them briefly before breaking off to where he notices some of his fellow Adventurers gathering up. "Doctor," the phantom nods to both Doc being a Doc and now a Plague Doc. Does that make him a Doc Doc? Is there a Goose in the crowd somewhere? A blue eye rolls over to Otto and Natsuki. That fabric. Very nice. "No one has been hurt though, correct," the opera man asks, "just a general state of mischief and the hungers." Well if it doesnt get too out of hand, thats not bad.

Something's not sitting right with Kotono. There should be monsters here but she's not finding any just yet. They must be in good disguises or something.

"A good Spriggan can easily sniff out trouble," She says as she begins to scrutinize the environment around her, paying close attention to certain people and their behaviors. "If there's something wrong, I'll find it."

Schneider has been looking around, searching for monsters, but he can't really tell a child from a kobold with a sheet over the head onscuring them from mid-shin down. The occasional zephyrs of wind he can conjure are not strong enough to lift the sheets and see who's beneath, thouogh based on the assumption that monsters will panic more at the possibility of costume malfunction, he's going to hurl a small breeze at the bedsheet-type costumes and track down any that panic. It's a longshot, but it could happen.

"Hmmm? Ah, yeah, it's been a while since I've been out of the tower I suppose." Natsuki Subaru answers Setsuna as he talks to him. "I mean, I am right here." He offers to Setsunas as he remarks on wanting to have a chat with him, before watching him start to wander off.

"Yeah, just sheets." Otto calls after them, before turning to Haru as he approaches. "Nobody has been hurt yet. But there's that feeling we have that there's monsters amongst us." He explains. "But there's so many people -- it's hard to spot them for us Landers. But I believe you Adventurers have a way of finding them more easily."

Schneider, Haru, Kotono and Setsuna spread out, trying to find any bedsheet type costumes and monsters. But after a few 'heavy breezes' sent up by Schneider, they've had no luck quite yet! The plan to search especially around the food is also a really good one, but they're having no lu~

"EEEE!" There's a cry a bit further to the edge of town!

There, someone steps out of their home, pointing at a retreating pair of blankets!

Schneider has just pulled up the Inspect window on a paid of Lander ghosts going around with a pumpkin-shaped bucket when the cry goes up on the edge of town. Someone running away that fast must ne guilty of /something/ so based on that assumption, he will give chase without even asking more about it. We're losing time! Sadly, his basketball-court physique has gone to hell after two years ingame with only Rune Knight physique. But when your opponent has stolen the ball and his making a fast-break, you need all the hustle you've got to rush in before the opponent can shoot.

The Phantom of the Artificer keeps his eyes open as he talks amongst the township. More eyes and ears the better. Inspect windows? Perfect. Though his own ears work perfectly fine to do the most assistance in the end. A scream! Hark! Sometimes being close enough to the danger is enough before it shows itself. Or... mischief? Haru is putting a gold coin on the later because whats greater than a little spooks in your spooksy event than thinking monsters are amoonnnggg yoouu.

Still, responsible Adventurer time. The Enchanter makes haste to scream and seeks out the retreating pair of blankets. A reminder that his noodle arms also make their way to noodle legs. Swift movement speed that is great for short evasions. Noooot so much distance running. "Stop!" Hammer Time.

So it seems Kotono couldn't spot the monsters, but now someone else has. With a sigh, Kotono says, "Figures I'd blow it." She shrugs. "No time to waste!"

Without a cloud of dust, the Spriggan takes off towards the blankets attempting to run away. "Stop right there!" She yells.

    Merek looks to Natsuki and makes his way that way. It is when he hears the scream which is amid all the talking that he takes a look about the place, "What?" he asks, then he nods to Setsuna, while he waits to see what people will say and if he will be needed at all.

    Setsuna hears the cry of fear and turns his head before he takes off running through the crowd. For a moment he regrets not bringing his three headed pup with him, however he was left at home due for the sake of not adding more monsters to the mix. As he chases through the crowd the moment he sees the blankets making a retreat he does what one does with monsters, he tries to capture them. A few magic words and skeleton hands come up among there path to try to grab hold of them and not let them escape.

"Right, just sheets. I mean, it's possible they could be Palace Landers trying to sneak into the crowd. With sheets on, their heads would be covered and we wouldn't be able to see their foreheads, so..." The doctor slowly scans the crowd from behind the thick lenses of his mask. There are... too many people. And if anyone's trying to be stealthy, they might notice someone watching them.

...Unless he watches from a place they won't think to look.

The doctor makes a noise of exertion as he suddenly leaps atop one of the sturdier nearby houses, his footfalls silent and his jet black outfit basically invisible against the night sky. His goal, though, is the alleyway a few streets away, a vantage from which he can scan the full thoroughfare from a much more advantageous position.

...Of course, it just so happens that the 'ghosts' are spotted soon after /anyway/, but that doesn't stop him from taking the precautionary measure of making sure there's nobody suspicious still lurking about the festivities.

Haru calls out with a commanding tone. Enough that the people around him suddenly stop what they're doing and stand at attention...

But the ones he intended for to stop, they keep moving. Their sheets flapping about. One of them trips, and the other doesn't even move to help them up. But they have a bit of a lead, allowing them to stay ahead of the crew.

Luckily, Setsuna has the 'magic touch' when it comes to dealing with these foes it'd seem. Skeletal hands reach out and grab at the legs of the one that had dropped down, securing them in place! The other one is managing to get away however!

    Setsuna shouts to the others, "Whoever can keep up with that other one run it down, I will deal with the one I grabbed!" Tossing up a strong suggestion to the group he approaches the thing in the sheet that he caught and pulls back the sheet to reveal Old man Johnson... no wait Old man Johnson is a cait sith dog, this appears to be a kobold. "Well well well what do we have here." Looking over he sees the silverware, "Hmm I thought the goblins were the ones who liked the shiny knick knacks." Reaching his hand out, wrapped in magic, he works to 'handle' the kobold to compel it to drop the silverware and to help chase down their friend.

Haru has the magic voice. Enchanting voice! He then makes motions for the people in the streets to move aside so that the seasoned adventurers can run forward without clipping into the rogue bystander or fruit stall. They are out there, looking to stop progress!

Progress can be stopped readily enough by running away from Haru, though. He realizes that the other monster is making a fast break. "Was saving this for a 'trick' for someone else," he says, gulping down air as he moves a hand through his inventory to get an alchemical glue out. The Artificer draws out his avian summon, a birb of fire, and lets her know, "Sticky bomb," as he hands it over. It is still a town so nothing destructive, but all he needs to do is slow or stop em anyho.

The streets seem to be clear. With a relieved sigh, the doctor moves to join the others, only to find...

hat they've already captured one!! What luck! But more importantly, there's one still trying to make a getaway. The doctor peers over at the fleeing creature-- and the one Setsuna is straight up mind-controlling. "Huh. Looks like you guys have this one handled, eh?"

Schneider takes a deep breath, draws a bit of motivation from his basketball days, and taking advantage of the magic in that scaley cloak he made, he runs after the last trick-or-treater like it's got the last ticket out of this place. It hasn't, has it? But Schneider is not really worried about that, his boots are sure as they kicks up turf, his mad sprint actually closing ground, which cannot be good for the nerves of whoever he's running after. Long white hair streams out behind him as the tall human covers the ground in great strides.

Setsuna can feel his ability to handle this monster push against someone else's, but in the end, Setsuna is a far superior monster handler. The Kobold stands up, and then just... drops the silverweear onto the ground and stands there. It goes 'yap' and 'yip' a few times, as is contractually required by Kobolds, but it doesn't seem to understand what is going on outside of what it was commanded to do.

Prophylaxis and the crew can spot as Haru's flaming bird drops alchemical glue down on the other sheets, causing them to pull off of a second dog-style kobold, which ends up quickly flopping to the ground as its feet also end up stuck. It tries to pull on its legs, but it just can't make any progress! And just before it manages to make /some/ progress on clearing the glue from its legs, Schneider grapples hold of it, capturing the other Kobold!

After which Setsuna suddenly feels that 'struggle' against his control ending.

Schneider returns to the main group with the kobold he chased down, still gluey, and held by one hand around its neck. "Bree yark to you, too, pal," he says, repeating the only kobold words he knows. Or are they goblin? Maybe it's orcish? He doesn't understand it, or actually know what it means anyhow, so it probably doens't matter. But he will return to the group and see if they have made any discoveries.

Meanwhile, Kotono is on standby, keeping an eye on the two monsters just in case they try anything. Sure, they can try to run or fight, but that Spriggan is fast...

    Setsuna feels that tug and knows the feeling, he just yanked control of someone elses monster. He looks at the kobold and then curses himself a little. "I should have waited." Taking the kobold with him he does his best to catch up to the others. "Guys these monsters are not the source. There was a handler around here, they were using this kobold to grab silverware and stuff of expensive nature. We have a monster handling thief on our hands. " Looking about he inspects the second captured monster for a moment before he looks toward the watchers. " See anything?"

Haru is not fast. Well he is /fast/ but he isn't getting there anytime soon. He has summons for that. Notably he summons out his Dark Sprite, Eve, that appears near the glue-bombed kobold when his fire birb goes away. Eve is normally a small black cat with two tails and red eyes. Currently she isn't /small/. Larger, the size of a dog. Still catte, though, as she sits down and stares at the stuck runner while the more physical folks catch up. "Using Summons for simple thefts?" quirks the Phantom of the Artificer? The general notion is a whole lot of 'nope' and 'how could you' but a little bit of 'I still have this apple, it will be a good snack later'.

    Merek looks to the kobolds while he notes that alchemical thing, then he nods a bit, "It looks like you all are managing that well enough," he states, taking his time to relax while he follows with the party.

"Nobody that was left in town," Prophylaxis says of this monster handling villain. "If they're anywhere, they're... in whatever direction the kobolds came from. If you've got control over that one, can you ask it to lead us to where its master was waiting?"

"Unfortunately, they probably realize the jig is up by now," the doctor murmurs, rubbing his chin. "Chances are good they're going to be making a getaway sooner rather than later."

    Setsuna looks at Haru with a tilt head, "No if they were summons I wouldn't have been able to rip control of that kobold. Not all handled monsters are summons you know. " Looking at the Kobold he has handled he takes a moment to activate Oracle and explain to the kobold, <" We need to go find the person you were delivering the silver ware to."> which may sound like a whole lot of yipping and yapping. With the order given he lets the Kobold go and lead them int he general direction they need to go, "Be ready to spread out and look for tracks."

Haru looks to Setsuna and shrugs. Summon. Handler. "Handled Monsters, Setsuna, no need to be an ass about it when you knew what I meant. Its apalling to have them utilized this way," he dismisses as he starts looking for tracks. He isn't a tracker, or urban ranger, or investigator for that matter.

The Kobold dutifully starts moving along with the others, showing where it was originally moving. Towards a small area of forest that leads into a valley filled with a small series of caves. Eventually, the Kobold kind of confusedly stares at the caves, then turns at Setsuna waiting for a new order. It seems it can't quite go any further at this time.

Schneider follows the kobold and the rest of the party to the cave and he watches them curiously. Well, this is kind of interesting. It's more like a mystery of some sort than most adventures he's been on, which were all about blowing up monsters and not getting horribly killed. He still wants to avoid being horribly killed, but finding out interesting things is interesting also. Though it seems all we will find out today is which cave the kobolds live in, and do they sneak into town for trick-or-treating every halloween? "Does he not remember which cave is his?" Schneider asks Setsuna. Well, they do look kind of alike.

"Guess not," Haru says to Setsuna as he also looks to the confused kobold. He kneels down to the ground and puts a hand on the Earth. Slowly he channels in Earth energy to send out seismic waves out to get a feel of any of the caves have creatures that respond by footsteps against the tension of the land. Tremorsense, in a way.

A series of caves is like a series of tubes, but natural and tend to lead deep into the earth. Prophylaxis frowns at the sight of them. It looks like the kobold led them to the right spot, but... Maybe it doesn't remember which cave is the right one? Or maybe its master just... never told them which cave. The doctor taps his cheek. "Well," he says thoughtfully, "I /could/ barricade these caves for basically... ever. Or."

Prophylaxis walks to the nearest tree and places his hand upon it. Closing his eyes, the doctor whispers a question under his breath, inquiring... /something/ of the tree. Apparently the doctor talks to plants. Maybe he's a little less sound in the mind than he seems?

Ok. That is a little strange. Haru can't help but ask while he is 'feeling the ground'. "Doing okay over there, Doc?" he asks. Speak with Plants is a new one. Is this a Weird Mood? Haru squints to see if the doctor looks tired or lacking in the usual food or bathing situation.

    Setsuna hears the grumpiness in Haru's comments but doesn't say anything on the matter, instead just following the kobold to the caves and looks around slowly. Looking at the Kobold for a few more minutes he shakes his head, " I think we are a bit to late. Probably my fault, shouldn't have been so quick to put the whammy on this one. Well we found the monsters at least right?" Looking over at the kobold he poses the obvious question to the group, "Anyone want a new kobold pet?"

"We're looking for an older gentleman," Prophylaxis says, pulling away from the tree. "Were Fang. Tiger-like face with a thoroughly greying muzzle," the doctor looks towards the caves, "He entered one of the caves, but the tree doesn't know which one specifically. This whole place is an old mine, though. I'd wager most of these caves are interconnected. Hold on."

He fishes a device out of his costume, something dangling from his neck. With a quick incantation, the device begins to glow, emitting a... That sure is a minimap of the cave network, including whatever secret passages might be hidden away. "If we can find his tracks, I'll be able to seal off the tunnels that connect to the one he chose, then it's just a matter of chasing the old man down."

The old mining shafts are difficult to navigate. Luckily, with Prophylaxis' access to the minimap, the crew is able to chase after them. Using their ability to do some tracking, they find signs of movement of the person. They also find a partially filled bag of silverware, suggesting that they dropped it and ran in order to make proper distance. But also that they first sightings must have been combined with an initial theft already.

It does seem that the old man knows the mines better than them. Minimap only helps so much after all, when dealing with an unknown region. And when they come up to a mining shaft at the back, it seems that they managed to get away for the time being.

At least they stopped the thefts for now, and are able to return to town with the stolen wares to some happy faces.

But the old were-tiger will no doubt be a future problem.