Ghosts of Alne

Thursday, January 10th
Alne, the City of Ash.
It is not a night to be exploring.

The clouds loom close, threathening rain. The wind, no longer playful, howls a mournful dirge through empty streets and narrow alleyways. Dry leaves rattle across the Main Square, the great walls of the city looming over the pallid, washed out houses.

The afternoon grows sluggish and cold.

This city started as a mystery, a neutral entity created nearly a year ago by unknown hands to spiral out from the Tower like the roots of a great tree. It was here that all Adventurers save a very few were called during the Black Wave and the onset of the Apocalypse. It was here that the image of a man flickered and died, leaving doubt, confusion and the shards of hope behind.

Alne is a city of unease. The Tower at it's heart is often considered a dangerous mystery, visited mostly by the Scale Emblem Alliance and those merchants catering to them. The rest of the city is a sprawling hollow expanse where the sound of footsteps echo and the sounds of life are fleeting, even now as Adventurers camp in their multitudes throughout the habitable stretches of the city. These places, by chance or design, are often marked by wooden panelling along the sides. But there remains great swathes of the city left unexplored and unremarked upon.

Some of those multitudes bleed out of it now. Plant Hwyaden is on the move tonight and Nureha is at their head in her brilliant purple dress, the many layers rustling as she drifts down the street surrounded by a knot of blandly geared and blandly clothed scouts. The scouts collectively give the surroundings a nervous glance before dispersing on their tasks.

In the broadest of senses, Plant Hwyaden is looking for a permanent headquarters.
In execution? Well...

Rumor runs rampant in the streets without fact to beat them back into the darkness. Ghost stories breed in the dark corners of taverns and shops, in the whispers of the Hunter's guild and the chim-link chatter of adventurers.

Some stories are there to be told. Others? Never to be spoken again.
You may have heard the whispers. You may have come to investigate a harmless old derelict. Bravery, however misplaced, is still bravery.

But Alne is still a city of ghosts, where the dead are given no holy land to return to.

Welcome.

Att Syne is among the number of blandly-geared and blandly-clothed scouts, but he does not count amongst their number. When they scatter to search, he falls into step behind Nureha, his quarterstaff tapping on the street in rhythmic step.

This is not the place he was called to when the Black Wave swept through the world. He's one of the few who came from Ezzo instead. The place doesn't hold the sense of familiar dread that it would to someone whose first taste of this world was a grand proclamation in the middle of what is now a city of ghosts. Instead, it feels claustrophic in its quiet, and tight with anticipation and mystery.

In any other world, he'd be thrilled to be here.

"Looks like we should have our pick of the place... assuming nothing jump-scares us out of render fog." Att runs his free hand through his hair, scanning either side of the street. It's a slightly nervous, totally unconscious motion. "This whole place feels kind of off, though. I'm waiting to hear a pin drop."

    Kyo Kirin is here, naturally, as another member of Plant Hwyaden and, in particular, out of a general, apparent desire to be as helpful as she can. Nureha does bring out some of that feeling of needing support, in her.

    The woodland archer outfit is gone off of her. Instead, it's a worn and drab cloak, fitting in well with this worn and abandoned city, with tall pockets for her similarly tall ears in the pulled-up hood. It's fine for keeping the rain off, but does seem like it would interfere with hearing even more than a hood on a human. But that's fine, because, despite that former appearance and her light-armored look, Kyo has hardly any skills related to scouting. She's displaying one of her actual talents now, by having already retrieved the ocarina from her equipment, and picking out a tune as they walk. It's a somber melody, just a little spooky by virtue of the wind instrument, but the +GUARD buff icon appears on her nearby allies all the same.

    It does prevent her from speaking, in the meantime, if not from looking side to side.

EARLIER:
    Mizuki laughs as she overhears the landers. "Please, everyone knows there's no such thing as ghosts!"

    Then she remembers where she is and looks rather embarassed. "Err, I mean, nevermind. Of course there are ghosts. Please do continue."

    Hey, it's a game. Ghosts aren't REALLY spooky, lingering remnants of those who have passed on, but they ARE a spoopy source of XP!

NOW:
    Alne, the city of Ash...

    Just the other day, Mizuki was remarking on how beautiful the 'nature' of Yamato looked, but somehow, tonight... Tonight the city feels opressive, with a vague, looming threat of horror lurking behind each corner.

Mizuki overhears another Adventurer commenting on the current look of the city. "Right? Geeze, go full Niflheim already why don't you..." Mizuki comments, looking around.

    "Wait, is that a thing that could happen? Are there any regular events where Alne suddenly becomes a monster-filled unsafe zone? I haven't actually BEEN here more than a few weeks..."

It's a terrible afternoon to have a curse. Or something like that. The environment is much less welcoming in VR than similar places are when you are sitting in the comfort of your home, Proteus is forced to reflect as team Plant Duck arrives en masse to the call of Nureha for adventure and possibly Cool Stuff.

Proteus, too, is among the scouts, bland by virtue of not having found any better gear yet to swap into. The good stuff is all high level, you know? Similar to Att, having come fresh from Ezzo, she might not find the idea of ghosts entirely as compelling as 'the world twisting around them', but there might be something to it.

"Maybe we can have some of the less bright people make plenty of noise. If there are any spawns here they will probably be attracted to the noise, or be scared off." The Imp shrugs. "This place lacks any sense of life. Maybe there's something we can do to fix that. Ghost towns are always creepy, even if they don't have actual ghosts in them."

"I wouldn't put it past anything at this point." Proteus looks over her shoulder at Mizuki's question. "We'll find out soon enough. Let's keep moving." Proteus encourages. Despite often being a loner, this is not a bright place to strike out on one's own. Also, the guard buff from Kyo is handy. Proteus is absolutely not scared of ghosts. Not at all. Nope. Not happening. No way.

    Plant Hywaden are not the only ones on the move tonight. From a different direction comes Misa, flanked by a few members from the Scale Emblem Alliance. The uniformed woman walks up to meet the group of Olympus members. She is clutching a clipboard to her chest with one arm. She gives them all a nod in greeting before saying to Nureha, "A lovely night for a walk, isn't it?" That was probably a joke, given the rather questionable night. Though with Misa it can be hard to tell.

    Misa looks around at their rather quiet surroundings, remarking, "It would be nice if we could figure out the secrets of this city and turn it from something so... Ghostly. Into something more accepting. It has become something of a center of activity for Adventurers of late."

Reika doesn't believe in ghosts. In the real world at least. In a video game, that's different. Everything is a bit of code, and even if someone did die and not respawn, it doesn't mean it's code would vanish, it might just have a glitchy flag or something that makes it inivisible.

At least, that's what she would say if she was a coder at all. Which she isn't. So ghosts should still not be a thing even in a game, right?

"Isn't this part of a safe zone anyway?" She wonders outloud. What kind of danger should there be? But again, there's no telling what's part of the code or of the rules... Anything could happen, and she already got a token on her death counter, she's not keen on getting any more.

"It could just be some sort of prank to keep people away..."

Trying to determine how things work in this madhouse of a world is difficult.

What makes it further complicated is that he's surrounded by nerds, otakus, anime freaks, and neets.. And they're the ones who understand how things seem to work here.

Karoshi's adapted somewhat, this is his new job, his new job is getting back to his old job.. And that requires figuring out how things work.

He'd been venting those frustrations into the squirrels and low level creatures he'd been slaughtering, remembering that the 'grind' had something to do with that..and that 'grinding' was a key to "XP."

Apparently quests were also a key to XP and so here he is, in a supposedly 'haunted' place in this weird fantasy world.

Karoshi is more or less..bland looking.

He's got his helmet's visor down, and his armor appears pretty non distinct as he shuffles along at the rear of the group, weapon at the ready.

He tries to put things into perspective..
     Its like the walks home when you're a kid. Mostly safe, but the possibility of danger..

Some kid looking for your lunch.
Some yakuza shithead claiming you bumped into him.

Except here you have a sword. Presumably a legal one.

His closed visor hides his eyes, but not his mouth which is downturned in a displeased frown.

A world of NEETs, chuunibyou and otaku.

He wonders how precisely his karma got so bad that he ended up here.

In his ear he hears a disconnected voice from beyond.

"And how do we determine that?"
His frown deepens..and he asides to Misa, "Means to an end. Ideally we can transform it back into Odaiba, and get back where we belong."

He does glance around, still wary..
"I imagine we're the 'Adventurers?' I never liked that term. Makes me think of dilettantes and ronin."

His head pans around, as he takes in the surroundings, and the others..

"We should aspire to be something better than that. We've got a cause afterall. Getting back home to Japan."

    Merek begins making a way to the south side of Alne, while he takes the time to look to the letter which he was given. The man wears his white-black longcoat along his features, the scarf shifting while he wears two swords upon the back. He seems to be by himself, taking the time to explore, his eyes moving along the place while he nods a bit, looking to the place and people.

Zorin was just finishing up with some of the new Aincrad Liberation Front recruits he had come in with while escorting a caravan of supplies to the temporary Alne outpost that had been setup. It had been an uneventful trip, much to his own surprise. Lots of time to think, and still more to brood. The supplies were planned to be used once they determined a more permanent location, but he planned to meet up with Misa at the outpost and do some further exploration of the area.

But he was now in Alne, and he saw an ALF messenger running in his direction. After a brief conversation he found out that Misa had already left the outpost. Looking up at the dark sky he frowns slightly, "I guess we didn't make the best of time. I best hurry, Misa may already be on the move." Dismissing the other recruits, they could take the caravan the rest of the way to the outpost, he started to head into town. Hopefully they hadn't got too far ahead.

It's been ten days since her life got flipped turned upside down. She is okay with it though the weather makes her wonder a bit. Her own guild needed to find a home, but it was far smaller than the massive Plant Welsh Name was and likely never would match its size. That was fine with her also the talk of ghosts had her wonders. She's been scouting out possible locations but when the rumours came up she got curious about just what was going on with these Ghosts.

Could it be an event? A clue to how their reality became this? She didn't know for sure but she did intend to start tracking down the location from some of the rumours.

"If there's something strange in your neighbourhood, who you going to call? o/~"

    Having been around town for a bit, he heard about the trip further into Alne and well Wynfei hadn't been doing much lately outside of exploring and looking for things for people and occasionally starting to look for people. He decided to go help, this was goign to be fun, though he wasn't about the ghost life and honestly he hasn't played in the areas prior to the Black Wave incident where ghost were. SO this was going to be new.

    Joining up with a group already heading out to the specified area, Wynfei bops along at a steady gait watching people and waving to others who he knows. He was at Ezzo when the Black Wave hit and he sees more familiar faces who he travelled and fought along side of to get through all of that. "How is everyone doing?" he asks as he meets with the gathered Adventurers.

    "I saw that movie in theaters when you were barely a twinkle in your mother's eye, you know." Comes a voice from right beside Gwen. The older woman at her side keeps pace with the younger tank well enough, but Amalthea can't help but smirk slightly at Gwen singsonging.
    Still, she wraps her cloak a little more tightly around herself as the evening grows more chill and unpleasant.
    "I still can't believe how real this feels sometimes." She mutters to herself with a grumble as she follows along at a casual pace, hand resting on the pommel of the sword at her hip. "So what's the deal with this place again? Haunted? I've seen a lot of things but I'll believe in ghosts when I see them."
    A pause.
    "... Can we hit ghosts with our weapons in this game?"

    Mizuki blinks at Amalthea's comment to Gwen. Not sure if the warrior grandma is /actually/ old or just roleplaying. "Man, I hope so. It's really gonna such if the only thing that hurts them is light magic. ...Does anyone here have light magic?"

"There weren't, except maybe the odd holiday thing, but that doesn't necessarily mean things line up one-to-one here and now," Att asides to Mizuki, without looking up from his examination of the buildings around them. He's expecting... something. It's starting to get to him, this suspense. "Noise is one plan. Lots of light, too. If we can aggro whatever's nearby, maybe we can leash it and have stealthed scouts map their movements? Pick up one pack at a time instead of starting a huge melee. If it's dungeon-like in its rules, it's possible we can just 'clear' it and then make sure there's always someone in the zone --"

*Something* happens: Scale Emblem shows up. Att stops in his tracks, looking across the street to Misa in the lead and her cronies nearby. Rather than greet sudden other players with hostility, he raises a hand in a partial wave and smiles broadly. "Don't worry; we're on it. I'll hire some gardeners as soon as we've got at least a couple blocks secured. Ghosts hate greenery." His eyes briefly track to Karoshi, but he doesn't do more than roll his eyes a little in that direction.

Nureha smiles at Att Syne as they walk down the street together. She has no staff tonight, her hands kept free while ribbons trail down her hair and her sleeves droop. "Well. There's two schools of thought..." she says, with a hint of a mischievious smile on her face. "Either there is something out there, and we gain knowledge from an encounter with it. Or... whatever is out there is skilled enough to let not even rumor trickle through it's grasp."

She seems not to care which one that was, but the smile on her face is plainly teasing. It's not likely anything here is at the... obvious and grandiose scale of what he's already encountered.

Nureha looks over at Kyo Kirin, giving another small smile as the buff appears in the menu she is watching. Despite her calm and mischievous demeanor, she has a menu with all of Plant Hwyden kept in her sights at all times. "And thank you for providing such appropriate music, Kyo. All we need now is an ominous fog and we will be playing the evening to the hilt."

No Mizuki. There are no such things as ghosts. Ominous portents. Threathening signs. Gloom in abundance. Lights in mysterious corners. But no.... ghosts? Of course not. That would be silly.

Silly Lander Suspicions. This is still, despite everything, just a game..

Though there were still horror games back home. And there is something in the air.. just a touch, a lingering residue, that is still very unsettling.

"I think." Nureha says over the chim-link to her people in Plant Hwyaden. "We should have everyone who isn't ours wear something vibrantly red. I know I saw a few blouses at a merchant stall like that. They would make an excellent distraction." Mostly, she is teasing Proteus. "But you are right... I did plan smaller groups, but we'll have to deal with the situation as it is."

At the intersection of the next street, they encounter Misa and her group of Scale Emblem Alliance coming from a different direction. Nureha draws herself up, hair cascading over one bare shoulder as she combs her hair through it. "Oh yes. You never know just WHAT or WHO you might run into here in the City." her teasing smile and glittering eyes make the statement that her mouth is not. 'You are here for the same reason, aren't you' -- She doesn't seem to mind QUITE this moment, though with that frozen porcelain expression it's hard to tell.

One of the Plant Hywaden scouts, a blond haired human in bland gear with a bluish-grey cloak shrugs to Reika. "I keep telling that to people, but they don't believe me. This is a safe zone. There's nothing here but some spooky sound effects and banging doors."

Another, a red haired woman grumbles at Karoshi. "Yeah. 'Belong' is a strong word to use. But.. honestly. Aspire? Like you and your buddies grinding your faces against the tower. Or whatever? Orcs? Squirrels maybe?"

Zorin heads into the city, where he sees the confluance of two groups. Plant Hwyaden, the Scale Alliance, and unaffiliated others caught between. Not quite a standoff, but there are strains of tension running underneath the interactions and the clouds are now definitely threathening to open up.

One of the Plant Hwyaden scouts, the blond haired man who talked to Reika, finishes the refrain. "Ghostbusters!" with a fist pump and a wide smile. He turns towards Gwen until Nureha clears her throat. "Yeah.. sorry.. got distracted." he says with absolutely NO repentance. He grins at Amalthea, sidling up to her and saying. "Nah. It's just effects. Undead are a completely different class of beasts, and this is a safe zone. AS I KEEP--" he's cut off by his own teammate, who elbows him in the ribs.

As more and more people show up, Nureha seems to be doing some mental math, looking over the group. "Alright." she says, raising her voice. She splits her scouts into several groups, attaching them to those who are unaffiliated while keeping her core group together. "The general plan." she pauses, momentarily, glancing at Misa, but then decides, in the spirit of goodwill, to continue speaking anyways.

"The general plan is to scour the Southern edges of the city for a building suitable for our needs. We've already located a couple of candidates. We'll get through one or two before it starts raining, and then comb through the rest another day if nothing suits. Break up into your teams. Those unaffiliated, attach yourselves to someone from Plant Hwyaden please. This weather.. well. It is not condusive to moving alone. If you would excuse us, Ms Takayama." she inclines her head respectfully.

The group breaks up and then begins like a caravan procession down the street into the hollow reaches of the city, past the habitated areas.

There is a profound silence that falls that seems to muffle even their collective footsteps. It takes time for them to reach the first candidate, a sprawling old complex of muted grey and white, wide rather than tall, but overgrown by vines and the detritus of long exposure.

As he briskly walks the streets Zorin looks around at the town. The 'Ash City' as it was often called really did seem apt. The buildings seemed to be coated in whites and grays. "I kind of wonder why the developers created this place the way they did?" he mutters to himself as he continues down the street. Now with the night setting in.. and was that a slight mist forming? The area had a bit of an eery feeling.

Rounding a corner, he finally spotted the rest of the Scale Emblem Alliance group being led by Misa. And then his gaze turns to the brightly dressed Cait-Sith with an entourage of armed individuals a few paces away. Weapons were not drawn, but it did seem there was some tension. Now with his focus on the other group he realized it was Nureha, from the Olypmus Alliance, one of the others who was with him during the audience with King Gilgamesh.

With a quick jog he joins up and falls into line just behind Misa, giving the briefest of salutes as he arrives, just in time to hear the plan issued by Nureha.

    Misa turns her head to look at Karoshi as he complains about the term Adventurers. Misa simply shrugs, "It is a name. A lore reference to players that the devs created. It has no particular meaning we need to acknowledge." Misa gives a nod in replay to Zorin as he arrives and greets her with a salute.

    Misa signals the other non-descript Scale Emblem members that had followed her here to split up and begin searching. For ghosts, of course. Yes. They're here to help solve this mystery too. The rest of the Scale Emblem members are free to do as they wish.

    Misa is not tense as she listens to Nureha lay out the plan. And then as she asks to be excused, Misa replies, "On the contrary. I'd be happy to join along. If we're going to be neighbours, it's only right that I assist. In the name of good relations." She falls into step behind the main Plant Hywaden group. Nureha could protest, but Misa seems firm in her desire to join them.

    "Hey, what's with this tension?" The catgirl tries to diffuse things. "We're all trapped in the game together! Let's just work together against any monsters that want to kill us, nya?"

    Also: this is a LOT of people. Mizuki starts using the inspect function on everyone in a hopeless bid to remember names.

    Until one sticks out: "Att Syne?! I've been looking for you since the Apocalypse, when did you escape Ezzo?! I went but I couldn't find you..."

    Then she realizes that he kind of has no context for this outburst. "Um. I'm from the WTME... It's just nice to see a familiar face... well, you know what I mean." She sends a friend request.

Reika has someone agreeing with her at least! But that doesn't change the issue at hand though. "If it's not a ghost, then what is it though? I'm still curious." She hmms, as they approach the ominous looking building, talking to the blonde guy that tries to repeat the point, but apparently the others are tired of hearing it.

"This place would do far better with improved lighting as a starter. Maybe some new drapes. A little 'welcome' carpet. Why do all ghosts stubbornly go with the spooky feeling. Don't they like luxuries too?" Applying logic to ghosts, without knowing what actually makes them tick. If they knew, there'd be no ghosts left.

Not moving alone is fine with her, she knows a few faces here at least, so it's not too hard to stick around a group. "It's like in those TV shows, as soon as someone gets isolated, they get knocked over the head, and then you capture the bad guy, remove the mask and it was Mr. Anderson all along."

    Merek nods a bit, "This will be a great plan, I'll work with you all," he calls then to Nureha, while he offers a lift of a hand into the sky to signify that. Then he begins to make a way along to find people he knows, which will bring the man about to where Zorin is at, "Hey, it's great to see you, I've got some information to share a bit unique to the... Well, to CC, next you're free."

    The buff will last a good while after Kyo stops playing, the tune dispelling eerie silence but not the atmosphere that goes with it. She still keeps the ocarina close at hand. "It's a little more lively than expected just tonight, isn't it? These kinds of coincidences happen." Running right into a tower-climber... shouldn't be too surprising, here. 'Here' is close to where the tower is.

    To Att, after Misa arrives, "I hope it's not going to be a race for the choicest spots." Then, "Better that you get it out of the way right away, you mean? Are you the kind to run straight ahead in a horror game so you can restart after finding out what happens?" She taps her chin, considering the idea.

    Nureha's praise gets a theatrical bow, twirling hand and all. Kyo's taken to the Bard thing, though that's not new. A few other, somewhat familiar, get a little wave. She's partied with a fair few by this point, or else seen them in the several meetings of the variously ambitious in this area, since the Apocalypse.

    Still, she doesn't have much else to say, besides, "Oh, this place is large enough, isn't it? But let's see what the inside is like." She strides ahead a few paces, one hand resting casually on the hilt of her sword, sheathed at her left. "Should we... split up?" It's harder to tell if she's joking, outside of the timing.

Karoshi turns his head to Misa.

His frown deepens. Again with this 'lore' nonsense.. but he nods..

Arguing over stupid game terminology isn't going to help at the moment.. And the 'rival company' is present and its important to present a unified face.

He follows Misa's lead, falling in with the other 'non descripts.'

His wary eyes occasionally switch to the other players. Most of them are teenagers, college students, the unemployed, or as was inferred by that one who spoke to him 'people who don't belong.'

He does speak up at that, "We all belong somewhere. Sometimes we simply choose to not make the modifications to ourselves, or our outlooks to allow us to become part of something. You don't solve that by running away."

He does look around the buildings. He wishes he had an eye for 'good spots.' His apartment back home is a simple one, he found it because it was cheap, close to public transportation and job related amenities.. He again wishes he knew more about this stupid ass game so he could figure out what is and isn't important here.

Is there an equivalent of a train station?
Doctor's office?
Police station?

He wonders why they can't just get enough resources to build the stuff they need closer to the tower..

"There can't be any ghosts here anyway. There weren't any real people here until we got sucked into this nightmare. And we can't die."

Gwen just pause for a moment at Amalthea two things come to mind how old is this fellow Knightly Tank and two did that movie ever come out in Japan.

"Really? I'm just glad Mom and dad watched it with me every Halloween."

She grins back as she keeps moving.

"Tell me about it."

Gwen touches one of her almost knife-like ears.

"Feels utterly natural to me. I'm just glad I didn't opt for something with a tail or a Werefang. I think my brain would go splort at that."

She pauses for a moment.

"Yes generally or some form of magic, or buff depending on your class."

She looks to the scout and grins widely for a moment.

"All right so we have to go scout the southern edge to seems.

She will grin at Reika for a moment then turn to Amalthea.

"Well I ain't your mother so you can go with whom you want but I'm going to head out."

She starts humming the rest of the Ghost Busters theme as she does so.

    Amalthea can't help but grin back at the scout, but she listens intently to his answer, lips pursing faintly. Undead are a class of monsters. The place is a safe zone.
    Does the old woman look a little disappointed?
    Maybe.
    Maybe just a little.
    Only a tiny bit, but she nods her head respectfully, before her attention turns to Nureha; a face she recognizes from a recent misadventure involving rowdy horse-birds.
    What are they called again? Peco? Peko? Those things.
    Regardless, the older woman gives a slight wave, before...
    "It was Old Man Jenkins." She asides to Reika, helpfully as Gwen takes her leave, patting the girl on the shoulder. This is when the old woman sort of ambles her way... Towards Misa, Zorin, and Karoshi.
    "I hope you don't mind if I tag along?"
    She's just going to try and link up with the other Scale Emblem crew.

"That's a real case of contagious optimism you've got there, boss," Att tells Nureha, looking her way with a grin. "'Either we find something and kill it, or it finds us first.' I'm with it."

The talkative catgirl says his name. Att looks over, planting his staff. He blinks a couple times, and leans over to squint at her. "Uh, days ago. We found our own," guild-internal, he doesn't say, "way out. Who -- oh shit, really? I didn't know we had anybody on the list that I wasn't already friended with here..." He makes a motion with his left hand and calls up his friend list, scrolling through as if it'll hold a hint, and then eventually accepting the request.

"C'mon; you can help us do the rounds." Att turns, flashing Kyo a quick smile on the way towards his chosen Definitely Not Haunted part of the city. "A race? Nahhhh. We're just going to be quietly competing for bragging rights for finding the coolest haunt." Beat. "In hindsight that wasn't the most ideal word choice."

    Didn't know there were other WTME members here? "Ah, yeah, I'm--"

    And then Mizuki remembers what she looks like and lowers her voice a little. "--Mycroft Hellfire. Remember how I said I was thinking of making my next character after the job transfer more for funsies? Well... tadaa..." She makes a subdued jazz-hands gesture.

    Then, back to normal volume: "Wait, there's other people from WTME here? We should all get back in touch."

    Before following Att's group, though, she turns back to some of the others.

    Karoshi: "There aren't REAL ghosts, but there are monsters based on the myth of ghosts."
    Gwen: "It's really not that bad!" *tailflick*
    Reika & Amalthea: "This is Elder Tale Online, not Scooby Doo... they wouldn't do a quest like that, would they?" Really, she just doesn't want to be the animal mascot. -_-;

    LWynfei quickly moves up to where everyone is, he had been a bit preoccupied in his own thoughts and looking around at the scenery. He shakes his head as he finally makes it up to where the main group of Adventurers are. "Sorry about that, I kind spaced out there." he smiles. "So what are we doing again, sorry I really need to pay more attention at times." he grins sheepishly.

"I do my very utmost to live up to your expectations, Syne." Nureha brings up a hand, shielding a smile. There is a pause and she says on chim-link "No. Perhaps it was the BEST word to use, considering the circumstances." --There is some heightened grumbling from the guild and some mutters that Att Syne has, in fact, jinxed it.

She gives Zorin a brief glance as he jogs into the 'opposing' line, and a couple of Plant Hwyaden members give him the side eye, but otherwise don't remark on his joining of the Scale Alliance. For now. There is a light mist forming in the streets which sets them to murmuring amongst themselves, filling the chim-link channel with a patter of short, clipped assurances. But one thing is very clear.

Nobody seems to know any ACTUAL hard facts about this place. This, combined with the weather and the faint sense of --something off--, keeps a thread of disquiet running like electricity powering a computer.

And Plant Hwyaden DOES protest the Scale Alliance following them until Nureha graciously accepts Misa's terms. "I would be delighted for the company. Please.. the first candidate is only a short walk away." She allows Misa and her group to mingle with them, though they walk together, neither leading the assorted pack of adventurers. "So.. what do you plan after Tolbana, Ms Takayama? I'm impressed they've made as much progress as they have, considering the situation."

The blond man sighs at Mizuki and mutters. "Yeah. Well great... it's a beautiful day in the neighborhood." sourly, dodging an incoming elbow a second time. "I think they might be allergic to them. Luxuries, I mean. " he says to Reika. "Or have some sort of dust fetish. You ever see a ghost haunt that wasn't LOADED with the stuff. Gods, I'm glad I left my allergies back home." "Can we NOT talk about monsters that want to kill us right now?" The red haired woman rubs her arms, obviously unnerved. But she looks more pissed off as Karoshi snarks at them. "And listen buddy. Whatever your running towards might look a hell of a lot like running away to someone else. So give me a break with the high horse schtick." She looks like she's going to continue arguing but Wynfei jogs up and a look passes over her face, like seeing your little brother for a fleeting moment around a corner. Or spying a delicious looking cinnamon roll. "Looking for a place to stay. Hoping it's not already occupied by whatever. Come on, let's go inside before it starts to rain."

Nureha flicks an ear but pretends not to hear the argument, giving Misa the side eye before looking ahead. She then focused on her core group. "The more, the merrier." she says to Kyo, while they make their way to the first candidate. When they are all gathered together in front of the structure, she makes her plans.

"There will be no splitting of the party, on request." Nureha smiles. "So we'll sweep through the building, look for anything interesting but most of all, appraise it for Integrity damage. Integrity damage is like an objects HP. We want enough space for ourselves but still leave enough room for." she glances at Misa. "Modifications to be innumerated at a later time. We also might look out for a large courtyard or a series of inwardly facing residental building to that courtyard, as we'll be looking for a place for crafters to gather together and practice their crafts as well."

The scout, who introduces himself as Brian (Even though his tag reads Lazion Shadowstep) tries to join up with Amalthea and Gwen because they are people of culture, but is yanked back by his teammate into his own group, his face chagrined but unrepentant. Nureha notices Amalthea's attention but her mask does not crack once, even though she feels the phantom nibbling of a peco peco as she recalls a recent excursion. Her lips twitch, but she's in public and so only inclines her head slightly towards her.

The scouts proceeds inside the ancient, overgrown building complex.

In small groups they filter through the large doubledoors planted in front of the complex, where a bevy of rooms shoot out from a central corridor like the veins wrapped around a giant heart. Evening begins to fall, the last fading rays of dusk trickling over the horizon.

There are more than enough animals here for Mizuki to miss out on being the mascot. However, large numbers DO tend to get whittled away quickly during a slasher fic. And.. there are a lot of rooms, most of them furnished but abandoned. Inside, the hollow echo is MUCH more prevalent, a muffling shroud highlighting the desolation. Voices sound small in this cavernous place. There is a small yard attached to this property, but it's quite overgrown.

Nureha has a small book in her hands that she takes from her inventory. She studies the contents briefly, a series of circles, swoops and arching lines that look like some sort of curious writing. While the group searches the interior of the large complex, she looks for more evidence of this strange language.

Reika peers in, eyebrow raised. "If dust is the biggest worry, it'll be an easy adventure, don't you think?" She shakes her head, stepping into the house with the others "Big house. It'll probably take an entire night for a ghost to haunt the entire place." She kids, and listens to the echo.

"Echo!" *echo echo echo...*

"Wow it really is empty." she muses, listening to the echo bouncing back.

"Yodela HI HI" *hi hi... hi hi...*

"Who you're gonna call?" *ghostbuster, ghostbuster...*

Reika blinks.

She turns to the blonde guy, pointing inside the house "I wonder if that's what they call an easter egg."

"I didn't know you knew all the rules about how ghosts operate." Proteus asides to Att. "Remind me to ask you all about them sometime." Her tone indicates it might not be entirely serious... But then again, it might be. She does, however, nod to Nureha. "This seems more or less accurate." She says in response. "Thankfully, we seem to have attracted enough people that we might have a chance if something dangerous appears."

There is an audible chuckle from the Imp at the Chimlink conversation. "Red seems appropriate." She says, apparently to nothing in particular.

Nureha also seems to believe in the buddy system, her plan neatly skewering Proteus' plan to run off and do her own thing as she is wont to do. However, she does simply shrug, taking it as it comes to look over at the others, wondering who she's going to end up working with on the scouting. And scouring.

There is simply a laugh as Karoshi insists there are no ghosts. "What is a ghost?" She simply says. "If the data is arranged in such a way as to create an ephemeral being of possible human appearance that haunts an area, does that not classify as a 'ghost'? How will you tell the difference if the reproduction is skillful enough?"

They meander along towards one of the prospective buildings, and Proteus mostly keps quiet at this point. Nureha is the guild leader... And a more competent face than she ever was. She's happy to let the more personable person do personality things.

Instead, Proteus begins examining the environment as they reach said building, looking for anything that stands out from being standard assets. Learning the contextual clues on how things fit together. Everything has an internal logic. If something falls outside that logic, then it is a pointer as to what has disturbed that context and will lead to questions to be answered. It's a methodical process, and one that Proteus engages in frequently.

We'll see how much of the world continues to adhere to an internal logic, however, and how much of it is unravelling to paradox in the aftermath of Ezzo.

Karoshi again feels glad for the helmet. Maybe he can bring them into fashion back home. Its so easy to keep your eyes hidden behind one.

The impassive visor of his helmet just /looks/ back at the Plant member..

He then turns towards Proteus. "I'm a salaryman, not a psychic, but even I know that a reproduction of a ghost isn't a ghost. It's like those silly tv shows where they show faces on the train, or long haired maidens hiding in an office building. Except here, even the buildings are ultimately fake, Tiny Green Woman. ...I mean no disrespect but...someone told me I could learn someone's name by looking at them, but all I see is..well, what you are. A tiny green woman."

Having put that out there, he turns his mind towards the task. Tasks are lovely. Tasks can be focused on and accomplished but..this task.. Examine for.. Hit points? Integrity?

He sighs, "Integrity? Hit points? How do we determine that? I'm not an architect or in construction."

    Nureha might choose to ignore the argument going on between the opposing alliance members, but Misa does not. Her head whips around to look at the red haired woman and Karoshi and says, "Knock if off, you two. If you can't take a few moments to behave around each other, I'll send you both to sit in the time out corner." Misa is not joking as she says this, her firm tone making it clear.

    Looking back to focus on where they're heading, Misa does catch that look from Nureha. Misa returns the look with a tiny shrug included. It's doubtful that either of them expected perfect harmony between the two sides. Especially from the more passionate of the groups. But it's important to try, anyway. Or worse things than an argument may occur.

    Arriving at the first candidate on Plant Hwyaden's list, Misa takes the quill from her clipboard and starts to move from room to room. She jots down some notes on papaer at each one before moving on. Looking over her shoulder will reveal that they are actually notes about the condition and contents of the room. Misa is actually helping, as she said she would! No tricks. No deception. Just good ol' fashioned hard work.

    She already sent other members of the alliance off to scout the area anyway.

    The talk and rumours of ghosts and such certainly have Misa curious. If they're true, it brings into question the safety of Alne. If they're false, then what's really going on? And who's behind it?

Zorin gives a small bow in greeting as Merek approaches. It's been some time since their short adventure facing the gnolls, and still longer since that fateful day of the apocalypse and the investigation they launched after it. "Good to see you again, Merek. I've received a bit of information about the situation inside the game itself, unfortunately I have very little in the way of hard facts about our situation in the real world. After this investigation we should go for a drink and catch up."

He continues along with the group, listening to the different conversations. He knew a few similar to Karoshi, back in corporation he was apart of. It seemed like a growing trend, especially with some of the older generations, ever since the Pluto's Kiss hit.

Looking at the situation they were in, maybe they were right to distrust technology and some of the cultures around to such a degree. Zorin doubted Karoshi would even have been here if not for company policy at the time. Still, Misa puts a quick end to the argument.

Arriving at the first location Zorin follows along with Misa, he isn't much of an architect but he will provide any insights as they come up.

'Brain' aka Laizon Shadowstep will tries to catch up with Amalthea and Gwen but to no avail as he's pulled back into his group. Gwen just missed the exchange with Amalthea and Nureha. She's going to head into the complex. Much like the scouts are doing too.

Though she makes a note to toss 'Brian' a friend invite. Hey, someone to nerd with over movies later could be fun.

For now, it's business time. She heads inside into the large building as she makes ready for trouble, who knows what they might run into.

She keeps alert as she moves inside she will start searching the complex for anything of worth, or signs of danger as she goes.

"So this is how we get into Elder Tale home flippers huh...?"

    Merek nods a bit to Zorin, then takes a moment to look at the place, while he thinks about Nureha and all of the woman's wording.

Att dismisses the claims of a jinx with an easy laugh over the Chimlink. If anyone is going to tempt fate deliberately in a place like this, it's him.

"I'm a ghost expert, insofar as anyone can be a ghost expert," Att tells Proteus. "Which means I can sound very convincing when I point out plausible ways to defend yourself from spectral attack." Att Syne is not particularly superstitious, except in the way that techies tend to be. Sometimes the Machine Spirit just gives up and stops working. Sometimes the lightning in your smart rock goes away and then comes back with the right coaxing. Sometimes a device with zero moving parts nonetheless is totally fixed by a sharp, quick whack to the outside.

He whistles quietly when they get into the building. Att calls up a hovering ball of ghostly fire for light, picks a direction entirely by following the left wall, and starts off to investigate the interior. He makes another motion with his free hand, using his Construction skill to Inspect the surroundings and take stock of the state of everything as he goes. If there's a sudden increase in damage, it stands to reason there's going to be, well, a *reason* for it. "Nothing we can't fix up so far..."

Proteus sighs as Karoshi continues to be aggressively Karoshi. "Being a psychic is irrelevant. This is a simulated reality created through data. If something has the form of a thing with a high enough accuracy than it is that thing." She digs in her pack and tosses an apple at Karoshi. "Here, salaryman. Is the apple an apple? In the meantime, Open your menu and use your Inspect tool." For a moment, it looks like she might say something more pointed... But Misa seems to have things well in hand. With an incline of respect towards the woman, her tone softens. "It's one of the basic tools needed to learn about the world around you. Even if you are trying to escape as soon as possible, you will need to know what you are dealing with, don't you?"

Att basically confirms that he's being an authority through confidence, which is just about as much of a claim as anyone else can make here so whatever works. Proteus shrugs again. There's a lot of shrugging going on here with the Imp.

    A laugh escapes Wynfei as he hears the Ghostbusters comment and he looks to Att as he watches her. He wasn't with either of the Guilds here, so he just move with anyone who is just here to help. Listening to the orders that is being given out, he does hear the bickering which annoys him slightly but as things are resolved and everyone is moving to help check the Integrity of items and buildings here in the town.

    Opening his Inspect tool, Wynfei moves off with Proteus, "Hey, who is that?" he asks looking to Karoshi, he then Inspects Karoshi, "Hey Karoshi, you good?" he asks as he looks to them. "We should get to work and see what we can find."

    I'm glad I left my allergies back home, someone says. Mizuki nods, and jokes lightheartedly, "Yeah, can you imagine how many of us would be allergic to ourselves? It'd be awful!"

    She also nods at Nureha's decision not to split the party. It's for the best!

    Others have 'casting light spells and looking at things' covered, so Mizuki focuses on her other senses; Ears listening for odd sounds too quiet or distant for most to hear, unusual smells, hints of air currents in unexpected places blowing across her whiskers. If there's anything here... maybe it won't be used to hiding from were fangs? Mizuki's not sure if she's seen any were fang Landers here...

Brian opens his mouth and then closes it several times. He shifts his attention to Reika, then to the mansion, then to Reika several times before nodding slowly. "Yeah.." he sounds a bit unsettled, but still gamey. "Yeah. That sounds about right. This game has to be littered with them. Right? ... right?"

Nureha nods to Proteus. "Yes, and with the combat guild close to hand, I doubt we shall have any trouble at all. After that.. that is their specialty." she gives the Scale Members a winning smile, but it's NOT QUITE like a compliment. She also gives Proteus a LOOK, as though knowing exactly what they were planning to do and neatly sidestepping it. She puts the book away back into her inventory after half a dozen rooms or more are explored, her eyes scanning but not finding whatever they are looking for.

As they continue to explore the rooms, there is.. one.. particular oddity worth mentioning. Proteus finds herself in a dining hall, a long corridor stacked with a beautiful tarnished table whose top is corroding. Stacked on the long dining table are steaming patters of food. Large slabs of meat, tender and pink. Mounds of fluffy potatoes. An entire bowl of frothy curry with rice in small platters to the side. Bread piled in the center, all of it fresh and bright on the corroded table as if the servers had just moments ago wandered away.

The red haired woman glares at an impassive Karoshi visor but when Misa snaps at them she pretends to busy herself with other matters as he refuses to take the bait. But she refuses to be very helpful about his obvious ignorance, muttering "Toxic casual.." under her breath as she rejoins her group. He doesn't get a direct response from most of the others, who look at him in a combination of confusion and mild irritation but after Misa's warning, they keep their grumbling to chim-link instead of outloud, and Nureha clears her throat and focuses their attention on what they were doing, just in case something tried to ambush the group while they were distracted. "My apologies." Nureha says to Misa when they meet up briefly in a corridor. "But... time out corner?" her eyes sparkle with bemusement. Somewhere, there is a distinct rumble of thunder..or maybe that's the sound of Nureha getting.. ideas.

Zorin finds another room that looks like a much smaller dining hall, and it's laid out the same way. Steaming plates of food JUST served. Soups. Salads. Mounds of juicy, tender skewers of beef, fat shining from every inch.

Brian and his group of scouts sigh almost simultanously, the blue lines of distress and despair over every face as they look at the unnnerving fresh food. It's anomalous, it's displaced in this ancient and overgrown place, but it still smells //..SO GOOD.// "..That's just a crime, in itself."

The 'Ghost Expert' finds a flight of stairs going down to a lower level, towards some sort of basement or cellar. The overgrowth is much more intense there, vines and tiny growths of flowers winning space from the cracks in the peeling grey walls. It's not obvious, just more evidence of time passing. Mold. Dust. Wear. This place has been crafted to seem like it's been slowly worn down over time, in marked contrast with the food.

<<Thank you for your restraint.>> Nureha chim-links to Proteus when they actually help Karoshi. The group snorts and somebody chimes in. <<Such as it was.>>

Karoshi nods at Misa...

He looks at Proteus, and activates his menu. He gets that part..

He then looks for tools..

He nods as he finds inspect, and then...he tries inspecting the apple.
He gets a bunch of helpful statistics on the apple.

He then looks at Proteus, and is about to inspect her when Wynfei speaks up. So he inspects the cat man instead.

"Ah. I am adapting, I wouldn't say 'good,' 'Wynfei.'"

He allows himself a smile. New talents. A skill. He's starting to learn how to tread water..

He looks back to Proteus before she heads off, "Thank you."

He then looks at Wynfei and nods, "Let us get to work. Hard Work is the foundation of Japanese society, after all."

    Misa joins Zorin in the room he's surveying. Seeing the food, she taps her chin for a moment before taking a piece of the cooked beef. She wonders if it might be poisoned. Why else would someone theoretically nefarious ghost leave food just lying around? Although with the way food typically tastes, who's really going to notice?

    Before she tries it though, Zorin interupts her by speaking quietly. The exact nature of the conversation unclear. Though it does appear that Zorin's eyes are glowing a golden colour as they talk. After which Misa raises her hand to her ear. Some more talking. Then Misa nods to Zorin, who soon walks off and out of view. Probably to go do Something or Other. He may return. Or not. Who knows at this stage.

    Misa contemplates the quiet discussion for a moment as she continues on, food still in hand, until she runs into Nureha in a corridor. Good timing! Misa shakes her head at the appology, "It's no one's fault. Many people are on edge." Though at the question, Misa nods along seriously, "They were starting to act like some of my students. You have to be firm or they don't learn." Still, students with a time out corner? They must be young!

    Misa hands the Plant Duck leader a few sheets of paper and says, "These are my notes so far. Additionally, Zorin says he has a 'good feeling' about this place. Although I'm not sure exactly what that means. Divination skills don't fall under my build so I have little personal experience with them."

Reika gets a good sniff from the dining room as they enter. "Wow... it's been a while since I smelled anything that good." Her mouth waters even. But what would that food do there in the first place? "Is there a cook living here?" That doesn't explain all of the dust and broken stuff... none of this make sense.

"... I don't know why, but as appetizing that is, I don't think we should touch it... until we know for sure what's going on at least. Someone must have placed these there... right?" Ghosts do not need to eat, as far as she knows. If there was such a thing as ghosts anyway.

That's probably wasted breath though, someone is likely to not be able to resist the temptation of hot food. A week later, it's probably everyone's wish to get something tasty even.

Whatever the others do, she chooses to peek into the next door... but not too far, don't want to get separated... Maybe a bit of searching around the room will reveal something though.

Gwen has not had a good time of it, nothing bad had happened she'll find the dining hall soon enough and she'll eye the food. Sure it smells good and looks good but she knows what will happen if she takes a bite. It will be soggy soda crackers. So she doesn't mess with it.

She'll start to move on from that dining room and search any connecting room along the way she'll even break out a spell to use in a non-combat method the extra light might just help her work as she chants and casts Eeletical fuzz briefly hopefully that will give her an edge.

"There has to be an answer to what is going on here but what is it."

ATT SYNE, GHOST <stike>FACER</strike> EXPERT finds stairs. He waves his light down them for a second, then follows it, swapping his staff out for his sword. If he has to cut his way through flora, he'll do it. "This place is so weird... but I guess there's a certain aesthetic in urban decay." He leans in close near the walls, examining it and the overgrowth, trying to see if they're actually distinct entities or if they're part of the same objects, and how far they extend. He runs a finger across a crack in the surface of the wall, then rubs his fingertips together. This game is just... impressive, in a lot of ways. Even if they're trapped --

For a second, Att braces himself against the wall and shuts his eyes. He bows his head, breathing deeply and slowly. The trembling in his arm is imperceptible unless you're right on top of him. The slightly ragged quality to his breath is hard to pick out unless you're really paying attention. In the stairwell by himself, he doesn't think anybody is doing either, so he takes that moment to let down his guard and grind his teeth against the sheer weight of emotion that the thought 'we're trapped' triggers in him.

A moment later, he clears his throat once, then again. He straightens, and continues his examination. He's good.

Everything is fine.

    The only thing she can smell is food. Mizuki finds her way to one of the dining rooms and stares. Possibly drooling a bit. Sniffing at the food. Does food in here ever smell this good? Still, food of uncertain, possibly otherworldly provenance is suspicious. And just because it can't be food made by an actual ghost doesn't mean the story won't curse her with being in the land of the dead until the quest is resolved or something.

    It smells so good though...

    It couldn't hurt to try to Inspect and Approaise some of the food, could it...?

Proteus ends up working alongside Wynfei. This is acceptable. "Some salaryman who is obsessed with escaping so he can go to work. Does he even have any idea how big that Tower is? And how much work it is to clear /one/ floor?" She shrugs. "Hope he's got the next couple years blocked out."

The well-stocked dining hall is something of interest. Sure, the APPARENTLY FRESH food stands out (why don't the quartermasters stock up on random mysterious fresh food that seems to keep despite either a trap or ages old, she wonders). But with the broken down detritus, Proteus looks over the oddly fresh, delicious-seeming food... And picks up a loaf of bread, examining it intently.

Then she pops it into her inventory. Examines it there. Seeing if she can store it. And bring it back out.

If everything else seems legitimate, we'll see where it goes from there.

    Merek lifts up a hand while he calls a magical electric ball, then he peeks about, while he tries to find anything that's of note in the dining hall, "I... Can't find anything," he then admits, while he takes a moment to sigh in thought.

BONZAI! Hard Work is good for the Spirit!

Beat.

Wait. That might not be the best plan here either.

Nevertheless, progress is made. The complex, with it's sprawling rooms and ancient aesthetic, eventually begins to run out. People can be seen crossing and crisscrossing eachother as they inspect each chamber. Nureha drifts from room to room, getting reports and listening to conversations. She purses her lips, frowning slightly at a thought. When she meets up with Misa again and takes the papers, she looks them over at a glance before folding them in half. "I'll have someone look at this a little later. They have a much better grasp of such things than me."

She gives Misa a chagrined smile. "Though, I will keep what you said in mind, and I'll take the word of this Zorin if you vouch for them. As for.. students? Yes.. some of them." Brian is in range and a chill passes down his spine as he quickly moves to another room. "Well. We all have our little eccentricities."

As they talk, Nureha brushes a hand over her face. For a moment, a dark sigil appears over it centered around the negative space of an eye in the center of the runic design. She turns quickly, snapping her head to one side. "..interesting." she murmurs.

She turns back to Misa. "I do not suppose you saw that, did you? Just a flash of something retreating from view around the corner." Meanwhile, back at the ranch, the crestfallen Brian and his group look forlornly at Reika and then back at the food. "It'll probably taste like soggy crackers.." one says. Brian rubs his face, saying. "That looks JUST like what I had sitting in front of me before I logged on." "Bullshit." "I swear. It was New years. It was a party. Deal.. man.." he trails off. "..It was only supposed to be for an hour or so."

Existential crisis. Line one. Reika meanwhile breaks off from the group in a journey of discovery only.. to find more rooms. There is a vanity and some beds, though like the inn they don't look the most comfortable. More rooms. More overgrown vines tangling the furniture.

"Hell if I know." The red haired woman says to Gwen as they work through the dining room, squinting at the light briefly. "Though it's starting to piss me off."

Everything is fine.

Oh yes. Nureha looks over the papers again, trying not to grind her teeth in frustration. She raises a hand to her ear. <<Has anyone seen something at the edge of sight yet? Just a flicker, here and gone when you look at it directly?>>

And man, Mizuki.. does that food look good. Suspiciously good. Frustratingly good. The tags all match what they are supposed to be. A hand made out of shrimp cocktail does not suddenly lunge out of the middle and force you to rhumba. It's like any other food item. Steak. Shrimp. Salad. All with the appropriate stat buffs and timers. Taste? Well. It tastes as one has come to expect from such things after a week after the Apocalypse, should one dare to munch on ghost food. Proteus will find that it's a normal, everyday food buff item. In all areas except the IMPORTANT one.

Nureha hears Merek's dejection, which is starting to be felt by others in her group as well.

She starts gathering people together again, signalling Misa to gather her own people. When people have gathered she said. "Alright. A few... anomalies, certainly. Some definite signs that the build is mostly stable. What do you all think? Should we move on to the next candidate?"

It is now almost certainly raining outside, pattering against the windows and dripping in the distance.

    Wynfei nods to Karoshi, "Hey nice to meet ya." he chuckles. He looks to Proteus and begins walking with her, "I have my partner but yea, let's get back to work." he tells Karoshi. Rubbing his head a little bit as he and Proteus walks within the Dining area.

    As she begins to tell him about Karoshi he nods, "Ah, yeah, he better set aside more than that." he chuckles. As he looks at the food, a familiar rumble comes from Wynfei, "Uhh..sorry, that food looks hungry but we already know what that taste like." he facepalms himself as he stops looking at the food. "Oh before I caught up with you, I found a few bedrooms with some really nice beds and furniture within. All of it was untouched." he tells her. "How're you holding up with everthing?" he asks. He hadn't spoken with Proteus in a while and right now there is no fighting so might as well get to know someone.

    Merek walks back with the group, while it begins to rain. "I do like a bit of rain," he mentions, then he offers an incline to Nureha, "I've found nothing of note," he then follows along with the people that aren't of Nureha's specific folk, looking to the whole place. "Wherever we look, we'll find it, I am sure," he nods, smiling.

    Well. Maybe just... a little taste...? Mizuki licks a piece of food. If none of it ends up inside her it doesn't count as eating! But it's the same old soggy crackers. Why must it smell so good...?

    And then the chimlink goes off in her ear. <<"'Has anyone seen a creepypasta'? No, but we will NOW.">> She grouses.

    She's running out of things to check. Still, perhaps this food is some sort of lead? Assuming it wasn't simply created here, but was placed by an entity... perhaps they can be tracked? Footsteps in dust, a trace of scent...? Of course, it's probably more difficult NOW that she and others have trampled around this room and the smell of the food is hard to get past, but... nothing to lose by trying, right?

Karoshi has a new tool. The inspect command.

He nods at Proteus and Wynfei, and begins to wander through the structure, observing.

He eyes the food, its likely a trap. None the less, the food here is all terrible anyway. That's a good thing.

He won't be tempted from work by cardboard..

As he hears the pair muttering, he just shakes his head and continues examining the structure to report back to the rest of Scale..

"Not like there's anything better to do in here..."

Proteus seems perfectly fine with Wynfei's presence. They're chill. Proteus is chill. Everyone is chill. "Have you ever heard of the Debauchery Tea Party?" She asks Wynfei as she looks over the food, inspecting the bread in as minute detail as she can manage. There are a number of complex observations involving juggling inventory spaces going on here, menus flickering around as she pops the bread out like a Harlem Globetrotter messing with a basketball. Eventually, she simply brings it up to her nose and inhales. "Mmm. Even smells right." She sighs, her voice heavy with hungry need. "I don't see any sign of tampering."

Which doesn't mean it hadn't been tampered with, but hey, that's how it is.

Wynfei then gets to see her take a big bite out of the loaf... And then her face falls, massive disappointment rolling across her face as she chews with a distasteful expression and swallows. "Soggy rice cake." She mutters, tossing the loaf aside like it was trash. She pulls out a carrot and begins snacking on it instead, looking to Wynfei at the question.

"Everything is fine for me. This is basically optimal. I can spend as much time as I like learning about the world and there is nothing to stop me besides my own mistakes at this point. The world is literally my oyster." A pause. "The Black Wave has opened up... many new possibilities, I think. It just is a matter of learning how to capitalize on them."

But then they're called in. She heads over to Nureha's position, and she waves. "Found some food that looks like it was prepared just before we got here. Sadly, it's all rice cake." She grunts in irritation at that. Apparently she is taking SOMETHING personally about this. "We can check out the next building, sure." She tilts her head at the sound if incoming rain. "If we're going to do it, we should move soon. I don't think most of us are able to get umbrellas yet."

    Misa glances at the nice looking beef she's holding, musing out loud to Nureha, "I do miss real food..." She puts the deceptive consumable down. She can't deal with soggy cracker taste right now. Maybe she'll grab some fruit later.

    It's at that moment that Nureha asks about the something out of the corner of her eye. Misa turns to look. All she finds is silence. Misa shakes her head, "Sorry, I didn't see anything."

    The search of the first candidate appears complete. Misa rounds up the Scale Emblem Alliance members in preparation to move on. She's already provided her notes to Nureha, as well as Zorin's thoughts, to which Misa vouches for. But she sums her own up with, "It's a solid structure. And with a little clean up it would be suitable." For Plant Hwyaden, maybe. The Scale Emblem Alliance is going to need something a bit different. And if all the buildings in Alne are similar to this one, they may need to construct something from scratch after all. But maybe the other scouts Misa sent out had more success.

Reika crosses her arms as she doesn't find anything of note "Well at least it's not haunted." She was just helping out... this isn't her guild after all. Actually, she's in no guild. Just a defenseless little newbie for now. But finding a good home is important after all, and she understands that. Gives her some pointers for a house of her own maybe one day.

She sees some people eat the food, and shakes her head. She doesn't even know how that food got there or who made it, but whatever really. Nureha seems to suggest they are done with this place, so awaits the next one... is that one going to be weird too though?

Gwen gives up looking for a passageway but talking on chimlink with Att and Proteus gave her an idea. She goes back to the dining hall and will take a look at the food. She'll then go to inspect it following that up with trying to appraise it. After all, sometimes it leaves who crafted an item in the info. That could end up being very useful to figure out what was going on here right? She's not eating it because it's soggy crackers.

"Come on let's see who made you..."

Att cuts his way through the growth to get an idea of how big the basement is. He's suitably impressed after a short while, stopping when he has a general idea basically from the reach of his light source. <<"Basement is pretty sizeable here, too. Pretty overgrown though. We'd probably have to clear it out completely before we could use any of it, not to mention the rest of this section of the building.">>

He starts back the way he came after that. <<"Definitely a project, but maybe it'd be good to have something to do.">>

The rain doesn't seem particularly cold or dreary. Just an unsettling wetness that gets everywhere and makes everything slick. There still seems to be mysteries to uncover here, but not the sort to be unraveled in a single night. The most obvious manifestation is the spawning food items in the midst of desolation, but that's more an oddity.

Several guildmates echo Mizuki's sentiments, muttering about jinxes and horror movie tropes. "I swear.." The red haired woman mutters. "If the doors don't let us back out and we're all sealed up in here.." with a dire warning as she shoulders the door. Thankfully, it DOES open and stomps out into the rain.... comes back in, waits, then stomps back out again as Nureha puts a hand to her ear briefly.

She turns to take in Proteus's report, eying that he's munching on a carrot. "A pity." she says, shaking her head. "It did smell very appealing." She nods in sympathy to Misa, looking at the beef longingly before turning her attention to the structure. "It has a certain... hidden appeal to it."

Nobody in the guild seems to have seen the apparition save her, it seems. Brian looks unnerved, but his smugness is returning like mushrooms after a rain. "I don't know." he says to Reika. "Take risks, win prizes." His partner says. "Yeah. Stupid risks and stupid prizes. What are you, Scale? Come on. We're leaving."

But, at least it wasn't haunted. There is that.

The investigations wind to a quiet close. Plant Hwyaden has at least one viable candidate, and there are still several other buildings to search before the survey is complete.

Nureha makes sure to pay those who were not her guild for the time they spent helping this little project come to fruition. Misa and the Scale Alliance, a chance encounter, will have to handle their own logistics.

    Shaking his head, "Nope never heard of them why?" he asks Proteus. "Nope, looks like everything here is in tact at least." he looks at the tables and chairs and he doesn't see much of anything that looks damaged at all. He shrugs a little bit and he too takes a roll and grimaces but hey food is food. Once he is done with the Rice Roll, he takes out a apple and eats it. He smiles at this.

    Hearing Proteus speak about this new world being her oyster, "You hit the nail on the head." he says to her. "We have to take advantage of we we are doing here and honestly just live out our lives and at the same time find a way to beat the game so we can get back. Though honestly I like here but I understand how some of the others feel about this place." He finishes his apple and it burst into green particles. When they are called, he follows Proteus over to Nureha. Once Proteus gives her report, "I found some bed chambers, all stocked and look very nice and expensive. Not touched, maybe a little dusty but they're there. So there are some good places to sleep if we don't finish before nightfall and such."

Gwen gets some information it's better than none but there's bad news she can't find out who she's basically too low level? Given the level of everyone stuck here is pretty low? That rules out the likelihood of another Adventurer making this. This is something at the very leas and she reports her findings.

<<"Well I have some information on the food. It doesn't look like and Adventurer made it. I'm getting I'm too low level for that info.>>

She will fall back as they are calling it a day, for now, she'll go collect her pay and be on her way into the rain. Someone re Proteus may have just lit a fire under her. If they are going to live here? They need /good/ food.

    Nothing. Not that Mizuki knows anything about tracking people anyway. Leaning into animal senses only goes so far.

    She finds a door and looks out at the rain. At least her current adventuring armor set has a hat and cloak... But she's finally going to have to find another solution besides sleeping on roofs.