Player Census Meating

Recent events have led to some concern among the leadership of the Scale Emblem Alliance about the state of Adventurers in Yamato. Specifically, that there has never been a formal census taken that would enable interested parties to track and investigate unusual player disappearances. While adventurers do return to a church when slain, that does not necessarily mean they can't be captured by goblins, hurled into a vampire's torture chambers, or eaten by a glitchy doomwhale.

So, a census must be conducted. But the task is too large for any one Alliance to conduct alone, and so Prophylaxis of the Scale Emblem has put together a meet-up with the highest ranking member of the New World Alliance he has had recent personal contact with.

Olympus... Well, maybe someone will have time to respond to his contact. Otherwise, he'll just have to wait and arrange another meeting. These things happen!!

The meeting was set in neutral territory. Ostensibly. Technically Hifumi is /also/ a member of the NWA, but the restaurant is as neutral as neutral ground can get. So he's got himself a table, ordered himself a drink and a plate of barbecued meat and rice, and waits for attendees to filter in...!

The business is neutral, and open to everyone. Plus it's close to where at least one of the people being met with often works.

Case in point it's not from outside that Shiruba arrives, but from the inn where she was checking in on someone else. She spots Prophylaxis almost as soon as she walks in though, and makes his way over to the table. "Doctor," she greets a polite nod, then grabs a chair and sits herself down. Tail curls off to the side as she gets comfortable.

    Yuuki wanders in through the entrance of the Isekai Ryokan and starts looking around for someone. She looks a bit confused after a few moments, apparently not finding her target. But upon seeing Prophylaxis, she lightens up and bit and heads over to him, "Hey, Prophy! Fancy seeing you here. You haven't seen Wake, have you? She suddenly sent me a vague message about meeting her and something about dinner being on her. Which is odd, cause I could have swore she's busy over with Eas." Yuuki scratches her head.

    There is nothing better than a freshly cooked meal to go along with a wonderful glass of wine. Though it is a freshly cooked meal, with a glass of wine, and written paperwork along the side. Papers that have scribbled down notes, conceptual rough drawings, and a planning sheet.

The man sitting at this table alone was one Vafrum Fonias. A normal looking human, outside of the odd tattoo around his neck. His hair was very well-kept, his clothing kept clean, and there was an air of charisma to him.

While the man was minding his own, it was hard to not notice the gathering of adventurers at a nearby table. It was also hard to not overhear the starting of what seemed like a mundane conversation. Though one is being called 'Doctor' and that got his attention a little as he takes a casual sip of his wine.

"Shiruba, good to see you," The Doctor of Tolbana inclines his head in greeting. "I'm glad you're looking well. No long-term effects from that encounter with the vampire the other day, eh? I'm glad you were able to take the time to attend. I think I have a proposition that you and yours would find as valuable to pursue as I do." That, as it turns out, is recorded in a series of hand-written notes and bound loosely together in a pile nearby. As for the Olympus rep...

Prophylaxis /had/ been expecting one Baroness Wake to show up. Among everyone he knows in Olympus, she has the most appropriate temperament for this sort of thing. Concern for her fellow men, patience with a long and potentially painfully boring administrative process. She'd be perfect for the job!

Instead, Yuuki shows up. Prophylaxis isn't upset by this turn of events, though! Surprised, impressed even! Maybe a bit sympathetic. "Yuuki! I'll have to charge her for the meal, then. Welcome! We were just about to start a little meeting, and I'm glad to see you taking an interest in the more cerebral aspects of guild management...!"

Oh no. He's patting a seat next to him. Everything about this screams 'THIS IS A TRAP,' but... but the meat on the table looks so tasty... And Prophylaxis is already ordering more. Oh no!!

"I'm sure you all wonder why exactly I've called you all here," Prophylaxis begins as the waitress shuffles off to collect Additional Meat. "Simply speaking, I wish to conduct a census of all Adventurers presently active in Yamato. Given the continued activity of the undead army in the Dominion and its proclivity to capture victims, as well as the presence of other Monster threats throughout the rest of Yamato and the existence of Glitch Monsters which have hitherto unstudied effects on Adventurers, I believe that it's vital to have a comprehensive database of players that we can use to track where and when any unexpected disappearances might occur. That way, if there are trends, we might be able to use them to more effectively address the problems that they indicate."

There's a beat. He hasn't quite noticed Vafrum's presence yet, and continues with a slight cant of his head. "Any questions so far?"

"For the times I got hit by his attacks, it wasn't anything that could have... determental effects, no." Though that makes Shiruba think of the poor Adventurer that wasn't so lucky and it makes her shiver a little. Which is actually related to why they are here, but we haven't gotten to that yet. "Hello, Yuuki. Good to see you too."

She puts in an order, and then leans forward to rest her elbows on the table and rest her chin on her folded hands while listening to Prophylaxis. "That... is a very good point," she agrees with a nodding gesture when he finishes. "There are a lot of us here now, and not every 'Adventurer' has taken up the effort to pursue the issues of this world like we have. It would not be hard to... fall through the cracks? Is that the proper idiom?"

    Wait what!? Guild management!? Yuuki looks both confused and surprised at the same time. And yet, that delicious, delicious meat. Yuuki is mentally debating the pros and cons of sticking around when her stomach rumbles. Hunger finally wins out and Yuuki drops down into the offered seat to start chewing. Giving a wave to Shiruba in the process.

    Of course, when the great Zekken commits to something, she always gives it her best. So while she's chewing on some meat, she listens to Prophylaxis's proposal. Seems smart. Which Yuuki admits, "Sounds smart. It's gonna be hard though. The alliance guilds will be easy-" CHOMP, chewchewchew, "-but then you've got all the other guilds and the guildless Adventurers. Then there are those who won't want to provide all the info. I imagine Nureha will probably keep some names close to her big chest." Chomp.

    Vafrum's attention slowly becomes more and more interested in the conversation happening at the table. There was a slow raised eyebrow on the talk of a player 'Census' and tracking down names.

He casually cuts the meat on his plate all proper like, before taking a bit, his ears though still keenly listening in while he continues to keep to himself.

Indeed, it is exactly that one particular adventurer's situation that has (at least in part) driven Prophylaxis to set this initiative into motion. A plate of barbecued meat arrives in time for the Prophylaxis to continue without the risk of munchy depletion. "That's the right one," he answers Shiruba with a nod. "We do have an organization within the Scale Emblem that tracks missing persons, but it operates mostly within the alliance and we've been here for long enough that its information can no longer be verified easily without the assistance of other Alliances and major guilds."

Yuuki... takes a seat! Her dedication is noted, appreciated, and rewarded... With more meat. Can't have a meeting without meat. A... meating. "Yeah, that's the difficult thing," Prophylaxis admits with a sigh. "The larger out-of-Alliance guilds, we can probably make contact with relatively easily. But the remaining playerbase can easily slip through the cracks. We might be able to work through the Hunter's Guild, though..."

Beat.

"Nureha, huh...?" Prophylaxis gazes meaningfully into empty space.

...Meaningfully. Yep.

"Yeah. The hard part will be the logistics, but if all three Alliances are willing to work together it can be handled." Shiruba sits up as the waitress returns with some sake, says her meal will be ready shortly, and departs again. The wolfgirl takes a sip from the drink before continuing.

"The Silver Swords do have a sizable number of members that have specialized themselves as scouts and explorers. I would be happy to provide them in assistance of surveying some of the more far-lying places Adventurers have decided to wander. You know, the very ones we'd worry about disappearing and not noticing because they are rarely 'at base' as it is."

    Yuuki nods along as she recalls the organization Prophylaxis is speaking of. Specifically she remembers seeing a lot of their posters up in the Plant Hwyaden HQ in the early days.

    There would have been similar posters in the Sleeping Knights HQ... But... Well, yeah.

    Yuuki sees that gaze of Prophylaxis. She's seen it before. She raises a meat-juiced covered knife in Prophylaxis's direction, "Watch it with that imagination. I've always got Nureha's back. Us Olympus guild leaders have got to stick together!" She goes back to food.

    Back on the situation at hand, Yuuki nods, "Hunter's Guild is a good idea. They've probably got a pretty complete list, seeing as how Adventurers need them to get recognized for quests and rewards. Of course, whether they'll hand it over..."

    "Still, how're we going to know when people on the list go missing? It's not like we can ask them to regularly sign in to their account to record their activity."

"Hrmph, I was only wondering about her assets," Prophylaxis huffs and munches on a meat morsel himself. "They could be useful in an effort like this." He chews and swallows, then adds: "If she knows as many things as you say, I mean."

Yes.

Definitely that.

"Upkeep will be an issue," Prophylaxis agrees, "But I think it can be worked around. For instance, Alliances can request regular updates via chimlink, and guild leaders and lieutenants can play a role by keeping tabs on their membership directly to make sure they report in regularly. Census information may need to be updated regularly, but... I think if we agree to notify and update one another on player status changes between Alliances and in and out of guilds, that alone will deal with a /lot/ of the uncertainty."

"If the Silver Swords are willing to go further afield to poll more remote solo players, that would be a great help," he says to Shiruba, then. "The SEA is primarily concerned with the Tower, so our ability to stretch our resources into the far-flung corners of Yamato is less well effective than I'd like. We can definitely introduce measures to keep tabs on anyone who enters the tower and the regions around Alne and Carmina Gadelica, though."

Shiruba points a finger at Prophylaxis. "This is why it's a good idea to make it a unified effort. Each Alliance has it's specialties, and it's best if we apply them to overall effort together. And people have patterns. If we know who's where and what their tendancies are, we can notice deviations and investigate. We have a few of our explorers that are more solo in activity, but as long as they occasionally give me updates what they'd been up to or found, there's not much to worry about."

And then her dumplings and rice are delivered. "Deligation and all that," she adds before digging in.

    Hmmmmmm. Sure. Though Yuuki does have to admit, Nureha is certainly one of the best when it comes to the espionage side of running a guild. Far from Yuuki's strong suit.

    Yuuki sits back, apparently content with the food so far, "Well, I'm cool with it. Not that the Sleeping Knights will be able to help much in this area. I don't think it'll be hard to convince Silabus. Crescent Moon is all about helping the newbs and this will be another way to make sure they're safe. Nureha is the real question mark though... I could see her swinging either way. Of course, her mind is waaay too confusing to me to really guess at so we'll have to see!"

    Yuuki looks between Prophylaxis and Shiruba, "How about your guilds?"

"The higher-ups are usually preoccupied with the tower climb and leave day-to-day operations to the rest of us down below," Prophylaxis answers with a shrug. "I can get the Divine Dragons in line pretty easily on something like this, though. The ALF keeps pretty tight tabs on all its inner circle, but I'm pretty sure they don't want anything to disrupt their supply chain, so I'm pretty confident I could get them to cooperate... As long as Heathcliff doesn't have any objections I can't argue him out of. The Odysseia Knights... Would be more difficult, but I don't see why I wouldn't be able to get them to cooperate." Their bookkeeping, though... Isn't really the best?

He nods at Shiruba, then. "Yeah, there's a reason I'm not just doing this in-house. If we don't cast a wide net, then a census is basically useless. Monsters are growing more organized by the day, and I'm sure it won't be long until they're actively capturing and trapping Adventurers to keep us from respawning. It might be onerous, from an administrative perspective, but... doable, I think."

Shiruba pauses in eating to nod. "Yeah. The Monsters aren't just stupid programs anymore, regardless of what you think of this being a world or a game or otherwise."

    Yuuki raises a finger, "I don't know... Those orcs at Eas keep trying to do the same stuff even though we keep going in and wiping them out. I'd say that's pretty stupid."

    Yuuki rocks her head side to side a bit, "Buuuuut, I will admit that there are SOME mobs out there that seem to have received an upgrade. Sure." She grins, "Makes things more interesting!"

"I certainly don't remember goblins being nearly as cunning as they are now," Prophylaxis agrees with a grumble and a chomp of meat. "...And the undead in the Ninetails Dominion have shown themselves willing to capture Adventurers. The orcs in Eas might just be... Kind of stupid? It seems to depend a lot on leadership. Like, the undead are being led by some kind of vampire queen, for instance."

And then there's... whatever the heck Demiurge is up to. Prophylaxis frowns and shakes his head. "...Well, regardless. I hope I can count on your cooperation in this endeavor? I think it'd be a useful tool for all three of the Alliances."

Shiruba has already stuffed more dumplings in her mouth so she doesn't have anything to say, but she does nod and a confirming sound through her chewing mouthful.

    Yuuki mmmms, "I suppose it's true that special events tend to be a little more unique than the average repeatable quest. Probably leads to unique mobs and their bosses too."

    Finally Yuuki stretches, before starting to gather leftovers to go, "Sure. I'll float it past the other guild leaders at our next guild leaders party night." Totally not a thing.