(Skyseas of Gensokyo) Nazrin Quest (Part 7)

[Oldmansour]

>Time, time, time....
>"Thank you. But, I'm afraid time is something of an issue. Both for the captain and myself. How much time are we talking here?"

[DracoOmega]

>Time, time, time....
>"Thank you. But, I'm afraid time is something of an issue. Both for the captain and myself. How much time are we talking here?"

>That does seem to be the issue of late, doesn't it?
>"I expect no more than a couple of days," she says.

[Oldmansour]

>"Yeah, I was afraid of that."
>If magic has been used upon a particular book, in one specific portion, would we need to see that particular section to detect residual magic, or would proximity to the book be sufficient?

[DracoOmega]

>"Yeah, I was afraid of that."
>If magic has been used upon a particular book, in one specific portion, would we need to see that particular section to detect residual magic, or would proximity to the book be sufficient?

>"Obviously, this process could be quicker if you could be more specific," she says.
>In general, proximity to the active effect is enough. Paper alone doesn't 'block' the resonances you could detect from magic, at least to an appreciable degree. However, it might be possible for the book itself to be warded somehow to block detecting magic inside it. You haven't really dealt with many tricky things personally, and the mechanics of this are getting a little outside your domain at this point; you're no magician.

[Oldmansour]

>"Unfortunately, I can't be more specific at the moment, their bookkeeper was offship."
>"Alright, look. Your main issue is that, you don't want somebody walking in off the street and poring over your records, even if they ARE a Seeker with cause to do so, right?"

[DracoOmega]

>"Unfortunately, I can't be more specific at the moment, their bookkeeper was offship."
>"Alright, look. Your main issue is that, you don't want somebody walking in off the street and poring over your records, even if they ARE a Seeker with cause to do so, right?"

>Louise smiles faintly. "How unfortunate."
>"Our own accounts are our own business," she says. "If there is an irregularity, we are quite capable of finding it on our own."

[Oldmansour]

>"Well, I certainly didn't come here to step on any toes. Just help expedite a solution to the problem one of the captains that does business with you has. It's an extra set of eyes, just looking for one boat's name, nothing more."

[Hanzo K.]

You guys thinkin' what I'm thinkin"?
I'm thinkin' she's the root of this mess. Possibly in cahoots with the other twerp.

[Oldmansour]

Dollars to donuts, she's at least involved with this mess here. I don't think she put it all together, but I do think she's on someone's payroll.
The problem we have is that, we have no way to prove that, yet. If we accuse her, she'll deny it. If we press her, or threaten her, she could very well have us arrested. And that's not gonna get us very far.

My plan at the moment is this: We ask her if we can see the books. Not the pages, not the information contained therein, just the books themselves. She's said, more than once, that that information is their own, but she never said anything about the BOOKS themselves. Which we can use to douse for magic, in the event that they've been tampered with. If they have been, we have a trail we can follow. If they haven't been, then either Louise IS involved in some kind of conspiracy... Or Ishi had the wrong date.

Depending on how things go with this meeting, I think we should wait until closing time, and then follow Louise. She might lead us to the liscense, or whoever else is involved in this.

[Hello Purvis]

I say, if we're not going to take matters into our own hands; which I advocate for very IC reasons; we should go to the law immediately. Especially if we can find Orange and have her help us.

But I'm more in favor of grabbing her by the collar and shouting at her for wasting our precious time and threaten to take her down to hell with us.

[Narouge]

A bit extreme there purvis. I have found that such an action would be counter productive. if only because nazrin, no matter her combat ability, dose not APPEAR threatening. we don't give off the kinda presence needed for threats. and actual attacks only typically work, if the person thinks we can do worse. Where just to 'small" and "soft" to be viewed at a threat, crazy maybe, but not as a threat the guards can't handle. i think where more suited to persuasion then intimate. Persuasion also doesn't just mean bribes ether since that's what most people consider for this mission.

Also i don't think getting orange or anything will help much. simply because we have no evidence of anything yet.

Personally, i believe we should try and find, the person who could give a better date. Check the watches tower for any recent happenings like this.

AFTER of course we see if we can't help speed up the process.

[Hello Purvis]

It's more about being in character. If we ICly suspect the person behind this is trying to waste our time and push us that much closer to death while lying to our face, that's a massive rage impulse. And trust me, you don't need to "look" intimidating to be intimidating once party time begins; being sufficiently crazy is more than enough.  As for bringing in authorities is intimidating on its own if we bring one here, unless she is completely confident she's crossed every t and dotted every i perfectly.

In the end, it's not about taking the most absolutely efficient possible action because this isn't how people work; otherwise they'd be robots. It's about taking the one that's a cross section of in character in light of prior events and seems workable.

Persuasion also doesn't just mean bribes ether since that's what most people consider for this mission.

Huh? Who are these most people talking about this?

[DracoOmega]

>"Well, I certainly didn't come here to step on any toes. Just help expedite a solution to the problem one of the captains that does business with you has. It's an extra set of eyes, just looking for one boat's name, nothing more."

>"If I have to assign someone to supervise you," she says coolly, "then I may as well have simply assigned them to investigate the records themselves, no? And that 'set of eyes' would actually be familiar with how they're organized."

[Oldmansour]

Threatening her and raging out are going to get us precisely nowhere. And could get us arrested, at worst. At the least, it eliminates options.
There's also no sense in going to the law to accuse Lousie of anything, because we have no proof, and nothing more than a vague intuition.

And I confess, I was strongly thinking about bribing Louise here, but then I realized we were dealing with numbers outside our price scale.

But, while threatening her isn't a good idea, telling her why we need this so badly may be. Even then, I doubt it will work, but it's worth a bash.

>"Alright, fine."
>"Well, what about the room containing the records pertinant here? Is the room itself off limits?"

[DracoOmega]

>"Alright, fine."
>"Well, what about the room containing the records pertinant here? Is the room itself off limits?"

>She smiles. "Well, it wouldn't make much sense to keep private records in a public space, now would it?"

[Oldmansour]

>Deceptively sweet smile. "Of course not."
>"Let me be more specific. Would you object to ME stepping inside the room with the ledgers in question. With someone making sure I wasn't looking at something I'm not supposed to, of course."

[DracoOmega]

>Deceptively sweet smile. "Of course not."
>"Let me be more specific. Would you object to ME stepping inside the room with the ledgers in question. With someone making sure I wasn't looking at something I'm not supposed to, of course."

>You match that not-particularly-reassuring smile with one of your own.
>"Didn't I just explain the wastefulness of that?" she says.

[Oldmansour]

>"Except that all I need is five minutes. Maybe not even that much."

[DracoOmega]

>"Except that all I need is five minutes. Maybe not even that much."

>Her eyes narrow ever so slightly. "And what exactly for? Particularly in that length of time. I assume you're not interested in the decor."

[Oldmansour]

>Chuckle softly.
>"Well, I said I knew what I was looking for. I can find it without actually cracking a book. I just need to be close."

[DracoOmega]

>Chuckle softly.
>"Well, I said I knew what I was looking for. I can find it without actually cracking a book. I just need to be close."

>"I think I'd like you to explain that one," she says, leaning toward in her chair and giving you an incisive look.

[Oldmansour]

>"Very well. Since you asked so nice."
>"It's my special ability: I'm a dowser. And I can find a lot more than just water. Precious metals, tunnels, even residual magic, or specific chemicals. If someone's tampered with your records, whoever they may be, however they did it, if they left something behind, very good chance I can pick up on it."

[DracoOmega]

>"Very well. Since you asked so nice."
>"It's my special ability: I'm a dowser. And I can find a lot more than just water. Precious metals, tunnels, even residual magic, or specific chemicals. If someone's tampered with your records, whoever they may be, however they did it, if they left something behind, very good chance I can pick up on it."

>"I... see." She leans back. "And you think our records have been tampered with in a way that you could detect like that?"

[Oldmansour]

>"I do."

[DracoOmega]

>"I do."

>"Hadn't you been claiming they were stolen, no more than 30 minutes ago?"

[Oldmansour]

>"And I maintain that. Both your copies here, and Murasa's own. By someone with great skill, I would bet, too, but someone that may have left something behind, that I can trace."
>"It's also possible that this person altered your records of sale, to make it seem like this liscense was never issued to the Blue Maiden. In which case, there would also be traces left behind that I think I can track. And neither of which explcitly require me to see the books themselves. Just be in proximity."

[DracoOmega]

>"And I maintain that. Both your copies here, and Murasa's own. By someone with great skill, I would bet, too, but someone that may have left something behind, that I can trace."
>"It's also possible that this person altered your records of sale, to make it seem like this liscense was never issued to the Blue Maiden. In which case, there would also be traces left behind that I think I can track. And neither of which explcitly require me to see the books themselves. Just be in proximity."

>She pauses a moment. "This story of yours is growing more convoluted every time you describe it, you realize?"

[Oldmansour]

>"Tell me about it. That's pretty much been my life for the past little while. Things just get more and more complicated. If I had the time, I'd tell you about what happened when I went looking for some missing cows."

[DracoOmega]

>"Tell me about it. That's pretty much been my life for the past little while. Things just get more and more complicated. If I had the time, I'd tell you about what happened when I went looking for some missing cows."

>Louise looks at you for a few moments with that shrewd gaze of hers, but says nothing. Then she lets out a small sigh.
>"Very well," she says. "If it will satisfy you, I can give you five minutes by the door to try and sense whatever you think you'll find there. But if you give so much as a hint of doing something else, I'll have security escort you out. Is that clear?"

[Oldmansour]

>Assuming we're outside the door, would that be sufficient proximity for accurate dowsing?