(Skyseas of Gensokyo) Nazrin Quest (Part 2)

[DracoOmega]

>"Enough to eat on for a few days. But I'll definitely need better jobs soon."

>"Ever onward and upward," she says, then pauses. "I suppose I should fill you in on the petition you're here for, then."

[Sect]

> "Probably be a pretty good idea. What's the problem, something about missing livestock?"

[DracoOmega]

> "Probably be a pretty good idea. What's the problem, something about missing livestock?"

>Ichirin nods. "It started... well, I suppose the first disappearance may have been almost three weeks ago now, but nobody thought much of it at the time. One evening, when Soichi was taking his cows in from grazing, he noticed one missing. At first, he just assumed it had wandered off somehow, but it never came back and he couldn't find a sign of it when he went off to look for it. A couple days later, word got around that a neighbour had lost one, too. Then someone else claimed they'd lost three. No one could find a trace of any of them. Several more have disappeared since then. I'm... afraid there may have been some accusations of theft between a few of the farmers." She frowns a little uncomfortably. "That's why I'm involved at all. I volunteered to be a neutral party to the dispute. And I figured that if nobody here could find them, it might be time to call in a professional."
>"You know we don't exactly have bandits and thieves roving the countryside here, but I'm at a bit of a loss as to how to explain this. If it's wild animals, they're awfully hungry and awfully tidy eaters."

[Hello Purvis]

>"How many are missing in total?"

[DracoOmega]

>"How many are missing in total?"

>"I have a list of the number of cattle each farmer claims they're missing," she says. "This may or may not be wholly accurate, but the total comes to 11."

[Hello Purvis]

>Nod.
>"Anything in common between them?"

[DracoOmega]

>Nod.
>"Anything in common between them?"

>"Well, the farmers who pasture their cattle furthest north seem to have the most missing, but a lot of the pasture land is up in that general area, anyway. Other than that, I haven't noticed anything."

[Hanzo K.]

>Maybe the missing cattle are connected to that feral youkai that attacked Isato?
>We'll have to be sure to make a mental note to look into that possible connection, no sense in not following potential leads.

[Hello Purvis]

>Which way is that bridge from Branston?
>"So location. Nothing in common with the cows themselves, such as color or type?"

[DracoOmega]

>Maybe the missing cattle are connected to that feral youkai that attacked Isato?
>We'll have to be sure to make a mental note to look into that possible connection, no sense in not following potential leads.

>Given that the bridge is a couple hours away, this would imply that her territory is pretty far-reaching, but it's certainly a possibility.
>A good Seeker ignores no potential clue.

>Which way is that bridge from Branston?
>"So location. Nothing in common with the cows themselves, such as color or type?"

>The bridge is west from Easthaven, and east from Braston.
>Ichirin shakes her head. "Not as far as anyone's noticed."

[Hello Purvis]

>"Favoring east or west side, these disappearances?"

[DracoOmega]

>"Favoring east or west side, these disappearances?"

>"I, um..." She frowns. "I'm not sure. Why?"

[Hello Purvis]

>"Considering possibilities. I'll assume neither, then. I assume there's been nothing like broken fences or unusual footprints or bent grasses?"

[DracoOmega]

>"Considering possibilities. I'll assume neither, then. I assume there's been nothing like broken fences or unusual footprints or bent grasses?"

>"No broken fences," she says. "At least not that I've heard about. The cattle themselves track all over the land up there, though. I'm not sure anyone else's tracks would stand out, especially since no one knows exactly where they disappeared from. None of the farmers found anything useful to follow, anyway."

[Hello Purvis]

>"I assume that they would have at least walked around their land to check fences and look around, so I can rule out tracks."
>"Hmmm. How many tend to disappear at once? How often?"

[DracoOmega]

>"I assume that they would have at least walked around their land to check fences and look around, so I can rule out tracks."
>"Hmmm. How many tend to disappear at once? How often?"

>"You're the expert," she says, nodding.
>"Often one, but not always. And I think it may be getting more frequent, now. It was almost a week between the first and second disappearance, but we just had two more in the last three days."

[Hello Purvis]

>"Always at night, I take it? Have any farms been hit twice? Or ignored?"

[Kips McKipzerson]

Seems like someone's got some sort of need for cows. It's probably not about the captors eating the cows themselves, maybe selling them off for a profit? Or maybe their milk or meat or whatever it is cows are good for. That or maybe some kind of Youkai is starting up a farm, whatnot with Horses and Cows and Food being stolen.
I'm just throwing out the few things I may think be possible, by the way.

>"Hmm. I think that's all I need to know for now, I'm started to get a bit tired. Maybe we'll talk more in the morning?"

[Hello Purvis]

>"Hmm. I think that's all I need to know for now, I'm started to get a bit tired. Maybe we'll talk more in the morning?"

>Ignore this.

[DracoOmega]

>"Always at night, I take it? Have any farms been hit twice? Or ignored?"

>"Maybe..." Ichirin says. "At least I don't think anyone noticed one go missing during the day, but they can't keep an eye on all of them, all the time. A couple did try staking out their places after dark, but they never saw anything. And some farmers have lost one more than once, yes. Some of the grazing land up there is shared, though. That's probably why some people started accusing their neighbours of stealing in the first place."

[Hello Purvis]

>"Were the cows taken particularly good ones? Or bad ones?"
>What's the size of the average herd out here? A Dozen? A few dozen? Hundreds?

[DracoOmega]

>"Were the cows taken particularly good ones? Or bad ones?"
>What's the size of the average herd out here? A Dozen? A few dozen? Hundreds?

>Ichirin considers for a moment. "I think they were considered good, for the most part, although they weren't selectively the very best of the herd, either."
>Easthaven has only a small amount of livestock rearing in comparison to the amount of crops which are grown here. Of the farmers which keep cattle at all, you think many of the herds are only in the range of a dozen or less, with a small handful of people having more.

[Hello Purvis]

>Less than a dozen? Then they're practically pets!
>"Any other interesting details about the missing cattle that you've been told?"

[DracoOmega]

>Less than a dozen? Then they're practically pets!
>"Any other interesting details about the missing cattle that you've been told?"

>For some of the farmers, that mightn't be far from the case.
>"I don't think so," she says, frowning. "At least nothing that's jumped out at me so far."

[Hello Purvis]

>Nod. "So, the cownapper hasn't targeted anything in particular. I assume no one has actually heard anything during the night?"

[DracoOmega]

>Nod. "So, the cownapper hasn't targeted anything in particular. I assume no one has actually heard anything during the night?"

>"No." She pauses. "Well, nothing I put much stock into, anyway. When you're worrying that something's out there, you start jumping at shadows. I've heard claims of everything from a gang of men arguing with each other to strange bestial moaning. No two people's stories seem to agree with each other."

[Hello Purvis]

>"So no common threads there, aside from the cow vanishing. I'm guessing no one looked around long enough to find some cow droppings or anything that'd suggest they were around?"

[DracoOmega]

>"So no common threads there, aside from the cow vanishing. I'm guessing no one looked around long enough to find some cow droppings or anything that'd suggest they were around?"

>"Well, a few groups of people combed through some of the woods beyond the edge of the fields, but they didn't find much of anything. Wherever they've gone, it must be further than that, unless someone's hiding them very well."

[Hello Purvis]

>Where are these woods?
>Also, any of that cheese and bread left? It's sammich time.

[DracoOmega]

>Where are these woods?
>Also, any of that cheese and bread left? It's sammich time.

>Much of the northern side of Estval is covered in forest. The were woods north of the road to Easthaven along most of its length, thinning into grasslands every now and again. The land around Easthaven is somewhat less treed, and much of it has been cleared for agricultural purposes, but there's still fairly dense woods beyond the edge of the pasture lands to the north and northwest.
>You've eaten through pretty much all of what you were given, although you're sure there's more in the pantry.