>>920958
Exactly my thoughts.

>>920869
Well whatever's going on with the chest, time is wasting, the impossibility and reason behind it isn't important at the moment but what's inside might be.

Get in there with light.

Find whatever Karl probably wanted you to see then get out there looking for Alice.

Just go in, no time to waste.

The missing hand of the Ancient College Symbol is mysterious. Which School would you think be the odd one out? How old is the College? There's good odds that it might be yours, given how reliant on tech it is.

Be sure to make a wry comeback to James for that nickname. If you need muscle for any engineering projects in the future, you'd be willing to give him a job. He IS good with his hands, so you been told.

You close your eyes and smack your cheeks a few times just to make sure you aren’t dreaming. You aren’t. You’ll have time to worry about the implications of all this later, Alice needs your help and Karl thinks whatever is down here can help you.

“Alright, let’s find a light,” you say to James, “I’ll go first.” There’s a small oil lantern already lit hanging from the wall. James grabs it and watches as you awkwardly climb over the edge of the chest, making sure that you have solid footing and the ladder is sturdy before beginning your descent. It looks old, but it’s secured well. He hands you the lantern saying, "Be careful, boss."

You start to descend the ladder with the lantern held above your head. A tingling passes across your body as you pass over the threshold where the bottom of the chest should have been. It's... not entirely unpleasant. Your ears buzz softly when they cross. As soon as the lantern crosses into the space beneath, the room is instantly flooded with light. When you reach the bottom, you step on to the smooth stone floor. It feels warm in here, and there is a faint floral smell.

When you look around, all you can see are rows and rows of shelving. This appears to be some kind of storeroom. Most of the items on the shelves are either wrapped or in wooden boxes, crates, or chests so it’s hard to get an idea of what’s in here. You call up that it’s safe, and James joins you. You can see there’s several shelves with various weaponry, some you recognize and some you don’t.

You hear the creaking hinge of a door and a voice calls out from behind one of the shelves, “Oh! I wasn’t expecting company. Are you friends of Karl?” A young mouse, in her late 20s by your estimate, steps out from behind a shelf to your left. She has light gray fur, and her emerald eyes shimmer in the light of your lantern. A silken dress hugs her form. The top is cut in a deep V, exposing much of her ample chest. A slit runs up her leg from her feet to her waist on the left side. A belt is strapped around her waist with a scabbard and sword hanging loosely from it. She sucks on one of her front teeth, looking you and James up and down. She catches herself and straightens her posture, a playful smirk on her face. “Where are my manners!” she exclaims, giving an elaborate curtsy, ”I am Emmeline. How may I be of service?”

>>921023
Lets hope you aren't a lesbian. Smack the stupefied James.

Brief le mouse.

"A gang called the Songbirds just kidnapped our friend and killed a College Seeker. What do you have that can help?"

>Lets hope you aren't a lesbian. Smack the stupefied James.

You’re reasonably sure that you’re not a lesbian, but this mouse isn’t making that easy. She just looks so soft. You catch James gawking a little, and give his shin a light kick. "Steady, slim,” you say. Emmeline giggles lightly, clearly not bothered by it.

Not one to let such good manners - even those applied a bit late - go to waste, you introduce yourselves. You then recount the events so far. Emmeline listens to your story about Richmond coming to Nilvi, your selection by the College, the sudden attack by the Songbirds, Richmond’s murder, and Alice’s kidnapping. When you first say the word Songbirds, the playfulness disappears from Emmeline and her face hardens. She clasps the hilt of her sword, which you notice has a pommel in the shape of a butterfly. She asks, “how long ago did they take your friend?”

“About an hour ago.”

“And there were three, you said? You’re certain of that?”

“Definitely. We have two up,” you pause for a moment and look up at the chest floating above your head, remembering just how bizarre this situation is, “...the ladder. One is dead and the other is knocked out. Alice was taken by the third.”

“We need to move. Quickly. Are either of you trained with weapons?”

“Not really. I know how guns and crossbows work, and James use to spar with some of the other kids when he was younger. He was never very good though.”

“Hey! I could hold my own. I mean... I was only 12,” he says, slightly annoyed.

Emmeline turns and starts walking towards one of the shelves, motioning for you to follow. Neither you nor James can resist watching her backside as she practically glides across the floor. She stops and pulls a canvas cover off of the shelf, revealing a pile of some of the most intricate and beautiful pieces of martial weaponry you have ever seen. Ornate cutlasses, long swords, rapiers, and daggers with etched designs and elaborate pommels to name a few. Polearms with carvings down the entire length. Despite their adornment, you’ve been around the town blacksmith enough to know a sturdy weapon when you see one. Finally, you spot two flintlock rifles. Yhe stocks have the same butterfly pattern inlaid in silver you have been seeing elsewhere, and they look newer than their bladed companions. Emmeline gestures to the veritable buffet in front of you, saying, “take whatever you think will suit you best, dears.”

She then watches you, studying. Her face appears to have softened again slightly.

You have your choice of weapon. As you are looking through them, you can find pretty much any kind of martial weapon you’ve ever heard of. They all appear to be of the highest quality, but are covered in a layer of dust. You suspect that none have been used before. You consider taking more than one weapon, simply on their beauty alone, but think better of it. You’re going to want to travel light. As you are looking, you have a moment to gather your thoughts.

Mental Notes:
>How old is the College?

The College is around 300 years old. While the current College of Motion is focused on modern machines and technology, they’ve always been on the cusp of research and development.

>Which School would you think be the odd one out?

You aren’t sure. As far as you know, all 5 branches were there when the College was founded.

Only one? Flintlocks aren't usually renowned for their rate of fire. Take a pepperbox pistol!

>>921274
Look for a Wheellock.

>>921274
Do one of two things: either take three or four flintlock pistols or take a crossbow. You could also ask if they have any repeating crossbows. Take a shortsword as well for melee. She should understand your wanting to not be a sitting duck if someone gets close to you.

>>921274
Take a flintlock (unless there's a superior rifle there, but they got a bit of description so I suspect they're best choice). You'll have a kris dagger for emergencies.

You might as well ask what is going on with all this weirdness as you gear up and head out; who and what are these songbirds? what's with the symbols like the butterfly and the 4-handed college insignia?

>>923039
Rather than a kris dagger, lets take two push daggers instead. Those should be easier to use.

We should also take a few extra pistols since it takes forever to load them (we need to add inventing bullets to our to-do list). We also need a powder horn and cartridge box.


We could also just take a crossbow.

Mod the flintlock! Firing hundreds of pellets out of a single tube at once may currently be a mere fantasy, but firing three pellets out of THREE tubes with a single trigger and handle should be a simple concept in practice!

... Or just build a bola/chakram crossbow. That works.

>>923064
Both of those existed, sorry.

Your sharp engineer’s mind quickly starts putting together hundreds of possible modifications and enhancements to the weapons in front of you. No, no. You don’t have time for any of that.

A rifle would provide more range and accuracy, but you aren’t sure of the conditions you’ll be facing, so you opt for dual pistols instead. They each have their own holster which is easily affixed to a belt, but it would be impractical to take more than two. There’s plenty of satchels with everything you need to reload and you should only need one. You affix them to the same belt and strap it on. You test draw each pistol. In an attempt to mimic your favorite hero and expert marksman Amrius with a quick draw and pose, you fumble and drop one. James snorts and Emmeline chides you. “Careful, dear,” she says. You decide to grab a short sword as well and clip it to your belt, just in case.

James grabs a standard long sword and holds in in front of him, testing the balance. As he finishes securing the scabbard, you ask Emmeline a few questions.

“So, who are these Songbirds? You have heard of them before, haven’t you?” you ask.

She sighs, “they’re a cult, though they’d call it a church. They’ve been in Eolais for as long as I can remember. Nasty bunch, no fun at all! They usually stay out of sight, and most people think they’re a myth if they’ve even heard of them. Every so often something will catch their attention and they show up. Last time, they were after some noble visiting from Sware. Haven’t se-- eh, heard of them being seen in a hundred years or so. It’s hard keeping track of their movements, they really are good at staying hidden. If they’ve shown up now...” she trails off, pondering.

“There was a butterfly on the lock to the chest, and I see it on your sword there. Does that mean anything?”

She beams, “That’s *me*, dear. Emmeline Papilio. It’s the mark of my trade. Everything you see here I created. Do you like it?”

“Even the chest? Why is the College insignia wrong?”

“It’s not wrong,” she says, “it’s just old.”

Do you have anything else to ask before heading out?

>but it would be impractical to take more than two.
You aint got no pirate blood in yeah. those bastards tended to carry 10 or more pistols on them attached to their holsters with bits of string so they could fire one pistol then drop it without losing it and grab another without having to spend 3 minutes trying to reload.

But yeah your current gear is fine as it is. You should ask though if she knows how the bird was able to disappear like it did with your friend?

>Haven’t se-- eh, heard of them being seen in a hundred years or so
>It’s not wrong, it’s just old.
"... You know what? I'm being paranoid. Statistically the odds are in favor of you running a routine to make the foppy collectors think you're an immortal sage. Adds fake credibility to your appraisals, right?"

>>923119
Two pistols means two shots. Reloading is tactically impossible in combat. If you can sling a few more on, do so. You can discard them after firing if you need to lighten the load.

Or you could use a crossbow.

--

Is mouse chick a vampire? How old is she?

If we can catch up and talk about that old crest sometime after we rescue Alice. Do you have an address where we can reach you besides Karl's closet?

>You aint got no pirate blood
Of course not! Your parents were fishers, not pirates. You don’t think you’ve ever even met a pirate before. You’re pretty sure you could figure out how to carry more pistols of different sizes and build mechanisms for them, but there’s no time for that right now. You consider taking more than two pistols, but you’re confident that two is sufficient. Besides, you have a sword for close quarters combat. Guns aren’t exactly common, either, so you doubt you’ll be running in to any lengthy gunfights.

Emmeline excuses herself and steps through the door you heard earlier. A few minutes later she returns, having changed into more subdued clothing. Slightly. A black leather doublet stamped on the breast with her butterfly symbol, the top few buttons left open revealing she has nothing on underneath it. She has well worn and dull metal bracers on her forearms. Her outfit is finished with a flowing blue skirt that stops a few inches above her ankles. Her sword is unchanged. This time James nudges you for staring.

When she looks ready you ask, “When I was chasing the Songbird that took Alice, he kind of just vanished. Earlier today I was sure magic was a myth... but now I’m in this place," you say, gesturing around you, "Do you think they used magic?”

Emmeline answers flatly, “No, dear. Not magic. Daydream. I thought I had smelled it on you. It’s a potent drug that causes vivid hallucinations. They use it to confuse and misdirect.” She casually tightens the straps on her bracers and tugs the bottom of her doublet, exposing a bit more of her chest.

You finish adjusting your gear, a few more questions on your mind. “How old are you? I almost believe this immortal sage act you do. Must help sales, yeah?” you ask.

She giggles again, an enchanting sound, “`Immortal sage`? That’s a new one. I’ll have to remember that.” She switches to a more serious tone and asks, “Are we all ready then? We’ll find your friend, I promise. We can talk more later.”

You give your gear one more check and make sure everything is secure, and then the three of you head up the ladder. You lock the chest again behind you and shove it back into the corner where you originally found it.

James goes to Karl before you leave and says, “Karl, we’re gonna have to have a chat about how appropriate it is to keep young female mice locked up in chests in your back room when we get back. Are you going to be ok here?”

He nods, “go, I’ll be fine. Emma will take care o’ ya. Bring Alice back.”

You give the shop one last look over, and walk out of Karl’s shop with your companions.

Several months have passed. You are sitting in your large lounge chair in your home, staring out the window at the full moon high in the sky. You don’t feel any closer to finding Alice. For the first few days, everyone helped look. The entire town was on alert, but most have returned to their daily routines. Oliver’s investigation in to the slip of paper has turned up nothing. James is home for the evening. Emmeline is currently sleeping in your bed, snoring softly. She insists that Alice is still near the town, and that she is close to a breakthrough. Council Member Adrian sent out several letters to warn the neighboring towns of the Songbirds, and to ask assistance from Rharen. The response was the typical “no one we can spare” and “our condolences to their family.”

You yawn and get up to go lie down, when you hear something.

Click. Click. Click.
Whrrrrrrrrrrrr.
Click. Click. Click.
Whrrrrrrrrrrrr.

END CHAPTER 1

Thanks everyone for your support so far! I am ending chapter 1 here to give me time to work with a friend who has offered to provide art for the quest going forward. Songbirds of Eolais should be back soon!

While chapter 1 has ended, chapter 2 will continue in this thread so please feel free to make suggestions ahead of time!

hmm, it seems alice is lost forever. We now know what we must do. Build the atomic bomb and wipe out the bird's home country. Their is no other option.

Syrra Fenrir 2019/02/26(Tue)14:46 No. 923461 ID: c4c64c
File 155122120573.png - (160.62KB , 900x900 , SOE2_1-1.png )

Chapter 2

Following the sound, you arrive at the shelf where you keep your trinkets. The bracelet you found when you were young is glistening in a beam of moonlight, alive with activity. It almost appears to be glowing. All four sides are clicking and whirring, the levers moving of their own accord.

Welcome back! We should have some awesome art to go along with the updates going forward, provided by Lennoxicon. The break was more of an simple intermission than I had expected. I hope you enjoy!

Press all the buttons and see what it does. What's the moon phase right now? Could that be related to the thing finally working?

check that thing, see if you can't find out what's cause it to go off now of all times.

Put the bracelet on a fake arm and see what it does.

Syrra Fenrir 2019/02/27(Wed)09:55 No. 923573 ID: c4c64c
File 155129011818.png - (198.97KB , 900x900 , SOE2_1-2.png )

You take the bracelet over to your workbench and set it down. On further examination, you cannot identify any kind of external power source. The glow seems to subside a bit, and the movement is slowing gradually. Flicking any of the levers or switches doesn’t seem to have any direct effect.

After about 5 minutes of inspection, the bracelet goes silent.

>>>923462

It's a full moon.

>>923467

You decide to try and put the bracelet on the only fake arm in your house: your prized possession Amrius the Fully-Pose-able Teen Heartthrob Limited Edition Anatomically-correct Action Figure. You slip the bracelet around the figure when suddenly... nothing happens.

Poke things until you're 98% sure the sawblades are nonexistent.

try moving the arm back into the moonlight

Have you shown this thing to Emmeline? She's an artificer with a century or two of experience over you.
Take the bracelet outside.

>>923573
Your room is very contemporary.

Syrra Fenrir 2019/03/02(Sat)20:11 No. 924030 ID: c4c64c
File 155158626114.png - (244.07KB , 800x800 , SOE2_3.png )

>>923582
You check every single switch and lever on each side. No saw blades can be found.

>>923605
You carry the bracelet back over to the window where the moonlight is shining in. After a few moments of exposure, you can see the gears start to move again. Nowhere near the activity it had before, but it is gaining momentum. It doesn’t seem to be glowing anymore.

>>923616
She hasn’t seen this bracelet before. This is, ah, the first time she’s been in your house. She was very tired when you arrived, and went right to bed. She’s still snoring, and you would feel bad waking her up.

>>923745
You made most of the furniture yourself, to practice your skills repairing the wooden ships and other odd things around town. You've always been up to speed on the latest and most popular styles. You even subscribe to Carpenter's Dream Monthly!

>>924030
Wear the bracelet and walk around seeing what it reacts to.

It goes on your bushy tail.

>>924060
this. see what happens

If you put it to your ear, can you hear the sound of the ocean?

whelp, nothing ventured nothing gain, try putting it on.

>>924030
You know, why is Emmeline here anyway?

It looks like a collar... can it fit on your neck?

Try opening the window. If that still doesnt work, try using a magnifying glass to direct moonlight onto it.

Syrra Fenrir 2019/03/03(Sun)18:59 No. 924282 ID: c4c64c
File 155166839637.png - (80.78KB , 600x600 , SOE2_4.png )

You decide that given the design of this thing, it was probably meant to be worn. It won’t fit around your neck, so you flick your tail around in front of you, and slip it around the end until it’s snug. You walk around a bit to see if that changes anything, but nothing really happens. You feel a little silly. As you move away from the window, it stops moving again. You open the window, which lets a little more moonlight inside, but doesn’t seem to have a noticeable effect otherwise. Any time the bracelet is hit by moonlight, it starts to slowly move again. You suspect that it would need to be exposed for a good hour before it got up to the speed it was before on its own.

After a few minutes on your tail, you take it off again. You hold it up to your ear to see what you can hear. You do hear the ocean... because it’s just down the road and the window is open. Past that, just the slight sound of the gears turning.

>>924070
You have been growing close with Emmeline over the past few months. She’s a very interesting person! Full of energy and shows wisdom well beyond her years. She’s also been teaching James and yourself how to properly fight. You’ve both come a long way, and she says you’re some of the quickest learners she’s met. She has a horribly dirty mind though. You’ve never seen James blush so much, even when he was around Alice. She complains a lot about how she can never get a good night’s sleep in her room at Marius’ Landing, so you finally offered to let her spend the night at your house. Her reaction made you suspect she had been hinting that on purpose. You know, just to try it out. She insisted that she would find a way to pay you back. You have some concerns what she might have in mind for that.

Might as well put it on your wrist now so you don’t feel as stupid anymore.

well only other things I can think of is to put it on your wrist and/or let it sit in the moonlight and just watch it and see if it does anything.

Also is the moon full tonight or no?

>>924282
Go for a walk, see what happens. Wake up your compatriot and ask them to come with you in case something happens.

Syrra Fenrir 2019/03/07(Thu)16:07 No. 925011 ID: c4c64c
File 155200365931.png - (70.81KB , 600x600 , SoE2_5.png )

You gently try to wake Emmeline up, but she is sound asleep and just rolls over when you try. Best to just leave her be, you've been around her when she's tired. It's scary. You strap the bracelet around your wrist and decide to get some fresh air to try and clear your head.

Once out in the moonlight you immediately feel refreshed. You walk around town for a bit. It feels deserted, being so early in the morning. One or two houses still have lights on, but there’s nobody out on the streets. You feel a sudden urge to start running, and begin a loop around the edge of Nilvi. Your mind wanders to the events of the past few months, since Alice’s abduction. All the places you’ve searched and the time you’ve spent with James, Oliver, and Emmeline. You found clues, tracks, and other signs of the Songbirds but always too late. It’s been incredibly frustrating. Emmeline assures you that you are making progress and she has been confident you are catching up. She says that the Songbirds will not go far from the town and they are running out of places to hide. She doesn’t explain why they'd still be near, and changes the subject any time you ask. You’ve found small pieces of Alice's clothing, which gives you hope that she is still alive and trying to leave a trail. It makes you angry to think about what they might be doing to or with her.

After an hour, you realize that you’re not even winded. You still feel as though you just woke up from a good night’s sleep. The bracelet itself is back whirring away at full speed. It gives off a slight glow again.

You are suddenly very hungry.

Go home get dressed and grab your weapons then grab something to eat (the weapons are for Incase you get attacked while out). If you don’t have any food at home then grab your weapons, get dressed and go out to get some food.

hmm, you normally have this much energy or no? Wondering if the bracelet has something to do with this but I don't see how. Either way might as well go home and make something to eat real quick and then plan what you are going to do for the day. Also did you just run around town in your underwear?

Time for a midnight feast! You've figured out one of possibly many functions of this bracelet. This could help you search for longer periods, at least at night.

>>925011
You should probably assume to yourself that Alice is dead. While you should keep looking, they could have easily killed her and just kept her stuff to use as bait. There is also the possibility that when you find her she may have been horribly tortured, missing limbs, disabled, experimented on, or even worse, indoctrinated.