Logic Deductions [WQ]

Being a new player in Terrasphere, Verity wasn't much invested in the story of the game. Yet, just hearing about these strange rumors about an in-game cult just made him curious at what the quest has in store for him. However, just seeing the bleak setting of this area was enough for him to feel a little uncomfortable. Not to mention how there have been no signs of a bustling city or a peaceful village nearby this southwestern edge of this region. He even wondered how it ended up in this dreaded state. But despite his unnerving feelings of Norforva, he remained calm as he looked around the uninhabitable region.

Now that he thought about it, his partner, @Corvella should be here by now. Besides, while he has some trust issues, he knew he can't investigate this alone. And while he wanted to find a way to dispell some rumors, he was still suspicious of the people they will encounter will not tell them everything. So right now, all he can do was to look around to see if there are clues of the cult's whereabouts. If his partner did show up, he turned around and looked at her with a serious expression on his face. "Looks like you're here. I thought I would try to investigate all of this area alone."

(Logic approach!)

 

Ah, Norforva. She wouldn't ever go into this barren land if it weren't for the contract issued by the Ynglar Brotherhood. According to the rumors, movement of cultist groups were last spotted in region. And the job is to confirm the presence of the cultist group, which apparently is up to no good. Simple, no?

She had circled the area first to check the surrounding. No nearby villages, no nearby cities. There's no place they could be hidden in, to be honest. Except if you count the caves, shady houses and the barely-holding buildings. Luckily, she isn't alone here to investigate. She isn't bright enough to solve mysteries and look for clues by herself.

She approached @Verity, her partner for this quest. Looks like he arrived early in the meeting spot, or that she's already late. She immediately apologized "Sorry for the delay. I had to scout the surrounding first." she continued "Umm. Verity, right? I'm Corvella." He has this sharp, serious gaze. He might be the right person for this investigation job. She joins in to look around for clues "How do we start? All I found was some strange houses and buildings that barely holding up."

Logic approach

 

Once he witnessed @Corvella's arrival, he sighed in relief as he felt that they should start the investigation for real. With the barren field around them, he doubted that he would able to investigate the whole area alone. Yet despite that his partner's arrival, he felt that wandering around would waste a lot of time. In fact, he wondered if any of the houses would give them any clues.

"Can you show me where you last saw the houses? I think we shouldn't exclude the houses yet. There may be signs of struggle or anything that served as pieces of evidence that they were last seen in one of them." Verity then walked over to Corvella with his intentions to follow her. "Besides, we might able to get a lead faster than search around this area for any signs of travelers in here. However, there might be a risk of us setting a trap or an ambush. So we should try to prepare ourselves if we do."

He hated to sound cautious in front of his partner, but considering his current levels for his masteries and his current equipment, he doubted he might able to survive either of them if they kept their guards down.

 

"Come, follow me."

They walked slightly northwest from where the meeting place was. There is almost nothing to see here, no wildlife, no interesting fantasy plant, nothing. After few minutes walking, they stumbled upon what appears to be one of the houses Corvella saw earlier. They close in with caution slowly, still watching around the surrounding.

There's few other houses in the vicinity, separated by at least fifty metres each at least. There is no sound, and no movement coming from any of the house. This particular one house looks so.. tattered? The wooden walls are barely holding up, the windows are barricaded with wooden planks, and the door looks like it could collapse anytime soon.

"This should be it." she looked at Verity, waiting for his confirmation for her suspicion.

Corvella tried to open the wooden door, but it seems that it is somewhat stuck, or purposely broken. She held her shield with her two hands, firming her stance, and bashes the wooden door with single forward motion. The apparently barricaded door surprisingly crumbles into pieces with ease, revealing the inside of the house.

@Asch

 

"Ugh." Corvella covered her lower face as the rotten scent coming from inside the house start to flow outside. What is this smell? She decided to look inside the house closer before it all becomes clear. This place had been a makeshift prison, complete with signs of torture and everything else. The disturbing sight, combined with the stench made her run outside to calm herself down. She said to @Verity to go ahead and investigate first "I'm sorry, I-I need some time to get used to this."

Several moments later, she was ready to join Verity to investigate (if he hasn't done investigating yet). It looks like this place were used to torture and imprison someone. Judging by the intensity of the dried blood splatters all over the floor and wall, this has been done in a quite long period; maybe a week or two. Does the rumored cult have something to do with this?

Verity also might have found clues concerning what happened here. Either way, running footsteps were heard just outside. She was quite away from the door, so running outside took some time. Outside, a silhouette running away from the site was spotted.

"Who is there? Stop!"

 

Just looking at the makeshift prison was enough for Verity to lose his temper for a bit. It's just made of data, but it just reminded him too much of the crimes from the real world. In fact, this setting was enough to remind him of stories of human trafficking and kidnapping. Of course, he didn't want to stare at them for long as Verity walked away and said to @Corvella, "Don't worry, I feel we won't able to search anything in that makeshift prison. Come on, I don't want to stare at that prison for any longer."

Once he turned away from the prison, he focused on investigating the house along with his partner. Yet as he turned to the ground, he noticed a drawing of the map and as he took a closer look with the minimap by his side, he noticed that it was pointing at the southwestern part of this region. "Well, this is interesting. I don't know why it is here, but I think this prisoner might leave this for us to find a clue. Still, following this should be dangerous. Let's try to return for now."

But before he can, he heard Corvella warning him of an unannounced visitor. Of course, there has to be someone who wanted to impede their investigation. "Don't let him escape!" Using the panel as he gritted his teeth, he recited the spell for his Breeze Shroud spell, which allowed him to gain momentum from the wind behind him before he rushed towards their intruder in an attempt to literally catch him in the act. If he did catch him, he used his sword to stab the intruder's clothing while he pinned him down to prevent him from escaping.

 

Verity rushed along the wind to catch up the hooded figure running away from them. With the equipment she's in, trying to catch up to them is impossible. But the sudden boost speed is enough for Verity to catch up, pinning the person into the ground with his sword. For a second she thought he was going to stab in in the back.

She walked up to them, with the person still struggling to escape from Verity's hold. A simple incantation might help.

"Calm"

The person stops resisting, as if energy were sapped away from them. It seems like whoever this person is, they are not trained to resist magic. Now let's see what they have to say....

 

Whatever spell @Corvella just cast was somehow worked as he felt the intruder stopped resisting. This allowed for him to tie him up with a rope he brought with him from the general store at Stokborn from earlier. Once that was done, he was free to interrogate the surprise guest as he drawn out his sword from the ground and pointed its blade to the tied man in front of him. "Unless you want to say a few prayers before I slice your head off of you, I suggest you answer my questions. Lie or stay silent and I won't hesitate to stab you. Now, tell us why are you here and why did you run away from us?"

Just by leaning his blade towards the man's neck was enough for him to talk. And it's not only his way of interrogation, the man shivered as he stared at Verity's glare when he said, "Y-You shouldn't be here. T-The cult is planning to summon some kind of monster and it will kill us around the Norforvo region! I don't know what they are really planning, but I rather not stay here to find out! I-I was about to leave here scot-free until you came along. No one is safe! No one will survive from the oncoming flames!"

Much to Verity's dismay, the man ended up spouting nonsense, which didn't help this situation as he rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Looks like that's all he can say for us. We should leave him to the Brotherhood and report them about the map." With the map as their only clue, he had a feeling this quest had much more than what the man just said to them.