EternalObserver
eYe Gaze baCk
- Location
- The Void
[X] [Roll] Collect Surface Thoughts
Isekai, Go Home! An Anti-Isekai, Isekai Fantasy Inquisition Quest
- Thread starter Armchair_Genera1
- Start date
- Original Fantasy Mystery
- Location
- Australia
Oh, sorry. Right, well, using D&D difficulty classes, the required dice-roll from a D20 is "10" for an average difficulty task, and 15 for a tough task. This is ignoring skill and attribute modifiers.
CASE I - THE PIED PIPER, HUNTING A PREDATOR III
- Location
- Australia
CASE I - THE PIED PIPER, HUNTING A PREDATOR III
[X ] [Roll] Collect Surface Thoughts
ROLL SUCCESSFUL
"Oh, sorry. It's nothing" You say quickly, as you focus your empath and telepathic powers on the apprentice sitting in front of you. "Just a bit tired" you smile at him as you explain.
"However… telling you… Mr…"
"Hazelkamp", the apprentice offered. You nod in thanks.
"Telling you, Mr Hazelkamp, of my progress is not my reason for being here. When I arrived here, some of the villagers were very helpful with our search. Understandably, not everyone came out to speak with me… my station is quite intimidating and we are dealing with a very dangerous man, after all".
"Of course. We would help you if we could, Lady Inquisitor, but we didn't come forward when you arrived because there was nothing for us to say. I have no idea where the bastard is hiding, Or I'd have found him and killed him myself". The apprentice, Mr Hazelkamp, replied bitterly. The emotions you could feel around him were defensive, nervous even - though he disguised this well with anger. The anger was felt, you could see it around him, so it was not faked, not necessarily, but it was being used to hide something else.
You glanced as subtle as you could to your side, to Baudelaire. Nothing from him. He had told you he would falsely cough in a certain way to inform you if he noticed anything suggesting deceit. Just because Baudelaire did not notice him lying though did not mean he was truthful either, however. Baudelaire wasn't a living lie detector, merely a very observant man.
You focused even harder now. You knew this man was complicit in this case, somehow - but didn't know how or why.
It is not as though I can attack him when he has them all protecting him, I'm not fighting that army The apprentice thought.
An army? What army? You would have asked him, but kept silent, since asking him a question to a statement read from his mind would likely be quite foolish indeed. Instead, you simply continued your questioning.
"Did you know, Mr Hazekamp, that in all the previous abductions performed by the Pied Piper, few of his victims actually died?" You ask the apprentice. "The inquisition has always wondered why that is".
"I… I would not know the thinking of a creature like an Isekai, Lady Inquisitor" Hazelkamp replied.
Still nervous… but not surprised. You guessed then that, he most likely already knew this. The villagers knew that the Pied Piper rarely killed their kidnapped victims. It was, you imagine, likely a result of folklore and stories carried through the different villages, probably by peddlers and bards and the like. An image in your mind, then, was slowly coming together of what was going on…
"It is because of this, and a few other reasons too, I believe that some in this village might be helping the Pied Piper."
"Why… Why would you think that, Lady Inquisitor?" Hazelkamp said.
As if we had a choice, Hazelkamp thought.
"They would not have much of a choice. The Isekai threatens the villagers, if they aid in the investigation against them, their children will die. If they do not, they are returned to them… It has made me think, then, that those uncommon cases of the children being discovered later, starved or otherwise killed, were from villages that refused to cooperate with the Pied Piper's blackmail - they chose to help the Inquisition". Your monologue, while aimed at no one in particular, was clearly aimed at the man in front of him. He was afraid, very afraid now.
"Does that not make sense, Mr Hazekam?" you ask. He says nothing, his mouth a thin line forced shut, but for you, now, you do not need him to speak to hear his reply.
Just leave us alone, you will get them all killed, he thought. I don't fucking know where he hides them, I just move the food to the place he said to put it.
"The other peculiar thing was how the children died, in those cases. They starved" you continued. As you continued to speak, the apprentice's wife left, ostensibly to make tea - in reality, to avoid this conversation. Perhaps to her it appeared as though you were merely talking to yourself - and at first glance you were, since your responses were to the man's thoughts.
"The starvation got me thinking, then… Mr Hazelkamp. If the Pied Piper Isekai was hiding in the caves all this time, where are they getting the food needed to feed all the children they are holding hostage?"
"I… don't" he said.
Us, obviously, he thought.
"Well then, I think that-" you were cut off then, by a cluttering noise as the apprentice's wife returned with saucers with cups of tea upon them.
Oh, thank the gods Mr Hazelkamp thought.
"Oh, excuse me. Your tea, Lady inquisitor". The wife, Mrs Hazelkamp said. Baudelaire next to you rolled his eyes in annoyance and Mr Hazelkamp used the excuse of drinking his tea to not talk.
You were pleased with your progress however, so did not bother to push. Instead, you looked down at your teacup… and the piece of paper placed between it and the saucer. It seemed Mrs Hazelkamp wanted you to know something, something she didn't want her husband to know?
Please read it. Just read it, go there and end this, please. She was thinking. At first you thought she knew you were reading her thoughts - but after a while and constant repetition, you decide she was merely repeating it to herself. The paper, it was what you needed… why she needed to write it down though confused her. Why not speak to her by herself? Her husband?
Regardless, you discreetly slip the piece of paper up your sleeve as you move to take the tea cup to sip. You sip for a few times - the tea was pretty decent, not as good as the stuff that was made at the Academy of Light, but decent.
"That will be all, thank you Mr and Mrs Hazelkamp, for your assistance and time" you announce.
"Wha - really?" The apprentice spluttered back, confused.
She's not going to interrogate us? I mean, what? He thought.
I already have, you thought back. It was the best kind of interrogation really. Painless and discreet, you had what you needed, and the interrogated was none the wiser.
"Yes. I may need to question you further at a later date, but my line of thought has given me some ideas on who to question next, so you don't have to worry about it for now" you say, smiling, and leave with Baudelaire following silently in toe.
You walk some distance, before Baudelaire glances at you.
"I saw you take it, and figured you have something of a lead now. So what next?" He asks, as you are looking down at the piece of paper now between two of your fingers.
HE IS WATCHING US, WE CANNOT SPEAK TO YOU. THE FOOD IS DELIVERED AT MIDNIGHT NEXT TO THE WINDMILL you read discreetly off the piece of paper.
You look closely at Baudelaire, thinking quickly. He could not read minds as you could, but you tried to convey your intentions with the intensity of your eyes.
"She seems to be having some marital disputes with her husband, and thinks that her husband may actually be the Pied Piper" You remark, attempting to appear as honest as possible to anyone watching from afar. You were choosing to take the message at face value for now, and were running on the assumption that you could be spied on at this very moment. You could sense emotions around you, sure, but visual empathy was not necessarily accurate at picking out those spying on you - and the telepathy was difficult for you to use, you did not just pick up the thoughts of everyone around you, even those you didn't know were there.
"As you say…" Baudelaire responds, a controlled calm in his voice, suggesting he understood what you were saying was not the truth.
You were walking now to join the others and leave the village in the hopes that you could discuss your next course of action without being spied on. The questioning overall has provided you with a confirmation to the matter of the villagers aiding the Pied Piper Isekai, as well as revealing what is likely a pathway to apprehending them… still, there were certain matters of concern.
(The following choices make use of a Plan vote)
What was the letter?
[ ] It was a plea for help, its information is accurate.
[ ] A trap, to lure you into an ambush.
[ ] A false lead, to waste your time.
[ ] Write-in
What would you do with this information?
[ ] Disregard it, opt to other strategies such as the bait or militia.
[ ] Set an ambush at the windmill, apprehending whoever comes.
[ ] Wait at the windmill and follow whoever arrived back to where they came from.
[ ] Arrest the Hazelkamps, force them to assist you.
[ ] Write-in
How was the Pied Piper watching the villagers?
[ ] Spies amongst the villagers.
[ ] He is actually in the village, not in a cave.
[ ] Spies in the village who are not the villagers themselves, bandits? that army he spoke of?
[ ] Magical means. Scrying? Telepathy?
[ ] He isn't actually watching them, the villagers just think he is watching them.
[ ] It is a trick and no such thing is happening.
[ ] Write-in
What do you guess is the nature of 'the army' that Mr Hazelkamp thought of?
[ ] The other villagers, conspiring with the Pied Piper Isekai.
[ ] A small band of Isekais, possibly other Incubi working together.
[ ] A hired group of bandits or highwaymen.
[ ] The children themselves.
[ ] Summoned monsters or familiars.
[ ] it cannot be determined by what we know, we can only make wild guesses.
[ ] The army does not exist.
[ ] Write-in
If you were correct, then it was time to end this case.
[X ] [Roll] Collect Surface Thoughts
ROLL SUCCESSFUL
"Oh, sorry. It's nothing" You say quickly, as you focus your empath and telepathic powers on the apprentice sitting in front of you. "Just a bit tired" you smile at him as you explain.
"However… telling you… Mr…"
"Hazelkamp", the apprentice offered. You nod in thanks.
"Telling you, Mr Hazelkamp, of my progress is not my reason for being here. When I arrived here, some of the villagers were very helpful with our search. Understandably, not everyone came out to speak with me… my station is quite intimidating and we are dealing with a very dangerous man, after all".
"Of course. We would help you if we could, Lady Inquisitor, but we didn't come forward when you arrived because there was nothing for us to say. I have no idea where the bastard is hiding, Or I'd have found him and killed him myself". The apprentice, Mr Hazelkamp, replied bitterly. The emotions you could feel around him were defensive, nervous even - though he disguised this well with anger. The anger was felt, you could see it around him, so it was not faked, not necessarily, but it was being used to hide something else.
You glanced as subtle as you could to your side, to Baudelaire. Nothing from him. He had told you he would falsely cough in a certain way to inform you if he noticed anything suggesting deceit. Just because Baudelaire did not notice him lying though did not mean he was truthful either, however. Baudelaire wasn't a living lie detector, merely a very observant man.
You focused even harder now. You knew this man was complicit in this case, somehow - but didn't know how or why.
It is not as though I can attack him when he has them all protecting him, I'm not fighting that army The apprentice thought.
An army? What army? You would have asked him, but kept silent, since asking him a question to a statement read from his mind would likely be quite foolish indeed. Instead, you simply continued your questioning.
"Did you know, Mr Hazekamp, that in all the previous abductions performed by the Pied Piper, few of his victims actually died?" You ask the apprentice. "The inquisition has always wondered why that is".
"I… I would not know the thinking of a creature like an Isekai, Lady Inquisitor" Hazelkamp replied.
Still nervous… but not surprised. You guessed then that, he most likely already knew this. The villagers knew that the Pied Piper rarely killed their kidnapped victims. It was, you imagine, likely a result of folklore and stories carried through the different villages, probably by peddlers and bards and the like. An image in your mind, then, was slowly coming together of what was going on…
"It is because of this, and a few other reasons too, I believe that some in this village might be helping the Pied Piper."
"Why… Why would you think that, Lady Inquisitor?" Hazelkamp said.
As if we had a choice, Hazelkamp thought.
"They would not have much of a choice. The Isekai threatens the villagers, if they aid in the investigation against them, their children will die. If they do not, they are returned to them… It has made me think, then, that those uncommon cases of the children being discovered later, starved or otherwise killed, were from villages that refused to cooperate with the Pied Piper's blackmail - they chose to help the Inquisition". Your monologue, while aimed at no one in particular, was clearly aimed at the man in front of him. He was afraid, very afraid now.
"Does that not make sense, Mr Hazekam?" you ask. He says nothing, his mouth a thin line forced shut, but for you, now, you do not need him to speak to hear his reply.
Just leave us alone, you will get them all killed, he thought. I don't fucking know where he hides them, I just move the food to the place he said to put it.
"The other peculiar thing was how the children died, in those cases. They starved" you continued. As you continued to speak, the apprentice's wife left, ostensibly to make tea - in reality, to avoid this conversation. Perhaps to her it appeared as though you were merely talking to yourself - and at first glance you were, since your responses were to the man's thoughts.
"The starvation got me thinking, then… Mr Hazelkamp. If the Pied Piper Isekai was hiding in the caves all this time, where are they getting the food needed to feed all the children they are holding hostage?"
"I… don't" he said.
Us, obviously, he thought.
"Well then, I think that-" you were cut off then, by a cluttering noise as the apprentice's wife returned with saucers with cups of tea upon them.
Oh, thank the gods Mr Hazelkamp thought.
"Oh, excuse me. Your tea, Lady inquisitor". The wife, Mrs Hazelkamp said. Baudelaire next to you rolled his eyes in annoyance and Mr Hazelkamp used the excuse of drinking his tea to not talk.
You were pleased with your progress however, so did not bother to push. Instead, you looked down at your teacup… and the piece of paper placed between it and the saucer. It seemed Mrs Hazelkamp wanted you to know something, something she didn't want her husband to know?
Please read it. Just read it, go there and end this, please. She was thinking. At first you thought she knew you were reading her thoughts - but after a while and constant repetition, you decide she was merely repeating it to herself. The paper, it was what you needed… why she needed to write it down though confused her. Why not speak to her by herself? Her husband?
Regardless, you discreetly slip the piece of paper up your sleeve as you move to take the tea cup to sip. You sip for a few times - the tea was pretty decent, not as good as the stuff that was made at the Academy of Light, but decent.
"That will be all, thank you Mr and Mrs Hazelkamp, for your assistance and time" you announce.
"Wha - really?" The apprentice spluttered back, confused.
She's not going to interrogate us? I mean, what? He thought.
I already have, you thought back. It was the best kind of interrogation really. Painless and discreet, you had what you needed, and the interrogated was none the wiser.
"Yes. I may need to question you further at a later date, but my line of thought has given me some ideas on who to question next, so you don't have to worry about it for now" you say, smiling, and leave with Baudelaire following silently in toe.
You walk some distance, before Baudelaire glances at you.
"I saw you take it, and figured you have something of a lead now. So what next?" He asks, as you are looking down at the piece of paper now between two of your fingers.
HE IS WATCHING US, WE CANNOT SPEAK TO YOU. THE FOOD IS DELIVERED AT MIDNIGHT NEXT TO THE WINDMILL you read discreetly off the piece of paper.
You look closely at Baudelaire, thinking quickly. He could not read minds as you could, but you tried to convey your intentions with the intensity of your eyes.
"She seems to be having some marital disputes with her husband, and thinks that her husband may actually be the Pied Piper" You remark, attempting to appear as honest as possible to anyone watching from afar. You were choosing to take the message at face value for now, and were running on the assumption that you could be spied on at this very moment. You could sense emotions around you, sure, but visual empathy was not necessarily accurate at picking out those spying on you - and the telepathy was difficult for you to use, you did not just pick up the thoughts of everyone around you, even those you didn't know were there.
"As you say…" Baudelaire responds, a controlled calm in his voice, suggesting he understood what you were saying was not the truth.
You were walking now to join the others and leave the village in the hopes that you could discuss your next course of action without being spied on. The questioning overall has provided you with a confirmation to the matter of the villagers aiding the Pied Piper Isekai, as well as revealing what is likely a pathway to apprehending them… still, there were certain matters of concern.
(The following choices make use of a Plan vote)
What was the letter?
[ ] It was a plea for help, its information is accurate.
[ ] A trap, to lure you into an ambush.
[ ] A false lead, to waste your time.
[ ] Write-in
What would you do with this information?
[ ] Disregard it, opt to other strategies such as the bait or militia.
[ ] Set an ambush at the windmill, apprehending whoever comes.
[ ] Wait at the windmill and follow whoever arrived back to where they came from.
[ ] Arrest the Hazelkamps, force them to assist you.
[ ] Write-in
How was the Pied Piper watching the villagers?
[ ] Spies amongst the villagers.
[ ] He is actually in the village, not in a cave.
[ ] Spies in the village who are not the villagers themselves, bandits? that army he spoke of?
[ ] Magical means. Scrying? Telepathy?
[ ] He isn't actually watching them, the villagers just think he is watching them.
[ ] It is a trick and no such thing is happening.
[ ] Write-in
What do you guess is the nature of 'the army' that Mr Hazelkamp thought of?
[ ] The other villagers, conspiring with the Pied Piper Isekai.
[ ] A small band of Isekais, possibly other Incubi working together.
[ ] A hired group of bandits or highwaymen.
[ ] The children themselves.
[ ] Summoned monsters or familiars.
[ ] it cannot be determined by what we know, we can only make wild guesses.
[ ] The army does not exist.
[ ] Write-in
If you were correct, then it was time to end this case.
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- Location
- St. Petersburg
In front of whom? Perhaps "you" was meant to be there?
etc.
Multiple instance of direct speech not ending with a comma where you'd expect to see one.
While not critical, it becomes harder to read when it's the characters' thoughts and the quotation marks are missing:
Or, in this case, the dot instead of a comma creates a new sentence, and makes the meaning less clear:
Did the last part refer to the italicized thought, or was Mrs Hazelkamp contemplating something we weren't privy to? It requires reading further to understand it from context.
[x] Plan: Plan
-[x] It's a lead you have. Worth pursuing.
-[x] Wait at the windmill and follow whoever arrived back to where they came from.
-[x] Exact method unknown. Assume scrying, either on people or the village as a whole. Do your planning outside. Beware of small animals.
-[x] Summoned monsters or familiars.
Why would we make assumptions this is some kind of trick without checking this out? Likewise, why would we believe the wife? She could be confused, misinformed, informed too well (unlikely, as our abilities are kept a secret), or any of the possibilities, really. For this information to be a plot on Isekai's part it would require a truly staggering amount of coincidences or foreknowledge, but if anyone has access to strange and esoteric abilities it's the Isekais.
Take the warning at face value. It doesn't cost us much except for comfort to leave the village and do our planning outside anyone's earshot. We don't know if he watches the people (how many people can one observe?) or the area, or even the Inquisition team itself... but an area makes most sense. If Pied Piper can tell what is happening inside the village he can track our team. This raises a question of whether it is possible to ambush or sneak up on them, though... but we have to assume he's not omniscient to even try to solve the case.
Any other method of espionage is less restrictive, so we should plan for the worst and then be pleasantly surprised if it isn't true.
Spies in the village would make sense, and the reasons could vary from fear to greed to resentment... but he does it too consistently for it to be plausible. Intimidation would be the best bet, but we'd surely hear about this from the villages that refused to cooperate.
...actually, how come none of them told the Inquisition about threats of spying? They didn't have anything to withhold after their children have died. This... might be a black mark against the veracity of Mrs Hazelkamp's note, but deliberately misleading us makes even less sense.
As for the "army"... my guess is either summoned monsters or children themselves. Though would the adults be afraid of them if it were children? And Mr Hazelkamp says he doesn't know where he hides the children, which likely means they separate.
A small band of Isekai's does not seem like they fit the definition of an army, and it raises the challenge rating to the point where I thing the Inquisition wouldn't have given this mission to a newbie. Bandits would require a lot of food... and how would you convince them to stick around?
Assume monsters then. Still, it's the one I am least sure about. It... doesn't fit with what I expect the Piper's MO to be, with him being a careful loner who managed to slip everyone's attention so far. Summons, maybe? It'd let him defend himself when needed while also not requiring a ruinous logistical upkeep. An army is a hard thing to hide.
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- Pronouns
- Reader
[x] Plan: Plan
-[x] It's a lead you have. Worth pursuing.
-[x] Wait at the windmill and follow whoever arrived back to where they came from.
-[x] Exact method unknown. Assume scrying, either on people or the village as a whole. Do your planning outside.
-[x] Summoned monsters or familiars.
I can vote for this, if for no reason than it has such an inspiring name.
-[x] It's a lead you have. Worth pursuing.
-[x] Wait at the windmill and follow whoever arrived back to where they came from.
-[x] Exact method unknown. Assume scrying, either on people or the village as a whole. Do your planning outside.
-[x] Summoned monsters or familiars.
I can vote for this, if for no reason than it has such an inspiring name.
[X] Plan Paranoia
-[X] It was a plea for help, its information isn't accurate, she believes it however.
-[X] Wait at the windmill and follow whoever arrived back to where they came from, do not engage, you only need to know the area.
--[X] The base is probably protected, even the direction he heads into would be information enough. Most important is that they don't know we're onto them.
-[X] Magical means. Scrying? Telepathy?
-[X] He isn't actually watching them, the villagers just think he is watching them.
I'm between this, the important part here is that the man actually believes his son would die if he talks, while the mother was comfortable writing that.
It could be that she was magically ordered to lead us to a trap.
She blatantly saved her husband was talking multiple times, whether this was because she ordered to because we were escalating questions, or genuinely concerned that her husband would trigger the condition.
-[X] Summoned monsters or familiars.
-[X] it cannot be determined by what we know, we can only make wild guesses.
-[X] The army does not exist.
-[X] The children themselves.
Unsure about planning outside, mages should be able to detect magic cast on their person. Outside the village in a world like this might just also waste time. Taking a carriage a ways away and then inventing coded phrases might do it. Prefer to just talk in private in-town though, even the knowledge that he has scrying magic is worth the risk.
Biggest facts to be determined is:
1. The food
I think we can definitively assume that the name is misleading, The Isekai is using prejudice for his means. The Isekai is less of a degenerate lolicon and more an extortionist robbing villages for food.
2. The army
The army is not being fed, even 10 people wouldn't be able to extort enough food from a small village. This leads to either monsters, summons, or no army. However, in this world describing a lot monsters as "an army" and the word "them" is kind of unusual. That implies personification. So could be the children? We need to find out the quantity of food, that's enough to find out how many of them there are.
3. The children
We don't know what he does with the children to be absolutely sure, sometimes they dies, sometimes they disappear. Disappear to join him or disappear because they are his is unknown but assumed to be the former.
Is multi-voting allowed? It gives up guessing it correctly but will it narrow it down more next vote compared to guessing the one vote incorrectly?
Can we ask what color the Wife was when and before we took the paper?
-[X] It was a plea for help, its information isn't accurate, she believes it however.
-[X] Wait at the windmill and follow whoever arrived back to where they came from, do not engage, you only need to know the area.
--[X] The base is probably protected, even the direction he heads into would be information enough. Most important is that they don't know we're onto them.
-[X] Magical means. Scrying? Telepathy?
-[X] He isn't actually watching them, the villagers just think he is watching them.
I'm between this, the important part here is that the man actually believes his son would die if he talks, while the mother was comfortable writing that.
It could be that she was magically ordered to lead us to a trap.
She blatantly saved her husband was talking multiple times, whether this was because she ordered to because we were escalating questions, or genuinely concerned that her husband would trigger the condition.
-[X] Summoned monsters or familiars.
-[X] it cannot be determined by what we know, we can only make wild guesses.
-[X] The army does not exist.
-[X] The children themselves.
Unsure about planning outside, mages should be able to detect magic cast on their person. Outside the village in a world like this might just also waste time. Taking a carriage a ways away and then inventing coded phrases might do it. Prefer to just talk in private in-town though, even the knowledge that he has scrying magic is worth the risk.
Biggest facts to be determined is:
1. The food
I think we can definitively assume that the name is misleading, The Isekai is using prejudice for his means. The Isekai is less of a degenerate lolicon and more an extortionist robbing villages for food.
2. The army
The army is not being fed, even 10 people wouldn't be able to extort enough food from a small village. This leads to either monsters, summons, or no army. However, in this world describing a lot monsters as "an army" and the word "them" is kind of unusual. That implies personification. So could be the children? We need to find out the quantity of food, that's enough to find out how many of them there are.
3. The children
We don't know what he does with the children to be absolutely sure, sometimes they dies, sometimes they disappear. Disappear to join him or disappear because they are his is unknown but assumed to be the former.
Is multi-voting allowed? It gives up guessing it correctly but will it narrow it down more next vote compared to guessing the one vote incorrectly?
Can we ask what color the Wife was when and before we took the paper?
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- Location
- U.S.A
[x] Plan: Plan
Rockeye
Plausible Engineer
- Location
- Midwestern U.S.
In terms of the army, I think we can only make wild guesses. We can suspect that the army is summons or possibly enthralled animals or something, and we can suspect that he's using telepathy or something on the villagers, even be fairly sure, without actually knowing.
In terms of making plans, I want to err on the side of caution and always keep in mind that we could be wrong.
In terms of making plans, I want to err on the side of caution and always keep in mind that we could be wrong.
Solarstream
It's all in the cards
- Location
- Zombie World
- Pronouns
- He/Him
[x] Plan: Plan
EternalObserver
eYe Gaze baCk
- Location
- The Void
[X] Plan Educated Guesses
-[X] It's a lead you have. Worth pursuing.
-[X] Wait at the windmill and follow whoever arrived back to where they came from.
-[X] Exact method unknown. Assume scrying, either on people or the village as a whole. Do your planning outside.
-[X] it cannot be determined by what we know, we can only make wild guesses.
I think it's fair to say that the wife is probably telling the truth.
As for army, kinda unsure if it's enough based on the food issue
-[X] It's a lead you have. Worth pursuing.
-[X] Wait at the windmill and follow whoever arrived back to where they came from.
-[X] Exact method unknown. Assume scrying, either on people or the village as a whole. Do your planning outside.
-[X] it cannot be determined by what we know, we can only make wild guesses.
I think it's fair to say that the wife is probably telling the truth.
As for army, kinda unsure if it's enough based on the food issue
- Location
- St. Petersburg
There are easier ways to procure food with the sort of abilities the Isekais have, and the method is extremely inefficient as a significant portion of food goes into feeding the kids (otherwise it wouldn't be just uncooperative villages who'd find their children starved).
It's still possible, but a touch too convoluted if it is just food he needs. He could be extorting other families for something else, but realistically, what would a small village have to offer?
I took it for emphasis, as in, "I am not fighting that." Which is a generalisation that could be anything.
It could well be that there is no army, and the Isekai is a skilled illusionist to boot, but then we'd have to wonder what exactly is his skillset.
Actually, that is a good question to ponder regardless. I assume that Isekais usually have certain abilities they are infamous for, and develop with a theme in mind. If one could summon fight-capable monsters, would one be known as a kidnapper first and foremost? Or known for spying on people remotely?
(actually, it's possible if the monsters are mundane like birds, or stealthy... but then we run into a problem why any of this information didn't get out before this investigation, since he has to scare people into obeying him somehow)
For now abilities alongside mentalist lines make the most sense. With those, one could use telepathy to spy, or plant a thought inside the peasants' heads that resistance is futile, or make the kids comply and not attempt escape. But this is our first mission, and so it's best we don't presume.
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ThatGuyWithIdeas
Treize died for our sins
- Location
- Romania
[X] Plan Paranoia
Powerofmind
In Madness Fallen
- Location
- United States
It is odd that we don't have prior reports of coercion, but not unbelievable. Who would willingly fess up to having helped the local equivalent of the devil, even at metaphorical gunpoint, to the inquisition? Further still, if that cooperation was plainly evident in their kid surviving and not the parents who talked? For this, I'm inclined to believe the two of them fully.
As for action, obviously with good intelligence we should act on it. Investigate, follow leads, then it's stakeout time. This decision is informed by the knowledge that the Piper has a tendency to starve his victims. That is an immensely difficult way to kill someone... unless they're basically mindless, obedient puppets for at least a week after the Piper gets to them. Capturing him directly at the Mill is likely to turn into a hostage situation, if he even arrives in person at all. He clearly has to actually feed the kids, so hopefully we can evade detection long enough to find them.
I'm of the belief that the piper's surveillance method is incredibly effective and obvious, once it's pointed out. Few victims ever die, and equally few parents give investigators actionable intelligence. It calls back to the first argument; you don't help the devil unless you know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that you don't have any other choice. However, the mother felt confident enough to sneak a piece of paper to us. Whatever the surveillance is, it is clearly something that, at least in this circumstance, with our pressure on them, they thought they might be able to get away with. This excludes telepathy or visual-audio scrying, as they should be able to easily pick up such a low-tech trick to get around it. Human spies falls flat on the same grounds, it seems unbelievable that the people would be afraid to even speak in privacy, nosy neighbors can't hear that well. Finally, there is the seeming ubiquitousness of the surveillance, that even if investigators went to multiple homes at once, everybody would stay silent. This falls squarely into the presence of spies that aren't people, and thus are normally ignored. Rats or animals, perhaps, in a bit of thematic irony. This theory is also supported by the Piper's ability to disappear so effectively, even in cases where victims cooperate with us; he has some kind of information network that lets him keep distance between himself and inquisitors.
As for the Piper's army... I suspect that despite the likelihood of animal spies, the Piper prefers to use the children themselves as weapons (even if he supplements them with rodents), based on their apparent apathy towards the childrens' survival and willingness to intentionally starve them to death to spite their parents for cooperating with us.
[X] Plan: Piper's Rats
-[X] It was a plea for help, its information is accurate.
-[X] Wait at the windmill and follow whoever arrived back to where they came from.
-[X] Spies that can move freely through a town and follow people with impunity. Animals, or animal-like familiars, most likely.
-[X] A combination of the children themselves and whatever animal the spies are.
As for action, obviously with good intelligence we should act on it. Investigate, follow leads, then it's stakeout time. This decision is informed by the knowledge that the Piper has a tendency to starve his victims. That is an immensely difficult way to kill someone... unless they're basically mindless, obedient puppets for at least a week after the Piper gets to them. Capturing him directly at the Mill is likely to turn into a hostage situation, if he even arrives in person at all. He clearly has to actually feed the kids, so hopefully we can evade detection long enough to find them.
I'm of the belief that the piper's surveillance method is incredibly effective and obvious, once it's pointed out. Few victims ever die, and equally few parents give investigators actionable intelligence. It calls back to the first argument; you don't help the devil unless you know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that you don't have any other choice. However, the mother felt confident enough to sneak a piece of paper to us. Whatever the surveillance is, it is clearly something that, at least in this circumstance, with our pressure on them, they thought they might be able to get away with. This excludes telepathy or visual-audio scrying, as they should be able to easily pick up such a low-tech trick to get around it. Human spies falls flat on the same grounds, it seems unbelievable that the people would be afraid to even speak in privacy, nosy neighbors can't hear that well. Finally, there is the seeming ubiquitousness of the surveillance, that even if investigators went to multiple homes at once, everybody would stay silent. This falls squarely into the presence of spies that aren't people, and thus are normally ignored. Rats or animals, perhaps, in a bit of thematic irony. This theory is also supported by the Piper's ability to disappear so effectively, even in cases where victims cooperate with us; he has some kind of information network that lets him keep distance between himself and inquisitors.
As for the Piper's army... I suspect that despite the likelihood of animal spies, the Piper prefers to use the children themselves as weapons (even if he supplements them with rodents), based on their apparent apathy towards the childrens' survival and willingness to intentionally starve them to death to spite their parents for cooperating with us.
[X] Plan: Piper's Rats
-[X] It was a plea for help, its information is accurate.
-[X] Wait at the windmill and follow whoever arrived back to where they came from.
-[X] Spies that can move freely through a town and follow people with impunity. Animals, or animal-like familiars, most likely.
-[X] A combination of the children themselves and whatever animal the spies are.
- Location
- St. Petersburg
Grief-stricken, guilt-ridden people who may think that they have unwittingly killed their child? Not caring much what happens to them, feeling like they may deserve punishment, and already cooperating with the Inquisition? Sounds like something that should have happened a few times considering the sheer number of people involved.
It is ambiguous whether this was confidence or desperation (if that). It is clear the peasants don't really know how the Piper is observing them, only that they do. She felt it could work, but she also knew she takes an unknown risk. Note the wording, "go there and end this, please." She wants it to end, but she is uncertain about the outcome.
Scrying is probably giving the Isekai more credit than they are worth, but I'd point out they are only interested in observing people interacting with the investigators. The wife went away to write her message, and if they were focused on the husband talking -- or rather, not talking -- it's entirely plausible she could have slipped notice.
I considered rats or birds, though how different would that be from scrying? If a spell could pick up something, wouldn't a rat be able to observe it, and vice versa? Wouldn't we have to assume rats intelligent enough to understand human speech or sharing senses with the Isekai? The information has to get to them somehow, or how else would they rat out the snitches?
I suppose they are easier to ward against. I added "beware of small animals" to the list of things to watch out for.
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Powerofmind
In Madness Fallen
- Location
- United States
Few children do die, however. Our best estimate is that only those who failed to collaborate or actually talked to us suffer, so the 'grief-stricken and guilt-ridden' are the people who already spilled their guts. You also underestimate just how effective the protective instinct of a parent is; do you really think feelings of guilt would convince a breadwinner to come to us and let himself be taken away (in his own mind if not in reality) from his child after they've been returned?
Further, not everyone knows anything useful anyway, clearly the Piper is clever enough to only use select people as gophers (note, the apprentice's family is apparently well off, as the father of the apprentice was noted to be the village smith and they live in a large home that has space for the extended family), so not everyone would have viable information.
Then don't call it confidence if it isn't confidence, but that was the only method either of them considered viable to get us out of the house. Again, I suspect the Piper is smart enough to only pick out the right people to interact with directly, which would mean only a few collaborators would ever learn how they're being observed, and would also explain why he so effectively prevented anyone with useful information from ever coming forward; every single one of them was utterly convinced by whatever demonstration the Piper gave, so much so that even after he's left nobody feels confident enough to speak up in the future, so much so that even the thought of being sneaky about it gets shut down fast and hard.
Rats or other animals would be significantly different from scrying even with sense sharing, though I suspect he uses them like agents, much the same as he controls the children.
[X] Plan: Piper's Rats
- Location
- Australia
Due to the vote currently being equal, I will keep the vote open in the hopes that we will get a tie-breaker. In other news, I've updated the character profiles page with a new character profile (Baudelaire), with his attached skills and character info that may of be interest.
- Location
- Bloomington, IN
[X] Plan: Piper's Rats
[X] Plan: Piper's Rats
Information: Locked for Moderator Review
- Pronouns
- She/Her
locked for moderator review
The thread has been locked for moderator review.
The thread has been locked for moderator review.
Information: The thread has been reopened
- Pronouns
- She/Her
the thread has been reopened
Apologies for locking the thread and the delays it may have caused in writing.
Given the subject matter, and the way it was handled in the initial post, concerns were raised about this quest's capacity to stay within the rules. In particular, parody is difficult. Parodying an ostensibly light-hearted genre by focusing heavily on the sexual abuse of children seems extremely likely to run into serious issues with regards to tone, particularly with comments about "lolis" or "shotas". Following discussions in a staff meeting, I was asked to lock the thread until someone on staff was able to read through it and decide if it needed to remain locked. That read-through has now been completed.
At present, the thread does not seem to violate rule 6, however, there remains concern as to whether that will remain the case. While the thread has been reopened, I would strongly advise everyone present that rule 6 requires high-impact content, particularly with regards to areas like sexual abuse, be treated with extreme care. This is triply so when minors are involved in the story. If there are problems, this thread may be locked again, perhaps permanently, and infractions will be issued as needed. This goes, not only for the QM, but for any poster or voter when discussing high impact content.
Given the subject matter, and the way it was handled in the initial post, concerns were raised about this quest's capacity to stay within the rules. In particular, parody is difficult. Parodying an ostensibly light-hearted genre by focusing heavily on the sexual abuse of children seems extremely likely to run into serious issues with regards to tone, particularly with comments about "lolis" or "shotas". Following discussions in a staff meeting, I was asked to lock the thread until someone on staff was able to read through it and decide if it needed to remain locked. That read-through has now been completed.
At present, the thread does not seem to violate rule 6, however, there remains concern as to whether that will remain the case. While the thread has been reopened, I would strongly advise everyone present that rule 6 requires high-impact content, particularly with regards to areas like sexual abuse, be treated with extreme care. This is triply so when minors are involved in the story. If there are problems, this thread may be locked again, perhaps permanently, and infractions will be issued as needed. This goes, not only for the QM, but for any poster or voter when discussing high impact content.
- Location
- Leeds
Will staff be volunteering any time as beta readers to help armchair stay within the rules, if you have concerns?
Could you be clear about where infractions are going to be issued? While stuff like advocating abuse of minors or downplaying the harm it causes is pretty obvious rule breaking, the fact that the thread got pre-emptively locked due to concerns over the potentially implied actions of a villain makes me concerned exactly where the boundary will be drawn, as normally I would have assumed that was itself enough to show it was bad.
Is the concern that actions like the bait option where a child was potentially put at risk shows insufficient respect for the subject? Or have the staff just decided to take a more proactive approach to seeking problematic quests after that Roman one where they attempted a genocide?
@Armchair_Genera1 will you be dropping the SB thread, crossposting in the future or leaving this thread abandoned and continuing solely on SV?
And to both parties I suppose: is adding the mature tag going to be needed?
Could you be clear about where infractions are going to be issued? While stuff like advocating abuse of minors or downplaying the harm it causes is pretty obvious rule breaking, the fact that the thread got pre-emptively locked due to concerns over the potentially implied actions of a villain makes me concerned exactly where the boundary will be drawn, as normally I would have assumed that was itself enough to show it was bad.
Is the concern that actions like the bait option where a child was potentially put at risk shows insufficient respect for the subject? Or have the staff just decided to take a more proactive approach to seeking problematic quests after that Roman one where they attempted a genocide?
@Armchair_Genera1 will you be dropping the SB thread, crossposting in the future or leaving this thread abandoned and continuing solely on SV?
And to both parties I suppose: is adding the mature tag going to be needed?
- Pronouns
- She/Her
For a variety of reasons, current policy is that we do not pre-review content prior to posting.
Notably, that the actions are conducted by a villain is not enough to avoid any rule 6 concerns. Explicit material written in a way that looks solely to titillate the audience for example, would remain a major rule 6 concern even if the perpetrator is described as the villain. Likewise, any graphic content depicting minors is a clear area of rule 6 (and potentially rule 1) concern.
If you'd like to discuss staff action more, I would suggest not doing so in thread, but rather making a thread in Ask a Private Question or Staff Communication to avoid distracting more from the thread.