Player Plot: How to Get Away With Moo-der

[singlemilletgrain]

Who: Shu, cows, and you
What: Udder cowtastrophe
Where: Farmlands outside of Elysium
When: Mid-month
Warnings: Animal cruelty



As the farmer plods away to resume tending his fields, Shu shakes her head with a frown and addresses her companion. "That is the fourth farmer this week to report a missing herd of livestock. These aren't small losses, either. It is unimaginable that they simply vanished off the face of the earth."

Not coincidentally, Shu is currently seated atop her own oxen, who is placidly chewing on some grains underfoot.

"Let us examine the pasture. He said there were numerous markings he could not make sense of. These disappearances will be catastrophic for the small farmer if they continue and have a lasting ripple effect on the supply chain of meat. Not just for the Corsairs."

She nudges He Sheng with her ankles.

Comments

[purplexing]

This isn't Donnie's typical idea of an activity but after everything, he feels like he needs a break from being underground. Elysium itself still makes him a bit anxious, but out here things are calmer. Peaceful, even.

"You think something might be making off with them?" he asks, walking alongside Shu and her mount. Some kind of creature finding an easy meal of the local livestock would be a problem, and considering the number of disappearances, more than a bit concerning.

[singlemilletgrain]

It would indeed be considered a peaceful day. Here, far from the chaos sown in Flotsam and the unlit caverns of Vault, the autumn sun is shining mildly and the light breeze carries with it the scent of earth and plant matter. Shu's ox maintains a steady, if not particularly rapid, pace.

What with the evacuation and the pitched battle of the last month, it has been some time since she has reconnected with Donnie. She glances down now with a smile tinged with worry.

"Something would be unfortunate. I shudder to think what kind of creature could devour several herds of cattle whole. A someone might be more likely. Perhaps a rival farmer -- or a thief finding easy prey."

Not usually serious enough to warrant Corsair business, but as Shu had passionately opined, the daily life of a farmer deserved attention just as much as anyone else, even if it were not a glamorous profession.

[purplexing]

It's nice getting a chance to just breathe hopefully without worry of another attack somewhere. With all the preparations he'd been throwing himself into at the mines, he had little chance to work on personal projects. Spending more time in a cave with rumbling still going on over your head while you had the memories of an Imperial barrage still fresh in mind just makes things less and less appealing. It had been a great relief to see that Shu was all right after everything. He'd only heard bits and pieces of what happened in Flotsam, and even if the losses had been on the 'favorable' side, it had still been a difficult fight.

"Yeah... Although where would you hide that many cattle without anyone noticing?"

Someone had to help out the farmers, the non-fighters. Isn't that essentially who and what they're ultimately fighting for in the end? For people so that they can just live peaceful lives that aren't oppressed by the greed of an Empire?

[singlemilletgrain]

"Mm."

She doesn't have any particularly satisfactory answers. While cattle were generally fairly pliant creatures, it was still difficult to imagine that entire herds would simply vanish overnight without kicking up a racket. Nor could she imagine transporting them very easily.

"In plain sight? Amongst a herd of other cattle. Perhaps we should take stock of the largest cattle farms in this region."

It was the most reasonable possibility she could imagine. At the far side of the pasture, the passage of about 20 acres, Shu halts He Sheng with her ankles and swings her legs off the ox.

"Curious."

In addition to the expected animal tracks, there are large regions of flattened fescue grass and upturned earth.

[purplexing]

That makes sense enough. Donnie nods thoughtfully. It sounds far more preferable a situation than potentially dealing with something that had just been very hungry.

"Whoa."

He stops when Shu does, but it doesn't take him long to see why. "Well, something definitely came this way," he says, lowering his goggles, adjusting the lenses to zoom in on the area before them.

[singlemilletgrain]

If Shu were from a world that had such things, she would allow the possibility of UFOs and tractor beams to pass through her mind. As it is, her private thought bubble is toggling between Giant Cow Eating Behemoth or a Very Large Dairy Truck.

"We should take a closer look."

Shu doesn't have investigative goggles, but she will do her best unassisted.

Investigation Begin!

A survey of the area reveals five different sites of potential abnormalities: a region of especially deep upturned earth, a small, shining metal object barely visible through the grass, a portion of a wire fence that has been knocked over, a splatter of some viscous, dark liquid, and some tufts of something fuzzy caught in an area of thick weeds.

Shu will kneel down in the earth and immediately observe --

"Footprints. Human ones."

[purplexing]

Donnie steps carefully after her, his goggles definitely giving him the look of a mad scientist. He pushes them up just so he won't trip what's right in front of him, but not before something shiny had caught his eye.

"Hm," he says as he walks in the direction he'd seen that gleam, tapping his goggles down again when he thinks he's closer.

[singlemilletgrain]

Regrettably, footprints don't usually come marked with logos that identify the origin of the owner, though Shu will note that they aren't the type of tread that might be associated with a farmer's boot. Further observation suggests that the upturned earth has a scarred appearance - as if something heavy being dragged along it, almost like a dredge.

Donnie, when he pushes aside the grass, will find a twisted piece of ornamental metal, alongside glassy shards of what he will easily recognize as formerly belonging to an ether stone. The ornamental metal suggests that it was meant to be affixed to something and not carried on hand. It is possible that it is part of a set. The shards themselves are long and jagged, seeming to be sourced from a stone of a larger variety.

[purplexing]

"That's...odd," Donnie muses as he carefully picks up one of the pieces for study. A broken stone, but what was the purpose? He picks up the pieces, mostly out of habit of hating to leave anything that can still potentially be useful.

"Not sure what this could be for," he says as he glances back towards Shu. "Make anything out from those footprints?"

[singlemilletgrain]

"I am not an investigator, I admit. It is difficult to tell how many people were here - you see, these are all the same kind of footprint. At least, I can tell there are at minimum, three different sizes. It does seem to suggest a uniform."

She moves on to the broken wire fence. It is difficult to make anything in particular of this clue and it is, indeed, expected, but...

"Does it look to you like this was a moving vehicle impact?"

If it were a large truck driving through, she would expect the fence to be thrown forwards and the posts clearly angled in the direction of the force. Instead, it seems more as if it were... crushed.

[purplexing]

"Uniform...?" The turtlekin's brow furrows at that, not liking the implications. He looks at the imprints, but boots aren't something he ever exclusively paid attention to.

He looks over to where Shu has moved before going over to join her, looking around at he ground before the space in question. "If it were a vehicle then there should be even more obvious tracks from that..." he suggests, once again pulling his goggles down.

[singlemilletgrain]

"Oh -- of course. How clever you are."

Having completely failed to think of the obvious, Shu looks at Donnie with admiration and resists the urge to give a kindly head pat. There are indeed no tire tracks of any kind, nor any other sign that something passed through the fence. As Shu says, it seems more as if it were smashed by something landing on top of it.

Donnie's goggles, if capable of some magnification, will find some evidence of painted wooden splinters scraped on the fence posts.

[purplexing]

A pat on the head would have definitely offset the little bubble of pride at her compliment. Donnie thankfully doesn't notice whatever sort of thoughts Shu might be trying to suppress as he studies the broken fence.

"Huh. Is this from the fence or...remnant of whatever broke this thing?" he frowns, adjusting his lenses again. He slowly stands again, almost falling over as looking around with magnified vision is quite disorienting until he nudges his goggles up again.

[singlemilletgrain]

"Is what from the fence?"

Shu observes, supporting him before he teeters over. When he is steady, she peers closely until she feels almost cross-eyed.

"The rest of the fence is unpigmented. It must be from whatever caused this damage. Excellent eyes."

Shu will take a little of the splinters and save it in her robes. The next clue is something she absolutely cannot make heads nor tails of. ...Though she supposes she has not brought her full investigative powers to bear (she refuses to lick it). The liquid resembles oil in general appearance, though it is a strange mixture of various pieces, some clumpy, that renders it more akin to a sort of sludge.

"This is..."

[purplexing]

It doesn't take him long to steady himself, and he's mindful not to put his goggles down again when they're still set for inspecting things at a closer range. Donnie tilts his head as Shu finds something else, stooping down by the wet substance. He is definitely not licking anything.

He does however take a sniff before lowering his goggles again. "Gross, what is this stuff..." He really doesn't want to touch anything potentially questionable but he does carry vials he usually has on hand for plant specimens.

[singlemilletgrain]

There is a possibility, if Donnie has worked with engines previously, that he recognizes some part of this strange amalgamation of fluids. Otherwise, Shu will allow Donnie the space he needs to obtain a sample of the gunk. She has nothing she can add in particular besides 'ew,' which she will refrain from voicing aloud.

The final item she rubs between her fingers as she plucks the strands away from the plants.

"This is probably some sort of clothing fiber. My brother would be able to identify what it came from."

But agriculture was her specialty, not weaving. Still, the dark color is familiar enough that she thinks she can make an educated guess.

Investigation End. In her mind, she can only really make much sense of two of the items she has discovered, but they point her in a fairly clear direction.

"This is the same color as the uniforms of standard Empire soldiers. I can't imagine farmers or thieves would wear identical shoes, either. I think the Empire is involved."

[purplexing]

Donnie's well familiar with engines, and the quick hint of a particular scent is the only reason he dares dip a fingertip into it, making a face. "Well...it seems there was some sort of machinery used here but I'm still not sure to what end..."

He wipes his fingers on the grass, looking over at whatever Shu had found. The suggestion that there are indeed Imperials involved here brings a sour look upon his face.

"Great! Just. Great. Why am I not surprised that the Empire is possibly making off with resources that they likely figure belong to them anyway?"

[singlemilletgrain]

"It may be because of the recent battle."

Shu responds quietly.

"If they used up a fair number of resources to send those fleets into battle, they wouldn't think twice about taking them from these farmers. Easier to simply do it in the dark of night. That means we should look into slaughterhouses in this area. Perhaps even the same slaughterhouses that the farmers would sell to under normal conditions."

She seems to take it for granted that they are Liberating the Cows. With enough cogitation, Donnie may recognize the gunk as sludge produced as a byproduct of the engines used alongside ether crystals to power Empire airships.

[purplexing]

"...." That suggestion makes Donnie quickly sober, looking back at the traces in this grim light.

"With how open the land is out here, it wouldn't be too difficult to maneuver an airship, and there are different sized ones for varying purposes. If I'm guessing right, that would explain what happened to the fence here if they just landed an airship here to round up the cattle."

He frowns again, stepping back to turn and once again have a look at the area, trying to see if the flattened space would match with what he's seen of airships.

[singlemilletgrain]

It would be a smaller model, but the shape of the flattened area does look like it matches the bottom curves of a ship. Additionally, the area where the earth has been scoured would match the general appearance of an anchor being used to guide the descent of the aircraft.

Shu blinks at this deduction and takes a few steps back, surveying the area herself.

"An airship... and so they simply disappear into the night. Frighteningly simple. And if they are accustomed to transporting herds for slaughter, anyway, they would know how to handle the livestock. That does broaden our search range considerably."

[purplexing]

"Ugh, if it's not one thing it's another," Donnie grumbles bitterly. "Wouldn't be surprised if they're old hands at this. Given how 'mysterious' and quick these disappearances are made out to be speaks of their efficiency."

The turtlekin looks skyward as though there'd be any trails left to follow, but even whatever vapor trails might be left from an airship would have probably dissipated by now.

"...maybe they have their own land somewhere on Innistis. Probably still close to Elysium. Like you said, hide a herd in plain sight- who's going to question how their numbers have doubled if they don't know about it? And even if they did, they know there'd be consequences for even suggesting anything to the Imperials."

[singlemilletgrain]

Shu furrows her brow, her mind searching for a potential approach. "This may be more complex than we hoped. A search by air would make the most sense - but I doubt we will be able to secure the necessary permissions very quickly, and by then..."

The cows would be mincemeat. (Literally.)

"Should we report back to the farmer with o -- "

Shu is interrupted by a truly deafening 'moo' from He Sheng that almost knocks her off her feet.

"He Sheng! What are you -- "

In the far distance, there comes an echoing 'moo' in response. He Sheng quickly trots (for what passes as a trot for an ox) away in that direction, leaving Shu somewhat dumbfounded.

[purplexing]

Donnie begins to nod, both at how much more complicated things would be if they had to make use of air support and that they probably should at the very least tell the farmer what they'd found. He jolts at the sudden lowing from their resident cattle friend. His earmuffs are definitely useful for more than just muting the sounds at the Vault and airship noise but WOW.

"-Uh. I think your ox might've found something?" he guesses, watching as He Sheng leaves them. Theyyyyy should probably follow, he thinks, starting after him.

[singlemilletgrain]

"But -- "

Shu is not surprised very frequently. This is highly unusual behavior for her cow son, and she isn't quite sure what to do about it. Shu picks up her robes and somewhat undignifiedly jogs after He Sheng and Donnie. He Sheng heads directly through some open fields initially before banking sharply right into a small grove of trees with colors beginning to turn ochre and crimson with the fall foliage. Throughout, He Sheng and the mystery ox exchange speech, leading to something that might be construed as...

"Cowsong?"

A new genre of music, only for the true audiophile.

He Sheng forges ahead and disappears behind some brush. Sticking her face through, Shu is startled to find a perfectly circular clearing with dappled sunlight gleaming through the tree branches, highlighting a figure inside...

"Oh! They missed one."

A beautiful, pure-white ox with a gleaming pelt and horns that almost look golden in the sunlight. Shu half-opens her mouth, then pauses, a bit puzzled. Oxen weren't usually kept with dairy or meat cows.

[purplexing]

Definitely not to Donnie's tastes, not that he's had much chance to develop any appreciation for music and techno and dubstep are likely not going to be discovered here any time soon.

"He's definitely communicating with someone..." At least that's his guess? Cow-location? He is definitely not a livestock expert.

"Whoa..."

And expert though he may not be, he can fully appreciate an excellently placed scene set.