[NPC] A Heartfelt Plea ; video

[khuimods]

[ The tall Arybar woman who appears on the video today sits farther back from the screen than most; at an average height of over 7 feet, these feline-featured humanoids often have to hunch to use the stationary network consoles. Even still, it's not hard to see the open distress on her features, her ears drooping, or hear the edge of desperation in her voice. ]

I, ah... this message is for Dreamfolk specifically. My name is Tiaghae.

Lately there have been a lot of posts talking about people -- Dreamfolk -- seeing visions about people they don't recognize. The names you've been mentioning, they wer-- are crew members upon the Narrakra. Ms Eitria, she's their navigator! And the older Castian gentleman, Nerrin, he's the Chief Engineer if my memory serves.

You see... my nephew, Faias, is also aboard the Narrakra... he just graduated the academy not too long ago, he couldn't stop talking about his new posting. And th-then this happened...

We've gone to the Sentry about the disappearances, and that people are receiving these visions, but they're telling us that since they can't be substantiated, there's nothing they can do.

So I'm making a plea to you all directly: if you have any information that he's alive, that... that he's safe, please... tell us.

Comments

[corundrum]

[That gives Padparadscha brief pause, as if they're considering something.]

Were there any unusual things that lived in that jungle alongside you? All lands have their threats, after all.

[The question is whether those bizarre shadows are a natural one or something else.]

[khuimods]

I never lived there, we Arybar don't live that long, so that was was several of our generations ago. Some of the books that survived from Valishaera might still be around, perhaps at the library?

[corundrum]

I'll see if I can find them, then. Did you never hear stories of it yourself?

[Padparadscha is largely curious about that - their impression of living things is that they're supposed to pass down their knowledge to their replacements, so it seems odd for no knowledge to have carried down other than in books.]

[khuimods]

[ Tiaghae sighs, her expression tightening a little. ]

Yes, I do have some stories passed down through my family, but I'm rather more thinking about Faias at the moment, not reliving old tales.

[corundrum]

Those old tales could be relevant to him, if your guess is accurate. [Padparadscha's tone is mild still, but they're not pursuing the topic without reason.] Something like a living shadow appeared in the dream in the jungle. I wondered if it might have been a natural inhabitant of that place.

[khuimods]

But Valishaera doesn't even exist anymore, how could something from there still be...?

[ She sighs again. She doesn't mean to turn aside potential help that they could be offering, but it's hard to focus when she's so worried about her nephew. ]

A living shadow... no, there wasn't anything like that, that I'm aware of. Creatures of all manner, yes, but aside from the inan they were all normal creatures like you'd find here in Khu Ioduan.

[corundrum]

I see. [Inan exist here as well, to their knowledge, so that doesn't quite match what they're thinking of here.] It's unlikely I can be of more help to you with what little understanding I have of the matters of living things, but there is good reason to believe your nephew is still alive.

[khuimods]

[ Even that little bit of assurance seems to help Tiaghae, for what it's worth. ]

I'm so glad... all I want is for him, for all of them, to be able to come home. I know Sentry work, especially in the Naval Division, has its risks, but... he's so young.

[corundrum]

How young? [Padparadscha is somewhat curious - living things age differently to their own species, so there's a good chance he's barely a pebble by their circumstances.] I'm afraid I'm unfamiliar with what age is usual to join that kind of work for living things.