[Adelie]

[CLAN] Gumiho: '>g< whaaaat'
[CLAN] Gumiho: '>g< how is it only noon? iut's so dark out'
[CLAN] Sagittarius A*: '[a] so it's not just me, okay.'
[CLAN] Chi Squared: '[^2] Yeah, it's dark for me, too. Bug?'
[CLAN] Sagittarius A*: '[a] i'm thinking another clue. but no idea where this one leads.'
[CLAN] Sagittarius A*: '[a] can any of you see the sun? there's too many clouds here.'
[CLAN] Gumiho: '>g< nope'
[CLAN] Gumiho: '>g< i thought it was sunset lol'
[CLAN] nebu!a: '/// nah. i can see the sun from where i'm at.'
[CLAN] nebu!a: '/// directly above me. big dark cloud coming in, though.'
[CLAN] Chi Squared: '[^2] Maybe something storm-related? Ven, did you already go to Stormseeker's?'
[CLAN] Gumiho: '>g< yeah'
[CLAN] Gumiho: '>g< i didn't see anything there? but i was only on the penguin island.'
[CLAN] nebu!a: '/// i'm done with my area so maybe i should go? it'll take me a while, though.'
[CLAN] Chi Squared: '[^2] Yeah, sounds like it might be good to double-check.'

[Adelie]

Being second-guessed is a little frustrating, but Ven accepts it with all the goodwill she can muster; she's never going to be always right, or even mostly right, after all, and Nebula is far less clueless over what she's looking for than she is.

Besides, it's not like she can do it herself - she's still wading across the shallow waters of Willowmere, looking for a dangerous colony of wild geese. She knows they're here, somewhere, and she knows the general vicinity of the area they're in, but like the heron field boss, the geese colony tends to wander a bit.

[Adelie]

They're not in the first area she checks, behind a thin grove of bamboo. Instead, she scares off a few colorful panda variants; those are rare and rather shy, and as she watches them scamper away, she regrets a little that she didn't kill them for materials. But - they're a little too cute to die, even if their pelts sell for a decent sum on the market.

They're not in the second area she checks, either. In one part of the vast, shallow lake, there's a pond within a pond - an area sectioned off with stones, just a little above the water level of the rest of the lake. A few yellow and gold fish swim about idly, there, but there's not a bird in sight.

[Adelie]

[CLAN] Chi Squared: '[^2] Okay, what do we have left? I'm done with my area.'
[CLAN] nebu!a: '/// still waiting on the ferry'
[CLAN] nebu!a: '/// zzz'
[CLAN] Chi Squared: '[^2] zzz'
[CLAN] Sagittarius A*: '[a] zzz'
[CLAN] Sagittarius A*: '[a] i got distracted, but i'm done. didn't find anything.'
[CLAN] Chi Squared: '[^2] Ven?'
[CLAN] Gumiho: '>g< ahh sorry'
[CLAN] Gumiho: '>g< im still looking for the geese army but i don't think i'll find anything there'
[CLAN] Chi Squared: '[^2] Ugh.'
[CLAN] Gumiho: '>g< ;w; i'm sorry'
[CLAN] Chi Squared: '[^2] No, not your fault.'
[CLAN] Chi Squared: '[^2] Just, ugh. Did we misinterpret the clue or something?'
[CLAN] Chi Squared: '[^2] Are we sure that's what the message said?'
[CLAN] Sagittarius A*: '[a] maybe this is all an elaborate troll and there's nothing there.'
[CLAN] Chi Squared: '[^2] Maybe you're an elaborate troll.'
[CLAN] Sagittarius A*: '[a] you called?'

[Adelie]

[CLAN] Chi Squared: '[^2] Please tell me the text you gave was actually real and we haven't been chasing shadows because you think it's funny.'
[CLAN] Sagittarius A*: '[a] :<'
[CLAN] Sagittarius A*: '[a] what have i ever done to deserve this cruel mistrust?'
[CLAN] Chi Squared: '[^2] Led us all into a deathtrap?'
[CLAN] Sagittarius A*: '[a] what can i say? i got lost.'
[CLAN] nebu!a: '/// how about the time we stopped combat, you immediately provoked the boss, and we all died?'
[CLAN] Chi Squared: '[^2] We were in call together, okay. I heard you laughing over it.'
[CLAN] Sagittarius A*: '[a] look, i was channeling a three-second spell and you guys dropped aggro at the wrong time.'
[CLAN] Chi Squared: '[^2] I gave you way more than three seconds of warning!'
[CLAN] nebu!a: '/// remember when that one guy got really mad at you'
[CLAN] nebu!a: '/// and just stalked vers all day because he couldn't kill you'
[CLAN] Sagittarius A*: '[a] oh, c'mon. you can't just blame me for other people being a dick.'
[CLAN] Sagittarius A*: '[a] besides, didn't vers just hit on him until he got creeped out and quit?'
[CLAN] Sagittarius A*: '[a] that's the best ending anyone could ask for.'

[Adelie]

[CLAN] Chi Squared: '[^2] Okay.'
[CLAN] Chi Squared: '[^2] Serious question, though, was the text you shared correct? Did you guess any of it?'
[CLAN] Sagittarius A*: '[a] yes, it was exact.'
[CLAN] Chi Squared: '[^2] Ughhh.'
[CLAN] Chi Squared: '[^2] Did we miss anything?'

Elsewhere, Ven is still dealing with another type of miss - specifically, how after trawling up and down the marsh, there's still no sign whatsoever of where the flock of murderous geese might be hiding. It shouldn't even be hard. There's a pre-defined spawn point for them, and even if people usually don't bother to kill them, they shouldn't have wandered this far from their original location.

[Adelie]

And then she spots it.

Well, it's a little disingenuous to say that; technically, she's walked by the floating shrine gate two or three times while searching for the geese flock in question. The first time, she even stopped for a bit, admiring the shape of it reflecting on the vast expanse of the mirror-like lake behind it, the way the purple paper lanterns on its arms cast colorful light upon it.

It's only fitting; after all, she styles herself a kannagi. One day, she'd like to visit the real-world shrine gate this one pays homage to, but that'll have to wait.

[Adelie]

The first time around, she might've taken the figure standing there for another player - after all, most NPCs in the area follow a fairly plain color scheme, and the white lab coat is surprisingly popular amongst players who want to style themselves as doctors or scientists.

The second time, they'd still been there, and she might've assumed they were just another player admiring the scenery; just sightseeing, just like she'd basically spent the past hour doing. Or, perhaps, they'd just gone AFK and hadn't found a safe area in time.

[Adelie]

The third time around, she's returning from yet another fruitless trip to check some secluded corner of the sea for geese. In fact, it's the same corner as last time - there are only so many places a gaggle of geese can be hiding when most of the area is remarkably flat water.

So it's deja vu, almost, when she sees the same figure, still there, still staring at the shrine gate. It's enough to pique her curiosity; at this point, admittedly, anything's more interesting than looking for mysteriously nonexistent geese and finding nothing.

[Adelie]

Wandering closer, she reaches draw distance for a player's character name and information; since she's expecting a player, it takes a moment for her to recognize that this name - Dr. Jake Emerson - and this title - Scientist - aren't typical for a player at all.

Realization slams into her like a ton of geese. The NPC at the shrine gate, the fruitless search, the 'bird's abode' clue and the name torii.

Of course. She wants to hit herself for being so stupid; it's so obvious when she just looks at it.

[CLAN] Gumiho: '>g< guys'
[CLAN] Gumiho: '>g< i think i found something'

[Adelie]

[CLAN] Chi Squared: '[^2] !'
[CLAN] Chi Squared: '[^2] What did you find?'
[CLAN] Gumiho: '>g< uhhh'
[CLAN] Chi Squared: '[^2] Also, where? Did you find the geese?'
[CLAN] Gumiho: '>g< there's a npc here'
[CLAN] Gumiho: '>g< haven't talked to him yet but p sure he's a questmaster'
[CLAN] nebu!a: '/// does this mean i can stop waiting for this damn ferry'
[CLAN] Gumiho: '>g< and he's right by the floating shrine gate in willowmere'
[CLAN] Gumiho: '>g< so the whole clue about bird's abode'
[CLAN] Gumiho: '>g< a shrine gate is a torii'
[CLAN] Gumiho: '>g< and torii in japanese literally translates to bird's abode'
[CLAN] Chi Squared: '[^2] God.'
[CLAN] Chi Squared: '[^2] Did we really waste so much time because some game developer's a weeaboo?'
[CLAN] nebu!a: '/// can someone portal me because i'm too lazy to walk'
[CLAN] Gumiho: '>g< lol'
[CLAN] Gumiho: '>g< at least i'm also a weeaboo, i guess'
[CLAN] Gumiho: '>g< so it worked out!'

[Adelie]

Partially out of respect, partially out of fear something might go wrong, Ven sits, staring at the first dialogue box this Dr. Jake Emerson has presented her with. She'll wait for the rest of her clan to arrive before moving on, she supposes - although, considering the recent chatter in clan talk, it seems that might be a while.

There's clearly some indication that something's going on, but she can't really glean what it is, just from the first lines.

My apologies for the trouble. I'm Dr. Jake Emerson, but Jake is fine. I don't know if you've seen the news recently...

[Adelie]

[CLAN] Chi Squared: '[^2] So, while we wait for y'all to stop being lazy.'
[CLAN] Chi Squared: '[^2] What's this quest?'
[CLAN] Gumiho: '>g< dunno'
[CLAN] Gumiho: '>g< first line is just about something in the news'
[CLAN] Gumiho: '>g< waiting on you guys to get here'
[CLAN] nebu!a: '/// i'd be there already if someone portaled me'
[CLAN] Chi Squared: '[^2] No.'
[CLAN] Chi Squared: '[^2] Ven, I can feel you reaching for your spellbook. Don't do it.'
[CLAN] Chi Squared: '[^2] Don't give in. Don't let those who are too weak to just open their maps and waypoint here peer pressure you into submission.'
[CLAN] Gumiho: '>g< how did you know :<'
[CLAN] nebu!a: '/// i'll give you two whole gold'
[CLAN] Sagittarius A*: '[a] i'll give you three whole gold to not make a portal for nebs.'
[CLAN] nebu!a: '/// rude.'
[CLAN] Chi Squared: '[^2] I'm pretty sure in the time we've been bickering about this, you could've just walked here already.'
[CLAN] nebu!a: '/// i'm already here, okay.'

[Adelie]

If Ven were the kind of person to make bets - well, she wouldn't have found anyone to bet on the order her clanmates would show up in. First, because that's an idiotically inconsequential thing to bet on, and second, because the result's so obvious that anyone would've predicted it.

Chi's the first to arrive, barely two or three minutes after Ven announces the location to the clan. That's not surprising - given that Willowmere is easily accessible by waypoint, it's really only two or three minutes' walk if you take the shortest path. Chi, too, cheats a bit; she's got access to a lot of movement spells, and a few blinks across the field make up for her unfamiliarity with the area.

[Adelie]

Aster's the next to show up, a few minutes later; she could've sworn she was paying attention to her surroundings, but his character casually strolls in unnoticed, anyways. She doesn't even realize until his character leans over her and pats her on the head.

[CLAN] Gumiho: '>g< sneaky sneak'
[CLAN] Sagittarius A*: '[a] here i am, fifteen minutes late with starbucks.'
[CLAN] nebu!a: '/// if you're fifteen minutes late then what am i'
[CLAN] Gumiho: '>g< omfg'
[CLAN] Gumiho: '>g< chi did you actually'
[CLAN] Chi Squared: '[^2] Yes.'
[CLAN] Gumiho: '>g< i wasn't even going to make nebs a portal'
[CLAN] Sagittarius A*: '[a] i never thought i'd witness the day one of our clan members tries to pk another clan member, just so we can't create a portal to get our other clan member here.'
[CLAN] Chi Squared: '[^2] Hey, it was just one spell to start combat.'
[CLAN] Gumiho: '>g< i'm dying'
[CLAN] Gumiho: '>g< but like, the laughter kind of dying'
[CLAN] Gumiho: '>g< not the chi is actually killing me kind of dying'