Standard Mission: Tainted Oasis of Rostol

"Glad your team made it out that last mission."  A voice that sounded familiar to Vayu and Scarlet, called out from behind the caravan as a man stepped out from behind it.  He tipped his hat politely to the group with a serious and professional looking expression like something grim was about to happen.

Spoiler:

He eyed Zeyphr for a second extended his hand outward to shake it, as he held his other hand up with a thumbs up. His serious expression suddenly shifted to a carefree one, followed by ping in all the vanguards gauntlets giving more information about the mission.

"Impressed?  I secured you three a much more suitable mission this time.  I figured after the chaos of the last one, you three deserved to relax!"  The man stated, as he hopped onto the front of the Caravan with the two horses coming to attention as he leaded back clearly satisfied with himself.

"Apparently some kidnappings in a lake town?  Probably just some kids ran out on a dare...  Anyways hope you all tan well cause this is quite the resort!"  A man stated with joking sigh and a carefree shrug, as he gestured the group to sit in the back that was full fresh water canteens built for the harsh desert.

Zephyr Arc

An man showed up once they'd gathered up for the next mission. Cherry had insisted on trying out the Rory's gift, so Zephyr's hair was extra smooth and shiny today. He was also just a tad tired as she'd ended up keeping him up late trying to wash and comb his hair. He yawned as the man approached.

Holding his gaze and considering him for a moment, Zephyr took the outstretched hand. The man then raised a thumbs up with his other hand, and his previously grim countenance shifted almost instantly to a more carefree demeanor as their gauntlets pinged with new info on their next mission. Zephyr shook his head as he shifted closer to Vayu and whispered. "That's what they said about our first missions too..."

He recalled that they could have easily been wiped out if the boss of the Oni from his first mission was so inclined. He assumed something similar went on with the others mission as well.

Scarlet

After a moment, Scarlet recognised the man from her first mission, smiling and waving at him.

"I'm glad that you're alright after that journey. Let's hope this one will be less eventful!" A ping from her Gauntlet grabbed her attention as she read the details of the mission.

"Kidnappings... let's get going then. The sooner we find the missing people the better." At the man's indication, she settled into the caravan, summoning Neko. The cat-like demon streched, yawning, before sitting herself beside Scarlet, leaning against her Summoner.

- Vayu -

Vayu was still in bed when his gauntlet chimed. He groaned. The one day he decided to sleep in. The irritation didn’t last long and once he gathered his things, he headed to the gates.

Upon arrival he saw Scarlet and Zephyr. So only the three of them this time.

His raised his eyebrows at the man that was leading the caravan. What an odd shift in attitude. With a shrug, he entered the caravan after Zephyr and Scarlet.

“Not ours, remember Scarlet?” he asked her in a rhetoric manner, since her greeting showed she rememberd him. “That dude was pretty furious that last time we were sent on a mission that was seemingly too difficult for us.”

He looked around the supplies of the caravan. Well he could already tell that one of his demons would enjoy the warm weather much more than the other.

“Let’s make sure this time goes better,” he added and pulled up the mission info from his gauntlet.

On the way to Rostol!

The moment the group climbed into the caravan they heard a loud lash in from the front, as they seemed to propel forward a vanguard's heads suddenly jolted back from the sudden increase movement.  After a few conversations with the guards of Chaldea one grumbling about how Joey was taking a day off after he had to plow snow to resume travel.

Vayu who pulled out the mission info found a more detailed section indicating various details about the situation from the village from the mayor.

----

Hello vanguards,

I'm excited to welcome you to our humble town!  Unfortunately, I won't be able to meet you in person right away, as I don't want to draw attention to your party.  I've arranged you to stay in a guest house, owned by the village seer for the night.  To get your investigation started,  I've attached a map of the town, along with some helpful notes.  Please be quick as possible to discovering the issue, it's hurting business and I will reward you appropriately the faster you get done.

Best regards,

Elizabeth Rostol

----

The map painted a beautiful village etched in old sand like stone that was reminiscent of an old desert village.  The village itself was covered in luscious grass that appeared to be water and man made, as the grass soon cut off into desert outside the city gates.  The lake sat on the west side of the village, as it looked the village only latched onto the south-eastern corner of the oasis.

The exception to all the life was the market square in the city that appeared to be a mixture of grass and sand that showed off various desert plants besides a variety of market stalls covered with a white tarp to reduce heat.  With a large building garnished in art and gems that sat at the back of the market with what looked like guards posted around it.

The oasis itself had a small island in the center that seemed to be mostly beach like sand.  The island rose in elevation the more towards the center, as a variety of grass, flowers, and other expensive items surrounding a statue of a tall deity like figure holding a flower in their left hand that was raised towards the sky with a snake curled around the flower.  The figure of the statue didn't have any clothing on it though, only covered up by the various stone flowers and plants on it.

There was a charming house sitting next to the docks that had a large defacing red circle around it, as the words 'place you are staying' were written next to it.

There were a few notes scribbled on the side mentioning a few things numbered as points for the vanguards to consider.

1. The village seer has been acting strange since the kidnappings started, holding himself up... many people think since he's no longer offering those items to the shrine and that's why the kidnappings started.

2. You'll notice a strange lab in the eastern side of the town that's not on the map.  One of the Chaldean scientists are staying there trying to investigate why demons are avoiding our town.

3. Other places I'd recommend checking are the market district and the uninhabited areas around the oasis, the market has a bunch of people there that can give information, while sometimes outsiders live around the outskirts that we have to shoo away.

---

"You guys will be arriving late afternoon!  I saw the map, don't feel forced to check everything right away!" The man yelled from the front of the caravan, as the vanguards sat in front of the pile of information to unravel.

On the way to Rostol
- Vayu -

“Oh my gosh,” Vayu leaned back when he saw all the mission details. “Why is there so much to read?” he complained and closed his eyes.

He leaned and sighed.

“Somebody summarize for me?” he asked and just kept the map in frame. "What sounds the most intriguing to start with?"

It looked like a neat little town, hugging the edge of the oasis. He was also intrigued by island with the statue on it in the middle of the lake. If he ever were to take a vacation, this did sound like an ideal place.

Zephyr Arc

Zephyr read the map over Vayu's shoulder as the other man complained about reading. Cherry sat on his shoulder getting increasingly annoyed at his lack of reaction and finally pinched his ear and whispered instructions. He appeared to have a moment of realization and then tapped Vayu on the shoulder.

"If you're having trouble reading, I could teach you." He said, then pointed to the various points on the map and gave Vayu short introduction on each.

"So, where do you think we should head first, Vayu, Scarlet? I don't think splitting up would be a good idea considering what happened on our last disappearance investigation case..."

Scarlet

Scarlet scooted over to the other Vanguards to look at the mission info, causing Neko to grumble at losing her pillow. Paying her demon no mind, she took in the information on the map.

"Hmm, so we're staying here, right?" she pointed to the highlighted building next to the docks. "I guess we should drop off anything we don't need there first. As for what to do after that..." She noticed the statue on the island in the middle of the oasis.

"Hey mister? What's the island for?" she asked the man at the front. Turning back to the map, she read the scribbles on it. "Maybe we should talk to the scientist? He's from Chaldea, so maybe he has some extra information for us."

On the way to Rolstol
- Vayu -

“Eh…thanks for the offer,” Vayu said to Zephyr, looking embarrassed. “I’ll get back to you on that.” The moment passed. Zephyr thankfully summarized the new mission information, sparing Vayu the agonizing time he would have needed to read through it all.

“I agree, we should stay together and check in to the guest house,” he nodded. He travelled light, so he didn't really need to drop off everything, but it would be good to take a look before it became too dark. “And talking to the scientist first could be helpful…”

He tapped his chin. “I do think we should also check out the shrine on the island and its history especially before we talk to the Seer.”

On the way to Rostol

"That crazy giant statue on the island is the shrine, you'd be set for life if you could get your hands on the valuables there. Though, outsiders usually aren't allowed on it, but the mayor will most likely make an exception" The man responded to Scarlet with a rather exhausted sigh being let out after the 'set for life' bit, a light dreaming greedy smile etched across his face.

As a few hours passed, the group noticed that they had suddenly shifted into the desert with the temperature dramatically shifting at times, as dormant large demons of fire, sand, and glass that lurked around the trail peering at the caravan with a weary gaze as they dug their way back into the sand like some sort of desert mole.

"We're almost there, I'll drop you off in front of the gates, I don't have time to come in unfortunately, Chaleda is always overworked after all!" The man called out to the group, as the gates of the village appeared in the distance.

---

Rostol Gates

The moment the gates were past all the demons in Vayu, Scarlet, and Zeyphr's gauntlet gave a sudden reaction. It wasn't of pain but just discomfort like something was silently judging all of the demons that they had possessed. Cherry and Neko who were currently outside the gauntlet were suddenly forced back into them, as they automatically returned back to their original positions outside the gauntlets a moment later.

The caravan came to a halt as the driver handed 3 different and overly detailed permit papers to a guardsmen who was covered in white desert like robes. The guard scrutinized over it for a few minutes before waving the vanguards into the city.

"The vanguards correct? My name is Rania, and yours are?" a woman asked with a charismatic smile. She was garnished in what appeared to be a fine light blue silk cloth garnished with a few gems across it with the silk getting lighter and see through as the silk got further away from the center of the body.

"You'll be staying at our family's guest house, I'm glad you decided to drop by first! I'll show you there!" Rania stated with a warm and motherly smile, as she quickly walked off towards the direction of the docks, "I've prepared a light snack for your arrival, I do hope you'll enjoy it! I tried to make something unique to the area."

Though, the woman's eyes seemed to linger longer on the demons that surrounded the vanguards. It was almost like she had seem something completely new, as her expression appeared to shift to one of shock and then interest.

"Beautiful demons, all the ones on the outside are apparently monstrous. With yours it almost feels like they're another member of the family!" the woman stated with a light knowing wink at cherry.

Zephyr Arc

"Alright, so we're in agreement to talk to the scientist first and then seeing what we can do about checking out the island?" Zephyr asked to confirm. It seemed they were all on the same page about things. He and Vayu didn't bring much with them but were more than willing to accompany Scarlet in dropping her things off first as well.

"So I guess we can spend the first day seeing the scientist and checking out the island shrine. We want to see the seer last, but if I'm reading this right, the guy also owns the place we're staying... thoughts?" He asked, before they passed the gates and their demons... blinked.

Zephyr blanked for a moment, and they were in front of a wealthy-looking woman in blue who winked at Cherry, making her shudder and slip behind Zephyr's head. It seemed she was their host. "Uh, hello. I'm Zephyr Arc, and I'm kinda famished now that you mention it."

Rostol Gates
- Vayu -

Vayu nodded in agreement with Zephyr’s assessment.

“I guess we can try to politely excuse ourselves if we run into the Seer,” he suggested. “You said the notes on the map suggested he’s holed up in his room, so meeting him might be harder than we think.”

When they passed the gates, Vayu missed a step when his demons gave an audible reaction and both Cherry and Nekomata disappeared for a second. Before he could discuss it with the two Vanguards, they were greeted by an elegant woman in blue, who introduced herself as Rania.

“Your family guesthouse?” Vayu echoed. “You’re related to the Seer then?” he asked to confirm. They followed the woman to the docks where they ended up in front of what appeared to be the guest house.

Before following the others into the guest house, Vayu glanced around, trying to see if anyone else was overly interested in the demons that accompanied them. He knew that in some villages demons were viewed solely with hostility, but Rania’s odd reaction had him curious how this oasis village dealt with them being present.

Scarlet

"It sounds like we're agreed then, accommodation, scientist, then seer," Scarlet summarised, counting off each objective on her fingers.

As they entered the town, Neko's fur stood on end a moment before she disappeared, returning to Scarlet's Gauntlet before re-summoning. Scarlet gasped at the event, but before she could respond, their party was approached by a woman at the gate.

"That's very generous of you!" Scarlet thanked the woman, who had introduced herself as Rania, giving her a friendly smile. She noticed the odd look that Rania had given the Vanguards' demons.

"Have you had problems with demon attacks recently?" Scarlet asked, curious at the reaction they had gotten from Rania.

On the way to the guest house

The women's eyes seemed to lightly falter when cherry hid behind Zeyphr, but she quickly regained their sweet composure once the vanguard introduced himself.

"Pleasure to meet you Zeyphr Arc!"  The women pleasantly stated with a charismatic smile, as she reached out and pleasantly shook the hand of the vanguard with both her hands, while holding eye contact for the appointed 3 seconds.  She then glanced around at the other vanguards waiting for them to introduce themselves.before she began talking about her proposal.

The women's pleasant smile seemed to grow when everyone so willing accepted their offer to eat.  She began to walk off towards the cute guest house practically skipping when the questions following the vanguards accepting her proposal made her jump and quickly turn around.

"Oh yes...."  Rania quickly responded with an embarrassed smile, as she continued to say her face lightly flushed, "No demon attacks, this place has always been avoided.  However, people haven't developed a negative opinion of demons because of it, never had any negative encounters.  And yes, I'm his wife."

However, after Vayu took in his surroundings heading to the guest house, he noticed how everyone seemed to stare at Cherry and Neko in particular.  Their expressions were a mixture of discomfort, fear, and annoyance, though every time Vayu met their gaze they would quickly turn away.  The only exception was a dock worker who was holding what appeared to be a overly large harpoon to the point it didn't look functional for human use.  He simply gave a respectful nod to the group when they passed him by.

----
Inside the Guest House

The vanguards entered the overly cute guest home greeted by a doormat that said 'home sweet home'.  The inside of the guesthouse had a very homely vibe with a stone wall design and cool wooden floor.  There was an unlit fireplace with a wooden table surrounded by overly cushy chairs in the center of the room, hot brewed tea along with a basket of hot baked crispy bread sticks covered in exotic spices.

Rania formally sat down at the head of the table, as she gestured the rest of the vanguards to follow suite with a slow sweeping motion of her arm towards all the other chairs around the table.

"Now, do enjoy!"  The woman humbly stated with a proud smile.

Rostol Guest House
- Vayu -

Vayu noticed the odd behavior of the villagers, especially noting the dock worker with the harpoon. He needed to keep that in mind for later and added a visit to the docks to his to do list.

Inside the guest house, he took a quick look around. Even if it looked very homey, they likely wouldn’t spend much time here.

Rania invited them to sit. Vayu stepped up behind the chair, placing his hands on the backrest.

“Thank you, but we really should get going,” Vayu said. “I want to get a feel for the town, and we want to visit the scientist before the day is over.”

And maybe they should also try to find Elizabeth Rostol, the one who had actually requested their help. The only question was, how to find her?

The odd behavior of the demons and later the looks of the villagers was still in the back of his mind, but as long as Rania was around, he was reluctant to discuss it with his fellow Vanguards. And seeing that she sat down, it didn't appear she planned to leave them alone anytime soon.

His eyes moved from Rania to Zephyr and Scarlet, trying to ascertain what their opinions were.

Scarlet

Scarlet seemed pleased with the guest house, the coziness reminding her of home. 'I wonder how mum and dad are doing...' Shaking off the thought, the folowed their guide to the table.

"This is a lovely home!" Scarlet told Rania after looking around their temporary abode. "However, as Vayu said, it's probably best if we get to work right away. We would like to see the Chaldean scientist here, do you know if he's home right now?"

While she was eager to discuss what had happened to their demons as they entered the boundries of the town, she noted that ther companions had refrained from mentioning it so far, so she held her tongue.

Zephyr Arc

Rania claimed the people hadn't had bad experience with demons and had no negative feelings towards them as a result, but as someone used to gazes, Zephyr could easily tell the people were uncomfortable, and even possibly afraid of the two demons they had with them. His only reply was a short acknowledgement of "Uh-huh. Alright then." before Rania led the group inside. Cherry remained hidden in Zephyr's hair as she didn't quite like the attention she was receiving.

Inside, he let the others do most of the speaking as he wasn't too comfortable talking to random strangers to begin with. "Yea, we apologize but could you please show us to our rooms now? We'd like to leave right away after dropping off our luggage." The courtesy was mainly because he felt like the pixie in his hair might rip his ear off otherwise.

Rostol Guest House

A look of defeat crossed the Rania's face, as the group all pressed their need to leave. She gestured towards the rooms leading each vanguards to the rooms that seemed to match the main room decor with a little note by the bedside that said "Please enjoy your stay!" with some local candies lying beneath it.

By the the time they walked out the dining room table was already cleaned up completely, sitting like a barren wooden table in the center of the room. Rania was holding a picnic basket with various to-go cups that appeared to be holding the tea she had prepared.

"Please do enjoy even if it's during your investigation. You won't make any progress if you stress yourselves out too much." Raina stated with a concerned smile, as she placed the basket around Scarlet's arm and handed each of the vanguards one of the to go cups.

---
Journey to scientist's lab

'Chime'

The clock rang, as the main clock sitting in the marketplace struck to now be 4 P.M. Various villages seemed to glance up at the clock at this noise, as one of them mumbled to another "Make sure you're in by 9, don't want to be another victim to the oasis god's wrath."

---

It took a fair bit of time to reach the scientist's lab, as lab appeared to be sitting right outside the village almost like he wasn't allowed inside. The building with a simple house similar to all the others except the door was already open.

Inside there were various jars and containers holding vials of water, as the water appeared to be shifting towards the vanguards directions as they walked inside. There was only a single man hunched over, as he held up what appeared to be a flame emitted from his finger towards one of the vials. The vial seemed to contort like a hedgehog defending itself from a predator, as all the other vials in the area changed shape to match it.

"Hm, guests? That's rare." The man muttered, as he turned his gaze towards the vanguards, as all the vials seemed to contort back into normal water.

Spoiler:

Oasis - on the way to scientist
- Vayu -

Vayu could see the expression on Rania’s falter. There was a twinge of guilt, but it couldn’t be helped. They were here to do a job, not to relax.

He nodded for Scarlet to take the basket and took the tea that Rania handed him.

“Apologies for rushing out,” he said as they left. “We want to get started right away.”

They made their way to the scientist’s lab. It took longer than Vayu expected. Before they entered, Vayu stopped his fellow Vanguards.

“Before we go in…” he asked, “…do you know what happened to your demons?” referring to their demons disappearing when they entered the city. He had noticed that both his demons had also reacted. They seemed fine for now.

“Are they okay?” He wondered if anyone in this oasis knew what had happened.

Zephyr Arc

Vayu stopped them as they approached the scientist's abode and finally brought up the thing on everyone's minds. "I wasn't it was a good idea to bring it up with villagers around with everyone acting so strange..." Zephyr answered. "Here seems good since it looks like no one comes around. Cherry's fine, has no idea what happened but other than 'blinking' for a second, she doesn't understand any more than we do."

He looked perplexed. "I hear the scientist is from Chaldea. What's your opinion on asking him what that was about? I wager it might have something to do with why the demons avoid this place..."

Oasis – At Scientist Lab
- Vayu -

Vayu nodded. “I noticed the villagers were behaving strangely as well when they saw your demons,” he added. “Particularly at the docks. Before we go back into the guest house, we should head down to the docks to see if the workers are still around.”

He turned back to Zephyr. “I think we can risk asking the scientist. I’m hoping a scientist has a more logical explanation than a Seer. What do you think?”

He glanced between Zephyr and Scarlet to see their thoughts.

Scarlet

"Thank you for the food! I'm sure it'll be really nice," Scarlet thanked Rania, taking the basket with a smile.

When the group had a bit of privacy on their way to the scientist's residence, the others began discussing the odd behaviour of their demons.

"I haven't had a chance to ask Neko yet," Scarlet replied, looking at her demon, who only shrugged in response.

"I'm as in the dark as you humans. All I can say is it was... uncomfortable."

Scarlet looked back to the Vanguards. "Yeah Vayu, sounds like a good idea. Something's not quite right here..."

The topic of conversation moved onto the scientist.

"If he's from Chaldea, he might have gotten notice of our investigation. He probably has something he can give or tell us that will help us."

Zephyr Arc

"Hmm... Since we're all in agreement, let's head inside. No point wasting daylight out here. If anyone notices anything strange, let everyone else know." Zephyr affirmed all of them being on the same page and lead the group inside, Pixie still in hiding.

The inside was a... "strange", for lack of a better word, scene for sure. Jars with strange liquid that appeared to be alive all over the place. If he hadn't seen those disgusting blobs at that other village, and Shoggoth squirming about, he might have been taken aback. They found a man with a flaming finger apparently torturing the vial-slime at the center of it all. When he turned his attention to then, the vials suddenly dipped back to acting like normal water. He made a mental note that perhaps whatever was inside thought they would be fooled.

"Hi, we're the vanguard send by Chaldea. They said we should look for you for more info." Zephyr introduced the group. "and out of curiosity, what the heck is up with the vials? mighty odd for a place that supposedly sees no demons."

Inside Scientist's lab

The man raised an eyebrow at Zephyr's question, as his face twitched with a hint of confusion like he was talking to someone who said something completely out of left field.  The two deadlock stared at each other for a few seconds until a look of realization hit him.

"Oh!  You've never seen an elemental?  Are you new vanguards?"  The man stated as a single finger rose in the air like he had some of eureka moment when he quickly turned around and picked up the vial he was just torturing as all the other ones began to squirm in response.

"Epiphany Spark."  The man muttered, as the flame came out of his fingers that engulfed the vials.  Steam began to rush through the roam that clouded everyone's vision as the steam began to merge together into a single central point forming a small core.  Water began to circulate around it as a face began to form before the man slammed the vial back around it and it turned back into 'normal' water.

"Fascinating isn't it?  The building blocks of demons, they were commonly used to turn a demon of a weaker grade into a higher one during fusion... like an angel into a archangel!  Or a Archangel into an angel?  Depends on their affinity with the element."  The man rambled with a chuckle, as he pulled out a large book to his side and slammed it on the table in front of them.  He turned to a page that had featured the water elemental he just held.

Spoiler:

"But what do you mean about sees no demons?  The lake is full of these creatures?"  The man responded to Zeyphr's second statement.