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Truly the Clauncher (S: Water)
Health: 8/8| Sanity: 8/8 | Purity: 12/12
Battle Stance: Flee
Perk: Technical
Trait: Charming

Alright, let's... Untie Orin. We don't speak much. He knows it's not personal and I know he'll be back in the evening.

Then I'll put on my gloves and mask and go inspect the cadaver (Technical). Of all the Pokemon we know... What a damn shame.

After that, I'll wash up quickly... somewhere. Probably not Yellowback Lake, I've heard it's potable... And I'll go Interview Sebbit (Charming)

"Heya, Sebbit! We met for a second the other day.
Well, I'm here on business and for personal stuff. But let's get the business out of the way.

I uh, I have some traveling companions who really really wanted to do some scavenging, but I guess they got bored of the idea, 'cause apparently they never showed up. Now, I was hoping to pick this up already -- seems like it'd be a worthwhile skill, 'cause I'm not much of a chef, and I don't want to cut macroweeds all day -- gotta make money somehow, right? Anyway, point is you're the authority here, so if there's any place not worth scav'ing, or off-limits, or any really good tricks, you'll tell me. Right?

Ok, second order: I need to conduct an investigation on the Rusty Shine units and the people inside. Not that anybody's in trouble, but like, my companions, in their infinite wisdom, have decided to deal with all the upper class snooty types. And listen, I know there's a problem with Sway but that's not part of my investigation. Help me out with the gossip around here. What's the news?

So, now the personal business: I'm thinking of sticking around. I was hanging out with Dee'mang -- I've taken a special interest after what I've heard, it sounds like he's had it rough. And, well, what's your opinion of Samba? I'm not sure she's ready to have a chick -- but beggars can't be choosers. I'm not committing to anything just yet, but tell me about the Pokemon in Dee'mang's life. And what's your relationship to him?

I guess the last thing is, is there anybody you think could be a Stalker? There's been some heat on Pakson, what do you think of him?"
You decide to untie Orin and leave him alone, for now. There's still uncertainty surrounding him, but for now, you trust that he'll keep control of himself during the daylight hours.

You then make your way toward Yellowback Lake, wondering what you might uncover from looking over Meela-Tay's body. For now, the lake is still, calm, and a bit eerily quiet, but you make sure to watch your back to ensure what happened to her doesn't happen to you. You can never be too sure about who might be watching.

Lita's initial assessment of the body clued you in to beware of the smell and that there were bits of foreign matter scattered around the body. After looking around the lake, you find the body of the Armaldo. Both the sight and the smell quickly clue you in about the presence. The Pikachu wasn't kidding.

You try to investigate as much of the body as you can while holding back your disgust, prodding and examining what you can using your pincer without having to get in too close and too deep. As Lita found before, Meela-Tay's body is wet and saturated with a bile-like slime. Upon a closer inspection, her chest seems quite bloated, and her side is oozing with a gelatinous goo.

{Meela-Tay's Body: <Technical>}

It's definitely the work of Indulge. Ironically, the same one who killed Shayta the Butterfree is the one who killed Meela-Tay as well. From a precise evaluation, Meela-Tay was force-fed a grotesquely massive amount of meats and breads before Indulge continued to overstuff her with desserts like cakes, donuts, and other pastries until her stomach ripped open from inside her. But even after the food began to flood her chest and innards, the process continued until even the plated skin of her body could no longer contain the repulsive deluge of food. From what you can gather, this must have been extremely painful and likely took a long time. There's no way a Pokémon wouldn't try to fight back against this... not unless something was done to restrain or mesmerize them.

Besides the body, almost hidden in the stones and rocks, you find a strange piece of paper that seems out of place to be besides this lake. At first you think it might be nothing, but you decide to pick it up anyway to see if it's connected. After flipping it over to the front side, you behold what is depicted on the other side...



After this whole incident, you think you've seen and smelled enough today. You decide to talk to Sebbit after washing up and allowing your stomach to settle down.

Interview Rapport: VERY POSITIVE, INTIMIDATING
+1 Charming
+1 Similar Evolution Stage
+ Intimidation (Water vs Ground)

You find the Drilbur by the Reuse and Recycle store, who always seems to have new stock available, but as you can tell, merchandise comes and goes and what you see today may be gone forever tomorrow and nothing like it will ever appear again. It's one of those kinds of stores.

"Heya, Sebbit!" You call out to him. "We met for a second the other day. Well, I'm here on business and for personal stuff. But let's get the business out of the way."

"Well, what do you know?" he asks you, crossing his arms. "Anyway, take a look around, let me know if anything catches your eye."

"I uh, I have some traveling companions who really really wanted to do some scavenging," you go on, "but I guess they got bored of the idea, 'cause apparently they never showed up. Now, I was hoping to pick this up already -- seems like it'd be a worthwhile skill, 'cause I'm not much of a chef, and I don't want to cut macroweeds all day -- gotta make money somehow, right? Anyway, point is you're the authority here, so if there's any place not worth scav'ing, or off-limits, or any really good tricks, you'll tell me. Right?"

"Trust me, there's always places worth scavenging," he tells you, knowing all about the process and the business. "Some are more dangerous than others, and sometimes those have the better things worth going for. And these companions of yours sound either lazy or scared. Knock some sense into them. You could make a living off of this and if you get lucky, retire early. Sure beats some of the other boring kinds of jobs out there."

Sebbit the Drilbur has been identified as a teacher for Scavenging.

SKILL UNLOCKED: SCAVENGING!
Spoiler:
SCAVENGE (ANY CYCLE) - 1 Action
This side of the abundant wastelands have mostly been picked clean, but useful materials, silver splinters, and hidden treasures can still be found by delving into the various ruins found in the Salvage Keep area. You can use an action to go exploring in one of the two available ruins. With one Scavenge action, you will always have a chance to find common, rare, and very rare items. You can also find silver splinters, the local currency. Items found in the ruins are rarely found elsewhere, and will be useful for forging weapons, armour, and useful accessories.

Tunnel Ruins:
These ruins contain silver splinters, materials, crafting components, and gems.

Valley Ruins:
These ruins contain silver splinters, materials, gem dust, and gems.

Sunken Ruins:
Unfortunately the Sunken Ruins have become flooded and the infrastructure is beginning to collapse. As a result, scavenging these ruins is no longer possible.

How to use:
State "I would like to Scavenge in Tunnel Ruins." You will spend an action scouring the ruins as best you can in search for items.


"You seem smart, so I'll let you in on a tip," Sebbit informs you, watching you closely and making sure no one else overhears him. "The Tunnel Ruins and the Valley Ruins are the best places to Scavenge. But don't share that information everywhere. Last thing I want is for those places to be picked clean."

"Also, you've got to be smart about this," he tells you. "You can find all kinds of useful things by Scavenging, but to really put it to work, you need to know how to make good use of what you find. I know a few things about how to fix up some of the broken junk, hence how I keep this store going. But you're going to want to actually know someone who can actually take those materials and make something of it. But even if you don't, hell, I've found pure, cold-hard cash in those derelicts."

Sebbit the Drillbur has been identified as possessing the Repair Perk.

"Ok, second order," you inquire, "I need to conduct an investigation on the Rusty Shine units and the people inside. Not that anybody's in trouble, but like, my companions, in their infinite wisdom, have decided to deal with all the upper class snooty types. And listen, I know there's a problem with Sway but that's not part of my investigation. Help me out with the gossip around here. What's the news?"

"Rusty Shine is nothing more than a multi-tenant outhouse," Sebbit scoffs. "I wouldn't live there if you paid me to. Wouldn't surprise me one bit if I woke up one morning and heard the news that the whole joint collapsed. I swear, luck is the only thing keeping that structural integrity going. Anyway, if you ask me about my opinion about Sway, I'd say it separates the mindful from the dimwits. Life's hard, but using that trash to pretend to cover up the ugly parts only makes it worse. You wouldn't ever catch me cooking with that."

"So, now the personal business: I'm thinking of sticking around," you tell the Drilbur. "I was hanging out with Dee'mang -- I've taken a special interest after what I've heard, it sounds like he's had it rough. And, well, what's your opinion of Samba? I'm not sure she's ready to have a chick -- but beggars can't be choosers. I'm not committing to anything just yet, but tell me about the Pokemon in Dee'mang's life. And what's your relationship to him?"

"Dee'mang, I have to say, is probably one of my best customers," Sebbit tells you, looking like he's had lucrative experiences with him before. "You saw him, he comes around here often, actually. Sometimes he buys things, sometimes not and he just browses around. He seems to really like getting his beak into things that are better off left alone, but to each their own. I'd be a hypocrite if I claimed I wasn't like that, but he's not careful and is probably going to get himself killed one of these days. As for Samba, ugh, don't even get me started. We need practical solutions around here, not theatre and dance, and yet she criticizes my line of work for being too dangerous. I criticize hers for being absolutely useless. She's Dee'mang's adoptive mom, but she's probably feeding him all kinds of inanity given what she does and how little of a role she has in this community. All I'll say is she better not come blaming me if her kid ends up dead one of these days. She's the one who decided to become his parent, not me."

"I guess the last thing is, is there anybody you think could be a Stalker?" you ask Sebbit. "There's been some heat on Pakson, what do you think of him?"

"Can't say I know much about him," Sebbit shrugs. "A few weeks ago he wasted my time getting in my face, pretending like he knew more about my trade than I did. Guys like him love to pretend like they understand what's important. It was amusing to listen to his tirades for a little while, but damn did it get old fast and I told him to either buy something or beat it. Hasn't been back since, but I've heard a few others tell me about what they thought of him. I doubt he'd be a Stalker. He's lazy, useless, and I think he'd make a lousy Stalker because he'd be too lazy to even kill other Pokémon. Or he'd blow his cover in no time."

"But to answer your question, I couldn't say," he confesses. "Been busy, haven't had the time to really look into it. Not to mention I'm not into that line of detective work. It's tough enough to look after my own hide."

"Well, I'd better get back to work," he tells you. "I swear this last commission I got makes no sense no matter how many times I try to read it."

Truly the Clauncher (S: Water)
Health: 8/8| Sanity: 8/8 | Purity: 12/12
Battle Stance: Flee
Perk: Technical
Trait: Charming