Stalkers RPG: Dustwoken - Main Action and Team Status [SEASON 1]

[Neo Emolga]

ChiChi will put on the dreamwatch necklace and go talk to Drestan. Diplomatically.
Time to prove your innocence, or spin me a very guilty story, coastguard!

I like to think since ChiChi is glowing and also a weird species, it might be like getting a visit from the ghost of christmas past!
Pleasedontkillmeeeee

As the night falls, you decide to get to the bottom of what might be surrounding the Seabourne coast guard. It seems as though there are many who believe the coast guard may be compromised, and you can see their reasoning given Malco’s death and their lack of cooperation in working with the police department.

While you eat the delicious pot pie dinner that Benni has prepared for everyone, the taste and the conversation about the weather aren’t on your mind right now. You’re almost on autopilot as you think about what may discerned tonight and how it all fits into the bigger picture, and when the meal is done, you simply head to the supply cabinets, take the Dreamwatch Necklace, and place the Blessed Armband back in storage.

You then head out into the night, intending to confront Drestan to see if the suspicions are correct, or if they’re simply heresy and unfounded rumors. You might not be able to completely discern the truth by talking to Drestan, even diplomatically, but you can see what the Dreamwatch Necklace says…

ChiChi has removed the +|J| Blessed Armband+ (1S, 1P) and has equipped the +|J| Dreamwatch Necklace+ (Wearer gets notified if they speak or have spoken to a Stalker) instead.

For a moment, you revisit those past conversations in your mind. Mortek, Roboa, Santea, Ressi, Zakra, Ohu, Dantus, Yanza, and Kulsso… but the necklace confirms none of them are Stalkers.

You head to the Oceanwatch Condominiums and after a long, dark walk to the far southeastern side of the town, you finally arrive and look for Drestan’s apartment. Using the directory, you find he lives in a second floor apartment, which like many of the others, has a nice view of the ocean. Once you arrive at the front door, you gently knock twice, and shortly after, Drestan the Pelliper opens the door and stands before you, looking a bit dubiously at you given he’s never seen your species before. That and most Pokémon don’t glow the way you do…

…

…you feel a tingling sensation coming from the Dreamwatch Necklace…

…FALLOW… FALLOW… FALLOW…

For a glimpse of a dark moment, you behold the hidden apparition driving Drestan’s body. It becomes extremely difficult to hold back your shock, but you managed to do so without alerting the Demoni within…

#39 Drestan the Pelipper has been confirmed as the Stalker FALLOW.

“Strange, I don’t usually get visitors at this hour,” he tells you. “Who might you be?”

You know the truth… that Fallow is the one murdering children, probably one of the more egregious Stalkers, but you hide the knowledge that you have just realized.

“Hi Drestan, I was hoping you could help me out,” you tell him, introducing yourself. “I’m Giselle and I’ve been hired to help look into the situation with the Stalkers and some of the murders that have been happening around town. Have you been aware of their presence, or any strange happenings around town? Any little thing can help if you’ve seen it.”

“Can’t say I have,” Drestan replies. “Is that all? I need to get back to what I was doing, so if there’s nothing else you need from me, then good night.”

The fact you know he’s lying makes you feel far less guilty about your own lies to him. It’s clear Fallow doesn’t suspect anything, but you can already see he’s attempting to terminate this conversation as soon as possible and leave you empty-handed with no leads. In fact, if anything, you discern he would likely relay this encounter to the other Demoni.

“You’re a member of the coast guard, right?” you ask, ignoring his last question. “Listen, I heard about your boss, Malco. My condolences, Mister Drestan, that must have been a real shock to finally find your boss was killed like that. Thankfully my supervisor and I are always on great terms. Makes for great teamwork!”

You know Fallow couldn’t possibly care less, but he thinks he still needs to put on a convincing display. And it gives you an idea. Just how far would Fallow go to cover his tracks…?

…would he throw one of his fellow Demoni under the bus to save himself? It’s time to find out…

“Listen, I’ve been personally looking into Exonull, a Stalker who is known to murder flying Pokémon,” you tell him, imploring a sense of urgency. “They’ve already killed several flying Pokémon, including Tayou and a good friend of mine, Scy, among several others. Drestan, please, you’re a flying Pokémon, too. You’re in danger and I need you to help me! Help me so I can help you.”

You’ve locked him into a tight spot. He knows he needs to show some cooperation and concern, as if he really was a Pelipper. Deviating that would be an open door for you to drill him with further questions, like why he wouldn’t be concerned… questions that he would have immense difficulty answering without flimsy lies and would have stark inconsistencies. He has no choice now but to comply.

#39 Drestan the Pelipper has become Compliant.

Drestan goes silent and fakes unease while you feign anxiety and concern when really… it’s concentration… …so you can read his mind while he ponders…

…

…I knew Exonull would be sloppy with this whole mission! That stupid bitch can’t help but try to treat this like it’s some stupid fucking race and she needs to show off like this is some damned murder pageant party and she’s gotta be the queen winning top prize. We were supposed to be covert and stealthy about this and NOT REVEAL OUR GODDAM NAMES. What the hell is her problem?

Damn it, I bet she did something that got these assholes on my case as well. You know what, to hell with her. And you too, Languished, you’re blowing my cover here and I’m not doing favors for you anymore. Seriously, you had to go and kill Malco, who is supposed to be this dumb birdbrain’s boss. There’s hundreds of other victims you could have picked but no, pick the one that makes me look the most suspicious and now I’ve got to change plans and work around this. How am I supposed to come up with some explanation for it and think ‘oh no, what would this dumb birdbrain do’ like I know what kind of fecal matter runs through a Pelipper’s brain. Thanks for goddam nothing, you useless whore.

First, I gotta get these pricks out of my face. You can go and eat your own shit, Exonull, you got yourself into this. Leave me out.

…

“I’m… really thankful for your concern and I’m sorry if I was doubtful before,” Fallow continues with his acting and his lying. “It’s hard to trust even my neighbors these days.”

“You’re really the only Pokémon that’s come to show some concern and you seem to have some good leads, so maybe I can help a little,” he continues. “I’ve done some slight investigations myself and one of the students at Beachwood University was one of the topics of discussion that Malco, Erine, and myself had. It’s about Kabi and some of the reports that have been surrounding her. While about most Pokémon have experienced some degree of anxiety during these times, reports about her behavior have been concerning and many of them say it’s quite drastic. Maybe it’s something to look into.”

“Sure, thanks for your time,” you nod with a simple smile. “I’ll look into that, have a good night, now!”

…“slight investigations” you think to yourself as he quickly closes the door without a word and you turn around to head back home. “and what discussions with Malco is he talking about? Some reports? It all sounds so vague!”

And it makes no sense where Drestan… no, FALLOW got this information from if he was really in Drestan’s place. You know the Coast Guard would not have involvement with what’s going on at the University unless it was a maritime incident, which obviously doesn’t fit with what’s been going on with Kabi. The claim of these discussions, reports, and investigations that Fallow is talking about seem fabricated and bear too many inconsistencies, especially with his false claim that he knew nothing about the Stalkers before but only started to reveal this information when you locked him into your crosshairs. No, his knowledge about Kabi comes from another source of information, and it has nothing to do with Drestan.

…“he really is throwing Exonull under the bus with this one, isn’t he…?”

But it makes sense why he would do this. He needs to buy time. They’re drawing closer and closer to their goal day by day, but so are you and the other Savants and the race is getting deadly. In the chance event not all of the Demoni survive, he wants to make sure he himself is among the survivors. There is a chance that while they may achieve their goal, some of the Demoni may be vanquished before that can happen. You sense he'd rather have Exonull take the fall in his place if it had to come down to either him or her.

But you’re not entirely sure if you can even remotely trust Fallow, either. In the end, you’ll need to decide if it should be confirmed by talking to Kabi again. She may have misled Nickelfool back when he first talked to her, but now things are different…

…and you know things are about to change even further…

ChiChi the Tatsujin Tapu Lele (M: Kūsho)

Health: 16/20 | Sanity: 20/20 | Purity: 10/20 | 10/10 Kurosuōbā | Dodge Rate: 30%
Perk: Diplomacy, Repair, Security
Reincarnation Forms: Corviknight, Milotic, Aurorus, Espeon, Alcremie
EQUIPMENT:

• Defense Armor: <Empty>
• Jewelry: +|J| Dreamwatch Necklace+ (Wearer gets notified if they speak or have spoken to a Stalker)