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After showing your official sealwhistle to the band, you decide to tell them about your assignment. You let them know that you were tasked with finding Dirt Flaxen and bringing him back after he failed to return from a tour in the Kirin Empire.
Roller Scratch: "Yeah, he told us he was going on tour overseas a few weeks ago. Was he supposed to be back by now?"
You nod, and reveal that his management company lost sight of him while getting ready for the trip back to Equestria, and that according to them, the locals were not cooperative in their search for him aside from ensuring his safety.
You then add that you were hoping the trio might know something that could help you figure out what might have happened.
Silver Beat: "Really? That's tough. And kinda weird. And, well, we haven't heard from him either, if that's what you're asking."
You figured as much, but explain that knowing more about who you're looking for might help you better understand the motives at play.
Sound Theory: "Hm, I think I see what you're saying. You're wondering if he's the type to run away with a cute girl or something, right?"
Silver Beat: "Heh, nah, that's not him. Guy couldn't take a hint if it kicked him in the face."
Sound Theory: "Dude, you're one to talk."
Silver Beat: "Nah, I'm serious! He could pick and choose a whole crowd to hang out with but he's still sticking with us."
Roller Scratch: "Yeah, he's a real one for that. So, anything in particular you wanted to know about, or...?"
You nod, and first ask about Dirt Flaxen's solo career.
Roller Scratch: "Why we didn't get signed with him, you mean? Pretty simple, actually. We first met his manager at one of our shows — in a small club this side of town. Didn't care much for our noise, but he saw something special in Dirt."
Sound Theory: "To be fair, he is something special. He can whisper one word and scream the next, and hit both perfect notes on the first try. There's no second takes with that kind of talent."
Roller Scratch: "Thing is, he always dreamed of being a star on the big stage one day. So when he got offered the chance, we said, go for it!"
Silver Beat: "He's been living the dream since. We still jam at Roll's place every now and then, but y'know, we don't do clubs anymore."
Sound Theory: "You could say he's got a bit too much of a career for smaller gigs now. We wouldn't be able to hear ourselves play over the fangirls screaming."
Silver Beat: "Heh, yeah."
You decide to ask about the singer's relationship with his manager next.
Roller Scratch: "His manager? I've only heard good things. Right, Theo?"
Sound Theory: "Yup; one of the best in the industry, far as I know."
Silver Beat: "I met the guy once, when he gave us the backstage passes. Seemed like a pretty cool dude. Looked like he genuinely loved music."
Roller Scratch: "I believe it. You don't make a nopony into one of the biggest names in Equestria on the flip of a coin. Like, when I said that he wasn't into our music earlier, what I actually meant was that he knew our style wouldn't fly with the masses."
Sound Theory: "True. And that's fine with me. The underground scene's different, but I wouldn't have it any other way."
Silver Beat: "Yeah, same here."
Curious, you ask the band if Dirt Flaxen told them anything about his latest tour.
Roller Scratch: "Oh, he was pretty excited. A bit nervous, too, obviously, but who wouldn't be? It's a completely new world out there."
Silver Beat: "Imagine getting sent to some other kingdom and representing Equestrian culture as a whole with your music. Yeah, actually, I can see why he's out there and not us. Heheh!"
About that, you ask if it's possible that he could have cracked under pressure. After all, your sponsor lamented that the tour's profitability didn't meet their expectations.
Sound Theory: "Nah, never mind that. It's the manager's job to take the pressure off the talent. Whoever wrote your contract probably heard stories from every department in the company, and you know how loud treasurers can be."
Silver Beat: "Seriously, they probably care more about the clinking of bits than the music they're selling."
Roller Scratch: "Well, it takes ponies to make a world. But yeah, Dirt's not the type to let failures keep him down. He's one of us: we fall, we laugh, and we try again 'til we get better."
Enter a comment
In any case, bid them farewell and promise that we'll do everything in our power to make sure that Dirt Flaxen is safe.
Also ask our friends if any of them just so happens to speak the Kirin language? Because that could be slightly helpful if we travel to their country. If not, we should add hiring a interpreter to our new, fancy questlog.
(reposted because I forget to check the command checkbox ^^)
In any case, bid them farewell and promise that we'll do everything in our power to make sure that Dirt Flaxen is safe.
Also ask our friends if any of them just so happens to speak the Kirin language? Because that could be slightly helpful if we travel to their country. If not, we should add hiring a translator to our new, fancy questlog.
Our next order of business is to sort out the matter of communicating with the Kirin. Do they all speak Ponish, or do we need to find an interpreter?
- As far as we know, the guildmaster made no arrangements for hiring an interpreter. So perhaps we can assume that the Kirin tend to know Ponish for some reason? (Just like how in the episode "Sounds of Silence", the language barrier is never an issue.) We could ask her using the animal messengers and wait for her response, but that might take a day or two, if not longer 😬. Maybe she arranged for an interpreter to meet us in the Kirin Empire, but we didn't hear anything about it in the voyage scroll.
- Alternatively, we haven't met all our crew yet. Could an interpreter be among them?
- If we actually have to find an interpreter before we leave, we can check if there's a Kirin immigrant community in Fillydelphia, or if there's a linguistics/equinology/Kirin studies professor around.
I would like to try out the sealwhistle and send a letter to Twilight updating her on how things are going before we leave. (I so want to stick something flirty in there but that will probably be hard to do while staying professional.) However, I kind of anticipate next turn will be another "filler"/travel turn, or a "meet the crew" turn, or a "are you sure you want to leave" turn, not sure.
(Also look at me channeling Mrs. Harshwhinny! I hope I don't make Trailblazer act too uptight though.)
I kind of wonder if being aware of the geopolitics of Equestria's relationship with the Kirin Empire will help at all. This quest has only had some passing references (like how we should try as hard as possible not to start a war, at least not for a bad reason, see 2023-10-23). Not sure if it's just not on Traiblazer's mind (to be fair, I think I'm the only commenter who thinks about this) or if it will never be relevant. Obviously in a lot (most?) scenarios, it's irrelevant (e.g. if Dirt just got eaten by some wild beast, that has no wider implications).
So this makes it more likely that Flaxen didn't disappeared voluntarily. Makes me wonder why the Kirin don't reveal his location? Are some of them responsible for the kidnapping or was it another party and they can't reveal it for one reason or another? The fact that he did disappear after having arrived at the port makes the Kirin the prime suspects.
I swear, if they dumped him into the stream of silence...
Thank them for their time, and tell them you'll do your best to make sure Flaxen is safe.