Journal Entry + Bonus Action

[sciencesquid]

[Journal Network]

Sender: Otto Octavius
To: Everyone

To everyone walking around with one of these miserable little notebooks, disregard the request on the Dream Board pertaining to the riverside warehouse. You have no business there, and nothing found in the rubble is yours to keep. I will clean the place up and restore it myself.

To whoever took my welding setup, bring it back this instant.


[Action]

[For those curious, Otto can indeed be found either just outside the warehouse, or in the main hall. What with the smudges and stains of dirt all over his face and clothing, it's clear he hasn't taken the time to clean himself up after a whole month of lifeless dangling within the 'Smelly Bogs Prison Tree'. There's no point to it now. He's just going to get filthy all over again. Rubble is being shifted with the aid of his mechanical tentacle limbs, and it's all being accompanied with some impatient tisks and huffs as he realizes just how little of the warehouse can be salvaged.

There's still one or two boobytraps around, which he's only barely taking into account at the moment and are bound to lead to hijinks if he gets distracted.]

Comments

Sender: Herlock Sholmes

[thegamesafoot]

Mr Octavius, I observed a few scoundrels making off with some fantastically useful equipment. Headed towards the Wildlands, I do believe.

They were nasty-looking fellows. Best to cut your losses!

[sciencesquid]

Dr. Octavius, actually.

I tend not to be intimidated by nasty-looking fellows, nor by people who tell fantastical tales. You must have an eye for technical equipment if you can describe my stolen setup as useful.

[thegamesafoot]

Living here, a man can't help but cultivate the enterprising eye of a scavenger. A humble tin can, a discarded bicycle tyre—it all becomes useful fodder.

Now, if indeed I recovered your equipment from the debris, why would I bother responding to this request?

[ Sholmes sits back in his chair and props his feet up on the box of the machine in question, scribbling away at his journal. ]

[sciencesquid]

To shift the blame elsewhere and send me on a wild goose chase into the Wildlands, or otherwise convince me to 'cut my losses'. That, or sheer boredom. People who have no true goals in life thrive in the role of petty nuisance.

[thegamesafoot]

I hear you made quite the petty nuisance of yourself, Doctor! Enough to land yourself in the Prison Tree.

Rumour has it this isn't the first time!

:-)

[sciencesquid]

Petty is the word for that, alright. Double standards. No one who stole from me is being carted off to the Prison Tree, as far as I can tell. It's a pity. Some time in there may do wonders for your attitude problems.

[Hypocrisy? Where?]

[thegamesafoot]

Such strong convictions! You should run for a seat on the council. Perhaps reform Reverein's deeply flawed justice system?

[sciencesquid]

Truly, your sense of humor knows no boundaries, Mr. Sholmes.

Will you be returning my equipment voluntarily, or will I need to find out where you live?

[thegamesafoot]

Not much use for such things in a cell now, is there?

[ Sholmes lights the torch and ... immediately sets the corner of his journal on fire. Will the scorch mark and the subsequent tea dousing the page come across on Otto's end? Perhaps cause the previous ink to run?

Still, he's not going to admit to any wrongdoing; he knows better than to leave a paper trail. ]

I'm not difficult to find, Dr Octagon. Stop by for tea if you'd like!

[sciencesquid]

[Hey! HEY! People can do that with their journals? This world really just keeps finding new ways to piss Otto off. Ruin the previous bits of the conversation all you want, Sholmes, you're just digging your own grave now.]

I just might take you up on that offer.

[It may take a few days, it may even take a month, but he will hunt Sholmes down and come a-knocking. Just not for tea.]

[thegamesafoot]

Brilliant! I do so look forward to it.

[ The page is still soggy, making the ink bloom outward into near-illegibility. ]

In the meantime, enjoy your stay in the Prison Tree!

[sciencesquid]

[Near-illegible or not, Otto can still read that last remark and he just smirks. Here's to hoping Sholmes, in turn, can also still read what comes next, because it's as close to a warning as he'll get.]

I finished that stay this morning, actually. Unfortunate, isn't it?

See you soon, Mr. Sholmes.

[thegamesafoot]

Fantastic news. But as you may see, I've just spilled the last of my tea. I will need ...

[ He looks at the equipment, trying to decide where or with whom he can stash it. ]

... an hour or two to fetch more, and then brew it in the most painstaking way imaginable. As a proud Briton, I simply cannot abide sub-par tea!

[sciencesquid]

[My, Sholmes, is that worry? That's very gratifying. Fortunately, not only does Otto have better things to do today, he still has to go through that entire process of finding out where Sholmes lives. So no, he will not be showing up within that hour or two, nor even today.

Soon, though. When Sholmes least expects it. And until then, he'll let the man sweat, if he's so inclined.]

Of course. I will expect the finest, then.

[thegamesafoot]

[ Him? Worried? Pshaw. Or so he would say if his composure came into question. But his last message is a bit rushed: ]

Yes! Nothing but the best! Cheers!

[ And he closes his journal with a wet plap to begin bundling up his new toy. Surely there's an empty tree house where he can squirrel it away ... ]