Dialogue
DELION
Forename, what suspiciously auspicious timing. I was just thinking of you, and suddenly you appear.
As I’m sure you recall, Master PuPu claimed his purpose in coming to our world was to search for a missing comrade.
Which is, of course, merely a cover for his true objective: laying the groundwork for a full-scale invasion!
But I understand the skeptical masses will demand proof of this sinister operation. Thus did I decide to bide my time, keep my eyes open, and let things play out…
…And no sooner had I resolved to do so, when I received word concerning the inspector. It seems they’ve made progress in tracking down our alien friend’s…friend. This could be my chance!
I say “my” chance, but I can hardly stand against this cosmic conspiracy alone. You are coming along, yes?
Q6
What will you say?
A6
I wouldn’t dream of letting you investigate PuPu by yourself…
The truth will out! Or something truth-adjacent, at the very least.
DELION
Then let us be on our way. They were headed to Palaka’s Stand, and we don’t want to miss even the smallest development!
NASHUMHAKARACCA
Forename, you came! The lunar crew is back together!
PALAKASMAN04718
It’s the same number of sacks… Always the same.
PALAKASWOMAN04718
Are these boxes empty or full…?
HILDIBRAND
My loyal associates! Come to admire the spectacle of inspection, have you? As well you should!
NASHUMHAKARACCA
Look, Master PuPu! Forename has come to help!
KOYOKOYO
Thank you, Forename! You’re too kind!
Q1
What will you say?
A1
What!? No more “PuPu”ing!?
You speak our language now? No Echo or universal translator wotsits required?
KOYOKOYO
It was no great chore to master your tongue. The grammar and syntax is relatively simplistic.
DELION
Such a terrifying intellect. What hope do we have to prevail against it…?
Ahem, so, how did you narrow down the search to this particular area, exactly?
HILDIBRAND
Why, my tried-and-true inspector’s sense, my dear fellow. All the perceptible and imperceptible signs pointed me in this direction…although they did neglect to include a precise location.
For that, we must rely on another tried-and-true inspecting technique: interrogation! Spread out, everyone, and question the locals on any PuPu-shaped sightings!
If I may, have you perchance come across an individual resembling this delightful blue ragamuffin here…?
KOYOKOYO
Ragamuffin…?
NASHUMHAKARACCA
Zzz… No, the syrup goes over the pancakes…
DELION
“Inspector’s sense,” he says! Clearly he’s just following a gut feeling. Unless…could it be that he is in fact channeling a higher power…?
PALAKASMAN04718
Now that you mention it, I did see something like that in the west of the Shroud.
Might have mistaken it for a small child if not for the way it moved… Sort of a furtive scamper? Creepy.
PALAKASWOMAN04718
Oh, yes, I spotted just such an odd little creature in the jungle, on my way back from the city markets. Only, it wasn’t alone.
It was in the company of a rather unusual gentleman. Sickly pale, he was, and radiating an unpleasant smell… I felt obliged to keep my distance.
PALAKASMAN04718
I think I’ll stay out of the jungle for a while… The western reaches, at least.
PALAKASWOMAN04718
You plan on tracking down this unsettling pair, then? You’re a braver soul than I.
KOYOKOYO
Any promising leads?
DELION
Perhaps the inspector has instinctively tapped into an invisible cosmic energy flow that is attuned to the aliens’ auras. But if so, the implications are fascinating indeed…
HILDIBRAND
Forename. Have your investigations borne fruit?
Mine own carefully crafted queries place an individual of Master PuPu’s proportions in the south of the Shroud.
To the west, your sources say…?
DELION
I asked around, and there have been a few sightings in the jungle, somewhere to the north.
HILDIBRAND
Hmmm. If we have sightings to the north, south, and west, then that must mean…
…Master PuPu has more friends here than he realized!
KOYOKOYO
I am not that gregarious. I have precisely one friend on this world.
DELION
Could it be doppelgangers…? No, no. Too simple, too obvious. It’s more likely the same alien wandering the jungle, being spotted in different locations by different eyewitnesses.
Which just means we need to─ugh, I can’t believe I’m suggesting this─split up and search the whole area.
HILDIBRAND
A fair proposition. Very well, then…
GODBERT
(-Godbert-)Oho, are we launching a search party?
HILDIBRAND
F-Father!? Have you been following me?
GODBERT
Nothing of the sort. I was engaging in feats of physicality while my mind grappled with the mysteries of Mandervillian weapon forging. Hoping to turn perspiration into inspiration, as it were.
But I am afraid the Burning Field’s wooden men are poor muses when compared to the stimulus a worthy opponent provides…
Hmmm. Mayhap if I join you─and the indomitable Forename─in your endeavor, then happenstance will deliver the challenge I require.
You are continuing “The Case of the Silent Correspondent,” yes? Have you need of an extra pair of eyes?
HILDIBRAND
As many as you can spare. I was about to assign teams to the search, as a matter of fact.
This village sits in the Shroud’s east, so let us divvy up the remaining directions, shall we? Nashu and I will head south.
Forename and Master PuPu, to the west, if you please.
Delorian, you and my father have the north.
DELION
Ahem, that’s “Delion.” Also, hmph. Also, the Shroud of the Samgha is awfully big. How are we to keep in contact, much less coordinate our efforts?
NASHUMHAKARACCA
I had special linkpearls made for just such an occasion! We can chatter in each other’s ears as much as we like!
DELION
Are you mad!? The Sharlayans will listen in on everything we’re saying.
NASHUMHAKARACCA
Really? All the way out here? I shouldn’t think their hearing is that good. But seeing as you mislike linkpearls so much, Lord Godbert can hold the one for your team.
HILDIBRAND
Linkpearls! What tremendous foresight! Now, let us proceed with our investigation!
KOYOKOYO
The inspector wishes us to search in the west of the jungle, yes? I will follow your lead.
SYSTEM
PuPu is now accompanying you. Keep him at your side in order to proceed with quest objectives.
You can leave PuPu behind by entering a different area, or by speaking with him and selecting the option to part ways.
If you wish to have PuPu join you again, return and speak with him at the original location.
Q2
What will you do?
A2
Talk.
Part ways.
Nothing.
KOYOKOYO
Strange… I did not note the passage of time in your absence. Shall we continue the search?
Etheirys must be a wonderful star to call home. So rich in resources…
A3
Discuss the river.
KOYOKOYO
A river flowing right at our feet…
Many stars have I visited in the cosmos, but precious few have such a bounty of water as this one. Your home is a rare treasure.
A3
Discuss the rocky outcrops.
KOYOKOYO
The rock formations on this island remind me of my home star. They have the same vibrant hues, the same stark beauty. If only…
Ahem, but never mind that. We have a friend to find.
SYSTEM
Are you sure you wish to part ways with PuPu?
KOYOKOYO
And you must attend to this matter immediately? Understood. I will be waiting at Palaka’s Stand.
SYSTEM
You must be accompanied by PuPu and have him at your side in order to proceed with quest objectives.
PuPu has yet to arrive. Be sure he is at your side before attempting to continue.
KOYOKOYO
I see no trace of my comrade…
But what of these black-furred beings? Are they friends of yours─fellow people of Etheirys?
Q4
What will you say?
A4
Those are a type of sasquatch. By which I mean no.
Vaguely people-shaped, perhaps, but not people. Not particularly friendly either.
KOYOKOYO
There is a greater variety of species here than I anticipated. I shall have to collect more samples…
Let’s keep moving.
No sign of my friend here either…
But these white-furred individuals─they are surely one of your civilized races, yes?
Q5
What will you say?
A5
Those are beastkin. Monkeys.
Also not people. Mind the poop throwing.
KOYOKOYO
Hmmm. I find it difficult to tell the difference. One semi-intelligent life-form is much the same as another.
Well, never mind. Moving on.
Nothing. Not even a little burnt circle in the grass…
The friend I’m looking for, we grew up together. We were always together.
We even shared the same dream: to roam the great expanse of the cosmos.
We worked hard, and supported one another until we both had starships of our very own. Then the universe was ours to explore.
How fleeting that feeling of triumph…
Ah, but that is another tale entirely. I simply wished to express how dear this friend is to me.
NASHUMHAKARACCA
(-Nashu Mhakaracca-)Hello? Is this thing on? This is Nashu!
(-Nashu Mhakaracca-)We think we may have found PuPu’s friend. Come to Purusa, as quickly as you can!
KOYOKOYO
Yes! Let’s take my starship─it’s the fastest way!
SYSTEM
Meanwhile, at Purusa…
HILDIBRAND
Hail, dear comrade of Master PuPu! We come in peace. Pray reveal yourself.
W-Wait, you… You’re the Mandragoras!
ZOMBIEA
(-???-)Uggggggh! I know that gentlemanly overlord’s voice…
Master Zombibrand! They said you were trapped in slumber, but I rejoice to see that is no longer the case!
DELION
Gods, it’s one of the walking dead!
ZOMBIEA
Greetings, friends, I am a proud member of the Gentle Dead Men and disciple of Master Zombibrand.
HILDIBRAND
What brings you here to Thavnair, and in the company of La Noscea’s infamous vegetable menace, no less!?
ZOMBIEA
Allow me some few precious moments of your lifespan to explain.
It was a time when the maggots in my skull grew restless and wriggly. Tales of spoiled seedkin terrorizing the region of Bozja reached our undead fraternity, and so on their behalf I traveled afar to recruit a rotten mandragora.
After making his acquaintance, the festering fellow wished to introduce me to his brethren, who he assured me were no less rotten. Thus did I make next for La Noscea, that I might extend a fetid hand in friendship.
When I arrived, however, I learned that one of their companions had been abducted by a strange flying vessel. What was a Gentle Dead Man to do but aid in the search!
I turned to The Thavnairian Truth, that reliable bastion of supernatural rumormongering, and lo and behold, an alien craft matching the seedkin’s description had been spotted here on this isle. Needless to say, we embarked on our journey forthwith.
DELION
Ah, one of our faithful readers! I’m pleased to see that even in undeath, the hunger for truth is not wholly subsumed by the hunger for brains.
HILDIBRAND
So, we find ourselves on the Case of the Misappropriated Mandragora. This abductor will not evade my powers of discernment.
NASHUMHAKARACCA
Soon we’ll need a case to carry all these cases!
DELION
An “abductor”… I have a feeling we won’t need to look far.
KOYOKOYO
Ah. That may have been me…
Forgive me for taking your friend. In my sample-collecting frenzy, I must have mistaken him for an edible plant of some kind.
ZOMBIEA
Understandable! You would not be the first to confuse a mandragora with a salad ingredient. The main thing is that he is returned to us unharmed─and uneaten.
All’s well that ends well. Now, if you will excuse us, we should be getting back to Thanalan. Rotting flesh and humidity is an unpleasant combination.
HILDIBRAND
My apologies, Master PuPu. We seem to have missed the mark this time, but I swear to you, I shall not rest until you are reunited with your comrade!
DELION
I almost believed your “keen inspector’s sense” to be a form of prognostication, but it really was just…following your gut. And I’m afraid vague inspectorial feelings will take us only so far.
We have an entire world to search, and for that we’d need─oh, I don’t know─a veritable army of inspectors.
KOYOKOYO
An army of inspectors…
Of course! I can simply clone a multitude of Hildibrands as I did before!
HILDIBRAND
Now, now, let’s not do anything rash…
KOYOKOYO
Oh dear. The ship’s matter duplication facility has been temperamental for a while, and now it’s broken down completely. This clone is the last it will ever produce.
BRADIHILND
(-Failed Hildiclone-)Name… My name… Is Brandi…Hild.
NASHUMHAKARACCA
Inspector Brandihild? Why is he so…blocky?
KOYOKOYO
The cloning process must have failed partway through. Allow me to euthanize this abnormality.
HILDIBRAND
Now, now, let’s not do anything rash.
Unlike my former replicas, this one is highly unlikely to be mistaken for me. And seeing as we were looking for extra helpers, I say we press this undefined fellow into service!
Welcome to the team, Inspector Brandihild!
BRADIHILND
A pleasure… To make… Your acquaintance.
NASHUMHAKARACCA
Blocky, blocky Brandihild!
KOYOKOYO
I knew the duplicator had been unstable, but I pushed it to perform anyway. Now look at what I’ve wrought: not only is this clone a poor imitation of the inspector in form, but in force of personality as well.
DELION
Blocky though this inspector may be, that Master PuPu could so easily attempt to replicate a living, thinking being… Alien technology is so advanced, I can scarce differentiate it from magic.
GODBERT
Ohohoho, never a dull moment around the Manderville men!
BRADIHILND
Assistance… Please. Allow me. To be of assistance.
HILDIBRAND
We made quite a mess of that temple ruin, but thanks to Father, it looks as good as new. Or would that be “as good as old”? In any event, I look forward to tackling the remainder of the case with my charming new contemporary!
BRADIHILND
I am…delighted. To be a part of it.
NASHUMHAKARACCA
Oh, look how shy he is. He really is very charming!