Talk of the Town: A Message in a Bottle

Not everything that comes across the news desk at the Black Chocobo Courier is meaty enough for an article all its own. Sometimes this is because the story doesn't rise to the level of public interest that we aim for, more often stories fall through the cracks because we just don't know enough to spill all that ink. But those stories are still a part of our world, and by shining a light on them, perhaps more information can be discovered. Or so that was my argument.

We're kicking off this rumor mill roundup with a story from just a short walk from my Grey Fleet windmill home on Vylbrand's coast.

Return to Sender

People tend to need ways to get a thought out of their head, even and perhaps especially when no one is listening. Some people take to street corners with 'The End is Neigh' signs (which isn't a startling thing to say in the Seventh Astral Era, the end is always neigh) while others scream into a cacophony of others, trying to loose that feeling into a vast wash of sound and fury. But for anyone with enough brine in their blood to venerate Llymlaen, the preferred method is the tried and true message in a bottle.

Some people cast their thoughts to sea in prayer to the Navigator. Some do it hoping that one day their historical moment will be found and remembered. Some never expect it to be read at all. No one, realistically, is expecting an answer. Yet that is exactly what's been happening lately. There've been reports from salts young and old that their messages in bottles have been getting responses. It's unclear who from, or how these answers find their way to the oft-anonymous senders. Some wonder if Llymlaen Herself has taken up a pen and decided to answer the calls of her faithful. 

The Curse of Raincatcher Gully

Saying on Vylbrand a moment, we turn to a slightly older rumor from last moon that wasn't able to make our second issue due to scarce details. Before an environmentalist collective went to clean the river and found more than they bargained for, an adventurer team was deployed to Raincatcher Gully. The Yellowjackets were stretched so thin last moon between investigating what befell those adventurers and the serial killer using shipping containers to dispose of bodies. 

What little we know is the party was pretty gruesomely torn apart. While descriptions conjure the image of an animal attack, investigators (being led by a Sharlayan Archon) seem to suspect violent crime against the poor party. This taken together with recent findings in the river are making locals in nearby Wineport nervous. Is the gully just to their south cursed? Is something stirring there? Investigations are underway, but certainly it seems time to revisit this ill-fated party.

A Routine Tragedy

From an exceptional violent crime to one that's all too common, a murder on Pearl Lane. Just days after the headline-grabbing riot at Sandsbank, the quiet morning hours on the Lane were broken by a grisly murder. This one likely was one more violent crime in a downtrodden neighborhood known for them. Some are saying an animal was involved, others report a woman's shriek. No one claimed to be an eyewitness.

The reasons this story didn't make headlines are numerous, and all tied to Pearl Lane itself. A paucity of primary sources makes it hard for investigators and journalists alike to do their jobs, and to be brutally honest neither are likely to be all that invested. Murder in a neighborhood like the Lane, or in Ishgard's Brume, is just an expected part of daily life, particularly for those who don't live amongst the community they're serving. 

The Sky's the Limit

A rumor big enough that you don't need to hear it from me is the attempt to put together a new airship racing league. Chocobo racing may be the sport of kings, but it's the free-flying airship leagues that show off the cutting edge of aeronautical technology. From personal racing pinnaces to fully-crewed fast cutters, the kind of sport found in the sky is intoxicating. 

That may be why tourists bound for the Gold Saucer from Ul'dah saw eight single-pilot craft flying in formation over the Sagolii Desert. Reports from the tourists claim the airships were performing complicated maneuvers. If not a practice for a forthcoming racing league, might this be a new form of performing art? Synchronized piloting? They were apparently practicing whatever it was they were practicing for four bells, to the delight of Gold Saucer tourists.

We Interrupt This Report

Our last rumor comes to us from Alexandria - hat tip to Lara Eutrope for bringing it to the editorial meeting - and it's a doozy. In the distant nation, most news is available by broadcast like in Garlemald. Like any news from Alexandria, Lara had to do a lot of translating their unique terminology to make any of this make sense to me, so let's see how I do.

A news broadcast discussing a string of deaths (apparently a new concept for the nation) linked to a servicer of the robotic Alexandrian Sentries was interrupted by a pirate signal from a group calling itself Tempest. Tempest is offering assistance to residents of Heritage Found that were adversely affected by a tragedy that try as she might Lara couldn't make me wrap my brain around. To my understanding, the capability to interrupt a broadcast is technically demanding but not outside the limits of particularly talented individuals in Solution 9. Attempts to track the pirate broadcast have been fruitless.

And that's it for this moon! Catch us at the end of the next for more stories that slipped through the cracks!