npc contact.

[cambium]

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NPC CONTACT

CROW

Occupation: unofficial leader of The Nest
Age: late 40s
Gemstone: "a pure black gemstone, highly polished and slightly tapered towards one end not unlike an egg" (first mentioned here)
Description: Crow has sandy blond hair and dark brown eyes, and can typically be found at home or around the train station. Reportedly, he holds a lot of influence over the town, and is a good person to talk to when troubled. While many npcs have been losing memories, Crow reportedly has not. He is the one who gave named npcs their bird names, as well as the one who named the town The Nest.

SWAN

Occupation: ferryman
Age: mid 30s
Description: Swan has dark brown hair and dark green eyes, and can typically be seen out in the water on a boat during good weather, or couch hopping during bad weather and at nights. Six silver coins are used as a passage fee and conduit for her to take a person across the water; according to Lark, those who leave with her never return.

ROBIN

Occupation: rail attendant
Age: early 30s
Gemstone: "fragile light blue shards encased in clear gem" (first mentioned here)
Description: Robin has black hair and light brown eyes, and can typically be found around the train station or cafes in town. She was married to Jay, the train conductor who was murdered early in the game, and has picked up enough from him to operate the train if we ever get it working again. While she has lost a considerable amount of her memories, she claims to be content living in the present. An unknown individual stole her uniform and faked her death via the train's furnace at the start of the game.

LARK

Occupation: postman
Age: mid 20s
Description: Lark has ashy hair and golden eyes, and can typically be seen around town with his mail bag doing deliveries, or hanging out in the graveyard talking to the dead underground. As a postman, Lark prides himself in knowing people and places, but has trouble speaking and reportedly cannot read aside from names he's learned to recognize. It is not widely known, but Lark is able to speak with and, to a certain extent, control the dead.

RAVEN (née HAMTARO)

Age: pre teen
Gemstone: "completely clear, like a diamond, aside from a tiny red spot in the center: a gemstone trapped within a gemstone" (first mentioned here)
Description: Raven has black hair and grey eyes, and can occasionally be seen wandering around town but is most reliably found at Poppy Hall after dark. Following the "sacrifice" of several characters, he awoke without any memories of his identity or past life, and was given the temporary name Hamtaro before learning his true name. His family is dead, and according to the note he had written on the back of a photograph discovered in a burning house, he had sworn to bring them back no matter what the cost. According to the townspeople npcs, according to Crow, a boy named Raven died in a house fire many years ago.

MAGPIE

Age: early teens
Gemstone: "blue and yellow, splotched like flowers run through a photoshop distort filter" (first mentioned here)
Description: Princess Stephanie Astrapia (aka Paradise Magpie, aka Magpie, aka Maggie) has sandy blond hair and golden eyes. While not related by blood, Crow and Maggie consider themselves father and daughter. An unknown individual has been using her name and reputation to communicate with the characters, and has stolen six silver coins.

SPARROW

Age: mid teens
Gemstone: "like a fire opal: bright yellow and red that dance like flames when turned" (first mentioned here)
Description: Sparrow has black hair and bright blue eyes, and is difficult to get ahold of; the most reliable way to meet her is to wait for her to come home, which she does some nights. She has an interest in the supernatural and the occult, and reportedly is the person who gave other npcs their gemstones. She is Maggie's best/only friend at the start of the game.

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Comments

[ribticklers]

Does Lark have an opinion on the Saturday night vs. Sunday evening argument regarding the weird cipher? He delivered it, he's clearly at least partially responsible for this, or at least he's the one who actually lives here and might know what time is specifically being referenced.

[cambium]

I'm crying, he'll know the words separately but will stare blankly at Sans if the different interpretations are explained. The lord's day he can verify is Sunday, and the eve is the day before...

He'll suggest they camp out there from Saturday evening to Sunday evening if they aren't sure, there is nothing wrong with covering all your bases

[umurice]

If Hiiro asked Lark or Hamtaro to read the remaining documents that weren't completely burned from the fire in the courtyard, would they be able to tell him what it says?

[cambium]

Lark will deny being able to read very well in general, and won't be able to understand the documents. Hamtaro, though, does! much to his own surprise too.

I put him on the meeting intros here if Hiiro wants to bring it up then, since there are others with notes they may want to present

[atthefarshore]

Forward-dated a little because Aoi's not about to ask for this right after the church fire could you IMAGINE- but Aoi will be asking Hamtaro how to read the writing here!

[cambium]

[ The church was on fire... and then it was not... Despite everything that happened, however, Hamtaro still finds himself gravitating towards the building. Aoi can find him sitting on one of the pews in the center of the room rather than the back where he usually stays, just so he won't be in the way while people are puzzling over stained glass window hearts. ]

[spychic]

[Anya's gonna go try to talk to Hamtaro now that she knows he's...got some issues going on due to her mindreading.

Let's try to make friends, maybe.]

Hamtaro...?

What is up?

[cambium]

[ Issues... he's sure got a lot of those! He looks up in surprise when Anya approaches— cue brief internal panic because he's never spoken to her before and doesn't know her name, but she's the one who says her name all the time isn't she? that's great, more people should do that, it makes life easier. ]

Anya, right? —oh! Guess what? I remembered my real name, so you don't have to call me Hamtaro anymore.

[ It's a stupid name. But. for some reason, he's fond of it, sort of, kind of. ]

hey lark sorry if you get the flu ♥️

[finalbows]

<sub>[ Kuja is.... Very sick.

Against character he's bundled up in a reasonable amount of clothes for the season, and has a cotton kerchief held to cover his face out of propriety (and so that no one can see how red his nose is).

He has doggedly hunted after wherever Lark's gotten to today, because he is on a mission. It is time to raise the white flag. He is giving in and getting a phone. Go on. Take his blood. Hopefully it doesn't have germs in it! ]</sub>

is he sorry though

[cambium]

[ Lark doesn't want to be sick either? Go away, he has no deliveries for you today, Kuja King!

His uneasiness is compounded by the fact that he's been followed around by more than one group of people on more than one occasion just this month, though not this blatantly, and he's not really sure what to make of it.

sighs ]

...Do you have a package you wish for me to deliver, Kuja King?

hellooo can I have Sparrow pls...

[worldbent]

[After several discussions at the "town hall", one name was repeated to Matoba again and again when he asked about the island and its magic--]

["Sparrow". Knowledge of native rituals; summoning demons; the nature of the gemstones. This woman seemed to be the village's resident witch of sorts, having a hand in a number of different magical pots, or so Matoba had to presume from all he had heard. If anyone here would understand the mechanics behind the spirits and makeup of this place, surely it would be her.]

[So he waits patiently on the island until nightfall, having asked around for her and been pointed towards a home that had stood empty all day. His head lifts where he sits on her stoop when he hears footsteps approaching, and greets her the way he does anyone he first meets:]

[By taking in her aura, her presence. If there was anything similar to Hamtaro-kun, or if she was a different sort of being altogether...]

...I see. You are younger than I imagined, but you will do none the less. Sparrow-san, I presume?

sets down a Sparrow

[cambium]

[ "you will do none the less" wow that's sketch, dude ]

Just "Sparrow" will do. What d'you want? If you're interested in any of my "services," you're going to have to wait until morning. I'm beat.

[ Go home! go to sleep! That's what good boys and girls should be doing, but not her: Sparrow stands with her arms crossed over her chest, head tilted slightly as she stares Matoba in the eye as if trying to see past him. There's a brief sheen of gold that disappears when she blinks, replaced by a deep blue in the night. They're bright eyes of a person who is most alive during the night.

She 100% pings as being possessed by a demon. ]

crow

[killed]

[ I'm going to assume that they'd have met a few times by now as nosy as Hiyori is so skipping straight to the point - ]

What do you make of all this?

[ Aside from the entire world going to Hell, that is. Hiyori looks at him intently, searching for an answer. He's been here longer than others, and he seems to know a fair bit, though he would go so far as to assume that if he knew the answer to a collapsing world he would choose the option that wasn't fatal to his person. That aside, it seems like a fine enough idea to see how true the claims of him being a fount of knowledge are.

It's rather direct, but, well - he respects his peers enough to offer that. ]

In a short amount of time our side has found a conductor whom was murdered after his disappearance and signs of a veritable massacre, and dropping a handful of items into a coffin was followed by a revival first and the world tearing itself apart second.

[cambium]

[ Who said he's a fount of knowledge? was it Lark? Lark's a liar

Crow certainly doesn't thinking so highly of himself, and neither does he have prior experience of things going to hell quite like this. Only secondhand stories from an old friend of his, who liked to regale him with amusing tales of his high school counselor life— like, one time a student summoned bloodthirsty imps and unleashed them upon the school, or guess how the students ...decorated... the school for Halloween.

This instance feels different than those. It feels more like a setup for a long game. ]

Somebody, or multiple somebodies, wishes us gone. Perhaps they begrudge our existence, but we have no room to concede.

[ Giving in to placate the opposing forces means sitting by and watching his people die, and unlike a certain high school counselor, Crow's not about that. ]

[umurice]

[He's going to pop up in the post office once he's calm and not covered in blood in any way, a letter in hand to hand to Lark.

The message inside says the following:

"Thank you for the clothes.

Who are you? How did you get these? Would you be able to help us out of here?

- Hiiro Amagi"]

Hi Lark-san! I wanted to ask you to deliver this letter to the sender of my packages before. You told me you would be able to, though I was not certain what to write in it so it took me a while.

[cambium]

Hello, Hiiro Amagi.

[ Lark accepts the letter with both hands, tucking it away into his mailbag without a second glance— no need to look for a name to read when Hiiro helpfully informs him of the recipient. ]

I will see that it is delivered. I cannot guarantee a prompt reply, however.

[ if at all ]

sparrow - text

[cochrhiben]

There are ghosts in the Nest. I've seen Crow.

And I've seen my friend. What happened to Arashi?

[cambium]

[ Sparrow texts back like... hours later... sorry she's busy and tends to keep her phone on silent. ]

ghost? = dead
obviously

[umurice]

Would Crow be up for a ghostly tea party with Amagis and Naru? Important question.

They're all just chilling dead anyway.

[cambium]

Yeah, let's go

please mister postman; 01/26

[meiq]

[Hopefully he can find Lark when he's not flitting back and forth delivering packages. He tries to approach the other with as neutral an expression as possible.]

Have you heard?

[about what]

[cambium]

About what...?

[ He'll find Lark wandering the graveyard as per his usual, looking a little wary upon hearing the question that sounds like a set up for some bad joke. ]

[fortunepreserved]

Shortly after the January 25th meeting, Qiqi goes looking for Swan~. She wants to tell her that the people of the Nest want everybody to go get on the train!

Qiqi also says... she hopes she can show Swan her favorite spots in the Nest soon.

Qiqi is then never going to the island AGAIN it is TOO HOT!!!!!

[cambium]

Uh. Hi, kiddo. She isn't the sort of person who likes being roped into doing Work, but she supposes this is for an important enough cause that she'll do some cat herding/delegate others to cat herd for her. Did they actually figure something out? the last she saw, the tracks still loop around the island, but... the townspeople will be on standby ig, give them the better part of the day and into the next day to make sure everybody is on board and ready to go

everybody except Sparrow who is busy somewhere prepping for blood rain

slams down door to save sparrow... figuratively

[cochrhiben]

HEY

HEY

HEY

HEY

HEY

im cryin

[cambium]

WHAT
I'M BUSY

crow, after his revival at the nest...

[killed]

[ After awakening at the nest, a paper crane in hand, Crow may have the faint prickling sensation of someone watching him from afar.

It won't go away, wherever and however he gets on.

Trust that feeling, Crow, because someone is watching from a distance - carefully, cautiously, contentiously...

This, too, is love though. ]

[cambium]

[ Ah yes, that persistent feeling of being watched sure does feel like coming home!!

If he can't see who it is, however, he'll just have to wait to be approached, sitting out in the fields with the sunbathing zombies, they make good quiet company ]

mr mailman.......

[perfectlie]

[ thanks for the doll before mr lark it's the only way he knows you exist as a postman which is important since. kaname has something he needs delivered secretly. to the post office we eventually get to........

he wasn't sure how to "package" it but it's going to be (reading bella's tag) a paper flower bouquet made of origami paper and gift tissue... "jasmine and chamomile entwined together, drawing the eye through the brimming white of the cosmos, the dark pops of violet-blue of the hepatica blossoms, the cheery pink of the nerines adding color to the bouquet". it isn't perfectly made, but it's charming because of that.

also, a purple paper ribbon holds it together. ]

I need this to remain anonymous, but please deliver it to Mayoi Ayase. And tell him that "flowers have meanings" should he not be aware of them prior.

[ also ori before i forget did the doll come to him addressed as "yodaka" or "kaname tojo" that's important. or addressed at all. ]

[cambium]

[ He takes the bouquet in hand, cradling it since it'd get ruined being stuffed into his mailbag. Earlier, he had approached Kaname with his usual format of "Delivery for sir Yodaka..." since he learns names by listening. Another delivery for Mayoi, though... seems like he's visiting the guy a lot this month. ]

I will see to it, and that you remain anonymous. What are the flowers' meanings, if he were to ask?

mr postman i have a conspiracy theory for you

[fishfearme]

[After getting high off the apples and having some sort of epiphany, Byleth decided to hunt down the postman with all the stoic determination of a Terminator. When he finally catches up to Lark, he skips the pleasantries entirely and just asks:]

Can you track people by their gems?

[Please Lark, his bird magnet theory hinges on this.]

hm

[cambium]

[ Well, hello to you too, sir! Lark's understandably taken aback by the sudden question. People don't just. talk to him. empty handed. What is this? Is Byleth still high? ]

I have never tried. Why do you ask?

Lookin' for Sparrow.

[rottencactus]

[Sometime after Mayoi has recovered from. January. There is something he knows he needs to do, and while he spent probably a week longer than he should of working himself up to it, he decides it's time to talk to Sparrow after uh. The. The incident.]

[While he could skulk around and wait to catch her at night, in person, this is Mayoi. He saw her posting on hot or not, so he decides to take a shot sending her a message.]

Sparrow-san?

[cambium]

who is this


[ Sparrow my only character with stranger danger ]

mr mailman....... again. sorry

[perfectlie]

[ hey the flower boy is back.

he doesn't have any paper flowers today though he's setting two small bags of square chocolates on the post office counter. ]

This one is for Maggie. [ red ribbon. ] And the other...

[ ...

he would prefer if he could just... leave it here... but lark is here so he. okay. ]

Is for you.

[ it has a blue ribbon! look at him and his easy to deliver stuff. sorry about the rest of his cast for the most part. ]

[cambium]

[ Have you seen Tsukasa asking for a piano, Lark was prepared to retire right then and there. Deliveries should be more like this, paper flowers and bags of chocolates which he receives with a faint smile at first because Maggie will definitely enjoy these, and then slight confusion because why is he getting some. ]

Thank you.

[ ... ]

I do not mean to be ungrateful, and I am not refusing the gift, but... [ He holds out the bag of chocolate, the one with the blue ribbon, as if to return it. ] Can you give this to the man named Byleth Eisner? He will know what to do with it.

Lark 26/2

[fishfearme]

[YOU HAVE A DELIVERY LARK!!!! Byleth hunted the postman down like an overeager hound bringing its owner the newspaper, figurative tail a-wagging and exuding a proud air once he managed to corner Lark wherever the man was at the time.]

I have a delivery for you, from Kaname. Here.

[cambium]

[ Lark brings his gaze up from the ground, half surprised and half not to see Byleth all the way out here in the cemetery fields. The package, at any rate, doesn't seem to surprise him. ]

Thank you. How did you find me?

[ Did any postman powers awaken in him ]

Crow, sometime after Kaeya was attacked

[wolfish]

[ As Lark had suggested, Yuri and Phil had made plans to question Crow about the burned house. It took them a while to find an opportune time, which was something of an awkward stakeout in and of itself, but once they're reasonably certain that Crow is in fact home, the time comes to knock on his door.

Hopefully, Lark proves correct about Crow having more information regarding the people who perished in that house. While they wait, Yuri has a glance around. One would never know the brutality that had taken place here, to look at it now. ]

Look at us, making house calls...

[cambium]

[ Look at you guys, making house calls! If they're stalking the house, they'll probably see Lark leaving in the mornings and returning in the evenings at around the same time, and Maggie too except her schedule appears to be more erratic. Crow himself doesn't come home until several days have passed, some weekday afternoon when he leaves the train station with Robin, the two of them in quiet conversation between themselves, until Crow drops Robin off at her house first before returning to his own.

So it takes a moment, and he looks tired when he answers the door, but when he does open the door he also steps aside and gestures for them to come in and sit if they'd like. ]

Please, come in. Make yourselves comfortable. What can I help you with?

Lark | During the cake baking frenzy

[fishfearme]

[Because Ala encouraged him, Byleth approached Lark one day while Lark was doing Lark things, cake boxes piled in his arms (that carried a very loose definition of 'cake' (one of them is the whole ass unpeeled lemon cake) but had a whole lot of love, determination and pure stubbornness poured in there).]

Good morning, Lark. I have a delivery I wish made. Can you take these cakes to the Bingo Entity? It's proof of completion.

[cambium]

[ He was doing important Lark things like taking walks and contemplating life and Byleth interrupts him for this? ]

...Good morning. Of course.

[ A delivery's a delivery, and he's not going to shy away from one even if the package is dubious cakes. He's just going to have to leave it on the counter at home until he figures out who the "Bingo Entity" is supposed to be, and hope neither Maggie nor Crow sneak themselves a slice behind his back. ]

Must there be proof of completion? I had thought many of the tasks were done without audience.

un: Kujaku. March 25ish at the latest? hello Sparrow he hasn't talked w u yet.

[finalbows]

<sub>[ He'd blanked out again, today. This morning, in the midst of following the familiar path from his house to Yuri's, in midair. His body was well used to the route, so while it was left "unpiloted," the soulless Genome in his place had proceeded with perfect, unfaltering accuracy along the route. Kuja remembered every detail.

He came back right at Yuri's front door, fingertips already touching the doorknob. Turning shaky, he did the math.

The decision he'd been putting off was now coming to a head. March 31st, and it would boil over, unaddressed.

He's not well familiar with Sparrow's habits, but... he's seen her on the network, so he's resorted to sending her a message on via bloodphone, in the evening. He'd been furiously brainstorming what he could do, if anything, to bring this to a resolution he could be satisfied with-- and decided, hell with it, the demon summoner might have a couple ideas. She'd been a step in the process, for Ala's return, so far as he understood it. That alone made him at least a little optimistic. ]</sub>

A question for you. I am afflicted by a puzzle.

There is a soul without a body present in this world. It is currently anchored, not by a gem, but very soon will not be.

_{[ he's going to let Brahne go. it's just a matter of what happens to her next, after that. ]}

What do you believe might happen to this soul, Sparrow? As I recall, it is you who first gave a member of this town one of these... very special gems. I must confess to being unaware to any of the context beyond that fact, however. But...

I had thought, perhaps, to give her a new anchor.

un: ovo

[cambium]

[ It takes quite a bit of time before Kuja gets a response— not because Sparrow is purposely ignoring him, or that she's deep in thought about the dilemma, but because she barely ever checks her phone for messages, once a day at most.

Not that Kuja has many days to spare. ]

what, you want me to get her a gemstone? it's not that simple
it'd be easier to get her an empty body, with how things are right now