Tine caught the coin when Zofsaadi tossed it, the metal warm from his hand. She turned it between her fingers, frowning at the warped engravings, the wave-like etchings, the rust-eaten edges, designs almost familiar but twisted as though seen through water. “It’s not local,” she murmured. “Mae’s never used anything but clean, stamped coin. This…this feels wrong.” Leif confirmed the lack of magic, which somehow unsettled her more. At least magic left patterns to follow, this was simply out of place, something foreign forced into their story. “Keep it,” she agreed softly. “And don’t let it out of your sight. Even if it’s not magical, it’s a clue. A breadcrumb.” A clue left behind by someone violent enough to splinter a bar and take Mae without a sound. Her jaw tightened.

While Leif studied the drawer and Aspen crunched through his biscuit, Tine returned her attention to Crumb and the dog, dropping into a low crouch beside them. Hearing only one half of the conversation made her relief and dread tangle messily together. “Crumb,” she said gently, “ask him, ask the dog, where they took her. Please.” She reached out and stroked her fingers through the air just above the canine’s head, not wanting to startle him. “Tell him Mae’s our friend too. We’re trying to help.” The dog backed away slightly, still wary, still barking words only Crumb could truly understand, but the fear in its body was unmistakable.

Tine swallowed hard, forcing steadiness into her voice despite the knot tightening beneath her ribs. “Mae didn’t deserve this,” she said quietly to the group. “She’s kind, she’s loved, and whoever took her knew she wouldn’t fight back.” She stood, her fingertips brushing the strings of her fiddle as if grounding herself. “We have a coin from a stranger’s pocket, a frightened witness, and a countdown on a cursed scroll.” Her eyes swept the ruined tavern, the toppled chairs, the broken wood, the smear of blood that had stopped being merely a sight and had become a promise. “Someone left us a trail,” she said, voice firming. “Let’s follow it before it goes cold.” Then she nodded to Crumb, eyes urgent. “Ask him where Mae went. Every second counts.”

OOC: Trying to provide help with the interaction with the dog by petting and trying to calm it.

Crumb, seeing the defensive nature of this dog calms his voice, “We’re her friends too, we want to find her but need your help.” 

While speaking to the dog he barley, but distinctively catches the word “Breadcrumb” from Tine and instinctually whips his head towards Tine, his eyes scan the floor by her feet quickly until he breaths in slowly, catching himself, and turns his attention to the dog once again. 

Tine now crouching beside him, crumb tries again for an answer, “Please, every second counts, we’ve got to track down who took our friend.” 

(OOC: Very nice rolls, lol. I feel like everyone except me's been having recent success with the die roller.)

Leif gets to his feet, annoyed by the lack of finding --- yet intrigued by the trail Mae's captors have lead. Shaking his head, he strides outside, hoping to catch some sign of these stealthy kidnappers. Tracking is nothing out of the normal for him, and slipping into the familiar routine is no more difficult than walking or breathing. Although, if he wishes to catch on to their trail, he must move quickly. A gentle yet pervasive wind sweeps the traces of sand off the streets, and threatens to make his work much more difficult --- or entirely impossible.

He walks the perimeter of the tavern, searching the front --- and finding naught --- before ducking back into the shadows of a side alleyway, his tread quieter than a mouse. Passing rotting piles of garbage, he...wait. What was...? He turns around. There it is --- in plain sight. He can't believe he almost missed it. The unmistakable sign of a foot --- imprinted in the dust, sharp claws evident. Whatever took Mae, it was monstrous. 

Following the trail --- every footstep growing fainter by the second as the sand blows away, you continue onwards. Behind the other buildings through the alley, he follows the trail --- until it's hidden from even his tracking eye as he stands at the edge of the cliff. Far away from the staircase, Leif has reason to wonder --- and wonder he does. Did they jump? What's happened? Mae, oh, Mae, what have they done to you? 

The dog stands up, now looking the kneeling Crumb in the eye. "They took her," it whispers quietly. "The creatures that should not dwell here...they stole her away, away!" Here, it lets out a long, loud wail, its grief evident. 

Only after a while does it calm itself, still gasping as it tries to speak. "It---it has been so long," it coughs out. "They---they have returned. Beware---" And suddenly, the spell ends. The dog is left yipping at Crumb, who feels a --- disconnection isn't the best word, but it's the only one that properly describes it. As if someone at the other end had pulled the cord.