Tidal Flat Blues

We have a client

Regina Paulo has the green and blue dotted fur of royalty and smells like hot clams as is the fashion. She looks nervous and not at all like her aloof royal imagery. Regina's niece, Pauletta, is missing, and they need her back before they must appear at the closing of Reclamation Day in 3 days.

She was close to Pauletta, and cries softly when speaking of her.

The royal family has countless enemies, and Regina won't get into it. You're one of several she's hiring. She'll pay for Pauletta's safe return and a bonus if it stays out of the news.

Pauletta was last seen two days ago when she was dropped off at her friend, Audette's home. Audette and her family are in custody. You cannot speak with them, but you can have what we learned.

Getting There

Tidal Flats is a mistake people live in. The roads twist and wind incoherently. Locals lie to each other when they say they have it figured out. Getting lost is part of life.

For the most part, folks walk, and most things within 30 minutes or so. The exception are the Algae Fields, which take you out of Tidal Flats entirely. Getting there adds on another fifteen minutes of walking in a tunnel with the weight of the ocean above.

Rickshaws (2sp) are also an option. If you can get one before the tourists.

The wealthiest can use a skiff (5sp). The floating sedans are expensive and slower as they have to work against the crowds and roads.

There is a 1-in-6 chance something happens while you're getting there. Taking a skiff ensures you get there, but everyone thinks you're rich.

Audette's Home

Lower-income home. Hard to tell if it was tossed or this is how they lived.

Audette's room is what happens when your best friend is wealthy: cute, designer, and expensive. Photos on the mirror show Audette, Pauletta, and others. One is a fish-headed girl with too much scale glitter named "Bea" dated last week. A kelp coaster with a phone number and the name "Ulrich" from the #High-Tide Bar is also there.

Audette's mother has several designer handbags, and her father a very expensive lounging chair. There is a work schedule in the kitchen for #Algae Fields.

Well-Off Home

A single family home, middle class, with faded coral adornments. The design was popular about 10 years ago, and looks dated now.

Randy and Lisa Finsel have mackerel markings. They are guarded, but if pressured will let their daughter, Bea, speak.

Bea's fashion is yells for attention. She is scared and knows her friend is missing. The last time she saw Pauletta was at #High-Tide Bar with Audette. Audette was flirting with Ulrich. Ulrich encouraged it, but it was obvious he liked Pauletta.

Bea never liked Ulrich. He's one of those crustaceans who makes everything about his last molt. He started hitting on them about a week ago. Bea would rather girls' night only be girls, but Audette has always craved attention.

Coral Cup Bar

The decor screams dive bar, but the printed menus, weekly specials, and DJ don't. Waitresses have thick makeup and cutoffs, and bartenders provide quick service while feigning annoyance.

Everyone recognizes Pauletta, but only Lacy remembers Audette, Bea, and Ulrich. She works weeknights. Lacy is a canine with border collie markings. She's a single mom doing the best she can. She tried to always take Pauletta's table when they came in. She felt a maternal need to look after them.

She never liked Ulrich. Nothing in particular stood out, just didn't like him. They were here the night she was missing and she served them. She remembers overhearing plans to take a rickshaw around town. She also remembers he worked at the field generators.

Two toads () and a Mantis Shrimp () are waiting to mug folks asking about Pauletta. Ulrich hired them the day after Pauletta went missing.

Rickshaw HQ

A large barn that smells like the stale syrupy brine that goes for local coffee houses dozens of rickshaw carts and folks shouting over each other. The loudest is a large stork-like bird with a gut and looks to be in charge. He hands out small packages of pills to the drivers, and stops when you arrive.

Freddy, a cephalopod dispatcher won't do anything without Benny's approval. Freddy can pull records for the night Pauletta disappeared. It was 3 people for a "tour of the town" and they were dropped off at #Gambling Hall.

Benny is distributing "High-Tide," an upper his drivers use for long shifts and to sell (1d4 Temporary stamina, TYL or need a fix in 12 hours). He's a shrewd businessman, and will cooperate if it protects his shady business.

Algae Fields

Neighboring the kelp rows, the algae fields are long troughs of green topped water that smell dank and salty. Farmers walk the lines, sift the algae out, loading it into large baskets while managers oversee the pace and shout corrections.

Elliot is a crab that hauls tubs of algae and is friends with Audette's father and has a long history. He doesn't know Rick is in custody or that Pauletta is missing. He assumes his gambling debts have caught up to him. Elliot would go sometimes to try and keep him out of trouble, but his love of dice usually won.

Tidal Field Generator

Part magic, part bureaucracy, the generators maintain the field that protects Tidal Flats from the walls of ocean around it. Clean and soulless workers haul things and push paper.

Without a badge or appointment, the security desk will not let you in.

Ulrich worked as a janitor and got his job as part of a worker placement program to reform prisoners. He has worked there ever since. He called out of work the day after Pauletta went missing and never returned.

Another lobster janitor knows his home address, but so does his boss and other managers.

The Competition

Another group of private investigators is snooping around and asking questions. They'll wait outside and talk. They are tracking down Ulrich as the lead. Their theory is Ulrich is holding her for ransom. They weren't able to get past security in the #Tidal Field Generator.

Selina, a tuxedo cat, suggests they work together. This is a lie, and they will attempt to close the case and collect the reward.

Pod is a toad with a chip on his shoulder and baseball bat that is waiting for an excuse to use it.

Teddy stands to the back, is at least seven feet tall with arms that drag nearly to the ground and wears glasses much too large. He has a pistol in a holster and rests his hand on it, ready.

Ulrich's Home

A nearly barren apartment with a nest on the floor and single folding chair. Ulrich lies dead on the floor, shell split open.

There are signs of a struggle within the past day. There are damp prints on the floor belonging to a crustacean that don't match Ulrich's. He has a packet of "High-Tide" in his pockets, unused, and no money.

The bathroom is full of beauty products that promise the best care of your next molt.

Gambling Hall

Gambling is technically illegal in Tidal Flats, but it continues by exploiting a loophole where you play to collect small prizes that an adjacent shop will then purchase back. A band of smoke hangs at eye level around the half-dozen or so tables of games, and a slug with an eyepatch is selling toys.

A seahorse in a wheelchair sitting at the periphery of a game gets visibly anxious when Pauletta is mentioned. Seth won't talk here, but will once they've left.

Claudio, the eye-patched slug that can switch from friendly to malevolent will have you escorted to him as soon as Pauletta is mentioned. With a mantis shrimp named Gil at your back, and darkness in his voice he'll tell you she was here with Ulrich. He gambled, they watched, then they left while Ulrich gambled money he didn't have. Claudio will also tell you Ulrich was a lowlife and owed him and everyone else a lot of money, but killing customers is bad business.

Claudio is a practiced liar. He'll tell you one time to leave. That is his one warning.

Claudio maintains a book of all outstanding accounts. It confirms Ulrich did have an outstanding debt, but it's nothing in comparison to the debt Regina's husband has.

The orange and blue seahorse named Seth will tell you, once you've left, that he saw Pauletta. He also saw Ulrich lace her drink, take her to the back, and never come out.

Claudio, when his life is in danger, will say the same, and he was paid to let it happen. He just needed to leave the back door open. It's not the first time. He doesn't know more, but a fairy named Erin might. She went through something similar. She runs club crash, a bordello, and she'll help if she can. The password is, "Pillow Talk."

Club Crash

A minotaur will open an unlabeled steel door when the password "Pillow Talk" is mentioned. As you enter he'll point to a basket of masks on the table.

Club crash is not much more than a lobby made of sensuous red and pink material. Masked guests are escorted down a hallway. A fairy named Erin wearing lingerie hovers around the room and seems to be able to keep the place running with only a few sharp looks.

Erin will bring you to her office where a large cork board of photos of girls and yarn take up an entire wall. She was sold, got her freedom, and now tries to purchase girls to free them too. Pauletta doesn't make sense as a normal target, but maybe they didn't realize who she is. Once they do, however, Pauletta will be in even more danger.

She makes a few calls. Nobody knows where she is. There are whispers, of a fresh catch. She writes an address on a paper and says, "Nobody will miss them."

Basement of Sorrow

An uninteresting home on an interesting street. Folks tend their gardens, greet one another, and live life all around this one home. Jans lives here. Jans had four arms but now only three. He works as a plumber, and his van has, "Jans Pipe Works" on it.

Jans has no interest in letting anyone in his home, and shuts the door behind him to talk on the stoop. He lies without effort, knows nothing, and after entertaining a few questions wants to get on with his day.

His home is tidy and, aside from the smell of years of smoke, uninteresting. The basement has tools and paint, and a steel door that frames a roughed in doorway that extends past the floorplan. It has a massive, keyless lock that is magical, opens with the phrase, "Cutie Pie."

Inside is Pauletta. She jolts up from her deeply stained mattress. Her fur is stained and streaked from tears and filth. A bucket of rancid smells is in one corner, and another more savory in another.

Jans was paid a lot to make this happen, and only his life is worth more. Audette's father, Rick came to him. It didn't make sense how Rick had that kind of money, but Jans didn't care.

Epilogue

Regina's husband, despite a carefully curated appearance is a jealous degenerate. He saw an opportunity in making Pauletta disappear. Succession would move to Regina, and the wealth with it. He took an increased interest in his niece, which Regina found charming. Audette's poverty was perfect leverage, and Rick had debts to pay.