a process of elimination.

Alas, no one can always have things their way.

Having been caught in the maelstrom known as Mr Kough’s ‘accident’, Luocha had had no choice but to organise an investigation - mere traveller passing through or not. Common people creating exaggerated sentiments surrounding his medicinal skill, emphatically outraged descriptions from Mr Kough’s colleagues, even the report of a lower-ranking employee’s sudden disappearance; everything had Luocha’s expertise written on it. Whether it was fatal injury or psychological mania, everyone seemed too fond of this outsider who happened to knock at their doors at such a convenient time. 

Only coldness prevails beneath Luocha’s fingertips, the body having frozen in long ago. The Snow Plains being too treacherous for the average person as is, no one had been willing to risk their life retrieving the infamous Mr Kough’s body for a proper burial. What’s lost in the Snow Plains is seemingly permanently lost. 

The man’s dark coat had been encased with a layer of frost; which thawed slightly under the warmth of Luocha’s gloved fingers. Mr Kough himself was not bad-looking in the slightest, albeit pasty. Luocha would usually attribute such complexion to being a telltale sign of qi deviation - though in this case, the cause is undoubtedly the lack of life in general. 

"Weren't you the one brought on for medicinal expertise? I'd hate to have to tell everyone that you're incapable of doing your job," he said in lieu of a real answer.

Hopefully, this man would decide he was of no help and send him on his way.

Preferably back to his warm hotel, instead of this ice-cold plain of hell.

But, on second thought, perhaps it was better that he stayed. He was curious about this investigation after all, with all the commotion the deceased had stirred up during life. It was incredibly hard to believe he just. Died. Naturally. Out in the cold.

She'd gotten a few open-mouths of shock when introducing herself and a few questions on why the Moonchanter of all people was going to sea, but a few well-placed smiles and a few dodging of questions had been enough to get her on board. They needed more people, after all, and telling them that she was capable of talking to animals had gotten her an exchanged glance, a shrug, and a we'll probably need that. So, here she stands, next to another stranger at the edge of the boat, overlooking the sea. Nod Krai grows smaller and smaller in the distance, and a rush of excitement and glee fills Lauma's chest. She turns her attention to the man beside her, and with a small smile, she greets him.

"Hello. I'm Lauma," she introduces herself, catching her tongue before she adds her usual segment about being the Moonchanter. It's unnecessary. "And you?"

The woman beside him was, for lack of a better term, ethereal—animal features were not rare to see in Sumeru, but most had features like tails or ears, not antlers. Though of course, things will change from nation to nation. What is the norm there will not be the norm here, and what is the norm here will not be the norm there.

Alhaitham continues walking.

"Come onnn..." the voice drawls out. "Just a minute! Won't take long at all!"

Annoyed, Alhaitham closes his book and turns to face the direction of the voice. There's nobody.

"Over here!"

He doesn't move. If this secretive individual did not show themselves, Alhaitham would just turn around and leave. But then, a scrawny man scurries out from behind a tower of crates and beckons him closer.

He follows. The crates were stacked barely tall enough to cover him, but enough to engulf the other man in its shadows. The man, smile proud, stuffs a bundle of cloth into Alhaitham's arms.

Irritation flared in his chest—this stranger had the audacity to give him his trash and look proud?

Alhaitham holds it back out to the man, jostling the contents in the process. "I'm not taking it. Find another person to take care of your... discards."

"Wait!" the man squawks, arms flailing in and attempt to steady the bundle. "It's— it's not trash! They're f... fireworks. They're fireworks."

Alhaitham raised an eyebrow. "Oh? And why would you be giving me fireworks?"

"I— I don't know! I found them in the forest, and... I... I just wanted to get rid of them!" He looks desperate, now, with his eyes wide and his brain scrambling.

Humming, Alhaitham decided to try a different direction. "And what if I reported this to the Tenryou Commission? Surely someone's missing items are being searched for?" Alhaitham paused, letting the man before him try to persuade him to not report the items to the Tenryou Commission.

Since the incident with the power-outage and the operation to push the hordes of Fragmentum out the city, the Guard Captain found himself with an immense amount of paperwork on his desk and taking on extras shifts to ensure that Belobog's surrounding areas were clear of any hostiles that might still pose a threat to the city. So, to say he was exhausted was a huge understatement.

It came as a big surprise when some of his colleagues literally cornered him at his own desk, filling out report after report, logging the recent most skirmishes they had while also trying to play catch up with older ones he couldn't get to. It was on a random day like no other when his office turned from empty to swarming with people. Confused, before he could even ask what this was about, they all but wrenched him from his chair, and now, he finds himself somewhere unfamiliar. Staring at a plethora of large trees and houses that were made from the surrounding fauna. Gandharva Ville, his mind supplies him with as he remembers what the kind Forest Rangers had called this place once they found him wandering the nearby area.

'So, this is Sumeru?' Gepard could not help but think, waving a fan at himself to try to cool himself off, not used to the climate that was so drastically different from Jarilo-VI's constant chill that he was accustomed to. He basks in it all with a genuine curiosity.

'Will Jarilo-VI grow to look as beautiful as this one day?'

The blonde is then ejected out of his own daydreams when he feels someone brush past him, carrying a large crate in their hands. The individual turns around to throw him an apologetic look before continuing on their way. It reminds him where he was, and, yeah, he probably should get out of the middle of the walkway.

Gepard follows along the planks for a little while until he sees a familiar tuft of grey hair in the distance. Remembering the gentleman's name to be Alhaitham as they were assigned the same squadron as him during the Fragmentum Operation in Belobog. Not missing a beat, he makes his way to him for proper introductions this time.

"Hello. I believe we were briefly introduced during the operation in Belobog. While the circumstances there were a bit... intense." He winces as he speaks that last word, but it doesn't stop him, as he extends a hand out for the other to shake. To show their camaraderie during the hard battles they went through. "I still would like to make my formal introduction to you properly. Hello, my name is Gepard Landau, and, I just want to say, your home is quite beautiful."

Seated on a rock off of the main walkway, Alhaitham flipped through his current read. A Brief History of Inazuma, the cover proclaimed. Alhaitham, being the avid learner he was, had already studied far more than just a brief history of every nation in Teyvat. But he couldn't deny the appeal another author's interpretation of history had on his curiosity.

As he skimmed the preface, he suddenly felt eyes on him. Looking up from his reading, he saw a familiar face—it was the blond soldier from the icy land of Belobog. Alhaitham nearly shivered at the thought of those hellish days with barely any warmth.

Leaning back in his chair, Alhaitham unfolded it. Neat lettering adorned the page, differentiating itself from the stacks of nearly illegible handwriting sitting that the edge of Alhaitham's desk.

He hummed, skimming. In short, it seemed like Layla was requesting his assistance with some treasure hunting. She had mentioned a rumor of a series of clues, with only a mere portion of one being solved.

Story has it that, once upon a time, rebels from the City of Mondstadt organized and rose in rebellion against the tyrannical aristocracy. Forming an underground resistance, they were a thorn in the corrupt nobles' side for a long time - all while said nobles retaliated with brutality using their own henchmen.

Today, the history of those difficult and tragic times is preserved in the form of a traditional game. Several locations have been host to the fun and joy of Windtrace - this year, it's the mysterious Dragonspine's turn, causing some to dub the event "Snowtrace".

Young and old, experienced and newcomer, local and traveler - all who want to experience Mondstadt's history and tradition are welcome to join and participate.

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Happy Windtrace season! Reblog to accept asks. Send with "reverse" to switch roles between sender and receiver.

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[CHAT] sender (Rebel A) and receiver (Rebel B) casually chat while hiding. Surely nothing at all will go wrong and this will have no consequences whatsoever.

[HEAT] sender (Rebel A) and receiver (Rebel B) activate a heat source to warm up, discussing strategy, the moral choices that led someone to organize such an event in this frozen hell, and whatever else comes to their minds.

[ALERT] sender (Rebel A) warns receiver (Rebel B) about the approaching Hunter.

[DISGUISE] sender (Rebel A) and receiver (Rebel B) disguise themselves as objects together. Isn’t it kinda funny that you can just turn into a barrel?

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[CAN’T SEE YOU] sender (Hunter) runs right past receiver (Rebel) disguised as an object, failing to recognize them.

[CAN SEE YOU] sender (Hunter) uses Hunter’s Intuition to mark receiver (Rebel) with a light pillar in order to find them. Uh-oh.

[DISPEL] sender (Hunter) dispels the oh so carefully planned disguise of receiver (Rebel). Rude.

[CHASE] sender (Hunter) chases receiver (Rebel) across the whole field to catch them. Haul those buttcheeks buddy!

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[NOPE] sender (Rebel) uses Transparency to vanish right in front of receiver (Hunter)’s eyes. Results may vary.

[BAIT] sender (Rebel) leaves behind an illusory bait for receiver (Hunter) that, when triggered, throws a buncha snow in their face to blind them. Again, rude.

[GOTCHA] sender (Rebel) is caught by receiver (Hunter).

Alhaitham does a little tumble

From the PEAK stream with Tres Leches (Cy Yu, NotNazeehTarsha, BenBeStreaming)

Alhaitham goes insane