Stripes of Passion: Part 2

(15 minutes ago)

Your affair with the Banded Sleuth continues - until it does not. He has not visited in a while, and you haven't seen him since. What gives? Your 'A Distant Tiger' Quality is now 1!

What happened to the Banded Sleuth?

You've been in an affair with the Banded Sleuth for decent chunk of time now - weeks or months, you've stopped keeping track a while ago. Often, he was the one who visited your lodgings, and occasionally, you visited his. But something has changed.

He hasn't come to visit you in three weeks now, and he hasn't written to explain his absence. You've tried visiting whatever place he's currently staying in, but those change with such frequency that without him telling you where he's staying, it would take quite a bit of effort to find.

Did he find your current marriage?
Your companion would never object, of course, you've spoken to them about this in the past. But perhaps the Banded Sleuth felt uncomfortable? Then again, this is - was? - an affair.

Is he in danger?
Perhaps he's working on some important case that requires him to go dark for a while. Perhaps he's been kidnapped. Perhaps it's worse.

Did he grow bored?
Maybe he just wasn't interested anymore, and decided that enough was enough. You would've appreciated some warning if that was the case.

Has he been called to the Court?
He is called the Banded Sleuth. Presumably, he has some connections to the Banded Prince. Mayhaps that is the reason for his sudden disappearance. Or maybe it's just a tiger thing.

A direct answer

You go to talk to your Companion about the subject, mentioning the Banded Sleuth and your affair with him. It doesn't seem surprised, and when you're finished, it starts talking. It takes a bit of work to interpret the nuances of what it's saying, but due to familiarity, you get the idea very quickly.

The Banded Sleuth approached your Companion one evening and asked if you two were married. After confirming that fact, the Banded Sleuth asked a couple of questions regarding the duration of your marriage and, indeed, how happy it was with the situation. This was all masked at the idea of making a detective inquiry for a case which you were involved in, and your Companion answered with...

This one takes a bit longer to translate, and after a while, your Companion simply picks a pencil and writes as dexterously as it can: "YOU CAN COMMINGLE WITH WHOEVER YOU WANT".

You get the sense you lost some nuance in the writing, but it gets the point across.

You are investigating the Banded Sleuth's disappearance.
The Banded Sleuth has approached your Spouse for information about your marriage.

Comprehensive searching

You pull out all the stops for your investigation, finding the Banded Sleuth's trail and hunting it voraciously. You pick breadcrumbs at an abandoned home in Veilgarden, pass through a honey-den in Ladybones, into a tiny restaurant in a sidestreet in Spite, all the way to the Labyrinth of Tigers, and into the Bazaar's Glass Door. You refuse to rest until you have found something - anything - to discover where he went.

When you find where he's been staying, it is empty, and has been empty for days - though crucially, not weeks. Every single contact you ask about agrees that he seemed to be on the warpath regarding something, though none of them have the slightest clue as to what. You even go as far as to ask the Eager Lover, and she expresses disappointment that she hasn't seen him in a while either.

It becomes clear, eventually, that he's constantly on the move, but crucially, you never bump into him on the streets. He definitely hasn't gone fully dark - you meet people who have had conversations with him mere days ago - but whatever it is he's doing, it's clear that he's as good at covering his tracks as he is following a culprit's. It eventually becomes a chase too taxing to maintain; perhaps deliberately so.

You are investigating the Banded Sleuth's disappearance.
The Banded Sleuth is viciously hunting for something - or maybe, simply burying himself in work.

Not quite

You do some less-than-respectable research into the Banded Sleuth's private life. Who does he share drinks with? Who, besides yourself, does he go to when he needs to unwind? Who does he consider a friend - and who does he consider his enemies?

The first problem is that the lists of the people he considers his "enemies" and his "friends" look almost identical. Several of them are not willing to speak to a stranger about the Sleuth's private life, and the few that are can't tell you much. Bartenders in places he frequents can sometimes be bribed for morsels of information, and some of his more recent clients can give you more breadcrumbs.

You only get one solid piece of information: Recently he started recommending the services of a fellow detective, in case the client cannot afford his fees. It's only when you check your mail that you notice that not only do you have a larger-than-normal amount of requests to take on a case, but that a lot of them seem to come from the Sleuth's previous clients, or people associated with his previous clients. Some of these letters are quite recent.

You think you're ready to reach a conclusion.
The Banded Sleuth has been recommending your services to several of his clients.

Still about

Turns out that the Banded Sleuth does have a connection to the Banded Prince, but only a tenuous one: a 21 times removed cousin or somesuch, the kind of thing you would never be able to tell without some real genealogical work.

Fortunately, it's also not something the Banded Sleuth keeps a secret, so you are able to get that information relatively quickly. In turn, you also find that he does hold informal allegiances to the Court of the Wakeful Eye, and has met personally with the Banded Prince several times.

What you do not find, however, is a report from anyone in Wolfstack Docks about a tiger taking passage to the Elder Continent, and you do not imagine a tiger his size would be able to hide for long even on a short voyage.

As a precaution, you check in with the GHR's itinerary to see if he climbed aboard any trains bound westward, and you also check with the Devils that handle the Moloch Line. While getting information out of the latter is harder, they both lead you to the same result: No tigers have hopped on the trains since before the last time you saw the Banded Sleuth.

You think you are ready to reach a conclusion.
The Banded Sleuth has not left London.

What happened to the Banded Sleuth?

You've been in an affair with the Banded Sleuth for decent chunk of time now - weeks or months, you've stopped keeping track a while ago. Often, he was the one who visited your lodgings, and occasionally, you visited his. But something has changed.

He hasn't come to visit you in three weeks now, and he hasn't written to explain his absence. You've tried visiting whatever place he's currently staying in, but those change with such frequency that without him telling you where he's staying, it would take quite a bit of effort to find.

You've done all you could. There's only one last thing to do.

Reach a conclusion
You've been doing enough clue-gathering and research on the situation that you think you've found the truth.

A Tiger's Intent

You haven't seen the Banded Sleuth in over a month at this point, yet you know that he has not left London. He hasn't gone dark either - in fact, his inquiries seem to have only increased in quantity. He's been deliberately sending a lot of jobs your way, whether as a sign of respect, or to keep you occupied. He seems to be on the hunt for something important, and yet you never see him on the streets, and even more importantly, whenever you arrive where you think he'll be, he's not there. He's even spoken to your spouse, and asked about your marriage.

This only leads to one reasonable conclusion: For whatever reason, the Banded Sleuth is deliberately avoiding you. For what reason, you are not sure, and you don't think you'll be able to figure that out with certainty unless you can speak face-to-face with the tiger. Alas, he is good at his work, so you doubt you'll be able to find him without putting in a level of resources and effort that would ultimately be unwise.

So much for an affair.

The Banded Sleuth is avoiding you.
Your "A Tiger's Work" Quality has gone! (hidden)
Your "A Tiger's Habits" Quality has gone! (hidden)
Your "A Tiger's Location" Quality has gone! (hidden)

Emotions

It's become clear by now that the Banded Sleuth is deliberately avoid you. You can only guess at the reason, but perhaps at this point, it doesn't matter anymore.

These are the unassailable facts of this case. The only question left is: How do you feel about it?

At peace
It was an affair, nothing more, and nothing less. You won't lose sleep over this.

Understanding
You trust him enough to think he has his reasons. If he ever feels like talking to you again, he knows where to find you.

Hurt
You thought you had a good thing going with him. It aches your heart to see him do this to you.

Relieved
By god, he was such a bore. You're not even sure why you kept him around for so long.

It was a good time
And good times never last. Alas, c'est la vie.

Betrayed
If he was going to break up with you, the least he could do is tell you about it.

Incensed
You don't care if it takes an unwise amount of resources. You are going to keep searching for him until you goddamn find him.

It is for the best
Affairs are not a good thing. You don't know what you were thinking when you started this, but you're almost glad it's over.

Spiteful
You're going to make him regret ever dumping you - several times over.

Emboldened
If he thinks dropping the whole thing is a good idea, then you just need to make him think otherwise.

A scar upon your heart

You remember the time you spent together. You remember the touches you've exchanged. You remember the laughter and the conversation and the drinks shared. The quiet moments, the loud moments; the disagreements, fights, and reconciliations. It all comes flooding to you like the crashing of a wave.

He made you happy; it seems he won't anymore. Your home suddenly feels just a little emptier, like the howl of a single wolf, left behind and forgotten atop a lonely hill. The pain will pass, and in time, the wolf will find new joys in life.

But for now, the only thing you can do is crack open one of your case diaries and start a new entry: "The case of the missing Sleuth."

Your affair with the Banded Sleuth is over.
The Banded Sleuth has hurt you deeply.
A living story will begin soon! (hidden)