cases

cases -- Sheriff Calder criminal cases (detective loop)

Lebanon citizens petition the Sheriff's Office when crime nests or suspicious work hits their block. The live desk face -- Sheriff Calder, then Deputy Vale, then a beat officer who takes the star -- pins the tip on the office board. The board is the room; an empty chair does not speak for the sheriff. If they are off hunting, call sheriff then talk on the line (help phone). One active case at a time.

How you play
  1. Stand in the Sheriff's Office and type cases
  2. cases take        -- claim (Detective Background, or PI license);
     the desk loans a vest + sidearm for the claim (returns on report / abandon)
  3. track case        -- soft lead to the scene / nest / heat suspect
  4. investigate       -- on site, name the crime and get the nest lead
     (free profile open on a co-located boss / heat mark, or a case-file stamp for when you meet them)
  5. Clear the criminal nest:
       profile <name>  -- weak-point mark (hits harder on case crooks)
       showid            -- badge + sidearm can calm the room
       intimidate <name> -- successful scare helps fold odds
       radio backup    -- call a deputy who fights the nest with you and cuffs what it drops, then walks it to a cell
       collar <name>    -- cuff a folded crook yourself, then radio backup to scoop
       chase <name>     -- foot chase a runner (track case follows during a chase)
       block <exit>     -- hold a doorway so runners contest past you

Missing-person alerts (Channel 7 crawl + official SMS)
  cases wea request <description>  -- file at the sheriff desk
  cases wea approve                -- sheriff on duty fires the queue

       OR arrest / lockup yourself (help arrest)
       OR wipe the dens in a straight fight
  6. cases report      -- turn in at the Sheriff's Office for dollars

Criminal dens (talk-first)
  Case nests and ambient criminal dens give you a real standoff before steel comes out -- long enough to profile, showid, intimidate, and radio backup.
  Crooks fold, fight, or jog away based on persona (coward, fearless, loyal, …). "Fold" means they give up on the spot -- no more swings, no more running, just standing there waiting to be taken in. A folded crook is not cuffed yet: walk up and collar <name> yourself (help collar), or radio backup to have a deputy scoop them. Attacking a folded crook (instead of collaring) puts them right back into the fight. If they run instead: chase <name> or track case while the leash is hot. Hold a doorway with block <exit> (unblock to drop it). OOC ignore is mute <name>, not block <name>.

First cases coach you
  For your first few closed files, verbs print (hint: …) next steps
  (track → investigate → nest → cases report). Type cases anytime for a progress line. Hints fade after a few clears; help cases stays.

PI unlock (non-Detective)
  studypi   -- pay dollars and study at the Office (unlocks profile craft)
  pitest    -- practical exam (profile a deputy or read the dossier)
  Pass once; pi_license persists. Then cases take like a Detective.

Drop a claim
  cases abandon      -- return the loaner kit; tip returns to the board if still fresh

Detective radio channel
  radio tips on   -- hear Calder tips even outside Lebanon / the bunker
  radio backup    -- fights a live case mark with you and cuffs it, or scoops an already-cuffed crook (help collar | help radio)

Procurer heat
  Theft contracts that drag, sit the house too long, or get witnessed lurking can tip Calder's board. Soft neighborhood leads only -- never
  Bela's name or the prize. If a nest case is already live you still get the tip; otherwise a thin arrest-focused case may post.

Predation tips
  When a monster attack on townsfolk is witnessed in Lebanon -- Vampire bite, Ghoul/Wendigo gnaw or rend, Djinn ensnare, Demon corrupt, or anything else that locks onto a civilian in front of a bystander -- Calder may post a thin predation case (disappearances / night attacks) with the attacker as the heat target, same track / investigate / collar loop as other heat cases. Staffed live cameras at the sheriff's office, hospital, clinic, federal desk, and prison/holding count as that witness even if the room looks empty. Shop CCTV still needs a person who saw it (they can phone or walk in, same as a Bobby hunt tip). Any attacker (player or NPC, any Origin) who kills or hospitalizes a civilian in view of a witness gets the same arrest-heat + wanted mark even without a case posting. A public true-form reveal that sends bystanders fleeing is its own charge (public_monster_reveal) -- see help heat.

Cadence Detectives / PIs run the same verbs (immersion parity), including collar + radio backup (preferred) or arrest / lockup on nest bosses and heat suspects. Town deputies still patrol for other wanted marks; the live sheriff owns the tip board. Jail, fines, and lockup are the rooms -- they keep working if the body is elsewhere. Victim petitions walk to the office board, not to a nest lair.

Lebanon beat patrol
  Marked cruisers and on-foot deputies loop Main Street even when crime is quiet. Officers may ask for ID (showid works); forged papers can mark you wanted. Vehicles overstaying curb limits may get a ticket flavor beat before municipal tow.
See also: help chase | help block