The man didn't have information, he only knew that this man was "abroad". Actually - he didn't even know that. It was just a guess by someone named... Rose... because there had allegedly been sailors around? It wasn't enough. Not nearly enough.
"Patrick," he said, bringing his head back from the man's shoulder and looking him in the eye. "That's not enough," he said. "Rharne has a lot of people. There's probably millions if you consider the entire region. Sailors being around just doesn't mean anything. Statistically speaking, it's far more likely that some deranged customer took him to their attic and hacked him up." He didn't mean to be so frank - or so brutal - but the information he was given wasn't enough for him to be capable of determining just where this friend of Patrick's had gone. The sort of antics he was going to resort to would already be far less than likely to give him positive results. He'd need to be in the range of specific details to really know.
But, he could investigate the claim of sailors, if it brought him any consolation. If he could uncover information that - in fact - there were no ships with any human cargo headed out from Rharne to another metropolitan area, then the options would narrow.
"What day did he disappear, Patrick?" he asked. "I need specifics. I'm going to explain to you what I'm going to do in exact detail. I need you to tell me anything that might help me find him based on what I'm about to tell you." He released his hold of the man, arms rubbing down his shoulders as he did so, not wanting to fully release his grip on him. The man sat in the chair he'd been working in all morning, pulling up the Idalosian Global Index and looking at the nautical routes between the major cities of Idalos. Essentially these pathways followed three major routes, in terms of Rharne to other popular destinations: northwest for Etzos, southwest for Ne'haer and Argos, and northeast for Rynmere, Viden and Scalvoris.
If they could search the three pathways, then it was possible they'd come across a ship holding whoever this man was. Assuming he'd actually been kidnapped and taken somewhere instead of just being flayed alive or something.
"I have an ability that I can only... use on someone once in their life," he told him. "It's called the..." he hesitated. Patrick might know the word if he called it what it was - the Initiation - and if he knew just what Alistair was asking of him, he could panic and refuse to cooperate. But, this was one of the only ways they could possibly discover where a missing individual would be without having direct evidence, likely evidence that had already vanished at the moment of his disappearance.
"It's unimportant what it's called. Regardless, it allows myself and the person I've cast it on to observe the universe as an outsider. It allows us to... go through the world as formless energy, with no boundaries constrained by space. It's often called Transcendence, though that's not an official name." The official name, of course, being Initiation. Which wasn't quite as glamorous, as it held the truth of one being permanently bound to that magic. And a permanent binding between the two mages - the initiated and initiator.
Alistair knew that merely the awakening of Patrick's mana would not result in him becoming a mage, however. If he desired to, he could choose to ignore the awakening of the spark, and could even very likely never notice it. It was a subtle thing for those not searching for it, and especially those with little exposure to magic. He didn't worry too much about the concept of Patrick becoming endangered by this, as the danger only existed in the Initiation itself from his perspective. Which he'd warn about.
"During the Transcendence, you can move at unbelievable speed. You're not really yourself, entirely, and certainly are not in your natural, physical body. You aren't anything. No one can see you or feel you. That's why it can be used to try and gain information, from what I can imagine, though I've never heard of it actually being done before. By using the sheer speed given to the mage within their "observer" state, and the intangibility, we could in fact view a massive distance freely. The only issue is that we must find our bodies again afterwards, which can be challenging for some. But, if you trust your instinct and follow my lead - which your mind will tell you to do - we shouldn't be in any danger. And this is far less dangerous than what this magic is usually used for, which is observing space and planetary systems. Quite a lot more dangerous to roam about than merely Idalosian cities."
It was a complicated explanation, but the emphasis was certainly on following Alistair's lead and tagging along with him rather than roaming off as some ethereal wisp or whatever they really were while performing the Transcendence.
"If you think it's worth the risk, I can begin the process. But you'll need to be in bed, relaxed, and ready to withstand a bit of pain." The mage already began to weave ether around his fingers, twirling his hands around in a circular motion. He figured the answer would be yes, and the Hound was going to subject himself to Alistair's theory. Hopefully, he would be right about this, and it would be worth it. It didn't make sense that the laws of the Transcendence would change within Idalos, but it was a possibility, and he could only think of the ramifications.
