[Changeling] A Gathering of Mists IC

[Raz_Fox]

Marchande, black-shoe-girl, circumvents the den of iniquity. The way she walks is worthy of cinema, a thriller, the professional spy with a pretty face who is heading to her meeting with her contact. Thumping techno music would be appropriate.

But instead there's just the background hum of San Francisco, and a vague unease running along her. If she could stand the ensuing conversation, she'd go back and ask Charlotte why it was necessary to come here - but since she's none-too-eager to risk either offending her or to risk feling like a fool, if she came here because Charlotte was convinced that someone who'd been here last night would still be here or the like.

Around back, she searches. Sniffing the air and tasting rankness, sweat, the jadedness of people who have seen one too many raves to get excited about them anymore. There will be jiggling of the handle - or yanking, if it's of a certain make - and then insistent knocking.

[Anarion]

"It's fine, Madame. I have pockets now, non?"

Charlotte bends low to see what kind of key the lock takes, waving her had idly at the keyhole – in truthC brushing away stray gauzy wisps of glamour too stale for use.

It's a fairly standard dead-bolt lock, opened with a multi-toothed physical brass key with a series of unique tumblers. In other words, you can't open it with a credit card, but anyone with a set of lockpicks and the skill to use them could get it done in a few minutes.


"I doubt they'll really have much of a presence here so soon, but... yes, you're right." Rose pauses for a second and blinks. That sounded weird. "Best not to risk anything. Just remember, this may or may not be what they're actually using as a base. Be prepared for both possibilities."

With that, she leaves Stephanie to her own devices and searches for a suitable vantage point. It would be nice to be up high, she can't help but think. Just spread her wings and let the air run over them for a while...

No, don't be an idiot. Focus on why you're here. Remember what you are.

Aside from the warehouse roof itself, there were several telephone poles and some street lights spread around the block. Across the street was a series of lower temporary buildings, only one story but not hard to climb at all.

Down the block and across the street (so to the side of the warehouse entrance) was another warehouse of the same height and type, two stories. And towards the beach on the other side was a lot under construction with a caterpillar hoe that could potentially be climbed for a vantage of about a story and a half.

[Anarion]

Marchande, black-shoe-girl, circumvents the den of iniquity. The way she walks is worthy of cinema, a thriller, the professional spy with a pretty face who is heading to her meeting with her contact. Thumping techno music would be appropriate.

But instead there's just the background hum of San Francisco, and a vague unease running along her. If she could stand the ensuing conversation, she'd go back and ask Charlotte why it was necessary to come here - but since she's none-too-eager to risk either offending her or to risk feling like a fool, if she came here because Charlotte was convinced that someone who'd been here last night would still be here or the like.

Around back, she searches. Sniffing the air and tasting rankness, sweat, the jadedness of people who have seen one too many raves to get excited about them anymore. There will be jiggling of the handle - or yanking, if it's of a certain make - and then insistent knocking.

Still no answer with the knocking. The door back here, however, is locked less securely. It lacks a deadbolt, merely a chain and a regular handle. It doesn't go right to the club, it's actually a loading dock for the larger building, which is a big downtown sksycraper, but it probably leads through one way or another.

[Raz_Fox]

Still no answer with the knocking. The door back here, however, is locked less securely. It lacks a deadbolt, merely a chain and a regular handle. It doesn't go right to the club, it's actually a loading dock for the larger building, which is a big downtown sksycraper, but it probably leads through one way or another.

Marchande jiggles at the chain thoughtfully, and then goes to fetch Charlotte. This is much less likely to get them arrested for breaking and entering, and much more likely to be open to unlocking. If things turn out perfectly, Charlotte might be able to just slip through the crack provided by the chain to unlock it from the inside.

[Thanqol]

"I doubt they'll really have much of a presence here so soon, but... yes, you're right." Rose pauses for a second and blinks. That sounded weird. "Best not to risk anything. Just remember, this may or may not be what they're actually using as a base. Be prepared for both possibilities."

Stephanie nodded and slipped away.

She started a cycle of the warehouse, glancing in windows and listening for people. Her objective was to get a count on everyone present, weaponry, civilian or combatants, and possible hostages. The intention wasn't to make any action until she'd mapped everything.

[SiuiS]

Charlotte looks up at Marchande's approach. "Tell me you have a key?" she asks. "one key, any key, to anything?"

[Raz_Fox]

Charlotte looks up at Marchande's approach. "Tell me you have a key?" she asks. "one key, any key, to anything?"

"I do have a better door," Marchande says, jerking one thumb back over her shoulder. "How's your skill with chains?"

[PhoeKun]

Aside from the warehouse roof itself, there were several telephone poles and some street lights spread around the block. Across the street was a series of lower temporary buildings, only one story but not hard to climb at all.

Down the block and across the street (so to the side of the warehouse entrance) was another warehouse of the same height and type, two stories. And towards the beach on the other side was a lot under construction with a caterpillar hoe that could potentially be climbed for a vantage of about a story and a half.

Almost as if to punish herself for the indulgent thought, Kalina seeks out the smaller roofs of the temporary structures to make her perch. Easily climbable, without need of delicate balance and (most importantly) easily jumped off of in case of emergency. Be practical about this, or don't do it at all.

This isn't about fun. A soul-stained mess like you doesn't get to have nice things. You want to enjoy something, you insipid cur, then enjoy cracking Paladin's skull open when you find him. Find solace in Justice. As if you needed anything else.

She looks for the easiest way up, and starts to climb...

[Anarion]

Stephanie nodded and slipped away.

She started a cycle of the warehouse, glancing in windows and listening for people. Her objective was to get a count on everyone present, weaponry, civilian or combatants, and possible hostages. The intention wasn't to make any action until she'd mapped everything.

It's early evening. There's one guy on duty where the light is turned on. He's wearing jeans and a flannel shirt, and he hasn't shaved his rough brown hair in two or three days. He's making a cup of coffee on a hot plate plugged into the shack and not paying attention to anyone coming in or out. You figure he'll be engaged for a few minutes, but not much longer.

The closest road with traffic is a block and a half away, go to the end of the warehouse and turn either left or right toward the ocean or back to the city and you'll get a road with a car on it every so often. Three blocks back towards the city and you'll get a road with cars on it continuously.

Weaponry is myriad. This is a warehouse. There is loose chain inside (or at least, chain that could be loosened with minimal difficulty, which is basically the same thing). There are boards around and pieces of crates could be pried off. The wrought iron bar on the barn door could probably be ripped off by Rose with a dedicated effort and some magic. It's about 6 feet long.

Hostages, if there are any, aren't visible from an exterior sweep. If they're in a crate, you might be able to hear them with a full and careful exploration of the interior, but that would be time-consuming, as you'd need to stop at each crate to make sure.


Almost as if to punish herself for the indulgent thought, Kalina seeks out the smaller roofs of the temporary structures to make her perch. Easily climbable, without need of delicate balance and (most importantly) easily jumped off of in case of emergency. Be practical about this, or don't do it at all.

This isn't about fun. A soul-stained mess like you doesn't get to have nice things. You want to enjoy something, you insipid cur, then enjoy cracking Paladin's skull open when you find him. Find solace in Justice. As if you needed anything else.

She looks for the easiest way up, and starts to climb...

The drain pipe on the side of the wooden temp building can barely hold Rose's weight, but it does manage to stay attached to the building. Standing on the roof, she can see that the whole area is shipping. The ocean area has some large-sized mechanical loaders. They look sort of like AT-AT walkers from Star Wars. There doesn't seem to be anyone walking around the complex and Rose can see from her vantage point that the warehouse doesn't have any side entrances or weak walls. In all honesty, this area probably hasn't gone through any changes but a new paint job since the 1920s, and back then it might have been vibrant with dock workers that hadn't been replaced by machine loaders and computer filing systems.

[Thanqol]

This wasn't right; there was evidently a secret lair here somewhere, but it was going to be one of those secret secret lairs. Darn it.

First things first; ensure ongoing distraction for guard.

Stephanie whispered to the spreading night, reminding it of it's obligations to her, and the air around her distorted and darkened. This was a clouding of the senses, not an actual deepening of the shadows, so Rose's perspective would be unaffected.

She climbed noiselessly up to the roof of the guard shack, pebble in hand. She scuttled her fingers across the roof once, twice, creating the impression of rats. She stopped, waited a minute, then did it again. The third time she moved over to the doorway and dropped a pebble, drawing the guard's attention in that direction.

Then, in the split second of distraction, she leaned in through the window, knocked the coffee pot over, and scrambled back onto the roof before she was seen.

If this worked, there were a few positive scenarios. One, he'd blame the rats, and blame any future noises he heard on them. Two, he'd be coffeeless and might drift off in an hour or two. Three, he might figure to go out and get some coffee and leave his post, giving her time to search openly.

[I guess this is, uh, manipulation+stealth?]

[Anarion]

[I guess this is, uh, manipulation+stealth?]

[Yeah I think that works. It sort of borders on dex+stealth, but it's less about Stephanie completing the action than about how effective the completed action actually is at creating the impression she wants. So manipulation+stealth will do. Rats near docks are common enough to practically be their own trope, so that's worth +1 on the roll.]

[Thanqol]

[Yeah I think that works. It sort of borders on dex+stealth, but it's less about Stephanie completing the action than about how effective the completed action actually is at creating the impression she wants. So manipulation+stealth will do. Rats near docks are common enough to practically be their own trope, so that's worth +1 on the roll.]

[Manipulation 3+Stealth 3+ Darkness speciality 1 + circumstance 1 = 8

Environmental penalties are doubled for him. Night-time in an area with dim streetlights around is usually -2, so that'd upgrade to -4.

2 - 3 - 1 - 5 - 5 - 10 - 10 - 9 (Avg: 5.625)

9 - 2

4 successes total]

[SiuiS]

"I do have a better door," Marchande says, jerking one thumb back over her shoulder. "How's your skill with chains?"

Charlotte stands and Looks crookedly at her friend. "I don't know. We can check?"

[Raz_Fox]

Charlotte stands and Looks crookedly at her friend. "I don't know. We can check?"

"Excellent," Marchande says, crisp and confident. "Come along, come along." She turns, tail swishing between her legs, and makes to lead Charlotte to the back door.

[SiuiS]

Charlotte follows dutifully to the chained doorway.
"Do you have any plans, Madame?"

[Raz_Fox]

Charlotte follows dutifully to the chained doorway.
"Do you have any plans, Madame?"

"The plan," Marchande says, with a hint of tested patience, "Is for me to facilitate your plan to assist Rose and Stephanie. That is why you dragged me here, right? Because we need every advantage we can get."

[Anarion]

[Manipulation 3+Stealth 3+ Darkness speciality 1 + circumstance 1 = 8

Environmental penalties are doubled for him. Night-time in an area with dim streetlights around is usually -2, so that'd upgrade to -4.

2 - 3 - 1 - 5 - 5 - 10 - 10 - 9 (Avg: 5.625)

9 - 2

4 successes total]

"Oh, ****!" the guard shouts as the coffee pot goes tumbling and shatters on the floor. He leans out the window and looks around, trying to catch a glimpse of whatever did it. When he hears the skittering from Stephanie, he looks up as well, but he rubs his eyes several times, like he can't see clearly. He then pops back into the window, light still on and Stephanie hears him shuffling around inside. A couple minutes later, he opens the door and exits, still pulling his brown field coat on over one arm. Stephanie hears him muttering to himself "gonna kill them for assigning me to this damn rat-infested warehouse" as he's walking away.

[SiuiS]

"The plan," Marchande says, with a hint of tested patience, "Is for me to facilitate your plan to assist Rose and Stephanie. That is why you dragged me here, right? Because we need every advantage we can get."

Charlotte blinks languidly. "pardon moi, I mean the plan for this particular door, that is easier."

Couls you be more specific Anarion, s'il vous plaît? I am unsure of it is a chain with a lock, or if it is a household deadbolt chain, on the inside of the door and designed to stop it from opening more that a crack?

I guess wits+larceny to examine the entre door set-up for weak points, now that I have more time and less random passerby, and will formulate plan from there? Or does this fall under making too many things into a roll?

[Thanqol]

"Oh, ****!" the guard shouts as the coffee pot goes tumbling and shatters on the floor. He leans out the window and looks around, trying to catch a glimpse of whatever did it. When he hears the skittering from Stephanie, he looks up as well, but he rubs his eyes several times, like he can't see clearly. He then pops back into the window, light still on and Stephanie hears him shuffling around inside. A couple minutes later, he opens the door and exits, still pulling his brown field coat on over one arm. Stephanie hears him muttering to himself "gonna kill them for assigning me to this damn rat-infested warehouse" as he's walking away.

Bingo!

Stephanie hopped down from the roof after he was out of eyeshot. She first quickly checked inside the guard shack in case there were any Clues, weapons, security cameras, or anything else she hadn't been able to see from the outside.

Depending on what she found there, her next order of business was to start searching this place comprehensively. She gave Rose the thumbs up once she exited the guard shack before beginning.

[Wits+Investigation? 'Unrestricted access to the scene' is worth +2]

[Anarion]

Charlotte blinks languidly. "pardon moi, I mean the plan for this particular door, that is easier."

Couls you be more specific Anarion, s'il vous plaît? I am unsure of it is a chain with a lock, or if it is a household deadbolt chain, on the inside of the door and designed to stop it from opening more that a crack?

I guess wits+larceny to examine the entre door set-up for weak points, now that I have more time and less random passerby, and will formulate plan from there? Or does this fall under making too many things into a roll?

[The lock is a household deadbolt, on the inside of the door and designed to prevent it opening more than a crack. I think wits+larceny is very appropriate to examine it for the best method to open it.]


Bingo!

Stephanie hopped down from the roof after he was out of eyeshot. She first quickly checked inside the guard shack in case there were any Clues, weapons, security cameras, or anything else she hadn't been able to see from the outside.

Depending on what she found there, her next order of business was to start searching this place comprehensively. She gave Rose the thumbs up once she exited the guard shack before beginning.

[Wits+Investigation? 'Unrestricted access to the scene' is worth +2]

[You may want to wait before going to the whole warehouse, but that's the right number to roll when you get to it. Though it's really large, so a full investigation might take a long time, long enough even for the guard to come back.]

Stephanie finds two items of note in the guard shack. One is a ledger in a filing cabinet. It lists all the shipments coming in and out of the warehouse for the last week and what dock they were picked up from.

Here's what's on the first page, dated for today and with a bold line marking yesterday about 2/3 of the way down


UPS: two crates, U2, U3

New Taiwan Shipping: 1 crate, E7

Royal Crane Transport Lines: Picked up 1 crate, A15

Myriad transport Co.: 4 crates, A3-6

-------------------

Royal Crane Transport Lines: 1 crate, A15

Hong Kong Shipping: 5 crates, C11-15

Hong Kong Shipping: 2 crates: C8, C9


The second item of note is that there is a security camera. It's just on the inside of the door to the guard station and there is one on the inside of the door to the vehicle entrance too. They pick up and record anyone coming in or out of the warehouse itself.

[Thanqol]

Royal Crane Transport looked like her guys - picking up one crate and then dropping it off in the exact same slot? She'd check them first, then the others on this list, then the warehouse proper.

She doubted the security footage would get her anything, she didn't have time to review it and who knew what Charlotte and Marchy would blunder into when they got here. Better to be safe than sorry. Stephanie turned the power off, then drew her knife, cut the cord, and frayed the edges to make it look like it had been chewed through. Then she turned the power back on and touched the broken cables together over a piece of paper to provoke a small fire. She quickly stomped the fire out and got rid of the burned paper, but now there was a slight unpleasant burning smell that'd back up the rat story.

Then she set off to check out the warehouse, starting with the Royal Crane.

[Anarion]

Then she set off to check out the warehouse, starting with the Royal Crane.

Unfortunately, Stephanie had read the ledger backwards. It was listed with most recent on top and older entries down below. She realized this when she got to the Royal Crane slot, A15, and found an empty space that would fit a crate about 15 feet tall and 30 feet long. They had dropped it off the previous day and picked it up earlier today. She had missed them.

[Thanqol]

Unfortunately, Stephanie had read the ledger backwards. It was listed with most recent on top and older entries down below. She realized this when she got to the Royal Crane slot, A15, and found an empty space that would fit a crate about 15 feet tall and 30 feet long. They had dropped it off the previous day and picked it up earlier today. She had missed them.

... Darn.

She ran back to the guard shack. The cable to the desk computer should be still functioning even if no new footage was being recorded, and she should be able to rewind through past trucks to find the number plate she needed.

Who writes bottom-to-top? Who does that?

She had no idea how she was going to track numberplates without a police division behind her. She'd figure that out later.

Hanunoo.

What?

The ancient Hanuoo tribe in Africa. They wrote bottom to top. So did the Ancient Berbers.

Huh.

That's about it.

[SiuiS]

Charlotte looks at the door, thinking. It opens inward – a chain on an outward door is too easy to open, and door with chains like to be challenging, it's that rebellious teenage phase, for sure.

"Doors like opening, you know?" she mutters to no one in particular, and Marchande in general. "Some doors have high sense of worth though, they test you first, but they all like opening, letting you through. But those teenage years, when no longer are they a young portal fresh in the wall, but not yet revered and austere? They go out and they get piercings, you see, and everyone knows piercings are a sign of rebellion, known? Next the door will be smoking, burning holes in its nylons. Terribl'."

Charlotte pulls her freehold token from her pocket amidst the clinking soul stones. It moves between her fingers, reflecting the lights of the city back at it in an appropriate polychromatic spray.

"On our way here, Madame, you remember those ladies leaving the clothing store? With the wedge heels so like paws and the choker that you thought tacky? They did say that the rebellious ones were always more likely to 'put out', non?"

Opening the door ever so slightly, she checks the extent of the door's modifications.

Wits+Larceny, 4 dice. No successes Dx

[Anarion]

Opening the door ever so slightly, she checks the extent of the door's modifications.

Wits+Larceny, 4 dice. No successes Dx

The door grins back at Charlotte and sticks its tongue out at her.

[Raz_Fox]

Marchande crosses her arms, watches Charlotte, takes deep breaths of infinite patience as Charlotte rambles about her philosophy of doors. Be nice, something within her whispers. It's not her fault. They're all broken. "So, are you saying that the door is a floozy, or not? I would much rather have a floozy of a door here."

[PhoeKun]

Life on the rooftops is interesting, Rose decides. Perched above everything like some sort of great bird of prey, observing a domain and waiting to swoop in when the moment strikes. She can see why Stephanie always seems to favor high places.

Stephanie. Kalina frowns. The other woman dances on the edges of her mind on the border of an obsession. Even here in this moment, when she's here to do a job she's decided to dedicate her remaining life to, that wretched shadow springs right into her head. Rose claws at her face, and drops a punitive elbow into her own stomach. Knock it the hell off. You aren't her. You can't be. You don't even want to be. Her list of character defects stretches farther than the boundaries of this city. And yet...

She sighs, pulling out the stone with her soul painted on it and staring at it in mournful contemplation. Stephanie has so much black. So much potential. Autumn said it was nothing, but it took less than an hour to prove that wrong. Whatever might be wrong with her, Stephanie was blessed with room to grow into a real person. And Rose? Well, Rose was trapped. Locked in a pool of awful reds oozing over depressed grays. Rose was potential fulfilled. Stephanie could become Stephanie, but nobody would ever be Kalina Rogers again. The colors were proof of that.

She pockets the stone. Raises her head to wipe a tear from her eye, and just happens to catch a 'thumbs up' from Stephanie across the way. Always her. Rose plants her feet on the edge of the roof, leans over, and takes a long look at the ground. She backs away. Breaks into a run, and leaps off the roof with all the strength she can muster. Her body aims at the ground like a missile. And her wings, her beautiful angel's wings, spread wide and catch the air, pulling her softly through the wind.

She hits the ground on one knee, wings flared wide and proud. Stands up and stalks toward the warehouse.

"...That was fast. Find anything?"

[SiuiS]

The door grins back at Charlotte and sticks its tongue out at her.

Three steps back, on tip-toe, ready to flee.
A door with a tongue is a mouth, a trap, and yet...

_________Charlotte looks at the increasingly agitated Marchande.

...and yet, maybe it's just her? Maybe she is seeing things? Maybe the door is friendly?


Marchande crosses her arms, watches Charlotte, takes deep breaths of infinite patience as Charlotte rambles about her philosophy of doors. Be nice, something within her whispers. It's not her fault. They're all broken. "So, are you saying that the door is a floozy, or not? I would much rather have a floozy of a door here."

Her face scrunches. "Floozy, Madame? I don't know this word. It sounds like an insult, though. Is it an insult? Don't insult my door!" Charlotte leans up against the door, protectively, petting it lightly to sooth the plank'd thing so as to avert whatever agitation the thoughtless hound-lass may have caused. "We have to woo her, not rule her up! Do you want to deal with guards drawn to growing hinges? Get your tail caught in the too-fast closure? Manners, Marchy. Manners."

Charlotte isn't quite sure how much of that is a joke an how much is possibly stepping outside the neat little box of sanity she had drawn on the floor to occupy. But one worry at a time, an this one is mechanical.


Bending down she takes several long strands from her now-ripped dress and plucks out nine filigreed hairs from her head. Rooting around for a moment, she locates a washer – the flat metal doughnut ubiquitous of back lots as much as trash and moon-wielding Cheshire men. With the string and the strands and metal ring, she begins to weave the makings of a lockpick pulley.

okay! So. I have an idea on how to open this thing which I think is quite brilliant and is backed by minor experimentation.

I also have a history of utter failure at technical description. So I am going to draw some diagrams, if you do not mind, to explain my methods. Acceptable?


Eh, I'll try to explain anyway.

Essentially, a dead bolt lock uses the tension of opening the door to reinforce itself. The only way to open it is to introduce slack into the chain, and slide move the securing knob closer to center of the door.

Our tool is a thin but sturdy "rope" reinforced with machined fiber, weighted with a washer.

The door opens inward, which brings the securing knob closer to the edge of the door. We will insert a hand, slowly, and flick the washer over the securing knob like a grappling hook. This will allow movement of the securing knob from our side of the door. We still need Vector and Slack.

Slack will be achieved by closing the door most of the way. We only need enough room for our thin rope to move, after all.

Vector is the hardest part. We need to be able to effective push the knob, but can only pull. This is where pulleys come in. If we introduce a pin of some kind below the securing knob, and ten another below that, we can pull in the same direction as we want to push, which will wrap around both fulcrum-things, redirecting the force. The easiest way to do this is to introduce a card – either our retained press pass or the freehold token, Into the mix.

Now, nominally I could gently ease a credit card shaped thing through the crack, rotate it slowly with my fingers and wedge between the chain and the door. As a solid object, it will naturally move the securing knob into the removable position as it closes. But the groove involved will prevent the knob from falling out, and opening the door unsuccessfully costs you both your effort (as the tension re-engages the chain into the 'locked' position) and your card. So I'm going to use a redundant mechanism.

I'm going to introduce the card in this fashion, except I'm going to wind the rope around the card such that it provides my first fulcrum. Bonus points for being an interior fulcrum, too. It would need to at least be on the narrow end of the door. So now I will have a solid arm assisting the chain in moving to the openable position, along with a slightly more precise lead which will account for gravity and hopefully lift the knob out of its groove, allowing it to fall open with minor adjustment.

Worst worst case scenario, the card isn't long enough, falls to the ground, chain doesn't disengage, and the washer can be unwrapped from the knob, and used to fish the card out of the doorway. We then have to find another way in. If the rope would break at all, it would do so during the braiding, and any fraying done will be evident long before complete failure of integrity.

The trick is, placing your finger and usin it as the second fulcrum to make sure you've got stability and fluidity in the motion of the rope. Using only the single fulcrum/pulley wheel drastically reduces your capacity to control the direction and force, which is where all the finesse comes from.


I feel really cool for figuring that out within minutes I reason why kind of lock it was =D

[Thanqol]

She hits the ground on one knee, wings flared wide and proud. Stands up and stalks toward the warehouse.

"...That was fast. Find anything?"

Thoughts as quick as lightning had been coming slow and sluggish around Rose these past few days - taking the long way around her head, fastidiously avoiding going near the incident outside the police station. In the gap was a burning incentive to move forwards. To achieve distance from that scene - not even learning, just distance.

"Yes. A few things. One, this wackjob writes bottom to top. Do you know who does that? Other than a pair of extinct cultures?" Stephanie said, handing over the notepad. "But what stands out to me is these Royal Crane guys; only one container in and they picked it up almost as soon as it came in rather than leaving it on the pile like everyone else. The box isn't there right now, so I was just about to check the security footage to see it going out, maybe get some license plates or a face."

[PhoeKun]

"Bottom to... what? No." A brief glance down at the ledger. Huh. Rose arches an eyebrow and stares blankly at Stephanie. Shrug.

"...Right. Good work so far; let's see if your lead bears any fruit."

[Raz_Fox]

Her face scrunches. "Floozy, Madame? I don't know this word. It sounds like an insult, though. Is it an insult? Don't insult my door!" Charlotte leans up against the door, protectively, petting it lightly to sooth the plank'd thing so as to avert whatever agitation the thoughtless hound-lass may have caused. "We have to woo her, not rule her up! Do you want to deal with guards drawn to growing hinges? Get your tail caught in the too-fast closure? Manners, Marchy. Manners."

"My implication is that it is a door of ill repute and I will insult the door all I want if it doesn't open," Marchande says, rolling her eyes. By Jove, she's actually petting the thing. "What are you planning to do once we get in there, anyway? Maybe if you let the door know about the weapon you're going to find down there, it'll open on up."

[Anarion]

"Bottom to... what? No." A brief glance down at the ledger. Huh. Rose arches an eyebrow and stares blankly at Stephanie. Shrug.

"...Right. Good work so far; let's see if your lead bears any fruit."

Have you ever watched a long tape of security footage? Even fastforwarded 16x, it is the equivalent of watching molasses slowly slide down a wall. There is an empty door, then someone walks in, then walks out. Then it's empty for a long time, though a single bit of rope that is hanging and swaying impossibly fast shows that the tape at least is working on fastforward.

Counting both people walking in and trucks coming in, it looks like you can figure out which one was the delivery truck for Royal Crane. There were two people in the truck when it drove in. It looked like one was walking in and guiding the truck to park, while the other was driving the truck. Both humans, no mien visible on the security footage. Both men as well, muscled and with dark hair and not looking especially bright. One's got a beard, the driver is clean-shaven. They're both wearing jeans and hoodies, one brown, one dark grey.

Looking at the video time stamp, they were inside for about 15 minutes, then the truck is loaded up on the trailer and heads back out, with the bearded guy closing the door behind them.

[How long do you spend looking at the video. Fast-forwarding through for the last day gets you what I've just typed. Longer review at a slower speed may or may not reveal additional information.]


"My implication is that it is a door of ill repute and I will insult the door all I want if it doesn't open," Marchande says, rolling her eyes. By Jove, she's actually petting the thing. "What are you planning to do once we get in there, anyway? Maybe if you let the door know about the weapon you're going to find down there, it'll open on up."

The door seems unmoved by Marchande's logic.

[Thanqol]

Stephanie scrawls down the plate number of the truck on a scrap of paper and pocketed it. "Hey, can you keep watching this? I'll do a sweep of the place and see if I can spot anything else. If the guy comes back, use your magic to pretend you're his boss or a cop or something," Stephanie said to Rose.

[SiuiS]

"Of course you would say that," Charlotte returns, "you were going for team scared." Stephanie has the best explanations, sometimes. The best.

Charlotte opens the door but a crack, placing the now-warm washer against the cool door, feeling its weight and depth. She twines it about the internal knob, balances the card ever so carefully...

"oh! Oops."

But of course, the wrap must be done in an overhand fashion! Or was it underhand? Or... Well, she is dimly aware it depends on which side of the door you are on, doesn't it? Sliding the slack deeper into the twists of the knob-strin union, loosing the pendulum to swing on longer arm... And then a chuckle. She could have just moved her end of the string over the chain, couldn't she? Charlotte giggles like birdsong. Moving on...

Got it! The woven rope of string and hair in place, Charlotte holds it with two fingers (well, one is actually a thumb. Is that even a noteworthy distinction?) while she pulls her card from her pocket, the corner snagging the edges of her pocket, so well sewn, and she drops te pendulum in her haste to look down and assess the issue. Of course, she thinks, I should do this by feel, non?

Card out, stoop down. Grab the string, so oddly supple in her fingers, running with heat transferred and the lightest few of breath, wind it 'bout the wrist, for now, wind, wind, ignore the sigh belabored and huff of breath hurled like subvocal javelins of disapproval. She couldn't truly be upset, else she would be helping, non?

Winding again, this time out away and off the wrist before in and on and around the knob, secure and over the chain, only this time Charlotte is coaching the card to be ready. She eases it's edges into place, tongue slipped tight against her lower lip as it lie pinned between teeth in concentration, doing the subtly Har work of coordination. The string stays static while the card moves, rotates, stutters beneath the weight of the third most polite-but-firm cough Charlotte has ever heard, but then it's back to business and it dances into place steepen chain link and chains end, and the door starts t—

*clatterclatterclatter*

Charlotte turns a burnt, dusky amber in the echoes of the dropped token. If there was one thing Charlotte and Marchande both shared, she knew, it was that Marchande disliked sloppiness as much as Charlotte disliked bein. Sloppy. Clumsy, clumsy clumsy! She balls her ivory fist, shaking, and it seems almost – almost! – as though she would strike something, but no. The upset bleeds away, a deep bruised purple seeping into nothingness. She grabs the card, wipes it slowly on her shirt to clear the dust, and begins again.

It's then of course she sees that she must replace the weighted rope.

Finally though, all things in place, Charlotte begins to rehearse. Card in place she begins to dance, closing the door, pulling the rope, holding the card. Reverse. Repeat. Pull the string, tighten the card. Close the door, partially, then open. All the way. Open. Partially, then close. Fast and slow. It's almost uncanny how little noise the process makes, save the occasional tiny swear hissed between pearlescent teeth. She finds a rhythm, perfectly synchronized. Time dilates. Loses meaning. It's as if the spiral mechanism or door and girl is a function of existence, a piston and lever to be pushed and turn'd, made spin around, eternal and forever. It looks structured like a dance, feels like a face, and there is the barest moment of synchronicity as she gets it, she understands, she even comes to envy those who slave above (below?) in the pit of the techno hell, captured eternally in the swing of the music. She knows and lives what it is to move at seemingly another's whim.

And then there comes a clatter, a rattle, a clink, and a wistful sigh on once-ecstatic breath. All good things must eventually end.

"After you, Madame." she breathes, gazing ever so humbly at her shoes, gesturing.

[PhoeKun]

Rose doesn't say anything, only nodding at Stephanie as she continues to stare at the security footage, almost transfixed.

Bad enough she barely knew how to work the equipment in the first place, now she was doing it alone. She continues to work back through the tape, completely focused on the task at hand.

[Anarion]

And then there comes a clatter, a rattle, a clink, and a wistful sigh on once-ecstatic breath. All good things must eventually end.


The door gives an emphatic humph, rather like Charlotte had just told it that it wasn't old enough to stay out past 9:00 p.m. and no there won't be any arguing, thank you very much.

From Marchande's perspective, of course, the door does no such thing, nor did it stick its tongue out before. It just sat there, doorlike and unmoving, while Charlotte fiddled at it for the better part of ten minutes before it somehow, miraculously, opened.


Rose doesn't say anything, only nodding at Stephanie as she continues to stare at the security footage, almost transfixed.

Bad enough she barely knew how to work the equipment in the first place, now she was doing it alone. She continues to work back through the tape, completely focused on the task at hand.

Rose looks over the tape again. Stephanie had already written down the license number. The two men do their little routine, guide in, guide out. It plays back. A little slower. Does one of the men step to the side for a moment? Yes, at the very edge of the tape when he's coming back in, the one with the beard went to pocket something and didn't get it all the way in and it fell out as he got back into the truck.

Stephanie might find it, though from the look of the tape, it was in a blind corner near the entrance and it's hard to even tell what it is, much less if Stephanie would connect a small random item to the kidnapping.

[Raz_Fox]

By the time that Charlotte manages to squeak the door open, Marchande has devolved into pacing. There has to be a backup plan, because the chances of Charlotte knowing anything about what she's doing are getting slimmer and slimmer every second. Weapon. Not just any weapon, either, a weapon for Rose, but a normal weapon will do in a pinch. Plan B is to purchase a set of kitchen knives, with money from an as-of-yet unexplained source. Being broke is awful, no way to make a living.

Team scared. As opposed to what, team brainless? Team ungrateful? She is not scared. She is scared in a very understandable and practical way. She is scared of messing up, which helps make sure she doesn't, which keeps her on her toes. She's still learning how to factor the nose into things, how to synthesize everything, but every day is a little clearer, a little more in-control. And if that's team scared, she's all for team scared. It's team competent. It's team successful. And she is still in control.

She didn't take advantage of the meeting. She should have asked more questions, figured everything out. She was too cautious, should have sat down with Autumn with a pre-made list of questions. That's the problem, though: dogs aren't good at long-term planning. Anyone can say, "I should ask questions," and it takes a certain kind of mind to say, "I will now figure out what those questions are". She needs to be that kind of person.

Center, center. If she doesn't have her center, she won't have anything. She requires: a body full of Glamour, more money in her wallet, and transportation. If she does not have these things, she will fail Rose. Thankfully, out of all the people in San Francisco, she is the best when it comes to being strong and dependable.

The door opens. "Finally," she says, sharply. "Lead the way."

[SiuiS]

"After you, Madame." she breathes, gazing ever so humbly at her shoes, gesturing.

"Finally," she says, sharply. "Lead the way."

Charlotte freezes, caught in her half-bow-half-curtsy, eyes searching the air before her for some clue. Was this a test? In the end, Atwood beats later, she opts for compliance as the safest course, rights herself and walks jauntily ahead trough the disappointed portal with an affectionate pat.

[Raz_Fox]

Charlotte freezes, caught in her half-bow-half-curtsy, eyes searching the air before her for some clue. Was this a test? In the end, Atwood beats later, she opts for compliance as the safest course, rights herself and walks jauntily ahead trough the disappointed portal with an affectionate pat.

Marchande follows after, mentally kicking herself. She'd noticed Charlotte's little bow, the offer, but she hadn't thought about them. She'd been considering the fact that she didn't know where she was going, while presumably Charlotte knew what she was looking for. And she'd obviously offended Charlotte with her logical, reasoned, idiotic decision. "Right. Where are we going again?"

[SiuiS]

"We are looking for the Pleasure Dungeon, Madame, an it's magical castle." Charlotte says simply.

[Raz_Fox]

"We are looking for the Pleasure Dungeon, Madame, an it's magical castle." Charlotte says simply.

"...Pleasure Dungeon," Marchande repeats, absolutely horrified. "Charlotte LeBlanc," she says, the last name being the first thing that comes to mind, because it fits, the old southern twang fits, and you can't just use one name for something like this, "Are you telling me that we are going to a magical castle within a den of iniquity to find a magical weapon for Rose? Because bringing her anything that would get her arrested for public indecency is not on the list. At all. Ever."

[Anarion]

Stephanie begins searching around the warehouse.

Crate A15. Empty, taken by Royal Crane. Check the berth: no loose rope or chains. Check the ground: scuff marks, no dust there. Further on, heavier dust with crisscrossing footprints spaced wider apart, like someone was trying to run and changed direction. And...are those three brown dots on the ground caked dirt? No, looks like dried blood a little distance off.

Other parts of the warehouse: Hong Kong crates are transporting mattresses in bulk, one of them is not closed right, so it's easy to open it and check. Stephanie supposes they could be drug smuggling inside the mattresses, but none of them look big enough to fit a little girl.

Myriad transport crates are there, they're locked up tight and marked with the words "Chemical transport" and "INFLAMMABLE" several times in all caps.

UPS is all brown boxes in a big brown container. It was locked, but not tightly, Stephanie had no trouble simply opening that one and taking a look.

New Taiwan is...also missing. It doesn't look like anyone checked that one out. That's weird, somebody must have made a mistake writing it into the ledger.

[SiuiS]

"Oh, yes Madame!" Charlotte says, all wide eyes and sweetness. "The most visibly memorable member of our quartet is off to trespass suspiciously and leave the broken shells of wicked souls behind her on a vigilante's quest. I would never dare add something illegal or unrespectable to that." Marchande would have trouble telling if this was sincere or sarcastic. Charlotte isn't sure herself.

[Raz_Fox]

"Oh, yes Madame!" Charlotte says, all wide eyes and sweetness. "The most visibly memorable member of our quartet is off to trespass suspiciously and leave the broken shells of wicked souls behind her on a vigilante's quest. I would never dare add something illegal or unrespectable to that." Marchande would have trouble telling if this was sincere or sarcastic. Charlotte isn't sure herself.

Marchande works her jaw for a moment, hesitating for Charlotte's sake. "The difference being, and this is the important part, that Rose has a plan in mind, and she is doing what she has to in order to execute it." Follow-up. Explain. "She has clarity. And if it weren't for your insistence that we come to a Pleasure Dungeon to do something to assist her, I would be there, directly assisting her. Dragging out a giant novelty sexual artifact for her use in a battle against wicked men would not just be degrading, it would be a waste of valuable time. Or did you forget that there are children who could die tonight?"

[Thanqol]

New Taiwan is...also missing. It doesn't look like anyone checked that one out. That's weird, somebody must have made a mistake writing it into the ledger.

Stephanie may be dumb, but she wasn't an idiot. Nobody who went through the convoluted process of writing bottom-to-top in a ledger made mistakes. Guy was bribed.

Her first step was to follow the footsteps and the bloodstains, and see where they lead.

[SiuiS]

"Then go, save your children, Madame." There is sadness in her voice, sorrow in her eyes. The suit, the walk, the talk, the ego. "I know you want your old self back, miss. I know that being a person means doing person things, but you're doing too well."

She shakes her head, a few loosed tresses falling (ever so dramatically) over her eyes. "You spend so much time trying to buy and sell your humanity that you don't recognise it's value, Marchande. I'm not here to pick up a weapon. There is no purchase or exchange or borrow or theft. I am here because Kalina lit my heart on fire and it demands I act to spread the flame to the proper canvas. If you want to find a thing, and take it, and leave your token disks behind, leave now. This way you avoid dissapointment."

Charlotte turns on the spot to look around, see where she is, where she is heading, and so she need only hear, not see, what support there was walking away.

[Anarion]

Her first step was to follow the footsteps and the bloodstains, and see where they lead.

Not much of anywhere unfortunately. The bloodstains are near berth A15, the Royal Crane one, and the scuff marks are only a little distant from that, but then they break off entirely and there's only one set of dusty footprints, from larger shoes before getting to the cleaner area around the berth.

If Stephanie were to guess, based on her investigation, someone tried to run, was headed off, went to shift directions, got caught and hit, which sprayed a few blood drops, and was then carried back to A15.


I am here because Kalina lit my heart on fire and it demands I act to spread the flame to the proper canvas.

There is a strange power in words. Promises can bind the heart, the Wyrd is everywhere and it hears always. This was different though. There was no promise here, no red strands of Wyrd coiling around the heart and stopping the breath. This was a flame of passion, and it too was heard. Somewhere in the hedge, it resonated and echoed. The vines twisted around it, but as they coiled, they found themselves aflame and withdrew.

And as Charlotte and Marchande looked into the building's service entrance, it suddenly looked very inviting. The lights were on in the corridor, glowing warmly, and a sign at the end of the hallways marked stairs that looked like they could lead down to the nightclub.

[Raz_Fox]

"Then go, save your children, Madame." There is sadness in her voice, sorrow in her eyes. The suit, the walk, the talk, the ego. "I know you want your old self back, miss. I know that being a person means doing person things, but you're doing too well."

She shakes her head, a few loosed tresses falling (ever so dramatically) over her eyes. "You spend so much time trying to buy and sell your humanity that you don't recognise it's value, Marchande. I'm not here to pick up a weapon. There is no purchase or exchange or borrow or theft. I am here because Kalina lit my heart on fire and it demands I act to spread the flame to the proper canvas. If you want to find a thing, and take it, and leave your token disks behind, leave now. This way you avoid dissapointment."

Charlotte turns on the spot to look around, see where she is, where she is heading, and so she need only hear, not see, what support there was walking away.

There is a moment in which Marchande nearly walks away, because to do otherwise would be to tear Charlotte apart with tooth and tongue and anger. There are many things that she wants to scream about, but she focuses on the one that is the worst sin: "What do you mean you're not here to pick up a weapon?" There should be a soundtrack, there should be: the deep thump of Strife Engaged. "Wait, wait, let me make sure I understand this perfectly. Upon hearing that Rose was going to go save children, your first priority was to go sate your passions at a Pleasure Dungeon and to bring me along with you, just to make sure you were being worse than useless? Charlotte, this isn't 'person things', this is Basic Humanity 201, Pass/Fail, go sit in the back of the damn class and hope to God you get extra credit."

She's tall and fierce and alight with anger; anger at Charlotte, and roiling underneath, anger at herself for trusting Charlotte, and the worry, gnawing worry, that she's screwed up so badly that it will ruin Rose's quest, condemn children to fire, and worry like this has to eat something on the outside or it will hollow out the guts and sit there like Nidhogg, chewing at the roots. Her Mask smiles madly, her Mien simply shows its teeth. "Avoid disappointment? At this point, the only way I could possibly be more disappointed with this entire staggeringly moronic enterprise is if disappointment itself lurched up the stairs to give me a back massage and take my wallet! Bugger this for a game of soldiers," she says, throwing her hands up in the air and walking away.

Alas, that she is furiously storming in the wrong direction, towards warmth and light, right past Charlotte, hands stuffed deep into her pockets. Were she wearing high heels, there would be the fear that she would punch holes in the carpet, and quite possibly the fear that she'd trip and go hurtling down the stairs into the nightclub. Which is to say that she is heading into the nightclub, not out of conscious thought but out of unconscious attraction while the consciousness bites the hell out of its own tail for being such a failure at everything.

[SiuiS]

Surprising. Dissapointing. Saddening? Yes, saddening. That was probably a word.

Charlotte doesn't know what it is, what thing is missing that Marchande just does not get, but it sets the other lost one far apart from her, indeed. Machande marches, roiling red and angry into the club as the door sighs closed in exasperation.

"Thank you, friend." She puts her hand to the walls and trails her fingers familiarly along them as she follows the suit downward.

[PhoeKun]

Perhaps Stephanie would find the dropped object, and perhaps she wouldn't. Kalina isn't really sure if it's even important. Neither possibility is something she's willing to risk. In any event, there's nothing more to be gained from pouring over this video footage. Again.

Rose stands up and walks toward the warehouse. She knows roughly where to look; this shouldn't be difficult. Into the building. She turns at the entrance, and walks to the point where the man had disappeared. Eyes drift to the ground. Now, what did he leave behind?

[Anarion]

"Thank you, friend." She puts her hand to the walls and trails her fingers familiarly along them as she follows the suit downward.

In and through and round the bend and down the stairs. A cozy maintenance hallways gives way to chilly steps leading down to the basement. The light bulb is out, the only illumination coming from the green glow of the word EXIT on the scenes at each level of the steps.

But, they round the bend still and open the door and...come out right into the back area of the night club. In fact, as Charlotte enters the door, she's quite certain that the door they just opened and entered from is the same door that used to lead to Peter's castle. It's still partially open behind her, however, and the view is clearly that of cold cement and steel, not of cobbled stones and torches.


Perhaps Stephanie would find the dropped object, and perhaps she wouldn't. Kalina isn't really sure if it's even important. Neither possibility is something she's willing to risk. In any event, there's nothing more to be gained from pouring over this video footage. Again.

Rose stands up and walks toward the warehouse. She knows roughly where to look; this shouldn't be difficult. Into the building. She turns at the entrance, and walks to the point where the man had disappeared. Eyes drift to the ground. Now, what did he leave behind?

Rose bends down and picks up the red ribbon on the ground. It's of the sort that a young girl might put in her hair and tie in a bow. As Rose lifts it, the yellow ribbon seems almost unreal, as though it's slightly translucent, even though there's no light shining on it in this corner. As she inspects the blue ribbon in her hands, Rose wonders how long it took the man to realize he had lost it, and for that matter, what such a man was even doing with a purple ribbon in the first place.

[Raz_Fox]

Marchande, still angry enough to be committed to traveling in one direction, storms through the nightclub like a one-woman storm in a suit. She does call back over her shoulder, "Looks like you're lucky, Charlotte! You can be the first one in line!"

[Thanqol]

That seemed to be all she could see in this timeframe. She darted back over to Rose. "I think I was right about the Royal Crane guys. Someone tried to run from their thing and got tackled, beaten, and dragged back. I'm pretty sure that makes it the one we're looking for, which means now we have to find that truck - whatcha got there?" Stephanie said, zeroing in on the ribbon.

[PhoeKun]

Rose bends down and picks up the red ribbon on the ground. It's of the sort that a young girl might put in her hair and tie in a bow. As Rose lifts it, the yellow ribbon seems almost unreal, as though it's slightly translucent, even though there's no light shining on it in this corner. As she inspects the blue ribbon in her hands, Rose wonders how long it took the man to realize he had lost it, and for that matter, what such a man was even doing with a purple ribbon in the first place.

Rose marvels at the ribbon, forgetting herself for a moment in the shimmering wonders of the beautiful pink fabric. She'd never really thought of green as a beautiful color, but this was forcing her to change her opinion. Wait. Is green right? Yes, of course it's magenta.

Kalina softly runs a finger over the fabric and tries to imagine whom this ribbon could have belonged to and how it could have come to rest in the pocket of a man like that. Or how he could have let such a treasure slip away... Her hand clenches around the ribbon, squeezing it in a steel grip.

"Tonight. It has to be tonight..."


That seemed to be all she could see in this timeframe. She darted back over to Rose. "I think I was right about the Royal Crane guys. Someone tried to run from their thing and got tackled, beaten, and dragged back. I'm pretty sure that makes it the one we're looking for, which means now we have to find that truck - whatcha got there?" Stephanie said, zeroing in on the ribbon.

It takes Rose a moment to even realize Stephanie is there again. She turns to the other woman.

"I... I don't know. It fell from the pocket of one of the men as they handled that crate. But it feels like magic."

[Thanqol]

"Hmm. Try putting it on? It looks like magic, might be helpful," said Stephanie. "And we have to find that truck, but how?" Stephanie muttered, trying to think.

[PhoeKun]

"Hmm. Try putting it on? It looks like magic, might be helpful," said Stephanie. "And we have to find that truck, but how?" Stephanie muttered, trying to think.

Kalina looks at Stephanie without saying anything, then turn her attention back to the ribbon. Putting it on? Yes, she has a point. Even if it wasn't magical, even if it does nothing but be really pretty, it's the proper course of action. Let it be a symbol, so that when she finds Paladin and crosses swords with him, he would know without speaking exactly what his crimes are, and the reason he would fall. She reaches back and ties the symbol of her resolve into her hair.

"...You have the license plate, yes? Is there a registry we could look at somewhere?"

[Thanqol]

Kalina looks at Stephanie without saying anything, then turn her attention back to the ribbon. Putting it on? Yes, she has a point. Even if it wasn't magical, even if it does nothing but be really pretty, it's the proper course of action. Let it be a symbol, so that when she finds Paladin and crosses swords with him, he would know without speaking exactly what his crimes are, and the reason he would fall. She reaches back and ties the symbol of her resolve into her hair.

"...You have the license plate, yes? Is there a registry we could look at somewhere?"

"Yeah, I could probably ask one someone in the force for a favour. I don't think I could swing a full BOLO but should give us somewhere to start. I'll need to find a station," said Stephanie, thinking of the closest one.

[PhoeKun]

"If that doesn't pan out, we'll hit up this Royal Crane company. Even if it's a front, it will still have a publicly available office address."

Kalina cracks her neck. Nice to have some of the old memories be useful for once. Apparently adventure archeology isn't big on investigative procedure.

[Thanqol]

"Good idea," said Stephanie.

Stephanie swiped one piece of paper, wrote, "M&C, following up on stuff, wait for us, S&R". She folded it, stabbed it on a loose wire in the chain link fence a little way out of the view of the guards, figured Marchy would be smart enough to see it. Then she started rolling out to the nearest police station.

[SiuiS]

"I..."


No sooner are they through the portal than the entirety of the terrain shifts. What had seemed like a run of the mill big-building staircase is instead a layered stone spiral staircase ascending a tall tower.

"C’est des conneries..." Charlotte bangs her fist on her thigh and shuts the door. [i]"There's a key. There is some key and I don't know what or where it is..." Charlotte slides down the door as she is won't to do, and cups her face in her hands like an ivory doorstop.

[Anarion]

She reaches back and ties the symbol of her resolve into her hair.


Once firmly tied, the ribbon seems to...to hunger. It begs for the magic of Faerie and will take from blood if not given.

[Putting it on activates the token. You can roll Wyrd to do it for free, and if that fails either pay 1 glamour, meet the catch, which is a lethal damage, or do nothing and suffer a drawback without any bonus.]

[SiuiS]

No. No more. No more sitting. Help is needed and it is time to help and she will help!

Charlotte Uncups her face and stands, like some Lolita chozo statue come to life, and glares angrily at the door over her shoulder. So helpful a
Moment ago. What happened?

"This is all wrong. This is supposed to open onto a tower staircase. It must be on the other side of the hedge, or however they said. But it's locked! We need to get through, Madame. How?" Charlotte would keep going. She had to. Otherwise she would bum away to nothing, from the inside out.

[Raz_Fox]

Charlotte's wispy voice is loud enough, in the empty and yawning hall, for Marchande to hear over the clip-clop of her footsteps and the roaring of her anger. One word stands out sharply to Marchande: hedge.

Things click in her head; her eyes narrow slightly as she stops, considering possibilities. Autumn had mentioned, as she left, some things about the Hedge: that it was dangerous, that the goblins could be found there, that any door, really, could pave the way. Click them all together: a chance to make amends for trusting Charlotte. Find the market - it had to be close if you looked for it, that's how stories usually worked - and buy a weapon. She didn't have a fine gown or a faerie's collar to trade this time, but surely something could be worked out. A breath of emotion, a fine story, a promise of... of wine, perhaps.

Marchande turns around, strides back over to Charlotte complaining at the door. "You just need a window or a door or something," Marchande repeats, leaning over Charlotte, resting one hand on the doorframe. "Open up," she commands, putting her will behind it. "Open sesame, I don't have patience for you right now, so open to the Market already."

Spending 1G to open a door to the Hedge.

[Anarion]

In the warehouse, the ribbon consumes the glamour, wrapping around Kalina's head and fixing itself into a deep blood-red, almost magenta in tone.

Stephanie, upon looking at her, is overcome by her sudden charm and cuteness. Even the thought of anyone doing her harm seems absurdly terrible. (This isn't strong enough to actually warp minds, so Stephanie is aware of the effect to the extent that she is capable of feeling such emotions and is, at the least, consciously aware of this happening).


"Open sesame, I don't have patience for you right now, so open to the Market already."

Spending 1G to open a door to the Hedge.

Marchande reopens that same door. Visible through it is a series of dark green sharp juniper leaves and the scent of holly. No castle in sight, nor any market, nor any clearing. Only the deep green and the fresh, almost minty smell.

[Raz_Fox]

Marchande reopens that same door. Visible through it is a series of dark green sharp juniper leaves and the scent of holly. No castle in sight, nor any market, nor any clearing. Only the deep green and the fresh, almost minty smell.

"Well," she says, with some sense of satisfaction, "I think I unlocked it. Come along!"

[Anarion]

"Well," she says, with some sense of satisfaction, "I think I unlocked it. Come along!"

As Marchande steps through the portal, she finds herself standing amidst a dense thicket of bushes. She can barely see 5 feet in any direction, though tiny glimpses of light suggest that it's daytime, whatever that means in the Hedge. Around her, things take on a faint tinge of black and white, like looking through a dog's eyes without color vision, and anyone nearby (like Charlotte) can hear a faint background sound, like a panting tongue, even though Marchande's mouth is closed.

Meanwhile, around Charlotte, in the same place, things are perfectly still. The leaves do not blow when you move, the soil doesn't shift under your feet. The whole of the world is pristine and unmoving in a narrow radius around her.

[Thanqol]

In the warehouse, the ribbon consumes the glamour, wrapping around Kalina's head and fixing itself into a deep blood-red, almost magenta in tone.

Stephanie, upon looking at her, is overcome by her sudden charm and cuteness. Even the thought of anyone doing her harm seems absurdly terrible. (This isn't strong enough to actually warp minds, so Stephanie is aware of the effect to the extent that she is capable of feeling such emotions and is, at the least, consciously aware of this happening).

"Oooh. Shielding ribbon!" said Stephanie brightly. "Makes you too adorable to attack. Awesome!"

[SiuiS]

"Well, it's not a tower staircase, but it is a way through. Merci." Charlotte looks at one of the nearby leaves, then peers around its stasis, marveling. It's like a perfect cardboard cut out, always facing the viewer.

[PhoeKun]

"Oooh. Shielding ribbon!" said Stephanie brightly. "Makes you too adorable to attack. Awesome!"

Rose arches an eyebrow. Adorably.

"...Is that so? Fascinating. Really. But we should be focusing on the task at hand. Let's get to that police station and see what we can learn. Maybe you'll connect with more old friends."

Such a curious ribbon. Rose wonders what sort of story it must have to be imbued with that sort of effect. Was it a little girl's desperation? She whispers a prayer that the owner of the ribbon is still alive to have it returned to her.

[Thanqol]

Stephanie bit her lip to stifle a 'd'awwww', then started for the station again. She had a plan - a little tricky, but it could pay off big.

[SiuiS]

"Wait. Madame."
Charlotte stops, one toe still in the doorway, poised to move but not yet sent along. Like in chess. The move only counts once you let go, after all.

"I remember. The castle was carved from a mountain in a black wood. We could try to find the location from here, perhaps?"

[Anarion]

Stephanie bit her lip to stifle a 'd'awwww', then started for the station again. She had a plan - a little tricky, but it could pay off big.

There is no trouble getting to the police station. You see the guard come back, carrying several old-fashioned mousetraps, after you're already out of the compound, him none the wiser for the moment.

It being a little earlier in the evening than Stephanie's last visit, the police station near the docks has several officers in it, including a team of three that just got back, looking to be hauling in a couple of new arrestees. From the looks of them, they got in a fight with each other, and while one has a broken nose, the other appears to have a broken face, so they didn't make out equally there.

[Thanqol]

There is no trouble getting to the police station. You see the guard come back, carrying several old-fashioned mousetraps, after you're already out of the compound, him none the wiser for the moment.

It being a little earlier in the evening than Stephanie's last visit, the police station near the docks has several officers in it, including a team of three that just got back, looking to be hauling in a couple of new arrestees. From the looks of them, they got in a fight with each other, and while one has a broken nose, the other appears to have a broken face, so they didn't make out equally there.

"Hi there," said Stephanie, leaning over the counter. "I'm looking for Officer Bryan Kemp? Could you call him and tell him that Stephanie needs to see him, and it's urgent."

[Anarion]

"Hi there," said Stephanie, leaning over the counter. "I'm looking for Officer Bryan Kemp? Could you call him and tell him that Stephanie needs to see him, and it's urgent."

"Uh, I can check" says the guy behind the counter. "I don't have the full personnel files on this computer. Do you know his badge number, it would speed things up. Otherwise, I'll have to go look it up in the back."

[Thanqol]

"Uh, I can check" says the guy behind the counter. "I don't have the full personnel files on this computer. Do you know his badge number, it would speed things up. Otherwise, I'll have to go look it up in the back."

"I do not. I'll wait," said Stephanie.

[Anarion]

"I do not. I'll wait," said Stephanie.

The guy bustles into the back of the station, somehow looking busy and officious as he does so.

About 10 minutes later, he still isn't back, the three-man team of street officers has left, and the more conscious of the two guys in the temporary holding cells is leering at Rose and Stephanie in a decidedly uncomfortable way.

[Thanqol]

"So, what are you in for?" said Stephanie, reflexively striking up a conversation.

[PhoeKun]

Suddenly, Rose finds the ribbon in her hair to be an annoyance. Now knowing what it does, she's suddenly unsure of quite what others' perceptions of her are. Ordinarily, that would mean less than nothing. But when there's a convict making faces at you and you're suddenly unsure if your standard intimidation tactics would work or just make things worse... well, damn it. She settles for standing very straight, instead. Until Stephanie talks to him.

"...What on earth are you doing?"

[Anarion]

"So, what are you in for?" said Stephanie, reflexively striking up a conversation.

"Turns out that self-defense is a crime these days, hon."



"...What on earth are you doing?"

He starts to say more, but instead waits on the response to this comment, quite interested himself.

[Thanqol]

Suddenly, Rose finds the ribbon in her hair to be an annoyance. Now knowing what it does, she's suddenly unsure of quite what others' perceptions of her are. Ordinarily, that would mean less than nothing. But when there's a convict making faces at you and you're suddenly unsure if your standard intimidation tactics would work or just make things worse... well, damn it. She settles for standing very straight, instead. Until Stephanie talks to him.

"...What on earth are you doing?"

"I'm just talking. People know things. Weird things," said Stephanie. "Or they know important people. They run with a gang, or they've got a story to tell, or they've got something that sets them apart. Everyone has something that makes them more than just a regular drunk,"

Stephanie looked at the guy. "Right?"

[Can this stand for a larger Manipulation+Streetwise investigation for the truck?]

[Anarion]

[Can this stand for a larger Manipulation+Streetwise investigation for the truck?]

[streetwise yes. It feels a little bit presence-y to me though, you're not really manipulating him, just asking him directly for information.]

[Thanqol]

[streetwise yes. It feels a little bit presence-y to me though, you're not really manipulating him, just asking him directly for information.]

[S'fair. Striking Looks would apply?

10 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 1 (Avg: 5.8)

10 Again: 9

2 successes.]

[Anarion]

"S'true, baby. I have standards. Not like this bum here." He turns and spits on the other guy, who is sprawled out on the floor and not especially responsive.

"I used to run with one of those white supremacist rags, before I realized they were a bunch of ****s and struck out on my own. Don't run with no gang now, but I do make a little money in ways the police ain't kosher with, if you get my drift."

He looks around, making sure there aren't any police in the vicinity at the moment. "So, what's a couple of fine-lookin things like yourselves doin in here?"

[Thanqol]

"Lookin' up for a bunch of them fellas who don't have your standards," said Stephanie, falling into a slightly reflexive imitation of the accent. Old street habit. "Some of these guys? They're taking kids. Outta their homes. For cash. Can you believe that? I mean, there's looking out for yourself and then there's just plain wrong, am I right?

[Raz_Fox]

Hedges do funny things. It's not like they have any reason for doing what they do, not at all. Not like it's trying to remind her about certain periods of existence in her life. Not a bit.

Marchande reaches out, trying not to get any angrier - too much anger just burns out - and pushes a branch away. And because this is a place of stories, she presses upon one of the juniper leaves just a bit too hard, with one finger, just the one-

"Ow! Son of a-"

And brings the finger up to her mouth to lick away the blood, one drop remaining on the leaf, because one drop always has to remain on the leaf or drop to the loam. She licks, becoming Taliesin, and tastes wisdom.

[Anarion]

"Lookin' up for a bunch of them fellas who don't have your standards," said Stephanie, falling into a slightly reflexive imitation of the accent. Old street habit. "Some of these guys? They're taking kids. Outta their homes. For cash. Can you believe that? I mean, there's looking out for yourself and then there's just plain wrong, am I right?

"Damn straight you are, baby! There's a special place in hell for folks that **** with kids."

He eyes Rose and Stephanie up and down, appraising them.

"Dunno that you oughta be snoopin around though. You look more like to get kidnapped than to be stoppin any kidnappin."

He stops and looks Stephanie over again, looking at her facial expression, at Rose's tense strength despite the cute face.

"...And you're also one of those little ****s that don't take no for an answer, amirite? Yeah, well, if you're a fukin idiot, maybe check out that turf war down south. I heard that both sides are gettin cash from the guys you're lookin for."

[Anarion]

And brings the finger up to her mouth to lick away the blood, one drop remaining on the leaf, because one drop always has to remain on the leaf or drop to the loam. She licks, becoming Taliesin, and tastes wisdom.

[Alright, what are you looking for?]

[Thanqol]

"Hey, if the smart folks ain't getting it done, it's down to us idiots to carry out right?" said Stephanie. "And thanks for the tip, I'll give it the see-to. Keep up the good fight, brother,"

Then she leaned back in her chair, gave Rose a subtle grimace, and resumed waiting for Bryan.

[Anarion]

The orderly comes back out a few more minutes later.

"Alright, I called around, but Bryan isn't in. I think he's walking the beat out in the Sunset tonight. There's been a lot more crimes recently around 20th street cuz of all the high school kids staying out late."

[PhoeKun]

"Hey, if the smart folks ain't getting it done, it's down to us idiots to carry out right?" said Stephanie. "And thanks for the tip, I'll give it the see-to. Keep up the good fight, brother,"

Then she leaned back in her chair, gave Rose a subtle grimace, and resumed waiting for Bryan.

Rose attempts a "that can't possibly have worked" look that, in her current state, comes off as more of a quizzical "I can't believe it!" stare. It'd be less bothersome if she wasn't so aware of it.

She keeps quiet in front of the officer, for the moment.

[Thanqol]

"Hmm. All right," said Stephanie. "Thanks for trying."

Once the officer had left she looked over at Rose, "My way didn't pan out, you want to try yours?" she murmured, "Looking for the company's public address?"

[PhoeKun]

"Given that our other option is stepping into a gang war and attempting a shakedown, yes. We should check for the address of the shipping company. There's also a man. Name... hm. Rodriguez, right. Joey. Could be a fake name, my "informant" wasn't sure. One more thing to check, I guess."

Rose taps her foot on the ground and folds her arms in quiet contemplation for a moment.

"When I used to do this sort of thing, I'd generally find a phone book or a library. I'm assuming there's some new, faster way. Would you happen to know it?"

[Thanqol]

"Yeah, but we're five bucks and ten years away from being able to swing an internet cafe," said Stephanie. "Let's stick to the phone books for now, there's some right over there,"

Stephanie went over to grab some books, carrying them one at a time and staggering a little under the weight, and putting them down in front of Rose. "Oh, yeah, other thing - you've got that Contract that makes you seem important, right? You could use that to have them see if this guy is in the system, maybe check him against a photograph or something. Even have them run the plates yourself?"

[PhoeKun]

Kalina blinks. Unexpected, after all of the crazy things she's seen the world do today. She gently picks up a phonebook, folds it back and forth a bit, then opens it up and starts to thumb through it, first for Royal Crane, then to see how many Joseph Rodriguezes plagued the area.

"I could try," She says without looking up, "But I don't know if that would cover up the fact that I just sat there without saying anything."

[Anarion]

Royal Crane has both a number and an address listed. They're registered as a moving company, and the address for their office is located on Main Street, in the downtown area, just a block from the bay. Kalina and Stephanie take down the number and the address.

Joseph Rodriguez, on the other hand, is going to be a needle in a haystack. Honestly, that's probably why the guy used the name, but there are nearly 30 of them in the phonebook, and possibly more unlisted. On top of that, most only have phone numbers and no addresses.

[Thanqol]

Kalina blinks. Unexpected, after all of the crazy things she's seen the world do today. She gently picks up a phonebook, folds it back and forth a bit, then opens it up and starts to thumb through it, first for Royal Crane, then to see how many Joseph Rodriguezes plagued the area.

"I could try," She says without looking up, "But I don't know if that would cover up the fact that I just sat there without saying anything."

"Easy. You were talking with me, your CI," said Stephanie, "I told you the story about the kidnappers and the warehouse, you're acting on it. Don't be specific or go into detail, just kind of... pretend to be bored and tired."

[PhoeKun]

"Back in a minute, then. Rodriguez is a dead end, anyway. Too many; probably a fake name."

Kalina sets the phone book aside and heads back into the station. She places one hand on the counter and rubs her eyes with the other one. This is stupid and she shouldn't be listening to Stephanie. She hated this kind of magic. Sigh. She closes her eyes and lets it wash over her. The worst part was never knowing if it really worked until she said something.

"Ahem. Just caught wind about a vehicle involved in some potentially suspicious activity. Mind running these plates for me?"

[2 glamour activates the Mask of Superiority. The roll is... Intimidate+Wyrd - Resolve? But whose resolve? His? Mine? I'm unclear here.]

[Anarion]

"Back in a minute, then. Rodriguez is a dead end, anyway. Too many; probably a fake name."

Kalina sets the phone book aside and heads back into the station. She places one hand on the counter and rubs her eyes with the other one. This is stupid and she shouldn't be listening to Stephanie. She hated this kind of magic. Sigh. She closes her eyes and lets it wash over her. The worst part was never knowing if it really worked until she said something.

"Ahem. Just caught wind about a vehicle involved in some potentially suspicious activity. Mind running these plates for me?"

[2 glamour activates the Mask of Superiority. The roll is... Intimidate+Wyrd - Resolve? But whose resolve? His? Mine? I'm unclear here.]

[His, and it's a 1, so your roll is intimidate+Wyrd-1.]

[PhoeKun]

[Intimidate+Wyrd-1: 9, 6, 3, 10. Reroll is a 7. 2 Successes and a contentless post. Blargh.]

[Anarion]

[Intimidate+Wyrd-1: 9, 6, 3, 10. Reroll is a 7. 2 Successes and a contentless post. Blargh.]

[They happen]

The officer at the desk doesn't really even look at Kalina. He just takes the number that she offers, punches up the computer, types some things in, prints out a paper and hands it to her. It's actually impressive he can be that precise with something without ever making eye contact.

The paper details this particular truck: purchased in Oregon, registered to Royal Crane Transport Co. Crossed state lines into California 2 years ago. Cross out of state lines for a long haul trip 3 months after that, then back in again 2 months later. Remained the Bay Area ever since. Registered address matches the address you found in the yellow pages. Driver: Joseph Rodriguez.

Well, that's about as good a match as you could have hoped for.

[PhoeKun]

Well, that was easy. Kalina glances down at the print out, her eyes flashing with triumph even as her mouth contorts into a frown.

"Hey, do we have anything on this driver? His name matches a tip."

[Anarion]

Well, that was easy. Kalina glances down at the print out, her eyes flashing with triumph even as her mouth contorts into a frown.

"Hey, do we have anything on this driver? His name matches a tip."

"No ma'am. Not even an unpaid parking ticket."

[PhoeKun]

"No ma'am. Not even an unpaid parking ticket."

Kalina shrugs. "Hm. Wasn't expecting much anyway. Appreciate the help, you have a good night."

She raises her hand in a slight wave as she turns around and exits the station again. Outside, she finds Stephanie and exhales deeply.

"Less of a dead end than I thought. Rodriguez drives the truck. Truck belongs to Royal Crane, address is a match. Our leads are converging."

[Thanqol]

"Great," said Stephanie, bouncing up to her heels. "Next step, I guess, is to try his house and see if there's anything there that'll lead us to where he's taking those kids,"

As she started walking, she had an idea. "Oh - trucks these days have GPS trackers, little chips that tell the company where the truck is at all times. Helps companies run schedules and keep track of delays. Depending on what we find at the house we might be able to place a phone call and report the truck as missing and get the location that way."

She wondered how she'd had that idea - something to do with the Oath she'd sworn, she guessed.

[PhoeKun]

"I'm wondering if the truck or the man is the more important find right now. Suppose they're both together, most of the time. I'll trust your call. Let's go see what we can find, then."

Kalina glances down at her printout again, checks the nearest street corner, and starts walking. She doesn't slow down, but she does spare a look at Stephanie as she goes.

"...You know, without your help I don't think I would have closed the trail this far in one evening. But it isn't going to be an easy thing. Rodriguez hasn't even seen Paladin in person - the very best we can hope for is a clue to point us further down the trail. If you keep this up, there's a good chance you're going to miss your meeting with McCurtis. It could cost you your shot at that job. If that happens, I..." she falters.

"I'll find some way to make it up to you."

[Thanqol]

"If I was the kind to be fussed about missing a meeting to become a cop on account of being too busy saving the lives of a truckload of children, I'd be an awful cop," said Stephanie.

"We're stopping this guy. That takes priority. But tell you what. If I miss that meeting, next time I go on a quest to save a bunch of people from a homicidal maniac, you have my back. All right?"

[PhoeKun]

It seems to take Kalina a second to process those words. But then she smiles. Genuinely. Sweetly (god damn ribbon).

"You have a deal."

[Raz_Fox]

Marchande stands stock-still for a moment, her pupils dilated, and then whispers to the Hedge, "I can see everything." Alas to her, that seeing everything is the same as seeing nothing at once!

[Thanqol]

Stephanie smiled back. She kept the pace up as they continued to head towards the house.

[SiuiS]

Breathe.

The air tastes like a strange mint (that would be the juniper). There is the rustle and thrush of leaves on the wind – Charlotte is unclear on the existence of any wind, but the leaves move regardless – and somewhere, she knows. Stephanie is confusing her Action Adventure morality for how real adults operate. Life is good, with purpose.

Safety is no longer a primary concern. They are on a clock, after all, and while quiescent now when the alarm goes off it would be fit to shake them from its surface into space and amidst the clamor of the hammer as it beats between the bells, and no one wants that. Taking Marchande by the hand (paw?) Charlotte keeps an eye out for anything that could be immediately used as a tool, since no paintbrush has been acquired, or even canvas or easel, and sets off, stage left.

[Anarion]

Stephanie smiled back. She kept the pace up as they continued to head towards the house.

[Could you clarify house? The address that you got for Royal Crown is a business address downtown. I may not have been clear on that. But it's getting late at night, so I'm not sure whether you mean to go to the business now, or if you meant some other house.]



Safety is no longer a primary concern. They are on a clock, after all, and while quiescent now when the alarm goes off it would be fit to shake them from its surface into space and amidst the clamor of the hammer as it beats between the bells, and no one wants that. Taking Marchande by the hand (paw?) Charlotte keeps an eye out for anything that could be immediately used as a tool, since no paintbrush has been acquired, or even canvas or easel, and sets off, stage left.

The juniper leaves part, though they draw a little blood as both Charlotte and Marchande wade through them. But after a few steps, the path broadens out. The exit can still be seen faintly through the junipers, Marchande at least is careful to keep a close eye on it, though if Charlotte looks away, she may lose track.

Once out of the Juniper, there is a clear forest trail. The growth on both sides is wild. Thick dark bushes with sharp leaves line the trail, rising into the air nearly 20 feet. There is sunshine above, though, and hints of a formless blue sky. The path itself is a dirt trail, looking rather like one cut by frequent deer usage: narrow and winding, but visible in a generally straight direction for a couple hundred feet both ways.

Charlotte smells the faint scent of smoke in the direction that she's heading.

[Raz_Fox]

Marchande is dragged along by Charlotte, still on the buzz of Hedgeknowledge, keeping an unconscious eye on the exit. "Watch it," she mutters, "It moves when you're not looking, laughs and watches you from between the leaves, so pin it down with eyes, eyes, sharp upon it!" For once, she might be talking Charlotte's language.

[Thanqol]

[Could you clarify house? The address that you got for Royal Crown is a business address downtown. I may not have been clear on that. But it's getting late at night, so I'm not sure whether you mean to go to the business now, or if you meant some other house.]

[I thought I meant Roudrigez' house]

[Anarion]

[I thought I meant Roudrigez' house]

[You don't have that information. The matching address from the computer and the phone book is a business address for Royal Crane. The registered driver is just a name under the truck's listing, its address is still the Royal Crane business address.]

[Thanqol]

[You don't have that information. The matching address from the computer and the phone book is a business address for Royal Crane. The registered driver is just a name under the truck's listing, its address is still the Royal Crane business address.]

[Ah OK, Royal Crane it is then I guess]

[Anarion]

[I'm expecting a further response from Charlotte for the Hedge scene, or at least telling me whether you go towards or away from the smell of fire.]
---------------------

By the time Rose and Stephanie arrive at the Royal Crane office it has gone from evening to night. It's about 9:00 p.m., the streetlights are on, and some bars are hopping just a couple blocks away. The office itself is an unremarkable brick building taking up about 1/4 of the block. It has the words "Royal Crane Shipping Co." written on the front door in golden letters and next to that on the window is a silhouette of what is presumably a crane taking wing with a smaller bird in a bundle in its mouth.

[Basically this picture, but with birds instead of cats.] http://www.nanoda.com/public/images/Giappone/Ytm_Logo_88.gif

[Thanqol]

Stephanie started off by checking around to see if any lights were on, and if there were stickers that indicated what kind of security system they used, if any. Standard casing, going around to see what she could see.

[Anarion]

Stephanie started off by checking around to see if any lights were on, and if there were stickers that indicated what kind of security system they used, if any. Standard casing, going around to see what she could see.

The sticker on the window reads:
"This premises protected by Securenet® security. And you thought Fort Knox was good"

The building itself is dark and there is only the one window up front. The front door is metal and sealed up tightly.

[Thanqol]

Stephanie finished casing the place and walked back to Rose. "Securenet system, looks like a 2009 model. I don't know it personally but Securenet are guilty of focusing more on looking secure than being secure; Black Labyrinth and Golden Key are the real players, at least when I was last around. Old models have a two minute time delay between trigger and outgoing call, don't know about this one but I'll assume ninety. I'll crack the door and go for the box, hang outside here until I'm done. When you come in, cover your face, cameras will keep running even once the sensors are off."

[SiuiS]

Marchande is dragged along by Charlotte, still on the buzz of Hedgeknowledge, keeping an unconscious eye on the exit. "Watch it," she mutters, "It moves when you're not looking, laughs and watches you from between the leaves, so pin it down with eyes, eyes, sharp upon it!" For once, she might be talking Charlotte's language.

Terrifyingly comforting. Marchande is usually not this lucid...

"Would we be able to pick it up, take it with us, Madame? Or use breadcrumbs? Or perhaps... How hard is it to find another door?"

She waits for a response, caught between heartbeats. Fire is the theme of the night, however, and now that they were in the hedge Charlotte can feel hers beginning to blaze from it's smolder. She sought a thing of searing light, burning just and true... But also she sought canvas and brush, mortar, pestle, pigmenttation. The fire calls, but...

"Marchande?"

[PhoeKun]

Stephanie finished casing the place and walked back to Rose. "Securenet system, looks like a 2009 model. I don't know it personally but Securenet are guilty of focusing more on looking secure than being secure; Black Labyrinth and Golden Key are the real players, at least when I was last around. Old models have a two minute time delay between trigger and outgoing call, don't know about this one but I'll assume ninety. I'll crack the door and go for the box, hang outside here until I'm done. When you come in, cover your face, cameras will keep running even once the sensors are off."

It was moments like this one that made Rose wonder if people dumped this sort of information on her because they were trying to be helpful, or if they simply knew she couldn't possibly keep up and they wanted to sound smarter. It was difficult to tell sometimes, particularly where it involved Stephanie. She folds her arms as she waits for the explanation to finish.

"You do know what you're doing. I'll be out waiting if you require assistance."

[Thanqol]

"Okie!" said Stephanie, giving very much the impression that it had been Option Number One. She pulled up her hood and walked over to the door.

"Oh, darn it," she muttered, realising she'd left her lockpicks... somewhere. All she had were some paperclips she kept for emergencies like this. She twisted them straight and started work at the door, making sure to keep her face angled away from the camera.

[Raz_Fox]

Terrifyingly comforting. Marchande is usually not this lucid...

"Would we be able to pick it up, take it with us, Madame? Or use breadcrumbs? Or perhaps... How hard is it to find another door?"

She waits for a response, caught between heartbeats. Fire is the theme of the night, however, and now that they were in the hedge Charlotte can feel hers beginning to blaze from it's smolder. She sought a thing of searing light, burning just and true... But also she sought canvas and brush, mortar, pestle, pigmenttation. The fire calls, but...

"Marchande?"

Marchande waves her hand flamboyantly, filled with the pride of the true purveyor of wisdom and magic. "Why, I can find it, can I not? Follow me onwards - the market awaits!" She takes the lead, now, tugging Charlotte behind her with her long stride; she looks away from the door, moving towards the light. Surely, surely, it is the light of lanterns and stalls.

[Anarion]

"Okie!" said Stephanie, giving very much the impression that it had been Option Number One. She pulled up her hood and walked over to the door.

"Oh, darn it," she muttered, realising she'd left her lockpicks... somewhere. All she had were some paperclips she kept for emergencies like this. She twisted them straight and started work at the door, making sure to keep her face angled away from the camera.

[No time pressure, lock is opened after about 30 seconds of work on Stephanie's part, should that affect your RP]

The door swings open quietly. The room is pitch black inside. For Stephanie, that's practically like being given a welcoming red carpet for her to enter.


Marchande waves her hand flamboyantly, filled with the pride of the true purveyor of wisdom and magic. "Why, I can find it, can I not? Follow me onwards - the market awaits!" She takes the lead, now, tugging Charlotte behind her with her long stride; she looks away from the door, moving towards the light. Surely, surely, it is the light of lanterns and stalls.

As they travel through the Hedge, the scent of smoke grows stronger. It's a rich, heady smell, the smell of coals and wood piled high outdoors on a summer's night. Charlotte and Marchande weave and wend their way through the deer trail, perhaps 200 feet when the light ahead becomes more clear and the bushes part wider. With the winding path, the two of them have an opportunity to look ahead without being obviously visible.

Through the part in the bushes is a clearing in the Hedge. It's a glade perhaps 50 feet in diameter. Somehow it seems to have become night overhead, there are stars shining and the sky has a reflection that seems like a glimmer of a crescent moon. In the center of the glade is a roaring fire in a ring of stones that must be nearly 15 feet wide. The flame is unnaturally high, the wood itself stacked nearly 8 feet high in humongous logs and the flames shooting up above the top of the bushes all around the glade. The fire seems to shift and dance on its own, red to orange to yellow and a core of glowing white. Charlotte blinks: is that a woman's form dancing in the center? No, no it couldn't be. Just a trick of the light, a warp of the sinuous flames.

All around the fire, little gremlins of some sort dance and sing. Their song is a wordless tune, a high-pitched roaring nearly indistinguishable from the flames themselves. Standing and watching the circle shift makes it hard to count, but there seem to be 6 of the little beasts, each one perhaps 4 feet tall and dressed in a tiny linen shirt of brown or green, rough breeches, and a tall conical cap. They don't seem to have noticed you yet.

[Thanqol]

[No time pressure, lock is opened after about 30 seconds of work on Stephanie's part, should that affect your RP]

The door swings open quietly. The room is pitch black inside. For Stephanie, that's practically like being given a welcoming red carpet for her to enter.

Before she stepped in, Stephanie remembered to pull on a pair of woollen gloves to avoid fingerprints. Then she was searching, looking for the box, moving fast room by room and marking camera positions as she went.

[Raz_Fox]

As they travel through the Hedge, the scent of smoke grows stronger. It's a rich, heady smell, the smell of coals and wood piled high outdoors on a summer's night. Charlotte and Marchande weave and wend their way through the deer trail, perhaps 200 feet when the light ahead becomes more clear and the bushes part wider. With the winding path, the two of them have an opportunity to look ahead without being obviously visible.

Through the part in the bushes is a clearing in the Hedge. It's a glade perhaps 50 feet in diameter. Somehow it seems to have become night overhead, there are stars shining and the sky has a reflection that seems like a glimmer of a crescent moon. In the center of the glade is a roaring fire in a ring of stones that must be nearly 15 feet wide. The flame is unnaturally high, the wood itself stacked nearly 8 feet high in humongous logs and the flames shooting up above the top of the bushes all around the glade. The fire seems to shift and dance on its own, red to orange to yellow and a core of glowing white. Charlotte blinks: is that a woman's form dancing in the center? No, no it couldn't be. Just a trick of the light, a warp of the sinuous flames.

All around the fire, little gremlins of some sort dance and sing. Their song is a wordless tune, a high-pitched roaring nearly indistinguishable from the flames themselves. Standing and watching the circle shift makes it hard to count, but there seem to be 6 of the little beasts, each one perhaps 4 feet tall and dressed in a tiny linen shirt of brown or green, rough breeches, and a tall conical cap. They don't seem to have noticed you yet.

Marchande hesitates for a moment, glaring at the fire, which seems oddly washed out and pale to her eyes. She can see color just fine, dammit, just like regular people. And it's in that hesitation that cold hard reason starts seeping back into her bones. Oh, crap, she actually thought she could walk away from the door? Haha, that was golden, she should slap herself for it. Never taste the merchandise, wine vendor!

"This was not what I had planned," she mutters to Charlotte, peering at the gnomes all bouncing about the fire. "Odds of them being not very likely to sell us weapons as opposed to throwing us into the fire? Pretty high. Thoughts on what to do next?"

Hesitancy, regret, a frantic attempt to understand the variables. Marchande is right back into her stride here.

[Anarion]

Before she stepped in, Stephanie remembered to pull on a pair of woollen gloves to avoid fingerprints. Then she was searching, looking for the box, moving fast room by room and marking camera positions as she went.

[Did you ever activate your "I can see everything in darkness" contract? Or should I just assume that's always on in dark places?]

[Thanqol]

[Did you ever activate your "I can see everything in darkness" contract? Or should I just assume that's always on in dark places?]

[I'm always meeting the Catch with my cape so there's no reason to ever turn it off]

[SiuiS]

"This was not what I had planned," she mutters to Charlotte, peering at the gnomes all bouncing about the fire. "Odds of them being not very likely to sell us weapons as opposed to throwing us into the fire? Pretty high. Thoughts on what to do next?"

"Well, I would like to see how the flames found worship with little wee men, of nothing else. And I could use some charcoal if they'd give it freely... Or if taken by force." Charlotte sticks her arm out, elbow pointed slightly toward her companion an palm to the floor. It's Marchande's own fault for wearing te pats, really. "Shall we?"

[Raz_Fox]

"Well, I would like to see how the flames found worship with little wee men, of nothing else. And I could use some charcoal if they'd give it freely... Or if taken by force." Charlotte sticks her arm out, elbow pointed slightly toward her companion an palm to the floor. It's Marchande's own fault for wearing te pats, really. "Shall we?"

Marchande raises an eyebrow, trying to understand her small companion again. Why link arms? It'd make them slower to flee if the gnomes were to attack - but, then again, staying together in this place was the most important thing imaginable. If they stayed together, nothing could go wrong.

So she takes the arm, and walks out into the clearing, waving her free hand. "Ho," she says, defaulting once again to archaic courtesy, tinged ever-so-slightly with England. "I trust you will not mind our approach, gentlemen."

[Anarion]

[I decided that I'm going to have the gnomes reply in song. I lack time for that now. So this will just be for Stephanie.]

Camera by the door. Easily avoided.

Camera over the counter, no reason to even step into its line of sight.

Camera watching the security panel. Hmm, that one might be trouble. Can't just walk right up to the panel, it will record the whole time you're punching in the code.

The entrance way itself is moderately sized: the door opens to a shop floor that includes some shelves of packaging materials, a counter with a register to the right of the entrance with shipping envelopes stacked behind it. The room goes back maybe 20 feet and there's a door to the back on the back left wall. The security panel is on the back right wall and the back center bulges back a little bit with some extra boxes and shelving, making the room look sort of like a square with an extra hump on its back.

[Thanqol]

One-two-jump!

Stephanie hopped up onto the roof and clung to it, shadowy tendrils seeping into it. She scrambled across it to the security camera - the camera was angled downwards to see anyone going for the box, by sticking to the roof she'd be out of it's field of view.

She crawled rapidly across the roof to the camera, then leaned down and put a bag over it. Then she flipped down from the roof, opened the box, and got to work.

[Spider-Foot style, 1 success, 3G unless the roof is stone, 7/10 remaining]

[Anarion]

One-two-jump!

Stephanie hopped up onto the roof and clung to it, shadowy tendrils seeping into it. She scrambled across it to the security camera - the camera was angled downwards to see anyone going for the box, by sticking to the roof she'd be out of it's field of view.

She crawled rapidly across the roof to the camera, then leaned down and put a bag over it. Then she flipped down from the roof, opened the box, and got to work.

[Spider-Foot style, 1 success, 3G unless the roof is stone, 7/10 remaining]

The roof is plaster, not stone, but Stephanie crawls upon it with no trouble, though she considers that she'll have to make sure to get stone roofs with a glass skylight when she gets her own place.

The security system is a pretty standard numerical panel. Stephanie isn't familiar with the exact type of code that SecureNet uses, but at least it doesn't require any special tools to toy with it.

[extended action. You have 30 seconds and you need 8 successes. -1 penalty for unfamiliarity.]

[Thanqol]

The roof is plaster, not stone, but Stephanie crawls upon it with no trouble, though she considers that she'll have to make sure to get stone roofs with a glass skylight when she gets her own place.

The security system is a pretty standard numerical panel. Stephanie isn't familiar with the exact type of code that SecureNet uses, but at least it doesn't require any special tools to toy with it.

[extended action. You have 30 seconds and you need 8 successes. -1 penalty for unfamiliarity.]

"The red wire's connected to the... primary fuse circulator," Stephanie murmured under her breath. "The blue wire's connected to the external feed... There's a thingy with that lights up when you do something... Um."

Slow and unsteady movements, momentarily lost. Normally a box like this had more scorpions in it.

[ 3 - 2 - 8 - 4 - 7 - 7 (Avg: 5.16666666667) - 1/8S]

Well, she supposed she could improvise. She closed her eyes and did her best to imagine the scorpions; crawling on and around her hands, snakes wrapping around her legs. The floor was lava and the lava was rising and the rising lava was filled with dragodiles.

That was better.

[1 - 5 - 4 - 10 - 8 - 8 (Avg: 6.0) ; 10 again is 10 and 8. 6/8S]

James McClaw's goons had opened fire on her position, but their aim was thrown off by the fire keese that were dive-bombing their positions. She could see the lava below her filled with a solid layer of dragodiles, opening their mouth to give the lava a thousand teeth. The roof above her cracked and started to cave in. The bomb in her pocket counted down it's final few seconds.

C'mon... c'mon...

[5 - 9 - 5 - 10 - 5 - 10 (Avg: 7.33333333333); nothing on the 10's, 9/8S]

Ding.

She was in a cold, dark, empty warehouse front.

Man, reality sucked.

She disabled the cameras then dropped down to go wave Rose in.

[Anarion]

In the Hedge, the gnomes answer Marchande by bursting into song, jumping and kicking up their legs as they spin around the blaze

Out of the flames and into the fire
Dancing leaping, sweet desire

Does she come to feed the blaze?
Does she come through nightshade haze?

Spin and dance, sing and revel
Join us or you'll join the devil

Hee, hee, ho ho,
once around and here we go!

They clap and jump around the fire, their words spinning and swirling in the crackling blaze as though Marchande and Charlotte arne't even there.

Join and dance through blaze and gale
Mustn't let the great flames fail

Dance we say, come dance round yon
or soon you will see that your souls be gone!

Too late to flee, too late to fly
You're here, you're trapped, now jump on high!

Hee hee, ho ho
Again around and here we go!


As their song rises, Marchande and Charlotte feel a powerful tugging compulsion from the blaze and the hedge around the grove seems to grow thick and dense, the entrance from which they came vanishing in an instant.

[Here's what I was listening to when I wrote that. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p1TIy9h1xnA)]

[Raz_Fox]

It takes about a second for Marchande to understand the situation. Classic Faerie. If you don't dance, then they've got you, hook, line, and sinker, by whatever mad laws they call rule. Yeah, just come into my office and we'll have a chat. It takes her a few long breaths longer to come to a decision, the Dionysian arguing against the Apollonian, and how funny that they argue for their opposites.

Apollo wins. "For the record, Charlotte, I hate you," Marchande says, honey dripping from her voice, before she lets go of Charlotte's hand and hums something she remembered her grandmother once singing, shoe tapping as she steps towards the fire.

"Now rest ye merry, crap, um, firemen of the blaze,
Pray ignore my listless shoe and my head all in a daze-
The path's wild and long, now I'll give you a song,
Before we, uh, all part up and on in our separate ways."

Once bought, some things can't be easily slipped out of. The tie's still tight about her neck, and her back's stiff, but her clapping's running harmony to the beat, and she's tracing oddments in the grass with the toe of her coal-black shoe. Like the bass playing low under the frantic guitarist, or the dull thump of the drums providing place and point for the hunting-song. Her tail wags with each clap.

"My sister and I- oh, don't mind her pale auld stitches,
She got that way, you see, because of some tawny witches-
We come on a quest, by another's behest,
For a weapon piping hot to take down blackguard bitches."

She colors as she says the word, but what else was she supposed to say that rhymed with -itches? And 'itches' by itself wouldn't work, anyway. Still, the embarrassment is almost palpable, nearly wrecking what she's trying to do. She forces herself to press on, thumping her foot down with every step now, trying to get the timing just right.

"Now, merry gents, we've time for a dance,
For fate has driven us here on the blade of a chance,
But ours is the path, don't provoke my wrath,
We must yet have our sword or our lance."

The back of her neck is matted with sweat. The fire is hot, and the fear pumps in her chest. She is going to die here, she is going to be bound to dance around a fire forever because she came back inside, she is going to be twisted into harsher and more terrible forms and screw all that noise, she's going to live if she has to punch every single gnome in the face. That fear twists in her gut and makes her all the angrier, and that anger is life, and the fear makes every word come out the better.

"Now don't dare twist my words or drive them all awry,
We must succeed our errand bold, or fair child-er-en shall die-
Fire brave, fire bright, drive my words alight,
For a dance and this changeling's song, keep oath and permit no lie."

She's been around the fire once. Maybe twice. She permits herself a twirl, and a stamp at the end of it, and a ya-hoy!

"Now rest ye merry firemen, keepers of the blaze,
Pray ignore my listless shoe and my head all in a daze-
The hedge is wild and long, so now I've given a song,
Before we part so merrily and go our separate ways!"

[I am totally rolling Presence+Expression to be an awesome enough dancing-singing-hound to impress the gnomes, and I am also totally busting out Favored Fate, which smiles upon this brave soul. Modifiers?]

[Anarion]

[I am totally rolling Presence+Expression to be an awesome enough dancing-singing-hound to impress the gnomes, and I am also totally busting out Favored Fate, which smiles upon this brave soul. Modifiers?]

[You totally are. Using my finely calibrated dice bonus calculator™ you get
+1 for rhyming witches and bitches and then getting embarrassed about it
+1 for actually telling them what you want.]

[PhoeKun]

She disabled the cameras then dropped down to go wave Rose in.

There's the signal. Fast. Probably. If she's honest with herself, Rose has no idea what she was expecting. But the job's done, and that's the part that matters. She steps forward toward the building, holding one hand up to cover her face as instructed.

"I'm used to 'security' involving more..." she trails off. It doesn't matter,and she'd rather not say, come to think of it. "Let's get this over with. They'll have Rodriguez's personal information on file here for certain. Less sure if they'd log the truck's movements, given what he's using it for. Still worth investigating."

[Anarion]

[Waiting on Charlotte to do something before saying what happens around the fire, saw SiuiS post, take your time.]

Kalina, lacking Stephanie's insane night vision, can't see a thing. In fact, unless Stephanie is specifically marking her route, roll straight dexterity please, no modifier.

[SiuiS]

Gnomes. Redcaps? Not sure. Probably not important.

There is singing and dancing and a merry red fire, swirling and turning to their joyous cries, boisterous and uplifting and almost enough to make one's heels take flight...

... Until they call out. And Marchande – the restrained, Marchande of strictness and and and— and restraint jumps in and dances and sings and the few notes on Charlotte's lips die, a wilted autumn brown in the golden summery heat, an she freezes.



Is this what sage fright feels like?

No, no that can't be it. Mustn't. Even the most studio shadow puppeteer and stage hand and background dancer must someday come to the fore. Mustn't let the show stall now, not on her account. And the best forefront yet background spot is the pivot, the clock's center. Between the dancing spinning gnomes* to the very heart of the matter. To the flames themselves, she walks, and holds out her hand at first as if to warm it, her fingers just outside the point of singeing, smoking. Strangely closer than she had expected.

Her hand turns, palm up to receive. "May I have this dance?"

*: SCHMEBULOCK!

[Thanqol]

There's the signal. Fast. Probably. If she's honest with herself, Rose has no idea what she was expecting. But the job's done, and that's the part that matters. She steps forward toward the building, holding one hand up to cover her face as instructed.

"I'm used to 'security' involving more..." she trails off. It doesn't matter,and she'd rather not say, come to think of it. "Let's get this over with. They'll have Rodriguez's personal information on file here for certain. Less sure if they'd log the truck's movements, given what he's using it for. Still worth investigating."

"Yeah, I was disappointed too," said Stephanie, heading back inside and starting to rummage around. The plan was to sweep the entire building, look for any glowingly obvious clues or locked doors, then start focusing in on less immediately apparent clues.

[PhoeKun]

"Yeah, I was disappointed too," said Stephanie, heading back inside and starting to rummage around. The plan was to sweep the entire building, look for any glowingly obvious clues or locked doors, then start focusing in on less immediately apparent clues.

"Ahem." Kalina stares blankly into... nothing, really. The door to the office yawned into a sort of blackness that bring a lot of unpleasant memories uncomfortably close to the foreground of her mind.

"Most people see better with the lights turned on."

[Thanqol]

"Most people -" Stephanie took a second to figure it out, "- oh! You're most people!"

She rather apologetically hit the light switch.

[Anarion]

Marchande's revelry fuels the flames brighter. They seem to draw in upon her and as she dances, the night grows darker and the fire warmer. The gnomes smile and clap along with her song, helping to provide some background to fill in the stumbles, and even the bonfire itself seems to roar its approval. She herself begins to see the setup as a beautiful rally, the gnomes as close friends and warm companions, and the blaze itself as a shield against the night.

[In game rules, the bonfire takes a point of glamour from Marchande as part of the revelry, but in so doing it and she become friendly with it each other.]


Charlotte, for her part, is offered something more: the fire takes her outstretched hand and it burns. Pain flares through her, yet it will not let go. Once offered, the sinuous form at the center of the blaze takes shape and demands a full dance. It moves to wrap itself around Charlotte and as it does so and Marchande's song finishes, the gnomes begin to hum a slow minuet.

[Charlotte is being burned so long as the flame holds her, it is a small fire, not the full bonfire, but it is hotter than a torch. It is holding her hard and not releasing without a fight. Breaking free would take a roll of strength+brawl-3 as the flame being is quite strong.]

*****************

The lights inside the office go no with little trouble. This is the front room, there's not much to be found beyond packing materials and the register. Kalina has no idea what to do with the computer in the front and Stephanie doesn't know the password, though she could attempt a hack if she really wanted.

The place is a bit messy, with several loose packing peanuts and open boxes near the back area. The door leading further back is locked, but not especially sturdy.

[PhoeKun]

The lights inside the office go no with little trouble. This is the front room, there's not much to be found beyond packing materials and the register. Kalina has no idea what to do with the computer in the front and Stephanie doesn't know the password, though she could attempt a hack if she really wanted.

The place is a bit messy, with several loose packing peanuts and open boxes near the back area. The door leading further back is locked, but not especially sturdy.

Kalina's search of the front room turns up little beyond packing peanuts and the computer. Which she stares at. And stares at. And stares at. And. Stares. At. Her slumps down, smashing her head onto the desk.

"Doesn't anybody use paper anymore?"

She pounds her head against the furniture, stands, and walks toward the back, by the locked door. She peers into the open boxes for good measure. Door sealed, but flimsy. Easy to kick it in, especially with no fear of alarms. She plants her weight to kick it in, but stops herself just before springing at it.

"...You want to open this, by chance?"

[SiuiS]

The fire catches and spreads. It's up her arm now, a single sleeve, a pet boa.

She struggles a little in its grasp, reflexive.

"You needn't consume to continue the dance. Wouldn't you rather we prolonged this?" she says. It's to her shoulders now, a feathered boa of flickering flames.

"Let us be friends, s'il vous plaît, and dance through life together." the fire begins to burn, ethereally. It's sinking into her flesh, radiant, overwhelming. "Please?"

And then the magic seeps in and the slip of mundane reality composing Charlotte's world asserts itself, the flames like a flickering mantle over her shoulders, and the flesh of her fingers so gilded an brigt begins to tarnish and char. She struggles, harder now.

"You're hurting me..."

yeah! Chance die time!

Charlotte used struggle!
*rolls a 9*
Charlotte missed!

[Anarion]

The flames are so sweet. The blood rushes to Charlotte's face. The elemental holding to her sways and shifts, crackles and roars. They spin, the world is spinning, or maybe just Charlotte's world. It's only a few seconds, a few steps, a passionate embrace.




"You're hurting me..."


Then the flames lean down and give Charlotte a quick kiss on the lips, just for an instant. And Charlotte's world fades away.


Marchande, you see the dance, it's not even 10 seconds, though to Charlotte it seems an eternity. Then the flames are gone, back into the fire and everyone stops dancing as Charlotte collapses to the ground. Her hands and her face are badly burned and her breathing is shallow.

[Charlotte has taken 6 lethal damage and 2 bashing damage from a combination of burns and lack of oxygen. She has fainted from the bashing damage, but the flame being is gone.]

[Raz_Fox]

It is a horrible thing to admit, but when Marchande sees the drama unfold, when she slows her dance around the fire, when Charlotte collapses, smouldering, she does not gasp in shock or hiss in sudden anger. She grits her teeth and thinks, "You idiot."

And as she kneels down and gingerly cradles Charlotte - whose little chest is fluttering, whose face and hands are blackened and charred - that frustration and anger builds, and is met by her shame for thinking such things, which fans the fire higher.

She had to rush in and mess things up. Marchande was taming the fire, taming the gnomes, getting them to eat from her hand, and then Charlotte couldn't resist the temptation to royally screw everything up again. She wasn't a partner, she wasn't a companion, she was a liability waiting to happen, as indeed it had. Her face is small and helpless and horribly burnt, which makes Marchande hate herself more.

"Right," she growls at the gnomes, "Plan 'Actually Get A Weapon' has gone straight to hell, so this I'll tell, or something like that. I would like you to point us to the nearest exit, so I can get this stupid little girl some medical care, instead of doing something actually productive. I gave a dance, I gave a song, so show us the damn door already." Her voice is sharp, vicious, brimming over with fire.

She stops to give a bow to the fire, mutters an apology under her breath, and then looks to the gnomes. "Well?"

[SiuiS]

Charlotte stirs only a little, a strangled, choking sound coming from her after a single, deep breath in. The noise comes with te smell of burning cedar and mimosa. Her head falls back when lifted, and thankfully her facial stitching – now so much ash and blackened whisker – is superficial, her cheeks keeping her from macabre pacman parody.

Charlotte was always a fast healer, though, and here, on the path so close to home she is almost regenerative. The wounds seem almost superficial, no seeping, no morbid flesh-smells. Only her unconsciousness and an innate human understanding of oh God, fire! showing the seriousness of the wounds.

[Thanqol]

The lights inside the office go no with little trouble. This is the front room, there's not much to be found beyond packing materials and the register. Kalina has no idea what to do with the computer in the front and Stephanie doesn't know the password, though she could attempt a hack if she really wanted.

The place is a bit messy, with several loose packing peanuts and open boxes near the back area. The door leading further back is locked, but not especially sturdy.

Stephanie typed in 'swordfish'.

She hesitated when that failed, then typed in 'swordfish!'


Kalina's search of the front room turns up little beyond packing peanuts and the computer. Which she stares at. And stares at. And stares at. And. Stares. At. Her slumps down, smashing her head onto the desk.

"Doesn't anybody use paper anymore?"

"The government does," said Stephanie, idly calling on some of that weird knowledge that was drifting around in her head. "I guess we can steal the computer? Take it to someone who knows this stuff?"


She pounds her head against the furniture, stands, and walks toward the back, by the locked door. She peers into the open boxes for good measure. Door sealed, but flimsy. Easy to kick it in, especially with no fear of alarms. She plants her weight to kick it in, but stops herself just before springing at it.

"...You want to open this, by chance?"

"Sure," said Stephanie, hurrying over with her lockpicks.

[7 - 9 - 7 - 1 - 1 - 5 - 1 (Avg: 4.42857142857)

1 success. If you want to make this extended for whatever reason the next roll in that set was 9 - 10 - 10 - 10 - 9 - 6 - 7 (Avg: 8.71428571429)]

[Anarion]

She stops to give a bow to the fire, mutters an apology under her breath, and then looks to the gnomes. "Well?"

The fire seems to die down a bit. It's still 20 feet tall, but it looks diminished somehow. Almost sheepish. One of the gnomes comes forward, taking off its hat and bending and scraping before Marchande.

"Don't understand exit, miss. There's no place to go but here. But if you go out that way, there's a grove of night lilies that might bear fruit for your friend." He points, and a small section of deep green bushes pulls apart, revealing less of a path and more of a way to walk through the overgrown bushes without bleeding out on sharp leaves. Marchande has no sense of direction for this opening relative to where she came in due to her wild dance. At least, not without another use of her Contracts.


Stephanie typed in 'swordfish'.

She hesitated when that failed, then typed in 'swordfish!'



"The government does," said Stephanie, idly calling on some of that weird knowledge that was drifting around in her head. "I guess we can steal the computer? Take it to someone who knows this stuff?"


The computer pops up a little dialogue box with a red X that says "password incorrect. 8/10 attempts remaining before system security lock."



"Sure," said Stephanie, hurrying over with her lockpicks.

[7 - 9 - 7 - 1 - 1 - 5 - 1 (Avg: 4.42857142857)

1 success. If you want to make this extended for whatever reason the next roll in that set was 9 - 10 - 10 - 10 - 9 - 6 - 7 (Avg: 8.71428571429)]

The door unlocks easily. Stephanie supposes they don't lock the inner doors as well as they do the outer ones.

Alas, that makes it significantly less likely that this door leads to an interstellar time portal.

[Raz_Fox]

The fire seems to die down a bit. It's still 20 feet tall, but it looks diminished somehow. Almost sheepish. One of the gnomes comes forward, taking off its hat and bending and scraping before Marchande.

"Don't understand exit, miss. There's no place to go but here. But if you go out that way, there's a grove of night lilies that might bear fruit for your friend." He points, and a small section of deep green bushes pulls apart, revealing less of a path and more of a way to walk through the overgrown bushes without bleeding out on sharp leaves. Marchande has no sense of direction for this opening relative to where she came in due to her wild dance. At least, not without another use of her Contracts.

"Thank you," Marchande replies. Even if you weren't ever supposed to thank a fairy - that was what they said, right? - she'd heard enough about stories from Russia or farther places where politeness got the hero far. It might just work for her, someone who was just fumbling and bumbling about. Besides, she had the feeling that these gnomes were all right for things that lived on this side. And then, to the fire- "Well, at least you're sorry. My apologies for the bother."

She walks away, her shadow still dancing in the flickering firelight, holding Charlotte close to her chest. Stupid little thing. Fruit might be the key to healing those burns, if squeezed or fed to her - she could vaguely remember great orchards full of blossoming, delectable fruits in all their impossible purples and greens, pears and apples and grapes and things that didn't quite have names, magnificent gardens all the worse for being owned by monsters.

Her heart's tense, her stiffness returns, her breath catches in her throat. The grass under her shoes is wild and tangled, even if the bushes are pulling back for her. The fire grows smaller and smaller behind her, as she continues into the dark, which rears its wings on either side of her.

"You're lucky," she mutters to the unconscious Charlotte. "If you'd come in alone, you idiot, you'd have been all burnt up, or caught by something here, and that'd be the end of you in a flash. Why don't you ever think? Were you this stupid before they dragged you here?"

Her undershirt gleams like starlight, and her coat flows around the thorns that would catch at her. Her nails are long and her teeth are sharp to eat you up, little child. If she introduced herself to Jason at this moment, he might take her for something of the thorns, a hob or odd-bodkin. But her eyes don't have faerie-gleam in them, and her touch is too tender around Charlotte for her to really be something that wasn't once human.

Is still human.

"This isn't going to happen again," she promises. "Once I get you back out of here, you're going back to Timothy's house. Some people just can't handle this." And where did that leave her, then? She wasn't Stephanie, she wasn't Rose, but she was... not a hero, at any rate. A hero would have been happy to save Charlotte and would have known exactly what to do. "Bringing you back here was stupid of me. Like most everything else I do."

[Thanqol]

The door unlocks easily. Stephanie supposes they don't lock the inner doors as well as they do the outer ones.

Alas, that makes it significantly less likely that this door leads to an interstellar time portal.

Stephanie had seen worse guarded by less. Either way, no knowing until she opened it up.

[Anarion]

"This isn't going to happen again," she promises. "Once I get you back out of here, you're going back to Timothy's house. Some people just can't handle this." And where did that leave her, then? She wasn't Stephanie, she wasn't Rose, but she was... not a hero, at any rate. A hero would have been happy to save Charlotte and would have known exactly what to do. "Bringing you back here was stupid of me. Like most everything else I do."

Carrying Charlotte is hard work. It's incredible how heavy someone can be when they're dead weight, especially for such a little wizened. Not that Marchande would ever call Charlotte fat, of course.

After a few moments of trudging through the thorny patch, the plants of the hedge start to shift. Now it is rough pines, scratching needles, and gnarled, heavy roots blocking the way. The gnome said night lilies grew around here somewhere, but Marchande can't imagine where, at least not with her normal sense, though the pines are broad enough that she can see dense forest for several hundred feet in every direction. Including...behind her. Well, that's going to be annoying to get back.


Stephanie had seen worse guarded by less. Either way, no knowing until she opened it up.

Okay, it probably wasn't a time portal, but it was glowing.

The back room is dark and doesn't appear to have a working light switch. However, in the center of it is a wooden cup, built like a wide chalice and resting on top of a small round table with a linen cloth. The wood itself is deep black, almost like it is covered with ash, though the surface is smooth. And inside of it is a liquid that is giving off a faint yellowish glow.

The glow only extends a few feet, and this back room is a large one, taking up most of the building. It's about 50 feet deep and 15 wide. Stephanie can see that the other end actually has a metal screen that probably opens out onto where trucks would pick up and drop off deliveries. Near that back screen are two large containers, both facing towards the back, their contents not visible from Stephanie and Rose's viewpoint.

The rest of the room, like the front room, is a bit of a mess. Metal chains and hemp rope are scattered about, opened cardboard boxes are scattered on the floor, and bits of wood chips used for heavy packing and even some broken glass cover litter the left section of the room.

As Stephanie scans the area, she hears a sound. A soft swishing, like fabric brushing against cardboard. They are not alone here.

[Thanqol]

"Contact," hissed Stephanie to Rose, then vanished - jumping up onto the wall above and crawling up to the roof to give herself a bird's eye view of the situation. She'd then begin slowly stalking, trying to move around to get eyes on her target.

[I have a stealth roll if you want one?]

[Anarion]

"Contact," hissed Stephanie to Rose, then vanished - jumping up onto the wall above and crawling up to the roof to give herself a bird's eye view of the situation. She'd then begin slowly stalking, trying to move around to get eyes on her target.

[I have a stealth roll if you want one?]

[Sure, go ahead.]

[Raz_Fox]

Carrying Charlotte is hard work. It's incredible how heavy someone can be when they're dead weight, especially for such a little wizened. Not that Marchande would ever call Charlotte fat, of course.

After a few moments of trudging through the thorny patch, the plants of the hedge start to shift. Now it is rough pines, scratching needles, and gnarled, heavy roots blocking the way. The gnome said night lilies grew around here somewhere, but Marchande can't imagine where, at least not with her normal sense, though the pines are broad enough that she can see dense forest for several hundred feet in every direction. Including...behind her. Well, that's going to be annoying to get back.

Wheels spin, and Marchande stops for a moment, retreating into her head to put things together. The holly, the pricking, the blood- a web of connections that wove together elegantly. Maybe because she'd cut herself on her way out, maybe because she'd overheard some hob wisdom while fitting her suit; the why didn't matter as much as the how. And maybe it'd have consequences, but she'd get to them later. Charlotte is laid down carefully, head upon a soft clump of clover, burnt arms splayed over twisted roots. She looks down and mutters about insufferable madwomen.

There is something thrilling about plucking the needle free, carefully working it out, one knee pressed into the wet grass growing between the trees. And when she finally has it - because you have to do this, to get it right, because this was the way Taliesin did it (a name half-remembered from drinking-songs by his whispering fireplace) - she presses the needle against the scab on her finger until it gives, until the blood runs along the needle again and she hisses because it was bloody sharp, ha.

First things first: she takes the blood-sheened needle and slips it into her breast pocket. She knows, call it women's intuition, that the needle will not be in that pocket the next time she opens it. And it's different than when Charlotte does it, because she knows it's because it's of the otherworld, and that there's a divide, there's things from there and things from reality, and just because her coat's special doesn't mean doors can argue about opening. Besides, she can explain it clearly and succinctly.

Then she takes a deep breath, setting her feet steady, fixing her mind on her purpose, on why she's here and what she searches for. And then, only then, does she lap at her finger with her rough tongue, letting her mind open to the Hedge - but she'll wrestle it down and make it beg, because she's human, and this kind of thing is what humans do in a pinch.

[Rolling Int+Wyrd-1: 7, 10, 7, 9. No 10-Again due to Curse.]

[Thanqol]

[Sure, go ahead.]

[Activating Night's Subtle Distractions, 1G, doubles any environmental penalties they suffer.

7 - 5 - 2 - 6 - 2 - 4 - 6 - 3 - 3 (Avg: 4.22222222222)

Ohmergewd. Failure.]

[Anarion]

Then she takes a deep breath, setting her feet steady, fixing her mind on her purpose, on why she's here and what she searches for. And then, only then, does she lap at her finger with her rough tongue, letting her mind open to the Hedge - but she'll wrestle it down and make it beg, because she's human, and this kind of thing is what humans do in a pinch.


[As a note, you don't even have to roll when you meet the catch and can use the contract repeatedly. You would have succeeded within the next 10-15 seconds no matter what.]

This forest was thick with life and with meaning. Marchande could sense the goblin fruits she was seeking. The path that was in front of her and a bit to the right lead to another shift in terrain, this one to a small forest cave that would likely hold the flowers, and anything else that might commonly be found in caves.

There was the bonfire glen as well, behind her and also a bit to the right.

And there to the left and some ways away was a broad open road. It was an empty road for the moment, but of the size and scale that it could be used by a carriage of the Gentry. Or by one of their hunts.


[Activating Night's Subtle Distractions, 1G, doubles any environmental penalties they suffer.

7 - 5 - 2 - 6 - 2 - 4 - 6 - 3 - 3 (Avg: 4.22222222222)

Ohmergewd. Failure.]

[Ah, in that case, you and Rose should roll initiative.]

[Anarion]

As Stephanie jumped to the ceiling, she saw a small woman step out from behind a small pile of stacked boxes. The woman had pointy ears at the top of her head, so her silhouette looked sort of like batgirl. That was appropriate because her face, at least that part that was visible above her black jumpsuit and mask, had a light brown fuzz and an ugly pug nose that were also reminiscent of a bat.

She was wearing a pair of loose dark pants and a zip sweatshirt, all in black.

She caught sight of Stephanie in the silhouette of the doorway, just an instant before Stephanie got to the ceiling and the woman's eyes tracked her. Stephanie was sure she was seen because the woman drew a pair of short knives as Stephanie jumped.

[You have time to act, and Rose needs to tie a 13 to act first as well.]

[Raz_Fox]

She could almost feel parchment under her hands as the map unfolded, all dark greens and blues, barring the vital fire behind her. This was territory that she could work in now; she'd earned that right.

She knelt, hoisted Charlotte back into her arms, ready to endure another trek through the forest carrying little miss bricks-for-bones. The task was made easier as she continued on, filled with the knowing of roots and thorns down at the bone; her feet found the right places, even if she had to stretch her legs to get there.

"We must not look at goblin men," she hums to herself, something of an English course returning to her as she bears Charlotte along. Something, anything other than the frustration. Focus on the wonder. Dangerous, oh, dangerous. Something to protect everyone from, absolutely. Something she'd give up in a heartbeat to have a normal life, without a doubt. But wonderful, all the same. "We must not buy their fruits: who knows upon what soil they fed their hungry thirsty roots?" Her voice is low and melodious, even if the sound of panting follows after.

[Thanqol]

Oooh, awesome.

Instincts crackled like blue thunder. Stephanie ran, flipped, and dove into cover. She wanted to have some sort of physical cover in case the knives were thrown at her. She also tried to make sure she was out of melee charge range.

"Hi! You work here?" said Stephanie, once she had a nice solid packing crate between her and the knives, opening her mind to the magic of Spring.

[Actions:
- Total defense [8]
- Move up to Speed into cover. Want to be at least 15 away from the target so she can't move up and stab me.
- Contract activation: Cupid's Eye. I want to find out what her surface want is, i.e. why she's here in the warehouse in the first place. If the answer is 'to kill intruders, including you' then that should count for the Catch.

I got 5 dice minus her Composure+wyrd. 5/10G]

[Anarion]

"We must not buy their fruits: who knows upon what soil they fed their hungry thirsty roots?" Her voice is low and melodious, even if the sound of panting follows after.

Marchande marches through the Hedge. Perhaps a hundred yards through twists and turns of dark pine, the needles brushing at her face and making her sensitive nose itch in places that she couldn't reach without constantly having to put Charlotte down.

But finally, there was the cave entrance. And in the back, a stand of white flowers that nearly but not quite glowed in the dark. The night lilies that could restore Charlotte's health.

And in the front, a rather large bear, sleeping soundly and blocking off any walkable path to the lilies behind it.

Oooh, awesome.

Instincts crackled like blue thunder. Stephanie ran, flipped, and dove into cover. She wanted to have some sort of physical cover in case the knives were thrown at her. She also tried to make sure she was out of melee charge range.

"Hi! You work here?" said Stephanie, once she had a nice solid packing crate between her and the knives, opening her mind to the magic of Spring.

[Actions:
- Total defense [8]
- Move up to Speed into cover. Want to be at least 15 away from the target so she can't move up and stab me.
- Contract activation: Cupid's Eye. I want to find out what her surface want is, i.e. why she's here in the warehouse in the first place. If the answer is 'to kill intruders, including you' then that should count for the Catch.

I got 5 dice minus her Composure+wyrd. 5/10G]

[I'd like to give Phoe a chance to get into this since it's likely to be a fight and Kalina might end up going first. I'll do the Spring contract though.]

edit: [Haha, no I didn't just post the important and spoilery answer to the contract before Stephanie rolled, why would I do such a silly thing? Hahaha. /sweatdrop. Anyway, 5-(composure+wyrd) gives you 1 regular die, not a chance die.]

[Raz_Fox]

Marchande marches through the Hedge. Perhaps a hundred yards through twists and turns of dark pine, the needles brushing at her face and making her sensitive nose itch in places that she couldn't reach without constantly having to put Charlotte down.

But finally, there was the cave entrance. And in the back, a stand of white flowers that nearly but not quite glowed in the dark. The night lilies that could restore Charlotte's health.

And in the front, a rather large bear, sleeping soundly and blocking off any walkable path to the lilies behind it.

When Marchande steps into the clearing, brushing low-hanging branches and ferns aside as she steps through a particularly wild stretch of the terrain, the sight of the bear stops her cold. The sight of such a predator is rather high on her list of things that are not good things to see.

But the flowers beyond catch her eye before she can turn around and high-tail it back through the foliage, and this makes her hesitate. This is the way things usually operate in places like this: reward must be won at danger. Like the real world, but more direct in some unpleasant ways. Charlotte is set aside once again, as gently as Marchande can manage. She's such a tiny thing, really, boneless and charred. The smell of the cedars aflame still hangs to her faintly.

Marchande steps forward, chest tight and hands clenched, small and lean before the bear's bulk. She runs her tongue over her lips, takes a deep breath, and examines the scene closely, looking for a place to jump over, a tree to climb up-and-over, or even just a sign that this bear might be something reasonable, like an extra eye or a waistcoat.

[Anarion]

Marchande steps forward, chest tight and hands clenched, small and lean before the bear's bulk. She runs her tongue over her lips, takes a deep breath, and examines the scene closely, looking for a place to jump over, a tree to climb up-and-over, or even just a sign that this bear might be something reasonable, like an extra eye or a waistcoat.

It's a narrow cave and a sleepy bear. Perhaps that is odd in and of itself, since the creatures of the Hedge are not normal animals. But it has no buttons or waistcoat to speak of, nor alternate cave entrances short of boring through the mountainside.

[Anarion]

Batgirl's desire is "protect the node" and there is a subtle hint of a desire for sport mixed in there.

She follows Stephanie's dodge, and shifts herself. She does not throw either of her daggers, but instead holds them at the ready and begins circling around Stephanie's position, taking a careful defensive stance.

Aware that she is spotted as well, she says, in a high, somewhat squeaky voice: "So shadow girl, what makes this my lucky night, hmm? Maybe you're the talkative type? Maybe you'll tell me who sent you? Eeeeeeh?" She finishes off that last statement with a shrill, high-pitched shriek.

[PhoeKun]

Aware that she is spotted as well, she says, in a high, somewhat squeaky voice: "So shadow girl, what makes this my lucky night, hmm? Maybe you're the talkative type? Maybe you'll tell me who sent you? Eeeeeeh?" She finishes off that last statement with a shrill, high-pitched shriek.

"That would be me."

Rose stands in the doorway, cracking her knuckles and her neck, in turn. One opponent, two knives. Held close: melee fighter. Posture and demeanor suggests moderate expertise. Also bat powers or something. Her eyes shift around her immediate surroundings, looking for a makeshift weapon. The previous night's tactics would be more dangerous against this sort of prey. Just keep her talking.

"You get one chance to settle this peacefully. Blow it, and I break you. Now tell me why you're here."

[Raz_Fox]

It's a narrow cave and a sleepy bear. Perhaps that is odd in and of itself, since the creatures of the Hedge are not normal animals. But it has no buttons or waistcoat to speak of, nor alternate cave entrances short of boring through the mountainside.

Options, options, options. Leave? Unacceptable, Charlotte's hurt, and it's her responsibility to get her out of the Hedge alive. The road would take too long, and the fruits are right there, so tempting. Getting them would be something Stephanie or Rose could do, and so- something within Marchande hardens, the almost-light of the flowers glinting in her eyes.

Slay? With what weapon, genius? Tunnel beneath? She didn't have paws, and even if she did, it would be a mammoth undertaking. Perhaps... perhaps she could talk to the bear?

She kneels before the bear, placing one ruddy-haired hand on its forehead, one hand brushing her hair back and her ears all at once, and says, "I want in." And what she means by this is many things all at once. I want to pass by you and gather what you guard. I want to be able to get inside your foolishness and make you understand. I want to be in your heart and in your head and making you listen to mine.

With all that behind three words, the border of dream and reality didn't stand a chance, really. Funny how these things turn out.

[Using Forging the Dream.]

[Anarion]

"You get one chance to settle this peacefully. Blow it, and I break you. Now tell me why you're here."

That damnable darkness. Kalina saw the bat woman when she shifted out near Stephanie, but this room is big and has no lights. As bat girl shifts around to get a bead on Stephanie, she also falls out of the small area illuminated from the door and the tiny radius illuminated by the chalice. Kalina finds herself standing on one of two islands of light amidst a sea of darkness.

On the bright side, there is a metal chain on the floor right near the entrance that would probably cause harm to any faces it made contact with while twirling at high speed.



[Using Forging the Dream.]

-2 for being a totally foreign creature and of the hedge, but you can roll this.

[Thanqol]

Batgirl's desire is "protect the node" and there is a subtle hint of a desire for sport mixed in there.

She follows Stephanie's dodge, and shifts herself. She does not throw either of her daggers, but instead holds them at the ready and begins circling around Stephanie's position, taking a careful defensive stance.

Aware that she is spotted as well, she says, in a high, somewhat squeaky voice: "So shadow girl, what makes this my lucky night, hmm? Maybe you're the talkative type? Maybe you'll tell me who sent you? Eeeeeeh?" She finishes off that last statement with a shrill, high-pitched shriek.

"Aw, yeah, what she said," said Stephanie, starting her own stealthy stalk, trying to keep out of melee range and keeping her eyes out for interesting and weaponisable scenery. "But we're just here to rescue the children, we're not going to do anything with your Node."

Stephanie wondered what a Node was.

[Anarion]

McBatterson turns to the new figure in the doorway and hisses. "No children here. You are mistaken." Then she hears Stephanie's comment about the Node and says "and a liar! Eeeee! Your fool henchmen has given away your scheme and I shall have my glut of blood tonight. Eeee!"


Rose notices that the timing of those shrieks is somewhat even and regular. Like she's checking up on something each time.

Meanwhile, McBatterson continues edging around the room, keeping her defensive stance up, both blades drawn and circling towards Stephanie and away from the light where Rose is.

[PhoeKun]

Meanwhile, McBatterson continues edging around the room, keeping her defensive stance up, both blades drawn and circling towards Stephanie and away from the light where Rose is.

Damn it all. Kalina snarls like a prowling tiger at the edge of the light, wrapping the chain tightly around her right hand. She squeezes it, and feels the familiar weight of the remaining length as it trails down to the ground. This is beautiful. This is good. But it's all academic if she can't find a way to illuminate the battlefield.

Puh. Aren't angels supposed to have burning halos that light up the darkness like stars? No time to whine about it, idiot. Find a light. A place like this can't possibly lack a light switch. She turns her head left, then right. Find it. Find another light source...

[Thanqol]

McBatterson turns to the new figure in the doorway and hisses. "No children here. You are mistaken." Then she hears Stephanie's comment about the Node and says "and a liar! Eeeee! Your fool henchmen has given away your scheme and I shall have my glut of blood tonight. Eeee!"

Rose notices that the timing of those shrieks is somewhat even and regular. Like she's checking up on something each time.

Meanwhile, McBatterson continues edging around the room, keeping her defensive stance up, both blades drawn and circling towards Stephanie and away from the light where Rose is.

Stephanie started circling stealthily in the opposite direction, keeping the distance between them and keeping the bat angled away from Rose until she was ready. She'd played Pokemon, she knew about bats having sonar, so she knew she couldn't count on the darkness to stay concealed.

"Guy named Paladin, you know him? He's kidnapping children and using Royal Crane to move them. We're trying to rescue those kids," said Stephanie. "Truth. I'll Swear to it if you want."

[Raz_Fox]

Dreams are funny things; funny things happen in dreams. Why, take now, for example. A bear roams through the forest, terrible and grand, sending little things scurrying back into the trees. The first winds of Autumn shake the branches, sending the frost-bitten leaves helter-skelter.

A song, siren-sweet, floats through the forest, lures the beast on. The sound of water, the scent of violets, the snap of burning cedar. And as it lopes, it becomes something else entirely, in the flowing river way that you do. It is still a huge, burly, feared thing, but its footprints have five toes, and his chest is thick and curled with hair.

He finds the woman cradling her child by the waterside, and he is brought to heel before her, dark as night and cedar-wood, and her song is the strongest song. She beckons him over, scritches his ears, kisses his brow, pleads with him with honeyed words.

The river is wide and deep, and on the other side are a thousand blossoming violets, rich and drooping with dew. The woman holds up her child, who is frightfully still, and points across to the flowers she must have, and promises ear-scritches and belly-rubs and a lullaby for sleep if he dares to swim across the river to fetch her balm.

[Anarion]

Puh. Aren't angles supposed to have burning halos that light up the darkness like stars? No time to whine about it, idiot. Find a light. A place like this can't possibly lack a light switch. She turns her head left, then right. Find it. Find another light source...

There was a light switch by the door, but flipping it didn't do anything. McBatterson had obviously done some preparations for this.



"Guy named Paladin, you know him? He's kidnapping children and using Royal Crane to move them. We're trying to rescue those kids," said Stephanie. "Truth. I'll Swear to it if you want."

She circles again as well, putting Stephanie on the right side of the room close to the wall (so a little to Kalina's right) and McBatterson in the middle of the room, somewhere near the chalice.

Stephanie's sees the daggers are still drawn.

"I need no oath, I believe you well enough, oaf. Eeee. Now come, fight me. All this circling is boring. Eeeeee"



The river is wide and deep, and on the other side are a thousand blossoming violets, rich and drooping with dew. The woman holds up her child, who is frightfully still, and points across to the flowers she must have, and promises ear-scritches and belly-rubs and a lullaby for sleep if he dares to swim across the river to fetch her balm.

The bear man smiles, his eyes warm and friendly to the woman and her child and swims across the stream, plucking an armful of flowers and keeping them above the water with strong, hearty kicks as he comes back to the woman and her babe and lays the flowers at her feet. He is playing along with the dream fully.

[Thanqol]

She circles again as well, putting Stephanie on the right side of the room close to the wall (so a little to Kalina's right) and McBatterson in the middle of the room, somewhere near the chalice.

Stephanie's sees the daggers are still drawn.

"I need no oath, I believe you well enough, oaf. Eeee. Now come, fight me. All this circling is boring. Eeeeee"

"What, fight you with knives? Now that's boring," said Stephanie, rolling her eyes in the darkness and continuing to circle. "It'll be over in seconds and even if you win you'll have to go to the hospital for weeks. Why not make this interesting?"

[Raz_Fox]

The bear man smiles, his eyes warm and friendly to the woman and her child and swims across the stream, plucking an armful of flowers and keeping them above the water with strong, hearty kicks as he comes back to the woman and her babe and lays the flowers at her feet. He is playing along with the dream fully.

The woman crushes the petals of the flowers in her hands, and lets the juice released fall into the child's mouth, running down her dark cheek. The child gasps and kicks, and snuggles against the woman, vitality returning to it.

Since promises must be kept, the woman reaches up, still holding the child, and begins to run her fingers through the bear-man's hair, gently scratching at his ears, thanking him profusely before humming the strains of a lullaby. She smiles the sweet smile of someone who has been shown grace, and hopes that he will find it worthy in and of itself.

Daylight is waning, consciousness fading, so sleep, my child. And awaken.

[Anarion]

"What, fight you with knives? Now that's boring," said Stephanie, rolling her eyes in the darkness and continuing to circle. "It'll be over in seconds and even if you win you'll have to go to the hospital for weeks. Why not make this interesting?"

"I'm listening."



Daylight is waning, consciousness fading, so sleep, my child. And awaken.

In reality, about half an hour passes. Charlotte stirs and her eyes flutter open as she begins to recover at least from the loss of air.

The bear too opens its eyes in the cave, looking at Marchande standing there. It doesn't move or stir beyond the eyes, but then it's mouth moves as it speaks. "That was a most pleasant dream, child. I assume you want me to move?"

[Thanqol]

"I'm listening."

"There's a skyscraper down the block. First one to the top wins. What do you say?" said Stephanie, grinning and bouncing on her heels.

[Raz_Fox]

The bear too opens its eyes in the cave, looking at Marchande standing there. It doesn't move or stir beyond the eyes, but then it's mouth moves as it speaks. "That was a most pleasant dream, child. I assume you want me to move?"

Marchande's eyes snap open, and she yelps, drawing her hand back away from the bear. Her teeth are all on display, in what is only technically a smile for a moment, before it softens to sheepishness; her frame loosens, the springs of her body uncoiling. "Yes, sir." It seemed right. This creature was sapient enough to talk and to respond to her manipulation of the dream, and so deserved to be treated with as much respect as a regular person, now that it had proved that it was capable of intelligent communication. So 'sir' it was. "Let me apologize for treating you like a normal bear; I was afraid that you were one of the more feral kind, you see. My friend danced too close to the flame, and I was told the flowers here might help - might I ask if you know anything about them?"

She strikes her forehead, groans with a chuckle. "Oh, where are my manners? I'm Marchande, currently of San Francisco. It's a pleasure to meet you, sir."

[Anarion]

"There's a skyscraper down the block. First one to the top wins. What do you say?" said Stephanie, grinning and bouncing on her heels.

A look of desire passes over her face. But then it passes. "You'd like that, oaf. But if I left, your friend here would destroy the Node. Eeeeee. No, no, I think I'll just stab you both, quick, quiet. No hospitals when you slit throats, eeeeehehehe." That last screech turns into a bit of a maniacal laugh.



She strikes her forehead, groans with a chuckle. "Oh, where are my manners? I'm Marchande, currently of San Francisco. It's a pleasure to meet you, sir."

"Rrrrrrrrgh" the bear says, stretch out its paws as it stands up. "I am the feral kind, girl. And a lucky thing for you. The civilized bears aren't half so nice." It gets up fully and shifts its position, settling back down with some space to walk over to the flowers. "Pour the dew into her mouth, it will heal her wounds. Only the full blooms are any good. And I'll take some of that scratching before you go."

[Raz_Fox]

"Rrrrrrrrgh" the bear says, stretch out its paws as it stands up. "I am the feral kind, girl. And a lucky thing for you. The civilized bears aren't half so nice." It gets up fully and shifts its position, settling back down with some space to walk over to the flowers. "Pour the dew into her mouth, it will heal her wounds. Only the full blooms are any good. And I'll take some of that scratching before you go."

"I'll take your word for it, sir," Marchande says as she stands up, groaning slightly. Her legs are stiff from kneeling, and her back from bending over the bear, and she's still blinking gossamer and night out of her eyes. "I trust you won't mind if I tend to my friend's injury before I tend to your ears, sir?"

She plucks two full blooms, trying very carefully not to let any of the dew fall. Of course, she can come back to take more, but she doesn't want to waste any more time if at all possible. For all she knows, Charlotte has already passed away, or fallen into a coma, or been eaten from the inside by horrible faerie insects - there's no time to lose!

[PhoeKun]

A look of desire passes over her face. But then it passes. "You'd like that, oaf. But if I left, your friend here would destroy the Node. Eeeeee. No, no, I think I'll just stab you both, quick, quiet. No hospitals when you slit throats, eeeeehehehe." That last screech turns into a bit of a maniacal laugh.

"If you think you're brave enough, then try it. Stop wasting my time with your 'I'm so evil' posturing, and stab me! Or you can be smart and just tell me what it is that's going on here. You're going to be doing that either way, you might as well save us all the trouble."

Rose plants her feet in a wide stance, and wraps the chain behind her around the waist. Pulled taught, she quickly assesses its full length as she readies it to unleash in the first moment she has a target.

[Anarion]

[Charlotte should react to Marchande. Nothing has happened to her in that half hour other than waking up.]


"If you think you're brave enough, then try it. Stop wasting my time with your 'I'm so evil' posturing, and stab me! Or you can be smart and just tell me what it is that's going on here. You're going to be doing that either way, you might as well save us all the trouble."

Rose plants her feet in a wide stance, and wraps the chain behind her around the waist. Pulled taught, she quickly assesses its full length as she readies it to unleash in the first moment she has a target.

About 8 feet of chain all told.

"I'm not stupid. You look strong and your oaf is fast. Eeeeee. Yours is a throat that needs slitting from the shadows."

[Thanqol]

About 8 feet of chain all told.

"I'm not stupid. You look strong and your oaf is fast. Eeeeee. Yours is a throat that needs slitting from the shadows."

"Yeah, how you going to do that before she walks over to your big cup and smashes it?" said Stephanie, continuing her stalk. "Anyway, she can Swear not to mess with your thing while we go out,"

She was currently looking for flammable things; oil and gas.

[Anarion]

"Silence oaf, I am not so easily tricked to reveal information. Eeeeee."


Nothing particularly flammable out in the open besides cardboard. If Stephanie got the back open, there might be vehicle equipment back there, or she could try rifling through some of the boxes.

[PhoeKun]

"Fine. Coward."

Kalina takes a deep breath, and exhales softly. She tenses her body, pulling the chain tightly about her body, and takes a couple of slow, deliberate steps into the darkness.

[SiuiS]

"Rrrrrrrrgh" the bear says, stretch out its paws as it stands up. "I am the feral kind, girl. And a lucky thing for you. The civilized bears aren't half so nice." It gets up fully and shifts its position, settling back down with some space to walk over to the flowers. "Pour the dew into her mouth, it will heal her wounds. Only the full blooms are any good. And I'll take some of that scratching before you go."

Movement is slow and painful, and deliberate or else a failure, Charlotte finds. To move to fast is to wince, and wind up not having moved at all. There is some part of her that suggest not moving at all is perhaps the best plan. And why not? So she listens, and sits, and stays stock still, dwelling on what's gone on.

Fingers. They say that fire is a mass of tongues (and oh, they may be right! It chatters so, to crackle and pop) but more a fire, she feels, is a hand. It stretches, and caresses, and the nails bite hard and scrape, and like a warm touch it lingers after, warm and present. And it moves, oh how the fire moves and moves her so! She hadn't danced in far too long, so long she had forgotten how, forgotten even that once she could. And now again, her feet would fly... If she could stand.

There were obviously some kinks to be worked out with fire-dancing, she muses. And the touch of heat still on her face, her arms and shoulders, the nailmarks and teeth gnashing and blackened soon-to-be-scars that would fade into her meringue skin, she just knows Marchande is going to give her hell. Not the brightest of ideas, lumens and light not withstanding, but oh, thoughts of hell bring thoughts of fire bring a warm rush to her face, and it is there, in that gilded orange flush and labyrinthine reverie she loses herself in that the bear's comment (A bear? Oh my...), stands, an moves forward to address him, warm smile on her face.

[Anarion]

As Rose steps fully into the darkness, she hears the whistling of a knife. It came from behind and to the left of the chalice.

Does Rose dodge, or continue forward, prepared to take the knife hit?

For Stephanie only
Rose has badly misheard the direction of the throw (I rolled a dramatic failure on her listen check). The circling has McBatterson behind and to the right of the chalice and some distance back, not at all where Kalina heard. Stephanie may notice this if Kalina starts moving the wrong way.


Movement is slow and painful, and deliberate or else a failure, Charlotte finds. To move to fast is to wince, and wind up not having moved at all. There is some part of her that suggest not moving at all is perhaps the best plan. And why not? So she listens, and sits, and stays stock still, dwelling on what's gone on.

Fingers. They say that fire is a mass of tongues (and oh, they may be right! It chatters so, to crackle and pop) but more a fire, she feels, is a hand. It stretches, and caresses, and the nails bite hard and scrape, and like a warm touch it lingers after, warm and present. And it moves, oh how the fire moves and moves her so! She hadn't danced in far too long, so long she had forgotten how, forgotten even that once she could. And now again, her feet would fly... If she could stand.

There were obviously some kinks to be worked out with fire-dancing, she muses. And the touch of heat still on her face, her arms and shoulders, the nailmarks and teeth gnashing and blackened soon-to-be-scars that would fade into her meringue skin, she just knows Marchande is going to give her hell. Not the brightest of ideas, lumens and light not withstanding, but oh, thoughts of hell bring thoughts of fire bring a warm rush to her face, and it is there, in that gilded orange flush and labyrinthine reverie she loses herself in that the bear's comment (A bear? Oh my...) reaches her ears.

And so it is that Marchande should chance to find her doing her slow duty to pay the debt Marchande incurred on her behalf, slowly rotating the broad of her elbow behind the bear's ears and kneck, swirling in the point to scratch with frayed sleeves and stiffened fabric the crannies and nooks she could not reach, and her fingers so black before but still perfect, now cracked and frayed and running ever so slightly with an orange-red tinge of pulsing blood, a cross of magma and amber.

From across the bear, weary and blackened, she smiles.

[This is...not good. I think you have misunderstood the situation, perhaps, so I am going to stop your action mid narration that you might understand it better.]

As Charlotte enters the cave proper and approaches the bear, it gives a deep, menacing growl at the stranger approaching it.

[PhoeKun]

There, to the left. Now just --

Feel it.

What?

Step in. Take her best and dish out more. Remember what it is to hurt. To bleed. Not some glancing shot from a fat sack of crap, but a real shot from a real weapon. Bleed. Beat her. It'll feel so good. Do it...

Rose's body obeys. She holds, and waits for the exquisite touch of steel on skin...

[Anarion]

Rose's body obeys. She holds, and waits for the exquisite touch of steel on skin...

Alas, it was merely the touch of steel on steel. The knife struck Rose at an angle on the chestplate and bounced off harmlessly. Not even a scratch.

Having shouldered forward, Rose had an opportunity to act, as did Stephanie.

[Thanqol]

As Rose steps fully into the darkness, she hears the whistling of a knife. It came from behind and to the left of the chalice.

Does Rose dodge, or continue forward, prepared to take the knife hit?

For Stephanie only
Rose has badly misheard the direction of the throw (I rolled a dramatic failure on her listen check). The circling has McBatterson behind and to the right of the chalice and some distance back, not at all where Kalina heard. Stephanie may notice this if Kalina starts moving the wrong way.

A line blurred red in Stephanie's mind.

The knife was in her hands.

She moved up and around, seeking a back, seeking a target.

[Can I get another Stealth roll while Batsy is distracted? She'll still be taking the penalty from Night's Subtle Distractions. If it's irrelevant I'll just take the attack.]

[Anarion]

A line blurred red in Stephanie's mind.

The knife was in her hands.

She moved up and around, seeking a back, seeking a target.

[Can I get another Stealth roll while Batsy is distracted? She'll still be taking the penalty from Night's Subtle Distractions. If it's irrelevant I'll just take the attack.]

[This would be a stealth roll to get a surprise attack and reduce Bat's defense to zero for your attack, right? You can take that. She has a bat's senses, so she isn't suffering environmental penalties due to darkness right now, but you're free to make the roll.]

[Thanqol]

[This would be a stealth roll to get a surprise attack and reduce Bat's defense to zero for your attack, right? You can take that. She has a bat's senses, so she isn't suffering environmental penalties due to darkness right now, but you're free to make the roll.]

[NSD has a minimum -1 penalty, remember.

7 - 3 - 8 - 8 - 2 - 7 - 8 - 1 - 6 (Avg: 5.55555555556)

3SX]

[Anarion]

[
3SX]

Stephanie flows like water from the ceiling to the ground, racing forward, knife plunging into the unsuspecting bat.
[roll damage, defense=0. Her jumpsuit is kevlar though, so she has 1 armor against melee.]

[Thanqol]

Stephanie flows like water from the ceiling to the ground, racing forward, knife plunging into the unsuspecting bat.
[roll damage, defense=0. Her jumpsuit is kevlar though, so she has 1 armor against melee.]

The knife left her hand, with a whisper of goodbyes.

[Thrown attack, 10-1 = 9

9 - 3 - 2 - 6 - 1 - 8 - 5 - 8 - 1 (Avg: 5.0)

3L. I am now disarmed.]

[Anarion]

The knife left her hand, with a whisper of goodbyes.

[Thrown attack, 10-1 = 9

9 - 3 - 2 - 6 - 1 - 8 - 5 - 8 - 1 (Avg: 5.0)

3L. I am now disarmed.]

The knife strikes Batgirl in the back, near her arm pit. She flinches, her whole body shudders, and she turns on Stephanie menacingly, but keeps quiet through it all.

[PhoeKun]

Rose frowns as the knife plinks off of her hardened skin. Useless. But, the velocity was startling, triggering an almost reflexive halo of light around her body. It didn't illuminate anything, not well enough to see more than another inch in front of her, but the metallic sheen of her skin promised the sort of protection that cold steel offers a body.

This is her chance. Aim high. Don't aim for something, just find her. She whirls the chain in a huge circle above her head, steps, pivots, and unleashes in a new surge of glamour-enhanced movement, listening to the dull thrum of the metal in the air and hoping to make contact. She'd put everything into this gambit - if she didn't locate the batgirl, she'd probably die in the next few seconds.


[Rose activates her Stonebones kith as well as her Might of the Terrible Brute contract, result: 10 - 4 - 9 - 1 - 10. Ten again results: 2, 8. The attack is made at +4 strength. :smalleek:

Attack, semicircle sweep: 2 - 10 - 2 - 1 - 8 - 2 - 5 - 10. Ten Again: 4, 1.

3 damage]

[SiuiS]

As Charlotte enters the cave proper and approaches the bear, it gives a deep, menacing growl at the stranger approaching it.

"Good day sir Bruin. I was sat outside this cave, sir, and have moved nary an inch for my wounds. But I hear my friend the good lady hound owes you a debt, oui? I would be happy to begin living up to her end, as she made good the deal but was in haste. If you would allow such a petit burnt morsel as I to help, of course."

[Anarion]

[Waiting on chainy death to see some reactions to my OOC post]


"Good day sir Bruin. I was sat outside this cave, sir, and have moved nary an inch for my wounds. But I hear my friend the good lady hound owes you a debt, oui? I would be happy to begin living up to her end, as she made good the deal but was in haste. If you would allow such a petit burnt morsel as I to help, of course."

"Hrrmmph" says the bear, shifting as it lies there. "You may try. If your services are lacking compared to the dream girl, it won't count. And if you do anything suspicious, I shall eat you." With that, it closes it eyes and relaxes again.

[Raz_Fox]

Now, Marchande isn't too comfortable in the wild, especially in such a mad place as Wonderland, where roles are imposed on one based upon what Fate thinks might make for a good story. But her feet are light and her movements are smoothly confident, and in the depths of the cave the only parts of her that can be seen by the naked eye are her eyes and the flash of her teeth, and that only if one is careful. Her fur is ruddy-dark and her coat is night.

The practical result of these facts is that one moment, Charlotte is scritching at the bear's ears, and at the next, Marchande is clearing her throat in the way that people do only when their throats are not actually itching and their teeth are grit. She looms above Charlotte like doom, embarrassed and angry and relieved and disappointed all in once.

"I suppose it was too much to hope that you'd learned a lesson about danger," she says coldly, looking down at the charred doll, trying very hard to see her humanity. It's hard. "Then again, if you're not dead, it clearly means you're immortal, so why worry?" Marchande's sarcasm is bitter and sharp.

Even so, she kneels and brings the flower to Charlotte's lips, brushing her lips with the petals. "Drink," she says, and it's a command. "Every drop." Because every drop is usually how these things work, the bear himself said so, and if she doesn't drink it all her burns might not fade away.

[SiuiS]

Charlotte dutifully follows Marchande's command, taking the flower.

[Anarion]

Kalina's chain cleaves through the darkness, but it strikes only air. Her ears had fooled her. The bat woman wasn't this close, she had shifted position for the throw and was somewhere further back, out of reach of the chain.

--------------------

The bear murmurs some minor ascent during the scratching and rubbing. Charlotte's hands are delicate and it seems to enjoying itself, though it mostly seems not to notice much.

As she stops and takes the nectar, however, she feels a cool sensation run through her body. It starts in the stomach, but it spreads upwards and outwards. Like releasing a deep breath she hadn't known she was holding. As she does so, the worst burns on her hands and face begin to close up and new skin grows in its place.

[Charlotte heals 1L for drinking a flower, as per standard. Marchande has 2 at the moment, and though Raz never asked, I'll tell you that the back of the cave had 4 full blooms in it, the rest were not ready.]

[Thanqol]

Kalina's chain cleaves through the darkness, but it strikes only air. Her ears had fooled her. The bat woman wasn't this close, she had shifted position for the throw and was somewhere further back, out of reach of the chain.

Stephanie saw this and her mind sparked.

"Rose! Forty degrees left, two steps forwards!" shouted Stephanie, and focused on blocking Batsy from moving out of the arc.

[Full defense, acting as spotter for Rose]

[Anarion]

Stephanie saw this and her mind sparked.

"Rose! Forty degrees left, two steps forwards!" shouted Stephanie, and focused on blocking Batsy from moving out of the arc.

[Full defense, acting as spotter for Rose]

The bat girl looks from Rose to Stephanie, and let's out a frustrated sounding echolocation shriek that fully gives her location away to Rose.

Then she backs off, slipping back and to the left, sliding herself behind a small pile of boxes that are left of the line between door and chalice. Stephanie can follow her no problem, though can't see her behind the boxes at this exact moment.

[Thanqol]

The bat girl looks from Rose to Stephanie, and let's out a frustrated sounding echolocation shriek that fully gives her location away to Rose.

Then she backs off, slipping back and to the left, sliding herself behind a small pile of boxes that are left of the line between door and chalice. Stephanie can follow her no problem, though can't see her behind the boxes at this exact moment.

"Ninety degrees right, keep forwards," said Stephanie, trying to keep pace with the bat. Rose just needed to get one good hit in.

[PhoeKun]

"Ninety degrees right, keep forwards," said Stephanie, trying to keep pace with the bat. Rose just needed to get one good hit in.

Rose exhales deeply. That was a huge mistake to make, and she'd somehow come through it without so much as a blemish. Close. Too close. She has to beat the darkness now, or else. She calls on the last vestiges of her faerie strength.

But the darkness always wins...

And suddenly there are no new reserves of power to tap into. Rose has nothing left to give. But Stephanie is giving directions, and that gives Kalina hope. It's all her own strength, then. She springs forward, just as directed, chain rattling behind her. She lifts her right arm and swings forward, stepping into the motion like a baseball pitcher and whipping the hardened steel links up over her head to crash down brutally through the bat's hiding spot, boxes and all. She screams and wrenches her body upright, scattering obstacles left and right.

[Might of the Terrible Brute: 7 - 3 - 7 - 2 - 5. Failure.

Unaugmented Attack: 2 - 7 - 8 - 10. Ten Again: 10 Ten Again: 8. 4 damage, and my apologies to the families of all these aggrieved boxes.]

[Anarion]

Rose exhales deeply. That was a huge mistake to make, and she'd somehow come through it without so much as a blemish. Close. Too close. She has to beat the darkness now, or else. She calls on the last vestiges of her faerie strength.

But the darkness always wins...

And suddenly there are no new reserves of power to tap into. Rose has nothing left to give. But Stephanie is giving directions, and that gives Kalina hope. It's all her own strength, then. She springs forward, just as directed, chain rattling behind her. She lifts her right arm and swings forward, stepping into the motion like a baseball pitcher and whipping the hardened steel links up over her head to crash down brutally through the bat's hiding spot, boxes and all. She screams and wrenches her body upright, scattering obstacles left and right.

[Might of the Terrible Brute: 7 - 3 - 7 - 2 - 5. Failure.

Unaugmented Attack: 2 - 7 - 8 - 10. Ten Again: 10 Ten Again: 8. 4 damage, and my apologies to the families of all these aggrieved boxes.]

The chain whips out. It looks like it's about to hit, but at the last moment, Batty McBatbat jumps back, twisting her head backwards and sliding underneath the strike. She looks surprised and more than a little nervous as she settles back into her defensive stance, on the balls of her feet and ready to move.

[In game terms, she was dodging that round, her defense was doubled from 3 to 6, so only your first die counted.]

[Thanqol]

Ah, she was on the back foot. Stephanie took the opportunity to draw her lighter and unscrew the cap. The next step was to douse the bat in oil and prise her out of the darkness.

She continued to verbally direct Rose as she did this.

[Draw weapon: Lighter]

[SiuiS]

Charlotte savors the chill of her belly for a moment, ceasing sir Bruin's earnings to use both hands, setting down the used flower and accepting the second. She dips fingertips lightly in the nectar before drinking the few from her fingertips, and following up with the rest of the flower's supply.

The glacial tonic feel of it is exhilarating, and even as it forms ice in her core she shivers appreciatively, feelin it spread. The fire's grasp that was once a choking, strangling cling opens up into a fierce hold, then a friendly arm slung across until finally the cracks in the coal-black tile of her face glow orange and deep. For a moment Charlotte looks to be a broken thing of ceramic an heat, blackened, glowing and cinematic. With a soft sigh of sweetness and release, the heat depend to a red and and cool puff of steam leaves her bared skin with the subtle feel of fingers left just barely in contact.

The skin of her finger, raw and bleeding before from dragging them through ursine hair, now sit tingly and whole, if blackened still around the nail, and angry and red-yellow as the sun's colors vie with her normal, moonlit complexion. And Marchande is standing, scowling, waiting. Waiting? She did speak, so perhaps...

"Danger is a lesson learned, Madame, but handled not in props and settings but in script rewrites and backstage editing. When to act is a danger and to stay your hand a danger, then one must dance as well they're able, non? Though I fear perhaps I've too light a touch to pay your debt to sir Bruin, whose ears still need attention."

charlotte begins to tend the bear's ears again, but from a kneel, now, listening to his soft noises and shifts of body, putting her admittedly lacking weight into the work.

Her eyes are far away, her voice breathless, wistful. "Oh, did you see her Marchande? The fire? This place, it takes the mind and plays. Almost like... There. From hence we came. I don't know I you saw her, Marchande, but I hope so. Life is not the same without such beauty."

[Anarion]

Ah, she was on the back foot. Stephanie took the opportunity to draw her lighter and unscrew the cap. The next step was to douse the bat in oil and prise her out of the darkness.

She continued to verbally direct Rose as she did this.

[Draw weapon: Lighter]

The rich, sweet smell of chocolate fills the air. The boxes that Rose's chain ripped through contained a bulk candy delivery, and the remains of the treats are scattered all over the floor. Her cover annihilated with not so much as a how do you do, Batty gives another loud screech. And notices the lighter in Stephanie's hands.

With some desperation, she slides backwards again. This time, however, something different happens. The darkness in the room seems to betray Stephanie, shadows that she cannot see through congeal themselves around Batty as she slides along the room's left wall and spread out in the area like deep, inky smoke. The sound of her footsteps, already faint, dims to almost nothing.

Stephanie knows the general area where she could have moved, but has lost track of her.

[She rolled 3 successes on her contract-enhanced stealth roll. I rolled the opposed roll already, but if you want to spend your turn actively scanning for her, you can roll wits+composure again.]

[Raz_Fox]

There is a wonder in the cave, and that wonder is the fruit of goblin men. No, that's not quite right- the wonder is in action and intent. If they had remained there for a year and a day, soft and delicate and untouched, they would be curious. But because they had been plucked and given, they were wonderful; because they were relieving pain and closing wounds and bringing relief, they were wonderful.

Not that their existence made Faerie worth it, of course.

The slight smile - look at what I have done, me, Marchande! The raised eyebrow - a little seed of wonder at seeing Charlotte's flesh steam-cleaned, a little lilt of joy as she exhales. The smile vanishes completely and the eyebrow lowers as Charlotte speaks about justifications and the beauty of the fire. Marchande finally sighs, crossing behind the bear, idly scritching behind its ear.

"That's not..." She stops. Collects herself. Tries to think about how Charlotte would understand things. "The fire could have killed you. I took a calculated risk, trying to appease it without being burned. Because fires will burn you, that's what fires do, whether they're here or in the real world. And you didn't care about the burning, you just thought it was pretty and wanted to dance with it." And you got away with it, she adds to herself, and that galls her. If Marchande had done something as foolish, would Charlotte have done anything? "I approached this lovely bear, not sure whether it would hurt me or listen to me, only because I had no other choice if I was to help you. And even then, I approached him through dreams, and I didn't make assumptions about him being helpful. You? You just came up and started trying to scritch him, not knowing if I'd made some kind of deal just with him. If he'd been like Them, you'd have roused his ire and that'd have been the end of you, snap!"

Her thumb runs slightly-rough circles in the bear's fur, long nails gently digging at his thick flesh. The ungrateful child sits on the other side, eyes empty of understanding. How is it that people like Charlotte get to take all the stupid chances they want, and skip away from the consequences fecklessly while people like Marchande have to pick up the pieces? No, Marchande doesn't even get that - for all her tricks with hedge-pricks and dream-walking and her dance around the fire, all she'd done was heal superficial burns. "The difference between us, Charlotte, is that I understand stories, and I know that this place likes stories. But stories, in the end, are tricks. I can think my way through a story without believing that's the way the world really works, and I know not to assume I know what a story is before I've thought it through. You think that the whole world works like a story! You think doors talk and fire just wants to dance with you, and you don't think about the consequences." This last bitterest of all. Charlotte never gets consequences. Marchande's too busy piling them all on her shoulders, enabling her to dance blithely around with fire without worrying about the burns.

[PhoeKun]

Rose can smell the fear building in her opponent. The chance to turn the tide of the fight once and for all was at hand. This much is clear: a fighter like Batsy would not consciously place a glowing chalice in her chosen battlefield unless it was important. Not after so carefully sabotaging the lights. Almost certainly, then, that would be her precious "node".

Kalina draws her chain to her and starts to walk forward. She spins the chain in slow circles in front of her, keeping on the balls of her feet to pivot as she walks. The attack could come from any direction, but to Kalina, there is only one target.

Get to the chalice. Get to the light.

[Thanqol]

Stephanie scoffed. Amateur.

[Wits+Composure: 6

10 - 5 - 10 - 10 - 8 - 2 (Avg: 7.5)
2 - 10 - 9
5

these frickin' dice, man. Six.]

She didn't let Batsy know she was onto her, but started moving stealthily in return, seeking to get into a location where she could splash her with the oil.

[Anarion]

This last bitterest of all. Charlotte never gets consequences. Marchande's too busy piling them all on her shoulders, enabling her to dance blithely around with fire without worrying about the burns.

The bear groans happily at Marchande's scratching, which has a bit more strength and vigor to it than Charlotte's weakened hands.

It eyes Marchande with amusement as she gives her little speech, still enjoying the scratching. But when she's done talking, the bear says "you shouldn't be so surprised. It is the nature of a dog to go and fetch things for others. As it is the nature of dolls to play at being human, and the nature of bears to hibernate in caves."



Kalina draws her chain to her and starts to walk forward. She spins the chain in slow circles in front of her, keeping on the balls of her feet to pivot as she walks. The attack could come from any direction, but to Kalina, there is only one target.

Get to the chalice. Get to the light.

It wasn't far. Rose hadn't gone much past it when trying to hit the boxes. She backed off carefully and there she was, fully illuminated in the small circle of light. The deep black wood of the chalice seeming to absorb the glow emanating from it.


Stephanie scoffed. Amateur.

[Wits+Composure: 6

10 - 5 - 10 - 10 - 8 - 2 (Avg: 7.5)
2 - 10 - 9
5

these frickin' dice, man. Six.]

She didn't let Batsy know she was onto her, but started moving stealthily in return, seeking to get into a location where she could splash her with the oil.

There she was, trying to slink around the corner and come from the back of the room straight at Rose's and Stephanie's flanks. In fact, by the way she was moving, Stephanie could tell that she was prepping to throw another knife as soon as Rose stepped over to the chalice. She was very intent and didn't realize Stephanie had seen her. It was highly unlikely she would be ready to dodge.

[Thanqol]

'Order of operations, Stephanie,' she silently reminded herself. 'Surprise attack then catchphrase. Surprise attack then catchphrase.'

She splashed lighter fluid all over Batsy from behind.

[Dex+athletics-1(improvised)

4 - 7 - 3 - 2 - 8 - 4 - 7 - 1 - 5 (Avg: 4.55555555556)

Just the onesies]

"Dark in here, isn't it?" she murmured.

[Raz_Fox]

The bear groans happily at Marchande's scratching, which has a bit more strength and vigor to it than Charlotte's weakened hands.

It eyes Marchande with amusement as she gives her little speech, still enjoying the scratching. But when she's done talking, the bear says "you shouldn't be so surprised. It is the nature of a dog to go and fetch things for others. As it is the nature of dolls to play at being human, and the nature of bears to hibernate in caves."

It is much to Marchande's credit that she only bats the bear gently on the nose, given the amount of bristling that is going on. It is more of a reprimand than an attack, really. Her neck, her arms, her tail, that last most ironic. "And it is the nature of people to choose to act, sir. I risked my life to be able to say that, and I will say it." No matter how often Charlotte makes jibes, no matter how many people tell her she's a dog. She will say it.

Doesn't mean it doesn't hurt to have to say it.

[Anarion]

"Dark in here, isn't it?" she murmured.

Her exclamation and screech are cut short by a bit of lighter fluid splashing into her mouth. As she retches for a moment, she still strikes out, lightning fast, aiming for Stephanie.

[roll0]

However, her blade passes through nothing but shadows, and not the ones that make up Stephanie's body, either.


"And it is the nature of people to choose to act, sir. I risked my life to be able to say that, and I will say it."

"Ah, I see" says the bear. And as he settles back down and works his way towards sleep, it seems for all the world that he does.

[Thanqol]

Her exclamation and screech are cut short by a bit of lighter fluid splashing into her mouth. As she retches for a moment, she still strikes out, lightning fast, aiming for Stephanie.

[roll0]

However, her blade passes through nothing but shadows, and not the ones that make up Stephanie's body, either.

"See? You can't see a thing," Stephanie said cheerfully, "Let me help with that!"

And then she set the bat girl on fire.

[Anarion]

"See? You can't see a thing," Stephanie said cheerfully, "Let me help with that!"

And then she set the bat girl on fire.

[Arson is just your solution to everything, isn't it?]

The bat girl chokes and splutters as the fur around her head catches aflame and she turns into a small bonfire. The lighter fluid that splashed lower catches alight as well, but her Kevlar vest is flame resistant and the small amount of fuel isn't enough to set it ablaze. The result, from Stephanie's perspective, is eerily similar to Ghost Rider.

Rose, for her part, sees a sudden light spring into being. It's smaller than a torch, but clear enough to allow her to see Stephanie, lighter in hand, standing over the bat girl, down on her knees, her head nothing but a sphere of flame.

[PhoeKun]

...Well, that works.

Rose springs at the bat torch without wasting a moment, grabbing an end of chain with each hand as she goes. Tossing the links over the burning head, she pulls the line taught around the would-be guardian's arms.

"Game over."

[Anarion]

It is good luck to bless a new thread with frequent posting, and some say it wards away the Gentry. (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=271610)

[SiuiS]

Playing at being human? There may be some truth to that.

Charlotte blushes a little, for a few reasons, the newfound redness hot beneath her cheeks. "Excuse. He said he would have some of that scratching now, and you said you would see to his ears after. I haven't been asleep this whole while."

So much to take in. So much to be said. How to do so? Where to begin? Charlotte feels like she's flipping through pages looking for the start of a chapter or scene, madly scanning with amber eyes to find the lines that bind within the written word the way she feels, the way the story is supposed to go, and while she looks and longs the lights grow brighter and soon, very soon she will have to start to ad-lib and—

No.

One deep breath. The scent of fire lingers, smoke in her clothes and skin and hair blessedly covering the charred meat stink. The breath rolls around and escapes like a ghost with the lowest of moans.

There are words to say. There are orders and progressions. Patterns to make the crossword fit. Feelings. Thoughts. Charlotte is caught for a moment, pained by the chasm. Marchande just does not and will not understand. The costs, the benefits, the risks. Marchande does not like Charlotte's perspective, simply. No words or speech would change that. No amount of antagonism would change her antagonistic tone.

Charlotte moves deliberately, slowly. Rock forward, toes under. Rock back, heels down. Smooth skirts, rise (ignore the tears and rips, and tears they bring) and step. Unsteady. Eyes half closed, arms half raised, weight half shifted. Charlotte closes her arms, locks her hands, around Marchande in literal, figurative warmth, and breathes into her shoulder. Priorities.

"Thank you..."