[Private] All the King's Horses

Before the change, the Hollow had been pretty welcoming - it was bright and well kept, but it had the catalogue quality to it. It didn't feel like someone lived there. When Dani stepped inside Rowan's room, that impression changed. The Elemental's own room was a museum to 80s and 90s pop culture, the Darkling's was a whole different kind of nerd. The opposite wall housed a bookshelf and a desk, the wall above it covered in notes and sketches. The books were mostly second hand, well used and loved, ranging from Hindu mythology all the way to First Nation folklore. There were half-finished sketches of arcane symbols pinned to the various sides of the room, deemed harmless enough by their creator to be left on display. A queen-sized bed was placed in the corner of the room with a night stand and a lamp next to it. Various GED-related volumes were left on it: study guides, book analysis, math problems. On the wall right across from the bed, the first and last thing Rowan would see every day was a poster of Gurren Lagan, an animated series about giant robots. It was faded and dog-eared, but it seemed to hold a place of importance in the room. A wide window showed the peaceful pine trees outside, no signs of hands or other Hedge denizens.

This was the beating heart of the Hollow, untouched by whatever happened to the rest of the place. Rowan's inner sanctum, his holiest of holies. The rest didn't really matter, a simple shell to house this precious treasure. It was a reflection of his personality, his dreams and aspirations lain bare to see. Despite everything that had been said minutes before, letting someone inside was an act of trust, in some way. The violation of one's most personal space would have sent anyone into state of panic and crisis management. His phone, the one he had told Dani about, was broken in half and smashed, discarded on the floor and circled with more salt for good measure.

Read Rowan? Wits + Empathy rolled 3 dice and got 1 success. 7 8 5