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Post by Icarus on Sept 25, 2021 22:56:17 GMT -8
"You're fucking serious."The Magistrate sat up straight from behind his desk, removing his reading glasses as he blinks hollow-white eyes in disbelief. A moon cycle had come and gone, and Icarus has suffered his punishment to the restoration of his vision, though the Autumn Incubus still had an unsettling soullessness to his gaze. The office was shockingly mundane for what Gavin Graves expected from a sword wielding warlock, with dark wooden shelves for old files that the Fairest hadn't bothered scanning yet to fully go paperless. Organized and clean, however. He hadn't asked where Grendel had gotten the clothes from, the Mask firmly sealed for safe travel to the Knight's abode. The Ogre appeared to be honouring his request so far, which was letting Gavin do the initial talking. Icarus' Mantle certainly didn't help, even in plainclothes the powerful Changeling's attention brought up an itch that whispered that Graves had finally overstepped the line. He felt almost illuminated—unkempt, sweaty, and like an imposter as the painful process of experiencing the Dying Light's connection to Fear slowly coiled through his nerves. As Gavin ran over the situation with the Market, and Bastille, and the Springs needing to follow up once they had had enough sleep, the intimidating image of the ethereal being seemed to be all in his head as Icarus' expression turned from dangerous disapproval, to baffled and patient curiosity with acclimation to his Mantle. The features and horns weren't as sharp as he remembered, and there was a lively glow that tracked behind the pearlescent corneas. "...Why?" he hissed to Gavin, exasperated. Grendel shifted impatiently. The Ogre was very, deeply, keenly aware that without swearing to the King and gaining the protections of the Freehold Oath, he was a dead man walking.
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Post by Gavin Graves on Sept 26, 2021 19:01:56 GMT -8
Gavin could not believe how nervous he had been while delivering the details of his escapades in the Hedge. He felt like an idiot child stammering his way through his first class presentation all over again. It was embarrassing, but he managed to keep himself mostly put together despite the overwhelming urge to blurt out his every secret just to make the judgement stop.
"I know. It seem a little out there, right." The doubt crashed in like a wave by putting it into words.
"Yeah ... "
"It could, ... I mean, ..."
He stopped to take a breath. It was taking real effort to focus. Unconsciously he drummed his claws in the air to bleed off some of the building energy.
"After Party were the ones that knew about him even being there and the negotiations had already been opened on the subject with the Goblin King." He forced out a complete sentence.
"I don't know how or why they knew and went for it, but once it was on, it was on. Anything else would have compromised the larger goal. So, instead of fighting it and presenting our mission as a divided disorganized endeavor, I put boundaries on it and made the best of it."
"You know, like a pledge to keep him on the backfoot in any attempt to harm you or even plan an ambush. I didn't expect you'd want any meeting with him done here though." A bit of anger slipped out at the silliness he was bearing blame for. He resented having to sneak the questionable Ogre into the Freehold proper prior to informing Bastille.
"Grendel has a history poking around in the Freehold, its borders, and maybe the wards with the support and permission of someone from within. Knowing who was behind that could be useful."
"Now, Sir..." he stammered again prior to trying to chastise the Knight for not seeing the value from the outset. "I'd remind you of the Huntsman and a Title that were there."
"If After Party knew he was there, how? How many others knew? If it was that easy for them to know, how easy would it be for one of the Gentry to pick him out from the background and ask more in depth questions about what he found out about our defenses." He had no idea whether it was common knowledge or if it might be strange for After Party to know, but they'd earned a bit of a reputation for making interesting choices. They also didn't strike Gavin as being the most connected people or entrusted with the deepest secrets. So the math still checked out, to his view anyway.
"Once I knew he was there, I couldn't leave him in easy reach all bound up to the Goblin King like that. The King would slowly have its goals and control supplanted by the Title's will and it would in all likelihood hand Grendel over to stave off that fate a while longer or to distract it onto us to save itself."
Gavin kept stammering out bits that would reinforce this point and played at assuaging his own self doubt. Anything to keep from saying his personal reason. A reason born of purely of Autumn: What if that was me? Would there be any room for a return if I ever fell to my instincts.
Grendel was problematic, known to be capable of violence, and easily stood as an approximation for Gavin in a situation he feared might come to pass for himself. He had to know how doomed he would be.
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Post by Icarus on Sept 26, 2021 22:14:49 GMT -8
Normally, he would have ignored Gavin's frustrating, but the gripe about having to slip the fugitive into Paradise caused him to quietly sigh. There was a myriad of reasons why the Knight of the Dying Light refused to meet at the border, and took a cloak and dagger approach, but he offered the Beast the Nice version.
"I didn't want you to be caught and interrogated prematurely," he said, addressing Grendel rather than talking around him. His detached tone didn't really offer the reassurance that he wouldn't execute him by the time this meeting was over. Inviting the maneater into his own house without any immediate weapon or armour at the ready was a loud statement to his confidence.
Gavin's nerves were rubbing off on him, apparently, the Incubus' frown tightening as he has a harder time than normal cutting through what the Changeling was emotionally fluttering for. "I'm not interrogating you, Gavin, I just wanted to know what you were motivated by. If I didn't value what you were trying to accomplish, I would have just made some calls to wrap up this dark chapter." His eyes flicked to Grendel, squinting as he got out of his chair and sized up the giant properly, barely reaching his chest. The Gristlegrinder couldn't help himself, the smile that split a little too toothy as he loomed and rumbled in the back of his throat. "Okay, talk. Which member of the Autumn Court assisted the Leviathan Motley in its research?"
"I'll talk to your King, first," Grendel stated. It wasn't exactly what he had agreed to with Gavin, but he saw his opening and wanted to daisy chain the command structure with the bait he shrewdly kept close to his chest. It wasn't smart for making friends, but the Ogre decidedly stuck to the realm of dominance displays, and answering to the leader that got him what he wanted the fastest. Icarus maintained his own smile, stretching as a spark of malice betrayed the Fairest's patience as the fucker tried to play politics.
"Ah. I see. Gavin, can you turn around for a second?" The Ogre clicked at the instruction given to the other Autumn, finding this more amusing than intimidating. Whatever the Fairest was going to pull with the Seasonal illusions, he had faced worse. Gavin hesitated, reluctant to turn his back on his own liege lord's rival and miss something. He was still harried from keeping everyone alive in the Hedge, and confronting a Huntsman while his peers walked a razor wire of loyalism. Archie had sworn to look into a True Name to keep his family safe in LA. Hard choices.
Rather than relent completely, he used the moment to text Scorpio a missive about looking intimidating with the King. His head ticked back as he felt an energy radiate heavily enough to make the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end, but the only thing that appeared to have happened was that Grendel was no longer hovering over Icarus like carrion. Rather, the Ogre's expression now struggled to maintain the mask of self assured power, sitting on the edge of Icarus' desk as his shoulders sagged in bone creaking exhaustion and stacked psychic horrors. "I can't guarantee the King will speak with you, Grendel. He doesn't take well to outsiders accusing his knighthood of sedition. If I didn't want to help you, you wouldn't be here," the Incubus almost crooned. No horrifying visages or giant flaming swords, just himself as he smiled encouragement at the fugitive.
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Post by Krakenbox on Sept 27, 2021 15:14:45 GMT -8
Grendel cocked an eyebrow at Gavin Graves, before rubbing his temple with his thumb. "Leviathan had been banished from their last Freehold. Echidna sent messages to the Node, when Hemlock mentioned the problems with your local Court. The Ashen Notary wanted some independent research, wherein we proved ourselves valuable to outweigh the motley's reputation."
The Ogre sniffed, "Lots of activity with Winter poking around the Reservations. Hemlock dug up a rumour that they lost someone and they had knowledge valuable to understanding the wards. Echidna bartered to get to them first, if Hemlock could tap the Node. After some Oaths that bound them, Echidna outsourced and bought me'n'Blink from the Market. Or, bought Blink from the Market, and she convinced her on my worth with Autumn. Mantle was enough leverage to be taken seriously if things went tits up. Suspected she'd sick the Tolltakers on us and burn any association if Echidna went off the rails. Which she did. Dunno if she got what she wanted out of it, I was there to listen to her or be released back to the Market."
Icarus' attention went to Gavin's phone. "Don't pass that on until we speak, please."
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Post by Gavin Graves on Sept 27, 2021 23:16:50 GMT -8
Gavin grimaced incredulously at Icarus' assertion he wasn't being interrogated. That was not how it felt to the Beast. He was normally a burgeoning bottle of anxiety ready to cook off. Under the baleful presence of Knight of the Dying Light, it was a concerted effort for him to keep from acting the animal.
He casually checked his phone for replies from Scorpio. He hoped she would trust his judgement and read that he couldn't be too open about specifics at this juncture, but he was relatively fresh as a vassal so it was possible he might get even more questions today.
The Courser stood quietly relieved to not be the focus of the Incubus' attention while the two were speaking. As little interest as Gavin had in politics generally, the details unfolding in the conversation were closely related to topics of interest. The uncommon access he had in this moment made him reconsider his stance. On top of the juicy content, this whole scenario was a lesson in the application of leverage and managing an otherwise shit hand of cards. One thing was made abundantly clear though to Gavin, despite his relative inexperience, Grendel is very politically astute. He clearly saw much more of the moving parts and knew enough secrets, or perhaps simply believable stories, to make substantial waves.
It was very likely Grendel didn't know Scorpio was Gavin's liege and so wouldn't know to avoid pointing his conspiracy accusations in her direction with him there. It was good her name hadn't come up, in his view: one fewer reason for Icarus to look askance in his direction.
He raised an eyebrow when trying to make recollection of any mention of the Node he might have heard previously and relate it to something he was more familiar with.
"Yeah, I'm going to reserve judgement on spreading this any further than this room," he nodded when given side-eye for his phone. He had however primed a message that would inform Scorpio who was here and why and that he'd been directed to bring Grendel into the Freehold without notifying anyone else into the phone's clipboard.
The accusation leveled at Chunhua didn't sit well with Gavin. She may have been cold and calculating, but she was also very careful. She had locked him down with an Onyx Oath to keep him from talking about the movements of a Good Cousin before the Monarchs would have wanted it widely known. If she was running Leviathan as Grendel said, she was somehow sloppier in dealing with them than she was with Gavin. It didn't add up.
"The Ashen Notary, who locked me down with a pledge to keep a secret for what ended up being a mere two weeks, who seemingly has access to boundless occult knowledge, hired irregulars for sensitive occult work and didn't bother to require secrecy? Seems more than a little out of character."
It occurred to him, it was possible someone was using her guise to manage their own exposure and manipulate Leviathan. The thought also reminded Gavin why he hated politics.
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Post by Krakenbox on Sept 29, 2021 9:19:39 GMT -8
Grendel rumbled, a sardonic smirk splitting his jagged teeth—still sharp under the Mask.
"And I can't offer any proof neither."
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Post by Gavin Graves on Sept 29, 2021 9:59:30 GMT -8
"Right, well bear with me here." Recognizing he'd just gutted Grendel's story, "describe the feelings you experienced when you met with this Ashen Notary. How strong were those feelings?" Gavin wondered if the mantle signature and strength would match what he had experienced.
He was certain Icarus would know the correct answer, but an outsider like Grendel likely wouldn't know if he had not met with the true Ashen Notary. It is usually not a casual affair to access higher nobility. It certainly wouldn't be something agents operating on a low-profile would be able to arrange without risking problems. Answering correctly would help Grendel's story; answering incorrectly would point in the direction of Gavin's gut: someone was using Leviathan and the guise of Chunhua to probe the wards.
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Post by Krakenbox on Sept 29, 2021 10:02:34 GMT -8
Grendel's milky eyes flicked to Icarus, who simply nodded like he was somehow supposed to know the story himself.
"Spoke through the Memory. Hemlock was a Witness."
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Post by Gavin Graves on Sept 29, 2021 11:33:56 GMT -8
"I'm not so sure the Chevaliers took the extra effort to thoroughly question Hemlock before Loki took a chain to their neck, but maybe Solomon did get a chance behind the scenes. I'm not holding out hope though." It had become clearer Gavin was mostly hunting for true answers with his good faith assessing of Grendel's answers and was not pushing for any particular outcome for him.
"This "Memory" you've mentioned. Was it a dream-walking meet-up thing? Where would it persist other than Hemlock?" The Ogre may not have been able to offer proof, but the Beast was working the problem looking for angles that might have been missed. Persistence hunting occult problems was how he kept himself from hunting other things. A hunger was forming for these hidden truths and a feral glint for something distant shone in his eyes.
"Without true presentation, no pledge would be possible anyway." He added as a related fact while pondering whether or not mutual conscious presence in a dream or memory as a meet-up location would allow for a pledge. If it was possible and it didn't happen, given Chunhua's penchant for controlling information release, it was meaningful.
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Post by Icarus on Sept 29, 2021 12:12:35 GMT -8
The terms tugged something familiar, and Gavin knew they were related to the Autumn Entitlement that keeps public record, like Felicity Stone with Rowan and Bonnie's trial.
"I think he's referring to the collective network of the Eternal Echoes, and that Hemlock was a member of that Entitlement. They aren't exclusive to Vegas and set up chapters in Freeholds with a significant history."
The Fairest seemed oddly placid in allowing Gavin to direct the line of questioning. Was he sitting on something himself? Was he already running the numbers in his head? Was he limiting Gavin's acquisition of information?
Or was he just lazy?
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Post by Gavin Graves on Sept 29, 2021 12:35:58 GMT -8
"Ah, yeah that name was knocking around in the back. Just needed a nudge," nodding along at Icarus' prompt. "Name sounds like they'd tend to remember things well, but Hemlock is dead. Do they have a work around for that? Maybe a hive-mind?" This was twice now that entitlements have been a barrier to his following up on a thread. It was getting to be a problem for him.
"Who's the local contact?" he asked more generally with the presumption one of the two would know. He looked at Grendel figuring even if Icarus knew, he'd stay quiet to find out who Grendel knew.
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Post by Krakenbox on Oct 1, 2021 18:03:22 GMT -8
"Hm. Almost like when things went to shit, suddenly everyone was dead. The Ashen Notary—Chunhua—is the head of the local chapter. Unless you were asking about members specific. That I don't know," Grendel hissed. "I don't know who Hemlock talked to."
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Post by Gavin Graves on Oct 6, 2021 14:38:01 GMT -8
Gavin couldn't argue the outcome. It seemed that everyone being dead would be another way to seal up the loose ends--except for Grendel having escaped. Hiding in the Hedge in the depths of the Market would have made it difficult even for Chunhua to get at him. Grendel had been very particular about who he was going to speak to as well. Icarus was not well liked by Samedi and might seem the likeliest to be open to hearing this account. If it was Chunhua, she would naturally be excluded. Scorpio is an apparent Samedi loyalist. She Wolf might be too connected with the other courts to take the risk. Icarus was really the only choice. Without this scenario unfolding in front of him Gavin would never have considered any of it.
"Alright. Yeah, it hasn't really left you much room to operate--assuming all that is true." He cocked his head to one side with a slight shrug as an admission it might be possible. He considered that she might have figured the hunt would have been enough to protect her from being found out. Maybe that was careful enough for her. If it was, she is capable of making mistakes and taking calculated risks. It all led directly to the simplest question.
"Leaves me wanting to know why do it?"
Gavin looked back and forth between the two others expectantly hoping there might be further insights to be had.
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Post by Krakenbox on Oct 11, 2021 9:18:09 GMT -8
Grendel blinked at the question, as if the answer was obvious.
"Survival."
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Post by Gavin Graves on Oct 12, 2021 11:25:12 GMT -8
Gavin returned Grendel's incredulous look, "You're funny. Obviously. And by process of elimination ..." trailing off, he left the math to work itself out in the Ogre's head. The buzzard had just leveled an accusation at Chunhua and reminded the room everyone else involved was dead.
"We're exploring your story as if it were true."
Turning to Icarus, "You've got an inside edge in sorting out whether or not recent justice might have some connection due to the similarity in content: Ghosts and Wards."
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