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Post by Gavin Graves on Dec 30, 2021 18:28:14 GMT -8
Shortly after the dinner downtown with Henley and Wayland, the Beast stood pensively at the corner of a nearby alleyway smoking one of his stale cigarettes as he sorted out his approach in updating the Knight of Borders with his new suspicions.
Finishing up the final drag, he carefully pressed the butt against the wall to put it out and flicked it into the dumpster some ten feet away.
"Heya mate. Was just having a conversation about the trip to the market with Henley and he got to asking some good questions. When Afterparty got caught by an Agent of the Others, I had figured they'd used their Wooj to get things sorted in the heat of it since the Arrangement in the Springtime tends to prevent violence. I had gone to update Wayland of the situation and wasn't gone much more than a minute. When I got back, it was extremely compliant--helpful even--but didn't once acknowledge either I or Wayland even existed. The Broker was there for whatever actually went down, in case a witness is useful. The other part, since Henley was asking the questions, he's already on his way to take it to one of their Knights. You should expect Alexandrite to get in touch shortly. He had a cigarette's worth of head start." The Beast exhaled in relief to have gotten that done. "Sorry I didn't think to question it sooner. Got caught up in clearing the Roadway right afterwards and then keeping track of the returning bird turning himself in to the Magistrate."
Gavin waited for any response. He was not expecting his ally to be happy about this development.
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Post by Bastille on Dec 30, 2021 18:49:46 GMT -8
"No apologies necessary."
The Ogre rumbled to himself, and Gavin could hear the gemstone grind. "What was the Huntsman's panoply? Did it offer a title that it went by? If it was following the Bargain, it would have had a target or two that it was running down. That would have been its intent for lending assistance in the short-term for long-term gain. Obviously your group was just unlucky, I suppose."
He cleared his throat, with the sound of drawers opening as he flipped through something.
"...Ah. Yes, right. They know things- the longer you're in their presence. Sympathetic connections form and they use that for leverage- thank you Dame Mary," he muttered, reviewing the tome. "If no one was losing a limb or getting dragged behind a steed, that seems like the...logical...motive." He almost sounded nostalgic; being in the field again and tracking a threat.
"Do you know if Afterparty's been all right? That must have been quite the encounter. Hrm, no, I think asking that particular Hob for details will have me paying its dividends for years." He shuddered.
Bureaucrats.
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Post by Gavin Graves on Dec 30, 2021 19:29:47 GMT -8
Gavin looked around for prying ears before dropping his loose coding, "The Torchlight Rogue, on behalf of The Last Unicorn. It was like it was a searchlight, yet it had a shadowed and sharp spindly form and carried a huge sword. A swallow was there too." Recalling again at the prompt, "Yeah, that's what made me second guess what I had thought had happened. It seemed to be talking about all kinds of personal details. Hartman's family in LA, Riley's insecurities, and the like. Oh, It had some kind of Fruit in its hand when I got back to them."
The call had already been enlightening. Bastille knew some details about the creatures, but was referencing notes given to him by Bloody Mary. A solid lead on the sought knowledge not even a half hour after setting to the task. To think, Wayland was already talking to the right person and either didn't know it or Mary knew she wasn't ready for it and hadn't troubled to mention it.
"Are they alright? Well, Riley seems that crawling under your bones kind of suspicious of late and Hartman pissed off Loki enough to get a beating at his own party for some reason. I would not call that doing well. The pair also seemed to be sullen or distant and otherwise out of sorts right after the encounter and took quite a while to get going when we were dealing with Machina. I was amped up on adrenaline at the time readying for the 'fight of my life' that didn't happen so things were a little bit fuzzy on the come down."
Gavin understood all too well the reluctance to get involved with the Broker. It was a slippery slope.
"After Party is probably still up to their ears with the Broker as well. They had to buy a ticket to make it through. Didn't want to wait for me to come back and pick them up for a second go." He sounded like his pride had been stepped on by that choice.
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Post by Bastille on Dec 30, 2021 19:53:55 GMT -8
"They're civilians, mister Graves!" Bastille hummed. "A talent agent and a performance artist. You would know that time moves different for everyone in there without the right tricks, so I wouldn't doubt being that the mercy of whatever was thrown at them prodded a debt. You know the Hedge knows. The average person in that kind of situation wouldn't like to gamble on waiting a few minutes, and frankly, they might not have had the option."
It was a gentle nudge as the Autumn flagged annoyance or insecurity, and the Summer Knight responded in coaching a frustrated lieutenant.
"Did you pick up that clock one yet? Should be a big help for next time, but everyone's back safe and you were successful. That's all that matters, really. Hmm, the mention of that fruit...it must be something rare or outside your experience then, I take it. If you could produce a drawing and description, Witness Squire Callahan of Fall is one I'll send it to. Good Lord, what if he has a doctorate on top of that mouth full?"
He scratched his beard, chuckling as he considering the status update on the surviving pair. Riley had had a hand in supporting the Revenant Crisis and both had helped build the stadium. They had some political coverage with Chugunkin, so Ser Alexandrite potentially asking about it first was quite the boon indeed.
"Thank you, mister Graves for the diligence. I will await the Spring Knight being called to action first, as you said, but we will be ready with a plan now. It's a touchy time to say the least, so a lack of surprise helps temper some of our more...jaded...officers."
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Post by Gavin Graves on Dec 30, 2021 21:13:04 GMT -8
The Beast had had plenty of practice showing patience and understanding for the new and inexperienced, but it seemed distant and somehow ground breaking to do it again. "I guess, yeah, you're right," he admitted after a longer pause.
"I have since picked up that trick. It'll definitely help with keeping everyone together since I can now limit it to whatever brand of response I feel is best and urge feet to move a little faster," It really would have helped on that run. Live and learn.
"I'll go to Calahan next then and make an inquiry about that fruit and get back to you. I've worked with him before to help save some people from a poisoning," the foremost expert on Goblin Fruit would be a good next step in case it was something meaningful. It was no common specimen.
"Oh, any chance I could get a copy of those notes or maybe a referral to Bloody Mary about tutelage on the subject. They're likely to be around a fair bit more and I'd like to be better prepared against them in the field," he asked hopefully. It was worth a try to ask for what might help head off future problems and he could pass along Wayland's interest as well if it turned into anything.
"Yeah, right on. I do what I can to keep things going smooth," he was a bit more confident now that he didn't feel like he was a screw up for missing the details earlier. The patience and understanding from his mentor had helped him.
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Post by Bastille on Jan 4, 2022 19:26:07 GMT -8
"Yes! There is a reason that the Season favours you, mister Graves," the Ogre rumbled when referring to the incident of Spring sedition and mortal peril.
"And I'm sure Dame Mary would find this agreeable, though likely would like a favour from your Knight in return. Not because she wouldn't want you prevented from being a proper guardian of the Freehold, but because it's a good excuse to get Dame Scorpio working with the Spears."
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Post by Gavin Graves on Jan 5, 2022 16:34:12 GMT -8
"Awesome. I'll speak with my liege and see how amenable she is to an additional commitment at the moment. Thank you for the reference, sir." Gavin had recently asked her for access to Bead Tokens for a Hedge sojourn and an out-of-approved-timing audience with the Autumn King. She might have an ask of him for this further request.
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