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Post by Wayland on Feb 2, 2022 22:25:01 GMT -8
The last time she was here, so was Linden. It’s actually the only time she’d been here until now. It was Cinderella’s meeting, but it was Linden who arranged it. Is this what it’s like when you have roots in a place? When you stay somewhere, instead of moving from one town to the next? A friend dies, and you just start seeing their ghost everywhere you go? Wayland shakes her head as she settle in at the corner of the bar in the Commonwealth, as if to shake that thought from her mind. She signals he barkeep and orders a drink, unsurprised to be a little early. Mary had suggested they meet here, when Wayland had mentioned who wanted to talk to her and what they, including Wayland, wanted to talk to her about. There’s only so much you can learn from a library. And there aren’t many libraries with accurate Fae knowledge in the first place. Wayland didn’t trust herself to ask all the right questions and retain all the answers on her own, so she’s grateful Mary agreed to talk to the others too. But like every day in recent memory, she’s going to have to watch what she says. She can’t give away the fact that she’s so interested in Huntsmen because she’s trapped in an oath to one.
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Post by Blaze on Feb 3, 2022 13:48:18 GMT -8
A bar in downtown Las Vegas seemed to Blaze like an odd choice for the kind of talk they are about to have, but mayb the idea was that whoever overhears this will assume they are talking about a video game or a LARP and just let it slide. The Torrent decided to give it a shot regardless.
She enters the place, orders the cheapest beer on tap and moves over to Wayland who was already waiting there. No sign of Gavin or Scorpio or whoever else was going to attend. Hopefully they'll show up in a moment, although there's an intrusive thought in the back of her mind that the Autumns have somehow learned the truth and it's a trap.
Stop she thought to yourself That's not being healthily paranoid, that's prey thinking. It is what it is. You'll get through this
"Hey Wayland. How have you been?" comes the slightly awkward greeting.
Gavin talked Dame Scorpio up quite a bit. If it's not a trap, learning about Huntsmen may not be the only benefit to this evening.
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Post by Gavin Graves on Feb 3, 2022 14:29:00 GMT -8
Walking into the bar the Beast halted. Closed in spaces like this had started to bother him since the run through the Thorns. The close walls reminded him of the pressure from the waters in the depths of the Abyss. The rush home from that place haunted him with just how fast circumstances could change. Perhaps it was just the subject he was here to explore dredging up those memories, casting a long shadow. He scratched his back idly as he forced himself to look at the furthest corners of the space and not the things closest to him. His scars felt tight.
Settling in near Wayland and Blaze, he staked out a spot where he could see outside. It gave him a small comfort to extend the reach of his vision even in a small way, even if it only worked for a few seconds when the door opened.
"Heya folks. Ready to explore our waking nightmares?" His smile and upbeat tone were clear deflections flowing from his own nerves.
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Post by Scorpio on Feb 6, 2022 17:30:35 GMT -8
The model titled her head as she descended the stairs in sharp heels; the black trench coat with the crimson lining reminding one of a widow spider. The edges of the carpet seemed to bulge and skitter in a wave with her approach, twitching legs and shining blotches clustering underneath the floorboards and between the cupboards. The florescent lighting hummed with new layers of sound, making the smaller space feel like the world around them was breathing.
Scorpio waved a bronze manicure and white eyeliner with honey lip-gloss, the subtle mandibles lifting to accommodate her bright grin. "I was worried that I would be behind Dame Mary! Once we're done, I would love to form a hunting party if any of you are interested—one of those spooks just shut down our dueling circuit, and I was supposed to be smashing skulls and doing shots with the Fall Queen in California this week."
She shook her head, playing off attitude she was fronting to alleviate the tension of a full-scale invasion. The Huntsmen were targeting courtiers as powerful as another Freehold's monarchs, and it was only a matter of time before a building was levelled by a panicked, fleeing noble.
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Post by Bloody Mary on Feb 6, 2022 18:05:29 GMT -8
Speak of the devil.
The aging Ogre drew the silk scarf from atop her head to loop it around her neck as the thunder followed her, pelting the windows and darkening the world outside. She could have passed for someone's grandmother before she stretched to her full height and took the readied pint with black fingers. Beneath her turtleneck and leather jacket was merciless sinew meant to peel raw meat from the bone. The Changelings paused as the bartender interacted with the Knight's Mantle and scratched one of the crows, greeting Bloody Mary with a Bargain's familiarity as the pair caught up.
"Beating them up and taking their Iron won't do you much good beyond pissing it off," Mary rumbled behind Scorpio, prompting a guilty chuckle from the wasp as she straightened in the same way a teenager does when the Headmistress called you to the office.
"They always come back. And they will keep coming back until this Dream business is dealt with." She waited for the others to bumble through formalities and silently noted which Knights had failed to school their vassals in basic respects, the leather creaking as she sat with her drink that was already halfway done.
"What's your goal, then?"
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Post by Wayland on Feb 9, 2022 14:24:01 GMT -8
When Blaze orders the cheapest beer on tap, Wayland’s face scrunches in distaste. She spent a few years living in Portland, which was sufficient to imbue her with both taste and snobbery in the world of beer such that she can’t imagine anyone enjoying what Blaze is ordering. Still, she nods to the Ifrit, not really having a chance to answer her query before the rest of their party starts filing in.
Gavin likewise gets a nod of greeting, noting the position he takes in the room, but Scorpio draws her attention far more completely. Wayland is almost tempted to lift her glass off the bar lest some scurrying shadow tip it into her lap. Her attention is drawn back when the Paladin mentions a hunting party. Spooks? Does Scorpio mean another Huntsman? That might be worth exploring.
And then her own Knight arrives. The storm in which Mary walks is familiar now, after time spent in her service. It reminds Wayland of the time she’s spent on the East Coast, the hot and humid air, the static that makes everything feel sticky and sharp. It’s not quite a comforting sensation. Reassuring, perhaps, but Wayland’s Pavlovian reaction is more to sit up and pay attention. Her teacher, and her boss, is not someone who’s words or moods should be overlooked.
She immediately wants to ask about the Iron that Mary mentions, but chokes on her inquiry as she immediately discards it as a helpful pursuit. She’s been here for ten seconds and she’s already dropping valuable details. Wayland quickly pulls a pocket-sized notebook bound in leather across the bar, producing a pen and scribbling a note. ’They will always come back. And they will keep coming back until this Dream business is dealt with.’ That thought sends a shiver down her spine. What does that mean for her and Isla?
Her eyes narrow in thought as Mary poses her question. In her experience, the Tolltaker does not ask such things lightly. But after a moment, she ventures an answer: “Long term? Defeat the threat. Whether that means destroying them, or routing them, or finding a way to bar them… or something else. But in the short term: Find out more about them. Strengths, weaknesses, patterns. Anything that could be helpful.”
She glances aside at the others. They might have their own goals, she doesn’t want to speak for them, and they deserve a chance to answer. But she decides to pose her follow-up question anyway; “How is it they’re able to wield Cold Iron? In their bare hands?” Wayland is a blacksmith, iron is supposed to belong to her. But since her Durance, she can’t bear to touch it without thick working gloves.
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Post by Gavin Graves on Feb 10, 2022 12:09:43 GMT -8
When the Knights each arrived in turn, Gavin stood to greet them. Familiarity had washed away some of the formality with Scorpio, but none of the respect. Dame Mary was addressed with a rough hewn but formal greeting. While it was obvious he wasn't well practiced in social graces someone had at least instilled the basics in the Beast.
Gavin was down with Scorpio's suggested activity assuming whatever was learned from Mary didn't change all their minds. He did pale a bit remembering the iron kiss from the last one he'd scrapped with, rolling the scarred shoulder a few times to loosen up.
"I want to be as disruptive to the Good Cousins' plans as I can manage." It wasn't just about the Huntsmen. They were simply a kind of piece on the grander board, but they needed to be understood to be foiled or manipulated. "Usually that requires nuanced understanding and strategies less obvious than run, hide, and fight."
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Post by Blaze on Feb 10, 2022 14:04:59 GMT -8
Greetings are exchanged as appropriate with Gavin when he enters. Slightly more formal greetings are reserved for the knights, but there's nothing elaborate to them - Blaze thought they'd appreciate getting to the point faster, especially among mixed company, and besides, that's what the Elemental has been doing even before her Durance.
And while that's not nearly the point, Scorpio's trench coat is absolutely great. Not one for dressing up, Blaze is willing to make an exception this once - maybe with some different threads, lest anyone thinks she's aping the Knight of Brambles.
"I'd be interested in hearing more about that hunting party you're organizing, Dame Scorpio, when you have the time."
Unlike Wayland, she elects to trust her own memory instead of paper. A note can be lost or stolen, revealing what you know. At least when you lose your head, you're already dead.
"The goal is to survive, and right now that means striking back. The enemy has us outgunned, so the strikes have to be surgical. Everything has a weak point, I want to know theirs."
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Post by Bloody Mary on Feb 11, 2022 22:23:37 GMT -8
Scorpio began to nod to Blaze's comment with a sly smirk, before freezing the gesture as the Witchtooth slammed the table with her fist to keep attention. A sympathetic hiss was offered to Gavin as his Knight watched him roll his shoulder.
"Because it's not Their hands. The Fae is gloved in the flesh of a human body," Mary snarled to Wayland's question. "Mankind shields their drive in the chamber that once held the heart, as the poor sop is a glorified suit of armour to house their relentless hatred that you're out here without their permission."
She cocked her head at Gavin, lips cracking and black as they pulled back over teeth. "There is no strategy, Graves. They're as unique as the Title and human's afforded assets. Stopping a Huntsman is an involved ritual and test of wits, where destruction only brings down the Gentry itself. A Huntsman should only be pursued in earnest if they are destroying your life in an unimaginable fashion. It's the business of motleys to manage their curses."
The clouded eyes land on Blaze, "The only weakness is pursuit outside the Hedge, where they are closer to their heart and have shades of themselves... and the Bargains. Once the quarry is marked, the Hunt is eternal."
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Post by Wayland on Feb 11, 2022 23:40:05 GMT -8
Her eyes flick to Scorpio as Blaze invites a tangent, but expects Mary’s gesture, and is ready to keep her focus on her own Knight. What’s that old saying? Something about how youth and enthusiasm is no match for old age and cunning? Or maybe the one about respecting an old person in a position where one often dies young would be more fitting.
At least Mary doesn’t act like the prejudiced old assholes Wayland had to spend time around in her youth.
As the Witchtooth speaks, Wayland’s pen moves over her page, taking quick notes. Moving from one school to another all through her childhood, with patchy spots of homeschooling in between, it was the only way she could make sense of it all. Bad grades were punished in her household. So she’s a good note taker, because she had to be.
’Out here without their permission,’ gets written out and underlined. Not because it’s particularly relevant to the topic at hand. But it’s a phrase that immediately makes Wayland feel better about this situation. Defying the will of their captors just by being free. Reclaiming their agency just by being out here. That warms Wayland, just a little bit. Sometimes little bits are enough.
Her pencil scribbles and scratches as she takes everything down, most of it in a shortened format. 'Quarry marked = hunt eternal'. She circles that phrase and stares at it for a moment. That… does not bode well for her situation. Not if she wants to keep herself from breaking an oath. She’ll do it too, rather than turn over something Isla could really use against Henley. Isla might kill her for that though, and save her from the fallout.
She looks up from her notes, “I’d like to know more about the relationship between the Fae and the Huntsman.”
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Post by Gavin Graves on Feb 12, 2022 11:32:41 GMT -8
While Bloody Mary might be a topic expert, her approach left something to be desired. He expected her to be more willing to make war with the enemy. Her hesitancy toward his mention of strategy gave him pause. Occasionally he looked to the others for their reactions as well, in particular Scorpio. Nonetheless he listened intently. Valuable details seemed to be dropping things into place with regularity.
The Fae wears a human like a glove or suit of armour. That would imply the Huntsmen maybe are Fae? From the sounds of things it also adopts some of the properties of the thing housing its power. He had come to a similar conclusion with a recent project, but suspected he was railing directly against the work of one of the Fae. Since Huntsmen aren't effected by Iron, it became more likely he was correct. When the Witchtooth said 'unique as the Title' it immediately sent the Beast running further down a variety of rabbit holes.
"I recently found a Fae had been using a mythical name to shape its magic toward creating a particular effect here in Vegas. I used the weaknesses of record for the named mythical creature to undo its magic with a ritual I tailored for the purpose. Getting the ritual performed with the right elements definitely wasn't a solo effort though," being sure to not take credit for the whole project while not dragging the conversation off topic. Flagging the assistance was enough in this moment.
"Yeah, it seems to have worked so far without ever having entered its presence. Might that sort of thing apply with a Huntsman as well--do they have Banes and Taboos to be exploited related to the name they use?" he was extending an approach that accounted for what Mary was saying and what he had already encountered.
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Post by Bloody Mary on Feb 14, 2022 20:22:04 GMT -8
"The Huntsman was once a person, who was deemed a suitable vessel for an expression of Their power," Bloody Mary grunted around her pint. "Now the Keeper's wishes overrides anything that was once there."
She nodded gruffly to acknowledge Gavin's contributions, and the Beast got the impression that a public bow of the head held weight with the Ogre. "No, Mr. Graves. That would defeat the purpose of creating one. The Lost are the ones who inherit such frailties, borne of our own free will. A Huntsman has none."
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Post by Blaze on Feb 15, 2022 2:07:52 GMT -8
Although Blaze was a student of the occult of middling knowledge, the implied and stated scope of the challenge made her head spin. The Torrent compartmentalizes information as best she can - not just what Mary is saying, but what Wayland and Gavin choose to reveal as well. There's clearly a lot of planned understatement in the older Summer Ogre's words; she's probably looking to make it more efficient by focusing only on the things she's asked about.
"What of their Heart? You said it is a source of weakness for them. You mentioned a ritual, and Dreams being tied to how... persistent they are."
Maybe they're three spearate leads. Maybe they are not leads at all, or dead ends. But even non-actionable intel can help paint a picture here.
"Are those three things connected? If a Huntsman is riding a human body, can it be... I don't know, excorcised? Cut out like cancer? Or is the human really gone?"
It probably doesn't work like that, but it's worth a shot. If Isla can be saved - or at least given peace - then they need to try.
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Post by Bloody Mary on Feb 15, 2022 7:57:05 GMT -8
"The Gentry commune with the Huntsman through the will of their Title," Mary expanded, in terms of what Wayland might mean by 'relationship'. "Their role is to return what was lost to their slaver. What target that might be can change or not, depending on who and why."
A black-tipped finger gestured, not quite pointing at Blaze but there was a undeniable heat behind her unsaid warning. She started to speak, then fell silent, letting it stretch as she grabbed another drink.
"That would just be lovely, wouldn't it?" she mused, sounding genuine in her daydreaming. "Where we could just stop them by helping their misfortune. Wretches." Her lip curled and split, smoking around the ashen cracks.
"Yes, there is a Heart. Somewhere—that's the game They play. In the dreams of mortal man, where one cannot help or lucidly recognize why their dreams are a storming nightmare. Which one, is the question. Which mortal Bastion did the Fae hide the Huntsman's Heart? Would you walk the Skein of billions of hideaways? If you somehow divine such a thing while dealing with the living embodiment of the Gentry's cruelty, you may drive the Title from its chamber."
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Post by Wayland on Feb 16, 2022 14:26:14 GMT -8
‘Frailties borne of our own free will ??’ What does that mean? What does that imply? It’s too big a thought for Wayland’s current focus. She adds another question mark to her notes and abandons it, something she can circle back to another time. For now, she needs to keep her attention on Huntsmen.
She lifts her head from her notes when Mary’s silence creates an unnatural break in the conversation, watching her teacher curiously. When the witch does speak again, her words are resigned. But in them, Wayland hears the first thing since this whole debacle began that sounds even remotely like hope.
There is a way. There’s a way to solve this without murdering a child. There’s a way to solve this without becoming an Oathbreaker. (Fulfilling her oath, delivering Henley to a Huntsman, barely even registers in her mind.) It’s not going to be easy. But since when is anything in her life easy?
She glances aside at Blaze. (A mistake. They shouldn’t reveal their conspiracy with each other. But then again, she did raise the question to which Mary was responding.) “I’m not exactly an expert at oneiromancy,” she confesses. At first it seems as though she’s agreeing with Mary, reinforcing the idea that this is not a fruitful avenue of attack.
Skein-walking is not her area of expertise. But maybe they could find someone for whom it is...
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