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Re: Waiting For Rain IC: Spring Slowly Comes
Charlene went to bed in silence and lay for a time staring into the darkness. With Isabelle's helpful contract earlier, it was the first time in a long while she had actually had the chance to lie down and just think. Things had been a mess, one of her friends had almost died, Cludge had died, and now the future seemed more uncertain than ever... where would they go from here? Charlene felt like she needed to regain control of herself, and her situation.
She tried to think back at everything that had happened. The second encounter with Cludge had gone well, up until... Charlene stared ahead of her, trying to figure out what had gone wrong.
She thought back to the first meeting with the ogre. She had managed to calm him then. Perhaps it had been dumb luck, but she had been able to find something that touched him, something that brought out the human in him and made him pause. That was what had failed the second time... they hadn't known him well enough, hadn't known which buttons to push, or not to push. Knowing...
She thought of Hans. They hadn't known him either, and that too had ended in conflict because of it, if not as dramatically as Cludge. She thought of Jon, of the fetch... had they known, it might have been different too.
All these people, had they known them... they would have acted differently, maybe realized how to act or not act. That was the key... you had to know people, get to know them. And if you knew them, then you could influence them. Control them, she thought, frowning a little. But wasn't that necessary too sometimes?
They had been able to influence Isabelle and prevent her from rushing in in a blind rage. It had almost worked, Isabelle had then seemed well on her way to influencing Cludge, controlling the monster inside. Some things needed control.
She drifted back in her memories. There was one thing she couldn't influence, but... was that not simply because it had never spoken, never listened, never let itself be known? If she only knew it, could not even it be controlled? It was a terrifying thought. She veered away from it.
The first hunt. She remembered the sound of the horn and her frantic heart, it was all a terrified haze, but before that... before that... her companions. They had tried to stop her, but she hadn't listened. Had they known her mind, known how to... control her, stop her, she might never have been here, with these memories. She wondered briefly where they were, what had happened to them.
It all boiled down to knowing people. Know them and you can influence them, help them, protect them. Because sometimes people need protection from others, or from themselves.
She fell asleep on that thought.
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Re: Waiting For Rain IC: Spring Slowly Comes
As Jon woke up and began to go about his day, something nagged at the back of his mind. He couldn’t place it at first, but midway through changing into his new clothes, he realized that the Herald’s room didn’t feel abandoned - it was quite clearly belonged to someone - and he suddenly felt odd for having slept in their bed.
Once he was dressed, Jon headed down the hall to the bathroom to wash his face and clean up for the day ahead. On the way, he decided that the first thing he wanted to do was sit down and have a long talk with the Prince. He had lots of questions for Talmage; some about his room, others about Vorel and what had happened on the bridge, but more than any of those things, something the Prince had said had stuck in his mind and Jon needed to understand what it meant.
With the fringes of his hair still damp, Jon descended the stairs and began poking around the entranceway and parlor, looking for any sign of the other occupants of the old mansion.
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Re: Waiting For Rain IC: Spring Slowly Comes
Breakfast was laid out on the table; a simple yet superbly prepared old English breakfast, with sausages, bacon, eggs, potato mash, baked beans, bread and fresh juice. Talmage was sitting at the table, leaning back with his feet up, reading an old fashioned dead tree newspaper. Vorel was sitting quietly, gingerly sipping more of that sweet blue substance she'd been given the previous night, surrounded by a network of holograms projected from her phone.
"Mornin' Jon," said the Prince, tossing the newspaper aside and sitting straight as he entered. "Sleep well?"
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Re: Waiting For Rain IC: Spring Slowly Comes
Charlene got up late, after waking up early and finding the bed way too nice to leave so soon. She finally found the will to get out, only to get stuck in the bath. Now that they weren't in a rush to save Cludge, she could give herself some time under the shower, and in front of the mirror.
It all gave her time to think, not about the big questions, but all the little things. The big questions could wait for breakfast. She got dressed and found a quiet place to pray for the dawn... a little late. She felt like she had been woefully slipping in her observances. With all that had happened it had been hard to find a moment's peace, but now that she had time she couldn't be excused.
She finally arrived at breakfast. "Good morning," she said as she sat down. She poured a glass of juice and picked some bread, beans and potato mash, quietly leaving the pork and eggs - in case they were fried in the bacon fat - to the others.
[You can assume she arrives last, and probably fairly late, if it at all matters. Time, as we know, is a little wonky :smalltongue:]
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Re: Waiting For Rain IC: Spring Slowly Comes
"Same to you," Talmage nodded in return. "It's probably going to rain today so don't worry about going anywhere. We don't have internet or TV up here, unless you got a phone, but there's plenty of books and interesting junk stashed around in this place. Felix? Felix!"
The butler manifested in the doorway. "Sir?"
"Do we have any board games?"
"We have chess, sir."
"Oh, rubbish. What about Pope's stuff?"
Felix let a fragment of distaste creep into his voice, "Prince Gabriel's collection of strategy games is indeed extensive."
"Does he have a spare computer?"
Felix looked pained at having to acknowledge the existence of technology under his roof. "He does, sir."
"Wonderful!" Talmage clapped his hands, "So there is a computer after all if you really want one."
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Re: Waiting For Rain IC: Spring Slowly Comes
Isabelle had been exploring the house.
She'd awoken some time before Charlene, while the sun was still fresh in the morning sky. Rather than seek out breakfast though, she'd started walking the upper floors of the mansion, searching.
Back when she'd been younger, back before ... it ... had happened. There had been times when she'd seek out solitude, in order to be alone with her thoughts. It didn't really matter where she secluded herself but, rather, what she took with her when she did.
A book, a ball, some paper and a pencil, a piece of string. Something for her hands to work on, while her mind wandered. While she reflected.
There had been ample nicks and knacks in the house to fill this role, and as a result she arrived at breakfast slightly later than anticipated.
She gave a quick greeting to Talmage and Felix as she entered, but fell silent when she saw Vorel there too. Part embarrassed and part concerned, she found herself a seat at the breakfast table nearby the dragon so she could see if her injuries were any trouble.
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Re: Waiting For Rain IC: Spring Slowly Comes
The Watchtower itself, the mansion's namesake, was a five storey tower that afforded a truly magnificent view over the mountains and the surrounding area. The tower also went directly down, though that staircase was closed off.
At the very top of the tower, on the viewing balcony open to the elements, was a single wooden door to nowhere - to step through it would be to step into a deadly plummet. The door was simple plywood, almost out of place in the mansion's design, but not as out of place as the heavy iron chains and padlocks that wrapped it from all sides. Less like a bolt to keep a door shut, and more like a caged animal.
The Ivy Watchtower was much larger than it had seemed at first. There were corridors here with plenty of other rooms, each with wildly different tones and decour. She'd hardly had time to explore any of them, but she'd already seen enough to work out that Talmage and the others were living in only a quarter of the Ivy Watchtower's full extent. This building could easily house thirty or more in comfort.
Vorel's wounds were very hard to assess from underneath her robe, and through the scales, but she didn't seem particularly pained by them. Standard medical knowledge said that she shouldn't even be looking this good right now.
More bizarrely, as Isabelle watched, the dragon was exhibiting symptoms of a bad cold, and one she certainly hadn't had the day before. That seemed of much more trouble than the shotgun wound to the gut, which was just downright strange to say.
She continuously sipped the sickly-sweet blue liquid she was holding, gingerly and distastefully as if sipping very hot, very bitter tea.
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Re: Waiting For Rain IC: Spring Slowly Comes
Jon’s stomach growled at the sight of breakfast, and he quickly began loading up a plate with a little of everything, although the observant might have noticed a brief hesitation over the meats. He chose a seat diagonally across from the Prince, and tried to start up a conversation.
“I did. The room is comfortable, but it feels... occupied. Am I taking someone’s bed?” Jon chewed on a mouthful of potatoes and glanced up at Talmage.
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Re: Waiting For Rain IC: Spring Slowly Comes
"No. That room has been unoccupied for two years," Talmage shot a steely glance at Felix, who displayed no emotion whatsoever. "So there should be no problem with you staying there."
More jovially he said, "And, more to the point, that's the Herald's room, a position that's currently unfilled. Whoever is Herald gets that room permanently along with a whole bunch of other stuff set aside for the job."
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Re: Waiting For Rain IC: Spring Slowly Comes
Jon nodded, feeling a little relieved, and drank some of his juice. “What does the Herald do, exactly?”
His memory might have been spotty, thanks to the confusion of the previous day, but Jon was fairly sure all they had been told was that the position of Herald was vacant. Now that there was some down time, it seemed like a good idea to start getting a handle on how things worked among the Changelings in town.
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Re: Waiting For Rain IC: Spring Slowly Comes
"The Herald is the Prince's voice. Their job is to know everyone in town, know where to find everyone in town, and be able to get to them quickly and communicate the Prince's messages. Needs speed, persuasiveness, and a certain amount of discretion when dealing with the more unhinged denizens of the town." Talmage said, ticking off the requirements on his fingers, "It's a rather public position with a reasonable amount of prestige attached to it, occasionally dangerous or complicated work. And it's not just a replacement for a mobile phone, the Herald has a lot of responsibility in communicating information, collecting favours, and generally being the public face and diplomacy of the Freehold. You do need to be Spring Court to take the title, though."
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Re: Waiting For Rain IC: Spring Slowly Comes
“I see.” Jon took a moment to savor his breakfast, then spoke up again, “The other day, you said something, and I’m trying to understand what you meant.”
He paused for a moment and pushed the food around on his plate. “You said that ‘the world is getting better all the time’. I’d like to believe it, but from my perspective... well, I just found out my family doesn’t know I’ve been gone because something that isn’t me is living my life, and no sooner do I come back than I’m suddenly involved in a mess with people that treat SUVs like a can of sardines, and new arrivals from... over there like a steak dinner.”
Something in Jon’s voice suggested that he really did want to see things the way Talmage saw them - full of hope and progress; the problem was that in all honesty, the world seemed much worse than the one he had left a few years ago...
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Re: Waiting For Rain IC: Spring Slowly Comes
"World's always been like that. There's always been Fae preying on people even if you didn't know about 'em or thought they were all made up. This has been going on since people were writing on cave walls with sticks." Talmage said, swishing his glass.
"But now? Now we, you, me, the others - we know. We know what's out there, what's been there all along. And we can work to fix it! We can work to protect this town from the Gentry, stop them taking whoever they like. We can take the fight to them, learn the old contracts and use them against the Fae. And we can even kill them.
"And just think. A hundred years ago you get taken, then what? You're up against all the same problems and there's no one there to help you. Thirty years ago this town is being run by insane psychopaths who aren't as bad as the Gentry but not for lack of trying. Today? Today you get me! You get cash handouts, warm breakfasts, a place to stay and find your feet and the time and quiet to work out what you want to do with your life, where you want to go from here.
"The world's not perfect, sure, I'll give you that. But don't say that we can't fix it."
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Re: Waiting For Rain IC: Spring Slowly Comes
Isabelle listened to the conversation between Jon and Talmage with half an ear, but her focus remained on Vorel. She wanted to strike up a conversation with the dragon but found it frustratingly difficult.
... I mean how does one start talking to a person who just sucked a shotgun blast out of you?
She frowned.
By saying something I guess.
"How uh -" She brushed a hair out of her eyes to cover her timidity. "how are you feeling today? You look a bit ... off, are you coming down with an infection?"
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Re: Waiting For Rain IC: Spring Slowly Comes
"It's the goblin fruit," the dragoness said through a blocked nose, indicating the viscous blue drink she was nursing, "Great for healing. Catch is that it gives you a really bad cold instead."
She set the drink down carefully and then sneezed hard into her elbow. She gave a disoriented groan-sigh as she regained her focus.
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Re: Waiting For Rain IC: Spring Slowly Comes
Charlene listened.
She thought she recalled one of her brothers having an old chess set, with crude pieces carved from soft, slick, white and blue stone. Something he had bought somewhere, in India or Pakistan perhaps, for his collection. Charlene strained to remember her family, but all she had were these little fragments, popping up when stirred by something else. A few vague memories of playing the game with her brother, and always losing, was all she got from the effort. She didn't remember the rules anymore, either.
She nodded at the mention of a computer, and made a note to have a look at it later, if the weather wasn't going to be any good anyway. The sooner she got rid of the shame of not remembering how to use such things, the better.
She listened to the others talk, not wanting to disturb. The description of the Herald's job sounded interesting, but the Spring court hadn't really spoken to her. She still had her doubts about her place in the courts, but at least she felt relatively certain she could rule out Spring and Summer. She felt neither great joy nor anger, but a mixture of fear and uncertainty. As if she was still waiting for reality to hit her.
She had been worried about Vorel, and Isabelle too. Somewhere she felt like she needed to say she was sorry, but it didn't seem like a good time right in the middle of breakfast. So she merely listened with concern.
And made a note to ask about goblins when she got the chance.
Letting Jon talk to Talmage and Isabelle with Vorel, keeping half an ear on both conversations, Charlene looked up at Felix. Charlene had felt on edge about him upon their first meeting, but surely an interesting character hid beneath those outer layers of professionalism. "Talmage mentioned that you're the Secretary of Winter? What responsibilities does that title hold?"
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Re: Waiting For Rain IC: Spring Slowly Comes
"Essentially, to provide a source of neutrality," Felix said. "The Herald accumulates power and influence on the Freehold's behalf, the Sheriff enforces it's laws, the Magistrate keeps it informed of that which occurs in it's domain. The Secretary runs things. My duties are to ensure that the Freehold remains a Freehold where all may gather, that the laws are enforced impartially, to design policy, and to be the voice that tells the Prince "We can't afford to do that"."
His tone clearly indicated that the last part was by far the most difficult part of the job.
"Without a Secretary, then the Prince has no legitimacy - only popularity. And when popularity shifts away from an illegitimate government, bloodshed occurs."
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Re: Waiting For Rain IC: Spring Slowly Comes
Jon ate thoughtfully for a little while, turning over the words in his head. After washing down a mouthful of bacon with more orange juice, he spoke again, “No, I wouldn’t say that... My family believed something like what you’re saying; I always said I believed it too, but things look different on this side of the Hedge. I’m not sure what I really believed at all...”
His thoughts turned toward his family, and Jon remembered that one of the papers in town had run a short piece about his mother once. They couldn’t seem to grasp that a successful career woman would spend her off days making protest signs and raising money alongside a crazy musician who was somehow still naive enough to think the world could change. For Jon though, that was simply who his parents were; they had always been like that for as long as he could remember, and he had assumed that being their son meant he was an heir to that same spirit.
“So tell me, what’s the next thing you want to fix in the world?” Jon’s question was serious, curious, and his full attention was on Talmage rather than his food at the moment.
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Re: Waiting For Rain IC: Spring Slowly Comes
"People. Fixing people is a full time job, and one that's not likely to end any time soon." Talmage said frankly. "I've got this town and these people and I don't need to shoot higher than that."
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Re: Waiting For Rain IC: Spring Slowly Comes
"The balance on the scale? Must be a difficult position," said Charlene. But obviously an important one, was what she meant. "So aside from the Prince who changes with the seasons, these roles are always fixed? What I mean is, the Secretary always belongs to Winter and so on for the other three?"
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Re: Waiting For Rain IC: Spring Slowly Comes
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Thanqol
"It's the goblin fruit," the dragoness said through a blocked nose, indicating the viscous blue drink she was nursing, "Great for healing. Catch is that it gives you a really bad cold instead."
She set the drink down carefully and then sneezed hard into her elbow. She gave a disoriented groan-sigh as she regained her focus.
"It helps but hurts you at the same time?" Isabelle replied, puzzled. "Kind of like what happened last night?"
"How much has it helped you recover from m- I mean the wounds? When I woke up this morning, I ... kind of wanted to find you and see if there was anything else I could do to help."
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Re: Waiting For Rain IC: Spring Slowly Comes
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Deadly
"The balance on the scale? Must be a difficult position," said Charlene. But obviously an important one, was what she meant. "So aside from the Prince who changes with the seasons, these roles are always fixed? What I mean is, the Secretary always belongs to Winter and so on for the other three?"
"Correct. The seasons come and go, we remain." Felix said.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
BlasTech
"It helps but hurts you at the same time?" Isabelle replied, puzzled. "Kind of like what happened last night?"
"How much has it helped you recover from m- I mean the wounds? When I woke up this morning, I ... kind of wanted to find you and see if there was anything else I could do to help."
"That's goblins for you. Everything has a price," Vorel said, taking another unpleasant-looking sip of her drink.
"I should be completely fine by the end of the week, if past experience is anything to go by," she said, turning her head to cough, "I have no idea of the relationship between this stuff and normal medicine. You could have a look if you wanted."
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Re: Waiting For Rain IC: Spring Slowly Comes
"I may just do that" Isabelle replied. She'd already seen a bit about how glamour and medicine could interact during her durance, seeing more now that she was free to actually analyse it could only help in the long run.
"Later though, if you're okay with that. As long as you're not currently in pain, it can wait till you've at least finished your breakfast."
She took a moment to chase a piece of sausage around her plate before continuing.
"Can you tell me some more about this goblin fruit? What it is, where you got it from? You talk like you've met goblins recently, which I don't find difficult to believe, given the people we've seen in just the last day since leaving the hedge."
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Re: Waiting For Rain IC: Spring Slowly Comes
"Goblins aren't people," Vorel said, "They're like... escaped Fae dreams. Little pieces of Arcadia that stumble across the Hedge and find a place for themselves in between the worlds. They're not people. Don't ever mistake them for people.
"Goblin fruit are like plants that made the same journey. Some make you better, some make you worse." She swished the cup, seemingly taking any excuse not to drink the medicine, "Some do a little of both."
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Re: Waiting For Rain IC: Spring Slowly Comes
"Wait." Isabelle said, as she swallowed a piece of food. "They come from the hedge? Or did they make it through to this world, like we did?"
She shuddered, as fragmented memories of their own terrified escape replayed in her head. "I don't think I'd ever want to go back in there."
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Re: Waiting For Rain IC: Spring Slowly Comes
"The Hedge. And yes... it's probably not as bad as you remember, but it isn't nice and it isn't safe. There's a lot of power and magic to be had there, but only a few people really go in unless they have to." Vorel said.
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Re: Waiting For Rain IC: Spring Slowly Comes
Charlene kept her attention on Felix, but took note of the conversation between Vorel and Isabelle. She had been curious about some of that herself.
"What can you tell me about the Winter court?"
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Re: Waiting For Rain IC: Spring Slowly Comes
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Deadly
Charlene kept her attention on Felix, but took note of the conversation between Vorel and Isabelle. She had been curious about some of that herself.
"What can you tell me about the Winter court?"
"There are only around seven particularly active members in Oregon City, making generalisations fairly meaningless," Felix said dryly, "and I understand one of them was executed last night. The Prince is Matthew Vickrum, a professional lawyer -"
"Ambulance chaser," Talmage snorted contemptuously from across the table.
"- and a man of structure and practicality." Felix finished without blinking. "It would be improper of me to give my assessment of the other members without you having a chance to meet them in person."
That clearly made it sound like his assessment wasn't particularly flattering.
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Re: Waiting For Rain IC: Spring Slowly Comes
Charlene recalled Hans giving the impression of not liking the Winter prince. Perhaps it was the lawyer thing. Charlene didn't mind lawyers per se. She had known many who aspired to become just that while she was studying.
She nodded and considered her food. "A varied group, no doubt." If Cludge and Felix were any indication. "I am curious about the court itself. Talmage described it for us, of course, but I understand it is not a trivial decision and hearing about it from one on the inside, so to speak, might be valuable."
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Re: Waiting For Rain IC: Spring Slowly Comes
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Thanqol
"The Hedge. And yes... it's probably not as bad as you remember, but it isn't nice and it isn't safe. There's a lot of power and magic to be had there, but only a few people really go in unless they have to." Vorel said.
"And how many times have you had to go in there?" Isabelle asked, wondering if there was a story to be told.