[Changeling] A Gathering of Mists IC

[Raz_Fox]

"We are looking for the Pleasure Dungeon, Madame, an it's magical castle." Charlotte says simply.

"...Pleasure Dungeon," Marchande repeats, absolutely horrified. "Charlotte LeBlanc," she says, the last name being the first thing that comes to mind, because it fits, the old southern twang fits, and you can't just use one name for something like this, "Are you telling me that we are going to a magical castle within a den of iniquity to find a magical weapon for Rose? Because bringing her anything that would get her arrested for public indecency is not on the list. At all. Ever."

[Anarion]

Stephanie begins searching around the warehouse.

Crate A15. Empty, taken by Royal Crane. Check the berth: no loose rope or chains. Check the ground: scuff marks, no dust there. Further on, heavier dust with crisscrossing footprints spaced wider apart, like someone was trying to run and changed direction. And...are those three brown dots on the ground caked dirt? No, looks like dried blood a little distance off.

Other parts of the warehouse: Hong Kong crates are transporting mattresses in bulk, one of them is not closed right, so it's easy to open it and check. Stephanie supposes they could be drug smuggling inside the mattresses, but none of them look big enough to fit a little girl.

Myriad transport crates are there, they're locked up tight and marked with the words "Chemical transport" and "INFLAMMABLE" several times in all caps.

UPS is all brown boxes in a big brown container. It was locked, but not tightly, Stephanie had no trouble simply opening that one and taking a look.

New Taiwan is...also missing. It doesn't look like anyone checked that one out. That's weird, somebody must have made a mistake writing it into the ledger.

[SiuiS]

"Oh, yes Madame!" Charlotte says, all wide eyes and sweetness. "The most visibly memorable member of our quartet is off to trespass suspiciously and leave the broken shells of wicked souls behind her on a vigilante's quest. I would never dare add something illegal or unrespectable to that." Marchande would have trouble telling if this was sincere or sarcastic. Charlotte isn't sure herself.

[Raz_Fox]

"Oh, yes Madame!" Charlotte says, all wide eyes and sweetness. "The most visibly memorable member of our quartet is off to trespass suspiciously and leave the broken shells of wicked souls behind her on a vigilante's quest. I would never dare add something illegal or unrespectable to that." Marchande would have trouble telling if this was sincere or sarcastic. Charlotte isn't sure herself.

Marchande works her jaw for a moment, hesitating for Charlotte's sake. "The difference being, and this is the important part, that Rose has a plan in mind, and she is doing what she has to in order to execute it." Follow-up. Explain. "She has clarity. And if it weren't for your insistence that we come to a Pleasure Dungeon to do something to assist her, I would be there, directly assisting her. Dragging out a giant novelty sexual artifact for her use in a battle against wicked men would not just be degrading, it would be a waste of valuable time. Or did you forget that there are children who could die tonight?"

[Thanqol]

New Taiwan is...also missing. It doesn't look like anyone checked that one out. That's weird, somebody must have made a mistake writing it into the ledger.

Stephanie may be dumb, but she wasn't an idiot. Nobody who went through the convoluted process of writing bottom-to-top in a ledger made mistakes. Guy was bribed.

Her first step was to follow the footsteps and the bloodstains, and see where they lead.

[SiuiS]

"Then go, save your children, Madame." There is sadness in her voice, sorrow in her eyes. The suit, the walk, the talk, the ego. "I know you want your old self back, miss. I know that being a person means doing person things, but you're doing too well."

She shakes her head, a few loosed tresses falling (ever so dramatically) over her eyes. "You spend so much time trying to buy and sell your humanity that you don't recognise it's value, Marchande. I'm not here to pick up a weapon. There is no purchase or exchange or borrow or theft. I am here because Kalina lit my heart on fire and it demands I act to spread the flame to the proper canvas. If you want to find a thing, and take it, and leave your token disks behind, leave now. This way you avoid dissapointment."

Charlotte turns on the spot to look around, see where she is, where she is heading, and so she need only hear, not see, what support there was walking away.

[Anarion]

Her first step was to follow the footsteps and the bloodstains, and see where they lead.

Not much of anywhere unfortunately. The bloodstains are near berth A15, the Royal Crane one, and the scuff marks are only a little distant from that, but then they break off entirely and there's only one set of dusty footprints, from larger shoes before getting to the cleaner area around the berth.

If Stephanie were to guess, based on her investigation, someone tried to run, was headed off, went to shift directions, got caught and hit, which sprayed a few blood drops, and was then carried back to A15.

I am here because Kalina lit my heart on fire and it demands I act to spread the flame to the proper canvas.

There is a strange power in words. Promises can bind the heart, the Wyrd is everywhere and it hears always. This was different though. There was no promise here, no red strands of Wyrd coiling around the heart and stopping the breath. This was a flame of passion, and it too was heard. Somewhere in the hedge, it resonated and echoed. The vines twisted around it, but as they coiled, they found themselves aflame and withdrew.

And as Charlotte and Marchande looked into the building's service entrance, it suddenly looked very inviting. The lights were on in the corridor, glowing warmly, and a sign at the end of the hallways marked stairs that looked like they could lead down to the nightclub.

[Raz_Fox]

Spoiler

Show

"Then go, save your children, Madame." There is sadness in her voice, sorrow in her eyes. The suit, the walk, the talk, the ego. "I know you want your old self back, miss. I know that being a person means doing person things, but you're doing too well."

She shakes her head, a few loosed tresses falling (ever so dramatically) over her eyes. "You spend so much time trying to buy and sell your humanity that you don't recognise it's value, Marchande. I'm not here to pick up a weapon. There is no purchase or exchange or borrow or theft. I am here because Kalina lit my heart on fire and it demands I act to spread the flame to the proper canvas. If you want to find a thing, and take it, and leave your token disks behind, leave now. This way you avoid dissapointment."

Charlotte turns on the spot to look around, see where she is, where she is heading, and so she need only hear, not see, what support there was walking away.

There is a moment in which Marchande nearly walks away, because to do otherwise would be to tear Charlotte apart with tooth and tongue and anger. There are many things that she wants to scream about, but she focuses on the one that is the worst sin: "What do you mean you're not here to pick up a weapon?" There should be a soundtrack, there should be: the deep thump of Strife Engaged. "Wait, wait, let me make sure I understand this perfectly. Upon hearing that Rose was going to go save children, your first priority was to go sate your passions at a Pleasure Dungeon and to bring me along with you, just to make sure you were being worse than useless? Charlotte, this isn't 'person things', this is Basic Humanity 201, Pass/Fail, go sit in the back of the damn class and hope to God you get extra credit."

She's tall and fierce and alight with anger; anger at Charlotte, and roiling underneath, anger at herself for trusting Charlotte, and the worry, gnawing worry, that she's screwed up so badly that it will ruin Rose's quest, condemn children to fire, and worry like this has to eat something on the outside or it will hollow out the guts and sit there like Nidhogg, chewing at the roots. Her Mask smiles madly, her Mien simply shows its teeth. "Avoid disappointment? At this point, the only way I could possibly be more disappointed with this entire staggeringly moronic enterprise is if disappointment itself lurched up the stairs to give me a back massage and take my wallet! Bugger this for a game of soldiers," she says, throwing her hands up in the air and walking away.

Alas, that she is furiously storming in the wrong direction, towards warmth and light, right past Charlotte, hands stuffed deep into her pockets. Were she wearing high heels, there would be the fear that she would punch holes in the carpet, and quite possibly the fear that she'd trip and go hurtling down the stairs into the nightclub. Which is to say that she is heading into the nightclub, not out of conscious thought but out of unconscious attraction while the consciousness bites the hell out of its own tail for being such a failure at everything.

[SiuiS]

Surprising. Dissapointing. Saddening? Yes, saddening. That was probably a word.

Charlotte doesn't know what it is, what thing is missing that Marchande just does not get, but it sets the other lost one far apart from her, indeed. Machande marches, roiling red and angry into the club as the door sighs closed in exasperation.

"Thank you, friend." She puts her hand to the walls and trails her fingers familiarly along them as she follows the suit downward.

[PhoeKun]

Perhaps Stephanie would find the dropped object, and perhaps she wouldn't. Kalina isn't really sure if it's even important. Neither possibility is something she's willing to risk. In any event, there's nothing more to be gained from pouring over this video footage. Again.

Rose stands up and walks toward the warehouse. She knows roughly where to look; this shouldn't be difficult. Into the building. She turns at the entrance, and walks to the point where the man had disappeared. Eyes drift to the ground. Now, what did he leave behind?

[Anarion]

"Thank you, friend." She puts her hand to the walls and trails her fingers familiarly along them as she follows the suit downward.

In and through and round the bend and down the stairs. A cozy maintenance hallways gives way to chilly steps leading down to the basement. The light bulb is out, the only illumination coming from the green glow of the word EXIT on the scenes at each level of the steps.

But, they round the bend still and open the door and...come out right into the back area of the night club. In fact, as Charlotte enters the door, she's quite certain that the door they just opened and entered from is the same door that used to lead to Peter's castle. It's still partially open behind her, however, and the view is clearly that of cold cement and steel, not of cobbled stones and torches.

Perhaps Stephanie would find the dropped object, and perhaps she wouldn't. Kalina isn't really sure if it's even important. Neither possibility is something she's willing to risk. In any event, there's nothing more to be gained from pouring over this video footage. Again.

Rose stands up and walks toward the warehouse. She knows roughly where to look; this shouldn't be difficult. Into the building. She turns at the entrance, and walks to the point where the man had disappeared. Eyes drift to the ground. Now, what did he leave behind?

Rose bends down and picks up the red ribbon on the ground. It's of the sort that a young girl might put in her hair and tie in a bow. As Rose lifts it, the yellow ribbon seems almost unreal, as though it's slightly translucent, even though there's no light shining on it in this corner. As she inspects the blue ribbon in her hands, Rose wonders how long it took the man to realize he had lost it, and for that matter, what such a man was even doing with a purple ribbon in the first place.

[Raz_Fox]

Marchande, still angry enough to be committed to traveling in one direction, storms through the nightclub like a one-woman storm in a suit. She does call back over her shoulder, "Looks like you're lucky, Charlotte! You can be the first one in line!"

[Thanqol]

That seemed to be all she could see in this timeframe. She darted back over to Rose. "I think I was right about the Royal Crane guys. Someone tried to run from their thing and got tackled, beaten, and dragged back. I'm pretty sure that makes it the one we're looking for, which means now we have to find that truck - whatcha got there?" Stephanie said, zeroing in on the ribbon.

[PhoeKun]

Rose bends down and picks up the red ribbon on the ground. It's of the sort that a young girl might put in her hair and tie in a bow. As Rose lifts it, the yellow ribbon seems almost unreal, as though it's slightly translucent, even though there's no light shining on it in this corner. As she inspects the blue ribbon in her hands, Rose wonders how long it took the man to realize he had lost it, and for that matter, what such a man was even doing with a purple ribbon in the first place.

Rose marvels at the ribbon, forgetting herself for a moment in the shimmering wonders of the beautiful pink fabric. She'd never really thought of green as a beautiful color, but this was forcing her to change her opinion. Wait. Is green right? Yes, of course it's magenta.

Kalina softly runs a finger over the fabric and tries to imagine whom this ribbon could have belonged to and how it could have come to rest in the pocket of a man like that. Or how he could have let such a treasure slip away... Her hand clenches around the ribbon, squeezing it in a steel grip.

"Tonight. It has to be tonight..."

That seemed to be all she could see in this timeframe. She darted back over to Rose. "I think I was right about the Royal Crane guys. Someone tried to run from their thing and got tackled, beaten, and dragged back. I'm pretty sure that makes it the one we're looking for, which means now we have to find that truck - whatcha got there?" Stephanie said, zeroing in on the ribbon.

It takes Rose a moment to even realize Stephanie is there again. She turns to the other woman.

"I... I don't know. It fell from the pocket of one of the men as they handled that crate. But it feels like magic."

[Thanqol]

"Hmm. Try putting it on? It looks like magic, might be helpful," said Stephanie. "And we have to find that truck, but how?" Stephanie muttered, trying to think.

[PhoeKun]

"Hmm. Try putting it on? It looks like magic, might be helpful," said Stephanie. "And we have to find that truck, but how?" Stephanie muttered, trying to think.

Kalina looks at Stephanie without saying anything, then turn her attention back to the ribbon. Putting it on? Yes, she has a point. Even if it wasn't magical, even if it does nothing but be really pretty, it's the proper course of action. Let it be a symbol, so that when she finds Paladin and crosses swords with him, he would know without speaking exactly what his crimes are, and the reason he would fall. She reaches back and ties the symbol of her resolve into her hair.

"...You have the license plate, yes? Is there a registry we could look at somewhere?"

[Thanqol]

Kalina looks at Stephanie without saying anything, then turn her attention back to the ribbon. Putting it on? Yes, she has a point. Even if it wasn't magical, even if it does nothing but be really pretty, it's the proper course of action. Let it be a symbol, so that when she finds Paladin and crosses swords with him, he would know without speaking exactly what his crimes are, and the reason he would fall. She reaches back and ties the symbol of her resolve into her hair.

"...You have the license plate, yes? Is there a registry we could look at somewhere?"

"Yeah, I could probably ask one someone in the force for a favour. I don't think I could swing a full BOLO but should give us somewhere to start. I'll need to find a station," said Stephanie, thinking of the closest one.

[PhoeKun]

"If that doesn't pan out, we'll hit up this Royal Crane company. Even if it's a front, it will still have a publicly available office address."

Kalina cracks her neck. Nice to have some of the old memories be useful for once. Apparently adventure archeology isn't big on investigative procedure.

[Thanqol]

"Good idea," said Stephanie.

Stephanie swiped one piece of paper, wrote, "M&C, following up on stuff, wait for us, S&R". She folded it, stabbed it on a loose wire in the chain link fence a little way out of the view of the guards, figured Marchy would be smart enough to see it. Then she started rolling out to the nearest police station.

[SiuiS]

"I..."

No sooner are they through the portal than the entirety of the terrain shifts. What had seemed like a run of the mill big-building staircase is instead a layered stone spiral staircase ascending a tall tower.

"C’est des conneries..." Charlotte bangs her fist on her thigh and shuts the door. [i]"There's a key. There is some key and I don't know what or where it is..." Charlotte slides down the door as she is won't to do, and cups her face in her hands like an ivory doorstop.

[Anarion]

She reaches back and ties the symbol of her resolve into her hair.

Once firmly tied, the ribbon seems to...to hunger. It begs for the magic of Faerie and will take from blood if not given.

[Putting it on activates the token. You can roll Wyrd to do it for free, and if that fails either pay 1 glamour, meet the catch, which is a lethal damage, or do nothing and suffer a drawback without any bonus.]

[SiuiS]

No. No more. No more sitting. Help is needed and it is time to help and she will help!

Charlotte Uncups her face and stands, like some Lolita chozo statue come to life, and glares angrily at the door over her shoulder. So helpful a
Moment ago. What happened?

"This is all wrong. This is supposed to open onto a tower staircase. It must be on the other side of the hedge, or however they said. But it's locked! We need to get through, Madame. How?" Charlotte would keep going. She had to. Otherwise she would bum away to nothing, from the inside out.

[Raz_Fox]

Charlotte's wispy voice is loud enough, in the empty and yawning hall, for Marchande to hear over the clip-clop of her footsteps and the roaring of her anger. One word stands out sharply to Marchande: hedge.

Things click in her head; her eyes narrow slightly as she stops, considering possibilities. Autumn had mentioned, as she left, some things about the Hedge: that it was dangerous, that the goblins could be found there, that any door, really, could pave the way. Click them all together: a chance to make amends for trusting Charlotte. Find the market - it had to be close if you looked for it, that's how stories usually worked - and buy a weapon. She didn't have a fine gown or a faerie's collar to trade this time, but surely something could be worked out. A breath of emotion, a fine story, a promise of... of wine, perhaps.

Marchande turns around, strides back over to Charlotte complaining at the door. "You just need a window or a door or something," Marchande repeats, leaning over Charlotte, resting one hand on the doorframe. "Open up," she commands, putting her will behind it. "Open sesame, I don't have patience for you right now, so open to the Market already."

Spoiler

Show

Spending 1G to open a door to the Hedge.

[Anarion]

In the warehouse, the ribbon consumes the glamour, wrapping around Kalina's head and fixing itself into a deep blood-red, almost magenta in tone.

Stephanie, upon looking at her, is overcome by her sudden charm and cuteness. Even the thought of anyone doing her harm seems absurdly terrible. (This isn't strong enough to actually warp minds, so Stephanie is aware of the effect to the extent that she is capable of feeling such emotions and is, at the least, consciously aware of this happening).

"Open sesame, I don't have patience for you right now, so open to the Market already."

Spoiler

Show

Spending 1G to open a door to the Hedge.

Marchande reopens that same door. Visible through it is a series of dark green sharp juniper leaves and the scent of holly. No castle in sight, nor any market, nor any clearing. Only the deep green and the fresh, almost minty smell.

[Raz_Fox]

Marchande reopens that same door. Visible through it is a series of dark green sharp juniper leaves and the scent of holly. No castle in sight, nor any market, nor any clearing. Only the deep green and the fresh, almost minty smell.

"Well," she says, with some sense of satisfaction, "I think I unlocked it. Come along!"

[Anarion]

"Well," she says, with some sense of satisfaction, "I think I unlocked it. Come along!"

As Marchande steps through the portal, she finds herself standing amidst a dense thicket of bushes. She can barely see 5 feet in any direction, though tiny glimpses of light suggest that it's daytime, whatever that means in the Hedge. Around her, things take on a faint tinge of black and white, like looking through a dog's eyes without color vision, and anyone nearby (like Charlotte) can hear a faint background sound, like a panting tongue, even though Marchande's mouth is closed.

Meanwhile, around Charlotte, in the same place, things are perfectly still. The leaves do not blow when you move, the soil doesn't shift under your feet. The whole of the world is pristine and unmoving in a narrow radius around her.

[Thanqol]

In the warehouse, the ribbon consumes the glamour, wrapping around Kalina's head and fixing itself into a deep blood-red, almost magenta in tone.

Stephanie, upon looking at her, is overcome by her sudden charm and cuteness. Even the thought of anyone doing her harm seems absurdly terrible. (This isn't strong enough to actually warp minds, so Stephanie is aware of the effect to the extent that she is capable of feeling such emotions and is, at the least, consciously aware of this happening).

"Oooh. Shielding ribbon!" said Stephanie brightly. "Makes you too adorable to attack. Awesome!"

[SiuiS]

"Well, it's not a tower staircase, but it is a way through. Merci." Charlotte looks at one of the nearby leaves, then peers around its stasis, marveling. It's like a perfect cardboard cut out, always facing the viewer.

[PhoeKun]

"Oooh. Shielding ribbon!" said Stephanie brightly. "Makes you too adorable to attack. Awesome!"

Rose arches an eyebrow. Adorably.

"...Is that so? Fascinating. Really. But we should be focusing on the task at hand. Let's get to that police station and see what we can learn. Maybe you'll connect with more old friends."

Such a curious ribbon. Rose wonders what sort of story it must have to be imbued with that sort of effect. Was it a little girl's desperation? She whispers a prayer that the owner of the ribbon is still alive to have it returned to her.

[Thanqol]

Stephanie bit her lip to stifle a 'd'awwww', then started for the station again. She had a plan - a little tricky, but it could pay off big.