IC: CtL 2E New Orleans by Night

[Bennosuke]

Prologue; A Dream Forgotten

“It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God!”
― Robert Chambers, The King In Yellow

“Things need not have happened to be true. Tales and dreams are the shadow-truths that will endure when mere facts are dust and ashes, and forgot.”
― Neil Gaiman, Dream Country

Laura found herself in the court of the Yellow King. The lanterns flickered green, casting strange shadows across the blood red polished stone floors. Outside the windows, the sickle shaped moon cast a blue glow blotting out the shining black stars. Laura had stood in this hall many times, though she could not remember its beauty during her waking hours. The great hall was filled with the clatter of silverware, the din of conversation held through a throng of congregants.

Once, Laura had served here, had lived here, had been someone and something else. Of course, before that Laura had been another someone else, and now... well who was she now? How had Laura gotten here.

Roused from her musings, Laura casts her gaze across the great hall, only to realize that it is empty. No tables, no courtiers of impossible beauty, no source for the raucous chorus of voices. Though the smell of smoked meats, sugared meats, and smokey lanterns hung thick in the air, the walls of the great hall were baren, the lanterns nearly gutted. The great amber carpet that had once led to the towering throne was stained, tattered and moth-eaten. Laura's eyes followed the carpet up and up and up, to the throne, and she realized she was not alone.

A figure in tattered robes sat on the throne of antlers and thorns, a towering and familiar figure. Its eyes... all Laura could see were its eyes. Did the King have a face? Did he wear a mask? Laura could not see, or her mind would not let her. Round, white, bovine eyes stared down at Laura unblinking and full of judgement. Something shifted from deep within its billowing tattered yellow robes, maybe an arm, or a squirming animal, or something else, as The King in Yellow leaned forward to address Laura from his throne. "You left me servant. You betrayed me," the King's voice booms throughout the hallway, or maybe simply echoed within Laura's skull, "You can expect no mercy for your desertion human... but I am curious... why?"

[Haval]

For a moment it was like she'd never left. This thought had worried her more in the early days of her escape even if it became harder to believe with time. How did she know what she was seeing was the truth? How did she know that she had ever returned through the Hedge or made it back to New Orleans? Perhaps the whole thing had been a lie sent to make her complient while her body continued to serve.

Laura is nothing if not practical and so will check to see what she looked like now. Even when she had been obliged to dress up here she was usually armed. Whether this was really happening or not she would escape again if she had to. Do it enough times and perhaps it would take. What other choice did she have?

The King did make her breath catch in her throat. The sight of him like this had been a big part of why she ran in the first place. If she doesn't have a knife or her sword on her she'll look around for something sharp or heavy. Perhaps she could jam it in the King's eye if he got close enough. Would she even be allowed to do that?

Laura doesn't like to look directly at the King but will address him in his general direction while she looks for a weapon. 'Betrayed you? For leaving? Of course I left. Look at you. It's hard to forget what this place really looks like once you've seen it.'

[Bennosuke]

Laura looks down at her arms to see her familiar pale skin, her thin long forearms and thin long fingers. Had she been wearing any jewelry or nail polish before, they were still there now. She had not always looked like that. Before, when she had lived within these halls, she had been taller with powerful muscles and the body of a warrior, or so she thought. And before that? Hadn't she had another form before that too? But it was too hard to remember; too much had been taken from her! And she had no weapons, no armor, none of her old battle garb. A moment of reflection more and Laura realized she was however garbed in her old courtly robes of crimson red.

The King throws its head back in a fit of laughter at Laura's exclamation. The sound was rough and mechanical, and seemed to shake the very foundation of the throne room. "Look at me?" The King asked, suddenly leaning forward in its throne of thorns, arms body and neck seeming to stretch impossibly in the tattered yellow robes. The motion reminded Laura of a viper stretching its head towards its prey so that it could swiftly strike. The King repeats itself, "Look at me? Look at you! I am not the one wearing a mask!" The accusation was so wicked, so confident that Laura could not help herself but look down again at her attire, only to realize that now her flesh was pink, her limbs that of a mortals, her clothing something she would wear in the streets of New Orleans when trying to blend in with those untouched by The Fae!

[Haval]

For a moment, the sight of her old robes seemed to confirm Laura's worst fears. It was something that she would wear on an average day when she wasn't expected to dress up or to fight. The weight of them still felt familiar. She was fairly sure she never wore nail polish back then though. In fact she could remember the day she applied it in her apartment. Laura had half expected the colour to fade away to match the rest of her body. Laura will take a deep breath to steady herself before looking directly at the King for the first time. It was hard not to flinch as he leaned forward towards her.

Aiming to confidence she didn't really feel, 'A mask? Yeah, well it's not like I can turn this off. There's not much call for everything I had to do here in the real world.' That she didn't look like this to most people back in New Orleans was a blessing. Then the sudden change in her appearance registered. Even if she was happy to see herself like this it didn't mean anything. The King was clearly playing with her. Laura wasn't sure if getting angry was a good idea here, but she couldn't help herself. 'Is that it? You're just going to give me back my body after all this time. Are you going to apologise as well?' Whatever she looked like, she was herself, wasn't she? Otherwise she never would have left Carcosa.

[Bennosuke]

The King in Yellow rises from his chair swiftly as Laura speaks, before she has even gotten to asking for a request. Stretching out a robe garbed arm the King shrieks, "Silence! Such insolence shall not be tolerated!!!" The entire hall seems to shake, as if the King's outburst had triggered an outburst. Trickles of dust and dirt come free from the ceiling and the ghost chatter within the hall silences. "The King of Carcosa shall not be spoken to by a servant like this," The Yellow King continues, though now his temper is controlled, the screaming anger replaced with a white hot seriousness, "a servant that fled and betrayed her king no less. No, you must misunderstand what is happening here... knight! I have brought you back. You are mine and shall serve me as you once have, though this time... I shall not be so generous with your freedoms."

The King steps forward, reaching edge of the dais and the steps that lead down to Laura. Towering over Laura, The King appears far taller than she remembered, maybe double the height of the tallest human. And now the King is clutching a long rusted chain. The metal links of the chain (was it iron?) was woven with long barbed vines, the same wicked Hedge thorns that had ripped Laura asunder during her escape. Hanging heavy from one end of the chain was a large rusted manacle, except this was wide enough in diameter to fasten tightly around some one's neck like a dog collar. Though Laura could not force herself to remember the King's face, if it was even present or visible, there was somehow the impression of a wicked wicked grin.

[Haval]

Laura will flinch at the sound of the King's shriek. Any thought of trying to fight had gone away at the sight of the manacle. She will back away from the King if only to keep some distance between them. Whatever else happened she did not want that thing around her neck. She had heard what had happened to other Changelings during their durrance. Everything could always get worse.

'Then... what do you want from me your majesty?' She is playing for time. If neccessary Laura will back herself all the way out of the room. She remembered the layout well enough.

[Bennosuke]

As Laura begins to back away, the throne room explodes in raucous laughter that threatens to drown out her words. The Yellow King continues his approach, gliding forward on something other than legs. The robed figure moves closer at an impossible speed, growing larger and larger till it seems like the Yellow King might expand and fill the entire court. "Your never ending servitude," The King hisses in reply, voice booming so that it shakes the entire castle. Larger clods of dust and dirt, and even a few stones come loose from the ceiling. "You shall be mine forever," The King says, calling Laura by another name that she once went by but now cannot seem to remember, "You are my servant and shall stay here in Carcosa for ever, and with your help, I shall conquer Arcadia!" The King was raving madly, bovine eyes round and wild though still Laura could not perceive any face.

As the throne room continues to shake with the King's thundering voice and growing frame, the massive wooden doors of the hall's entrance blow open, their blood red paint shimmering in a near blinding yellow light that was pouring in through the arched doorframe.

[Haval]

The laughter causes Laura to look around in case there was anyone else here. Perhaps the King was messing with her perceptions, but she wouldn't put it past him to suddenly have guards ready to block her exit. Not that he needed the help. 'Why don't you just snap your fingers then?' Laura spat out defiantly. If he wanted her back why did she need to listen to him? 'I'm not going back.'

Laura is too focused on the sight of the manacle to just turn and run. As long as she could keep it away from her neck maybe things weren't completely lost. She will try to back out of the room as quickly as she could. Once she was out of the hallway perhaps she could find a weapon. If nothing else it would make her feel better.

[Bennosuke]

Laura gazes across the throne room. Though there are no guards, suddenly the place seems to be filled with guests; towering lithe figures garbed in tattered robes and hoods of dirty blue. They had not been here before! Laura was certain the throne room had been nearly empty, hadn't it!" These robed figures were standing around their tables, staring and laughing at Laura, their faces hidden by the most garish, monstrous Venetian masks.

'Why don't you just snap your fingers then?' Laura spat out defiantly. If he wanted her back why did she need to listen to him? 'I'm not going back.'

Slowly, The King raises his free arm, dirty yellow robes clinging flaccidly around a skeletal limb. His fingers pressed together, the King does snap his fingers, and sure enough the manacles appear around Laura's wrists. The metal presses to Laura's flesh, searing with red-heat. The manacles were iron, and they were causing Laura's wrists to bubble and blacken!

The unbearable pain! It was too much, and as Laura collapsed to her knees her vision tunneling, she could hear The King's wicket triumphant laughter, in that far away land of Carcosa, across the Lake of Hali, and the tearing thorns of the Hedge.

************************************************** *****

Laura awoke with a start. The memory of her dream escaped her almost immediately, but she knew it had been alarming, and had almost certainly involved her captor, The Yellow King!

Please describe where Laura is waking up. Is it her Hollow or her home in reality, and what does it look like?

[Haval]

Laura wakes up with a scream of pain that is quickly cut off when she realises that she's still in her apartment. The worst part about the nightmares was always not knowing how to take them. Dreaming about her Keeper was inevitable but there was no way of knowing how seriously to take the dreams. Supposedly she was safe in New Orleans but she wouldn't put it past the King to be able to send her messages in her sleep anyway. And there was always the chance that what she had been told about the arrangement in New Orleans was all bull**** anyway. How did she know for certain that the King couldn't come for her whenever he felt like it. Was she living on borrowed time? Once Laura has got herself under control, if reality seemed to be behaving itself she'll get up. She wasn't comfortable trying to sleep after that.

Laura lived in a cramped top floor apartment in a building near Frenchman street. Her friends in the Court of Barter had made her aware of it shortly after she came back. It was sparsely furnished and only a little bigger then a hotel room but the rent was cheap and the mortal landlord downstairs mostly stayed out of her way so she was content. The small balcony was by far the best part of living there.

For the moment Laura will get a drink and slump down on her sofa where she could channel surf. If it was still dark there was a chance that she'd pass out here eventually anyway. Otherwise she'll work on waking herself up with coffee.

[Bennosuke]

It's coming back from the kitchen with her drink (alcoholic?) that Laura checks her phone. It was almost 4:00AM. Tough time to go to sleep and tough time to try to stay awake. But there was also a text on Laura's phone, a message that came in around 2AM, after she had gone to sleep.

If Laura flips on the TV, there's nothing worth watching on; infomercials, and BS adds, and midnight preachers.

The message was from Giant, one of a handful of Laura's friends in the Night Revelers. Though his mask showed most a smiling and good looking man of 5'7" with a scraggly sand colored beard and thinning hair, Laura really knew him as a towering tree-man with a voice like gravel echoing as it rumbled down the hillside.

The text reads, "You up? Gotta ask a favor of you. Meet in person?" Giant was a musician, a guitar player who performed at a lot of the local bars on Frenchman near where Laura had lived. It was Laura's musical background... or at least what she remembered, that had knitted the fabric of their friendship. Giant was often up at all sorts of odd hours; it was pretty likely he was still up.

[Haval]

If it was still dark Laura is drinking a beer. She keeps her fridge well stocked for this sort of occasion and has gradually been working her way through every brand she can find in the local shop. Alcohol was not something that had been easily available in the Hedge.

'I am now. Where are you?' She was happy to see Giant's text. If she could get out of the apartment for a while she could have somthing to take her mind off of whatever she had been dreaming about.

[Bennosuke]

It was still dark, and maybe would be for another couple of hours. The apartment was hot. It wasn't yet summer, but New Orleans started heating up soon after March, and the window unit Laura had installed was only so powerful at fighting off the humidity. The cool air of the fridge was welcome, the beer even more so. Condensation started forming on the glass only minutes after she had retrieved the bottle from the fridge and popped the top. It was from a local brewery, walking distance from Laura's neighborhood, and one of her favorites. It was called Brieux Carre Brewing Co., and while Laura had made it a goal to try all the local breweries, she always had some of BC's bottles in her fridge (though never their cans... which had a propensity to explode if it was too warm).

It takes a couple of minutes for Giant's reply, enough time to take a good couple swigs. It reads, "****. You just wake up?" This is of course followed by another that reads, "Sure. I'm not far off of Bourbon. Could be up your way in maybe ten fifteen... unless there's somewhere you want to meet." Giant knew where Laura lived roughly, though she'd never invited him up...

(OOC: Brieux Carre does exist, they are awesome, and their cans do explode)

[Haval]

Laura will alternate between sipping the beer and pressing the cold glass to her forehead. She would need to get more of these soon if only to help with the heat.

To Giant, 'Bad dreams.' She won't elaborate. 'I should get breakfast anyway. I'm not getting back to sleep. I'll meet you somewhere. I'm buying.' Laura will leave it up to Giant to decide where they meet, even if was at a bar that was still open. She could always find a store afterwards.

[Bennosuke]

"Bad dreams? ****! I think everyone of Us knows about that!" comes the first text, followed by a second, "Not much open at this hour. But if ur hungry, Mary's is still open." Mary's Bar and Grill was a a hole in the wall dive-of-a diner on the East side of the Marigny, mostly frequented by drunks and musicians. The food wasn't great, and neither was the atmosphere. But Mary was a Changeling, an Ogre from the Cayoodle Krew Freehold... most actually called her Bloody Mary because of her appearance and temperament.

[Haval]

'Mary's will be fine. See you in a bit.' Laura quite liked Mary's. It was a place to eat where she could usually expect peace and quiet and she found Mary's temprement and directness appealing. Laura will go and find some clean clothes before leaving the house. She will dress lightly because of the heat but wears a baldric with her sword over her shoulder. The Mask typically meant that people's eyes slid right off it.

[Bennosuke]

Laura heads downstairs and outside. It's actually a little cooler in the open than it was inside the apartment; though the air is humid and thick. At this hour, the streets are much less crowded, though still the odd drunk and burnout wander the streets. Music still plays from a few of the local clubs on Frenchman, but the street gets quieter, a whistful sort of lonesome as you get away from the main drag. Laura keeps her wits about her on the few block trek. These were the hours when the city was most dangerous, though the Marigny was less prone to crime than some of it's neighborhoods to the North and West.

Fortunately, Laura arrives at Mary's without event. The bar wasn't much more than the squat first floor of a rickety Victorian, the purple paint long faded and peeled from the exposed bone colored wood. A sputtering neon sign in the blacked out window reads "Mary's", and below it an electric martini glass; the only indication this was a commercial joint.

It's almost darker inside than it is on the street, and the bar's almost empty except for Mary, Laura's date, and a foul smelling drunk whose collapsed and snoring on the bar. Mary's behind the bar, clutching a yellowed romance novel in her watermelon sized claws. Keeping her sharp feline teeth clenched around her cigarette, Mary says, "Welcome hon'," without looking up from the book, "Let me know if you need somethin'." Though her Mask is that of an overweight and greasy haired woman whose been on hard times, Mary appears as a massive and grizzled fur covered monster. Her short black snout was a mess of knotted scars, her maw filled with fangs, and her eyes forever pouring a river of blood tears.

Giant is sitting at a small table in the corner of the bar. It's impressive to see his long limbs folded under the table. As the name might imply, Giant appeared as a towering anthropomorphic tree-man. His voice was like gravel rolling down a canyon, and seemed to shake the bar even though he was trying to whisper. "Thanks for coming. Have a seat," he says, gesturing Laura toward the chair across from him. He turns his long frame toward the bar and says, "Mary, we're gonna need a bit of privacy if you don't mind."

Mary grunts, gives a small nod of her head, but makes no attempt to move, or even look away from her novel. Giant shrugs, and gives Laura a roguish grin.

[Haval]

On the way to Mary's Laura was careful to stay alert. To have someone attempt to mug her would be mostly inconvenient but it was easier to avoid the possibility altogether.

Inside she had to grin at the sight of Giant folding up under the table. He didn't seem to be uncomfortable at least. 'Can I get a beer Mary?' Since she had asked. If Giant doesn't have one she'll motion to him to imply that she'll get him one as well.

Laura will take a seat across from Giant. 'Privacy? Sounds serious.'

[Bennosuke]

In response to Laura's request, Mary mutters, "Sure kid," still biting down on the cigarette clenched between her teeth. Giant has an empty shot glass and a a half empty mug of flat cheap beer, but when he catches Laura looking he chimes in and says he'll have another one. Eyes still glued to her book, Bloody Mary uses her free hand to fill up two tall glasses of Abita and passes them to Laura. She then mutters, "I'll be in the back," before trudging off on squat legs through a door behind the bar into the back room.

In the time it takes Laura to bring the two glasses over, Giant takes down his incomplete beer in a series of gulps. He accepts the fresh one from Laura while simultaneously wiping his mouth with a slender branch of a forearm, bark rubbing coarsely against bark. "Thanks," he says, placing the fresh glass down on the table and moving the spent mug and shot over to the side. In reply to Laura's remark he says, "Well, Mary's trustworthy to be honest. But figured a little privacy wouldn't hurt. Look Laura... I, I mean we need your help."

[Haval]

Once she's sat down Laura will sip the beer as much as for the cold as for the taste. 'So if Mary's trustworthy who do you not want to hear about this, whatever it is? I take it it's something that the Revellers might need help with?'

[Bennosuke]

Giant sighs, deep and long, the sound like a strong wind rushing through branches. He shakes his head side to side, the movement requiring him to twist his entire trunk back and forth in his cramped seat. "No, I want privacy for this is a personal matter," he replies. There is a solemnity to his words, his big round eyes staring sadly at Laura, adding, "More than personal... private."

Giant lifts the mug of beer to his face, and downs the entire glass, though some of the straw colored liquid goes astray and darkens the bark under his mouth. "It's... my sister," he says, though Giant has never talked about any sister to Laura's knowledge.

[Haval]

Laura looks sympathetic. It wasn't as if she had talked much about her own family. She will talk quietly so that Mary definately couldn't overhear. 'Is she ...ok? How long was it.' That Giant's sister was apparently still around was something. Laura had heard the stories about those who had come back to find their friends and family aged or dead.

[Bennosuke]

Giant opens his mouth as if to reply, but instead closes it and purses his lips. He sighs then says, "No, that's not it." He leans forward, his massive trunk of a body bowing like a tree in a hurricane. "She's gone missing," he says, "for about a week now. I... I think she was taken," His deep voice breaks as he says this last part, his already rheumy eyes widening with fear, "by the Gentry!"

[Haval]

Laura's breath catches in her throat and she just stares at Giant for a few seconds before she can recover herself, 'Are you sure? I thought we were supposed to be safe here.' There was an obvious way to check, 'Where does your sister live?' Had she been replaced already.

[Bennosuke]

"Not in New Orleans," he replies hastily, but stopping there. He gives Laura a warning stare that suggests that perhaps he does not want to divulge where his mortal family live, but then adds, "Anyways, a goblin was selling this in the Tumble Down Market," and pulls from his jacket an iphone with a cracked screen. "It was hers," he says, "and I had to pay the goblin an unfortunate amount once it saw how badly I wanted it. Wouldn't give me any information where it was found or when."

[Haval]

Laura will acknowledge Giant's implied warning with a nod. She had been suddenly worried about her own families safety. 'Do you know the Goblin's name?' Maybe she had met them already. 'Maybe he only found it in the Hedge somewhere but it'd be a start.'

She wasn't going to be the one to say it and assumed that Giant already knew. There was every chance that it was already too late. Still, it would be better to be sure.

[Bennosuke]

"The thing called itself Snigglebutt," he replies with a straight face, adding, "Damn wretched creature. Definitely didn't seem like the sort to be working directly for the Fae, but its stall was out on the fringes of the market... where some of the less savory goblins peddle." He briefly describes the location of Snigglebutt's stall so that Laura would be able to find it without too much difficulty if she chose. She'd never heard of Snigglelbutt, though the Tumbledown Market just kept growing and there were many goblins and strange folk that she hadn't met yet, being relatively knew to the Freehold.

[Haval]

'I'll talk to him...or maybe lean on him. If he's working in the Market he's bound to be up for trading for the information.'

[Bennosuke]

Giant's lips purse with discomfort again. "There's more...," he says, "that I could use your help with." He studies Laura's face, and it is clear he is fighting with himself in an attempt to get the words out. He says, "I was hoping you could help me find her... since you are so good in the Hedge." His big round eyes, the color of moss, and wet like morning grass, stare deep into Laura's.

[Haval]

Laura replies immediately, 'Giant it'd be the least I could do. All of us might have been a lot better off if we had had someone who would have come looking for us.'