IC: CtL 2E New Orleans by Night

[Bennosuke]

The two set off their journey, stepping out from the ever growing goblin market, and out onto a rather desolate strip of "land". As the two follow the main trod, the terrain quickly changes from that of desolate urban decay to rolling hills of marshy forest. The remnants of Katrina's storm have still left large sections of The Hedge flooded, and it was not uncommon for a trod to simply end at a newly formed lake of unimaginable expanse. Laura new most of those trods and thus avoided them, picking her way through crossroads and forks to the best of her ability; Giant offering almost no help.

However, within less than a half hour of navigating, The Hedge already seemed to be closing in on them. The trod Laura had chosen was narrowing, its borders surrounded by patches of unfriendly brush and the occasional section of thorny vines. Trees like cypresses and willows loomed over the path, darkening the area, and making it hard to find the sources of the occasional chittering creature or far away footfalls.

Laura had been in far worse sections of the Hedge, but this didn't seem to be where she was trying to lead them. And Giant could tell something was up. He remained silent, perhaps polite enough not to question Laura's prowess.

(OOC: Let's have a Resolve + Survival roll her. Note that Laura gains one additional dice from Giant this round... see OOC thread)

[Haval]

'Something's different.' Laura was annoyed with herself but this sort of thing couldn't be helped. From habit she'll slow her breathing and try to listen to the sounds of the Hedge. Sometimes it was possible to anticipate what it was going to do before it did it. She just had to go to wherever it was quieter. Of course that didn't always work.

Spoiler

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Going to throw a second willpower at this because there's a chance I'll get some back for Protector and Family

Resolve 2 + Survival 2 + Giant 1 + Willpower 3
(8d10)[4][8][10][3][3][4][5][5](42)
Any 10s
(8d10)[1][3][5][7][3][1][1][10](31)

[Bennosuke]

As Laura leads on the path slowly starts to clear. The trod grows wider, and the clods of Hedge thorn grow more sparse and farther away from the path. The trail leads away from the marshes but instead starts to follow a steep hill, up and up and up. The air starts to thin, and your legs start to burn and grow heavy. The winds pick up, howling and ripping through your clothes.

(OOC: Next, lets do a Stamina + Str)

[Haval]

Laura will put her head down and concentrate on putting one foot in front of the other. As long as she kept on her feet she could get through everything eventually.

Spoiler

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Str 3 + Stam 3
(6d10)[3][10][2][6][6][4](31)
Any 10s
(6d10)[4][10][10][4][5][6](39)

[Bennosuke]

The path starts a slow and steady winding up through the hills, forking repeatedly. But every time Laura thinks she's recognized the way, and picks a path, things seem to worsen. After another twenty minutes or so, she and Giant find themselves following a thinning trail that transitions to mud and loose stones. The Hedge vines begin to creep in closer, and as if on command the sky starts to darken. The winds pick up, howling and creating a din so hard that the two Changelings have to practically scream to be heard.

Giant refuses to complain or question Laura's choices as the two carry on and up, but his expression betrays his growing concern. Soon enough the two are traveling by flashlight under a starless sky. Checking one's watch shows the hands moving in unison backwards, and checking one's phone just shows four crying emojis where the digital time would normally be shown. Even by flashlight, the path is treacherous, with ground giving way to muddy holes that sink halfway up the calf and fill one's boots with cold water. Loose stones give out from under the foot, attempting to take the Changelings over or at the very least force a rolled ankle. Finally Laura is brought to a knee by the terrain, and silently Giant just walks past her, an agitated expression on his face. He doesn't wait to see if she is okay, nor check with her about how much further, instead gripping his backpack with both hands squeezing tight, eyes focused forward.

One moment, Laura's flashlight catches a glimpse of Giant ahead as she struggles back to her feet, and the next he suddenly screams, his voice ahead of her maybe five yards. But when Laura brings her flashlight around again, he's gone. Instead, it falls upon two pairs of red eyes, revealing two twisted hideous faces with pug noses and prominent under-tusks. "Got un," one Hill Ogre says to the next as they stand on the path before a pitfall trap. Their eyes fixate on Laura and ugly grins spread across both of their faces.

Immediately Laura is seized with terror and guilt. Giant had trusted her to navigate him to safety, and now they were both in mortal danger, and he was trapped in a pit built by flesh eating Ogres!

(OOC: Okay, so the Changelings have lost their navigation roll to The Hedge, and now find themselves in a bit of danger. As a result we are in a somewhat dangerous encounter, though I think there should be several ways of resolving this. However, this will result in Laura taking some clarity damage as a Fairest she takes damage every time she lets someone down and puts them in harm's way)

[Haval]

How could this have gone so wrong so quickly? Laura had to wonder if something about the Hedge had it in for one or both of them. Perhaps the weather had left her too distracted to notice the obvious trap. Perhaps she was just out of practice. Perhaps she had already missed something important out here.

The sight of the Ogres wasn't exactly helping. It was too familar. Laura was pretty sure had been involved with massed hunts of such creatures back on the other side. Back then it wasn't just her hunting them. There had been horses and dogs and backup to assist her in bringing them down. Could she be absolutely certain she wasn't still back there? Best deal with the Ogres in front of you first. Giant's counting on you.

Even as Laura takes a few moments to panic internally she'll reach over her shoulder and draw the heavy sword from it's scabbard before holding it at rest in front of her. With a confidence she doesn't really feel she'll call out, 'What is the meaning of this?' As before it wasn't about how she fealt inside it was about how she presented herself. Do it properly and the universe would help her out. Surely she was owed a bit of good luck at some point.

Spoiler: ooc

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Attempting Mask of Superiority again for 1 Glamour

Presence 3 + Subterfuge 1 + Wyrd 1
(5d10)[9][3][8][8][2](30)
Any 10s
(5d10)[1][10][5][6][10](32)

[Bennosuke]

The two ogres suddenly stumble back, their glowing eyes going wide. The first hill ogre, whose skin was sickly green and hued with yellows, stomps its feet and says, "Oy. We's just huntin'. Got ourselves a nice lil' changelin'. Lots o' bark, but the flesh is still likely soft. But we ain't sharin'. We caughts it fair an' square."

The second hill ogre nods its head, recovering from the shock of seeing another hill ogre it didn't expect. It crosses its gangly arms and adds, "Yeah, fair an' square." This one's skin was ice blue, run through with purplish veins.

(OOC: Three successes. The hill ogres assume that Laura is part of an "organization they belong to", in this case, another hill ogre)

[Haval]

Laura will hunch herself over and pitch her voice lower in a bid to help keep the illusion going. She didn't look like an Ogre but who was she to argue with Wyrd. 'You lads ever try to eat a tree before? How do you know it isn't bark all the way down?' She'll get a little closer. 'But you can't eat him anyway. I need him for something for the boss.'

[Bennosuke]

The green ogre shakes its head in surprise at Laura's explanation, muttering, "Makes sense." But the second eyes her suspiciously, heavy brow furrowing. "What you mean, the boss?" the blue one asks, raising a long fingered hand to scratch at its chin.

Despite herself, Laura can hear Giant down in the pit, breathing heavily though he's smart enough not to call out while Laura tries to help.

[Haval]

The green ogre shakes its head in surprise at Laura's explanation, muttering, "Makes sense." But the second eyes her suspiciously, heavy brow furrowing. "What you mean, the boss?" the blue one asks, raising a long fingered hand to scratch at its chin.

Despite herself, Laura can hear Giant down in the pit, breathing heavily though he's smart enough not to call out while Laura tries to help.

'You lads never been to Arcadia? One of them doesn't give their real name out to the likes of us. But you know they get very upset with people who get in their way.' Even here she'll avoid naming her Keeper. With any luck the Ogres would get the point.

Laura will continue to get closer in the hope of taking advantage of any confusion she might be able to cause. 'Don't think a meal is worth the trouble you'll be into with the boss for touching his stuff.'

[Bennosuke]

"You... you serve the Gentry," the blue one asks, eyes going wide with surprise and perhaps fear, the last word whispered in hushed voice. It steps back from Laura at the thought, but doesn't run or react to her trying to come closer. The green one looks from Laura to its companion, then back to the Changeling. "The Gentry," it asks, clearly very slow to come to the realization that its friend did. The green one doesn't step back at all, too busy overclocking its brain to follow along in the conversation, allowing Laura to get as close as she needs.

[Haval]

The idea of even pretending to be a servant of the gentry was unpleasant, but Laura would prefer not to fight these too either if she could possibly avoid it. 'What you might want to think about is what I might be capable of doing if I was.' Laura will look the blue Ogre in the eye and smile. 'Now, do you want to help him out of the hole?'

Spoiler: ooc

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Wasn't sure which outcome should be most unpleasant for her here, so let's try Intimidate first

Presence 3 + Intimidation 2
[roll0]
Any 10s
[roll1]

See ooc with 2 successes

[Bennosuke]

"Oh, uh, sure," Blue replies with a stammer. As it does, it's companion releases a slow "Ooooh". The blue ogre carefully steps back towards the hole, its eyes wide as they dart back and forth between the trap and Laura. It reaches into the hole with a massive hand, and Giant's voice carries up the hole with a grunt when its hand reach about the Changeling's torso. The ogre lifts Giant up and out of the trap, placing him on the ground across the hole from Laura, offering a half hearted "sorry".

Blue then takes a step behind Green, who is still putting some of the pieces together, and then asks, "Is... is there anything else we can do for you, or your Lord?"

In the meantime, Giant is brushing mud and dried leaves off of his clothing, eyes darting back and forth from the terrified ogres to over to Laura with relief and gratitude on his face.

[Haval]

Laura will keep a close watch on the two Ogres until Giant was out of the pit. That's it. Don't get in my way. I'm way more scary then you. She'll avoid meeting Giant's eye while the Ogres were still here.

On needing any help, 'Not unless you can do something about this weather. My patience for it only goes so far.' Then a thought strikes her, 'And I'm always looking for mortals or anyone that might be travelling with them.'

[Bennosuke]

"Oh, mortals?" Blue stammers out in reply. The ogre raises a massive hand behind its bald leathery head to rub its scalp nervously. Flakes of icy blue dandruff rain down on its shoulders, adding timidly, "oh we haven't seen any mortals."

Green looks confusedly at its companion, its face scrunching up into a mess wrinkles and interrupts, "What are you talking about Tibbert? What about the one we ate..."

Blue reaches out and strikes Green, silencing the hill ogre with a forehanded fist. The impact actually makes the ground quake a little. "Shut up Gil," Blue shrieks.

[Haval]

'And just who did you eat?' Laura didn't really want to know the details but felt obliged to check.

[Bennosuke]

Gil the green one looks at its companion, and whimpers. It gives Laura an apologetic shrug but says nothing. Tibbert, who was blue, scowls at the other Ogre before turning to the Changeling. "Who knows. We normally don't get to know our food before we eats it," Tibbert says defiantly. With a lick of pride though, it adds, "Pink one was stupid enough to fall into our trap... just like your tree friend here."

Giant shudders and glares at the hobgoblins but says nothing, instead reaching over and giving Laura's shoulder a squeeze. Under his breath he says, "Let's hurry up. I wanna get out of here."

[Haval]

'Next time we'll be sure to look where we're going.' Laura replies drily 'But I would say you should tell me where the rest of your traps are, just in case. If I have to pull someone out of a another hole I will be very unhappy with both of you.'

Laura will put her hand on Giant's without taking her eyes off the Ogres. She'll respond equally quietly. 'Agreed.'

Assuming she gets directions she'll lead Giant away from the Ogres.

[Bennosuke]

"Other traps," asks Gil with impressed surprise, as if the thought had never occurred to them.

Tibbert gives its companion a glare, "This is our only trap." It pauses to stare curiously at Giant. Clicking its tongue against its tusks Tibbert adds, "You and your companion should be safe from here, assuming you stick to the raod."

[Haval]

Laura's eyes flicked towards the pit for any obvious sign of human remains. Whoever it had been they couldn't do anything about it now. Better proceed as if it wasn't Sarah unless they had a reason to know better. To the Ogres, 'Then I'll leave you to get on with it, but if I were you I'd be careful about who I try to eat in the future.'

To Giant, 'Let's get out of here.' And assuming they managed to get out of earshot, 'I don't know if they definately bought it.'

[Bennosuke]

Laura's eyes flicked towards the pit for any obvious sign of human remains. Whoever it had been they couldn't do anything about it now. Better proceed as if it wasn't Sarah unless they had a reason to know better.

From here it's too dark down in the pit for Laura to see any remains, assuming there were any left in the trap. When Laura offers her fair wells, the two Hill Ogres each give awkward bows. Tibbert manages to mutter, "Uh, best wishes to ya' boss then." The two ogres step back to let Laura and her companion by.

Giant nods to Laura's suggestion and follows her back down the trail. He remains wordless, though he rubs intermittently at one of his shoulders. Soon enough, the trail is leading downhill, and as it does, sunlight begins to return. The trod leads down and down. Another twenty minutes of treading carefully downhill, and the pair are in a meadow of dried yellow grasses and bright purple flowers. The sun is shining, and the air is filled with the buzz of large fuzzy bumble bees. Low willow like trees dot the field here and there... but in the distance, maybe a hundred yards off, under one of the trees, appears to be a scattering of human clothing. It is easy enough to see for miles in every direction, given how flat it has become, and there are no signs of other changelings or hobgoblins. Could this be the sign of Sarah that they had been looking for in the Hedge?

[Haval]

While walking away Laura is alert to any sign that they were being followed. As soon as they were out of earshot Laura will talk to Giant openly. 'Sorry about that. The thing about this place is all you need is to be unlucky once and you could be in a lot of trouble. You alright?'

In the meadow she'll go take a closer look at the clothes and see if she could find anything to identify the owner. 'Giant, you recognise these?'

[Bennosuke]

While walking away Laura is alert to any sign that they were being followed. As soon as they were out of earshot Laura will talk to Giant openly. 'Sorry about that. The thing about this place is all you need is to be unlucky once and you could be in a lot of trouble. You alright?'

When Laura finally speaks up, Giant stops walking, forcing her to turn around and face him. The man's eyes are hard and distant as he stares at Laura. After a long moment he will reply, "I'm okay. I just... I just want to find my sister, that's all." He reflexively brings an arm up to rub his shoulder. "Laura, promise me we will find her," he says as his voice begins to faulter, "or promise me we will be okay."

In the meadow she'll go take a closer look at the clothes and see if she could find anything to identify the owner. 'Giant, you recognise these?'

Giant follows, approaching the pile of clothing in the field. Strewn about in the yellow grass are an odd assortment of clothing; a forest green military style jacket, a single long knitted sock with cats on it, and a pair of blue converse. Giant's branches all sag as he stares down at the clothing, his big blue eyes searching over the scattering. "It's hers," he gasps, bringing massive arms up to the side of his towering head, "but where is she, and what happened to her?"

[Haval]

When Laura finally speaks up, Giant stops walking, forcing her to turn around and face him. The man's eyes are hard and distant as he stares at Laura. After a long moment he will reply, "I'm okay. I just... I just want to find my sister, that's all." He reflexively brings an arm up to rub his shoulder. "Laura, promise me we will find her," he says as his voice begins to faulter, "or promise me we will be okay."

Laura isn't going to lie to him. 'Giant...I promise I'll do all I can...but you know what they're like.' The admission made her feel worse. What if they couldn't find anything? What if Sarah was merely gone? Or could they follow her to Arcadia. Aloud Laura will only say, 'We'll take it one step at a time.'

Giant follows, approaching the pile of clothing in the field. Strewn about in the yellow grass are an odd assortment of clothing; a forest green military style jacket, a single long knitted sock with cats on it, and a pair of blue converse. Giant's branches all sag as he stares down at the clothing, his big blue eyes searching over the scattering. "It's hers," he gasps, bringing massive arms up to the side of his towering head, "but where is she, and what happened to her?"

Laura can think of multiple explanations why Sarah might have been forced to leave her clothes behind. None of them were good. She'll take a closer look at the site to see if she could see tracks or anything else of note.

Spoiler

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Wits 3 + Composure 3
(6d10)[6][10][10][10][2][2](40)
Any 10s
(6d10)[6][9][7][4][2][3](31)

[Bennosuke]

Laura isn't going to lie to him. 'Giant...I promise I'll do all I can...but you know what they're like.' The admission made her feel worse. What if they couldn't find anything? What if Sarah was merely gone? Or could they follow her to Arcadia. Aloud Laura will only say, 'We'll take it one step at a time.'

Giant remains there silent for a long moment, towering over Laura. Finally he nods his head slightly, long branches creaking with the motion, and says, "Yeah. Okay, one step at a time. I just... I just hope Sarah is okay.

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

(OOC: 4 successes)

The more Laura studies the scene, the more she is convinced that there was some sort of struggle and chase involved. Two pairs of footprints appear to lead up to the area with all the clothing. There is a pair of human shoe prints, which appear to match Sarah's, but the second trail looks to be that of a massive dog's feet. In areas the tracks appear to show bipedal walking and in others quadripedal, as if the creature was alternating between upright and all-fours during the chase. Even more concerning is that every here and there is a single or couple of green scales or fur, which reminds Laura immediately of Snigglebutt.

But Laura's investigation is cut short, when nearby Giant falls to his knees, the noise like the impact of a falling tree. "Oh god no," he cries, head bowed down at the ground, "Oh no!" When Laura comes over, he raises a hand wrapped around what appears to be a small hand shovel or maybe a spade. The item appears meticulously hand crafted, the metal blade reflecting an almost mirror finish that would only be possible as an item of the True Fae.

[Haval]

Back in the world Laura would have expected there to be tracks going away from the pile of clothes, but here who could tell. Things didn't always work the same way and there was no garuntee that everyone passing through the Hedge always kept the same shape. At least, as far as Laura could make out, the tracks of a human and the tracks of the creature didn't seem to be one and the same. If there were no tracks leading away from the site, she'll take a look at the clothes themselves for any sign of blood or of them having been ripped. If Sarah had become something else at least there was a chance that she was still alive.

While she was doing all that she can't help but mutter angrily to herself about the likelihood that Snigglebutt might have been here for whatever had happened and what she ought to have done to him. 'Little ****. Should have dragged him along with us.'She had seen Lord of the Rings, and it was hard not to remember the Warg scene. Perhaps the Hob had a mount. She had never killed anyone since she returned to New Orleans, but perhaps she should make an exception.

Laura will regard the Fae spade as if it was a poisonous snake. 'Giant...I'm..' What could she say to that? I'm sorry? How would that help. 'It doesn't mean one of Them was actually here. Someone might have had it with them. This isn't over.' Laura will look around for any sign that anything had been dug up.

Spoiler

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So Faerie Peaches are supposed to show up when a Fae has been through an area a lot. Are there any other ways of knowing whether a Fae has been through here or should I roll?

[Bennosuke]

The most obvious tracks were the ones leading up to the clothes. The pad and shoe prints were pushed deep into the dirt, possibly indicating running such as in a chase. But there was possibly less obvious foot prints leading away from the scene, if Laura were to look a little harder.

(OOC: Requires a Wits + Survival)

Giant seems almost deaf to Laura's words, though he shakes his head in a small gesture of non-acceptance. Instead he raises a fist up into the air, gnarled bark fingers knotted into a tangled ball the size of Laura's head, and thrusts it with a dull thump into the earth beside the pile of clothes. The blow flattens the yellowed grass below it and indents the dirt, creating a small crater. When he looks up, his big blue eyes are all water, and there are stains along the bark of his cheeks, where tears have begun streaming. He shakes his head again, but this time finally replies, "Over? They got her. They got her Laura! If they've taken her through the thorns, they've already got her, and changed her, and enslaved her! What do you mean its not over?" The question is thrown out with spite. The same fist that had flattened the earth rushes to the ground to clasp the impossibly perfect spade. "Look at this," Giant growls, "this is Fae made! And I know who it belongs to. The Bristle Crowned Gardener was my master too! They did this... they did this out of spite, or maybe to get me back!"

(OOC: I would suggest a Kenning roll would work here to detect magic and prior fae presence. Per the rules, if you wanted, you would spend a WP, and then I would roll d10 equal to your clarity in secret... only possible if less than half your clarity boxes have damage.)

[Haval]

'I don't accept that.' Laura replied almost snapping out the words. It wasn't Giant she was angry at though. 'If I did I would have never have left Arcadia. It's not over while she's still alive' She'll fish the faerie peach out of her jacket pocket. 'Maybe I should see if this works as advertised for starters.'

[Bennosuke]

Spoiler: OOC

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To activate a Kenning roll, Laura spends a WP, bringing her down to 2/5. However, I did kind of lie to you, as I'm supposed to roll secretly for your Kenning roll. However, however, after reading your reply, I was going to ask for a Presence + Expression/Persuasion roll to see if Laura could snap Giant out of it. So I'm going to use the roll for that instead. I rolled separately for you Kenning. See below

'I don't accept that.' Laura replied almost snapping out the words. It wasn't Giant she was angry at though. 'If I did I would have never have left Arcadia. It's not over while she's still alive' She'll fish the faerie peach out of her jacket pocket

Giant's eyes go wide as if Laura had just reached out and slapped him. He stares down at her, mouth agape. His fists open and close three times before Giant finally speaks. "Alright," the massive tree says with a nod of his head, "maybe you are right and it isn't time to give up then. But... but what do you propose we do then?" He looks down at the goblin fruit, perfectly round and pink in Laura's hand. Pointing at the peach he says, "You aren't proposing we go into Arcadia now, are you?"

The peach is warm in Laura's hand, like it were almost a living moving thing. It's flesh is soft but firm, and for a moment Laura's mouth begins to water as the idea of taking a bite invades her thoughts.

Before she replies, Laura performs a quick Kenning. (OOC: I am going to let you describe exactly what/how Laura does this). Her eyes are drawn to the small and perfect hand-spade. Through her vision, Laura sees that indeed the object was from Arcadia. The handle was not made of wood, nor the head of steel or any other sort of metal. The entirety of the shovel was made of the same magic stuff that all things in Arcadia were made of; it was a homogenous mass of Faerie magic shaped like a shovel.

But as Laura looked closer, she saw that drawn from the base of the shovel was a long thread of magic that trailed off across the field. The Kenning revealed something like a web, or maybe a chain. When Laura followed the glowing thread with her eyes, away from this scene and across the grasses, she saw that continued and disappeared into a distant bramble of thorns.

[Haval]

Giant's eyes go wide as if Laura had just reached out and slapped him. He stares down at her, mouth agape. His fists open and close three times before Giant finally speaks. "Alright," the massive tree says with a nod of his head, "maybe you are right and it isn't time to give up then. But... but what do you propose we do then?" He looks down at the goblin fruit, perfectly round and pink in Laura's hand. Pointing at the peach he says, "You aren't proposing we go into Arcadia now, are you?"

'If it comes to it.' Laura replies after a moment. She wondered if she could have avoided this if she had moved quicker. 'But in that case I might want to ask around a bit first. There's no point in even trying if it just gets more people stuck there. For now we follow the trail and see where it takes us.' Had any of the Lost ever been back to Arcadia on purpose? Even the idea felt like sneaking into Mordor. But, even now, the hope was that that wouldn't be necessary and they could catch up to Sarah first.

Laura will fish out a small pouch from her bag that she had carried since her original time in the Hedge. The bag was a lot less full then it used to be, but what was inside it still seemed to work for all that she had no idea why. Inside was a pound or so of yellow flecks that she had been told were actual gold. Maybe it would.have been worth something back in the world if she cared about that anymore. Laura will sprinkle some of that on the spade and nod in satisfaction as the gold dust seemed to respond to the presence of magic in the air. A thin chain of dust will spread out and direct her towards the tangle of thorns. The dust was barely visible but there was more then enough light here that she could make out the faint glitter in the air.

Spoiler: ooc

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Thorns is kind of suggestive. Which raises the question of whether they would be able to recognise a border to Arcadia when they saw it?