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  terminal stupidity Registered User regular

  December 2007 edited December 2007

  OOC Explanation for this Log:

  Things got off to a bit of a rocky start. You can see the timestamps in there, we began almost a half hour late and ended over an hour after we planned. This is why the last bit of the log feels more like a sports training montage than a naturally flowing playsession. Sorry.
  
  Some people were late, and so we had to shoehorn a character into the scene during the chatter with the goblin market information toad.
  
  When things seem to progress without warning, that's when we simply said "Fuck it" and went to rolls to see how characters progressed. This is most evident when they all decided to search for goblin fruits in the hedge and when they were trying to interpret the goblin market map. This also occurs when I was having a PM conversation with certain members.
  
  The most obvious of this is Andy when he tries the goblin fruit. It healed all bashing wounds with one bite, but tasted awful. I believe I described it as, "There's a party in your mouth, and everyone's covered in shit."
  
  We were having some communication issues in our OOC chatter channel, which should be rectified next time. I'll be a little more focused on responding to OOC requests rather than keeping things flowing IC.
  
  We also had some technical issues with IRC clients which should also be worked out prior to the game. Not a huge deal, but it snagged us up a bit.
  
  Finally, I had some formatting issues with my log file and don't really feel like going through several thousand-plus lines of text and fixing it. So, sorry.
  
  Anyway, try to enjoy it, despite the typos, misspellings, formatting quirks and other crap. If not, sorry.

  
  Playlog, Hedgedate Dec. 6th, 2007:

  [20:26] Storyteller: It's the first day of Autumn, the equinox. You've all been summoned, though you don't know why. You were simply asked to arrive at the VIP
  entrance to the Mask around this time. Amin the bear let you each enter without question, opening the door as you arrive, giving you a flashy
  smile, exposing his elongated canines. A few posuers and yuppies show open surprise as the disperate group is let through. None of them dare
  question the bouncer. Never.
  
  Behind the VIP entrance is a simple hallway that leads to an elevator. There are only two buttons inside, up and down. You go down. Down into
  the basement of the Mask, and the secretive tunnels maintained out of necessity, out of fear, out of paranoia. As the cabin nestles into its hold
  with a soft thump, there seems to be a suddenly pregnant moment. The air catches, silent, dulled as if choked with thick fog. The soft bing that
  calls before the doors open seems miles away, but as the steel partition breaks, the hush seems flow from the cramped cabin and fill the room
  before you, swelling to occupy the melancholy resplendence that is revealed.
  
  Orange and grey tapestries dangle from the ceiling and slope down the walls, hanging behind halogen braziers that cast a pale white light over the
  sumptuous cloth. Each drape a masterwork of embroidery, bearing symbols of Autumn: the cornucopia, the swirling leaves, the half-naked branch,
  and the sheaf of amber wheat. Mirror-polished marble tiles the floor, padded by thick, sumptuous carpeting that's been rolled down the center,
  leading you forward, toward a royal dais, upon which sits a grand oaken throne. Meticulously carved is this throne, displaying a whirling
  symbology of the four seasons, as if they were pulled from the darkly stained surface. Set into the backing of this grand seat is a circular
  relief, carved with a wreath of dead leaves centered around a one-eyed crow. The relief seems sunken into the throne, certainly not a part of the
  original piece, as it's paler in color, as if it were a giant wooden coin slipped into a slot to complete the arch of the high-backed
  authoritarian seat.
  
  The dimly lit room seems in a perpetual hush as you each enter, guided by the carpeting to a semi-circle of empty chairs, each of a fine leather,
  plush and voluminous. The seats are equal to the number of summoned court attendants. The semi-circle positioned just far enough to make it
  difficult to hear the conversation shared by the 'inner circle' of the freehold. Excited, almost giddy whispers come from the twins as they
  chatter with the butterfly while Tariq and Miranda hold their own quiet conversation, exchanging knowing, bemused glances. As the last of the
  summoned arrives, Amin strolls past, assuming a position the opposite side of the throne as his 'brother,' clearly the honor guard of the Autumnal
  Lady.
  
  And what a Lady. Her pale yellow skin seems to slough off a dim, wan light, just as thin and elegant as her slender form. Prismatic color dances
  from her short hair, which seems ever tussled by a perpetual breeze. And perhaps it is, for swirling about the kingly dais of white marble seems
  to be a small collection of autumn leaves, dancing about. Though the Lady seems to cast off her own light, there is no noticable change in
  illumination near her. As her attention slowly shifts from her retainers to those collected before her, the intensity of her illumination-free
  light grows. And grows. And grows! Grows until it shines through her thin, pale dress. Grows to the point where her sheer presence dominates
  the entire room, catching all attention. A brisk, chill breeze carries with it illusory fallen foliage, swirling powerful and strong, sucking the
  warmth from the room. So bright is her light that the entire throne is engulfed by it.
  
  And then, with a sharp CRACK of hard wood against hard wood, the breeze stumbles and falls silent, the light instantly dims, and all members of
  the court turn their attention to the Lady with the owl's-foot gavel in her hands. Her attention, however, is focused on the group before her,
  the group in the plush, sumptuous chairs. You.
  
  "Thank you for coming, new friends." comes her royal tone. High and pure and full of authority. "As you know, it is the Autumnal Equinox. You
  may not be truly indoctrinated to our traditions, but as the seasons change, so must we." She folds her hands over the gavel in her lap,
  continuing, "Normally on this auspicious night, we would partake in a harvest feast and renew our vows and pledges. However, as you know, events
  have transpired against our safety and comfort. The Twin Kings of Summer," Miranda's warm gaze falls to the men on each side of her seat,
  "Requested I take the throne weeks earlier than tradition would dictate. This has caused a minor controversy, but I intend to cede the throne to
  our Winter Queen when the solstice falls. After we navigate the hostility of the current season."
  
  The Lady lets out a small sigh, clearly disappointed in the events that have led to this audience. Or perhaps it's just a show. Who can say.
  She takes a slow breath and continues, "Tradition usually calls for a feast, followed by a Final Boast from the Summer Court, and then a retreival
  of a rare or unique item from the Goblin Market that forms in the Hedge at sundown, and disperses at sunup. However, we have another tradition,"
  she adds with a smile, "That dictates the Boast is withheld and the retreival carried out by the newest of those who join our fold during the past
  season, should their numbers be sufficient. Your numbers, my friends, are sufficient." The fair lady stands, stepping down from the throne, onto
  the dais where it rests, "And there is an item I would like to have in my posession, sold only at this Goblin Market, only once per year. I
  believe it will help to guide us through these trying times, as our allies fall silent and our friends vanish from our sight. Do I pique your
  interest?" Her head inclines with a knowing, curious expression. "Perhaps if you carry this out to satisfaction, you will be extended the offer
  of a seasonal pledge, a full membership into the Faithful Cycle."
  
  She awaits your response, hands folded before her.
  [20:30] Keira: Keira smiles, glancing down as the light blinds her, then looking up at the Lady with a mixture of awe and fear, speaking in a sing-song tone :I would be honoured to help the freehold in whatever small way I can"
  [20:31] Quiet Bill: Quiet Bill shift in his seat. Being the centre of attention makes his uncomfortable. However, he spies the person who just spoke out of the corner of his eye and a flash of recognition lights his eyes.
  [20:31] Quiet Bill: He stammers, unsure what to say, staring at the young girl who just spoke
  [20:34] Storyteller: The Light smiles to Keira, though the two are as different as night and day, quite literally. Let not it be said that the Autumnal Lady was shy to shine her countenance upon those still struggling with their new lives. "It's traditional that a new motley. A new POTENTIAL motley, I should say, also carries out a task of import to the greater hold. Each of us have done such a task with our respective motleys. It is a rite of passage, you could say." She looks among the rest of the group, "But it is a rite you must accept willingly."
  [20:34] Andy: Andy restless shifts in his seat, looking left and right and squirming in a distinctly unsubtle fashion. Changing his position (for the umpteenth time) he jerks a thumb towards Keira. "I'll go. Gotta keep an eye on people."
  [20:34] Storyteller: The Lady brightens towards Andy, "Oh, wonderful. Who else accepts?"
  [20:35] Quiet Bill: "I...I.... Ok... " Bill stutters, an astonished look on his face
  [20:35] Storyteller: She claps her hands together, "Very well...and you?" She focuses on Jack, "Shall you accept?"
  [20:36] Jack: Jack *grins broadly* "I'll be taking it that you'll need people of intelligence and skill on thsi expedition. I therefore pledge my assistance too! it shall be so fun fun fun fun fun!"
  [20:36] Jack: Claps his hands
  [20:37] Quiet Bill: Bill finally pulls his gaze away from the singing girl just long enough to stare at the skinny grinning man with a wide-eyed apprehensive look.
  [20:39] Jack: *looks back at the large Ogre* You have an exhaust pipe. Do you have an oven in your belly?
  [20:39] Keira: (( he's an elemental))
  [20:40] Andy: Andy's foot bounces against the floor, fingers curling and uncurling either eagerly or impatiently. "So what's the thing?"
  [20:40] Quiet Bill: Bill self-conciously (but vainly) tries to cover up his pipe with his jacket
  [20:40] Keira: Keira bites her lip nervously, humming to herself as she backs up a few steps, nervous at being the centre of attention in the middle of the court.
  [20:40] Storyteller: She lets out a laugh at that, "Very good." Assuming the throne once more, she considers the group, a small smile on her face, small as her slim frame. "Let me explain. We have a contract of the mundane sense with a merchant at a once-annual Goblin market. Each year, we send a group to collect an item from him." She gestures to the bear-like fellow at her right, he wanders off into some sidepassage while she speaks. "Many times these are simple token curiosities. A glass sculture that changes shape," returns Amin, with such a device, a twisting sculpture of immobile glass, "When injected with Glamour." A flash of light fills the device, and it takes the shape of a pure and clear glass sword. The bear simply holds it with a broad smile. "Is one such thing. This time, however, he has contacted us through the dreamscape with something that we may find useful. What did he call it...?" She looks to Tariq for a whisper, nodding, "The Leaden Mirror. Fitting for the Season, perhaps he made it up to entice me."
  [20:42] Jack: *continues to look at Bill* Dont be self conscious big guy! My head is on fire and I'm usually deranged!
  [20:43] Quiet Bill: cocking an eyebrow at Jack: Um... deranged people don't usually tend to advertise that fact. Then again...
  [20:43] Jack: But Andyman is right, what do you want us to find in the Market? Can we burn it to the gorund when we're finished?
  [20:44] Andy: Andy gives an exasperated grunt. "Great. It's already named me."
  [20:44] Quiet Bill: Bill looks at Jack with renewed alarm, then throws a pleading a look at The Light
  [20:44] Keira: "Burn the market? I don't want to burn anything..." but I guess what you guys want is best?
  [20:44] Storyteller: The Lady cracks her gavel on the strikeplate built into the throne. She straightens with a strange look, Amin gives a scowl, holding his sword with a tight grip, "We have an understanding with the marketeers, please be on your best behavior. Now then, the man you must find goes by no name, we simply know him as the Blind Bohemian. You'll see why when you meet him..."
  [20:45] Storyteller: She continues, "He changes shop each year, and is quite the curious character. But he has always been honest, as honest as you can expect from a goblin. The Market is through a Trod nearby. You may have a guide to lead you there, but inside the Hedge, you must go alone."
  [20:45] Andy: Andy scratches his head. "The name already explains it. Unless it's a lie."
  [20:46] Quiet Bill: The... the hedge?
  [20:46] Storyteller: She waves a hand slowly, "Yes. We have a well-worn Trod that is maintained regularly. Cut back often. Used almost daily. Scouts have reported that it is safe from...occurances, for the past few months. This is the equivalent of a Formal Boast, as I said."
  [20:47] Keira: Keira looks at Bill, shaking her head as she tries to remember why he seems so familiar. "The hedge isn't that scary... it likes when I sing." She smiles shyly.
  [20:47] Jack: *frowns but then his grin returns just as quickly as if he hadn't heard anything* Yes the Hedge my boy! Full of darkness, and danger and delicious delicious fear.
  [20:47] Quiet Bill: Bill scratches his head and adjusts his cap, but says nothing.
  [20:47] Andy: Andy gives Bill a thumbs-up. "And if there's trouble I'll tear it about. Stop being so jittery. Unless, uh, that's what your thing is."
  [20:48] Jack: Not to mention I'm scarier than most of what we'll find there...mostly....
  [20:48] Storyteller: Gives a quiet, closed-lipped laugh at the mention of Fear. "So, are you prepared? Find the merchant, collect the Leaden Mirror, return. Oh yes. There's a catch. The Market opens in two hours, at sundown, and closes at sunup."
  [20:49] Storyteller: "And feel free to snatch up any goblin fruit you might find. Most of them are safe to eat. ...most." she adds, a playful tone, perhaps imagining someone snacking on a hideously unpleasant fruit.
  [20:49] Quiet Bill: um... right then... so I guess we should go then? Visibly uncomfortable, Bill looks around as though looking for permission to leave.
  [20:50] Jack: The boss lady has to tell us to get the fuck out first!
  [20:50] Keira: Keira nods, slinking back towards the entrance of the room, slipping through the crowd, too shy to ask to leave.
  [20:50] Andy: Andy perks up at the mention of food, hopping into a crouched position in his seat. "Anytime. Ready and waiting."
  [20:50] Jack: Food good, me and food go way back.
  [20:51] Storyteller: She smiles, holding her hands over the gavel in her lap, "You may leave at any time. Amin will show you the way. The Trod is nearby." As if on cue, the smiling bear with the glass sword 'sheathes' his weapon by shrinking it to the size of a golfball and tucking it into his front shirt pocket. "Let's go then, you lot are gonna have a time, let me tell you..."
  [20:51] Storyteller: He makes his way to the elevator as the rest of the group return to idle conversation, waiting for you all to pile in.
  [20:52] Quiet Bill: Bill stares nervously at the Bear, and at the strage people around him. He clutches his faithful wrench for comfort.
  [20:52] Andy: Andy opens his mouth to say something he probably shouldn't, but decides against it at the last second and just smiles crookedly. Without wasting a second he's gone from his seat and waiting in the elevator, making urging motions at the others.
  [20:52] Jack: *bows to the Autumn Queen* Bye boss lady! We're bring your shiny back!
  [20:52] Keira: Keira pauses by the elevator door as Amin enters, not wanting to be the first of the group to enter, and her eyes fall on Bill. "Don't I... know you... from somewheres?"
  [20:53] Storyteller: The elevator is a little cramped. But there's enough room for five people, probably six. but there isn't a sixth person. The doors close shut with a quiet hisk, momentum pushing down against the group as the cabin jolts upwards, humming to a slow stop with a ping. The doors slide open.
  [20:53] Jack: *stomps into the elevator and eye Amin* Wassup my brother!
  [20:53] Quiet Bill: Bill blinks innocently at Keira. If his skin didn't have the apperance of metal, he'd be blushing furiously. "I... I'm not sure"
  [20:54] Storyteller: The bear gives Jack a bit of a wave, "Chill, chief. You'll have a lotta of time to work out your energy in the Hedge. Let's go." he points towards the exit, "Gonna follow?"
  [20:54] Jack: Aye aye!
  [20:55] Jack: I'm itching to shoot something. Hell anything....
  [20:55] Storyteller: "Keep your piece hidden at the market, okay?" He heads for the door, "Unless someone pulls on you first."
  [20:55] Andy: Andy glances at the other occupants of the elevator, giving a knowing look and a nod of his head towards Jack before heading out the doors.
  [20:56] Keira: Keira sidles out of the elevator behind Andy, glancing behind her at Jack and Bill.
  [20:56] Quiet Bill: Bill hesitates for a moment, and thinks about just taking off and going home. Thinking better of it, he draws his Wrench, gulps hard and follows at the back of the group.
  [20:56] Jack: *stomps out after the pretty Darkling*
  [20:56] Storyteller: Out into the evening air. It's about thirty minutes until sundown. Amin wastes no time heading towards the Trod. "It's tucked into this little back alley, one of those old dead ends, you know?"
  [20:57] Andy: "Better'n putting it in the middle of a place people actually waste time going through."
  [20:57] Storyteller: "There's a key to get in there, too. I'll show you. Neat trick." His pace is brisk, he bristles with energy, tireless, just like a bear.
  [20:58] Jack: A......trick? Lemme seeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
  [20:59] Keira: Keira follows along with the group, a bit to the side, trying to keep to the shadows as they head towards the Trod.
  [20:59] Quiet Bill: Bill stays at the back of the group, relieved to have some attention taken off of him.
  [20:59] Storyteller: After several minutes of walking and awkward conversation between some members of the potential motley, Amin suddenly turns. It is one of those little dead end kind of things. Barely wide enough for two people, covered in graffiti. At the end, there's a solid brick wall where the buildings were joined, as if someone purchased both and made them into a single home.
  [21:00] Jack: OooOOoooOOoOoooooo spooky!
  [21:00] Storyteller: "Here." he points towards the wall, walking forward to dig out a loose brick with a slow, ponderous wiggle. The claws help. "See this?" He waves Jack over to look into the hole.
  [21:00] Jack: mmmmhmmmmmmm
  [21:01] Storyteller: "Tell it a secret. One you haven't told anyone."
  [21:01] Jack: *scratches his chin*
  [21:02] Andy: Andy bites his lip. It's be so easy just to shove Jack into the wall. All in good fun. He takes a deep breath and fights down the urge, instead settling on sharpening his claws on a brick.
  [21:02] Keira: Keira hums for a moment before raising her voice on a querying note. "Can you tell it the same question twice?"
  [21:02] Keira: "Or secret, I guess."
  [21:02] Storyteller: Thinks for a moment, "You could. It has to be one no one else knows. So if you say it too loud, it won't work."
  [21:03] Andy: Andy snaps his fingers. "I've got a hoarde of those things. How about I give it a go?"
  [21:04] Jack: *bows to the Beast* By all means!
  [21:04] Storyteller: He looks down to Jack, "Wanna give up the mic, chief? I'm a little low on juice after showing off The Light's precious sculpture."
  [21:05] Andy: He rubs his hands and saunters up, tongue poking out of the side of his mouth. "Oh, so many, which to choo-" He pauses for a moment, "why am I so proud of that?"
  [21:05] Storyteller: The bear lets out a litlte laugh, "Gotta pick one. Then stuff the brick in there real fast before the wind steals it and tells the world." He offers the brick.
  [21:06] Keira: Keira stays close to the wall, glancing at Bill and the other members of the group on occasion. Why did he seem so familiar?
  [21:06] Andy: He leans over and cups a hand to his mouth, whispering conspiratorily to the hole. "When I was fifteen I broke my cousin's leg and blamed it on a bike accident."
  [21:06] Storyteller: "Stuff it in there, quick." he urges, pointing to the hole, "Or everyone's gonna learn about it."
  [21:07] Andy: With a twirl of his arm and a flick of his wrist, Andy snatches the brick and with a comic flourish slams it back into place.
  [21:07] Keira: Keira blanches, looking worriedly at Andy. "You broke your cousins leg? Why did you want to hurt him? Was he bad?"
  [21:09] Andy: Andy grins widely over his shoulder. "I'm sure you've got your own dark secrets, hon. Maybe we can share 'em sometime." He winks, and turns his attention to the wall again.
  [21:09] Storyteller: As the brick sinks into the hole, the mortar around it glows a deep, emerald green. Soon the entire wall is suffused in verdant light, and then, as the light fades, hazy borders at the edge of rip in reality reveals it. The Hedge. Twisting brown plant growth covered in thorns, cut back by regular tenders, a long, damp dirt path wide enough for five to walk abreast is well maintained, free of undergrowth. Though nightfall is upon the real world, the world beyond the portal, the Hedge seems swathed in a perpetual hazy twilight. Enough to see by, but not enough to read a book by. Large print only on this footpath.
  [21:10] Storyteller: The bear lets out a laugh, "Now that everyone knows, that secret won't work next time. Good thing you jammed that brick in there fast, kid."
  [21:10] Storyteller: He waves to the entrance, "It's open for about five minutes. When it closes you can exit just fine, you'll tumble out of thin air. But get while the gettin's good, right?"
  [21:11] Andy: Andy waves his arms in front of his face, in true Vegas show fashion.
  [21:11] Quiet Bill: Bill stares at the glowing entrance to the Hedge, then looks back at the alleyway behind him, briefly considering making a break for it...
  [21:11] Jack: Good thing it wasn't me, or you would all know about the time I got caught jerking off in an airport bathroom and that would be really embarassing! *with that he turns smartly on his heel and enters the Hedge*
  [21:11] Keira: Keira slips through the portal in reality, setting foot in the hedge, singing a quiet song little song about a plant. "and the root was the left and the leaf was the next, only for another daay."
  [21:12] Storyteller: "I'll stay here til it's shut. Watch yer tails, you know..." he fishes into his pocket and pulls out the glass ball, filling it with Glamour until it swells and stretches, becoming a fine longblade once again.
  [21:12] Quiet Bill: Bill hangs back for a time. Realizing, however, that The Bear was staying behind, he knew he wouldn't have much chance at escaping without notice.
  [21:12] Andy: Andy leaps through the portal, landing low to the ground. His head darts left and right, pupils widening and he surveys the area.
  [21:13] Quiet Bill: Resigned, he takes a deep breath and enters last, smiling weakly at the Bear as he passes him.
  [21:14] Storyteller: The trip through the Hedge is surprisingly uneventful. This is a well maintained Trod, used frequently and cut back almost weekly. The twisting
  brown root-like walls are still covered in vicious spikes and gruesome barbs, but they don't menace with such alien vigor as visions of the Hedge
  often do.
  [21:16] Storyteller: Minutes after you enter, the portal closes behind. City lights seem just out of hands reach when you look back to the Trodway. So close, but hazy and indiscinct. As the portal whips shut, the Hedge wall it was set into swirls and twists into a mockery of a doorway. How are you going to open it when you get back...? Better focus on the mission first.
  [21:17] Keira: Keira wanders to the edge of the path, peering closely at the plants, careful not to touch as she continues her song 'And the thorn in the eye, flower in the nose, only for another daaay."
  [21:18] Quiet Bill: Bill follows the group, a slight distance away, staying squarely in the middle of the road.
  [21:21] Andy: Andy snickers and sneaks up to Keira. He forwardly claps her on the shoulders. "Better stay close. Don't know what could be around here, after all?" And as quick as he approached he backs away, scurrying on ahead, snickering to himself. "Hey," he snaps his fingers, trying to remember the machine-man's name, "Willy, keep an eye on Jacky-boy, will ya?"
  [21:21] Storyteller: The plants along the Hedge twist and grow at Keira's song, at the richness of her voice it seems to soften, the barbs less dull as they hear her siren call.
  [21:22] Jack: Jack looks around, his grin is still there, but there is a quiet intensity to him. A pervading wariness as he moves confident forward. Keeping the Beastman ahead and to his left so he does not get in the way of his draw.
  [21:22] Quiet Bill: Bill's eyes widen at the sudden attention. "um it's... it's Bill..."
  [21:22] Keira: Keira yelps and jumps as Andy grabs her shoulders, breaking off her song instantly. "A..alright... whatever you think is best." Keira seems to draw into herself, looking smaller and less present as she steps away from the edge of the path.
  [21:23] Quiet Bill: Bill continues: "How far is this place again? Can we just get there and get this over with?"
  [21:23] Storyteller: As the song ends, as if on cue, the barbs suddenly seem to sharpen again. Perhaps it was a trick of the light, or the illusion of safety wrapped in the song, but once more, they become visibly sharp.
  [21:23] Andy: Andy pats at the ground, nostrils flaring. "Life's a journey, Bill. Not a destination." He turns his eyes up, scanning the Hedge around him.
  [21:24] Quiet Bill: "is.. isn't that from a song?"
  [21:24] Storyteller: The Hedge is still very much the Hedge. As if lit by a perpetual candle light. You can make out features and see the road clearly, but it's still the barrier between mundane life and the horrific Arcadia.
  [21:25] Storyteller: The trip is a long walk, hard to say how long it's taking, time seems to flow weird in the Hedge... Occasional clearings exist, some with strange and exotic plants that seem impossibly formed.
  Trees that tie themselves into knots with fruit shaped literally like bells, growing with their clapper as a stem. Bushes that carve themselves
  into natural topiary, speckled with fruit like spots on an animal's hide. A tempting array of fruits that look a cross between berries and citrus
  that sprout from the Hedge-wall proper, ripe and red and leaking a sweet-smelling nectar from their navel.
  [21:26] Keira: Keira moves on in silence, walking a bit slower than the rest of the group, until she catches sight of the fruit along the wall of the hedge. "Oh, look!" She sings happily, walking towards them and picking a pair of the fruits, holding them close.
  [21:27] Storyteller: The fair darkling snatches up a plum-sized fruit, a red, leaky thing. It smells sweet. Deliciously sweet. Intoxicatingly sweet.
  [21:27] Quiet Bill: Bill walks cautiously towards one of the fruit. "So, is this the goblin fruits we've been hearing about?"
  [21:27] Jack: *Points at Andy excitedly and begins to jabber* "Nice doggy! Wahahahahahahahha!"
  [21:27] Storyteller: It's like being at the supermarket, except without fat people in tanktops.
  [21:28] Jack: OOOooOOooOOoo yums!
  [21:28] * Quiet Bill takes one fruit
  [21:28] Andy: Andy waves a finger. "Hey now, maybe you should be careful about eating fruit you find in the wild. You should let me do it first." He smiles widely. "To, uh, make sure it's safe. Right."
  [21:29] Storyteller: So many different choices pass you by as you walk, horn-shaped fuzzies and upside down pears with leathery knobby rinds, twisted up purple corkscrews and clumps of crescent shaped grape-things.
  [21:29] Keira: Keira nods, handing Andy her fruit.
  [21:29] Keira: "I guess if it might not be safe..."
  [21:29] * Quiet Bill stares at Andy expectantly
  [21:29] Andy: "Smart move, beautiful." Andy snatches the fruit and takes a big bite.
  [21:31] Andy: A second later he begins hacking it up, and begins scratching at his tongue. "Ith tathet lig tha thub!"
  [21:32] Keira: Keira smiles, turning to the wall again, reaching up to pluck a fruit that appears to be something like an apple, but with a bright, crimson skin.
  [21:32] Andy: One he's done cleaning his tongue, he stares at the fruit again. And takes another bite.
  [21:33] Jack: Jack eyes a black and orange one in the shape of a pumpkin. He takes a bite. MmmmMmmMmmm Pumpkinny
  [21:33] Andy: Andy holds the fruit out to Keira, bite-side towards him. "It tastes horrible, but it feels so good." He pauses. "Kind of like alcohol."
  [21:34] Andy: "The way it works, that is. Tastes like shi- you get the idea."
  [21:34] * Quiet Bill eyes his fruit suspiciously. Deciding "better safe than sorry", he drops it to the ground. (OOC: Bill's Virtue is Prudence, after all)
  [21:34] Keira: Keira smiles shyly, taking the fruit from him and offering her newly-picked fruit. "Thanks for trying it out, you want to bite on this one?"
  [21:35] Storyteller: The purple-horned fuzz-twister dropped by Bill seems to rot away almost instantly, leaving a sickly-sweet smell in the air for a brief moment, vanishing into the breeze that wafts by.
  [21:35] * Quiet Bill stares at the spot where the fruit rotted and quietly decides to himself that he made a good call
  [21:35] Andy: "You're so nice," he smiles sharply up at Keira. "Gladly. Let's hope I don't regret being the taste-tester." With a lunge forward he manages to snap off a small piece of it, narrowly missing her fingers.
  [21:36] Quiet Bill: Guys, let's just go, ok.
  [21:36] Jack: Selects a candied red apple. Giving it a lick it tastes lovely but his tongue is now stuck to the fruit. "Thhrprprpt buuhh! MRabbe!"
  [21:36] Quiet Bill: Realizing he's not getting through to anyone, Bill sighs and starts down the road on his own.
  
  CONTINUED IN NEXT POST

  terminal stupidity on December 2007

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  terminal stupidity Registered User regular

  December 2007 edited December 2007

  Playlog, Hedgedate Dec. 6th, 2007 (Cont.):

  [21:37] Storyteller: Did you pick any of the fruits? Eat any of the fruits? No one and nothing came to stop you out here, as the city lights behind beckon your return and the path itself seems to spur you onwards towards the market.
  
  As you approach, you start seeing signs of nearing your goal. Footprints, hundreds of footprints in the soft, earthen path, most seeming to
  wander out of the Hedge itself, others suddenly appearing, so many footprints. Enough that, after a while, the path simply becomes a mess of
  churned earth and mud. Soon enough, you see actual signs. Literal signs. Pictographs of smiling faces over hands trading goods and coins.
  Arrows pointing down the path, some archaic writing system even marks a few of them.
  
  [21:38] Quiet Bill: Relieved at finally approaching his goal, Bill's pace quickens
  [21:38] Storyteller: Has Jack managed to the the candied thing off his tongue? How did Andy react to the crackle-berry he ate? Did it upset his stomach? These are mysteries the world will never know, because there's still a Mirror to collect.
  [21:38] Jack: The fruit hangs from Jack's tongue. he studies the signs and points in their general direction. "Braahga thppprt!"
  [21:38] Quiet Bill: Bill is now ahead of the group, ignoring the stragglers
  [21:38] Keira: Keira follows behind Bill, glancing at the signs, looking for something that might be the 'Blind Bohemian'
  [21:39] Andy: Andy stares at the signs for a second. "It's like I'm back at my kindergarten swap fair."
  [21:40] Storyteller: The sinage is indeed somewhat childish, somewhat pigdin. But who knows what languages are spoken, who knows how things even communicate at a Goblin Market...
  [21:40] Quiet Bill: Bill will continue on until he runs into signs of life
  [21:41] Keira: Keira wanders forwards again, singing quietly to herself. 'toys and rocks and knives for free, children extra but not me, guns are six and runes are seven, trade with me and barred from heaven'
  [21:42] Jack: Rips the apple off his tongue. Holds it out to Andy. "Is good!"
  [21:42] Andy: Andy waves the fruit away, making a zig-zagging pattern from one side of the path to the other, on the lookout for trouble. Just in case. Hoping a bit harder than he should for it, most likely.
  [21:43] Storyteller: The Hedge path seems to bloat, but there still doesn't seem enough room to accommodate all the footprints, if anything, there are more of them. And soon, things start to, well, dull... That's the word for it. Dull. As if swathed in fog. Mist. Sounds grow quiet, a hush lays over the air...
  [21:44] Jack: Careful-a-mubble!
  [21:46] Quiet Bill: Bill presses onward, unfettered by the change of environment. He clutches his wrench in his right hand.
  [21:46] Keira: Keira follows close behind bill, staying near him for protection as she glances around the area, watching her step with caution
  [21:46] Andy: Andy continues onwards. Before he was somewhat playful in his movements, but now there's a tense seriousness to them. He remains low, more on-edge than probably makes sense.
  [21:47] Storyteller: Your senses don't seem muted, no, not at all. But at the same time, as you approach the market, it seems to appear as if through a haze or fog.
  Yet there is no fog. What a strange, strange thing.
  
  The market fades slowly into existance, as if through a fog that is not a fog. The first thing you note is the massive, truly massive tree that
  dominates the huge area of Hedge that's been cut back. Perhaps pushed back is a better way to describe it. A clear market square paved with
  shining black cobbles surrounds the huge deciduous in the center. Such a thing so huge it would give Yggdrasil bouts of jealousy, crowned with
  its verdant, emerald canopy over a rich, dark brown trunk. It's so tall, it provides shade for the entire square beneath, and truly impossible to
  see the top of. You wonder how you missed it as you approached...
  
  Surrounding the behemoth are stalls so numerous they seem uncountable, boothed and patronised by beings that seem to defy description. Walking
  scarcrow that lean on their posts for support when haggling barter with short, green, warty little fat things with pinched up faces painted a
  ghostly white. A chittering beast of teeth and gums argues wetly with a twisted bundle of hair that dangles from it's vine-like growths inside
  it's temporary shoppe. A rustling man of dead leaves walks alongside a an iridescent sphere that constantly leaks argent drops of slippery
  glowing liquid. Numerous shoppers and sellers of all shapes and sizes spraw out amongst the square, hawking wares from obscure to obscene and
  buying goods from the brilliant to the bizarre. Anything and everything and anyone and everyone can be found and purchased at a Goblin Market,
  for the right price.
  
  Pathways cut into the tree and carved into its trunk provide thoroughfare for the cosmopolitan (and then some) shoppers. Booths dangle from and
  are mounted too the boughs of this massive market tree, looking up, it even seems to have provided homes for shopkeeps in it's gnobby, house-sized
  acorns that dangle perilously from their stems.
  
  Set into the massive trunk of the tree is an impossibly huge clock-like structure, seeminly carved from the wood of the plant itself. It only has
  one arm, but it isn't hard to tell what it's timing, each tick of the hand draws it closer to the top of the dial. The top of the dial, where the
  X is marked under a charicature of a sad face. That's zero hour. Closing time. No more deals. It's halfway there already, better hurry.
  
  You just have to find the Blind Bohemian. Miranda said he takes a different booth each Market...
  [21:47] Jack: Draws his gun and stalks slowly behind the Mannikin. He doesn't like this but is glad for the bulk of the one in front of him
  [21:49] Quiet Bill: "So... should we just ask someone?"
  [21:49] Keira: Keira smiles, glancing around the market, looking for a likely booth to ask questions and maybe purchase something.
  [21:50] Storyteller: Asking someone would probably be a good idea. But everyone is very busy. It's somewhere between an open market and a free form improvisational argument competition.
  [21:50] Andy: Andy stops dead in his tracks, his tenseness melting away in the face of the magnificent awe of the tree. A moment later it's back, and he's back to attentiveness though clearly shaken. "Wow."
  [21:51] Quiet Bill: "Allright guys, um... one of you just get the mirror thing... I'll wait here"
  [21:51] Andy: Andy grabs Bill's arm. "No you don't. That's how people get lost."
  [21:52] Quiet Bill: "By standing still?.. Look it's just, I don't like crowds... especially when they look like THIS"
  [21:53] Keira: Keira wanders off quietly, heading towards a booth she spotted in the distance.
  [21:53] Andy: Andy waves a finger out at the enormous crowd. "Do you WANT to get seperated from us in the middle of here? You're coming with." He looks around.
  [21:54] Quiet Bill: "What? Am I supposed to hold your hand or something? Geez, FINE"
  [21:54] Storyteller: The darkling girl slips away, yes. The men are busy being men, but she's guided by some feminine intuition about what to do. She approaches an empty booth with a toad-like man (or man-like toad), who seems to be manning a map booth. But who sees her? She strikes up a conversation...
  [21:54] Keira: Keira approaches the booth, smiling at the man/toad. "Ex...excuse me, can you tell me where the Blind Bohemian is?"
  [21:55] Quiet Bill: "Hey wait... where's Keira?"
  [21:55] * Quiet Bill pulls away from Andy and follows Keira
  [21:55] Storyteller: The grumpy toad thing looks up at the girl, letting out a flapping yawn of his great big mouth, they slap together like a balloon's neck when the air is let out.
  [21:56] Andy: Andy scratches the back of his neck and follows behind Bill.
  [21:56] Jack: Was well aware of the Darkling slipping away. He fades into the crowd and keeps an eye on his compatriots
  [21:56] Storyteller: He looks up at her, opening his jaw and working it slowly. It creaks like a rusy valve being twisted. Like he hasn't had a chance to talk in ages. He moves PONDEROUSLY slow.
  [21:56] * Quiet Bill catches up to Keira and looks around nervously. He whispers, almost chastizing "what do you think you're doing".
  [21:57] Keira: Keira turns around to look at Bill, glancing at her feet. "He looked like he might know something... I thought I could ask... I guess I was wrong?"
  [21:58] Quiet Bill: "just... just don't run off like that, ok? we'll look together"
  [21:58] Storyteller: The toad-thing looks down to his massive collection of paper maps, shifting through them slowly, like he just woke up from a centuries long nap. "Harrrmph...arrrggghh...le...leeeeet's seee heree...." Hands move slowly, "Bliiiind Bo...yes...I know the guy..."
  [21:58] Andy: Andy nods his head towards Bill. "What he said. You did good."
  [21:59] Quiet Bill: Bill stares at the man-toad expectantly. "Yes?"
  [22:00] Storyteller: He opens a huge paper map, so massive you'd think it would never be folded back properly. "Bliiind...lessee....here...It's...it's the thirty seventh cycle and...yes...yes, the constellations are in agreement...yes, yes...he was in booth #7402184b last year...." suddenly the toad thing drops the map, pulling out a pencil to skitter some notes on a pad of paper he pulled out from...somewhere.
  [22:00] Keira: Keira smiles happily, looking at the toad-thing before continuing on, speaking quickly, melodically. "Thank you SO much, and look at these maps, what are they of?"
  [22:01] Quiet Bill: Bill whispers urgently to Keira "don't get him going, let's just get the info, this is taking long enough as it is!"
  [22:01] Storyteller: His hand works furiously on the pad of paper, sketching down a mind-bendingly complex equation. We're talking some serious Steven Hawking shit. Some Dirac shit. Some Einstein shit. It takes him almost five minutes do do the math, even when moving at almost blinding speed. "Ahah!" The strange toad-thing is suddenly full of vigor...
  [22:01] Andy: Andy suddenly realizes one of their little motley is missing. "Dang," he mutters to himself, peering around.
  [22:02] *** William has joined #PAChangeling.
  [22:02] William: Am I horribly late?
  [22:02] Quiet Bill: um, 2 hours?
  [22:02] William: ...
  [22:02] Keira: ((join #PAChangelingOOC))
  [22:02] Storyteller: And then he's moving slow and dottering again..."Oh...theeese maps...they...they're of the, the Market, you know, missy... here..." he tears off a sheet of paper, the equations suddenly form into a standard street map, right before your eyes, "There you go...th...thank...you...." he starts moving slowly again, as if he were a machine giving in to years of rust...
  [22:03] Keira: ((We'll talk about it there))
  [22:03] Quiet Bill: "Thank god!" exclaims Bill. "Can we go now? Please?"
  [22:04] Keira: Keira smiles brightly at the toad-thing and picks up the map, placing her half-eaten Goblin Fruit that Andy gave her on the table in exchange. "Thank you for your time, now we must fly, to the Blind Bohemian!"
  [22:04] *** William has left #PAChangeling.
  [22:05] Andy: Andy leans over, peering at the map.
  [22:06] *** William has joined #PAChangeling.
  [22:07] Keira: Keira starts singing as the other members of the group peer at the map. 'Jack, Jack, lonesome jack with a glowing head' etc, etc
  [22:08] Quiet Bill: "So.. does this thing make any sense to you? I think... I think we have to go down this way, then take a left, then two rights... (etc...)"
  [22:08] * William comes out of the crowd, noticing the singing, and looking around to see if anyone else did also
  [22:08] Storyteller: While the street map is still a street map, it's brutally complex. After a lengthy bout of examination, no progress is made between the group. It looks like an octopus playing cat's cradle with a squid running a drumline in the background.
  [22:09] Quiet Bill: "I think we need a guide, guys"
  [22:09] * William walks up to the group, (hopefully)being conspicuous enough to not look like an assasin
  [22:09] Storyteller: The toad thing smacks it's lips, letting out a long, grinding snore. He has a belly full of gears.
  [22:10] * William "Some guy named Amin sent me"
  [22:10] Keira: "Amin? Oh, are you a guide for us?" Keira smiles brightly, walking towards the newcomer.
  [22:10] Jack: Oh yea! GoooooooooooooooOOOooooooooOOOoooooooOOOOOOOOOoD! I was going to shoot you in the face but the pretty girl's singing made me allllll better!
  [22:11] * Quiet Bill grabs Keira's arm gently. "Hang on Keira, is'nt that kinda weird?"
  [22:11] * William mutters something about these goddamn goblin markets
  [22:11] Quiet Bill: Staring at the stranger, Bill asks "How did you get here?"
  [22:12] Storyteller: A heavy gong rings out from the dial carved into the massive tree, the single hand pointing towards the 9 o'clock position on a normal clockface. Three quarters the way there...
  [22:12] Quiet Bill: "Crap, we don't have time for this. We need someone to help us figure out this map!"
  [22:12] * William says "Amin" as if that explains it
  [22:13] Keira: Keira shrinks behind Bill and starts looking at the map again, trying to make sense of it. "Guys, I think we have to go up somewheres..."
  [22:13] * Jack Saunters back to the group. Lemme look at the picture!
  [22:14] Jack: *Points* Up! Up! Up!
  [22:14] Quiet Bill: Bill is still staring at Minigun. "That's it? "Amin"? How did you come into the Hedge, hunh?"
  [22:14] Keira: Keira glances over at the newcomer. "Please, Bill... he seems nice. I think we should let him help us!"
  [22:15] Quiet Bill: Bill Snorts "He seems nice? Compared to what, mr. Robo Toad over there? Sigh... have you guys figured out that map yet?"
  [22:16] Keira: Keira pouts. "Hey, be nice to him! He gave us this lovely map!"
  [22:16] * William looks at the map, poinmting and muttering
  [22:16] * Quiet Bill stares at the clock, clearly getting agitated
  [22:17] Storyteller: The toad-thing has long since fallen into a noisy, awkward, uncomfortable sounding sleep. Greasy green flesh covers what you can only imagine as some sort of hideous merging of flesh and metal. Hairy warts marr his truly disgusting flesh.
  [22:18] * Quiet Bill looks back at the Toad creature momentarily. He starts! Then shakes his head, hoping no one noticed.
  [22:19] * Keira starts looking around nervously, singing quietly about ticking time.
  [22:19] Storyteller: But, between the four (now five) of you, you're able to make some sense of the map. You need to go up, yes. To the top of the Majestic Market Maple, to the highest bough. The Blind Bohemian did something right, because from the notes left in the blank pages of the map, he seems to be this markets, "Lord Baron Bargainer."
  [22:19] * William starts muttering louder, obscenities entering the dialogue, then calms down
  [22:20] * Keira Keira looks over her shoulder at the group, glancing down at the map. 'Where are we headed?'
  [22:20] * William looks at street signs to orient self
  [22:20] Storyteller: There's only one way to go. Up. The winding, twisting path up into and around the maple itself.
  [22:20] Jack: *Snatches the map* Jack knows follow!
  [22:21] * Jack begins acsending
  [22:21] Keira: Keira smiles at the sleeping toad-thing. "Thanks for your help!'
  [22:21] * Keira dashes after Jack
  [22:21] * Quiet Bill keeps up with the group
  [22:21] * William follows the Jack' running when necessary
  [22:22] Storyteller: The twisting, meandering path heading up to the top of the tree goes by a dizzying array of bargainers. Some shops set directly into the 'walls' others staked to the treeflesh, still more dangling from the massive acorns that dot the strange plant. It looks like a Maple...but at the same time...Acorns?
  [22:24] Jack: Jack sreams through the crowd, occasionnally stopping to get his bearings or see if the Motley if follow before running off again, arms flailing and screaming
  [22:25] * William runs to catch up
  [22:25] * Keira follows behind Jack, glancing from side to side at the various merchants, keeping a shoppers eye out for good deals or sales.
  [22:25] Storyteller: The crazy elemental draws some very, very odd looks. Even the twisted up twig lady made a face as he dashed by.
  [22:25] * Quiet Bill Bill keeps up at a slight distance, embarrassed.
  [22:27] * William looks at the store out the corner of his eyes, slowing down, but still in his hunched over"going to get shot walk"
  [22:27] Storyteller: It takes ages, it seems, to climb the massive tree. Goblin, hobgoblin and a few changelings, too, all clog the path. But not many people need to see the Blind Bohemian, it seems. Maybe the top of the tree is for VIP customers only...it's thinning out.
  [22:29] * Keira trails her fingers against the wall, singing 'we're off to see the bohemian'
  [22:29] Storyteller: The path soon turns into a ladder, leading upwards to a landing big enough for six or seven people, maximum. There, wedged between two divergent branches is a truly massive acorn. Doors cut into it are swung wide open, and in the makeshift shop, stands a wrinkled up man. If a man could look like he had lemon juice for blood and icy hot for tears, it would be this guy.
  [22:30] * William "funny, that, bohemian refers to the "popular" set"
  [22:30] Quiet Bill: Bill, being last in line, waits at the bottom of the ladder for everyone to go up.
  [22:30] Jack: *looks at the old man* I am from the Autumn Court! I demand chocolate milk and your leaden mirror! Comply WIll Robinson!
  [22:31] Storyteller: He's dressed in multicolored clothing, swatches of red and green and yellow and blue make a dizzing array of colors on his shirt. It seems to be made of woven hankerchefs, like you might see at a magic show.
  [22:31] * Keira stands behind jack, peering around him at the Bohemian
  [22:32] Storyteller: He turns his gaze to Jack, crusted over eyes blinking but milky and unfocused. "Wuzzah? Yoush here ta get da Mirror?" now that's strange. The way he talks, it's as if he shifts between accents, dialects with each word or phrase, twisting through them as naturally as you breathe.
  [22:32] Jack: Shiny good! Recompense is yours! What is?
  [22:33] Keira: Keira moves away from behind Jack, eyeing the Bohemian nervously.
  [22:33] Storyteller: Waves the group over, "C'mere. Come on ya'll. Get over..." letting out a slow, ragged sigh, he starts to rummage about under the counter, where you can't see his hand.
  [22:34] * Keira Keira moves a couple steps closer, humming nervously to herself
  [22:34] * Quiet Bill is still waiting for the group at the bottom of the ladder
  [22:35] Storyteller: "This year I ain't gonna be takin' no jive for 'Randas item, brosef." he licks his lips with a pale, slimy tongue, "Whatchu got ta offer me, dudes?"
  [22:35] * William observes the scene, at the bottom
  [22:35] * Jack moves forward smiling but casts an eye at Andy and smiles broadly at him
  [22:35] * William sighs, and then walks up the ladder
  [22:35] * Jack wraps his arm around Keria
  [22:35] Jack: Pretty girl sings good good good good!
  [22:36] Jack: Eeeeeeeeeeeee! *stamps his feet excitedly* Sing sing sing sing sing sing sing!
  [22:36] Storyteller: His dull gaze, unblinking casts across the group, a few flakes of eyecrust fall to his countertop. "Oh? You don't say, skinny dog?" He turns his attention to Keira, "Gotta pretty song for me, songflower?"
  [22:37] Keira: Keira blushes, looking from side to side before starting to sing, connecting snatches of song that she heard from the Voice in her dreams earlier that night.
  [22:38] Storyteller: He seems suddenly interested in her, wiping away some of the crust from his yellowed, rhumey eyes.
  [22:38] * Quiet Bill cocks his head towads the sound of the singing... so... familliar... somehow
  [22:39] Keira: Closing her eyes, Keira continues to sing, her voice clear in the high air of the Market Maple, singing about the beauty of the Autumn Court she saw earler that night.
  [22:40] * Keira Finally, winding down, she quietly sings about the darkness under the earth that she spent so many years in.
  [22:40] Storyteller: A shimmer begisn to form above the Bohemian, filling his booth with a dim light. You can see an odd collection of pots and pans and simple tools. Just like a gypsy stereotype.
  [22:41] Storyteller: The shimmer coalesces into a solid form that lowers into the wrinkled old man's hand. Shaped like another random tool, he tosses it in the back of his acorn. "Eh, dat good enuf, I sink..."
  [22:43] Storyteller: "So, you vant mirror? Okay, fohgeddahbahtit, you got ya mirror..." he reaches under the countertop and pulls out a mirror, dull and lead, just as it's name hints. Offering it to the darkling girl. It's framed in a fine working of pale stained oak, but it's otherwise non-descript.
  [22:43] Jack: Yaaaay! *gives Keria a play slap on the rump* Good work soggy hair songgirl!
  [22:44] Jack: *Looks at BB* Thank you for the mirror Saddam Hussein! I thought you were dead! Oh well!
  [22:44] Keira: Keira takes the Mirror shyly, holding it close to herself.
  [22:44] Keira: "Thank you"
  [22:44] Storyteller: As the transaction takes place, the song just sang to the Bohemian seems to fade from air and mind... It's hard to remember any of the lyrics, or the rhythm, or the meter... The wrinkled old coot smiles and nods, "A'course, little lady...a'course..."
  [22:45] * William is muttering about payment, then is slightly relieved
  [22:45] * Keira looks around "It's getting late, maybe we should head back?"
  [22:45] * Quiet Bill is fidgeting with his wrench impatiently at the bottom of the ladder
  [22:46] Storyteller: You've got the Leaden Mirror, maybe a bag of fruits too, maybe one of you picked up an oddity from a distracting shop while you were here. But
  now it's time to get the hell out. So get while the getting is good, boyos.
  
  A massive gong rings throughout the market square, echoing quietly up to the highest branches of the Mighty Market Maple. The shopkeeps who don't
  house their wares in the body of the tree furtively begin to pack up their belongings. It's closing time, apparently.
  
  The Bohemian snaps the doors shut on his acorn. No attempt to draw him out for further conversation could succeed. He shouts through in his
  raspy voice, torn with age, "You haf thirty hu-man minoots to leaf. I suggess you vamoosh!"
  
  You probably should. You probably should vamoosh.
  [22:46] Jack: Time to gogogogogogogogogogogogogog!
  [22:47] Keira: Keira hops down the ladder, not bothering to climb.
  [22:47] *** Jack has signed off IRC (Quit: Leaving).
  [22:47] * Quiet Bill , stunned by the darkling's sudden appearance, starts to attention
  [22:48] Quiet Bill: Did... you you get it? Can we go?
  [22:48] Keira: "I got the mirror!" Keira smiles brightly, showing the Leaden Mirror to Bill.
  [22:48] * William slides down the ladder, hopping off at the last minute
  [22:48] Storyteller: Just as people around the area start packing up, customers seem to just vanish. Turning around a corner a few steps behind someone, and they aren't there. Or maybe they duck under the shop front and disappear completely when you peek over.
  [22:49] *** Jack has joined #PAChangeling.
  [22:49] Storyteller: It's quittin' time at the Goblin Market, everyone punch your cards and get lost (you don't have to go home, but you can't stay here).
  [22:50] * Keira starts running down the Market Maple, holding the mirror close to my chest.
  [22:50] *** Jack has signed off IRC (Quit: Leaving).
  [22:50] *** Jack has joined #PAChangeling.
  [22:51] * Quiet Bill , startled, runs to keep up with Keira
  [22:51] * William runs back, fast
  [22:51] *** Jack has signed off IRC (Quit: Leaving).
  [22:51] William: what client is he using/
  [22:52] Keira: ((Firefox))
  [22:52] *** Jack has joined #PAChangeling.
  [22:52] Jack: *snaps back into reality*
  [22:53] Jack: Get a mooooooooooooooooooooooOOOOooooOOOOOove on kids!
  [22:53] Storyteller: As you make your way down the tree, running through the dispersing crowds, you notice that the grand plant seems to fade away slowly, as if it were becoming ephemeral. Illusory.
  [22:54] Quiet Bill: ohcrapohcrapohcrap!
  [22:54] * Jack Picks up the trailing keria and continues running
  [22:54] * William begins screaming
  [22:54] * Keira yelps "put me down!"
  [22:55] Jack: Continues running. Disappearing tree trumps screaming girl.
  [22:56] Storyteller: If you see anyone on the carved path, they're either another confused changeling, or they seem to 'live' in the tree itself. Running is very easy now, broad path clear for you, but even halfway down the gargantuan arboreal marketplace, things are going to come down to the wire.
  [22:58] * Keira grumbles, wriggling out of Jack's grip(tunnelgrub ability) and continues running with the group
  [22:58] Andy: Andy, WHO WAS THERE THE WHOLE TIME IN THE BACK bounds down the market like the leonine creature he shares the features of, remaining just a moment behind everyone else just in case.
  [22:59] * William runs, screaming about his legs needing to go faster!
  [22:59] Keira: Keira races down with the rest of the group, her hair trailing droplets of illusory water behind her as they move down the path, all of them running as fast as they can.
  [22:59] Storyteller: It's getting really hard to tell the difference between the tree and the air. But it's still solid under your feet. Only a few more seconds of running until you won't fall and break all your bones on the hard onyx courtyard below. Where there seem to be no more shops. Hmm.
  [23:00] * Quiet Bill clenches his teeth, trying not to look down
  [23:01] Storyteller: After a few tense seconds of flight, the solid stones are under your feet. Another harsh, clanging gong rings out, filling the air that suddenly seems less welcoming, less safe... All alone in the empty market, you suddenly realize... "Hey, I'm in the HEDGE! What the hell am I doing in the HEDGE!?" It becomes a very lonely place...
  [23:02] * Keira takes a deep breath, glancing around nervously. "How did we get here? What happened?"
  [23:02] Jack: Home again home again!
  [23:02] Jack: Who cares! Not dead we are!
  [23:03] Storyteller: There's only one path to take, twisting long and forboding. It's similar, yes, to the one you took here. It's certainly the same path. But it isn't the -same- same path. You follow?
  [23:03] * Quiet Bill is hunched over, catching his breath
  [23:03] * William surveys the scene, loooking nervous
  [23:03] Storyteller: The city lights on the horizon seem suddenly so far away as you return to the Hedge proper. The path is the same, at least in construction, but
  as you walk it, you notice it's somehow less welcoming (as if the Hedge could ever be truly welcoming).
  
  The tops of the Hedge seem to curl inwards, blocking out most of the perpetual twilight and creating a dim and dark twisting tunnel of barbled and
  gnarled walls. Clearings are suddenly barren of fruits, choked with overgrowth, twisting and treacherous with foot-snags and ankle-breakers.
  
  It's not safe anymore. And you can feel it.
  [23:05] * Quiet Bill gulps nervously. "Let's get out of here, ok guys?"
  [23:05] Keira: Keira moves quietly, keeping to the shadows, nervous about... something in the air, but still keeping calm, the hedge isn't precisely unfamiliar to her.
  [23:08] Keira: Keira glances around as they follow the path, making a quiet whimpering sound. "I don't recognize this! Are we lost? Is this even the path?"
  [23:08] Jack: *looks around* Don't.....like..........
  [23:08] * Jack pulls his gun
  [23:08] * William looks around
  [23:09] Quiet Bill: D... does anyone know how to get out of here?
  [23:09] * William flicks out his paper fan, holding it
  [23:09] Andy: Andy circles the group, attention turned outwards to whatever might just be waiting in the unwelcoming darkness. "Anything comes out, I'll tear out its eyes. And if it doesn't eyes, something else round." There's a growl in his voice, and he picks up a handful of what he hopes is dirt, sniffing at it.
  [23:09] William: "no, no."
  [23:09] Storyteller: You hear the occasional popping of a twig, a snapping of a branch, a rustling of the Hedge. Perhaps the footprints you saw earlier, perhaps their owners are simply returning home. Back into the Hedge. But perhaps not...
  [23:10] * Jack starts at every twig pop. He begins to jitter.
  [23:11] * Keira Keira heads to the side of the path, reaching out for a single thorn on the Hedge and snapping it off, pricking her finger in the process.
  [23:11] * William flicks paper fan open, revealing a slim blade of iron, it clicks into place, he holds it blade facing down.
  [23:12] Keira: "We're near the exit... I know it!"
  [23:12] William: 'If anything pops out, I will gouge bits out!
  [23:13] Storyteller: As you approach the horizon, drawing closer to your escape, to the Trodway, things seem to resist your progress. Feet get tangled where there was
  no underbrush, no snags before. Clothing catches on thorns that weren't seen. The light starts to fade and go dimmer, the darkness closing in to
  choke out any hope of escape...
  
  But the city lights are still there, beckoning you onward, painfully close.
  [23:13] * Keira Keira looks around, backing away the walls of the hedge, biting her lip nervously as she hums
  [23:14] * Quiet Bill mumbles to himself... "c'mon... c'mon"
  [23:14] * Jack moves forward warily, his gun held low but ready for action at the slightest provcation.
  [23:14] Keira: Keira takes a deep breath, and smiles cheerfully at Bill. "It's okay! We'll find the way out soon, I know it!
  [23:15] * William holds the concealed blade above his head, hoping that it is something that pounces as opposed to a Hedge made arrow
  [23:15] Andy: Andy snorts. "If we don't, I'll be sure things go painlessly."
  [23:16] * William mutters about BUYING bullets next time
  [23:17] Storyteller: And then you're free! Out of the Trod, just a block and a half away from The Mask, where the rest of the Freehold is waiting.
  
  Waiting for your return.
  [23:17] * Jack puts his gun away and stops shaking. His grin returns as if nothing was wrong
  [23:17] Storyteller: Amin is no longer there, but yes, it's impossible to miss The Mask. Let's return, shall we, with a draw of the curtain and a flick of the cape?
  [23:17] Storyteller: The group gathered around the throne turns up from their quiet conversation as you approach, carrying with you your prize. All eyes are on you,
  how will you present the requested item, and did you truly complete what is usually a Summer Court formal boast?
  
  The Light, the Autumnal Lady, the Seasonal Ruler sits in her throne, in her opulant hall of entropy, surrounded by her retainers and staff,
  waiting for your delivery.
  [23:17] * William snaps his fan into place
  [23:17] * Keira Keira grins and hugs Andy spontaneously. "We did it!"
  [23:18] Jack: Boss lady we founded it!
  [23:18] Quiet Bill: Bill just hangs back and let the others do the talking
  [23:18] * William takes a deep breath
  [23:18] Jack: *points at MG Wieleder* And this dude!
  [23:19] Andy: Andy gives what would normally be a worrisome grin, and pats Keira on the head. "Nah, I just looked angry for a bit. You guys, though." He points his fingers approvingly. "Class work."
  [23:19] Jack: Didja really send him or should I put a bullet in his head!?
  [23:19] Storyteller: Miranda offers a small smile, Amin giving a wave to William, "Ah, Big Bill, I see you found them. Good..." and then the Light Lady cuts in, "You have the mirror then? Please, present it to me."
  [23:20] * Keira Keira takes a step towards the throne and holds up the Mirror to the Light Lady, smiling. "We retrieved the mirror, as you requested."
  [23:20] * Quiet Bill quirks his brow at "Big Bill". This guy's name is Bill too? This is gonna get confusing...
  [23:20] Andy: Andy scratches his cheek. "I've still got the taste of shit-fruit in my mouth. Blech."
  [23:21] * William brushes dust off of his clothes, and then puts his spectacles into his shirt pocket, being silent.
  [23:21] * Jack sticks his tongue out like Andy showing him the red patch where the fruit ripped off a layer or two of skin "Ad letht dith dinnt happen!"
  [23:22] * William "she obtained the mirror, I arrived late
  [23:23] Storyteller: The stands from her seat, taking slow, ponderous steps down to the audience floor. She supresses a smile at the phrase 'shit fruit' and simply accepts the mirror, gazing into it, "It is indeed Leaden. He was truthful, I see. I hope you did not pay too much. But, thank you..." she clasps the mirror to her body in a light hug, "We will offer you the pledge tomorrow, to join us. But for now..." she turns heading back to her seat, the butterfly-girl who still chatters with the airtouched twins pipes up, "Now we get to have our feast!" And indeed, as the house lights come up, there is a small feast prepared. The Autumnal Lady verifies, "A small feast. For the managers of this freehold, and our new members. I hope."

  terminal stupidity on December 2007

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  terminal stupidity Registered User regular

  December 2007 edited December 2007

  OOC Explanation for this Log:

  Well, this was the first time I introduced this group to combat. Things, again, didn't work out perfectly, but they went better than last time.
  
  We had some issues with timing and connectivity, but hopefully (read: they better be) they'll be resolved by next game session. Third time's the charm, perhaps.
  
  Again, the only changes that have been made have been editing the usernames to make this easier to follow. All events occurred as they are documented and all typos, malapropisms, misspellings and timing errors happened just as documented.

  
  Playlog, HEdgedat Dec. 13th, 2007:

  [20:20] Storyteller: How strange. Truly, odd. Didn't you just fall asleep in your bed? Yes, you did. In fact, you can remember cleary getting ready for bed, pulling the covers over your body and then the gentle loss of conciousness that comes just as you drift off into dreamland. But you're not in dreamland. At least, it doesn't seem to be a dream. It's so real, so vivid, so genuine. It can't be a dream. Can it?
  
  Still, you can't remember how you got here. But you ARE here. The Freehold Festhall, and what a sight it is, you don't remember it looking like this... Massive dining tables piled high with a sumptuous array of foods. Stacked with every and any kind of fruit, vegetable, meat or bread you could imagine, meats steaming with a savory aroma, fruits of all shapes, sizes and colors, most unearthly, veggies the same, so many you know, and so many you've never seen. But, the piles of food the size of small trucks spread across each of the many massive tables are not the only things that fill the hall.
  
  Huge golden braziers roar with crackling flame, filling the marble hall with a snuggling warmth that weaves its way under your clothing to extract all the stress and irritation that's pent up inside. The massive fires cast a soft orange light through the hall, reflecting from the meticulously polished surfaces, casting wavering, dancing, flickering shadows as their warm light is blocked by the rich silken tapestries of red, orange and yellow, each woven with golden stitching, the metallic threads forming glimmering shapes of golden autumn: the cornucopia, the fallen leaf, the bare branch, the crow, the owl, the wheat bussel, and many, many more.
  
  Gargantuan candelabras dangle from the impossibly-high vaulted ceilling, thick golden chains extending from such a height that they vanish into inky blackness before reaching their base. Twisted and ornate, set with leaves of gold, the light fixtures support massive candles that cast a bright glow, reflected from curved and polished golden surfaces to the room below.
  
  The group finds itself seated in a neat row, before heavy ceramic plates of pure white, rimmed with a banding of gold. Glittering and ornate auric dinnerware flanks the dining surface, and a gold-shod crystal cup holds a simmering amber liquid for each guest. And around the tables are changeling faces, old and new, familiar and unfamiliar, each laughing and joking and carousing. But, and here's the really strange part (as if this whole place wasn't already strange as hell), none of them seem to notice you. Any of you. In fact, it's hard for you to understand THEM, too. They seem to be in another world, another time. All you hear is the murmuring din of conversation, split by the laughter of a crowd, even the voices from those nearest to you are dull and distant, smothered as if by a heavy blanket.
  
  [20:29] * William looks around, listening, waiting for something to happen
  [20:30] * Bill blinks, trying to focus on the indistinct shapes around him. He can't make out what's being said. Some of the faces are familliar... wait a second... "Oh Crap" Bill thinks to himself, spotting the changelings he had gone to the Hedge with weeks prior, "Not these guys again!"
  [20:32] Andy: Andy scratches his chest, and looks around. Something is off. Way off. He was about to sleep, wasn't he? He looks around, examining himself and his surroundings. "Something's off, here. I'm wearing clothes." He looks down at himself, currently only in a pair of jeans. "More clothes than I was wearing, anyway. Do they do re-pantsings around here or something?"
  [20:34] Storyteller: As you adjust to your new surroundings, it becomes clear, disturbingly clear, that this is a some kind of waking dream. Perhaps you have some experience with dreams, perhaps some knowledgeof them, but no matter what your familiarity with them, even if you are truly ignorant of the workings of the Wyrd, this environment, you know as a dream. It is instinctual. And...what is that? Sitting at the seasonal throne? Is it? Yes...it's very familiar. That little lead mirror you retrieved for the Bright One. But now, it is not so little. In fact, it is massive. The flat leaden surface dull and marred with fingerprints looks just how it did before you handed it over to the Autumnal Lady, even though it's grown to immense size. The oak finish, just as intricately carved, even more so now that you can see the fine details. Wreathed in twisting leaves and inlaid with branches and gold. It glimmers resplendant in the burning, flickering festhall light.
  [20:36] * Keira glances around the room, shrinking back and looking at the rest of the group. "How did I get here? Why are you all here?" She catches sight of Bill, and flinches. "Who ARE you? Why do I know you?" She gets distracted quickly by the sight of the food on the table, and moves towards it slowly, humming to herself.
  [20:36] * MadJack1 Jack looks around suspsiciously. His wariness abates *somewhat* as he glances around at the other who accompanied him to the Hedge. But is this real? He leans over next to him where the Beast Andy sits and begins poking him. "No Vacancy? or Vacancy? You feeling me Loch Ness monster?" He turns his attention to the food and goblets in front of him. He switches his glass with Andy's while he's not looking. Despite his edg
  [20:40] * MadJack1 Despite his edginess, this place seems....familiar, not just that it's the Freehold, but the landscape, he has snatches of memories, of floating pumpkins, of the laughs of witches, of terrors seen and unseen. He has BEEN here before.
  [20:41] *** William has signed off IRC (Connection reset by peer).
  [20:44] * Bill starts to look for any obvious exits. He's not going to let himself get caught up in another crazy plot, even if this IS a dream. Sleeping means REST, dammit! And Bill is tired!
  [20:46] Andy: Andy, much like Bill, displays a deep discomfort for the current situation. Immediately upon realization of the nature of things, he goes on-edge. He leans forward in his seat, claws scratching anxiously at the table in small tapping patterns, and he looks about for anything that might menace himself or the others.
  [20:47] Storyteller: Yes! There are exists here. You could probably escape, if you made your way through a maze of tables and bodies and servers and general revelry. There doesn't seem to be anything out of place. Well, except, heh, you know. The Mirror. And... While the food does look tempting...mouth wateringly tempting, terribly tempting, horrificly tempting, FRIGHTENINGLY tempting, something strange happens. When you go to try a bite, or a morsel or a drink...you find no taste. As if the ephemeral material of dreamstuff simply evaporates when it tries to pass your lips. The other changelings about seem to be doing fine, though. They eat and chew and chomp and swallow down their food. How odd. The mirror is still there, replacing the throne in this dream version of the festhall. This subtle version of the festhall. A soft ripple plays across its leaden surface. But...but, wait... Leaden surface? Ripple? LEAD DOES NOT WORK THAT WAY!
  [20:50] *** William has joined #PAChangeling.
  [20:50] Keira: Keira looks up wonderingly at the Mirror, her long, slender fingers spread across the table in front of her, the rippling surface catching her attention, she stares at it intently, ignoring the rest of the chamber.
  [20:54] * MadJack1 Wanders over to Keira and the mirror and looks inside. It reminds him of something.....
  [20:54] * Bill observes Kiara heading towards the mirror and pauses, waiting for something to happen. Seeing nothing unusual (at least not any more unusual than what's already happening) Bill gets up and heads directly for the closest exit, pushing past anyone or anything that might be in his way.
  [20:55] Storyteller: Despite the carousers seeming to be solid, their foot falls are audible, their hands slapping on the table as they laugh create a racket, you can storm through them easily. You have no issues making it to your chosen destinations.
  [20:58] William: sorry, dogs knosked the laptop over
  [21:00] Storyteller: The mirror ripples and twists as you approach, swirling like a jostled pool of mercury, smudged with dirt and grime that flows with the twisting metallic surface.
  [21:00] Andy: Andy narrows his eyes at the others, lips curling back and he hops out of his seat and follows the others toward the mirror, jumping ahead of the lot of them protectively. Wordlessly, he places a hand in front of the mirror and shakes his head warningly. Then, slowly, cautiously, he curls his fingers and gives the surface a little flick.
  [21:01] * Keira sings an experimental high note as she watches Andy flick the mirror, leaning in around Andy, her nose close to the mirror, hair hanging down around her head, looking into the rippling leaden surface.
  [21:02] *** William has signed off IRC (Ping timeout).
  [21:02] *** William has joined #PAChangeling.
  [21:03] * MadJack1 Jack leans close and inspects the mirror.
  [21:03] MadJack1: Different is this! Not like everything else, this is actually here with us! *licks the mirror* Yes indeedly!
  [21:04] Storyteller: Some of the mirror's surface sticks to Jack's tongue as he pulls away. Clinging like a sticky liquid metal.
  [21:04] * MadJack1 Jack's tongue sticks to the mirror. "Mrrrrghhhh! Mrrrrr!!" He looks at the Motley for aid
  [21:06] * MadJack1 he scraps the crap off of his tongue and the droplets that land ojn the mirror flow back together like water. "....Interesting"
  [21:06] * William walks next to Jack, checking his tounge, and whether the mirror has changed
  [21:07] Storyteller: The mirror is starting to swirl faster, stronger, like someone spinning a finger in a sink full of water. Ripples and eddies twist and writhe on its surface.
  [21:07] * Bill staring in wonder for a moment at the "people" and "Objects" dissipating around him. Bill turns his attention back towards the door and attempt to shove (or pull, depending on where the hinges are) it open.
  [21:08] Storyteller: The doors fling open easily enough. But inside...well, it's hard to exactly say inside. Are you inside or out when you're outside-in, inside a dream? Either way, BEHIND the doors, there is just an inky, dark, black. Light that falls on it is absorbed, sucked away, devoured. A boundry.
  [21:08] * William flicks the mirror
  [21:09] Storyteller: It splashes, like water. Slowly growing more vigorous.
  [21:09] Storyteller: More violent.
  [21:09] Andy: Andy flings out and arm again in front of everyone assembled in front of the mirror and begins to back up, trying to herd them away from what could potentially be a swirling vortex of doom. He keeps his eyes locked the almost-hypnotic whirling of the thing, distrust and the smallest bit of animal fear in his movements.
  [21:10] Keira: Keira glances nervously over her shoulder as the Mirror starts to react to the investigation, taking a couple of wary steps backwards before her eyes light on Bill standing in front of the gaping hole to the outside. Her voice pipes up worriedly. "W...what's going on? Something's not right here. We need to leave!'
  [21:11] Storyteller: Andy is wise to do such a thing. For at this moment, the swirling, twisting, spinning pane of lead grows suddenly more violent. Twisting like a whirlpool and bubbling like a pot at boil. Something is building up, building up, building up, ready to release. As the writhing liquid metal comes to it's most violent, it explodes outwards, spattering shiny swaths of metal across the dais and floor, reaching out from it...a hand. A hand made of gnarled, twisted, barbed, cruel branches. The claws of the hand crash into the floor and gouge out thick runs of marble as it scrapes across the polished surface.
  [21:13] * MadJack1 Perks ups and interposes himself between the motley up front with Andy, this is going to be a bad one.
  [21:14] * William is currently checking to see if his revolver carries over into the dream
  [21:18] * Bill stares wide eyed into the void before him. Realizing that that would probably NOT be the way out, he turns back towards the room to witness the horrifying sight before him. Bill quickly realizes that there's no running away anymore. Now is the time for action. Relying on pure instinct, Bill calls upon the reserves he didn't know he had... (con't)
  [21:20] * Bill braces himself. Black smoke begins to pump out of Bill's exhaust pipe violently. He has had ENOUGH of this crap, and currently, that messed up hand was the target of his Ire. Mustering his willpower, Bill draws his trusty Wrench, which somehow is now a resplendent Mace, and, subconsciously, draws upon his long-forgotten contract with Metal, his skin now beginning to take on the appearance the gleaming finish of a
  [21:23] Bill: With the sound of a roaring engine and squealing tires, Bill CHARGES straight at the evil hand, in an attempt to smash it with his mace!
  [21:24] * William readies his revolver, police carry style, pointing it at the...thing emerging from the mirror
  [21:25] Storyteller: As the valiant Bill charges in, his tailpipe flaring with a burst of fiery exhaust, he swings his mace down, cracking off the thumb of the hand, knocking away the branches that wither and crumble at his mighty touch.
  [21:26] Andy: Andy pulls back, and prepares to leap towards the colossal hand, but something causes him to freeze. A cruel smile curves across his face, and he whirls around, eyes focusing on one of the braziers, eyes wide with incredulous realization. "It tries a room filled with fire." He cackles, and dives towards the nearest brazier. He closes his hands around it, and spares another laugh in the thorny hand's direction.
  [21:29] Andy: Andy's shoulders roll with untapped strength. He opens his mouth and lets loose a mighty roar, shaking the goblets on nearby tables, and heaves the flaming brazier towards the wooden hand.
  [21:33] * William extends his arms out fully, bracing his shoulders, judging the shot, dust rolls out from the barrel of his pistol, falling onto the floor, he pulls the trigger, and instead of a flash, dust comes out.
  [21:34] Storyteller: As the burst of dust strikes the hand, the branches instantly rot away at it's touch, withering and corroding like a twisted mixture of metal and plant. It rears back, as if in pain, and slashes downward in anger, striking at the mad elemental, Jack.
  [21:34] Storyteller: And, sadly, our friend Jack, transfixed as he is, eyes wide in horror at this sight, he does not move. No. The claws of the monstrous thing slash through him, crushing him down like a doll of rags, rearing up again, for a deathblow...
  [21:36] Storyteller: But! Haha! The valiant lion of a man, or man-like lion, and his brazen brazier bowling has waylaid the bastardly branches, crushing them under a flaming golden bowl of searing heat. Several fingers are shattered off, leaving only one crooked claw snatching at the air, a mangled lump of branches connecting back to the swirling lead wall.
  [21:36] Storyteller: Jack, the mad elemental, laying along the ground, as if mortally wounded, slowly fades away. Evaporating.
  [21:37] *** William has signed off IRC (Ping timeout).
  [21:39] *** William has joined #PAChangeling.
  [21:39] Keira: Keira stumbles backwards, away from the mirror, singing quietly, her eyes flickering between black and their deep violet as the flames in the room seem to dim, an unnatural darkness surrounding the area of the mirror, the shadows twisting into a nightmarish beast that claws savagely at the hand around the mirror, the shadow blocking it from vision for a moment as sounds of unearthly singing come from in front of the mirror.
  [21:43] Storyteller: As the beast of shadow and fury materializes, it lets loose a furious roar, hideous and terrible, beautiful and grotesque, twisted and perfected. The claws of the creature slash at the wounded twig-beast, splintering the hand into a thousand rotting branches that explode outward in a rain of festering splinters, wasting away as soon as they seperate from the whole.
  [21:43] Storyteller: All that is left, is a stump, oozing a hideous, revolting black sap.
  [21:46] *** William has signed off IRC (Ping timeout).
  [21:49] * Keira jumps up and down excitedly. 'We did it!'
  [21:49] Storyteller: As the hand is shattered, rotting away, filling the room with the rank odor of decay, the remainder of the arm starts to slowly slink back into the calming pane of lead, leaving a trail of slimey ichor staining the pristine white floor, thick and viscous, it slowly flows down the dais and into the holes gouged across the marble, filling them with a noxious brew of decay.
  [21:50] * Bill remains alert to any other threats, keeping his mace drawn.
  [21:51] Bill: Can someone PLEASE tell me what the HELL is going on?
  [21:51] Storyteller: The last of the broken arm slinks back into the mirror, it's surface falls motionless again. Just as it was when you first entered the dream. Just as it was when you first retreived it.
  [21:53] Andy: Andy, glaring furiously, still baring his teeth, stalks over to the mirror. He gives it an eye which, if it were anything but a mirror, would probably be very terrifying to it, and grabs holds of one of the oaken sides of the mirror.
  [21:54] Storyteller: The mirror is heavy, very heavy, but when you grab it, you feel a little bit of give. If you were like that guy with the 50" biceps you couldprobably pick it up.
  [21:55] * Bill tries to help Andy push the mirror over
  [21:55] *** William has joined #PAChangeling.
  [21:55] Storyteller: It wobbles, it's very tall, easy to unbalance. You can't lift it, but it does start to teeter, sway, lean... and then falls to the floor with a loud CRACK that echoes through the hall.
  [21:56] * Keira stands to the side, flinching as the mirror hits the ground
  [21:58] Andy: This simple toppling isn't enough for Andy. Oh, no. He now goes and drags over his chair from earlier, and with a roll of his shoulders manages to lift it for a just a moment before bringing it down on the back of the thing. "You hurt the crazy guy!" He shouts, barely intelligible, his voice mingled with an angry rumble.
  [21:59] * Keira Keira flinches again, stepping delicately across the floor to stand next to Bill. 'Where did that hand come from, though?'
  [22:00] * Bill does a double-take to Keira and says: "What are you asking ME for?"
  [22:01] Storyteller: Lead is a soft metal. The chair gouges into it easily, scooping and denting out a thick divot of the stuff. As the chair rebounds, you feel a lightness, an airiness. As if things are starting to slip away. What things? All things. The room goes out of focus in a strange way, surfaces retain their detail, but edges soften and dull, points become rounded. The things that slip away stop, further away than they were before, but their retreat has been halted.
  [22:02] * Keira smiles and replies in a sing-song voice 'You were trying to get out before. You knew something was wrong, didn't you?'
  [22:03] Andy: Andy remains oblivious to the fading of the dreamscape, too wrapped up in his own anger. He gives the mirror an extra-rough kick with his heel, still shouting. "I wanted to hurt the crazy guy! Not that badly, but still!"
  [22:03] Bill: What, didn't you? "Something's" been wrong ever since I... since I... came back... And it just keeps getting wronger!
  [22:06] * William "the only way to get out is to smash the mirror"
  [22:06] Storyteller: The heel puts another dent into the mirror's surface. Things slip away again. Further away. The world goes to fuzz like a Hallmark card.
  [22:06] * William adds, "into tiny bits"
  [22:07] Bill: Hmm... Good enough for me!
  [22:07] * Keira looks at the center of the room, as they bash the mirror. "I want to know what happened, I think."
  [22:07] Andy: Andy hardly needs the encouragement, beating fists that seem a bit thicker and claws that seem a bit sharper than normal into the soft surface, jaw clenched in a manic smile.
  [22:07] * Keira sighs and moves over to the mirror, running her fingers over it.
  [22:07] Storyteller: The soft lead is cold to the touch. Perfectly smooth.
  [22:07] Storyteller: Except for, you know, Andy's handiwork.
  [22:08] * Bill and with that, Bill Jumps up on a nearby table (which is strangely solid beneath him) and leaps up into the air. His Exhaust pipe blazes to life as it seems to propel him downward into prone mirror, 'causeing Bill to smash it with all his might!
  [22:09] * William walks to the mirror, reloading the revolver, watching the dust that issues from the friction of the barrel and the loader
  [22:12] Storyteller: Despite the beautiful darkling's protests, the testosterone laden men decided that the solution to this problem is the age old solution to every problem: SMASH THE FUCK OUT OF IT GEORGE! And smash they did.
  [22:12] * William picks a likely spot, away from the frame and the dents, and fires
  [22:12] * Keira stands back from the mirror as the other changelings attack it viciously, wincing at every strike.
  [22:12] * Bill revs up like a mack truck and his arm seems to chug like a piston in an engine. Bill continues to batter the mirror relentlessly with his mace
  [22:13] Storyteller: The dust from the revolver shot spreads over the surface of the mirror, making it brittle and pitted, rusting it in a way that would never happen in the world of flesh and blood.
  [22:14] Storyteller: The claws, they tear and scrape and pierce and rip. They rend and weaken the surface of the lead, the soft, pliable metal. You could shape it with your bare hands with enough determination. Claws just make it easier to rip and carve and cut and cleave.
  [22:15] Storyteller: And the wrench, if the two others weaken the surface... the wrench, it is the deathblow. And, as it lands on the hard, flat metal, it sends it splatteringdown to the floor in thick, dull shards, buckling outwards and spraying in a mess of twisted grey.
  [22:16] Storyteller: If things went to fuzz before, if things slipped away (what things? all things) they're really out there now. Vaseline smeared across a lens. Things going insideout-ways. Things fade away...
  [22:16] * William watches, like a child watching the dust being thrown by a stream, in utter amazement
  [22:17] * Keira steps back away from the others, taking one last wistful look at the banquet hall, torn to pieces by the violence, closing her eyes and smiling as everything slowly goes away
  [22:18] * Bill looks around as the world fades away. "Finally, some sleep..."
  [22:18] Andy: The last Andy is seen he's flinging the shards across the room as hard as he can, still not satisfied with the broken mirror. Faintly he can be heard to shout something about "the mirror bitch" before he's gone.
  [22:18] Storyteller: As if each were yanked from their spot, pulled backwards, the room pulls far, far away from each person. Shinking to a point of light, winking out in the blackness. Unconciousness comes. The dream ends. The waking world awaits. And, what is certain to be a mind full of questions. Unless you solve your problems with a broken liquor bottle. Then you're probably going to banish those questions with a thick mouthful of rocket fuel malt liquor (get some rocket in u brutha!).

  terminal stupidity on December 2007

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  December 2007 edited December 2007

  The next day:
  
  Bill, tired from his overly-eventful night’s rest, emerges into the garage and listlessly begins to work on a beat up blue late-model Tercel. Try as he might, he cannot shake the images that have been ingrained in his mind over the past few days. He has started wearing thick workman gloves to hide the metallic hue of his skin from himself, despite knowing that other customers haven’t seemed to take any notice of his strange appearance.
  
  “Mornin’ Bill”
  
  Sighing, Bill pulled the pneumatic lift’s lever, propping the Tercel up above his head, so that he might get a look inside. Grabbing a nearby portable light, Bill twisted the oil cap off, and slimy oil began to drain into the bucket below.
  
  “Billy-boy! You ignorin’ me?”
  “No Sam, just working”
  
  Skinny Sam walked up to Bill, well, not so much walked, but crept. Bill was avoiding his gaze.
  Sam looked around in a suspicious manner.
  
  “So?” he whispered “how’d it go?”
  “How did what go?”
  “Your meeting at the freehold! Did they set you up with a motley? Did you go on a quest?”
  “… don’t know what you’re talking about, Sam.”
  “What are you talking about? I know you went, I saw you leave!”
  “… you spying on me now, Sam?”
  “Jeez Bill! I’m just worried about you, that’s all! Just thought you’d want to know that there are others like us out there!”
  “Like us, hunh? Wild beast-men and psychopaths?”
  “Look kid, you know what that place does. It changes people, like it changed us. You can’t expect everyone who comes out of there to fare as well as we did.”
  “That’s just it, Sam. I DON’T know what that place does. I don’t remember any of it! I look in the mirror and see a tin man with a pipe in his back, but everyone else sees plain ‘ol me. So you know what? Screw the tin man, screw the freehold, and screw you! I’m still Bill McGannigan as far as anyone else knows, so why does anything need to be different? You know what? Screw the Tercel, too! YOU fix it. I’m going for a drive.”
  
  And with that, Bill threw down his oily rag and huffed off towards his own car. He jumped in and started his old ‘98 red Escort in one smooth motion before peeling out of the garage and away.
  
  
  “So what if I’m different now” grumbled Bill to himself. “I’m still myself, I’m still Bill! I may not remember what’s happened to me over the last 6 years, but what’s important is that I’m back now!”
  
  After driving for about an hour, Bill realized for the first time where he was headed. North. He was already past Yonkers. Bill wondered for a time what possessed him to head so far out of town, but then he realized it:
  
  “Poor Liz” Bill thought to himself “I just up and disappear on her one day. She’s probably awful sore about it. Sam told me she moved away after I left, but didn’t tell me to where. I’ll bet her mother knows though.”
  
  Memories of thanksgivings spent at Liz’s mom’s in Albany warmed Bill’s thoughts as he pressed northwards.

  Romantic Undead on December 2007

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  December 2007 edited December 2007

  It's fairly peaceful drive. The greenery still clings to the environment, though occasionally a chill wind might rip through the air. Soon the trees will don their auburn wigs and shed their dressing. But for now, things are still green.
  
  The sky is a pale, mournful blue, splotched only by the burning white spark of the sun which casts its dazzling rays down onto the surface below. A brisk, chilly wind casts away the warmth. It's windbreaker weather.
  
  As the quiet elemental approaches his would-be mother-in-law (would-be, if he hadn't been snatched through the Hedge and kept as a slave-mechanic for over half a decade), things seem quite in order. As if people have been getting along just fine without him.
  
  The pale blue siding has been painted within the last few years, and the shingles and shutters are shiny and new. A new patio has been installed, shiny white railing and posts provide a small amount of enclosure from the truly outside elements for those sitting on the smooth, elevated concrete slab. There's even a new swinging-bench, wrought with dull grey metal and dark brown lacquered wood. The sound of a television playing can be heard inside, a low, muted mumbling, cut off by the heavy, solid metal door.
  
  A light inside the living room illuminates the inside, but no one in the building itself can be seen.

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  December 2007 edited December 2007

  Bill takes a deep breath, not even sure what to say, or even if he should be here at all. The mechanic wasn't normally a man of action, he was usually content to observe as things happened around him. But Bill kept telling himself that he had to keep thinking of Liz. As long as he kept his thoughts focused on Liz, all the weirdness that had gone on in his life this past while didn't matter. He could forget. He could get back together with Liz and things would be normal again.
  
  Bill stepped up onto the new patio, approached the door, and rang the doorbell...

  Romantic Undead on December 2007

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  December 2007 edited December 2007

  After a short while, the sound of footsteps can be heard approaching the door.
  
  A heavy clunk sounds as a hand turns the deadbolt. The doorknob jiggles and shakes as it's twisted and pulled away.
  
  A grey haired woman with a long braid dangling over one shoulder answers the door, a dumpy argyle sweater, a pair of faded jeans and some house slippers are all that she wears. If her home looks fresh and alive, she looks tired and worn out. Her face is lined and faded, a glimmer of beauty is all that remains of her youth.
  
  It takes her a moment to recognize the man who rang her bell, but then, as the realization dawns on her, a little fire builds up in her belly, a little energy shoots back into her tired blood.
  
  "Bill," comes a contemptible, shriveled voice, "you bastard. What do you want?"

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  December 2007 edited December 2007

  Bill winces at the bitterness in Agnes' voice. Of course, she doesn't know what happened to him, what caused him to dissapear 6 years ago. He could really blame her for being bitter, but still, it's not like he stood Liz up at the altar or something... Bill thought it odd that she would still be so bitter after so much time.
  
  "Um, hi Mrs. Carmichael", Bill finally said, managing his best sheepish smile "I know it's been a long time but, I thought I would just come by and say hi and maybe check to see if you could tell me how Liz has been." Bill removed his cap and began to fidget with it. "I'm sorry I haven't been around..."

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  December 2007 edited December 2007

  The old woman lets out a tired, frustrated breath. A huff. Her chest swells with another intake of air through her thin, faded lips.
  
  The muscles on the side of her face bulge and she rests a hand on her hip. "Been...been a while?" comes a flabbergasted response. "It's been six years. Six years since you ran her off." She shakes her head and flicks the braid over her shoulder, letting it dangle down behind her.
  
  "Do you know how long it took her to recover? And you just went along like nothing happened. Now all of a sudden you want back in her life?"
  
  Her eyes, while once bright, have now faded, turning a pale, rheumy yellow. But, for this moment, there's some fire in them. They get a little of their youth back, brightening as the flame in her belly is stoked after a long, quiet smolder.

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  December 2007 edited December 2007

  Sheepishly, Bill stammers
  "I... I can't help what happened ma'am..." But then pauses as a sudden realization dawns on him.
  
  "Wait... what do you mean I "went along like nothing happened"?"

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  December 2007 edited December 2007

  She gives a flat stare. A blank stare.
  
  "What, lose your memory?" Agnes shakes her head in frustration, "How'd you expect her to act when you shrug off her telling you she's pregnant? And you go..." her jaw sets, muscles bulging in her cheeks as her teeth grit and clench, "And you just go back to working on your cars like, like nothing!"

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  December 2007 edited December 2007

  Bill blinks helplessly at Agnes for a moment.
  
  "Liz... Liz is pregnant? She... she never told me this! Last time I remember seeing her we went out to Duffy's for drinks with some of the Frank and James from work, and then I walked her home! I was tak... I was gone the next day!"

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  December 2007 edited December 2007

  The woman furrows her brow in confusion. Her upper lip curls away in a mixture of bewilderment and frustration.
  
  "Wh...what do you mean, gone?!" She turns away, moving a hand to her forehead, "You, you were...back at the garage the next day, working as usual." Her hands rest on her hips, arms akimbo, still turned away.
  
  "What the hell is wrong with you," she asks as she turns back around, "...Bill?"

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  December 2007 edited December 2007

  OOC Explanation for this Log:

  Not much to tell, though I did do a few edits for this log, because of timing errors that cropped up when I hit enter too soon (that's basically the only kind of typo that I won't abide).
  
  Other than that, per usual, this log is presented AS IS. You can see all my mistakes and spelling errors and horrible plot and character acting (self-deprecation ITT).
  
  I had to send one of the PCs out of the scene because his player had to go off and do something elsewhere (and has been having connectivity issues lately). That's what happens when I suddenly take control of William.
  
  I was going to do a relatively big plot reveal tonight to keep people interested, but it just didn't feel right without all the characters there (3/5).
  
  So, I ran a completely improvisational combat scene. For those of you not keeping track, the freehold this motley is sworn to hides under an upper class nightclub/restaurant in a gentrified Brooklyn neighborhood. The scene starts just outside, and things go straight to shit almost from the word go. Which is how I like it.
  
  There isn't much to tell for this, it's pretty straightforward, not much happened in the OOC room that needs explaining. We're starting to get a really good flow going, though. There are still some issues, but if we keep this up, we should hit our stride within two or three more sessions, I think.
  
  Hopefully, we can keep it together over the missing week or two we're going to have.
  
  I stress that this log is completely played by ear. I pulled all of these NPCs out of my hat in about ten minutes. Fortunately, despite the shortcomings of improvisational storytelling, some interesting future hooks will come from this. Oh yes.

  
  Playlog, Hedgedate Dec. 20th, 2007:

  [20:39] * William stumbles out of bed, looking for Andy's phone number.
  [20:42] Andy: Andy's spent the better part of being awake stalking around near a payphone just outside the freehold, logic wrestling with his instinct to break in and demand to know where the stupud mirror-giving tricking bitch-woman might be.
  [20:45] * William jots down the last paragraph of his report, before punching himself for realizing that Andy probably doesnt have a cell anyway
  [20:46] * Jack Approaches the bar. He's holding an economy sized jar of Advil from which he occasionally pops pills like candy
  [20:46] * William attempts to call everyone, starting with keira, bill, and then, regrettably, after much coin-flipping, Jack
  [20:48] Andy: Andy runs towards the doors, ready to kick them open in a comic display of stolen machismo. He spins around at the last minute and stomps away from the doors, muttering to himself and flexing his hands anxiously.
  [20:49] Storyteller: Well, it's a few hours before sunup, there's no one around, really. The only places open are 24 hour shops and diners and it's a fairly lonely night. Phonecalls are probably the best way to contact people.
  [20:50] * Jack hears his phone. "What's that ringing? DO I have a tumor? Oh." *Answers phone* "Bill's taxidermy, you kill em, we grill em!"
  [20:50] * William "....What the hell are you on?"
  [20:51] * Jack "I'm high on life!"
  [20:52] * Jack "Now, what can brown do for you?"
  [20:53] *** William has signed off IRC (Ping timeout).
  [20:54] * Jack "Hello? Hello? Fuck you Verizon!"
  [20:55] * Jack "First you give my info to the government now this!" *drops phone and pulls gun* Requeiescat Impache! *unloads his revoler into the phone*
  [20:56] Andy: Finally, sick of deliberating with himself, Andy simply heads towards the doors and tries to open them like a normal, sane, not-going-to-demand-answers-at-clawpoint person.
  [20:56] Storyteller: With a series of cracks that split the night, the revolver spits its hot lead into the phone, shattering it into a handful of mangled plastic chunks.
  [20:57] Storyteller: The front doors of the club that masks the freehold have no give to them, the place is locked up for the night.
  [20:57] *** William has joined #PAChangeling.
  [20:58] Andy: Andy jerks and whirls around, once again on-edge. "Who is shooting?!" Not the most sensible question, but fortunately no one ever accused him of sensibility.
  [20:59] * Jack slowly but surely the gears of sanity it Jacks head grind. ANyone who could witness his seeming would see the flames from his eyes and mouthe flickering greater when finally POOF! A notion comes to him:
  [21:00] Jack: Firing one's handgun on the street is a crime!
  [21:01] Storyteller: Yes, it is a crime. Discharging a weapon within city limits. Multiple times at that.
  [21:01] * Jack runs down the street screaming "There's a madman on the loose! He just fired his gun into his phone! Who DOES something like that!" Unbeknownest to Jack is that he's still holding his smoking revolver in his flailing hands.
  [21:02] * Jack nears the entrance to the nightclub and sees Andy outside
  [21:02] * William looks from the window of his apartment, and is mortified
  [21:02] Jack: Animal Planet, HELP! Some crazy focker started shooting his gun down the road! I think it was Jesus!
  [21:03] Andy: Andy growls, and dashes towards Jack, moving to seize him by the wrist. "You dumbass! You're making a sce-" he stops, trying to choose some words that won't make him sound like a hypocrite.
  [21:04] * William gets dressed, and runs down, muttering various things he will never repeat in polite company
  [21:04] Jack: Hide! Hide! Now! Open the door to the bar!
  [21:04] Storyteller: Yeah, he is making a scene. If anyone who can see through a mask to the mien below were around, they would see a crazy autumn elemental arguing with a man in a very realistic fursuit.
  [21:05] Jack: We can hide in a bottle of Captain Morgan!
  [21:06] * William pauses to laugh at the scene, before realizing exactly how serious it is
  [21:06] Andy: "Shut up!" Andy shouts, dragging Jack towards the doors of the club and giving them a ferocious kick to try and get them open.
  [21:07] Storyteller: The city streets are still empty, lit by the pale auroras of the streetlamps.
  [21:07] Jack: Hold on Claws and Paws! I have a key! *begins rooting through his belt for more ammo*
  [21:08] *** Jack1 has joined #PAChangeling.
  [21:08] * William walks next to them
  [21:08] *** Jack1 has left #PAChangeling.
  [21:08] Jack: *forgets about the ammo* Fan man!
  [21:09] * William walks to a nearby door, banging his head against it
  [21:10] Jack: Oh right! I need my key! *searches through pockets for more ammo as he let's the spent shells out of his revolver*
  [21:11] Storyteller: A bullet could blow the lock open, sure. It's not a huge steel door or anything. It's a wooden door. And Andy's boot to it sends the satisfying crunch of twisting and buckling wood through the night air, but not enough force was applied to tear the deadbolt from it's hole.
  [21:11] * William grabs the shells, having watched CSI, and found it enlightening
  [21:11] * William "Can we leave? Being caught next to the freehold would be stupid
  [21:12] * William it would associate them with... the maniac, who fired shots into his phone...."
  [21:13] * Jack Looks at Schuyler as he loads his gun and presses it to the lock. "But I have a KEY!.....Wait...do...."
  [21:13] Andy: "You!" Andy waves a finger at Jack. "No more gun... shooty... thing now!" He then shoves a claw towards Schuyler. "And you!" He blanks for a second. "Mirror thing... questions!" As if that line explains everything, he turns back and gives the door another kick.
  [21:15] Storyteller: This time, the foot lands with much more force. The door of the nightclub that hides the freehold is blown open, dangling by one hinge as it swings weakly inwards.
  [21:16] * William beats his head against the wall
  [21:16] Andy: Not wasting another moment, Andy drags Jack inside and motions for Schuyler to follow. Only now does he begin to realize how stupid the situation he is: he just vandalized the doors of the freehold over a psychotic maniac and a bad dream.
  [21:16] Storyteller: Hmm, yes, you've successfully broken into your home and dragged your allies inside.
  [21:17] * Jack "Yay!" Walks over to the destroyed door where the badlock still sits. "Open-Says-A-Me!* And for the second time in as many minutes, Jack unloads his pistol into another inanimate object that didnt have it coming.
  [21:17] * William walks in through any back entrance, muttering
  [21:18] Storyteller: The tables are done up nicely, chairs set atop them, it's been closed for a few hours now. Some dim light trickles in through a window and dances off the various bottles and glasses that pepper the bar area. An empty stage is cast in a sheaf of moonlight that lights the dancing motes of dust in the air.
  [21:19] Storyteller: And, again, the bullets echo through the night, spilling out onto the street from the opened door. Things are really going downhill fast for the people who are sane.
  [21:19] Andy: Andy opens his mouth, looking around ready to screech at Jack, but somehow manages to retain something resembling composure. "If you do that one more time," he manages to hiss out past his teeth, "I am going to find that gun a very unpleasant home."
  [21:20] Storyteller: The sound of a ringtone cuts through the air. Emanating from the darkling.
  [21:20] * William was hiding behind the bar, hoping to play the role of concerned citizen gone stupid
  [21:20] * Jack Looks at Andy and then at the smoking revovler in his hand, and then at the mess around him...."Wha?......
  [21:20] * William opens cell phone
  [21:21] * William "hello?"
  [21:21] * William "I blame the crazy one"
  [21:21] Storyteller: Chattering noises emanate from the cell.
  [21:23] * Jack Continues to look from Andy, to the gun, to the mess, and back again, and again and again...and then....."I am so so sorry. We need to leave here immediately before the authorities arrive. Andrew, keep watch outside, Schyuler who are you speaking to?"
  [21:24] * William "WE NEED POWER TOOLS, GT THAT DOOR UP, PRONTO!"
  [21:25] Andy: Andy twitches. "You shut up right the hell now," he demands of Jack, and makes a shushing motion as he gestures towards Schuyler. "He probably knows what's best right now."
  [21:25] Jack: A ludircrous notion. We should either flee, or contact the Freehold and tell them what happened, I will take full responsibility for my actions.
  [21:25] * William "DOOR, GET UP, find hiding places!"
  [21:26] * Jack Examines the door to see if it is remotely fixable.
  [21:26] Andy: Andy nods towards Schuyler, and does exactly what he was (vaguely) told, pulling up the door and trying to jam it back into place.
  [21:26] * William "Privateers coming, need to centilate their skulls"
  [21:26] Storyteller: It's ripped off one hinge, that door. Probably not going to do much good.
  [21:26] Storyteller: You might be able to pile up some chairs against it to hold it shut.
  [21:27] Storyteller: But other than that, things would be rough.
  [21:27] William: "ventilate, I mean, as in shoot them"
  [21:28] Andy: Andy sets to work tossing some chairs in front of the door, tossing glances towards Jack. "Do we really want him keeping a damn gun?"
  [21:28] * William "They probably arent going to come in the door, just make it look semi-intact
  [21:28] Storyteller: A few minutes after you set in to digging around the place to find usable defenses, a soft thumping on the door resounds. "Hey! HEY! Let me in you morons. Do it and maybe I'll forget about you ripping the door off its hinges! It's Nitara!"
  [21:28] * Jack "Andrew, help me move a table. As for my firearm, we can discuss that IF we survive this.
  [21:29] * William scampers to the door, opening it
  [21:29] Andy: Andy helps by tossing away the recently-piled chairs, grumbling about wasted effort.
  [21:30] Storyteller: The short butterfly girl looks positively bristly today, dressed in all black save for that brown canvas napsack, she slips in quickly and then points to the door again, "Shut it. There's an entrance to the VIP area behind the stage and the elevator's turned off."
  [21:30] * William is slightly perturbed at Jack's proper grammar
  [21:31] Andy: And once again Andy re-piles the chairs, grumbling even more about how they're just trying to teach him a lesson.
  [21:31] * William walks to the door "Does Jack act sane often?"
  [21:31] Storyteller: Fishing around inside her satchel, she pulls out a small revolver and tucks it into her belt. "Any of you need a gun? I have another one in here." she points to her satchel. "They're probably going to try and slash and burn, force us to scatter."
  [21:32] * William "slash and burn?"
  [21:32] * William "as in automatic rifles?"
  [21:33] Jack: The only thing that will be scattered, my dear, will be their brains should they attempt access to this establishment. *looks at the door* An excellent barricadde Andrew, we should create cover for us to take refuge from their firearms.
  [21:33] Andy: He waves his hands. "I think you remember how mean I can be with these. But, uh, a gun wouldn't be bad. Just in case." He jerks his head towards Jack. "We might want to get him outta here. He'll probably try to shoot us."
  [21:33] Storyteller: "As in throw some gas around and set it on fire." comes her response as she digs around inside her satchel, "I got a knife too, if anyone wants it..." she pulls out a few small pointy things.
  [21:34] * William "Is it me, or is he an english gentleman?"
  [21:34] Jack: You know you don't have to speak about me i nthe third person, I am right here. We had best make a plan too, whilst I am still......manageable...
  [21:34] Storyteller: A hand reaches into her satchel as she pulls out another revolver, this one a more beefy .357. She tosses it to Andy. "Try not to hit any liquor bottles."
  [21:34] * William "He, just acts, eccentric"
  [21:35] Jack: Andrew, if you wish to engage in hand to hand combat with our foes, I shall take the second revolver, should you deem fit to trust me with it.
  [21:35] Storyteller: She starts moving into the club proper now, "Let's flip over some of the tables and hide behind them..."
  [21:35] Andy: The Beast grins for the first time that night. "Wouldn't dream of it. Wanna go through those myself." He then glares at Jack, simply baring his teeth as a reply.
  [21:37] * Jack frowns, interestingly since "coming to" his face has lost his trademark grin. "I understand. Perhaps the liquor could be used as makeshift explosives? A molotov cocktail? It may....discourage..entry. Or burn the bar down. ...
  [21:38] Storyteller: "We can't burn this place to the ground, this is...this is our home..." she says, soft, feminine voice cut with the iron of resolve before she grunts and flips a table over with more than a little strain.
  [21:39] Andy: Andy snorts. "Yeah, he'd probably end up doing that." Tucking the revolver into his belt, Andy takes up a position at one of the doors, pressed against the wall next to it.
  [21:39] * William begins to pile tables around, attempting to make a "system" to knock the tables over.
  [21:39] Jack: Of course not, Andy, if you are feeling daring, we could throw them out into the street, are their windows on the second level of the building? It would also give me a better vantage point to fire from.
  [21:40] Andy: Andy opens his mouth to say something cruel to Jack, but... "That's not a bad idea."
  [21:41] Storyteller: There are a few windows up high, it would be hard to reach them, and har dto throw something through them without making it explode and rain hideous, flaming death into the room below it.
  [21:41] Jack: Nods to the Beast, "Indeed. A few bottles of 151 and some rags will do nicely."
  [21:41] Storyteller: The outside of the building is brick, it probably wont' burn...
  [21:41] Andy: "Gunners up high, me down in the thick. Keeps 'em distracted."
  [21:42] Storyteller: The butterfly girl is busy flipping over tables, "Unnng, if you throw me I can hang up by a window and toss some bottles down at them..."
  [21:42] Storyteller: "I only weigh about 50 pounds..."
  [21:45] Andy: "I've got my tactic. Jump out and tear their eyes out." He looks at the others. "You guys probably shouldn't go up there if you're not sure you can get down fast. Makes you easy targets."
  [21:46] *** William has signed off IRC (Ping timeout).
  [21:46] Storyteller: "I can jump. Or glide down." Nitara ruffles her eyebrows. She turns to the darkling, "Why not go back there and barricade the stairwell? It leads down to the freehold proper, if we don't make it..." she trails off.
  [21:47] * Jack looks at the drages, I don't think I can make it up there, young lady, you said you are light, are you sure you could make it up there? I don't want you harmed because of my insanity. We can't have much time left.
  [21:47] Storyteller: The antiquarian nods and makes his way back behind the stage. After a few moments some loud tumbling and thumping can be heard as he sets to work. The butterfly checks her watch, eyebrows frazzling, "Ahhhnn...they're going to be here any minute...quick, quick, give me some bottles and a lighter and throw me up to one of those windows!"
  [21:47] Andy: Andy nods. "I'll give you a toss up there, then." He glares harshly at Jack. "Hate doing this, but we probably need you to play gunman, nutcake. Find some cover.
  [21:47] Andy: "
  [21:49] Storyteller: The windwing stuffs a few bottles into her satchel, making sure to plug them with linen napkins first. She stands next to Andy and looks up at him with a small smile, "Give me a heft, huh?"
  [21:49] * Jack nods at Andy as he collects bottles and hands them to Nitara, Gods speed little one.
  [21:49] Storyteller: "Oh, thanks...'s he says to Jack as she collects the last few bottles.
  [21:49] Andy: Andy gives a thumbs-up, then kneels down and cups his hands as a foothold.
  [21:50] * Jack adjusts the tables for optimum comfort and begins setting out spare shells for quick reloading. "This will be a bad one...."
  [21:50] Storyteller: She steps in, cradling the bottles and her satchel carefully.
  [21:51] Andy: Andy grins, suddenly. "Hey, is there a way to turn the music on in here? Could do with some ambience." He hefts Nitara as best he can, aiming towards one of the windows.
  [21:51] Storyteller: "Yipe!" comes her yell as she's tossed toward the window, which she lands on with a wobbly step, barely securing her place. "Phew..." she turns to shout down, "There's about four of them, I counted. One of them is a big dumb ogre the size of a mountain...the others I couldn't tell, they have subtle miens..." she says, as she flips open the window, looking down onto the street.
  [21:53] Storyteller: She sets about placing a few bottles on the window ledge, holding a lighter in her hand shakily, waiting to set the liquor-soaked cloths aflame.
  [21:54] Andy: "Never fought an ogre before." He scunches up his face. "Never fought another changeling before, actually. Well, here's hoping for the best. Which door are they coming through?"
  [21:54] Storyteller: "They don't know about the VIP entrance, they'll be coming through the front, I'm sure..."
  [21:55] Storyteller: She gulps, "Not sure if they'll do it one at a time, or send a scout in, or what..."
  [21:55] * Jack Jack twitches and his grin returns along with the manic look on his face. "i'll get the C and C Music Factory going!" he cackles as he rushes over to the jukebox. "Time for some foightin' music!"
  [21:55] * Jack fiddles with the jukebox and adds a few coins. "OK! OK! Fighting music on the way!" he screams as he rushes to his covered vantage point
  [21:56] Andy: Andy clenches his jaw, fighting back the urge to scream at Jack. At least they'll probably shoot at the nutcake first. Andy presses himself against one of the walls near the entrance, waiting for his opponents to enter.
  [21:56] Storyteller: "Ackh! I see 'em...five of them! Crap!" she looks rather pissed, at herself. Probably because she miscalculated. "Dig in, dig in, they're half a block away..."
  [21:56] * Jack the begins to blare "If you like Pina Coladas, and getting caught in the rain.
  [21:57] Storyteller: Her eyebrows frazzle with frustration, "You idiots..."
  [21:57] * Jack "If you're not into yoga, if you have half-a-brain."
  [21:58] * Jack If you like making love at midnight, in the dunes of the cape.
  [21:58] Storyteller: And then she falls silent as a few voices make themselves heard outside of the club, two distinct. One of them quick and brainy sounding, the other slow and stupid. It's hard to make out what they're saying, but anyone near the door could clearly hear the murmured arguing. The smart sounding guy seems irritated.
  [21:58] Storyteller: The music in the background makes it very, very difficult to make out any distinct words.
  [21:58] * Jack twitches almost happily at the various stimuli, and the possibility of bloodhsed....and moreover....FEAR.
  [22:00] Storyteller: And then a loud voice cuts in above the music, "COME ON "MONGO" YOU MORON, JUST BURST IT OPEN!" it sounded rather deriding.
  [22:01] * Jack IF YOU LIKE PINA COLADAS!
  [22:01] Storyteller: The barricade shudders as a heavy object strikes against it, but it makes no movement.
  [22:01] Storyteller: An angry shout can be heard behind it, "DO IT AGAIN!"
  [22:02] Jack: *screams* Get ready Animal Planet and Futterby girl!
  [22:03] Storyteller: The door explodes outward, the barricade blown aside as a massive giant bashes it apart with a furious slam with a massive sledgehammer followed by a mighty blow from his huge, stony fist.
  [22:06] * Jack IF YOU LIKE PINA COLADAS!

  terminal stupidity on December 2007

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  December 2007 edited December 2007

  Playlog, Hedgedate Dec. 20th, 2007 (Cont.):

  [22:07] Storyteller: The butterfly girl lets out a loud yipe of surprise as she's nearly knocked from her perch by the shaking and the rumbling of the barricade's descrution. She fumbles with the lighter and then manages to flick it open, setting aflame one of the liquor drenched rags and chucking it to the ground below.
  [22:07] Storyteller: The bottle shatters with a loud crash and a roar of flames outside, bathing the sidewalk in burning liquor. A loud curse pierces through the night, the same smart-guy voice, "FUCK!"
  [22:10] Andy: As the Ogre enters, Andy simply leans against the wall casually, flicking his claws menacingly. His eyes are wild, and thanks to a careful prick by his teeth, a thin trickle of blood runs from the side of his mouth. He slowly turns his head to the ogre (or relatively slowly, anyway), and smiles genuinely at him. "You are huge. You must have huge guts. Wanna show me them?" He pushes himself off the wall, and hunches over. "Rip and
  [22:13] Storyteller: Just looking at the ogre, it's easy to tell he is a being of profound stupidity and grotesque might, yes. Huge, fat, (but densely muscled underneath) and stuffed into a gruny wifebeater, holding a massive sledge. But, he's suddenly unnerved by the smaller, more athletic, more predatory Andy. Perhaps it's the lion-hearted changeling's surprising calm in the face of danger.
  [22:14] * William walks into the damn bar, pistol in hand, ready to shoot.
  [22:15] Storyteller: Some loud screaming and shouting can be heard outside, the intelligent man sounding exceptionally UNintelligent as he flails about to put out the flame that burns his clothing, he stumbles into the club behind "Mongo", singed and angry. A smoking (literally) hot leather jacket and pants cover him, and he's toting a mean looking shotgun.
  [22:16] Storyteller: A quick glance would tell you that he's an elemental. The hair on his head burns and dances like flame, and he has an orange-yellow tint to his skin.
  [22:16] * William runs like hell for the tables, taking cover and firing
  [22:17] Storyteller: The ogre turns and gives Andy a surprisingly frightened expression. He takes a tentative step back, but then gets his nerve back again, lunging forward and taking a swing with his hefty hammer.
  [22:18] Storyteller: The hammer, however, does not strike true. It's actually a bit short. If Andy were vulnerable to light breezes, he would be in pain, but, embarassingly for the stupid mountain of a man, he misses spectacularly.
  [22:18] Andy: Andy just stares at where the hammer went, and stares in surprised at the ogre. "You're new to this too, hunh?"
  [22:24] Storyteller: As Jack fires at the elemental biker, the bullet glances off the doorway next to him, far and away. Not a hit.
  [22:24] * Jack screams as he shoots "DAKKA DAKKA DAKKA!"
  [22:26] * William runs at the jackass with the shotgun, knife out, slashing
  [22:27] * Jack IF YOU LIKE PINA COLADAS!
  [22:30] Storyteller: The knife cuts into the shotty-goons side, slashing across is abdomen and cutting past some of the leather, to the soft flesh below. There's a thin smear of blood on the blade as it's pulled away.
  [22:30] Storyteller: Nitara flicks the lighter again and holds it to another rag-stuffed bottle, leaning out of the window to give it a strong chuck with a high pitched little grunt.
  [22:31] Storyteller: Another explosion and a shout can be heard outside.
  [22:31] Storyteller: The butterfly girl shouts down at the group below, "Two more coming up!"
  [22:33] Andy: Andy wastes only a second running through locations to strike. Armpit, knee, groin, stomach... and to think, he used to not realize their importance. His eyes focus in on the sledgehammer. "I hope you've enjoyed using your hand." He leaps, springing with mouth open and claws out, towards one of the ogre's wrists.
  [22:36] Storyteller: The bite to his wrist is met with a yowl of pain, the hard skin looks like rock, but it yields like flesh, teeth sink into it effortlessly and, in the pain, he drops his brute-like weapon.
  [22:36] Storyteller: As the sledge falls out of his hand, he shoves Andy off with a mighty heave, knocking him back several feet with a fist to the gut.
  [22:37] Storyteller: The biker looks at William, giving him a look of, all things, disbelief. "You little shit..."
  [22:37] Storyteller: He levels the shotgun at the darkling's head, pulling the trigger without any hesitation.
  [22:39] Storyteller: The booming blast of the shotgun fills the room with flash and noise, but the darkling antiquarian, William, is a witty, agile kind of guy, he reacts quickly and manages to duck out of the way, catching a pellet in the shoulder. It's like getting an injection at the doctor's, but it won't go away.
  [22:46] Storyteller: Jack fires, once again, and it goes wide, flung out into the street. It crashes through a window. A car alarm starts going off.
  [22:46] Jack: "What's that sound? Do I have another tumor?"
  [22:48] Storyteller: Moving about like an agile cat (but isn't he a darkling, yes, he is, shut up) William dives around the biker, planting the blade in the man's spine. The elemental goes down, eyes wide in shock, shotgun dropping to the floor and setting off another report as it hits.
  [22:48] * William wheels around aiming for his back, but more importantly, hisw spine
  [22:49] Storyteller: The shell fires into the air, spraying pellets into the ceiling. "What the...fu...fuck..." the biker-elemental asks, as if in disbelief. "My...my...my legs, oh fuck!"
  [22:49] Storyteller: "Jesus fuck..." he seems to be falling into a quiet terror...flaming tears start running down his cheeks.
  [22:51] Storyteller: Nitara runs the flaming lighter across the remaining bottles, kicking them from the window and onto the ground below.
  [22:51] * Jack Screams over his barricade at the fallen biker. "Hey buddy! Do you what's similiar about your legs and this joke? They're both LAME! HAHAHAHAHAHAHHA!!!!!"
  [22:52] Storyteller: A loud roar of pain sounds from outside and a flaming body tumbles through into the room. Roughly man shaped, it collapses after a few feet, a charred mess of a human.
  [22:52] * William "very sorry, it was nessecary, you see, you had a gun to my head"
  [22:58] Andy: Brushed off by the larger combatant, Andy pulls back with a hiss, fighting back the urge to heave. He uses the resulting momentum to leap onto the bar, doubling back around for a jump at the ogre. Midway through, though, he suddenly spots Shyuler. And the elemental. And the shutgun. He hears a boom, and suddenly he finds himself changing direction, on all fours as he bellows furiously. He leaps, and as his speed and power carry h
  [22:59] Andy: carry him over to the blubbering biker, his teeth seem sharper than ever...
  [23:00] Storyteller: The ogre twists and turns as Andy claws out at the elemental. "J-jeff...b-b-b-brother..." and then the anger sets in, his brow furrowing and good hand reaching for the fallen sledgehammer, "You assholes..." And this his dull eyes, full of stupidity, swell with anger... "You..you...you ASSHOLES! AGGHHHHH!" His muscles bulge through that layer of stony fat, and he lunges with it again.
  [23:02] Storyteller: The sledge contacts with a sick crunch in Andy's side, knocking him back and probably bruising a few ribs. Maybe cracking one, too. The man who burst in a few seconds ago has finished flailing about, he's not going to be moving much. Some of the fire is spreading to the carpeting.
  [23:02] * Jack IF YOU LIKE PINA COLADAS!
  [23:04] Storyteller: There's a lot of english on Jack's next shot. You could swear the thing twists like a sidewinder, spiralling up to stick into the wall almost ten feet above the door.
  [23:04] * William "Listen, Jeff is going to be fine!"
  [23:07] Storyteller: "F-f-fine?' the dumb brutes eyes start to well with tears, the fire burning outside the door has spread to a nearby tree, sirens can be heard in the distance. "F-fine...he's...he's" the biker looks up to the dumb brute, letting out a pathetic, affectionate plea, "Mongo...get...get your ass out of here..." The ogre falls to his knees, dropping the sledge to the floor.
  [23:08] Storyteller: Nitara calls out from above, "Hey, the other two ran off, we need to get out of here..."
  [23:08] * William "listen mongo, we have a surgeon, he can help Jeff"
  [23:09] Storyteller: The ogre turns to scream at William, "MY NAME ISN'T MONGO!" He lashes out in a futile attempt to brush the antiquarian away, but he just doesn't have the reach to connect.
  [23:10] Andy: Andy favors his side, balancing himself, and he leans over near the elemental, giving a low warning growl to the ogre, teeth shining brightly in the dim lighting. "-if you have half a brain" blares out from the jukebox, and Andy favors another menacing look down at the elemental.
  [23:12] Storyteller: The ogre seems conflicted for a moment, "Only..." he looks down at the elemental, "Only my brother calls me Mongo..." and gingerly, he starts to pick his brother up, hoisting him onto his shoulder. "And fuck any of you who try to stop me!" As he heads for the door. He could probably squeeze out without taking too much of the heat.
  [23:15] * Jack begins twitching as he watches the ogre walk out. He holds up his gun despite how desperately he is fighting himself, his finger strains on the trigger
  [23:17] * Jack Jack tries really hard, but the million dollar wound IS JUST TOO TEMPTING
  [23:18] Storyteller: A squeezed off round catches the fleeing ogre in the backside, burying itself in his flesh. He makes it a ways away despite the pain, but ends up collapsing. You can hear a group of people shouting, but can't make out any of the words as they sound like they chase off after the fleeing ogre.
  [23:18] * William "OH GODDAMNIT"
  [23:19] Storyteller: Nitara leaps down from the window, landing with a little grunt, "We need to get out! Out out out!" She looks around for an escape, "Gaaaah....exit's blocked, cops outside..."
  [23:19] * Jack looks at the Darkling. "A bee stung him! I saw it!"
  [23:20] Storyteller: "Think, Nit, think..." she mutters to herself, running her hand through the whild shock of purple hair on her head.
  [23:20] * William is very angry, the vein on his head, the neck bulging out, the red face, telling it all to the people around him
  [23:20] Andy: Andy slowly begins to prowl out after the ogre and the elemental, but the sudden gunshot draws him violently back to reality (as subjective as it may be). The taste of rocky blood in his mouth. The sharp pain in his side. The rage bleeds away and is replaced by a sudden realization of what he was about to do. "Oh god."
  [23:21] Storyteller: The flames burning on the sidewalk outside have now spread to a few small cars and a couple more trees. They obscure the street from the club entrance. You hear a firehose open.
  [23:21] Storyteller: Phsssssssssshhhhhhhhh!
  [23:22] * William shoots a glance at Andy, then Jack and then begins wondering WHAT THE HELL TO DO!
  [23:22] Andy: The Beast falls back, gracelessly, onto his ass, wincing as this sends a shock of pain through his chest. "Oh god." He backpedals on the carpet, near one of the exits. "Oh my god."
  [23:23] Storyteller: Nitara shakes her head, "Okay, the only option is to hide out in the freehold. They don't have an access card..." she pulls out a small keycard from her satchel, "But we gotta go quick or they'll hear us tearing apart the barricade!"
  [23:24] * Jack Looks at her card "OoooooooooooOOOooooo! You have a key too!" As he waves his revolver about, let's go, I'm hungry!
  [23:25] * William walks slowly to the exit, muttering about stupids and crazies
  [23:25] Andy: Andy doesn't seem to hear any of the others, going into shock. He tries to scramble to his feet and to the exit at the same time. This results in a comic mishmash of him half-rising and falling and he keeps on arm clutched tightly over his side.
  [23:25] Storyteller: Muttering, she starts picking her way towards the back, towards the stage, "Let's go. And put that gun away, if you shoot anything in there you'll be in trouble..."
  [23:26] * Jack Walks over to assist Andy. He helps him up and gives hi ma shoulder. "come on Animal Planet! We're going to go drinking!" as he takes a bottle of rum from the bar before thye head to the back where the barricade is.
  [23:27] Storyteller: The fire hose pouring out water has doused the flames on the trees and the cars, spraying away the heat on the sidewalk, dousing the flames. The small fire (that used to be a person) smoldering on the floor has gone unnoticed. Not much time to slip back now.
  [23:27] * William gets a bottle also, why the hell not
  [23:29] * William begins to run, LEAPING at the tables
  [23:30] Storyteller: Picking and throwing your way past the barricade, you make someprogress, but there are still many chairs and some cabinets in the way.
  [23:31] Andy: Andy pushes away from Jack, and numbly shuffles his way towards the barricade. He assists in moving, but from his blank state it's clear he's not entirely cognizant of the act.
  [23:31] *** William has left #PAChangeling.
  [23:32] Storyteller: The mighty Andy, with little effort, tears away at the barricade, leaving only a few chairs behind. He's really strong. Really, really strong. Not much effort needed. In fact, if he wanted to, he could probably crush a human skull to get to the tasty think-meat inside.
  [23:33] Storyteller: Grunting, Nitara works to help move some objects, she's not very strong, but she's quick and agile and light. She has a difficult time working against heavy weights, anyway, considering how little she weighs.
  [23:34] Storyteller: But, she's full of spunk and vigor, and manages to help move the last few chairs out of the way. Opening the door, she dives downstairs, "C'mon, c'mon, the locked door is down here."
  [23:36] Storyteller: Fumbling with the keycard, she flicks it through the lock a few times, opening the door at the bottom of the well, "Get in, get in you morons, and tell me what you were doing breaking into the club!"
  [23:37] Andy: Andy nods and steps through the door. "Okay," he says, monotone.
  [23:38] * Jack Nods to Keira as walks through and uncorcks the rum taking a long swig. He offers it to Andy.
  [23:38] * Jack and walks inside
  [23:41] Storyteller: As she shuts the door behind everyone, she jiggles the handle to make sure it's locked properly. She punches in a few buttons at the keypad next to the inside handle and the bright display flashes a solid block of red. "Phew...lockdown." And she spins around to face the men, "Now, tell me."

  terminal stupidity on December 2007

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  terminal stupidity Registered User regular

  December 2007 edited December 2007

  Newspaper headlines the next day read:
  

  UPSCALE NIGHTCLUB RANSACKED, BOTCHED ARSON ATTEMPT!
  2 Wounded, 1 Dead
  Suspects Apprehended

  terminal stupidity on December 2007

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  Romantic Undead Registered User regular

  December 2007 edited December 2007

  "I... I have a kid?" Bill mutters, mostly to himself. "This... this is impossible! If Liz had told me something like that, there's NO WAY I would have forgotten. I was... gone! Drinking at Duffy's is the last thing I remember! This... doesn't make sense!..
  
  "Mrs. Carmicheal, please, you have to let me see Liz, I have to talk to her, please!"

  Romantic Undead on December 2007

  3DS FC: 1547-5210-6531

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  terminal stupidity Registered User regular

  December 2007 edited December 2007

  The old lady gives a contemptible look to Bill. "You..." she starts to say something, but then just shakes her head. "Look, Bill," her eyes lose the hardness in them, but she's still suspicious, still unwelcoming. "Look..." her voice softens a bit, just a smidgeon. "I'll give you her cellphone number, and I'll tell her you're going to call her. And that you want to explain something to her. But that's it, alright?"
  
  The door closes and latches, and footsteps thump away. After a few minutes the footsteps return, and the door swings open again. She offers a slip of paper, "Now, it's my turn to host bridge club and my friends will be showing up soon, so you need to go now. And if you try anything funny, I'll tell her to call the cops."
  
  The paper has a series of numbers scrawled on it, a phone number.

  terminal stupidity on December 2007

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  Romantic Undead Registered User regular

  December 2007 edited December 2007

  Bill stares blankly at the closed door before him for a moment before shaking his head and snapping back to reality. A phone... he had to find a phone!
  
  Having been gone for the last 6 years means Bill never really caught on to the whole Cell Phone craze. Would he even be able to find a pay phone in this day and age?
  
  Clutching the piece of paper Mrs. Carmichael gave him like it was a lifeline, Bill runs back to his Escort and zooms off, on a quest to find a pay phone somewhere... anywhere.

  Romantic Undead on December 2007

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  terminal stupidity Registered User regular

  December 2007 edited December 2007

  For the time being, all that can be reached is her voicemail.
  
  The message responds, "Hi, it's Liz. I had to go out of town for a few days, I'll check my messages, but I won't promise a response until next monday."

  terminal stupidity on December 2007

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  Romantic Undead Registered User regular

  December 2007 edited December 2007

  Despondent, Bill considers leaving a message, but thinks better of it and hangs up. Things have gotten crazy... he needed to head back home... and have a chat with Sam.

  Romantic Undead on December 2007

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  terminal stupidity Registered User regular

  January 2008 edited January 2008

  OOC Explanation for this Log:

  Well, we had a lot of no-shows and some people who had to leave early.
  
  Not much happened.

  
  Playlog, Hedgedate Dec. 27th, 2007:

  [20:05] Storyteller: After a few minutes of dirty looks and frustrated sighs, Nitara walks away and whips out her phone, making a quick call. As the phone ends, she starts down one of the many tunnels that lead under the street above, leaving with the phrase, "Stay here."
  [20:06] Storyteller: And, several minutes later, returns with the darkling songbird in tow. "Alright, idiots. Explain to me what you were doing."
  [20:06] * Keira looks around at the three, a worried look on her face "What's going on? Why were the police outside? Why did I have a dream about all of you?"
  [20:07] * William "I woke up after a...nightmare, involving all persons present, plus Bill, to see that Jack and Andy were outside the nightclub, and, uhh"
  [20:08] Storyteller: Andy is sitting in the corner, seemingly sulking.
  [20:09] Storyteller: Nitara plants her hands on her hips, swelling up with frustration, looking reeeeeeeal bristly. She seems larger than normal, as if she were almost five feet tall.
  [20:10] * Jack Jack merely grins. Every now and again a seeming tic crosses his face. He simply doesn't seem capable of any kind of explanation. "Hello songbird girl!" He smiles happily.
  [20:10] Storyteller: Nitara's long, purple, curled eyebrows quirk. "Apparently, they bashed in the front door -before- the privateer attack."
  [20:11] * Keira glances at Nitara, then at Jack and William. "H-hi? Privateer attack? Are we safe?"
  [20:11] Storyteller: "...but." she adds, "I'm willing to forget to mention it to everyone else since they scared them off until the cops showed."
  [20:11] Storyteller: "Er... held them off..." she shakes her head and runs a hand through her hair. "Been a frustrating night."
  [20:13] Storyteller: "Well." the butterfly says, "The cops are out there now. I think we're safe for the time being. One of their crew is dead. Two hurt, one paralyzed. Cops arrested those two..."
  [20:13] Jack: I didn't bash in the door! That was Andy! I on the other hand used my "key" *holds up his revolver* on the lock. Far more practical.
  [20:13] * Keira glances around, then opens her mouth in an 'o' of realization. "The mirror! Is it okay? I had a dream about it, and it got broken!'
  [20:13] * William says, in a stereotypical NY accent"uhh, yeah, well, we had this dream, see"
  [20:14] Storyteller: If Nitara's eyes weren't segmented, they would be rolling in their sockets. She somehow manages to express exasperation, still.
  [20:15] Storyteller: "Look, the boss lady took the mirror and she hasn't even told her motley what it's for." she sighs, "Just that it might help find those we've lost..."
  [20:16] * Jack cocks his head to the side. "Dream?" His brow furrows in legitimate concentration. "I blacked out from the night before, but I remember........" The harder the elemental thinks the more distressed he becomes.
  [20:16] * Keira looks worried. "Maybe it was just a dream... but why would you three have been in it, then?"
  [20:17] * William "I certainly was in it"
  [20:17] Storyteller: The butterfly girl hops up on a storage crate with a little grunt, letting her legs dangle off the edge, the soft breeze from the ventilation is enough to make them sway. "I have no idea what you're talking about. But if you want to know about dreams...you need to talk to the sisters..."
  [20:18] * Jack draws his knees up to his chest and begins shaking lightly. "I remember...I remember...I remember..."
  [20:19] * Jack snaps his head over at the word "sisters"..... He looks long and hard at Nitara, his grin is gone. "Explain......."
  [20:20] Storyteller: She shrugs in response, bringing up her legs to hug them against her frame, resting her head on her knees. "Silphy and Sylphi. The elemental twins. Miranda keeps them close, though. It can be...hard to get in touch."
  [20:20] * Keira looks at Nitara, fingertips creasing her forehead. "There was a dream last night, about a banquet with food and candles and the pretty mirror, but a hand came through and hurt Jack... and then they broke the mirror..." she points at Andy, "I don't know what it means though"
  [20:22] Storyteller: "I don't know what to tell you," comes her response, "I tried to call everyone before the privateer attack. I only got in touch with him," she points to William. "Everyone else, just voice mail."
  [20:23] * William "well, Jack, uh, broke his phone while playing darts"
  [20:24] * Keira looks at William strangely. "While playing darts? How did that happen?"
  [20:24] Jack: No I didn't I *Schuyler muffles him* "Mfffrrrrmuurmm!"
  [20:25] * William "well, he, didnt have a knife on hand to play mumble-ty-peg"
  [20:26] * William "to break a tie, see"
  [20:26] * Jack grins madly as Will explains, he would interject, but dammit those pretty lights are ghosting across his vision and he'll be a monkey's uncle if he can't catch one.
  [20:26] Storyteller: One of those long eyebrows twitces in a quirk, wavering and vibrating. "And I thought Syn was maladjusted..." she mutters.
  [20:28] * Jack raises his hand! "I used to get maladjusted all the time! That's why I switched to boxer shorts!" Do you Syn and I will get along?
  [20:29] Storyteller: "Oh, right. You haven't met him yet. He doesn't really..." she pauses to consider her words, "get people. From what I can tell, his durance was in a realm of wires and machines and data...he's always fiddling with a computer..."
  [20:32] Storyteller: Nitara preens her eyebrows quickly, "Well, look. I know I won't get an explanation out of you lot. So forget it. For now." She jumps off the crate and points down a hall, "There's some free beds in the first door on the left. Hide out here for a few days and lay low, then you can go home. Alright?"
  [20:33] * Keira glances around, a little downcast, and nods "Okay."
  [20:34] * William looks around, supposedly studying the place
  [20:34] Storyteller: The butterfly girl whips out her cellphone again, "I need to make a few phone calls, and I'll try to get you in touch with the twins..." she looks down at her screen, thumb flying over the keypad. "Once Miranda talks to the cops, it should be safe for the boys to go home." she smiles, bright and genuine, up at Nitara, "But you can come crash at my place if you want. Or head back home. I'll show you the way down the tunnel if you can't remember."
  [20:35] * Jack looks at Will. "Looks like it's me you and Animal Planet in the corner.......You wanna go shot for shot with some Yaeger?"
  [20:37] * William "well, I get paranoid around cops, but if I stay, here...and then again, my apartment is right next to the night club, best to crash here, wait for the heat to cool down."
  [20:38] Storyteller: "They won't be down here, even if they are, the security doors are sealed..." is Nitara's response, called over her shoulder as she heads off with Keira in tow, once again.
  [20:38] * Keira "I'd love to stay at your house. These guys are sort of..." her voice drops to a whisper. "Weird
  [20:38] * Jack "Mmmmmm.....yes, we can have some music too." He hums something about colodas and heads over to the bar and sits down.
  [20:38] *** Keira has signed off IRC (Quit: Leaving.).
  [20:39] Storyteller: The butterfly girl laughs at that, "Get used to it, let me tell you about..." and her voice trails off as she turns around ac orner.
  [20:39] *** Jack has signed off IRC (Quit: Leaving).
  [20:39] * William "I'll stay here, but thanks" He then heads in no direction, looking for the free beds

  terminal stupidity on January 2008

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  Rainfall Registered User regular

  January 2008 edited January 2008

  So TS didn't show up tonight, and No-Quarter had some sort of food-related problem, but we went ahead and screwed around with some impromptu freeform dream-chicanery, for those of you interested in reading. Nothing much happened, but I had fun typing up dreamscapes and we got to blab a bit.
  
  Logs go here!

  (7:26:20 PM) [PA]Keira: The fog of sleep curls around your eyes, drawing you deeper into slumber, dreams stirring in your subconcious, awakening to a new night to torment you... but this is different.
  (7:26:43 PM) [PA]Keira: A monstrous black shape haunts Andy as he leaps through the steel and bramble hedge, the baying of the hounds and monstrous roars keeping him fleeing, his breath short and gasping as the hedge spreads away in front of him, giving him clear running space, a small blessing, even as his usual exits from the hedge vanish in front of him, each one blinking out of existence as he approaches.
  (7:26:51 PM) [PA]Keira: As Quiet Bill wanders through the absolutely silent cityscape, he feels one simple fact, beating inside his heart. Liz is missing. Where is she? Has she been taken by some other entity? A quiet terror and certainty fills his heart. What happened to her?
  (7:26:58 PM) [PA]Keira: William ducks through a doorway, the quiet creak of dusty tomes greeting him, and a single quiet clicking noise in the background, rythmic, never speeding or slowing, like some monstrous metallic claw, echoing throughout the massive, vaulted library that seemed to be a shallow alcove just a moment before, and still seems to be growing.
  (7:28:29 PM) ***Minigunwielder looks around, muttering
  (7:29:05 PM) ***Minigunwielder "I really Don't have time for this crap"
  (7:29:08 PM) [PA]Quiet: "Yes" Bill thinks to himself "I'll find her... and... my daughter! She's here... somewhere...."
  (7:29:19 PM) ***[PA]Quiet jogs off in a random direction
  (7:29:55 PM) [PA]Keira: A shadow flickers between the aisles, an ominous whisper echoing from further on inside the library. 'Thiiis waaay' The clicking stops for a moment as the voice sounds out, and then resumes as soon as the 'silence' returns.
  (7:30:50 PM) [PA]Keira: The streets are barren, and an odd circumstance... there's not a single door to be found. The piercing wail of a child, and a muffled sob, come from further ahead, through the early-morning fog that has settled on the streets.
  (7:31:19 PM) [PA]Andy: Andy spends a few seconds trying to tear down a strange thing of twisted glass and vines, but when he realizes it won't budge he finds bile rising in his throat again and takes off away from the noises. At least, he hopes it's away from the noises.
  (7:31:31 PM) ***Minigunwielder follows, pinching the bridge of his nose, muttering about having a good night of sleep
  (7:32:17 PM) ***[PA]Quiet rushes towards the sound of sobbing, screaming: "Liz? LIIIIIIIIIIZ!"
  (7:33:13 PM) [PA]Keira: The massive dark beast pokes its head around the brambles, glimpsing Andy, and lets loose with a terrible roar, erupting into motion and chasing after the Beast, a swarm of lesser hedge-creatures scurrying before it in a tide of razor-teeth and blackness, their claws promising not only death immediate, but death eternal as your soul is ripped to shreds.
  (7:35:07 PM) [PA]Keira: As William progresses further into the library, he notices that the books on the shelves have names in no human language, or even any language that the Fae ever seemed to use. Their titles, and even their shape, twist and morph, as if they were the ultimate enigma, impossible for anyone to solve. Improbably, around the next corner that he passes, lies a simple metal door, with the plain english word 'Reference' on it in a simple metal stamp. The only offputting thing about it is that every book in the aisle with the door seems to be reflecting the door, not unlike a mirror.
  (7:36:21 PM) [PA]Andy: Andy pants and wheezes, unsure of just how long he's been running like this. Despite the panick, there's a strange lucidness to his senses, and he's suddenly aware of the large cut on his palm, and that he's only going to be able to run for so much longer.
  (7:36:58 PM) ***Minigunwielder pokes the books, bored and only SLIGHTLY perturbed by the fact of the freaky dream reflection.
  (7:37:04 PM) ***[PA]Quiet Bursts through the fog, desperately looking for his long lost family.
  (7:37:13 PM) [PA]Keira: Bill rushes forwards, coming to the base of a gigantic skyscraper, where a large pair of double doors stand before him, surrounded by glistening panes of mirrored glass, the sobbing seeming to come from just behind them, so close to him, so very, very close.
  (7:37:53 PM) [PA]Keira: As Andy runs, the Hedge... changes, turning into a quicksilver substance that pokes and prods at him momentarily before forming into a door, a refuge for him, the roar of the hedgebeasts getting closer every moment.
  (7:38:37 PM) ***[PA]Quiet rushes towards the door, desperately trying to pry them open
  (7:39:09 PM) [PA]Keira: The books rustle quietly, the clicking speeding up in pace as William's hands brush against the books, when he finds himself standing directly in front of the 'Reference' door... in fact, surrounded by the 'Reference' door, with nothing but the door no matter where he looks.
  (7:39:14 PM) ***Minigunwielder opens the door, attempting to be silent, but realizing the futility
  (7:40:21 PM) [PA]Andy: Salvation! Or at least a momentary reprieve before he's torn to shreds. Andy drops to all fours, and mustering up what's left of his strength he leaps towards the door, bracing himself to hit it head on.
  (7:42:27 PM) [PA]Keira: The doors open easily to the Changeling's touch, seeming to suck them inside and slam behind them. Andy's dive into the door simply draws him in, leaving him in darkness for a moment before the roaring, crying, sobbing, and clicking noises all stop, replaced with a singing voice of unearthly beauty, the stacatto of heavy machinery in the background, and raspy metal cries and shrieks as a game of hunt and be hunted is played somewhere in the highest reaches of the metal labyrinth they suddenly find themselves in. The voice appears to be sourceless, but it calls them towards the center of the place they have found(please note different entry points)
  (7:45:04 PM) ***Minigunwielder wanders around, waiting for whatever the point is
  (7:45:38 PM) ***Minigunwielder sighing and muttering, but atleast his insomnia is cured by these events
  (7:45:41 PM) ***[PA]Quiet frustrated at not having made any progress, and starting to feel like he's being dragged by the nose, Bill rushes to the centre of the room and shouts loudly: "LIIIIZ!"
  (7:46:39 PM) [PA]Andy: The Beast spends a moment panting on the floor, allowing himself to catch his breath and his sweat to cool. Then he pulls himself back onto his feat, and manages to begin dragging himself along the path before him. He licks at his bloody palm, and keeps his eyes wide in case the hunt isn't over.
  (7:48:13 PM) [PA]Keira: The three changelings enter the centre of the chamber, and all the noise ceases immediately. Every surface of the area is a glistening reflective surface, and sitting in the centre of it all with one ear cocked towards the ceiling is Keira. She raises a finger to her lips and whispers loudly. "Shhh! The Voice is singing, can you hear it?"
  (7:48:56 PM) ***[PA]Quiet stares angrily at the other 3.
  (7:49:14 PM) ***Minigunwielder cricks his neck in an involuntary twitch, then listens.
  (7:49:41 PM) ***[PA]Quiet strains to hear any sign of the sobbing he heard before
  (7:50:00 PM) [PA]Andy: Andy stares at Keira. He looks around at the other Changelings. And then he realizes. "Again?" He asks lamely.
  (7:50:03 PM) [PA]Keira: None of you hear anything aside from the sounds of the other changelings, even the noise of the machinery and metal creatures seems to have vanished.
  (7:50:35 PM) ***[PA]Keira blinks for a moment and looks around. 'It's all of you again? In a dream? Why again? I don't like you!'
  (7:50:41 PM) [PA]Quiet: Why... why do I keep running into you guys? Why can't you just leave me alone?
  (7:51:17 PM) ***Minigunwielder "I blame you"
  (7:51:32 PM) [PA]Quiet: You aren't who I'm looking for. Get out of here! I have to find them!
  (7:51:36 PM) ***Minigunwielder "and you, and you, and you
  (7:51:41 PM) [PA]Andy: Andy laughs bitterly, sparing just one worried glance back at the way he came. "We're a little gathering of negatives, aren't we?"
  (7:52:02 PM) ***[PA]Keira 'Who are you looking for? Maybe the voice can help us find her? It... helped me... I think?'
  (7:52:25 PM) ***Minigunwielder 'What the hell are you talking about?"
  (7:53:05 PM) [PA]Quiet: arg, voices, dissapearing markets... metal... skin! Just... why? Why can't it all just go back to normal? I just want to go back to work and be with my family!
  (7:53:17 PM) ***[PA]Keira 'The voice! There's no way you can't have heard it... but it's quieter now.' The pale darkling looks upset. 'You're making it go away!'
  (7:53:38 PM) [PA]Andy: Andy slumps to the floor, sprawling out on his back. "In just a bit we're gonna wake up and I'll be back there, but I'm so happy to see all of you."
  (7:53:58 PM) ***Minigunwielder "And I just want to punch people in the face, run home, and tell the boss what theyve been doing, but I cant, can I?"
  (7:54:12 PM) ***[PA]Quiet stares intensely at Keira.
  (7:54:21 PM) ***Minigunwielder "besides, smoking habit probably killed him"
  (7:54:42 PM) [PA]Andy: Andy has to work hard to suppress a laugh at Schuyler's joke.
  (7:56:24 PM) ***[PA]Quiet listens through the sudden silence
  (7:56:33 PM) ***[PA]Keira Keira smiles briefly. 'Why do we keep running into each other in dreams? There must be something...' she shakes her head, losing her train of thought as she glances at the group. Something about them seems so familiar. Why?
  (7:57:30 PM) [PA]Andy: The Beast rolls onto his side, cradling his hand. "Or maybe there's nothing at all and we'd really like there to be."
  (7:58:22 PM) ***[PA]Quiet stares at Andy
  (7:58:35 PM) [PA]Quiet: There's nothing I want from any of you. And what could you possibly want from me.
  (7:58:42 PM) ***Minigunwielder "Either explanation is fine, not like we'll know for a while, so, they're both good choices"
  (7:58:52 PM) ***[PA]Keira laughs quietly. 'But you don't even like me, none of you do, none of you listened to me!'
  (7:59:33 PM) [PA]Andy: Andy looks between Bill and Keira. "I'm," he looks very confused, "sorry?"
  (7:59:54 PM) [PA]Quiet: What are you talking about?
  (7:59:59 PM) ***[PA]Keira smiles. I guess if you didn't mean it... we can be friends?
  (8:00:22 PM) ***Minigunwielder 'uhh, the mirror, probably, yeah, what the hell"
  (8:00:26 PM) ***[PA]Keira spins to look at Bill. 'In the other dream! None of you listened to me, you just broke that mirror, and it was so pretty... why did you do that? I don't understand!'
  (8:01:07 PM) [PA]Andy: Andy just blinks. "That was a turnaround." He stretches, and pulls himself up into a sitting position. "Mostly because a giant hand came out of it and hurt the crazy guy."
  (8:01:13 PM) [PA]Quiet: what, that? The mirror was what was keeping us there. Breaking it is what let us out.
  (8:01:21 PM) [PA]Quiet: Being pretty doesn't mean something can't be dangerous
  (8:01:29 PM) ***Minigunwielder "Yeah"
  (8:02:15 PM) [PA]Andy: "But mostly because a giant hand came out and tried to kill us," he reiterates.
  (8:02:39 PM) ***[PA]Keira ponders for a moment.
  (8:03:00 PM) ***[PA]Keira "Well... maybe you guys were right... but I want to know more! Why is this happening?'
  (8:03:31 PM) [PA]Andy: Andy shrugs. "It needs a reason?"
  (8:03:54 PM) [PA]Quiet: I don't know, and I don't care
  (8:03:55 PM) ***[PA]Keira 'everything has a reason, doesn't it?'
  (8:03:58 PM) [PA]Quiet: I just want it to stop
  (8:03:59 PM) ***Minigunwielder "Maybe, its happening because...They...Sporti...no"
  (8:04:53 PM) [PA]Andy: Andy shakes his head. "Nope! Something all of us here'll probably say. Or at least be examples of." He grins at Bill. "Ain't that right, motorman?"
  (8:05:17 PM) [PA]Quiet: What the hell are you talking about, shaggy?
  (8:05:40 PM) ***[PA]Keira winces, listening intently again.
  (8:06:18 PM) ***Minigunwielder "uhh, yeah, whatever delusions you have about this being a rag-tag crime fighting team..."
  (8:06:23 PM) [PA]Andy: With a grunt, Andy hops to his feet and makes his way over to Bill. "Do you think this little thing of yours," he flicks Bill's exhaust pipe, "has a reason?"
  (8:06:38 PM) [PA]Andy: He than shakes his hand. "Ow. My finger."
  (8:07:13 PM) ***Minigunwielder "I expected that"
  (8:07:33 PM) [PA]Quiet: What I think, doesn't matter. What matters is that the only people who can see it are freaks like you. As far as the rest of the world is concerned, nothing's changed
  (8:08:34 PM) ***Minigunwielder "Who are you callin' a freak?"
  (8:08:35 PM) ***[PA]Keira Keira smiles happily, and waves the others in. 'Listen! The voice is back!'
  (8:09:00 PM) [PA]Quiet: with exhasperation, Bill humour Keira
  (8:09:09 PM) [PA]Andy: Andy snorts. "You know, pots really should be careful what they say to kettles." He gives Bill a friendly punch to the arm. "Now lighten up."
  (8:09:59 PM) [PA]Keira: Sure enough, a strange, echoing, beautiful voice that sings in no human language resonates through the air, inserting meaning without words or grammar, a simple peace that casts everyone into deep, dreamless slumber with nothing more than a few notes.

  Rainfall on January 2008

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