(Bibliophile) Hollow Souls

[Trickster]

Lynn huffed turned towards Daniel in the dark. "How can you think that? We said we would get those journals and that's what we're going to do." As she spoke she was opening her satchel and feeling around inside. "Hey, can I borrow your flashlight? Mine broke or something when I tripped." She waited a moment, wincing at the glares that were probably being leveled her way. "Seriously, can I have it please?" Once it was safely in her hand, she rolled it and her's up in a bit of cloth and stuffed them deep in her satchel. "Given that part of our plan involved Marcus tracking us by listening through one of the antennas, I'm not risking the fact that HAL could be listening through the flashlights. Yes, I am that paranoid." She sighed and scrubbed at her hair.

"And I have to say, I agree. I'm not thrilled at the idea of being part of whatever HAL is cooking up. I'd feel a lot better if we 'failed' to get his journals and tried again later by negotiating with whomever is in residence. Assuming that they're willing to listen to reason. He might have downplayed that too and we're about to get our faces eaten off."

[Morgan Bellanar]

Morgan fully agreed with the two of them, nodding her head before realizing no one would see it. She hoped her whispers were loud enough for them to hear her, "T-t-t-think HAL be cra-crazy. You know, even-for-one-of-us. Our priority tis still killing the dragon, n-nada HAL's plans. A-and don't think we ssshould make new enemies with hisss creations if avoidable."

Morgan rummaged in her bag, pulling out a large chemical break light and a flashlight. Stepping over to Lynn to whisper, "T-two options. If flashlight-listen ye fear, just-t-t-t snap the ssstick, heh. I've extras," She placed the flashlight and a industrial glowstick into Lynn's hand before stepping back. She'd also kept one stick in hand in case she needed light herself.

She then turned to where she thought Degnar might be, "Um, nada-yet able to inquire to-to ye Degnar. Buuuut, heh-heh, why was HAL kicked out-o-da Freehold? I mmmean he got kicked out b-b-by his own creations too. Imma Beast," there was a thump as Morgan patted herself on the chest, "Sssso smarts can be tough, but even I can-n-n-n recognize a pattern."

[Degnar]

Degnar listened to the others as they spoke, remaining silent and observant of his surroundings as they discussed how to proceed. Eventually, he nodded in agreement to what was said. "I think we could still retrieve the journals, but instead of handing them off to HAL, we could present them to the Freehold's monarchs," said the Darkling to his companions. "They can decide how to best make use of them, or store them away somewhere...or destroy them." Obviously, his preference would be to destroy the journals, as to eliminate the threat they presented within their pages.

"Unfortunately, I do not know the reasons for HAL's banishment," he said in response to Morgan. "However, I'm certain Queen Byeli could answer that question. It is possible Terri or Rick may know as well, since they were both members of the 'hold long before I arrived." The Tunnelgrub offered a nonchalant shrug after saying those words.

"My suggestion would be to retrieve the journals in any way we can, and use a different door to exit this Hollow," he said to the other Changelings. "Once we've done that, we could speak with Queen Byeli and inform her of the situation. Perhaps she could advise us on how to best handle HAL, and acquire the book from him...without having to hand over the journals to him." Once he had finished speaking, Degnar looked around at the others, wondering whether they would agreed with such a plan.

[Daniel Leto]

Daniel conceded the point to Lynn, though felt a twinge of annoyance at her chiding. Considering she had casually confirmed Gianna's identity as their backer, he felt it a little hypocritical for her to be lecturing. He didn't say anything though since this didn't seem the place.

"I don't think HAL would have led us to far off track in his recommendations for dealing with the things in his Hollow. He has an interest in seeing us succeed," that of course assumed he wasn't just toying with them but Daniel was fairly certain HAL wanted the journals.

Daniel smiled sadly at Morgan's subtle self deprecation. She really needed to learn to give herself more credit. He was disappointed that even their most experienced member didn't know the story behind the banishment. A slight objection to the Archer's plan also need to be made.

"That sounds alright. Stopping what HAL's planning is nice, although the Blues may beat us to it. However, Morgan's right. The journals are not the necessarily the primary goal here. Finding information about Fairweather is. From our talk with HAL it sounds like he thinks what we need is a book that he could give us. However, Gianna seemed to think what we needed was already in his library. Now she might have meant that the journals could be used to get the book but that seems like something she would have mentioned." Then again Gianna played close to the chest. He remember the piecemeal way she'd fed them information. Still something like this seemed pretty big not to have told them. Although, there was the chance her information was simply inaccurate or old.

[Trickster]

Lynn shrugged, then realized a moment later that the movement was wasted in the near complete darkness. "Either way, our first step is going to be either sneaking past the automatons here, or working some sort of deal with them. Shall we see what that leads to and then figure out where to go from there? Seems to me this might be a horse before cart situation. Or maybe counting eggs before they're hatched." She shifted her weight a bit. "So, shall we go meet the things that kicked the Dread Lord out of his own home?"

[Morgan Bellanar]

Well, it sounded like they had a plan...sort of. "Understand the plan. Sssso open door with sneaks stay sneaky, t-t-talkers say h-h-h-greetings. Things go bad, I aim f-f-f-for da eyes." Morgan had seen Terminator, so she guessed an automaton would be tough to hurt. But a blinded foe is easier to flee from.

An good idea occured to her, "Uh, afore open door, d-d-does primary diplomat, Lynn or Daniel, w-w-wish for sssome contract-luck-help with persuasion? Uh, Hearth heh-help t-that is?" Morgan wasn't good at diplomacy, but she could give those that were a little extra luck with her contract.

If either Daniel or Lynn agree, Morgan is willing to spend give them the benefit of Favored Fate. Otherwise she will continue trying to be a ninja raccoon.

[Trickster]

Lynn grinned a bit in the dark. "Morgan, I will accept any and all help you can offer in this."

[Morgan Bellanar]

Lynn will feel a brief touch of someone's hand on her elbow before a contract activates, causing good fortune to flow into the fiddler.

Morgan spends one Glamour to activate Favored Fate upon Lynn. Lynn's next dice roll ges a +4 bonus.

[Daniel Leto]

Daniel preferred to keep their luck in reserve for emergencies, he didn't ask for Morgan's blessing. Instead he activated his own contract that he'd used before they had entered the Hedge. The taste of ash and honey filled his mouth.

"Ready when you are," he said.

Activated Sight of Truth and Lies, -1 glamour

  

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2015-03-18 13:14:45		Daniel Leto rolls 3 to Wyrd+Subt (10 Again)		10, 1, 10, 9, 1		3 successes

[Trickster]

Hey Degnar , you still with us?