(PrP) Nightmare At Large, Pt. 3

[InvertedMonkey]

Apologies for the delay. Technical issues.

  Resisting: 1 success

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2015-11-04 14:56:19		The Sandman rolls 9 to Resist Persuasion (10 Again, WillPower)		3, 1, 4, 9, 5, 2, 6, 2, 3		1 success

Lynn's oratory is successful. She'll get the details she needs by the end of the scene, but I'm going to try to make this a little more... interesting.

"Husband, was it?" She hisses with relish as Lynn starts into her pitch. The little ghost girl in the yellow dress, half shadow and half smoke, begins drifting through the air, starting to circle Lynn the way a predator might circle prey. Behind her, she lunges forward, plunging one hand, suddenly a stark and clawed appendage, through Lynn's throat. It passes through the Steward without resistance, and all she can feel is a chill wind where the intangible appendage passes, no harm having come to her. The little girl withdraws her hand, normal fingers again, and examines it, snarling in frustration.

She tilts her head towards Lynn, though, unable to stop listening, if only with one ear. She turns towards Ava, where she splashes and panics, and giggles in delight as she retreats. "Yes. I know what you're afraid of. If only..." She turns back to Lynn, mirth fading, even as the minstrel finally makes her offer, and her demand. "If only you people hadn't killed me," she hisses, rage filling her expression. Her hands ball into fists, and fire seems to burn behind her eyes, "You idiots! You fucking idiots! You have no idea what you've done!" She raises a foot and stamps it down into empty air, yet Green and Lynn both feel a soft thump of pressure in their chest cavities. The girl at least appears not to have noticed. "I was so close, and you've ruined my work! Ruined my work and killed me! I was so close! Every day I was getting closer. If you would have just left me alone I might know by now! And you," she leans back, expression disgusted and haughty as she hovers higher, over Lynn, literally looking down her nose at the steward. "You don't even know. You don't even understand... And now you want all that I have left, and everything I've learned."

She is silent for several long, eerie moments. Deep in thought, but her angry gaze still directed at Lynn. "I hate you," she says at last. "I hate you. I hate you! I HATE YOU!" She leans forward and bellows "I HATE YOUUUUU!" Her face mere inches from Lynn's. She's breathing heavily, narrow-pupiled eyes locked on Lynn's, "... You want their names? Fine. But names have power. I'll give them all to you... If you give me yours. Your true name, and the name of this one," she leans back, displaying her chest, where a phantom copy of Coco's sword has appeared, embedded in her ghostly flesh.

OOC

All color-changes are deliberate.

Green's investigation yields nothing of interest. Nothing beyond a can of dog food. The soft, wet kind. Who was this for? The Sandman himself, or his canine?Meanwhile, the water continues to slowly rise. It's beginning to spill out of the cavern and into the Hedge proper beyond, through which the light is shining.

[Lynn Mills]

Lynn grinned, teeth bared in a savage smile, voice rising a bit to be heard clearly over the falling water. "My true name? You won't even wear your true face." She gestured at the pathetic corpse at her feet. "You think I can't hear it? Your true voice, trying to break through that mask you're wearing?" She shifted her feet slightly, wary of slipping in water that was reaching thigh high. "And as for hate." She laughed harshly. "I'm chained to my husband's bones. You can't possibly hate me more than I hate myself when I look in the mirror."

"Now you're right. Names have power. But so does memory. And without my help, you'll be nothing more than a bad dream, one that will eventually fade away and be forgotten. If you want to bargain, fine. We'll bargain. But I don't bargain with somebody else's coin." She pointed in Coco's general direction. "I'm not one of Them."

"If you want something, it will be between you and me."

[Coco]

Coco came fording along beside Ava, not nearly as graceful now that the waters had risen, though not in danger of slipping. Her cane might have proved an able aid in navigating such a slippery floor, but Coco wasn't keen on submerging any part of her treasured, treasured instrument in hedgey sugar water and held it up, close to her chest, as though it were a treasured pet to be kept safe.

"You educate that wretch, Ava," Coco muttered as she came to a stop at the Archivist's side.

  1 success to walk upright

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2015-11-07 12:39:34		Coco! rolls 7 to the unwater logged wasp (dex4+ath3) (10 Again)		4, 8, 6, 2, 2, 7, 6		1 success

[Malcolm Green]

"Nothing here."

Green's voice echoed across the watery chamber.

"Guess we can go. Is this normal?" The giant was already moving, hand gesturing to the rising water.

  

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2015-11-07 17:18:19		Green to escape watery embrace rolls 6 to Dexterity + Athletics - 2 (10 Again, WillPower)		4, 1, 2, 5, 7, 6		failure
2015-11-07 17:17:15		Green to keep his footing rolls 3 to Dexterity + Athletics - 2 (10 Again)		2, 2, 3		failure

And then he was gone.

Green did not slip gracefully beneath the waves. When mountains fall, the seas roar and tremble. This was no different. The waters surged in the tight confines of the cave, leaving a gurgling whirlpool where the mountain had stood. Waves foamed and churned as something big flailed ceaselessly but with little purpose...

[InvertedMonkey]

The little girl in the yellow dress crosses her arms and lifts her chin. "I am many things," she tells Lynn, "Or I was before you all MURDERED MEEEE!" She screams. "Why the fuck would I care about you, or what fucking story you'll tell! You'll tell whatever fits your own stunted world-view, you ignorant asshole! If you gave a single rat's ass about me or my story, you wouldn't have FUCKING KILLED ME!"

She wheels on Ava as she approaches, "AND YOU!" She screams, accusing and condemning. Unaware that the Scrivener cannot see and hear her, she gets right up in Ava's face, "You lead them here you bitch! I could've solved everything if it weren't for you! WHY COULDN'T YOU JUST LEAVE ME ALOOOONE!" She screams, rearing and pulling at her own hair.

She drifts upwards and backwards, floating there for a moment, head tilted towards the ceiling. Her lips move. Whispered strings of numbers, strange and lyrical phrases. "If I just knew. If I just knew..." Her breathing calms. No, stills. Ghosts don't need to breathe. Any movement of her corpus was just the shadow of a muscle-memory. She draws her hands away from her hair and looks down at Lynn,

"I. Want. You...

"To hurt."

She bares her teeth as she snarls those words. "I never killed anyone, you know. I never really hurt anyone. Nobody was ever going to get hurt again. Not like I was. Not like we were." She composes herself, again floating down to Lynn's level. "You have nothing that I want," She enunciates carefully, "You hateful cretin. NOTHING! Understand? And I want you to know, if there's a way back, I'll find it. I'll find it, and come for you all," she lifts her gaze, scanning from one Changeling to another. "But in the meantime, I'll give you what you want. Because it will hurt you. My work. The work I couldn't finish because of you. The work that could've meant so much, and because of you, it means nothing."

The names come. They're not always complete names, and not always truthful names. Sometimes they're more like descriptions, of psyche more than body. All of the children whom originally fell to the candy-coma, plus over a dozen more.

[Lynn Mills]

Lynn stared back, unmoved as the ghost wearing the face of a little girl ranted and threw a tantrum. When she started giving names, Lynn repeated them, just loud enough that everybody could hear. She didn't move as Malcom slipped, churning the water in an effort to get back on his feet. Much as she might want to help him, she didn't have time. Instead she focused every ounce of energy on memorizing the names and descriptions she was getting.

When the girl was finally done, Lynn bared her teeth is a vicious smile. "Your hate means absolutely nothing to me. I couldn't care less about your tantrums and you can try coming back as much as you like. We'll kick your ass again and send you to whatever hell exists for twisted monsters like you. You're dead and gone and nobody will care." She glanced down at the corpse again and looked around the group. "We got what we came for. I think it's time to leave." Turning, she started carefully moving through the water, keeping close to the walls. Maybe it was the relief of knowing that the quest was over or that they could finally leave this forsaken Hallow, but she didn't seem to have any problems moving.

"Have fun watching your corpse rot."

  5 successes

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2015-11-11 21:36:28		Lynn Mills rolls 4 to move through the water [Dex(3) + Athletics (1)] (10 Again)		10, 10, 9, 2, 10, 7, 9		5 successes

[Malcolm Green]

  

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2015-11-12 21:03:44		Green to escape watery embrace rolls 5 to Dexterity + Athletics - 3 (penalty and second attempt) (10 Again, WillPower)		2, 3, 8, 7, 4		1 success
2015-11-12 21:02:45		Green to escape watery embrace rolls 3 to Dexterity + Athletics - 2 (10 Again)		7, 4, 5		failure

The mountain had fought sea once before, in Faerie. This battle was no less spectacular, if on a smaller scale. Eventually, as before, the giant emerged from the seething waves, hacking and spluttering. He all but crawled out of the cave, not trusting his legs.

[Coco]

"What can I say?" Coco replied to the Scrivener with a flash of white enamel. "I'm most skilled at just getting to the point."

A sharp laugh echoed in the wake of the pun, making mockery of the sorrowful scene which they left behind.

  2 successes to leave with head held high and dry!

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2015-11-12 21:20:53		Coco! rolls 7 to Leave this dank place! (dex4+ath3) (10 Again)		3, 1, 10, 10, 7, 3, 4, 6, 6		2 successes

Good to exit!