Broken Freehold Common Ground

[Evelynn East]

Evelynn smiled, pleased that the others seemed to like at least parts of the idea.

She swallowed hard as the others decided now was the time to act, and steeled her nerves against the butterflies that had started to explode in her stomach. "Right. Okay. So, um... How do we get in?" she asked softly, clutching at her bag again. She knew a little about how to get into the Hedge. "I mean, um, we should try to get to the old Door, right? Or what's left of it. Which means going in... there?" She pointed at the closed-off site. "Which is, you know, a little... trespassy. Not that I mind, just, um, I've never done that before," she admitted, trying to excuse how nervous she suddenly looked. And while there was some truth to the idea that she was nervous about sneaking onto the site, more of it was the result of discomfort at the idea of going to a place full of such death.

Graveyards tended to make Evelynn feel... weird. Empty bodies given reverence, in respect to the souls that had once held them, but had always struck her as somehow uncomfortable. Respect to an empty vessel that was no longer the person you loved. She couldn't decide if going to a place of violence would be worse. She supposed she'd have to see.

[Malcolm Green]

The mountain's big head swivelled slightly.

"Yeah..." the words oozed from his lips and slunk along the ground like the tule fog that the Central Valley was renowned for.

The mountain moved with a surprising speed and subtleness, given his hulking height and girth; he blended easily with the alternating pattern of light and shadow along the fence's length. One minute, he was standing among them. Then he was in shadow. Then he was, quite innocently, standing by the fence in a pool of light. It was hard enough to see what he was doing, so innocent were his movements - the results were anything but...

He stood nonchalantly by the gap L'Aire had identified - a gap that had now increased to a space big enough to fit them all.

Green affected boredom while he waited for something to happen... in the opposite direction to the group and the "hole" in the fence.

  

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2015-12-19 22:54:05		Green to tinker... rolls 5 to Wits + Crafts (10 Again)		5, 9, 5, 5, 9		2 successes
2015-12-19 22:53:05		Green to be sneaky rolls 6 to Wits + Stealth + Pledge bonus (10 Again)		1, 8, 10, 3, 10, 4, 1, 5		3 successes
2015-12-19 22:51:57		Green to notice things rolls 4 to Wits + Composure (10 Again)		1, 3, 9, 10, 4		2 successes

[Daniel Leto]

L'aire noticed a slight gap in the fence where the ply of the wood had warped ever so slightly . Enough so that the sheet stuck out a from the fence enough to get a grip on to, if not necessarily enough to squeeze through. With the Mountain's attention that change quickly enough. All it took was a couple quiet steps and there was a soft whooshing, groaning noise. It was so casual that it took a moment to register. Green was leaning against the fence, holding open a large gap in the planks that could be squeezed through. He, himself, might still have a tough time but he was a giant after all.

OOC

Daniel, L'aire, and Evelynn can fit through no problem, so long as Green holds open the fence. Green needs a Dex+Athletics (2 successes) to squeeze through the gap quietly. Teamwork is applicable (see Core p 134). Roll Str+Athlethics

Daniel for a moment looked around for what Sasha had seen and somehow in that time, the mountain man had seen and expanded on the gap. The gravewight hurried forward perhaps a little too enthusiastically. He, after all, had no problem entering graveyards. The fence screeched as the Darkling pushed his way through and once inside he put his back against it to help let others in. For what little it did. Off in the distance a dog start barking at the sound.

  Failure on stealth and teamwork

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2015-12-20 04:14:22		Daniel Leto rolls 1 to Str+Ath-untrained (10 Again)		3		failure
2015-12-20 04:11:28		Daniel Leto rolls 5 to dex+stealth+darkness specialty (9 again Blessing) (9 Again)		3, 7, 3, 5, 7		failure

Though he had little time to observe the landscape inside, before him stretched a pile of rubble and rebar. A flat path circumnavigated the site and on it were two construction vehicles; an excavator and a vehicular jack hammer. In the center of the site was a large pile of concrete and dust. Even now, the smell of glamour clings to the remains. Burning fear, scalding desperation, and smokey hope still settled around the ruins of the Four Seasons like dying embers.

Seeing the grave of drywall and wood for the first time, Daniel despaired a little. How could they hope to find a gate in all this?

However, with a steady breath he pushed harder against the fence to let the others in. After all, if any in the group could speak with stone there was still chance. And if all else failed, there would undoubtedly be ghosts buried here that Daniel might be able to convince to help them.

[Evelynn East]

Evelynn followed the others over to the hole in the fence Green made, and slipped through. Once on the other side, she grabbed hold of the fence alongside Daniel and pulled to help Green fit through.

She yanked and the fence gave a lot more easily than she expected, drawing a surprised gasp and making the fence creak loudly at her, despite her attempts to stay quiet.

  unexpected success on teamwork, failure on stealth

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2015-12-21 15:09:44		Evelynn rolls 6 to be vewy vewy quiet... (Dex+Stealth+Spec) (10 Again)		4, 5, 2, 1, 4, 3		failure
2015-12-21 15:08:40		Evelynn rolls 3 to Help open the fence (Str+Ath) (10 Again)		9, 6, 9		2 successes

She ducked her head, wincing slightly, and shot an embarrassed smile at Daniel, whispering, "Sorry!"

[Malcolm Green]

"Let me try, first. Yeah?" Green rumbled quietly. Then winced.

Taking one last glance about the street, the big Elemental turned back to the fence - or more specifically, the hole in it. He moved slow, slower even than his usual pace as he laid his feet and hands with care on concrete, wood, metal and mesh. It took an age as the frowning giant moved with subtle movements, squeezing through the opening made wider here and there by a well positioned hand and foot. As he moved through the gap, the fence fell back into place behind him.

  

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2015-12-22 01:07:55		Green for Teamwork getting through fence rolls 11 to Dexterity + Athletics + Teamwork (10 Again, WillPower)		10, 6, 2, 4, 1, 5, 9, 2, 2, 3, 6, 1		2 successes

When the last pieces of mesh fell back into place, Green sucked on a bruised and burned thumb.

"So. What now?" The elemental's voice was thick and his narrowed eyes burned.

[Evelynn East]

Evelynn had to suppress a giggle. This was exciting! Her nerves had drained away, to be replaced with the same faintly taboo jitteriness that she remembered getting that one time she sneaked into an R-rated movie when she was 15 with a group of high school friends. It was about the most illegal thing she'd done, before being taken by the Lord of Storms. Her instincts wanted to stay out of sight, so she ended up taking cover in Green's enormous shadow as the group decided what to do next.

It was the first time Evelynn had gotten a chance to take a proper look at the destruction around them, and she frowned, suddenly taken by sadness. And also uncertainty. How were they going to open the door to the hedge if the actual, physical door wasn't even there anymore? She looked up at Green when he asked his question, and then her eyes flickered over to Daniel. She assumed he had some kind of plan, since this was his idea... Right?

[Daniel Leto]

"Now we try to find an entrance like a door or window frame. I'm not sure what the old entrance was," he glanced at Green and L'aire. If anyone knew what to look for they would "Knock; see if it opens to the Hedge. Don't try to force it though. We don't need to create a new entrance." Daniel wasn't entirely sure how Hedge geography worked. They might end up 'close' to the old Commons but the group wasn't prepared for an expedition, even a short one. If they could find an old entrance in the rubble, though, then maybe they could move the door to a new location.

Daniel moved forward to the pile of cement and wood debris.There was of course the option he hadn't included. Summon the ghosts of the dead to help them search. For now though, Daniel left that in reserve. Searching a grave was enough without waking the inhabitants unnecessarily.

OOC

Make a Wits+Comp-3 roll. Those with Hedge Gate Sense can also roll Wits+Wyrd

[Malcolm Green]

"Right then," Green responds, one huge hand scratching the back of his neck as he surveys the devastation.

Grunting, the big Elemental chooses a corner of the site still holding some semblance of the hotel's former grandeur. He heads off, slowing his walk even further as he disappears into the ruination redolent with the feeling of urban gothic. From the annoyed sounds drifting spookily across the space, it is clear his search does not go well.

  

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2015-12-25 05:23:57		Green hunts for Gates! rolls 4 to Wits + Composure -3 (10 Again, WillPower)		1, 6, 7, 3		failure