Broken Freehold Common Ground

[Evelynn East]

Evelynn stumbled and nearly fell when she stepped through the gate, having never before experienced the exceedingly strange sensation of having gravity change direction like that. It was, truly, a miracle that she didn't pop through the gate and fall flat on her back.

Once she managed to right herself, however, she found herself feeling intensely uncomfortable, like she was privy to some private pain that she shouldn't see. It was that same feeling as witnessing a stranger's heartbreak, multiplied tenfold. But, at the same time, she was here for a reason and she knew it was worth more than the discomfort. She steeled herself against it, pushing it down inside, and instead forced herself to look around with the eyes of the logical inventor. There would be time for mourning and coming to terms with the death here later. For now, there was a job to do.

She looked up at L'aire's question, her lips twitching. "Well, the plan is to reclaim the area, right? There's plenty of work to be done, but I suppose we should start by determining whether it's possible. And we should probably make sure nothing else has moved in..." she suggested, her voice quiet and surprisingly level, given that her legs were trembling with nerves.

[Malcolm Green]

Green entered the Hedge last of all, having waited for the dust (figurative and literal) to settle (on him). The Gate required some effort as he not only had to squeeze his huge form through it, but struggle to orient himself once he reached the Hedge proper. The lumbering dance he made was quite comical.

The look on the mountain's face indicated he didn't quite see the humorous side.

With both feet finally and firmly planted on the ground, Green began looking for signs of immediate danger.

[Daniel Leto]

Daniel had hoped for things to be a little more intact but the Hedge would reclaim its own.

"We'll stay close to the Gate. This isn't a Hedge expedition. Spread out a little. Check if the immediate area is safe or there's anything salvageable from the old Commons. Once we do a cursory inspection, we'll take a vote whether it's worth trying to rebuild here. In case of a tie, we'll err on the side of caution and leave things be." They could start building at the site L'aire indicated if that was the case.

Daniel breathed in to steady himself and left took the first step toward one of the bushes with red flowers. They came in a conical bunch, almost like lilacs. Around him the saw grass bit at his ankles and the brush grazed his skin. They felt they were pulling at... something. Not just his socks or his clothes, but something ephemeral. The gravewight did his best to lay his worries to rest.

He began examine the shrub, starting at its base. It didn't seem to be rooted to deep. The leaves looked dried out and withered, though whether that was normal or because of the prolonged drought California had been experience was beyond him. Maybe they would be easy to clear? However, as his hand reached a fire red bloom, when his finger tips touched it the entire arm felt like it was suddenly on fire. Daniel screamed and fell backward as he scrambled back, wading through the Hedge brush until he was back in the clearing.

It took a couple breaths to get calm again. The arm was red and sunburnt. Some of the skin was peeling and it felt pretty close to blistering. Other than that it seemed okay, aside from being tender.

"I'm okay. Just be careful of flowers, they burn you," he said gravely.

  1 success

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2016-01-05 03:14:33		Daniel Leto rolls 6 to Wits+Comp (10 Again)		2, 6, 4, 10, 2, 3, 4		1 success

OOC: Wit+Comp or (if your Occult score is higher than two) Int+Occult to assess the immediate area for danger. Describe what in particular you're focusing on. Fair warning, examining almost anything closely will mean leaving the small area of burnt grass around the Hedge Gate. This will count as 'Leaving the Path'.

Daniel takes 2 bashing from the flower and loses 1 glamour.

[Evelynn East]

Evelynn scanned the area, looking for something that might give a better idea of the state of the grounds. With cautious, almost skittering motions that made her look ready to bolt back towards the door at any moment, she began to approach the steel girders...

  1 success

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2016-01-06 03:29:40		Evelynn rolls 5 to Wits+Comp (10 Again)		5, 8, 1, 3, 6		1 success

... when Daniel let out his shout of pain. She nearly jumped out of her skin, leaping backwards and almost directly into Green in the process, and then whirled, her bright eyes wide. "Daniel?! What happened?!" She crossed the space towards him, her nose wrinkling slightly in concern when she saw the burn and heard his explanation about the flowers. There wasn't much she could offer in terms of aid, so she shifted back and forth, her weight bouncing between the balls of her feet in agitation at her inability to help, then turned her attention back to the steel girders. If she'd looked like a frightened animal about to bolt before, it was nothing compared to how nervous she seemed on the second approach.

She paused, halfway to her target, and stuck her tongue out, pulling a pencil out of her bag and holding it out in front of her in the vain hope that if the steel was dangerous, it might at least give her some warning about the kind of danger if she poked it with an object instead of her finger.

[Malcolm Green]

Since taking the Motley Oath, Green had found a few things easier. Understanding the Hedge and other general weirdness was one of those things. It wasn't that he knew more; rather, it was he found his knowledge so much more malleable and easier to manipulate in his mind. Playing mental gymnastics now gave him an edge where before all it would do was make him stall, stop, and think - far too slowly.

"Yeah. Be careful," he suggested belatedly. "Hedge reacts to emotion... So I dunno. I guess the sheer shock of what happened here could have, you know, frozen things in strange ways. Yeah. And just be careful you don't pull something so hard you bring the walls down on us. The place was burned out, yeah?"

He's not entirely keeping up with the group. Instead he is moving in a slow circle around them, checking what is left of the old Court Commons with a practiced eye. A builder once, and a builder again after his Durance, the mountain is more concerned with the integrity of the ruined Hollow: the place might have survived Fairweather's onslaught; it might have endured the ruination and neglect of the years; but that didn't mean it could stand up to a group of Changelings wandering through it, poking around.

The others were better suited to finding salvage.

"So far so good, huh? Now... Yeah? Yeah. The supports are still good. Here at least." He mused to himself, his voice rumbling.

[Daniel Leto]

As Evelynn approached the girder, it looked almost like it was growing out of the ground. The vines that grew at it's base made it almost look like it had roots. A second beam riveted at an angle to form a triangle near the bottom enhanced the branching illusion. The rust almost looked bark in spots, like the Hedge was actually trying to convert the beams into trees. And yet underneath where the red-brown material flaked, the metal shone silver-white just under the surface. Like dried blood had been chipped away to reveal pale bone.

That's what Green saw from his pacing. Bones. The walls and wards had all but fallen. The throne was no where to be seen. All that was left was a skeleton frame and even that didn't fully enclose the area, leaving sky unobstructed. Still, not all was hopeless. If the steel was good it could provide a sturdy foundation and would mean less need to bring in material from the mortal world. Most of the trees were fire scarred and probably unsafe but could offer building materials. The oak, despite its deformity, looked newly grown and sturdy. Assuming of course it didn't hide dangers of its own.



"When I touched the flowers... it felt like my arm was on fire," he explained while examining the red skin. "Honestly though, I think I'm okay." He flexed his fist a couple times. It hurt some but it didn't feel like there was anything more than superficial damage.

He got up on his 'good' arm.

"Alright, so final vote. What do you guys think?" Daniel asked "Even with my... accident, I still say yes. Now that we know to not touch the flowers, they can be avoided. They might even offer some protection during the initial establishing of the Hollow."

[Malcolm Green]

Bit belated but I had better add for completeness -

  

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2016-01-07 02:51:46		Green investigates a ruined Hollow rolls 6 to Intelligence + Occult + Boon (10 Again)		1, 1, 9, 2, 9, 6		2 successes

The roll I forgot to include in my post - gah!

[Evelynn East]

Evelynn glanced back as Malcolm spoke, then Daniel asked his question. She was feeling a little more confident that the steel girders weren't going to attack her, at least, and had relaxed slightly. "I vote yes, too," she called, her voice only growing loud enough to ensure that she was heard. The hush and danger of the place still made her uncomfortable. Turning her attention back to the steel, she began to pick away at the rust covering the metal with her pencil, revealing more of the shiny steel underneath.

  1 success

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2016-01-08 12:19:59		Evelynn rolls 7 to checks the steel (Int+Crafts) (10 Again)		3, 1, 3, 9, 7, 6, 3		1 success

She spent a moment inspecting the structure of the girder, then nodded resolutely and picked her way back to the Path. "I think, assuming there are no surprises hiding under the rust anywhere, that these could still be used for supports. And even if there are spots where there's unexpected damage, there's nothing to say we couldn't just reuse the steel. Either way, it's promising."