Fall Discussions

[Morgan Bellanar]

"Sup Milo!" she returned his excited greeting with equal zeal. Though it faded at the inquiry about Mr Griffin. Morgan wasn't aware of any problems with him. But she'd also not seen him in a while. Oh, Mhairi was the new girl's (possibly a challenger to Morgan' biggest babbler title) name. And she'd yet to meet Morgan? Which meant the Beast hadn't forgotten a name again, yay!

The raccoon sighed in relief, "Good. Um, Godo-good to meet ye Mhairi, heh-hi to ye too. And heh-hope this," she waves her hand around at the Hollow. But that isn't what she is indicating, "stuff-happenings nay cause ye worry. We've b-b-been through worse stuff." she nodded her head at this. It was true of the Freehold, and probably of them all as individuals. "And heh-hath plenty of smart-smart folks heh-here too," her eyes moved towards Ava and Terri as she said that.

With a smile, Morgan turned and walked walked towards the seated duo and joined them on a pew, "T-t-thank ye Ava, Terri. Um, Nathan?" They say speak of the devil and he may appear. Mr. Griffin seemed to add the caveat of a hangover. "Nathan ssseems fine to me, heh,"

She then eyed the stew and sniffed at the air. Food, goblin fruit tincture, or laundry? Another sniff and she shook her head Not laundry. And then raised a hand to ask a question. As usual her tone was nervous: "Query I m-make please? Tis the cauldron's contents composed of norman consumables oro-or gob-gob-fruit? J-just asking."

[Milo Chernobog]

"A pleasure to meet you Mhairi." Milo said, unperturbed by the Elemental's mesmerizing gaze. "Welcome to the Commons of the Autumn Court, for anything else it maybe."

His shoulders twitched up in a shrug after that last part. While he had hoped Nathan would be here for the conversation, he grudgingly nodded in acknowledgement when Terri suggested moving forward without him. Then he arrived, and while Milo couldn't say he knew the Hunterheart's mannerisms as well as some others, he was noticeably off. What exactly it was, he decided not to dwell on.

"So straight down to business then?" He asked looking to Terri and Ava. He object to it, in fact he preferred it for this conversation. "I think we have a few major issues to discuss. Ms Jason's departure doesn't just leave us without a sovereign, it leaves the Commons defenseless and Edna's without a true manager."

Eyes stopped scanning the group, looking back towards Edna's for a fleeting second before returning to his fellow Courtiers.

"Should the Sovereign continue to be responsible for those things? And obviously, who should lead our Court? I'd like to volunteer for the position, but I feel like we should talk about what we want from it as a court and as individuals before we start trying to put someone into those shoes."

[Mhairi Ankaa]

"Uh-Thanks." she squeaks when Milo addresses her, her face flushing.

The her fell-flames are drawn to another 'ling's entrance. This was probably their missing Autumn. More then probably.

Mhairi nodded after Morgan question about the stew. Her tummy was growl-y but, she wanted to know just what she was putting into her body first.

After Milo finished speaking, Mhairi was about to offer to make up lists about all the things that they as a Court needed to get done, but thought against it. Ava was the Lady Scrivener, and the Archivist of the 'hold. She might think that Mhairi was infringing on her position if the elemental did that. Instead Mhairi says, "Yes. That-ah sounds...good. The figuring out what we-" it was very nice to be a 'we' again. "want for Autumn, and uh-the other things..." Mhairi trails off, face flushing.

[Lesingnon]

“Betony Rue was also the only sovereign who’s run the Boarding House. And Ava’s right, she ran it long before she wore the crown. I was always connected to her, as opposed to the Sovereign. The two just became one and the same in time.” It was almost as if talk of exploring the Hedge had summoned him. He even spoke from the doorway that lead out into those tangled thorns.

His mantle made itself known not long after his words announced his presence. Even when Rick was trying to keep a hold of it the mantle was powerful enough, and its storm winds wild enough, to make its presence felt.

And though the Freehold’s population had shifted a bit in his absence, the Leaden Mirror itself seemed to have been pretty stable. It seemed that no one had left, Terri had returned, and there was just one face he didn’t recognize. All in all a nice thing to see.

“Sorry I’m a bit late, the paths I use shifted a bit while I was away.”

[Terri Nutkins]

As if on cue, materialising at mention of his name, Terri looked round as Nathan stumbled in and she couldn't help but grin as he said hi. The Hunterheart had always been friendly enough to her and even though Terri hadn't yet had the opportunity to get to know him better, he had the air of someone reliable.

Morgan's question about the stew brought a shrug and a conspiratorial wink towards her Steepscrambler cousin. ”Not a clue, I was just stirring it. Although, pretty much anything that goes into the gruel pot comes out edible so I'm sure it'll be fine. If you’re worried,” Terri teased as she turned to look to Mhairi, ”just close your eyes and think of chicken, or peanut butter.”

Business then. Terri listened and nodded at the good points raised, crossing her delicate legs as she did so. From what she knew, either Ava or Milo would make good Sovereigns, in their own way but before she spoke of anything else, she raised a hand politely, waiting her turn. The voice of Rick arriving caused a stir in her mantle, as it always did and she sent him a wink before moving on to what she was about to say.

”Ok, let me just come out and say from the beginning, I have no interest in running for the Sovereign position, and as I adopt what Ava has said about there being no secrets in our Commons, then perhaps I should expand.” Pausing for a moment and giving Ava a nod at mention of her request for an open forum, Terri tried to find a place to start.

”Last year, I desired nothing more than to take the title, to remove Betony from her place; I even told the Spring Court what I wanted at the Rose Garden when the seasons changed. As it happens, Coco wanted to become my campaign manager in fulfilling my desire but in the process, I lost sight of what was really important. The Leaden Mirror, the real reason to be part of the Court of Fear. It isn't for personal gain, hell no. It's to look at ourselves with utmost honesty, from any angle and to see truly what it is that drives us, what makes us tick. That fear only we can comprehend, understand and use to propel us to becoming better. I made a mistake in focusing on my desire more than my fear, I let my ego grab me by throat rather than helping those who could do a better job. For that, I apologise to each of you here. It was selfish and it won't happen again. That being said,” she paused, this time to gather her train of thoughts and to place her hands on her lap from where she had been gesticulating.

”I would gladly, without a shadow of a doubt, be honoured to run Edna’s for the Autumn Court, as well as tend to the commons. The last thing we need is to lose what Ms. Jasons has put into clearing the Hedge for our continued use. This boarding house means a great deal to me and has always been somewhere open for any new arrivals to find a safe bed. I stayed here when I first arrived back in Sacramento, and it would let me find some penance in ensuring its well-being for the future. ”

Once finished, Terri offered an small, open and well-meaning smile, glad to finally be free of the guilt she had felt for her one moment of shame, looking around the commons to the rest of the Court for what came next, her eyes staying on her ex-husband perhaps a touch longer than the others. For support or simply out of guilt? Who knew.

[Morgan Bellanar]

Morgan raised her hand; "Uh...I m-m-might be-be able to contribute. T-t-to the Commons defenses n-not Edna's management, heh-heh, T-t-terri," she pointed at the squirrel, "be besties for that!" She gave Terri two thumbs up, " I'll ssstill heh-help with supplies and stuff though, heh. Ahem, erm...r-right I means I heh-help with the Commons. I hath studied, uh...stuff," she fidgeted with her claws in front of her. The clicking sound of clawtips impacting each other was odd, "I p-put up a ward earlier, wayback when. I c-c-can strengthen it easy, just-need-to-buy-a-rooster.. Oh!" she grinned, "Ah-and Imma heh-have ideas f-for other ways to m-make security heh-here stronger. Meh-beh m-make them less monitor and more s-security, heh." The spirtes did make a good alarm, but a poor defense. And Morgan had some ideas about that which could go really good or really bad.

And then there was the political part, "Um...as-as for the sovereign, eh-heh-heh," Morgan floundered and started to try to shrink into her seat. But stopped as she looked at Ava. She straightened up her back and rolled her shoulders. She addresse everyone, head moving constantly to look at those gathered, "I c-c-concur with Ava. We are the court of f-f-fear, heh-heh, true. Imma p-proof of that, heh-heh," she smiled and shrugged before continuing to blather, "Bu~ut we art also the court of the arcane a-and knowledge. I b-b-been tryin' to do that...but Imma n-not very smarts." Her head snaps towards Ava and she says: "Dubstep-cannon," then turns back to roving her gaze around the group, "B-b-better if organized. The m-more we learn t-t-the more we can do," and the smile turned villainous, "And the more our enemies fear us."

Then the smile turned friendly as she tilted her head, "Ah-and the more our friendzzz in the ot-other courts appreciate us. Knowledge m-m-makes everything easier, heh-heh. Plus," she looked to Rick Pereg and then at Terri, "B-best to work with friendz!" she looked around at everyone else, "And Imma totally favoring cooperation w-with the other Courts too, heh-heh," then she grimaced, "Whi~ich tis totally-moot-point-with-current-candidates-anyway, heh-heh, never-mind."

[Nathan Griffin]

He'd barely even arrived and there were already two people volunteering to be royalty. Miss Campbell had seemed nice enough, the few times they had talked. And Milo... Motley-mates they may be, but he didn't feel like he knew the Fairest all that well. He tried to picture him with a crown and almost burst out laughing. He couldn't help a slight snicker, which was interrupted by a sudden cough. When Rick arrived he greeted him by raising a hand, but otherwise continued listening to Ava and Terri, even though he looked like he hadn't slept in a week.

"And I want," he turned to Ava, "someone who will get me free drinks. I'm running out of cigarettes, so putting some money towards that would be great too," he coughed again, putting an entire arm between himself and the others. "Failing that, though, I'd vote for whoever knows more about the other side of the fence. That's what I was told this club was all about when I got the recruitment flyer, and that was before I got to this city and found out we had our own friendly neighborhood dragon."

He didn't mind following orders. That was kind of his thing. It just depended on whose orders he would be following.

"Yeah, well that's... that's... that's real awesome," he stammered, nodding and clapping dramatically at Terri's words. "Now bear with me here, Miss Nutkins; alcohol makes me philosophical. Penance sounds like something my instructors would force me to do back in Catholic school. I always thought having to say twenty Hail Marys for wanting to bang the girl next door was a bit hardcore; you wanting the crown... same thing. Well, no, but... You get me?" he flinched as if something had gotten into his eye. "My point is, I can't think of a lot of people who'll do a better job than you, Miss Nutkins. If you want to dress in ash and sackcloth afterwards, that's cool with me. I hear our previous sovereign really could rock that look."

He looked to the roof, surprised he had said so much. Politics of any sort held no interest whatsoever for him. In fact, he found them downright repulsive. Maybe it was the fact that Terri had backed out that suddenly made him want to support her. Or maybe he was just drunk. He stayed silent through Morgan's speech, although her mention of knowledge and the arcane made him remember the fae watch he had had stashed away for what seem like ages now. His face grew even redder, although he doubted the others would be able to guess why.

[Milo Chernobog]

Milo smiled slightly as Ava explained her vision of the court. He didn't object to any of it, but he also didn't think it was anything a certain other court position couldn't fill. Terri got his attention in a good way by dropping out of the running for sovereign, and then in a bad way as she spoke of desire. Milo froze in stillness as she spoke, evaluating his own reasons for wanting the crown. He couldn't deny that this was born of his desire, but every desire grows from the roots of something. In this case it was fear.

"In the spirit of honest communication among courtiers, I also have a confession." Milo said, maintaining most of his stillness as his eyes darted around to the other courtiers. "I've been thinking about this conversation for almost a year now. Last Spring, I left a token here in the care of Ms Jasons capable of stealing memories. While in her care, another Autumn courtier named Emma was pressured by the token's previous owners to steal it back. She broke the Freehold Oath, stole from our commons, and used the token to violate our Sovereign's mind to make her forget the theft and token. When I talked to our Queen, she insisted we spare Emma and her friend Moira any harm."

"Since then, tokens from a goblin merchant have been going missing, Ramona hosted a specifically Summer event on Christmas Eve, a member of our Court was bullied at our own Coronation, and the criminals Emma betrayed us for continue to lurk in the background without any repercussions. There's no organization, no respect for the seasonal cycle, and most notably no fear of consequence. What hope can we possibly have of organizing the death of a dragon when we can't even protect ourselves from other changelings?"

The Fairest's head slowly crept from side to side, dismissing the goal.

"As an individual, and as Autumn's Ghul, I think our next sovereign needs to make their will known, and have the physical or mystical might to enforce it themselves before pulling others into the affair. Occult knowledge can easily be handled by a Witch of the Bitter Winds, extended to the Freehold through the Archivist position, but our next Sovereign needs to earn the title Dread Lord. They don't need to hang it over every freeholders head, but they need to embody it enough to inspire our emotion in the people that would hurt us. That is what I intend to do from now on, and what I intend to start with Emma once I find the little viper."