(Forbidden Fruit) Quaestionis

**Travisc06489** · Sep 10th, 2017 08:32 AM

2 successes

"Wolf!?" he says incredulously. "Are you mad? Not a wolf but a wight. Who hunts as a spider does. Waiting for flies to stray into his web." The green creature shakes his head and rolls his eyes. "But you don't know, do you?" This seems to merit a laughing fit in his eyes, and he temporarily loses himself to one. The chair he's strapped to shakes with the heaving of his chest, and for a moment the legs almost seem to buckle. Finally, satisfied and out of breath, his beady eyes land on Alex once more. "He's building an army. Like me."

2 successes

"It would seem you have it wrong, sweet girl." he says, finally acknowledging Circe. "You may yet need a favor from me. The question is what I would gain in return." He licks his lips greedily, bobbing his head and eyeing nowhere. "What indeed."

failure

The confidence - even the kind bestowed on one as mad as the dealer - flits away from his face. Donovan's eyes may very well have pierced into the thing's soul. The little green dealer frantically shakes his head, voice rising to an uncomfortable pitch. Nonono!I'm sorry. Sorry! The wolf, the wight the spider, he knows! He whispers! He may whisper again. Soon! Ask!" Beady eyes now full of unchecked fear search the three, pleading and pitiful. "Ask and I will tell."

He turns first to the statuesque man who'd first made himself heard. "The man in purple. Wolf and wight and spider.
He scouts. For Them!" He seems to deflate, eyes cast down. The pathetic creature sobs a few times before looking back at Alex."I am a victim of greed. He paid us well..." Unbidden and shrill, the dealer recites a rhyme that seems all too familiar to him. "The fruit will make and They will take and in the oven they will bake!"

Circe next, eyes now glazed over. Resigned. "Too late for me. Help the rest. Ask of me and I will make a pact - a pledge. One to aid you as only I know how." He looks at two men in turn, silently offering the same.

Donovan, last, who'd brought the thing to the light of his own misdeeds, gets a scowl. His voice lacks the conviction of his anger,
however, and simply sounds defeated. "Once a man, I now am lost. Took the fruit and paid the cost."

Tough break on them rolls! How ironic the smallest dice pool saves the day! Also, sorry for taking so long to post. We should be wrapping this up in a few more posts each. Get while the getting is good and we will proceed to the final confrontation.

Sep 10th, 2017 06:56 PM

"We are all mad here, aren't we?" Alex replies, apparently unfazed by the hobs attempt at ridicule. Beneath that plastic surface there might be a lingering feeling they might leave empty-handed. Again. But he's not about to let the greenskin know that.

Especially since his two companions seem to be doing well on their own. There is a painful pinch at the realization that it has nothing to do with the Mirrorskin's guidance.

"And where is this army of his stationed, little moth? Where does he keep his soldiers, his supplies?" A True Fae is bad. A True Fae with hob entourage is worse. A True Fae with a hob army is potentially catastrophic. A long campaign is not something they can afford, not with their numbers and not so soon after the fall of Fairweather. Meaning their only chance is at sabotaging the enemy's war effort "How many soldiers does this army have?"

Which concludes the logistics for him, at least for now. But there are still some blanks he'd like filled.

"The Wolf has been elusive so far - a loose thread in the Tapestry, always flinching away from between fingers. What is the Wolf's name, little moth, and who is the Old One that holds his leash? Have you seen him on either side of the Thorn Wall? Have you lifted the curtain of secrecy, learned his ways?"

Truth be told, after the hob cracked like an eggshell Alex feels almost sorry for the pathetic creature. The feeling recedes, however, when the greenskin offers his help. The Darkling does his best to look curious and haughtily amused at the same time.

"You, little moth? What can you offer us?"

**Circe** · Sep 10th, 2017 10:57 PM

"Sweet? How kind of you," Circe's tone oozed sweetness, as did her posture. Her eyes however really, really, really did not. Whatever she'd had in mind however, the guy caved under Donovan and Alex started talking. "Aw, too bad guess we'll have to settle for that then, negotiations are concluding," and there was suddenly joy in her eyes. "But the wighty wolf spider has others you said. Yes? Fruit made, taken, and baking. That was your fate, that puts you beyond help?"

Circe doesn't wait for him to respond, "Beyond help maybe but clearly you are not beyond redemption. Greed lured you in but what do you ask of us? To save the rest. Nobility still beats in your heart. Tell us of these bound by the wight, those that fear the wolf. How many are they? Shalt they resist being unbound? How to unbind them? And who crawls the web of the spider, not its feast but its waiters bringing to it those you seek to save."

Circe got her eyes as big and sad as possible, "Everything you speak can help us to save them. Break their bonds in the spider's web. Set them free. Tell us all you can and the threads shall be cut, the rest saved. Saved by you, the one that guided us."

Circe knew she was playing it up, but that was her job. Offer redemption, and the guy just gave her an easy way to offer it: saving people. Cliche but effective.

**Donovan Ackerman** · Sep 11th, 2017 09:37 PM

Good lord Alex and Circe seemed to be enjoying this talk nonsense stuff. It was sad that the crazy man talked plainer than them half the time.

He glanced over to Alex when the subject of Them came up and how They took those that ate it. At least that’s what the Wizened heard in the rhyme. And the Summer King had just eaten it willy nilly. The Court of War they might be but they weren’t equipped to take on the Gentry if one came calling. Donovan didn’t even have a bow.

The others asked their questions, while Donovan was impassive (almost disgusted) in the face of the man’s defeated look. “Lost? You may look like a green faced goblin; so what? You might be Lost forever but that don’t mean it’s ‘too late for you’. It definitely don't mean you keep workin' for Them and setting people up for this taked and baked business. You start fightin’ back. You learn to live as one of the Lost or you ain’t goin’ nowhere. Or worse. Self-pity ain’t goin’ to get you nowhere neither. You say just ask of you. Well, I’m askin’. Promise to help how you can, however you can.” He stood ready to bind the words.

**Travisc06489** · Sep 17th, 2017 01:51 PM

Alex's comment about madness earns a tilt of the dealer's head. "All mad? Yes, yes. Of course..."

"This army is here. Amid the bustle of unseeing eyes." He gives an arbitrary glance around the room, gazing at nothing until his eyes rest on Donovan again. The dealer flinches, blinks, and turns back to Alex again. "Those useful to the Wight are chosen. The fools that are not? They are snared by the Spider." A globule of spittle dislodges from his mouth with the word 'snared'.

Circe's sudden look of joy is mirrored by the dealer - a broken, twisted mirror to be sure - and the wretched creature barks short, shrill laughs as she speaks. Before answering, he falls still, staring at Circe with his mouth still split in mid-laugh. "Un. Bound? As many as have something to gain serve the Wight. Take away what the Wight offers and what is left?" Another laugh. "Take away the Wight. And what is left? Unknowing waiters three. The doorman keen to thee. And her, the quin-a-ry!" He practically screams the last, throwing his head back and laughing again. He glues his gaze to the door they'd come through.

"Grimly Waiting. Grimly waiting. Grimly waiting." he whispers feverishly in answer the Alex's next question. Though by the third repetition it's clear; not grimly waiting but Grim Lee Waiting. A name. "Yes, yes. A Giant, his Keeper.
Making pies that squirm as they bake. Never seen, only told."

Eventually, calming a bit again, the dealer adjusts his gaze towards the next speaker. He flinches once more. Perhaps Donovan has made sense to him, or he merely wishes the interrogation to end. He nods furiously. Licking his lips and breathing heavily through his nose. He makes eye contact with each of the three before beginning in earnest. "Utter an oath on your Truest Name that before a Moon's time, you will hunt the Wolf. Banish the Wight. Squish the Spider. Uphold this Oath and I will give you the key. Break this Oath and may you be Cursed!" The dealer involuntarily shudders.

Pledge

Sep 20th, 2017 05:00 PM

"I think a picture is starting to form here... I wonder if it's accurate" Alex says after listening to the answer the hob gives them "Still, some pieces don't quite seem to fit. Or maybe I just don't like the way it looks" He puts on his best 'wise mysterious stranger' face, amused and caring at the same time "So, the wolf has a hidden lair? Where exactly, I wonder" The Plastic Man's grimaces as if he truly does "But maybe you can tell us, little moth. Give us a name. A face without a name is just a meaningless piece of flesh, no?"

Truth be told, there's some important information in his confession as far as the big picture goes, but notoriously little details, meaning: not much they can give Roberts. It's becoming clearer and clearer that this creature is a small fish in a very big pond, but it stands to reason he'd know where the goodies are stored. So, fingers crossed.

His proposition of a Pledge comes as a surprise, even though Donovan's asked for it. The Summer King isn't very fond of killing, especially when he believes there are safer or more profitable ways of ending the conflict to one's favor, but his Courtiers support the idea, and so he decides to give them the benefit of every doubt. Although there'll be an Augean stable worth of shit to clean up after, of that he is sure.

Needles to say, the Summer's conversation happens where the questioned creature cannot hear them, and if it means some cop has to be convinced they're making progress - he or she is fed with general statements, the fact that they have a dirty cop in their ranks as well as the hob's answer to Alex's last question (if it's safe to say to muggles, that is). The Summer King has also a small favor to ask - a slight 'malfunction' of the recording devices, not more than a minute long and totally safe for everyone involved. If needed, the Mirroskin will drop an additional piece of trivia - the police should investigate the owner of the club Ouphoria, as well as the place itself.

2 successes

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2017-09-20 16:35:03	Alexander Brown rolls 8 to Unorthodox interrogation techiniques (10 Again)	6, 1, 4, 4, 4, 4, 10, 2, 9	2 successes

**Circe** · Sep 23rd, 2017 06:46 AM

Circe walked over to Alex to whisper, "So if we have to take the oath can we like, cut the camera? I mean I could promise justice by the goddess Circe and come off as an arrogant bitch too."

She then turned back to the suspect, "Now now, doesn't saving the others take priority? I can at the least guarantee justice of course. That is what is approved of here, justice. Purple shall face justice that I can promise to you with ease. Is a oath that necessary to you? You sought to free the others didn't you? Why are they not in the oath? I think it is far better for you to seek their salvation as a means of getting your own, yes?"

1 success

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2017-09-23 06:44:38	Circe rolls 3 to Manipulation + Persuasion (10 Again)	9, 4, 1	1 success

**Travisc06489** · Sep 24th, 2017 07:39 AM

"Are you daft!? Lee Waiting! He calls himself Grim!" The creature eyes them impatiently as they slip away for some unheard conversation. "Swear it!" he repeats after, watching Alex speak with the guard.

The guard posted outside writes down the information, though he doesn't seem very impressed. They were taking tips from a madman, after all. He also shakes his head at the proposition of cutting the camera feed. Apparently the recording function is activated manually: it had never been on.

As the three return to the dealer, Circe bringing new questions, the dealer is rocking his chair front to back, in an uneven staccato that might pass for a tune in his head.

1 success

"You misunderstand, sweet one. Others cannot be saved. They that have become as I am. They will be eaten. I will be eaten! The fruit sweetens the meat. Changes us. Over time. I seek only vengeance!" He shakes his head fervently. "These bonds cannot hold me here. What makes you think bonds can hold the Wight? No. No! He must be stopped."

He seems to consider something, licking his lips and nodding to himself. "Only one need swear it. I can give only one key.
Now swear it! How long until the shamed one returns? Do you have all day to tarry!?"

Responding now out of necessary book-keeping. Cuz lots of stuff being proposed and happening at the same time (some of which dependent on the outcome of other propositions). Parable is up next in queue. Lets wrap things up on this thread so we can resolve the plot.

**Donovan Ackerman** · Sep 24th, 2017 07:28 PM

Donovan met the goblin’s eyes and it wasn’t the Wizened that turned away first. Wights, Spiders. He wasn’t interested in the riddles and word play as much as the other two were. The truth of it was they were dealing with what sounded like a Loyalist. Feeding folk fruit. Somehow changing them into Changelings on Earth and then sending them to a Keeper to be literally or figuratively baked into pie.

“Justice, hunt, squish. Whatever. I’ll swear, whether my name's dirt or not. But…,” he he finally stepped forward, glowering at the broken man “You’d damn well better make it worth it.”

Sep 25th, 2017 05:25 PM

The Pledge is sworn, so - another thing off their checklist. It seems they are unlikely to make the guy divulge any more useful information, so... wait a second.

A quinary. A "she" that remains.
"Hidden shame".

Jesus. Roberts, you stupid bitch.

"I think we've heard all that we need to. Shall we go now?" It's some masterful acting right here, appearing indifferent when in fact the Summer King is positively boiling. He waits for any other things his companions may want to say to, or ask, the dealer. When they consent to leaving, Alex leads the way.

The officer outside now knows all that they do, so it shouldn't be hard to bypass him and find some quiet spot in one of the station's corridors. When they get a chance for some uninterrupted conversation, the Mirrorskin addresses Circe and Donovan: "So, Lee Waiting, huh? And back to Ouphoria? If I may, I'd suggest trying to enlist some help from here. If Purple Suit is still breathing after the dust settles, I'll try to persuade the rank-and-file to leave him unnatended in, say, a bathroom for a second, so that you" He eyes Donovan "can get some alone time with him"

Thoughts? Comments? Groans of disapproval? Alex waits for them all.

"Also, Roberts is dead to you. I'm now certain she's on Lee's payroll, which means we need to go up on the chain of command"

This may be sudden to one or both of them. Or they could've figured it out before he did. In any case, he waits for their input and ideas, if they have some to share.

He even knows what he'll say to the Lieutenant on duty: "Mr./Mrs. Whatsyourname, we've successfully established that a club called Ouphoria is a base of operations for a drug smuggling ring led by a man named Lee Waiting. No, I'm not joking. We'll need every man you can spare, and the Hall'd very much appreciate civilian oversight of the operation - namely, me and my two associates. You may also want to launch some independent investigations into your own men - here, this is the arrested dealer's phone and this is my cellphone with a police officer number. You'll find they have that in common. I'd advise to pay particular attention to Ms. Cindy Roberts."

(Forbidden Fruit) Quaestionis

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