Spring and Fall

[Thomas Land]

The Mole-Man waits in deep shadow outside his storage unit. Nervously lacing and unlacing his clawed fingers. Wearing, as always, his professorial tweeds.

He'd sent three notes to three separate Changelings: Mhairi, who already knows this place. Ingrid, who might already know about it herself, given her...talents. And Sera, who Thomas knows curiously little about. Each note contained the location of the storage complex, the code to gain access, and the number of the unit outside of which he now lingers. Aside from these coordinates, the contents of the notes had been fairly straightforward:

You are formally invited to a discussion concerning the formation of our 'study group.' It will be my pleasure to host you, if rustically, at my archive, located [here]. Please join me on [date] at [time]. I look forward to working with you.

Thomas is nervous. True, he's always nervous. But tonight he has reason to be, at least to his mind. He's opening his sanctum and its contents to outsiders. Mhairi had been one thing, given her position as Autumn Monarch. But Ingrid and Sera?

Well. The whole point is that after tonight, if all goes well, they will no longer be foreigners in his lair. They will be partners in his research, and he will be partners in theirs.

Again, if all goes well.

So, he waits. Humming softly, tunelessly to himself. Beady eyes darting this way and that, searching for signs of his guests.

[Mhairi Ankaa]

Mhairi, as always, was dressed for the occasion. A should have been loosely draped long sleeved top, held in place by a purple underbust corset with skull detailed clasps. She'd even bought new pants for tonight. Hoping that it would go as planned, or rather how she'd dreamed. They were shades of grey. Details up the leg nearly hidden unless they were seen int he right light. Hidden flowers on the Ashen Queen legs...Mhairi smiles as she feels the ribbons the crisscrossed them.

Upon her neck, under the always worn hedgespun choker, is a claddagh necklace. It's message something else she hoped would come to pass. Her star filled locks were loose to tumble down her shoulders.

Her boots, not new, were her favorite pair, a small bit of comfort as she walked to the storage complex and to the unit Thomas was no doubt waiting by.

A Motley! Her heart thumped. It was something she always dreamed about, but never truly dared...

Mhairi shakes her head. It was happening. (She hoped) She shouldn't focus on doubts, that never ever settled the fluttering butterflies, and always provoked a sense of dream. Nothing turns out right. But not now. She would hope, and would dream!

With a smile on her face, Mhairi sees the tweed wearing beast-kin and waves as she approaches. "Hello Thomas, am I the first one, or have you lead the others inside already?"

[Seraphina]

The note had caused a flurry of butterflies in her stomach. She had never been in a Motley before, or even been approached about one before. And she’d be lying if she said she didn’t want to join one. The closeness of one, and having people she could trust and depend on always seemed like a fairy tale to her.

But here she was, with an invitation to one. Well, an invitation to talk about it at least. Nothing was set in stone yet.

In response to fall being upon them, she went with a white slightly bell sleeved shirt and paired it with a pink suede wrap skirt. Her long golden and silver spun hair was loose around her shoulders.

The location was a little weird to her, but it wasn’t her place to judge. But seriously, who has an archive in a storage unit? Wouldn’t be her first pick for a place, but she was sure Thomas had a good reason for it.

Walking towards the location, she was happy to see Mhairi was already here. A smile appeared on her face as she got closer,

“Hi!” Greets the Nix, “Thank you for hosting this Thomas. How've you guys been?”

[Ingrid]

Has she done it? Has she secured access to the mole man's prize! Oh no. Wait. Not yet. Tantalisingly close. The motley. One of her ideas, she thinks. Or perhaps it simply grew organically from her discussions with Thomas that first time. In any event, Ingrid heads across town with a literal spring in her step and a quietly confident smile on her face.

The bouncing gait and the smile are still there when she reaches the storage facility. In fact, both bounce and grin are revitalised once she lays her glittering eyes on the others. She is in jeans again today: jeans, T shirt, light jacket, peaked cap and running shoes that pathetically scrape on the ground. Working gear, almost.

"Well played, Thomas. Look at you! You big conspirator, you!" The Darkling positively purrs at the Beast.

"Well hello ladies. I am glad to see the plotting and the scheming has been going well. Or why else would you be here?" She speaks to Mhairi and Seraphina with a lot less purr and a lot more knowing.

[Thomas Land]

"You are," Thomas answers Mhairi, offering her a smile that's a little less watery than usual. He likes the Autumn Monarch. Even trusts her. Which is saying something. "Welcome back. I've, hm, had a chance to make things a little more, well, comfortable since the last time you were here." Not by much. But anything is better than a couple of folding chairs.

And then Sera appears out of the gloom that's gathered in this row of storage units, there being flood lights only at its beginning and its end. Thomas offers her a wave of his clawed hand. "Good evening. And it's my pleasure. Thank you for, um, coming."

Finally: Ingrid. As usual, Thomas finds himself both intrigued and unnerved by her conspiratorial manner. He's not sure if he's curious or afraid. And, to be frank, it's kind of thrilling. Her 'compliment' is met by a smile far more uncertain than the one he'd given Mhairi. He seems a little flustered by her remark: "Oh, hm, well...thank you?"

Now that everyone has arrived, Thomas turns toward the storage unit door, extracting a set of keys from his pocket and disengaging the lock. He reaches down and grabs the handle, sliding the corrugated iron door up and out of their way. The interior of the unit is dark, until he clicks on a flashlight he's picked up from just inside the entrance. Its' beam picks out boxes, a clothes rack hung with near-identical suits, other odds and ends of a life packed up and moved across the country. Running through the clutter is a narrow path toward the back wall of the unit, which he indicates they should follow.

When they're all inside, the Mole-Man rolls the door down again, plunging them into darkness save for the ambient illumination of the powerful LED bulbs in the flashlight itself. There's another latch on the inside of the door, clearly installed by Thomas. Here, he reengages the padlock, securing the space behind them.

The beam of light bobs and weaves wildly as Thomas moves to catch up with his guests, squeezing by them with a litany of "Excuse me's" and "So sorry's." Finally, he is in a position to lead them as he picks his way further into the unit. Against the far wall is a towering, empty book case, backed up against a blue tarp. A rich smell of earth, more potent than the Beast's own mantle, pervades the space here. Quickly, he pushes the bookshelf aside. And then the tarp. What is revealed is a large, earthen tunnel, bored right into the wall. It seems, paradoxically, to broach an underground space, though the units are all planted upon the earth. The hole is tall enough for Thomas to walk upright, though the others may need to hunch a little, and slopes noticeably downward. A faint, orange glow flickers from the depths.

"Hm, well, follow me. Right this way," the Mole-Man says, pressing onward.

[Mhairi Ankaa]

A nod, nerves propelled her onward, and so she wasn't surprised to see that she'd made it here first.

"No more folding chairs?" Mhairi teases with a grin, it's a touch nervous, but still present. Excitement, rolling through her, not dread.

The Autumn's don't have to wait for long before the Springs around the corner, the spot lights illuminating the path.

Sera's a vision in pink and white, Mhairi grins and takes mental notes, she loved the way that skirt lays. "Sera! Hey!" the wisp waves, "Good!" she nods, it was so close! "How've you been?" she asks in return.

Mhairi's poised to offer a wave and another chirped greeting to Ingrid as she appears, but her fell-flames flicker as the Darkling purrs at Thomas. Mhairi didn't want to judge, but...she looks between the two. Thomas flushes and doesn't seem to hate the attention paid to him by the ethereal Spring.

Mhairi laughs, because that wasn't what she expected Ingrid to say to her, or to Sera, "I guess the plotting went well. I did successfully manage to convince Sera that we're the bees-knees." she quips, remembering the talk of a Speakeasy, and figured it would be a nice call back.

Mhairi can't help but grin as they're all ushered into the storage unit, Thomas heading this way and that. The bookcase is moved and Mhairi readily follows after the mole-man, having seen the inside of his Hollow before, Mhairi was curious to see the changes.

...and get this much hoped for and dread conversation going.

[Seraphina]

Sera turns as she hears Ingrid, a smile on her face, “Hey!” she greets with a small wave. “Oh, are we plotting something? Cause I totally want in.” head nod. She can be sneaky.

The smile was turned to Thomas, “Oh, I wouldn’t have missed this! Looking forward to sitting down and talking.” Cause she was sure there was going to be some talking. Things needed to be said and decided.

Looking to the Wisp, “Oh, not too bad. Busy with a few projects, which has kept me out of trouble. Well, a little bit of trouble.” She adds with a giggle.

“Oh, I already thought highly of all of you. But plotting and scheming is too much fun to pass up.” True story.

As he opens the storage locker and motions them inside, part of her felt a stab of fear. This was how things went south in horror movies. Go into some random place with a guy you barely know and next thing you know you’re lying in a pool of blood. So there was some hesitation, but she goes in. This was about learning to trust right?

The sound of the door being rolled shut made her jump a little. The dark wasn’t really her thing.

Eyes widen as the tunnel was revealed. Whoa! Sneaky sneaky!

There was a pause as she lets Mhairi go before her.

Whelp, in for a penny in for a pound right? She thinks, ducking as low as she could in her skirt and heels, which wasn’t an easy task. And she was sure it was an amusing site to see. She was naturally tall, add a few more inches with her heels and there you go, tall woman trying to duck into a tunnel.

[Ingrid]

Ingrid chuckles and lets them all talk. The Darkling turns her back once it becomes clear Thomas is opening up a storage shed. Its a silly gesture, really, but it does convey a certain trust: she will not see any secret pass codes or locks the mole has put in place on his personal store. In addition it allows her to check, one last time, if she and her friends have been followed.

She is the last to enter the garage, nimbly walking back into the shadowed space. Once inside the others could certainly hear her sigh of quiet relief. They would also see, disturbingly perhaps, how she reached out to caress the thick shadows that squatted and slithered through the dim interior.

"I am rather excited about seeing this library." She said at last. "But I guess we gotta whole lot of stuff to work through before that, right?" Was she humming to herself now? Was she... skipping? There was definitely a spring in her step.

She so badly wanted to thrash things out. For now she -barely- held her tongue. The real talk could wait till they had reached wherever the mole-man took them.

[Thomas Land]

Single file, Thomas leads them steadily downward for what seems like a long time. Imperceptibly, the tunnel begins to widen. And as they go, that flickering orange light strengthens.

Until, finally, they emerge into a large, domed space. Dug from the very earth, its walls and ceiling are veined with roots of various sizes. Some of which dangle. Strung across the space are clusters of drying goblin fruit. In the center of the space is a large fire, ringed by rocks. And directly above that, at the dome's zenith, is a smoke hole, through which fall dead leaves and beyond which one can glimpse, in relief against a strange night sky, the tangled thorns of the hedge.

Along the walls, ringing the space, are low shelves made of cinder blocks and wooden planks. Arranged neatly on these make-shift shelves are many and more books, scrolls, leaflets, and other materials. Some of them wrapped in plastic sleeves to protect them against the...rustic conditions. In a far corner is a pile of dead leaves, sheets, and a comforter. It seems their host sleeps here, at least on occasion.

The only thing that has really changed since Mhairi's last visit is the addition of a ratty couch and two stuffed recliners. They are well-worn, but sturdy, joining the card-table and folding chairs that were the only furnishings previously. On the table sit several bottles of wine, reds and whites. Some sparkling water as well. Attended by a mismatched set of glasses. There's also some sliced cheese (gruyere, dubliner, earthy brie) paired with water crackers, alongside a very tidy fruit plate.

Thomas clicks off his flashlight and gestures toward the fire, the little seating area, the refreshments. Somewhat formally, and to no one in particular, he announces: "Welcome all, to my humble hollow. Please, hm, help yourself to food and, um, drinks. Relax. We can, well, begin our meeting when everyone is settled. We will be perfectly safe, yes, most certainly, in the interim." And to assure that they are, he turns toward the tunnel they've just traversed and calls on the Wyrd to disguise the entrance they used to arrive here. There's no one to witness, but back in the storage unit, the wall seems to heal itself. There is no trace of that mud tunnel. No sign even of that blue tarp. Just an empty bookshelf against a corrugated metal wall.

  Trapdoor Spider's Trick, 2 suxx

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2017-10-08 07:11:33		Thomas Land rolls 4 to Wits2 + Wyrd1 + 1 Owns Space (10 Again)		5, 6, 9, 9		2 successes

Note: Thomas possess Hollow 3 (Size 2, Amenities 1) and Archive 2 (Changeling Lore and Hedge Lore).

[Mhairi Ankaa]

"Only a little bit?" Mhairi asks, echoing Sera's giggle with one of her own. "What sort of projects?" To Mhairi's mind they could be anything from hedgespinning to...uh...cultivating Desire. Mhairi could feel herself ignite, her moonlit glow tinging pink. Was it better or worse that they were going into a dark tunnel?

"It is a fabulous library." Mhairi murmurs to Ingrid as they stoop low to traverse the tunnel. "And just because we have uh things to work through doesn't mean you can't take a peak." Mhairi says, but angles her head to the mole-man's straight back. "I mean, if that's okay with Thomas?"

The tunnel isn't as long as it had been her first trip through, because she knew what lay at the end. Sooner then she remembered Thomas' flashlight flicked off and they spilled into the room. Fell-flames dance around the area, noticing the changes, once done, she grins at her Page and gives him a thumbs up, "Nice." she says, as she moves a little close to the wine. Wanting something to steady her nerves, but at the same time she didn't want to do any of this drunk. Or even tipsy. To maybe disguise her wants she settles on grabbing a piece of fruit. She bites into it and lets the juice settle on her tongue before swallowing.

"Ah, yeah. We-ah-we-" she stammers like she hadn't done in a year now. She feels the burn of glamour and Thomas using a Clause to guard them in this place. "Thank you Thomas, for letting us gather here for-for this." Mhairi would have offered her own Hollow, but it wouldn't have been as safe as the mole-man just made this place.