(Budding Thorns) Interloper

[Travisc06489]

It's there. A bold statement for all the Freehold to see. On the back of a billboard not far from the seat of the Freehold, a well-practiced image can be seen; a hand clutching half a citrus fruit. The faintest echoes of glamour trace the outside edges of the image, leaving little doubt of the influence of the fae. Though the Keepers don't typically know every tip and trick the Lost use to communicate. If they did... there would be very few places left for them to hide. So what, then, does this new and unknown mark signify?

Is it an open invitation?

A veiled threat?

A piercing breeze rattles the billboard, as if the wind could sense the heaviness of the mark. The significance. The unshakable, foreboding sense that an outsider has been right up to their doorstep greets the Lost who stop to gaze at it.

[Seraphina]

It never hurt to go out and just walk the areas surrounding the Freehold. It gave the Nix a chance to get familiar with the place, and see if any new Lost appeared. Which was always exciting, she lived for meeting new people. It’s just who she was, a people person, more at home in a crowd than alone.

So today she was dressed rather casually in fitted jeans with a blue long-sleeved shirt. Over which she had her new hedgespun jacket. It's deceiving delicate lace allowing the blue of her shirt to peek through. Her necklace resting comfortably around her neck.

It was the image on the billboard that caused her pause. Head titling to the side as she studied it, the hints of Glamor catching her sapphire eyes more so than the picture itself. Though the image was noted and examined.

With the Glamor showing, she wondered about it. Was this a good thing, or was something wrong? Was someone reaching out for help, or issuing a warning?

She couldn’t tell, and she quickly glances around the area, seeing if anyone else noticed it, or anything out of the norm.

[Mhairi Ankaa]

Mhairi felt lighter, now that she wasn't bearing the weight of the whole Freehold on her shoulders.

A walk sounded nice, it might be colder, but it was already the new year and would warm given time. Wearing something she felt she couldn't have worn with the title of Director, seeing the need to present herself more professionally. Tulle skirt over black leggings, a black bra under a mesh top, and a cheeky crescent moon purse thrown over her shoulder, which hid her hedgespun war fans. She might feel lighter but she wasn't going unarmed, and carrying that theme, about her neck was her Hedgespun choker.

The wisp saw the Nix before she saw the tag. The Fairest would always draw the eye before anything else, but quickly Mhairi wished to know what had caught her motley mate's eye.

She saw. Dread coiled, weighing her limbs down. Her mind turns, running away from her.

"Sera!" calls the Wisp skipping across the street Fell-flames flickering wildly, dancing between the Fairest and the sign. Taking her mind for a reason, meaning and funding nothing.

  

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2018-01-08 19:13:15		Mhairi Ankaa rolls 5 to What dose this mean? (Int 2 + Occult 2 + 1 A.Mantle) (10 Again)		3, 2, 5, 1, 6		failure

[Travisc06489]

Other than the Witch-Queen's recent arrival, Seraphina doesn't see another soul nearby. Which could mean any number of things. And though the sign seems to be made to grab the attention of those attuned to the Wyrd, Mhairi can't recall a deeper meaning than that. Though, with both of them up close, another detail is easier to see: the initials 'C.F.' are etched into the corner of the tag.

Both Changelings can make a Wits + Investigation roll to look for further details on the sign. Conversely, Manip + Streetwise could come in handy elsewhere. Or phoning in a contact

[Seraphina]

The Wisps presence and voice bring Sera’s attention briefly away from the sign.

“Mhairi, good to see you.” And from the look of it, she saw the sign too. Which was good, it meant the Nix wasn’t losing her mind. Always a bonus.

Lowering her voice and leaning over, “You see that, too right?” she asks, “Ever seen anything like it before?” she wasn’t quite sure yet of they should be scared or what. But people just don’t leave Glamor flashing around like that.

  1 success

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2018-01-08 21:00:48		Seraphina rolls 3 to Huh?(Wits+Inv) (10 Again)		9, 7, 3		1 success

[Mhairi Ankaa]

Absently the Wisp nods, hearing the Nix's greeting but to focused on the mark to remember pleasantries.

"I see it." she whispers, then it's followed by a mute shake of her head. Mhairi Ankaa Queen of Autumn....had no fucking clue.

Swallowing down bile, Mhairi focuses. Action is needed. If this was a boisterous Winter, new to town introducing themselves...Mhairi focuses on that, instead of the other thoughts that pressed the dread deeper.

Fell-flames flicker a steps taken...she needed to draw herself away from gaping at this tag.

  

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2018-01-09 10:27:53		Mhairi Ankaa rolls 4 to Anybody here? (Manip 2 + Streetwise 2)		2, 9, 4, 9		2 successes

[Travisc06489]

Upon closer inspection, the tag doesn't appear to be a tag at all! It frays up almost imperceptibly at the edges, like some elaborately made decal. Which would explain why the initials are scratched into the polymer rather than part of the image itself. It takes a moment for it to click, but Sera has seen something like this before - and not just the other locations this particular image has shown up. The art style is what catches her. She must have seen a similar work at some function or other... one of those 'invitation only' galas that only the beautiful people of the Entertainment industry would have even heard about.

With no arcane knowledge to draw from on the sign's purpose, Mhairi's search takes her to the closest business establishment outside the Park. In this case, a gas station half a block away. True to form, there are a few men in overly heavy winter jackets hanging around the entrance to the mini-mart; the kind who aren't there to buy anything. One of the men discloses that he's seen this tag further into the city, near what used to be a club called Ouphoria.

[Seraphina]

Ok, so Mhairi sees it. That’s good. Chalk one up for still not going inasane!

And as she focuses on the picture, she realizes there was something familiar about it.

Eyes squint as she looks at it, a hand raising and starting to point, but stopping and resting on a hip.

She keeps her voice low still, cause you never know if whoever, or whatever, put that there was around.

“I think I’ve seen it before.” She then purses her lips as she appears deep in thought. Then she nods, “I have.”

1 success

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2018-01-09 15:45:22		Seraphina rolls 4 to Does she remember?(Int+Comp) (10 Again)		4, 3, 3, 8		1 success

[Mhairi Ankaa]

Mhairi fear gripping her heart, mind wouldn't settle so she pushed her feet forward, against form she saught simple, beautiful muggles. They might have seen or known, but they couldn't be apart of this.

"At Ouphoria? Or whatever it's called now." voice as soft as Sera's once they've reunited and had a moment to talk. "...Is it an advertisement? A-a-a threat?" she stutters out, her voice wobbling.

Sorry for holding stuff up!

[Travisc06489]

It had to have been some kind of exhibition she'd been to. Some puffed up entertainment mogul who wanted to bask in the admiration of complete strangers. What was his name again? Sera can almost put a face on the man...

Then it clicks.

He'd been a bald man. Far too skinny for most tastes. And he'd introduced himself as Robert Page. The exhibition had been full of 'modern art', but he seemed particularly proud of one piece - the piece which most closely resembles the tag near Funderland.

As the toughs near the gas station watch Mhairi depart, one of them calls out after her "It's the one at [address]! The one where that cop got shot up!"