(PrP) Tunnel Crawl II

[Circe]

"Hiya Gordon, introduction and that shit right? I'm Circe. I ain't against trade, but eh," Circe shrugged with both arms raised high, "Priorities. Plus what I got don't include my good stuff," the elf pouted as she arms flopped down. Not that she'd have cheaply traded off firearms. They were expensive. She put herself directly next to Mhairi as the Summer nodded her head towards the burning fairest, "But like she said depends on what's offered."


"And yeah, we totally don't like the weeds. Ya'd like 'em gone and so do we." the old help each other ploy was made as she waited for a reply. She'd have to be subtle about it if she was going to whisper an idea to Mhairi. Or save it for later.

Circe didn't want to get them locked into paying these hobs to manage the tunnel weed.

[Yumyumcrow]

Redcap scoffs.

"Evergrowin' Ivy? No problem. Not now. In the beginning? Yeah. It is aggressive and I'll eat into anything unless you wrestle with it and tame it. Give it what it wants. Do it regularly enough and it settle down. And, you know, then you can manage it."

"Burned it back a couple of times, hacked at it, slashed it. Fed it broth of bone and offal. Now we harvest it." The Cyclopean added. "Evergrowing Ivy is good for Gates and Hollows. Good for crafting weapons and tools. Good for binding too: strong and tough."

Quick can see enough in support of their claims. The vines press upon the glade but there are a number of patches that have been cut back, shaped into groves like curious flower beds; heavy pruning to be sure but the resultant clusters will be much easier to harvest in the future.

Redcap shrugs, looking across at Seraphina. "Were it comes from? Um. The Hedge. All over the place, especially deep in the Thorns. Yeah, if its wild and untamed, it might grab at you. More sustenance, see." He snickered, baring his awful teeth.

The Cyclopean rumbled as well, a noise that might have been a growl or a chuckle. "Yeah. Evergrowing Ivy got a mind of its own. Feed it. Burn it. Tame it. Or it'll have you." He looked over the group slowly, inhaling loudly through his stub nose. "Ol' Gordon Glob trades in meat, Goblin Fruit, and pelts. Learned his trade at Sals Fleshmarket, he did. Tobias Yazgad be your guide if you pay him in kind. He been all over these Thorns."

"Why you want to burn a path through the vines for anyway? Nothing back there but Dragon haunted lands and snotty nosed Freeholder types. Let 'em eat one another I say. Them Margraves are harsh but honest. They let you be. And if something gets caught in them vines, we feast like kings!"

[Quick]

Quick's gaze shifts from one ugly to the other, imagination taking him to uncomfortable places. A vine that likes meaty broth? And two Ogres and a dog-lizard-whatever using it to bind things up? Great.


One little detail sticks, though. The name of that guide. Which, thankfully, would be a good hook to get them the hell away from these freaks. Too many hints that these types are OK with eating things that can talk for his liking.

"What's this Tobias guy take for payment?" he asks, already dreading that it's something horrible. It's... yeah. It's probably something horrible.

[Seraphina]

So Mhairi brought some stuff to trade. Awesome! Leave it to the Wisp to think of everything!

And Sera may or may not a mental note to bring tradeable stuff next time.

Give it what it wants? The ivy?

Did it want broth of bone and offal?

Sounded like the ivy had its uses though, Hollows and weapson's. So maybe they could use the stuff.

She felt like saying no shit about where it came from. She knew it came from the Hedge. But was it unique to certain parts…a hybrid…etc.

Uh, and his teeth!! Gross.

“I was more curious if it was a hybrid sort of vine, a cross of different species. I’ve never come across such hostile vine.” But she didn’t spend a whole lot of time poking around in the Hedge. She usually came in with a purpose.

And then mention of trading. Did Mhairi have any of that.

And a name. Tobias Yazgad. Did they need a guide? What was the plan here?

Chewing on her lower lip she thinks. Not really remember what the whole plan was. Investigate the vines, yes. But how far were they going?

She was thankful when Quick stepped up, asked about the guide. Let him take the lead on this one. She could sweet talk and help with social things, but this wasn’t a nice social thing. This was something more sinister, not something she was built for.

[Circe]

Ugly and more ugly was the rule here. At least they seemed simple. Circe wasn't going to ask if they ate anything that could talk when it was caught. She was pretty sure she'd not like the answer. She wasn't squeamish but people soup is well past her line.


If they disliked Freeholders then that was something to keep mum about. Circe had an idea involving encroaching vines and threat of septic rupture but now wasn't the time to communicate it. Too much attention on them. She'd have to await a distraction to talk with someone about it. For now, schmooze.


The elf looked back up with a smile, "Great ta see fellow entrepreneurs at work. Guides and Hedgespun always popular. Though for weapons I prefer what I sell," she smirked and folder her arms, "mundane stuff may not look as nice but droppin' a briarwolf with full auto is a little funny."


The elf pouted with a sigh, "Sadly, I didn't think to bring any products today. My suppliers like coin but folks here," she waved her arms wide for emphasis, "we prefer bounty or Hedgespun. The exchange rate is horrid," she made a confused face and then laughed, "unless the Hedgespun has silver and gold. Though if yer interested I'm sure we can certainly work something out in the future."

[Mhairi Ankaa]

Everyone's talking, but Mhairi can't help but focus on her heartbeat - it was so loud in ears.

She swallows heavily. Margraves. and she was staking her life on them being what her mind immediately envisioned.

They were fucking screwed. The redcap and the cyclops would have already been able to tell their Seasonal affiliations by the look, and scent of them.

The fact they hasn't raised alarms and seemed open to trade spoke of a tolerance she couldn't see from those fully Entitled.

But if they found out they were actual Freeholders....

"Dragon's dead. We passed through there, found the 'gate, and the vines....thought it'd be funny to put down roots right under their noses..." please let that be enough.

  

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2018-01-31 17:17:02		Mhairi Ankaa rolls 6 to Nope not a lie! (Wits 3 + Subterfuge 2 + spec) (10 Again)		2, 8, 1, 5, 6, 8		2 successes
2018-01-31 16:54:49		Mhairi Ankaa rolls 4 to Margrave? (Int 2 + Occult 2 + A.Mantle - 1Broken Pledge) (10 Again)		2, 3, 2, 10, 1		1 success

[Yumyumcrow]

Tobias appeared eager to share.

"Stuff I can use mostly. Tools. Gear. Food. If the price is good I'll take information, too. Depends on what you got and where you want to go. Now guns. Guns and ammo would come in kinda handy. Hard to maintain out here, see... I know, right! It was funny. I won't lie was fucking scared too. My spear had broke and the trap I'd set had failed."

He graced Circe with a hungry smile.

"Hedge has got worse since Sal's market closed. Trod has all but melted away and the paths keep changing." The Gristlegrinder added more soberly.

The Cyclopean was more interested in Seraphina. "There are other kinds of vines. None quite like Evergrowing Ivy. All the others look quite different but you could get confused if you walked into a hungry patch I s'pose. One patch of hungry Thorns looks like another when you're in it."

The large Ogre sniffed loudly and squinted his tiny eyes.

"Dead, huh? What? Dead? Fuck. Steer clear of that Gate. It goes into the city. I know that much. Thought the vines would clog the path."

Something in the Ogre's manner indicated he didn't much care for their preposed plan. Seraphina cunning trick was still in effect, however, mollifying his thoughts.

"You got some strong mantles there. You exiles from that Bay Freehold or something?" Tobias the Redcap was staring again.

[Circe]

They were going in that direction then? Well Mhairi had come up with her own plan so they'd have to go with that. "Damn straight its dead. I'd have gone kept going east to Vegas if was still alive."

Circe had a wide grin on her face as she nodded firmly at Tobias's enthusiasm, "True, but depends on the gun ya get. Some are crazy reliable, others break if ya sneeze." Talking shop might keep them distracted, "Revolver. Reliable, cool, don't jam," She titled her head with a serene smile on her face as she eye Tobias, "So ya'd be cool with guns and bullets for guidance? Cool," the elf laughed, "Ya set a good price for the future Tobias." And since bullets were hard to come by in the Hedge Circe figured that'd make Tobias a little less likely to betray his supplier.

Love or hate, don't matter if you are needed.

Circe didn't need to lie about being an exile from San Fran. Circe was one, "Fuck. Queen. Anne." she venomously growled out each word loudly, "she and the rest of the assholes rulin' the Bay can kill each other. Bastards have it comin' for the shit they pull." Happy go lucky Circe was gone. Pissed off Summer Queen was here. "If ya didn't wanna be a dipshit like them, yer a target!" Circe huffed loudly as she snarled in anger at the memories. Then a evil smile crossed her face, "So no, not an exile. I didn't wait to get the two timing, Fetch makin' bitch's formal declaration. Ya can call me a, uh," Circe calmed as she was at a loss for what to say.

She looked between Gordon and Tobias, then to her fellow Freeholders, "Yeah, I uh, guess I don't know a better word then exile."

[Quick]

Everything seems to be going smoothly. Quick is more than a little relieved that Tobias hadn't asked for, you know, something like human flesh. And trading seems to be the vibe rather than a 'who goes there' type. But then Tobias stares again. Asking if they're Freeholders. It's not a big deal. It's not. The big guy isn't a Rube but he might as well be.

"Hate those guys, too." he says. Blinks. Smiles. Panics internally.

  failure

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2018-02-04 08:33:24		Quick rolls 7 to Manip 3 + Subterfuge 3 + 1 SL to Not a Freeholder		6, 7, 5, 5, 5, 4, 3		failure

[Seraphina]

Mhairi shares that the dragon was dead.

Rolling her eyes, “Overgrown lizard went down easier than expected.” her tone sounded rather bored about the topic. Cause yeah, she had been there.

Looking to Tobias, sapphires boring into him, “Stories you say? What types of stories peak your interest?” she had stories for days. And enjoyed sharing them, to her, it was like performing. She didn’t get the same high as from being on stage, but was still fun to her. The whole topic of guns was ignored, it held zero interest to her.

The paths continuing to change was to be expected. The Hedge was alive and made changes as it saw fit.

Award winning smile, or what she thought was one, was turned on, “See, I’d rather know the difference if possible. I have no intentions of tangling with the wrong Ivy.” Nope, she was good. She this Nix? This Nix did not want a hungry patch of Ivy eating her. Nope, cross that off her list.

Did they have something against Freeholds? Had one royally screwed them over in the past?

And they noticed their Mantles. Not that her’s was all that bog and bad. Sure, it had grown slightly since she arrived in the Freehold. No where near the size of the Wisps.

So the Treasured simply keeps mum on the subject. Lying wasn’t a strong suit for her, so the less she said the better.
Right?