Flowering Audience

Jan 10th, 2019 06:34 PM

"Well then, I hope we get to visit the ruin soon, I would love to check out its contents" And shamelessly pillage its coffers, if any. He looks kind of disappointed that there are no maps to speak of, though "Ah, a shame. But perhaps I shouldn't expect anything else? I don't think mapping the Hedge is even possible outside of the widest paths..."

But what King Rhodes says next mystifies him quite a bit "She... crafts fetches? Is that even possible for us? I thought only the Gentry had this ability" All the more reason to seek out opportunities to strike her down. All the more glory for them when she is finally defeated.

"Fetches have their own magic? And are resistant to Contracts? How is that possible? Can you elaborate?" Abraham has enough occult knowledge to have heard whispers and rumors about that, but that's all his information is. Certainly the Dread Lord has more, and with his apparent willingness to teach others, he might just be willing to share. Besides, expressing interest in learning is as good a way to build trust with the Autumn as Abraham can devise. But there are other matters he'd like to address as well.

"Actually, King Rhodes, I hoped this visit to be an educational social call. You've given me a lot to think about already, but I'd also like to get to know you and your Season a little better. I admit to my relations with the Leaden Mirror not being the deepest, and one can't help but notice Spring and Autumn are opposed in the grand symbolism of things. So, I understand Autumn is all about Fear. But whose? Others, or your own?"

**Rhodes** · Jan 11th, 2019 08:08 AM

Rhodes nods. "It can be done, but as you say, only in the most general sense. Written maps rapidly become outdated, unless the Hedge is maontained. Only the most major trods tend to stand the test of time, as you say." He pauses. "Myself, Blink, Titania, Sera. That's who went last time, if you'd like a second opinion or a more... aesthetic guide." He grins, but the winds around him rustle.

The Dread Lord sighs. "Such is the rumour - hard to prove or disprove. I myself are on the side of executive greater danger. She certainly enthrals without thought. Queen Circe would know better that I, but if you haven't seen her temper yet, that topic will show her at her most.... Summery."

"Yes, sometimes, and I truly don't know." Rhodes replies. "I am not an expert on Fetches. They are creatures of Magic and the Wyrd, and Yes, they possess their own magics. They always see us for our true selves, for one. And since they consider themselves hunan, usually, they can cause many problems mortally before we even consider the arcane. A fetch is resistant to our magic - there are others, you see - but especially those of the Changeling it emulates." He shifts idly through some notes. "Beyond that... I would have to research further. But once they realise their magical potential, Yes, very dangerous."

Abraham's query brings back that dark chuckle, and the wind of his mantle whips around again.."If only more were a s curious as you, Abraham..." he chuckles." It really is most refreshing. Yes, we are opposites in time, but the courts we choose are just reactions to our mutual experience." He sips his tea. "Is Spring about my desire or your desire? The answer, of course, is both. Simply, Desire. And so it is for Fear. We accept the Fear within ourselves, and bring our opponents Fears against them. Sone can ward our friends from it's chill knife or invoke it in those that would harm us. We are not immune to it, but in accepting the Fear we have as a part of ourselves, we diminish it's hold on us."

**Titania** · Jan 11th, 2019 07:35 PM

Oops, my bad

Jan 12th, 2019 07:25 AM

He chuckles softly at the notion of an aesthetic guide. It never occurred to him that it could be an allusion to the famed Spring obsession with beauty, and that it might not've been entirely innocent. The chuckle morphs into a smile as the topic changes to Circe and her... relationship with Queen Anne. "I've talked to the Summer Queen the other evening. She feels very strongly about our foe, indeed the change in mood was most dramatic when Anne was mentioned" Summers do have a reputation for being wrathful but this, Abraham feels, has much deeper background.

"You seem to know much about Queen Anne. Have you met her in the past?" He's heard about her for the first time here, in Sacramento. But a possibility that she's some kind of Autumn legend is considerable "And if I'm allowed a follow-up question: where are you originally from, King Rhodes? Are you a local or an arrival, like myself?"

He listens to what the Autumn King has to say about fetches, and feels the slight ting of unease creeping up his spine. If they think they're human, and they effortlessly see through the mask, can it be that his own simulacrum proceeded to harm his old freehold in some way, when the fetch and the knight-errant saw each other? Suddenly, leaving the thing be without investigation doesn't seem like such a good idea. And also, what was that about other types of magic?

"And how does one accept Fear in one's life? As you can imagine, King Rhodes, it's much easier to understand with Desire. For the most part, it's a positive feeling, something people want in their lives. But Fear? A lot of folks do everything they can to avoid it"

**Rhodes** · Jan 12th, 2019 09:04 AM

Rhodes smiles. "Appearances can be deceptive, Abraham - I have told you more or less all I know or have heard. The Summer Queen is from San Fransisco, which is why it is much more personal to her. That is all I know." He steeples his fingers. "Los Angeles. originally. I didn't spend very long there after I got back. Too many old memories, and there was no way of going back where I left off..." He trails off and shrugs casually.

"You think we want Fear?" The Dread Lord asks calmly. "I suppose that is a little leading a question, since some of us do, and wen revel in it's thrill. Perhaps a better question would be, did any of us truly want what happened to us? It is a Fear we all share." Rhodes rises and begins walking around the table towards the window. "Some run from it, seeking revels, embracing the Desires of every day. Some let it turn it to Wrath, to overcome their Fear, and turn it back on those that changed us. And some hide from it, embracing Sorrow for what happened and that of others, reminding them of new purpose." The Flowering stops looking out the window for several seconds, then turns back to Norton.

"I think, Sir Abraham, you are mistaking accepting for embracing. People will always want the pleasurable things in life. They are satisfying, they make us feel good. But we... the Lost... have experienced things no-one else has, that we wish upon no-one. That is the reality. And that reality can, at any time, come back and put us back in that cage we broke free from. Does that thought not fill you with dread, when you are truly honest with yourself?" He blinks slowly. "I'm not saying you wouldn't fight, or plan, or resist. I'm saying no matter how you deal with it, the Fear is there, present, and real. Like when someone close to you dies. It's forever there, ever present. You just learn to accept it and carry on - and sometimes, draw strength from it. We live in the same way. Embrace that which we fear - and we have a lot of fear, when we are honest with ourselves - and use it. Spell, and sword."

The Dread Lord walks back towards his chair. "But we are more than just Fear. 'I am large, I contain multitudes'. We are magic, and Lore, and knowledge... and we find these things to improve the whole. To help keep all of us safe. Just as Spring is more than Desire, and so on." He sinks back into the throne. "Do you see?"

Jan 13th, 2019 05:58 PM

When the King of Autumn trails off after professing his original freehold, Abraham continues the subject "...And so you came here? I'm surprised we haven't met before, LA is where I come from, too" then again, it might be an incompatibility of time. No information was given as to when exactly Rhodes has returned, after all.

"And among what category do you count yourself, King Rhodes?" Abraham asks "Do you revel in the thrill of Fear? Or do you take a more... detached approach?" Personal? Sure. But for what it's worth, if Rhodes doesn't feel like answering - he won't be pushed, and if he'll seek repayment in the form of a personal question into the knight-errant's soul, such repayment he will have.

"Well, if it's capture or death, then I will gladly choose the latter. Even if I have to tear my own wrists open and bleed out - I am not going back there. Ever" In his normally calm eyes there appears, for a brief moment, a glint of steel "And in the meantime, I will endeavor to push some of Their lackeys out of a window" He offers "So that's the reason of the Autumn's famed troves of knowledge and artifacts" the Flowering concludes when the Ashen Lord finishes speaking "You collect them because they are the closest thing that links you to Them. In mastering these, you master the source of the Fear you spoke of. Would that be about right?"

He pauses, allows a response from the other man "You spoke of accepting fear, drawing strength from it - I suspect a part of it are the Autumn traditions. Can you tell me more about them? We had enough unpleasantness at the last Coronation, wouldn't want to upset two Monarchs with improper behavior. And besides, I am just plain curious" He grins, in an attempt to make the atmosphere a bit less... chilly.

**Rhodes** · Jan 13th, 2019 07:11 PM

An eyebrow arches. "Really? Well, it is a big city. And while I left only a few years ago, I have been gone a long, long time." He watches Norton passively.

Rhodes' face breaks into a cold grin. "Well now. That would be telling, wouldn't it?"

He nods. "Partly right. Mastery over their knowledge, to use against them. We have magic, given to us by them. We take a perverse pleasure in the irony of twisting this back on our tormentors."

"Did you hear what the last Autumn Coronation was, Abraham?" Rhodes asks lightly. "We had a meal in Funderland, ate the fruits and spoils of the Hedge. The Bounty of our knowledge. The Leaden Mirror may seem like the hardest Court to understand, but we are more than Fear. We try to bring knowledge and enlightenment to all the Lost, not store it away to gather dust. To teach our brethren of things we find that may save their very lives, and we pursue these Lores, so others don't have to risk it. Those are our traditions. We fight them, in our own way. Fighting smarter. Using their own tools."

Jan 15th, 2019 06:26 PM

"A few years ago? Well, that explains a lot - we must've simply passed each other. It's no guarantee, but I think I might've arrived around the time you left. But it doesn't matter now, does it? We're both here"

The Autumn King has an odd way of jesting (well, maybe not so weird for his own kind, but definitely for the general populace), and so Abrahm thinks it best not to pursue the topic of how he gets his Fear kicks any further. Really, if this man is half as powerful as he's creepy then he's a formidable ally of the freehold, indeed.

"Ah, yes - the magic. I always wondered, and you seem like the right person to ask: how do the Contracts even work? I mean, I always just used them, but if I understand correctly a lot of them were actually struck by the Fae with whatever dwells in Arcadia. So, they should work in Arcadia - but here? Where the Arcadian entities hold no dominion?" Maybe he is just flagging blindly here. Maybe he's being foolish or utterly wrong. But at the very least he'll know for sure.

**Rhodes** · Jan 16th, 2019 03:52 PM

Rhodes opens his mouth, and pauses. "No. No matter." He smiles.

The Dread Lord takes a deem breath. "Ah, with so many things of out kin we have only legend, logic, and our conclusions. Many contracts are rumoured to have been negotiated by the Gentry, but some were certainly bound by Changelings - the gifts secured from Spring, Sorrow, Wrath and Fear by our Courtly founders to fight the True Fae. As for how they work....well" He gestures idly to the flowers crowning at his temples, and across to Norton's own plumes. "The Wyrd, dear boy. We bring a touch of Arcadia with us wherever we go. Not quite human, not quite Fae, but a little of each, enough to bring that power with us. The Gentry, of course, are far more in line with that power and bring far more with them wherever they go, and so we must be smarter than them."

He shrugs, turning his head to watch the flames dance in the hearth.

Jan 18th, 2019 03:46 PM

"I see" Abraham says and finishes what little remained of his tea "Like I said, you've given me much to think about. Regarding our magic and... other things" Like figuring out how to crack the man open. Autumn Courtiers always are interestingly odd, at least this one is civil and even reasonably firendly "But I believe I've taken too much of your time already" He smiles in apology "Thank you... and see you around. I have no doubt we will share many adventures"

And with that, giving a respectful nod, Abraham rises in his chair to leave.

We seem to be winding down. Thank you very much for the Scene and sorry for the slow rate of responses!

Flowering Audience

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Telluric Bright One

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