Hedge Patrol I

[Saber Sloth]

Working together the Lost leave behind the Gate and travel westward first then easily move upon the correct turn in the Path, heading north towards their destination. The farther they go, the more apparent wild far ranging Autumn is. Surely that amidst the Season the Hedge reflects the orange glow, bounty of the harvest, what they see is more black then brown. The skeletal structure of the Hedge, with its mass of brambling vines, frozen as if, mid writhe, the deadly sharp points of the Thorns, moving as they walk, always, always facing towards the Lost. Hungry, oh, so hungry.

The shadows filling in the spaces where the foliage once had been, are long and numerous.

To Ram, the shadows are moving.

[Gerrit]

It felt good to make progress: so far nothing has attacked them, the path was visible and they kept some semblance of navigation. And our nerves, we've kept our nerves. Ram's suggestion to tell funny stories was met only with a frown, even if that frown was visible only for anyone that cared to turn around. They really should stay focused on the task at hand, especially since the Thorns seem to grow less and less hospitable.

Gerrit concentrated on his job in this expedition and trusted the others to do theirs.

[Cassandra Reeding]

"Good job, Ethan." Cassandra notices the way the Hedge seems to 'look' at them as they walk. Sentient and yet not. Thirsty. So thirsty. What does this remind me of? Her minds tries to pull something, but the memory just doesn't seem to be there. She takes a deep breath and keeps on trekking. At first, she doesn't think that telling stories would be of help, but she begins to realize her mind is going to begin wandering into dark places the more she stares at the thorns, trying to pull from memories likely suppressed for good reason.

"Once," the Polychromatic begins, "I had a couple of friends back in Baltimore who were stuck by the thorns on their way back from the deep Hedge. They got stuck and began growing beneath their skin, but, as luck would have it, the Autumn Court's boundless libraries were able to inform us of how to cure this nasty disease. Deep within the Hedge, there was a frozen lake, and beneath it, leaches. These leaches would suck out the thorns and cure them. Simple enough, right?"

She continues walking as she speaks, keeping her eyes sharp even as she tells the tale, "So, they ventured out in the early morning before the Summer Coronation. We'll get back in no time, they said. I didn't believe them, but off they went anyway. Lucky for them, they brought a Lost who could help them move more quickly through the hedge. When they got to the lake, they spun a wee ship to carry the few of them across, but half way there, they were stopped by a bunch of Hobs on sharks."

""Oi, wha'cha be doin' here in our lake?" asked the seeming leader of this group of Hobs." Cassandra changes her voice to mime a weird Hobgoblin-like accent. ""Your lake? Don't you mean our lake?" replied Tristan, this golden boy, gorgeous knight of the Summer Court. He tried to convince the Hobs that he was a part of their organization and for a moment, they bought into it. They bartered for assistance to get these leaches. "Do you have the Tape of Duck?" The leader of the Hobs asked. The Spring Runnerswift of the party, Blodwen, had many a batch of said duct tape, but she wanted to barter further, looking for a long lost token.

"The Hobs grew tired of the bartering and after a particularly botched round of persuasion, they grew aggressive. So, here they were in the middle of some frozen lake in the Hedge about to be in a battle with a bunch of Hobs riding Sharks, when sunny boy gets the idea of trying to intimidate them further. It backfires and they go into a full on battle. In the end, they just barely manage to get their leaches, but not before coming back such a wreck that the poor Spring Queen, Ygraine, and her students had to heal the lot of them.

"The best part. When I asked Blods what had happened, she replied: "We had to fight a bunch of Hobs on sharks because they wouldn't accept our duct tape." And if that doesn't perfectly describe the perfect insanity that can exist within the Hedge, I don't know what does." As she tells her story, she hopes that she manages to get their minds in more of an amused headspace than one of anxiety. The thorns just seemed to thirsty for one misstep.

2 successes

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2020-10-30 20:52:35	Cassandra Reeding rolls 8 to Expression roll for storytelling (Presence 4 + Expression 4) (10 Again)	9, 3, 9, 1, 7, 3, 2, 3	2 successes

[Ram]

Ram felt like he was looking at one of those paintings where the eyes always followed you, no matter where you went. If you could have such a feeling when the painting also had no eyes, that is what he felt like. And then he saw the shadows where eyes should have been actually. Shit.

“That’s good one, Cassandra. Probably could use a water break after a story like that huh?” His smile and jovial tone weren’t diminished he stopped short and swung his backpack off and waited for the group to gather for their ‘water break’.

“Stay sharp, we’ve got moving shadows,” he breathed he as handed over some water to his companions “Don’t drink too much, still a ways to go,” he continued at normal volume. The Render only took a couple swigs himself. Enough to keep going at a stronger pace. Not enough that he'd get a stitch if they ended up running. He gave each a reassuring smile before taking back the bottles. He tried to think of anything useful he could tell them about what might make shadows move.

1 success

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2020-10-31 19:49:57	Ram rolls 5 to What casts shadows? Int+Occult (10 Again)	2, 2, 3, 2, 9	1 success

[Ethan Walsh]

“Thanks Ram. I’ll take some if you don’t mind. [size] Fight, flight, hide, or continue on? [/size] Ethan takes a swig of water after saying this. ”Thanks, again. The thing about the Hedge is that water is easy to find. Potable water, on the other hand, that’s tricky. You can boil it, if you’ve got a bowl, but that requires lighting a fire, letting everybody know where you are. Course, once you get thirsty the mind starts driving you crazy till you give in. Happened a few times after I escaped Arcadia. Luckily I’m very good at hiding.” With his emphasis on the last world Ethan makes it evident what his preference of the four options is.

[Saber Sloth]

The Lost continue on, the Artist's story rising and falling with their steps, her voice floats away from the group and fades before long.

The moving shadow, the Ogre realizes is shadows small innumerable insectoid shadows coralessing into a writhing mass of one.

Ethan, Hedgefairer he is, knows that to hide they would need to leave the Path.

[Gerrit]

Gerrit only half-listened to Cassandra's story, so maybe he didn't catch the punchline but it didn't really strike him as all that funny.

Which is why Ram's suggestion made the Ogre perk up. He refused the water - better to safe some for later - and looked around in a hopefully unsuspicious way. The bone-like thorns didn't really offer much hiding space and were probably more curse than blessing.

He glanced at Ram to get his attention, then concentrated again on having an eye in where they came from. His voice was low but firm when he spoke. "What's your call? I'm all for avoiding confrontation, but only if doing that doesn't get us into more trouble."
No Code, no cover-up smalltalk. If what was there heard them so he it. He didn't want to risk a misunderstanding. Maybe they could reason with whatever was in the shadows, maybe they had to run or fight. Cassandra's tale didn't make jumping into the Hedge to hide any more inviting.

[Cassandra Reeding]

Cassandra nods, discreetly trying to take a look around, the idea of those shadows bringing her mind to long dealt with experiences. Or so she thought. Oh god. Not the pixies. It couldn't be those pixies could it? Her breath hitches a little bit, experiences with that dream flooding her mind. It sends a shiver down her spine. No, no, no. Focus. What could it be? She racks her mind for the possibilities.

1 success to try and identify the possible shadow creature(s).

1 success

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2020-11-03 17:29:27	Cassandra Reeding rolls 4 to Intelligence 3 + occult 1 (10 Again)	5, 9, 6, 7	1 success

"If it can be reasoned with, I have a way to aid with diplomacy." She gives a curious look to Gerrit. Perhaps his speaking louder than a whisper was to try and pre-speak to the creature to let it know we aren't a threat to it. Of course, if she needed to be a threat to it, she would be. Still, her contracts of Vainglory might be useful in this situation. She takes a sip of the water, "Thank you."

[Ram]

Ram shook his head ever so slightly at Ethan’s suggestion of hiding. After all, would you hide when the shadows themselves were your enemy.

Wit a sidelong glance, the Ogre saw that shadows were actually insects. At least… he thought they were. The Hedge’s influence couldn’t be discounted. And most concerning he couldn’t stop smile at the thought of battle.

“I think its bugs. Continue on. Double time.” Maybe they could outpace the growing shape but diplomacy seemed a distant option.

With the water taken back, Ram broke into a jog. Hoping he'd made the right choice while also hoping for a fight.

[Ethan Walsh]

Ethan lets out a sigh before following after the mountain of a man. [iIRunning. Never liked it before and I don’t think I’ll learn to like it while running for my life.[/i]

“I prefer running to fighting but I don’t know if we will be able outrun animals. They often have a speed we humans can’t match. Eventually we’ll run longer than they can if they aren’t magic, but they’ll probably catch up sooner rather than later.