PrP (J&V) - What do Fetches Dream of?

[Ram]

“Got a street name. Maple drive.”

He took a deep breath of smoke filled air, as if trying to steady himself. Against, the feeling of being small. Against feeling how close the fetch’s rage felt to his own. Even just the revelation that he had a name. Morgan… He kept breathing five or six more times trying to hold back tears.

“We should check inside,” he said, swallowing “Not going to get anything out of this crowd.”

He stepped forward and the screams of men dying to firebombs within his mantle mixed in with the crackle of flames as Ram... Morgan, stepped into his own house for the first time in decades.

[Xadun]

The people in the dream pay Circe and Ram no heed, moving about like the usual spectators to a creeping inferno. Not even the torrent of abusive Italian draws a single glance.

Making his way up to the house, Ram feels the heat of the flames as nothing more than the rays of a summer sun. Opening the door, he sees the fires along the walls and up the stairs creating a layer of translucent, yet thick smoke. In the living room he can make out a hulking figure over six feet tall, and beyond that, a figure curled on the floor.

The prone form is gasping in a pained, cracking voice, part fear, part anger, view blocked by the huge man. "Not like this.... it didn't happen this way...."

[Circe]

Circe's ears twitch. The voice? was it familiar?

2 successes

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2021-05-25 22:48:46	Circe rolls 6 to Perception (10 Again)	10, 1, 3, 6, 5, 8, 5	2 successes

She also looks around the room, testing the flames to see if they hurt her before wandering around of course. If she can, she will try to move around to get a better look at both the front of the hulking figure as well as whomever is upon the floor.

More importantly, she's a question for Ram. Investigate or attack? "So, how do ya want ta do this?"

[Ram]

Ram’s mantle is either hard to hear or it mixes almost perfectly with the sounds of the Fetch’s dreamscape.

He see’s the great menacing figure and wonders for a moment if that is his fetch. It certainly had Ram’s size. Though with his own perception warped as it was to make him feel smaller, maybe that wasn’t accurate.

But then he heard the voice. Denying the dream’s reality. Coming from another figure huddled on the ground that shared the smallness that Ram felt.

And he knew.

His jaw clenched.

That was the thing that stole his life. The lifeless tool of the Gentry pretending to be human.

Fire and blood roared in his ears so that he didn’t hear Circe’s words. Almost forgot the mission as his vision narrowed beyond it. He needed to see it.

He moved along the edge of the room till it came into view from out behind the larger dark figure.

[Xadun]

Circe strains her ears against the voice. It's that of a young man, late teens or early twenties. It lacks the rough bass she's used to, and has a twang that has been ground out from many years across the hedge, but that it Ram's voice. Definitely. Just.... younger.

The fire is warm, but it is as if a breath of hot desert wind rather than flame. As Ram goes one way around, the Summer Queen takes the other placing her near the prone figure's legs. The Hulking figure she can now see is human, at least six feet tall with Ram's powerful shoulders and jawline. There id a trimmed beard, just starting to become unkempt, but it is in the brow and the eyes there is a distinct familial similarity between this man and the Ogre she has come to know if one sifted out the stone and iron. Something in the shape of the face, the torso and the eyes, when Ram isn't hunched over. From this angle she can see the red marks on the Teen's arm, and the leather belt in the man's large right fist.

To Ram, the figure certainly doesn't seem smaller. Indeed, something through his eyes has meant this man has always been bigger, stronger... dangerous. More than that, there is a feeling of control, almost Domination in his mind from the man, making something about him seem more like a Keeper than the human he clearly is to the Summer Siege machine. There is a connection to this figure, of recognition, of how similar this man and Ram's Mask are when they cover up the transformation is Keeper wrought.

But for all those feelings, the eyes were on the person on the floor, the thing wearing his face.... Albeit one thirty years younger. Without stone or horn or metal, the young man's dark hair and tall, lanky frame just beginning to bulk out with muscle. Hunched over on the floor, his arm over his face to protect himself. Ram sees the version of himself, much younger, try to protect himself as the man lashes out with the belt and a lightning crack across the arm. Something stings on the Ogre's own left arm as the belt makes contact. Neither abuser nor victim seem to ahve noticed the changelings in the room.

Yet.

"You little bastard!" the Man snarled, as the leather whipped through the air. Beneath, the other Ram, the fetch, winced in pain. "It didn't happen this way...." his words a frantic desperate whisper.

The Man raises his arm again.

[Circe]

Well this is a surprise. Abusive home, not nice. Unless it was the whole beat the fairy out of him thing that used to be done in old Europe. Yes, Circe had read books about it.


Circe clicks the dial on her rifle. Certainly the effect in a dream is unnecessary. She could make a bolt action rifle fire on full auto if she wanted to. But it was the thought that really did count in dreams. Still, she tries to do a little more recon, draw in a little more from the dream.

4 successes

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2021-05-28 21:41:44	Circe rolls 4 to Wits + Emp + Wyrd -2 (10 Again)	10, 8, 10, 5, 3, 9	4 successes

Circe figured the one on the ground was the fetch. Unless Ram had a habit of beating up his own little brother in the past. Or the fetch did. Circe has the gun pointed downwards, towards the prone figure. "Ya want me ta start shooting? Fetch or the asshole? Could be therapeutic fer ya. Or are ya trying ta learn more?"

[Ram]

Ram was not liking any of this. He wouldn’t go so far as to say he pitied the fetch but seeing the taller man did bring up the feeling of seeing the uncaring True Fey generals. And as much as he hated the fetch for being a tool of the Fairies, it was Fairie he hated more and this man with the belt felt like Them.

“Ah!” Ram winced in pain as he felt the sting of leather echo across his own arm “What the hell?!”

He looked down, expecting to see a welt forming. However, it did help distract him from his anger enough to hear Circe’s words this time. Snap him out of his battlemind. Did he want her to start shooting. Yes, both of them. Fill them with holes and leave them to burn to ash was what he wanted for both of these reminders of the Good Folk.

However, as he rubbed his arm, he knew that wasn’t why they were here. Yes, anger was the emotion of Summer and Ram was VERY angry right now but he’d been taught when he joined that you couldn’t always give in to that anger or you would burn out. They’d come here for a purpose. He set his jaw.

“We’re, uh, we’re still on recon. Let’s try to find out what really happened.”

Ram tried to focus, tried to tear down the dream a little. Strip away the nightmarish aspects and leave only the memory to play out. However, whether because he was distracted by his own feelings getting in the way or trying to be ambitious with his changes, the dream pushed back and stubbornly refused to change.

A shiver of fear ran through the Ogre as he saw the Man raise his arm again. And without thinking, Ram instinctively moved to block the blow from landing.

failure

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2021-05-29 05:12:26	Ram rolls 7 to Wits+Occult+Wyrd (10 Again)	6, 6, 1, 1, 5, 1, 1	failure

[Xadun]

There's something strange about being the true outsider to this dream. Whatever Ram remembers of his time before, there is something distinctly personal about this place, this dream. Reaching out into the dream might help reach a little more about it.

Somthing about the memory feels old. Years old. Tying together the attire, the designs... this certainly isn't the present, or anything near it. Which also means although it's definately where the Fetch was - and Ram is clearly rmeebering little bits of this place - that doesn't necessarily mean it's where the fetch is, here and now. Keeping the Dream a memory might let them look about more recent places, recent memories... if they can point the dreamer that way.

Ram feels the pain, but there is not a single mark on his own arm. Summer's fiery rage coursing through him, but he keeps control.

He moves to interject the blow, but something feels sluggish, lethargic. Maybe it's just seeing all... this, here. Still, the Ogre positions himself between the Man and the Fetch.

The blow lands, and another shock of pain lances up Ram's arm. "I brought you into this world, and I can sure as hell take you back out of it."

The Fetch looks up. Slowly, he makes another effort to withdraw further from the Overbearing man.

2 successes

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2021-05-30 09:03:55	The Fetch rolls 4 to do something insignificant (10 Again)	10, 3, 4, 10, 7, 3	2 successes

The other Ram stands slowly, and now looks taller, stronger, but still fearful - staring eye to eye with the abusing father figure. "No. I stopped this. I.... I STOPPED IT." The abusive man takes a step back warily. "This happened years ago. It's over."

The Fetch turns and makes for a second door out of the room. The abuser stands stock-still, as if frozen.

[Circe]

The grumble makes it quite clear Circe is less then pleased with not getting to shoot. "Well, follow that garbage!" She points at fetch Ram as it heads out.


As for the frozen abuser? Circe pauses in an internal debate. She will loiter behind Ram a little as he pursues. "Ugh," or something similar is snarled past her blue lips. Circe restrains herself from firing at the abuser. The man had been beating up the fetch but it was likely he'd also hit Ram in the past.


Unacceptable to Circe that was. So, she instead settles for shoving her left fist right in front of the frozen figure's eyes and giving it the finger as she pursues the Rams.

1 success

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2021-05-31 15:44:50	Circe rolls 5 to Wits + Occ + Wyrd -2 (10 Again)	10, 5, 1, 5, 6, 4	1 success

Sorry for not posting sooner, lack of internet this weekend.

[Ram]

Did… did the fetch just change the dream? It was almost as much a shock as the pain coursing through his arm. Ram did a double take between the two things, making sure the limb wasn’t actually injured. Then he grit his teeth and followed the fetch into the other room.

Normal people didn’t change their dreams. Rhodes had been wrong on that point. So what did it mean?

Unfortunately there was much time to actually consider all options in the greater scheme of things. Instead he settled on one. It meant the fetch could resolve the nightmare quicker than normal, limiting their time to learn more. That meant focusing. Channeling his rage instead of letting it take him all over the place like it had been. They had a mission. This was war but he couldn’t fight right now. This wasn’t even a battle to tear apart the fetches mind, as much as he would have liked to do that. This was recon and that was what the Render had to focus on. It wasn’t his normal role in conflict but this was just the first step in a wider conflict. Learn as much as possible and ravage on the way out. Focus.

5 successes

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2021-06-02 15:54:49	Ram rolls 7 to wits+Emp+Wyrd (10 Again)	10, 3, 10, 9, 2, 10, 5, 8, 7, 1	5 successes