Marcus Evan Glimpses

[Marcus Evan]

The shining charm bracelets tinkle softly in the wind as Marcus admires them in the golden afternoon light. He doesn't smile, because that would indicate pleasure, and that's not what he is feeling at this moment. The metalflesh looks at the tiny charms on the thin lengths of chain that were going to be earrings and cuff links for two of his best friends. They were supposed to his wedding present, but neither Rick nor Terri had ever found the time to give him the final ingredients necessary to finish the hedgespun. So instead, Marcus had given them a really expensive blender and decided that the unfinished hedgespun would make a good anniversary present. Besides, it gave him an entire year to get the last bits he needed from his friends. Unfortunately, Fate had other plans for them. Rick left without explanation and due to the dissolution of his and Terri's Heartsworn Pledge, presumed dead. Marcus got called off on... important business... and soon after he returned to Sacramento, Fate must have decided that it was time to throw another spanner in the works... with a vengeance. Although to this day, Marcus can't be sure if Terri escaped the fiery ruin of the Four Seasons or not, he's come to terms with the fact that she's definitely gone and not coming back. Some small part of him hopes that she escaped the dragon and that her brush with certain death forced her to re-evaluate her priorities, causing her to abandon her home, her friends and her crown in order to find the truth concerning her husband's fate. But, as Marcus watches the reflection of the Autumn sunlight sparkle and dance across the shiny little birds and squirrels hanging from the charm bracelets, that smaller part of him is all but silenced by the certainty that while his fallen friends are indeed together again, he won't be seeing either of them again any time soon... that is, if he's lucky. All he can do now is remember them fondly and listen to the wind play tiny music with the mementos in his hand.

[Marcus Evan]

I still can't believe how fast this shit grows...

Marcus swings the ax into the base of another thorny bush that has grown in the past week to the size of a small tree. Although the autumn air is cool in the clearing behind his hollow, sweat still beads across the elemental's forehead and on the back of his neck. He tries to keep the Thorns from encroaching as much as possible, but the damn things grow back as fast as, well... weeds. After he clears the last of the brambles, Marcus carefully picks up an armload of the nasty things and hikes into the overgrown area surrounding his backyard. After dumping his awkward, prickly burden on the ground, the metalflesh spies a small stream nearby. Observing that a small, crude bridge has been erected over the water, he walks over to investigate and notices something odd. The head and torso of a mouldering skeleton sticks out from underneath the bridge, and the finger bones are still dug in the earth as if the unfortunate creature had tried to claw its way away from its grim fate. However, upon closer examination, Marcus can see that only one hand is actually gripping the soft ground. The other is still clutching something in its fist, even in death.

Hmm... Now what could possibly be so important?

Despite the consequences it held for the cat, Marcus gives in to his curiosity and pries the bony fingers apart. Oddly enough, the creature's body doesn't appear very large, but it's hands must have been massive. Troll, possibly? It takes some effort, but the elemental succeeds in opening the skeletal fist to reveal... a small red ball. Strange, but the metalflesh knows that in the hedge, even something as innocuous as a child's plaything isn't always what it seems. As gingerly as possible, Marcus picks up the rubber ball. Unfortunately, even his most gentle efforts are for naught as he watches it disintegrate at the merest touch. Immediately, unbidden memories spin through his mind as he looks with disappointment at the remnants of the treasure that this creature had apparently valued more than its own life.

The playground is mostly deserted as young Liam is playing jacks with some schoolmates. To his surprise, he's actually winning for a change. The sky is grey and overcast as an older boy makes himself feel better by making Liam feel worse. The shame and embarrassment burn themselves on his young face. This isn't the first time, but Liam decides it will be the last. Bunching his hand into a little fist, he swings at the bully, once... twice... The third time is the charm and he catches the older boy in the stomach, who hardly seems to notice, but instead pushes Liam down hard, knocking the wind out of the little boy. Once he can catch his breath, he vainly tries to stifle his tears, but it's too late. They've all seen them. Liam wipes the wet dirt and grit from his cheeks as his humiliation becomes unbearable and he desperately wishes he were bigger and stronger.

Marcus' eyes focus on the protruding knuckle bones of the dead trolls' skeletal hands. They vaguely remind him of the jacks he used to play with as a child. Suddenly, the bony remains lurch away from him. Backing away in shock, with his ax at the ready, the elemental peers under the bridge and realizes how the troll must have met its fate. A large carnivorous plant is tugging the marrow-filled bones into its open maw now that the carcass has been picked clean of all of the tasty meat. It must have crept up while the troll slept and wrapped it in its thorny embrace. By the time the unfortunate creature awoke, it was already too late. For reasons he still can't entirlely explain, Marcus raised the ax above his head and brings it sharply down on each of the trolls' hands. Picking up the bones, the metalflesh turns and starts to walk back to his hollow. He has no idea what he's even going to do with the severed fingers of a dead troll, but for some completely irrational reason, the knucklebones reminded him of the jacks he once played with as a child and he didn't want to see them eaten by the hedge plant. Marcus doesn't even notice that he's humming a tune from his playground days as he returns to his hollow.

Onesies, twosies, threesies, four.
Over the fence and through the door.

[Marcus Evan]

Marcus can hear the howling getting closer as he peers into the encroaching Thorns. He could tell that the briarwolves had their prey on the run now and were savoring their favorite part of the hunt... the chase. The elemental can hear something crashing through the hedge as it attempts to outrun them. He imagines the wolves nipping at the unfortunate creature's heels in order to squeeze every last possible drop of terror from their frightened quarry before it finally collapses from exhaustion. Once they can no longer feed on it's fear, they will tear into their helpless victim and devour it while it still lives.

The poor sod... but, I hope they don't catch it too soon. I still have a lot of work to do.

Bending over his handiwork, Marcus continues to hammer the nocturnal sounds of the hunt into the hunk of metal on the anvil in his workshop. The desperate speed of both starving predator and frightened prey are folded one into the other as the metalflesh continues to craft the pendant. He can already begin to see the canine head that lives within the silvery block begin to emerge from it's hiding place. Once his labor is complete, Marcus notices that the howls have ceased and the hedge is now quiet once more. As he polishes his handiwork with a soft cloth, the elemental realizes from the relative silence that the briarwolves have finally caught their prey and are now enjoying the spoils of their own night's work.

  12 suxx

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2014-04-30 19:57:07		Marcus Evan rolls 15 to Strength+Crafts+Specialty+Workshop (10 Again)		6, 2, 7, 6, 6, 8, 8, 5, 10, 5, 8, 8, 8, 2, 8, 1		7 successes
2014-04-30 19:56:31		Marcus Evan rolls 15 to Strength+Crafts+Specialty+Workshop (8 Again)		4, 9, 8, 5, 5, 3, 8, 4, 5, 3, 2, 6, 6, 2, 9, 3, 6, 10, 5, 3		5 successes

[Marcus Evan]

After overhearing a few comments about the knuckle dusters he had crafted, Marcus decides to familiarize himself a bit more with California laws. Considering that they are actually considered a concealed weapon according to Google, the metalflesh realizes that it is probably just one more hassle that Stripes doesn't really need to deal with. The elemental wants to show his gratitude to the beast for helping him get his engine out of the hedge, but certainly doesn't want to get him in any trouble. He realizes that he just needs to make it into something a bit more discreet. In hindsight, Marcus can admit to himself that it hadn't really felt complete when he had forged the troll's knuckles into the dusters. It had always felt like something was still missing... they were incomplete. Trudging through the hedge back to where he had found the skeletal remains of the unfortunate creature, Marcus takes aim with his ax at the carnivorous plant that had been the end of the troll. The formidable viney thing manages to avoid his first few swings, but eventually his ax connects and the end comes swiftly. Hacking it down to the root stem, Marcus waits until it's death spasms cease... then he waits a little more. After all, you could never be too careful in the hedge. Once he is certain that the thing no longer poses a threat, the elemental wraps the vines around the knuckle dusters and begins his work. He feels a sense of rightness as he hammers the crafty hedge plant into the metal-laced bones of its victim. Once his task is complete, Marcus plunges his own head and shoulders into the barrel of water that he also uses to cool the red hot chain links he has just forged. After wrapping it around his fist, the metalflesh uses his Wyrd to force the length of chain to show it's true nature. Vine-wrapped knuckles protrude from the links encircling his hand, and Marcus smiles.

Right. This will do quite nicely.

  9 suxx

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2014-04-30 19:57:37		Marcus Evan rolls 15 to Strength+Crafts+Specialty+Workshop (8 Again)		2, 7, 1, 9, 4, 10, 10, 10, 3, 5, 7, 5, 8, 10, 8, 8, 4, 5, 5, 8, 1, 6, 6, 6		9 successes

[Marcus Evan]

Marcus grimaces in the first rays of the rising sun as he continues to twist the thorny flower-laden vines into the spun metal wire. The last hint of dawn's rose-tipped fingers is vanishing from the sky as he admonishes himself for the umpteenth time that he is much better at working hot metal than cold, but it doesn't really matter in the end. The elemental knows that he will keep working until the finished product meets his rather considerable expectations, so he mentally silences himself and focuses on the work at hand... tedious as he may find it. After all, he really doesn't want to wake up this early again tomorrow, now does he?

C'mon... c'mon...

As usual, Marcus isn't aware of the exact moment when the organic hedge stuff acquiesces to his crude efforts to convince it to merge with his handiwork. One moment, he is twisting green stalks and lavender petals with silver wire and blossoms of wrought metal, and the next, he is simply running his fingers over the finished product. He likes to think that the fine bottle of rather expensive red wine he purchased had helped in the negotiations. Pausing in his efforts, he had periodically poured a healthy measure over the vines and wire every so often. At least in his mind, it really seemed to make them much more compliant, or pliable.

And... there it is.

Holding the bracelet up to the now full sunlight, the metalflesh smiles in satisfaction as he notices the glimmer of early morning stars reflecting from the thorny vines as well at the delicate blush of the sunrise that still infuses the delicate blossoms. Giving in to the moment, the elemental doesn't feel the soreness in his shoulders or the fatigue in his fingers, but simply embraces the glowing pride of a true artisan instead. Marcus puts a bit of himself into everything he creates, and he hopes that this particular bit is judged to be good enough. Despite his best efforts, a tiny knot of uncertainty twists in the pit of his stomach. At the end of the day, he just really hopes she likes it.

  Hedgespinning

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2014-08-22 19:28:54		Marcus Evan rolls 12 to STR/DEX + Crafts + Specialty + Workshop (8 Again)		8, 10, 7, 9, 3, 9, 3, 1, 7, 7, 2, 1, 7, 6, 9, 1, 5		5 successes

[Marcus Evan]

Marcus took a sip of his coffee as Lynn yawned and rubbed at her eyes. It seemed like the hardcore bargain hunters were already here, as he made his way through the throng. The darkling seemed a bit preoccupied as they searched the crowd for the guy she told him about. However, Marcus would have recognized Mike from a mile away. Lynn wasn't kidding about the tin foil hat.

“Fiddler Girl!”

The oddball called to Lynn from down the aisle and Marcus remained silent as he followed her over. Since it was her friend, the elemental lets her do all the talking and busies himself with giving the merchandise on display a once over as they chat. Their voices soon fade into the background as the metalflesh focuses on finding anything that might work as a bribe for HAL's little bridge burning pal.

“You get that unit...”

Most of the junk on Mike's table is just that... junk. However, after some searching, Marcus finds that there are a surprising number of hidden gems just waiting to be discovered amid the useless refuse. Focusing on what he thinks would have the highest street value, as well as the most metal used in its construction, the elemental has set down his coffee already started reaching for his wallet by the time he holds up the likeliest candidate towards Mike.

"How much for this?"

It looked like Lynn had found something as well. That's good in Marcus' opinion. Better to show up with too much than too little. When it come to preparation, the metalflesh tended to err on the side of over rather than under.

  Find something of value

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2014-10-20 14:45:21		Marcus Evan rolls 5 to Intelligence + Streetwise (10 Again)		5, 9, 5, 6, 7		1 success

Trickster Forn Clakes

[Marcus Evan]

Marcus almost loses his composure when he sees Joe's text appear. He hadn't heard from his Hedge Warden mentor since... well, he can't talk about the details, but it was a while ago. As he watches Lynn, Morgan, and Daniel talk to Goyle and his bridge burning mutt, he thinks twice about answering the text, but how can he refuse? After all, a promise is a promise.

"Go with him and find HAL. I need to do something first, and I'll catch up," he said to the group before his eyes locking back onto Goyle, taking a step forward. "If anything happens to them, if you betray them, nothing will stop me from finding you and bringing to bear the full weight of Summer."

Turning aside, the metalflesh grimaces as the others walk through the hedge gate while he stays behind and calls Joe back on his cell phone. It is not in the elemental's nature to be mysterious, but his oaths prevent him from discussing Warden business. That's just how it is. After a lengthy conversation with Joe, Marcus is made aware of the fact that HAL's recent activities in the hedge have not gone unnoticed by his brethren. In fact, they want him to find out as much as possible about the former Autumn King's current agenda. Marcus hangs up the phone and lets out a long breath. Things just got much more complicated.

"Right."

Turning back towards the trailer, the elemental wipes away the remnants of mold from the door's window and activates the hedge gate. With a simple push, the door opens inwards and he steps beyond the threshold and into the maze of briars which awaits. As soon as he steps into the hedge, Marcus feels his relation to the satellite dish once more and cautiously makes his way through the Thorns as he follows the pull of the distant connection. He hopes Morgan can look after the other two until he can catch up to them.

[Marcus Evan]

The first day Marcus cracked open Green's book to start copying the illustrations had been the hardest. It reminded him of one of those weird manuscripts that he saw popping up online from time to time, like the Devil's Bible or the Whatchamuthingy Codex. The text and illustrations sometimes mingled and overlapped, necessitating that he sometimes double check his work repeatedly before continuing to the next page. He eventually became quite adept at drawing thorn-laden intestines entwined about owl-headed creatures almost beyond imagining. Almost.

Damn. This one almost looks like one of those bird-dog things at the Bogeyman's house.

On the second day, the ink seemed to almost fly out of his pen and onto the paper. He was barely conscious of what he was drawing as he finished page after page. Some part of his mind probably felt it was for the best as his steely fingers moved the pen across the paper in strange curls as he copied the alien calligraphy of the manuscript. The elemental thought he caught glimpses of vaguely familiar plants from the hedge from time to time, but he became so focused on the task of precisely copying the illustrations that he gave little attention to anything beyond the exactness of the form and shading of the images.

I'll just work one more hour, then it's off to bed...

The third day saw Marcus finish the book almost before he knew it. He felt the familiar pride of accomplishment mingled with disappointment that the task was complete. Paging through his handiwork, he fastidiously double-checked his reproductions against the originals. Once he was satisfied, he finally allowed himself to examine the actual contents of the strange compendium for any glimpses into it's meaning or function. When he finally closes the book, he is no closer to solving the mystery behind it than when he had first laid eyes on it.

Looks like a job for a sharper minds than mine. I'll call them in the morning. Right now, I thinks it's time for a beer.

  Copy the Illustrations

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2015-04-10 15:20:20		Marcus Evan rolls 7 to Intelligence+Crafts+Adroitness+Tools-Difficulty(3) (8 Again)		9, 1, 5, 10, 7, 8, 10, 6, 10, 9, 1, 6, 1		6 successes
2015-04-10 15:19:57		Marcus Evan rolls 7 to Intelligence+Crafts+Adroitness+Tools-Difficulty(3) (8 Again)		2, 10, 5, 8, 2, 3, 9, 7, 9, 1, 10, 1		5 successes
2015-04-10 15:19:11		Marcus Evan rolls 7 to Intelligence+Crafts+Adroitness+Tools-Difficulty(3) (8 Again)		1, 1, 6, 6, 8, 1, 8, 2, 7		2 successes