When HAL, former Autumn Sovereign left the Freehold, he left many loose ends for the local Changelings to resolve. He didn't only leave a number of problems for the Freehold, he also took something with him...something that didn't belong to him.
New Faces at Treasured
It all started with a number of new arrivals paying a visit to the Winter Queen[1]. After indulging in some of Katrin's lemonade and a series of brief introductions[2], those in attendance, the majority of them being members of the Silent Arrow, were told about a couple of issues that required a certain degree of subtlety.
The Queen proceeded to tell them about the two matters; one of them dealing with a snowglobe that belonged to her. She explained that Horace Liebowitz, the former Dread Lord of Sacramento, never returned the trinker to her. Two Winter courtiers, Degnar and Lilian volunteered for the task of getting the object back. Katrin instructed them to meet with the Sun Banisher at the local University, and gave them some details about the trinket itself[3]
Meeting Harvey
After leaving Treasured, the pair of adventurous Winter Courtiers made their way to Sacramento State, following their Queen's instructions. Upon arriving they were met by Harvey, the Sun Banisher, out by the school's parking lot[4].
Harvey had a brief talk with the Darklings, letting Degnar borrow a pair of shoes and giving both of them some bogus passes so they could get around the school without too much trouble. He told them to go to the library and look for the entrance to HAL's Hollow there, warning them about any potential security measures that he former Dread Lord may have put in place[5]
Finding the Trinket
The Pair of Darklings headed inside the school's library. Once there, they began to sneak around the place while they looked for signs of Fae magic or perhaps even a Hedge gate[6]]. As they snuck around the noisy football players and irritated librarians, Lilian and Degnar noticed a cupboard that just seemed a little out of place. They approached it and after a little investigating, Degnar managed to open the Hedge gate hiddin within it[7].
Once the Darklings stepped through the gate, they noticed that there was an unnatural darkness around them. There was also a dull ticking sound, and something that sounded like a machine of sorts[8]. It quickly became obvious that navigating in such conditions would prove difficult, but the Winter Courtiers would not give up their search now that they had made it so far. After navigating in the darkness for a good while, Degnar managed to bump into a wall as Lilian stepped on the motor, knocking the device over. However, this accident proved useful to the Darkling as the shadows cleared out of the room as a result of it. Now that they could see their surroundings, the pair also noticed the source of the other strange sound; an odd-looking mechanical cat[9]. They were a little shocked at first, but as they realized that the strange automaton didn't mean them any harm, the Darklings continued to look around the room in search for their Queen's trinket.
While they looked around, Degnar found a filing cabinet that made a thumping noise as if something was inside of it. The Tunnelgrub tried to open it and realized it was locked, so instead he used some lock picks to get the thing to open. He eventually succeed in getting the lock to open and found the snow globe inside the cabinet[10]. However, the excitement of having found the trinket didn't last for too long as a humanoid rat climbed out of the mechanical cat. The little guy was not only able to talk, but was also holding two little revolvers pointed at each one of the Darklings. After exchanging a few words, Degnar managed to convinced the talking rat that they were not thieves and struck a pledge with it[11], promising to return the trinket to its rightful owner. Satisfied with the deal, the rat allowed the pair to leave but also told them to remind their Queen of the promise she made to HAL[12].
Returning the Trinket
Now that they had retrieved thier Queen's lost trinket, Lilian and Degnar returned to Treasured to inform Katrin of the good news and return the snow globe to her[13]. Upon hearing about their success, the Queen of Sorrow thanked both Darklings and asked them to embark upon the Lonely March as her two newest Archers[14]. Both of them accepted gladly and after exchanging a few more words with their Queen they left to see to their new duties.
