Green Flame Rising (Exalted vs Dresden Files)

[DragonParadox]

The Quiet and the Music ​

19th of October 2006 A.D.

In the end you decide not to borrow trouble for Anna, not when you are so new yourself. Still learning alongside J is pleasant enough. He knows quite a bit about magic, if from a perspective that would freak out most sorcerers, but then who are you to argue against power from pain, from the numbness of the body and the stillness of the mind, the thousand little deaths that come with joining a spirit that heralds death's touch? After all you have a demon in your head. Head filled with new knowledge you slip into the embrace of tainted water, into sleep.

We cling to our own point of view, as though everything depended on it. Yet our opinions have no permanence; like autumn and winter, they gradually pass away.

The words echo back yo you not in Brother Divisinimar's calm and thoughtful voice, but heavy with hidden meaning. Again and again they come transformed:

We cling to our own point of view, as though everything depended on it. Yet our opinions have no permanence; like spring and summer, they gradually pass away.

Somewhere close, far too close, you hear familiar laughter ringing in the dark, a voice of try crackling wood and eyes that burn with mockery. Did you really think you could get away? Did you really thing you wouldn't pay for your sins little girl? It's cold, colder than you have ever felt before like the darkness is pouring into your veins and yet you are afraid to make light, knowing what it will reveal, ice, the throne and the tree.

Abruptly you wake, heart hammering. It takes a long time before you dare reach for the light.

You are Exhausted: -1 die for all actions

It would be too much to hope that mom does not notice you shamble into the kitchen like a zombie the next day and almost spill the coffee pot in the process and this time she is not satisfied with the mumbled 'bad dreams'. She wants to know what about.

Maybe all of Usum's praise had been working more than you let yourself admit, but it feels wrong to explain how bad it's gotten, to admit weakness, but you force yourself to get the words out. Before you even get halfway to explaining the muddled dream logic mom is hugging you. It feels, nice, comfortable... and then she shivers. Right, it must feel like hugging a block of ice.

"Sorry mom," you mumble as you struggle free.

"It's alright sweetie," she says instantly.

"You'll catch your death of cold," you manage with a wan smile, a warning she had given you more times than either of you can count. More seriously you add. "I'm working on it now, soon it won't be a problem."

"The... magic coffee has been doing fine for me," she says at last.

"Glad you like it," you answer, your tone saying far more than the words. Two months ago you could not imagine your mother saying the words 'magic' and 'fine' in the same sentence, unless it was 'we'll do fine without the darn magic'.

The other part of the Nightmare-Be-Gone plan is not, alas going to be as easy as brewing the right teas. Much like you cannot get anything more than mildly buzzed off drink that would have left you smashed before an alien crown landed on your head, the teas that would help with balancing the mind of a mortal have about as much impact on you as spring rain has to magnesium fire burning white. According to the old monk your mind and body are fundamentally disconnected in ways that seem to him deliberate, like the partition doors on a ship so that if water were to flood into one the whole ship does not go down. Good to know in a 'captain of your own mind' sort of way, but not really helpful.

That leaves meditation.

"Tools, herbs, massage, needles, all are external things, so say the Council of the wise and so you know it is," Brother Divsimar proclaims encouragingly and as far as it goes he is right. If only it did not go so slow.

Balance of Chi Progress: 7/15

And come Halloween I have to meet the Scarecrow's boss again. The prospect makes your stomach twist, half with fear half with anger. As bad as you had fucked up you did not deserve what happened in Arctis Tor, just like none of Winter's other victims deserve what happens to them, but this is the world you live in.

Fuck

***​

20th of October 2006 A.D.

You spend some time with your friends over the following days , mostly meandering around the Mall from the food court to the movies to the arcade and once evening comes you even go to the clubs you used to frequent only to find that,most of the people who had known you casually thing you had fallen off the face of the Earth, one guy mentions going to jail for using. Really? Really? That is what they think of me?

"Lighten up Molly, I think you made him piss himself," Izzy shouts into your ear over the thrum of the music.

"Did not," you roll your eyes as you finish your drink and pull her towards the dance floor. "Come on, lets dance, that guy in the white tshirt has been ogling you all night, at least give him something to watch. He's kind of cute in the shaggy puppy kind of way," And he is not a vampire, faerie or other danger to her life and sanity, you add to yourself.

"You think so?" she asks deliberately not looking in the direction so hard she might as well have been staring at him.

"I know so, I am the keeper of the secret lore of the dance," you proclaim.

In this one evening, for this one hour you let go of all your worries and your cares and surrender yourself to the music, like a ship carried where the currents will.

***​

22th of October 2006 A.D.

As with all things in life though one can only procrastinate so long though before the need to decide where you want to meet the Wicked Witch of the North. Part of you wishes the Last Station was done, but it's not and it's hard to blame Porter for not wanting to have her in his home when it's still half-ruined. Harry on the other hand had opened his house to you if you want to meet there. With the house empty of jawas for trick-or-treating and Daniel going to a party you could meet her at home like dad had suggested. There's something to the notion of putting Queen Mab under the eye of a even greater power... but the thought of her in the house those things had invaded last summer doesn't sit right with you.

The only other alternative, the only true neutral ground recognized by the same Accords Queen Mab guarantees is Mac's, but if you are going to consider it you have to scout the place around first. It would be rather rude towards McAnally not to mention any patrons inclined to use the pub as shelter on a dangerous night to drop in with the Queen of Air and Darkness.

Who do you visit McAnally's Pub with?

[] By yourself, you need no introduction but your history

[] With Harry, he's friendly with the owner and pops in from time to time, though most of the regulars are skittish around him

[] Pauline, the various members of the Order of the Cauldron are known here and they are not likely to cause as much of a stir as Harry

[] Your father. Going to a bar with your dad is so uncool you feel like you might spontaneously shapechange into a perfect square, but he has a good reputation at least

[] Lydia, maybe her weirdness will distract from your weirdness and vice-versa

[] Write in

OOC: Initially I thought the roll that made those nightmares was a botch, which is why I made the cut where I did yesterday, but then I remembered that after the last nightmare Molly sleeps under BSM so the DC was only 6 not 7 turning it from a botch 'thinks she is still in the nightmare when awake' into just the fail state of 'you have nightmares'.

 

[DragonParadox]

Tongue of Honey, Eyes of Darkness ​

22th of October 2006 A.D.

Down the steps from street level through a brick lined passage that leads to a sea green door with an actual brass knocker McAnally's Pub is like the kind of place a D&D party might meet in. the faces of ghosts, gremlins and monsters out of tale peering out from among the shadows, carved in pillars three and ten. Thirteen were the apostles and one of them a traitor, thirteenth came Loki to the feast where Baludur died, thirteen the moons of the years, and thirteenth of the lunar fortnight is Triyodashi, sacred of Shiva and rich in good fortune. In truth the number is neither one nor the other any more than the pendulum swings only one way, thirteen is a number arcane makes each thing, each place a little more itself.

In normal times you would judge this is a place of rest and contemplation, communal without being cramped, comforting without being intrusive. Alas these are not normal times. Before you are even at the door you can hear chairs scraping back, the hum of conversation suddenly punctuated by raised voices young and old. By the time you actually in the room every other inhabitant is on their feet and looking to get out, hesitating only because they would have to pass the daunting gauntlet of a Warden of the Council and one Molly Carpenter.

A smile would look like a threat and any greeting would sound sinister from your lips you know at once and so you offer neither, instead looking at the hardwood floor, a moment's blush, then a quick look to Harry as though to ask him 'What do I do?' Not that you need an answer, you know to turn your head just so to look into the eyes of a bespectacled African-American with real strong mom energy and offer wryly. "Hi everyone. Er... False alarm."

A reflexive smile is followed by the man in the corner with the pipe shuffling back a little, then the older fellow with a cat in his lap thinks the better of startling his furry companion. Humans are at the end of the day a social species, when startled and afraid inclined to to act as the group does so as not to be left behind so once momentum shifts it keeps shifting. Quite a few people look sheepishly at their half drunk beers and then at the man behind the bar.

Instead of following their gazes as curiosity would dictate you turn to the wizard at your side. "Say hello, Harry."

"Hello Harry," he snarks back. Not exactly what you would have chosen, but it does the trick of making him look less like a magical threat and more like a guy who just once to get to his beer already instead of playing show and tell.

A few people do leave as the two of you approach the bar, but it is a far cry from the stampede for safety it might otherwise have been. Instead many, pairs of eyes are now fixed on the pair of you over the top of foaming beer and stakes, partly out of weariness and partly you suspect because this is going to be the really juicy gossip.

"Hey Mac, we are looking to organize a meeting..." Harry starts as you take the chance to observe the enigmatic man who had somehow managed to get his bar Accord Neutral Territory while being, ostensibly, entirely mortal.

A tall gangling man, enough so that he can look Harry in the eyes whose weathered features could place him anywhere from thirty to fifty. wearing black pants with a white shirt and a white apron, both spotless... really spotless. Cheating a little, because why would you not, you realize there is not a bit of fluff not a single fallen hair on the bartender. OK so he doesn't have hair of his own, but there is a cat in here, every white surface in a three mile area should have at least one hair on it.

Air is moving normally, not that, not a glamor he's not that kind of person, electromagnetism would make your hair fuzz a little, not that either, not fire-based or it would interact in some way with all the flame channeling enchantments Harry has with him, if only a flash out of the corner of the eye, entropy would hurt the beer, space warping would harm the symmetry of the room, temporal warping would... be insane and also cause headaches and nausea to seers and diviners. It's an absolute effect, a conceptual effect, Harry's favorite bartender has an conceptual effect keeping his apron and shirt clean. Either he is an old god who down-sized as far as it would do, and you cannot think of many old gods inclined to run a bar who would also run one as sedate as this, or... Would an angel be serving alcohol in Chicago? Christ did turn water to wine so maybe if he had good reason to.

Lost 3 Essence -> Now at 9/12 (Empathy Excellency; Occult Excellency; All Things Betray)

Briefly you feel a surge of guilt, but it's gone as fast as it had come on. Guessing that someone might be an angel is not 'knowing the mind of God' and it's not like you had any reason to assume he was one. Really this is a good thing, it tells you not to poke any deeper... and fair is fair you do feel kind of smug about figuring it out. Just call me Sherlock Molly.

McAnally is looking at you and tapping the menu.

How do you greet him?

[] Normally, order a root beer

[] Hint at what you noticed (Charisma+ Subterfuge)

[] Directly state what you noticed and make it clear you are not going to look any deeper

[] Write in

OOC: I know you guys probably will not take it, but if you directly call Mac an angel that is going to be a hell of a bomb to throw in the middle of the room full of minor talents.

 

[DragonParadox]

Words Few and Wise ​

22th of October 2006 A.D.

"Root beer please," you answer, cool as a cucumber, tamping down hard on all the angel puns that come to mind,. It's hard to tell what's going on behind brown eyes that seem at first as commonplace as the worn coasters that slide across the bar. But the more you look the more you can see, sparks of amber dancing like fireflies in twilight, a seeking mind and potent will expressed for the most part in a turn of the head there an eyebrow almost read here.

Regain 2 Essence -> Now at 11/12

The more you see the bartender interact with Harry the more you get the sense that they are speaking their own language, like a platonic ideal of guy-speak that can only be spoken around the Ur-Baseball game. Maybe you get docked points for emoting too hard, you laugh to yourself as you notice Harry get less expressive and more comfortable at the same time, but as Harry talks about the meeting with Mab at the museum, carefully sanitized for witnesses you notice something else odd, enough so in fact to keep focusing on... Harry is having fun trying to prod Mac into a reaction, stretching out his legs on the stool as he complements the stake sandwich and gets into the beer. McAnally's a mystery sure, but he's a comforting sort of cypher, a rarity for Harry Dresden PI, and even more so for the Warden of Chicago. I guess if you do bar side psychology long enough you learn how to do it in under twelve syllables per hour

Lost 2 Essence -> Now at 9/12 (Keeping the buffs up)

Case in point. "I'll clear things out."

"You don't have to lose business..."

Mac just points at the plaque above the bar, carved in oak framed in white yew, one for life and one for death: 'Accord Recognized Neutral Territory.'

"I'm not a signatory," you quip cheerily. "Just looking around to see what's what..." The casual listener might understand 'looking for a place to meet', though should a more fine-tuned ear hear. 'I'm looking around to see if the Unseelie Accords are worth joining' you are not going to complain. So far you are not impressed, they seem to just lay down the etiquette of dealing with other supernatural powers without in any way facilitating peace over war, like an arcane Code Duello, no wonder the Knights of the Cross do not want to be part of it.

"I have a copy." Four words, not judging, not advising, simply an offer to let you form your own opinion.

"Thank you, I've always been curious to read an up to date version of it. Might get me some insight into the mind of the woman whose brainchild it is."

Harry sighs like you had said something silly, though it's soft enough that you would not have noticed if you were not bending Essence to sight and insight alike. "Mab's not a woman Molly not really, she might have the shape of one when it pleases her, but she's more like a blizzard and the glacier from whence it came from all at once."

Yeah well I dreamed of being a city of demons, you think, biting your tongue against saying aloud.

"But she can understand people right?" you ask instead. At his cautious nod you continue: "There you go then, if she can and will study me then not doing to match her is... like starting a battle by refusing to send out scouts out of fear that they cannot navigate the terrain."

"You are not in a battle with Queen Mab and you should pray you are never in one," he bites back, the calm that had seeped into his face with the beer and the company leeching off his face in an instant.

So you don't roll your eyes and you don't point out that woman is from what you have seen constitutionally incapable of not turning any conversation into a battle of wills. "It'll help me understand the wold as a whole better then." Turning back to Mac you ask. "Do you have a list of signatories as well?"

"Yes." He hands you the root beer. It's nice, obviously not as good as what Harry is having, but you're not going to ask him to break the law over that.

"OK, do you take credit or..." you start.

The silence says more than words could

This time you do sigh. "It's valuable information that is hard to find and which you do not share with anyone. I'd be fine with owing you a favor normally, but I already have two of those penciled, not counting making tanks . I figured money is the easiest currncy since you do run a business."

"You're powerful, good for you to know the rules." The intonation gives you pause, not 'good for you', but generally good 'for you to know the rule'. Fair, I guess. Doesn't mean I'm going to follow them.

On to other stuff then. "So if I we do meet here can I help in the kitchen?"

Again he points at a plaque, this one far shorter but no less definitive. No outside food.

Gained Unseelie Accords Provisions and Signatory List

How do you prepare for meeting Queen Mab?
Choose Three Options

[] Question Bob about...
-[] The powers of Winter
-[] The strategies of Winter
-[] Mab's history
-[] Write in

[] Read the Accords
-[] Provisions, what is this pact Mab put her power on the line for
-[] Signatories, the Knights of the Cross, but you know the White Council, all the Fey courts and three of four vampire courts signed. Who else is in there?

[] Meditate together with Usum, maybe he can shake loose some of the things he heard in Arctis Tor

[] Dad has to know something about Winter right? Ask him about how to dealing with them

[] Harry does not like to talk about his dealings with Mab and her subjects, given the circumstances he is willing to offer advice

[] Write in

OOC: And your prize for not causing chaos is... Ye Olde Diplomatic Paperwork. Well OK, that is actually very valuable, but still expect Molly to grumble a little about homework if you choose to study that.

 

[DragonParadox]

Flights of Fancy, Twists of Reason ​

22th of October 2006 A.D.

Human physicality existed on levels great and small. No one would ever confuse the beating of one's heart with the words upon their tongue, nor yet the twitch of tired muscle with the willful movements of the dance. So too was it with spirits of knowledge, such as the one which now rested upon a shelf, under the earth, in a warden's keeping not quite a prisoner, a halfway treasure almost a friend. Only for the being that called itself Bob it was the existence of the mind that was many layered, one part which was usually nearest the top, like the sunlit shallows of the ocean reflected the nature of its bearer, as he had been when he'd picked up his present vessel an truth be told in no small measure how he was at the moment.

The Flame and the Flower, the Silver Devil, Engaged and Intrigued, Red Hot Martian Hunters... Bob enjoyed these titled and more much in the same way a mortal might find satisfaction in a half understood treatise of philosophy, they were glimpses into a world that he could never truly experience only witness from afar in what the ever fecund directness of American English called Window Shopping. But that wasn't all that all that was to him, oh not by far...

When Harry had just been starting out as a detective in Chicago one of the first orders he had given his skull bound assistant was not to ramble, his thoughts tended to wander if he let them like wind over the mountain side, currents that had not stirred in decades, centuries, not because he had been hiding them, but because no master since Unnameable had need of them, inclinations that kept his gaze fixed on Margaret Katherine Amanda Carpenter by more than aesthetic considerations. Not that the aesthetics were not great, Bob had not even noticed the chill of her being which had put off mortals so and might never have noticed it if Harry had not talked about her getting a better grip of her powers.

Something about that conversation where Harry himself had mostly been fishing for reassurance about her being 'better able to stand up to Mab' had made something click for Bob, less like pieces fitting together and more like the gears of a clock starting to turn after a long while when no one even cared what the hour was. She was not getting better at using magic because she was not even using magic, at least not anymore than a man who threw a punch used the power of carbohydrates fats and proteins...

That was right, or at least it was more right than wrong, Bob thought, his eyes shinning in the dark of the laboratory like forgotten pilot lights. It was starving, barely able to move, hardly able to impinge its own reality upon the world, but like a man near parched to death after his first cup of water it could shift a little more, speak a few more words. The real question now was if there was enough out there to sate it? Was all the world a desert through it could only crawl... or was it more like the beach and all Molly Carpenter had to to was drag herself to the nearest lemonade stand before she could stand up and all the world should shake beneath her tread.

Damn, she'd look good in a swim suit.

Hearing his boss pacing a hole in the carpet above Bob could not help but think that Harry Dresden was once again worrying about the wrong thing. The trap door creaked open the wizard in question stepped in. "Molly wants to talk to you about how to deal with Mab."

Bob did not share his half formed thoughts, attentive of his orders. This was gonna be fun.

OOC: Bob definitely rolled, something this turn, but since it's not your roll you would have to ask him or he'd have to tell you before you can see it.

 

[DragonParadox]

Between the Lines ​

25th of October 2006 A.D.

Even before you get the chance to ask Bob about Queen Mab the list of reasons to dislike her grows a little longer. Who insists on writing things on parchment these days? Does she have a grudge against cows as well as your free time, trying to decipher all this flowery verbiage? It's not like this stuff is old either, the current version of the Unseelie Accords is only as old as the Milwaukee Incursion, which is to say less than twelve years old, having been signed on the Winter Solstice when the power of Winter was strongest. That you soon learn is a big hint as to its purpose. Due to the power of oaths over most of those who deal in magic, even such alien and uncanny beings as the vampires of the Black Court, the various factions have a... trust in the letter of their agreements that would make mortal diplomats whistle in envy, but up until relatively recently there had been no need to create a unitary framework for interacting with each other under the veil of secrecy. There are no mortal signatories of the Accords, that much you know form glancing down at the list and yet the presence of mortal humanity looms over every word here written as the moon does above the ebb and flow of the tides.

The first chapter deals with the sacrosanct nature of messengers and the precise conditions one must meet to serve as a messenger you suspect because everything else is pointless if the two sides cannot converse and coordinate. It also covers penalties for third parties meddling with messages, including fax, telephone, radio and computer networks... all still written out on the darn parchment. Crucially the guarantee for this is enforced by Winter itself, allowing the unseelie court to act directly at the command of a march-lord, the least of the lords of Winter to ensure that harm to a messenger is punished and the message reaches its intended destination in a timely manner.

The second chapter is all about places like Mac's Pub, the fines for impinging upon them, which range from weregild to the execution of the offending individual to loss of territory. You briefly wonder what Mac would even do with territory in faerie or villages filled with unfortunate vampire thralls, but that is not the important part here. Neutral places extend beyond their physical boundaries to a certain degree so you cannot just siege someone inside the pub say. An agreement to meet someone in such a place is also an agreement to allow them to leave in peace, with both those words described in painfully precise detail. The implication of course is that other meetings are not thus protected between signatories. There is also a clause about not attacking mortals within or around Accorded Neutral Ground in such a way as would compromise it, referring not just to physical space but their capacity to function within mortal society. It's a good thing Mac runs such a clean ship because anyone who tried to call the food inspectors on him would get smote, you think amused.

Alas the smile does not last long as you get to the list of reasons someone might be forced to leave neutral ground without the lingering protection to 'go in peace'. These include insults to the legitimacy of the opposing power, showing up with property you stole off the opposing side... including thralls, serfs and slaves because of course it does.

"There are many powers mistress which cannot bear such an insult and to whom the presentation of stolen treasure would be tantamount to a compulsion to attack," Usum points out, like you didn't know.

"Still horrid," you sigh.

The third chapter is interesting, but not that relevant to you, being that it is about the use and abuse of mortal authorities to get what you want out of a situation. The gist of it is you can but any such mortals are defined as the retainers of whichever co-signatory of the Accords is making use of them so long as they are acting knowingly. Here follow six pages describing various levels of awareness . Beneath a certain level which can be summarized as 'that's not Bigfoot it's just a bear' mortals are not treated as retainers but more as a kind of battlefield hazard, no different from getting someone to fall in a pit of spikes. There are of course contingencies about the mortals being aware of more than their handlers thought. The party in question must then clean up their mess to the satisfaction of a neutral emissary if they do not wish the higher standard to apply. Murphy has definitely been acting as Harry's agent for years and more recently yours. Is the Library of Congress a member? Ah not important now...

Finally the fourth chapter has to do with settling disputes by blood or by weregild, from battlefield truces to duels. These always involve a neutral mediator when the Accords are Invoked who ensures the sides are not cheating, whether it be using magic in a duel which has been decided as a test of will between the parties or giving up... lives that have already been hollowed out or souls which have already been dedicated to another power. God, no wonder the Church isn't party to the Accords.

Being as fair as you can the document does not force anyone to take part in the soul trade, it just provides rules for doing so, the same way it provides rules for trading labor, works of artistry and craft, precious metals and even cash, but still there are situations in which Winter might call upon other signatories to provide limited assistance in resolving a breach of the Accords, including a breach of weregild payment

Wait a second, you feel a sudden twisting in your stomach flip back t chapter two and the stolen property clause. 'That which was taken by stealth or by force, knowingly or unknowingly from the possession of one party onto another including objects great and small, mundane and magical, thralls, prisoners and slaves.' Under the articles of the Accords showing up with your soul counts as a provocation which would justify Queen Mab to demand you 'take it outside'.

A few seconds later you realize that she is almost guaranteed to not actually do it, after all if she wanted to kill you she'd have send assassins or a war party not gone through all the effort to meet with you, but it would be a hell of a threat to drop on someone out of the blue when they think they are under a more wide ranging protection. Now you will be ready for it.

"Say Usum is there a way I can go someplace without bringing my soul with me?" you ask jokingly to break the sudden tension.

"Will and soul and mind can stand divided that the Treasure of Ages is not carried forth and yet you should be present in the flesh in your meeting with the Queen of Winter."

What...? "No, seriously what?"

He explains, best as he is able his belief that you should be able to split off avatars, mortal aspects of yourself independent yet connected, self willed and Uncrowned yet which are in all other ways yourself.

"Can't work... she... I... whatever 'we', would be at too much of a disadvantage trying to negotiate without the powers of the Crown," you think at last.

"Splinters of the soul would also insulate you from dying a mortal death oh Queen Without Rival," the demon points out.

Add 'living sapient phylactery' to the list of evil superpowers I can develop I guess... After a moment you surprise yourself with a laugh. Better than the alternative and so are you.

Do you have any Crown Questions you wish to ask using the text of the Accords as focus

[] Yes
-[] Write in

[] No, you have all you wanted out of this

OOC: It is not specified in the text, but the rules about not bringing stolen treasures into a meeting was made to accommodate dragons for which that is goading them to an extent indistinguishable from magical compulsion.

 

[DragonParadox]

From Frozen Memories ​

27th of October 2006 A.D.

Where Harry got his hot chocolate you are not sure, but it's the really good kind that actually tastes like chocolate not vaguely coca-flavore, powder, a good to match the cold clammy we weather than had lingered over the city most of the month. You'd call it a bad omen of Mab's coming if you weren't used to it. As is you take a comfy seat in the chair you like to think Harry had acquired with the money you had bullied him into taking and turn to the matter at hand. What is Winter really? How do they tick and how do you wind them, how do you stop them?

Asking the question that way had Harry choke on his own drink a little, but Bob does not seem surprised to hear you ask it that way. He's been watching you a little different of late. Admittedly it's not easy to read a lusty skull filled with the flickering light of wizardry, but you are good at reading people, as your excursion to Mac's showed. Which is of course when the drops the bomb as he is so wont to do:

"Winter is the guard at the Gates of Night, Winter is the Glacier holding back the tide that would end the world, where hearts of flesh would break those of ice endure."

"What...?" You and Harry say at the same time. You giggle, he looks dead serious.

It turns out this was something Harry did not know, even though it had been locked inside the head of his assistant for all the years he had Bob.

"I thought you knew," said the spirit of intellect to the wizard in the faintly aggrieved tone of one who has had had to say these very words a many times before.

The story he tells sounds improbable to you, though you cannot think of any reason why he would lie. Winter, he explains guards the Outer Gates, those the Seventh Law guards against, the boundary of the world and the front line of the world for existence and all the aspects of its nature directly or indirectly come back to this great charge. "Winter is the will of the world to live, no matter the price it has to pay in the doing, like a beast in a trap willing to chew off its own paw to survive, like a mother wolf eating the cubs who were not strong enough to survive the Winterfae understand no reason but survival and to survive they must grow stronger. Not to say they being savage makes you irrational, a lot of humans make that mistake and it's often the last one they make, theirs is the cold calculus of war in which no quorter can be given and none is asked. They will make tools of all who place themselves within reach..." the bale-light eyes swivel on Harry who looks uncomfortable for a moment.

"You alright in there?" he asks with a smile that does not reach his eyes. "Sounding a little Sith-y."

At that Bob rolls his eyes, lights turning end over end in the sockets. "Sorry I can't bring my usual comedy A game to talking about the war between monsters of reason and monsters of incomprehensible horror boss."

Monsters of reason... Something you had been wondering at suddenly makes sense. "You used to be part of the Winter Court didn't you? That's why you know so much about then? That's why Mab is after you?"

He sighs a puff of pale air. "I'd almost forgotten the other side of hanging out with the unfairly clever..."

"Hey! You sure you want those paperbacks you asked me for yesterday?" Harry asks, easing back into his seat.

"You're unfairly clever too boss, but I'm the unfair part," Bob proclaims cheekily. Turning his attention back to you he asks: "Don't spread that around OK? Not that just spreading around that I exist isn't bad enough, but with Mab there are always more degrees of worse.."

Remembering the man chained to the pillar in Arctis Tor, the Winter Knight, you shudder. "How us cruelty rational?" you demand. "That doesn't seem to fit with the whole primal force of nature..." you search for a word "Shtick."

Apparently you had found a funny one.

"Oh that's Summer's fault, well kind of," Bob settles down for a long explanation. "See nature isn't all red in tooth and claw and neither are people, empathy, trust, impulsiveness, even kindness all these are part of how things work, but at the gates all of them are a weakness."

You open your mouth to argue, but he cuts you off.

"They are a weakness because Those Beyond are not of the World, they win when they can trick you into thinking they are even for just a moment. But all the other stuff needs to be reflected as well, hence it is in the hand of Summer, Court of Passion and Unreason, those bound to life growing and changing, competing with itself rather than barring its teeth against the horrors of the night. Like draws to like and power to power, in time the summers get warmer and the winters get harsher."

"So the Summer Court is parasitic?" Usum asks, as intrigued as you are. Too enthralled in all this new lore you do not soften the question which makes Harry look at you funny, but you are hardly aware of it.

For his part Bob cackles at that one. "Summer is what contains Winter as the warm oceans contain the glaciers, after all if you asked Mab she'd tell you that she should command the whole of the world that it might better defend itself against encroachment and screw the touchy feely stuff. Speaking of touchy and feely and for that matter..."

"Aaanyway," you draw out the word as you reel things back in. "So you are saying Winter is cruel because it has been forged too well, as sword is still a sword no matter which edge you cut, that sort of thing?"

Even though Bob can't nod his eyes bobbing up and down serve much the same purpose.

"The Winter Court is rational in its execution, but suspicious in its priors and that informs their tactics, all things being equal they prefer servants to allies and they bait their hooks more juicily than the Summer court to make up for the sharp steel barb in there. Patience isn't so much a virtue in their line of work it's a necessity. You'll have been under the eye of some of their scouts, maybe even a test to see what you are made of."

"Like say a pride of malks down in Undertown acting aggressive?" you ask thoughtfully. It had seemed weird at the time, but you had chalked it out to fey cats having as little common sense at normal ones.

"That might be a way to prod you yeah and they will keep on doing it even it you reach some kind of agreement. Testing, sharpening others is how the Winter Court shows affection." Bob laughs almost wistfully. "It's hard sometime to tell the difference between their affection and thier malice and that's the way they like it so only the most claver stand at their side."

"That's not creepy at all," Harry mutters under his breath, though more than loud enough for Bob to catch it

"Weren't you listening, creepy is part of the point."

What does Molly take from his revelation?

[] Respect: As little as she likes the Winter Fey and as much as you hate the terror-monsters that are fetches she can respect them a little more for doing a task no one else does

[] Doubt: Why is it the task of winter in its cruelty to guard the gates? Where are the Angels? Surely if there is any task that is meant for the hosts of heaven it is guarding the universe against those who would unmake it

[] Fascination: This isn't the whole story, even Bob admits to not knowing everything on the subject. You want to know where all the missing pieces are. Then you will be able to make the judgement properly

[] Write in

OOC: Mab conversation after this and then the level up vote.

 

[DragonParadox]

Queen's Tale ​

27th of October 2006 A.D.

As logically as Bob has laid out all the pieces, how could he not given what he is, your mind is full of questions, so is your heart. Why this way, why are the child snatching monsters the good guys, why is the world guarded by cruelty? A thousand times why for a thousand different injustices. But as you take a deep breath and collect yourself it comes to you that having so many questions means you cannot judge properly, not the fey and not... the other doubt that you do not want to think about too deeply. It's not even that you have half the puzzle, what Bob has given you with all the goodwill in the world is a single piece, a single snapshot. I will find the others, you resolve.

"Are you alright there Molly?" Harry startles you from your thoughts.

"Why wouldn't I be?" you ask confused.

"Your central glabella is currently shinning like a baleful sun," Bob snickers. "When someone does something like that with Harry around he usually sets the room on fire or brings the roof down."

In spite of yourself you smile. Bob is really quite charming, not that you're going to tell him anytime soon. He already has a catwalk's fill of confidence. "It's nothing, Just thinking about unknown unknowns."

"Nasty." You have the feeling that the spirit of intellect would be making a face if he er... had a face.

"Sorry." After a moment's pause you add: "What do you know about Mab herself, as a person I mean."

Thus you discover that someone without any spit, or the need for breath can spill sputter. "Not asking the easy questions are you Your Majesty..."

The title catches you off guard, he does not say it like Usum, obsequiously and with fervor, but he does not say it entirely in jest either, more like how you would imagine an American would greet Elizabeth the Second, not their queen and the whole concept is also not their cup of tea, but it's still a thing to other people.

"Mab is... strong willed," Bob continues. "I know it sounds obvious, the powers of the world are not easily bent by any passing breeze, but I mean she is strong willed as herself not just as the Queen of Winter. She took on her mantle when Merlin yet walked the world, the Queen and Lady had both been slain by... something from the Outside. I have to take this from the beginning."

Harry's dramatic sigh says everything you need to know about why he did not know about the Gates and the duties of Winter, but Bob sees fit to ignore him, glad for a more receptive audience.

"When the Roman Empire collapsed it was not in one clean strike but a slow torturous slide, generations of internecine wars, famine plague and barbarian invasion, each sunrise more bloody than the last, each night darker, the promises of imperial stability and prosperity a distant dream, a lie unveiled, lands were lost, won then lost again upon the edge of the sword. The Empire was their world and while in the East it endured in the West it fell to ruin and the squabbling of barbarian chiefs. Little wonder than that so many people thought the End of Days had come, and when many believe that things that would bend an ear take heed. Cults and warlock circles sprang up like wildfire. The Hermetic Circle, that's the predecessor of the White Council had long lingered in Rome and made use of the power and reach of the Empire for its own communication and enforcement of its will was ill prepared for it. That is the reason by the by why wizards do not meddle in wars anymore, Roman civil wars..."

"Wasn't it the... Wars of Religion?" Harry cuts in. "That killed ten million people over who was top dog in Europe and they all ended up worse for it. Wizardry and national loyalty don't mix."

Bob is in full swing now, he cackles. "Is that what they are teaching wizards these days, that the problem was a bunch of well intended patriots? Connerie!" He catches his French. "Everyone wanted to be Emperor so everyone wanted to be the Emperor's court wizard, they wanted the power to set things right from the top. Wizards don't try to swim against the passage of ages as often as mortals do because an old wizard has seem a lot more change in the world than the average mortal, but the Empire was older than all of them by then. If only they could fix it, bring order back into the countryside, they thought, then it would be well. That's why it was a wizard in Podunk Britannica who finally managed to pull things together, his enemies weren't primarily other wizards who saw things differently it was the Fomori, the Brothers of Bánánach, the Cult of the Black Goat. That last one is why the Merlin chose to call it the White Council by the way. He made a big stirring speech that ended: 'I see here men and women in robes of red and of green, of gold an ye even one of the purple, but surely we must agree that we are against the black, for the sake of our neighbors, our children and the wold they must inherit.'

As he speaks you and Harry both lean close, as though you had both grown afraid that the words, old and little spoken, would escape back into the mists of ages if you gave them too much space.

"Anyway," Bob continues. "That's not the bunch that is most important to understand how Mab came to power, it wasn't even the Fomori, it was a petty lord, master of a stony hill. Druas the Cruel they called him, though better that they had named him Duras the Fool how he came to poison the rites of the solstice I don't know and to be honest I don't want to. But he did it most thoroughly, at the crossing of the lines, at the passing of the age, the Queen of Summer went mad and slew the Queen of Winter then herself. The living earth heaved in torrent and the skies bled, though few that I have known would speak of those days no matter the price paid. So it was that she who was Lady of Winter, Morgana, lover of Merlin and deep in his councils rallied her loyalists and called forth her her allies, be they Merlin's wizards, knights of mortal blood and other stranger things that still lingered in the hills and fens in those days. Together they fought their way to the foot of the Stone Table before the Body of the Queen-Who-Was could be defiled and there Morgana became the queen... she became Mab."

He goes quiet for a long while then as you boggle at the thought of the perfect frozen queen whose gaze you had barely held as the desperate underdog. What Harry might be thinking you do not know and can't bring yourself to ask, not yet.

"And now we come to the reason I really don't want Mab to know about me," Bob finally breaks the silence. "Once upon a time I was... reckless in playing the games of court. I wanted to know the mind of the Queen and to know the future of a thing is to know its past. so I tricked certain nobles of the Sidhe who really should have held their wine better and spoken their riddles fairer...."

Harry suddenly looks alarmed. "Maybe you shouldn't know things that piss off Mab that badly Molly, ignorance might not be bliss, but knowledge can be dangerous if others know you know it and Mab... Mab can ferret a secret out of stone. You already know a lot more about her than I did at first meeting."

What do you do?

[] Insist, the fact that she wants it held secret makes it all the more valuable
-[] Write in stunt

[] Leave it be (Willpower Roll Required; if failed Insist will be chosen)

OOC: I know I said we would end the arc on this update, but as I got here i realized it would be out of character for Harry to just let Molly learn such a dangerous secret. Yes he is a lot better about this then he used to be, hence agreeing to this conversation without a roll, but this is major league dangerous secrets. No rolls in this one.

 

[DragonParadox]

What Kindles in Frozen Heart ​

27th of October 2006 A.D.

Reflexively you recoil at the suggestion that you should accept ignorance as though you had just touched a hot stove as the brazen sun between your brows gleams. Out of the corner of your eye you see the shadow on the wall of the laboratory seems now crowned by slitted eyes; a trick of the light shining through your hair. "You're not wrong to say that knowledge can be dangerous, but I think I'm well past the point where ignorance will help me much." These words you say, deliberately, carefully. "What I need is to know, so that I can judge with certainty and act with understanding."

"Molly, I would not want to know this sh... stuff. Mab is utterly ruthless. If she thinks you might embarrass her or worse that you are a threat she will come after you in ways no one will see coming."

Aw, it's cute how he doesn't want to swear but he is also lying, you know with utter certainty. If you were not here he would absolutely ask Bob to finish the story.

"I could say that I've seen Arctis Tor, I've seen what she made of her Knight just how ruthless she is. I could remind you that I am very good at seeing things, coming and otherwise, but that is not really what any of this comes down to. What matters now is what mattered when you let me through that trap door today..." You wave at it. "Do you trust me?" As he opens his mouth to answer you raise a hand, you are not done yet. "I won't blame you is the answer is 'no' and I won't think any less of you, that is your prerogative and I have been stomping around your life like a glowing green Godzilla for the past few months."

He doesn't answer for a long time, hundred and three heartbeats to be exact, leaving you wondering if he's thinking about the polite way to say 'no'. Finally he sighs and looks you in the eyes, what he sees you don't know, but he says the words you have been hoping for: "I trust you."

"Oh, come on! Kiss already!" Bob heckles

"S...stop that," you stutter, heat rushing into you cheeks for the first time in weeks. You're going to get him for that.

To add insult to injury Harry keeps his cool fine. "That is enough from the peanut gallery. Finish the story."

"Mother and maiden died at the Hands... er tentacles... multi-dimensional limbs of the Outsiders," Bob collects himself, the moment's levity at your expense fading from his voice at the gravity of what he recounts. "Only the Lady's Mantle escaped and it found Morgana for she was the most skillful in sorcery and boldest in war but uneasy did it rest upon her shoulders for though she had never known a man in the strictly physical sense Merlin her lover was sired by an incubus and possessed the power to join with her in soul and in mind." He stops for a moment. "One strange turn begat another for from that joining Morgana-not-yet-Mab fell heavy with child, children in fact twins. One is Meave, now Winter Lady and one is Sarissa whom I last knew as a cup bearer many centuries ago."

Sneaking a look at him its clear that Harry is flummoxed, not that you look much different in all honesty. It feels like the tail end of a Dan Brown novel, only actually real and terrifying to know, but Bob is not done.

"Many of the Sidhe lords and ladies know about the blood bond, though not the name of their sire as for decades after taking up the Mantle of Queen Mab would not speak of where the Lady's Mantle had gone until one dark Samhain they arrived at court, assumed to have been the daughters of some mortal of little note. Some whispered that Mab had kept the Mantle of the Lady frozen in place until she could offer it to her daughter, others that she had killed the Lady so that her daughter might inherit, but the wise and the learned dismissed such talk. All know the heart of winter is frozen and uncaring."

A skull cannot smile, but as the light's of Bob's eyes grow brighter and the runes upon his vessel sharper you get a distinct sense of smug satisfaction. "The wise and the learned were wrong. When Morgana stood at the foot of the Stone Table the Mantle of Queen in her hands, not yet upon her shoulders she would not surrender her love for her daughters. As one molding hot iron with her bare hands Morgana-Who-Became-Mab changed the Mantle of Winter ever so slightly so that her love of Meave and Sarissa might be preserved."

"You... er... weren't kidding about this being big," you finally manage to choke out.

The spirit's voice falls into a kind of dreamy whisper "Weakness, hurt them and you hurt Mab, leverage, befriend them and her wrath will be turned aside. Good luck."

"A hundred times apologies Dark Eternal Majesty, I have misjudged this spirit before and thought him soft," Usum hisses in your mind's ear. "He will be a worthy servant when you take the wizard as your consort."

This time at least you manage to keep your expression under control. Quickly you say your goodbyes to Harry and head off, though you do not go home at once, letting Black Rider drive you in loops as you consider what you had just learned. At some point you must have dozen off for a moment, dreams lengthening like shadows, leaping like flame.

---

Arc Six Complete​

Triumphs

1. Persuading Charity about the merits of Alchemical Sleep Antidotes 1 XP
2. Successfully channeled Isabela's talents to a cause of your choosing 1 XP
3. Investigation of the murders in Chinatown 1XP
4. Befriended Bùshì Tùzǐ 1 XP
5. Tea at the Green Tortoise (Successful diplomacy) 1 XP
6. Figured out the Akuma's Plan and warped the ritual against itself 2 XP
7. A good impression on Monoc securities over the phone 1 XP
8. Got Murphy to go along with all the strange and deadly allies you gathered (and their mortars) 1 XP
9. Dealing with Lady Eiko (Insight/Diplomacy/Mock battle) 3 XP
10. Terrified the Akuma at the hotel into bending utterly to your will 1 XP
11. Battle against the Akuma (Base/ All Prisoners Rescued/Lydia Tore open the Gate/Greater Akuma True Killed in single combat) 5 XP
12. Jade Dogs brought closer together by tragedy not divided thanks to Molly's leadership 1 XP
13. Safely delivered minor akuma to the Library of Congress, obtaining trust and information 1 XP
14. Connected with Marcy, got her to open up to Father Forthil 1 XP
15. Discovered the secret of Olivia's heritage and the broader origin of many mortal talents 1 XP
16. Helped Maria reveal magic to her fiancee 1 XP
17. Lydia got emancipated 1 XP
18. The Amazing Margret Carver does Carrier Day 1 XP
19. Last Station Improved beyond expectation 1 XP
20. Getting through to Murphy 1 XP
21. Seeing through Mac's Disguise 3 XP
22. Read and gained insight into the Accords 1 XP
23. Persuading Harry you can hear the last secret 1 XP

Total XP: 1 (Unspent) + 31 (Earned this Arc) -10 (Ancient Sorcery Spell learned) = 22

How do you spent your Essence?

Special
[] Alchemy: The Art of transmutation, not merely of matter, but mind and spirit. To all you have learned from Bob, all you have read in Harry's books the insights of an elder age are added, as steel is alloyed from charcoal and iron (Cost 3XP/Dot)

Constructive Convergence of Principles costs -2XP due to the feat of God-crafting

[] New Ability 3xp

[] Ancient sorcery spell 10xp (Spent for the Arc)

[] Attribute current rating *4xp

[] Ability current rating *2xp

[] Caste Ability current rating *1xp

[] Caste or Favored Charm Charm rating *3xp

[] Other Charm Charm rating *4xp

[] Willpower current rating

[] First dot of a Sorcerer Path 4xp

[] Follow-up dots in a Sorcerer Path current rating *3xp

[]Merit current rating *4xp

[] Buy down Touch of Frost
-[] 2 XP to remove

[] Buy down Nightmares (4 XP)

[] Write in

OOC: You guys still have a bit of time to poke Meave or Sarissa and try to use the secret you have just gained before you talk to Mab if you want.

 

[DragonParadox]

Reasoning on the Road ​

27th of October 2006 A.D.

As you start awake colors swim before your eyes, steely blue threaded through with black lines like circuitry running all through the dashboard. though the whole of Black Rider. Calm, purposeful, minor demon infused in technology, the information plain as if read off a label. Am I still dreaming or is this the Sight? you wonder blearily, but the more you test at its inward nature, like probing a new tooth with your tongue the less it seems akin to the transcendent, perilous insight you had heard long dead wizards speak of in the vision called to mind in Saint Mary's. If anything this feels like turning on a flashlight, finally being able to see clearly the colors and patterns of powers near and far...

"Powers akin, oh Queen Without Rival," Usum interjects smoothly.

Instinctively you know what he means, beings of darkness and disorder, predatory, cold who shun the light of the sun and the gaze of mortal man alike which like the demon within would recognize your standing. No that is not quite right, if you were to talk up to a Summer Fey they would see your power from afar if they were looking, but this sight would not pierce their veils. It is attuned to those who would be more inclined to bend the knee than raise the sword and upon those rivals whose thrones you would have to topple to...

Woah there Molly, you cut the thought off and turn it around in your mind as you would some strange and potentially explosive device, but no matter how hard you shake it nothing more comes it it. You have the power to detect those who are naturally intimidated by your presence and those who by their own inner darkness would be your rivals for that obeisance.

At least you are definitely sure it will work on the Denarians... With that thought for the second time in less than a month you consider if you aught to tell your dad what you had just learned about Queen Mab, about Morgana and about her daughters. He's even less likely to use it as blackmail than you are and the mind boggles to imagine him getting friendly with one of the cold Sidhe so for now at least that's a 'no'.

The next obvious though comes to mind and this one leaves you in a quandary longer, tapping your thumbs on the steering wheel that moves of its own will. Can I befriend one of Mab's daughters before I speak to her? One the one hand you have plenty of talents and insights to trade on, enough so to have drawn Monoc's eye and you are a pretty smooth talker if you do say so yourself. "See, I'm doing the self praise myself, no need to chime in," you send to the demonic tenant in your head. But on the other... it would be a smidge obvious wouldn't it.

"Not if you seek the company of the Winter Lady," Usum counters. "It would seem a basic political move requiring no deeper understanding of the transgressive bonds of maternal love."

"That is a very creepy way to put things," you complain as Black Rider speeds though a yellow light with the precision that only a machine could attain, prompting outraged honks from those incredulous of such success.

"Succinct though," comes the suspiciously punctilious response. "Sarissa is harder to justify meeting, but also less of a peril to encounter personally and more likely to value your company any aid in her own endeavors."

What do you do with the next four days?

[] Meet with one of Mab's daughters and try to gain their support
-[] Meave the Winter Lady, your Malk neighbors should know where to find her and she would be the least suspicious to engage with
-[] Sarissa, try to prime Harry's Little Folk allies to tell you who she is and where you might find her

[] Craft a gift for Mab, nothing arcane or which demands great recompense of hers, but a hint that your powers are subtle as well as overt and that you are as valuable as an ally as you would be troublesome as a foe
-[] A diamond that shines like living ice
-[] A car with not a singe atom of iron in it

[] Spend some time with your family, you have prepared enough already

[] Write in

Meta Vote: The fate of Green Sun Nimbus Flame:

[] Keep the current patch: Green Sun Nimbus Flare is soakable by things that can soak Aggravated Damage. At Essence 4 that is no longer the case

[] Charm is restored to its canon form immediately but all supernatural beings gain 2 Bruised Health levels

[] Charm adds damage dice not straight damage until Essence 4

[] Replace Green Sun Nimbus Flare with By Agony Empowered, making Molly less vulnerable to being overwhelmed by mundane damage

[] Remove the charm and restore its normal XP cost (9XP) to be spent as you please
-[] Bank it
-[] Buy something else: Write in (Can use leftover 1 XP for a total of 10)

OOC: I hate nerfing things mid-game so I tried to be as generous as I can without unbalancing the game. The reason you can get my Agony Empowered at a discount is that it solves the problem of 'man with Uzi' being one of the most efficient ways to put Molly in danger in a fight.

 

[DragonParadox]

Building Up ​

27th of October 2006 A.D.

"Soo... dad you know how I have to meet with someone on Tuesday?" Since your dad was currently serving as the preferred seat of a sleepy Hope watching reruns of Pokemon with the stated intention of teaching him what all the names meant, you do not mention Queen Mab by name. Let her thing uncanny things are all goofy and cure, locked behind the electronic looking glass of the TV screen.

He nods seriously over your sister's pigtail adorned head.

"Well I'm thinking of making something for her and I could use some help with the logistics of it if you have the time."

Judging from his expression dad expects something dire, enough so that he is briefly befuddled when you lead him up to your room, the laptop you had just acquired humming on its own against the pillow as CAD drawings and specifications, order forms for everything from titanium, molybdenum, aluminum and carbon to circuit boards and fuses to the green-empaneled innards of computer systems for the dashboard.

"I'm thinking of making Queen Mab a car."

"What is a pretty tall order," he finally manages.

"I know, what do you think I asked you here for? To order stuff for the build," you giggle. Truth be told you could have asked Thomas to do it through Chicago Synthetics, but dad has done quite a lot of work on cars, mostly on interiors, but when it comes to the family van and pickup, even your own Beige Wagon that included engine and even body work. As the years went by you had moved up from handing him tools, to handing him the right tools, to learning how to change the oil, switch out a flat tire to eventually the more advanced stuff like replacing a broken valve and last year you even helped fix a broken radiator... at least sixty percent on your own.

"Looking to show your work?" his lips twitch upwards into a warm smile that make his eyes light up not unlike that time you had put that cap on backwards 'because it looked cooler', embarrassing as it is to remember from hindsight six years on.

"Yup," you admit, though adding: "I do need to know some local suppliers for this stuff. I'm going to need about twenty work hours to pull it off working flat out so that's gotta be two days so I'm going to need this to arrive as soon as possible..." You frown in thought trying to come up with the minimal possible timeline for each of the materials, something Clippy and company couldn't do since they do not have access to, nor fully understand the tools of the Wicked City at your fingertips.

Your dad looks down the slowly scowling screen thoughtfully, taps gingerly on the mouse to stop it.

"Details may be provided at spoken request or mouse input as desired," comes the instruction in Clippy's clear near-human voice.

"What are you hoping to get out of this?" your father asks, in that careful-not-to-imply-that-you're-being-silly tone that you used to hate when you were in middle school, but which you had come back around to accepting as just a thing parents did.

"Brownie points,' you shrug. "Not that I want the services of an actual brownie, you know the hearth keeper fey, but the better the mood I can get Mab into the better the chances we will part on if not warm terms than at least terms that are not cryogenicly frozen."

Dad huffs almost a laugh, but that does not put him off asking the real hard question: "Is that all you want, or do you want to know what she promised at the museum? Does she already have a temptation hanging over your head?"

You open your mouth to say something glib, maybe 'I'll see what the going price on secrets is', but that is not really true. As much as you would have hated walking up Harry's basement stairs without everything Bob knew about Mab so too you would hate to leave Mab's own company with less than all the insights she has about your power. The reasons for this are legion, it is yours, bound to your soul. It might be dangerous to be ignorant of something so powerful. What if a foe should know something about the nature of your change and thereby win a battle, but that is not the whole story. You want to know, you need to know, like you need air or water, like you soon won't need sleep. Is that the catch, for all this power, becoming some kind of infovore like those that ply the junk drowned datanets of the Wicked City?

Not questions that should be asked of dad between Pokemon and car-construction. Instead you settle for: "I'd like to know."

"Just be mindful of that and I'm sure you'll be alright." He is not, but you appreciate the faith just the same. For now you have a gift to craft for the most wicked of all fairy godmothers and thank God she isn't yours.

What kind of car do you want to make for Queen Mab

[] Write in (Pictures can be included if you wish)

OOC: Some father daughter bonding, next up will be the car proper