pantherasapiens
you were always my best friend
- Location
- somewhere over your shoulder
Maggie isn't the Zookeeper, she's the frigging zoo!
The Lost Files (C:TL/Dresden Files) (CK2-ish)
- Thread starter The Laurent
- Start date
Turn 1--B
- Pronouns
- They/Them
Turn 1, B--Dealing With People
Layla's Encouragement--
Layla Barnes was not doing her homework when Cora knocked, and though the Chancellor usually wasn't quite so forgiving, the fact that Layla's entire life had been uprooted certainly had contributed to her sparse attendance of classes. The girl's dreams had been as open as ever, and Cora had felt it almost pathetic, how little she could hide in her dreams, compared to the opaque nature of Eva's dreams, or the way Roy's dreams were often so literal and carefully about petty things that even if she had wanted to, it would have taken at least some effort to extract what he had dreamed of, the prophecies that he held over her head in exchange for her help.
As if he couldn't merely ask, though it was her fault that he didn't think that possible.
Either way, that evening when she knocked, she knew Layla was alone, and the young adult got up and opened the door quite quickly, and then froze.
Layla Barnes was on the short side, her brunette hair framing a face that was moderately cute, if slightly heavy set, and her own frame clearly showed that at least so far her biokinesis had not totally solved some of the problems she wished it had. She was well-dressed, however, in a long, dark skirt and a somewhat lighter blouse, and if Cora's sources were correct, she'd been hoping for a friend she knew--a guy--to come over so they could hang out.
"Oh," Layla said, eyes widening.
"Yes, oh," Cora responded. "I'm here to talk to you, perhaps help you with a few matters."
"I-I'm sure you are," Layla said, "Look I was drunk and--"
"I understand. I have been drunk before and said and done things I regretted," Cora said, though she didn't allow her voice to be tainted with the hint, the fact that she'd done more than that. She'd thrown her life away, and she wasn't sure whether she'd had more potential back then than Layla had, but either way, the girl was her responsibility, even if she didn't like her, and that meant a responsibility to help her grow and make...useful choices.
"Ahh," Layla said, "Uh, come in?"
"I shall," Cora responded, stepping forward. The room was a bit of a mess, though no more than that of, say, the average teenager--though Jonathan of course was a little better and neater than that, but holding people to Jonathan's standard was probably unfair to them--and Cora moved past the bed, where a bra had accidentally been kicked partially under it, and said, "Your classes, they've changed, I assume?"
"Yeah, they have. I'm still trying to get used to it," Layla said, though she sounded quite uncertain. The girl didn't view Cora as a person who could, in fact, have feelings and passions. She viewed Cora as a strange monster that was teaching her--or not teaching her enough--of the use of her powers.
"There are ways to improve yourself that I could offer, but you must understand, that acting as you did is a threat to me and mine own. I can't tolerate such a thing, and I should not be required to either," Cora said, "Yet if you are willing to swear an oath, binding as it is, I can aid you. This formalization, perhaps you can view it as a sign of trust."
She could view it that way, of course, but it simply wasn't true. The pledge she had in mind was rather tightly binding, and Layla hesitated before saying, "What...kind of pledge?"
"A magical deal, binding in the sense that should you break it, or should I break it, there shall be consequences," Cora said. "You shall have to follow me, but the advantages to you would be great, should you choose to accept it."
Layla nodded, not so much in agreement as in understanding, rubbing her chin for a long moment. "V-very well, I'll follow you, if this isn't some kind of trap."
Cora shrugged and tapped the closed door, saying, "Open."
Layla stared at the door in shock and dismay as it became a portal into a particularly crowded and noisy part of the Hedge. It was as Cora had scouted it out. Over the college were any number of locations, but over the dorms it was nearby several goblin communities, who fortunately hadn't found any cracks in the system in some cases, and fortunately weren't particularly hostile--or at least didn't care much about humans--in other cases.
"This way." Cora stepped through, and Layla froze, staring at her in horror.
Cora swept her gem-faceted eyes around to look at Layla and said, "Well?"
"I, you, I--" Layla stammered, as Cora held out her hand, which had of course a dark gem in the center of the palm. Symbols, in Etruscan and old french, writhed all over her body, and her pale, clammy form stood calmly, waiting for Layla.
Layla took her hand and shuddered as they went through the portal.
"If it is knowledge you wish, then now you have it," Cora said.
"I thought you were just like...some sort of immortal magic-thing, not--" Layla began.
"I am as I am." Layla had always known to some extent that there was a mask over Cora, that she looked differently to some of the others, but she'd no doubt assumed this was relative, that beneath whatever magic there was she was a slightly paler woman, or perhaps had horns or sharp teeth or red eyes.
That she was, in other words, some bargain basement monster who could be feared, sure, but was also oh-so-expected.
She had begun the process of showing Layla just enough that she understood she was in over her head, and as they journeyed through the Hedge, Layla holding on to her rather tightly, it continued.
Honestly, it was a rather quiet part of the Hedge, in terms of violence, and few would dare to attack her in the first place, the very Hedge itself shifting and altering with the weight of her Wyrd as she moved through it, but she saw more than a few goblins, and even one of them die in a fight down a hedge-thorn alley she avoided.
Layla's eyes were wide and it was many minutes before she finally worked up the nerve to ask, "Where are we going?"
"Almost there. From here…" Cora gestured to a large stone, "I can visit you at any time should you need help, walking through this world and then exiting through your door without having to stop for normal mortal impediments." She smiled, and Layla shuddered in awareness that just as one could walk that path to protect Layla, it also meant that Cora could take this path at any time to be in Layla's room without anyone ever noticing, for good or ill.
"Alright, we are here. Now, the Pledge is simple enough. We shall each swear our parts," Cora said, "It is a simple enough binding, tell me if you object to any of this. I swear to train and protect you to the best of my capacity, to grant you a quick mind in academics, a knowledge of how to use the library, to its best effects, a mind skilled at managing tasks...and knowledge of both French and Spanish."
Layla was taking classes in each of them as part of her liberal arts requirement, after all.
"Should I fail to provide this, or the Wyrd to provide it via this pact, may I be cursed that my greatest efforts does not produce the resounding effect that it so should gain, and I shall be bound by this duty to teach and aid for a moon."
Layla said, "I can...speak multiple languages?"
"Soon, though it does not grant writing, and so you will need to work on that area. I could have given you one or the other language and the ability to write it, but knowledge of the spoken language will aid in reading and writing in the language as well. For your part, do you swear to serve and obey me so long as my orders do not lead you to death or great harm, and do you swear not to speak of my nature or the nature of what I teach you except to those whom I have approved of, in exchange for these boons? Say 'I do' if you agree."
Layla gulped, "I...do."
"Do you swear to grant me the blessing of your faculty for languages, and swear that should you break your word, all of your endeavors shall be greatly cursed, and that this pledge shall last the length of the next moon, the next twenty-eight days?"
Cora waited, though in truth she was already moving on to the next topic. Her day was too busy to spend that much time worrying about much, and the languages would help her slightly, but were mostly there to balance the books.
It would help her communicate with Jacques, of course, but that was a minor benefit at best.
"I...I swear it."
"Then, the pledge is made," Cora said, feeling that familiar warmth. Words, phrases, in languages she hadn't known before seeped into her head, gentle and familiar since she'd known how to speak them at various times in the past, while Layla clutched her head and moaned, overwhelmed for the moment by the sudden information.
Layla was bound, and hopefully by the end of the next month she would be stable enough that Cora would not need to spend a pledge that could be more ably used on her.
Either way, it was done.
Results: Decisively solved this 'Layla problem.' Huh.
******
Two-Buck Chuck
She held his arm, frowning down at him. Alcohol was expected, but she had hoped that by early afternoon he would be in a better condition, but Roy Taylor was still a wreck, wearing the same clothes he had before, though stained with what looked like dirt and mud. She'd had him carefully watched as he'd gone about the city, getting more than a few stares, as he looked from place to place, no doubt trying to find something, something that would make sense.
Something that would center his life. His wife had been that for so long, and Cora Graves had no illusions that she wouldn't be similarly destroyed by the loss of her son, though a cold part of her almost feared the fact that she'd probably be able to survive it.
Roy groaned and looked up at her for a long moment, "Do you have my wife?"
"No," Cora replied.
"Then go away," he muttered.
"I will not. Not when I have a lead, or at least the possibility of one," Cora said, but Roy snorted and sat up.
His voice was polite, but a little distant as he said, "Help me up. Gonna prepare some coffee n' then I have a few more places to search. If it matters to you."
"There might be a way back, there might not," Cora said, and she could all but see the way a brief flicker of hope was quickly quashed, his dark face turning darker, sure she was leading him on.
And she wasn't sure whether his suspicion wasn't correct. "What is it?" he asked, grunting as he looked around his home.
"A book found a man torn by grief and whispered into his mind. A man who had lost his wife and children," Cora said, quietly.
That hit Roy hard, and the man seemed almost to stagger under the weight. Despite the rocky marriage, the only reason they hadn't had kids was because of a fear of a lack of money...or, more honestly, fertility problems which meant they couldn't even make the mistakes which might normally lead to parenthood.
"Lies and bullshit, then? A talking book sounds like a trap from where I stand," Roy said, rubbing his balding head, and then glancing around the living room. "I assume however you got here, you didn't use the door?"
"You'd be wrong," Cora said, "Either way, it promised a way back, and that doesn't mean it is possible, and it is quite likely that it is a lie, but there is another fact: the book was transported from somewhere to where the man found it."
"There is a way, in other words, for things to be transported, that I already knew, but in this new world it seems possible as well. And considering some guesses as to the nature of the book, it might have come from quite a long ways away," Cora said.
"I suppose it's a hope, but it's probably a vain one," Roy said, gritting his teeth as if fighting through pain, "I don't want your stupid bullshit where you hold out hope in front of me like a goddamn carrot."
Considering that was her current plan, she very carefully didn't react in the least and said, "Either way, you're not going to get anything done if you lose this house. In theory I could help you here, but--"
"I'm not being some fucking free-loader," Roy shot back, "I'm already a pathetic enough wreck without everyone staring at me like that."
"So I'd advise you to advertise. Start doing jobs. Even if your heart isn't in it, your powers are still as strong as ever, no?"
"As weak as ever," Roy grumbled.
"But enough to have gotten you this house in the first place," Cora Graves responded, "What you have isn't nothing, and you are a smart man, if you'll just see past your grief."
"It's easy for you," Roy replied, "You just…fuck. Fucking hell." He moved over to the couch and kicked it before collapsing onto it. "I need another drink."
"If you're going to afford anything worth drinking, you need money. If you truly wish to drink yourself to death, do it on better swill than that," Cora said, trying for the bracingly rude.
Roy looked at the bottle and then declared, "I ain't going to fucking die until I see my wife again...but I guess I get your drift. Have to protect your investment, eh? Sure, fine."
That was less than she'd hoped for, but enough for now. She almost wanted to check to see if that had helped, but she knew that constantly checking would lead the unwary or impatient to varying up their approach, and while she was neither, she liked to keep in good habits. She'd check in a month to see if he was still on course to commit suicide, and if he still was, she might begin to take somewhat more drastic efforts.
Effect: Mild to moderate progress made. Moderately increased chance of getting one of the 'important locations' after him. Too soon to tell whether it's working (even doing Omen, of course, wouldn't mean anything since things take time to work).
******
News: Not Springs
St. Louis has many sister cities, and these sister cities often have surprisingly close ties in the Hedge to St. Louis, and Suwa, Japan was one of them. Known for its festivals and more than that its hot springs, it was a small city by modern standards, and the Freehold there was quite small, but relatively prosperous. While the Hedge side did not possess the miracle springs of Bath, they did have therapeutic use, and rather more importantly, running hot springs and other businesses on the earth-bound side had set up the Freehold in a good position, which it had used to ensure that everyone who was part of the Freehold had a job, a stable income, and relative safety and security.
Cora Graves agreed with those that said it was an impressive success story, made all the more impressive by the fact that--contrary to what she might have done in the case, for all of her intelligence--they hadn't overreached or gained the sorts of ambitions that would have set them at odds with all sorts of other powers, both in and out of the Hedge.
Instead they'd found their niche and occupied it, created their own culture of security and stability, but kept vigilent for the possibility of a threat coming…
None of it had prepared them for the fact that in this new world, they'd suddenly lost most of the hot spring spas they had owned. Now the twenty-odd Changelings of the Freehold are in quite a bind, and it is quite possible they will go to their sister-Freehold, Marble Arch, for help.
*****
The Sages Assemble:
Cora Graves had a mild headache, and it wasn't even daytime, when they seemed most likely to be inflicted on her. She rubbed her face, just under her eyes, and then touched the gem of her left hand briefly to her eye, as if trying to see through the problems facing them. She hadn't thought that it would be so hard to get them together, or rather she had hoped that in these circumstances it would be easier.
But they had had their own schedules, and with Eva living with her, she wasn't comfortable using her house as a meeting place. Eva was meant to be a secret, after all, and the woman had kept quiet and careful thus far, and had even managed to be a pretty good house-guest, all things kept in perspective.
So they were at a restaurant, but of course even that couldn't be easy, with disagreements and missed schedules and everything else, so by the time everyone was sitting around a table together, finally discussing the future of the Entitlement in the Freehold.
"Are you saying I'm going to have to throw it all out?" Persephone asked. She was a striking woman, not attractive so much as bright and possessing the sort of chipper drive that young grad students often displayed. But now the woman's crackling ears of lightning and fire briefly moved downward in defeat before dissolving and becoming wings, "I mean, I thought my studies on the cultural mores of vampire territory were going well--"
Madcap Manny laughed, the plump, small, middle-aged man looking somehow jolly even, his white eyes looking one way or the other as he said, "Persephone, the vampires found you unnerving."
She frowned and said, "That's because they aren't used to me, that's all. I'm sure I would have found my groove with them--"
"And why would you have wanted to," Anton LeFay asked, clacking his cloven hoofs against the ground as he huddled over his pasta, dark eyes contemptuous, "They're vampires. Enemies. It's good that they're gone."
"And replaced," Manny said, "Though not sure what these new ones are like. I'd like to meet one, but I'm not sure if I'd have any information to trade or use with them. For all I know they're completely different."
"That's the problem with every area of study," Cora pointed out, "I'm pretty sure all of us are dealing with that difference so far." Cora hadn't had time to examine or attempt to call the ghosts, but it seems that the ghosts in this world could only appear at night for some reason. Among other restrictions she was still feeling out.
"I'm not so sure," Malthus M. Riddle said, "I've totally met a spirit and they're not exactly the same but--"
Cora didn't blink, but she wanted to. "You did?"
"Yes, he was all 'blargh' and teeth and he tried to kill me, but it was definitely a spirit of hunger or something I was calling up. A very spirited encounter, eh?"
Anton LeFay groaned, "Oh, so they have spirits? Great."
"Well, not the same, really, but they seem to have beings that sorta do the whole 'representin' thing," Riddle said, "And that's enough. 'M gonna keep working on it."
"At least they have magic-users here," Rebecca Karling said, making a note in her journal, "So we can still study their habits, can't we, Mr. LeFay?" Her eyes were wide, and if it wasn't for the fact that Cora knew she was a woman who had a Sleeper Agent, who could murder someone with a smile and then go back to discussing the importance of nonviolence in creating social change...she would have thought her completely innocent.
"This is true, but--" he shook his head, "We have very little left over from our world, and so we'll be starting from the start. I'm sure that Autumn's search of the rules and laws of this world will turn up plenty…"
He looked at Cora searchingly, and she nodded and asked, "What have each of you been able to hang onto or acquire?"
"I still have," Lydia Zero said with a grunt, "The fetishes--"
Rebecca muttered something to Persephone, who couldn't help but giggle.
"The fetishes," Lydia continued, "I still possess. As for werewolves...I'm not sure. Feels like something's up, but it's just an instinct. Not sure what it could be, but I'll put my nose to the ground, see what I find." For a woman who was an Elemental Hunterheart, whose very nature was the brutal beast and who had to hold her glass of wine between two claws, this wasn't a figurative statement.
"I don't have much, but I think I know someone in Thousand Trods who owes me a favor, and if I pushed hard and we took a leap at it, I think I could get a certain necklace that might be the key to at least having optional ghoul-power should we really need it. It might be the only real vampire blood in the entire world, now, if she still has it," Manny said, "And I'm sure she does."
"I'm following up on ghosts as we speak, and Mr. Riddle has stated that he's following up on Spirits, so what really matters is making sure that our order continues their work," Cora pointed out, "Now, more than ever before, it's necessary that we work together, because the threats to the Freehold are now the exact sort of problems we are trained to deal with. Different cultures, different systems of magic, and we need to work through them and understand them."
Persephone Powers nodded and said, "Yeah, that sounds good. Don't know how I'll help, but I'll try."
Cora listened to the agreement, as the conversation shifted a little, towards the past, towards what they had once done and what they might do in the future, and she listened to it carefully and quietly. She had mostly been telling the truth, but she was pretty sure that at least some of her magic could have very, very interesting effects on the ghosts of this new world, and if the meeting tomorrow with the Sin-Eater was successful, she'd be in a position to do far more than merely manage Jacques and Jeanne.
*****
News: Public Enemy #1? Part 1
The Freehold of the Phoenix is a troubled one indeed, from its heyday in the early 20th century. Chicago is not a place that Changelings go to make a stable new life, and the Hedge is a large part of it. Dangerous and unstable, and home to more than a few powerful goblins and Exiles, it is a flashpoint for any number of threats that sometimes spill beyond the bounds of Chicago into the rest of the world, so of course Cora has agents in place to monitor the situation.[1]
Not long after the transition, a threat had shown itself to them.
The Count of Crime, a green-eyed True Fae Exile whose very soul was that of a predator, who civilized crime and put it under his control, whose cold, calculating civility made him a 'gentleman' like the old gangsters wanted to be viewed. He controlled a surprising amount of the Hedge in the area, with tons of goblin lackeys, and always was sticking his finger in mortal affairs besides.
More specifically, the Count of Crime had hired Ratty Wilson, another Exile--this one having more in the domain of the common criminal, weaker than the Count--to gain new information on this new world and its possibilities.
And his first stop was to the lair of a dark sorcerer of seemingly unimaginable power, who could grant vast wealth to others and only deigned not to, who advertised his prowess for all to see. And from this, for the mere promise of material wealth, this dark sorcerer swore to use his vast power to aid in the vile designs of the Count of Crime, and not only that, but provided Wilson with several short tomes of arcane lore.[2]
He had then proceeded to do the work of providing vital information to the enemy of the Freehold on the nature of the new world, entirely and completely against even the basest of moral systems, making him a vital threat.
Currently, the entire Freehold was bickering on what to do to stop him. Spring of course suggested seducing him or poisoning him. Summer wanted to challenge him to a fight, Autumn wanted to either assassinate him or outmaneuver him and force him to join the side, and Winter was torn right down the middle between just putting a bullet in the back of his head from a nice distance and running away in terror.
Either way, they swore that they would not let the Count of Crime gain even more power than he already possessed.
This 'Dresden' had to go.
[1] IC: Here, at least, the translation had not damaged her network as much as she'd feared.
[2] IC: Cora's agents told her they were in fact pamphlets, and seemed to be mostly harmless, talking about the nature of magic in very general terms, but one of the Autumn Courtiers had gotten their hands on it and declared them 'tomes' because it made sneaking into someone's office to steal a bunch of pamphlets just laying around sound more dignified. Cora gave the orders to acquire a few of these "Tomes."
*****
A/N: Alright, and here we go! The setup and Part 'B' of Turn 1. Gilding the Lily is next, and then part C of Turn 1, and then the Results/Further-News section...then we start a new turn!
Layla's Encouragement--
Layla Barnes was not doing her homework when Cora knocked, and though the Chancellor usually wasn't quite so forgiving, the fact that Layla's entire life had been uprooted certainly had contributed to her sparse attendance of classes. The girl's dreams had been as open as ever, and Cora had felt it almost pathetic, how little she could hide in her dreams, compared to the opaque nature of Eva's dreams, or the way Roy's dreams were often so literal and carefully about petty things that even if she had wanted to, it would have taken at least some effort to extract what he had dreamed of, the prophecies that he held over her head in exchange for her help.
As if he couldn't merely ask, though it was her fault that he didn't think that possible.
Either way, that evening when she knocked, she knew Layla was alone, and the young adult got up and opened the door quite quickly, and then froze.
Layla Barnes was on the short side, her brunette hair framing a face that was moderately cute, if slightly heavy set, and her own frame clearly showed that at least so far her biokinesis had not totally solved some of the problems she wished it had. She was well-dressed, however, in a long, dark skirt and a somewhat lighter blouse, and if Cora's sources were correct, she'd been hoping for a friend she knew--a guy--to come over so they could hang out.
"Oh," Layla said, eyes widening.
"Yes, oh," Cora responded. "I'm here to talk to you, perhaps help you with a few matters."
"I-I'm sure you are," Layla said, "Look I was drunk and--"
"I understand. I have been drunk before and said and done things I regretted," Cora said, though she didn't allow her voice to be tainted with the hint, the fact that she'd done more than that. She'd thrown her life away, and she wasn't sure whether she'd had more potential back then than Layla had, but either way, the girl was her responsibility, even if she didn't like her, and that meant a responsibility to help her grow and make...useful choices.
"Ahh," Layla said, "Uh, come in?"
"I shall," Cora responded, stepping forward. The room was a bit of a mess, though no more than that of, say, the average teenager--though Jonathan of course was a little better and neater than that, but holding people to Jonathan's standard was probably unfair to them--and Cora moved past the bed, where a bra had accidentally been kicked partially under it, and said, "Your classes, they've changed, I assume?"
"Yeah, they have. I'm still trying to get used to it," Layla said, though she sounded quite uncertain. The girl didn't view Cora as a person who could, in fact, have feelings and passions. She viewed Cora as a strange monster that was teaching her--or not teaching her enough--of the use of her powers.
"There are ways to improve yourself that I could offer, but you must understand, that acting as you did is a threat to me and mine own. I can't tolerate such a thing, and I should not be required to either," Cora said, "Yet if you are willing to swear an oath, binding as it is, I can aid you. This formalization, perhaps you can view it as a sign of trust."
She could view it that way, of course, but it simply wasn't true. The pledge she had in mind was rather tightly binding, and Layla hesitated before saying, "What...kind of pledge?"
"A magical deal, binding in the sense that should you break it, or should I break it, there shall be consequences," Cora said. "You shall have to follow me, but the advantages to you would be great, should you choose to accept it."
Layla nodded, not so much in agreement as in understanding, rubbing her chin for a long moment. "V-very well, I'll follow you, if this isn't some kind of trap."
Cora shrugged and tapped the closed door, saying, "Open."
Layla stared at the door in shock and dismay as it became a portal into a particularly crowded and noisy part of the Hedge. It was as Cora had scouted it out. Over the college were any number of locations, but over the dorms it was nearby several goblin communities, who fortunately hadn't found any cracks in the system in some cases, and fortunately weren't particularly hostile--or at least didn't care much about humans--in other cases.
"This way." Cora stepped through, and Layla froze, staring at her in horror.
Cora swept her gem-faceted eyes around to look at Layla and said, "Well?"
"I, you, I--" Layla stammered, as Cora held out her hand, which had of course a dark gem in the center of the palm. Symbols, in Etruscan and old french, writhed all over her body, and her pale, clammy form stood calmly, waiting for Layla.
Layla took her hand and shuddered as they went through the portal.
"If it is knowledge you wish, then now you have it," Cora said.
"I thought you were just like...some sort of immortal magic-thing, not--" Layla began.
"I am as I am." Layla had always known to some extent that there was a mask over Cora, that she looked differently to some of the others, but she'd no doubt assumed this was relative, that beneath whatever magic there was she was a slightly paler woman, or perhaps had horns or sharp teeth or red eyes.
That she was, in other words, some bargain basement monster who could be feared, sure, but was also oh-so-expected.
She had begun the process of showing Layla just enough that she understood she was in over her head, and as they journeyed through the Hedge, Layla holding on to her rather tightly, it continued.
Honestly, it was a rather quiet part of the Hedge, in terms of violence, and few would dare to attack her in the first place, the very Hedge itself shifting and altering with the weight of her Wyrd as she moved through it, but she saw more than a few goblins, and even one of them die in a fight down a hedge-thorn alley she avoided.
Layla's eyes were wide and it was many minutes before she finally worked up the nerve to ask, "Where are we going?"
"Almost there. From here…" Cora gestured to a large stone, "I can visit you at any time should you need help, walking through this world and then exiting through your door without having to stop for normal mortal impediments." She smiled, and Layla shuddered in awareness that just as one could walk that path to protect Layla, it also meant that Cora could take this path at any time to be in Layla's room without anyone ever noticing, for good or ill.
"Alright, we are here. Now, the Pledge is simple enough. We shall each swear our parts," Cora said, "It is a simple enough binding, tell me if you object to any of this. I swear to train and protect you to the best of my capacity, to grant you a quick mind in academics, a knowledge of how to use the library, to its best effects, a mind skilled at managing tasks...and knowledge of both French and Spanish."
Layla was taking classes in each of them as part of her liberal arts requirement, after all.
"Should I fail to provide this, or the Wyrd to provide it via this pact, may I be cursed that my greatest efforts does not produce the resounding effect that it so should gain, and I shall be bound by this duty to teach and aid for a moon."
Layla said, "I can...speak multiple languages?"
"Soon, though it does not grant writing, and so you will need to work on that area. I could have given you one or the other language and the ability to write it, but knowledge of the spoken language will aid in reading and writing in the language as well. For your part, do you swear to serve and obey me so long as my orders do not lead you to death or great harm, and do you swear not to speak of my nature or the nature of what I teach you except to those whom I have approved of, in exchange for these boons? Say 'I do' if you agree."
Layla gulped, "I...do."
"Do you swear to grant me the blessing of your faculty for languages, and swear that should you break your word, all of your endeavors shall be greatly cursed, and that this pledge shall last the length of the next moon, the next twenty-eight days?"
Cora waited, though in truth she was already moving on to the next topic. Her day was too busy to spend that much time worrying about much, and the languages would help her slightly, but were mostly there to balance the books.
It would help her communicate with Jacques, of course, but that was a minor benefit at best.
"I...I swear it."
"Then, the pledge is made," Cora said, feeling that familiar warmth. Words, phrases, in languages she hadn't known before seeped into her head, gentle and familiar since she'd known how to speak them at various times in the past, while Layla clutched her head and moaned, overwhelmed for the moment by the sudden information.
Layla was bound, and hopefully by the end of the next month she would be stable enough that Cora would not need to spend a pledge that could be more ably used on her.
Either way, it was done.
Results: Decisively solved this 'Layla problem.' Huh.
Persuasion roll, target is 3 successes because she's that distrustful of the offer...though unless there is a total failure, you'll still get something...she'll just make a counter-offer. 6 dice...3 successes, huh.
Manipulation+Intimidation (Veiled Threats 2)=11 dice=3 successes
Pledge-Crafting:
Tasks: Cora--Train and protect Layla to be best of her capacities (Medial Alliance, -2), Layla--Obey and act to listen to Cora (Alliance, -2), Forbiddance, Telling others (-2)
=Current Tally, -2 to Cora, -4 to Layla
Boons: Layla: Adroitness, Academics (+1), Blessing (Good Time Management)+1, Blessing (Multilingual?) +1, Library 1 +1
Cora: Multilingual +1
Layla=0, -1
Sanction: Layla=Curse, Medial (-2)
Cora: Curse, Lesser (-1)
Duration: One Moon for each (+2)
Final TAlly: Both at 0, it all works out.
Analysis: Layla 'gets' a lot more than Cora does, relatively speaking, though the terms of the tasks clearly put Cora in a position of great power, though the obedience does not stretch so far as to directly risk her life or her deepest values.
The Sanction is an area where Cora is being sneaky, because she can eat losing 10-again for a Moon if she breaks it (which she won't) whereas making it so that for everything Layla does, only a 9 or 10 counts as success is pretty frankly crippling to the point I'd need to do the math, but it makes a success take on average 3 dice (30% chance since an 8, 9, or 10) to an average of 5 dice (20% chance) and without having ten-again either, it's the sort of thing that, combined with the loss of the Merits, would completely cripple and ruin Layla's life.
Manipulation+Intimidation (Veiled Threats 2)=11 dice=3 successes
Pledge-Crafting:
Tasks: Cora--Train and protect Layla to be best of her capacities (Medial Alliance, -2), Layla--Obey and act to listen to Cora (Alliance, -2), Forbiddance, Telling others (-2)
=Current Tally, -2 to Cora, -4 to Layla
Boons: Layla: Adroitness, Academics (+1), Blessing (Good Time Management)+1, Blessing (Multilingual?) +1, Library 1 +1
Cora: Multilingual +1
Layla=0, -1
Sanction: Layla=Curse, Medial (-2)
Cora: Curse, Lesser (-1)
Duration: One Moon for each (+2)
Final TAlly: Both at 0, it all works out.
Analysis: Layla 'gets' a lot more than Cora does, relatively speaking, though the terms of the tasks clearly put Cora in a position of great power, though the obedience does not stretch so far as to directly risk her life or her deepest values.
The Sanction is an area where Cora is being sneaky, because she can eat losing 10-again for a Moon if she breaks it (which she won't) whereas making it so that for everything Layla does, only a 9 or 10 counts as success is pretty frankly crippling to the point I'd need to do the math, but it makes a success take on average 3 dice (30% chance since an 8, 9, or 10) to an average of 5 dice (20% chance) and without having ten-again either, it's the sort of thing that, combined with the loss of the Merits, would completely cripple and ruin Layla's life.
******
Two-Buck Chuck
She held his arm, frowning down at him. Alcohol was expected, but she had hoped that by early afternoon he would be in a better condition, but Roy Taylor was still a wreck, wearing the same clothes he had before, though stained with what looked like dirt and mud. She'd had him carefully watched as he'd gone about the city, getting more than a few stares, as he looked from place to place, no doubt trying to find something, something that would make sense.
Something that would center his life. His wife had been that for so long, and Cora Graves had no illusions that she wouldn't be similarly destroyed by the loss of her son, though a cold part of her almost feared the fact that she'd probably be able to survive it.
Roy groaned and looked up at her for a long moment, "Do you have my wife?"
"No," Cora replied.
"Then go away," he muttered.
"I will not. Not when I have a lead, or at least the possibility of one," Cora said, but Roy snorted and sat up.
His voice was polite, but a little distant as he said, "Help me up. Gonna prepare some coffee n' then I have a few more places to search. If it matters to you."
"There might be a way back, there might not," Cora said, and she could all but see the way a brief flicker of hope was quickly quashed, his dark face turning darker, sure she was leading him on.
And she wasn't sure whether his suspicion wasn't correct. "What is it?" he asked, grunting as he looked around his home.
"A book found a man torn by grief and whispered into his mind. A man who had lost his wife and children," Cora said, quietly.
That hit Roy hard, and the man seemed almost to stagger under the weight. Despite the rocky marriage, the only reason they hadn't had kids was because of a fear of a lack of money...or, more honestly, fertility problems which meant they couldn't even make the mistakes which might normally lead to parenthood.
"Lies and bullshit, then? A talking book sounds like a trap from where I stand," Roy said, rubbing his balding head, and then glancing around the living room. "I assume however you got here, you didn't use the door?"
"You'd be wrong," Cora said, "Either way, it promised a way back, and that doesn't mean it is possible, and it is quite likely that it is a lie, but there is another fact: the book was transported from somewhere to where the man found it."
"There is a way, in other words, for things to be transported, that I already knew, but in this new world it seems possible as well. And considering some guesses as to the nature of the book, it might have come from quite a long ways away," Cora said.
"I suppose it's a hope, but it's probably a vain one," Roy said, gritting his teeth as if fighting through pain, "I don't want your stupid bullshit where you hold out hope in front of me like a goddamn carrot."
Considering that was her current plan, she very carefully didn't react in the least and said, "Either way, you're not going to get anything done if you lose this house. In theory I could help you here, but--"
"I'm not being some fucking free-loader," Roy shot back, "I'm already a pathetic enough wreck without everyone staring at me like that."
"So I'd advise you to advertise. Start doing jobs. Even if your heart isn't in it, your powers are still as strong as ever, no?"
"As weak as ever," Roy grumbled.
"But enough to have gotten you this house in the first place," Cora Graves responded, "What you have isn't nothing, and you are a smart man, if you'll just see past your grief."
"It's easy for you," Roy replied, "You just…fuck. Fucking hell." He moved over to the couch and kicked it before collapsing onto it. "I need another drink."
"If you're going to afford anything worth drinking, you need money. If you truly wish to drink yourself to death, do it on better swill than that," Cora said, trying for the bracingly rude.
Roy looked at the bottle and then declared, "I ain't going to fucking die until I see my wife again...but I guess I get your drift. Have to protect your investment, eh? Sure, fine."
That was less than she'd hoped for, but enough for now. She almost wanted to check to see if that had helped, but she knew that constantly checking would lead the unwary or impatient to varying up their approach, and while she was neither, she liked to keep in good habits. She'd check in a month to see if he was still on course to commit suicide, and if he still was, she might begin to take somewhat more drastic efforts.
Effect: Mild to moderate progress made. Moderately increased chance of getting one of the 'important locations' after him. Too soon to tell whether it's working (even doing Omen, of course, wouldn't mean anything since things take time to work).
Presence+Persuasion=1 successes
Composure: 4 successes
Persuasion 2: 4 successes
Composure: 4 successes
Persuasion 2: 4 successes
******
News: Not Springs
St. Louis has many sister cities, and these sister cities often have surprisingly close ties in the Hedge to St. Louis, and Suwa, Japan was one of them. Known for its festivals and more than that its hot springs, it was a small city by modern standards, and the Freehold there was quite small, but relatively prosperous. While the Hedge side did not possess the miracle springs of Bath, they did have therapeutic use, and rather more importantly, running hot springs and other businesses on the earth-bound side had set up the Freehold in a good position, which it had used to ensure that everyone who was part of the Freehold had a job, a stable income, and relative safety and security.
Cora Graves agreed with those that said it was an impressive success story, made all the more impressive by the fact that--contrary to what she might have done in the case, for all of her intelligence--they hadn't overreached or gained the sorts of ambitions that would have set them at odds with all sorts of other powers, both in and out of the Hedge.
Instead they'd found their niche and occupied it, created their own culture of security and stability, but kept vigilent for the possibility of a threat coming…
None of it had prepared them for the fact that in this new world, they'd suddenly lost most of the hot spring spas they had owned. Now the twenty-odd Changelings of the Freehold are in quite a bind, and it is quite possible they will go to their sister-Freehold, Marble Arch, for help.
*****
The Sages Assemble:
Cora Graves had a mild headache, and it wasn't even daytime, when they seemed most likely to be inflicted on her. She rubbed her face, just under her eyes, and then touched the gem of her left hand briefly to her eye, as if trying to see through the problems facing them. She hadn't thought that it would be so hard to get them together, or rather she had hoped that in these circumstances it would be easier.
But they had had their own schedules, and with Eva living with her, she wasn't comfortable using her house as a meeting place. Eva was meant to be a secret, after all, and the woman had kept quiet and careful thus far, and had even managed to be a pretty good house-guest, all things kept in perspective.
So they were at a restaurant, but of course even that couldn't be easy, with disagreements and missed schedules and everything else, so by the time everyone was sitting around a table together, finally discussing the future of the Entitlement in the Freehold.
"Are you saying I'm going to have to throw it all out?" Persephone asked. She was a striking woman, not attractive so much as bright and possessing the sort of chipper drive that young grad students often displayed. But now the woman's crackling ears of lightning and fire briefly moved downward in defeat before dissolving and becoming wings, "I mean, I thought my studies on the cultural mores of vampire territory were going well--"
Madcap Manny laughed, the plump, small, middle-aged man looking somehow jolly even, his white eyes looking one way or the other as he said, "Persephone, the vampires found you unnerving."
She frowned and said, "That's because they aren't used to me, that's all. I'm sure I would have found my groove with them--"
"And why would you have wanted to," Anton LeFay asked, clacking his cloven hoofs against the ground as he huddled over his pasta, dark eyes contemptuous, "They're vampires. Enemies. It's good that they're gone."
"And replaced," Manny said, "Though not sure what these new ones are like. I'd like to meet one, but I'm not sure if I'd have any information to trade or use with them. For all I know they're completely different."
"That's the problem with every area of study," Cora pointed out, "I'm pretty sure all of us are dealing with that difference so far." Cora hadn't had time to examine or attempt to call the ghosts, but it seems that the ghosts in this world could only appear at night for some reason. Among other restrictions she was still feeling out.
"I'm not so sure," Malthus M. Riddle said, "I've totally met a spirit and they're not exactly the same but--"
Cora didn't blink, but she wanted to. "You did?"
"Yes, he was all 'blargh' and teeth and he tried to kill me, but it was definitely a spirit of hunger or something I was calling up. A very spirited encounter, eh?"
Anton LeFay groaned, "Oh, so they have spirits? Great."
"Well, not the same, really, but they seem to have beings that sorta do the whole 'representin' thing," Riddle said, "And that's enough. 'M gonna keep working on it."
"At least they have magic-users here," Rebecca Karling said, making a note in her journal, "So we can still study their habits, can't we, Mr. LeFay?" Her eyes were wide, and if it wasn't for the fact that Cora knew she was a woman who had a Sleeper Agent, who could murder someone with a smile and then go back to discussing the importance of nonviolence in creating social change...she would have thought her completely innocent.
"This is true, but--" he shook his head, "We have very little left over from our world, and so we'll be starting from the start. I'm sure that Autumn's search of the rules and laws of this world will turn up plenty…"
He looked at Cora searchingly, and she nodded and asked, "What have each of you been able to hang onto or acquire?"
"I still have," Lydia Zero said with a grunt, "The fetishes--"
Rebecca muttered something to Persephone, who couldn't help but giggle.
"The fetishes," Lydia continued, "I still possess. As for werewolves...I'm not sure. Feels like something's up, but it's just an instinct. Not sure what it could be, but I'll put my nose to the ground, see what I find." For a woman who was an Elemental Hunterheart, whose very nature was the brutal beast and who had to hold her glass of wine between two claws, this wasn't a figurative statement.
"I don't have much, but I think I know someone in Thousand Trods who owes me a favor, and if I pushed hard and we took a leap at it, I think I could get a certain necklace that might be the key to at least having optional ghoul-power should we really need it. It might be the only real vampire blood in the entire world, now, if she still has it," Manny said, "And I'm sure she does."
"I'm following up on ghosts as we speak, and Mr. Riddle has stated that he's following up on Spirits, so what really matters is making sure that our order continues their work," Cora pointed out, "Now, more than ever before, it's necessary that we work together, because the threats to the Freehold are now the exact sort of problems we are trained to deal with. Different cultures, different systems of magic, and we need to work through them and understand them."
Persephone Powers nodded and said, "Yeah, that sounds good. Don't know how I'll help, but I'll try."
Cora listened to the agreement, as the conversation shifted a little, towards the past, towards what they had once done and what they might do in the future, and she listened to it carefully and quietly. She had mostly been telling the truth, but she was pretty sure that at least some of her magic could have very, very interesting effects on the ghosts of this new world, and if the meeting tomorrow with the Sin-Eater was successful, she'd be in a position to do far more than merely manage Jacques and Jeanne.
Rolls:
Riddle (Spirits): 97
Lydia Zero (Werewolves): 74
Anton LeFay (Mages):52
Manny (Vamps): 65
Powers: 47
Karling: 85
Cora: 1d100+25 (Has Ghosts)+15 (Threshold rules and others known)+15 (Tracking down a Sin-Eater)=125
Riddle (Spirits): 97
Lydia Zero (Werewolves): 74
Anton LeFay (Mages):52
Manny (Vamps): 65
Powers: 47
Karling: 85
Cora: 1d100+25 (Has Ghosts)+15 (Threshold rules and others known)+15 (Tracking down a Sin-Eater)=125
*****
News: Public Enemy #1? Part 1
The Freehold of the Phoenix is a troubled one indeed, from its heyday in the early 20th century. Chicago is not a place that Changelings go to make a stable new life, and the Hedge is a large part of it. Dangerous and unstable, and home to more than a few powerful goblins and Exiles, it is a flashpoint for any number of threats that sometimes spill beyond the bounds of Chicago into the rest of the world, so of course Cora has agents in place to monitor the situation.[1]
Not long after the transition, a threat had shown itself to them.
The Count of Crime, a green-eyed True Fae Exile whose very soul was that of a predator, who civilized crime and put it under his control, whose cold, calculating civility made him a 'gentleman' like the old gangsters wanted to be viewed. He controlled a surprising amount of the Hedge in the area, with tons of goblin lackeys, and always was sticking his finger in mortal affairs besides.
More specifically, the Count of Crime had hired Ratty Wilson, another Exile--this one having more in the domain of the common criminal, weaker than the Count--to gain new information on this new world and its possibilities.
And his first stop was to the lair of a dark sorcerer of seemingly unimaginable power, who could grant vast wealth to others and only deigned not to, who advertised his prowess for all to see. And from this, for the mere promise of material wealth, this dark sorcerer swore to use his vast power to aid in the vile designs of the Count of Crime, and not only that, but provided Wilson with several short tomes of arcane lore.[2]
He had then proceeded to do the work of providing vital information to the enemy of the Freehold on the nature of the new world, entirely and completely against even the basest of moral systems, making him a vital threat.
Currently, the entire Freehold was bickering on what to do to stop him. Spring of course suggested seducing him or poisoning him. Summer wanted to challenge him to a fight, Autumn wanted to either assassinate him or outmaneuver him and force him to join the side, and Winter was torn right down the middle between just putting a bullet in the back of his head from a nice distance and running away in terror.
Either way, they swore that they would not let the Count of Crime gain even more power than he already possessed.
This 'Dresden' had to go.
[1] IC: Here, at least, the translation had not damaged her network as much as she'd feared.
[2] IC: Cora's agents told her they were in fact pamphlets, and seemed to be mostly harmless, talking about the nature of magic in very general terms, but one of the Autumn Courtiers had gotten their hands on it and declared them 'tomes' because it made sneaking into someone's office to steal a bunch of pamphlets just laying around sound more dignified. Cora gave the orders to acquire a few of these "Tomes."
Dresden Spotting a Rat?: 1d100=9
Freehold Reaction: 1d100=7
Cora's Networks: 58
Dresden just humming and gathering mundane, useless information that surely everyone knows so why are people shooting at him?: 84
Freehold Reaction: 1d100=7
Cora's Networks: 58
Dresden just humming and gathering mundane, useless information that surely everyone knows so why are people shooting at him?: 84
*****
A/N: Alright, and here we go! The setup and Part 'B' of Turn 1. Gilding the Lily is next, and then part C of Turn 1, and then the Results/Further-News section...then we start a new turn!
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Phrasing of the pledge is wonky, it suggests that she MUST tell everyone about changelings.
Classic shuffle there.
Ah....a Tuesday for Dresden.
Snerk
- Pronouns
- They/Them
Fixed.
- Location
- The Surface Of A Hostile Planet
Pfft. Didn't expect the Chancelor to notice Dresden so early. We'll see how this goes...
chocolote12
A Penguin Flailing Against The Keyboard Of Life.
- Location
- Daybreak
And here I thought that you turned Marcone into a True Fae, but no. That's just Chicago Freehold's thoughts.
Hmm... Gonna get Dresden POV or just everyone around him POV? Or nothing about Dresden other than this, which is really unlikely.
Re-read and finally got this:
Typo:
Hmm... Gonna get Dresden POV or just everyone around him POV? Or nothing about Dresden other than this, which is really unlikely.
Re-read and finally got this:
Typo:
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- Pronouns
- They/Them
Where's the typo?
- Location
- Daybreak
You said "if" instead of "of"...
What is this? WHAT?!?
How do they not know what the mortal world is??!?! ... Unless Marcone is actually True Fae? ... If he isn't, then Chicago Freehold seems really, really stupid? Or they're playing it up for Cora's spy network or something...
- Pronouns
- They/Them
Orrr, the Count of Crime is completely unrelated to Marcone, despite some similarities.
I mean, Marcone's whole 'schtick' is pretty common/a common trope. 'I organize the crime' and all is not something that Marcone invented.
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- Location
- Daybreak
But, how could both the Count of Crime, and Marcone, both exist at once? ... I guess they just do, and Freehold Chicago is conflating them into one single entity. Possibly a True Fae made themselves look like Marcone???
How well known is Marcone, again?
- Pronouns
- They/Them
Somewhat, and why...wait.
Marcone is a human. The Count of Crime is an Exiled True Fae. There's no overlap there at all, unless one party wants to treat it like there is (as in, Count of Crime deciding he has a bone to pick with Marcone, or whatever else).
Also this. All of the True Fae that have been spotted are all from the WOD, no new ones, at least not yet. The Count of Crime has been around for over a decade, ever since he lost some sort of competition of some kind in the 1980s and was Exiled for it.
Cora suspects that the competition was between competing styles, between the 'I'm going to act like a mob gentleman' style, and the 'we're a gang, not fucking nobility' style, represented by some other True Fae.
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- Pronouns
- They/Them
It's partially because I both had them have green eyes specifically to set up a gag later on, in the second part/imagined continuance of Dresden's horribly bad luck.
And the fact that Murphy has serious trust issues. Not as serious as the ones that Harry gets later on, or has even then, but still.
We should totally assassinate Dresden to help out the poor Chicago changelings
Use a sniper rifle.
Use a sniper rifle.
- Pronouns
- They/Them
Also, surprised there aren't more comments about the other news/events, though I knew there would be some speculation about the Dresden stuff.
- Location
- Daybreak
I have Dresden-Focus. Sorry?
Hmm... Japan Freehold will be meeting Jampires? Jamming to commence? ... Need better puns.
Talking book reappears. ... What if Talking Book meet Talking Skull? Not gonna happen, but WMG.
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- Location
- Somewhere!
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Making that happen would be good. Or just meeting Bob in general, he's amazingly useful.
Cora kind of encourages this view, it feels like? She's really dispassionate most of the time, and all her interactions with Layla have been especially clinical, at least on screen.
...Layla, when you ask "if this isn't a trap" you have to get some sort of assurance. Like if you assume Cora can't lie, you should make her actually say that. Shrugging doesn't usually count.
She's trying to be genre savvy but she's so bad at it that she's almost adorably naive.
More just annoying right now though, but I imagine once she realizes more of what's going on she might be almost useful?
They do. Marcone's whole deal is Civilized Criminal Mastermind. He's practically a living trope in itself complete with eyes the color of money. The Fae meanwhile is likely a limited shapeshifter who is compelled to take the role of Civilized Criminal Mastermind and play it to the hilt.
It's also likely to have the same reaction to meeting Marcone as two alpha tigers meeting each other on the same territory would.
Also Changelings have this confirmation bias thing with True Fae and Exiled Fae. They assume it's Fae unless proven otherwise, because in their experience it most often is.
It can get pretty funny when they're facing an Abyssal Entity and they try to stab it with iron.
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- Pronouns
- They/Them
Oh, Cora definitely does, and so it's probably mildly hypocritical of her to be mildly annoyed when Layla buys it hook, line, and sinker.
And, she might be. Her dreams are useful to ride in to get visions of the future and current events, and she at least has the potential to be dangerous and interesting and powerful. But she's also just a somewhat spoiled college student, which makes her look even worse when she's standing next to Cora Graves, Super-Intelligent Super-Sorceress with gem-eyes.
Makes her look like barely a step up from an Extra.
So it's something of a matter of perspective, if that makes sense. Cora's pretty hyper-competent, while Layla's just a somewhat spoiled kid from a good family that happened to gain (very minor) super-powers. She's doing about as well as expected, all things considered: which isn't great.
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On the other hand, short of Awakening, every other route to powers will have much suffering
- Location
- Somewhere!
- Pronouns
- She/Her
So, Dresden meeting a new immortal who acts cool and standoffish with him? Not seeing that go well.