09:08 <Crion> Clevinger, the Regent of Autumn of the Hold of Orlando, has ordered the doors to The Neverending Queen be locked and no one enter or leave while he, Karon "The City," and the so-far unseen Lysander of Columbia -- the actual King in his Season -- consult each other about...it's actually a bit unclear, what about. They're heading down to the basement (to 'her room') and don't want anyone in or 09:08 <Crion> out until they come back. That leaves the motley here with the two Spring courtiers Cinquer Sailor and Solder Psy drinking in the corner, the Winter Court Ogre Jessie J serving drinks, the Spring courtier and general Hold majordomo Rory ?? glaring at the Autumn courtier Sarkosa and his many antique flintlocks, and Summer courtier Walter Weal on the door. 09:09 <Crion> Horton the Gun is watching things Hedgeside. 09:11 <banana> Did they ever actually tell us what Peter said about us? We're going to need it, in order to fling it in his face later. 09:11 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart's concentrating on his drink, since the Orlando people aren't very talkative. When Clevinger says there's another round on the house, Stewart drains his hurricane and asks for a whiskey sour. Are there like... pretzels or something out? Maggie keeps side-eyeing him. 09:12 <Crion> All you've got is implication and imprecation so far from Rory ??. He definitely gave the Hold the heads up on who Nels is. 09:12 <trenchfoot> Maybe some of us don't want to hear it? Because he was definitely not nice about Nels. 09:13 <Crion> Jessie J will have that whiskey sour coming up. There's bar food on the board, but asking for it will reveal that Jessie's working the kitchen too, and she's less enthusiastic about doing all that work for free. 09:13 <VoxPVoxD> That's fine. Nels knows we still love her. 09:13 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart's not going to *order* food, that would be mean. 09:14 <VoxPVoxD> ...is there a tip jar? 09:15 <Crion> There is. Looks a bit underserved. 09:16 <VoxPVoxD> Well, Stewart's got cash enough at least to drop $5 in for every drink she serves. That's, what, 10 now? assuming everyone had two? 09:16 <CBN> Tony, with his beer, is just kind of hovering around the bar. Between doing Hedge stuff into buying a boat into doing boat stuff into doing more Hedge stuff, 'hanging around with non-motley folks' is something he's a little rusty at, and not really all that keen to kick it off. 09:16 <VoxPVoxD> We'll start with the $50. Stewart can always drink the difference. 09:17 <Crion> It's about there. She views the tips with some dubiousness, but doesn't tell him to take them back. 09:18 <VoxPVoxD> It's sort of an implicit bet that money will be good here again someday. 09:18 <trenchfoot> I do not think we'll be allowed in Florida again. 09:18 <banana> Melanie leans on the bar, idly, motioning parts of the wood upward into geometric shapes and then letting them collapse back into furniture. She's trying to give an impression of patient solidity, although the truth is that being around this many new people still makes her nervous. It's one thing with the soldiers; they weren't peers. 09:18 <Crion> She agrees. She's just worried about young men who dress like Stewart throwing lots of cash at bartenders. 09:18 <VoxPVoxD> Ah jeez. 09:19 <VoxPVoxD> This wouldn't have happened if he'd been allowed to bring his girlfriend into Hell. 09:21 <VoxPVoxD> After the second drink, Stewart's relaxed enough to just ask Rory and Sarkosa, "So what'd you hear about us? From Peter or whoever your sources are." 09:22 <Crion> Sarkosa snorts; Rory visibly does the calculus on what he's allowed to talk about here. 09:22 <trenchfoot> Nels very carefully sips her drink. 09:22 <Crion> Sarkosa: "You actually feed a wizard to the keepers?" 09:22 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "Ehhhh he mostly fed himself." 09:22 <VoxPVoxD> "You know wizards." 09:23 <Crion> Rory ??: "No, not anymore." 09:23 <banana> Melanie: "That guy wasn't even human. I don't mean to depersonalise him, he was like... interlocking abstract shapes." 09:23 <dammitwho> When Stewart starts talking to Rory and Sarkosa, Maggie leans in to the bartender and whispers "I don't mean to be a pest, but do you all have like some plastic-wrapped sandwiches or suchlike?" 09:23 <trenchfoot> Nels: "He did. Wizards are fucking weird." 09:23 <Crion> Jessie J blinks. "Best I can do is heat up some chips and nacho cheese." 09:24 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "'You call it 'hope', that fire of fire - it is but agony of desire. If I can hope — oh, God, I can! — its fount is holier, more divine; I would not call thee fool, old man, but... such is not a gift of thine.'" 09:24 <trenchfoot> "Stewart, maybe take it down a level or two?" 09:25 <VoxPVoxD> Ignoring Nels: "Did you guys know Poe is still alive?" 09:25 <Crion> Sarkosa: "Whoa, the wizard was Edgar Allan Poe?" 09:25 <VoxPVoxD> "No, the wizard was Tamerlane." 09:25 <banana> "So he claimed." 09:25 <banana> Stewart's drinking a lot today. 09:25 <Crion> Rory ??: "I did not know Edgar Allen Poe was still alive." He does not sound particularly impressed. 09:25 <VoxPVoxD> Oh for fuck's sake. 09:26 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "But yeah. Tamerlane was in the Iron Pyramid, he was up to some shit, trying to make an ochema or something like it out in the Wyrd. Bit his ass in the end." 09:27 <dammitwho> Maggie sighs and glances at Stewart. Poor kid's gonna have it rough. 09:27 <Crion> Sarkosa: "Huh. What's an ochema?" 09:28 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "From the greek for 'vessel', I think? It's an emanation of the evil wizards' evil wizard gods." 09:28 <Crion> Rory ??: "The other story of your exploits we've heard, of course, is that you're responsible for Peter Montgomery being out and about. Something about loyalist privateers. Very idealistic. Too bad he turned out to be a loyalist of a different sort." 09:28 <Crion> Sarkosa: "Sick." 09:29 <VoxPVoxD> Sarkosa is growing on Stewart, even if Silver Mt. Zion is trash. 09:30 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "We bear some responsibility for that. But like... all this? This is a failure of the Baltimore Freehold as a hole. Repeated, comprehensive failures in vetting and security." 09:30 <VoxPVoxD> *whole 09:30 <CBN> Tony leans in on Stewart and Sarkosa's conversation: "And those yolkies, they suck a lot." 09:30 <banana> Melanie: "Peter Montgomery was given every advantage. In life, apparently in Faerie and in the Spring Court. He had so many chances and now he's done... this. I don't understand." 09:31 <trenchfoot> Nels: "He... wasn't good. I don't have another answer." 09:32 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "He's in love with his Keeper." 09:32 <VoxPVoxD> "Is the long and the short of it." 09:33 <Crion> Flinches and frowns all around the bar at someone just saying it out loud. 09:33 <VoxPVoxD> "'A toast, Jebediah, to love on my terms. The only terms a man ever knows.'" 09:36 <Crion> The door that Clevinger and Karon disappeared to finally opens. It's a new man, Fairest, beautiful, slightly anachronistic -- not quite disco but evoking it; his Spring mantle is overpowering, as roses bloom on the doorframe behind him. He is clearly Lysander of Columbia, the King of Spring in his Season...but he is not wearing a crown, either in his Mask or Mien. 09:36 <Crion> "There's some truth to that," he says, to Stewart. 09:36 <Crion> "And I'll toast to it." He raises a glass of his own. "Drink up." 09:36 <VoxPVoxD> "Your Highness." Stewart tips his glass and Glamour. 09:37 <Crion> Lysander of Columbia -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qvha7NallFk I'm on my feet, I'm on the floor, I'm good to go -- so come on dammit, sing me something that I know! 09:37 <Crion> He gets it back as the older man finishes his rum. 09:37 <VoxPVoxD> Now we're talking. 09:38 <Crion> To the motley: "The Regents Council would like to see you in the Star Chamber. But I should tell you the terms. Given you've probably cottoned onto the name." 09:40 <banana> Melanie frowns. 09:40 <trenchfoot> Nnnnh. 09:40 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart nods. 09:40 <dammitwho> Maggie scratches her cheek and listens. 09:42 <Crion> Lysander: "The truth is compelled in the Star Chamber. Well, rather, everyone can tell if you're lying. By omission, by half-truth, how clever you are...it is, in many ways, an inversion of everything the Winter Court stands for. It is also the resting place of the Neverending Queen, and you'll treat it with respect. As for the judge...he's absent." 09:42 <Crion> "It applies as much to us as to you." 09:43 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart finds this agreeable, but he looks at the motley instead of answering. What's their mood like? 09:44 <dammitwho> Maggie shrugs. She has nothing in particular to lie about here. 09:44 <banana> Melanie's already speaking. "We're not on trial, your Majesty, but we're happy to answer your questions. With truth observable." 09:44 <CBN> Tony's probably the least evasive Winter Courtier you'll find, so he's greeting this with the same just-going-with-it he's had to cling to by his fingernails to get through Florida to this point. 09:45 <trenchfoot> Nels straight up has no frame of reference on account of not being alive at the time. 09:46 <Crion> Technically true, as the Star Chamber was abolished in 1641. 09:46 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "For Queen and country, then." 09:46 <Crion> The historical one, that is. This one is quite extant. 09:47 <Crion> Lysander will nod to Stewart, then nod in a slightly different, more 'the room's yours' fashion to Rory ??, before leading them down into the bowels of the bar-restaurant-Hollow. 09:48 <VoxPVoxD> Let's rock and/or roll. 09:48 <dammitwho> Let's politely answer questions in the overly-aggressively-named meeting chamber! 09:51 <Crion> They pass a couple normal looking doors and a storage space before stopping at an unassuming wood-and-cheap-paint affair that looks no different from any other door down here save for the four-pointed white star over the keyhole. Lysander inserts said key, says, "Brace yourself for her Mantle," and opens the door, stepping through. 09:52 <banana> At this point Melanie's half-expecting to see Elsa. 09:52 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart's primed for Snow White. 09:53 <Crion> If you follow, you follow into a starfield, twinkling all around you, seeming to stretch out in infinite directions -- "There are walls here," Lysander assures you, "and they will feel like walls if you walk into them" -- and in the center of the room, well, she is a blonde with very long hair in a gown and ice thematics. But she's much more akin to sleeping beauty. Or maybe for Stewart's 09:53 <Crion> reference, Mr. Freeze's wife. She is beautiful...and motionless under glass. 09:53 <VoxPVoxD> Nora... 09:53 <Crion> The Neverending Queen -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PXVxpgHjV1Y It doesn’t hurt me. Do you want to feel how it feels? Do you want to know that it doesn't hurt me? Do you want to hear about the deal that I'm making? 09:54 <VoxPVoxD> Ah fuck, this is the wrong time for Mom Music. 09:54 <Crion> There are chairs and a few loveseats scattered around the room in a circle, the only things not affected by the power of the Queen's mantle. 09:55 <VoxPVoxD> Is it cold in here? 09:55 <Crion> Clevinger and Karon are sitting here as well; Karon is wary, and Clevinger is weary. 09:55 <Crion> Yes, though not walk-in freezer cold. Just slightly uncomfortable. Enough so you know it's there. 09:56 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart brushes frost off his cheeks and it sticks to his own starfield, which bleeds into the Queen's at the periphery, a corona of teal between blue and green sparkles. He's going to stay on his feet. 09:57 <banana> Admittedly this is a good reason to call it the Star Chamber. 09:58 <VoxPVoxD> He looks to the King to lead us off. 09:58 <CBN> Already...gently patted on the shoulders by the Winter mantle, if not cloaked in it, Tony probably isn't as bothered by the chill as the others, but still. Not gonna pull out a folding chair and vibe down here anytime soon. 10:00 <banana> Either saying or not saying something about the dead(?) woman could be disrespectful, so.. Melanie defaults to inaction. That is also a truth. 10:00 <Crion> Lysander has another drink waiting for him at his seat, which he'll sink down into. "Please be seated. Or stand. The Chamber functions either way." 10:01 <Crion> "There's a standard format to these things, among peers. And the Hold is willing to grant you that." Karon shifts in irritation, but says nothing. 10:02 <banana> Melanie sits. Is the form.. one we know? The needling of the people upstairs comes back to her. Many months in Baltimore, but too many of them spent as a recluse or on weird quests. 10:04 <dammitwho> "Ooofa." Maggie'll sit, then. 10:05 <Crion> Stewart and Melanie know that Lysander is referring to the question game: one side poses a question, gets a response, and then the responder poses a question in return, until one side is no longer willing to answer or both decline to ask. Melanie knows that custom dictates the guest gets to ask first, as a measure of hospitality. 10:06 <banana> Ohhh, of course. That actually is a thing. Some of our questions are obvious, but- does anyone look like they want to consult first, or as though they're itching to ask one? 10:06 <CBN> Tony plops down on a loveseat, scooting to the edge in case someone else wants or needs to sit on the other half. It's just the polite thing to do. 10:06 <trenchfoot> That is suspiciously specific??? 10:07 <Crion> Karon actually looks like he's about to open his mouth and claim the first question if Melanie doesn't act-- 10:07 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart's eyes meet Melanie's as she looks around. His expression offers unspoken encouragement. 10:08 <banana> ...wow, it looks like some of the others don't actually realise, and Stewart is Being Nice. Better make it clear. "Alright- we'll ask, then it's your turn." She takes a deep breath. 10:08 <banana> "What did Peter Montgomery do when he came here?" 10:10 <banana> Hard not to notice Lysander's brow, really. 10:10 <Crion> The regents look between themselves, and Lysander motions that he'll take it. He is nominally in charge, after all. "He had a drink at the bar, tipped well, asked to meet me, and demanded my crown. Then he acceded to a more formal process -- the one we're engaged in now -- and after finding his answers there, he left to pursue them. 10:11 <Crion> "In between, he told stories about Baltimore." 10:12 <trenchfoot> Nels: "G-good ones? Right?" 10:12 <Crion> There's a pause; Melanie knows he's waiting for her to indicate satisfaction. 10:12 <Crion> Lysander and Clevinger ignore Nels; Karon glares at her. 10:12 <banana> "Good or bad, he's not an authority. Thank you. What do you want to know first?" 10:14 <Crion> Karon will take this one: "What are your motley's precise aims in Florida?" 10:14 <CBN> Tony looks to Stewart. 10:15 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "We were issued a very specific not-an-order by Amelia Bantham, Queen in her season and Gardener outside it. We need the skull of Mere Jacoby, and we need to settle affairs with Montgomery and Franklin." 10:16 <VoxPVoxD> "Those are our precise aims. The situation on the ground is more complicated than we realized from Baltimore." 10:18 <Crion> Karon bristles. "I asked what your aims are, not what your scream queen regent asked--" 10:18 <Crion> Lysander, with an edge: "Did the stars go red?" 10:18 <Crion> "No?" 10:18 <dammitwho> Maggie: "Now personally I'd like to squash a certain nameless rodentia's head like a watermelon, but I don't really expect that to be on the table. Wishful thinking." 10:18 <Crion> Karon: "...No." 10:19 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "Respectfully, Regent, the aims of the Freehold of Baltimore are the aims of the Wherehouse." 10:19 <VoxPVoxD> "Until such time as they aren't. But that time is not today." 10:19 <Crion> Lysander: "Then you don't fucking accuse our guests of lying while it's my reputation at stake and not yours." 10:19 <Crion> Clevinger rumbles a sigh. "Thank you for the clarifications, which were not necessary by rule." 10:20 <Crion> Lysander, giving Karon a last look. "Proceed with your next question, please." 10:20 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "Where is the Crown of Orlando?" 10:21 <Crion> Lysander bares his teeth as he sips his drink, and Karon grins. "Well, guess this session's gonna be shorter than--" 10:21 <Crion> Clevinger: "I will answer." 10:24 <Crion> Both other regents go still. Clevinger: "The crown resides in the establishment formerly known as Margaritaville, on the campus of the Universal Studios resort in Orlando." 10:24 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart coughs a laugh, despite the gravity of the moment. "Jesus." 10:24 <Crion> The stars continue twinkling blue-white: He is telling the truth, and not omitting any information directly related to the question. 10:24 <trenchfoot> Nels: "Y-you let a place get called Margaritaville?" 10:24 <Crion> Karon, quickly: "Yes. Our go." 10:24 <VoxPVoxD> Buffeted by the winds of fate. 10:24 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart nods. 10:25 <banana> So it is. Melanie's trying to remember the layout from the army wizards' maps... were there two duelling castles? 10:26 <CBN> Tony nods slowly, steeling himself. This will not keep him from enjoying getting back on the boat with a Hawaiian shirt afterwards. No. It cannot. 10:26 <Crion> Karon: "Which factions, including all supernatural conspiracies as well as mundane organizations like the US military, other than your freehold do you work for or represent?" 10:27 <banana> Melanie, evenly: "That's a long one, with a short answer. Let's go around the circle briefly:" 10:29 <banana> "As well as the freehold in Baltimore - which is part of an alliance with other supernatural beings in the city, but who know nothing about this affair - we were all Shanghaied at the Cape Canaveral docks by what probably is the US military. There were wizards there, who essentially told us, if you're here to solve the problem, please do so. We don't represent them." 10:29 <trenchfoot> Nels: "The Wherehouse and also the Baltimore Freehold." 10:29 <banana> "Personally, I am affiliated with the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. In exchange for a stipend I hopefully write them a thesis." 10:29 <trenchfoot> "Also yes we are not representing any of them." 10:29 <Crion> Clevinger, glancing up at the stars. "Request for clarification pursuant to the ruling question: You're driving one of their vehicles." 10:30 <CBN> Tony thinks for a second: "Uhh...I represent the title I bear of Baron of the Lesser Ones, which means I informally, technically, work for the improvement and maintenance of relations between Hobs and mortals for the Hedge as a whole and any...whaddya call it...adjacent properties." 10:31 <Crion> Lysander frowns at that. "Mmmm. Perhaps we'll come back to that one." 10:31 <CBN> Tony nods, tapping the brim of his hat. 10:32 <dammitwho> Maggie: "Regarding the military wizards- they gave us a truck and some other stuff because they figure we might solve their problem without them having to drop artillery fire on the Magic Kingdom or whatever it is wizards in the military do. We don't take orders from them and we can tell them to sit 'n spin if and when we should choose to. We rescued a couple of their guys earlier but that 10:32 <dammitwho> was, y'know, the milk of human kindness." 10:32 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "We've got material and intelligence support from Operation Night Sky, from Team Leader Taggart, shadow name 'Manowar', and from a contractor name of 'Orr'. I represent the Autumn Court of Baltimore, and the Freehold as a whole as Lord Sage. In that capacity, I've done work for everyone from Jesuit's Consilium to Lister's Night Court to escaped experimental subjects and demons 10:32 <VoxPVoxD> liberated from the Machine. But I represent only my title, my court, and my family." 10:34 <dammitwho> "As for me, I work for the Baltimore Freehold and volunteer for the Manna Inc and Our Daily Bread soup kitchens back in Baltimore. I do a little side bit with a wizard brewing and distilling magic liquors and other drugs for a select clientele of monstermen." 10:34 <dammitwho> "I also did a little song-and-story act for Stewart on his computer, but I don't know if that counts as 'working for' him even if that's how he brings home the bacon." 10:35 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart grins. "I am also a self-employed Twitch streamer, yeah. If you want my full list of sponsors drop a line at my business email." 10:36 <VoxPVoxD> Have you heard the good news about Squarespace? 10:37 <Crion> Lysander is smiling despite himself: "Well. That's a bit more comprehensive an answer than I expected. Are you satisfied, Karon?" 10:37 <Crion> The Summer regent shrugs. 10:37 <Crion> "That's a yes. Your go." 10:37 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "Did this irruption of branding happen after you sent Peter on his way?" 10:38 <Crion> Karon: "What." 10:38 <Crion> Clevinger: "I think I know what you mean, but the game works best when terms are simple." 10:38 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "This wasn't always the most magical place on Earth, Regent. How'd it happen? What do you remember?" 10:40 <trenchfoot> Nels: "Also were you always named Karon? Because, um, that's -- you didn't have to be called that." 10:40 <dammitwho> "Oo, irruption with an eye-are. Learn a new word every day." She's not making fun of anybody or trying to clarify what Stewart said, she's just delighted in a 'look what our boy brought back from university' sort of way. 10:41 <dammitwho> Maggie: "Nels. Honey." 10:41 <trenchfoot> "Look, I picked this name." 10:41 <VoxPVoxD> Just want to keep reminding people Nels exists when they start looking askance at Stewart for getting sloppy. But he won't, because that's shitty. So he'll just think it. Every single time. 10:42 <banana> "There's no 'also'." Melanie just wants to get through this without making things any worse. The Orlando people are the ones who've been... well, killed, mostly. 10:43 <VoxPVoxD> Might not be 'mostly'. Might be an even 50/50 split! 10:44 <Crion> Clevinger will take this one. "First, a correction: Orlando has, for quite some time, actually been the most magical place on earth, for reasons quite aside from that company's tag line. It has been an exceptionally dangerous place for changelings to live for centuries, but a very rewarding one for studies into our fundamental nature. That is why we've hosted travelers from all over the world, 10:44 <Crion> and why there is always a moderately-annoying cabal of wizards about. We're talking back when the Seminole called these lands home; our history is fragmented, but it stretches back to my people." Under his slasher mask, Clevinger does clearly have some indigineous heritage. 10:45 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart takes the correction on the chin; it pushes his head down into a nod. 10:45 <banana> Maybe it's also why the Mistress came here. 10:45 <banana> (Or whatever she is now.) 10:45 <VoxPVoxD> Or why Peter did. Not a given to Stewart that the Mistress is in the driver's seat here. 10:45 <banana> Now that is something they'll have to debate outside of narration. 10:46 <VoxPVoxD> Absolutely. Once there's no one around to see them do it. Can you imagine arguing in front of unaffiliated dignitaries? The embarrassment. 10:46 <Crion> "We...did not give Disney the attention it required when it first moved in." The stars turn yellow. "Mmm. Fair enough. We did give it the attention we thought it required: we abused its power. Think, the greatest imagination factory and dream engine in the Western world, right there for you to ride every night. A child in Alaska dreams of Goofy, and you can go from here to there as easily as 10:46 <Crion> 'Gawrsh,' purely through oneiromancy. If there were signs of what was coming, we and our forebears were blind to them." 10:47 <banana> Avoiding the assumption that Keepers have all the agency? Melanie's completely with him. But the dynamic in this case.. could that suited chode be the prime mover, of anything? He was bred to look pretty near a horse. 10:47 <Crion> "By 'greatest' I don't mean most novel or most interesting; I mean farthest-reaching. And eventually it reached too far. Into Arcadia, we surmise." 10:51 <Crion> "The Mouse took up residence...sometime after 9/11. There was a massive reaving split in this hold -- then the Freehold of Orlando -- in the early 2000s over other matters. Or matters which appeared to be other matters. When I was taken in here by the previous Autumn King, it was already understood that the old, sparkling dreamways in the Magic Kingdom were dangerous; that you were not to 10:51 <Crion> tread the dream trods alone. But Almus Krouse didn't heed his own advice; one night he went out, and the Autumn King never came back. We investigated. There was something twisted and cold in there. A rushing of the wind. The feeling of some great presence, moving through the Hedge. 10:53 <Crion> "The one time I encountered it, I fled into the mind of a child -- and it followed me in. But when it arrived, it was that talking bird from The Lion King. The majordomo. It capered for the child...and explained to me that we were not finished. I intrigued it. I had feature talent. 10:53 <Crion> Clevinger pauses. "We do not go to Disney World anymore." 10:54 <Crion> "For years after, it left us alone if we stayed on its margins. Weeks ago, something changed. I do not know what." 10:54 <CBN> Tony grimaces. But they gotta. 10:54 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart grimaces. 10:54 <trenchfoot> Nels grimaces. 10:55 <trenchfoot> Did she do that? Probably?? 10:55 <dammitwho> "Ah geez." 10:56 <Crion> "The Mouse somehow became able to strike a deal with the City of Orlando itself, the Hedge began overlapping the real world, and in the chaos, a number of our younger or more careless courtiers were dragged back to Arcadia. But then--" 10:56 <banana> This is fascinating. And horrible, of course. A reminder that all the power the Wyrd will give you comes with a price and sometimes the fine print isn't even legible. 10:56 <Crion> Lysander: "Thank you, Clevinger. You've more than answered the question." 10:57 <VoxPVoxD> The form of the answer is agreeable, if not its content. 10:57 <banana> Melanie: "We're here to help, or at least to harm the right people. We need to know these things... but there's no harm in telling you more first." 10:59 <Crion> Lysander. "It's our question. So: Do you believe yourselves capable of defeating a Keeper in its vacation home -- something more powerful and more conceptual than a mere Title?" 11:00 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "I do. I can't speak for the motley." 11:01 <Crion> The stars go yellow. 11:01 <Crion> On the second sentence, not the first. 11:01 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart says, "I am refraining from speaking for the motley on this point." 11:01 <Crion> The stars go blue again. 11:02 <dammitwho> Maggie: "Maybe I'm crazy for thinking it, but I figure we've got a shot. Not exactly plan A, though." 11:02 <trenchfoot> Nels: "We've... gotta try, right?" 11:02 <Crion> Karon: "YES!" 11:02 <Crion> "I mean, yes. Finally. Got you. Our go." 11:02 <CBN> Tony raises his hand. "I think we can not-lose, if not winning isn't on the table." 11:03 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart laughs at that. "Nice." 11:04 <banana> Melanie: "Feels like this really is a game to you." 11:04 <banana> "Which I wouldn't have expected." 11:04 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "A win's a win." 11:05 <Crion> Lysander sighs. "Technically, the question does revert to us. Then: Do you seek the crown of the Hold of Orlando?" 11:05 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "Not specifically. Insofar as we did, or insofar as it became important to, it would be to return it, I think." 11:06 <Crion> Lysander arches an eyebrow at that...but he doesn't get a follow up. 11:06 <CBN> Tony raises a hand."This isn't a question, this is a rules clarification request." 11:07 <Crion> Lysander: "Of course." 11:07 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart opens his mouth to ask another question, but then he closes it so as not to talk over Tony. 11:07 <CBN> Tony: "We can ask each other on our...I dunno, side? Without it counting as questions for the glowies, can't we?" 11:07 <Crion> "Absolutely. Questions only count when directed at the other...team, so to speak." 11:08 <CBN> Tony nods. "So Stewart, what you're saying is, we're seeking to find not to keep I think, is that it?" 11:08 <banana> Melanie rubs her forehead, which makes a scraping noise. 11:09 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "I'm saying, we did not come here to claim a crown. But the things we came here to do might be easier, or might only be possible, if we can take back Orlando's from the fae. Insofar as that's true, we still didn't come here to claim a crown. We would return it to its rightful owners." 11:09 <CBN> Tony nods and gives Stewart a quick set of finger-guns. "Yeah!" 11:10 <Crion> Lysander: "Clarification ackwnoledged, and appreciated." 11:11 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "The people you've lost... did you lose them to their keepers or to the Mouse? What do you know about his retinue? Powerful hobs, Huntsmen, loyalists... anything you got. We've met the Mouseketeers." 11:11 <trenchfoot> Nels: "I'm in favor but did we -- clarification not approved -- think about this first? Because it's a kinda huge deal." 11:12 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "We haven't committed to anything except not to ruin Orlando for no reason." 11:12 <Crion> Karon leaps forward again but Lysander raises a hand. "Clearly to her own people, regent. You don't get two bites at that apple." 11:13 <trenchfoot> Um. Nels already kind of did that once? 11:13 <VoxPVoxD> We really gotta get you a lawyer. 11:13 <trenchfoot> I have the worst fucking lawyers. 11:14 <Crion> Karon: "That's two questions, Stewart Reader. Clarification request as to which one you want." 11:14 <Crion> "I can take the second." 11:14 <Crion> Clevinger: "I would handle the first." 11:14 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "The second is my priority. I can come back around to the first." 11:15 <banana> Melanie nods at that. 11:16 <Crion> Karon nods. "If you've met the Mouseketeers, you've met the Mouse's ground team. The grunts aren't real -- they're not actual intelligences. Each zone has a commander that creates lesser dupes of itself to act as a fireteam. Now, it can't be everywhere at once, so if you run into grunts without their commanders, that's real easy going. But they can inhabit the bodies of any grunt they want 11:16 <Crion> and boom, commander deploys itself where it needs to be." 11:17 <VoxPVoxD> :agentsmith: 11:18 <banana> Melanie: "Any idea how large the zones are?" 11:18 <Crion> "There's park mascots roaming the place. Unlike the Mouseketeers, these things aren't barred from Orlando -- but they have to play nice while they're here. Weird looking fucks. Look like someone fit the texture map from the chef from Little Mermaid over a panther or something. Incredibly dangerous, but basically clever animals. Doesn't have to be a fight if you run into one...unless it's 11:18 <Crion> hungry or you've pissed it off." 11:19 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "We passed a Gaston sphinx on the way into town." 11:19 <VoxPVoxD> And took it like 60% too seriously, he doesn't add aloud. 11:20 <Crion> He's into his area of expertise enough that he doesn't care that Melanie didn't phrase it as a clarification request statement: "Not quite zipcodes, but larger than city blocks. Generally the Mouse -- well, the Mouse's general -- has them protecting chokepoints and places of strategic value. There are outriding patrols but, the farther they get away from the commander, the harder they are to 11:20 <Crion> effectively...command." 11:21 <Crion> He leans all the way forward in his chair. "Which brings us to the command crew." 11:23 <Crion> "You ever seen the Spider Mastermind? From those Doom games? Wait, shit, that's uh, rhetorical. It's a big brain mega-computer in an archno-critter walking suit. That's the Mouse's general. Some real high-Wyrd hob shit. It's got the ears on its braincase too. Called the 'Sunshine State Drive.'" 11:25 <Crion> "Then the Mouse has an emissary that he sends out whenever someone needs to actually, you know, talk. Changeling, but he's not from around here. Called Sun Glasses Man." 11:25 <Crion> Lysander: "I busked him. It's two words, for whatever reason -- Sun Glasses, not sunglasses." 11:25 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "Gross." 11:26 <dammitwho> Maggie is smiling quietly imagining taking an overhead downward swing with the Zveroboi and cracking a Spider Mastermind's brain case. Video games. 11:26 <Crion> Karon: "He's a got a couple loyalists that run with him as well. Two of them..." 11:26 <CBN> Tony, nodding, to himself. "Laser eyes." 11:26 <Crion> He glances at Lysander, who nods. 11:26 <trenchfoot> Not a fan? Of any of this? 11:27 <Crion> "Two of them used to be part of the Hold. We thought they were dragged off in the chaos of the Mouse's emergence, but nope. They just switched sides. Thibodaux Red and Mutt." 11:27 <dammitwho> "That little shit." 11:27 <CBN> Tony: "Fucking Mutt." 11:27 <dammitwho> "S'cuse my French." 11:27 <VoxPVoxD> "Knew it." 11:27 <CBN> Tony: "Not mine." 11:28 <banana> Melanie: "We've met Mutt." 11:28 <Crion> Clevinger, preempting Karon: "We can assume from your tone that you met him, understood him, and suffered him to live, and not waste a question on it." 11:29 <banana> "He betrayed us twice in five minutes." 11:29 <trenchfoot> Nels: "I didn't say shit. Also, not sorry." 11:29 <CBN> Tony: "He stole our first van." 11:29 <Crion> Karon nods. "Sun Glasses Man has some other freaks, too, but I don't know what they are. Creepy lady in a suit with teeth that are too big, and some fucked up chick that's like a Disney princess crossed with a bird." 11:29 <CBN> Tony: "While we were doing stuff." 11:30 <Crion> Lysander sighs. "That sounds like him." 11:30 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "It's my fault. The song was right there." 11:30 <VoxPVoxD> "But yeah, we're satisfied, insofar as you are. Your go." 11:31 <banana> Melanie: "We'd better stay away from the brain case if we can. Dealing with one outpost's commander and crew was difficult enough." 11:32 <Crion> Lysander: "How long do we have before the military acts, to the best of your knowledge?" 11:35 <trenchfoot> Nels: "I wouldn't bet on anything." 11:36 <banana> Melanie: "The phrase Orr used was, 'a few weeks'." 11:36 <trenchfoot> "'Cause like. You know how they are." 11:36 <banana> "What I wouldn't bet on is what they'll do. It will be extreme and not necessarily successful." 11:36 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "That's by military time, also. Obviously, in here, we're on Company Time." 11:37 <Crion> Lysander frowns, glancing at the stars...but they stay blue. "Well. That's...better than I'd expected." 11:39 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "Does the Mouse have prisoners as well as servants?" 11:42 <Crion> "I don't know. Do we know?" Clevinger looks to the other two, who shake their heads. "As far as what's going on once you hit Princess territory -- the actual Disney World campus -- we've kept our nose out of that." The stars go yellow and Clevinger frowns. "Seriously?" They throb. "Fine. As far as what's going on once you hit the Disney campus, we have no insight, because we're not permitted 11:42 <Crion> to directly interfere under the terms set forth by the covenant of the Hold." All three regents look vaguely embarassed. The stars go back to blue. 11:43 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart looks sympathetic. 11:44 <banana> Melanie stares. 11:44 <trenchfoot> Hey: I hate this. 11:45 <VoxPVoxD> Freedom isn't free. 11:45 <Crion> Karon: "Oh we should have gotten this one out of the way first. Do you uphold honorable practices with regards to feeding and contracting with mortals? No reaving and no raping." 11:46 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart confines his reaction to a scanlon blink. 11:46 <CBN> Tony: "Of course we don't do that shit! Jesus christ!" 11:46 <trenchfoot> Nels: "Was that not implied...? 11:46 <dammitwho> "Good gravy, of course we don't do anything like that." 11:46 <banana> Melanie: "We don't do those things. Does your covenant including passing information to the Titles at war here or otherwise aiding them against us?" 11:46 <banana> *include 11:48 <Crion> Lysander, to the horrified reaction: "The humans of Orlando are under a geas that makes them docile, happy, and incredibly susceptible to abuse. We had to a--" 11:51 <Crion> There's a great hesitation after Melanie's question. Finally, Lysander: "...Only to one. And only under very dire circumstances which aren't to its benefit as well." The stars go red, and Lysander glares up. "They're not! It knows full well the dangers of--" Red again. "FINE!" He finishes his drink and recomposes himself. "And only unless it invokes the power of the crown." 11:52 <VoxPVoxD> Does he sound more Irish the more he drinks? Is that racist to think? 11:52 <banana> Melanie looks very sad. "The power that dwells in this room is impartial." 11:52 <VoxPVoxD> Mildly: "Your go." 11:54 <Crion> Clevinger: "...Have you ever heard the name Avery Lovelace?" 11:55 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "No, sir." 11:55 <CBN> Tony shakes his head. 11:55 <banana> Nope. 11:55 <Crion> Clevinger: "Mmmm. Your question." 11:55 <trenchfoot> Nnnope. 11:55 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "Who is Avery Lovelace?" 11:56 <banana> lol 11:57 <trenchfoot> ...Ada Lovelace would be very good to know? But also, um very bad to know now. 11:57 <VoxPVoxD> That's why they pay us the big bucks, Mel. 11:57 <Crion> Clevinger: "Once upon a time, she was the Queen of Spring in Orlando. Beyond that all I have are guesses, not fit for the rigor of public consumption." Blue stars on that. 11:58 <VoxPVoxD> A glance at Lysander. 11:58 <Crion> Lysander somehow has more drink in his drink. He seems very focused on it, too. 11:58 <VoxPVoxD> Big mood. 11:58 <VoxPVoxD> He nods in acknowledgment of the question being answered. 12:01 <Crion> Karon: "Do any of y'all have any secret oaths to turn on us and kill us after your job's done?" 12:01 <Crion> Lysander: "Karon, I think that was quite fully handled--" 12:01 <Crion> "I want a yes or no straight!" 12:01 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "Clarification: if we're manchurian candidates with subconscious oath programming, will this be able to tell?" 12:02 <banana> "Either way, no." 12:02 <dammitwho> Maggie: "No." 12:03 <CBN> Tony: "Nope!" 12:03 <Crion> Clevinger: "It will not. Contracts with truth always center what is believed to be true, as Truth herself refuses the cowing paralysis of omniscience." 12:03 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "Her loss. My answer is no." 12:04 <Crion> Blue stars across the board unless Nels decides to wild out. 12:04 <trenchfoot> Uh, no, not doing that again. 12:06 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "Who holds the Crown of Orlando?" 12:07 <Crion> Lysander: "No one does." Red stars. "Figured it was worth a shot." 12:08 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart gives that a smile. 12:11 <Crion> Clevinger: "There is a member of the gentry which has learned to live, somehow, in the real world. On our side. It has been driven slightly insane by it. It seems to have walked out of the Hedge one night in Miami and slaughtered the ruler -- rulers? -- of the vampires there...installing itself as the elder of their court. And it believed that so fervantly and completely that it became true. 12:11 <Crion> That was in the Eighties. Thus followed a period of bleeding. Debauchery, violence, excess; it carved a crest into the Miami night...and eventually it looked around itself and found nothing but ruin. It slunk up here on the turn of the millennium, and it started a civil war in the Freehold of Orlando. 12:12 <Crion> "Perhaps the worst bit was, it didn't even want the ruins. It had no intention of dragging anyone back, Krouse told me; it had nowhere to go back to. It boarded itself up in an empty opry house-themed attraction in Universal Studios and, like the vampire it wanted to be...went to sleep. 12:13 <VoxPVoxD> ... 12:13 <CBN> Tony scowls, processing. 12:13 <VoxPVoxD> I hope he's afraid of Americans. 12:13 <banana> "Clarification: What?" 12:14 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "A keeper who became a Kindred Prince, from terror to torpor." 12:15 <Crion> "You have to understand: When the Mouse brought the Hedge into Orlando, that meant all of our Keepers could just...come here. They found the kids and the loudmouths first, the ones without great Hollows or great security, and they just walked up to them on the streets or in their homes and snatched them back. We had gentry even circumventing or overpowering the City of Orlando's benedictions 12:15 <Crion> and stealing handfuls of mortals off the street. Those first two days were paradise for them." 12:15 <Crion> Lysander sips his drink. "And then the Queen had an idea." 12:18 <Crion> Clevinger: "She went to the Keeper where it slept, and roused it, and convinced it of its true nature. And she made with it a pact: it would claim Orlando as its territory, entreating with her and the oaths underlying the Freehold itself, and it would become the lord of the Orlando Hold, the only keeper permitted to hunt there. And it would refrain from doing so, in return for our fealty and 12:18 <Crion> obediance." 12:19 <CBN> Tony scowls more. 12:19 <VoxPVoxD> I guess it's true what they say about Florida not really having seasons. 12:20 <dammitwho> Maggie: "Hrrh." 12:21 <Crion> Clevinger: "There was a problem though. You might be able to ferret it out just by the telling: to be a keeper, it had to keep someone. Which repulsed it. It had what it wanted once; it did not want charity, and it did not want some Orlando changeling. It wanted to grieve and be left alone." He turns to the glass case. "So this is the compromise. The Queen is in her durance of Dreaming, 12:21 <Crion> centered in the land of which her new keeper is lord, and now the Thin White Duke wears our crown." 12:21 <Crion> The stars twinkle blue. 12:22 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "I'm satisfied with that." 12:22 <VoxPVoxD> "As an answer; not as fact." 12:23 <Crion> Lysander: "I think we defer our question." 12:23 <Crion> He stands. "Who could use a drink? I could use a drink." 12:23 <banana> Peter Montgomery demanded the crown of Orlando... but he didn't receive it? 12:24 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "I'm in." 12:24 <trenchfoot> Nels: "Please." 12:24 <VoxPVoxD> "Listen, what are you guys eating? My guys are gonna hit me with a rolling pin if I don't get my blood sugar up." 12:24 <Crion> You could ask this question aloud, Melanie, but Rory has already provided an answer, reading between the lines: the regents sent him to see the Duke. 12:25 <banana> Melanie: "I'd like to rest for a while. Is it safe just outside, in the sun?" 12:25 <Crion> Lysander: "I'll have Jessie start up the kitchen, if some of you are willing to help her cook. Obviously the mortals haven't been coming into work, at least not to work." 12:26 <Crion> Karon: "Should be. Sun's still the sun here, if a bit more vague. Horton will make sure no one bothers you." 12:27 <trenchfoot> Nels can cook. 12:27 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "Sure." 12:28 <VoxPVoxD> "So we know what happened to the wizards, to a first approximation. What about the vampires? Did the Duke drive them out? Did the Mouse? Will we see them after dark?" 12:31 <Crion> When they get back to the main floor, Clevinger twirls a finger and you can feel the Hollow relax -- and hear the locks on the doors flip open. The two Spring courtiers will slip outside now that house arrest is over, while a new courtier will slip in after them -- young, Beast or possibly Elemental, with pink-white featureless skin and flat eyes. She has a Winter mantle and a bounce in her 12:31 <Crion> step; she heads straight for Clevinger. 12:33 <Crion> Kirbs -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=USfoTGFGARE Now that the truth is just a rule that you can bend, you crack the whip, shape-shift and trick the past again. 12:33 <dammitwho> Maggie, quietly: "I wasn't really gonna hit him with a rolling pin. Might've gotten upset, though." 12:33 <Crion> She glares at Stewart when she feels the tip but doesn't stop. 12:34 <VoxPVoxD> Ohh man. Stewart is definitely going to hide from her in the kitchen. 12:35 <Crion> Clevinger will step into a private booth to speak with her, so Stewart is stuck with Lysander answering: "The vampires weren't friendly with us before and after the deal Orlando made with the Mouse, evidence suggests they find trying to feed here incredibly dangerous and upsetting. I think they've cleared out up the interstate." 12:35 <VoxPVoxD> Flatly: "Poor guys." 12:36 <CBN> Since Clevinger's left but Lysander's here, he'll ask Lysander, with a thumb towards Clevinger's booth. "Why's he dress like...that?" 12:36 <Crion> Lysander: "Yeah I can't say I miss them. Werewolves also are either gone or keeping to themselves." 12:37 <VoxPVoxD> Anyway, Stewart'll help in the kitchen. He's clearly not a natural, particularly in an unfamiliar space, but he is very nimble and very good at taking direction. 12:37 <Crion> Lysander pauses at Tony's question. "That might be his question to answer. Suffice it to say Clevinger's Durance was less of a shock to him than it would have been for most." 12:38 <Crion> "He's not a serial killer, though, if that's what you're asking. Barely even a scarecrow." 12:38 <CBN> Tony crosses his arms. "Can't say I'm a fan. Looks a little too familiar. Reminiscent." 12:40 <CBN> He shakes his head. "Anyway, thanks for that." 12:41 <Crion> Jessie J is happy to have two more sets of hands in the back; Nels gets an apron and a hairnet and is now the short-order cook running the flat-top, cooking burgers and hot sandwiches to order; Stewart gets the same and is tasked with the prep station and deep fryer, both of which are simple enough that Jessie can just shout instructions to him while also running the bar. Eventually there 12:41 <Crion> are going to be like sixteen or so people eating dinner here, unless the motley kicks rocks; a busy enough night for a staff of three. 12:41 <VoxPVoxD> Not the worst kitchen he's ever worked in. 12:42 <trenchfoot> It... can get a lot worse. 12:46 <Crion> Working as a unit, the kitchen is fantastic. Almost as good as The Kitchen's kitchen, frankly -- Jessie's young but she's able to manage a kitchen and run the bar at the same time, which is impressive, and Nels and Stewart fall into a perfect rhythm. Everyone's getting drinks and everyone's getting fed as the Hold of Orlando officially welcomes the motley from the Freehold of Baltimore. 12:47 <VoxPVoxD> The thing worth doing, well-done, has a shape that satisfies, clean and evident.